Chapter 8

When Blaise had decided to initiate his little plan in the Entrance Hall, he had expected Draco to be fuming. What he hadn't expected was for him to walk into their dormitory later that evening as if nothing had happened. Now, after four days, he was still waiting for Draco to lose his temper, but that was unlikely — he had taken to simply ignoring him instead. Luckily, this didn't mean that his plan had completely failed either. Without Blaise to talk to, the other Slytherin had nowhere else to turn but in Ginny's direction.

So when he walked into the library to meet Mandy Brocklehurst for a tutoring session, he wasn't surprised to see Draco and Ginny sitting at a table together quietly doing their homework. Taking a seat near the opposite side of the library, he couldn't help a frown from forcing its way on to his lips as he realized he could still see them from his table. Just as he was about to get up to find a different spot, Mandy slid into the chair across from him.

"Ready to get started, Zabini?" she prompted a few seconds later. He nodded, his mind already wandering to the pair on the other side of the library as he gazed down at the piece of paper she handed him. "Well, first of all, I wrote out a few notes for you about what we went over last time. That way you can review before the exam next week."

"Thanks," he replied, placing the notes inside his Charms book. "What are we going over today?"

"I was thinking the Protean charm," she mused as she flipped through her own textbook. "Of course, that's fairly advanced material... So we may want to wait a-" Her words cut off abruptly when a tall boy with dark brown hair appeared at her side. Sending him a curious look, she wondered, "What brings you here, Terry?"

The boy, Terry Boot from Ravenclaw, glanced at Blaise before jerking his head towards an abandoned corner. "I need to talk to you really quickly. Is this a bad time?"

Mandy shook her head before sending Blaise an apologetic smile as she stood. "I'll just be a second." He watched as the two of them walked just out of earshot and then diverted his eyes to where his friends were situated. Ginny has a befuddled expression on her face as she looked up to where Draco was sitting and said something. A smirk appeared on the blonde's face before he leaned across the table to point something out on her paper. She stared at the parchment for a moment, a blush rising on her cheeks as she raised a hand to her face to hide it. Mumbling something, she bowed her head as Draco chuckled. If Mandy's return hadn't drawn Blaise's attention away from the scene, he would have seen Ginny's lips quirk slightly as she proceeded to fix her essay. "Sorry about that," she murmured awkwardly as she took her seat once more.

Blaise grinned with amusement. "Did your boyfriend need something?" To his surprise, a tinkling laugh escaped her lips as she pushed her glassed up on the bridge of her nose.

"Ex-boyfriend actually," she informed him. "Terry's dating Sarisa Esteed from Gryffindor." He responded by wrinkling his nose.

"Oh, the Mudbl-?" She shot a stern look across the table and he covered his comment with a small cough. "The Muggle-born?"

"Yeah," she answered, seemingly satisfied with his recovery before her lips formed a frown. "The poor guy's been absolutely miserable with her not being here and all..."

"As fascinating as your ex-boyfriend's love life is," he began with a bored tone, resting his chin in the palm of his hand, "I believe you were saying something about the Protean charm?"

"I was," she sighed before gazing at the page. "Okay, so there are usually a few questions about this charm on the NEWTs, given that it's an incredibly complex spell. I doubt even half the people in our year will be able to cast it..."

Draco can cast it, Blaise thought bitterly. If I just asked him, I could be doing something else right now. Too bad he's being a royal pain in the arse...

"Thankfully, the questions on the NEWTs are usually theoretically — at least that's what I've heard — so it shouldn't be a problem if you can't cast it," she reasoned. After this particular comment, her voice was reduced to mere background noise in Blaise's mind as he carelessly nodded along with whatever she was saying. Occasionally, he would catch a few words, but it was only when her book closed with a thud that he was knocked out of his daze.

"Tomorrow then?" she inquired as if he'd been paying attention the entire time.

"Yeah, tomorrow's fine."

She got up from her seat, picking up her bag in one and her books in the other. "I'll see you then." Once she'd left, he decided it'd be better not to waste the time he had before dinner started and grudgingly pulled his Potions homework out of his bag.

On the other side of the library, Ginny was growing more and more frustrated with her Dark Arts essay. After alternating between staring at her textbook and paper, she finally dropped her quill and buried her face in her hands tiredly. "Merlin, I cannot take this class anymore."

"Finally breaking down, Weasley?" She lifted her hands away from her face and slumped in her chair.

"Maybe if the class wasn't so awful, I wouldn't have an issue with it," she grumbled, folding her arms over her chest. "But everything he teaches us is illegal!"

"I bet you're wishing you weren't such a little goody-goody anymore," Draco quipped smugly. She responded with a saucy smirk.

"No, because it hasn't gotten you very far, has it?"

He rolled his eyes. "At least I've got good grades in all of my classes."

Ginny frowned, her voice taking on a defensive tone as she muttered, "I have good grades in all of the important classes."

"You know, if you think about it Weasley, learning the dark magic is no different than learning how to defend against it," he remarked casually.

A tiny huff passed her lips. "What are you talking about?"

Draco shrugged as his eyes returned to his parchment. "This way, at least you know what you'll be up against." She sighed, realizing that while he did have a point, his reasoning was a bit flawed.

"I wouldn't say there's 'no difference.'"

He shook his head with mild exasperation before shoving his essay back in his bag. "Whatever."

As he stood, she wondered, "So, where're you headed off to?"

"Dinner. Are you coming?"

"Really? You're willing to be seen walking with me?" she teased, packing up her own things. "I'm speechless."

"Don't get too used to it," he countered with a slight grin. She was about to follow him towards the exit when she caught sight of Blaise out of the corner of her eye.

"Actually Malfoy, there's something else I need to do, so I'll have to turn down your offer." He paused and turned around to face her, which ultimately led to him noticing his friend as well.

Putting two and two together, Draco resumed his planned path to the exit. "Suit yourself."

Ginny's shoulders fell slightly. She wasn't blind – she could tell something had happened to make the two Slytherins act so aloof towards one another, but the reason behind it still remained elusive to her. Deciding to put that problem aside till later, she moved on to the more pressing matter at hand as she plopped down in the seat that had been occupied by Mandy Brocklehurst not so long ago.

Blaise raised his eyes for a brief moment with a quick grin before his quill continued to scratch against the parchment before him. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, nothing much. I was just wondering about something."

"And what would that be?" he prompted, amused by the offhandedness of her voice when he knew what was coming.

"Well, I just wanted to know why you kissed me on Friday." He placed his quill next to its inkpot and relaxed in his seat before meeting her eyes with a mischievous look.

"You don't sound particularly alarmed by it," he noted with a grin. She easily returned the expression.

"I'm not really, it just caught me a bit off guard," Ginny admitted. "I just wanna know if you meant anything by it. I mean, I have no idea how your mind works sometimes..."

He pondered her statement for a moment before asking, "If I said it did mean something, would it really affect anything?"

The corners of her lips curved impishly. "Possibly."

"In that case, you don't really need to know," he replied loftily. "I'm quite happy with the way things are at the moment."

"Oh yes, it must be absolutely brilliant having your best friend ignore you," Ginny murmured sarcastically.

"He's just in one of his moods. He'll snap out of it eventually."

The Gryffindor sighed, rising from her chair. "I'll take your word for it, but he'd better snap out of it soon. Only talking to one of you at a time is too weird..."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Blaise told her, causing her to laugh lightly.

"I know you wouldn't." She tilted her head to the side. "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah." He offered her a small wave, which she returned before heading for the door.

Two days later, Ginny was storming down the hall, not caring how much noise she made or who might catch her out of her Common Room past curfew. If that cruel bitch Carrow thought she could get away with treating people so horribly, she was in for a rude awakening. Seamus was in the Hospital Wing just because he had spoken up when their Professor had insulted Muggle-borns, and that was a thought that Ginny simply couldn't live with.

Opening the Muggle Studies classroom door a crack, she peeked in and, upon discovering the room was empty, proceeded with her plan. Slipping a small box from the pocket of her robes, she placed it on a desk before checking the storage room to make sure it was empty.
"Well, isn't this déjà vu-ish?"

"That's not a word..." Ginny mumbled before her eyes widened with alarm. Spinning around, she was met by the playful brown eyes of Blaise Zabini as he leaned casually against the closed door. "Blaise!" she hissed, taking a few steps towards him. "What are you doing here?"

"I believe the better question would be 'What are you doing here?' It's after hours, not to mention you're in a Death Eater's classroom," he observed with a hint of amazement to his voice. "Do you get a thrill from putting yourself in dangerous situations or something?"

"Blaise, please leave," she insisted almost desperately. "This doesn't concern you." He ignored her and walked past her to pick up the small box that was innocently sitting on a desk.

"So, what is this?" he questioned, examining it curiously. Ginny snatched it away a few seconds later.

"One of my brothers' Portable Swamps."

"Hmm... Interesting."

When it was obvious he wasn't planning on going anywhere, she exhaled with irritation. "If you aren't going to leave, at least back up," she muttered as she pulled him behind her before tossing the object. Almost immediately, water appeared out of no where, flooding the room, as green moss began to creep along the walls and desks.

"Brilliant," Blaise remarked as he gazed at the product's result before taking the red-head's hand and dragging her towards the door through the thin layer of swampy water that was hastily expanding. "Now let's get out of here." The sounds of footsteps outside the door caused Ginny to resist.

"Blaise, wait!" He stopped, also hearing the soft noises of shoes on the stone ground. Thinking quickly, he moved back over to the Professor's desk with the girl in tow before pushing her under the desk. "Wait, what are-?"

"Stay down there," he commanded sternly, barely having time to straighten his back before the door swung open.

"What's going on in here?" the squat Alecto Carrow screeched as she stomped into the room. Upon feeling the cold, mucky substance slosh around her feet, her face scrunched up with anger before whirling on Blaise. "You're behind this?"

"I guess you've caught me, Professor," he stated with a slight shrug. Carrow rushed over, grabbing his arm roughly as he moved a bit closer to the desk to hide Ginny from view.

"Damn right I have," she sneered. "You're coming with me to the Headmaster's office, boy. And don't think you'll get off easy just because you're a Slytherin."

"I wouldn't expect to," he retorted snarkily, which only served to infuriate the Professor even more.

"I'd watch that attitude if I were you," she snarled, jerking him towards the rooms exit. For a fleeting moment, he felt Ginny's hand reach out and close around his as if she could stop him from going, but he slipped out of her grasp, leaving her to watch helplessly as her friend took the fall for her brash actions.

A/N - I hope you enjoyed the chapter : ) Reviews make my day!

-Twilight-Sonstress