"Oooo, how was your Easter?"
I glanced over the top of my magazine as Pansy eagerly skipped across the common room; throwing herself down onto the other end of the sofa.
"It was all right, I suppose." I shrugged coolly. "You?"
"Fabsies," she trilled. "Daddy got a promotion at work and bought me a new broomstick. I was thinking of trying out for the Quidditch team seeing as our new Seeker is shit."
"Good for you," I muttered, casting my eyes back down to my magazine.
I wasn't really reading it; how could I? My mind kept replaying the events of what had happened at Malfoy Manor; kept visualising the look of fear in Draco's and Narcissa's eyes.
My stomach gave a sickening twist every time I contemplated what kind of punishment Voldemort would have deemed fit to dish out to them.
But I wasn't about to share this with Pansy who was acting as if we weren't even in the midst of a horrifying war.
"Hey, Gregory!" Pansy suddenly called out, waving over to Goyle who had just entered the common room alone, looking strangely lost without Crabbe. "Come join us, we were just sharing our exciting stories about the holidays! Daddy got a promotion!"
He blinked over at us, before shrugging his shoulders and lumbered over; placing himself heavily in the armchair opposite.
"Where's your other half?" I drawled, raising an eyebrow. "Left him hoovering up the crumbs in the Great Hall?"
"Nah," he grunted, looking suddenly forlorn. "He didn't even make it to Hogwarts. Bloody idiot got himself caught lobbing a wizard bomb through a Muggle's shop window."
Damn, that was the most I'd ever heard him speak in all the years I'd known him.
Crabbe wasn't the only one who hadn't returned. The castle was sparse now that the majority of the student body had gone into hiding.
I hated every minute of it. We were learning nothing; the teachers, bar the Carrow's, were all nervous and jumpy, telling us to keep safe at the end of each lesson rather than set any homework.
I constantly harassed Snape, begging him for information on the Malfoy's. But he refused to tell me a sodding thing.
"My concern is only for Hogwarts, Miss Zabini." He would stiffly repeat. "And I suggest you spend this time concentrating on your education if you wish to achieve any kind of adequate future."
I wanted to scream at him that my future was Draco. But I had to hold on to the hope that no news was good news, because if something bad had happened to them, then I would surely have heard about it.
And then there was Neville. I tried desperately to find out if there was any news on him too; from scouring newspaper after newspaper to casually sidling up to the occasional Gryffindor and asking if they'd heard anything.
But sadly, I was always treated with suspicion. Because of course, as a Slytherin, I was considered the enemy. And it was a fucking lonely position to be in.
I was in a state of limbo and I hated it. All I wanted, no - needed - was to know that Draco and Neville were alive and well.
Then, almost two months after I'd left Malfoy Manor, I found myself being woken up quite dramatically in the middle of the night.
The amplified voice of Snape echoed around the castle, demanding all students and staff to convene immediately in the Great Hall. No exceptions.
And I knew. I knew that something was finally happening and I didn't know if I was terrified or relieved.
*****
"It would seem that, despite your exhaustive defensive strategies, you have a bit of a security problem, Headmaster."
The entire hall gave a collective gasp as everyone swivelled round to witness Harry Potter cockily strutting in like a king.
But it wasn't the sight of the much needed Chosen One that caused my heart to soar.
It wasn't Harry who my legs started running towards as I batted people out of the way to get to him, to get to one of my closest and dearest friends.
"Neville!" I cried, as my body slammed into him, not being able to suppress the sob that had risen in my throat as I felt his arms go around me, hugging me close.
"Hey, B," he said softly, his eyes twinkling brightly as he grinned down at me. "Long time, eh?"
Sniffing back another sob, I let go of him, smacking his arm hard. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? I'VE BEEN SO FUCKING WORRIED!"
"Chill, Molly," he chuckled, mockingly rubbing his arm. "I'm here, aren't I? Besides, I've always been here, I was hiding out in the Room of Requirement all this time, it's been great, really. But now Harry's finally here and we're going to win this war, Blaire; we're going to finally get that fucker!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, a fight started to break out in the Hall and before we knew it, Snape had flown out of the window.
"Blimey," Neville said, giving a low impressive whistle as though we'd just witnessed an awesome firework display rather than students trying to fight off a 'demon' headmaster.
"Well," he continued in a business like manner as he rolled up his shirt sleeves and brandished his wand. "Better see what Harry wants us to do next."
And with that, he marched on, high-fiving his fellow Gryffindors on the way.
Then a soft, dangerous voice pierced the night, reverberating off the walls as students coward in fear.
Voldemort. And he wanted Harry.
"But he's there!" Pansy screamed, raising a shaking arm. "Potter's there! Someone grab him!"
Oh, for fuck's sake, I thought as I shook my head. Did she honestly think that was ever going to go down well?
It didn't. And it was the reason I found myself locked up in the dungeons with the rest of the Slytherins.
"Oh well fucking done, Pansy!" Daphne scoffed bitterly as a cackling Filch hobbled off with our wands.
"Well no one else seemed to be fucking doing anything!" Pansy screamed in her face. "Why the fuck should we all die just for Potter?!"
"But we are going to die, aren't we?!" Daphne shouted back. "And thanks to you we are now completely defenceless to even fight!"
"Look, just chill," I said with an exasperated sigh. "There's no point in arguing; what's done is done, and we need to think of a way to get out of this."
"Oh, so you know how to conjure up a fucking detonator, do you?" Daphne spat sarcastically, her face pink with fury as she looked over at me.
"Please, Daph, stop! Just stop!"
My eyes instantly swivelled over to the terrified voice. A young girl; a girl I recognised to be Daphne's little sister.
"Hey," I murmured as I strode across the cage and crouched down to where the quivering girl was tucked in the corner; tears streaked down her face. "It'll be okay. It's Astoria, isn't it?"
She nodded; a deep shuddering sob wracking her body. "T-Torie," she trembled as a fresh wave of tears cascaded down her cheeks.
"Okay, Torie," I smiled kindly, "I promise you we're going to get you out of here. See this?" I pointed to my prefect badge. "This means I'm in charge, okay? And it's my duty to make sure we're all going to get out of here in one piece."
She nodded up at me with blue, watery eyes as I gave her a confident wink at the same time as thinking: shit, how the hell are we going to survive this fucking thing?
The ground shook above our heads, causing everyone to scream as Astoria threw herself into my lap; clinging her arms tightly around my middle.
"Please. I don't want to die," she sobbed. "I want to get married to a handsome prince and live in a big manor house and have a baby!"
"You will," I assured her, trying to shield her from the bits of debris falling down upon us, "just hold onto that dream, Torie. You'll have it one day, I promise you."
"And you?" She asked, her voice quivering. "Do you have a dream too?"
I glanced down at the charm bracelet that had never left my wrist and smiled to myself. "I do," I whispered, my eyes lingering on the Scottie dog and the old boot; trailing a finger along the empty links waiting to be filled.
"SOMEONE GET US THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Goyle hollered at the top of his lungs just as a huge spider scuttled past the cage doors, pausing to poke a long hairy leg through the bars.
"We're doomed," Pansy wailed dramatically. "We're all going to die and it's all my fault!"
No one argued.
But it was then, at that very moment when our saviour showed up.
"Drac," I murmured in relief as the white-blond haired Slytherin appeared on the other side of the bars, his eyes sweeping the cage in horror.
"What the fuck-?" he hissed, instantly unlocking the cage.
There was an immediate stampede; Slytherins pushing fellow Slytherins out the way in a bid to get out as fast as they could.
As Daphne grabbed Astoria and pulled her away, I held back, seeing it was useless to try and get through the jam.
Draco strode in as soon as the dust settled; flinging himself across the cage towards me.
I instantly threw my arms around him, relief hitting every part of me as he pulled me fiercely up against him.
"Blaire...fuck," he said, his voice muffled as he buried his face in my hair, clinging me so tightly to him that I could feel the wild thud of his heart beneath his chest.
"Drac, what are you doing here?" I said breathlessly, lifting my face to look up into his frantic grey eyes. "He's here. He wants Harry or he's going to kill us."
"That's exactly why I'm here," Draco gritted, resting his forehead down on mine. "He wants me to bring Potter to him, but listen; all I want is my wand back. I have Mother's but it's not the same. I'm barely going to be able to defend myself with this."
Just then, as if on cue, Goyle came flying back into the cage, brandishing a bunch of wands. "I've got 'em!" he grunted gleefully, tossing me my wand. "Come on, I over'erd Potter was on his way to the seventh floor."
Draco stiffened. "Of course," he snarled, letting go of me as his flashing eyes cast upwards. "I should have fucking guessed."
"Guessed what?" I asked, my pulse racing crazily as another loud bang shook the castle above our heads.
"The Room of Requirement," Draco muttered darkly, beckoning his head for me and Goyle to follow. "Our next stop."
******