The sun was just starting to rise over the hill tops as Blaise walked down to the black lake for a morning swim. He cracked his shoulder as he stretched and wondered to himself how Draco had gotten on with Granger after his depressive episode a few nights before.

He hadn't heard from him since but that wasn't unusual, Draco always liked to lay low and lick his wounds after a particularly dark revelation. Before he could give it another thought he felt a sharp pain in his rib, swinging round he was faced with the little red haired witch he recognised immediately. "Ginny?" he stared quizzically at her furrowed brow as she jabbed him once again firmly in the ribs with her wand.

"Where is he Blaise?" her stare was unforgiving and it sent chills down his spine as he watched her flush pink.

"Who?" Blaise had no idea what the little witch was talking about.

She turned red "You know who! Where the bloody hell is he Blaise? Three days since she saw him last. She's terrified, does he not realise that time is not on their side?" The little red head jabbed him once more waiting for his answer.

Oh god, he should have thought to check on him before now. He knew Draco's tendencies to sulk but he'd forgotten that given the circumstances this wouldn't bode well for him with Hermione. He smiled at Ginny who finally lowered her wand to her side "I haven't seen him" he watched as she flushed purple and raised her wand again. Lifting his hands palm towards the little red head he stepped backwards quickly…"But I know where he'll be, I'll sort it out."

He turned to the lake but felt a swift tug on his arm "Where do you think you're going?" she glared at him fiercely as he raised a confused eyebrow. "…swimming?" he knew the moment it left his mouth that it was the wrong answer. The look on the little red heads face sent chills down his spine. "Did you not just hear what I said about time not being on our side… jeez bloody men you're all the same!"

He starred at her bewildered before gulping "Right then, I take it you'll be coming." She nodded and held out her arm which he looked at confused. "You have to apparate the both of us, I'm the year bellow you remember." She rolled her eyes as though he were the most inconvenient waste of time she'd ever endured but it made him smile. Ginny was the only one of the Weasley clan he actually rather liked, he fiery temper was far more of a pureblood trait than she'd ever admit.

Hermione sat on the sofa, it was no longer a choice, her swollen ankles propped up on a pillow in front of her she scrapped her hair up into a messy bun on the top of her head. She never liked her hair up, it didn't suit her but she was so warm she didn't care anymore. Her body had lost its ability to regulate its temperature which left her flushing hot and cold constantly.

Her stomach was exposed where her vest and shorts met, her nighties wouldn't fit anymore. They couldn't be sure but she looked around seven/eight months, every morning she woke up larger and she was utterly fed up. She was completely out of control in this whole situation, she had no idea whether this would speed up or slow down she couldn't hazard a guess at how big she would actually get or even really how far along she was.

This was ridiculous, this was Karma punishing her for engaging in Malfoy's stupid games and even better, now Malfoy had disappeared off to god knows where. The first day she'd felt guilty for slipping him the truth potion but that quickly melted away when he didn't return home. She glared at Harry who sat opposite her watching her uncomfortably as though she were a ticking time bomb. This whole thing was embarrassing enough without needing an audience of awkward friends who didn't know what to say.

"What!" she growled as him as he flinched. "Will you just get out you've been staring at me for the last half an hour, are you planning to say anything?" he gulped as he watched her glare at him. His voice was calm and steady "Ginny told me not to leave you…and I'd rather be on your bad side than hers." He smiled and she couldn't help but stifle a laugh, she knew Ginny's temper and had to agree with him there. "As for starring at you" he continued "I mean no offense by this Hermione but you're…really big it's a strange sight to adjust to." She glared at him, "Friends don't gawp at their friends in embarrassing situations."

He smirked at her "That's not true, don't you remember when Ron vomited slugs, you starred at him almost the entire time, said it was so weird you just couldn't look away."

She rolled her eyes, she did remember that but this was entirely different.

"Urgh" she groaned rubbing her swollen stomach. Harry jumped "Whats..Whats wrong?" his eyes swam over her anxiously.

"Oh I don't know!" she glared at him and pointed to her large stomach "This!"

He relaxed back into his chair "Well, I mean, you can't get much bigger so it's got to be over soon."

Her stomach clenched at the very words, she hadn't been overly scared at the prospect of giving birth, until she started reading extensively on the subject to prepare herself.

"I'm fed up!" she laid back in to the sofa, it was very early and she hadn't slept well last night, she'd try to nap for a bit.

The moment they arrived at the Manor Blaise knew something was off. Ginny glanced around at the newly finished décor and hummed. "Well, he's done a good job, I'll give him that." The place had a warmth she'd not felt before, the hallways was painted a pastel cream colour which complimented the marble floors. Blaise silenced her holding up his hand as his face fell. Ginny looked up at him inquisitively. "Theodore's here" Blaise had stepper further into the hallway than her and as she looked down the dark corridor she saw a shoe abandoned with a bottle of fire whisky thrown next to it. The amber liquid circled the bottle in a pool and dripped from the overturned neck to the floor.

"Theodore Nott?" Ginny questioned, and Blaise nodded. "So what? I remember him he's in your year isn't he?" Blaise nodded but the look on his face worried her immensely. "What? What am I missing?" she looked up at him as he turned to her keeping his voice low. "Ginny, Draco came to see me the other night, he has these 'dark episodes' he spirals into how own pit of self pity, it can get pretty bad, especially since…the war."

Ginny rolled her eyes slightly but nodded "I know, the whole school knows about his…issues" Blaise shook his head at her words "No, the school thinks he's some sort of tortured soul bad boy but they don't know how bad it can get, especially about Granger." He bit back his words, the moment he said it Ginny's face fell. "Wait? Are you saying… Blaise has this been going on for a while?" she couldn't help but smile as Blaise looked concerned and took a deep breath "Yes, it has, she's been under his skin since second year, it's always come back to her..or his father… but mainly her. When he turned up the other night he was the worst I've seen him, he did something bad, something he shouldn't have done to her." Ginny nodded.

"If this is about that bloody accelerator potion then they're as bad as each other, Hermione knows my views on their games." She scowled at Blaise as all the colour drained from his face and he stared at her as though she'd just transformed into fluffy before his very eyes.

"You..You know about that?" his eyes searched hers.

"Yes, of course, did you really think Hermione wouldn't pick up on it…Brightest with of her age that one." Ginny grimaced impatiently before raising an eyebrow, "So why are we so concerned about Theodore Knott?"

Blaise couldn't concentrate as the new information sunk in and his stomach clenched, if he were right about this then this would end very, very badly. He took off down the corridor at speed as Ginny trotted to keep pace with him.

"Theo was the only person I know who took the war even worse than Draco, he lost everyone and he's been going off the rails outside of Hogwarts ever since. If Draco went off to lick his wounds and Theo got to him I.. I can't imagine what'll have happened. Theodore Knott is not someone you want around you when you're emotionally unstable." They reached the door to the grand hall and heard muffled yelps from inside, Blaise turned to Ginny…"Wait here, I don't want you to see this if it's what I'm expecting." He pushed the door open as he heard Ginny growl "Like hell I will" as she followed him through.