Author's Note: Yes back again a bit quicker this time. I'm glad you're still enjoying the various twists and turns of the story. I think we're ready for Blaise. And I'll be interested to see your reactions as well. As always, JKR is the Editor of the Daily Prophet.

Draco was nervously pacing back and forth in front of the cottage, his stride uneven as he tapped his fingers against his outer thigh. He cast a quick tempus charm and saw that it was two minutes until nine. Hermione was firmly sealed inside the small laundry room off the back of the living room near the kitchen. She would be able to hear everything going on, but Blaise would not accidentally stumble upon her if he decided he wanted to use the bathroom or something. They had even cast some defensive charms on the door just in case.

At one minute to nine, Draco stopped pacing and approached the edge of the wards. His friend would of course be perfectly on time, that's just what he was like. Punctual and organised to the extreme. He prepared himself with his wand raised high in the air, ready to do as his old friend requested. His plan was to create a small window in the wards that would only let one person through, and only with his approval. The last thing he wanted was to make his little cottage vulnerable to an invasion.

Draco felt a tingle up his spine and knew that the ward was being breached through the little pinprick opening he had made. Blaise was a clever boy; he knew exactly what to look for. It took a few seconds to work it out just enough to let only the one person through and no one else, but eventually he emerged out of the darkness.

Blaise Zabini was one of those people who would easily become lost in a crowd. He had very dark brown hair that fell down around his ears in waves, with a very heavy, striking brow the same colour. His skin had a slightly olive complexion, and he stood stiff and upright with the sort of perfect posture that came from being raised in pureblood society. But his face was typically expressionless when he was in public and his attitude seemingly nonchalant. Of course, Draco knew a very different side to the boy; when it was just the two of them, Blaise's personality could become mischievous, even childlike as they teased each other as he imagined brothers would.

As he walked towards him now, Blaise's face gave away nothing. There was no impish smile, or frown of disgust, or even recognition. He looked completely bland as he approached and stood before Draco, his wand dangling down by his side.

"Blaise," Draco said with a forced smile, knowing that it didn't quite reach his eyes as he looked his old friend over suspiciously, "It's been a very long time."

"Yes, it has" the other boy replied with a casual drawl. Then the brunette's eyes roved over the house behind them, his thick brows drawing together in an expression of puzzlement. He gave a low whistle and returned his gaze back evenly to Draco, "Not really what I would have expected, Draco."

He felt his lip twitch a little at his friend's bemusement, but he willed himself not to smirk.

"What did you expect?"

Blaise shrugged and took a slight step towards him and the house, his eyes lingering on the little wooden letterbox near them.

"I dunno…gothic spires and maybe a few dungeons."

"Sorry to disappoint."

"This house is extremely…ordinary."

Draco did smile then. He knew that Blaise was trying to be insulting, and his younger self would have probably had an issue with the comment, but not now. He loved his little cottage, even if it was a bit 'ordinary'. He'd had enough mansions to last him a lifetime.

"Want to see inside?" he asked with a casual shrug, and Blaise nodded, following him up the cobblestoned path. Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw Blaise looking quickly left and right to take it all in. The little beds of flowers, the cheery light coming through the windows, the untamed heather rolling over the surrounding hills and between the trees. They entered the living room together and Blaise's eyebrows shot up on his forehead.

"Huh. This is…cosy."

"Thank you."

"It's a far cry from the style of Malfoy Manor," this time when Blaise spoke there was a definite quirk of the lips that hinted at a smile.

"No shit," Draco snorted. He watched his old friend wander over to the shelves where he ran his fingers over some of the more unusual spines. He paused at one or two and cocked his head thoughtfully to the side.

"So…" Blaise began in a drawl, turning to face him with his arms crossed in front of him, "Is this for real? Or just some elaborate hoax to impress me?"

Draco frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh come on, Draco. A muggle cottage? With shelves full of muggle books? And I'm pretty sure I saw an espresso machine on my way in."

"So?"

Blaise threw his hands up in the air with a bemused look.

"So…I dunno…I guess I'm kinda waiting for Salazar Slytherin to jump out from behind something and yell gotcha."

Draco smirked a bit at the image.

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint. This is just where I live."

Blaise scoffed.

"Alright, well what's the story then? Have you lost your marbles? Because this doesn't look like the home of a Death Eater."

"You know, you are the one who has barged into my home without explanation," Draco retaliated a bit petulantly, "so why do I feel like I'm the one being interrogated?"

Blaise glared at him.

"How about because you're the one with the dark mark on your arm who seems to be living like a muggle!"

"And you're the one who disappeared to a different continent and hasn't contacted me since."

Blaise stared at him with wide eyes.

"So you're suspicious of my motives? Well that's a joke."

"Why not? You ran away," Draco accused with a matching glare.

"Yeh, I did," Blaise said with forced calmness, "And I'd do it again. It was smart. So you know exactly where I stand."

Draco had no reply to that. When it came down to it, he knew Blaise pretty damn well, and he simply wasn't the kind of person to get involved with a war no matter what side. Seeing his hesitation, Blaise continued.

"The question is, Draco, where do you stand?"

Draco narrowed his eyes at his brunette friend, wondering what he was thinking.

"I'm a Death Eater."

Blaise snorted inelegantly, which was surprising for the normally very refined young man.

"Yeh and Dolores Umbridge is my new girlfriend," he said sarcastically.

Draco couldn't help but chuckle this time. He had forgotten how amusing his friend could be.

"Come on, Draco. We had this same argument a year ago, and you fucked it up. Don't pull this crap on me again."

"I don't know what you mean."

"You bloody well do," Blaise snarled, collapsing onto one of the couches and giving him a slightly childish frown, "You're about as much a Death Eater as I am."

"Have you completely forgotten that I took the mark?" Draco argued, gesturing to his forearm, which was covered up by his grey shirt at the moment. He didn't know why he was pushing this argument with his friend; he just thought it wise to protect himself in case this meeting wasn't what it seemed. It was possible that he was being tested somehow. Blaise returned his stare with directness, not even batting an eyelid.

"We both know how meaningless that mark can be. Who cares if your daddy forced you to get inked? As long as your own actions speak for you it's just an ugly tattoo."

"So let me get this straight," Draco started, dropping into the opposite chair and linking his fingers together as he watched Blaise intently, "You think that I'm harbouring feelings of…disloyalty shall we say, towards my master. So you've come here to…uh…test my resolve?"

"Not exactly. I think you're just trying to survive. You don't give a shit about pureblood supremacy. So I suppose I just wanted to check up on you, see if you were ready to come back to Europe with me?"

Draco observed him silently for a while, puzzled by the sudden offer. If Blaise was being genuine, then it was an unbelievably kind offer. If the other boy helped to shelter him, then he would be placing himself at risk of incurring the wrath of the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord. And what made it even more generous was the fact that the last time they had spoken, Draco had been exceptionally cruel to his friend. He certainly hadn't expected forgiveness, let alone support.

"Why now?" he asked slowly, wondering what the brunette's motives were for the timing of this sudden offer.

Blaise sighed, running a hand nervously through his wavy brown hair.

"I heard about your mother," he admitted in a quiet voice.

Draco nodded glumly. He should have known. In fact, given the timing of it all, he wouldn't be surprised if it was Snape who had found a way to inform Blaise of this fact all the way over in Europe. When he didn't respond, his friend leaned forward.

"What happened? I only heard that she had died."

Draco took a deep breath. He didn't really like to open up those old wounds, but Blaise was someone he had shared a lot with over the years, so it felt more than natural to be honest with his old friend.

"I was summoned to the manor. She had dismissed all the house elves and was waiting for me. She had taken some kind of poison. I arrived just in time for her to die in my arms."

Blaise winced.

"Shit."

"Yeh, it was…something that I hadn't expected would happen, but I wasn't exactly surprised. She changed a lot this last year."

Blaise nodded glumly.

"Shame it wasn't Lucius," he quipped darkly. Draco gave a half-smile in agreement, knowing how much Blaise detested his father. He had never liked the way Draco had been controlled through his youth. It was part of the reason they had taken their rebellious trip to Cornwall after fourth year.

"Well if it makes you feel better I broke his nose in two places afterwards."

Blaise smiled slowly, evilly.

"Yes. That does make me feel much better."

The two of them chuckled together, although it was with a slightly bitter edge given the subject matter. Blaise sobered quickly and let out a heavy breath.

"I'm sorry for your loss… but Draco; now you can try to escape. You have no ties here now. And I have friends in Italy who could help to hide you. You'd have the best protection available."

Draco wanted to laugh at the cruel timing. He had felt adrift with helplessness for months, and now within the space of a week he had two people make him unique offers, both of which involved betraying the Dark Lord. And both of which were predicated on the death of his mother. He contemplated how to answer his friend's question. A small part of him still wished he could take Blaise up on his offer, kidnap Hermione, and wait out the war in southern Italy together. It sounded wonderful.

"Wouldn't that just be putting you all in danger?"

Blaise nodded thoughtfully but still looked determined to convince him.

"From what I hear, You-Know-Who is focused on other things right now. Theodore Nott reckons the battle's brewing, and he's hardly likely to hunt down one rogue and inexperienced Death Eater when things are coming to a head."

Draco pursed his lips.

"I wouldn't put it past him."

Blaise raised one eyebrow in surprise at Draco's cynicism, but shrugged it off.

"Well even if he does, we'll be ready – we have some of the best hidden defences on the continent."

Draco shook his head

"Thank you for your generous proposal," he began in a much kinder tone now, feeling sure that Blaise meant well, "but I'm determined to stay here and see out this war. I have…other duties besides my mother keeping me here."

Blaise gave him a sort of knowing grimace and collapsed back into the couch.

"Like Hermione Granger?" he said cheekily.

Draco completely froze. He felt his face tighten as he flushed, and his pulse felt like it had stopped. Then slowly, it started to beat again, then it began to pound. He swallowed a bit and looked back at his friend with round eyes. In the back of his mind he thought his reaction didn't bode well to his possible career as a spy. If he couldn't control his body's responses to these kinds of situations then he'd make a pretty shit double agent.

"Uh…what?" he tried to recover from the total giveaway reaction by sounding overly casual and confused. But he was sure that his face had whitened (if that were possible) and that there was a little tremor to his hands. Surely Snape hadn't revealed that Hermione was staying at his cottage. He just wouldn't tell Blaise that kind of sensitive information. Severus Snape was the most tight-lipped bastard he knew. Which meant his friend must be having some kind of laugh at his expense. He hoped he could just try to shrug it off. Blaise continued to smile at him with that mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Come on, Draco. We're not in school anymore. No other Death Eater's kids watching us. Don't need to keep it a secret anymore."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Bullshit. You want to hang around England so you can try to make a play for muggleborn Granger."

"As if, Blaise, what the bloody hell are you talking about?" He tried to sound repulsed, as though the thought of her literally scared him to death. Since he already looked pretty terrified this wasn't too hard.

"Maybe you're still lying to yourself, but you've always been crap at lying to me."

"Blaise-"

"You've been obsessed with the Gryffindor princess for years."

"That's ridiculous," he scoffed, his pulse thumping erratically. He had no idea how Blaise knew about this, so he must surely be kidding. The brunette boy was way out of his league on this topic.

"Not that ridiculous actually. Want me to review the evidence?"

"Not really…"

Blaise cut him off with a wave of his dismissive hand.

"Tough! You started practically staring holes through her in fifth year, you spent every waking moment in the library, but your grades dropped, and around about the beginning of sixth year you stopped using the term 'mudblood' and glared at anybody who did. Which frankly was bizarre behaviour from someone who had just taken the dark mark. And then one time when I was looking for my charms book in your bag I found a creepy collection of her things like personalised quills and notepaper and even a hair ribbon. I mean, seriously mate, have you lost your mind?"

"Blaise, you are taking all those things completely out of context!"

Blaise snorted and crossed his arms with a sarcastic sneer.

"Oh am I?"

"Yes, I definitely do not want to shag that prissy know-it-all Granger."

Blaise chuckled and leaned forward with a conspiratorial smile.

"I didn't say you wanted to shag her. I think it's more than that. I think you're in love with her."

Draco stared at his friend in disbelief.

"This is a joke, isn't it? You're pulling my leg-" he began weakly but his friend interrupted again.

"Not at all. I'm deadly serious."

"Why the fuck would you say that? Are you on something?"

"Nope. I've wanted to get this off my chest for a while. You want to stay here and see how this war goes because you're in love with Hermione Bloody Granger – the princess of the fucking Order of light or whatever they call themselves. And you've been in love with her for years!"

Draco was silent for a few moments, before he grit his teeth and ran his hands through his hair.

"You're way out of line, Blaise."

"So are you. Who would have thought the big bad Death Eater would fall in love with the most famous mudblood-"

Draco growled and shot to his feet.

"Don't call her that."

There was a silent pause, and then Blaise leant back into the couch triumphantly, his smile wide and smug. Draco cursed himself. Of course he had to go and say something ridiculously obvious like that. It's like he was turning into a bloody Gryffindor and losing all his subtlety. He tried to glare at his friend and cover the mistake with hostility.

"That's not what I meant," he warned as Blaise's smile widened like the cat that ate the canary, "I just don't like the word."

"Of course. But…well you didn't say 'don't call them that'. You said 'don't call her that'. Can you see the difference?"

"I think you're completely insane."

"Me too. I tried for so long to just ignore my suspicions. But I know that I'm right. And you can pretend as long as you want, but you know it too. That's why you want to stay in England."

"It's probably time you leave, Blaise," he said abruptly, pacing back and forth with his hands running through his hair before gesturing crossly towards the door.

"It seems I hit a sore spot," his friend chuckled, rising to his feet slowly, "Alright, I'll go, but only because it's getting late. How about I stop by in another few days and see if you've changed your mind."

"There's not really any point. I wont'."

Blaise shrugged as he made his way towards the door.

"Well I'll come back anyway."

Draco nodded cautiously, but he watched his friend with doubtful eyes as he started to grip the door handle. Blaise paused there, turning his head back around before he left.

"You know, Draco… there's nothing wrong with admitting you're in love with her. I think it's admirable, given your upbringing. You could be so much…better than you were brought up to be. We both could."

Draco watched his old friend silently for a while; deeply affected by the quiet, meaningful words he had spoken. Eventually he nodded in response.

"Ill see you in a couple of days," he said, knowing that by agreeing to see him again, he was telling his friend how much he valued his loyalty.

Blaise tilted his head once more in goodbye and left the cottage. While he had to be given special help to enter the wards, he could of course leave them at any time. After a few moments Draco heard to crack of apparition that signalled his departure.

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, feeling a little drained from the confronting conversation. But it had been nice to see his old friend again. No matter how much the brunette pissed him off, he was always extremely protective and supportive. Even when Draco was cruel to him, or when they had to give each other tough love, they both knew they could rely on the other. And it reminded him that he still had people there to help him if things went south. It was a comforting thought.

Draco spun around at the sound of a door creaking open. It was quite dim in the living room now as the fire had burned down to dull embers while Blaise was here, so he could only just see the silhouette of her curly hair in the doorway of the laundry. His body froze stiff for the second time that evening as Hermione emerged, stepping into the shadowy light of the living room. She looked like she had been gripping her hair in her hands, as it was quite unruly, curls sticking out in all directions. He could even see some half crescent shapes in her cheeks where she had clearly been digging her fingernails in. When she stepped towards him he closed his eyes for a second.

How could he have been so stupid? Swept up in conversation with Blaise after so long, he had completely forgotten that she was standing in the little room off the living area listening to every word they said. Which meant that she had heard every single word his friend had said. Which meant she had heard the bits about her.

Which meant that she knew he was in love with her.

Thanks for reading… sorry for the epic cliff hanger, but don't worry I will make up for it by possibly posting the next chapter TOMORROW, which includes much crazy excitement! Oh no! What's going to happen? Please review.