Blaize with a Z

"You made a mistake."

Blaise ignored the blond peering over his shoulder, his quill darting across the page. He knew there were plenty of mistakes in his essay—why, he wouldn't be surprised if he even managed to spell half the words correctly—but he simply didn't have time to bother correcting them. His homework was due in less than half an hour, and although Snape was his head of house, it didn't seem too likely the man would forgive a fifth missing piece of work that month.

"You know, it would be a lot easier to concentrate if you weren't breathing down my neck," Blaise said, wrinkling his nose. When Draco didn't move, he added, "Did you even brush your teeth this morning? You reek."

It seemed to have the desired effect, for soon the boy took a step back. Blaise glanced up in time to see the blond breath into his hand and sniff it. When Draco saw him looking, he quickly folded his arms and sneered.

"Of course I did."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Yes, of course."

Draco leant back over the desk, his grey eyes narrowed. Pointing to the last sentence Blaise wrote, he said, "That's the American spelling. It should be 'theorise' with an 'S', not a 'Z.'"

"I don't think Snape would care," Blaise said. He scratched the word out anyway and corrected it.

He should've just left it, though, for Draco's lips twisted into a smirk. Almost pushing him out of the way as he poured over the parchment, the blond started pointing out every single error.

"And here, you misspelt 'draught' and there, you should include a 'U' in 'colour.' Honestly, Blaise, one would think you were American."

"Don't you have your own work to do?" Blaise said, gritting his teeth.

Draco sighed. When Blaise looked up at him, he saw the boy examining his nails. "Some of us like to get our work done ahead of time."

"And some of us like to have a life."

Draco scowled and stepped back from the desk. "You know, perhaps you should consider getting a tutor, Zabini. I don't mean to pry, but that really is shocking. Do you think it makes you look cool or something?"

Blaise took a few deep breaths, his grip tightening around his quill. He only had about twelve minutes left to finish a skimpy conclusion and dash down the corridor to the Potions classroom. He had hoped to get more than the 3ft length he had, but it would do. If his charming little peer would just give him five minutes, he might be able to finish on time.

Relaxing his grip, he started on the final part. He could hear Draco walk back over to the table, but with one icy glare in his direction, he was able to jot out a few sentences.

"Finally." Dropping his quill, he leant back in his chair and looked over at the common room's antique clock. Six minutes to spare.

Draco was dancing from foot to foot, his eyes on the essay.

"What is it?" he asked, letting out another sigh.

"Well… you misspelt 'hellebore,' used another 'Z' where there should be an 'S', and… yeah, you forgot your name."

Blaise raised an eyebrow. "Honestly?"

The blond nodded, eyes still focused on the essay. Blaise wasn't sure why the boy even cared what his essay was like, but looking at the boy, figured it probably had something to do with the fact that he had no life.

The boy's head snapped up to him, and his eyebrows knitted together. "Well, aren't you going to fix it?"

Blaise leant forward and picked up his quill. Taking a deep breath, he scribbled his name on the top of the parchment. Then, tossing his quill into his backpack and standing up, he smirked at Draco.

The boy's mouth was open, his grey eyes almost bugging out of his head. "You didn't—"

Blaise scrolled up his essay, but not without first waving the top of the parchment under Draco's nose again.

"It's Blaise with a 'Z' now," he said, winking at Draco.

Draco's jaw snapped shut and he narrowed his eyes. Adjusting his own backpack on his shoulder, he said, "You're so childish."

Blaise pushed past him, barely able to keep the smile off his face. "No, I'm cool."

A/N: To be honest, I don't even know what this is. I had a better idea in mind but just couldn't seem to get it out. Anyway, this is written for the wonderful Cara (Lenore483) for her birthday, and for the related The Golden Snitch forums' 'Keeping Up With Cara ' birthday event. Prompt: [Character] Blaize Zabini (yes, Blaise with a 'Z'—inside joke).

I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!