"So you want to tell Blaise Zabini about the secret mission that Dumbledore set us because he seems loyal and is smart." Harry surmised skeptically.
Hermione had just finished going through her reasoning for allowing Blaise to take on a more hands on role in helping, but when Harry said it like that…
But she was resolved.
"Harry, he isn't just smart, although he's probably smarter than I am and we can always use more intelligence-" Hermione was interrupted by Harry's scoff of disbelief.
"No one alive is smarter than you are, Hermione." Harry was referring to Dumbledore of course.
"Oh really, Harry. I am not the smartest witch alive for goodness sake! Frankly it would be nice to have someone else be able to pick up some of the slack in the brain department, no offense to you of course."
"Oh, of course not." Harry sassed.
"You know what I mean. He's a pureblood who may know things that that would take weeks of research to figure out!" Hermione argued.
"We had a pureblood and he didn't know anything more than you did." Harry reasoned.
"The key word there was had. Ron left." Hermione's voice still shook with anger every time she spoke of him. Harry looked down, clearly trying to hide the hurt and anger that lay behind his eyes from Hermione.
If Hermione ever saw Ron again, oh what wouldn't she do to the little slimy slug of a man. It was one thing to hurt her, but it was another to hurt Harry, her brother, her friend, a man who had been hurt enough to last ten lifetimes. Ronald Weasley was a dead man walking.
"And let's just be honest, he didn't know much about anything. Not anything that didn't involve those dreadful Chuddly Coffins anyway." Hermione waved her hand around dismissively.
"Cannons." Harry laughed. Hermione gave him a single look that read: does it look I care what the bloody hell they are called?
Hermione was still wearing the pajamas that Alana had helped her into, and Harry hoped that she wouldn't be asking for them back because Hermione was abusing the hem of her tank top with all of the twisting and picking of threads she was doing. He raised a brow at her in a clear command to just get on with it.
"Harry… I- well I- Look, I have gotten to know him over the years and I really think we can trust him." Hermione kept her eyes trained on a stray piece of lint on her silky pajama bottoms.
"Why?" Harry wanted to know why she trusted him. Hermione growled in exasperation before standing up and starting to pace, gesturing animatedly when she spoke.
"The first time I met him, on the very first train ride to Hogwarts, he offered to help me look for Trevor when no one else did. He helped me pick up my books a few times when Malfoy and his followers would knock them down when you and Ronald were not around. He would get books down for me from the high shelves after I fell once from the ladder in front of him. He brought Crookshanks back to me whenever he would visit Opal, Daphne Greengrass' cat. He always shares his Chocoballs with me when we work together on group projects, and I know he is addicted to those things so it must have been hard to share, I wonder how often he has to go to the teeth healer. He has always been kind to me and he smiles at me more often than he smirks. He tried muggle soda and candy with me. He carried my bag sometimes in third year, you know when I was taking all of the subjects, before I learned the feather light charm. He-" Hermione was in mid-ramble when she heard her name being shouted.
"What, Harry? Was yelling really necessary?" She stopped her pacing so she could glare at her best friend. Harry wore an alarming smirk.
"Well I had been calling your name for the past two minutes and you still didn't pause for breath, so yeah, a shout was actually very necessary." His smirk widened and a knowing gleam shone in his emerald eyes.
Hermione didn't like that look one bit.
"You fancy him." Harry sing-songed. Hermione flushed deeply, shaking her head and spluttering.
"What? I do-"'
"You do!" Harry laughed loudly. Hermione watched his laughter and couldn't muster up the indignant emotions she normally would. She liked that he was laughing, and she was too old to play the whole, 'no, I don't!', 'do too', 'do not!' game.
"Fine." Hermione whispered, looking away from Harry's grinning face. Harry stood up and put his hand behind his ear, cupping it to taunt Hermione.
"What was that?" Harry prompted. Hermione's glare could light a man on fire.
"I fancy him. Okay? I fancy Blaise Zabini!" Hermione was never more grateful for the extensive privacy spells she had taken to using, than she was at that moment.
Harry was smiling at her genuinely and she took it as a good sign.
"Since when?" Harry wondered aloud.
"I don't know. He's always been in the back of my mind. He was so nice, so different from the other Slytherins. I always kind of noticed him, I mean I'd have to be blind not to, he's bloody handsome isn't he?" Hermione felt relieved to finally share her fascination with the Slytherin in question with someone. She had never trusted Ginny enough and before this, Ron would have blown his top and Harry might have followed him. Now things were different. Ronald was no longer a part of them, and Hermione doubted he ever would be again. Harry was much more reasonable and understanding without the idiot yammering in his ear.
"I think it was after the Viktor debacle. Viktor liked me and I liked him but not like I liked Blaise, so we became friends instead. I didn't even really let myself think about it, I just knew that it wasn't fair to Viktor and then we got busy and it got hard anyway-" Hermione was cut off before she could really get into her rambling tendencies.
"Okay, okay, I understand." Harry was shaking his head ruefully at her.
"We can make him vow not to tell anyone or betray us in anyway," Hermione proposed seriously. Harry's smile dropped and he looked at her in disbelief.
"You want him to make the Unbreakable Vow?"
"No! There are other ways to make a vow, ones that don't involve instant death if broken, Harry!"
"Oh." Harry looked relieved. "See? You are the smartest witch alive!"
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"So what do you say?" Hermione probed, searching his eyes for the answer. He sat back down carefully and leaned back against the comfy cushions. Hermione perched next to him nervously, bouncing her leg in anticipation.
Harry let out a sigh.
Hermione huffed.
"Oh, fine." Harry acquiesced. Hermione laughed in relief and plowed him over with a bear hug.
"I'm sure we won't regret this Harry!" And Hermione meant it. She had a good feeling about this, and her gut was never wrong.
"Can we do all of the explaining and vowing later though? I want to finish telling Gabe about the Tournament, you see. We were just getting to good part." Harry mussed his hair in embarrassment.
Hermione's eyes watered a tiny bit at the question. Deep down, Hermione felt like Harry did, in love with idea of a younger sibling. For him it must be compounded by the fact that he literally had no family that loved him left. If he wanted to spend time with Gabe instead of rehashing their pitiful existence the last few months, she would let him.
He deserved to be able to enjoy himself. And she deserved a nice, long bath.
"Tell Blaise if you see him that we'll all talk after dinner, then. I'm overdue for a bath." Hermione fairly flew to the wonderful bathroom she had used earlier, excited to submerge herself in fresh, clean scented water that was not freezing cold and carrying floating bits of algae.
"Have fun with the little monkey!" She called over her shoulder, before shutting the bathroom door with child-like glee and enthusiasm.
Quickly selecting strawberry and vanilla scented bubbles she bounced in anticipation, waiting for the pool to fill. She stripped faster than she ever had before and nearly jumped in, submerging herself fully and staying under the blissfully warm water for a full minute.
She loved being beneath warm water, it comforted her beyond anything aside from her parents arms, and she felt safe and at peace. At least until her lungs started burning. The bubblehead charm took the fun out being underwater in the tub, at least for Hermione, so she never bothered with it.
After enjoying the feel of being completely submerged under the water, Hermione decided to just relax and let the muscles that had knotted months ago loosen and finally feel some relief. Her shoulders were fraught with tension and nothing soothed better than a nice bath.
Her head rested on the edge of the tub as she closed her eyes and allowed the wonderful feeling and scent wash over her. It smelled so very lovely, like a nice big bowl of cream and juicy red strawberries…
"Hermione, dear?" A voice caused Hermione to jerk awake in surprise and accidently loose her footing and slip under the still deliciously warm water. She returned to the surface sputtering, turning towards the door that showed Alana Zabini in all her regal glory.
Still hidden beneath the bubbles and the edge of the tub, Hermione only felt the need to duck slightly. She had been forced to lose a fair bit of her modesty by being on the run with two boys, but another woman (a beautiful woman, at that) was still a bit intimidating for her.
"Yes?" Hermione had finished hacking water out of her lungs and was now wondering what was going on.
"I'm sorry to just burst in here dear, really, it's just that dinner will be served in half an hour and the boys elected me to make sure you hadn't accidently drowned in here." Alana closed the door and walked towards the toilet to set a nice fluffy towel and robe on the closed seat. She also set down Hermione's beaded bag with a wink.
"Your friend Harry informed me that you might be needing this." She gestured to the bag that Hermione had forgotten in her haste to get into the tub.
"Mrs. Zabini?" Hermione started, only to be cut off.
"Alana, love, please call me Alana." She smiled warmly.
"Alana, how long have I been in here?" Alana laughed in response.
"According to Harry, about four hours, hence the intrusion, love." She continued to laugh lightly at Hermione's widening eyes. "How about I leave you to it then. See you soon." With a parting wave Alana exited the room and shut the door quietly behind her.
Hermione wasted no time in jumping out of the tub, immediately grabbing her wand to Vanish the water and clean the vacated tub as she began to towel off and get ready for dinner.
Ten minutes later she exited the bathroom, clad in a pair of worn but clean jeans and a burgundy v-neck long sleeved cotton tee. She remained barefoot, relishing the soft carpet the covered most areas in the Zabini home. She worried only for a moment if she was underdressed and whether walking around barefoot was proper, but dismissed it when she saw Gabe barrel towards her with a throw around his neck like a cape, Harry hot on his heels with Blaise laughing at the pair that entered before him.
All three looked disheveled. Harry's hair was messier than usual and Blaise's feet were as bare as hers. Suddenly she felt like the best dressed of the entire lot.
The boys lit up with smiles at the sight of her and Gabe nearly knocked her over with his hug.
"Missed you, Mia. Let's eat!" Gabe grinned up at her before grabbing her hand and pulling her behind him. She tossed Harry her bag, knowing he's want to change out the borrowed flannels before dinner and then latched on to Blaise so that Gabe was now towing two people behind his adorable young self.
Blaise interlaced their fingers, inciting a blush from Hermione. Harry noticed the subtle move and smirked at the pair. He would be having words with Blaise later; that was for certain.
xx-xxx-xxx-xxx-x-x—xxxxx-
Dinner was so much more relaxed than breakfast had been and it showed. Galileo was continually pausing in the middle of eating- and talking- to jot down potion notes and general ideas. Alana gently corrected Gabe- and the rest of the table- on table manners, and mothered Harry and Hermione by refilling their plates as soon as the pattern of the china became even remotely visible.
Harry had taken a seat next to Hermione who had chosen to sit next to Alana, so he had a clear view of Blaise and Gabe and conversed with them about quidditch and spells that could be used for pranking.
Alana offered to have Hermione and Harry's clothes laundered (paid house elves) and returned to them and Hermione readily accepted. Before she was ready for it to end, so caught up in the wonderful food and relaxed atmosphere, dinner was over.
Alana had risen first, helping Gabe out of his seat so that he could bathe and go to bed and Galileo had followed his wife, muttering about hellborne and goats bile.
"Your room, then?" Blaise asked Hermione. He had already shown Harry to the room that was across from Hermione's as well as Blaise's. The 'blue room' was now solely Hermione's. Harry had been happy to have his own space but smiled inwardly when Blaise had offered it to him. He had paused in thought and saw the anxiousness in Blaise's eyes before 'relenting' and taking the room. Even now, Harry caught himself shaking his head in amusement at the memory.
Hermione nodded and rose from the table, butterflies battling in her stomach.
After everyone had filed in and taken a seat, Blaise on the couch next to Harry and Hermione sitting cross-legged on the bed, Hermione waved her wand around the room, putting up powerful silencing and keep-out charms.
"Blaise, Harry and I have come to an agreement. If you want to help and know about our mission and all that it entails, we first need you to swear a Vow that you will never tell a soul about what our mission is and what our plans are." Hermione looked at Blaise very seriously.
"Will Harry be the Bonder?" Blaise asked with no hesitation. Harry looked confused.
"No, Blaise, we won't be performing the Unbreakable Vow tonight." Hermione reassured him, though he obviously had no problem with making the Vow.
"You'd make an Unbreakable Vow to help us?" Harry asked incredulously. Blaise just smiled in response.
"I added on to an existing Secret Keeping spell. Instead of becoming tongue-tied and possibly swallowing your tongue if you try and tell the secret, I made sure that the person making the promise merely loses his memory of the secret and all things pertaining to it." Hermione explained. Harry looked impressed and Blaise smiled brighter.
"Blaise, please take my left hand with your left hand." Hermione had her wand poised and her hand extended. Blaise quickly followed her instructions and had his wand in his right hand, mimicking Hermione's pose.
"Touch the tip of my wand with yours, please." Hermione's voice had taken a serious quality and it echoed around the room and forced everyone to feel the seriousness of the situation. When Blaise's wand tip touched Hermione's a small golden glow erupted from the touching tips.
"Blaise Zabini, do you solemnly swear to keep the secrets that will be shared with you from everyone excluding Harry Potter and Myself, Hermione Granger?" Hermione asked.
"I do." Blaise replied quickly, but seriously.
"And do you swear that the information given and shared will never be used by yourself to harm, betray, maim or kill Harry Potter or myself, Hermione Granger?"
"I swear it."
"So you have sworn it, so shall it be. " The joined wands began to glow purple and Hermione began to chant in a language that neither boy recognized. A sharp pain in his left hand had Blaise almost letting go of Hermione but she held him fast.
A single drop of blood slithered from their joined hands and Blaise understood that his hand had been cut and his blood had mingled with Hermione's to seal the Vow. She hadn't flinched when he had, only pausing when her chant was over and the purple light had shot out and circled the three, seeming to be dancing and then drawn in to the teens.
With a sigh, Hermione let her wand fall from its poised position and quickly flipped Blaise's hand in her own to heal his cut.
"Sorry, Blaise, I had actually forgotten the cutting bit. Seems silly really, because I based this all off of Blood Magic, but there you have it." Hermione was blushing in embarrassment, clearly uncomfortable with having forgotten something magic related, especially as she herself had created the spell.
"No worries, love. " Blaise grinned down at her, amazed at her talent. Harry smirked at the pair and cleared his throat, breaking them from their intense gaze.
"Shall we discuss why we just had this nutter cut himself in the first place?" Harry joked. Blaise shot him an amused glance.
"I am not a nutter, thank you very much." Blaise smirked.
"Mate, you must be nutters to volunteer to help in what Hermione and I have to do. But I guess that makes you our nutter now." Harry laughed.
"Regardless of who may or may not be a nutter, we do have to deal with the mission and let Blaise know what that entails." Hermione spoke up, anxious to get the worst over. Harry nodded and began to explain to Blaise what Dumbledore had told him.
"I know about Horcruxes, and I know how they work and how to destroy them, so you can skip that if you want." Blaise threw in. Harry's eyes widened and he turned and blinked at Hermione.
"Told you." Hermione smirked at Harry, knowing he was amazed that Blaise knew about Horcruxes when that particular Dark Art had been somewhat forgotten and obscured in time.
"How do you know about them?" Harry questioned, half suspiciously. Blaise rolled his eyes.
"Have you met my father? He is very interested in theories, old magic and anything related to anything that requires potions. He also theorized that You-Know-Who had made at least one horcrux." Blaise explained. Harry's face relaxed but he furrowed his brow.
" You should call him by his name, Vol-" Harry was suddenly hit with a powerful tongue tying curse, in tandem with a silencing charm for good measure.
"What was that for?" Hermione jumped up from her perch at the end of her bed, wand already performing counter curses.
"It's Taboo! I have never had a problem with saying his name, but no one can say it anymore without alerting a dozen death eaters, ready to capture and kill!" Blaise stressed. "Im sorry Harry, but it was the only way I knew to make sure you didn't finish saying his name."
Harry looked shocked at the revelation that Voldemorts' name being spoken aloud would trigger such a response.
"I have only heard of a name being Taboo once in the last three centuries. Dark wizard in the 1700's. Demitri Langley. Where we derived the tongue-tying curse from- Langlock." Hermione shared. Harry smirked at her, as she once again proved that she was indeed the smartest witch alive.
"So saying his name is out of the question, I vote for Moldywarts as a replacement. "Harry grinned at Hermione's scowl.
"I second that." Blaise interjected. Hermione rolled her eyes at the pair, muttering 'boys' under her breath.
"Moldywarts, it is. Back to the problem at hand, Moldywarts created seven horcruxes, which we were tasked to find and destroy. We have one, have destroyed three others and have only clues as to the other three. "Hermione surmised. Harry looked pensive, the usual face he adopted when trying to decipher what the other three could be.
"Seven? That makes sense, seven is a very magical number, I suppose if you were bound and determined to create a horcrux you might as well go full stop." Blaise mused.
"I suppose." Hermione understood that Blaise was thinking in strictly hypothetical terms.
"You destroyed three? What were they?" Hermione proceeded to explain about the lessons that Dumbledore had given Harry; Voldemort's history and his obsession with the Founders.
"So far, the Diary and Gaunt Family ring have been destroyed. If Dumbledore's theory was correct, then I destroyed another when I killed Nagini." Hermione explained. Blaise nodded thoughtfully and Harry gave Hermione a pat on the back.
"I'm so glad that snake is dead." Harry murmured, remembering the dreams he had had about its eating habits.
"You said you had one more? One that hadn't been destroyed?" Blaise questioned intently. Hermione exchanged a look with Harry before reaching beneath her neckline and pulling out an intricately engraved locket. Blaise involuntarily leaned back from the necklace. How had he not noticed the necklace before? He had seen Hermione topless and still had not registered the piece of jewelry that was radiating evil.
"Take it off, Hermione. Take it off now!" Blaise commanded. Hermione found herself obeying, not fully understanding why he was so vehement.
"What's going on? We have been taking turns wearing it to keep it safe until we can destroy it. We cant afford to lose it!" Harry stood from his seat on the couch, ready to snatch up the necklace that Hermione had laid on the bedspread. Blaise moved to intercept him.
"Have you been short-tempered, fatigued, prone to anxiety or depression since you have had it?" Blaise questioned seriously. Harry rolled his eyes.
"We've been on the run, mate, of course we've experienced all of that. Living in a tent in the middle of nowhere with little food, warmth, hope and company will do that to you." Harry explained as if speaking to a child.
"No shit, but being in close physical contact with a horcrux will exacerbate the feelings. Not only that, it drains the magical core of whoever is handling the horcrux physically. It could eventually lead to possession of the person by the fragmented soul." Blaise had started pacing, unaware just how shocked he had left Hermione and Harry.
"Bloody hell." Harry sat down heavily on the couch, looking pale and upset. Hermione shook her head at her own stupidity.
"Of course it would, the diary possessed Ginny, why didn't we think of that!" She berated herself.
"We need to destroy it, immediately." Blaise continued pacing, oblivious to the looks he was receiving.
"We would, but we don't have a means of destroying it. Even if we had basilisk venom, simply pouring it over the locket will not work. I read that Fiendfyre is another way to destroy a horcrux, but with cursed fire being so hard to control…" Hermione trailed off. Harry had his head in his hands, ashamed of their lack of progress and all that he had not done and had not thought of.
"I know how to conjure and control Fiendfyre. " Blaise had finally stopped pacing and waited for their reaction. Fiendfyre was considered Dark Magic, and he worried that Hermione would think less of him.
"You can? Brilliant!" Hermione jumped up and hugged Blaise out of pure happiness. She squeezed his middle tightly and Blaise had no choice but squeeze her shoulders in return. She stepped away from him and bounced on the bed almost giddily.
"That's Dark Magic, correct?" Harry asked bluntly. Hermione looked down but Blaise kept his eyes steady as he answered Harry in the affirmative.
"You use Dark Magic regularly?" Harry stood again, clearly not sure how to handle the situation. He had just opted to trust a Slytherin that openly admitted to using Dark Magic.
"Magic is magic, Harry. Light and Dark do not truly exist. I used a so called 'light' spell, a simple cutting charm, to kill Nagini. Fiendfyre was once used to blacken the earth in order for disease to be killed. " Hermione spoke so softly, Harry had to strain to hear her.
"All magic is based on intent. If you wish to harm, you are wielding Dark Magic, If you wish to protect then it can be considered Light Magic, even if it is a 'Dark' spell." Blaise added, relieved that Hermione was on the same page as far as Dark and Light Magic was concerned.
Harry once again sat down heavily, looking as if his entire world had just been thrown off-kilter. In a way, it had been. He was in the process of examining and reordering the theories that Hermione and Blaise had just presented him and came to conclusion that they were right.
"I'll bet if Dumbledore had thought this way, he wouldn't be dead right now." Harry shook his head in sadness.
"I'm sure he did believe this, but think of the position he had. People fell in line like sheep behind Dumbledore. Perhaps he felt that leading by example would keep people from using 'Dark' spells in an evil way. Better to act as if the Dark Arts were overall evil, than risk people using them and not being able to control their own emotions and intent. A scare tactic if you will, scare the sheep into believing the hype and stigma associated with Dark Spells and they will stay away." Blaise theorized.
"Makes sense," Hermione nodded thoughtfully at Blaise. Harry, meanwhile was just wondering if he ever really knew his headmaster at all.
"Speaking of Dark magic…erm… I think perhaps it's time to change our strategy a bit. Overall, I mean. " Hermione was watching Harry's reaction closely. She realized he was sensitive to his perceived shortcomings regarding the Horcrux hunt and did not want him to think she was belittling him or his efforts.
"Go on, Hermione, you know as well as I do that I had no strategy." Harry gave a half-hearted smirk.
"Well, I was thinking that we should start fighting fire with fire, so to speak." Hermione paused and gathering courage from a smile Blaise threw at her, barreled on. "We have been using jelly-leg jinxs and tickling charms against our enemies, and what happens? They perform the counter charm and send back Unforgivables. How much sense does that make?"
The boys watched her pace, both starting to understand where she was going with her train of thought.
"Kill or be killed?" Harry questioned quietly.
"That's not exactly what I mean, but if necessary, yes. What I mean…what I believe, is that we need to learn more powerful spells, we need to learn more 'Dark' magic and use it when we need to."
Blaise was nodding his head in agreement while Harry was mulling over something that he caught from her speech.
"You said we need to learn 'more' Dark magic. Have you been trying to learn Dark magic before this?" There was no serious judgment in Harry's dark green eyes, only curiosity and a hint of hurt at his friend keeping secrets from him.
"Yes." Hermione locked eyes with Harry, refusing to feel ashamed. She knew that up until this very night, Harry would have reacted terribly to the knowledge that Hermione was teaching herself about every facet of magic, including Dark magic and Blood Magic (which some considered worse than Dark magic). She had not wanted to alienate her naïve friend, so she kept her secret close to her chest.
A silent conversation flowed between the best friends, only ending with a sigh of acceptance from Harry and a hesitant smile from Hermione.
"So its settled? We learn more magic? All types?" Blaise asked the duo. They nodded in unison, reminding Blaise strangely of the Weasley twins.
"First order of business, however, should definitely be destroying the locket." Blaise stated emphatically.
A/N- So yes, here is another one. Trying to write ahead of the postings but im not having too much luck. I do however the next chapter ready to post when I am satisfied that ya'll are enjoying the fic, which will be revealed to me by… reviews! SO PLEASE REVIEW!
ANY QUESTIONS/COMMENTS/ IDEAS PLEASE LET ME KNOW!