Title: His Secret (1/1) (and I mean no sequel!)
Author: granger2malfoy
Pairing: Blaise/Hermione, Draco/Hermione
Rating: PG, sorry don't know the new rating system yet.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the cage-full of plot bunnies.
A/N: Just a ficlet that came to mind. This turned out to be something different than I original came up with. Sorry not betad and no sequel!
The spacious room seemed empty except for a large, moving landscape picture and the young man that stood in front of it. He had dark curly hair that he got from his father's side of the family but had been sorted into Slytherin because his mother's side had been in that house for generations. Everything he had been taught from his family, he used and had remained successfully remained unnoticed by almost of the school. He never wanted glory, fame, or to live forever, like most of his housemates.
No, Blaise Zabini liked being unknown and yet known all in the same time. Over the seven years at Hogwarts, he had perfected being quiet, undistinguishable in a room full of people, and yet very much aware of his surrounding. He knew almost every student's secrets and if ever the time called for it, he would use those secrets to gain whatever he wished. But no one had known his secret to use against him and he was very keen on keeping it that way.
His thin fingers touch the edge of the gold frame as he watched the same scene play over and over again on. The Room of Requirements became the place he stopped by from the trip to the library to the dungeons before curfew hit. Like clockwork, Blaise showed up and always the painting would be there. The scenes would change every few months but the subject matter was the same. Or more to the point, the girl in the painting was always a brunette with long curls and breath-taking chocolate-brown eyes. Sometimes she would be seated at a desk writing away in the library or routing for Gryffindor's victory in a Quidditch match. Somewhere over the past two years, Hermione Granger became his secret. It was a secret he held tightly to him. It was foolish to fall for the Head Girl, Miss Know-It-All, and current girlfriend of his best friend, the Head Boy.
During their sixth year, Draco had turned away from his father's foolish ideals that got him killed in Azkaban. That was the same time that the blond befriended the silent Slytherin. Their friendship became strong through the last year of the war as they fought against Voldemort. None knew of their loyalty to Dumbledore. No, that wasn't true. All the members of the Order knew and she knew. But that was it, not ever her so-called best friends knew that Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini were spying with their Head of House. Potter and the Weasel were stunned when the Head Girl as she stood by Draco's side as they insulted the Head Boy with no provoking on his part.
Blaise walked away from the painting of the holder of his heart as she waved good-bye to him from the framed painting. The painting of her was only they he could ever have of her. His heart silently broke as he watched the Head couples, who were completely in love with each other.
Draco had his faults but Hermione had known that getting into the relationship with him at the beginning of their seventh year. At times, Blaise wished that his best friend would get tempted by some of the girls that flirted with him, even knowing of he dated the Head Girl. The silent Slytherin knew that Hermione would never forgive Draco if he ever cheated on her. If Malfoy was ever foolish enough to break her heart, then Blaise would be there waiting to pick up the pieces but till then his secret was safe. He left the Room of Requirement with a smirk on his face and his hands tucked into his trouser pockets.
If Zabini had walked back into the room, he would've seen the body of Hermione Granger come into view from the shadow in the corner of the room. She had seen Blaise, who was her newly acquired friend and the best friend of her boyfriend, come into he room routinely after he left the library. Curiosity had gotten the best of her and she had decided to find out what he came to the Room of Requirement for because she really did not have a clue.
Slowly Hermione approached the painting as she desperately tried to understand what all it meant. He had not said a word from the time he entered the room to the time he left. The Head Girl looked up at the painting of herself as she sat reading in her favorite spot in the library and it finally came together in her mind. A gasp escaped her mouth as she realized the secret that he had hidden from everyone. Blaise Zabini was in love with her. But she was determined to keep that secret, as she knew she could never tell him that she knew. Her heart cared for both the Slytherins but she was in love with Draco. Blaise's secret was safe with her but Hermione knew it was a good thing to know…. just in case.
fin