Three years on, and about to enter his fourth year at Hogwarts Blaise sat on the Hogwarts express surrounded by his fellow Slytherins. He had found his place here at Hogwarts, the place where he truly fit in, where he could be himself and not bother about his gold-digging mother, the problems of the wizarding world, or his own etiquette in public. Here at Hogwarts he had begun to feel something he had believed to be impossible, surrounded by a closely knit group of friends and admirers, though he did not yet recognise it, he had begun to feel love.
He sat conversing with the other fourth year Slytherins and a few others from different years. His charisma and charm had already gained him the respect of his house and even those in higher years looked up to him. He was extremely skilled with a wand, non-verbal magic, flying and perhaps most importantly; the art of manipulation. He controlled those around him with ease, he and Draco clearly being leaders of the group. The straggling Slytherin fourth year girls; Adrianne and Daphne arrived and seated themselves on Draco and Blaise's laps due to lack of other available seating.
"Hello darling" Blaise whispered into Daphne's ear breathing lightly on her neck, she smirked, unfazed by his games "alright love?" she said grinding her hips back into his. He hissed slightly and Draco smirked, watching the exchange, his arms loosely wrapped around Adrianne's waist. As the conversation moved to the world cup, they became more animated and as the train jerked violently and Pansy fell backwards onto Sebastian, who caught her but dropped his drink, spilling it over Greg and Millicent. Millie shrieked as the door slid open to reveal a bemused looking Adrian and Derrick. Blaise grinned in spite of himself as the observed the antics of his fellow housemates, god how he'd missed them.
The heavens opened just as the train arrived at the station and the Slytherins hurried to get the first carriages to be out of the rain. They successfully made it to the carriages and laughed just out of spite at the thought of the tiny first years struggling through the lake in the pouring rain. The journey did not drag as the Slytherins energetically discussed the Triwizard Tournament and what they anticipated it would hold.
"I'll bet you Potter tries to enter" said vivacious Pansy "and perhaps his pathetic sidekick, you'd think he'd get tired of being constantly overshadowed." "Nah" said Seb, "Weasley's way to chicken to try anything like that, he relies on the other two, without them he's completely lost." Blaise nodded his agreement. They arrived at the great hall and made their way over to the Slytherin table, avoiding Peeves throwing water balloons at unsuspecting students. The general chatter died down as McGonagall brought in the first years to begin the sorting and Blaise grinned as Draco's stomach growled angrily in protest. The few new Slytherins consisted of four new girls and five new boys, including Daphne's sister Astoria.
Blaise felt something tugging on his sleeve, and turned with a bemused look on his face, to see a petite, delicate girl looking at him,
"would you pass me that please?" she asked, pointing at one of the more adventurous looking dishes. He smiled at her; "sure" he said reaching over and giving her the bowl. She gave a small smile in return and begun to ladle food onto her plate. Blaise was intrigued by this small, dainty creature, having never seen her before he assumed she was a first year.
"What's your name darling?" he said to her curiously, "Bellemonte" she replied quietly, as though afraid she was getting the answer wrong, "Nicolette Bellemonte." "Well Nicolette my dear," Blaise began, putting on airs of a fond uncle talking to his favourite niece, "I have a feeling you and I are going to get on rather well" She gave him another small smile, but the warmth that filled her eyes as she nodded her head made Blaise realise. He realised that like so many before her, even like him in fact, she came from a broken pureblood home and craved affection and attention. He knew in that moment that it was going to be him that looked after this girl through her years at Hogwarts, he who would help her learn the ropes in the first few weeks, he who would be a shoulder to cry on and a friend to share with.
As they proceeded to the common room they angrily debated the newly realised fact that the Quidditch cup would not take place. The fact that the Triwizard Tournament was taking place was of no consequence, they had concluded, as they entered the common room. (Password – "ad gloriam", which is Latin meaning "for the glory") As a whole, they knew full well that no-one in Slytherin would enter the tournament; they all had much more sense, and were not fool enough to show their weaknesses to the entire school.
"So" said the extremely beautiful sixth year Cassandra Montague gliding up to Blaise and slipping an arm around his neck "good summer?" he smirked at her and turned to fully face her, encircling her waist with his arms, "wasn't so bad" he said nonchalantly "how about yours?" "Could've been better" she said seductively, and Blaise's' smirk widened as he took her by the hand and pulled her gently along to his dorm room. They both knew this was just to get them back into the feel of being at Hogwarts; it was always like this in the first few days. No-one stayed a virgin for very long in Slytherin. Blaise shoved her up against the wall and took control of her mouth, dominating the kiss instantly. As his tongue explored her mouth expertly she ground into him and he let out the first moan. Blaise moved his hands down to her skirt, ripping it off and running his hands over her warm, dripping centre, circling her clit knowledgeably with his thumb. She whimpered softly and pushed herself further into his fingers, and he smirked feeling her desperation. As Cassandra lost the last of her clothes she lay back on Blaise's bed and ran her hands over herself. Blaise immediately stepped out of his attire and crawled elegantly over to her. Blaise could pull off the graceful predator approach perfectly, and besides, he knew what Cassandra liked. He climbed on to the bed and exhaled in a sharp gust as he saw the lust positively rolling out of Cassandra's eyes. Plunging in quickly to the hilt it was her turn to exhale and her eyes rolled back into her head. Blaise was not gentle with Cassandra, and she appreciated him for that, preferring the rougher approach to soft and placid touches, he thrust in and out of her quickly, bringing them both to sweat in seconds. With her head thrown back in ecstasy Blaise could see her pulse beating furiously which he bit down on hard, causing her to scream out in pleasure. As he manipulated her breasts in his hands and tweaked her nipples, her hips bucked frantically and he quickly captured her mouth once more, muffling her scream as she came.
The next morning came around much sooner than most wanted, many still tired from activities carrying on late into the previous night. But Blaise always found this first morning fascinating, and when he awoke, moving carefully so as not to wake Cassandra, he sat up and gazed around the room at his roommates' beds, so as to discover who had ended up with whom. Looking first at Draco's bed he saw the blonde entangled around the tall, dark and handsome, fellow Slytherin Shale Selwyn. He grinned at their sleeping forms and glanced next at Theo's bed to see the unmistakeable short black bob, belonging to Pansy and then further under the duvet, the perfectly still form of fifth year Helena Rosier. Blaise's eyebrows quirked; 'how had Theo managed to bag two of them?!' he thought to himself 'and blonde bombshell Helena at that?!' it was not uncommon, in the Slytherin house to see three in bed together, it was merely surprising to Blaise that calm and withdrawn Theo should have chosen to do so. Moving his eyes to Vince's bed he was fairly sure it was third year Lois Yaxely that lay beside him and Blaise smirked to himself as he observed the developing contours of her body, subtle, but still visible under the thin duvet wrapped around her. He paid little attention to Greg's bed, knowing he would be wrapped around the dainty figure that was Millie. With a casual fleeting look into Sebastian's bed he saw a brunette mop, and was intrigued when he realised he didn't recognise it. Making a mental note to ask him later, he slid smoothly out of bed and padded towards the shower.
At around seven thirty Blaise exited the shower, dressed in his expensive, shaped to his lithe form, robes and made his way up to the great hall for some breakfast. He had his usual of toast and strawberry jam, and just as he had finished, the majority of his house had made it down to eat. Seb seated himself on his right and Adrianne on his left, and they waited as timetables were handed out. Blaise watched carefully as his mahogany haired, little Nicolette slid into a seat next to Astoria and shot him her small smile. He returned the smile, with a wink and turned to his friends.
"So" he said to Seb, as he poured himself some cornflakes, "who graced your bed with their presence last night then? I didn't recognise her". Sebastian grinned, "that my friend", he began in a superior manner, "was Cho Chang, pretty dang good too, can't think why I've never had her before". The rest of the table looked on incredulously when they heard these words, at the fact that Sebastian had successfully seduced Cedric Diggory's girlfriend of two years. "Yes" Seb continued, "She succumbed to the charms of moi." Blaise smirked as he absentmindedly gazed at the concealed, yet well defined, muscles he knew lay underneath Sebastian's clothes.
With a fleeting look at the newly recognised cheat that was Cho Change, he gave Snape a saucy wink as he was handed his timetable and sashayed eloquently out of the hall. Casual sex was completely normal in Slytherin house, but Blaise knew full well that other houses, especially the goody-two-shoes Ravenclaws weren't as open to it. He also knew that should her and Seb's fling ever be announced to the public, she would be renounced by her house and friends, Diggory would most likely turn his back on her and probably even the teachers would lose their respect for her, she would be branded a whore. This would come in handy as blackmail, should there ever be a cause for it. As Blaise meandered down the hall he bumped into a small red thing;
"god, watch where you're going dumbass" came the loud voice of what he now realised to be, the littlest Weasley. He grinned down at her malevolently. "I believe it was you who walked into me." He said in the superior air he always used for talking to blood-traitor scum such as her. She mumbled something unintelligible and stalked past him with her nose in the air, the same unfortunate trait that bushy-haired Granger seemed to possess.
By the time he'd drifted over to the Herbology greenhouses, a class the Slytherins shared with the Hufflepuffs, Seb and Daphne had caught up to him. "Hey hun" said Daphne, entwining her fingers with his, "you disappeared fast after breakfast". "Mmm, I suppose" Blaise replied non-committing, "where's Dray and the others?" "Probably still eating" said Seb with a grin, "I've never known anyone to eat as slowly as that boy does". "God, do you remember that time we were in that restaurant in France and he questioned everything on the menu, to that floozy waitress, before settling with the soup and then took about three hours to eat it!" Pansy said, appearing suddenly by Blaise's elbow. "Hah! Yeah" said Blaise with a laugh, "he really is an embarrassment sometimes!" "To whom do you refer?" said a slightly insulted voice behind them, and they turned to see Draco with his arms folded, Vincent, Adrianne, Millicent and Theo in tow. "No-one, love" said Blaise giving Draco a chaste kiss on the lips before pulling the Slytherins into greenhouse four.
Herbology was not Blaise's favourite subject, he found it neither challenging nor interesting but, as with most things, he could do it easily, and so he did not particularly mind the hours he had to spend in the greenhouses. Lessons with the Hufflepuffs did have their benefits, as they were all terrified of the Slytherins and so didn't even try to converse with them, even when placed in working groups with them. This satisfied the shrewd Slytherins, as they certainly did not wish to have anything to do with the petty Hufflepuffs, little own engage them in conversation.
"Have you any idea what the hell we're supposed to be doing with these plant things?" Seb asked Draco, "oh, good one genius" said Draco in a sarcastic tone, "plant things. After three years studying Herbology, you've learned that these are called 'plant things'. Everything in Herbology involves plants! Rather rudely phrased as well" he continued, putting on an air of eccentricity. "Did you mean 'excuse me good sir, but would you mind reminding me what exactly are we're supposed to be doing with these fine specimens of Bubotubers, per chance?" To which Sebastian gave him a critical look, elbowed him in the ribs and turned to Blaise for help. "calm down Grandma" said Draco pulling Seb back around to face him, still obviously in quite a good mood, "you just have to squeeze them and collect the pus in these jars". Seb quickly gave him a shared disgusted look and reached for his dragon hide gloves, not wanting to end up with a rash, burn, infection, or whatever else the undiluted pus could do to you. Blaise grinned at the pair of them and rolled his eyes, partly at Draco's oddly exuberant mood, and partly at Sebs blatant disregard for it.
As the Hufflepuffs threw themselves into the task, pleased at being able to complete this chore the Slytherins braced themselves and began the rather revolting task of squeezing the Bubotubers. The booming bell signifying the end of the lesson sounded and the Slytherins advanced to the edge of the forest, for their care of magical creatures' lesson. Blaise wouldn't really call it a lesson though, more of a pointless, somewhat strenuous task and proceeded towards it with great reluctance.
"On'y jus' hatched" they arrived to hear the great oaf announcing proudly, "so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves! Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!" he signalled towards some horrid looking creatures in some crates which Blaise immediately assumed were dangerous illegal half-breeds. "And why would we want to raise them?" said Draco coldly. The stupid giant looked stumped at the question and simply stared dim-wittedly at Draco with his mouth open. "I mean, what do they do?" Dray continued, "What is the point of them?" the fool continued to open and close his mouth, apparently thinking hard, "tha's next lesson Malfoy, yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things – I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer – I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass-snake – just try 'em out with a bit of each." The Slytherins yet again exchanged disgusted looks and blatantly refused to feed things, which didn't even seem to have mouths, with various animals.
"Ouch!" yelled Dean Thomas, after about ten minutes. "It got me!" the 'Professor' blundered over to him looking anxious. "Its end exploded!" said Thomas angrily, showing the giant half-breed a burn on his hand. "Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off," said the oaf nodding. Blaise looked at Dray and shot him a disgruntled expression, which was directly returned. "Eurgh" said Lavender Brown. "Eurgh, Hagrid, what's that pointy thing on it?" "Ah, some of 'em have got stings," the half-breed said enthusiastically. "I reckon they're the males ... the females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies ... I think they might be ter suck blood." "Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," said Drake sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting and bite all at once?" the other Slytherins nodded, supporting his words, as Granger chipped in, - "just because they're not pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful" she snapped. "Dragon bloods amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet would you?"
Blaise smirked as the bucktoothed mudblood shouted at Draco, but he did not miss the sly exchange between Potter and Hagrid. He remembered all too well Draco trying to bring down the golden trio, when he'd discovered that the half brained dimwit owned a dragon. A dangerous Norwegian-Ridgeback he'd named Norbert. The lesson proceeded without further mishap, but still with the Slytherins refusing to even try and feed the 'Blast-ended-Skrewts'.