Chapter 12: Letter to Blaze

The day after Leia was killed Blaise and some friends buried her in the Memorial Garden, which Theo thought was a good idea. As well as being a memorial for dead students, it also doubled as a pet cemetery. Theo had read that this practice was not actually allowed, but century's worth of dearly departed pets had still been buried here. And now Leia and her kittens joined them.

When Theo had suggested to Blaise that he give Leia a little funeral, they had agreed that only Mrs. Zabini and their close friends should attend. Of course, looking back Theo wasn't surprised that what seemed like half the school had shown up. The entire DA (minus Crabbe and Goyle of course) stood nearby, with Harry, Hermione and Ron at the front with himself, Xanthe, and the Zabinis.

Standing with Matt and Dennis amongst the DA members were Astoria Greengrass and the other two Slytherins that had recently befriended Matt. They didn't look out of place at all even though they had never been a part of the group.

Also crowded into the courtyard were a large number of the moderate Slytherins, as well as younger students who had probably never been on either side before this incident, and some of the staff were also present. Professor Dumbledore had even dropped in.

Of course, Theo doubted that most of the people gathered today had ever recognised Leia from all the other cats in Hogwarts, even if she was the only Birman. The turnout wasn't for her or the kittens; it was because of the way she died. And because of the message that had been left on the door. The war had reached Hogwarts, and Leia was the first casualty from within this sanctuary.

"I can't think of anything to say" Blaise said.

"But you always have something to say" Theo said "just say something about Leia and what a great cat she was."

"I'm not going to bawl my eyes out in front of half the school" Blaise said "I'm not."

"Stop being so stubborn Blaise" Mrs Zabini said. She had just read out a letter from Camille and her eyes were a bit damp.

"We'll okay." He turned to face the crowd "Leia really was the best cat I ever could have hoped for. I love cats, and this is hard. Loosing Leia is like losing a friend." He paused to wipe his eyes "and the fact that it happened like this… it's horrible. Poor Leia, and her kittens. They were going to start heading off to new owners soon. Sweet little Taffy, Winkie, Fluffy, and All Terrain Attack Vehicle. Sorry I let this happen."

There was some applause and Theo went to comfort Blaise. Once he let go of his friend's shoulder Harry came up to them.

"You can't blame yourself for this Blaise" he said.

"But I do."

"You shouldn't. Mind if I say something?"

"Go ahead."

Harry turned to face the crowd and cleared his voice. "There's a war going on out there" He said "and until it's over, well we all have to be careful. What happened to Leia shows that it is getting into this school, and well, we have to be able to defend ourselves. Professor Dumbledore asked if I was going to start up the DA again. Lots of people have actually. And last week Professor Zabini offered to help me with it. I've been pushing it towards the back of my mind, but after this… I'm going to start up Dumbledore's Army again. And anyone can join."

The crowd cheered, and despite his earlier self control Blaise grabbed Harry in a huge bear hug.

"Thanks man, this is just what we need!" Blaise said as he let go of the Chosen One.

"For Leia" Harry said "and Taffy, Winkie, Fluffy and… and the other one." He then looked past Blaise and locked eyes with Theo "and for Alice too. For everyone who's been hurt by this."

The crowd cheered, and Theo noticed many teary eyes. Suddenly he noticed a familiar but unexpected face standing in the archway away from everyone else. Goyle had shown up. He noticed Theo looking at him and then snuck away so quickly that Theo wondered if he had actually seen him at all.

Mrs. Zabini said a few more words, laid a rose on the grave, and then by mutual agreement everyone started to dissipate. Theo gave his best friend another quick hug and then stepped aside as Xanthe practically jumped on Blaise and began squeezing him tight. He noticed Harry talking to some DA members, while Hermione and Ron were walking right towards him.

"Honestly Hermione, the only other funeral I've been to was my Uncle Bilius's and let me tell you, it was nowhere near as elaborate as this one. Trust Zabini to make a big issue about his cat dying."

"Ron!" Hermione gasped, before elbowing him in the ribs "Shut up! Hi Theo."

"Hi Hermione" he replied. He then quickly turned back to Blaise to check he hadn't heard anything. His friend was still hugging Xanthe, but both of them were shooting Ron nasty looks.

"Hi guys" Theo said to the two Gryffindors "thanks for coming today."

"We wouldn't have missed it for the world" Hermione said "How's Blaise holding up?"

"His putting on a brave face, but well, he really did love Leia. It's hard on him."

"Yeah, hey we were talking, and Harry suggested that maybe we should all get together at Hogsmeade this weekend. You, Blaise, Xanthe, and the three of us."

"Oh that sounds good" Theo said, feeling simultaneously happy that he would be seeing Hermione this weekend and disappointed that they wouldn't be alone. Though if they were with friends, that minimised the chances of anything happening. But didn't he want something to happen? Yes he did, but what if it involved rejection? What if something happened and then she didn't want to be his friend anymore? What if?

"Are you alright Theo?" Hermione asked.

"Earth to Space Cadet" Ron said "we're talking to you, are you listening?"

"Huh? Oh I was just thinking, about well, about stuff."

"I just asked if the Three Broomsticks would be fine with you guys" Ron said.

"Um well I guess, um well…"

"It's fine, we'll go" Blaise stepped between them "so how about eleven o'clock on Saturday?"

"Sounds good" Ron said "Hey, sorry about Leia."

Blaise tensed up a bit and Theo thought that he was about to give Ron a bolloxing, however he just sighed and said thanks. There was a moment of awkward silence, but thankfully it ended quickly when Harry came over to them with Hagrid.

"I'm really going to miss him when 'e goes" Hagrid said to Harry "an' not bein' able to visit the rest o' the family in the forest; that just kills me."

"I'm so sorry Hagrid" Harry said "but at least his got you now."

"I suppos' that's al'right in the end" Hagrid said "but still…,"

"Aragog not going so well?" Hermione asked the groundskeeper.

"His tryin' to hang on for me" Hagrid said "his a fighter, but we both know 'ts goin' to end soon."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"'Ts right, there ain't much to be sorry 'bout Hermione. Anyway I'd better be headin' back. Sorry about yer cat Blaise."

"Thank you professor" Blaise said "and I hope your friend can well, I hope it isn't too bad for him."

"Thanks Blaise. Yer a good kid. Well I'll be seeing yas aroun'. Oh an' Harry, don't forget that Dumbledore wants to see yer on Monday."

"I won't" Harry said "bye Hagrid."

After Hagrid left they were mostly alone. Soon the Gryffindors left and Xanthe wasn't far behind them, leaving Blaise and Theo alone in the courtyard.

"Hey Theo" Blaise said "you know how we said you should try to arrange a date with Hermione?"

"Well, yeah?"

"I never said to force me to spend a day with Ron Weasley!"

:The Next Day:

Ever since waking up this morning, Theo had been a bundle of nerves. Sure, he wouldn't be alone with Hermione, though he really wanted to be, but all morning he had been psyching himself up.

Today is the day he told himself as he looked down at his toast, today I will tell her how I feel.

He glanced across the Great Hall, watching her talk with her friends over at the Gryffindor table. I hope we'll still be friends after this he thought to himself.

"Relax Theo" Xanthe said "we'll be there, and so will Harry and Ron. By the time you and Hermione end up alone together the ice will be well and truly broken."

"You'll be fine" Blaise added "just try not to have a nervous breakdown before we get out of here okay? Now hurry up and eat something."

Theo glared down at his breakfast, trying to convince his tummy that food was actually a good idea. After only a few bites though the post came in and a scruffy school owl landed and propped a thick envelope on his plate before flying off.

"Oh, what have you done this time?" Blaise asked.

"I don't do anything wrong" Theo said "not usually. I don't really know what this is."

"Well open up" Xanthe said "let's have a look."

Theo opened the envelope and started to pull out the many sheets of parchment, but noticed something heavy was at the bottom. He reached down to the bottom of the envelope and found…

Oh shit!

"Oh-no, what is it Theo?" Blaise asked. Theo turned to his friend, dreading how he would react to what he had just discovered. Fortunately though, Theo was saved from answering when another school owl dropped a large brightly-coloured box in front of Blaise and then took off again like a filibuster firework.

"This… seems interesting" Xanthe said, referring to the box's air holes and habit of wobbling around. Theo found himself smiling when he notice a tag addressing the mystery box to a "Blaze Zabini."

"Be careful Blaise" Theo told his friend. Blaise nodded and drew his wand, inching it closer to the growling box. Theo found himself holding his breath, and noticed Xanthe doing the same. They huddled together, watching as Blaise inched his wand ever closer to the enigma.

…And suddenly they all jumped back as a small paw shot out of one of the air holes and batted at the approaching wand.

Once recovered from the shock, Blaise laughed and then eagerly undid the green ribbon binding the owner of the paw. As soon as the lid was free a kitten jumped out and meowed at Blaise.

If he was really honest with himself, Theo had to admit that this was one of the ugliest kittens he had ever seen. It was a big fluffy calico cat with a patchy black and orange coat. It had wide yellow eyes situated on a face that seemed almost completely flat.

Looks aside though, there seemed to be an instant connection between Blaise and this ugly kitten. The kitten started purring as soon as she laid eyes on him, and Blaise smiled again for the first time since Leia's death. He began patting the kitten and with his free hand he took a crumpled letter out of the box and held it out so that Theo and Xanthe could read it too.

To Blaze Zabini

Im' realy sorry abuot what happned too Laya and the kittins. This kittan saw go-ing too be killed becuse her ownar could'nt find an home for her. I hoqe she is a goob cat for you, and she realy neebs a ownar how will look after her and bee nice too her anb i now you miss Leya and the kittons and they cant be replaysed but i hope she maks you haqqy.

There was no signature, but judging from the spelling, the fact that this used to be one of Millicent Bulstrode's kittens, and a certain dopy face watching them, Theo had a pretty good idea about who had sent Blaise a cat.

"Wow" Blaise said "I guess Goyle does have a conscience after all."

"That is pretty amazing" Xanthe agreed "people are going to be so shocked when they find out."

"Maybe we shouldn't tell people it was Goyle" Blaise said "I mean, his just done something sort of nice to me, I guess it would be really low of me to turn around and make all his friends hate him."

"I thought Slytherins were supposed to be low" a familiar voice said. They turned to find Ron Weasley wearing a smirk that would put Draco Malfoy to shame, as well as Harry and Hermione, both trying to work out if their friend was being intentionally mean or just making a bad joke.

"Hermione!" Theo gasped as he saw her.

"Theo!" Hermione replied "how are you today?"

"I'm good. And you?"

"Yeah I'm very well thank you. Anyway, don't mind Ron guys. He just thinks his funny."

"I'm supposed to be the funny one though" Ron complained.

"Well you failed this time" Blaise said "and by the way, the Sorting Hat has never described Slytherins as the lowlifes and criminals of the wizarding world."

"Hay I'm sorry, it was just a joke. No need to be so touchy."

"I'm not touchy!"

"Guys please, just give it a rest" Harry said "umm… nice cat Blaise."

"Meow?" the Cat asked.

"Yeah thanks" Blaise said "sooo… how much did you guys hear?"

"Enough" Harry said "what makes you think Goyle gave you the cat anyway?"

Blaise just handed them the note and then went back to patting his new kitten. Harry and Ron started sniggering as they read Goyle's letter, but Hermione looked genuinely confused.

"I think I need a translator" she said after re-reading it "this makes absolutely no sense at all."

"I'm really surprised he spelt 'Zabini' right" Xanthe said "I guess he must really admire Professor Zabini if he took the time to learn to spell her name properly."

"Please don't even suggest it" Blaise said "and 'Zabini' isn't that hard to spell."

"He got 'happy' wrong."

"No he got 'happy' right" Harry said "he just got the p's around the wrong way."

"Whatever" Blaise said "just don't go around telling everyone; I don't know why his being nice to me now but it would be great if I could get this to continue."

"I knew there was a Slytherin reason why you didn't want to expose him as a secretly nice guy" Ron said.

"Oh shut up"

"Anyway" Hermione changed the subject "we were thinking of heading off to Hogsmaede now. Do you guys want to wonder around with us for a bit or just meet up at the Three Broomsticks?"

"You guys can all go ahead" Blaise said "I'm going to go and get Gargoyle settled into her new home."

"Gargoyle?" Harry asked.

"It seems like a fitting name for her" Blaise explained as he picked up the purring Gargoyle "anyways, I'll meet you all that the Three Broomsticks at Eleven. Have fun."

Theo didn't know if he was imagining it or not, but he could have sworn that Blaise shot a quick mischievous grin in his direction just before leaving.

:A Bit Later:

Greg saw her outside Delany's Party Supplies. She was sitting on a beach outside with her face almost hidden behind a picture of some Ministry big shot named Thicknesse who had made it onto the front page of the Daily Prophet.

He sat down next to her as quietly as he could and when she didn't respond he had to wonder if he had been too quiet or if she was still ignoring him.

"Hello Lilith" he said.

"Haven't you got a meeting to go to?" She asked coldly, not even lowering her paper.

"It doesn't start until this afternoon" he said "…I brought Millie's last kitten. The one she said was too ugly and that no-one would want. She was going to drown it, but I saved it."

"I thought you were allergic to cats."

"I am… so I gave it to Zabini. I mean, sure his a Half-Blood. And a blood traitor" he added to distinguish Zabini from Lilith "But he did take good care of the other cat."

"Where do we draw the line Greg?" Lilith lowered her paper and looked him in the eyes. Her glasses seemed to be magnifying the sadness in her eyes.

"What line?"

"Zabini is supposed to be the worst kind of Half-Blood, but he still treats animals better than some Purebloods."

"I'm sorry"

"It's not your fault. I just, I just can't figure out where to draw the damn line!"

"But you're smart; surely you can figure it out?"

"But I'm not Pureblooded like you Greg! I've always had that muggle influence in my life; it's always there in the back of my mind, making me doubt, and I CAN'T GET RID OF IT!"

"…I guess there are harder things to deal with than just being dumb. But you're still good, don't worry."

"It's not just me I'm worried about Greg" she sighed "I… dammit Greg she's my best friend, I don't want to have to shun her."

"Huh?"

"It's Tracy" Lilith explained "I mean, this whole thing got me thinking, well… should I really be friends with her?"

"Why not?"

"Well, she's Zabini's second cousin." Lilith said "and when you look at it, well even though Zabini's father is a muggle, his mother defiantly has all the good qualities of a Pureblood. She's smart and strong and beautiful."

"And a blood traitor"

"I know but, Tracy's mother was her cousin, and she's a Squib. She didn't get all those pure characteristics. And her father's just as bad as Zabini's really. But I guess what I'm saying is that well, at least Zabini has all the pure stuff on his mother's side, but how the hell could Tracy have gotten anything from a Squib?"

Lilith was crying now, and Greg, unsure about how to make her happy again, instinctively decided that putting his hand on her shoulder would be the best thing to do.

"We don't consider Zabini a good Half-Blood" she continued "but when you look at it his probably purer than Tracy. So why should we accept her? But, she's my best friend and dammit Greg I DON'T WANT TO LOSE HER!"

As Lilith cried Greg thought about the problem a bit, and then came up with one of his rare cleaver insights.

"But Tracy's father," Greg said, trying to work out how to explain what he had just realised to Lilith "he was like Nott."

"Nott?" Lilith asked.

"Yes" Greg said "Nott is from one of the most noble Pureblooded houses, and both his parents were well respected Death Eaters. So was one of his sisters. And the other Nott sisters both made good Pureblood marriages and everything, but look at him. His a crazy muggle-lover and his bedhead is covered in pictures of muggle's in stupid uniforms."

"His a blood-traitor" Lilith agreed "but what can that have to do with Mr. Davis?"

"Because his a blood-traitor too!" Greg said "a blood-traitor to the muggles! If Nott can resist his Pureblood heritage and be a blood-traitor; even with the influence of sure a noble family, then there must be Mudbloods that can resist their muggle heritage. Mr. Davis certainly was, I mean his a Death Eater! And squibs can still have good children, so Tracy probably inherited a lot of really good stuff from both of them."

"Perhaps your right" Lilith said "oh god I hope you are right Greg. I don't want to lose Tracy."

"You won't" Greg said "she's a good half-blood too!"

"Yeah… I'm sorry for acting so weak."

"You aren't weak."

"Yes I am… and I'm sorry for going off at you for what happened to Zabini's cat. I should have tried to understand. I guess the world needs people who can be cruel like you a lot more than they need a bleeding heart like me."

"No" Greg said "once all the muggles and Mudbloods are dead, and we've gotten rid of all the blood-traitors and other scum, what good will someone like me be? The world will be a happy place full of love and freedom and all the glory that comes with it. I wouldn't have too much use, but you are the type of person the new world needs Lilith."