Chapter Fourteen
Draco looked up and felt his breath hitch. They had released each other, but the room continued to shake. They didn't seem to notice they were hovering five or six feet above the ground. But what made his mind spin was Hermione. She was changing. Her eyes…they were blue.
It can't be, thought Draco. He felt a hot tear slide down his face. She isn't one of them. I wont let her be. If I can't have her, no one can. Especially him. I'm not going to let this happen. Draco felt such anger and such hurt. He had never felt this way before. His face was wet with the silent tears that were trickling down his face.
He pulled out his wand.
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His mind was spinning. He had never felt anything like the pain he was feeling right now. But he knew he was doing the right thing. He had to stop it; stop her from becoming one of them, stop her from becoming dangerous. He knew she would thank him later, when she realized he had saved her. He had to save her from him. He had to.
The spell was on the tip of his tongue. He felt his heart pounding against his chest, sweat mixed with tears. He knew what to do. He had done it before.
They still hadn't noticed him, they were talking. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to say it, to break away her happiness in this moment. But he knew he had to. He had to save her. And the longer he waited, the longer he risked losing her.
'He had to come back,' Draco thought bitterly. 'If he had just stayed away…' No. He couldn't feel guilt now, he couldn't be weak now. He was weak, and it was his turn to fall.
The enormous feeling of hate swelled inside Draco, and he felt the words vibrate in his throat. He spit them out before he could second-guess himself. He meant it.
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Hermione wasn't sure what she was feeling. She was happy, sad, worried, pained, nauseous…everything all at the same time. She didn't know what to think, and that didn't happen very often. She just clung to Blaise, and somehow she knew, only with him near her, everything would be all right. Some part of her knew he would protect her, help her through this. Her mind still hadn't grasped the information fully. She just held onto him, never intending to let go.
She felt her chest swell. She wasn't sure what she was feeling. She looked up at him, stared right into his blue eyes.
"I love you Blaise," she whispered. His eyes twinkled and he smiled.
"I love you Hermione."
"Avada Kedavra!"
Hermione saw a burst of green light. She looked at Blaise who had a stunned look on his face; he fell onto her. Hermione's heart almost stopped, her eyes searched the room.
He stood there, his wand raised, panting, tears falling down his face. And then he fell to the floor, the impact of what he had done hitting him hard.
Hermione, still holding Blaise, fell to the ground, and everything went dark.
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Hermione woke up, feeling something heavy on her chest. She blinked. The room was black. Her hand automatically went to her hip, searching for her wand.
"Lumos…" she muttered. Her eyes adjusted momentarily. She was in the Common Room. She found it hard to breath. She waved her wand, and the lights went on in the room, all the torches lit themselves and a fire erupted in the grate. She realized it was Blaise on top of her. She moved, trying to get out from underneath him. His body hit the ground with a thud, limp.
Suddenly, everything came back to her. Avada Kedavra. Her eyes grew wide. He couldn't be. Her hand went to his back. She took his arm, slowly turning him over. His eyes were closed. He wasn't breathing.
"No…" she breathed. Her eyes filled with tears. "No. No. No, no, no…" she was sobbing. She clenched his arm. "Blaise? Blaise, please…No…. Blaise, wake up. Blaise. Wake up. Wake up…wake up Blaise…" She couldn't breath. Her mind was foggy. She shook his arm. This couldn't be happening to her again. She tore her eyes away from his face and looked around the room.
He was sitting, crumpled against the wall, his eyes closed, and wand limp in his hand. He was breathing, slowly, steadily, as if he was trying to calm down.
"YOU!" she screamed. "You did this to him!" she stood, letting go of Blaise's arm. Her entire body shook. A feeling she had only felt once before consumed her entire body.
He opened his eyes, tiredly, drunkenly. It was then she noticed the three empty bottles next to him. "No," was all he said.
"You bastard!" she screamed. He was suddenly lifted into the air, his back scratching against the cold stonewall. His shirt became stained with blood, his wound had reopened.
She didn't know it, but her eyes had turned blue again. She was feeding off of the hate, the sadness, the anger, the pain.
"It wasn't me Hermione," was all he managed to say.
"No!" she yelled. "NO! It was you! Who else? You were the only one… Who else? Why? No one…he's gone… he's been... NO! You did it! You did it!" she was screaming, crying, her body weakened. She fell to the floor, and her release on him let go. He slid to the ground, clutching his throat.
"Blaise…"
He stood and walked towards her, wincing in pain. He kneeled beside her. "I don't know what happened Hermione. I came in here, and I found… I'm so sorry."
"Blaise…" she cried, falling into him. He held her, a weak smile formed on his lips.
"It's okay Hermione. It's okay. Sshh…"
"We have to get him to the Hospital Wing. He can't die that easily. He can't. He's a Sortiarm, they can't… Help me…help me!" she said, standing. She lifted her wand and closed her eyes. She was still in his embrace. She muttered a spell and the three bodies were transported to the hospital.
"Madam Pomfrey!" she screamed, falling to her knees. He held her.
The nurse came running out of her office, a frantic look on her face. "What is the meaning of his? Miss Granger?" she said suddenly.
Hermione just pointed.
"Oh dear," the color drained from the nurse's face. "Help me boy. Put him onto the bed."
He did as he was told.
"Go get Professor Dumbledore. Now."
"I don't think I should be leaving her alone, Madam Pomf–"
"GO!"
He left the room, running down the halls. And then he stopped. They would check his wand. He ducked behind a statue and muttered a spell. It eliminated the last three spells cast from the wand's memory.
He darted to the gargoyles and was about to start yelling for Dumbledore when the staircase slid open and the wizard emerged. His normally sparkling eyes were somber. "Lead the way."
Student and Professor made their way to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey had managed to get Hermione into a chair. She sat, starring blankly at Blaise's lifeless form. Tears fell steadily down her face and onto her blouse, but she didn't seem to care.
Madam Pomfrey had removed Blaise's shirt. His muscular, tan form was slightly pale. Her hand was on the back of his shoulder, her eyes wide. She looked up when Dumbledore entered.
"I've only seen this once before. Look for yourself! It's the Killing Curse, no doubt about that. But look. It left a scar Albus," she said.
Dumbledore looked at her with wide eyes. He pushed his glasses up higher on his nose and moved forward. Sure enough, a small had been traced along the back of his shoulder. Dumbledore looked at Madam Pomfrey, his face grim.
"The symbol of the Sortiarm. This is impossible. Two students, the same century. It's never been heard of. It seems, Poppy, that Harry Potter is no longer the sole survivor of this curse."
Hermione who had been listening impassively the entire time, looked up, her eyes wide. "What? What do you mean?" she breathed.
"What I mean, Miss Granger is that Blaise Zabini is alive."
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sugargirl16: aw thanks! It's blaise/Hermione. I finally decided lol
queen of serpents: did that qualify as stupid?
Apocolipstic: thanks! Enjoy?
u-r-only-my-shadow: he wouldn't kill her. You're right that would be too drastic and cruel. How was this? Lol
ben 'n' jerry: aw thanks!! Lol. there is a lot more about the sortiarms that hasn't been revealed yet, like how they die and the extent of their powers and all of that. So don't be too sure they are untouchable. They aren't. but there are twists so…lol
Mrs.JamesPotterxxxx: thanks lol
Bullet-4-my-valentine: sorry I took so long to update! lol