Emma Dobbs wasn’t one to ignore a cry for help. In fact, she rather prided herself on her intuitive understanding of her peers, and consequently, she occasionally found herself in these kind of circumstances. That is, Blaise needed help, and she was the only one to notice.
How clear the signs had been! She watched him every day at meals, as he talked and laughed with his friends, but he was always somewhere else in his mind. And wherever it was, he didn’t feel confident that he could share that place with anyone else, so he kept to himself. Emma thought it was a shame, while his friends simply thought he was proud. Then again, she realized it would be difficult for them to understand the complexity of his personality when they paid him such little attention as their own egos could afford. If only he would realize that it was possible to have a true friend, one who not only understood him, but appreciated the subtle qualities of his quiet nature...
She watched him closely for months, but he never relented his façade, even among his closest comrades. She thought it a very curious thing that anyone could appear so stoic in every circumstance. What could he be hiding that he could not share with Draco in the privacy of the common room? What secrets might he have that he could not tell to Pansy, if they were too sensitive for male ears? Because if he had told any of them, Emma would have known. What began as a faint curiosity slowly turned into an obsession of sorts, and Emma’s emotional connection with Blaise grew to be quite passionate, though they had never so much as spoken. But of what consequence is that? she thought. For in speaking with his friends, he has grown no closer to them.
Nevertheless, she knew that, if she would but reveal her love for Blaise, he would welcome the opportunity to unburden himself of whatever worries he had been carrying for so many years. After all, all he needed was someone who would truly, wholeheartedly listen. And who better suited for that noble purpose than Emma? She had listened to his private conversations for months when her participation had been entirely one-sided and markedly passive. All she wanted was for Blaise to realize that she loved him. He need not do anything else but talk to her, and she would listen, gratefully.
For the next week, she passed him in the halls as normal, and sat passively as she watched him in their common room, but she had grown so accustomed to silence that it seemed an impossible spell to break. On the one unfortunate occasion she had tried, she followed Blaise and his friends stealthily down the hall before she summoned the courage to approach him. Timidly, she tapped Blaise on the back. As Blaise turned around to face her, so did Draco and Pansy, all three of whom shot her scathing looks of contempt. In a momentary panic, her mouth refused to move, and she ran back to her dormitory, where she remained for hours trying desperately to recompose herself. It was not long after that she realized the utter necessity of getting Blaise alone.
***
The Great Hall buzzed with the chatter of private conversations that only emphasized the fact that Emma was alone. But this problem would soon be remedied, she thought with a smile, as she produced a small vial from underneath her robes. As it turned out, her isolation proved beneficial, since she had little need for stealth when no one noticed her, anyway. She walked closer to Blaise and sat down between him and another group of Slytherin students. By sitting in the middle, each cluster assumed that she was with someone else, and no one even acknowledged her presence at the table. Giving quick glances over her shoulder in Blaise’s direction, Emma waited until they were heavily engaged in conversation, and, as she turned to leave, she let loose a single drop of potion from the vial hidden in her sleeve, and watched it fall into Blaise’s glass.
She pulled out a bit of parchment from her pockets, pretending to read because she knew it would not be long now.
Turning around, she saw that her potion had already begun to take effect. Blaise began twitching ever so slightly, and Emma grabbed him by the shoulder. “Blaise? Are you okay?” she asked loudly, for the first time attracting the attention of the others at her table. As he began to shake more violently, he fell to the floor, and Emma hunched over him. People stood up from the other tables to stare, and the small buzz of chatter grew to a great roar of confusion. As she leaned over Blaise’s unconscious body, she whispered something in his ear, but her words were lost in the din.
***
Blaise slowly became aware of his surroundings, waking to a white, sterile room. In the far corner, invisible to him as he could not turn his head that far, he heard the indistinct, whispering voices of two individuals.
“...and I can't tell you how much I appreciate your volunteering to help, Miss Dobbs!”
“Well, I’ve been considering a career as a Healer, and I know that it will be several years before I graduate, but I would like as much practice attending to patients as I can get.”
“Well, we only have one patient today, but you may certainly look after him. He was brought in just this morning for swallowing some sort of foul potion... nasty mess...” she mumbled, her voice fading into silence.
Blaise heard the muffled sound of footsteps coming towards him, and as he opened his eyes, he saw above him a wide-eyed girl with a bright, warm smile. “Oh, Blaise! So good to see you awake!” As she sat down beside him, she placed her hand on his shoulder with a possessive strength that surprised him.