Blaise Zabini was man alight with curiosity and need. He needed to know what had caused Hermione to nearly spill her coffee all over herself in fear. He needed to know why she had skipped her final year of Hogwarts to go with Harry Potter and do… what?

He had surely felt her absence in the halls and the classrooms. He had felt bereft at Hogwarts. Half of his class had been absent, hell half the school was gone and in their stead a pair of twisted siblings that got their rocks off by torturing students had filled their place. Bad trade if you asked him. No longer was he able to see her eagerly answer questions when called upon in their shared classes. No longer was he able to look forward to group projects on the off chance they were paired.

And now she was here. Happiness swelled inside him, like it did every time he reminded himself that she was actually in his home- and incredibly well liked by his family. The grin on his face slid off as he remembered exactly how he had come to find her in his home. Which led him back to the question of the hour. Why?

"Blaise, what are you doing?" Gabe asked his brother, his own curiosity evident in his voice. Gabe was sprawled on his back, his head hanging off of the bed in Blaise's room. He watched his older brother pacing silently, emotions and expressions flashing in quick succession and while Gabe found it hilarious, he was starting to worry.

"Thinking." Blaise mumbled distractedly, continuing his march around his room.

"'Bout what?" Gabe flipped over on his stomach and placed his hands under his chin.

"Hermione. I mean… why? Why did she…? And what about…?" Blaise gestured wildly, still deep in thought.

"I dunno. Why don't you ask her?" Gabe looked at his older, wiser brother as if he was crazy for not realizing the solution was so simple.

Blaise abruptly stopped pacing. His gaze turned to Gabe and for a moment his face was blank with shock. Suddenly a grin broke out and he rushed to his baby brother and dropped a kiss on his forehead before dashing out of the room in search of Hermione.

Gabe shrugged at his brother's antics and hopped off the bed in search of his second favorite houseguest. He stealthily made his way out of Blaise's room and into Hermione's, shutting the door softly behind him. He spied Harry Potter stretched out over the couch by the window and tip toed up to him, careful not to startle him. After all, Hermione wasn't here to jump in front of him.

He sat quietly next to a now shifting Harry and waited patiently for him to wake up. Well, he tried to be patient, he really did, but he was only seven after all.

"Pssst….psssst!" He found himself hissing after a solid two minutes of watching Harry sleep. A grunt was his reward.

"Harry?" He tried again softly.

"Whaaizzitt?" Harry mumbled as he struggled to open his eyes. When he finished a yawn and a good stretch he found the source of his interrupted nap. Eager light brown eyes stared up at him.

"Hi!" Gabriel grinned as he fairly bounced in anticipation. Harry awkwardly smiled back, feeling unsure of why Blaise's little brother was staring at him like he was the Holy Grail.

"Erm… Hello there, mate." Harry shifted so he was sitting and only jumped slightly when Gabe immediately pounced on the seat next to him on the couch.

"Can you tell me a story?" Gabe asked, full on puppy dog eyes going into effect. Harry melted a little and shifted so he was facing the child more fully.

"I suppose. I know some muggle fairy tales that you might not have heard of-"

"Can you tell me about your adventures?" Gabe's eyes were a mixture of hero worship, excitement and pleading that Harry simply could not deny. He could edit some of the scarier bits that had occurred in some of the most recent years, he reasoned.

"Sure thing, mate. Let's see. Well, when I got my first Hogwarts letter I had no idea what magic was or that even really existed. That was until I met Hagrid and he showed me…" The more he spoke the more he got into re-telling the tale of his life. The more he spoke the more the small child in front him became enraptured.

And that was how they stayed, just two boys enjoying each other's company as stories of adventures played through their minds.

Blaise had glanced into Hermione's room after his baby brother had clued him in that he was being daft and found only Potter snoring lightly, cuddled in a throw. After his initial disappointment on the lack of Hermione in the room he brightened when he realized exactly where Hermione would be.

After navigating the familiar path to his library he slid into the room quietly, seeing her perched at the desk he used when he was in his home library. He paused before approaching, relishing the familiar sight of the beautiful girl reading veraciously. Her long hair, looking less dull than it had earlier (before the nutrition potion was added to the eggs), her bright eyes moving speedily across the page. Her lips were occasionally moving along with a particular word or phrase that caught her attention. He smiled; the warmth was back in his chest. The warmth that he felt around her from day one.

"Hermione?" He was in front of her now and reaching for the spare chair so he could slide in across from her. He ignored her jump of surprise and made himself comfortable while she snapped shut the book she was reading.

"Hello Blaise, I'm sorry for being in here without permission. I just wandered in here and saw all of the books and couldn't help myself-"Hermione blushed, realizing that she should not have been poking around someone else's home. She was interrupted in her apology by a chuckle from the green eyed man in front her.

"Of course you couldn't help yourself, and its fine love, feel free to continue to use the library in any way you see fit." His grin was enough to set her cheeks blazing again. Despite her sudden shyness at the compliment, she ginned back at him in happiness.

She could use this little slice of heaven in any way she thought fit. Oh how her heart soared at the thought, and the smirk from the god in front of her had nothing to do with her hearts flipping about in her chest, she assured herself.

Of course not.

"Hermione?" The smirk was gone from Blaise's face and an almost vulnerable, hesitating look replaced it. Concern flooded her instantly.

"What's the matter, Blaise?" She asked gently, hating that his vivid eyes were clouded with apprehension.

"Can you… Will you please tell me what it is that you are doing and why you haven't been in school?" His words were soft and his voice was melodic, soothing.

She immediately wanted to trust him, to share with him and unburden herself. She had felt that three people- two now that Ronald had decided things were too tough- was simply not enough for a secret as large as she was carrying. Her mouth opened to spew her tale, but reason overtook her and instead she asked something that renewed her blush and her regretting her question immediately.

"Why do you have newspaper clippings of us?" She wished she had just shut her mouth, really she did.

It was Blaise's turn to jump in surprise and blush slightly, his high cheekbones stained pink in an adorable way.

"Erm…well…to be quite frank, I needed to know that you were okay." Blaise told her the truth-perhaps leaving out a bit- and Hermione refrained from questioning him on why he needed to reassure himself of her relative safety.

"Okay. Sorry, it's just that I found them and was wondering… and yeah."She finished lamely. Blaise gave her a half-grin and decided to move along for both their sakes.

"Where is Weasley?" He sure knew how to ask the hard questions, Hermione mused. Blaise noticed her stiffen and he recognized from her body language that she was angry.

"He decided that he preferred to be comfortable and well fed over helping his supposed best friends of seven years with saving the wizarding world! The worthless git left us a few weeks ago-"She stopped herself, suddenly realizing that in her anger she had given a large clue into what their activities had included. She dropped her eyes and mentally berated herself for the slip.

Blaise did not miss the reference and the theory that the Trio had opted out of school to go into hiding was eliminated as an option. He hadn't put too much stock into that one anyhow, as it was so incongruent with how he knew Harry and Hermione operated.

They did not run away from responsibility. Hermione in all aspects of her life and Harry with the responsibility that the Wizarding community of Britain had thrust on his shoulders from the time he was a baby.

"I want to help, love. Any way that I can, I want to help you and Harry." He reached across the desk and stroked her cheek softly, enjoying the smoothness of her soft skin. Her eyes bounced up to meet his after being startled by his touch.

His eyes were entrancing, a dark ring of green around the edges of iris lightened into a brilliant indescribable shade that had her heart racing and her mind deliciously blank. So blank was her usually active mind that she hardly noticed that she had leaned into his touch and was now relishing the warmth of his hand cupping her cheek.

Blaise for his part was in seventh heaven. He had wanted to touch her so badly during the study sessions they had shared when assigned a partnered project. True, he had somehow ended up snuggled up to the lovely witch this morning, but had been separated so abruptly he hardly had a moment to enjoy it.

An immeasurable amount of time passed before Hermione realized she had been leaning forward slightly, almost as if she was waiting for a kiss, and the sudden thought had her shaking her head as her own fantasies got away with her. Blaise smiled shyly and placed his hand on the desk and sat quietly waiting for her to respond to his offer of help.

"Help? You want to help us? But you are! Just by letting us stay her for a bit and allowing me access to your library, you are helping in a way that no one has." Hermione's words were honest and earnest and she hoped that it would satisfy Blaise. It did not, and she saw that his shoulders slumped slightly, the smile turned self-depreciating.

"I understand." He really did understand; she was unsure if she could trust him and until she could he was left without any way to keep her safe. He started to rise but her hand gripped his forearm and he sat back down.

"It's not a question of trust or unwillingness on my part to share. I believe I can trust you, and I am never wrong about that sort of thing. But Blaise, what we are doing was meant to be kept secret from even the most trusted of comrades." She paused, apparently thinking hard about something.

All the while she ruminated over whatever was going on her head she traced circles onto Blaise's arm, which she hadn't let go of.

"That isn't even really why I hesitate to tell you. After all, the only other person that knew of our…mission… abandoned us without so much as… never mind. I just don't want anyone else to be in danger because of this. Harry was right. We are Undesirable Number One and Two and anyone associated with us or found to be helping us is by association in danger. "Her voice was near trembling with conviction and worry.

"I don't care." Blaise said simply, truthfully.

"I do. I don't want you in danger." Hermione had stopped tracing and was now gripping his hand in hers.

"Why?" The rapid question from Blaise had Hermione replying before she had time to censor herself.

"Because I care about you!" She nearly shouted.

"You do?" He asked in surprise. He knew she cared about almost everything and everyone but the way she had said it made him hope for something he had rarely ever allowed himself to hope for before.

"Yes." She whispered shyly, but firmly.

He wanted to grin but he was still nagged by his original purpose.

"So do I. I care about you and I hate seeing you in danger. I need to help you in more ways than just letting you read my books." He squeezed the hand that she had grabbed and still held.

Hermione knew in her heart that this-whatever it was- was different from anything she had felt before. She knew that he was sincere and genuinely felt that he needed to help her. She also realized that if she did allow him to help it would lead her something she wasn't sure she wanted during a time of war and crisis. But steeling herself from Blaise's hopeful smile and beautiful eyes was proving to be one thing she was incapable of doing.

While she contemplated the ramifications and after a stray fantasy had slipped into her mind she found herself rising and entwining her hand with Blaise's so she could help him up.

"Where are we going?" Blaise asked as they walked out of the library doors. He tightened his grip on her hand and noticed a smile on her face bloom in response to the gesture.

"To talk to Harry. This is not only my choice, you know." She teased. He felt like skipping- if only there were a reasonably manly way to skip- but opted instead to quicken his pace, practically dragging her behind him. Her laugh made him laugh.

He found Hermione's door and pushed it open quietly, hoping not to startle Harry awake and cause a bad reaction-again. Hermione bumped into a suddenly still Blaise and let go of his hand in order to brace herself using his –rather toned- back for support.

Her hands fisted in his t-shirt to keep her standing after the shock she received at the sight in front of her.

Harry Potter was darting around the room, brown throw covering his head and acting as a hooded cloak. He leapt behind couch, ducked and then jumped back around to act like a giant beast. Gabe sat in the middle of the floor, enraptured in the tale that Harry was relating to him.

"The dragon was coming for me, its tail swinging and getting ready to kill me. I used the summoning charm-"He paused and stuck his wand out in demonstration of his fateful first task of the Triwizard tournament. "I waited and waited, dodging fangs, fire and horned back-ends!" He crouched low to the ground and performed a roll while he was at it.

"And then?" Gabe asked excitedly, his body practically vibrating with it.

"And then-"He cut himself off abruptly, finally noticing Blaise and Hermione staring at him with amusement. Hermione could barely contain her laughter, while Blaise was noting that someone who would entertain Gabe so enthusiastically couldn't be all bad-even if he had slept next to Hermione.

Harry blushed harder than Hermione had ever seen him blush before and he cleared his throat in embarrassment while whipping the throw from his head to the couch.

"Erm… Hermione, Zabini… Gabe wanted to hear a story…" Harry muttered weakly.

Hermione took pity on him and swallowed her laughter. The reason for their sudden entrance helped her effort and she quickly got a hold of herself.

"Gabe, do you think Harry could finish his… story telling a bit later? I need to speak with him about something very important." Hermione had planned on asking Harry about Blaise being let in on the Horcrux secret with Blaise present as well, hoping that Harry could see his sincerity as much as she could. Suddenly the idea seemed like a bad one.

Harry would not only be put on the spot but Hermione could not tell Harry about some of the… feelings… she had been having in front of the person she was having them about, now could she?

During Hermione's musings Gabe had stood reluctantly, but after a promise to continue later from Harry himself he grinned and was leaving the room before Hermione stopped him by calling out,

"Take Blaise with you, will you sweetheart?"

Blaise looked confused as Gabe pulled him out of the room by the hem of his shirt, but Hermione just smirked and waved pleasantly at him before she shut the door behind them.

She cast a silencing and impenetrable charm on the room before she took Harry's hand and led him to the couch.

She resisted the urge to wring her hands in anxiety and instead took a breath and blurted out,

"I think we should tell Blaise about the Horcruxes."

"What?"

A/N- Please review with your thoughts/reactions : )