The Mysterious Mr. Zabini

Chapter 1- In Which I lose My Temper and Meet an Ally

I met Blaise Zabini by accident during a Quidditch game in my fifth year. It happened something like this…

One of the Slytherin seventh years had just grievously insulted my best friend, Dennis Creevey, but he made the mistake of doing so within my hearing. I jumped up to face him and realized that the lumbering idiot before me was none other than Jeremy Flint. I didn't even bother to review the consequences of attacking this troll before thrusting my fist into his face, which met his misshapen nose with a satisfying crunch. Flint howled in pain, but before he could call his cronies to pulverize Dennis and me, I grabbed my friend and darted down the tower stairs.

When we reached one of the levels where an interconnecting corridor offered passage to all of the other towers, I pushed Dennis left directing him to go find the north exit and go back up to the castle. "Run!" I commanded, when he just stood there looking at me. "Before Flint comes back with his not-so-little buddies that will beat us to a crimson pulp!" Dennis' eyes widened and he turned, moving quickly away from me. I turned right and maneuvered the dark passages expertly, if I do say so myself. Suddenly, I heard deep voices coming from ahead of me.

"Where'd they go?" growled one voice. I recognized it as belonging to Geronimo Kent, a friend of Flint's.

"Probably split up, like last time," Flint responded with a growl. I noticed with relish that he sounded a bit stuffed up. "You go dad way, I'll look dis way," he directed. "Whed you fide one dof theb, bead 'em do a pulp. Thed fide me. Ad Kent, try to be quied aboud it, you doe? They're doo wimby do tell a teacher, bud sdill…*" He trailed off, moving away. Kent however must have turned in my direction, for I heard clumping slowly toward me. I looked around frantically. The only other place I could go was toward Dennis! I decided to head for Kent. Maybe I'd reach another tower before he could, and hide there.

I moved forward, trying to stay in shadow. Almost immediately, I saw a doorway leading up to a seating tower. It was Ravenclaw, a neutral zone, so I headed for it, but before I could get inside, Kent appeared a few feet away. I froze, just inside the doorway. Please, I thought desperately, let him go away, let him keep going. Just my luck. He moved toward the Ravenclaw door. If I moved, he'd hear me, catch me, and beat me to an ooze. If I didn't move, he'd bump into me, catch me, and beat me to an ooze. Some choice, huh? Just then, a new voice flowed from a shadow that I hadn't noticed.

"Kent," it said clearly. Male. "Keep going. They aren't up there."

"You sure?" Kent grunted.

"Yeah. Try the Gryffindor tower. Maybe they're with their friends there," the shadow suggested. Kent grunted, and shuffled off. When the noises of his movements had finally exited hearing range, I slid out of the doorway.

"Thanks," I said breathlessly. "Who are you? Why did you lie like that? You don't even know me!" I exclaimed. His eyes glittered at me from the darkness. Then he stepped forward.

"I'm Blaise Zabini. I didn't lie: you weren't in the tower yet, and Creevey's back in Gryffindor. How do you know I don't know you?" His voice was direct and clear, tinted with…amusement?

"I've never spoken to you before in my life!" I said vehemently.

"They say that you can tell more about a person by watching them. After all, actions speak louder than words," Blaise said, examining me. His expression was unreadable in the dimness of the corridor. I nodded.

"I guess," I responded warily. Then my curiosity perked up. "Say, what have you noticed from watching Dennis and me?" I inquired with interest.

"Dennis is intelligent and intuitive, but shy. He doesn't like starting arguments or fights, and he does not like to socialize outside of his own circle. If it weren't for you, he wouldn't even have a best friend," Blaise told me seriously. "You, however, are outgoing and protective. You will fight for what you believe in, but have a tendency to overreact every now and then. You are also intelligent, and your best subject is Arithmancy." I know my eyes got wide at this. How could he possibly know? He was a full two years older than I, and a Slytherin to boot!

"Why watch Dennis and me? There's plenty of people to look at besides two half-blood Gryffindors. You know, people your age," I said, watching his eyes intently. They grew somewhat steely at my comment about half-bloods.

"There are some Slytherins who do not share the popular house-opinion of wizarding families. I am one of them. Now, I believe it is time to leave this particular area of the grounds before Flint and Kent get back here." Blaise looked at me oddly.

"What?" I asked defensively. He shook his head.

"Nothing," Blaise turned and began to stalk down the corridor ahead of me, pausing every now and then to listen. We reached an exit quickly. "I'm walking you back to Gryffindor. They won't mess with you if they see me in the vicinity," Blaise sighed.

"I'm a big girl, I can go it alone," I told him, glaring.

"I'm not saying you can't take care of yourself against one of them. But both of them? Once they figure out that you and your friend aren't hanging round the pitch anymore, they'll head for the castle. Flint isn't one to drop a grudge, and you hit him pretty hard!"

"You saw?" I gasped.

"Just the damage," Blaise answered moving ahead of me. I'm not positive, but I think that a smile ghosted on his lips.

We walked across the grounds together, Blaise slightly ahead of me. From behind, I noted with satisfaction his height, complimented by broad shoulders that filled out his dark shirt nicely. Definitely easy on the eyes! Soon, we reached the castle and entered its coolness. Instead of up the stairs, Blaise led me into the dungeons and around several corners until we came to a large, African-style statue on the wall. Blaise tapped it with his wand.

"Interro," he whispered. The statue moved to the side and I saw a stairway leading up. "Come on!" he tugged my arm. I followed him on the stairs, and to my surprise, the steps moved as soon as both of us were on them! The door closed behind us, inviting darkness to cover our ascension. Soon, however, I remembered my wand.

"Lumos," I said, pulling it out. Blaise turned to face me.

"Don't like the dark?" he inquired.

"It's not that I don't like it," I explained. "Just that I don't like moving with the aid of something magical that I never knew existed in the company someone I never spoke to in my life!" Blaise laughed. I smiled in return, realizing that what I'd just spouted sounded something like a lecture.

"You're something else, Erin," he said, touching my shoulder. Soon we reached the top of the stairway-type thing, and the steps halted gently, causing me to stumble slightly. Blaise steadied me with his hand as I wobbled, and then pushed through a door in front of him.

We stepped out in front of a portrait of a girl sitting on a staircase. I chuckled when I saw it, and the girl jumped hurriedly to her feet, waving energetically at Blaise and me. Looking around, I found that we were in fact only a few portraits down from the Fat Lady and the entrance to Gryffindor tower. Blaise turned to me.

"Be careful, now. Watch your back. And in the future, try a good hex or two instead of using your fists. Try Hexes or All Occasions, by Richard Wiley. Those will put anyone out of commission for an hour or two," Blaise remarked, looking down at me with an expression of soft mirth.

I looked up into his eyes. They were this dark blue color, so dark they looked nearly black, with infinitesimal specks of gold. "I will," I told him seriously. "Um, thanks for walking me back. I really appreciate it."

"Sure," Blaise shrugged. "Anytime. Toddle off now, better get back to your commons. Don't want to be trampled by the Quidditch teams returning, eh?" I walked over to the portrait and whispered the password to the pink-clad woman. I could feel Blaise's eyes on me as the portrait swung open, and when I peeked around the picture, I saw him still standing there. He saw me looking and gave a slight wave of his hand. I am certain that I blushed, because I could feel my ears burning, but I slid into the common room quickly, greeted by an agitated Dennis Creevey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

translation:

*"You go that way, I'll look this way," he directed. "When you find one of them, beat 'em to a pulp. Then find me. And Kent, try to be quiet about it, you know? They're too wimpy to tell a teacher, but still…*"