author's notes: written for hogwarts (challenges and assignments). prompt(s) will be at the bottom.
in over her head
Ginny had been warned from her very first day at Hogwarts to stay away from every Slytherin. Sadly, the lesson would have probably made a bigger impression if it hadn't come from Ron.
Fifth year and she was already in over her head.
Literally.
•
"Zabini!" Ginny spluttered as she came up for air. Her tentative boyfriend, Blaise Zabini, had dunked her under the water as they frolicked in the giant bathtub — a.k.a. swimming pool — the Prefect's Bathroom offered. She coughed and sucked in a lungful of air.
"And here I was thinking we were past surnames," sighed Blaise.
Ginny mock-glared at the Italian sixth-year and splashed water at his face. As usual, he merely held up a hand and flicked it, sending the water back at her. She ducked beneath the surface to escape getting an eyeful of water, and swam closer, grabbing hold of Blaise's legs and tugging. He didn't even move, and she huffed out a breath that bubbled up and resurfaced.
"No fair," she complained. "You can do wandless magic and you're heavier and bigger than me. I'm never going to get you wet above the neck."
"Probably not," he agreed dryly.
Ginny pouted, and Blaise paddled closer to suck her bottom lip between his teeth.
Their altercation was soon forgotten.
•
Ginny's best friend was Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw in her year. Luna was an odd girl, but she didn't judge anyone and she saw the world in a way that no one else Ginny had ever met did, and she was a great friend for keeping secrets.
Like the secret that Ginny snuck out of her dormitory every night to meet because if anyone found out about them, her friends and family would tell her repeatedly that Blaise was dangerous and Blaise's mother would forbid him from seeing her.
Ginny didn't want to hear about it. She wasn't a baby anymore in the eyes of society, but she would forever be the baby of her family. Nothing would change that.
•
Blaise was the stereotypical "bad boy." Though a Pureblood, he spent most of his free time in the Muggle world, rebelling against his old-fashioned, prejudiced mother. He had a motorcycle that he stored at a friend's house in Muggle London, leather pants and a biker jacket, and he swaggered. There was really no other way to put it.
Ginny was Blaise's angel. She helped him maintain his grades, kept him as out of trouble as she could, and she didn't break the rules. Oh, Blaise had tried to get her to play hooky sometimes, but she refused. She couldn't act out of character.
Neither of them could.
Blaise had to continue sneering at Ginny when in public and call her a blood-traitor, and Ginny had to retort that she would rather be a blood-traitor than an uptight, egotistical Pureblood ponce like him. But later, in the privacy of the Prefect's Bathroom or the Room of Requirement, they would kiss and reassure one another that they didn't mean it — and Blaise would usually show Ginny that he had something to be egotistical about.
It wasn't the best way to date, but for them, it was the only way to date.
word count: 539
prompts
advent calendar: day two — tropes — bad boy/good girl
december fortnightly challenge: winter bucket list — (setting) prefect's bathroom
winter funfair: eastern hogwarts funfair — the christmas market — bronze bird sculpture — (character) blaise zabini
winter funfair: northern hogwarts funfair — snow globe maker — st. mungo's — (action) coughing