Invisible

"What are you doing all by yourself in the library with no book in sight to show the usual signs of studying?" said a soft, masculine voice with a hint of a foreign accent directed towards the young lady in the very back of the school library.

"I'm...I'm thinking about things," the girl in the corner replied as she sniffed and quickly wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her school robes, hoping to be discreet in the eyes of this particular man.

"Now, now, Gran...Hermione, I know you better than that."

"You do?" she asked, puzzlement clearly evident on her flushed face. "We've never said so much as two words to each other before being made Heads, Blaise. How could you?"

"Well...um..." he started as he shuffled his feet back and forth, watching them intently, hands clasped behind his back knowing full well that she was watching him closely. Coming up with an answer, he said, "I'm just good at reading people for how they really are, I guess. It's a gift. I also know that when you're thinking about school, you don't always tear the way you just were. It's about someone or some people."

When he finally looked up and into her eyes, he noticed that she was, indeed, staring at him, but not in a way that said 'you're a freak', but kind of a 'you're amazing, how come I didn't realize it before' way. After a few moments of looking at each other, he noticed that she was smiling at him and she was motioning for him to sit on the ground next to her near a large window that overlooked the nearby forest. As he moved to sit down, she turned her moon-lit face back to the window to gaze out over the darkened and seemingly harmless forest, wrapping her arms around her bend knees.

"So what is wrong, Hermione? I'm sure I would not be the only one to say that we're not used to you seeing you cry. It can't be that bad. Can it?"

"Depends. You know what it's like to be invisible, right?" She paused to watch him nod his head in agreement. "Well, ever since Harry started seeing Ginny, and Ron, Lavender, I've felt that I've just disappeared. I try to talk to them, but they just ignore me. What do I do?"

"You're right Hermione, I do know what it is like to be invisible, but it was by my choice. You're used to being in the spotlight so often because of Harry, that when he's no longer busy worrying if he'll live to graduate and finding the love of his life, the same with Ron, the spotlight disappears and you are lost in the fathomable darkness, until someone shines a light for you, lending you their hand."

She turned back to him and just sat there, knees falling to the ground, amazed at the extent of this man's expertise on certain aspects of life. Then a thought came to her brain...

"You're right...I need to find that guiding light. Blaise? Will you be my light in the dark?"

"Of course Hermione." This response caused her to break into a heart-warming smile, which could be seen in the moonlight that was shining through the large window, and a warm embrace that Blaise happily returned.

"Thank you Blaise," Hermione said, muffled in his shoulder.

"Any time Hermione. Now, don't you think that it's about time to get back to our dorms?"

"I suppose, but I feel so free here. I'm afraid that if I do go back, everything that has happened thus far will still affect me."

"That's why I'll be there to hold your hand to help you through this."

"Literally or metaphorically?"

"Both, but mostly the first. Why do you ask? Is that a problem?"

"No, but aren't you afraid that people might think that we're a couple?"

"I'm not worried. If you are, you can tell them that we are. If that's what you want." He finished, secretly wishing that she wanted it to be true, him having a slight crush / obsession with the woman next to him for the past 4 years.