A/n: Here I am again! I know, these updates are too far apart for how short they are, but really, my original goal was short chapters with frequent updates. Trust me people, I am trying to update as quickly as I possibly can! Thanks to my beta ashash2009!
Bambi: Well, here's more!
Draco had been considering the situation surrounding Hermione all day. She was still so terrible afraid and careful around people that it was sad to watch. Even in the two classes he had with her it was obvious that she was uncomfortable, and Weasley had not been present in the last one today. Blaise had commented on this dilemma twice now, and the blond was beginning to wonder who close to the truth his friend would keep guessing.
His unfocused grey eyes stared off into the distance as he thought. It didn't take a genius to know that Draco Malfoy had absolutely no idea what was going on around him. Zabini had thrown a dinner roll at him that barely missed, and Malfoy took no notice. The boy was now snickering with Pansy Parkinson, who still couldn't figure out what exactly had his attention either. She knew he was looking in the general direction of Gryffindor table, but couldn't pinpoint who he was watching. It definitely couldn't be the Mudblood, could it?
Blaise however was slightly more informed, and knew exactly who his friend was watching. He had been speculating all about Granger since lunch, and now that dinner had come around, it seemed he was watching her and her dear little Gryffindor friends.
Finally, Zabini nudged him enough to draw his attention. The blond glanced over skeptically, "What?"
He rolled his eyes. "Oy Malfoy, you have been staring at Granger the entire meal. Can you be even more obvious?"
Draco shrugged, "I'm watching."
"For what, to see if her pumpkin juice poisons her and she falls over dead?" Blaise took a bite of the chicken he was eating. "Staring at Granger isn't going to make the situation between you three any better."
Draco frowned. "Three? You can't possibly be including Weasley too."
"Oh, but I am." Blaise grinned at his friend. "Weasley is playing just as much a role in this game as you two. Whatever he does, you stop. He attacks her and it gets to you. There are three pieces in that puzzle, you see." He took another bite of food, "Granger is the unwilling participant. The attacks come at her, and you reject them. Weasley gets at her, and you step in between. It's an interesting little set up actually."
The blond scoffed. "You noticed all of this from this morning."
"Since potions," Zabini corrected, watching the table as well now. "It seems that you have put a very strong wall up around her since our ginger friend decided to… attack her in public, I guess that's what you can call it. Weasley seems to have noticed that you will get in the way during the day, as well."
"I suppose," Draco grumbled.
"So," Blaise continued, ignoring the irritated tone in his friend's voice, "What exactly happened to cause the Weasel to become so violent towards his girlfriend?"
Draco paused. Granger had begged him not to reveal anything about what had happened, and although he had kept his promise thus far he was tempted to indulge the Italian with tales of the twisted mind of Ronald Weasley. After all, Blaise had a warped sense of humor, and could always come up with some interesting things to throw at the redhead
Besides, if Granger was still dating the bastard, he would personally have to kill her. The girl would be a complete idiot! Who continues to date the man that rapes them, especially if they have an outlet? In this case, it was Draco himself, because he knew about the things that had happened between the two Gryffindor's. There was absolutely no excuse for Granger to be putting herself back through that kind of emotional hell.
With a jerk of his head, he decided Blaise could be an interesting ally. He didn't necessarily need to tell Granger immediately that his best mate knew about the most horrifying moment in her existence, but he would tell her… eventually, once she calmed down from the event in general.
Blaise caught the hint and stood quickly, Malfoy following behind. They had just started walking when Pansy spoke, "Where are you two going?"
Draco barely spared her the time to reply. "We are off to talk to Snape," he replied evenly, before leaving without her reply. The pair was nearly out of the hall when a group of three exited before them; the blond duly noted the discomfort evident on Granger's face as she walked beside 'Ronald'.
As they passed each other, Weasley glared at the blond. "Malfoy."
"Weasel." He wasn't looking at the ginger however, but the girl between the two males who was nervously playing with her fingers. The boy beside him noted this as well, and glanced between the three faces.
"How are you Granger," Blaise asked kindly, catching the three off guard. Blaise had never particularly targeted them for torture like Malfoy had, but he was still notorious for belittling Gryffindor's before the war. There hadn't been any rumors about that since the school had reopened and resumed, however.
She glanced between the two boys, wondering why Draco's friend suddenly seemed so very… friendly. Placing a fake smile on her face like she had been doing often lately, she replied, "Just fine."
The Italian could already hear the strangeness in her voice. If he recalled, Malfoy had always ranted about Granger having a very snobbish-attitude and witty comebacks. Obviously, Weasley's abuse had done more to her then he was originally led to believe. If there is any abuse here. He could just be tormenting her… I guess.
Although she had been quieter in class recently, he had not noticed these differences there. Granted, he rarely noticed the girl at all unless Draco was mumbling about 'dirty little Mudbloods' or something else to that degree during meals.
"You look a bit pale," he continued, edging into what he could only guess to be questionable territory. Immediately, three very different reactions happened; Granger tensed, Draco twitched, and Weasley clenched his hands.
Interesting. He noted that Potter looked just as out of the picture as he felt. Apparently, they were both out of this little game, at least for now. Well, we'll see. I may get to know more then our dear little 'savior'. He almost chuckled at this thought, but stopped himself.
"Yes," she said, looking more worried now then before, "I have been feeling ill." It didn't look like even she believed that, but she said it anyways.
Zabini's eyebrow rose as Weasley reached over and snatched up one of her hands, stopping her obsessive finger movements. It had appeared that she was pointing at something for a bit, until her fingers started dancing all over out of anxiety, and he gave up thinking she was signaling something. However, the grip Weasley had on her hand looked a tad too tight, even from the distance between them.
"Yes," the redhead said, looking pointedly at Malfoy now, "we were all going up to the common room to rest for a while, before Hermione goes to sleep." The girl's eyes were masked, but Blaise got the feeling that it didn't mean anything good.
"Ah, good then," Malfoy replied coolly, watching Potter blink again, thoroughly confused. "I'm heading to my room to study for a while, so I guess we are going in the same direction."
"We are going to Gryffindor common room," Ron hissed, pulling on her harm.
"I see," Malfoy replied coolly, remembering to keep his temper down. Anyone with eyes could see she was in pain, but he was not going to jump to her rescue just then. He wanted to see if Saint Potter would catch anything odd.
The dark haired boy's eyes were watching his two best friends warily. "Ron," he said finally, "I think you are pulling a bit hard."
Weasley dropped her arm entirely, face masked. Hermione grabbed her opposite arm and held it against her body in what appeared to most as her just folding her arms against her chest, but Zabini thought it looked more like a cradle for the very red skin. He frowned.
This seemed to satisfy Potter that she was no longer being pulled on, and he stopped worrying entirely. "Come on, lets go," he said, turning and walking away. It was strange enough to have a conversation with Malfoy around that didn't involve insults, but one where his friend was concerned about Hermione? That was too weird.
The trio turned then and departed, Granger barely sparing a glance back at them. Malfoy caught her eyes and was surprised to see the same blank, disbelief that he had seen the morning after the attack.
Why would her eyes be nothing but blank disbelief now? She was going off with Potter, so Weasley couldn't possibly try anything on her without another person seeing. Despite Draco's belief that he had a low IQ, even the Weasel wasn't that stupid.
The two watched the Gryffindor's go; ignoring the odd looks they had been receiving from exiting students. When they were finally out of site, Blaise grabbed Draco's shoulder. "Now what did you want to talk about?"
He shook his head sternly. "Not here."
The Italian was staring at Malfoy in disbelief. "He wouldn't Draco; that's low, even for Weasley."
He frowned. "Despite your 'disbelief', I did see this with my own eyes. It's twisted, and although I am not supposed to be talking about this, I am. I don't think Granger is going to get any better if she just parades around with Weasel and Potter like nothing is wrong. One of them assaulted her, and the other is oblivious to that bloody fact."
"Then what do you propose Malfoy? The girl is obviously not going to accept help, and it doesn't seem like she wants it. If she did, she would've told someone."
He shrugged. "I'm not certain Blaise. I've never dealt with this before! I don't know how people react to this, but I don't think Granger's reaction is so different from everyone else's."
"Then what Malfoy? You are going to help her get better? You're going to spend the time to make sure she is alright? That doesn't sound like you – to make a commitment. I've never known you to follow through with anything, even being a Death Eater was something you seemed to struggle with."
Draco clenched his jaw. "That's completely different Zabini. This is a choice; that was a childhood mistake."
"That was two years ago! Only one, if you count until the war ended." Blaise rolled his eyes, waiting to see what his blond companion would say next.
The boy sighed. "I don't know Blaise. I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do. She isn't my problem; I know that. I could just as easily turn her over to Potter with a story and let her explain all by herself, and get myself out of this mess." He turned and punched and nearest thing, which happened to be the wall; he bit on his lip hard to fight the instant throbbing in his hand, "but I fucking can't."
The darker boy inclined his eyebrow, interested. "Why not? Like you said before, Granger can be out of your hair almost instantly if you drag Potter into this. It's her own problem whether or not he believes her."
He groaned. "I know! But I feel I must help the… the fucking Mudblood!"
Blaise noticed his hesitation to call her that, but didn't say anything. He was obviously quite torn over the entire topic. "But why?"
"Because," Draco said, falling back onto his bed with a huff, "I can't get her expression out of my mind. Whenever I see her I can remember the pain and the terror on her face and it's haunting me. I can't stand it! Weasley did this yes, but it shouldn't be bothering me so much. I did my job getting her out of the situation, and now I've done more then I need to by helping her in class. It's too much! I'm too engrossed in this problem for it to be healthy."
"You are," Zabini agreed. "but at least you don't leave her on her own."
He sat up, "Weren't you just agreeing with me that I should dump her at Potter's feet and be done with this?"
The Italian shrugged, grinning. "I was just asking questions to see your responses, Malfoy."
The blond glared. "That's not why I brought you into this Zabini."
Blaise inclined an eyebrow, "Why then?"
With a sigh, Draco spoke, "If I am so bloody stuck on this problem, then I'm going to need your assistance to make Weasley's life hell."
A/n: What do you think Blaise/Draco are going to come up with? Let me know in a review!