Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: So while you're waiting for chapter six – which, sadly, is going to be a long wait as I need to write several more chapters before I submit it – I thought I would entertain you with this Resolving-cookie that I wrote as a bribe for a friend of mine. xD Enjoy!
December 20, 2001
Blaise sat back in the restaurant's wicker chair and looked out over the beach. He'd been in Melbourne for a month now, and his arm still hurt from when he'd broken while he had been in the Philippines. He rubbed it, and as he did so, his kneecap hurt from when he shattered it in Moscow. He winced when he thought of that; it had been in the middle of the fall but it had been freezing cold. The Death Eater that found him chased him through the sewers – in the end he had to burn his clothing, he never managed to get the smell completely out – and once he finally cornered Blaise, as he was searching frantically through the muck for his wand, he kicked him so hard, and so many times, his kneecap shattered under the pressure.
But this time was different. He came to Australia to have a break; to get away from all of the Death Eaters while he planned his next course of attacks.
This was also his third Christmas away from his family. He felt through his pockets until his found the much-creased picture of his whole family from the Christmas of '88, before he went to Hogwarts, before the family surface tension erupted to let loose a flood of hurt and anguish.
His parents were smiling and hugging each other. Lilithe was looking as she always did: mad at anyone and anything. But this was when she kept to herself, mainly, or her then-boyfriend, now-widowed husband.
He missed his family. God, how he missed them. Especially his sister Zel. When he'd left, she was pregnant. Now, he had a nephew or niece that was three, or almost was.
During his darkest nights, the vision of his mother being murdered by his sister replayed over and over in his mind so that he tossed and turned and sweated through even five layers of blankets and pyjamas.
He was so immersed in this, that he barely noticed the waitress coming over. It was only when she spoke again that he heard her.
"Coffee or tea, sir?" she asked, smiling. She was pretty, and she obviously knew it. Bright eyes and all that.
He smiled back, knowing his own looks. She turned pink around the edges of her face and it wasn't long until her ears followed suit. "Coffee, please," he replied.
And so his musings ended for the day.
A/N: Remember to review this and Resolving! I'd love for it to have more reviews than my very first fic, Tutoring a Dragon, and so far nothing has surpassed it! Thank you for reading, thanks so much!