Title: Marriage of Convenience
Author: snarkysweetness
Characters/Pairings: Katie Bell/Blaise Zabini, sort of
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
When: Post-DH
Summary: Blaise's parents want him to find a 'proper' wife, Katie's mother won't shut up about her finding a husband. Both sets keep pushing them together, so when the two old friends get together, Blaise suggests they just marry each other. After all, what was wrong with marrying someone you at least like?
Disclaimer: Jo owns.I play.
Author's Note: purelush asked for this forever ago and I'm finally writing it. Our Katie's are a little different, so if it fails, kick me.

Katie plopped onto the couch in an unladylike manner, causing Blaise to raise an eyebrow over his book. "Let me guess, your mother?"

Her only answer was a frustrated, muffled scream from behind a pillow that she'd taken from the sofa to scream into. Shutting his book, he set it aside before sitting back and waiting for the rant that he knew was coming.

Their mothers were old friends and both unbearable shrews. He knew full well how Katie felt for he often felt the same. He just hoped that she hadn't been tag teamed by the two old women. That was when they got to be completely unbearable.

"Your mother is an intolerable witch and my mother, oh…my mother, let me tell you." She was red in the face, her eyes ablaze. "That woman is…oh, she's something. A menace, that's what. Menace to my life. She needs a hobby that doesn't include marrying me off, that's what she needs.

That or a good, stiff-"

"I get it," he cut her off. "Unbearable witches. Who does she want you to marry today? Not Malfoy I hope?"

Katie gave him a 'look'. "Seriously? Even she knows better-Malfoy? Seriously?!"

Not only had he oh yeah, tried to kill her, but he was the most annoying, whiny prat on the planet.

"Seriously?"

Blaise smiled, she was annoyed. She was most amusing when she was annoyed.

"All right then, who?"

She rolled her eyes in his direction before giving him a 'who do you think' look.

Blaise's mouth went agape for a moment before laughing. "They can't be on this again?" Their mothers were convinced that since neither one of their children could keep a mate that they were destined to be a match, or some crap. He wasn't sure what went on in their minds and he didn't want to know.

"Oh, but they are."

Katie lay back on the sofa, pillow over her face. Another frustrated scream came from her direction and he sighed, putting his feet up on his desk.

"Maybe we should…you know, get married? They'd leave us alone, we could ban them from the manor, let them live together and annoy each other for once."

The pillow slowly came off of her face.

"What?" Her tone of voice did not bode well.

"I'm just saying, would it be so horrible to marry someone that you at least enjoyed being around? Trying to find someone to spend your life with is long, tedious, wasteful work. What's the harm in settling for someone you can tolerate?"

She was suitable for him. He wasn't sure if he could see himself having sex with her, but she was a better choice than most of them women that his mother threw his way.

"You can't be serious? A marriage of convenience then? God, you sound worse than my mother, Blaise."

"I take that as a 'no'?"

"Take that as a 'hell no'. When I get married, it will be because…because…because that person makes the room stop. Because when they're near me, my skin tingles. Because I can't live without them. Not because my mother wants me to. I deserve more than that. You deserve more than that. Stop being absurd. I'm heading to the pub, you coming?"

Blaise shook his head. "You go on. I'll catch up."

He watched her leave and shook his head, a small smile on his face.

"She said 'no', you can stop listening now!" He called, knowing that his mother was eavesdropping somewhere, or an elf was doing it for her.

Standing, Blaise followed Katie's path, grinning to himself at the absurdity of his mother.