Author's Note: Hmm… I don't think I have much to say. I just want to thank you guys for sticking around for so long. I can't believe it's already been eighty-nine chapters. And to think I started this with the intention of writing a short story to help get rid of writer's block on Vengeance…

Chapter 89

"Let me go—I have to go!"

Fred and George each grab one of my arms, yanking me away from the exit of the hospital wing. I woke up a few minutes ago, and I immediately tried to leave—Draco will try to save Blaise, and if I can't persuade him not to go, I at least want to be able to help him.

"Harry told us not to let you go anywhere," Ginny repeats apologetically.

"Did he say why?"

Fred sighs. "Can you make our lives easier and just stay put, Hermione?"

They set me down on my cot, and I glower at them.

"Everyone's already on edge as is," George says. "We don't need you panicking, too."

"Just let me go, then. I won't be here to distract you anymore."

"Harry said to Stun you if need be," Fred says.

He's bluffing, right? Harry wouldn't…

"Are you really going to force us to do that to you?" he finishes.

"You don't understand. I have to—"

But an explosion from the grounds interrupts me, and all four of us rush to the window, looking outside worriedly. There's a large puff of smoke in one area over the grounds, and jets of light fly out of it sporadically, indicating that at least two people are dueling.

"Who could that be?" Ginny asks.

"Not a Death Eater—they're on the grounds already," Fred observes.

Taking advantage of the distraction, I rush toward the exit and hear one of the twins—probably Fred—curse. I make it down the hall and race for the stairs, all the while hearing their footsteps behind me. As I move through the castle, I note that most people in the castle actually didn't hear the explosion. Only the ones closer to our side heard—some of them are gathered by the windows, watching nervously.

I get out to the grounds and head toward the fight. The smoke has cleared, and I see that Daphne Greengrass is there, defending herself against Terry and Charlie. Blaise is lying on the ground a few feet away, and a small group of former students are moving in the same direction as I am—toward the fight.

I run straight for Blaise, who's on the ground. Greengrass casts a spell at me, but I block it and drop to my knees beside Blaise.

"Stop fighting! Stop it!" I shout.

Charlie stops and lunges to the side to hold Terry's wand arm to the side. Greengrass' wand is still up, and she's clearly poised to strike.

"What happened to him?" I ask her.

"I don't know. The Dark Lord hit him with a spell that I didn't recognize," the blonde replies.

I immediately flick my wand to lift Blaise up. "Follow me inside," I tell her.

"Hey—" Terry begins.

"Fred, George, watch her and make sure she doesn't act up," I say to the twins, who arrived shortly after I did.

I rush back toward the castle—if Voldemort aimed a spell at Blaise, it can't be anything good. I hear Greengrass' footsteps close behind me.

"How long has it been?" I ask.

"No more than three minutes."

If his aorta, or any other major blood vessel, was severed, then he'll have bled out already. I pray that the spell Voldemort used wasn't the one that Bellatrix had used on me.

Flanked by Greengrass, Fred, and George, I reach the hospital wing and call out for Madam Pomfrey. She appears almost instantly and ushers us out of the room before getting to work on Blaise.

"What are you doing here, Greengrass?" Fred asks.

I start to sneak down the hallway, but George snatches my hand, and I look up at him exasperatedly.

"Doing a favor," Greengrass responds.

"Do you know where Draco is?" I ask her.

Fred and George both stare at me, and I realize that they have no idea what's happened between Draco and me. I don't want to explain, so I don't acknowledge them.

"He…"

Her voice fades, and my heart sinks.

Then she frowns. "What's it to you?" she asks.

"Never mind. Tell me how you got to Blaise—were you the one who told him where he was?"

"You—" she begins, surprised. Then she asks, "How much do you know?"

I groan. Way to make things complicated. I'm going to throttle Draco when he gets back. "The favor you mentioned—Draco asked it of you, right?"

Greengrass nods. Fred, George, and Ginny are looking back and forth between us. They aren't following, but they seem to trust that I will explain everything to them later.

"Only Death Eaters can open prison cells," I say. "You're not a Death Eater because you crossed our boundary, so how did you get to Blaise?"

I have a sinking feeling that I'm not going to like the answer.

"Draco opened the door himself," Greengrass says quietly.

I close my eyes. "And if he's not back right now, that means he's…"

"I'm sorry," she says.

I take a deep breath and open my eyes to look at her. "Do you have any way of finding out—"

She shakes her head before I finish asking my question. "It was already a huge, huge stretch to get to Blaise, and he's not even top priority. Draco's betrayal… the Dark Lord won't let him get away with it. Not now that he's in his grasp."

"There has to be something."

Finally, George speaks. "Hermione… why are you so concerned for Malfoy?"

"Shut up," Ginny says. "I'll explain it to you later."

So maybe Ginny's heard that it was a Love Potion. That's a relief.

"I'm sorry, Granger," Greengrass says. "He's not coming back. He acted really confident about getting back safely, but we have to be realistic."

I swallow hard. "Let's make sure Blaise is okay. Um… where's Harry?"

"We already told you—he left to take care of the Horcrux," Ginny replies.

I nod. "Okay. We'll just… wait for him to come back, for now. I'm gonna go for a walk."

"Don't you think that's just a smidge too obvious, Hermione? We're not oblivious," George says.

He still hasn't released my hand, and when I try to take a step farther down the hall, he tightens his grip and pulls me back.

"I won't go anywhere," I say.

"Well, not without us, you won't," Fred says.

"You two should keep an eye on Greengrass, make sure she isn't—"

"We could just take her with us," Fred says. "You're just going out to stretch your legs anyway, right?"

I sigh. "Fine, I won't go anywhere," I say, giving up for the time being. I conjure myself a chair and take a seat.

"I think we've pissed her off, we have," George comments.

"Oh dear, will she ever forgive us?"

"Knock it off, you two," Ginny says, moving over to me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

I'm trying to think of something I could do for Draco. There has to be something. But even if I know he's in Dartmoor—which I can't even be sure of, because Voldemort could easily have moved him by now—I don't know exactly where the camp is located. I would need someone to lead me there…

I glance over at Greengrass, who's just staring at the door to the hospital wing. Maybe she'd be able to take me. But we'd have to get past Fred and George first.

George conjures a chair and sits beside me. He puts a hand on my shoulder, and I look over at him.

"I don't know what's going on between you and Malfoy, but I'm sorry you've got to worry about him," he says.

George was always the more sensitive of the two.

"If you guys would just let me go…"

"Harry said it was really important that you didn't go anywhere," Fred says.

So is Harry in on it, too? Why would Draco tell Harry and not me?

I let my head fall into my hands, and George pats my back gently.

About half an hour later, a very disgruntled Madam Pomfrey throws open the doors to the ward, and all of us look in her direction.

"He insists on speaking with you, or he won't take anymore treatment," the nurse says.

"He's probably talking about you, Hermione," Fred says.

"He wants Miss Greengrass," Madam Pomfrey clarifies.

Greengrass heads for the door, and then I hear Blaise's voice.

"Hermione?"

"You too, then, Miss Granger," Madam Pomfrey says.

I get to my feet and follow Greengrass into the ward. Madam Pomfrey shuts the doors and bustles back to Blaise's bedside.

I notice that the curtains are drawn around a cot on the other side of the ward—I hadn't paid attention when I was in the hospital wing earlier, mostly because I just wanted to get out. But it's not Lupin. Fred told me that Madam Pomfrey allowed him to move out to Tonks' room, in Hufflepuff Basement.

Then Blaise's voice catches my attention, and I look over at him.

"Hermione, I—"

He cuts himself off with a hiss, shutting his eyes. Madam Pomfrey is applying a gooey substance to his bare chest, and I take a few steps closer to the cot.

"How are you feeling?" I ask.

"Fine," he says.

The nurse snorts. "If this is fine, then death is just a bad hair day."

Blaise ignores her and says, "Daphne?"

"I'm here," Greengrass says.

"Does anyone know you're involved?" Blaise asks, wincing as Madam Pomfrey slathers more of the paste on.

"What happened to him?" I ask when Greengrass doesn't respond.

"He—"

"Not important," Blaise interrupts. "Daphne, answer me."

"No," she says. "Just the people here, and Draco himself."

"Then your family should be fine."

Greengrass nods, and when I look in her direction, I notice that her eyes have welled up.

"Can… can I talk to him without you here?" she asks me.

I start backing away, toward the exit.

"No—don't go anywhere," Blaise says.

"It's okay," I say. "I'll just—"

"Humor him," Madam Pomfrey says. "If he gets stubborn with the medicine again, I'll have to Stun him. And that won't be good for him."

I stand there awkwardly, looking between Greengrass and Blaise.

"It's been too long," Greengrass says softly.

"It's been a while," Blaise agrees.

Greengrass moves over to the cot slowly.

"Don't distract me," Madam Pomfrey warns.

"Can you just tell us what happened to him?" I ask her.

"There appears to be a kind of creature inside him—I've restricted its motion to his abdomen."

Blaise sighs.

"How is the paste going to help, then?" Greengrass asks.

"The important ingredients seep in through the skin to kill the creature."

I shudder. "What kind of creature is it? A snake?"

"Similar."

"I don't feel it much," Blaise says.

"You have a decent poker face, Mr. Zabini, but I know you feel all of it. Don't lie to these young ladies," Madam Pomfrey says.

"Would it help for him to be unconscious?" I ask.

"Not much. He'll either dream of being in pain, or the pain will wake him up."

At these words, we fall silent.

"Hermione…" Blaise says, "don't worry too much about Draco."

"How can I not—"

"He wouldn't step into a trap without a plan to get out of it."

"I don't care what he's planning. Plans go wrong all the time."

"Draco has really good luck."

"He can't just bank on being lucky," I say, sitting down on the next cot. I let my head fall into my hands and groan. "I can't even do anything to help him, not without finding out where he is."

"Hermione, just—"

"Greengrass," I say, looking up. "Could you—"

"Do you think they'd let me go anywhere?" she asks, gesturing toward the doors. Then she adds, "On second thought, would they even let you go?"

"I could use a Disillusionment Charm, and you could—"

"Don't, Hermione," Blaise interrupts me. "If you show up, you'll just distract him."

"They've also probably moved him by now. The Dark Lord knows that Blaise knows where he was."

"There has to be someone we can go to. I don't believe that the Death Eaters don't have a weak link," I say.

Greengrass only shakes her head.

"Who is keeping you from leaving?" Blaise asks me.

"Fred, George, and Ginny."

"Why?"

"Harry said not to let me leave. It makes me think that he's in on whatever Draco's planning."

"It's not impossible," Blaise says. "But it's not very likely that Draco would share ideas with Harry."

I sigh.

Then Greengrass asks, "Are you in love with him?"

"No. I just… I'm really worried about him," I reply, taken aback.

I hadn't ever expected Greengrass to be so straightforward.

"No need to spare my feelings, Hermione," Blaise says. "You can tell the truth."

"That is the truth," I insist.

"Always in denial, aren't you?" Blaise says softly.

Greengrass looks between Blaise and me with an inscrutable expression, and I wonder what's on her mind. "Blaise," she says to get his attention.

His eyes shift in her direction, and he winces as Madam Pomfrey starts rubbing the paste away with a damp cloth.

"I did get what I deserved, in the end," he says.

Her eyes tighten. "I didn't mean that."

"Yes, you did. And you were right."

I sense that this is a private conversation and get to my feet. "I can leave," I offer.

"Don't. This isn't a secret," Blaise says.

And it isn't. I'd heard about Blaise's conquests during school, the most famous of which was Daphne Greengrass. He'd spent months wooing her in sixth year, the longest he'd ever spent on a single person, possibly because she'd been completely uninterested in him.

But of course, once she consented to dating him, they were together for about two weeks before he left her.

"Can we talk later, Blaise?" Greengrass asks. "You need to rest."

"I'm fine," Blaise says.

Then Madam Pomfrey gets to her feet. "The pain will last overnight," she says. "At the very worst, it'll last until noon. If you're still in pain at that point, we'll be in trouble. I'll remove the creature in the morning—it's too early to go in right now."

Blaise nods.

"You two girls should leave now," the nurse says to us. "Let him rest."

"Just a few more minutes," Blaise says before either of us can speak.

"Fine. It's your health, not mine," Madam Pomfrey huffs.

She leaves the ward and closes the door to her office.

"Hermione," Blaise says, "if I were you, I'd try to get to Draco's house. Harry might be there, and you'll be able to talk to him. If anyone can convince him to talk, it'll be you."

"I just… they don't even want me to leave the castle," I say.

"Then take… but shit, they can't get in. Fidelius Charm," Blaise realizes.

"I guess I could take Ginny."

He nods. "I'd go myself, but—"

"I wouldn't let you. Not when you're like this," I say. Then I turn and head for the exit—I have to start moving, or I'm pretty sure I'll go insane with worry.

"Just promise me something," Blaise says.

I turn back to look at him as I reach the doorway.

"Don't put yourself in danger needlessly," he says.

"I'll be the judge of that."

He lowers his voice. "Please, Hermione."

I nod. "All right, I'll be careful."

With that, I walk out of the room.

Author's Note: I'm aware that this chapter wasn't quite so exciting. Sorry about that! Anyway, I'm really curious to hear what you guys think will happen next. But just to let you know, I've already written out the next few chapters, so what you guys say most likely won't change the direction this is going in.

Thanks for reading! :)