Quick word of advice: Do not speed. Speeding is bad, especially when you
get pulled over. Trust me. Even if you get off with a warning, it's one of
the most terrifying experiences you could possibly go through. Just say no!
*******
I dreaded going to dinner. With Pansy out for my blood, I doubted I'd survive the experience. So, I did what any sensible Slytherin would do.
I avoided the situation completely.
The library was completely empty as I strolled toward Madam Pince's desk, thinking I might as well get a head start on my homework.
Regardless of what the other students think of her, Madam Pince is one of the few people that I truly like. She may be strict and disturbingly overprotective of her books, but she is incredibly smart and can tell you exactly where to find anything in the library. Also, if you don't annoy her, she can be very personable.
"Back already, Blaise?" the librarian asked, looking up from her paperwork.
I grinned cheekily. "Are you kidding? Rampaging manticores couldn't keep me away."
Madam Pince laughed. "Spare me your flattery, Mister Zabini. What is it you came for? I doubt it was to enjoy the pleasure of my company."
"Actually, I was wondering if you have anything on the Goblin-Dwarf Conflict of 1583."
"Of course," she said, standing and leading me toward the History section. "Which one are you looking for?"
"The third one."
"Ah, yes. A particularly nasty one, that." She ran her fingers across the spines of the books, finally stopping on one and pulling it off the shelf. "Here," she said, handing me the tome, titled A Historian's Reference to Goblin Relations: Volume Twelve. "The information isn't quite as good as some of the other books I have, but at least it's understandable. The rest are in Gaelic."
"Thanks a lot." For once in my life, I meant it. There were rows and rows of books on goblins, and it'd have taken me days to find the right one if I'd tried myself.
"Don't mention it, dear. Just come get me if you need anything else."
"Will do, Madam Pince."
I settled myself at a solitary table at the far end of the library and flipped through the book, occasionally scribbling down a date or significant battle on a piece of parchment. The subject was actually quite interesting, but Binns had a talent for sucking any and all entertainment value out of a topic, no matter how fascinating. I'm sure if he hadn't been dead, he'd have been fired ages ago.
"Blaise?"
I spared the newcomer an annoyed glance before returning to my notes. "What are you doing here, Fae?"
"Well, I came to get a book on resorative draughts, but then I saw you and decided to have a chat," my aunt answered, taking a seat across from me.
"Why?"
"Do I need a reason?"
"Yes."
"You're my nephew," she said. "Isn't that reason enough?"
"No."
She smiled, nonplused. "All right. Have it your way."
She then proceded to stare at me, unblinking, while I did my notes. It was rather disturbing, but I /had/ lived with the woman for two years, after all, so it wasn't anything new.
All was quiet for several minutes, the silence broken only by the scratch of my quill on parchment. Then...
"Will you talk now?"
I gritted my teeth together. "No."
"How 'bout now?"
"No."
"Now?"
"No!" I almost yelled, earning an annoyed look from Madam Pince.
This silenced Fae for approximately three seconds.
"What about now?"
Damn that woman!
"Fine," I snapped, flinging down my quill and finally looking at her straight-on. "What is it you are so desperate to talk about?"
Fae smirked triumphantly. "What are you working on?"
I stared. Of all the things in the world, she wanted to discuss my /schoolwork/? Not trusting myself to say something civil, I simply pushed my book across the table for her to inspect.
"Ah, the Goblin-Dwarf Conflicts," she mused, flipping a couple pages. "Extremely bloody and completely pointless. Then again, what do you expect from goblins, eh?"
"What are you doing here, Fae?"
Fae gave me her patented are-you-really-that-stupid look. "I told you; I wanted to talk to you."
"No, what are you doing at Hogwarts?"
She raised an eyebrow and leaned back on her chair, arms crossed. "Teaching, obviously."
"Fae, you're not cut out to be a teacher," I said. "You hated it when you taught me, and I was your only student. How are you going to manage ten?"
"I'll just have to control my homicidal tendencies," she answered with a shrug. Glancing at her watch, she groaned. "Look, I have to get going or I'll be late for a meeting."
"You seem to be doing that a lot lately," I said lightly. "First the feast, now the meeting; you're really not setting a very good example for the children."
"Hey, the first time wasn't my fault," she said with a smile. "I had to take care of a... infestation near a village in France. Besides," she added, standing. "I shouldn't have to explain myself to you. /I'm/ the adult here and my business is my own. So there."
With that, she stuck out her tongue, turned, and strolled out of the library, leaving me to gape after her.
*******
The next afternoon found me in the Defense classroom with Draco as my only company.
"Tell me again why we came this early?" he grumbled, sitting beside me at a desk.
"Because I'm not in the mood to receive one of Fae's tantrums," I answered, pulling some blank parchment out of my bag. "And she hates when people are late."
"We wouldn't have been late anyway," Draco said, exasperated. "We could've actually had a decent meal. Remember those? Where you /eat/ the food instead of inhaling it?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm paranoid about these things. So what?"
The rest of the class eventually filtered in, with Crabbe and Goyle bringing up the rear roughly ten seconds before the bell rang.
Fae, as expected, arrived at the exact time the class was to start. She swept into the room, robes billowing out behind her, looking very much the part of a Slayer. She went through roll quickly, then faced the class.
/This should be interesting./
"As I'm sure you already know, I'm your new Defense teacher, Professor Zabini," Fae said sharply, very deep into her Teacher Mode, which I was all too familiar with. "Now, I understand your past teachers have given you a solid background on the more common dark creatures and the Unforgivables." There was a general murmur of agreement from the class. "However, it seems that you haven't been shown how to block even the simplest spells."
"Er, Professor?"
Fae's gaze locked on Pansy, whose hand was raised. "Yes?"
"Our professor from second year showed us to block at a dueling club," Pansy said. "I'm not sure if it was a /real/ block, though."
Fae raised an eyebrow. "You had Professor Lockhart, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Ah, that explains it, then. That man couldn't manage a suitable counter- charm if he was dueling against a flobberworm."
Fae spent the rest of the period showing the class the proper wand movements for blocking. It wasn't incredibly complicated, but you had to time each motion precisely.
We had an interesting time of it. Pansy kept getting the order mixed up, Cassandra kept swishing in the wrong direction, and Crabbe almost set his desk on fire. Don't ask me how; he did the same thing in Charms when we were learning /Accio/.
The only people who weren't having that much trouble were Draco, who was a fast learner, and me, who'd already learned it. By the end of the hour, nearly everyone was close to tearing their hair out in frustration.
"I suggest you practice your blocking technique before next week," Fae said, clearly irritated at the class's slow progress. "Anyone without a functioning block by the end of our next class will fail this section."
No one was sorry when the bell finally rung. In fact, some almost sprinted out of the classroom the second the period was over.
"What's her problem?" Draco complained as we strolled down the corridor towards the Ancient Runes classroom. "How are we supposed to learn a counter-charm in a week?"
I shrugged. "I don't know, but you'd better, or she'll skin you alive."
Draco thought for a moment, then turned to me, wide-eyed. "You don't think she'll /test/ us, do you?"
"I'd say it's a definite possibility." Actually, it was almost a certainty, but Draco looked panicked enough as it was. "Relax, Draco. You're already way ahead of the rest of the class."
"Yeah, but that won't matter if I still fail."
"Draco, shut up. You're not going to fail."
Draco snorted. "Really? And what makes you say that?"
"Because I won't let you, for one." Ignoring the somewhat stunned expression on Draco's face, I added, "Besides, you're one of the smartest people in our year. You'd have to /try/ to fail. Now come on, Dulry won't be too pleased if we're late to our first class with him."
*******
A/N: FINALLY done with this chapter! Party over here! Woot! Woot! I rewrote this thing about six times, went to work, came back home and decided it sucked. I'm just glad I wasn't pressed for a deadline or anything. I'm sure I'd have gone crazy trying to fix this thing on time.
Who else is getting OotP tomorrow? I'm freaking out over here because this time tomorrow I'll be reading it! Wow, I'm a loser. Anyway, this story will go on as planned, as it is now officially A/U. If there's a dance or something in OotP, I'll probably incorperate that in somehow, but otherwise this timeline is completely different.
Next Chapter: Late Night chats and Potions class. Find out why insomnia is evil, and why cappuccino should be banned. Why should you never add beetle eyes before moonlilies?
JeanB: Yes, Fae is a little psycho. She's ending up worse than I though she would, but that's her own fault. Of course there will be Gryffindors! Next chapter (I think) we'll see some of them. I agree it'd probably be cooler with Blaise arguing with them cuz Draco is in serious need of new insults.
Porphyrophobic Grape: It's kind of weird that there'd be a bunch of info on a character that's mentioned a total of ONCE in the whole series and isn't even given a gender, but then I suppose people like me /would/ put up stuff like that. As much as I'd like it, I doubt Blaise is in the movies. I mean, how would they know even what to look for? It'd be really cool if he is in there though. As long as he's a guy.
Faxton: Thanks for all the praise. I don't think I've blushed so much since I nearly fell on my butt at work and my brother laughed at me (he's so mean). Oh wait, that was yesterday... Anyway, I'm glad you're so interested in Fae because this whole chapter revolved around her. She's a little psychotic, I know. But there is a method to her madness!
stubbornarse: Ha, I'm lassooing in new people! Now you'll never be able to leave, mwahahahaa! *cackles manically*
Gkey: Quick! Get some super-glue! He's cracking up! *cough* Right. Anyway, thanks for the continued reviews!
Dreams of Magic: Whenever people say it was a nice chapter, I get this weird mental image of someone stroking a book going, "Nice chapter. Gooooood chapter. Who's a nice chapter? You are!" Don't ask why. Please, just don't. Anyway, I'm planning on updating at least once a week, so I'm hoping that's quick enough for everybody.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I almost fell off my chair when I got four reviews the first day. *wipes away a tear* I LOVE YOU GUYS!
*******
I dreaded going to dinner. With Pansy out for my blood, I doubted I'd survive the experience. So, I did what any sensible Slytherin would do.
I avoided the situation completely.
The library was completely empty as I strolled toward Madam Pince's desk, thinking I might as well get a head start on my homework.
Regardless of what the other students think of her, Madam Pince is one of the few people that I truly like. She may be strict and disturbingly overprotective of her books, but she is incredibly smart and can tell you exactly where to find anything in the library. Also, if you don't annoy her, she can be very personable.
"Back already, Blaise?" the librarian asked, looking up from her paperwork.
I grinned cheekily. "Are you kidding? Rampaging manticores couldn't keep me away."
Madam Pince laughed. "Spare me your flattery, Mister Zabini. What is it you came for? I doubt it was to enjoy the pleasure of my company."
"Actually, I was wondering if you have anything on the Goblin-Dwarf Conflict of 1583."
"Of course," she said, standing and leading me toward the History section. "Which one are you looking for?"
"The third one."
"Ah, yes. A particularly nasty one, that." She ran her fingers across the spines of the books, finally stopping on one and pulling it off the shelf. "Here," she said, handing me the tome, titled A Historian's Reference to Goblin Relations: Volume Twelve. "The information isn't quite as good as some of the other books I have, but at least it's understandable. The rest are in Gaelic."
"Thanks a lot." For once in my life, I meant it. There were rows and rows of books on goblins, and it'd have taken me days to find the right one if I'd tried myself.
"Don't mention it, dear. Just come get me if you need anything else."
"Will do, Madam Pince."
I settled myself at a solitary table at the far end of the library and flipped through the book, occasionally scribbling down a date or significant battle on a piece of parchment. The subject was actually quite interesting, but Binns had a talent for sucking any and all entertainment value out of a topic, no matter how fascinating. I'm sure if he hadn't been dead, he'd have been fired ages ago.
"Blaise?"
I spared the newcomer an annoyed glance before returning to my notes. "What are you doing here, Fae?"
"Well, I came to get a book on resorative draughts, but then I saw you and decided to have a chat," my aunt answered, taking a seat across from me.
"Why?"
"Do I need a reason?"
"Yes."
"You're my nephew," she said. "Isn't that reason enough?"
"No."
She smiled, nonplused. "All right. Have it your way."
She then proceded to stare at me, unblinking, while I did my notes. It was rather disturbing, but I /had/ lived with the woman for two years, after all, so it wasn't anything new.
All was quiet for several minutes, the silence broken only by the scratch of my quill on parchment. Then...
"Will you talk now?"
I gritted my teeth together. "No."
"How 'bout now?"
"No."
"Now?"
"No!" I almost yelled, earning an annoyed look from Madam Pince.
This silenced Fae for approximately three seconds.
"What about now?"
Damn that woman!
"Fine," I snapped, flinging down my quill and finally looking at her straight-on. "What is it you are so desperate to talk about?"
Fae smirked triumphantly. "What are you working on?"
I stared. Of all the things in the world, she wanted to discuss my /schoolwork/? Not trusting myself to say something civil, I simply pushed my book across the table for her to inspect.
"Ah, the Goblin-Dwarf Conflicts," she mused, flipping a couple pages. "Extremely bloody and completely pointless. Then again, what do you expect from goblins, eh?"
"What are you doing here, Fae?"
Fae gave me her patented are-you-really-that-stupid look. "I told you; I wanted to talk to you."
"No, what are you doing at Hogwarts?"
She raised an eyebrow and leaned back on her chair, arms crossed. "Teaching, obviously."
"Fae, you're not cut out to be a teacher," I said. "You hated it when you taught me, and I was your only student. How are you going to manage ten?"
"I'll just have to control my homicidal tendencies," she answered with a shrug. Glancing at her watch, she groaned. "Look, I have to get going or I'll be late for a meeting."
"You seem to be doing that a lot lately," I said lightly. "First the feast, now the meeting; you're really not setting a very good example for the children."
"Hey, the first time wasn't my fault," she said with a smile. "I had to take care of a... infestation near a village in France. Besides," she added, standing. "I shouldn't have to explain myself to you. /I'm/ the adult here and my business is my own. So there."
With that, she stuck out her tongue, turned, and strolled out of the library, leaving me to gape after her.
*******
The next afternoon found me in the Defense classroom with Draco as my only company.
"Tell me again why we came this early?" he grumbled, sitting beside me at a desk.
"Because I'm not in the mood to receive one of Fae's tantrums," I answered, pulling some blank parchment out of my bag. "And she hates when people are late."
"We wouldn't have been late anyway," Draco said, exasperated. "We could've actually had a decent meal. Remember those? Where you /eat/ the food instead of inhaling it?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm paranoid about these things. So what?"
The rest of the class eventually filtered in, with Crabbe and Goyle bringing up the rear roughly ten seconds before the bell rang.
Fae, as expected, arrived at the exact time the class was to start. She swept into the room, robes billowing out behind her, looking very much the part of a Slayer. She went through roll quickly, then faced the class.
/This should be interesting./
"As I'm sure you already know, I'm your new Defense teacher, Professor Zabini," Fae said sharply, very deep into her Teacher Mode, which I was all too familiar with. "Now, I understand your past teachers have given you a solid background on the more common dark creatures and the Unforgivables." There was a general murmur of agreement from the class. "However, it seems that you haven't been shown how to block even the simplest spells."
"Er, Professor?"
Fae's gaze locked on Pansy, whose hand was raised. "Yes?"
"Our professor from second year showed us to block at a dueling club," Pansy said. "I'm not sure if it was a /real/ block, though."
Fae raised an eyebrow. "You had Professor Lockhart, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Ah, that explains it, then. That man couldn't manage a suitable counter- charm if he was dueling against a flobberworm."
Fae spent the rest of the period showing the class the proper wand movements for blocking. It wasn't incredibly complicated, but you had to time each motion precisely.
We had an interesting time of it. Pansy kept getting the order mixed up, Cassandra kept swishing in the wrong direction, and Crabbe almost set his desk on fire. Don't ask me how; he did the same thing in Charms when we were learning /Accio/.
The only people who weren't having that much trouble were Draco, who was a fast learner, and me, who'd already learned it. By the end of the hour, nearly everyone was close to tearing their hair out in frustration.
"I suggest you practice your blocking technique before next week," Fae said, clearly irritated at the class's slow progress. "Anyone without a functioning block by the end of our next class will fail this section."
No one was sorry when the bell finally rung. In fact, some almost sprinted out of the classroom the second the period was over.
"What's her problem?" Draco complained as we strolled down the corridor towards the Ancient Runes classroom. "How are we supposed to learn a counter-charm in a week?"
I shrugged. "I don't know, but you'd better, or she'll skin you alive."
Draco thought for a moment, then turned to me, wide-eyed. "You don't think she'll /test/ us, do you?"
"I'd say it's a definite possibility." Actually, it was almost a certainty, but Draco looked panicked enough as it was. "Relax, Draco. You're already way ahead of the rest of the class."
"Yeah, but that won't matter if I still fail."
"Draco, shut up. You're not going to fail."
Draco snorted. "Really? And what makes you say that?"
"Because I won't let you, for one." Ignoring the somewhat stunned expression on Draco's face, I added, "Besides, you're one of the smartest people in our year. You'd have to /try/ to fail. Now come on, Dulry won't be too pleased if we're late to our first class with him."
*******
A/N: FINALLY done with this chapter! Party over here! Woot! Woot! I rewrote this thing about six times, went to work, came back home and decided it sucked. I'm just glad I wasn't pressed for a deadline or anything. I'm sure I'd have gone crazy trying to fix this thing on time.
Who else is getting OotP tomorrow? I'm freaking out over here because this time tomorrow I'll be reading it! Wow, I'm a loser. Anyway, this story will go on as planned, as it is now officially A/U. If there's a dance or something in OotP, I'll probably incorperate that in somehow, but otherwise this timeline is completely different.
Next Chapter: Late Night chats and Potions class. Find out why insomnia is evil, and why cappuccino should be banned. Why should you never add beetle eyes before moonlilies?
JeanB: Yes, Fae is a little psycho. She's ending up worse than I though she would, but that's her own fault. Of course there will be Gryffindors! Next chapter (I think) we'll see some of them. I agree it'd probably be cooler with Blaise arguing with them cuz Draco is in serious need of new insults.
Porphyrophobic Grape: It's kind of weird that there'd be a bunch of info on a character that's mentioned a total of ONCE in the whole series and isn't even given a gender, but then I suppose people like me /would/ put up stuff like that. As much as I'd like it, I doubt Blaise is in the movies. I mean, how would they know even what to look for? It'd be really cool if he is in there though. As long as he's a guy.
Faxton: Thanks for all the praise. I don't think I've blushed so much since I nearly fell on my butt at work and my brother laughed at me (he's so mean). Oh wait, that was yesterday... Anyway, I'm glad you're so interested in Fae because this whole chapter revolved around her. She's a little psychotic, I know. But there is a method to her madness!
stubbornarse: Ha, I'm lassooing in new people! Now you'll never be able to leave, mwahahahaa! *cackles manically*
Gkey: Quick! Get some super-glue! He's cracking up! *cough* Right. Anyway, thanks for the continued reviews!
Dreams of Magic: Whenever people say it was a nice chapter, I get this weird mental image of someone stroking a book going, "Nice chapter. Gooooood chapter. Who's a nice chapter? You are!" Don't ask why. Please, just don't. Anyway, I'm planning on updating at least once a week, so I'm hoping that's quick enough for everybody.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I almost fell off my chair when I got four reviews the first day. *wipes away a tear* I LOVE YOU GUYS!