Disclaimer: All main characters and settings are lovingly borrowed from J.K Rowling. However, this story takes place pre-Half Blood Prince and features and Italian Zabini and will not have any mention of the Dark Lord or any other such things. Thanks for reading.
Blaise Zabini was enamored. Or, at least, he thought he was. He had been seated in one of the compartments in the back of the Hogwarts Express with a new transfer student named Nicola Contadino. She was from a Wizarding School in Italy but was transferring to Hogwarts for her Seventh and final year. She had strikingly dark eyes, so dark that it was hard to tell if they were blue or brown, full pouty lips, an olive complexion, and a very Italian – and very womanly - shape.
But it wasn't how pretty she was that had first captured Blaise's attention, there were lots of pretty girls at Hogwarts, it was the very fact that she was Italian. Blaise himself came from a very large Italian Family, and despite the fact they lived in Britain, they still spoke Italian at home. So it was a very nice change to have someone to speak to at school, someone who understood him when he spoke his family tongue.
He had spent the entire train ride to Hogwarts just talking with Nicola, which was a very unusual thing as Blaise usually hated to talk and avoided it whenever possible. But it was so nice talking to Nicola that the quiet Slytherin didn't mind how idiotic he sounded or looked.
They had talked about so much during that trip that it was hard to believe that they had only just met, and despite the fact that they were interrupted once on the train ride by Draco Malfoy and his cronies who had been complaining about Harry Potter; it had been a very pleasant trip.
Over the first week back at school he watched her get sorted into Gryffindor - which came as a bit of a surprise as she told him she had been sorted into the "bad" house at her old school. But Blaise quickly overcame his disappointment at not having her in the same house as him when he realized that they had a class together, Ancient Runes.
It wasn't until the second week back that Blaise realized his infatuation with Nicola may be one-sided. She walked into Ancient Runes, looking breathtakingly beautiful and took the seat next to him as always. She smile at him, and began to speak to him in Italian. They always spoke in Italian because it was nice to use their native tongue, and it was more fun as nobody in the school understood what they were saying.
"I am so happy," Nicola said straight away. And although the sentence was a good one, it left an ominous sinking feeling in Blaise's gut. "You will never believe what happened." She continued.
Blaise smiled slightly, and nodded indicating that she should continue, not wanting to speak just yet.
"I have a boyfriend!" She giggled after speaking and Blaise was dumbfounded. A boyfriend? Who?
"Who?" he whispered in Italian, not really wanting to say more than was absolutely necessary.
"Ron Weasley." Nicola replied, smiling brightly.
Blaise was saved from having to answer by the start of class, and he spent the entire hour staring blankly at the teacher, not really hearing anything that was being taught. Ron Weasley? That red-headed git? What the hell did a beautiful, intelligent girl like Nicola see in Ron-fucking-Weasley?
After class Blaise mumbled something unintelligible when Nicola asked him if he wanted to hang out with her seeing as how classes were over for the day. Not wanting to have to face an annoying group of students in the Slytherin common room, Blaise instead made his way down to the library where he knew he could brood in peace.
He walked and weaved through the many shelves of books until he found a large chair by the Ancient Runes Section. There was only one other chair in the area, and that one was unoccupied so Blaise figured he had found the perfect place to mope.
It wasn't until ten minutes later that he heard a muffled noise that sounded like someone crying. Blaise turned his head in the direction of the sound and was momentarily startled to see Hermione Granger emerging from between two shelves, her face covered in tears. He sat really still and she didn't notice him at first, throwing her overly stuffed bag onto the ground in front of him and then moving towards the chair he was seated in.
"Granger," he acknowledged, smirking slightly at the ever-brave Gryffindor who was bawling her eyes out in the middle of the library.
Her entire body jerked at the sound of her name and she stared at him in complete shock, the tears still making there way down her face.
"Who are you and what are you doing in my chair?" She snarled, obviously not in the mood to play nice with a Slytherin in her current condition.
Blaise's eyes narrowed. Of course she didn't know who he was. He'd only been in most of her classes for the last four years, sitting behind her in Arithmacy for the last three. "Blaise Zabini," he said coolly, annoyed at the way she had obviously ignored his existence for the last seven years. Zabini's were quiet intentionally, but that didn't mean they wished to be ignored.
"Oh, right, of course." Hermione sputtered, wiping her face and taking a deep breath. She spoke more calmly this time. "Now, what are you doing in my chair?" She looked him directly in the eye and he knew that was why she was in Gryffindor. Here she was, vulnerable and obviously upset, and here he was, a Slytherin who – based entirely on reputation, not on fact – would jump at the chance to put her down, and she was facing him strongly, grudgingly admiring the fact that she was staring at him acting as if she was not about to fall apart. He thought to himself that he might've liked her if she wasn't everything he hated. And she hadn't known his name.
"I'm sorry," he drawled, not in the least bit remorseful, and smirked at her. "I must've missed where you wrote your name on the chair in my haste to sit down. Dreadfully sorry." He didn't move and she stared at him, glaring.
"Are you going to move?" She asked, and he could tell that she knew exactly how he would answer.
"No."
She arched an eyebrow at him and Blaise smirked again. Finally, with a huff, she turned and did the last thing he expected her to do. She sat down in the chair across from him.
"What are you doing?" He asked quietly, crossing his arms across his chest, wary in case she decided to hex him. Hermione Granger was the smartest witch in Hogwarts and he did not want to be on the receiving end of her anger. He'd heard enough from Malfoy to know that was not the place to be.
"Sitting," she replied, leaning over and grabbing her bag, pulling it towards her and taking a book out.
"Why?"
"Because."
"But I'm sitting here."
"If it bothers you so much than you can leave."
It struck him then and he laughed. Granger was trying to annoy him into leaving, giving up her chair in the process. If she thought she could out maneuver a Slytherin than she was sorely mistaken. He caught the hint of a smile that she hid behind her book as he leaned forward to grab his own bag. It quickly faded when she realized that he wasn't going anywhere.
They sat like that for forty-five minutes. Both students pretending to read as their thoughts drifted to more important matters. Blaise didn't know what it was Hermione was thinking about, and he didn't care. All he noticed was that her pages weren't moving as fast as they should be for the brilliant witch she was. Blaise on the other hand was desperately trying to think up something he could do to prove to Nicola that she should be with him, and not with Weasley.
At first it seemed like an incredibly unwelcome interruption when Ginny Weasley rushed over to Hermione's chair. Her loud exclamation of "There you are Hermione!" brought Blaise out of a particularly pleasant day dream where Weasley was knocked off his broom by a bludger in a Quidditch match and he, Blaise, was sweeping Nicola off her feet and taking her to a nice villa in Italy.
"I've been looking for you everywhere for the last two hours!" Blaise, who wasn't bothered by the fact that he was eavesdropping had to bite back a laugh. How could it possibly take anyone two hours to find Hermione Granger? She was always in the library. Even he knew that, and he knew nothing about the annoying girl.
"Sorry Ginny, I just couldn't sit there and see them anymore." Hermione's voice was thick with emotion, and Blaise was sure the tears were about to come again. This was getting interesting. He wondered what he could do with this information.
"What does he see in her anyway?" Hermione said as Ginny crouched down next to her, completely ignoring the tall Slytherin who was slouched down in the chair across from her. What does who see in whom? Blaise thought to himself.
"I'm really sorry that you had to find out about them that way Hermione, Ron is just being stupid." Ginny answered, helping Hermione to put her book back in her bag as she stood up.
Ron, Blaise thought. Ron Weasley was the only Ron he knew off in Gryffindor, and it made sense that they would be talking about him seeing as how Ginny was his younger sister. Ron Weasley was also the prat who was currently dating the lovely Nicola.
"I know Ginny, but I've just liked him for so long, it was hard to see him with her. I'd do anything to have it go back to the way it used to be, before that Italian girl came here."
Blaise stiffened in his seat as the two Gryffindor's walked away.
Hermione Granger had a thing for Ron Weasley. The smartest witch in the school had a thing for the very guy who stood between him and Nicola.
Maybe, just maybe, if he could get her to help him than they could break up Nicola and Ron.
Blaise Zabini leaned back in his chair and smirked, a devious scheme formulating in the smart Slytherin's head.
This could get interesting.
