Changed the story title from 'Bonds' to 'Decode'. I like this one better, I think.
-three-
.
"Slytherin.
We'd apologize for being the best House,
But we really don't want to."
.
"Amortentia; it's the most powerful love potion in the world.""
"Yes, it is! Well done, Miss Granger."
Samantha didn't even try to hide her resentment, eyeing Hermione like she was wishing the bushy-haired witch would just drop dead any moment now. Something about a Mud Blood answering all of class's questions grew extremely vexing. Blaise noticed Samantha leering at Hermione and leant a little closer, Samantha's back centimeters from his chest.
"Feeling threatened by a Muggle born?" he inquired quietly.
Samantha stiffened. Blaise's deep voice in her ear took her incredibly off guard. She could hear the mockery in his voice. No, wait. Not mockery.
He was teasing, returning the act from earlier. She gave a lightly amused "hmph".
"Never. I just hate the very sight of her," the Slytherin Princess murmured back.
"-it's rumored to smell differently to each person, according to what attracts them," Hermione carried on her analysis of the Amortentia potion.
"Merlin, is she still talking?" Samantha hissed under her breath, knowing Blaise would be listening. His full lips curved menacingly. Hermione's voice was annoying, but Blaise found great pleasure in Samantha's commentary. And let's face it, there's nothing hotter than shared hatred.
Several girls drew closer to the potion, mesmerized by it. Samantha rolled her eyes; the rest of these girls probably would need a love potion, but not her, of course.
She wrinkled her nose and watched the cauldron of Amortentia intently now. What was that aroma? Certainly it was a pleasant one. She smelled a freshly opened bottle of champagne, clean laundry, and... and... what was that third scent? It smelled distinctly like cologne. Blaise's cologne.
Samantha nearly jumped when Blaise grabbed her upper arm, stopping her from moving closer to the potion. Slughorn placed the lid over the cauldron promptly. She stepped back, cheeks tinted with a pink, embarrassed blush. Blaise dropped her arm, his hand returning to his side. She brushed her hand over the wrinkles formed where he gripped her robe, her arm still tingling from his iron grasp.
"And what did you smell in the potion?" Pansy's voice intruded Samantha's thoughts.
"None of your business," Samantha cattily said back, "But it wasn't Draco, if that's what your concern was." Stalker bitch, Samantha added privately.
Pansy's face scrunched in annoyance as she whipped around, turning her back to Samantha.
Slughorn wrapped up his lesson and then had the class make their own individual versions of the Draught of Living Death. No one had ever brewed such a potion before. Samantha grew increasingly aggravated when nothing she did worked, and she could have sworn she'd read every instruction carefully.
"Salazar, what is happening?" she muttered, clawing her fingers through her hair.
Blaise glanced over, watching her stress build, but only watching. The truth is he was having a difficult time himself, and this potion required all of this focus. Well, not all, he still found tiny moments in between to glance at the Slytherin Princess as she cursed and huffed at her cauldron. He wondered, had she always been this funny?
"You don't understand it?" Pansy called from a table away, smirking, "Draco and I are going to make the perfect Draught of Living Death. Aren't we, Draco?"
Draco's platinum hair was in dissary (still not as bad as Hermione's, but funny either way) and he just looked so sour. He barely looked at Pansy, or Samantha; in fact, he barely looked up at all. The poor bloke was probably getting tired of the same bitch hanging onto him every year.
"Yes, I can tell, the perfect team," Samantha grinned sarcastically.
Class was ending and the only student who had successfully made the potion was Harry. Awarded with a vial of Felix Felicis, Harry hoisted it in the air as his fellow Gryffindors clapped for him. The Slytherins dully acknowledged him with a frown or looked somewhere else. Blaise's hands clenched into fists, knowing there was no way possible that Potter had Potioneer skills superior to his. A fluke, was all it was.
Samantha was seconds from dragging herself out of this class when the Professor chimed pleasantly, "Samantha, Blaise, I'd like to speak to the both of you before you go." Samantha reluctantly turned back to Slughorn, Blaise joining her side.
The class emptied, leaving the two students and Professor inside.
"I am holding a small supper party this Saturday. It's for an elite club of mine that I'm quite fond of. I only invite my most promising students and it would be a pleasure, Miss LeClaire, Mr. Zabini, if the two of you would attend. After the dinner, there will be a fabulous dessert selection. I assure you, nothing but the best," Slughorn grinned, "So how about it?"
As if knowing Blaise would be looking at her, Samantha turned her head to him, and he was indeed eyeing her. The idea of joining an elite club fascinated them. But Blaise wondered if Samantha would agree to it. It was like she knew he was waiting for her reply first, so she turned back to Slughorn, smiling as she said, "I'd love to come, Professor."
"What time shall we be there?" Blaise added. Interesting how he said 'we' as Blaise never liked to associate himself with anyone before. However, now he'd linked himself to the Slytherin Princess, and it didn't seem to bother him in the very least.
"Splendid! Eight o'clock. It is a semi-formal evening, so don't feel pressured when deciding what to wear," Slughorn walked the pair out of the classroom, "I will be looking forward to seeing the both of you Saturday."
Samantha and Blaise walked off together, side by side, the jumble of students hustling to class practically invisible to them.
"Interesting," said Samantha.
"What is?" Blaise watched her out of the corner of his eye.
"I never took you for a club person, Zabini. Always the anti-social one, to me."
"Slughorn is a reputable man; his connections could be useful to me in the future."
"Yes, but I like the idea of having something to brag about even more," Samantha smiled smugly.
Blaise matched her smirk.
What is this? Pansy peeked around the corner, watching them walk. Blaise and Samantha never went anywhere together; it was simply unheard of. But now... something must be going on between them, yes, something mysterious.
"What are you looking at?" Daphne, who was part of Pansy's gang of Slytherin girls, asked with arms folded across her chest.
"Blaise and Samantha," said Pansy, "I think something may be going on between them."
"Oh? Like what?" Now Daphne was breaking her neck trying to look around the corner of the hall.
"They left Potions late, together, and now they're walking to class together? I bet my entire trust fund, they were hooking up in the Potions stockroom."
"What? You're not serious," Daphne's eyes widened, "I always knew Zabini was a lady killer but this... this seems a bit low of him, don't you think?"
"It's that slut Samantha's fault. Blaise is much too good for her. I must do something about this before his reputation is trashed forever thanks to that bitch," Pansy narrowed her eyes, spitting out words with venom.
Hooking up between classes simply was not Zabini. Everything he did, he did with class. That did not stop Pansy from spreading her vicious rumors, and others from believing them.
After all, a girl like Samantha could make a guy do anything she liked.