A/N: To the Guest that reviewed about the Norman/French part in Chapter Three: In history class, I learned that the original settlers of Normandy, France were the Normans, or the descendants of Norse Vikings who were given land in France. Sorry if I confused you a little there!
Disclaimer: This world belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.
His Inner Circle: Chapter Four
Blaise was released from the infirmary three days after the bracelet incident, probably since the injuries in his legs were more serious than in his hands. Although they occasionally had conversations in the Great Hall and the dungeons, Brielle often found herself giving him general answers each time like she used to do before. Neither of them ever mentioned the kiss they shared. On her part, she was just nervous about bringing it up because Blaise probably thought it was meaningless. Brielle knew that a kiss wouldn't have much of an effect on their acquaintanceship, but a tiny, unreasonable part of her brain held some hope.
Brielle, along with a few other Slytherins were standing around one of the tables in the dungeons. Even though the charmed green flames were cackling in the front of the room, the common room still had an airy chill running through it. Sergey and Adrian occupied the two plush chairs opposite of each other. Their eyes were focused on the old magical chessboard resting on the table between them. While Adrian was slightly hunched over the board, a form of posture that would make any traditional Pureblood grandmother cringe, Sergey sat back in the chair with a more relaxed pose.
Although Adrian had captured more pieces than Sergey, Brielle knew that the objective of chess was to put your opponent's king into checkmate. The number of captured pieces was of no importance. However, the airheads on 'Team Adrian' obviously didn't know this since they believed Adrian was winning.
After Sergey had managed to capture one of Adrian's bishops with his knight, Brielle felt somebody tap her shoulder. She turned around to see a girl she recognized to be Astoria Greengrass looking at her. Although she didn't know her very well, it was easy to tell that she and Daphne were polar opposites. Astoria was much quieter and reserved. She also knew that the Dark Lord had picked her for his plan, since Brielle saw her standing nervously next to Ambrosius Greengrass at the last meeting she had attended. At first, she wondered why Astoria had been chosen over her older sister, but it was clear to see that the Dark Lord wouldn't accept Daphne gossiping about the Death Eaters.
"Er... do you mind if I speak to you about something upstairs?", Astoria asked. She anxiously rubbed her scarfed neck.
Brielle furrowed her eyebrows at the fourth year. "Sure", she said. "Lead the way."
She scanned the room for Lucy, and saw her occupying a corner with one of the seventh year boys. Rolling her eyes, she made a mental note to interrogate her about it later and followed Astoria upstairs to the fourth year girls' dorms. Fortunately, nobody was there to overhear whatever Astoria had to tell her. After they entered, Brielle took the liberty to lock the door and cast a privacy charm around them just in case.
"What is it?", she asked, looking at her expectantly.
Astoria sighed and sat on what Brielle assumed was her four poster. "In a week, the Dark Lord is coming to Hogsmeade. He wants to meet with us at 312 Gargoyle Lane at three dot, which is about five blocks away from the main street."
A long period of silence passed within their bubble. Brielle was at a loss of words. She knew that the Dark Lord was plotting an attack on Hogwarts, but she hadn't heard anything about it since August. With all the distractions of school the entire situation had practically slipped her mind.
"Who told you this?", she asked in a hushed tone despite the charm surrounding them.
"Professor Snape", Astoria simply said. "I've already informed Draco and Blaise. You were the only person left."
Brielle nodded. "All right, thanks for telling me. I'll see you there, I guess."
"Remember", Astoria said in a firm tone. "Three P.M. sharp. Snape emphasized that we cannot be a second late, and I'd rather not experience what happens to people who keep the Dark Lord waiting."
Brielle removed the charm around them and quickly left the dorm. Although she could hear a round of applause coming from the common room, which indicated there was a victor, she couldn't bring herself to return downstairs. The new information plagued her mind. She was hoping that it was just another meeting, and not a 'training camp' where they'd be required to torture muggles. Perhaps she wasn't their biggest fan, but Brielle didn't consider herself to be a sadist, either.
She shuddered as a memory of a past meeting featuring the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange and an unfortunate muggle politician crossed her mind. Although she was seen as the prime example of a powerful female Death Eater, Brielle could never imagine herself becoming like Bellatrix.
"All right?", she heard from the bottom of the staircase, which served as neutral ground between the boys' and girls' dorms. Even though Slytherin girls had the ability to enter the boys' dorms and vice versa, it was seen as highly improper in Pureblood culture. Not even Pansy would enter the boys' dorms, even if she knew Draco was waiting starkers for her. Empty classrooms and abandoned corridors were acceptable, but their sleeping quarters were not.
She glanced down the staircase. In the dim torch light, she could make out the tanned, stoic face of Blaise Zabini.
"Yes, I'm fine", she replied. She turned away from him and started towards the sixth years' dorm so she could contemplate over the upcoming meeting in peace.
Before she could open the door, she heard his trainers march up the stairs and stop right behind her. Brielle felt the warmth radiating from his chest, and an involuntary shiver ran up her spine. She mentally cursed Salazar Slytherin for establishing his headquarters within the gelid Black Lake, of all places.
"Are you sure? It's Saturday night, and barely six. You're the only one up here. Everybody else is enjoying themselves downstairs", he softly said.
Brielle had to resist the pressing urge to open the door and shut it in his face. Now wasn't the time for Blaise to be poking his nose into her business, even if it did involve him.
"I can't recall seeing Malfoy down there", she said, squeezing the silver doorknob.
Blaise laughed. It was then when she noticed he had gotten closer to her since she swore she could feel his breath against the back of her neck.
"This is Draco we're talking about. Although everyone assumes he's always busy shagging the nonexistent brains out of a new girl each week, he's preparing for the... grand party."
She laughed too, but mostly towards the euphemism he used to discreetly mention the pending attack on Hogwarts. It could be seen as a grandeur soiree of sorts if you were as mad as Bellatrix Lestrange.
"I already assumed that. I suppose Astoria told you two the news?", Brielle asked.
"Of course. I took it better than he did, though. Bloke's a bloody train wreck from what I've seen. Merlin knows what he's like when he's alone."
It was hard for her to imagine the high and mighty Draco Malfoy having a mental breakdown, but she was sure he had them. She had hers during the summer, but it had been a while since the last one. Draco had the greatest responsibility out of the four of them, but Brielle wasn't exactly sure what his mission consisted of. She was curious, but she knew Blaise wouldn't tell her a secret that wasn't his to tell.
"You can't exactly blame him. Anyways, I'm off to bed now. See you at breakfast", she said, twisting the doorknob.
As she was about to push the door open, one of Blaise's lithe arms snuck around her waist. Brielle gasped at his sudden movement and reflexively let go of the doorknob to grab his forearm with both of her hands.
"Zabini", she said, her voice in a higher octave than usual, "What... What are you doing?"
Blaise pulled her snugly against him, and she could feel a few of the contours of his chest against her back, despite the fact that they were both clad in their Slytherin jumpers.
"Nothing", he simply said. "I just want to know why you've been acting so... distant towards me, for lack of a better word."
"I haven't been acting 'distant' towards you", Brielle muttered, digging her nails into his arm when his deft fingers began to trace patterns on her side. He let out a tiny hiss, and although he got the hint and kept his hand still, Blaise didn't let go of her.
"You barely talk to me", he said. "And if you do, you only want to discuss trivial matters, like the weather during the last Quidditch match or the pack of Howlers Adrian received in the post from his grandfather."
"Well it's not like we're best mates, so does it really matter? Except for the... party, the only mutuality we genuinely share is our house", Brielle said. She turned around to face him, and Blaise resorted to placing his hands on either side of her head, caging her between him and the wall. She was only around three inches shorter than him, so she imagined it wasn't that difficult for him to do.
"True", he said. "But if you haven't noticed, Murphy, I'd like to get to know you more. Your perverseness is making it hard for me to do so."
"You git, I am not be-", Brielle said in a scalding tone, but the rest of her sentence dissolved in her throat when Blaise leaned in and slowly skimmed the tip of his nose along her collarbone, which was slightly unveiled by her green jumper. He moved up Brielle's neck and stopped when his lips were level with her ear.
"If you don't mind, I think I'm going to kiss you now. I haven't had my turn yet", Blaise said, softly chuckling.
"N..no, not at all", Brielle quickly said, smiling a little.
Just as their lips were about to meet, a booming voice came from the common room. "Blaise!", a voice she immediately recognized to be Adrian's said. "Oi, what's taking you so long? We've already started without you, mate."
Blaise sighed. Her heart skipped a beat when he gently kissed to corner of her mouth instead and stepped away.
"Forgive me", he murmured. "I forgot that I bet a handful of galleons in a round of Exploding Snap earlier."
"It's fine", Brielle said. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and let go of a handful of his jumper she didn't realize she was holding. "You'd better go before he comes up here."
Blaise nodded, and within a few seconds he slipped back downstairs.
The second he left, Brielle opened the door to the sixth years' dorm and collapsed onto her four poster. That had elevated quite fast. She tried and failed to comprehend what was going on between her and Blaise Zabini. At the beginning of term, they had rarely spoken to each other. It was almost November now, and not five minutes ago was she about to snog him in the dorm corridor. His actions had made it very clear to her that he wanted to be a bit more than friends. Although Blaise made her heart race and her legs feel like they'd been hit with a Jelly-Legs Jinx, Brielle wasn't exactly sure what she wanted from him. Besides, her primary focus this year had to be cooperating with the Dark Lord. She imagined he wouldn't be pleased if she kept fooling around with a boy she believed she was attracted to.
Even so, she fell asleep despising Adrian Pucey a tad more than she had before.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, but the next few chapters might be a little darker. Reviews help me out a lot, so if you can, please leave one for me!
Thanks for Reading,
~Bretzeln