Chapter Sixteen
It was impossible. He was fuming. No one could have survived that curse…no one besides Potter, and he didn't count. No Sortiarm had ever survived it, this he knew for a fact.
He was sitting alone in the Common Room. He was on the couch, with his legs propped up on the coffee table in the corner of the room. He was furious. He stood up, running his hands angrily through his now tousled hair. He couldn't understand how this was possible. Blaise was supposed to be dead. That was the deal. It should have worked…nothing…nothing should have prevented it. He had gotten that promise in blood. His own blood, and Blaise's, and his.
Something had changed the terms of their agreement without his consent and he wasn't just about to sit around and let that happen. Blaise was meant to die. No one else could have done it, and it didn't work. He was determined in his fury. This had gone beyond Hermione and his mixed emotions. He had given up a part of him, given his life and soul, and for what? For the Blood Bond to fail him. It wasn't going to happen. He kicked the table over, punching the wall. He felt his face moisten. He was crying. This couldn't be happening. He moved over to the window and threw it open. Climbing onto the ledge, he took a deep breath, remembering his lessons. He focused his body and his mind. He knew he could do it. He took a step forward, allowing his body to float in midair. He was going to see the person behind all the misery in his life, the person who had fooled him, taken his power and his choice, and the person that had indirectly let Hermione fall into Blaise's arms. Rejuvenated with new hate, he opened his eyes; eyes that were now filled with determination, anger, and power. Eyes that were now gold.
The contract was broken. His power was back.
--
Hermione woke with a start. There was an uneasy feeling in her stomach and a deep pang in her chest. She didn't know how long she'd been sleeping. She leaned forward in the chair she was in and rested her head in her hands, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness of the room. It was nighttime. She looked around the room, her vision finally clearing. She jumped slightly in surprise. She could see every detail of everything in the room vividly. The darkness of the room seemed to have no affect on her eyes. She took a couple of calming breaths and let herself get used to the idea of night vision.
'Must be part of my powers,' she thought. Hermione rested back in the chair, her eyes falling onto the boy in the bed next to her. The shine from the moonlight gave him a semi-angelic glow. She took his hand again, tracing small circles with her thumb. The events of the day flooded her mind. She had barely accepted her fate as one of the most feared magical beings on the planet when the one person who could help her through it was almost taken from her. Needless to say, it had been a difficult day.
Hermione wondered how her friends would react to the news. Of her two best friends, Hermione knew Harry would understand better. The idea of being alone, being one of a kind, standing out in a way you don't want to was familiar to him. Ron on the other hand…Hermione sighed at the prospect of telling her red-haired companion. She was sure he wouldn't take it well. Ron was always slightly irrational when it came to information he viewed as bad. She was not looking forward to telling either of the boys.
Hermione sighed, tipping her head back over the back of the chair. She pulled her legs up to her chest, tying her arms around them. She had never felt this way before. She felt powerful, like anything was at the tip of her fingers, but at the same time, she felt utterly helpless without Blaise to comfort her. Not to mention, a daunting feeling was building in her stomach. She suddenly felt nauseous. Hermione tried to breath slowly and calmly, but something in her gut told her something bad was coming, and neither she, nor anyone she cared about (mainly Blaise) would be safe.
Hermione shook her head, trying to get rid of the thoughts she was having. She looked back at Blaise, at his sleeping form. The visibility of him breathing had returned, and had become more regular over the hours she'd been asleep, which was a relief. She knew now at least that Dumbledore had been telling the truth, and that he was still, in fact, alive.
It was impossible for Hermione to wrap her head around the events of the day. She felt completely blown away by everything. The felt her muscles tingle and shifted in the chair. Her eyes fell on Blaise's face. His strong jaw, his chiseled features, the amazing blue eyes that were hidden beneath his closed lids, the face that held so much power seemed so utterly weak right now. And it scared Hermione to think that Blaise could be this frail.
Hermione glanced at the clock that was hanging above the entranceway to the Hospital. It was a quarter past two in the morning. She sighed again. Making it through the week wouldn't be easy. She didn't want the stress of dealing with classes and her friends. She rubbed her eyes and curled up in the chair, shifting so she could put her head on the hospital bed, next to Blaise's body. She felt a warmth coming from him and it instantly soothed her. She hoped he would be okay.
--
He was floating outside the window, watching her, his eyes gleaming with hatred. This wasn't fair. He would pay. He didn't deserve the power.
He saw her lean forward, his gold eyes taking in her every move, her every breath. She was beautiful, there was no doubt about that. And she was powerful; that added to her appeal. He knew she was valuable, knew how much she would be worth if he could get his hands on her. But it was next to impossible. With that stupid boy by her side he wouldn't even be able to get close without arousing his suspicion.
Her dedication to his lifeless form caused something to stir in him. Admiration? No, that wasn't it. Envy…
He felt his blood boil, knowing that it was supposed to be him beside her, and not that sorry excuse for a wizard. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting the night air swim around him, calming him before he did something stupid. He allowed himself to inch slightly closer to the window, but still, kept repeating the spell in his mind. He couldn't attract attention; he had to stay invisible.
He opened his senses, allowing them to flow through the stone of the castle, to filter through the air on the other side until they reached her. She was asleep now. He felt how tired her body was, he felt how worried she was that her friends wouldn't understand, she felt her sadness for the boy beside her, and the love she had for him. He clenched his fist as the strength of that emotion hit him, but he let it go as something else attracted his attention. He prodded a little further with his mind before realizing what he had stumbled upon. He felt her power…a slight glimmer to what her mind, body, and spirit possessed. He let that brief encounter consume him, astounded by what he felt. She was even more powerful than he had imagined. And she would be his.
--
Hermione woke with a start as sunlight pierced through her eyelids. Her entire body ached, and she could feel the dark circles under her eyes. She felt as though she had been asleep for only a few minutes, only to be jolted awake by the daylight. She felt disoriented, and couldn't even remember what day it was or whether she had classes, and began to panic slightly. A wave of nausea swept over her body and she ducked her head beneath the hospital bed, curling into a ball on the chair and breathing deeply. The nausea began to pass and Hermione sat upright again. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, letting the heavy feeling on her chest ebb. She eyed Blaise's sleeping form and felt a small comfort in the fact that somewhere deep inside him, he was probably fighting to regain consciousness.
With that though, Hermione realized that she had lost all consciousness in her legs and stood up, slowly walking around the room. She reached a far window and looked out onto the frost covered grounds. Her breathe fogged on the window, and as she turned away, something caught her eye. Looking back at the window, nothing was visible. Hermione leaned forward and blew gently on the glass, stepping back as she realized it was slightly ajar. Pulling it about she looked at it closely, seeing a smudge on the outside. She blew on the window again, letting her breathe fog the glass and gasped at what she saw: A distinct handprint the outside of the glass, a good two hundred and fifty feet above the ground.
--
"…I don't know Harry. Thing's have just seemed a bit off with Hermione lately. I mean, the incident in Charms last week, you remember? The thing she was inflating just exploded. You know, just as well as I do, things Hermione Charms do not explode…" Ron said tentatively at breakfast.
Harry and Ron hadn't seen their best friend in what seemed like weeks. They both knew where she was; sitting up in the Hospital Wing, but neither of them dared go up there. They didn't know how to deal with her in the state she was in. With 48 hours, Hermione had gone from their best friend to a shadow of her existence, barely sleeping or eating, just staring blankly and intensely at Blaise's body, as Madam Pomfrey told it.
Harry stared at his plate for a second. "Yeah, I know Ron. But there's nothing we can do right now. The last thing she needs is for us to bombard her with questions about why she's been acting differently. I mean, with everything that's happened over the last couple years, and especially the trauma she's been through in the last couple months, can you really expect her to behave absolutely normally?"
"You do. You've been dealing with crap like this your whole life," Ron said quietly.
"Well that's exactly it, isn't it? I've had my entire life to deal with weird shit happening around me. This is new for her, the whole near-death experience revolving around her, sort of thing. We've been through a lot with each other, but when it came down to it, I was the one the fights were about, you know? It only involved Hermione because she was friends with me…And I regret playing my part in putting her through all that, but I know now I couldn't have done any of it without her, or you. The most we can do is be there for her when she's ready to tell us she needs us," Harry said. Something inside him knew that the day Hermione needed them would come a lot sooner than anybody would expect.
--
He hovered over the books as he had been since he left the window. What he was searching for, he wasn't quite sure yet, but he was certain once he found it, he'd know. As far as he knew, the bond forged between two Sortiarms was not permanent, but since he had made a habit of being wrong of late, he didn't want to leave anything to chance. He knew his informant would be keeping an eye on her, but again, he couldn't leave it up to the idiot boy. He had sensed the growing infatuation in his heart and had become disgusted. If he lost focus for the end goal, all was lost. It was only through his informant's body that he had true access to her, and if she grew disdainful of the boy, he was useless.
To his credit, the boy knew the risks involved when he made the Blood Bond. He was surprised that anyone was willing to go that far for revenge, but welcomed a fresh case when he got one. What surprised him however, what the willingness of the other to comply. That made their Bond very different than the ones he had dealt with in the past. And as for the girl, well she complicated things, as females usually do, but with her new found abilities, and the extent of her powers to be determined, he was certain that, if his plan worked, she would prove a valuable asset in the end.
He flipped another page in the shriveled old book he was reading when his eye caught something…a glimmer in the window. He moved around the table he was standing at and went to face the glass, peering intently at it. There were no lights on, inside the dwelling or outside. Nothing should be glimmering in the window. He knew he was immune to a reflection, therefore eliminating him, so what could it be?
He closed his eyes and concentrated, opening them a moment later, looking at the glass with gold eyes. And at what he saw, even he had to stagger back for a moment. There, in the window, was the other boy, looking straight back at him, his eyes dark.
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TearDropsOnMyBlueJeans: I'll just say that there is a lot more to the relationship between Draco and Hermione that has yet to be revealed. I'll also say that there is another Sortiarm, possibly more than one more, but I will not say who it/they is/are as of right now. Thanks for reading!!
Talia: it isn't meant to seem rushed, but I did pace it this way for a reason up until this point. It is going to slow down, but the whole point is to help the reader understand how quickly the changes are happening in Hermione's life, because it will have an effect later in the story. Haha, thanks I try. Hope you like this chapter!
-S3v3rusIsMin3-:like I said above, I will not confirm or deny the possibility of Draco being a Sortiarm. And I can't tell you what happens, that would ruin it!! Lol. I'm glad you like the story though, hope you like this chapter as well.
dream-spells: aww yay for new readers!! Lol. Sortiarmus is pronounced basically how is written, but let me try um.. Sort-tea-arm-us…does that help at all?? Lol. Hope I didn't confuse you further . There could be more than three, I guess you'll just have to wait and see.
I wish I was a Vampire: sorry this update took so long!!
Lightmoon-angel: I cant say who the person is, but the common theory seems to be that its Draco. I will not confirm or deny that yet. Since a couple of people have asked me this, I will say that is someone who has ties to both Hermione and Blaise, but it may or may not be a character you already know.
some weirdo: I need to start updating more often, I agree lol.
x-xDodgerx-x: aw well I'm glad you like it. I toyed with the idea of making it a Draco/Hermione story for a while, but I'm pretty content with the direction its going so far.
FanFicHolic: again, glad you're liking the story, and again, I apologize for taking so long to update. I keep planning further ahead in the story, and need to make sure I get the details right in order to make sure I don't reveal anything too prematurely and stuff like that. Hope this chapter satisfies!!