Blaise tried very hard to keep his unhappiness to himself as he and Ron landed outside of the Carrows' house. Ron seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face as they quietly trudged up the walkway to the dark house.

They stopped at the door and waited for the other to do something. It was an awkward couple of seconds before Blaise finally sighed and looked down. "Do you want to blast it open or shall I?"

"Is blasting really the best idea?" Ron asked, looking the door up and down. "What if there are any curses on it?"

Blaise raised an eyebrow at the red head in surprise. "That's rather smart to think of, Weasley."

Ron shrugged. "You hang around Harry and Hermione enough and you start to think of everything. And when you run into nearly every kind of obstacle, it becomes second nature to doubt how easy something seems."

Blaise was silent, looking over at Ron with almost a newfound appreciation. Ron looked over and scowled before looking away and pointing his wand towards the door. "Well, what are we going to do?"

"I honestly doubt the Carrows are smart enough to put that kind of curse on their door," Blaise mused. "Especially since it looks like no one's lived here for months. Stand back."

Ron took a few steps back and Blaise stepped to the middle of the door, somewhat blocking Ron and pointing his wand at the door. "Bombarda!"

As the door blasted back into the house, Blaise and Ron waited for the dust to settle before carefully stepping over the threshold.

"Probably best if we stick together," Blaise said quietly, illuminating his wand.

Ron scoffed. "Scared to be alone, Zabini?"

"No, I just think it might be smart to not split up since they can't really attack two wizards at once," Blaise answered, annoyed. "And Ginny would never forgive me if I let her stubborn brother die in a situation where I could've done something."

"How charitable of you," Ron muttered bitterly.

The two of them searched the house in silence, Blaise taking point and Ron taking up the rear. Blaise became increasingly anxious as they continued to come up with nothing. Everything was covered in dust, untouched for months.

"This is such a waste of time," Blaise muttered as they left another room.

"Can't say I disagree," Ron said, looking around. "Come on, let's check the library."

Blaise followed him into a large room filled with books. It was a typical old library in a noble house, walls filled with books from floor to ceiling. He smiled to himself and said, "Still smaller than Hermione's library."

Ron chuckled slightly at this, but his scowl soon returned as he looked over all the books. It was completely silent for a few moments before Ron quietly asked, "Is Hermione happy?"

Turning around at this, Blaise looked at Ron. "Why do you ask?"

"Is she happy?" Ron asked again, pausing his searching and turning around to look at Blaise with an expressionless face.

Blaise looked him up and down, unsure of what to say. "Aside from everything that's happening, yeah; she always has a smile on her face when I see her."

Ron looked at him for a few moments before looking down at the ground and nodding. "Alright, good."

They began searching again in silence, but it only took a few minutes for Ron to start talking again. "What about Ginny? Is she alright?"

Blaise sighed and turned around, leaning against the bookshelf. "Why the sudden interest in your sister's life? You hardly talked to her after the Halloween Ball back in our last year."

Ron sighed and shifted his weight from one leg to another. "Admittedly I was busy with missions and such, but I should've made the effort. I just let anger and old prejudices get in the way of everything, and unfortunately took it out on her."

"So your reasoning for not talking to her was some sort of punishment?" Blaise asked, genuinely curious now instead of interrogating the other wizard.

Taking a deep breath, Ron looked down at the ground and leaned back against the opposite bookcase. "I hate to say it, but yes. I was just so frustrated about the situation, and the situation with Hermione and Malfoy admittedly fed into my anger about you and Ginny. I was wrong and I know it, but I let my anger get the best of me when I shouldn't have."

"Why?" Blaise asked, tilting his head to the side. "Ginny wanted nothing more than for you and your family to accept us, because she was unable to do anything about the situation. She was fated to be with me, and while I'm happy that she did decide to be with me, I wasn't expecting her to somewhat lose you as her brother in the process. It ate her up inside that you wouldn't accept us."

"I didn't want to be estranged from her," Ron said quietly. "I love Ginny with all my heart; everyone in my family does. It's still somewhat hard for me to see her as a grown woman who's capable of making decisions for herself, instead of the little girl trying to play quidditch with her older brothers. She's always going to be my little sister, and I'm always going to be protective of her."

Ron took a deep breath before looking away and continuing. "It's even harder when she's already nearly died once. Back in our second year and her first, she was the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets."

Blaise nodded slightly, caught off guard. "I had completely forgotten it was her."

Ron nodded as well and shifted his weight again. "She was given Tom Riddle's diary, one of his horcruxes, by Draco's father, which I guess is partially why I also resent Draco. The diary possessed her and started to suck the life out of her, essentially. And she kept it all to herself."

Ron took a shaky breath and crossed his arms against his chest. "Do you know how hard it is to realize that your baby sister, who you're supposed to protect all the time, nearly died because you and all your older brothers didn't take her seriously and didn't pay attention to her?"

Blaise didn't answer, finally understanding. "Ron, she loves you. She doesn't blame you for that at all."

"I know she doesn't, but she has every right to." Ron gave a laugh, but it was a fake one that hid a lot of anger. "After that year, I swore I would never let anything happen to her. I would make sure I would always protect her. And then you came into the picture."

Ron looked up and made eye contact with Blaise. "I can't say that I thought very fondly of you, even though deep down I knew you weren't a Death Eater. Hell, you were one of the few who wasn't completely loyal to Malfoy."

Blaise grinned slightly. "He was admittedly a little shit in school. I was friends with him, but I made sure he knew I wasn't one of his cronies like Crabbe and Goyle. I didn't agree really with the path his father was forcing him down. Thankfully, Lucius has seen the light since then."

"From the small bit of time I saw him when Malfoy proposed to Hermione, I have to say I can see that he's changed," Ron admitted. "But when you came into the picture, it's like I had a flashback to second year. To me, it was like Ginny was in a bad situation again that could kill her, and you were the reason why. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to lose her. I held a lot of prejudices towards you because you were a Slytherin, instead of seeing you as a person."

Ron smiled slightly. "Hermione was right when she called me out for being upset and hypocritical about the situation between the four of you even though I supported my brother Bill's relationship with his wife, Fleur. Fleur is part Veela as well, and Bill was her mate."

Blaise nodded. "Your father told us a little bit about them, mainly referencing that he understood the situation that was happening."

"Well, it was a bit of a wake-up call to me when that was said, but me being my stubborn self, I didn't want to believe it," Ron admitted bitterly. "I fought so hard because I didn't want to believe that my sister was really dating a Slytherin, and was eventually going to marry him. But since I've become an Auror and have been on missions with several Slytherins, I know that your house wasn't the issue."

"Then what was?" Blaise asked. "You've been nothing but frankly an asshole to Draco and I since this all started."

Ron shrugged. "When you go for years with a guy calling you a blood traitor and treating you like the mud on the bottom of his shoe, it's hard to let go of that hatred. Malfoy gave me plenty of reasons to hate him."

Blaise sighed. "I can agree with that, I guess. But he's making an effort now, if anything for Hermione's sake. Why have you been so reluctant to make the same effort?"

"I would've been fine never seeing him again," Ron started. "But it was very hard for me to accept that he was fated to be with Hermione. I've come around to the idea but when you nearly die with someone, you have a bond with them that you don't really have with anyone else. I always thought that she and I would be together, living the rest of our lives happily. Of course, I know now that it wouldn't have happened, but part of me just didn't want to accept it. Especially since he publicly treated her like shit."

"It would've been worse for her if he didn't treat her like that," Blaise said with a sigh. "Trust me, you didn't have to sit next to him and see him sigh and stare at her all the time."

"No, but I never saw that side of him; none of us did." Ron sighed and pushed off the shelf. "For what it's worth, thank you for keeping my sister happy. It's hard for me to not be protective of her, but if anyone was going to make sure she stays happy, it would be you."

"That's all I ever want for her," Blaise said with a nod. "That's my job as her Veela."

Ron was silent for a moment before he looked down and held out a hand. Blaise stared at the offered hand in shock before taking it and giving it a small shake. "I promise, I will keep Ginny happy for the rest of her life. Just promise me you'll be a part of her life, because otherwise she won't really be happy."

"Are you kidding?" Ron asked. "She's my sister and I love her. I'm not going anywhere."

They dropped their hands and left the library, searching through the rest of the house with a newfound energy and comradery.

It was probably a few hours later when everyone returned to the Ministry, meeting in that same little room they had previously. Draco was surprised to see Blaise and Ron talking quietly to each other when they apparated into the room, raising an eyebrow at Blaise when he walked towards Draco.

"Becoming chummy with the in-laws?" Draco asked.

Blaise rolled his eyes. "We had a good talk. Something the two of you should probably do."

It was Draco's turn to roll his eyes. "Hell will probably freeze over first before he willingly talks to me."

"See, I thought the same thing, and yet..." Blaise trailed off, gesturing towards Ron who was quietly talking to Harry. "Anyways, how did your searching go? Hopefully better than ours."

"Came up with nothing," Draco said unhappily. "Though I did learn finally to cast a Patronus."

"Oh really?" Blaise's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "And what is the animal?"

"An otter," Draco admitted quietly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Blaise's face split into a grin and Draco glared at him, holding up a finger. "Don't you say a damn word."

Blaise held up his hands in defense but continued to grin. "Wonder if that means I'll have a stallion for a Patronus."

"I wouldn't be surprised, since apparently ours will match the girls' Patronuses," Draco shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

Before they could say anything else, Daniels caught everyone's attention. "Alright, so our first night of searching for anything was not a success, but let's not lose hope. We've narrowed down that they are not in any of the Death Eaters' homes, which is a start."

Draco and Blaise both shared a scoff which earned them a glare from Daniels, who continued shortly after. "Now, I know you all are probably tired after the long night, so everyone go home, get some rest, and meet back here at seven am, sharp!"

There were a few collective groans and Draco's brow furrowed. He turned to Blaise and muttered, "They're not going to continue searching through the night?"

"Seems unlikely," Blaise muttered in return, glancing around at the Aurors. "Though remember, they don't have our energy levels and stamina, or our motivation. They probably need the sleep."

"I seriously doubt I'll be able to sleep until Hermione is safe," Draco said, stuffing his hands into his pocket. "What's say you and I continue searching?"

"I say that's the most brilliant idea you've had in a while," Blaise said with a grin.

Draco scowled at him as they both started making their way towards the door, but when he felt a hand on his shoulder, Draco paused and turned around.

"We're coming to help," Harry announced, nodding his head back towards Ron who nodded in agreement.

Raising an eyebrow and looking at Blaise, Draco said, "Are you sure that's smart? You two need your sleep. Blaise and I won't honestly be able to rest until we find the girls."

"As dramatic as that is and while I'm sure it's mostly true," Ron started, "We're going to help regardless. We care about the girls too and have more of a reason to continue searching than the other Aurors. Now, we can either do it all together or you two can go do your thing while Harry and I do our thing. Your choice."

Draco looked between the other two wizards in surprise. He looked back at Blaise, who simply shrugged, and then looked back at them. "Alright. Maybe we need to get together and form a plan for how we're going to effectively search."

"Let's meet at Grimmauld Place," Harry offered. "I'll put some coffee on so that we can for sure stay awake."

The other three all nodded in agreement, and Harry and Ron both apparated away. Blaise looked over at Draco and said, "I'm honestly not sure how to get there."

Draco shrugged. "I'll apparate you there. Give me one second though."

He walked out of the door and down the hallway, away from everyone. He heard Blaise follow him though and rolled his eyes slightly before stopped halfway down the hallway.

"What are you doing?" Blaise asked curiously from behind him.

"I'm going to try and send Hermione a message," Draco answered over his shoulder.

He concentrated on Hermione again, reliving every happy moment they had together before pointing his wand and saying, "Expecto Patronum!"

The large silver otter appeared from the tip of his wand again, scurrying around before stopping in front of him and searching the air. Draco looked at it in wonder for a few moments before shaking his head and taking in a deep breath.

"Hermione," He started with a shaky voice. Then he cleared his throat and sighed. "I hope this gets to you alright; admittedly, this is the second Patronus I've ever made."

He paused, trying to find the right words. "Hermione, we're going to find you. We're going to bring both you and Ginny home. You don't know how much I want you back in my arms. We'll find you soon, I promise."

He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and stared at the otter. "I love you, Hermione. Stay strong for me, and for Ginny. There's so much more I want to tell you, but I'll wait until I have you back with me. And I promise, the first thing we're doing is going on a vacation, just the two of us. So start thinking of where you want to go because I'll be expecting you to tell me when we come get you. I love you."

He finished talking and nodded towards the otter, gesturing it away. The otter bounded down the corridor, floating up into the air as if it was swimming through a river as it disappeared through a wall.

Draco didn't realize how long he had been staring at the point in the wall where the otter disappeared until he felt a hand on his shoulder and the reassuring voice of Blaise.

"She'll be alright, mate," Blaise said quietly. "Think of how happy she'll be when she sees what your Patronus is."

Draco  cracked  a  slight  grin  at  this  and  looked  down  at  the  floor.  "You' re  right.  Come  on,  let's  go  before  they  come  find  us."

A/N: I decided to give a little bit of insight on Ron since I've kind of made him a stubborn little shit in this story :) and some bonding time with the brother-in-law is always good! 

Next chapter will be up tomorrow! Love you all! <3