CHAPTER 9

Hermione closed the window and watched as the two owls flew out of her window to deliver their messages. She meant to send the owls earlier but it kept getting pushed back so she decided she had to get them out today at the latest and she let out a breath of accomplishment as she watched the owls fly off into the distance.

Hermione took a seat at the dinner table as Ron entered and yawned his wake for the morning. After getting a cup of coffee, he sat down and joined his girlfriend at the table and picked up the Quidditch magazine from pile. He hardly finished the article he had been reading before there came a knock on their door so Ron got up to answer it.

The door opened to present Blaise who entered and smiled at him. Ron brought him into the kitchen to join Hermione and she smiled back then continued reading the article from the newspaper she had before the interruption.

"So I came to tell you both that I sold the apartment." said Blaise who smiled nervously at them.

Ron could be heard chocking in the background and Hermione swiftly looked up at the man, newspaper and article erased from her mind, "You what?" asked Hermione a little too loud to pass for normal.

The smile on Blaise's face fell as he shifted his gaze to the floor, "Well, since Harry and I aren't there anymore I decided to sell the place."

"And where is Harry going to live?"

"See, I thought that if he hadn't been living with you and he is still able to hide from everyone, he must have a place already on his own. But I've also came to give you his half of the payment. It's only fair that he get his half of the money for our apartment. His belongings, I've thought about it and I thought I could give that to you guys as well. If not, I could open an account at Gringott's and have them moved there."

Ron's turn to speak arrived and he took up his rightful place as Harry's best friend, "You mean Harry doesn't know about this? You sold the house without Harry knowing about it?"

Blaise blushed his shame as he tried to defend himself, "Well-"

Ron's eyes flared as he advanced on the man, "How dare you? How dare you sell Harry's home when you betrayed him? Do you think you can just shove him aside now that he's realized that you two shouldn't be together? Do you think you can just get rid of your past after you screwed up the relationship that had been shit to start with? I told him that there could be no way you would ever be good enough for him. I told him that you would only hurt him and that you aren't worth the toilet he shits in but he didn't believe me. He didn't believe me when I told him that you quite possibly could be the worst thing to happen to him. He had faith in you, he believed in the two of you and you hurt him. Not only that, but you drove him out of the home you both lived in for years and then you sell it the moment things don't go your way? You sell the house without him even knowing about it? How dare you come in here, into our home and think that we will clean up the mess you made?"

Ron had been so angry that Blaise now leaned against the table as Hermione stood up and glared at the intruder.

"What else can I do?" retorted Blaise, "He's gone, not even just walked out of my life type of gone, he is gone. Has he been here? No, has he been anywhere? Not that anyone knows of. I can't just idly sit by and wait for him forever."

Hermione's eyes flashed as she pushed Ron off the man almost with his back pressed against the table only to close the space between the table and the man, "You did not wait for him, that is why he is gone now. You tell us that you want him back, that you love him but you have shown nothing but lies. It is true that you know Harry in ways that we don't but understand this; you don't know Harry where it matters. You don't know that he had a bad childhood, you don't know that his emotions are written all over his face, you don't know that he has been so afraid of you cheating on him for years now, you don't know all the smiles he has, you don't know the way his eyes shine when something good happens. You would never know that because all you know about him is that you can screw him and that he can screw you back. You have been with him for four years and you have not been able to see how hurt he had been to choose you over us. You couldn't wait for him and so he left and here you are trying to defend yourself. Well I can tell you right now, you have never been more wrong. Even more wrong than letting Harry choose you, even more than ignoring his heart when he tries to talk to you, even more than letting him love you."

Her face had been so close to his that she had to move back to slap him properly.

The slap was so hard that it sent Blaise's cheek to hit the side of the table. He put his hand on the pain but got up as he saw the corner of a letter in the middle of the pile of papers at the center of the table. He picked it up and read it quickly, looking up at the two who returned confused looks at the change in mood.

Blaise stood up the whole way and took out his Portkey as he held on tight to the letter from Harry.

Ron's brows furrowed as he watched the man, "What in the world do you think you're doing?"

"I have a score to settle with a friend of mine."

"Where are you going?"

"To find Harry."

"Harry never told us where he is."

"No, but Draco all but flaunted it in my face." replied Blaise and he Portkeyed out of Hermione and Ron's rage.

Draco just finished reading the letter from Hermione and had no idea what to make of it. He had to admit, this girl would rival his manipulative skills with the best of them. The letter proved to be vague yet so confusing that he did not know if Hermione approved or disapproved of what he had done.

Draco,

I know he's with you. You hid him from us even when you knew everyone had been frantic looking for him. Least he is not on the streets.

Hermione

Draco read it a few times trying to figure out if there could be a chance where Hermione showed any angry towards him for hiding Harry or if it was simply relief that he kept the other man off the streets. He opened the drawer in the hallway and slipped the letter inside before making his way into the kitchen to make a hot pot of cocoa. He knew Harry particularly liked cocoa and he wanted to reassure the other man of his concern.

Draco flashed the many smiles Harry would throw his way through his head as soon as the man finished his shower. Thoughts of Harry's smiles were running through his head when it happened.

"You lying backstabber." raged Blaise as he pushed Draco down hard against the wood.

"What are you doing Blaise?" asked Draco who had reached for his wand and gripped it tightly.

"He had been here the whole time and you never told me. You pretended that you didn't know where he hid and here he had been the whole time."

This rendered Draco speechless as he didn't know what to do when caught. For one thing, if he ever did anything wrong, he had never been caught.

Blaise shoved him one more time harder into the counter, "You backstabbing jerk. How long have we been friends? Why would you do this to me?"

Draco didn't answer as he just stared, shocked, at the angry man in front of him.

Blaise moved the letter into view and read, "I will be found when I want to be…"

Draco didn't say anything as his own words echoed back into his head but written by Harry. Blaise saw this as defeat and picked up the wand he had been reaching for at Draco's throat, "You knew how much it hurt and yet you hid him from me. You pretended to be my friend this whole time, I even asked if you knew where he was and you said no. You said 'no' Draco, you were supposed to be my friend. Do you love him? Is that it? You wanted him for yourself so you hid him from me? Where is he Draco? Where is he so I can tell him the truth? Did you sleep with him? Is that why you never told me? You were trying to land him? I knew you had something for him for years but I never knew you would sink so low as to hide him from me.

"We have been through so much and this is how you repay me, by telling me lies so I would leave him and then hiding him in your very own house from me. Bloody hell, I slept in the room right next to him didn't I? I knew you would be able to find a way to make things work, truly a Slytherin at heart.

"Is he in here right now, Draco? Did you just finish screwing him? Did he come to you all vulnerable and sad so you took this opportunity to lie to him? I have so many questions and I know that when I get the answers it will all explain how you have been so selfish in hoarding him away from me. You manipulative, betraying, prick. How could you do this to me? We've been friends forever, how could you do this to me?"

Upon getting no response, Blaise grabbed the front of Draco's shirt and lifted him off the counter to lead the way upstairs. Draco almost tripped at the shock of the sudden movement as he obeyed whatever Blaise wanted from him. There had been no use in fighting when things showed themselves to be over, when he reached the top of the stairs, he would be found guilty of lying to his friend and keeping Harry away from him. A part of him felt absolutely ashamed of himself, the other part of him told him that he did the right thing in keeping Harry away from this man who had been willing to curse his best friend over the first show of mistrust.

The two stood in front of the guest bedroom just as they had the night Blaise thought there to be an intruder in the house, the room right beside the one Blaise had taken residence to for the past few days.

Blaise turned the doorknob and pushed the door open in one motion and tears welled up in his eyes when he saw Harry standing in the room, wet and naked.

AN: Thanks to everyone who keeps the reviews coming. They tell me that at least, someone out there is reading my fic.

Another special thanks to Morena Evensong for the wonderful review. I am absolutely astounded by how well you are getting this fic. I look forward to reviews from you all the time. Thanks a bunch.