Theo had been right.
Everyone was walking around as if Sirius Black was on the loose and had been spotted in Hogsmeade. Even Lucas, the man who never seemed bothered by anything but me, was looking over his shoulder. And Dumbledore wasn't twinkling at everyone any more. Something was wrong, though no student seemed to know what it was; only the teachers, who went around looking paler than the Bloody Baron. Whatever it was, no one would tell us, even if Theo and I carefully tried to pry it out of anyone we could. When outright asked, Granger presented me with a blank face and a quick walk in the other direction.
She still hadn't given my hat back.
Maybe I'd let her keep it. For a while.
I wasn't stupid. I'd like to think I rarely was. The uneasiness had something to do with the war. Maybe things weren't going well for those who opposed Voldemort. Maybe Potter had blown a fuse and disappeared. Maybe Snape wasn't just missing any more; maybe he was dead. Whatever it was, it stayed a secret. As the secrecy wound on, and the Christmas break was slowly stuttering to a halt, my list went about everywhere; carried by owls, by hands, by word of mouth to every sixth year, if not every student in attendance at Hogwarts, and it grew. If Dumbledore would take it into consideration, we'd be getting our unconventional exams.
Judging from the rumoured length of the list, he'd have no choice.
The dreaded day before classes started, everyone was coming back. Some Flooed to Hogsmeade and walked with their trunks, some tandem-Apparated with their parents to the Three Broomsticks, and some came back by train. Draco, Millicent and Gaspar were among the former, and came dragging their own trunks from Hogsmeade. Draco had even been too lazy to lift it while walking, and had worn quite a hole in it. Gaspar had taken Millicent's trunk, and was carrying both it and his own. Millicent spent her walk dividing her time between nagging Draco for not carrying his trunk properly and making eyes at Gaspar.
"Blaise!" Draco called, waving his arm wildly, "You won't believe the Christmas I've had!"
"I find that odd; I'm a very believing person," I replied, standing on the steps of Hogwarts. "Tell me then."
"Mother said that since she's only got me to care for, she'd make this Christmas spectacular, and did she ever!" The grin on his face was so wide it looked to hurt. "I've never gotten so much gifts in my life, and the Christmas dinner was to die for!"
"Mhm." I rolled my eyes. That's basically what he told me every year after Christmas. Don't know why it would make a difference now. "Did you get the list?"
"The one about exams?" Millicent asked, "Yeah we did; got it from Tracy Davies, who got it from, of all people, Loony Lovegood. Apparently Tracy decided not even broken up Houses would stop her. Who started it?"
"I did. Lucas wouldn't tell me what the exam was, just that he needed Dumbledore's approval, and I figure that the students wishes might help." I shrugged, as I picked up Draco's trunk and carried it over my shoulder. "You still got it?"
"Nope. I sent it off to Daphne," Draco said. "She might not take Defence, and she might not talk to us any more, but it was worth a shot at least. And if we don't get it back, it would be a nice reason to twist her arms a bit."
"Hm. I'll just wait for it to come back 'round then." I mumbled.
'
Turns out I didn't have to wait too long. The first day after everyone came back, I was standing at a corner in the hallway, halfway between breakfast and Arithmancy, talking to Millicent, when she list sprouted legs and walked up to me. Well, it didn't happen exactly like that, but with the rumours flying about the list, it wouldn't be unbelievable.
It was, in fact, the definitely more credible Granger who walked up to me with the list in her hand. When it left Hogwarts, it had been maybe seven names long, but the roll of parchment she had in her hands now was heavier than any essay we'd ever handed in to Snape. I couldn't help but grin: of the Headmaster wouldn't take this into consideration, not even a tsunami would change his mind.
"Your list, Zabini." She said stiffly, handing it to me.
"Wonderful, Granger." I grinned widely, not able to help myself. "Who did you bribe to sign this monstrosity?"
"No one." She glared, suddenly angry. Who would have thought it would be so fun driving Granger up the wall. "They signed it of their own free will, as you well know, Zabini."
"Calm down, would you? Thanks for the list, by the way, but I have to get to class now. You have to as well, as I recall." Stuffing the list in my book-bag, I set off to the Arithmancy classroom. As soon as I could, I would drop it off to Lucas.
Vector still hadn't gotten over Granger and I "fighting" in the corridors, and sent me a particularly evil look when I entered. Taking a random seat, I tried to concentrate on the lesson. It was something about X:s and Y:s and equations, which I didn't really get a lot of, since Vector was talking a whole lot about her first time learning these things. A lot of anecdotes that didn't make sense even to Granger, who was sitting in front of Vector with a look of polite puzzlement on her face.
The lesson ended, and I knew about as much as I had when I entered the classroom. Which didn't amount to very much. Checking my timetable momentarily, I saw that I had just enough time to drop the list off to Lucas before my next class. I bumped into Padma Patil, mumbled something that could be taken as an apology, and walked out of the classroom. I hadn't had time to check the list, but it seemed quite substantial: judging from the length of it, all of the sixth year and a lot of the other students had signed it.
Lucas' door was open when I came around the corner, so he couldn't be having a class. Merlin knew that if he had his door open while teaching, all sorts of unholy things would come crawling out. Some of them would probably have more eyes than legs, and more arms than teeth. Besides, if his door was open, half of his students would walk out on him.
"Knock, knock," I said, knocking on the door frame.
"Who's there?" He answered without looking up from his work.
"Blaise."
"Blaise who?" He asked grumpily, and I raised my eyebrow. Was I that forgettable?
"Blaise who isn't trying to make a joke. Are you busy?"
"I might be." Finally, he looked up and realised it was me, "What do you want this time? No nervous breakdowns, I hope?"
"Nope, sorry to disappoint. I just thought I'd drop off the list of names picketing for unconventional exams." I put it on his desk. "Have there been anything like this before at Hogwarts?"
"How should I know? Do I look like your bloody history professor?" Lucas hissed, annoyed, "Go ask Binns."
His sudden outburst surprised me. Of all my professors, it was Lucas and Dumbledore I counted on to never show anything but confidence or the occasional amusement. Annoyed snapping was not on approved emotional states for either of them. They just weren't allowed. I frowned and looked at him more closely.
"What's up with you: you're worse than Snape on a bad day. Did something happen?" I questioned.
"You could say that," He breathed slowly through his nose to calm himself down. "Since I returned before Christmas, everything bad that could happen, has happened. The shit hit the fan, the devil went down to Georgia, and the camel's back broke."
"Wouldn't the devil go up to Georgia, not down?"
"Muggle-culture reference." Lucas waved it off, "Things have been not quite going our way. Fudge has been slowly shutting down the Department of Mysteries, because he's afraid something will happen there again. I'm sure you noticed they were frighteningly few when you visited. And that's not all of it either. I've got to deal with some of it, and would you mind stepping outside while I do so? I find I think better alone."
"Good luck with the devil," I muttered, stepping outside and shutting the door. "Wish Snape was back: then I wouldn't have to bother Lucas so much."
The rest of the day drifted past in a blur, everything happening normally. Millie grumbled about essays, and I did my Transfiguration homework in class, while McGonagall was watching, which was quite a feat. Bit of a sport, really. It was also rather difficult to keep myself from accidentally doing wandless magic. Gradually, the thing that was at least formally insanity was making me incapable of using a wand, though it was still possible to perform transfigurations with it, since I was only learning the less difficult spells without it.
Wandless magic was actually rather liberating, the more I thought about it. If you broke a wizard's wand, he would no longer be capable of magic, except for the most basic things, such as a vague recognition of fellow wizards and witches. Since soon I won't be able to use a wand, even if I wanted to, I won't have that problem.
Kind of neat, but kind of scary. Power corrupts, as any good Slytherin knows. Absolute power either keeps you ahead of the game, or tips you over the edge. Voldemort had first gone ahead of the game, and then gone so far over the edge he'd come up on the other side. Lucas also had power, even if Dumbledore didn't like him. Most of the time, he got his way despite that, which just proved that he knew what he was doing and could get away with it.
When the lessons and dinner were finally done with, we all retreated to the Slytherin Common Room to catch up a bit, since two of us had stayed at Hogwarts. Usually, we spend Christmas together, but obviously not this time. I sank down in one of the armchairs and half-listened as Agnes told us of her rather glum, locked-up Christmas. Apparently, her relatives still thought she was crazy. The rest of the group laughed and talked and joked, while I disappeared into a comfortable, not quite awake state, hearing them, but not listening to what they said.
This of course, led to that I didn't keep up with the topic of conversation at all. When Millicent shook my shoulder and I resurfaced into the world of the living again, they seemed to be talking about lawn ornaments. But of course, that could just have been me.
"What?" I asked. "Something the matter?"
"Yeah, you are: you haven't said a word in three hours, Blaise. We're getting a little worried about you." She told me.
"I'm fine. A bit tired, that's all. I've a headache too: I think Anja's Firewhiskey hasn't gotten out of my body yet." I rubbed my eyes.
"Anja's Friewhiskey?" Gaspar asked. "Am I the only one feeling like that went way over our heads and out the window? Who's Anja, and why did she give you Firewhiskey?"
"Have you been keeping things from us, Blaise?" Pansy asked lazily from the floor. "That's not nice. Not nice at all."
My eyes widened when I realised what I'd just said. Judging from the dangerous look in Pansy's and Millicent's eyes, I wouldn't be getting out of this as easily as I'd gotten into it. Caught like a rat in a trap, I stared at them in panic. My mind flickered over the register of lies I had at my disposal, and tried to find an appropriate one.
The stone cold truth was, definitely, not a viable option. But perhaps part of it.
"She works at the Ministry. I forget which Department, but I met her there when I was there to settle things after Father died." Amazing, how easy it was to say now, if I just ignored the fact that it still hurt like a bitch, "I went to their makeshift cafeteria, and had a cup of coffee, since the Ministry officials persisted in treating me like a six year old. She came stomping down the corridor and snatched the coffee-pot out of my hands and started complaining to the empty air." My, I was getting good at lying. I almost believed myself. "We got to talking, and when I came back the other times, I ran into her and her friends."
"Is this a secret relationship with an older woman, or have I missed the Firewhiskey part?" Theo asked.
"Get out of the gutter, Theo," I sighed wearily. "The woman is thirty-five, and no cradle-robber, despite what her brother accuses her of. My Christmas doesn't exactly merit an entry in the Hogwarts' Book of Records, and if it does, it's only because it was so bad. So I came back her earlier than I was supposed to: I flew to England, on my old Silver Arrow you remember? Well, since I was bone tired, I touched down on the closest magical property I could find. It just happened to belong to Anja's family. They're all crazy, and some of them were speaking Russian. Well, it sounded like Russian anyway. I didn't pay attention: I was busy socking Anja's brother in the nose to notice."
"You hit her brother?" Draco raised an eyebrow, "What did he do?"
"He assumed I was Anja's latest boyfriend. Assumptions like that get you very dead normally, but I didn't have the patience to find my wand, so I socked him." I shrugged. "Anja poured me a glass of Firewhiskey, perhaps to celebrate that I'd broken her brother's nose, perhaps just to pass the time. I told myself to only have one drink. One drink ended up arriving in a dozen glasses. A whole bottle by the end of that half-hour. Thank Merlin my mother isn't the only one in the family with a knack for sounding sober when pissed."
Silence settled for a while after I'd finished speaking. Maybe I'd lied too much. Maybe I'd told them too much of the truth, and now their brains were damaged. Lucas would kill me if I reduced the thinking part of the Slytherin sixth year to gibbering lunatics.
"Now would be your cue for a reaction." I piped up.
"We don't exactly know what to say, Blaise." Millicent grinned suddenly. "Your torrid affair with a Ministry employee has us stumped."
"Argh! What is it with you people and wanting me to shag random women?" I stood up and started pacing the floor. "Is it some petty revenge for keeping things from you?"
"Blaise, you haven't had a girlfriend since you were five years old, and I broke up with you because you stole my dolls," Millicent pointed out, "You can't blame us for wanting you to get some action."
"Those dolls were needed to complete my experiment, thank you very much." I snapped. "And you haven't had a boyfriend since you were five either Millie, though it's not for lack of trying." I threw a pointed look at Gaspar.
"What?" He asked, confused. "What do I have to do with all this?"
"Nothing." I grumbled. "I'm going to leave now, so that you can shop for a girlfriend for me all by yourselves."
And so I left. The conversation with Millicent and the others had wound me up tight, and I really needed a cigarette, but it was still snowing outside since it was January, so I'd have to settle for a cup of coffee if I could get to the kitchen without getting caught. But it wouldn't be a good idea, since Filch had a nasty habit of patrolling around the kitchen after dinner.
I turned and walked the other way, up towards the Great Hall. It wasn't curfew yet, but Filch would get suspicious if I hung around the kitchen. Might as well see how the Great Hall looked after dark. Pushing the door to the dark Hall open, I walked over to the first table. At night, the House- banners were stored away Dumbledore knows where, and the tables just stood around like regular pieces of wood. I sat down on the table, since I was too lazy to find out what they did to the benches at night, and watched the ceiling.
It had stopped snowing, and the heavy clouds were breaking up. Beyond them I could see the clearest sky dotted with stars like crushed diamonds on blue velvet. A bit florid, perhaps, but it certainly fit the look of the sky. Besides, I needed to be distracted from the fact that my friends were probably planning who to set me up with down in the dungeons. I craned my neck and kept staring at the ceiling quietly. It wasn't as if there was someone to speak to anyway.
"Zabini?"
I could be wrong of course. I turned around and met the eyes of Hermione Granger.
"Yes?"
"I came to return your hat." She held it up, "You remember you gave it to me over the break."
I looked at the black hat in her hands, and, despite my own better judgement, smiled and made a decision I would never have made had I gotten my coffee. I turned back to the ceiling.
"Keep it. I'll claim it when I need it." I said. "Till then, you can have it."
"Right," She mumbled, cradling the hat in her arms. "I'll just go and do my homework then."
"You do that." I said cheerfully, still not looking at her.
I watched her leave, her shoulders slumped and mumbling to herself. Just as the doors closed, I saw her hold the hat up and stare at it. She certainly was odd. When other people were around, she would be stiff and stand- offish, but when we ran into each other after curfew, or when no one else was there, she'd be awkwardly friendly and polite. She puzzled me, she really did. It called for a more serious investigation, but I had neither the time nor the energy to do so. Maybe sometime when I hadn't just been disowned by my family, hadn't yet gotten over my father's death and wasn't still annoyed with my House-mates.
She had my hat. That meant I had a hold on her.
Maybe life wasn't too bad at the moment.
'
Ending Notes: This chapter is a bit shorter than I'd like it to be, but I need to get the plot rolling now, or I'll never be finished. I've got most of the general plot-line for the third part of this trilogy, and I know most of what I'm going to write in this part after school's out. I've even got a few of the exams planned. But from here to exams, I'm going to need to do a bit of planning.
Everyone was walking around as if Sirius Black was on the loose and had been spotted in Hogsmeade. Even Lucas, the man who never seemed bothered by anything but me, was looking over his shoulder. And Dumbledore wasn't twinkling at everyone any more. Something was wrong, though no student seemed to know what it was; only the teachers, who went around looking paler than the Bloody Baron. Whatever it was, no one would tell us, even if Theo and I carefully tried to pry it out of anyone we could. When outright asked, Granger presented me with a blank face and a quick walk in the other direction.
She still hadn't given my hat back.
Maybe I'd let her keep it. For a while.
I wasn't stupid. I'd like to think I rarely was. The uneasiness had something to do with the war. Maybe things weren't going well for those who opposed Voldemort. Maybe Potter had blown a fuse and disappeared. Maybe Snape wasn't just missing any more; maybe he was dead. Whatever it was, it stayed a secret. As the secrecy wound on, and the Christmas break was slowly stuttering to a halt, my list went about everywhere; carried by owls, by hands, by word of mouth to every sixth year, if not every student in attendance at Hogwarts, and it grew. If Dumbledore would take it into consideration, we'd be getting our unconventional exams.
Judging from the rumoured length of the list, he'd have no choice.
The dreaded day before classes started, everyone was coming back. Some Flooed to Hogsmeade and walked with their trunks, some tandem-Apparated with their parents to the Three Broomsticks, and some came back by train. Draco, Millicent and Gaspar were among the former, and came dragging their own trunks from Hogsmeade. Draco had even been too lazy to lift it while walking, and had worn quite a hole in it. Gaspar had taken Millicent's trunk, and was carrying both it and his own. Millicent spent her walk dividing her time between nagging Draco for not carrying his trunk properly and making eyes at Gaspar.
"Blaise!" Draco called, waving his arm wildly, "You won't believe the Christmas I've had!"
"I find that odd; I'm a very believing person," I replied, standing on the steps of Hogwarts. "Tell me then."
"Mother said that since she's only got me to care for, she'd make this Christmas spectacular, and did she ever!" The grin on his face was so wide it looked to hurt. "I've never gotten so much gifts in my life, and the Christmas dinner was to die for!"
"Mhm." I rolled my eyes. That's basically what he told me every year after Christmas. Don't know why it would make a difference now. "Did you get the list?"
"The one about exams?" Millicent asked, "Yeah we did; got it from Tracy Davies, who got it from, of all people, Loony Lovegood. Apparently Tracy decided not even broken up Houses would stop her. Who started it?"
"I did. Lucas wouldn't tell me what the exam was, just that he needed Dumbledore's approval, and I figure that the students wishes might help." I shrugged, as I picked up Draco's trunk and carried it over my shoulder. "You still got it?"
"Nope. I sent it off to Daphne," Draco said. "She might not take Defence, and she might not talk to us any more, but it was worth a shot at least. And if we don't get it back, it would be a nice reason to twist her arms a bit."
"Hm. I'll just wait for it to come back 'round then." I mumbled.
'
Turns out I didn't have to wait too long. The first day after everyone came back, I was standing at a corner in the hallway, halfway between breakfast and Arithmancy, talking to Millicent, when she list sprouted legs and walked up to me. Well, it didn't happen exactly like that, but with the rumours flying about the list, it wouldn't be unbelievable.
It was, in fact, the definitely more credible Granger who walked up to me with the list in her hand. When it left Hogwarts, it had been maybe seven names long, but the roll of parchment she had in her hands now was heavier than any essay we'd ever handed in to Snape. I couldn't help but grin: of the Headmaster wouldn't take this into consideration, not even a tsunami would change his mind.
"Your list, Zabini." She said stiffly, handing it to me.
"Wonderful, Granger." I grinned widely, not able to help myself. "Who did you bribe to sign this monstrosity?"
"No one." She glared, suddenly angry. Who would have thought it would be so fun driving Granger up the wall. "They signed it of their own free will, as you well know, Zabini."
"Calm down, would you? Thanks for the list, by the way, but I have to get to class now. You have to as well, as I recall." Stuffing the list in my book-bag, I set off to the Arithmancy classroom. As soon as I could, I would drop it off to Lucas.
Vector still hadn't gotten over Granger and I "fighting" in the corridors, and sent me a particularly evil look when I entered. Taking a random seat, I tried to concentrate on the lesson. It was something about X:s and Y:s and equations, which I didn't really get a lot of, since Vector was talking a whole lot about her first time learning these things. A lot of anecdotes that didn't make sense even to Granger, who was sitting in front of Vector with a look of polite puzzlement on her face.
The lesson ended, and I knew about as much as I had when I entered the classroom. Which didn't amount to very much. Checking my timetable momentarily, I saw that I had just enough time to drop the list off to Lucas before my next class. I bumped into Padma Patil, mumbled something that could be taken as an apology, and walked out of the classroom. I hadn't had time to check the list, but it seemed quite substantial: judging from the length of it, all of the sixth year and a lot of the other students had signed it.
Lucas' door was open when I came around the corner, so he couldn't be having a class. Merlin knew that if he had his door open while teaching, all sorts of unholy things would come crawling out. Some of them would probably have more eyes than legs, and more arms than teeth. Besides, if his door was open, half of his students would walk out on him.
"Knock, knock," I said, knocking on the door frame.
"Who's there?" He answered without looking up from his work.
"Blaise."
"Blaise who?" He asked grumpily, and I raised my eyebrow. Was I that forgettable?
"Blaise who isn't trying to make a joke. Are you busy?"
"I might be." Finally, he looked up and realised it was me, "What do you want this time? No nervous breakdowns, I hope?"
"Nope, sorry to disappoint. I just thought I'd drop off the list of names picketing for unconventional exams." I put it on his desk. "Have there been anything like this before at Hogwarts?"
"How should I know? Do I look like your bloody history professor?" Lucas hissed, annoyed, "Go ask Binns."
His sudden outburst surprised me. Of all my professors, it was Lucas and Dumbledore I counted on to never show anything but confidence or the occasional amusement. Annoyed snapping was not on approved emotional states for either of them. They just weren't allowed. I frowned and looked at him more closely.
"What's up with you: you're worse than Snape on a bad day. Did something happen?" I questioned.
"You could say that," He breathed slowly through his nose to calm himself down. "Since I returned before Christmas, everything bad that could happen, has happened. The shit hit the fan, the devil went down to Georgia, and the camel's back broke."
"Wouldn't the devil go up to Georgia, not down?"
"Muggle-culture reference." Lucas waved it off, "Things have been not quite going our way. Fudge has been slowly shutting down the Department of Mysteries, because he's afraid something will happen there again. I'm sure you noticed they were frighteningly few when you visited. And that's not all of it either. I've got to deal with some of it, and would you mind stepping outside while I do so? I find I think better alone."
"Good luck with the devil," I muttered, stepping outside and shutting the door. "Wish Snape was back: then I wouldn't have to bother Lucas so much."
The rest of the day drifted past in a blur, everything happening normally. Millie grumbled about essays, and I did my Transfiguration homework in class, while McGonagall was watching, which was quite a feat. Bit of a sport, really. It was also rather difficult to keep myself from accidentally doing wandless magic. Gradually, the thing that was at least formally insanity was making me incapable of using a wand, though it was still possible to perform transfigurations with it, since I was only learning the less difficult spells without it.
Wandless magic was actually rather liberating, the more I thought about it. If you broke a wizard's wand, he would no longer be capable of magic, except for the most basic things, such as a vague recognition of fellow wizards and witches. Since soon I won't be able to use a wand, even if I wanted to, I won't have that problem.
Kind of neat, but kind of scary. Power corrupts, as any good Slytherin knows. Absolute power either keeps you ahead of the game, or tips you over the edge. Voldemort had first gone ahead of the game, and then gone so far over the edge he'd come up on the other side. Lucas also had power, even if Dumbledore didn't like him. Most of the time, he got his way despite that, which just proved that he knew what he was doing and could get away with it.
When the lessons and dinner were finally done with, we all retreated to the Slytherin Common Room to catch up a bit, since two of us had stayed at Hogwarts. Usually, we spend Christmas together, but obviously not this time. I sank down in one of the armchairs and half-listened as Agnes told us of her rather glum, locked-up Christmas. Apparently, her relatives still thought she was crazy. The rest of the group laughed and talked and joked, while I disappeared into a comfortable, not quite awake state, hearing them, but not listening to what they said.
This of course, led to that I didn't keep up with the topic of conversation at all. When Millicent shook my shoulder and I resurfaced into the world of the living again, they seemed to be talking about lawn ornaments. But of course, that could just have been me.
"What?" I asked. "Something the matter?"
"Yeah, you are: you haven't said a word in three hours, Blaise. We're getting a little worried about you." She told me.
"I'm fine. A bit tired, that's all. I've a headache too: I think Anja's Firewhiskey hasn't gotten out of my body yet." I rubbed my eyes.
"Anja's Friewhiskey?" Gaspar asked. "Am I the only one feeling like that went way over our heads and out the window? Who's Anja, and why did she give you Firewhiskey?"
"Have you been keeping things from us, Blaise?" Pansy asked lazily from the floor. "That's not nice. Not nice at all."
My eyes widened when I realised what I'd just said. Judging from the dangerous look in Pansy's and Millicent's eyes, I wouldn't be getting out of this as easily as I'd gotten into it. Caught like a rat in a trap, I stared at them in panic. My mind flickered over the register of lies I had at my disposal, and tried to find an appropriate one.
The stone cold truth was, definitely, not a viable option. But perhaps part of it.
"She works at the Ministry. I forget which Department, but I met her there when I was there to settle things after Father died." Amazing, how easy it was to say now, if I just ignored the fact that it still hurt like a bitch, "I went to their makeshift cafeteria, and had a cup of coffee, since the Ministry officials persisted in treating me like a six year old. She came stomping down the corridor and snatched the coffee-pot out of my hands and started complaining to the empty air." My, I was getting good at lying. I almost believed myself. "We got to talking, and when I came back the other times, I ran into her and her friends."
"Is this a secret relationship with an older woman, or have I missed the Firewhiskey part?" Theo asked.
"Get out of the gutter, Theo," I sighed wearily. "The woman is thirty-five, and no cradle-robber, despite what her brother accuses her of. My Christmas doesn't exactly merit an entry in the Hogwarts' Book of Records, and if it does, it's only because it was so bad. So I came back her earlier than I was supposed to: I flew to England, on my old Silver Arrow you remember? Well, since I was bone tired, I touched down on the closest magical property I could find. It just happened to belong to Anja's family. They're all crazy, and some of them were speaking Russian. Well, it sounded like Russian anyway. I didn't pay attention: I was busy socking Anja's brother in the nose to notice."
"You hit her brother?" Draco raised an eyebrow, "What did he do?"
"He assumed I was Anja's latest boyfriend. Assumptions like that get you very dead normally, but I didn't have the patience to find my wand, so I socked him." I shrugged. "Anja poured me a glass of Firewhiskey, perhaps to celebrate that I'd broken her brother's nose, perhaps just to pass the time. I told myself to only have one drink. One drink ended up arriving in a dozen glasses. A whole bottle by the end of that half-hour. Thank Merlin my mother isn't the only one in the family with a knack for sounding sober when pissed."
Silence settled for a while after I'd finished speaking. Maybe I'd lied too much. Maybe I'd told them too much of the truth, and now their brains were damaged. Lucas would kill me if I reduced the thinking part of the Slytherin sixth year to gibbering lunatics.
"Now would be your cue for a reaction." I piped up.
"We don't exactly know what to say, Blaise." Millicent grinned suddenly. "Your torrid affair with a Ministry employee has us stumped."
"Argh! What is it with you people and wanting me to shag random women?" I stood up and started pacing the floor. "Is it some petty revenge for keeping things from you?"
"Blaise, you haven't had a girlfriend since you were five years old, and I broke up with you because you stole my dolls," Millicent pointed out, "You can't blame us for wanting you to get some action."
"Those dolls were needed to complete my experiment, thank you very much." I snapped. "And you haven't had a boyfriend since you were five either Millie, though it's not for lack of trying." I threw a pointed look at Gaspar.
"What?" He asked, confused. "What do I have to do with all this?"
"Nothing." I grumbled. "I'm going to leave now, so that you can shop for a girlfriend for me all by yourselves."
And so I left. The conversation with Millicent and the others had wound me up tight, and I really needed a cigarette, but it was still snowing outside since it was January, so I'd have to settle for a cup of coffee if I could get to the kitchen without getting caught. But it wouldn't be a good idea, since Filch had a nasty habit of patrolling around the kitchen after dinner.
I turned and walked the other way, up towards the Great Hall. It wasn't curfew yet, but Filch would get suspicious if I hung around the kitchen. Might as well see how the Great Hall looked after dark. Pushing the door to the dark Hall open, I walked over to the first table. At night, the House- banners were stored away Dumbledore knows where, and the tables just stood around like regular pieces of wood. I sat down on the table, since I was too lazy to find out what they did to the benches at night, and watched the ceiling.
It had stopped snowing, and the heavy clouds were breaking up. Beyond them I could see the clearest sky dotted with stars like crushed diamonds on blue velvet. A bit florid, perhaps, but it certainly fit the look of the sky. Besides, I needed to be distracted from the fact that my friends were probably planning who to set me up with down in the dungeons. I craned my neck and kept staring at the ceiling quietly. It wasn't as if there was someone to speak to anyway.
"Zabini?"
I could be wrong of course. I turned around and met the eyes of Hermione Granger.
"Yes?"
"I came to return your hat." She held it up, "You remember you gave it to me over the break."
I looked at the black hat in her hands, and, despite my own better judgement, smiled and made a decision I would never have made had I gotten my coffee. I turned back to the ceiling.
"Keep it. I'll claim it when I need it." I said. "Till then, you can have it."
"Right," She mumbled, cradling the hat in her arms. "I'll just go and do my homework then."
"You do that." I said cheerfully, still not looking at her.
I watched her leave, her shoulders slumped and mumbling to herself. Just as the doors closed, I saw her hold the hat up and stare at it. She certainly was odd. When other people were around, she would be stiff and stand- offish, but when we ran into each other after curfew, or when no one else was there, she'd be awkwardly friendly and polite. She puzzled me, she really did. It called for a more serious investigation, but I had neither the time nor the energy to do so. Maybe sometime when I hadn't just been disowned by my family, hadn't yet gotten over my father's death and wasn't still annoyed with my House-mates.
She had my hat. That meant I had a hold on her.
Maybe life wasn't too bad at the moment.
'
Ending Notes: This chapter is a bit shorter than I'd like it to be, but I need to get the plot rolling now, or I'll never be finished. I've got most of the general plot-line for the third part of this trilogy, and I know most of what I'm going to write in this part after school's out. I've even got a few of the exams planned. But from here to exams, I'm going to need to do a bit of planning.