prompts at the bottom

thanks to tiggs and shiba for betaing!

499 words, by google docs

Blaise found her crying in a deserted corridor and felt very awkward.

"Hello?" he called to the girl, who was hunched in a corner. A Hufflepuff, judging by her robes. "Hi, I'm Blaise," he offered, walking over and sliding down next to her. "What happened?"

"Just..." the girl gestured towards nothing in particular. She then looked up and Blaise saw that her eyes were puffy and red.

"Nothing," she said, putting her head back in her hands.

"Bullshit." Blaise snorted and moved slightly closer to her. "Something must've happened."

"Nothing you could do," she mumbled.

"I could kill whoever it was," Blaise said nonchalantly, but slightly serious. He didn't like seeing people hurt.

"No! What?" the girl said, looking up.

Blaise just shrugged, looking bored. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Susan Bones. You're not going to kill someone, are you?"

Blaise laughed. "No, of course not. Unless you want me to. I know a guy."

"No! Well, maybe. Wait, no!" Susan's brows kept on furrowing and then relaxing, which Blaise found highly amusing.

"But seriously, what happened?"

Susan looked Blaise in the face with her eyes narrowed before saying, "Augustus Rookwood."

"He's one of the escaped?" Blaise asked. He didn't really recognize the name, but he vaguely remembered someone mentioning him at breakfast that morning.

Susan nodded. "He killed my entire family, except for me and my aunt. We're the last Bones left and —" Her voice cracked and she started to cry again. Blaise, unsure as to how to react, settled for putting an arm around her shoulder and letting her lean on him.

"There, there," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. He had no idea how to comfort someone. That wasn't how he and his friends operated. "I really will kill him for you," he said.

If there was one thing Blaise could not stand, it was jerks, and that Rookwood sounded like a huge one. He related to not having much family; it had always been just him, his mom, and whatever man she was married to. Blaise had stopped keeping track.

"Don't," she said, hiccupping. "If anyone's going to kill him, it'll be me."

Blaise couldn't help it — he laughed out loud.

"You're going to kill a man?"

"Yes!" Susan said, glaring at Blaise. "He killed my parents!"

"You're not going to kill a man."

"And why not?" Susan's tone was now very harsh and Blaise was slightly scared.

"Well, you're..."

"I'm what?" she snapped.

"Hey, easy," Blaise said, backing away. "I just meant that you're don't really seem like the killing type, you know?"

"No, I certainly don't know. I can kill someone right now if I wanted to! Like you, for example."

"I'm good," Blaise responded, a soft grin still on his lips. "I want live through my sixth year."

Susan made eye contact with him and searched his eyes. She seemed to find what she was searching for, because she nodded at him and gave a tiny smile.

"Thank you."

for:

the houses competition [gryffindor, year 7, drabble - slytherin/hufflepuff pairing type]

writing club [char app - 22, bonus for using susan; disney - losing a parent; showtime - empty chairs at empty tables]