Maybe It's a Fall From Grace

Warnings: dubcon, possible non con, slash pairings, dark themes, all that jazz

Pairings: Neville/Blaise, possible others

The year promised to be a good one for Blaise Zabini. Of course, with looks and money as he had, every year had proved to be a good one. This one just seemed to start off better than others. It was his last year, and Voldemort – or as he called him, the Dark Lord – was in power. Harry Potter was on the run, Snape was headmaster, and his house rule d the school. Well. Draco was proving to be not quite up to snuff, but seeing as how he killed their previous headmaster only a few months ago, Blaise supposed that was to be expected.

They took their usual seats, at the front of the Hogwarts Express, for the ride. It was Blaise, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle, and Pansy. So much had occurred over the summer, so much had changed, but they really had not, so the first thing they took to discussing was the other students.

"Did you see Brown? If her hair gets any bushier, she'll be looking like Granger. All she'll need is the buck teeth."

Everyone laughed at Pansy's joke and she sat back in her seat, looking rather pleased with herself.

"Did you see that Hufflepuff? He looked stupid."

A chortle ran through the group at Crabbe's effort, but as soon as the other boy wasn't looking, Blaise rolled his eyes. Sometimes he wondered if the cracks about the general intelligence level of his house wasn't half accurate.

"How about Longbottom?" Draco asked. Blaise perked up. He'd noticed Longbottom as well, something that didn't escape Draco's notice. He looked over at the dark-skinned Slytherin and continued, "He's looking… well, like your type." It was common knowledge that Blaise would do anything with two legs, no matter the genitalia.

Blaise thought back to the few seconds that he managed to see Longbottom while he was at the station. It was true, the boy was looking nice. He'd grown a few inches, though not enough to match Blaise and a lot of his baby fat had turned to muscle. If it wasn't for the hideous sweater, the boy might actually be 'his type'.

When he spoke, his voice was cold. "If it wasn't for the fact that he's one of the biggest blood traitors alive, maybe. As it is, I wouldn't even condescend to speak with him." In the back of his mind, he remembered having a similar conversation about the Weasley girl. "Besides, what makes you think he'd be interested?"

Pansy snorted. "Does that even matter? You put on that charm, I bet the giant squid would go out with you." Draco looked over at her, but she just shrugged. "Besides, when has Longbottom shown any interest in girls?"

"There's the one troll, the blonde Ravenclaw." Everyone turned to look at Goyle, moderately impressed that he had something to add to the conversation. Even he looked slightly startled.

Blaise considered it for a moment, then shrugged. "Maybe, but I don't think so. She's got her head so far in the clouds, I don't think she even knows she's female." He scoffed at the notion, then realized that they'd been talking about Neville Longbottom for far longer than he would have liked. "So, does anyone know who the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is going to be? Seeing as how Snape is headmaster now…"

It was Draco who answered. "It's going to be one of the Carrow sibilings. You know them, right?" At Pansy and Blaise's confused faces (Crabbe and Goyle always looked confused, so there was nothing new there) Draco elaborated, "They're supporters of the Dark Lord. You'll like them. I think we're going to do something similar to the Inquisitorial Squad. You remember, from fifth year."

Blaise wasn't actually a part of the squad, but he could remember. It sounded nice enough, though he really didn't care that much.

"I can't wait to make Longbottom's year a living hell," Draco said. Blaise considered asking him what his grief was with the Gryffindor, but he could make an intelligent guess. With Potter gone and Longbottom such a … delicate target, tearing him apart would be fun for Draco. And, thinking back on the young man that had been struggling with his bloody toad on the platform, Blaise couldn't help but agree.