"Your heart and life seem to lie with the poor dear…"
Blaise found his mother's words echoing in his mind, the ring of truth clear and strong. He was watching her as she slept (next to Potter, damn), and in all the years he had observed her, he had never seen her like this and he hoped to never see her like this again.
He found himself sitting on an armchair on her side of the bed, with a fireproof coffee table and a cauldron resting on top of it, waiting for him to add ingredients. He hated the unnatural paleness of her usually luminous skin. He couldn't bear to see even more scars mar her flesh, not that he found them hideous, but the mere idea that she had suffered enough to acquire a lifetime testament to pain had his insides revolting in a mixture of negative emotions.
He wished he could have helped her throughout her obvious trials, he wished he could have taken care of her like he knew she took care of her friends. He didn't necessarily blame her famous crusading best friend, after all, he knew Hermione could be as stubborn as a mule and didn't need protection in normal circumstances. But the times they all found themselves in were certainly not normal. Every part of her body that even had the slightest hint of bone protruding where once was gentle fullness reminded him that now was a time that left even the great Hermione Granger vulnerable.
Three pinches of powdered unicorn horn followed by a teaspoon of dragon's blood, stir counter clockwise for ten minutes and then simmer for five minutes before adding milk from a mother Clovegoat (magical goat found in the clove gardens of the leprechauns), turn the fire to warm the potion and let stand for twelve hours…
Blaise was trying to remember Hermione in happier times while he brewed a powerful nourishment potion that his father had invented. He remembered when he first met her in their first year.
Blaise had been sitting quietly in an empty compartment, his stomach was fluttering with nervous anticipation of finally attending Hogwarts when in walks a young girl with wild curly hair that could be described as bushy to the untrained eye. She walked in the compartment with her back straight and half angry, half determined look in her eye searching the floor for something. She didn't immediately notice his quiet presence probably because she was muttering under her breath, "…just trying to help…not even close to a real spell…red-headed git…"
Blaise was amused and was glad to note that the bats flying around his stomach had shifted and turned into gentle butterflies. He watched as the girl crouched down and searched under the seats and then stood on her tippy toes to see into the luggage racks stationed high above the seats. She was determined, he noted with a smile.
He cleared his throat quietly, watching as she snapped out of her muttering mood and blushed a pretty shade of pink in the span of a second.
"Can I help you find something?" Blaise asked politely. She looked surprised for a moment and then smiled angelically at him.
"Have you seen a toad? A boy named Neville misplaced his pet." Her voice was sure and had a sweet quality that Blaise detected immediately.
"I'm sorry, I haven't. But I've been in here by myself the whole trip so it might still be out in the hall. Do you want some help looking?" Blaise wanted to help this nice girl out, after all she was trying to help someone else out and she seemed to have inadvertently helped him out by calming his nerves with her presence.
"Oh, well thank you for offering but I think we are almost there and we really should put our robes on. I'm sure when we get to the station Neville can ask one of the teachers to summon his pet." She headed for the door and threw Blaise one last sweet smile before closing the door behind her.
He sat for a moment in awed silence until he realized that they had not exchanged names. Later on that evening he learned her name was Hermione Granger, a newly minted Gryffindor and clearly a muggle-born. He remembered settling into Slytherin and finding that some of his old playmates had grown up to be incredible prats that wore the badge of bigotry proudly. He never said much around people like Draco or Pansy, and really only talked to Theodore Nott.
He didn't mind not having many friends, he was content to study and observe his classmates, sometimes feeling like he knew people better by watching them in their unguarded moments than if they talked to him on a regular basis. After all, people lie all the time, but their actions and habits speak volumes.
He watched all houses, all years, and all genders in his free time coming to the conclusion that everyone was a liar in some form or another. For instance, the Weasley twins put on a proud slacker front but he noted that they were often times in the library researching advanced magic. An entire House was purely comprised of hypocrites, the 'loyal' Hufflepuffs were observed whispering bitingly about their housemates and cliques were rampant amongst them. Ravenclaws often cheated on their work, intent on besting each other and other houses and living up the their historical description as the brightest of the bunch.
Very few people were consistently honest in their words and actions and those that were were placed on a special list in his mind as people that he respected. People like Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones and Dean Thomas came to mind as people that were honest and true. But the very first person he noticed for their honesty, genuineness and kindness was Hermione Granger. She quickly became a category all of her own.
From their first year to their sixth, she was honest, hard working, kind and loving. She never disliked anyone who hadn't personally wronged her or her friends, and unlike a majority of Hogwart's population she wasn't biased against Slytherins simply because they were Slytherins. She wasn't a trusting person but she was friendly with everyone that wasn't mean to her. That included himself and his fellow Slytherin housemate Theo, who were in all the same electives. Occasionally she was partnered with him in a given assignment for one of those electives and Blaise would revel in it.
Especially after fourth year when he started to fall for the brilliant witch. One such project leapt to mind.
They had been given a text translate in Ancient Runes and Hermione had suggested that they meet at the Lake with her only explanation as, "I'll bring some books from the library to help, but it's been crowded there recently." He knew she was referring to Krum and his fan club so he smiled and nodded to her suggestion.
When they met later that day after classes had let out she surprised him by being a few minutes late with her robe concealing some treat she had brought to share. She wore jeans and a form fitting hooded jumper, her hair in loose curls down her back. He noticed her hair had grown a lot since he first saw her. He smiled as she settled in next to him, opening her knapsack to pull out parchment and several books about Celtic runes. She silently handed him a couple books and a piece of parchment and cracked open her own book. No words passed between them, as none were needed.
They got to work quietly and occasionally shared the meaning of one of the more difficult runes. She handed him a silver can of something he had never seen before, and proceeded to open a can of her own and take a drink. He mimicked her movements and almost sneezed before he was able to take a sip because whatever was in the can was fizzing. He glanced at her and noticed her eyebrow was raised in challenge and a smirk was plastered on her face and decided to take a big gulp. Big mistake. He nearly choked on the burp that almost immediately came to the surface. She laughed as a small blush rose to his tan cheeks.
"What is this?" He asked her. After the initial shock of the carbonation wore off he found he enjoyed the drink.
"It's a soda. Well, diet soda actually, my mum sends me some every once in awhile and as my parents both dentists she insists that the soda be diet, as the diet version of soda is sugar free. In actuality, there is a sugar alternative in the drink but the flavor is slightly different than the regular version. I don't mind the difference in taste, I prefer Diet Coke anyway, I think I crave the carbonation. There's not enough carbonation in Butterbeer…" Hermione could ramble for days and she realized that she had been going off in a tangent when Blaise took another sip and just grinned at her with an amused look on his face.
" I like it." Blaise said simply. She beamed at him and he felt his heart stutter for a moment before picking back up at double time. That smile, that rambling speech followed by her tiny blush was the first time he realized he had a crush. Moments like that or an observation from afar, like the time she had found a first year crying in her fifth year after a lesson with Umbridge and comforted the small girl tenderly, or the time she had stood up for her friends when Malfoy tried to pick on Potter after his godfather died.
Many instances contributed to the loss of Blaise's heart to Hermione Granger, many moments, many smiles…
And here she lay, in the bedroom next to his in his family's home after a very serious brush with death. Over the years, especially in the years after he started to seriously fall for her he had to deal with the gut clenching worry of knowing she was in danger, or of realizing that she had almost died, or that she was lying in the hospital wing injured.
He remembered the terrible whispers at the end of their fifth year, stating that Hermione was disfigured, disemboweled or worst of all, dead. Of course, the whispers from a majority of his housemates were gleeful in tone at the thought that Hermione was gravely injured. It had been his worst scare in relation to Hermione's health since he had known her.
Theo had been the one to ease his mind, finding him pacing in the Owlery and telling him that he had overheard McGonagall tell Flitwick that Hermione had awoken and would make a full recovery. The relief that Blaise felt was nothing short of gargantuan, and he had finally stopped his pacing and sat down on the dropping covered floor without any thought.
He remembered with a smirk how Theo had the grace to hold in his chuckle at Blaise's reaction to the good news. Of course being a Slytherin dictated that Theo conveniently forgot to tell him that the back of his robes were very smudged with white, and the odd smell that seemed to follow Blaise was in actuality, Blaise.
Blaise laughed aloud at the memory for a moment before shutting up instantly when Hermione moved her head in the direction of his laughter. Would she open her eyes and see him? Would she be upset? Scared?
Before he could work himself into a frenzy over her possible reactions to his presence, he noticed her breathing pattern regulate and he knew she was fast asleep again. He returned his focus to the nutrition potion and lowered the flames to allow the potion to simmer and stand as was directed.
It had been eighteen hours since Hermione and Harry had apparated into his back garden, and he had been by her side almost the whole time. The only times he had left were to use the bathroom and to talk to his parents about the situation they now found themselves in. Gabe had taken the news the best, excited over finally meeting the girl that Blaise had told him fantastic stories about (the rumor mill at Hogwarts gave Blaise ample fodder and almost completely accurate information about the trio's adventures over the years)and couldn't wait to have new friends to talk to. He was enamored with Hermione and was very keen on meeting Harry.
His father was his usual calm, logical self. He insisted that the wards be checked to ensure their safety and to determine how Hermione breached the wards in the first place. All of their homes were unplottable and under heavy enchantments, to be frank the only enchantment they had yet to perform was the Fidelius Charm. Galileo Zabini could find no fault with the wards and for the first time in a long time was at an intellectual and magical loss. To be safe they decided that once their guests woke up they would place their home under the Fidelius (If they performed the charm while they slept they would be expelled from the home).
His mother acted very much like she had while cleaning the pair up, a worried motherly aura spilled from her intensely. It surprised Blaise a bit, the fact that there were no second thoughts or conflicting actions from his mother. She really meant it when she said that she would give up neutrality for Blaise and those Blaise cared for. A smile lit his face as his heart warmed with affection for his mother.
As if conjured by the power of Blaise's thoughts his mother popped in the room and glided to him quietly. She handed him a glass of strawberry-orange juice (his favorite) and ran her hands through his hair as he gulped it down.
"Thanks mum, I needed a pick-me-up." He yawned quietly into his hand as he handed her the glass back. She smiled sweetly at him and banished the glass to the kitchen with a flick of her wrist. Blaise could feel his eyelids grow heavy and he scowled in realization.
"Mummm." His words dragged with the weight of his sudden lethargy. He felt her help him up from the couch and start to lead him out of the room.
"No, mum. Not. Leaving. Her." He dragged his feet and grabbed one of the posts at the foot of the bed. He felt like a child, all but stomping his foot in order to get his way. He vaguely heard his mother huff in exasperation before helping him clamber on the large bed with his head near Hermione's covered feet.
"Silly boy. My silly little love. Have it your way, darling." And with a kiss to his forehead and a small blanket being placed over his drugged body, Blaise fell into a dreamless sleep.