Author's Note: Why hello there! I've had a hectic week, and it sounded extremely relaxing to come home and just edit another chapter instead of study, or work on problem sets… so that's what I did! And here we are now.

Chapter 82

The Imperius Curse really is powerful. I hadn't come into contact with Rowle for such a long time, yet he was still completely under my control. But then again, he's not known for his willpower.

He still never fails to surprise me with his ineptness, though. A Death Eater of his status would surely have much better mastery of magic and spells. I'm sure even Ron Weasley would be able to create a Portkey with no problem.

As the embers in the fireplace slowly die out, three consecutive pops warn me of their return.

"Any luck?" Blaise asks me.

I nod. "I have to speak to you, alone."

"I had a feeling you'd ask for that."

"He wouldn't say anything to us about it," Hermione says, throwing Blaise a reproachful look.

"Because he's my mate before yours," I say, grinning. "What I've got in mind will most likely work, but I have to talk it through with Blaise first before sharing it with you two."

"Why?" Potter asks. "What do you have to say that we can't hear?"

"It would really speed up the process if you didn't question me every step of the way."

"I don't like all this secrecy. You always operate as though you can't trust any of us."

"Because I can't trust you," I say without thinking.

He frowns at my words but doesn't reply. Then I notice the disappointed look on Hermione's face, and my chest twists painfully. Fuck, I usually don't speak so quickly.

"It's okay," she says, stepping toward me.

Did she just read my mind? I know she can't get in.

"I'll teach you to trust me," she continues.

I fight the urge to grimace. Trust her. I want to, but I don't feel like I can. I haven't truly trusted anyone since Blaise turned his back on me. If my best mate couldn't keep his promise to me, how could anyone else?

She reaches up and puts a hand on my cheek. Potter coughs once, and she pulls her hand back slowly, still looking at my face.

"Good luck with that," Blaise quips. "I've known him my whole life, and he still hardly trusts me."

"That's because you're a snake like me, and I know that we can't be trusted," I retort.

He only grins in response.

Potter heads for the kitchen. "Come on, Hermione. Let's go pay a visit to Ron together," he says.

"Fine," she says, turning away from me to follow Potter. As she reaches the kitchen door, she turns to look at me and smiles. And then she's gone.

"Bedroom, then?" Blaise says.

I turn to see that he's already standing in the doorway, waiting for me. I walk past him into my room, and he pulls the door shut.

"So, you've finally done it, have you?" he says.

"Done what?" I reply, feigning ignorance.

"Let's not draw this out. You know what I'm talking about."

"All right then. Yes, I've done it."

"Why do you still have to hurt her like that, then? Don't tell her that you don't trust her, even if it's true. Why would you do that?"

"I wasn't thinking," I admit. "But we have more important things to talk about."

"Right, like me giving myself up as you," Blaise says.

"I suppose that much was obvious."

He nods. "It's the only way. Of the two of us, you were the one Hermione chose. And we both know we can't leave her alone."

I frown. "You're not going to die, Blaise. Rescuing you is the most important part of my plan."

"Now that I didn't expect."

"You're still my best mate. I can't just let you die for me."

"But if you try to rescue me, then you'll die too."

"I—"

"How the hell do you plan to find me? And once you find me, you'll have to get past sentries and any extra Death Eaters who could be keeping an eye on me. And Voldemort himself might even be there, seeing as I would have been pretending to be you."

"I have it all figured out. Trust me."

He shakes his head. "No. There's no way," he says skeptically.

"What if I said that I went for help? That's what I did the past half hour. I spoke to some people, and they can make it work."

Blaise frowns. "So… Theo, then? You're risking his life as well?"

"Blaise, all of our lives are on the line anyway. But no, Theo won't be involved in the rescue. I have other plans for him."

"Sometimes I feel like I've got you all figured out, but when it really comes down to it, I don't understand what the hell goes on in that head of yours," Blaise says, shaking his head. "I want to hear the whole plan. Don't just tell me my part. I know you're perfectly capable of handling the whole picture on your own, but I just want to see what you've figured out."

Should I tell him everything? No. Not everything.

He sighs. "Just tell me."

"I think I know the location of another Horcrux, so while you're giving yourself up and Voldemort is distracted, Theo and I are going to get that Horcrux. Then we're gonna go to the prison and free Frank Longbottom. If we have him on our side, we can be sure that Neville Longbottom won't betray us again. I suppose we could look for Jordan and Spinnet while we're at it, but I doubt we'll have time for that."

"That sounds… reasonable."

I grin. "When have I ever been unreasonable?"

"Well, you haven't told me the rest of your plan yet. How are you going to get me out? Who could possibly help you?"

"Daphne."

Blaise immediately stiffens at the mention of her name. "Why the fuck would you get Daphne involved in this?" he demands.

"She's still in love with you. I figured we could use someone like that."

"That is wrong."

"It's not as though you ever truly cared for her," I prod.

"Don't go there."

"I already did. What're you going to do about it?"

"I don't want her to be in on this."

"Too late. She already is."

"She could die."

"True. But I have a bit of news for you, mate. We could all die."

"But we all chose to participate in this fight. Daphne—"

"Do you think I coerced her into this? Once she heard that it was you who would be in trouble, she said that she'd do it."

Blaise falls silent, and I decide to give him some time to mull it over. This part of the conversation definitely isn't over yet.

"You had no right," he finally says.

I smirk. "So you do care for her, then."

"I feel guilty, all right? There. You happy now?" he says, glaring at me. "I don't like this idea because I was a dick to her in school, and I don't want her to put her life on the line just because I might be in danger."

"Might be in danger? You will be in danger," I say. "That is a fact."

"That's beside the point. I don't want her to risk her life for me."

"But she wanted to do it. I gave her a choice."

"You knew she would do it, Draco. Just because—"

"That doesn't mean I didn't give her a choice," I interrupt him. "I listed her options, and she chose the one that would save you."

He falls silent again and starts pacing back and forth, fuming.

I grin. "It's interesting to see you with a conscience. Do you feel guilty toward all the girls you mistreated in school?"

"Shut up, Draco."

"Still a bit touchy, are we?"

"What exactly is she going to be doing?" he asks.

"Not much. She'll give you your location, and I'll get you out of there."

"How would you—oh. I see."

"Do you?"

"Communimency."

"Precisely."

"But you'll have work to be doing. You can't come over into my head," he says. "It'll render you useless."

"I won't be the one using the spell."

"Who else—" he begins, but he pauses for a moment. Then he says, "You don't honestly think she'll go for that, do you?"

I'll admit that it's a stretch.

"If we say that it'll save your life, or that it'll extend the amount of time we have, it won't be difficult to persuade her," I reason.

"All right, fine. Say that you can find me. That doesn't mean you'll be able to rescue me. If Voldemort discovers that I'm pretending to be you, he'll probably expect you to come for me."

"I'll have Theo drop the bomb that the Horcrux is missing. I'm sure Voldemort will be distracted enough by that to let us slip by," I reply.

"And what exactly is the Horcrux, this time?"

"An earring."

Blaise frowns. "How could you possibly know that he would choose an earring?"

"It followed the same pattern as the last Horcrux," I explain. Telling him the truth will speed up the process. "He demanded that I retrieve the object for him, and then he gave Macnair the task of hiding it."

Retrieve the object. I just referred to Seamus Finnigan's head as an object. My mind is getting more and more fucked up.

"All right, then," Blaise says, accepting my theory. "So let's sum this up. I'll give myself up. You and Theo will fetch the Horcrux and rescue whoever you can. Daphne… how will she know when I've been captured?"

"You don't have to know that," I say tiredly. "It doesn't matter. I have it taken care of."

"Fine. She'll tell me where I am. You'll come to free me. And that's it? Do you honestly think we can circumvent this so easily? Voldemort could just as easily return to Hogwarts as soon as he discovers that we're missing."

"Well, we'll have destroyed another one of his Horcruxes. And I'm sure that even he can't split his soul over ten times," I say. "So we should be able to kill him for good."

Blaise laughs humorlessly. "If we could kill him at all, that is."

"True. I'm pretty sure the prophecy said that Potter would have to be the one to kill him. I don't know how the hell he's going to manage that."

"It doesn't matter, for now. We'll take these things one at a time," Blaise says. "Let's share our thoughts with those two, shall we?"

I nod. "After you."

He takes two strides over to the door, pulls it open, and exits the room. I follow after a moment's pause, calculating. Blaise is right—Voldemort could return to Hogwarts, and this time, he won't give us a warning. He won't let us bargain for their lives. It'll be a massacre. We have to avoid that.

One thing at a time, Blaise said. It might help some people to think that way, but not me. I've already got a few possibilities in mind for our next steps…

Author's Note: I have to admit that it's getting harder to write Draco's perspective, because I don't want to give everything away just yet, but the people involved and the pieces of the puzzle are all in his head, which is what we have access to. But I did have a bit of fun writing Blaise and Draco's conversation here (:

By the way, this chapter marks 40 chapters each for Draco and Hermione! The extra 2 chapters were from Frank's memories, and that's why the grand total (so far) is 82.