Author's Note: This was written for xakemii for a drabble exchange in the 3rd anniversary party. It takes place sometime in Blaise's fifth year at Hogwarts. Pairings: Parvati/Blaise.
Gryffindors
Sometimes, Blaise really hated Gryffindors.
It wasn't that he wasn't fond of Harry – Harry was all right, and half Slytherin besides. And Neville certainly didn't embody the stereotypical traits of stupidity and recklessness, even when he screwed up in Potions class.
On the other hand, Hermione could really get on his nerves. She always had to know everything, and practically stood on her seat in class when she wanted to answer a question. She'd wave her hand through the air insistently until the teacher called on her out of sheer pity! And then there was Lavender Brown, who'd spent nearly all of the last Potions class giggling and drooling all over Weasley. So perhaps it was mainly Gryffindor girls that Blaise despised.
"Zabini?"
Blaise turned to face the third Gryffindor girl – Parvati Patil. He gave her his best sneer. "What do you want, Patil?"
She wrinkled her nose, apparently unimpressed, and held out a quill. "You dropped this."
Slightly stunned by the sheer – politeness of her demeanor, Blaise accepted the quill and slid it into his bag. "Er, thanks. Didn't realize you cared, though."
Parvati raised her eyebrows. "Returning a quill has nothing to do with caring."
"No?"
"Let me put it into Gryffindor terms your Slytherin brain can understand. It would be dishonorable to leave a quill sitting about, or worse, steal it, when I know perfectly well to whom it belongs," said Parvati, without a trace of the giggling Blaise usually associated with her and Lavender.
Blaise was now openly staring. He'd never realized it before, but the Patil twins were purebloods, weren't they? And she had such impeccable grammar. Even Draco didn't talk like that, and his mother was a Black.
"Oh," was all he could say in response. It sounded… well, lame, so he added, "I never thought about it that way."
Parvati sniffed. "Of course you didn't." With that, she walked away, leaving Blaise to admire her fine figure from behind.
Maybe Gryffindors weren't so bad after all.