Chapter 6

The following morning in the Great Hall, Blaise knew he was in for it when he saw a tired, but very miffed looking Ginny Weasley stomping in his direction. With mild alarm, he started to reach for his bag so he could attempt to run for it. Instead he glared when he saw that a nonchalant Draco had relocated it to a more inaccessible spot.

"Draco..." he hissed dangerously, but the slight pleading tone to his voice negated any hope he had of getting his friend on his side. He saw a smirk flit across his fellow Slytherin's visage as a fuming red-head stopped behind him. She cleared her throat loudly, and he was forced to glance over his shoulder. Despite the fact that they'd been seen together regularly, few people from his House seemed to realize that their relationship had developed into something more than him simply exploiting her for the sake of his grades. He had decided it best to keep it that way, so, putting up a false front, he airily asked, "Lost your way, Weasley? Or are you here to beg for a few sickles?"

Blaise immediately knew that he shouldn't have gone quite that far when he saw her eyes glint with anger. "You wish, Zabini," she muttered, her eyes narrowing. She bent slightly at the waist so her mouth beside his ear. "I'm not sure what you were trying to pull, but it had better not happen again." After a brief moment, she added, "And tell Malfoy to get that stupid smirk off his face," before straightening her back and walking over to the Gryffindor table without another word. Once she was gone, Blaise turned to Draco with a small grin. "She's not that pissed off," he informed him casually, taking a bite of his toast. The blonde beside him sent him a skeptical look.

"How can you tell?"

"She would've hexed me on the spot if she was really annoyed. Plus she had time to say she wanted you to get that smirk off your face," he replied smugly. Draco rolled his eyes and returned to his breakfast. After a minute though, he spoke up again.

"When are you two meeting again?"

"Tomorrow after classes," Blaise answered before he turned to his friend with the corners of his mouth turned up impishly. "Why do you want to know?"

Draco frowned, turning away and picking at the eggs on his plate. "Mind your own business," he grumbled. Blaise's grin simple widened as he heeded his friend's suggestion and resumed munching on his toast.

As she made her way down the hill that lead to the lake, Ginny wasn't particularly surprised to see Blaise waiting for her patiently with Draco a little ways off with a piece of parchment set on a book and a quill in hand.

"Hey, Ginny," Blaise called with a wave and a warm grin as usual. "For a while I thought you weren't going to come," he mused as she stopped in front of him.

She crossed her arms over her chest, a displeased look on her face. "I was considering it after you locked me in the kitchens."

"At least I locked you in a place where there's food," he noted with a small pout. At this gesture, her lips twitched slightly and the glowering look on her face softened with amusement.

"I'm still not happy with you," she stated with a sigh as she walked passed him and dropped her stuff down beside the other Slytherin. "Malfoy," she greeted with a slight tilt of her head. He looked up from his work and nodded cordially.

"Weasley." Blaise chuckled at their antics and moved to join them.

"You two are ridiculous," he commented, shaking his head. "So, what're we working on today?"

"Well, I was thinking I could teach you the Freezing Charm, since that's what you're supposed to be learning in class soon."

"Actually, we're learning the Imperturbable Charm before that," Draco mentioned, glancing up from his book. Ginny shot a stern look at him and turned back to Blaise, but didn't get the chance to speak before being cut off. "Something wrong, Weasley? Don't know the spell?"

The expression on her face made him think she was going to snap back, but to his surprise, she just exhaled. "No, I don't," she admitted wearily, brushing some hair out of her away from her eyes. "You'll just have to teach him that, I guess," she continued with a shrug.

Draco stared at her for a moment before his mouth formed confused frown. "Is there something wrong with you?"

She diverted her attention from Blaise once more and gazed at him with a furrowed brow. "Excuse me?" His cheeks turned a very faint pink as he lowered his head to focus on his paper.

"Forget it. There's obviously something wrong if you don't know the material you're supposed be helping him with," he responded haughtily. She pursed her lips as she held back a retort. Blaise simply sighed with exasperation and pulled Ginny away from what could only lead to a vehement argument.

An hour and a half later, it was beginning to get dark outside and Ginny decided it wouldn't be too pleasant to continue if they couldn't really see. Not to mention dinner was already in progress (Draco had left a little over twenty minutes ago), and her stomach was making loud protests about the lack of food. So they started trekking up the hill in hopes of getting to the Great Hall before all the good food was gone.

"You know," Blaise began, breaking the momentary silence, "you were in a pretty good mood today. Well, with the exception of this morning, of course."

Ginny let out a quiet laugh. "Just spit it out. Where are you going with this?"

"I'm just saying you were a bit... less touchy today." He grinned as she playfully shoved him.

"If you're referring to the fact that I didn't hex the living daylight out of you this morning, it was only because I didn't want to get detention," she explained, her voice laced with mirth.

"Well, that, but I was actually thinking of something else..."

"The fact that I didn't yell at Draco?" she wondered. "I guess I just realized that it's stupid to keep arguing with him. There's no point." Blaise paused for a moment in his step, which caused Ginny to glance over her shoulder with a curious expression. "What's wrong?"

The Slytherin studied her for a second – silently wondering if she had noticed her exact word choice – before smiling happily. "Nothing's wrong," he replied, catching up to her and teasingly ruffling her hair. She made a face, trying to fix her hair as walked ahead and he mumbled under his breath, "Just glad. That's all."

Ginny smirked as she held her wand in the air, which was levitating a hawthorn one at least ten feet above her. Malfoy was scowling at her with his hands clenched at his sides, while Blaise was standing off to the side watching the scene with nothing short of pure entertainment.

"Give me back my wand," Draco ordered tersely through gritted teeth. She smirked in response, making the object glide through the air above him.

"Just returning the favor," she said with a shrug. Draco whirled around to face his friend.

"Blaise, do something," he growled. When the other boy shook his head, Draco let out a huff of frustration. "You helped her!"

"Yeah, but you have to admit, you had this coming," Blaise remarked, his grin never fading.

The blonde's shoulders slumped before he crossed his arms. "You're asking for it, Weaslette," he warned. "As soon as I get my wand back, I'll-"

"You'll what?" she taunted, thought it was more jovial than malicious. "Hex me? I don't think you would..."

Draco unfolded his arms and took a few long strides towards her. He stopped a few feet away with a flicker of mischief in his eyes, and she had to tilt her head back a bit to meet his gaze. "You really don't think I would?" he murmured with a vexing curve to his lips. She froze, slightly alarmed by his close proximity as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her even closer. "Care to elaborate?" Ginny opened her mouth, but words failed her and out of the corner of his eye, Draco could see his wand fall to the ground due to her unfocused state. Once his plan had succeeded, he released the girl from his grasp and strolled over to the spot where his wand had landed before picking it up. "Thanks, Weasley," he quipped, twirling the wand in his hand as he walked back over to her. He flashed her a quick smirk and grabbed his bag before heading back towards the castle.

This seemed to knock her out of her daze, because a second later, her face contorted with indignation and she raised her wand. However, as she opened her mouth to say a spell, Blaise caught her by the wrist and pulled her hand down. "It's not worth it," he told her, releasing her hand. "He'll just get back at you again."

"But he started it in the first place!" Ginny contradicted. "I mean, if Draco hadn't stolen my wand two weeks ago, I wouldn't have done this and I refuse to let that prat have the last laugh-"

"You did it again," he interjected in a sing-songy manner. She cut off her rant almost immediately as her expression turned to one of confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Blaise simply grinned at her question and slung his bag over his shoulder as he started up the path to the school. "Wait! What'd I do?" she called, jogging after him.

When she caught up, he finally answered her. "You called him Draco again."

Her eyes widened a fraction. "I did not," she stated, shaking her head. "You must've heard wrong."

"Not to mention he didn't hex you just now," he added thoughtfully, ignoring her comment. "And you haven't seemed quite so hot-headed anymore..."

"...What are you implying?" she inquired hesitantly.

"It's just seems like there's something going on between you two," he said simply. Needless to say, she looked like someone had told her pigs were finally flying.

"...What?"

"I'm just voicing an opinion," Blaise grinned with a shrug. She gaped at him for a moment longer before bursting into a fit of laughter.

"You've gotta be kidding me," she mumbled with laughs punctuating her words. "Why, in the name of Merlin, are you telling me this?"

"Because I know Draco, and he doesn't act like that around many people," he elaborated. "I don't know how you feel, but he's not gonna say anything if you don't first." They arrived at the Entrance Hall, where they would need to go their separate ways in order to get to classes.

"Blaise, I still don't-"

"Just think about it, okay?" Then with a small, encouraging smile, he turned his back on her and went up the stairs.

Ginny did think about what he had said, and it was for precisely that reason that she kept walking when she heard Blaise beckon her over in the hall after classes that Friday. To her dismay though, his hand closed around her arm and prevented her from going anywhere. She signed as he turned her around to face him.

"What's up with you?" he demanded, his voice sounding more worried than angry. "You've been avoiding me... Don't think I haven't noticed."

"Not now, Blaise," she uttered, jerking her arm away. When she tried to leave though, he stuck out his arm in front of her and blocked her path.

"No. You're not leaving until you tell me what's wrong."

She took a deep breath before locking eyes with him. "I can't keep tutoring you."

Blaise stepped back, slightly stunned. "What...? But we had an agreement!" he reminded her, but the argument was feeble.

"You even said that the agreement was hardly valid," she reasoned. "So I don't have to tutor you." Taking advantage of his surprise, she tried to slip away.

"Wait, Gin!" She paused and glanced over her shoulder at his downcast face. "Is this about what I said?"

"No," she answered with a sad smile. "I just think I need to focus on my own school work." And with that, she left, but from the way she diverted her eyes, he could tell that she was lying.

A/N - Sorry it's a bit late, but I hope you guys liked the chapter : ) Please review!

-Twilight-Songstress