Collide

It's the perfect time of day
It's the last day of your life
Don't let it drift away
While your heart is still racing
--Howie Day

"You walked in on them shagging?" Millicent asked, disbelief evident in her voice.

"Well, they weren't actually shagging when Hermione opened the door. But she was...I mean...she looked like a woman...and Blaise...had her quilt wrapped around his waist."

Millicent's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, she looked like a woman?" she asked Harry.

"I don't know...er...it's just that I've known Hermione since I was eleven. I've always kind of thought of her as...non-sexual, I suppose," he answered, staring at the pitch and not at her. "Sort of like with you and Blaise, probably." He looked at her directly.

Her gaze darted away. "Well..."

"Millie."

"We sort of snogged...several times...in fifth year..."

"You and Blaise?" Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing.

She shrugged. They were sitting in the Ravenclaw Quidditch stands, looking up at the stars. "We decided we were meant to be friends," she declared.

Harry smirked. "Do you think they're shagging?"

"They have been together for four months. And if we're being completely realistic, Blaise has been attracted to her since beginning of last term. I think I'd be surprised if they weren't." She shook her head. "I really would rather not speculate on my best friend's sex life with your best friend, if possible."

"Fair enough." Harry fiddled with his eyeglasses. "Millie, have you ever...er...done that?"

"Have you?" she retorted sharply. He shook his head and her expression softened. "Me neither."

He smiled shyly and, opening his robe, motioned for her to scoot closer. He wrapped it around both of them and leaned in for a kiss. Their kissing quickly turned passionate, and just as Millicent put her hand rather high on Harry's thigh, he pulled back. "Millie, I need to tell you something."

Millicent closed her eyes, unable to believe that this was happening. Just a month ago, Harry'd asked her to be his girlfriend and now he was acting like all the other boys she'd ever liked. "Well, go on then," she said, hating the catch she'd heard in her voice.

"We're leaving tomorrow night," he said, swallowing hard. "We know where Voldemort is."

Her eyes flew open and a smile spread across her face. "That's what you wanted to tell me?"

"Yes, what did you think I wanted to say?" Harry asked quizzically. She ducked her head and he knew. "Millie, I don't want to break up with you. I like you a lot."

She blushed. "I didn't think that you wanted to..." He cut off her sentence with a gentle kiss. When he pulled away, leaving them both breathing heavily, she admitted, "Well, maybe I did think that. Just a little."

"I think that you're smart, and talented, and funny, and pretty. Why in the world would I want to break up with you?"

Millicent's mouth dropped open. "You think I'm pretty?"

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."

"It's just that...no one's ever...except for Blaise...but he doesn't count..." Another kiss interrupted her babbling.

"Do you believe me now?" he asked, grinning.

Millicent merely nodded. She settled back against Harry's shoulder. "I want to come with you," she said quietly after several minutes of silence.

"You can't."

"The translation could read many, you know."

"That's not what I mean. I can't be worrying about your safety."

"Harry Potter! I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. And besides that, do you really think that the three of you are going to be able to take on everyone yourselves?"

"Four of us," he corrected.

"Four?"

"Hermione promised Blaise that he could..."

"That settles it. If Blaise Zabini is coming, then I damn well am, too. Merlin knows, I'm much better at DADA than he is."

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

Hermione and Blaise sat in her common room, she stretched out on the couch with her feet in his lap. She was re-reading Hogwarts: A History while he was working on an essay for Runes. The only sounds were the scratching of his quill and the quiet little hum she made as she read. The hum stopped abruptly and he looked up from his parchment.

"We're going to fight tomorrow," she said, staring at the pages of her book.

"Yes," he agreed, focusing those blue eyes on her face. She was twirling a curl of her brown hair around one finger.

"And I was thinking..."

"When aren't you thinking, love?" he teased.

Her head shot up to meet his gaze. "I'm being serious," she announced. He dipped his head in apology and she continued. "And I was thinking about how I don't want to...regret anything..." Her voice trailed off and she prayed he would get the hint.

"Mmm hmm," he said noncommittally.

"Blaise, I want us to finish what we started the other night," she blurted out. Feeling her skin flush--from embarrassment and desire--she tore her gaze away from his and focused inside on the fire burning brightly in the fireplace. 'Apt metaphor,' she thought.

"No," he said quietly.

"WHAT?!?" Her attention turned back to him, she waited for him to continue. When he didn't, she asked quietly, "You don't want to...have sex...with me?"

"I never said that," he replied mildly. "But I don't want to do that tonight." He lapsed into silence, trying to find the words to explain to Hermione why he didn't want tonight to be the first night they were together like that. "Hermione, I...I don't want my last memory of us...to be...doing that...it's going to hurt you...and you won't enjoy it much...and I don't want...to remember...you like that...if something were..." He was staring resolutely at a spot on the carpet.

Hermione pulled her legs off of his lap and moved up to sit beside him. "Blaise," she said gently. "I'm going to be fine."

He shook his head. "You know how I feel about promises you can't keep." Sighing, he looked at her, knowing that she really felt that she would be all right. "If you really feel like you're going to come out of this alive, then what's the harm in waiting?" he challenged.

She opened her mouth to object, but realized he had a point. "Fine."

"All right then. We're both in agreement. After this whole mess is over, I will cook you the most delicious meal you've ever had and then spend the whole night making love to you until I get it right," he promised.

She shivered slightly at his words and, taking that as an implicit 'yes,' he kissed her to seal the deal. Their kiss grew more passionate before Hermione tore her mouth away. "I thought you said you didn't want..."

"...to have sex tonight. I didn't say anything about other things," he said, pulling her into his lap.

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

"Ginevra Weasley, you are not going," Ron whispered harshly.

"So you think that the three of you can handle this by yourselves? May I remind you that you needed all the help you could get at the Department of Mysteries?" she taunted. She felt a slight twinge of guilt at the look of despair that crossed her brother's face.

"It's not just the three of us," he said, desperate to keep her out of danger.

"You're just saying that to keep me away."

"No. Blaise is coming as well as Millicent."

"So who's looking out for you then?" Ginny demanded, sounding remarkably like Mrs. Weasley. "Blaise will be looking out for Hermione while Millie looks out for Harry. What about you?"

"I can take care of myself."

"Ron Weasley! I am coming with you. It will either be with your knowledge which means you can look out for me. Or without. Your choice."

Ron groaned, not liking each choice. However, he knew that Ginny could be as stubborn as him. "Fine," he grumbled.

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

The woods adjacent to the main house were awash in a haze of smoke. Someone had set fire to the trees. Blaise could hear the screams coming from deeper inside the woods. The six of them had been under attack since they'd taken a portkey to Malfoy Manor. Almost immediately upon arrival, he'd gotten separated from all but Ginny. Holding tightly to her hand, Blaise poked his head around a corner, wand drawn.

"It's clear," he whispered to Ginny. However, they'd not gotten three feet before someone stepped out of the underbrush.

"Tonks!" Ginny exclaimed at the sight of the young Auror.

"Ginny! What were you thinking?" Nymphadora Tonks, hair bright pink, demanded. "The four of you taking on...all this..." She swept her hand, gesturing to the bodies of several dead Death Eaters.

"There's six of us," Ginny explained. "This is Blaise Zabini."

"I don't have time for formalities," Tonks grumbled. "We need to get you out of here."

"We're not going anywhere without Hermione and the others," Blaise said forcefully. He had a height advantage over the pink-haired woman, but wasn't so sure he could take her in a duel.

"You're Hermione's young man, then, are you?" Tonks asked. "Where is she? And where's Harry and your brother?" she asked Ginny.

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

The three of them were deeper in the woods. Hermione, Ron, and Harry were standing in the middle of a ring of Death Eaters, backs touching each other, wands drawn. She wondered if where the others were and if Blaise was all right. Closing her eyes for a moment, she pushed an image of a dead Blaise out of her head.

"What are we going to do?" Ron hissed.

"Wait," Harry said calmly. This was the moment he'd been building toward his entire life and now, facing it, he was at peace.

A few minutes later, the circle opened up and the two Malfoys entered. "Potter," Lucius Malfoy said. "Weasley." He paused and looked up and down Hermione. "Granger."

"Where's Voldemort?" Harry yelled.

"Our Lord has better things to do with his time," Lucius answered smoothly.

"Too scared to face us," Ron taunted. Without warning, Draco strode over to the three of them. Raising his leather-gloved hand, he struck Ron hard across the face. Hermione screamed, but Ron merely grinned and spat out a mouthful of blood. "Like I said," he repeated.

Draco drew his wand and pointed it at Ron. "I've waited for so long, Weasel."

"You'll have to wait a little longer," Lucius said, stepping between Draco and Ron.

Draco scowled, but tucked his wand away. Moving toward Hermione, he reached out and stroked her cheek. "He's got something special planned for you," he purred. Despite the dryness of her mouth, Hermione managed to let loose a gob of spit that landed on Draco's face and dribbled down. He smiled coldly. "You'll get yours, mudblood."

Harry drew his wand. "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" he shouted as Draco went rigid and fell to the ground. Turning, Harry dared any of them to react, knowing they were deathly afraid of Voldemort. "Get Voldemort here," he commanded.

"Or what?" Lucius chuckled. "You'll kill my son? Go ahead. He's been a disappointment to me since birth." With yet another laugh, he commanded the Death Eaters to bring the three teenagers into the house.

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

Millicent watched from the behind the screen of trees as the circle of Death Eaters closed in on Harry, Ron, and Hermione. She knew that their chances of survival would be better out here in the open. Raising her wand at the tree branches hanging over the Death Eaters, she shouted, "INCINDIO!"

The branches ignited and the nearby trees caught fire as well. In the confusion and smoke, she smiled to herself as Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran deeper into the woods. Rather than follow them, she decided to look for the others; Blaise had a knack for getting himself into trouble.

"Going somewhere, Bulstrode?" Draco said, blocking her way.

"You're no match for me," Millicent said.

"We'll just see about that."

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

The explosion threw Blaise off of his feet and he hit the ground hard. The wind knocked out of him, he gasped for breath. The air was acrid with the smells of burning flesh and he gagged.

"Ginny?" he shouted wildly.

"I'm here," her voice called out from his left. Blindly making his way over, he literally knocked her down. "Where's Tonks?"

"I dunno," he replied.

"What happened?"

"Something exploded..." His voice trailed off. "They've done it!" Grabbing her by the arm, he dragged her toward where the smoke seemed the heaviest. "Come on." They ran, unable to see through the smoke. Screams came from every direction and several times one or the other would stumble over a root, held up only by the other.

"GINNY!" came out a shout.

"RON!" she shouted back, yanking Blaise in the direction of her brother's voice. She nearly collided with him. "Are you all right?" she demanded, relinquishing her hold on Blaise and flinging herself into Ron's arms.

"I'm all right. Are you?"

"We're both fine," Blaise answered. "Where's Hermione?"

"I DUNNO! We all got separated in the explosion!" he shouted over the noise.

The three of them took off deeper in the woods, shouting "Harry!" or "Millicent!" or "Hermione!" A voice answered them, but none of them was able to place it. Shouting more loudly and running faster, they collided with someone. The four of them went down in a tangled heap.

"My arm!" the fourth person exclaimed loudly.

"Harry? Is that you?" Ron asked, peering through the smoke.

"Yeah," he said, climbing to his feet. His arm dangled uselessly at his side. "Who's with you?"

"Ginny and Blaise."

"Where's Hermione?" Harry shouted.

Blaise shut his eyes. If Harry and Ron were both here, that could only mean that... "HERMIONE!" he screamed, falling to his knees. "HERMIONE!"