Another day of lessons had almost come to an end and I couldn't be more pleased about it. You'd have thought that after being in this school for 6 years now that I would be used to having to go to and from these lessons but really, it wasn't my fault that I didn't find them interesting. Just because I'd been sorted into the Eagle's nest didn't mean that I would automatically love being in the classrooms. It was just that I'd try to do the reading and then I'd discover something else that took my interest, and I'd get too focused in that instead. It wasn't my fault that the syllabus was so boring, was it?

"You should see the look on your face," Mandy said from beside me, linking her arm through mine as if to forcefully pull me towards our History of Magic class. "One more lesson and then we'll be done for the day."

"Can you blame me though?" I asked with a sigh, trying not to roll my eyes. "It's bloody Binns. Why we've all agreed to take this subject again, I don't know. Rowena, it's just worse that it's the way we end the day. It's going to drag on."

"She's got a point, you know," Lisa said as she peered around me to frown at Mandy. Mandy, for her part, very easily agreed and then suddenly she seemed unwilling to get to the lesson too. "But if we don't get there before he begins, Binns will gladly have all of us in detention. Or worse yet, he'll make us come in to go over the material we missed, and Rowena knows that without the bell to stop him, he might actually go on forever."

"Why is that just making me want to miss the lesson altogether?" I wondered aloud as we turned the corner and my eyes settled on the approaching group of Slytherins. Merlin, just the sight of the one stood in the middle had me trying not to sneer.

Whatever lesson he was on the way to – not that I cared – but whatever lesson it was, Zabini was certainly taking his time to get there. Apparently, he'd swapped places with Malfoy for once because he was being trailed by the blond's usual bodyguards and clearly ignoring whatever the pair of them were saying to him. I could clock the exact moment where his eyes settled on me and I just knew by the way his steps slowed even more and his shoulders straightened out, I just knew that the bastard was in a confrontational mood.

Mandy knew the signs just as well as I did, and she grumbled under her breath, "I am not in the mood for this Diong. Let's just walk past him without starting an argument?"

"I never start it," I hissed back, ignoring the incredulous scoff she gave at the words. "If he doesn't say anything then I won't either."

"I just don't understand," Lisa insisted with a sigh as the three Slytherins drew closer, "what it is about Zabini that riles you up like that? Normally you don't give a shit about him or anyone – hell, I could say you were the female version of him, so why –"

"You just answered your own question," I pointed out dryly as we finally, finally walked right past them and carried on our way to our lesson. Well, at least we wouldn't be late for –

"Diong," Zabini called out from behind me and my spine straightened at the sound of his voice.

I tried to convince myself to carry on walking, to just ignore him and from the way, the girls on either side of me were suddenly gripping my arms, I knew that was what they wanted too. Merlin, I'd almost managed to do it too –

"Did you recover from your major potions failure?" he asked with faux concern.

"God, just get it over with," Mandy muttered under her breath, releasing my arm and I turned towards Zabini with narrowed eyes.

The Slytherin stood towering over his housemates, an eyebrow arched because he was waiting for whatever I was going to say back to him. Crossing my arms over my chest, I pursed my lips. God, I really didn't have time for this –

"What else could someone expect from you? With your lack of intelligence," he added when it seemed like I had managed to develop some resistance. "Seeing as you're not contesting it, it must be true."

"You're speaking like you forgot the way your cauldron exploded in your face Zabini," I spoke slowly, eyes locked on his. "Not that I'll ever forget the way you looked doused in that green slime you called a potion."

"Think about me often, Diong?"

Scoffing, I looked him over from head to toe. "Not even if you were the last man on Earth. Merlin Zabini, you shouldn't be making any comments about anyone's potions skills. You may think you're some sort of potions genius but honestly, you're mediocre at best."

"Mediocre," he repeated quietly, voice turning cold.

"Don't dish out what you can't take," I shot back, turning quickly away from him before he could say something.

I almost expected him to say something to me, he always did because he wanted to have the last word. But this time he didn't. And maybe he didn't say anything because the moment I'd turned around Lisa and Mandy grabbed me by the arm and hauled me into the nearest shortcut to Binns' classroom.

"Now we have to run to class," Lisa moaned as we hurried through the corridor and towards the classroom. "Why can't you just let things with Zabini go? You've never once just walked away."

"It's because we're too alike," I confessed, shooting a quick glance at my watch. "We'd better hurry up or we won't make it."

"It's your fault we're running late anyway."

"Hey," I protested, looking at the blond incredulously. "You're the one that wanted to hang around in Charms for longer just, so you could moon over Finnegan for longer."

"Hey! – "

"Would both of you stop it!" Mandy exclaimed, sending a glare that had the pair of us quietening in an instant. Mandy very rarely got angry, but when she did, it was a terrifying thing. Lisa and I shared a look and nodded slowly. "Good, now let's go before Binns makes me regret letting Lisa stare at Finnegan for five minutes longer than normal."

Given my … rather tempestuous relationship with Zabini, I had seriously considered my options for my N.E.W.T. level classes. I didn't want to risk my exams, - Merlin, potentially the rest of my life because of him – so I'd taken extra care to weigh up whether or not it was worth taking a lesson that he'd potentially choose. Somehow, I had managed to decide that it would be worth it because I had overestimated just how much self-control I had, or rather how much self-restraint I had.

Rowena, it was too late to try and change subjects and believe me, I'd even looked into it. Because it was too late, every step I took towards the Transfiguration class made my feet feel heavier and heavier until I was practically dragging them along the floor. Pausing outside of the room for a moment, I took a deep breath before stepping into the room and heading straight for my seat.

Crabbe, seated at the table in front of me, shifted slightly in his chair so he could shoot a glance in my direction, one I pretended to ignore. As I rifled through my bag, I rolled my eyes as Crabbed looked at his desk mate. "I should have known you were the reason for the sudden tension in the room."

Rolling my eyes, I ignored him and pulled out my textbook and set it down on the table with a large thump. Crabbe shifted in his seat at the sound and I didn't let the satisfaction I felt show on my face. Of course, Goyle, the one who had always been the duller of the pair, didn't seem to realise it. Instead, he turned fully towards me and I raised my eyes to his, just waiting for his stupid remark.

"Get a move on Goyle," I ordered and though I didn't want to, I noticed that Zabini turned ever so slightly towards me at the sound of my voice. "I swear I can hear the gears in your brain begin to melt from overuse."

"No need to be mean about it, Diong," Crabbe grumbled, not noticing the way my words had made the briefest of smirks appear at the corner of Zabini's mouth.

"Really do get a move on," Zabini cut in, looking to the front of the classroom again.

"I just thought you'd get along better," Goyle said slowly, looking between Zabini and me as if he was hesitant to speak any longer. I narrowed my eyes already in preparation for whatever stupid thing he was going to say to me. Rowena knows some downright moronic things had come out of his mouth before. "Well you're family, aren't you?"

Goyle trailed off at the way Zabini glared daggers at him and he looked hesitantly towards me as if expecting some sort of support. Not that he found any.

Gesturing him closer to me with a single finger, I leaned across the table towards him and Goyle was extremely hesitant to do the same. But he did so reluctantly, and I made sure to move closer, so I spoke directly by his ear.

"Listen here Goyle," I spoke icily, "don't speak about things that you don't know."

"I just –"

Settling back in my seat, I held eyes with the now silent Slytherin for a long moment. Even when he shuffled in his seat, I didn't look away. "The moment he becomes my family is the moment I disown my family."

"Don't expect any complaints from me," Zabini piped up, shooting me a look from over his shoulder. "You're not my family either, Diong."

And just like that, the conversation was put to rest and the Slytherins finally decided that they were better off looking not bothering to pay any more attention to me. Grateful for the shift, I turned my own attention back to the pages I was supposed to be reading before the lesson began. Bloody family, my foot.

"You know," Padma murmured suddenly from beside me, making me wonder just when she had appeared, "even I've heard the rumours."

"When did you get here?" I asked instead of answering her.

"When you were intimidating Goyle– that was pretty freaking scary, by the way." She shook her head and crossed her arms, propping them on the desk. "So? Am I ever going to find out what part of the rumours are true?"

"Depends," I said quietly, lowering my voice as the lesson began. Almost without wanting them to, my eyes settled on the broad-shouldered back of the Slytherin who was just as big a part of this as I was. "Which version of the rumour did you hear?"

"I've heard more than a few," she admitted. "One claimed you were half-siblings and that your father and his mother had an affair. Another says that your dad is going to marry his mother after divorcing yours –"

"If my mother ever heard those versions she'd castrate my father," I said with a snort. "Want to hear the truth? It's nowhere near as scandalous as that; my uncle – my mother's younger brother – married Zabini's mother above two or three years ago and he was hubby number six if I remember correctly."

Padma's mouth dropped open slightly as she leaned in towards me, lowering her voice even further. "But all of her husbands died –"

"Under suspect circumstances," I completed for her, "I know. That's the extent of the relationship Zabini and I have together."

"That's not what I expected," Padma admitted, following my eyes and looking towards Zabini. "And yet it explains so much."

Every year, without fail, the first year Ravenclaws always managed to leave some sort of essay or something until the very last minute. It wasn't just one or two of them that managed to procrastinate until it became dangerous, it was usually the majority of their year group. No one quite knew how it happened, but we'd taken to calling it the 'curse of Ravenclaw tower' and sure enough, this year had been no different.

The first years had taken over the entire common room as they gathered in one large group to discuss the piece of work they were supposed to submit tomorrow morning. Unfortunately for them, the essay had been set by Snape and now they were rightfully panicking.

The downside of the sudden camaraderie of the first years meant that every other member of the house had to find other places to study or do their homework. Most chose to duck into their dorm rooms, but a foul creature lived in the sixth-year girl's dorms and she happened to go by the name Morag.

Now Morag, she'd been at this school for six years and yet she continued to leave every piece of work until the very last moment until the stress started to eat her from the inside out. And when she got stressed, she started to snap at anyone and everyone. Safe to say we all steered clear of the dorm room until curfew.

I had almost been tempted to settle into one of the abandoned classrooms – Rowena knew there were dozens of them – but I'd learnt the hard way that it was better to steer clear of those rooms. Merlin, just the thought of it made me remember and I would cast scourgify a hundred times if it would wipe the memory from my mind. Then again, personal experience taught me that that didn't work either.

And once again, I was getting distracted –

With a sigh, I forced myself to concentrate. Pulling my hair bobble from my wrist, I tied my hair up to keep it out of the way and poured over the open textbook in front of me again. Gawp's bloody constant –

The chair across from me was pulled nosily away from the table and I peeked up at the sound, narrowing my eyes instantly. Malfoy settled himself across from me, looking bored in his trademark way as he leaned as far back in his seat as he could. He met my waiting eyes, frowning slightly when I rolled my eyes and looked back to the page I'd been trying to read for over twenty minutes now.

"What do you want Malfoy?" I asked quietly, giving into my boredom and raising my head to look at him again. "Unlike some people, I don't have all day."

"You've been staring at the same page for ages now," he pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

Narrowing my eyes, I demanded, "Just how long have you been watching me?"

"You don't need to know," he dismissed, and I scoffed; typical Malfoy.

Drawing back in my chair, I crossed my arms and waited. He was just like all other pure-blooded arrogant only children; there was no way he was leaving until he'd said what he wanted to say. And he'd only say it when he wanted too, there would be no rushing him. God, I was praying for Potter to round that corner with his hero complex in tow to pull Malfoy away from me.

"Do you plan on saying anything?"

He scoffed at my question before sitting forward suddenly. I drew defensively away from him, watching as he leaned forward towards me. Lowering his voice, he asked, "What do you think about Blaise?"

"Zabini?" my incredulity was obvious, and I thought, very understandable. "You want to talk to me about Zabini? Why?"

"Answer my question and I'll answer yours," Malfoy shot back, smirking that infuriating smirk when he realised that he was getting on my nerves. "So, what do you think of him?"

I spent a short moment wondering just why Malfoy was asking me the most stupid question that could possibly have ever left his mouth. But then again, the answer was strikingly obvious. I'd long grown out of being oblivious and I wondered whether Malfoy realised just how clear his intentions were?

"What's going on here?" the sound of Zabini's voice brought an end to the staring competition I was having with Malfoy.

Looking towards his best friend, Malfoy pulled out the chair beside his in welcoming. I tried not to groan; it seemed that I really wouldn't be getting my work done. Zabini looked between the pair of us as he settled down next to Malfoy, putting his bag on the desk. He propped an elbow on the desk, resting his head on a closed fist as he looked towards me.

"Well?"

"Should I tell him Malfoy?"

"Be my guest," the blond said with a wave of his hand.

"Malfoy here wants to know what I think of you." Scoffing, I looked between the two friends. "Did you put him up to this, Zabini?"

"Of course, I didn't," he said as if he was doubting whether I'd been sorted into the right house. Turning towards the relaxed blond, Zabini sent a stinging hex towards Malfoy who extinguished it with a lazy flick of his wand. "Would you grow up, you prick?"

"Look," I cut in sharply, making the pair of them look back to me, "why you've decided to honour me with your presence, I don't know. But would you leave already? I have work I need to be doing."

Zabini watched me in contemplative silence before saying, "You didn't answer him."

"And?"

"Well, what were you going to say to him?"

"That I have better taste than that," I said seriously, meeting and holding his gaze. He showed no outward reaction to my words; I didn't expect there to be one either.

"Do you really think you're my type either?" he demanded coldly and I forced myself not to say anything.

Because it was obvious; I clearly was his type and that was why his best friend had taken it upon himself to step in. Why else would Malfoy be here? And no matter how downright freaky that revelation was, I didn't let it show. Instead, I found myself watching him a little closer; for someone who liked me, he sure didn't express it. And Merlin, I was glad for that.

"Well?"

"Frankly, I don't care," I said truthfully, looking dismissively away from the pair of them and trying to read the sentence that I was sure I'd started about twenty times.

"Well you should," Malfoy started, and I looked up when he fell silent suddenly. The reason for his silence was obvious; Zabini was glaring right into his eyes and I scoffed.

"As riveting as I'm finding your company, would the pair of you leave me alone now?"

Zabini looked to me then, rising slowly to his feet as he held my eyes. There really was no sign of attraction. Hell, I would have thought myself wrong had I not noticed the minuscule way his pupils had dilated just slightly when he looked at me. No matter how good a liar you were, you couldn't help your biology.

"Gladly," the single word was icy enough to have Malfoy shifting in his seat to rise to his feet.

Once they were both standing, they left my table without another word and I made no attempts to hide that fact that I was watching the leave. The two spoke quietly to one another as they disappeared into one of the rows of bookshelves. There was just no way in hell that Zabini fancied me.

No way.

Naturally, the matter with Zabini had made me absolutely curious about why he liked me because Rowena knew that I couldn't have been more of a bitch towards him. If that was what his type was then he certainly was more of a weirdo than I thought. More like a masochist. Was it really such a surprise that I was doing my best to reassure myself that I was I was mistaken because that was known to happen. Even if it happened very rarely.

What sort of Ravenclaw would I be if I didn't test my hypothesis? And to test it, I'd started a rumour that was circulating around the school with the aid of some very helpful friends. Although, Kevin had been used as a guinea pig for it. But I'd given him a months' worth of chocolate for it, so we were even as far as I was concerned. But I hadn't expected things to work quite so quickly.

Less than 24 hours later and Zabini was approaching me as I walked towards the Black Lake to meet my friends. Of course, I hadn't been on the lookout for him either, I'd only noticed his presence when he dropped into step beside me and cleared his throat.

"What do you want from me now?" I asked, turning towards him with suspicious eyes.

He didn't meet mine, just tucked his hands into his pockets as he walked. He spoke slowly as if the words he was speaking were of little interest to him, but I knew better. Merlin, how stupid did he think I was? "There's this rumour going around the castle."

Hook, line and sinker.

"This castle generates a dozen rumours every day. Get to the chase."

"Are you always so impatient, or do I bring that out in you?" he wondered just to infuriate me.

Stopping and turning towards him, I watched as he did the same. Crossing my arms, I made sure to hold his gaze, "Here you are speaking as if you weren't the one to seek me out. Get to it Zabini before I silence you and walk away."

"I really don't see what Entwhistle sees in you," he said instead, stepping closer to me.

I had to tilt my head back slightly to meet his eyes. "That rumour, huh?"

Merlin, I knew that I'd been the one to make up that rumour on purpose to test my theory, but I'd only done that in the hope that I was mistaken. But god, it was true! Usually, when a hunch was proven correct, you were supposed to feel relieved and pleased but those were things I really didn't feel. Not that I was sure what I was feeling either.

"You could do much better," he declared.

"Not that I remember asking you for your opinion."

"I just thought I'd give it anyway. Salazar knows you're clueless half of the time."

No – that wasn't it. He was lying to me and it was so obvious that I wondered whether he was able to tell when I was lying to him as well? If that was the case, then how had he ever let me get away with it?

Maybe I could take this a little further? Just to be a little surer?

"Kevin really isn't that bad." Using my housemate's first name had Zabini straightening up to his full height, peering down at me with shielded eyes.

"I'm sure the imbecile is." He ignored the way I frowned at his words, looking away from me for a moment. Shifting his attention back to me, he repeated, "You can do much better."

"I had no idea you held me in such high regard." Before he could try to deny it, I barrelled on, "And who would you say is a better fit for me? You?"

I'd asked the question on purpose, making sure it was spoken as nothing more than a flyaway comment. Rowena, I'd only made it to try and catch him out or to get some sort of biting retort back from him. I hadn't expected for him to settle his gaze so seriously on mine that I felt like he was staring into my very soul. God, that was dangerous.

Taking a step away from him, I shook my head slightly. Some of the other students might have liked to claim that he was cold to the point of being unreadable but that wasn't true. He was just used to hiding his emotions, the same way most smart people did. And as someone who also hid their emotions, I knew what I was looking for.

It was there, plain as day.

"This had better be some kind of sick joke Zabini," I warned quietly, waiting for him to admit that it was. But he didn't. He didn't say a thing. Instead, he continued to just look at me as my mind ran a mile a minute. He didn't need to say anything. "You've gone insane."

Without sparing him a single glance, I hurried the rest of the way to the Black Lake. While I wasn't the best person to understand boys in general, my dormmates were much better at this sort of thing than I was. At least I wouldn't have to keep this inside my head to stew on it by myself. No, it was better that we all worked together to try and figure out whether Zabini really was a masochist.

The last few remaining weeks of the term were spent avoiding even Zabini's shadow because Merlin, I was not going to bring up the last conversation we'd shared. I doubted he'd let it slip either. So really, the only solution was to see him coming and just turn the other way before he got close enough. It wasn't running away, it was simply a tactical retreat.

Avoiding him was rather easy to do, especially when I shared a dorm with some of the most loyal girls in the entire year. Even without needing to ask them to do it, they were already on side and willing to help me evade the stoic Slytherin. Whilst I was grateful for the help, he clearly hated it. The exasperated glares he threw at each of my roommates said just that.

Once I was home for the Easter holiday, then everything would be fine. I'd give him the weeks to talk some sense into himself and then we could go back to avoiding each other as if we were the plague and throwing barbed remarks whenever the opportunity presented itself. That was the way things were supposed to be and I was eager for things to return to normal.

One train ride home and then things would be perfect once again. But clearly asking not to see Zabini for the duration of the entire journey was too much to ask for. Especially when he appeared suddenly in the doorway of our carriage, blocking the entry way with his frame. Malfoy and Nott peered into the carriage from over Zabini's shoulder, and neither Slytherin paid heed to the way I was looking to my dormmates for help. They were too startled by their unexpected arrival that all eyes automatically shifted towards me.

"Did you purposefully choose a carriage on the other side of the carriage?" Nott asked, the accusation clear in his tone. I had, but he had no reason to know that.

"Do you have any idea how many carriages we had to check into?" Malfoy complained with a glare. "Too bloody many."

"Is there any reason that all three of you need to be here?" Lisa piped up, making the three Slytherins look to her and it was enough of a distraction for Padma to swap seats with me so that I was physically as far away from the door as possible. "I'm surprised you didn't bring your bodyguards with you."

"They're probably stuffing their faces by the trolley," Malfoy said with a roll of his eyes, reaching out to hit Nott on his arm. The other boy turned to Malfoy with obvious irritation on his face. "Let's leave him. Salazar knows he's not a Hufflepuff that needs his hand held to do this."

And with that, the two Slytherins left their third member behind and I finally looked at him, meeting the eyes that were focused on me. Rowena, I preferred it when he couldn't even bring himself to look at me. Unless that had been a ruse the entire time?

"Now that you're Slytherin dramatics are over, how about we get this over with?" I suggested, arching an eyebrow.

"Are you sure?" the way he was speaking had me already second guessing my previous statement, but I nodded all the same. "Even with your friends here?"

"Whatever you want to say, spit it out," Padma said with narrowed eyes and I tried not to smile at just how protective she sounded. She was the self-proclaimed mama bird of our dorm and we all knew it came from being the older twin.

"Fine." Zabini crossed his arms and looked like he was contemplating stepping into the carriage. But he decided against it and went silent again.

"Would you please get whatever this is over with," I said with obvious exasperation. "Whatever you're here to do – even if it's some official confession or words of your heart or whatever, just hurry up."

"You've actually got something right, for once." My eyebrows rose in surprise but Zabini carried on anyway, "I'm here to make – how did you put it – a confession."

"And what exactly are you expecting to happen with me?" Crossing my arms, I paid no heed to the way my dormmates were whispering among themselves. "Is this the part where you think I'm going to fall into your arms?"

"Don't worry about that," he assured me, propping himself against the doorway.

"Don't worry," I repeated, not quite knowing where he was going with this.

"I'll get over you soon enough."

"Good," I said slowly, although I didn't quite believe him. His words didn't sound very reliable, at least not to my ears.

Zabini straightened up again, turning as if to finally leave the carriage. But he stopped again, just like I bloody knew he would. He obviously had something to say, something that he thought would get some sort of reaction out of me. If there was one thing that Zabini knew how to do, that was being a bloody drama queen. He hadn't made a big enough scene so know he was waiting to say something else.

"I don't think we're a fit," he admitted, and I kept my agreement silence, simply nodding my head. "I'm out of your league."

My mouth dropped open with a scoff as I watched his retreating back. Morag rose to her feet, shutting the door behind him and meeting my eyes which were glaring at where he had been standing. Of all the –

"What was he just blabbering on about?" Morag said into the silence of the room and just like that, the question had all my dormmates chattering over each other to talk about Zabini and how they just didn't understand him.

Who the hell did he think he was?

Now, being away from Hogwarts for a couple of weeks gave me some thinking time. Thinking time that proved to save me some major embarrassment. Despite not wanting to, I found myself focusing on Zabini's words and originally, I'd wanted to seek the arrogant Slytherin out the moment I returned to school because I needed to fix his ego. There was no way that he was out of my league. That just wasn't true.

Fortunately, the thinking time had done me some major good. The longer I thought about it, I realised that he'd done it on purpose. Zabini was banking on the fragility of my ego, waiting for me to seek him out to prove him wrong. And what better way was there to get back at him than to do the very opposite of what he wanted? Rowena, I couldn't believe that I'd been so stupid as to almost play right into his hands. I gave Zabini just under two weeks before he was the on to seek me out to try and figure out why I wasn't coming after him.

And when he cornered me in the library, I wondered whether I'd overestimated his patience. He didn't even survive the first week before he was following me into the Potion's section of the library. Of course, I didn't pay any attention to him – outwardly anyway – as I looked through the shelves for a copy of the text that Slughorn had recommended in our last lesson.

"Diong," he called out eventually, growing irritated as I continued to ignore him.

"Zabini," I said back, just as coolly. Glancing towards him for a second, I raised an eyebrow and turned back to the shelf in front of me. He might have expected his … tactic to work, but he seemed to forget that I knew how he worked.

"What's happening?" he asked eventually, and I rolled my eyes.

Turning to face him, I propped my shoulder against the shelf. Looking over him from head to toe, I recognised the way he was trying to hide the tension in his shoulders.

"Did you expect your words to upset me or annoy me?" He narrowed his eyes at my question. "If that's what you expected then I'm sorry to disappoint."

"Diong –"

"You really don't mean that much to me that I'd get annoyed by something you said," I confessed before gesturing for him to step aside. "I'm trying to find a book and you're in the way Zabini, so would you please leave me alone? Or is that too much to ask?"

As I looked back to the bookshelf, I eyed him silently and for the first time, I saw some genuine confusion flicker across his face. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and I tried not to smile. He thought he was so smart, expecting me to do exactly as he manipulated. Well, he'd underestimated me completely.

"If you don't have anything to say," I started slowly as I pulled a book from the shelf and read over the back cover, "then maybe you should just leave me in peace?"

There was silence for a long moment before he asked, "So you agree? I'm out of your league?"

I scoffed, replacing the book on the shelf. "No, but I know just how delusional you are, so I can't really blame you for thinking like that. Besides, if anything I'm out of your league."

"You're not – where are you going?"

"Me?" I gestured to the book I'd finally managed to find, "I need to take this out."

"We're in the middle of a conversation, Diong." He raised an eyebrow, "You don't have enough manners to know that it's rude to just walk away half way through a conversation?"

"Sorry, but I thought we'd finished here." Hugging the book to my chest, I pursed my lips. "Unlike you, I don't have the time to be standing here all day. So, if you have anything else to say to me, prove me wrong first. You thought that what you said would annoy me enough to make me come to you, so I could prove you wrong but sweetheart, I don't work that way."

He was silent for a long moment, watching me with eyes that were veiled so as to keep his every thought away from me. It almost made me smile, knowing that I was getting to him in a way that not many people had managed to do before.

"Have I done the impossible and managed to silence you?" I wondered aloud as I prepared to leave. "Don't try and manipulate me again Zabini – it won't work. Not when I know how you work."

Finally managing to get away from him, I walked towards Pince's desk to take the book out. I felt the eyes burning a hole in my back but did nothing about it. In fact, I walked as if I didn't notice it and tried my best not to smirk. No doubt he'd spend the next few days – maybe even weeks – wondering when things had stopped going his way and that was more than enough payback for the weeks I'd spent unable to keep him from my mind.