Title:So Not Cursed
Rating: T
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Theo, Blaise
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.
Word Count: 977
Summary: AU. Blaise fears he's cursed, but Theo sets him straight.
Notes:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: Magical Objects and Their Uses – For this lesson I would like you to write a story centering around someone who is viewed as being 'cursed', either due to the organizations they are associated with or their personality.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: Scavenger Hunt – Places Around Hogwarts – Any Common Room
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: Little League – Chaser 3 – Slytherin x Slytherin friendship
Blaise sits in the Slytherin common room. His eyes roam the letter in his hands. The words are ones he has read in the past and could probably recite them from memory.
Dear Blaise,
Your stepfather has unexpectedly passed away. You, of course, will not be able to come home for the funeral, but I'll tell the family you send your apologies.
Love, your mother
He places the letter face down next to him and leans back against the plush green cushion of the couch. He closes his eyes and thinks about his mother, a woman known as the Black Widow because of how all of her husbands die under suspicious circumstances.
Blaise is suspicious as well, but he'd never come right out and ask his mother if she's the one behind all of the deaths. She's known as a curse among men, and despite it, they still fall at her feet and hope to be chosen as her next husband.
Blaise worries that he himself has inherited the dreaded curse. No girl seems to be interested in him. Maybe they fear him because of his mother's reputation.
Someone sitting next to him startles Blaise enough that he opens his eyes. He looks to the side and is faced with Theo's surely expression as he slouches against the back of the couch. "What's up with you?" Blaise asks.
"Malfoy is leering at Pansy again."
He rolls his eyes. "Just tell Pansy you like her."
Theo frowns and crosses his arms. "The Nott fortune is nothing compared to the Malfoy fortune. Who do you think she's going to choose?"
Blaise doesn't answer; he knows Pansy cares about nothing other than having the most money.
Theo's eyes slide to the side, and he seems to realize that Blaise isn't in the best of moods either. "What's wrong with you?"
Blaise glances at the facedown letter and says, "Another one has died."
Theo doesn't ask him to elaborate. There's no need to because Theo has already seen the whole scene play out in the past. "Did she say how?"
"No, and I'm not asking either. I'm not sure I'd even believe her answer. In fact, I probably wouldn't."
Theo nods.
"Do you believe in curses?"
Theo raises his eyebrows. "Everyone who goes to this school believes the Defense position is cursed."
"True, but do you believe people can be cursed?"
"Well, if a position can be cursed, why can't a person be as well?"
"Great. So it's a good chance that I did inherit my mother's curse."
Theo straightens his spine. "Why are you cursed?"
Blaise picks up the letter. "Look at my mother."
"What does she have to do with you?"
"She has lousy luck with guys, and I can't get a girl to look twice at me."
"First of all, her 'luck' might be self-inflicted. Everyone believes that. Second of all, your luck with girls might not have anything to do with your mother or a curse."
"Then why? Prats like Malfoy have girls chasing after them. What's wrong with me?"
"Well, for one thing, you're a gentleman and one of the top students in our year, second only to Granger."
"And that make me unworthy of a girlfriend?"
"No," Theo drawls. "It's make you intimidating to a girl who might be interested. Look at Daphne. She's pretty and intelligent and has high social standing. You don't see her surrounded by suitors."
"I guess you're right."
"Of course I'm right," Theo agrees.
A comfortable silence falls between them.
It's two days later, and the death of his most recent step-father has made the paper. Of course, Draco Malfoy is waving it around in the common room.
Blaise glares. "Give me the paper!" he demands.
"How does it feel to lose another one?" Draco callously asks. Crabbe and Goyle chortle at the stupid question.
"Shut up," Blaise retorts, fists clenched at his side.
"You'll end up just like your mother, bitter and alone. The curse definitely runs within your blood."
Blaise doesn't flinch despite the fact that Malfoy's words hit a bit too close to home for him.
Before he can retort, Theo steps next to him and places his hand on Blaise's shoulder. Together, they show solidarity. "You're just jealous. You thought you'd be number one in school, and no matter how hard you work, you can't beat the mudblood, Granger. You can't even have the number two spot because Blaise has that position. No matter how hard you try, you'll never be good enough, and you know it. Anyone you marry will only be with you for your money and prestige. When Blaise gets married, though, his wife will be with him out of love. If anyone will grow to be bitter and alone, it will be you."
Malfoy's eyes narrow, and if he had heat vision, Blaise is sure they'd burn. Even so, he has never been more grateful to Theo.
"That's enough, gentleman." Snape swoops in like a giant bat. "Go to your separate corners."
Malfoy grabs Pansy's hand, and Blaise is proud of his friend for not flinching. The two of them go to their usual couch.
"Thanks," Blaise mumbles.
"No problem. You know how much I hate Malfoy. I enjoyed putting him in his place. Anyways, my words were true. You're not cursed. You just haven't met a girl who wants to be with you, yet. She's out there, though."
Blaise looks at Theo, who's watching Pansy hang off of Malfoy's arm. "The right girl is out there for you, too. And Pansy isn't it."
It wouldn't be until five years later, when Blaise marries Daphne and Theo marries Astoria in a double wedding, that they'd realize how true their words were.
Blaise watches his wife talk to her sister. "The curse is broken," he says to his companion.
Theo chuckles. "What curse?"