Collide

Trouble me, disturb me with all your cares and your worries.

Speak to me and let our words build a shelter from the storm

Lastly, let me know what I can mend.

--10000 Maniacs

Hermione knelt on the stone floor, cold seeping through the knees of her jeans, hands tightly bound behind her. It was dark because her head was covered with a hood; she could smell the sweat and fear of those who'd worn it before. Suddenly, the wooden door creaked open and the hood was abruptly yanked off. Blinking while her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she was surprised to see Blaise kneeling in front of her, reaching around to check her bound hands.

"You can't be here," she protested. "It's far too dangerous."

"I am not leaving without you," he said, flashing her a reassuring smile. Pulling out his wand, he uttered the spell to undo the knots and Hermione rubbed her aching wrists. Blaise gently helped her to her feet. "Let's go."

"Not so fast," drawled a voice from the doorway. "Oh, the traitor and his mudblood lover! How sweet!"

"Malfoy, stand aside," Blaise warned, pointing his wand at Draco with one hand, as he pushed Hermione behind him with the other. "I'm not afraid to use this."

Draco pulled out his own wand. "Neither am I." In the blink of an eye, he uttered the horrible words, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Hermione screamed as Blaise slumped to the floor in front of her. Draco chuckled as he pointed his wand at her. "Don't worry. I have plans for you."

She sat bolt upright in bed, breathing heavily. Glancing at the bedside table, she saw that it was four in the morning.

"Hermione, are you all right?" Blaise asked sleepily, rolling over.

"I just had a bad dream," she said between heaving breaths.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked gently.

She shook her head, knowing she could never tell him that she'd seen him die for the third time this week. "I--I don't really remember it."

"All right, love," he said softly, opening his arms to her. Hermione snuggled herself against his chest and listened as his breathing slowed once more.

"I love you," she whispered before drifting off to sleep once again.

**********************************

Hermione took a deep breath, scarcely believing what she was about to do. In the last two weeks, she'd had the same dream eight times. Pushing the door open, she tramped up the steps to the Divination classroom. Luckily, it was deserted save for Professor Trelawney.

"Yes?" Trelawney asked, peering owlishly behind her oversize glasses. Her mouth puckered sourly when she saw who had come to call. "What do you want?"

"I'd like to ask you about some dreams I've been having," Hermione explained.

"You have a few dreams and you suddenly think that the Inner Eye has opened itself to you?" Trelawney sniffed.

"No, but I would like to know..."

"Thought Divination was a load of rubbish, did you? And now you want the Inner Eye to help you?"

"Professor Trelawney," Hermione said, using all of her willpower not to throttle the woman, "I have had the same dream eight times in the last two weeks. Do you think it means something?"

"Perhaps," Trelawney said mysteriously.

"Perhaps? Perhaps, you old fraud. I knew you couldn't help me," Hermione said angrily, storming down the stairs. At the foot of the stairs, she literally ran into Blaise.

"Hermione, what are you doing up there?"

"Needed to ask Trelawney a question."

Blaise laughed. "You don't actually believe that bollocks, do you?" Hermione shrugged. "Come on."

"I need to go," she said, taking off down the corridor.

"Hermione!" he shouted after her.

**********************************

Vector summoned them to her office on Friday afternoon. "Well, where are you two on the project I assigned?" she asked impatiently.

"We have..." Blaise began.

"We're still not sure of everything," Hermione interrupted.

Blaise glanced at her, but said nothing to contradict her obvious lie. "Yes, I think a few more weeks ought to do it. It's a lot harder than anything else we've worked on," he said deprecatingly.

"All right then," Vector said, satisfied with their answer. "Do let me know when you have something."

"Absolutely, Professor," Hermione said.

In the hallway, Blaise turned to his girlfriend. "What's going on?"

"Pardon?"

"You, Hermione Granger, Head Girl, best student, Gryffindor, just lied to a teacher. And not just any teacher, but the teacher of your favorite subject. What. Is. Going. On."

Grabbing him by the arm, she dragged him into a deserted corner of the corridor. "As soon as we turn things over to them, it's taken out of our hands."

"Would that be so bad?"

"Harry's the one who needs to defeat Voldemort. And Ron and I need to help him."

"And you need to tell me when you're going to do this," he added.

Hermione looked down at her feet, saying nothing. She may have been able to lie to her teacher, but knew she couldn't lie to Blaise.

"Hermione, you promised me," he said in a warning tone.

"I don't know if it's such a good idea for you to come," she admitted, shuffling her feet.

"You promised!"

"I can't. If anything happens to you..." Her sentence trailed off as she tried to gain control of the shaky tone her voice had taken on.

"You gave me your word," he said lowly. "What about that vaunted Gryffindor honor?"

"You don't understand."

"I understand perfectly. You lied to me. Probably to get me to shut up on New Year's Eve," he said derisively.

"It's not like that."

Blaise shook his head. "Forget it," he said, walking away.

"I keep dreaming about you...dying!" she yelled after him. He paused and she knew he'd heard. "I've had the same dream for the last two weeks. I'm captured, you rescue me, and Malfoy kills you. I watch you fall over and over."

Slowly, he turned back to face her. "Now you know how I feel."

"That's not fair."

He sighed and walked back to her. "But it's true. I am so afraid that I'm going to lose you."

"You're not going to lose me."

"Don't make assurances you can't keep."

"Blaise," she said, reaching out toward him.

He shook his head. "I can't do this. Not right now."

*******************************

"There's someone here to see you," the little girl in the portrait announced to Hermione. Sighing, the curly haired witch set aside her reading and went to the door. When she opened it, she was stunned to see Blaise standing there.

"Hello," he said shyly.

"Hello," she replied, holding the door open for him.

He shook his head. "I wanted to apologize. It wasn't right for me to run away from our...discussion," he explained.

"I'm sorry, too. I should've told you about my nightmares."

"Well, I guess that's all. I should be going," he said quietly.

"Or you could come in," she protested. "You could stay tonight," she added hesitantly.

********************************

"Blaise!" Hermione exclaimed.

Thinking she was crying out in pleasure, he redoubled his efforts. It was only when she grasped his hair and yanked hard that he realized she was trying to get his attention. "What?" he said, tearing his mouth away from her. "Is something wrong?"

Still pulling on his hair, she tugged his mouth up toward hers and kissed him feverishly. "I want to..." she panted out.

"Well, let me finish then," he said edgily, trying to make his way back down.

"No, you don't understand. I want to...go farther..."

"Now?!?" She bit her lower lip and nodded. "But the potion..."

"I've been taking it for the last month."

"Without telling me?"

"I didn't want to lead you on...in case I wasn't ready..."

"And now you're suddenly ready?"

Tears unexpectedly pricked her eyes. "If you'd rather not..." she said, rolling so that her back was to him.

"Hermione," he said gently. She refused to face him so he scooted toward her and wrapped one arm around her waist. Gently pressing himself against her, he asked, "Do you really think I'd rather not?" He planted kisses along her shoulder and neck. "You just surprised me."

She turned back to face him and he captured her lips with his own, kissing her slowly and deeply. "Are you sure?" he asked, pulling back to look her in the eyes.

"I love you," she replied. "I'm sure."

He gulped. "All right then," he agreed softly.

Hermione shifted onto her back, opening her thighs. Blaise moved over her, hips settling between her legs. They kissed for several more minutes as his fingers gently caressed her. Smiling, she nodded at him and reached down to grasp him. Just as she guided him to her entrance, there was a banging on the door.

"Hermione! Hermione!" Harry's voice shouted from the other side.

"What the fuck is he doing here?" Blaise grumbled, dropping his head onto her shoulder.

"Open the door. We know where V-V- You-Know-Who-Is," Ron's voice added loudly.

Hermione sat up abruptly, sending Blaise sprawling onto the floor.

"Are you all right in there?" Harry's voice called.

"Just give me a minute," Hermione replied brightly. Climbing out of bed, she pulled her dressing gown on. "Cover yourself," she hissed to Blaise.

"Fine," he mumbled, wrapping the quilt around his waist.

"That is not what I meant," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"Hermione, is someone in there with you?" Ron asked.

Yanking open the door, the two Gryffindors found themselves face to face with a disheveled Hermione and a half-naked Blaise. Harry squeezed his eyes shut. "Um, we'll come back. When you're not busy," he stammered out.

Hermione sighed. "Don't be ridiculous. You're here. Give us a minute to get dressed. We'll meet you downstairs."

Ron's ears were a deep shade of red and Harry still hadn't reopened his eyes. They both nodded and, without another word, headed back down the stairs. Blaise glared at Hermione, but, ultimately, gathered his clothes and began to dress.

*********************************

"Well, we don't exactly know where he is," Harry confided while they were seated in the Heads' common room.

Blaise muttered something under his breath that none of them could completely understand. Hermione, however, got the gist of it and poked him in the ribs. "What do you know?" she asked.

Harry recounted what he'd seen while practicing Legilimency. As he described the place Voldemort was staying, Blaise shook his head. "I know where they are," he said wearily. As three pairs of eyes looked expectantly at him, he finished, "Malfoy Manor."