Things were strained between Hermione and her friends now. The girl was reminiscing as she trotted down the Grand Staircase, thinking of how she had left Ron and Harry in the dormitories, too preoccupied by the thought of meeting Draco to argue with them. Hermione bit her lip as she stepped through the castle doors into the open air. She just wished her best friends would accept her choice.

With her scarf wrapped tightly around her neck, the girl evenly walked through the crisp air, noting several other students casually walking about as well. She left them all behind though, as the outskirts of the forest came into focus, and finally she was alone. Spotting a sharp movement from deeper within the forest with her peripheral vision, Hermione grinned, realizing it was Draco. She continued to walk foward several yards, pretending to not have seen him, yet was still surprised when he coyly grabbed her waist. Hermione whipped around to face him, startled, but her laughter soon took over her initial anxiety as she was dazzled with his mischevious, signature smirk. The two didn't say a word for a moment, as the sky overhead took on a deeper shade of blue, waiting for the sun to set. Hermione flashed an appreciative smile up towards the towering Draco, who answered with a simple kiss.

"I'm glad you came," he said.

Replying with a smile, she said, "I like to see you. I'm not going to get brainwashed by Ron and Harry, you know."

However unreadable his face usually was, she couldn't help noticing the gratitude in his eyes. "You startled me, coming up from behind and all," she mentioned, "I thought I saw you deeper inside the woods."

He frowned. "I was following you from the castle. You were in front of me the whole time. Didn't even turn around, so it was fairly easy to catch you," he chuckled.

Draco was smirking again, but Hermione wondered what she really did see from the woods. Calming herself, she remembered that it wasn't at all unusual to see birds and other beasts, especially on the border of the Forbidden Forest. Satisfied, she turned her attention back to Draco, who had taken on a more serious compusure, much more like his usual self.

"Come on," he offered her an arm. "It's getting positively frigid just standing here. Let's walk a bit."

Gladly taking his arm, the two started along the edge of the forest. It wasn't long before the silence broke, however.

"Hermione, I wanted to ask you something." Her inquiring eyes pushed him to ask her about what had been bothering him. "I...ran into Blaise the other day, and he mentioned some things about you. Odd bloke, he was saying something about how you remember him, very strange..." he trailed off, hardly daring to see what his remark had done.

Hermione didn't reply for a moment. On the contrary, she completely stopped walking. Draco, alarmed at what his comment had induced, released his grip from her arm and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"You don't have to tell me if it's anything...personal, you know." He couldn't lose her this way. Perhaps he was overreacting, but this subject seemed to have practically stopped the girl's breathing. She turned away and looked endlessly to the heart of the forest. At length she replied, clenching her fists, not facing him so as to not see his reaction.

"Blaise and I - " she stopped abruptly as she heard a soft "oh," which sounded all to familiarly like the escaping of air from a person's lungs. A soft crumple followed, and the girl whipped around to where her lover was formerly standing.

Draco was lying unconscious on the forest floor.

Gasping, Hermione peered through the ever-darkening forest. Nothing. What had done this to Draco? She took a deep breath and swallowed, thinking through her options. She would have to levitate him, obviously she wasn't strong enough to just carry him back to the castle...what if some creature found the two alone in the forest? Was he even alive? Falling just short of Draco, the girl turned him to that he was facing up (completely forgetting her Medical Muggle Studies class, in which the idea was to not move people who can't move themselves), and grabbed his limp wrist in her shaking hands. She tried to feel for a pulse, but couldn't tell if what she caught was the pounding of her own heart or not.

As she was attempting to listen to his breathing (if there was any), she was hit by a stunning spell. Thrown back several yards, she gasped for air once more and struggled to reach her wand. Whoever, or whatever was doing this, was still unable to be seen. As she started to scream for help, a cold hand was placed over her mouth.

A sinister voice whispered, "Now now, can't have you spoiling all the fun."

She knew that voice anywhere, anytime. Blaise threw off the Invisibility Cloak he was wearing and chuckled grimly, saying, "Stole it from that imbecile Potter. I, for one, wouldn't leave my valuables alone inside my trunk..."

Not wishing to think of how he had even entered the Gryffindor House, Hermione struggled against his binding arms. The suddenness of it all finally reached a climax and she screamed.

"YOU KILLED HIM - YOU FUCKING BASTARD - " but was silenced again by his white-wood wand.

Throwing her to the ground, he was quiet. Unable to talk, she realized that it was useless to bring out her wand without being able to command anything. Losing all direction, she came at him with flying fists. Blaise seemed to not be affected by her abuse, and she fell back, silent tears caressing her face.

Blaise left her standing while he kneeled by Draco's body. He knew she wouldn't run away; she wouldn't leave her lover's body behind. After what seemed like a quick inspection, he nodded to himself and rose. Not knowing what this meant, yet hoping against hope, Hermione was surprised to find her voice back.

"Now, can you possibly keep things quiet for a moment? No wonder dear Professor Snape calls you a loudmouth," he sarcastically commented. "I'll have your wand, if you don't mind." He held out his hand, and she mindlessly handed it over. Everything was lost without Draco.

She was stiff when she forced herself to whipser, "You killed him."

Blaise only chuckled. "Unfortunately, I did not - though that would have been all too satisfying," he replied, noting the girl's obvious relief. His lips only curled once more as that relief turned to anger; the girl realizing that she had given her wand away for nothing. She suddenly kneeled beside Draco and her free-falling tears landed on his fair face.

Blaise towered over the pitiful scene. "I thought you would realize my intentions...being the smartest witch in Hogwarts and all. No matter, though. Let me explain. I couldn't kill him, you see, because then you wouldn't have any incentive to comply with my...requests."

The girl froze and began to quaver noticeably. No, she had sworn she would never become involved with him again...not after last time.