Anyone But Me

Chapter Thirteen

Hermione's mind finally registered the danger she was in. It had taken a moment for it to catch up with what was happening to her but she instinctively bit down on the palm that was smashed roughly against her mouth. She didn't bite hard enough to draw blood, though she did think about it. So far there was no reason to seriously injure anyone, even if they were attacking her from behind. Better to let their Head of House decide the consequences once she was able to get away...

Her mind ran through all of the self defense moves she had learned from the books she had studied up on the summer after Third Year. The summer she had realized that her life was going to continue to be anything but ordinary because of her association with Harry. When her attacker wouldn't let go she slammed the heel of her left foot onto their toes.

He cried out, "Holy Harpies Granger. I just wanted to talk!"

She whipped around and pointed her wand at his throat, ready to cast Stupify if she needed to. Slowly her eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the alcove and she glared at the shadowed figure of Blaise Zabini. "What in the actual hell do you think you are doing?!"

He raised his hands, showing her that he didn't have his own wand handy and was telling the truth about his intentions before he reiterated, "I just want to talk..."

She lowered her wand but kept it ready at her hip as she glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching. A newly acquired nervous habit since hanging out with Slytherins had become a current part of her life, apparently. When she looked back at the womanizer standing in front of her she raised an eyebrow. "You do know asking to speak to someone works much better than trying to kidnap them right?"

"I was not trying to kidnap you. I just had something I needed to say and I didn't think you would show up to any type of summons from me." Blaise answered in response to her sarcasm.

She bowed her head in acknowledgement that his guess rang true. She wouldn't have met up with him, especially not in a private setting. Her first thought would have been it being a trap or even worse... An attempt at getting into her panties based on inaccurate assumptions from last night. "You have my attention. What did you need to tell me that you were desperate enough to attack me in the middle of the night?"

He winced at her assessment of his actions, but did not argue with her. Most likely because he knew that she spoke the truth. She watched as uncertainty overcame his features, not a trace of the usual bad boy playfulness to be found. He cleared his throat and looked her in the eye for the first time that night. "I wanted to apologize for Sue's behavior last night."

What? Had she heard him correctly? Was a Slytherin actually admitting to wrongdoing, much less against her? Merlin... Things were just getting weirder and weirder. Her eyes narrowed in unearned suspicion at the sincerity found in his words.

"Ummmm... Okay?" Hermione said brilliantly.

"Look... I get it. I do. She was a horrid little wench, okay? And I just want you to know, I informed her of such after you left. Told her I would never entertain such trash... And I could not stand the thought of you thinking I would condone behavior like that. I mean, I know what you must think. Just because I am a Slytherin I do not have limits and I could not blame you for that notion, considering... Everything! But I do! I used to tell Draco and Pansy to leave you alone all the time, not that it ended up doing any good... I guess, I just wanted you to know that we are not all horrible conniving prats you know? I honestly did not know who you were. I wasn't a part of any conspiracy against you. I swear... Look at me rambling on, I am going to quit talking now." He rushed out guffawing at himself at the end.

Once again she found herself overwhelmed by the straightforward sincerity. She doubted that she had ever heard so many words said to her by a Slytherin without there being an insult thrown in. Draco hadn't even been able to say that much without having to turn to silence to stop himself from returning to old habits. And this was the first time she had heard mention of a conspiracy? She couldn't stop the smirk that crossed her lips as the Twilight Zone theme song started to play in her head. It triggered Blaise to think that she had not taken his words seriously, so he went to start up again...