It was Thursday, the day Beaxbatons and Durmstrang were scheduled to arrive, so as the Slytherins made their way to the entrance hall to view the influx, they briefly discussed the various methods of transportation that the French or Bulgarian students might use.

Beaxbatons was the first to arrive, in a large horse drawn chariot, magnificent in itself. As the steps descended the largest women Blaise had ever laid eyes on stepped out of the carriage. "Bloody hell" said Theo, stood next to him, their fingers intertwined, "half-giant, do you think?" "Yeah", Blaise replied inclining his head, "no wonder the carriage is so big; half of it's taken up with her massive form".

"Dumbly-dorr", said Madam Maxime, in a deep voice, "I 'ope I find you well?" "On excellent form, I thank you." said Dumbledore. "My pupils," said Madame Maxime waving one of her enormous hands behind her. Blaise leaned around Greg in front of him to curiously inspect the selection of French students. Blaise was well learned in the French language, culture and etiquette, having lived in France for a large portion of his life, and if he was honest, he missed the country. He missed the food there, he missed the much less Americanized culture and he missed hearing the language spoken fluently in his ear every day. Though most of his housemates spoke the language, it being of the utmost class and sophistication, it was not their first language, and Blaise was most keen to mix with the Beaxbatons students. He finished staring at the French students and filed away their attractive faces in his mind; he gave an elegant, raven haired beauty one last look and then switched his gaze over to the lake, where the rest of his school were pointing to.

"A boat." Said Draco, simply and unimpressed, "well they went all out didn't they" Blaise grinned at the sleek back of Draco's head and his typical rich pureblood manner. "C'mon" said Theo, pulling Blaise back into the castle and following the crowds to the great hall. The Slytherins made their way to their table and sat down, where they were shortly followed by the Durmstrang students. Seated between Pansy and a small girl he didn't know, Blaise smirked at the Durmstrang girls say opposite him.

"Hello then, my darlings" he said in his svelte and charming voice, "Hello" they chorused, evidently eager to mix with the foreigners, "what a pleasure to meet you". "The pleasure" said Blaise, reaching to kiss their hands, "is all mine". They giggled and Blaise smirked in reply, putty in his capable hands. He looked across the table and winked at Adrianna, who rolled her eyes in reply and turned her attention back to the Durmstrang boy, she was talking to. Blaise turned his attention to the boy Draco was talking to, which he now realised to be Victor Krum! "So, how was your journey?" he was asking, leaning forward to talk properly. The food appeared on the plates, much to the surprise of the Durmstrang students, and the students helped themselves, getting to know the visitors in the process. It transpired that the foreign students would be returning to the ship to sleep, and not sharing the dorms, something that disappointed most of the Slytherins.

As the students departed for their common rooms Blaise caught up with Nicolette.

"Hello sweetheart" he said, slipping his arm around her small waist, "and how have you been these past few days? Settled in well?" she jumped at his sudden presence, her eyes widening, then she saw it was Blaise and relaxed into him with the smile Blaise had grown to love. "Yes, I'm managing quite well" she said in her quiet, subdued voice, "my room-mates seem nice enough." "And how are you finding being away from home, away from your parents?" said Blaise watching closely for her reaction to the mention of her parents. It was as he had expected. She bit her lip and cringed into him slightly, "I think I would much rather be here" she said and looked up at him fearfully, as though she expected him to rebuke her for saying such a thing.

They arrived at the common room and Blaise pulled her down onto his lap in a large armchair, "that's fine darling" he hastened to reassure her, "I'm sure more than half the people in this room feel the same, me included." He carefully put his arms around her, not sure how she'd react to the close contact, and was relieved when she fell into him, resting her head on his chest. She was a tiny little thing, with thick mahogany hair falling to her waist, pale white skin, which contrasted brilliantly with Blaise's naturally tanned complexion, and deep Hazel eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Blaise quietly, "it's fine if you're not ready." She paused and looked him in the eyes, "not yet" she said practically silently, "I will, but not yet. I want the fact that I'm completely away from them to fully sink in." Blaise nodded and understood. He remembered how long it had taken him to talk to someone, about home, besides his childhood friend Draco. He sat with his arms loosely wrapped around Nicolette in front of the fire for some time, before glancing at his watch. Even though it was Saturday tomorrow, he decided it was late enough for Nicolette. "Nicky darling" he said nudging her from her drowsy state, "it's nearly eleven, I think you should go to bed now." She nodded and clambered off him, her long curls falling into her face. He brushed them off her forehead and she kissed him on the cheek, before dancing away to her dorm room. Blaise half smiled at the retreating figure, a new mystery to unravel, before shaking his own head and following suit, heading to his dormitory.

In the early hours of the morning, way before the sun had risen; Blaise was woken by a loud shout, as were several others in his dorm room. They didn't have to search far to discover the source of the noise, as one could not miss Draco thrashing around in bed once you were sat up. Blaise and Theo slid out of bed and gently nudged Draco awake, and out of his nightmare. This was, by no means, a rare occurrence, everyone in Slytherin had home or parent induced nightmares at some point, and their housemates were only too willing to comfort and console.

As Theo held Draco's hand tightly, rubbing small circles in his palm, Blaise sat Draco up and put his arms around him, pulling Draco into his chest. They remained in this position for a while until the tears had stopped falling down Draco's cheeks. Standing up to go back to his own bed Blaise felt a hand grab his wrist, and he turned to see Theo in the same position, "don't leave me alone" Said Draco quietly pulling the other two boys closer to him. They nodded understandingly and climbed in either side of Draco, their limbs quickly becoming entangled.

At sunrise Blaise awoke, he had always been an early riser, though the same could not be said for the two boys that lay next to him, and Blaise knew it would be him that woke them up in about five hours, at around half eleven. He smiled, none the less at their sleeping forms and slipped out of the bed, carefully detangling himself, so as not to awake his friends. As he showered Blaise thought. He thought about the tournament, he thought about his mother, he thought about Draco and he thought about Nicolette. He had heard the rumours that Carter Warrington had entered the tournament and he knew for a fact that these rumours weren't true, as he had said before; no Slytherin would be fool enough to take what was much less than a calculated risk. He wondered whether his mother was already plotting the murder of her most recent husband.

Blaise didn't particularly like Damon, but there was no reason for him to die, he barely knew the man, and suspected his mother knew him little more than he did and was merely taken in by the large fortune he possessed. And they, they were all fools. Fools not to see behind the seductive exterior that Jezebel Zabini presented. Fools not to realise the quick succession with which her past husbands had disappeared. And fools to let their guard down in front of the seemingly peaceful witch. She had been married to Blaise's father for the longest of her nine husbands and that only lasted for fifteen months. He hadn't known his father, him having 'mysteriously' disappeared only three months after Blaise was born. What with his flighty mother, this left Blaise in the care of more nanny's than he could count, over his early years, and none of them had presented the affectionate motherly approach that Blaise had so desperately craved, as a small child.

In fact the only adult with whom Blaise had been even slightly fond as a child, had been Narcissa. And to begin with, Draco had been most unwilling to share,

*flashback*

"No" five year old Blaise had said noncommittally, "I shan't be able to, mother wishes me to stay with nanny Prewett, whilst she attends Laurel Fawcett's debutante ball". Blaise continued to chatter quite amicably with Narcissa as, seated comfortably in her lap, he waited for Draco to come to play with him. Narcissa felt very much for this boy. This small child who would cuddle into you constantly, anxious for the attention he so desperately lacked at home. As she pulled him closer to her, her small blonde son hastened into the room. "Mother I "– he paused looking quite shocked at the sight of his friend perched on his mother's lap, and his small eyebrows furrowed. He crossed the room and climbed up to his mother, pushing Blaise onto the floor, "No" he said quite crossly, "you shall not have my mother." Blaise had no time to reply to Draco as Narcissa had stood up, placing Draco on the floor, her own eyebrows creased. "That's not very nice Draco" she rebuked him firmly, "You must never hurt your friends."

*end flashback*

That sentence had stuck with Blaise. As simply as Narcissa had said it never hurt your friends. This was now a sort of mantra of Blaise's and he stuck to it religiously. As lovely and calm and understanding as Narcissa was though, the same could not be said for Draco's father. Lucius was as different from his wife as it is possible to be. He is cruel, hot tempered and malicious. He was the reason his son slept so un-restfully, the reason why Blaise and Theo had lain soothingly with Draco to induce him into a calm dream-free sleep.

As he thought of untrustworthy adults, he thought of Nicolette's parents. He assumed they were the route of her troubles, and had every intention of finding out what exactly was going on in her house. He never liked to call people's houses homes. Home meant a place where you were cared for and loved. Home was a place where people had your back and encouraged and supported you. Home was not where you were forced to do things against your will, tortured if you didn't submit and raised to fear your elders. This was why his house was not his home, his home was at Hogwarts.

Exiting the shower Blaise headed down to the great hall, finding Adrianne in the common room, and hand in hand they proceeded to get something to eat.

"So who do you think it's going to be?" she asked Blaise, who immediately knew she was talking about the tournament champions. "Bet its some self-righteous Gryffindor" he replied, no doubt in his mind, "it's not like it's going to be a Hufflepuff, the Ravenclaws probably wouldn't risk it – they're too smart and none of us have entered." "True" she said thoughtfully, "very true."

As they glided effortlessly into the great hall, the Durmstrang students were already seated at their table and with a wink to Blaise Adrianne slid onto a handsome boys lap, crooning softly to him in his native tongue. Blaise smirked to himself and took his seat not noticing his small friend sat at his elbow. She noticed him first and tugged gently at his sleeve, smiling the way she always did, and pulling her onto his lap they conversed quietly, Blaise knew she wanted no outside attention.

"And how are you this morning little one?" he said tucking one long strand of her rich, dark hair behind her ear. "I trust you slept well?" "As well as ever I will" she said softly, leaving Blaise in no doubt as to the fact she was still having nightmares. "It'll get better sweetie, I promise" Blaise said sincerely hugging her small frame to him, "and in the meantime, come find me at night if you have trouble with sleeping properly." She lifted her large eyes to look at him and nodded gratefully, "okay then, thanks Blaise" she said, then she smirked, "expect me in your bed most nights" and with her hand lingering slightly to long on his thigh and with a kiss on his cheek she grabbed a piece of toast and relaxed back into his chest. Blaise smirked back at the dainty child perched on his lap and smiled at her thoroughly Slytherin behaviour.

As Blaise and Nicolette continued to eat and converse a few more of their dorm mates entered the dining room. A couple of small first year boys Blaise didn't know nodded politely at Nicolette and sat down opposite them, whilst Sebastian came in, leading a pretty third year, Janette Dawson, by the hand. Grinning at Blaise he sat down beside him and pulled Janette down next to him. She smiled devilishly and spared no glance for any of her housemates, her eyes locked fiercely on the ground.

"Look up" Seb said to her sharply, "greet your housemates." She looked up and stared deeply into Sebastian's eyes before turning around to exchange pleasantries with her friends and acquaintances. Blaise smirked again as he observed the dominant/submissive relationship that Janette and Sebastian had engaged in. Janette worked best in these situations as several others did, gaining security and comfort from the safe refuge these relationships harboured and the Slytherin boys knew only too well how to play their part, having been raised in strict homes with old fashioned morals. These morals and values may seem out of place or somewhat sexist to any from another house, but to the Slytherins this was normal, how they lived and how they functioned best. As he finished his breakfast quietly, Nicolette still clasped to him the hall slowly filled up, and when Blaise exited the hall at around nine, most of his houses had assembled.

"What are your plans for today then sweetheart?" Blaise asked Nicolette as they made their way back to the common room, "any plans with friends?" "No, not really" she replied absentmindedly, "I was probably just going to find Astoria." "You mean your going to abandon you new best friend Blaise?" Blaise said in mock indignation, "to go and hang around some ignorant first year!?" Nicolette looked up at him with her wide, fearful eyes, "well, n-no" she stuttered anxiously, "n-no, not if you"- Blaise quickly cut her off, sensing the danger, "I'm joking darling" he said jovially stroking her hair, "you do what you like baby girl, I'm not stopping you from seeing friends." He smiled fondly at her reassured face and hugged her to him, pulling her down onto the large armchair. "She wasn't at breakfast" Blaise picked up the conversation, referring to Astoria,

"so she's probably not up yet, in which case she'll walk through the common room in a while and we'll see her." Nicolette nodded cheerfully, "Oui" she said quietly, leaning back against Blaise "bon." "Parlez vous Francais, ma cheri?" Blaise asked intrigued, light dancing in his eyes, "Oui" she replied turning to look at him, "ma mere est Francais." Blaise smiled properly at her, loving her more by the second. As they continued to converse in French many of their dorm mates emerged, including Pansy and Theo, whom Blaise greeted amicably,

"this is Nicolette Bellemonte" he said indicating the small child still seated on his lap, "She's half French" Blaise said keenly, still pleased by this new discovery. "Hello" Pansy greeted her, all three of them noting how she recoiled slightly into Blaise as this new older being addressed her, "I hope your settling in well." "Quite well, thank you" Nicolette replied in barely more than a whisper, turning her head to avoid making eye contact with the newcomers. Blaise's eyebrows creased slightly as he watched her quake under the attention from her elder peers. "Why don't you run up and see if Astoria's awake yet?" he said to Nicolette gently, rescuing her, "she should be up by now." Nicolette nodded gratefully and hopped of his lap making a beeline for the first year girl's dormitory.

The three fourth years gave her one last searching look as Blaise changed the subject, "speaking of people that should be awake by now" he smirked at the others, "Mr Malfoy has had a long enough lie-in" Pansy rolled her eyes as Theo smirked back, "yes" he said nodding, "it's only right that we wake him" Pansy rolled her eyes again and sat down as Theo and Blaise sped off to their dorm. "Quietly does it" Blaise said calmly as they entered the room and slipped over to Draco's bed "wakey wakey, sleepy head!" Blaise bellowed with all his might as he leapt on to Draco's bed, straddling his waist, "time to get up now!" Draco's eyes shot open in shock as he tried to shake off the lump on top of him. However as he registered it was Blaise he shut his eyes again and mumbled something incoherent, that ended with something sounding an awful lot like "fck off".

"That's not very nice Draco" Blaise persisted shaking his head mockingly, "you're not very nice" Draco muttered, attempting again to dislodge him. Blaise tutted loudly to no-one in particular and leant down to nibble Draco's ear, "I can be very nice when I want to be" he hissed into his ear, "You just have to know what buttons to push". He felt Draco squirm slightly under him and pressed down harder trailing wet kisses over his jaw line. Draco moaned quietly under him and put his arms around Blaise's neck, pulling him closer. "No, no, no" Blaise said quickly moving back from Draco, "you're to tired for that" He pressed one last kiss on the corner of Draco's mouth before hopping off him and moving to sit on his own bed. As he expected Draco followed smoothly, catching Blaise's wrist as he went, "No" Blaise said simply, "you need a shower" and he shoved him forward in the direction of the bathroom. "Must I shower by myself?" Draco questioned his bottom lip jutting out slightly.

"I'd be quicker if I had someone to help me" Blaise shook his head and smirked at Draco, "No, but I might wait for you downstairs, if you hurry up" he winked coyly and Draco kissed him fully on the mouth before moving into the bathroom for a long delayed shower. Theo rolled his eyes from where he had seated himself on his bed, watching the behaviour of his room mates. Blaise smirked at him and headed down the stairs to wait in the common room, only to be run into by a sobbing Daphne.

"Sorry" she mumbled before side stepping him and attempting to leave. "I don't think so" Blaise said gently, taking Daphne's wrist and pulling her into a hug, "come here". Blaise half carried, half dragged Daphne into his dorm and sat down on his bed, pulling Daphne down on to his lap. Theo looked up as they entered and hastened over to them sitting next to Blaise and taking Daphne's hand, rubbing circles into her palm. The three just sat for a while, Blaise rocking Daphne slightly as she cried her heart out. "What's wrong sweetheart" Theo asked gently as her sobs started to subside, "tell us what's wrong" Daphne moaned slightly as she reached into her robes and pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment, thrusting it at Blaise and Theo. They recognised it as a letter from her mother and began to silently read.

A minor cliffhanger :) also, i dont know if anyones actually reading this story, so some reviews would be great! pretty please x