[fifty nine]

Hermione had her face in her hands the rest of the ride to Malfoy manor. Still reeling from what Blaise had shown her, she suppressed several sighs as the gears in her head began to move.

She understood Theo's plan, but it just wasn't brilliant enough.

Otherwise, would they be here right now?

Blaise watched her cautiously, unsure of how to help her "We're here." He said as he glanced out the window to see the large estate. Hermione breathed deeply and nodded, sitting up straight "Do you see Kingsley?"

"The Minister is at the front door." Blaise's voice sounded hesitant as the carriage pulled up by the front gates, the magical wards preventing it from flying straight into the property.

"What's wrong?"

"The house hasn't been fixed." Blaise narrowed his eyes

"The house—oh." Hermione said as she saw what he meant.

The visions from Blaise's memory of Draco wreaking havoc on his manor resurfaced in Hermione's mind as she took the sight of the house in. The gazebo had been put out of flames, by the elves no doubt, but there were still shattered pieces of glass and stone all over the ground "Why hasn't this been cleaned up?" Hermione muttered as she hopped out of the carriage with Blaise.

"You best ask the elves." Blaise said, offering his arm for support "Shall we?"

Hermione silently took his arm, taking in the sight of the wreckage in front of them. She felt her quickened heartbeat pounding through her chest as she looked at the manor "He's alive, right? That light, it'll be glowing, right?"

Blaise felt a little sense of déjà vu. Wasn't he here with Draco just the other evening, too? For the same reason? He sighed "He's alive. He should be." Blaise agreed.

Hermione steadied her breaths and began to walk ahead, meeting Kingsley at the front steps "Kingsley." She greeted with a nod.

"Happy to see you breathing, Hermione." The Minister sighed "I arrived to it looking like this. I don't suppose one of you can explain?"

"Draco had a bit of a fit after he watched Hermione be taken." Blaise pursed his lips "I thought the elves would deal with it but..."

"Frodo?" Hermione called out, unsure whether the Malfoy house elf would answer to her.

"Miss?" The elf had popped right in front of them, in a proper bow. Hermione felt a little uneasy.

"How come the wreckage is still here? I don't mean to sound awful, just curious." Hermione shook her head.

"Mistress Narcissa instructed the elves, miss, not to touch anything whilst the manor is rebuilt, miss." The elf bowed again "Frodo wants to clean it miss, but Frodo is not sure if he can."

Hermione looked around "Have the constructors seen this?" Her heart clenched at the amount of destruction. Draco must've been so distraught.

"Constructors not due until tomorrow, miss. Taking a break, mistress Narcissa said."

"I see. Would you mind cleaning it up now, then?" Hermione forced herself to smile "I'll speak with Narcissa."

The elf smiled so widely at the thought of the work "Thank you, miss! Elves will get to work now!"

"Share the work, Frodo."

"Of course!" And then he was gone.

"Apart from this, everything seems to be clear." Kingsley said, his hand still around his wand "Shall I come with you upstairs?"

"I——" Hermione looked at Blaise. She was never the one to say no to authority, but this time...

"I think it's best we see this by ourselves, minister." Blaise politely declined "Family thing, you see."

"Of course. I'll keep an eye on the perimeter." The older wizard didn't look too offended by the refusal. By the look on Hermione's face and her current state, he completely understood how sensitive this must be. "We can discuss how to deal with this situation after you..."

"Right." Hermione nodded, her eyes looking towards the grand front doors "Blaise?"

Her Slytherin companion didn't need to be told twice. He pushed the doors open for them as they entered the quiet manor. The elves had so kindly lit the hallways with warm light, making the house a little less eerie with it seemingly so empty.

"I hadn't really noticed how much work had been done." Blaise eyed the new walls with approval "Good taste."

There were still quite a few things left to be finished, but Blaise could see the difference now. Draco really was trying to turn this place into something entirely new. Blaise knew that neither Draco nor Hermione, or even Narcissa for that matter, had too many good memories in this place. It just meant too much to the Malfoy family name to let go of, so Draco just decided to remove everything that echoed the dark manor that it once was.

"It was all Draco." Hermione said quietly, her eyes trained towards the top of the stairs.

"Granger, are you sure you can do this?" Blaise sighed "I don't know how to help you." The confession sounded guilty and frustrated at the same time. Blaise hated the fact that he couldn't help Hermione— that he didn't know how else to besides offer his arm for support. While the Gryffindor girl had become someone that meant a great deal to him, they'd only really just became friends a few months ago. Blaise didn't know how to act around her in life and death situations.

"I can. I'm fine." Hermione shook her head "He's fine."

Without taking Blaise's arm for support, Hermione walked ahead and gripped the staircase railing tightly as she slowly climbed up to the second floor. Blaise walked behind her, careful to catch her if she falls.

Heaven knows how his best mate would blow his head off if he let Hermione die falling down their damn staircase. Blaise paused, .

Hermione stopped in front of the door to the Malfoy family tree, hesitating. What if he wasn't alive anymore? What if he had already been dead all these hours?

Was Hermione ready to see his light dimmed off? Her fingers wrapped around the knob, a memory resurfacing in her mind.