Granger's Wolf

Unexpected Sacrifice

They expected Blaise to return before night, and instead, they had been nervously waiting for almost two days. Also, having nothing else to do made the wait worse. What if he'd failed? What if he'd been caught? They would all be doomed. If the death eaters invaded his mind, Blaise would be killed, and Narcissa would be moved to somewhere else, somewhere Draco wouldn't know, and he would never be able to rescue her, and Hermione would be forever in his debt.

Naturally, Draco was in a much worse state than Hermione. But Hermione found herself genuinely worried, more than she should be, and she didn't understand why. She busied herself with her research on Horcruxes which she had been ignoring for a while, and it made her feel guilty. She picked up from where she'd stopped before her capture, and Hermione made progress. She could feel that she was close to something.

Hermione considered sending a Patronus to Harry and Ron to tell them that she was fine and would find them soon, but she didn't want to get their hopes up; she could die or be captured again while attempting Narcissa's rescue.

Minutes before the midnight of the second day after their visit to Knockturn Alley, they heard a faint crack of apparition, then Blaise stood in front of them. He was clearly injured, but, thankfully, nothing too serious. He had bruises and scratches, and a seemingly broken nose. His clothes were bloodied, but he looked okay.

Draco walked toward him in swift strides and angrily shook him by the shoulders,'What took you so long? I was so worried! I thought you were dead!'

Blaise flinched, then smirked,'Didn't know you loved me that much.'

Draco hit his right arm lightly, and Blaise flinched again.

Draco, concerned, forced Blaise to sit on the coffee-colored sofa and called for Baloo to heal him, then asked, 'What happened?'

Blaise sighed, 'Nothing much. It's just that I underestimated the enemy.' Then he procured three flasks from his robes, and each contained a few hairs.

Draco asked, while inspecting the flasks' contents, 'What did you do to the guards?'

Blaise shrugged, 'Killed them.'

Draco seemed okay with the revelation. Hermione, however, was shook by how easily they regarded murder. She understood that they had had to kill in order to save their skin, and that was bad enough. But to say it, and accept it so casually was worse.

Draco seemed to notice her discomfort, and smiled apologetically. But Hermione found that disgusting; to smile as an apology for accepting murder, and looked away, making sure that he knew just how unacceptable that was.

'How are you two going to save Narcissa?' Blaise asked while Baloo was healing his bruises.

Draco and Hermione filled him in, and Blaise grew more and more worried with each passing minute. When they finished he shook his head disapprovingly, 'That's foolish and dangerous.'

Hermione nodded sadly, 'We know, but there is no other way.'

Blaise stared at Hermione for a while then asked her, 'Why are you helping, Granger?'

The question caught her off guard. She didn't know if her former answer was still fully true. She didn't know if "paying him back" was the only reason anymore. But she had been ignoring the issue. She answered uncertainly, 'Draco protected me. I have to help him.'

Draco snorted and Blaise seemed disappointed. And she didn't understand why.

There was an uncomfortable silence before Blaise sighed and asked, 'How can I help?'

Draco shrugged, 'Just make sure they don't arrest us when we tell them she's escaped.'

He looked at Draco thoughtfully, 'I helped you to come here, didn't I?'