Blaise looks at herself in the mirror in the room that she was given to
change in. They have given her dark green dress robes that seem to be made
for her. Everything from the color to the style just simply works for her.
She is staring at herself so hard in the mirror she doesn't notice someone
else come in until she hears the intake of breath. As she turns she sees
Draco staring at her. "You like?" she asks smiling, holding her arms out
while doing a quick spin.
"I knew when I saw them that the green would bring out the green in your eyes," Draco says to her as he walks over and kisses her cheek. "You look gorgeous."
"You don't look too bad yourself," Blaise gives him the once over and his robes, though black, have a slight hint of green on them, which matches hers.
"I meant what I said before, if I wasn't going to be there with you tonight I'd be in trouble," he says looking at her seriously.
"Drake could we save this for later please?" Blaise looks up at him. She knows she has to stay focused now, that they both have to stay focused now or else they won't be able to get through dinner.
He nods and puts a hand to her back to guide her out of the door. As they approach the banquet, she sees two familiar figures coming towards her.
"My darling," Her mother exclaims as she sees Blaise and pulls her into a huge hug.
Blaise slightly smiles as her mother releases her and she turns to her father to hug him too.
After releasing her, Mr. Zabini turns to Draco, "Draco thank you for bringing my daughter back. If there is anything I can do please name it."
Draco looks at him slightly in thought, "I might wish to discuss something with you. We can do it later if you would wish."
"No, no, now is fine," Mr. Zabini ushers Draco into a room. "Why don't you ladies go inside and we will meet up with you in a few moments."
Blaise and her mother embrace again, but this time her mother looks slightly troubled. Blaise whispers to her "Don't worry mum, I know what I'm doing."
Mrs. Zabini still looks troubled, but less so as she and Blaise walk into the banquet hall.
Blaise recognizes most of the people in the hall. Most are former classmates or parents of classmates. She gazes around the hall as she goes to sit down and sees a cage in the corner. The cage is full of people. Blaise is positive that is going to be tonight's entertainment and reminds herself not to eat too much or she will get sick.
Draco and her father slide into their seats just as Voldemort begins his big speak about triumphant today was. How it is wonderful that she is finally back amongst her family, where she wants to be, not with the kidnappers. She bites back a laugh many times throughout, and hopes she doesn't look too obvious doing so.
The dinner is surprisingly good, and the beauty of being a woman in the presence of Voldemort is no one expects her to speak. Women are not usually Death Eaters, and therefore, have to earn the right to speak. Blaise is content with this. She doesn't much feel like reiterating her story tonight, she is sure all of the people present have heard it throughout the day. Most of all, she doesn't want to mess it up. It hadn't been practiced too much before they got here. Dumbledore had said he didn't want it to seem rehearsed, and therefore didn't want her to practice it too much. She had seen his point, but now is grateful she doesn't have to repeat the story. She is sure that she would miss some part.
Plus she seems lost in her thoughts. This all seems too easy. All of it. From the plan, to getting in here. The plan doesn't even seem to be as thought out as she thinks it should be. There is so much missing, and she doesn't know why. Something is nagging at the back of her mind about this whole thing, but she isn't sure what.
She is jarred out of her thoughts by Draco kissing the side of her neck. He is being affectionate tonight, and she doesn't mind it. He is reassuring her in his own way.
She turns to him and graces him with a slight smile. She sees Pansy Parkinson out of the corner of her eye, and smirks at the jealous look on Pansy's face.
Draco notices her mood, "What is getting you so happy?"
"Have you noticed Pansy's face at all tonight? It seems to be frozen in a scowl more then usual," Blaise thinks about this for a moment, "Well at least more then I remember it being."
Draco tries not to laugh at this and kisses Blaise on the cheek, "She's jealous of you."
Blaise almost makes another comment when the food disappears from the table and all the men stand up. She sees Draco's face go into a passive mask, and hears Voldemort calling to her. Blaise stand up to approach him, and bows when she reaches his chair.
"Slayer," Voldemort says, "I am requesting you sit near me for tonight's entertainment. I know you are still regaining your strength, so I do not expect you to participate tonight. The next time though, I expect you to be a full participator."
"Of course my Lord," Blaise says while taking the seat that is offered to her.
"Let the entertainment begin," Voldemort says.
At this the Death Eaters (all the men at the table) move towards the cage. Two of the lower ranking Death Eaters have opened the cage, and the muggles trapped inside are attempting to escape. Every Death Eater corners a muggle or two and starts to perform torture curses on them.
Blaise can hardly keep her dinner down watching. Sure she has roughly interrogated Vampires and Demons over the years, but this is different. This is for pleasure, for pure entertainment. She is aware of Voldemort watching her every facial expression, so she schools her features into the emotionless mask that she has perfected over the years. She lets her eyes wander over the many Death Eaters, not letting them at all stop on Draco or Professor Snape. She needs to be able to trust them right now, and seeing them like this would break her trust.
It feels like the torture goes on forever, but finally the last person is dead and Blaise allows herself to breath again. Voldemort looks over to her, "Did you enjoy that my Slayer?"
"Of course my Lord," she smiles up at her.
"I will retire now, you may all return home. I will summon you when I require your presence again. Young Malfoy, keep Miss Zabini in your presence, your house is the last place the Order will look for her," Voldemort says his last order over his shoulder as he leaves the room.
People start moving around almost immediately heading towards the doors. Draco rejoins Blaise, after having taken his mask off, and lays a hand on the small of her back to guide her out the door. She says goodnight to her parents and is lead into a small library by Draco. He grabs her hand and then the necklace he is wearing and says a spell to activate his portkey.
After the tugging on her navel stops she looks around to the familiar wing of Malfoy Manor. "I take it this is your home now."
"Father got arrested years ago and had to move after escaping. He and mother now have property in the north of the country that is hidden much better, so this is mine," Draco shrugs. He leans closer to her, "I can also guarantee that there are places in this house that neither the Dark Lord nor Dumbledore can listen in to. House Elves can not even get into them."
She looks back at him with a glint in her eyes, "And we are waiting for what?"
He holds up a finger urging her to wait, and says "Laney"
A house elf appears in front of them, "Mister Draco, sir?"
"Please get two sets of cloths, one for myself and one for Miss Zabini if you could, casual if you don't mind."
"Yes Master Draco sir," Laney disappears and reappears in an instant holding two sets of clothing, "Laney hopes you like what Laney picked out."
"I'm sure it will be fine, please wait here Laney," Draco turns to Blaise, "Change out of that, I don't know what spells he puts on clothing."
Blaise nods and turns around quickly pulling off the robes and pulling on the sweat pants and zip up sweater Laney has brought for her. When she turns around Draco is putting the cloths in a pile on the table.
"Laney bring this pile upstairs to the main bedroom, we'll be in my bedroom if you need me tonight," Laney nods at this and disappears with the cloths. "Come on Lai, it's this way."
Blaise allows Draco to lead her through the house to his bedroom. He says a password to what looks like an ordinary wall, and she is amazed when it pulls back to reveal a beautifully decorated bedroom.
"This is a room I have a magical barrier around," Draco says after the wall closes, "Not even the House Elves can get into it, and no magic or muggle technology works because of the barrier around it."
"Very useful," Blaise says as she sits on the bed.
"I think so," Draco says to her looking at her. "I did mean all that I said today to you. About how you looked. And kissing you all those times, I wanted to do that. I want to do that a lot more. I think I always have."
Blaise smiles slightly at him, "Drake, I don't know what to say. Being with you these last few days has felt so natural, right even. I haven't ever been able to make a relationship work, and in the last few days I've been wondering if that's because I've always been in love with you."
"I know I've been in love with you," Draco moves closer to her on the bed and brings a hand up to her cheek. "Can I kiss you?"
Blaise smiles and moves forward more, lips slightly parting until they meet Draco's. And in that moment she knows what all the fuss is about. Why everyone talks about kisses and fireworks. Why everyone is always so sure that when you meet your soulmate you will be able to tell. She knows now that all of it isn't made up.
Her mouth parts to let Dracos tongue in and she realizes that he tastes of chocolate. She realizes she needs to breath and starts to pull away. As her eyes open she sees Draco staring at her. "Wow," she breaths slightly.
"That's along my line of thinking," he says back to her.
She looks up at him, "Think we can do that again?"
"I knew when I saw them that the green would bring out the green in your eyes," Draco says to her as he walks over and kisses her cheek. "You look gorgeous."
"You don't look too bad yourself," Blaise gives him the once over and his robes, though black, have a slight hint of green on them, which matches hers.
"I meant what I said before, if I wasn't going to be there with you tonight I'd be in trouble," he says looking at her seriously.
"Drake could we save this for later please?" Blaise looks up at him. She knows she has to stay focused now, that they both have to stay focused now or else they won't be able to get through dinner.
He nods and puts a hand to her back to guide her out of the door. As they approach the banquet, she sees two familiar figures coming towards her.
"My darling," Her mother exclaims as she sees Blaise and pulls her into a huge hug.
Blaise slightly smiles as her mother releases her and she turns to her father to hug him too.
After releasing her, Mr. Zabini turns to Draco, "Draco thank you for bringing my daughter back. If there is anything I can do please name it."
Draco looks at him slightly in thought, "I might wish to discuss something with you. We can do it later if you would wish."
"No, no, now is fine," Mr. Zabini ushers Draco into a room. "Why don't you ladies go inside and we will meet up with you in a few moments."
Blaise and her mother embrace again, but this time her mother looks slightly troubled. Blaise whispers to her "Don't worry mum, I know what I'm doing."
Mrs. Zabini still looks troubled, but less so as she and Blaise walk into the banquet hall.
Blaise recognizes most of the people in the hall. Most are former classmates or parents of classmates. She gazes around the hall as she goes to sit down and sees a cage in the corner. The cage is full of people. Blaise is positive that is going to be tonight's entertainment and reminds herself not to eat too much or she will get sick.
Draco and her father slide into their seats just as Voldemort begins his big speak about triumphant today was. How it is wonderful that she is finally back amongst her family, where she wants to be, not with the kidnappers. She bites back a laugh many times throughout, and hopes she doesn't look too obvious doing so.
The dinner is surprisingly good, and the beauty of being a woman in the presence of Voldemort is no one expects her to speak. Women are not usually Death Eaters, and therefore, have to earn the right to speak. Blaise is content with this. She doesn't much feel like reiterating her story tonight, she is sure all of the people present have heard it throughout the day. Most of all, she doesn't want to mess it up. It hadn't been practiced too much before they got here. Dumbledore had said he didn't want it to seem rehearsed, and therefore didn't want her to practice it too much. She had seen his point, but now is grateful she doesn't have to repeat the story. She is sure that she would miss some part.
Plus she seems lost in her thoughts. This all seems too easy. All of it. From the plan, to getting in here. The plan doesn't even seem to be as thought out as she thinks it should be. There is so much missing, and she doesn't know why. Something is nagging at the back of her mind about this whole thing, but she isn't sure what.
She is jarred out of her thoughts by Draco kissing the side of her neck. He is being affectionate tonight, and she doesn't mind it. He is reassuring her in his own way.
She turns to him and graces him with a slight smile. She sees Pansy Parkinson out of the corner of her eye, and smirks at the jealous look on Pansy's face.
Draco notices her mood, "What is getting you so happy?"
"Have you noticed Pansy's face at all tonight? It seems to be frozen in a scowl more then usual," Blaise thinks about this for a moment, "Well at least more then I remember it being."
Draco tries not to laugh at this and kisses Blaise on the cheek, "She's jealous of you."
Blaise almost makes another comment when the food disappears from the table and all the men stand up. She sees Draco's face go into a passive mask, and hears Voldemort calling to her. Blaise stand up to approach him, and bows when she reaches his chair.
"Slayer," Voldemort says, "I am requesting you sit near me for tonight's entertainment. I know you are still regaining your strength, so I do not expect you to participate tonight. The next time though, I expect you to be a full participator."
"Of course my Lord," Blaise says while taking the seat that is offered to her.
"Let the entertainment begin," Voldemort says.
At this the Death Eaters (all the men at the table) move towards the cage. Two of the lower ranking Death Eaters have opened the cage, and the muggles trapped inside are attempting to escape. Every Death Eater corners a muggle or two and starts to perform torture curses on them.
Blaise can hardly keep her dinner down watching. Sure she has roughly interrogated Vampires and Demons over the years, but this is different. This is for pleasure, for pure entertainment. She is aware of Voldemort watching her every facial expression, so she schools her features into the emotionless mask that she has perfected over the years. She lets her eyes wander over the many Death Eaters, not letting them at all stop on Draco or Professor Snape. She needs to be able to trust them right now, and seeing them like this would break her trust.
It feels like the torture goes on forever, but finally the last person is dead and Blaise allows herself to breath again. Voldemort looks over to her, "Did you enjoy that my Slayer?"
"Of course my Lord," she smiles up at her.
"I will retire now, you may all return home. I will summon you when I require your presence again. Young Malfoy, keep Miss Zabini in your presence, your house is the last place the Order will look for her," Voldemort says his last order over his shoulder as he leaves the room.
People start moving around almost immediately heading towards the doors. Draco rejoins Blaise, after having taken his mask off, and lays a hand on the small of her back to guide her out the door. She says goodnight to her parents and is lead into a small library by Draco. He grabs her hand and then the necklace he is wearing and says a spell to activate his portkey.
After the tugging on her navel stops she looks around to the familiar wing of Malfoy Manor. "I take it this is your home now."
"Father got arrested years ago and had to move after escaping. He and mother now have property in the north of the country that is hidden much better, so this is mine," Draco shrugs. He leans closer to her, "I can also guarantee that there are places in this house that neither the Dark Lord nor Dumbledore can listen in to. House Elves can not even get into them."
She looks back at him with a glint in her eyes, "And we are waiting for what?"
He holds up a finger urging her to wait, and says "Laney"
A house elf appears in front of them, "Mister Draco, sir?"
"Please get two sets of cloths, one for myself and one for Miss Zabini if you could, casual if you don't mind."
"Yes Master Draco sir," Laney disappears and reappears in an instant holding two sets of clothing, "Laney hopes you like what Laney picked out."
"I'm sure it will be fine, please wait here Laney," Draco turns to Blaise, "Change out of that, I don't know what spells he puts on clothing."
Blaise nods and turns around quickly pulling off the robes and pulling on the sweat pants and zip up sweater Laney has brought for her. When she turns around Draco is putting the cloths in a pile on the table.
"Laney bring this pile upstairs to the main bedroom, we'll be in my bedroom if you need me tonight," Laney nods at this and disappears with the cloths. "Come on Lai, it's this way."
Blaise allows Draco to lead her through the house to his bedroom. He says a password to what looks like an ordinary wall, and she is amazed when it pulls back to reveal a beautifully decorated bedroom.
"This is a room I have a magical barrier around," Draco says after the wall closes, "Not even the House Elves can get into it, and no magic or muggle technology works because of the barrier around it."
"Very useful," Blaise says as she sits on the bed.
"I think so," Draco says to her looking at her. "I did mean all that I said today to you. About how you looked. And kissing you all those times, I wanted to do that. I want to do that a lot more. I think I always have."
Blaise smiles slightly at him, "Drake, I don't know what to say. Being with you these last few days has felt so natural, right even. I haven't ever been able to make a relationship work, and in the last few days I've been wondering if that's because I've always been in love with you."
"I know I've been in love with you," Draco moves closer to her on the bed and brings a hand up to her cheek. "Can I kiss you?"
Blaise smiles and moves forward more, lips slightly parting until they meet Draco's. And in that moment she knows what all the fuss is about. Why everyone talks about kisses and fireworks. Why everyone is always so sure that when you meet your soulmate you will be able to tell. She knows now that all of it isn't made up.
Her mouth parts to let Dracos tongue in and she realizes that he tastes of chocolate. She realizes she needs to breath and starts to pull away. As her eyes open she sees Draco staring at her. "Wow," she breaths slightly.
"That's along my line of thinking," he says back to her.
She looks up at him, "Think we can do that again?"
