The winter air slaps his dark face relentlessly as he glares down at the ivory casket covered in every type of rose he could manage to find. The dark violet roses were so beautiful and always made the woman inside the prison, strategically called a casket, break into tears whenever he handed them to her. The grass surrounding the open grave is surprisingly green and the dirt the most beautiful brown he's ever seen. He closes his eyes for a moment before looking into blue eyes that remind him of hers so badly he wants to rip them from their sockets. Snow begins to fall in little flurries around the large groups of people standing in the graveyard. His hands slide into the pockets of his expensive black dress pants as her family walks around the casket. They are five in total, the war having taken almost half of them away. Luckily he and his now dead love had managed to save that horrid Veela before the death eaters had made it to her. She was carrying her third child and no one knew of it but she. Red hair. They offer him forced smiles as he gazes at them with a stoic expression; he doesn't need their pity, and he wouldn't offer them his. The only reason he'd bothered with coming back to the funeral at all is because he wants them to know. He wants them to know that he knows who'd killed their beautiful goddess and he is going to pay them back with much needed interest, all of them. He goes rigid when he feels eyes on him after every other person has gone around the casket. His dark, somewhat slanted eyes go as cold as the wind, but he goes forward anyway. Her soft red hair blows around a slightly round face gracefully before settling to cover her beautiful lips. His large hand rests on her stomach for a few seconds, but he quickly leans into the casket and kisses her before anyone can think something of the action. Oh yes, they will pay.
Five years earlier.
"Your little sister is being sorted this year?" Pansy Parkinson sneered at the dark skinned boy sitting across from her. His empty eyes were filled with anger for a moment, but it disappeared.
"She's just as safe here as she would be anyplace else," he said rather coldly. He watched the little dark girl with her hair in a ponytail run over to the table and sit next to Lavender Brown's younger brother. His sister was a Ravenclaw.
It was their seventh and final year at Hogwarts. It was going to be a miserable year, not just because there was not more than forty people at each house table. No, the year would be miserable because things were expected of everyone in the castle. He pushed around the food on his plate absently mindedly, looking up to catch a pair of blue eyes on his face. She wasn't staring at him, really. It was more like she was staring through him at something only she could see. He tossed a piece of half eaten roll at her; it hit her on the side of the head. She blinked and glared at him with her lips pressed together tightly. He sneered and looked back down at his plate. He understood exactly how she felt. His best friend would not be returning to Hogwarts for his final year as well, but life had to go on. With a dismissive wave to his friends he walked towards the Ravenclaw table where he congratulated his younger sister. After receiving instructions from Professor McGonagall active headmistress and a few other instructors, he and the head girl passed out schedules. House prefects also assisted in the schedule issuing. Ginny glanced at him as she handed Neville Longbottom his schedule. She absentmindedly laughed at something Neville said. The dark boy was somewhat relieved that the other boy had taken Ginny's attention away from him. After reminding the people in Slytherin House almost everything the Headmistress had said before, he bid them goodnight and left. He was glad he'd gotten chosen as head boy because he wanted to be alone before attending classes the following day. He stood in the doorway of a room half the size of his room at home, but warmer than any other he'd been in. Obviously the room was bewitched to change to fit the house colors of the student occupying it that year. The bed was a large mahogany four-poster that could probably hold all the Weasleys.
He laughed at that last thought as he kicked off his shoes and threw his shirt across the glass table near the fireplace. Cool air drifted into the room through the open window beside his bed, but he pulled his undershirt off anyway. It wasn't in his habit to sleep in a mass of clothing. After he'd stripped down to nothing but the skin he was born with, he jumped into the bed with a loud sigh. He heard the Ravenclaw girl go into her own room. What was her name? He rolled his eyes up at the ceiling and exaggerated a yawn. Draco might not be there to enjoy his last year of school, but he was damn well going to be there and enjoy it for himself.
He hated summer. The sun was so hot on his face the following morning he nearly burned before jumping out of the bed. Tonight he knew better than to sleep with the large window's curtains open. He took a long hot shower, brushed his teeth, put on his clothes, and glanced over his schedule. He had advanced astronomy, advanced double defense against the dark arts, and advanced potions. Who in the hell had made his schedule, Hermione Granger? He shoved the paper into his pocket after pulling on his black robes. Classes will have begun if he didn't get a move on it. He grabbed the books from his desk and ran out the room. The halls were deserted as he bounded towards the astronomy tower with an annoyed expression on his face. Everyone pretended not to notice him as they wrote down the teacher's notes from the blackboard. He dropped in a seat beside a blond girl who looked frightened for a moment, but turned her attention back to the teacher ahead. After dipping his quill in his black ink and copying the girl's notes beside him quickly, he looked back to the board to see the teacher mapping out basic star patterns they'd see in the summer sky. The professor said it was good that they review before moving on to something more complex. She was positive none of them had been able to concentrate on their books during the summer vacation, not with the recent occurrences anyway. She assigned them two chapters to read for the remaining of the class, and for homework they had to write a sixteen inch piece on what they knew about Astronomy up to that point.
An elderly wizard who had been an Auror in his younger years headed the defense against the dark arts class. For almost two hours he talked about how they'd raided dozens of warehouses and hideouts of dark wizards to only be enthralled into some of the most dangerous fights he'd ever experience. The dark boy sitting at the back of the class frowned deeply before putting his head on the desk and going to sleep. The girl sitting next to him nudged him when class was dismissed. Professor Bolhand beamed at him as he made his way out of the classroom. He went back to his quarters and threw his books on the desk. Sadly, he hadn't gotten a chance to eat breakfast so he was starving. After shoving his book into his bag, he jogged to the great hall. Pansy motioned to a place beside her, but he shook his head and sat by himself near the end of the table. He began eating the moment the food appeared on the table. His dark eyes kept glancing at the clock, and he ignored the owl that landed beside his plate. Not until he felt eyes watching him did he look up from what he was doing. She was looking at him again, but not really watching him. It was the same as before, but her eyes looked calmer. He snatched the letter from the owl's leg and threw it a piece of fried potato before wiping his hands on a napkin and opening the letter; it was from Draco. His mind went back to the food in front of him after he slipped the parchment into his bag. He threw a potato at the blue-eyed girl gazing through him. "Stop it!" she growled at him. He laughed loudly as he reached for his cup of pumpkin juice. Damn it! Potions class was about to start in six minutes. He grabbed his bag and ran out of the great hall.
"I don't like it when students are late for class," said the teacher coldly. She would have given Snape a run for his money. "Ten points from Gryffindor. As I was saying, my name is Miss Caroline Dylan and I am your new Potions professor. " Ginny sent daggers at the dark eyes staring at her, but she realized with horror that the seat beside his was the only one open. "I know it was hard losing Dumbledore. He was a good friend of mine also my former professor, but we must press on. Now, because of lack of students, this class has merged sixth and seventh years from both Gryffindor and Slytherin."
Ginny frowned at the soft snores coming from the boy beside her. She stomped his foot under the table when the professor told them to take their books out. He cursed silently to himself, but was even more horrified to find that he'd grabbed the wrong book from his desk. Oh, great. As if the day couldn't get any worse. His head smacked the wooden desktop, and he groaned rather loudly. The professor glared to the back of the room as she turned to the board and began to write out potion ingredients. She noted to them that the potion was on page two hundred and twelve in the book. They weren't expected to finish the potion for a few weeks, but they were expected to turn in a twelve-inch report on the properties and use of the potion they were making. Ginny groaned mildly and rolled her eyes. A piece of parchment on the floor caught her eye. She read it briefly and felt the color drain from her face. The boy sitting next to her frowned deeply, disturbing the beauty of his dark face. Ginny let out a nervous laugh as she handed the parchment to the boy sitting beside her. His eyes went round. She was sure he would hex her into oblivion when she saw the anger on his face, but he simply pushed the paper into his bag and left the room when the teacher dismissed class. Ginny followed him at a pace she figured he wouldn't notice her behind him. Pansy and one of her Slytherin friends appeared from out of thin air and began hassling her. God, she hated Millicent almost as much as she hated Malfoy. She opened her mouth to reply to Pansy calling her a blood traitor.
"Go to your classes or your houses," drawled a deep voice behind her.
Pansy and Millicent threw her a dirty glance before walking towards the astronomy tower. She turned to find him glaring at her. "I didn't ask for your help."
He smirked. "I didn't offer it to you." They stared at one another for a few minutes. Ginny's breath caught in her throat when he smiled at her. "Didn't you hear me? Go to class or to your house. Dawdling around the castle isn't allowed until next week. Besides, you look like you could use the rest."
The color in Ginny's slightly freckled face drained. "Blaise… I'm sorry."
"I couldn't care less."
Blaise ignored Ginny's attempts to start a conversation with him over the following two weeks as they continued work on their potion in class. She seemed almost determined to make him talk to her. The worst thing she ever spoke of was how she missed Harry and his two friends. Blaise thought he would throw up if she didn't shut up sooner or later. Lucky for him, the teacher had ears like an owl and always kept her eye on the red haired girl. She talked while they were taking notes, she slept while the teacher lectured, but worst of all she stared at him when the teacher had them doing in class essays. He was damn near annoyed with her.
It was a cool day in October when he finally got the nerve to tell her to shut up. She kept going on and on about how her brother Bill was going to be married and she needed some happiness in her life at that moment. She missed Harry terribly. "OH SHUT UP!" She flinched at the coldness in his voice. Students sitting around them glanced their way, but looked back at their potions when Blaise's angry eyes fell on them. She balled her hands into fists and glared daggers back at him. The professor released class.
"I'm only trying to be your friend," she said softly as she nearly jogged to keep up with his long legs.
"I don't need any friends, especially any like you, Weasley." He said her name as if it was a disgusting food.
"I know you think that being alone - -"
"Just because your boyfriend, brother, and his girlfriend ran off and abandoned you doesn't mean we all feel abandoned."
"Your best friend abandoned you!"
Blaise frowned. "I don't need any friends. If Draco wants to prance around wearing hoods and killing mudbloods, that's fine with me. It's his decision." Ginny's mouth fell open, but she did not have time to reply because Blaise walked away.
After dinner he rejected a request of Pansy's to walk with her through the gardens on the grounds. He didn't want to be around her anymore than he needed to be. Instead, he went to the owlery and stared out at nothing in the distance. The night was so black that the stars were glowing like the amethyst diamonds in the earrings his mother loved to wear so much. He laughed when he remembered the first time she'd gotten the earrings on her birthday. His grandfather had said they were family heirlooms for many generations back. He thought about the old man for a moment before closing his eyes and allowing memories to overtake him. His index finger wiped away a tear. His grandfather had been the only man he really looked up to in his life. He believed in fairness and never being afraid of being true to himself. Blaise remembered the first time he'd kissed a girl and told his grandfather about it. The old man had laughed and slapped the boy on the shoulder rather hard, but he told his grandson that kisses were meaningless unless there was love behind them. Blaise never kissed a girl again. Well, he'd managed in some strange way to slip into a few girls' beds without managing to kiss them. He never told his grandfather about that; he was afraid of what the old man would say. He laughed loudly.
"Something funny?" asked a soft voice.
He turned to see warm blue eyes staring at him. She pushed a stray piece of red hair from her face. "Are you stalking me?"
"I come up here when I get lonely," she replied.
"Waiting for a letter from your dear Potter? How sweet." He was silent for a moment. His dark eyes focused on someone walking around in their office with candles lit. "I was laughing because I was thinking about how wonderful it would be to watch the dark lord torture your love."
"You don't care about Voldemort. You don't even care about Malfoy, and I thought he was the most vile creature to ever…"
"I don't bow to anyone. Like I said if Malfoy wants to be a servant then let him." He went silent.
Ginny eased towards him and put a hand on his arm. The look in his eyes was pure hatred. "I'm sorry about your grandfather."
"You didn't know him," he whispered.
"I can still offer my sympathy. I know how it feels to lose someone you love."
Blaise pretended not to hear her as he kept his eyes the constellations above him. Why didn't someone just show up and curse the girl into hell? He stood there silent even after she was gone. There was going to be a test in advanced potions the following day and he hadn't studied yet. Merlin forbid life gets any better for him. His feet made squishy noises on the pavement as he walked to his quarters. Adela Meyer. She sat in the common room they shared leafing through her advanced care for magical creature book. Blaise sat down in a chair a few feet away from her, watching her as she pulled her long black hair over her shoulder and studied the words in the book slowly. Her green eyes fell on him for a moment before she went back to her studying. The room suddenly felt very cold. Blaise waved her goodbye away as he went up the stairs into his bedroom.
He grabbed his potions book from the desk as he fell into the bed. Although his body screamed at him to go to sleep, he read through the book for the next few hours with determination. More than likely, he would fail the test and be put back into regular potions class if it was up to the teacher. His foot slammed into the book, knocking it across the room so that it crashed into his door hard. Adela knocked and asked him if he was okay; he replied with a simple yes. She went into her room without another word directed towards him. He stripped down to nothing again before getting into the bed and falling asleep underneath the warm covers.
She was going to die. Ginny cringed every time she read the essay questions on the board. How the hell was torturing sixth years going to help prepare them for N.E.W.T.S? She glanced at Blaise's flourishing quill out the corner of her eye. She was surely going to fail. There was no way in Merlin's hell she was going to get a full foot of each essay question before the end of class. She had an idea suddenly. Weren't the potions used to help muggles as well? She was sure of it because her father had bragged about how it was so important that magic was merging with the normal world. A sigh of relief escaped her abused red lips; she'd been chewing on them since the woman dropped the surprise test on them at the beginning of the hour.
Blaise let out a loud sigh as he pressed his four parchments together and looked down at the golden pocket watch he kept on him at all time. The teacher glanced up at him for a moment, but he just stared at her blankly. The woman forced a smile before turning her attention back to parchments in front of her. Blaise continued to watch the woman, as if he was seeing her for the first time. Her feet were somewhat small, but her legs were amazingly in shape. Tan colored stocking ran up her legs and underneath a pin striped suit of some sort. A silk pink shirt peeked out from beneath the jacket, but the most amazing thing about her was the lipstick on her lips. Her lips were thin, but the pink lipstick on them matched the shirt perfectly, and it made her face look less angular than it really was. Her reading glass slid down her pointed nose a few millimeters, but remained still. She looked fragile; her hands were small and her frame was thin. The dark hair falling over her shoulders reminded him horribly of his mother for a moment. He frowned, but before he got up he tapped Ginny's parchment with his index finger. Words appeared on the paper, filling it to the bottom. He glared at her as he stood and tossed the papers on the professor's desk before leaving.
Brown leaves had floated onto the castle grounds from the trees of the Forbidden Forest. Blaise sat on a large stone with his legs crossed underneath him and an advanced arithmancy book in front of him. He didn't look up when a shadow blocked the little light the sun offered. His fingers pressed another strawberry flavored piece of toffee into his mouth before flipping to the next page. Red hair blew into his face suddenly, pulling him back to reality. He glanced at the prefect badge on Ginny's robe before looking back down to his book again. She whispered something to him, but he acknowledged it with the wave of his hand. There was no way he would be able to entertain her and study for any other unexpected quizzes for the following day. After all, on the next day he had double advanced charms at eight o'clock, advanced history of magic after lunch, and advanced transfiguration following that. He flipped through the book again until he heard a soft whizzing sound, but pulled his wand out just in time to incinerate whatever it was flying his way. He peered around the yard with his lips pressed tightly together. Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, and Seamus Finnigan pretended to be engaged in an interesting conversation when he looked at them. He called out to them, but they pretended not to hear.
"That was my stuffed quaffle," a soft voice said.
"You should take better care of your things," he said coldly. His dark eyes went back to the book in his lap, but he found it hard to concentrate with her standing over him. The book slammed shut with a loud thud. He turned to her with an angry and annoyed expression on his face. "What do you want?"
"Will you tutor me in history of magic? I know you're busy - -"
"Well, that settles it. If you know I'm busy, I can't tutor. Brilliant reasoning."
"Please." Her blue eyes shined with earnest when she said the word. He nodded without responding. Ginny smiled widely and hugged him tightly before running toward her friends on the other side of the yard.
"Oh. Looks like Blaise has a new girlfriend," spat out Pansy. She stopped smiling when he turned to her with cold eyes. If his stares were daggers, she'd be dead.
He smirked. "No need to be jealous, Pansy. You will never have a chance with me, but know I did want you for some meager ten seconds my first year." He pushed his books into his bag. "You girls have a nice day."