Disclaimer: Characters, places, and other various proper nouns belong to J.K. Rowling. (Also, a big honking thanks to Janet Evanovich, as Blaise is loosely based on a character from her Stephanie Plum series... if you haven't read them, I really recommend doing so ^.^ )

Warning: Boy on Boy love... later in the fic. Not this chapter... but later.

Authors' Note: Well, this started out as another oneshot idea between me (Racheesi) and IvySnowe ..... We worked on it and worked on it, and it eventually turned into a 50 page (in small font) situation. I have divided it into chapters and I'll post them every few days. There are 10 chapters total... we'd still love to hear feedback as we could change a few things in later chapters... Anyway, without further ranting, here's Draco in Confusionland! Enjoy!

As soon as I stepped into the manor, there was a house elf to remove my cloak and take the luggage floating low to the ground behind me. Per usual, the manor was silent and dreary. I told mother it needed brightening up. As amazing as I look, even I have trouble making this place look fantastic with just my mere presence. Scratch that, nothing about me is mere.

I called out for my mother, having expected her to be waiting for me like she has every other time I've returned from Hogwarts. One of the house elves must have noticed my slightly perplexed expression, as he quickly informed me, in that eardrum shattering register that all members of the species seemed to have, that my mother wasn't at home and that she left me a letter to explain her absence.

I picked up my mother's note as I got home from my sixth year at Hogwarts.

Sweetie,

I have to go to France to meet with your father's lawyer.
I will most likely stay there until the trial is over.
Sorry I couldn't pick you up and have fun on your little trip with Blaise!

Kisses,

N.

My mother insisted I called her Narcissa. She maintains that "mother", "mum", or any other form of that title makes her feel old. I sat at the large dark wooden table in the smaller dining room of the Malfoy Manor and nibbled on a turkey sandwich. I really had nothing to do this summer, what with my father in Azkaban awaiting his trial for war crimes, Death Eater shit, blah, blah , blah, and my mother having frequent late-night "meetings" with the family lawyer. I decided to go with my closest friend, Blaise Zabini, to pick up his sister, Contessa, from the Salem Witches Institute in Massachusetts in the United States. As I munched, I thought about what I should pack. First would be my entire wardrobe (hey, if I can shrink it, it would be a waste to not pack everything). Next I should round up my hair supplies, then the shower things, then... hmmm. I wondered if Blaise would let me bring a house elf. Probably not. Hmph. He's no fun.

-------

I had just finished shrinking everything when I heard the loud ringing of the doorbell echo throughout the manor. As I walked down the hallway to let Blaise in, I yelled behind me. "Hey! Get that stuff!" Almost immediately I had a substantial amount of house elves carrying small bags filled with practically all of my things. That's right. I said house elves. Suck it, Granger.

I got to the door and swung it open. Blaise stood there looking like typical Blaise. Dark jeans hugged his legs in a way that made practically every female (and a decent amount of males) in Hogwarts drool after him. An almost painted on white tee shirt hid beneath a butter soft black leather jacket. Peeking above the shirt's collar was the silver-black tip of the wing of a Thestral, which Blaise had tattooed across his chest and right side (Draco knew this because he had gotten a similar one with a dragon at the same time). Dark brown-black hair curled against his shoulders, almost begging for a haircut. I let Blaise into the atrium and he shut the door behind him, leaning his back against its frame. He crossed his arms across his chest and gave a minimal nod, the Blaise version of a bear hug. The corners of his lips tipped up slightly at the sight of the swarm of house elves behind me, carrying bags filled with all of my shrunken things. "Nice." he said, humor evident in his tone.

"Hey! How am I supposed to know what I will and will not need? Always be prepared, I say." I defended.

"Right."

"What?"

A chuckle escaped his lips. "Nothing."

I shot him a look, narrowing my eyes for emphasis on my suspicion of him, before crossing my own arms and looking around expectantly.

"Well, are we leaving soon, or are we just going to stand around here admiring the wonder that is me?"

He only rolled his eyes and motioned with his head for me to follow after him, as he led the way back out of the manor and to what had to have been his car. A sleek black thing, that even I must admit, was one hell of a beauty. A Porsche Boxster. I have no idea where he even found out such a thing existed, but muggles do have their moments. I'll let them have this one, at least.

We loaded everything in the car in record time and I angled myself into the passenger seat. Blaise was already in the driver's seat. This car was set up American-style with the driver on the left and the passenger on the right. Bloody confusing Americans. As he started the car, the sounds of soft relaxing jazz filled the car. No. This would not do. I need something loud, angry, and with lots of yelling and drums. I hit buttons until I found just that. Just as I was leaning back into my soft leather seat, Blaise leaned over and changed the radio station back. I changed it again. Then him.

"Hey!" I grumbled

"Driver." was Blaise's reply.

"So? Like I care." and I changed it back. Almost immediately, Blaise's hand shot out and hit three buttons in rapid succession. I barely had time to register each change. First, a shock hit the car (which I later found out was a sort of invisibility-type cloaking device). Then, I was thrown back as the car was thrust up into the sky. "What the HELL?!?" I yelled as I looked over at Blaise, who seemed as calm as he had while leaning against my front door. It was then I noticed that the radio station was back to that jazz crap.

"Bastard." I mumbled, crossing my arms in front of me.

The corners of his lips tipped up.

I scowled in response. If Blaise ever says it was a pout, he is a lying bastard and I will kick him. All to the sounds of his soulful jazz crap. Show him to like that stuff...

We flew for what had to have been hours, all while listening to this....stuff of his, before I decided to have a little fun. Which basically entailed me tapping my fingers on the dashboard. It beats air drums, which is really unrefined. After a while, I felt my eyes start to drift shut.

-----

I was comfy. Very comfy. Sleep and happiness and comfort. Who the hell was poking me?

"Time to get up, princess."

"Fuck you, Blaise."

"No thanks. We're here."

I flipped him off and tilted my head back. Some would call it haughty. I would probably agree.

"Okay, what now? Do we find your sibling or is she just going to come find us? Because, really, Blaise, both options have their good and bad points. Most of them involve me being forced to look like some tourist." I was glancing around the entire time, trying to look unimpressed. Mostly because I was. Unimpressed.

"We're going in."

"Ew."

"Draco. All girls school."

I bounced up and scrambled to unlock my door. "Let's go, then."

We walked hurriedly into the building. Well, I did, Blaise sort of meandered behind me in that cool Italian way he has. I hate him sometimes. I stopped just inside the building, tapping my foot impatiently while he caught up to me. I mean, honestly, we were here for his sister, you'd think the prat would hurry up. Actually, I wouldn't know, having missed out one the 'joy' of having a sibling myself. Thank Merlin.

We stood inside the door and I looked at Blaise and asked, "So, what now, oh wise guide?"

Blaise shrugged and waited for the first female to walk by us. I'd say she was about 16 or 17. Blaise smiled at her (not the small barely there smile, the full teeth-showing grin). She walked into a wall just as I rolled my eyes.

"Headmaster's office, please?" Blaise asked, still smiling at the embarassed girl. She wasted no time pointing us in the right direction. Although, I have no idea how we actually got there, as she was staring at Blaise in his tall dark and... smiley glory. Did I just say that? Shit. I did. Ew.

We stepped into the headmaster's office and I glanced around. These people sure did things differently, I mean, really, who puts the headmaster's office so reachable to the public? We knocked on the door and a voice called to let ourselves in. Weird.

Raising and eyebrow at Blaise, I did what the disembodied voice told us to, and opened the door. And immediately froze upon catching sight of who had to be the headmaster...or I suppose...headmistress. Merlin, she looks barely old enough to be a graduate herself.

"Can I help you, boys?"

It took Blaise and I a couple seconds to regain our ability to talk. Blaise spoke up first. "We're here to pick up Contessa Zabini."

"Pardon?"

"Contessa. Zabini."

"And you are..?"

"Her brother, Blaise Zabini." Blaise offered his hand to the woman to shake. She shook his extended hand.

"Is there some sort of emergency, Mr. Zabini?"

"No, there is no emergency. We were told to pick her up on May 10th for summer holiday."

The woman was silent for a few beats. "I think you might be mistaken, sir. We complete our spring term on June 10th."

Blaise looked calm but I could tell he was severely ticked off. His jaw was clamped shut and his lips were pulled tight. "Will you please call my sister down here?" he all but growled.

The headmistress gazed at the two of us for a long moment before, leaning over to the floo (at least one thing is recognizable in this place) and having a brief conversation with someone on the other end. After a few minutes, she straightened back up and brushed the non-existant soot from her shoulders and turned back to us.

"Miss Zabini will be joining us momentarily," she gave us another once over and I had to restrain myself from sneering. Honestly, you'd think we looked like the worst sort, just by how she kept eyeing the two of us.

"Thank you. I appreciate it." the quieter of the two of us said.

"I'm sure." she said with the sneer.

"Excuse me," I spoke up "Do you have a problem?"

"Pardon?"

"You obviously have some sort of issue with us being here." So I was being cranky. Big deal. "We were told to be here today to pick up his sister. This is in no way Blaise's fault so you can quit the bitchiness. Remove the wand from your ass and let's figure out why in Merlin's name we are here a month early."

Her eyes widened and she stood up. I could feel Blaise practically sigh, but he didn't. He's not really for outward expression and all that. I only prepped. I crossed my arms and eyed her, once again very umimpressed with what this school had to offer.

"I assure you, sir-" The horrid woman was interrupted by a knock on the door. The woman sighed and put on an obviously faked smile. "Come in, Contessa."

After a moment's silence, the door was opened by Blaise's younger sister. You could tell that the gorgeous in their blood was definitely a strong trait in that family. While Blaise was tall and handsome, Contessa was beautiful and petite, but not in a weak way. You could see the strength and stubbornness in her eyes, another trait the siblings shared. At the moment her nearly black hair was pulled back into a ponytail that was thick and fell down to her lower back, and unlike most girls I knew, she barely wore any makeup, just enough but never too much. She was confident in her looks, but not stuck up. Thankfully. Or else she would have been a pain in the arse to have around. She smiled when she saw Blaise and me. "Hi guys!!"

"Miss Zabini. We seem to have come to some sort of misunderstanding."

"Oh?" Contessa questioned, eyes wide, trying to hide her smirk.

" 'Tessa, you told us to come pick up you up today. Apparently, you don't get out of school for another month." Blaise turned to her. Wow. He said two sentences. I'm impressed.

"Oh!" Contessa giggled "Whoops!"

Everyone could only stare at her blankly, almost as if we were all stunned by how insincere that sounded. You'd think she'd have some consideration for me and how she's interrupting my schedule by having me come all the way down here to this...country to pick her up from school. Oh, and Blaise too, I guess.

"Miss Zabini, it's hard to believe you could make such a mistake." that woman said, staring disapprovingly at Blaise's sister. She replied, all smiles. I didn't believe the wench for a minute. Blaise didn't either, I'm sure.

"Honestly, Headmistress, I must have just written down the wrong date, I wasn't expecting Blaise or Draco for another month."

"Well, since we came down here and all, you might as well just let her out early, I'm sure she can afford to miss the last month at this...facility of yours." I couldn't help taking another jab at the woman.

"I can't do that!" Contessa cried anxiously "I need to stay until June!"

"What to you suggest, then?" Blaise all but growled

"Uhm..." Contessa paused, but not long quite long enough to make it believable. This girl really needed to work on her lying. If she was at Hogwarts, there's no way in hell she'd be a Slytherin. "What about that Muggle Studies project you wrote me about? What if you guys went on like...a road trip or something?"

Oh hell no. I hate Muggle Studies and am only taking it because it is required now. I had every intention of bullshitting this assignment to an inch of its life. We have to spend 'a significant amount of time' doing something 'Muggle'. Yuck. "Contessa, I do not-"

Blaise interrupted me with an uncharacteristic sigh. "You know, that's not a bad idea."

I blinked.

Then blinked again.

"What?!"

He only raised an eyebrow at me in amusement.

"It is a good idea," Contessa piped in. Nosey little snot. "I know how serious you both are about school and this project is very important, so you might as well do a road trip and have a nice time together."

"What exactly does this-" I gulped "- 'road trip' entail?"

Contessa giggled and clapped her hands together gleefully. "You drive around and you stay in hotels and things and you see fun things everywhere. They're so much fun!"

I rolled my eyes as Blaise stood. "Fine. We'll be leaving." He nodded to the headmistress "One month, then?"

"Correct, Mr. Zabini."

"Good. We'll see ourselves out. 'Tessa? I need to speak with you before we leave."

We left the office with Contessa following us. When we got to the door, Blaise turned around and faced his sister. I saw his face. Angry. I knew better and I backed up a few steps and decided to occupy myself by staring at the various females walking around. Then, I decided eavesdropping was a better idea, as I was unimpressed with the, ahem, caliber of girls this school had to offer.

"Contessa Zabini." he growled.

"Yes?" her eyes were wide.

"Quit the act, 'Tessa. Try anything like this again, and you are in for it."

"I know. But remember... you love me!" She smiled sweetly.

Blaise sighed and chuckled softly. "Against my better judgment, I do. I'll see you in a month, 'Tessa."

And just like that, we were out of that horrid building and back in the car.

"I really don't like your sister. I mean. What are we supposed to do? Spend the whole month driving around?"

Blaise sighed.

"Fine, Blaise, but we are going to stay in the best places, because I'm not going to be stuck living like some poor, tacky person."

Blaise only started the car in response, while I crossed my arms and glared out the window.

"And pick someplace good. I don't want to be completely bored out of my mind."

"Yes, princess."

"And how are we going to get muggle money?"

Blaise pulled an envelope of muggle money out of his pocket. I wasn't sure how this muggle money worked. It just looked like a stack of paper. It was a really big stack, so that seemed good. "'Tessa. She knows how to change our money into muggle money."

Well, at least the little rat is good for something.

The car set off, I assumed Blaise had an idea of where exactly we're going. Because I sure as fuck didn't. I'm no seer, but I had a feeling that, once we left the school grounds, it would be downhill from there. "Where are we going? How long is it going to take? Can we stop for doughnuts? I'm hungry!" I know I sounded... concerned. Be aware that Malfoy's do not whine.

Blaise just stared at me. Probably he was thinking about tossing me out of the moving car, but seriously. It's hard to live without me. Finally he spoke. "Hotel, I don't know, No, and I don't care."

I was floored. "Hotel?!? Ew! It better be a damn good hotel! I don't want to sleep anywhere where anyone has ever slept before."

"You'll live."

I crossed my arms with a "Humph". Jerk.

After a few hours of me trying not to get caught throwing trip jinxes and a mild, very mild mind you, stinging hex at some snot nosed little brat for sticking his tongue out at me as we passed him, we finally pulled into the hovel...er, hotel. I didn't move from the car as Blaise opened the door and stretched, his shirt riding up just a few centimeters to bare his skin for all the world to see. Or...just me as I was the only other fool in the general area.

I scowled and averted my gaze, looking at the building disdainfully instead.

"You have got to be fucking joking. I am getting all sorts of diseases by just looking at this place!" I grumbled, still sitting in the car. Blaise leaned down and looked at me through his open door.

"You either go in here or I will take the car and you'll have to, Merlin forbid, walk around until you find someone to help you. A muggle someone." He smiled.

"Firstly, I'm pretty sure that's the most you've ever said at one time. Secondly, you wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

I sighed and opened my door, getting out in the most annoyed, disgruntled way that any person can get out of a car. When I do something, I do it better than anyone else. Remember this.

I could tell the smug bastard was smirking, but I only shot a glare at him and moved towards what had to be entrance to this establishment. I subtly used a cleaning charm on the door handle before I touched it and went inside. I only needed to look around the lobby once before panic set in. I put a hand to Blaise's arm, surprisingly he stopped. "I'm um.... going to go and get the things out of the car... come get me when you find a room?"

Blaise turned and stared at me, a smirk on his face. "You're going to go and sit by the car and wait for me to come out so I can carry everything in, right?"

I was already walking out of the lobby. "Damn right."

-----------------------------

A/N: And so ends the first chapter of our newest adventure in the lives of Draco and Blaise. Please read, review, and send love. We really appreciate it. Thanks!
Racheesi & IvySnowe