You Should Be Mine

I look at you

And I can see you wanting more

Inside your eyes

Blaise was in the Restricted Section of the library, looking for a book on super lethal venoms when he saw her. She was leaning against the wall at the end of the row. And she was crying. Again.

"What happened this time?" he asked as he approached her.

A love that's true

Someone that you can lean on

To pull you through

"Oh, Blaise," she met him halfway and hugged him tightly. He held her quietly, occasionally running a hand through her hair. "It was horrible."

"What did he do?" he asked after several moments of silence.

"He...I told him I was starting to feel suffocated and that I needed my space. He started shouting about how I had all the space in the world, that I was never with him. I said that it was a lie and he accused me of cheating of cheating on him with Harry and Ron."

She started to cry again and Blaise took a deep breath in an effort to control his anger. She and Draco Malfoy had been dating for eight months now, but they had had problems from the beginning. The main problem was Draco's possessiveness. He always had to have everything, whether that meant galleons or girls, he had to have it all. Blaise had seen how much she had suffered and sacrificed these past eight months and wanted to kill Draco at times. It just wasn't fair.

Well, Baby, I'll be the one

I wanna be the one in your life

I wanna be the one by your side

"So what happened then?" he asked after she had managed to bring her tears under control.

"I...I said it was complete nonsense, that I would never even think of cheating on him, let alone with my best friends. Then I kept going and pointed out that he shouldn't have a problem with it anyway because I know he's been sleeping with Pansy Parkinson."

"I'll bet he loved that."

"Blaise, he hit me. Not on my face, and not too hard, he only got my arm," she said as he leaned back and searched her face for injuries.

"That's not right. He never should have touched you. Please tell me you dumped him."

"I did," she nodded and wiped away more tears. "Then I ran here, you showed up, and here we are."

I wanna be the one to show you

Oh, baby you should be mine

Don't want us to make a mistake

"You know you deserve better, don't you?"

"No, I don't. I'm not worth anyone's time."

Blaise slowly counted to ten before he replied. He was so angry now that it was getting hard for him to think straight.

"Hermione, you do deserve better. I don't care what Draco's said to you, he was lying. You deserve someone who actually cares about you and knows what you're worth."

Don't ever wanna see your heart break

I can't let you go this time

Oh, baby you should be mine

"Oh, Blaise," she hugged him again, crying even more.

"No, I'm serious. Look at me," he cupped her face in his hands and met her brown eyes with his own dark blue ones. "You deserve better. Malfoy didn't know what he had. Now he's lost it forever. You're one of the best people I know and I will not see you destroyed like this."

He spoke forcefully and though she looked scared she never broke eye contact.

'You deserve someone like me,' he thought as he hugged her. And it was as he hugged her that he made a decision. One way or the other, he would show Hermione that he was better than Draco, and that they should be together.

It's been a long time

Since real love has looked your way

But hold on be strong

Days passed after their meeting in the library, and days turned into weeks and since Draco was still alive, Blaise guessed that Hermione had yet to tell Ron or Harry. And frankly, he didn't blame her. Over the course of their seven years in Hogwarts, Ron Weasley had developed a reputation for being loud and hot-tempered, not a good combination. Harry might not have killed Draco, but no one could tell with Harry Potter any more.

Hermione seemed all right, but not better by any means. Word of their breakup had spread through the school like wildfire and people questioned her constantly. She still looked scared in the corridors and did everything in her power to avoid coming within ten feet of Draco. Potions class was hell for her, he could tell. There were several occasions when Blaise thanked Dumbledore silently for making him Head Boy instead of Draco. Hermione also was shying away from all forms of contact, especially from men.

Finally, after watching her suffer through one particular Potions class, where Draco taunted her mercilessly, Blaise pulled him aside so they could talk.

"What do you want Zabini?" he drawled in that upper class accent Blaise had come to loathe.

It was then that all the anger and rage Blaise had kept inside came bursting through to the surface. Without a word, he pulled back his fist and punched Draco square in the face. The knuckles of his fist made contact with Draco's nose and brought with them a sickening yet satisfying crunch.

"Zabini...Merlin, what the hell was that for?" Draco spat thickly through the blood that was pouring down his face.

"That was for Hermione. Get out of her life, Draco."

It doesn't have to be a game we play

Cause I hear you say

How a heartache can feel

"I don't know what you're talking about Zabini. She cheated on me, not vice versa. And since when is my life any of your business?" his sneer was back in place, and it looked worse than usual with blood covering his mouth.

"You made it my business when you hit her. I mean it, Malfoy, stay away from Hermione."

And with those words, Blaise stalked away, thoroughly disgusted.

But now today

You finally found a love that's really real

I wanna be the one in your life

It was several hours later when Hermione approached him. Blaise was in the Restricted Section of the library again, looking for a book on werewolves.

"Hi," she said walking up so quietly he wouldn't have noticed had she not said something. "I heard about you punching Malfoy. You didn't have to."

"Yes I did. He deserved it."

"No, Blaise, you don't understand. I'm not worth it. I'm not worth your time, or your emotions. So thank you, but you didn't have to."

She turned to walk away, but Blaise grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him.

I wanna be the one by your side

I wanna be the one to show you

Oh, baby you should be mine

"I thought we'd been over this. You are worth it, Hermione. I don't care what Malfoy says or said. He was lying to keep you with him. You're worth more than that, you deserve better."

"Blaise, please let go. You're hurting me." She was crying again. He let go of her arms and placed his hands on her waist.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you, but I just can't stand to see you like this. We both know you're worth more than Malfoy."

"You actually care about me?"

I know just what you're going through

You're never sure just who

Who might be hurting you

"Yeah," he said, "yeah, I do care about you. I know we've only been friends since September, Hermione, but I know I care more about you than Malfoy ever did."

"What are you saying?" she had stopped crying and looked apprehensive.

'It's now or never Zabini', he told himself as he took a deep breath.

But let me be the one to hold you tight

Make everything alright

Cause you should be mine tonight

"I'm saying that I want to be more than your friend. The past eight months have been hell for me, watching you suffer and knowing I couldn't act on my feelings. Any time I would comfort you after you two fought I would wish for you to break up so I could be with you. What I'm trying to say, Hermione, is that I think I'm in love with you."

"Blaise, I...I don't know what to say..." she was cut off as he pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. He knew it was probably the wrong thing to do, but he wasn't sure what else he could do.

"I'm scared," she finished tearfully when they separated. "How do I know I can trust you?"

Had the circumstances been any different, he would have been angry, but he understood and nodded.

"Who knows, maybe you can't, but you can give me this chance and I'll prove to you that I can."

"Okay, Blaise, you get one chance and one chance only. And if you so much as consider laying a hand on me in anger, we're done."

"I would never do that."

"I know you wouldn't."

And for the first time in a long time, Hermione initiated a kiss and felt good doing it. Even though she had told Blaise she didn't know if she could trust him, all those doubts disappeared as they stood together in the darkened library.

"Thank you," he said as they separated and he wiped the last few tears from her eyes, "I promise you won't regret this."

Hermione smiled, kissed him again, and they both knew he was right.

*~*The End*~*