Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to the brilliant JK Rowling, not me. This disclaimer applies for the entire story, since I'm not going to magically gain ownership of Harry Potter at any point in time. That would just be too awesome : )
Chapter 1
"I'm sorry, Mr. Zabini, but if you don't get a tutor, I'm afraid you're going to fail my class." The Slytherin's fist tightened around the test in his hand as he gazed down at the tiny professor.
"Isn't there another way, sir? Perhaps an extra assignment or something of that sort," Blaise suggested calmly, though he was silently berating himself. Usually he could manage at least an Acceptable, but he had been a tad distraction from his Charms work the evening before the exam. If only I hadn't stayed up playing cards that night... he thought wryly. A second later he found himself fighting down a satisfied smirk as he remembered how he had finally beaten that prat Nott at cards, but Professor Flitwick's squeaky voice quickly wiped that expression off his face.
"That wouldn't be fair to the other students." He paused at the look of mild irritation that appeared on the teenager's face. "I know you're more intelligent than these scores show, Mr. Zabini. I expect a passing grade from you next time."
"I understand, Professor," he replied tersely before grabbing his bag from the desk beside him and heading for the door. Thankfully, Charms had been the last class of the day, so he didn't need to worry about his foul mood disrupting his studies. The hallways were nearly empty as he followed the familiar path to the Great Hall, where most of the students were now eating their dinner. When he reached his destination, it only took him a moment to locate the strikingly blonde head that belonged to his fellow Slytherin, since the room was much less crowded than it had been in previous years, and he briskly made his way over to where his friend was dining.
As he swiftly sat down in his seat, Draco glanced at him in acknowledgement before returning to picking at the food on his plate. "What did Flitwick want?" he inquired as Blaise piled a plate with some chicken.
"Apparently I'm on the verge of failing his class and need to find a tutor," Blaise replied nonchalantly, gesturing to the paper beside his plate before a thought struck him. "Hey, Draco... You've been getting Outstandings on the Charms exams, haven't you?"
"I'm not helping you," he stated harshly, turning his head to face the other boy as he narrowed his eyes. "I told you to give it up when Nott beat you that sixth time, but you had to go and be a bloody moron and play another three games."
"I won though," Blaise noted smugly as he took a bite of chicken.
"Oh yes. How much was it you won again? Ten Galleons? Quite a prize compared to the eighty you lost in the other rounds," Draco murmured sarcastically as he returned his gaze to his fairly untouched plate. Blaise decided against reprimanding him for his poor eating habits – something that had developed during their sixth year – and instead turned his attention to the other occupants of the Great Hall as he thoughtfully chewed on his food. Many students had left, or were not allowed to return in the Muggle-borns' cases, and it was noticeable in the behavior of the remaining students. Some people sulked at the loss of their friends, while others who were more like his own housemates took advantage of the darker air around the school to make their enemies as miserable as possible. This plan was reinforced by their new Professors, the Carrows, and their newly-appointed Headmaster, Severus Snape. Blaise pushed the thoughts from his mind as he focused on the daunting task of finding an adequate tutor.
Scanning the room, his eyes focused on boy with neatly combed hair and a Hufflepuff emblem on his robe. Ernie Macmillan; a pureblood. It's a shame he's such a pompous git. Blaise moved on to the boy sitting beside Ernie. Zacharias Smith... Annoying as hell, that one. His eyes eventually moved to the rest of his own table. Out of the seventh years, Draco and Theodore Nott managed the best grades, but Draco had already refused while Nott would just lord it over him rather than actually help. With a sigh, he moved on to the Ravenclaws, a group who prided themselves on their superior intellect. Perhaps Mandy Brocklehurst would make a good tutor, he contemplated as he studied a girl with deep auburn hair and bright a second thought, he decided against the idea, as he preferred to have an edge over anyone he associated with and knew absolutely nothing about her other than her name.
"What do you know about Stephan Cornfoot?" Blaise wondered as his eyes fell on the bespectacled Ravenclaw.
Draco glanced at the boy in question before saying, "Are you thinking about having him tutor you?" The dark-skinned boy nodded. "He bright from what I've heard, but completely lacks any social aptitude," he continued disdainfully.
"So he's quiet?" Blaise clarified with amusement.
"Yeah, you could say that." The boy rolled his eyes as the blonde returned to his meal. His eyes began wandering the hall once more before darting to the Gryffindor table, where a pretty girl with slightly tanned skin and raven hair was standing up with Seamus Finnigan.
"Hey, what about Katrae?" he mused aloud, causing his friend to let out a quiet snort.
"The only reason she isn't failing as well is because Esteed practically walked her through the class. Now that the Mudblood's gone, her scores are already slipping." Blaise let out a heavy sigh as he rested his chin in his hand pensively.
"Who the hell am I going to get to tutor me?"
"Well, with the people you've been thinking about, I'm not surprised you haven't found anyone," Draco scoffed. "Who are you going to ask me about next? The Weaslette perhaps? Now that would be amusing..." He put down his fork when he noticed that his friend had gathered his things and was now rising from his seat. "Where are you running off to?"
Blaise looked down with a mischievous grin. "To tell Weasley that she's gonna be my Charms tutor." Draco's eyes widened a fraction as he glanced towards the door where Ginny Weasley was indeed leaving the Great Hall.
"Are you out of your mind?" he spat, keeping his voice down to avoid drawing attention. "How could you possibly think I was being serious?"
"Hey, you've seen first-hand how terrifying her Bat-Bogey Hex is. A Weaslette she may be, but she's not stupid." Draco exhaled with exasperation as he looked away and the other boy took the opportunity to follow the red-head out of the room. She was walking rather slowly, which gave him more than enough time to catch up with his long strides. "Oi, Weasley!" Ginny spun around, her brow knit with confusion as her hand reflexively slipped inside the pocket that undoubtedly held her wand. When she processed who was calling her, Blaise was the target of a very heated glare.
"What do you want, Zabini?" she demanded, her wand now drawn from her robes and held protectively in front of her. He raised his hands in defense, showing that he held no weapon of his own.
"Just to have a little chat, if that isn't too much trouble." Her glare was reduced to a skeptical gaze as her wand hand dropped slightly.
"…About what?" The curiosity in the girl's voice was obvious behind the hostility, and Blaise took a few steps forward.
"From what I hear, you're fairly good at Charms. Maybeeven on a seventh year's level..."
"Yeah... What are you getting at?" Ginny stood her ground as he moved even closer, despite the nervous feeling she was getting in her stomach. There was something unsettling about his grin, or maybe it was just the fact that it was on a Slytherin's face.
"Well, it just so happens I'm not fairing nearly as well as you are in that class, and Flitwick has strongly recommended that I find a tutor."
The expression of sheer disbelief that appeared on her face forced Blaise to stifle a chortle. After a moment, she managed to blurt out, "Wait, you want me to tutor you?"
"That is what I was implying," he replied lazily, the corners of his lips curving up slightly. Her astonishment soon vanished as she gripped her wand tighter.
"You're dreaming, Zabini," she muttered before turning away from him. Blaise was momentarily surprised by her rejection — though he supposed it made sense — before he continued after her.
"What would it hurt? You could get a head start on the advanced material," he noted.
"I said 'no,'" she retorted sharply. "Now sod off before I feel the need to hex you." Unfortunately, Blaise was quite a bit taller than her and easily caught up with his longer legs.
"Come on, Weasley. I need a tutor," he persisted, grabbing her shoulder. She shot a dark look over her shoulder before jerking out of his grasp.
"Then find someone else," Ginny snapped before rushing around the corner. Once the bottom of her robes had swished out of sight, Blaise let out a frustrated sigh and began to head to the Slytherin Common Room.
Two days had passed since the incident with Ginny, and Blaise still hadn't found a tutor. A few more people had turned him down: Susan Bones didn't want anything to do with him and Goldstein had claimed he was too busy. Even Tracey Davis from his own House had said no, and he had been sure she fancied him. So after being denied by the fourth person that day, Blaise was trudging rather sullenly back to his Common Room when he saw the Muggle Studies classroom door cracked open. It was only a small sliver, and he figured the teacher could have just forgotten to close it, but Professor Carrow didn't seem like the type to leave her door unlocked for any student to wander in.
After a brief moment of hesitation, he decided to see what was going on and went over to the door left ajar. Widening the gap, he peeked in only to be greeted by an empty room. Feeling a tad disappointed that the situation was so innocent, Blaise was about to leave when he heard a shuffling coming from the professor's desk. It was only then that he noticed a head topped with deep red hair. This just got so much more interesting…
Just as he opened his mouth with a taunting remark on the tip of his tongue, the sound of shuffling feet in the hallway caught his attention. Hearing the quiet mutterings of a familiar female voice behind him, he quickly formed a plan in his head before stepping into the classroom. "Weasley! Get up!" he ordered in a hushed tone, and said girl promptly banged her head on the bottom of the desk with surprise. When she let out a moan of pain, he snarkily added, "Keep it down, will you?"
"Zabini? What are you doing here?" she asked, her head popping over the edge of the desk. The tone of alarm in her voice was not missed. Moving swiftly, he went behind the desk and pulled her to her feet. "What the bloody hell are you-?"
"Play along," he hissed, clasping the front of her robes and shoving her against the desk. Blaise had just enough time to grab his wand from his pocket and place it against her throat before the door burst open to reveal the squat form of Alecto Carrow with a furious look on her face. Ginny just stood gob smacked while Blaise tried to muster the most menacing looking sneer he could.
"Just teaching the Weaslette here a lesson, Professor," he informed her scornfully, shoving the Gryffindor roughly aside. She slammed into the chair with a wince, but remained silent. He realized there were some obvious gaps in his story, but with any luck, the Professor wouldn't notice. Thankfully, her face twisted into an almost pleased expression.
"Fine. Just make sure you don't mess anything up," the female Carrow said snidely before leaving. Blaise was about to turn to the girl when he felt a shoe smash into his shin. Biting his tongue to muffle a cry of pain, he glared at her with mild frustration.
"That hurt, you git!" she exclaimed, rubbing her tender side.
"I help you and that's how you repay me?" His anger had already dissipated for the most part and he was now watching her with amusement. Her face was a bright red (whether it was from embarrassment or her temper, he couldn't tell), which only caused her freckles to stand out even more. Her hair was also askew from fumbling under the desk. Blaise couldn't help but let out a quiet laugh at her appearance.
"What are you laughing at?" she growled, leaning down to pick up her wand, which had fallen from her hand when he jostled her.
"You look ridiculous," he commented with a wide grin. Her lips tightened to a thin line, but she merely pushed past him and made for the door. "Hey, you owe me now!" he called after her. She's a Gryffindor... They can't bail on someone who's helped them, Blaise reasoned and sure enough, her shoulders slumped before she rotated slightly.
"Tutoring then, is it?" she responded tiredly. He could visibly see her cringe as he nodded. "Fine. Meet me in the library at noon on Saturday. If you're late, you can just forget about it."
He followed her out into the hall and, just to piss her off even more, he impishly replied, "It's a date then."
Ginny pause in her step and faced him. "Don't push it," she advised hotly before continuing down the hall. He smiled happily as he turned and ambled along in the opposite direction as the Gryffindor. Things were certainly going to be interesting.
A/N - Well, please review! I'd love to hear what you guys liked or didn't like and anything else you have to say. Comments are always greatly appreciated : )
-Twilight-Songstress
