Chapter 29

"Hermione!" Blaise squealed as he ran through the Great Hall towards the Gryfindor table, waving his arms around like an idiot.

The curly haired girl looked up and chuckled at the sight. He sat down in front of her and shoved an envelope in her face. She took it from him and laughed.

"What is it?" She asked passing the Slytherin a cup of water, to help him catch his breath.

"M-Mcgonnagall gave it to m-me." Blaise panted before taking a huge gulp of water.

"Why do I need it? She gave it to you!"

"It's from Draco."

Hermione looked from Blaise to the letter then back up at Blaise, who chuckled at her reaction.

"Well go on then!" He urged gesturing to the envelope. "Open it!"

"Is this a joke? Because it's no very funny." The Gryfindor huffed as she slid her plate away from her.

"No, honest, it's not a joke!" He turned the envelope over and showed her the handwriting. "Do you really think I could write like that?"

The Gryfindor smiled before ripping open the letter. There were two separate letters: one addressed to Blaise, the other to Hermione.

She handed Blaise his letter, but he put it to one side and waited for Hermione to read hers. She sighed and read it aloud, so Blaise could hear.

Granger,

How are things? It's been a while, I know. But I hope my absence hasn't been too hard on you!

McGonagall tells me that Blaise has been looking after you for a couple of days. Which actually surprised me to start off, but the more I thought about it - the more it assured me you were in good hands!

From what I have been told, the nurses here have made little progress on finding the cause of my unusual condition. I think they're calling in a muggle-born to make an analysis, but from what I've been told, the nurses here have made little progress on finding the cause of my unusual condition.

Try not to worry too much about me, I am fine. Honest!

Love Draco.

Hermione smiled weakly at the letter, taking in everything Draco had told her. Calling in a Muggle-born? Why would they need do that? Madame Pompfry herself said that St. Mungo's was full of highly experienced nurses, so why can't they determined the cause of his partial memory loss?

"Well that was..." Hermione sighed as she took a sip of her drink.

"Odd." Blaise finished, earning a puzzled look from the Gryfindor.

"I was going to say vague, but you seem to have noticed something I didn't."

The Slytherin cleared his throat and thought something over in his head before speaking up. "I agree with you about the vague thing - Draco has never been one for giving as little detail as possible, except from..."

"When he's hiding something." Hermione concluded finally grasping on to what Blaise had pointed out. "But why would he do that?"

"Ah! Well! You see, I don't think he was hiding anything."

"Blaise, you're confusing me - and that's saying something!" The curly haired girl placed her head in her hands. "Explain your reasoning."

"Read the letter again. Do you notice anything, say, odd?" He watched as she picked up the parchment and read the letter again.

It didn't take long for her to realise what Blaise had been trying to point out. He had written the same thing twice! Draco never does that. In fact, he's so careful, he re-reads everything ten times, just to be sure!

"Oh dear Merlin!" The Gryfindor gasped, trying to find the right words to say. "But? How? Why? Blaise..."

"You see!" He said with a shocked tone to his voice. "I told you something was odd."

"But... He..." The girl stammered still struggling to find the right words.

"Always checks his writing like, I don't know, ten times - if not more! So it's highly unlike him to make a mistake this big." He paused and glanced wearily at the curly haired girl, who was on the verge of pulling her curly locks out of her scalp. "I mean, what if..."

"Don't..." She began, raising a hand to silence the boy. "Just..."

"Stop? Yeah, you're right. I'm thinking too much into this - it's probably nothing."

The two of them sat in silence, listening to the mixture of voices that rang throughout the Hall, echoing off the stone walls. Hermione tried her best to think about something else, but nothing seemed to knock Draco's strange behaviour out of her head. She watched as Blaise leant down towards the surface of the table and began repeatedly bashing his head against it.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Hermione's interest was suddenly piqued as one particular voice became audible within the loud grumbling of the other students. Pansy Parkinson.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The Gryfindor Princess strained her ears to try and hear what the pug-faced bitch had to say. However, she had no luck.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

"Blaise!" Hermione hissed, causing the boy to stop hitting his head off the table top.

"Sorry. I got... Bored." He replied hesitantly.

"Bored? You got bored so you bash your head on the table!?"

"Sure! Let's go with that."

Hermione rolled her eyes with a slight chuckle, before an idea came into her intelligent head. "Blaise, didn't you get a letter off Draco too?"

"Oh yeah! I forgot all about it!" He pulled the envelope out from under his arm, turning it over to read the address. "Oh!"

"Oh?" The girl repeated. "What do you mean oh?"

"This isn't from Draco - at least I don't think it is." He handed the sealed letter to Hermione.

She looked at the handwriting, comparing it to the handwriting on her envelope. Blue ink instead of black, but all in all it was the same handwriting. She handed him back his letter and shurgged.

"It's Draco's handwriting." She said leaning forward slightly. "Maybe he ran out of black ink?"

Blaise laughed. "Draco. Run out of black ink. Honestly woman, you call yourself his girlfriend!"

"No, Blaise. I have never called myself his girlfriend!"

"Oh. Well. You should! I mean, seriously! How long does it take two people to become Dramione?"

Hermione felt herself blush and she quickly tried to change the subject. "Well? Go on then. Open it!"

"Oh yeah! Right."

He egerly ripped open the envelope and unfolded the parchment inside. Hermione watched as the expression on the boys face changed dramatically. He covered his mouth with his hand, trying to suppress what Hermione hoped was a laugh.

"Oh. Dear. Merlin." He gasped through his hand, his eyes almost popping of his head. "Oh. Dear. Merlin."

"B-Blaise?" The Gryfindor questioned, her voice getting caught in her throat. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"We need to find McGonagall. Now!" The Slytherin stood up and began rushing out of the Hall, with a rather confused Hermione trailing behind.

She reached out and grabbed his wrist, causing him to stop and look at her.

"Let go!" He groaned, trying to pull his wrist free.

"Show me the letter." The girl insisted, refusing to release his arm.

"I think it's best if you don't see it." He said slowly, making sure to emphasise every word he uttered next. "At all."

"What! Why not?" She exclaimed, letting go off Blaise's arm. "I have as much right to see that letter than anyone else in this damn school!"

"I don't know..."

"Hand it over!" She held out her hand and to her surprise, Blaise gave her the parchment. "Surely it can't be..."

No words could describe how Hermione felt as she read the words on the page. What she had thought to be a letter turned out to be two words scribbled on a page. Two concerning words.

She looked from the paper, then up at Blaise, unsure of what to believe. This wasn't real. Was it?

"Please tell me..." Hermione was on the verge of tears as she clutched the parchment tightly in her hands. "Blaise?"

"Hermione, the letter, it is real. Draco, well I'm not too sure what's actually happening, but all I know is that we need to show this to McGonagall!" He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Can you hold on just a little longer? For me?"

The curly haired girl nodded and Blaise smiled before turning and running off in the direction of the Headmistress' office.

Hermione stood there for a moment staring down at the two words on the paper. If she wasn't worried before, she definitely was now. The only words that were scrawled out on the page in big capital letters:

HELP ME!

Hermione heard Blaise shouting her from down the corridor, she quickly wipped away any stray tears that might have slipped down her rosy cheeks and set off running towards McGonagall's office.

Draco was in danger. And Hermione had no intention of resting until he was safely back in Hogwarts. She didn't care what she had to do to make sure she and Blaise succeeded, she would not give up hope!