Chapter Ten, In Which I Must Leave My Audience at a Cliffhanger

I read the slip of paper on the notice board, my heart thudding with excitement. This was my chance! Dean Thomas had put up a sign announcing Quidditch tryouts for the following week. I signed up, my pen shaking in my hand. I couldn't wait to tell Blaise! I walked away from the board and sat down next to Keana, who was playing chess with one of her friends.

"Hey Erin," she said as I sat. "Have you seen Natalie?"

"Spearson?" I inquired. Keana nodded. "No, sorry. Come to think of it, I haven't seen her much at all since last week when she resigned from the team. Only a couple of times at breakfast and only once in the common room. Do you suppose she's busy with schoolwork?"

"None of her teachers have assigned that much, though," Keana said. "I can't help thinking she's up to something." She groaned as her friend captured her queen. "I am so horrible at this!"" she moaned. Her friend giggled. I stood up and walked to the other side of the common room where Hermione at working on a star chart.

"Astrology again?" I asked.

"Nope," Hermione answered, still working. "This assignment is from Professor Vestor. It has to do with triangles."

"I'm hopeless at geometry," I confided. "It wouldn't make any sense to me at all!" Hermione laughed. "You know, that reminds me, I have some work to do upstairs. See you later!" I turned and headed up to my dormitory. Once inside the bright room, I sat at my desk and began shuffling through papers. My silver bracelet slid fluidly on my arm.

I finished my Charms homework in an hour and moved cheerfully on to other things. It was a weekend, which for me meant that I would be meeting Blaise in an out-of-the-way corridor on the fifth floor. I lay on my bed reading a story about a girl who runs away from home and trips over this guy in the forest and…Oh well, the story's complicated. Anyway, I kept glancing up at the clock to see if it was time to go yet. Time flies when you're having fun, but not, apparently, if you're waiting for it. It took about a million years, but the clock finally read 2:34.

I left Gryffindor tower unquestioned, attempting to look like I was out for a round of research at the library. I don't know why, but it seemed that whenever I was meeting Blaise somewhere, I felt like I should be hiding it. Oh, yes, I do remember why. That would be because he's a Slytherin pureblood, and……I'm not. I reached the dimly lit corridor just in time to see Blaise approaching from the other end. I had to resist the urge to run toward him, but that would be too noisy.

When he reached me, I threw my arms around his neck. He looked a bit surprised but didn't hesitate to pick me up and swing me around a bit. That I liked. His tight, black, turtleneck made him look even more delectable than usual. (Id there's one thing I can't resist, it's a guy in a black turtleneck. Even my dad would look good in one.) His eyes seemed to glow at me from under his dark hair. And when he spoke, his voice was warm and - I certainly like to think so, anyway - sexy.

"I'm still picking confetti out of my sweater, Erin," he teased. I giggled, sounding stupid.

"Oops!" I said. Could I get any stupider? I beleive the term for this sort of behavior is 'jelloid.' How pleasant.

"D'you like the bracelet?" he asked anxiously. "It's strung around unicorn hair."

" I love it!" I exclaimed, showing him my wrist. The bracelet gleamed. Blaise seemed to relax a bit.

"Anything interesting happened in Gryffindor? I heard there was some sort of an incident with a plant. I assume it's the one now poking out of the greenhouse roof?" I giggled again.

"Yeah," I said, trying to calm down. "He- Neville, that is -dropped the pot and it cornered several of the students." I said nothing about my part in it, wanting to avoid sounding conceited.

"I heard that you cleaned it up," Blaise continued, stroking my hand with his thumb. Ooooh, this was fantastic!

"Well…yeah, I did," I said. I hope to God I didn't sound smug.

"That's my girl," Blaise said. We began to walk down the corridor, swapping stories. "So Malfoy has been strutting around. Even cockier than usual, I mean. Pansy told me that she's seen him down in Snape's office a lot. She hasn't managed to find out why yet, but she's working on it. Crabbe and Goyle have been skulking around me some. I managed to ditch them today, but only just. I bet Malfoy se them on me. I'll have to come up with a really good hex to use. Apparently it's time to consult Richard Wiley* again." I laughed.

"I haven't seen anything of interest really. Out best beater quit the team, though," I said.

"I noticed Thomas looked a little cloudy. I 'spect that was it," Blaise said thoughtfully.

"For all that Natalie said she quit because it interfered with her studies, I haven't seen much of her around. I can't imagine why not…"

"I'll keep an eye out," Blaise told me. "Maybe she's been having trouble with something." I shrugged and we continued in relative silence, holding hands. We rounded a corner, and to our immense surprise, Professor McGonagall was hurrying down the hall toward us. We jumped apart. I realized afterward that it was probably a useless gesture. Professor McGonagall never missed a thing.

"Mr. Zabini," she called as she neared us, slightly out of breath. "Mr. Zabini, Professor Dumbledore must see you now!" Blaise looked back at me, worry creasing his forehead. Professor McGonagall noted his gaze. "You probably ought to come too, Ms. MacGillian," she said kindly. "Hurry!"

Blaise and walked side by side after the professor. His presence at my side was very comforting, but I couldn't help the sensation that cold water was trickling lowly down my back. From Professor McGonagall's tone, I gathered that whatever it was, it something fairly important…

We finally reached the gargoyle that guarded Professor Dumbledore's office. Professor McGonagall gave the password (lollipop) and the gargoyle leapt aside. It waved at me as I passed. The moving staircase was ready and waiting, so we stepped onto it, Blaise behind me barely touching my hand. Professor McGonagall knocked sharply on the door and it opened before her. A group of unfamiliar witches and wizards greeted my eyes as we entered Dumbledore's office. All of the portraits around his desk were alert and listening. The seemed to relax slightly as Blaise entered the room after me.

We slipped into a couple of squashy purple armchairs by the door and Blaise slipped my hand unconcernedly into his, tightning his hand reassuringly. One of the portraits, a squat woman with curly blond hair, smiled at me and cocked her head. I blushed a little. Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat and I watched him with rapt attention. He waited a moment before speaking.

Steeling himself? I wondered.

"Mr. Zabini," he said gravely, "you are in serious danger. Our midnight skulker has escaped. You are his target."