"Ah, excellent, you're awake." That was the first thing Blake heard after waking up. Sitting next to him, of course, was Albus Dumbledore.
Blake immediately raised his mental guard, looking straight down.
"Professor - how long have I -"
"Oh, only a day," Dumbledore said dismissively. "You recovered much quicker than expected, I must say, Blake. Harry's still recovering," he said, looking at the bed beside him. Blake turned to look - Harry was fast asleep.
"He'll be alright, won't he?" Blake asked, concerned.
"Yes, of course. Ms Greengrass was quick to act with her Healing Potions for both of you - it saved Madam Pomfrey a lot of hassle. Your friends have been told you had an accident when you snuck out, and that you've been here since."
A silence befell the room.
"Professor, did you know what would happen?" Blake asked him quietly. Dumbledore sighed that sigh that Blake had come to hate.
"Yes, in parts. I have always suspected Lord Voldemort's return, you see. I had to be sure."
"Then why did you let Harry face him? He's just a kid!"
"And so are you, Blake," Dumbledore said with a sad smile. "But being 'just a kid', as you so eloquently put it, doesn't mean the world stops its ways. Lord Voldemort and Harry… their fates are tied. That's the way it had to be - the way it has to be."
"You're saying Voldemort will return?"
"Undoubtedly so," Dumbledore responded. "And I think you know that, Blake. After all, that's why you went after Harry, is it not? Of course, I imagine you wanted to save him too, and assist Ms Greengrass, but your prime motivation - young Connor, isn't it?"
Blake didn't respond, and Dumbledore sighed again.
"Ms Greengrass asked a favour from me… I'm sure you're aware of what it is?"
"Yes. Did you grant it?"
"I did. I had to ask Nicholas Flamel, of course, but he agreed, considering it was only a half vial. Besides, the Stone will be destroyed soon enough."
Blake looked at Dumbledore in surprise, before nodding.
"That makes sense."
Another silence befell the room.
"I'd like to say thank you, Blake. Truly. I heard about Quirrell's use of the Cruciatus Curse. No one, especially not someone as young as you, deserves that." DUmbledore spoke gently, and Blake could tell he meant it. But that doesn't help.
"I appreciate it, sir. But I'd rather not receive any credit for this. It's going to be a hassle, and if Voldemort is to return one day, I don't want to have any greater target painted on my back than already is."
Dumbledore smiled.
"Ms Greengrass suspected you might say that. She asked Ms Granger and I to keep both of your involvements a secret - but unfortunately, I had to divulge the information to the Professors. I hope you can understand?"
"Yes, sir."
Dumbledore stood up.
"I wanted you to know, Blake - I'm proud of you. You're shaping yourself to be far beyond what anyone ever expected out of a muggleborn Slytherin student. Hogwarts, myself, the Professors, and even the larger wizarding society - we owe you thanks."
With that, Dumbledore bade his farewells, and left the infirmary with a smile, leaving Blake to his thoughts. As soon as he left, however, the Headmaster's smile vanished from his face.
Blake - you still don't trust me? And you've learnt Occlumency to the point that I won't be able to use Legilimency on you without you realising. Did Ms Greengrass teach you? No - it's subconscious? Dumbledore mused, amazed.
And you even got the truth about the Stone out of Hagrid. You manipulated him, just like Tom did, all those years ago.
Whatever it is, it cannot be allowed to continue further.
You must be the foundation upon which Harry will thrive. You must be there to pick up the pieces after the war is done, so that something like this never happens again.
You must be - you will be - my successor.
/
"Blake!" Tracey, Charlotte, Zabini and Greengrass had been waiting outside the infirmary to see him.
"What happened?"
"Are you better now?"
"Were you with Potter and his friends?"
An onslaught of questions were asked by his friends, Blake mustered up a small smile.
"I'm fine, guys. Just a bit tired, but Pomfrey said I'll be out of here by this evening."
"But what happened?" Tracey repeated, glancing over at Harry. "Did you have anything to do with what happened with Potter?"
Blake frowned.
"I left the Quill I use for the essays in the library, so I went to get it before any Professors or Filch found it, but I fell down the stairs. Bruised and fractured some ribs. Anyway, I still don't know what happened to Harry. Dumbledore wouldn't tell me. Does anyone want to fill me in?"
As Tracey and Charlotte went into detail about what had happened that night, Zabini looked at Blake apprehensively. He definitely doesn't believe me, Blake thought, smirking internally. But how's he gonna prove I'm lying?
After checking up on him, the rest of the group left, but Greengrass lingered behind for a few moments.
"You got it?" Blake asked her.
For the first time, perhaps ever, Greengrass smiled at him - a real, happy smile, and she nodded.
"Thank you. The money's waiting under your pillow."
With that, she swiftly followed behind the rest of them, who were now mocking Greengrass and Blake together. It wasn't helped by the evident blush on Blake's face either, and he subsequently complained to Madam Pomfrey and got them removed from the infirmary much quicker.
Blake's next visitors were Hermione, who immediately rushed over and seemed like she had to prevent herself from crying, and Weasley, who stood sheepishly at the corner of his bed.
"Oh, Blake, I'm so glad you're okay!" Hermione said, eyes wide with concern. "Greengrass said you'd been knocked unconscious, and then you didn't wake up for so long, and we were so worried!"
Blake smiled and thanked Hermione for her concern, and when Weasley pressed for details, he refused to take much credit.
"To be honest, it was mostly Harry - he's the one that actually defeated Quirrell-Voldemort."
Blake detailed what had happened, downplaying his and Greengrass's contributions a bit.
"You guys know that you can't mention me and Greengrass being there, right?"
"Yeah, Dumbledore told us," Weasley said. "But why?"
"We don't want to get involved," Blake replied. "Especially if Voldemort's involved - the last thing I need is for pureblood fanatics to think that a mudblood like me got Voldemort killed."
As Hermione and Weasley gaped at the use of 'mudblood', Blake couldn't help but grow a sense of respect for Weasley. It had just occurred to him that the ginger boy had willingly sacrificed himself to let Harry and Hermione go on, and it was impossible not to acknowledge that.
Soon after, they left, and Blake fell asleep once more. When he rose, Madam Pomfrey was beside his bed, and he was discharged from the infirmary.
Blake made his way back to his dorm, and just as he expected, everyone was waiting there, ready to greet him.
"So, Blake," Charlotte began, as they started a Wizard Chess tournament like they had done so many times before. "We noticed Daphne stick around a bit at the end of the infirmary visit."
Blake and Greengrass both said, "Shut up, Charlotte," at the same time, causing Blake to blush again, and Tracey and Charlotte to mock them even further.
"Daph, why're you hiding your face?"
"Aw, Blake's blushing!"
"Tracey, didn't I catch you on a late night troll with Zabini the other day?"
"Why in Merlin's name are you bringing me into this!?"
"I saw Charlotte and Crabbe having a deep conversation in Charms 5 times now!"
The group bantered over the chess matches, and they played well into the night. Charlotte came last, surprisingly, having listened to a knight foolishly, followed by Tracey in fourth, then Zabini in third.
Those three were intensely watching the final - Blake versus Greengrass. The atmosphere was tense - no one was speaking, not even the pieces, as Blake and Greengrass rapidly made their moves until -
"Checkmate!" Blake announced, triumphantly, as Greengrass looked over the board. As he basked in the victory and praise of his friends, Greengrass smirked, immediately wiping the smirk off his face.
"No, Renshaw. This is checkmate."
The room was silent as Blake scanned the board furiously, before finally saying, "Sh*t!" as Tracey and Charlotte whooped loudly, praising Greengrass, while Zabini took the opportunity to mock Blake's overconfidence.
Later that night, after the girls had left and Zabini went to bed, Blake felt under his pillow, and sure enough, the money was there, along with a note.
"Lumos!" Blake whispered. Under the blue light of his wand, he read out the 2 words.
Thank you.
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