Blaise tried to sneak out of bed. He had to perform a series of acrobatic moves to free his limbs that were tangled with Ginny's in a way he could've sworn was physically impossible.
He cursed under his breath when he almost twisted his ankle. He was foolishly putting himself through this almost every night. He kept telling himself with every passing day that by tomorrow he'd get Ginny Weasly out of his system. By tomorrow, he'd be able to look at her and feel nothing but sheer indifference. She'd be just another woman. But tomorrow never came.
It wasn't the physical attraction that irked Blaise. Well..it did, to some extent. However, what disturbed him the most was the attraction that went further than bed. He was frightened by the eagerness that took hold of him at the thought of going back home every day. The disappointment that surged in him when he went back to an empty home.
Blaise had a simple life and a string of ex-girlfriends who rarely ever ended up broken-hearted because they already knew him to be allergic to any form of serious relationships. Then a barking mad redhead plundered herself into his life unannounced.
He cursed himself inwardly for not handing her over when he had the chance to. Not only did she put his career and even his life at risk. But she also forced a child upon him when he had never fancied parenthood. And what disoriented Blaise about this was how he wasn't reacting to this as strongly as he should.
He should be barking mad at her. Instead, he was secretly seeking her company and striving to know her better. He should be exerting great levels of self control in order not to strangle her. Instead, he was exerting those very same levels to keep his hands off her. And he kept failing miserably at that.
Three months have passed and nothing changed. He still wanted her, and he still loathed it. It didn't help too, that she kept defying him at every corner. Defiance wasn't something he sought in women and she had an extra dose of it.
Blaise glanced back at the tiny frame sleeping deeply on his bed as if she had slept there for her entire life. Her entire behavior in the house was audacious. It was only when he heard his own house elves calling her Mistress and taking orders from her that he realized that she was slowly infiltrating herself into his life. And he didn't raise a finger to stop her.
How could he when they were having a child that would keep them bound forever? It wasn't just that he wasn't going to tolerate having his son raised with a step-parent. There was a part of him that -now that he had a taste of her presence in his life- wasn't willing to let Ginny go. Specially not into another man's arms.
Another man, the words echoed inside Blaise's head. Technically speaking he was the other man. It didn't matter if his only rival was long-dead. He still came second. Blaise shook his head, trying to rid his mind of the enraging thought.
Draco was starting to feel too uncomfortable. A bathtub wasn't exactly his idea of a comfortable place to sleep in. Neither was Hermione helping by her constant twitching. How did somebody who was such a light sleeper move so often in her sleep? And what was with the mumbling? She kept muttering incoherent words under her breath and it took Draco a while to realize she wasn't awake; she was talking in her sleep.
He desperately wanted to go back to bed but he didn't dare carry her and risk waking her up. A shiver of cold ran through his body and he reached for his wand.
"Incendio" he muttered and several small balls of fire emitted from the tip of his wand, floating above his head and around the bathtub.
"Ah!" a yelp of pain escaped from Draco as he felt sharp fingernails planting themselves in his chest.
He looked down at Hermione, angling his head to take a good look at her face. A frown creased her forehead. Her breathing became ragged and shallow. Then Draco felt warm tears falling on his chest. Still, amidst of what seemed like an intense nightmare, Hermione was still asleep.
Draco felt disoriented by the situation. He didn't know whether he should wake her up, take her to bed or simply leave. The last option was the first one to be eliminated.
"Hermione.." Draco whispered, pushing back her hair away from her face.
Hermione started mumbling inaudibly. Draco only understood the several 'no's she kept repeating. He hushed quietly, rubbing his hand along the length of her back. Hermione's eyes fluttered before she half-opened them. She scanned her surroundings through squinted eyes then her eyes rested on Draco's face. Her frown deepened as she raised her head and looked up at him in confusion.
"It's alright" Draco assured, pushing her head into his chest.
Hermione's eyes remained opened for a moment before she closed them again. Her stiff muscles relaxed gradually and her breath slowly evened.
Draco drained his second dose of pain relief draught. He then apparated to the Castle of Walpurgis. The castle Voldemort had constructed to be the headquarters of his Death Eaters looked as ominous as the purpose it served. Black dominated the castle's hall and snakes of all different shapes and sizes were engraved on almost every wall. Men and women clad in dark robes were everywhere.
He climbed the stairs two steps at a time, mumbling some casual greeting when necessary and ignoring those coming from people who weren't worthy of his time. He entered Blaise's office without knocking.
"Why does the castle look like a bloody beehive?" Draco demanded.
"Recruitment day." Blaise replied distractedly.
"Isn't that supposed to be next week?" Draco asked with a frown. Had he really lost track of time so much?
"It had been pushed forward for reasons beyond me. You would've known that if you haven't developed a habit of arriving late." Blaise berated.
"What happened to your arm?" Draco asked as he noticed Blaise dripping a potion on his bloodied arm.
"One of the French prats." Blaise spat, "He tried to show off some spell and ended up exploding a string of glass shelves. I lost count of the splinters they removed from my arm. There's a new healer at the hospital too...a rather curvy one" Blaise remarked crudely.
Draco chortled, "How is the recruitment going so far?" he asked.
"Terrible." Blaise replied, "I have no idea how we're suppose to choose at least one hundred new members. I can hardly find ten with decent skill!" he ranted.
"One hundred!" Draco scoffed, "How many are there in the first place?" he asked.
"Around a thousand. The kids from Durmstrang are brilliant, though. One of them conjured a herd of lions from his wand that literally cornered everybody else in the room. Theo and I had to interfere to stop him." Blaise sounded genuinely impressed by the younger wizard's skill.
"The Durmstrang ones are usually the best. Anybody good from Hogwarts?" Draco asked curiously.
"Nothing catchy but there's this girl, she dueled one of the Durmstrangs so well that she almost won. She has potential." Blaise said thoughtfully.
"A Slytherin?" Draco asked, already predicting the answer.
"Actually no. She's a Ravenclaw! Can you believe that?" Blaise said in disbelief.
"The Carrows are doing a pretty good job at Hogwarts, then." Draco's mouth twisted satirically.
"How are you doing, ladies?" Theodore quipped as he entered the office.
"Will you ever stop being so unjustifiably happy?" Draco huffed.
"Why would I?_" Theo shrugged "_I woke up this morning next to a very beautiful woman who happens to be my girlfriend for the week. I spent this morning telling some kids that they couldn't be good wizards even if their life depended on it. And I might or might not have helped Augustus Rookwood descend the stairs...faster than usual." Theo said with exaggerated innocence.
"I bet he looked a lot better with a broken neck." Draco smirked.
"Well, I can't tell; his neck is still intact. He's going to need a walking cane for the next couple of weeks, though." Theo said proudly.
"Next time, I'll handle his neck. The old git saw me this morning before the recruitment tests started and he told me it was a shame young wizards were tested for skill by wizards who weren't much older and doubtful to have any more skill than their test subjects!" Blaise scoffed indignantly.
"He told me the exact same thing right before I gave him a helping hand...and a middle finger." Theo snickered.
Draco growled in pain. He was massaging the back of his neck while trying to stretch his back. Never was he ever going to sleep in a bathtub again!
"What's wrong?" Theo asked, eyeing Draco curiously.
"I haven't slept well last night." Draco replied nonchalantly.
"Oh, Granger has worn you out already? Such poor stamina." Blaise mocked with a wide grin that soon faded when he realized Theo was staring at him in confusion.
"What? Who?" Theo asked with a sheepish smile, still not registering what Blaise meant. "WHAT?" he repeated, now recognizing the name he just heard.
"Blaaaaiiise.." Draco groaned loudly, reaching for a statue that sat on Blaise's desk and throwing it at his head.