As promised...
The whole ordeal took quite a bit of planning on his part, which was something he was good at. Blaise enlisted the help of his younger cousin, Nico, because this was more than a one person job. Kidnapping always required two people.
After Hannah was kidnapped, Blaise had anger stewing right below the surface and it was always aimed at Astoria. He knew he couldn’t take on Flint--he didn’t have a death wish--but there were ways to fuck with Greengrass. He was going to kidnap her sister, who he couldn’t stand, and if she got a bit roughed up in the process, well, two birds, one curse.
The daft bint was all the way in Romania of all places. He knew she got out of England but that was a bit far. Still, he would make the trip.
“Where are you going to keep her?” Nico asked, peering around the cobblestone corner of the building they were hiding behind.
“I’m not keeping her,” Blaise said. “You are.”
“The fuck I am. You’re the one with the dungeons.”
“I’m also the first person who will be suspected. Having her in screaming distance of her sister isn’t going to help.”
Nico glared at him but Blaise was mentally recalculating. Their dungeons had plenty of silencing charms and even though Didly would glare, he would make sure no permanent damage was done to Daphne. Blaise nodded to himself. It would work. Getting her to the dungeons would be the hardest part.
“She’s not going down without a fight.”
Nico frowned. “You can’t dose her or hex her?”
Blaise hit him on the back of the head. “She’s a potions master. She’ll smell any potion in her food or drink and I don’t want the chance that a spell can be pointed back at me. There’s a potion on these cloths that can be inhaled, but it’ll have to go over her mouth and nose and she’ll have to breathe in.”
His cousin sighed. “Very well. Let’s go. I promised my girlfriend I would be home in an hour.”
Blaise kept his mouth shut about that and led Nico to one of the most run-down and dingy buildings in the darkest part of Bucharest. Greengrass was, of course, on the top floor and had plenty of wards around the building and her apartment, but his father was an charms expert. He knew most of the unlocking tools of the trade.
Nico walked up to the door so he would be the face she saw. Since Greengrass had never been around his extended family, Blaise was counting on her not being suspicious while he quickly went to work on the wards.
Nico knocked on the door briskly and waited.
Daphne put a stasis charm on the potion she was brewing, glaring at the door with suspicion. She wasn’t expecting anyone. She pulled her wild dark auburn hair into a sloppy bun and took out her wand. Daphne stepped up to the door then moved directly to the side of it.
“Cine este?” she shouted in Romanian. “Este tarziu si nu esti bine venit.”
Daphne waited.
Blaise cringed. He didn’t even think about Greengrass not speaking English. Raphael knew some Russian but the closest Nico could get would be German. He peeked around the corner and mouthed German to him and Nico rolled his eyes and nodded.
“Sprechen Sie Deutsch oder Englisch?” he asked. Blaise held his breath while he waited for the answer.
“Oh fuck this,” Daphne said loud enough for the person on the other side of the door to hear.
She moved down the narrow hall next to her door and slipped through the hole she’d put in the wall there then magically warded and masked. Upon entering the hall, she was shocked to see what looked remarkably like the back of Blaise Zabini. She’d know the way the cut of fine slacks fell on that particular ass anywhere.
“What the fuck are you doing here, you complete wanker? This is my little corner of the world. Go back to yours. And who the fuck is this with you? New boyfriend?”
Blaise jumped and whirled around with a hand on his chest when Greengrass appeared behind him. “Il cielo di fottere dolce!” He took deep breaths to calm his rapid heartbeat. “Fucking hell, Greengrass. Way to scare a bloke.”
Nico came rushing around the corner but slowed down when he got to Blaise. Before he could make a statement that would ruin the whole moment, Blaise held up his hand. He was quickly reworking how he could kidnap her. She obviously wasn’t going to hex him on sight. This would make it easier for him to get closer.
“Do you always give your guests heart attacks or am I special?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t live in the best neighborhood, and how many people did I piss off in England?” Daphne’s eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here? Did something happen to Tori? She’s not dating Draco again is she? Because I cannot handle that again. And answer my damned questions. Who in the hell is this other guy? If he’s a present, I’m going through a girl phase right now, so no thank you.”
She stared at Blaise very hard.
“Something’s different about you.”
Blaise leaned away from her, wondering how long it would take to get his wand out and stun her. He gave up on not casting anything. “Nothing happened to your damned sister. She’s not dating Draco although she is firmly in another Slytherin’s bed. And this is not my boyfriend nor is he a present. He’s my cousin. I’m also going through a girl phase and I have my own woman waiting for me at home. Are you satisfied or shall we play Inquisitor a bit longer?”
“We’ll play a bit longer,” Daphne said, knowing it would annoy him. “Blaise’s Cousin, did you know my parents wanted me to marry Blaise? Mother used to make us dance together. I stepped on his feet on purpose. So Astoria landed herself a Slytherin. It’s not Pansy is it? Cos that would be funny. I can’t see Pans putting up with the screaming nightmares and the visions and the drooling. She gets hit so hard with her visions sometimes that she drools. She loses control of her body. It’d have to be somebody tough. And when don’t you have a girlfriend? Is it still that tramp that needed to eat a real meal?”
Daphne winked at Blaise’s cousin playfully. Because he probably knew how much her playful banter was aggravating Blaise. He was obviously here for a reason, and she wasn’t going to ask him outright. It he wanted her to know, he’d say. Until then it was annoying smalltalk time.
Blaise narrowed his eyes at Greengrass. One of the many reasons they would never work romantically is because they both knew how to press each other’s buttons perfectly and get each other so riled up that there would be damage to someone or something.
Nico started snickering. “She’s not the one that you complained to Nonna about ever summer? You called her the la femmina che non morira until Nonna heard you and smacked you with her towel hex?”
“Shut up,” Blaise hissed. He spun back around to Greengrass and steered the conversation away. She was indeed the girl he called the bitch who wouldn’t die. He still called her that in his head sometimes. “Your sister is currently shagging Flint for all she’s worth. I think it’s safe to say she’s passed her girl phase.”
“Yeah, we’ll see,” Daphne said. “Tori’s got a pretty voracious appetite. If he’ll let her share, she’ll start bringing people home. She’s always wanted a pet. Flint though? I guess can see it. She does like her bruises. And your family knows me as the bitch who wouldn’t die? That’s fantastic.”
Daphne started laughing.
“Is it cos of that thing Greyback did to me that time when you all thought he’d killed me and Draco actually vomited?”
Her laughter turned a bit hollow then and her eyes got nervous. Because Fenrir Greyback had killed her, but for some reason she had not died. Well, she knew why she had not died or she suspected, but Daphne had never addressed it. She was too frightened. That memory sobered Daphne.
“Fun time’s over boys. This zombie needs to get back to her potion.”
Blaise had completely forgotten about that. He was no stranger to death but it was completely different when the person dead was someone he had grown up with. There were moments in their past when he and Greengrass drew wands and were intent on cursing each other to the ends of the earth, but he never truly wished death upon her.
“Still brewing, then? Good. I have a potion that my mother left at the Manor and I need it identified. Why else would I come all the way out here? It certainly isn’t for your lovely personality.”
Daphne stared at him for a long time. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
“You know you completely had me until you asked for my help. What is it? Polyjuice? Because you can’t be Blaise Zabini.”
She threw a blasting hex at the wall above their heads raining moldy plaster down upon them before turning and bolting.
“Shit,” he swore after ducking. Quicky, he unsheathed one of his knives. He threw it, the intent to lodge itself into a wall after going through the fabric on her robes so it would slow her down. The first knife only caught the edge and easily ripped through the fabric. The second knife did a better job but she still dislodged it.
Nico was a faster runner and had his own potion covered cloth, so Blaise collected his knives from the wall and chased after them.
He would cherish the memory of Nico tackling Greengrass for the rest of his life. He grinned at the spectacle and then his eyes widened in alarm. He should have warned his cousin that Daphne Greengrass was just a tad bit touched in the head and wouldn’t go down with a fight.
Daphne began screaming when she was tackled and threw her head back into the skull of whomever had taken her to the ground. He grabbed for her cloak and Daphne pulled herself out of it, leaving her clad in jeans and her black tank top. She struggled to her feet and kicked cousin boy in his face. She tried to run again, but he got a handful of her hair. Daphne pulled until that’s all he was left with. She had a tough scalp and her hair would grow back. She fired a wild stinging hex under her arm, not even knowing if it hit him as she tried to get away.
Blaise rushed past Nico, dodging the hex, and knew that he was going to have to actually apologize for not letting his cousin know what he was getting into, but Nico was the only one who would come. Draco was always helpful in kidnappings, but he knew better than to ask Draco to get revenge against Astoria.
Now that she had no robe, he couldn’t use his knives to slow her down. Unless...
He quickly threw one, aiming in front of her face as she turned another corner. The handle flew first, knocking in the temple, dazing her and slowing her down, allowing Blaise to catch up. He pulled the potion covered cloth from his pocket and rushing up behind her, keeping his head away from hers and learning from Nico’s mistake. As quick as he could, he covered her mouth and nose.
“Your sister took something of mine, so I’m taking something of hers. You understand, right?” he asked, gasping for breath and trying to keep a hold on her as she still fought against him.
Daphne shouted ‘son of a bitch’ from behind the cloth - not that he could understand her. She was revenge? Against Tori? For what?
She felt her body relaxing. Deep down Daphne knew Blaise would never really and truly harm her. None of them would. They shared a unique experience. As her body slowed its struggles, Daphne had an odd thought. Blaise had not had his arms around her since they were children. She’d have to aggravate him about that later. With the last bit of energy she had, Daphne stomped his foot. Just like old times.
“Bitch!” he shouted, dropping her and wobbling on one leg. Blaise was surprised his right foot had never been broken by the amount of times she ground her heel into it. He quickly remembered that he was supposed to be kidnapping her and pulled out his wand, aiming it down at her, but she was out. If she hadn’t been, she would have used that time to escape.
With a sigh, Blaise dropped his wand and looked over his shoulder at Nico. “Come help me get her out of here undetected and I’ll pay you whatever you want. Once we’re back in England, I can do the rest.”
Nico glared at Blaise and rubbed his nose, which wasn’t bleeding, thankfully. “Was this all worth it?”
Blaise just smirked.
After Hannah was kidnapped, Blaise had anger stewing right below the surface and it was always aimed at Astoria. He knew he couldn’t take on Flint--he didn’t have a death wish--but there were ways to fuck with Greengrass. He was going to kidnap her sister, who he couldn’t stand, and if she got a bit roughed up in the process, well, two birds, one curse.
The daft bint was all the way in Romania of all places. He knew she got out of England but that was a bit far. Still, he would make the trip.
“Where are you going to keep her?” Nico asked, peering around the cobblestone corner of the building they were hiding behind.
“I’m not keeping her,” Blaise said. “You are.”
“The fuck I am. You’re the one with the dungeons.”
“I’m also the first person who will be suspected. Having her in screaming distance of her sister isn’t going to help.”
Nico glared at him but Blaise was mentally recalculating. Their dungeons had plenty of silencing charms and even though Didly would glare, he would make sure no permanent damage was done to Daphne. Blaise nodded to himself. It would work. Getting her to the dungeons would be the hardest part.
“She’s not going down without a fight.”
Nico frowned. “You can’t dose her or hex her?”
Blaise hit him on the back of the head. “She’s a potions master. She’ll smell any potion in her food or drink and I don’t want the chance that a spell can be pointed back at me. There’s a potion on these cloths that can be inhaled, but it’ll have to go over her mouth and nose and she’ll have to breathe in.”
His cousin sighed. “Very well. Let’s go. I promised my girlfriend I would be home in an hour.”
Blaise kept his mouth shut about that and led Nico to one of the most run-down and dingy buildings in the darkest part of Bucharest. Greengrass was, of course, on the top floor and had plenty of wards around the building and her apartment, but his father was an charms expert. He knew most of the unlocking tools of the trade.
Nico walked up to the door so he would be the face she saw. Since Greengrass had never been around his extended family, Blaise was counting on her not being suspicious while he quickly went to work on the wards.
Nico knocked on the door briskly and waited.
Daphne put a stasis charm on the potion she was brewing, glaring at the door with suspicion. She wasn’t expecting anyone. She pulled her wild dark auburn hair into a sloppy bun and took out her wand. Daphne stepped up to the door then moved directly to the side of it.
“Cine este?” she shouted in Romanian. “Este tarziu si nu esti bine venit.”
Daphne waited.
Blaise cringed. He didn’t even think about Greengrass not speaking English. Raphael knew some Russian but the closest Nico could get would be German. He peeked around the corner and mouthed German to him and Nico rolled his eyes and nodded.
“Sprechen Sie Deutsch oder Englisch?” he asked. Blaise held his breath while he waited for the answer.
“Oh fuck this,” Daphne said loud enough for the person on the other side of the door to hear.
She moved down the narrow hall next to her door and slipped through the hole she’d put in the wall there then magically warded and masked. Upon entering the hall, she was shocked to see what looked remarkably like the back of Blaise Zabini. She’d know the way the cut of fine slacks fell on that particular ass anywhere.
“What the fuck are you doing here, you complete wanker? This is my little corner of the world. Go back to yours. And who the fuck is this with you? New boyfriend?”
Blaise jumped and whirled around with a hand on his chest when Greengrass appeared behind him. “Il cielo di fottere dolce!” He took deep breaths to calm his rapid heartbeat. “Fucking hell, Greengrass. Way to scare a bloke.”
Nico came rushing around the corner but slowed down when he got to Blaise. Before he could make a statement that would ruin the whole moment, Blaise held up his hand. He was quickly reworking how he could kidnap her. She obviously wasn’t going to hex him on sight. This would make it easier for him to get closer.
“Do you always give your guests heart attacks or am I special?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t live in the best neighborhood, and how many people did I piss off in England?” Daphne’s eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here? Did something happen to Tori? She’s not dating Draco again is she? Because I cannot handle that again. And answer my damned questions. Who in the hell is this other guy? If he’s a present, I’m going through a girl phase right now, so no thank you.”
She stared at Blaise very hard.
“Something’s different about you.”
Blaise leaned away from her, wondering how long it would take to get his wand out and stun her. He gave up on not casting anything. “Nothing happened to your damned sister. She’s not dating Draco although she is firmly in another Slytherin’s bed. And this is not my boyfriend nor is he a present. He’s my cousin. I’m also going through a girl phase and I have my own woman waiting for me at home. Are you satisfied or shall we play Inquisitor a bit longer?”
“We’ll play a bit longer,” Daphne said, knowing it would annoy him. “Blaise’s Cousin, did you know my parents wanted me to marry Blaise? Mother used to make us dance together. I stepped on his feet on purpose. So Astoria landed herself a Slytherin. It’s not Pansy is it? Cos that would be funny. I can’t see Pans putting up with the screaming nightmares and the visions and the drooling. She gets hit so hard with her visions sometimes that she drools. She loses control of her body. It’d have to be somebody tough. And when don’t you have a girlfriend? Is it still that tramp that needed to eat a real meal?”
Daphne winked at Blaise’s cousin playfully. Because he probably knew how much her playful banter was aggravating Blaise. He was obviously here for a reason, and she wasn’t going to ask him outright. It he wanted her to know, he’d say. Until then it was annoying smalltalk time.
Blaise narrowed his eyes at Greengrass. One of the many reasons they would never work romantically is because they both knew how to press each other’s buttons perfectly and get each other so riled up that there would be damage to someone or something.
Nico started snickering. “She’s not the one that you complained to Nonna about ever summer? You called her the la femmina che non morira until Nonna heard you and smacked you with her towel hex?”
“Shut up,” Blaise hissed. He spun back around to Greengrass and steered the conversation away. She was indeed the girl he called the bitch who wouldn’t die. He still called her that in his head sometimes. “Your sister is currently shagging Flint for all she’s worth. I think it’s safe to say she’s passed her girl phase.”
“Yeah, we’ll see,” Daphne said. “Tori’s got a pretty voracious appetite. If he’ll let her share, she’ll start bringing people home. She’s always wanted a pet. Flint though? I guess can see it. She does like her bruises. And your family knows me as the bitch who wouldn’t die? That’s fantastic.”
Daphne started laughing.
“Is it cos of that thing Greyback did to me that time when you all thought he’d killed me and Draco actually vomited?”
Her laughter turned a bit hollow then and her eyes got nervous. Because Fenrir Greyback had killed her, but for some reason she had not died. Well, she knew why she had not died or she suspected, but Daphne had never addressed it. She was too frightened. That memory sobered Daphne.
“Fun time’s over boys. This zombie needs to get back to her potion.”
Blaise had completely forgotten about that. He was no stranger to death but it was completely different when the person dead was someone he had grown up with. There were moments in their past when he and Greengrass drew wands and were intent on cursing each other to the ends of the earth, but he never truly wished death upon her.
“Still brewing, then? Good. I have a potion that my mother left at the Manor and I need it identified. Why else would I come all the way out here? It certainly isn’t for your lovely personality.”
Daphne stared at him for a long time. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
“You know you completely had me until you asked for my help. What is it? Polyjuice? Because you can’t be Blaise Zabini.”
She threw a blasting hex at the wall above their heads raining moldy plaster down upon them before turning and bolting.
“Shit,” he swore after ducking. Quicky, he unsheathed one of his knives. He threw it, the intent to lodge itself into a wall after going through the fabric on her robes so it would slow her down. The first knife only caught the edge and easily ripped through the fabric. The second knife did a better job but she still dislodged it.
Nico was a faster runner and had his own potion covered cloth, so Blaise collected his knives from the wall and chased after them.
He would cherish the memory of Nico tackling Greengrass for the rest of his life. He grinned at the spectacle and then his eyes widened in alarm. He should have warned his cousin that Daphne Greengrass was just a tad bit touched in the head and wouldn’t go down with a fight.
Daphne began screaming when she was tackled and threw her head back into the skull of whomever had taken her to the ground. He grabbed for her cloak and Daphne pulled herself out of it, leaving her clad in jeans and her black tank top. She struggled to her feet and kicked cousin boy in his face. She tried to run again, but he got a handful of her hair. Daphne pulled until that’s all he was left with. She had a tough scalp and her hair would grow back. She fired a wild stinging hex under her arm, not even knowing if it hit him as she tried to get away.
Blaise rushed past Nico, dodging the hex, and knew that he was going to have to actually apologize for not letting his cousin know what he was getting into, but Nico was the only one who would come. Draco was always helpful in kidnappings, but he knew better than to ask Draco to get revenge against Astoria.
Now that she had no robe, he couldn’t use his knives to slow her down. Unless...
He quickly threw one, aiming in front of her face as she turned another corner. The handle flew first, knocking in the temple, dazing her and slowing her down, allowing Blaise to catch up. He pulled the potion covered cloth from his pocket and rushing up behind her, keeping his head away from hers and learning from Nico’s mistake. As quick as he could, he covered her mouth and nose.
“Your sister took something of mine, so I’m taking something of hers. You understand, right?” he asked, gasping for breath and trying to keep a hold on her as she still fought against him.
Daphne shouted ‘son of a bitch’ from behind the cloth - not that he could understand her. She was revenge? Against Tori? For what?
She felt her body relaxing. Deep down Daphne knew Blaise would never really and truly harm her. None of them would. They shared a unique experience. As her body slowed its struggles, Daphne had an odd thought. Blaise had not had his arms around her since they were children. She’d have to aggravate him about that later. With the last bit of energy she had, Daphne stomped his foot. Just like old times.
“Bitch!” he shouted, dropping her and wobbling on one leg. Blaise was surprised his right foot had never been broken by the amount of times she ground her heel into it. He quickly remembered that he was supposed to be kidnapping her and pulled out his wand, aiming it down at her, but she was out. If she hadn’t been, she would have used that time to escape.
With a sigh, Blaise dropped his wand and looked over his shoulder at Nico. “Come help me get her out of here undetected and I’ll pay you whatever you want. Once we’re back in England, I can do the rest.”
Nico glared at Blaise and rubbed his nose, which wasn’t bleeding, thankfully. “Was this all worth it?”
Blaise just smirked.