A/N: This fic is a gift to the amazing 2DaughtersOfAthena (2D)! I hope that you like the fic. I apologise, though, because it was written in such a haste. I don't own Harry Potter; it solely belongs to J.K. Rowling!
Diagon Alley was bustling with activity today. It was the last week of August, after all, that always brought along with it frantic parents doing last minute shopping for their excited wards. There were people everywhere the eyes went; it was like a sea of idiotic humans, pushing and screaming at each other like animals.
Among all this chaos, stood a very bored and uninterested Blaise Zabini. He had initially thought that today might be different; that today it would be all about him since he got his Hogwarts letter, and he would be able to spend some quality time with his mother. It seemed, however, that his dearest mum had other plans because she was busy flirting with a stupid looking wizard, while they were still shopping for his robes.
Blaise rolled his eyes at his mother's antics. Honestly, he wasn't even bothered with her behaviour now; he was kind of immune to his mum's flirty actions.
"Blaise darling, why don't you go ahead and get all your books while I get your robes fitted?" Mrs Zabini spoke, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively towards her son, and Blaise understood the meaning behind her words immediately. He tried very hard not to gag in front of the crazily grinning pervert; it seemed that his mother had just found herself a new husband.
With a simple nod in affirmation, he quickly left Madam Malkin's. On his way towards the bookstore, he simply ignored the excited chattering around him. There was an avid crowd of students just outside Quality Quidditch Supplies, wherein everyone, was ogling at the latest broom model. Florean Fortescue's Ice-cream parlour was tightly packed, so was Eeylops Owl Emporium, and so was every other shop in the alley. After pushing wildly through the crowd and getting almost knocked into the dark Knockturn Alley, Blaise finally reached his destination and sighed heavily in relief.
The familiar homely scent of parchment and old books greeted him, as soon as he stepped foot in Flourish and Blotts.
Blaise frowned, however, when he saw that many people were already ahead of him in the queue. Without much further ado, he turned and slipped at the back of the shop, which seemed more appealing and less crowded to him.
Ahh, books! God's greatest invention. It always surprised him, how some words written on a piece of paper could have the power to transport someone to an entirely different universe. Books, for Blaise, were his sincerest of friends and the simplest way to escape the harsh reality that was his life. Really, which kid liked to witness his/her mother, drowning herself in the glasses of whiskey, and crying herself to sleep in the memories of her love? Certainly, not him. So, books had become his safe haven since a very early age.
Scanning the various shelves, his eyes caught onto a figure sitting in the far corner of the shop. It was a girl, and she so deeply endowed in the story she was reading, that she never noticed Blaise come up to her. For several moments, he just observed her instead of asking what she was doing hiding in between the large shelves where no one could find her.
She had beautiful, black hair, tied up elegantly in a single braid. She, however, wasn't wearing any skirt or robes as the girls usually wore. Instead, she adorned a long-sleeved, white floral 'kurta' that complimented her big brown eyes so well. He could easily tell that she was on an interesting part of the story by the way her eyes were narrowed, and her lips were pursed in a thin line.
Blaise coughed slightly to get her attention but drastically failed when she didn't budge from her comfortable position on the floor. He coughed again, louder this time, and the girl squeaked in surprise.
"You scared me!" she spoke; her voice still came out squeaky as she put a hand on her chest to calm her wildly beating heart.
"My apologies. I didn't mean to startle you, but technically it wasn't my fault." Blaise saw her giving him a calculated look, "I tried to call you, but you were so busy with your story that you didn't hear me when I first tried to talk to you."
The girl lowered her eyes in slight embarrassment; it sounded like something she would have done.
"Please don't get upset. I understand how easy it is to fall into the world of fiction," Blaise spoke with conviction and in return received a dazzling smile from the girl.
"I'm Padma Patil," she extended her hand in a friendly gesture.
"Blaise Zabini," Padma repeated the words with a humming tone, "that's a very nice name."
"Thank you. Now, would you please tell me as to why you were hiding in the far corner of the world?" Blaise moved forward and took a seat across from where she was sitting earlier. Padma followed suit.
"I wasn't hiding. Just came to spend some 'me' time here," she spoke with a casual shrug. Blaise looked at her as if he didn't believe her. She sighed and explained further, after seeing his annoyed expression, "My Twin sister had apparently found a new best friend - Lavender Brown, and she seems to have completely forgotten me. They are like soulmates, talking nonstop, whenever they meet. It's not that I don't like Lavender or anything, but it's just that she came shopping with us, and they both left me alone as they wanted to explore Diagon Alley. Honestly, Parvati can be such a baby sometimes. I mean, yeah, it's the first time we came here and I understand her excitement, but she should have at least told me that...," she stopped abruptly in the middle of her ranting.
"Wait a minute! Why am I telling you - a complete stranger - all of this?"
"I don't know," Blaise replied. Padma frowned to herself, looked at Blaise intently as if internally judging him, and then, started laughing. The Zabini boy, too, couldn't keep the smile off his face. The Patil girl seemed to relax in his presence, and soon bombarded with him all kinds of questions about Hogwarts - how big was the castle? Was it really haunted by ghosts? What house did he want to get sorted in, and what not?
Blaise was a very introverted person and didn't like to talk or interact much with others. This girl was different; she had stayed even after he'd told her that his mother was the famous Black Widow, and neither left nor judged him - she didn't treat him any differently as the other kids. So, sitting on the bookshop floor, talking about the most random stuff; it all felt really nice. It felt that he could have friends too.
Both children didn't realise how long had they been sitting there until Padma checked her watch, and stood up abruptly, "Oh no. I'm so sorry Blaise, but I've to go. I already have gotten so late. Papa is gonna be so furious," she started collecting her bag and books hurriedly, and Blaise's mood deflated immediately. He didn't want her to leave; they still had so much to talk to, but didn't know how to voice his thoughts. So, he stood up with a disheartened face.
"How about we meet this weekend at the ice-cream parlour?" she asked, "you could show me around the other wizarding alleys that way." Blaise gave her a genuine smile with an apprehensive nod, "Yeah. That would be great."
"Brilliant. See you on Saturday." Padma leaned forward and gave him a tight hug, before disappearing from the shop. Blaise stood there for some time, humming quietly in thought; perhaps he could have friends too.