Yay! This was a quick, quick update (warning: don't expect them to come up this quickly in the future). Hmm... so I received a lot of positive feedback, which was nice! Do you know what's weird? I'm starting to like Draco in this story more than I like Blaise (obnoxious, arrogant little prick). But not in an, "Oh I like Draco so much I'm going to turn him into a redeemed!Draco and have him kissing Dumbledore's feet by the end of the fic." No no no... Slytherins do not suddenly give up their dark ways and start spouting poetry to their dearly beloved Gryffindors just like that. They just don't. So with that in mind, remember that Blaise will not become "redeemed" in the way that a lot of fics do to Slytherin characters. But that's not to mean that all Slytherins are bad, right? They have personalities and friends and complexities in their beliefs as well (with that said, I'd like to say that I like Pansy in this fic better than the usual "pug-faced, airheaded Parkinson"stereotype).
I can actually say a lot about things I don't like in fanfiction, but let me just rant on one thing: slash. I don't like it. Not that I have a thing against homosexuality; I just don't like reading about my favorite characters doing things that are so ooc. For example, Snape/Harry makes me twitch and shudder and want to cry. That's all I have to say.
And as for my supposed penchant for "violent girls"? Well, I shall defend myself by saying that yes, Ginny in The Fine Art of Failing is definitely a violent girl, but I'd like to think that Lisa Turpin was just defending herself. She's not psychotically violent, but she's tough, and she's not going to let herself be pushed around.
Thank you so much to: Reina del Noche, elvengirl9, BrownPryde, goldseraph, Morgain Lestrage, labryinth, Tru Lys, Chantal J and Ms. Realista.
Georgentosser- Thank you for your kind review! I've decided to continue, so I hope you enjoy this!
Kingmaker- Ah, my mistake with the first week of school thing. I was just thinking of this one nearby all-girls school (our rivals, actually) who started school Sept. 20th (we started August 16th, those lucky cows). So it was a stupid mistake on my part. However, it shouldn't really affect the story terribly. Yes, I agree with you, Blaise is a terrible person in this fic (annoying, whiny, stupid little boy!), but it's an amusing fic to write and so I'll continue. Thanks for you review!
Sabine Strohem-Moss- Oh thank you for following my other fics! Anyways, I definitely agree with you; Blaise has so much potential. I hope you enjoy this chapter and the fic as a whole too!
Miss Court-A-Doo- Haha, glad you're enjoying this (and finding Blaise a ridiculous person as well). Lisa Turpin is indeed in the books, but just barely mentioned. I thought she'd be a really fun character to expand on, so here you go!
Please read and review. Review review review!
"Oh, where in the world is my wand?!"
Lisa scampered around the girls' dormitory, searching desperately for her school supplies. Due to an exceedingly nasty Potions essay that she had stayed up until three in the morning to complete, the poor girl had accidentally overslept and was now frantically trying to get ready for class, which began in fifteen minutes. She emptied her book bag onto her bed and sifted through the pile of books, parchment and quills, picking out what she needed for the day. She then grabbed several books from her nightstand for that day's classes and continued on her hunt for her wand.
Finally (with five minutes to spare!), she triumphantly pulled it out from under her bed and sprinted out of the dormitory, rushing down the hallway to Charms.
As she breathlessly stepped into the classroom (forty-seven seconds to spare!) she noticed with dread that today the Ravenclaws had class with the Slytherins.
Ugh, she thought. At least it's not a double period.
She scanned the classroom for empty seats and realized with dismay that there was only one-
-Right next to that horrible, insufferable prat Zabini.
Reluctantly, she trudged over to the desk, tossed her book bag down onto the table and sat down, pointedly ignoring the boy.
She breathed in relief when he merely flinched as she sat down, avoiding eye contact with her as much as possible.
I'm going to die; I'm going to die; I'm going to die.
Those were the thoughts swimming about in Blaise's frenzied brain as he watched the girl sit down. She pulled out her book, several sheets of parchment and a quill (he winced slightly as she drew it out of her book bag with relish, the malicious glint in her eye not lost on him at all) and set her wand down in front of her neatly.
She then proceeded to fold her hands on the table, cross her legs, and sit up straight as she smiled softly at Professor Flitwick, waiting for the lesson to begin.
Goodness, but she was a deceptive little witch.
Professor Flitwick eagerly introduced the class to that day's lesson, which was apparently learning to do wandless magic.
"So," he instructed, "You all must remember wingardium leviosa, which you learnt as first years. Today you'll be trying to do it without your wands."
And with that, he walked about and passed out a feather to each pair of students.
Placing her wand back into her book bag, Lisa turned to look intently at the feather resting on the desk between her and that insufferable idiot of a boy. She bit her lip as she prepared to concentrate deeply on the feather and recite the incantation.
Unfortunately, at that moment, Blaise Zabini remembered the "good deed" that he wished to carry out, which was to treat muggleborns with pity rather than contempt.
"Wouldn't you like me to go first?" he asked as kindly as he could, smiling down at the girl rather like one would smile at a very young child. "Perhaps you'll learn and be able to at least lift the feather a bit."
Lisa whipped her head around to look at him, her eyes narrowed as she clutched the side of the table rather threateningly. "Do you mean," she asked, her voice low and controlled, "That you don't think I can do it?"
"Well," Blaise replied, completely oblivious to her simmering anger, "You know, pure blood has more magic flowing through it, so I'd be a terrific choice if you wanted someone to show you how to perform a charm."
Lisa gritted her teeth together, turned her head so that her hair hid her absolutely murderous expression from that conceited prick of a boy, and glared at the innocent little feather lying on the desk.
"Wingardium leviosa."
The feather rose, floating up until it was at eye level with her. She slowly guided it downwards with her eyes, watching with satisfaction as it landed on the desk once again.
Gawking, the dark haired boy sitting beside her stared as she performed the spell perfectly.
She turned to him, raising a single eyebrow as she smiled briefly. The expression on his face was really quite priceless. Well? What do you have to say now, you prejudiced git?!
After a moment of silence, Blaise cleared his throat, trying his best to look as dignified as possible. "Ah," he muttered, trying to salvage what little pride he had left, "Some muggles have incredible aptitude and are able to perform simple spells, but of course, purebloods are always better."
To prove his point, he fixed his eyes on the feather and said loudly, with as much bravado and pride as a pureblood could muster, "WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!"
Every pair of eyes in the classroom quickly fixed themselves on him, and a startled Professor Flitwick fell off his desk with an "eep".
And much to Blaise's horror, the feather barely lifted from the desk. In fact, it gave a rather sickly lurch to the side that was barely noticeable and settled down once again.
He heard Lisa burst into a fit of giggles beside him. He lifted his head (well aware that his cheeks were burning at the moment- even though Slytherins weren't supposed to blush) and ventured a glance around the classroom.
At once, he wished that he hadn't. Every Ravenclaw in the room seemed to be either laughing hysterically or trying very hard not to laugh hysterically, and it was a worse reaction among the Slytherins. They were shaking their heads in disappointment, and several refused to even look in his direction. Pansy caught his eye and frowned in disapproval and turned away quickly.
Blaise huffed.
Apparently his attempt to prove that aggravating little witch wrong had gone completely unappreciated. Well fine. Really, people never recognized him for the brilliant boy he really was.
In his moment of greatest embarrassment, Lisa Turpin decided to make it a little worse.
"Well?" she asked, leaning over to look him in the eye, her eyes twinkling in amusement as she absently tucked a stray lock of dark hair behind her ear. "Where's that natural pureblood talent, eh?"
He could take no more.
Blaise proceeded to do a very undignified thing. With a wail of despair, he buried his face in his arms and cried, in a muffled voice, "Leave me alone!"
No, of course he wasn't being childish at all.
Apparently, that Ravenclaw witch didn't seem to be fazed at all. Instead, she patted him on the head in a rather demeaning way and cooed (loud enough for the entire class to hear) words of "comfort". "Oh poor Blaise," she clucked sympathetically. "You poor, poor dear. Are you crying because you couldn't do the spell by yourself? Don't worry, I'll teach you if you'd like."
She was a cruel, cruel girl.
Blaise could actually hear the horrified gasps from the other Slytherins around the room. This was horrible; he was going to be treated as their embarrassment after this.
Whipping his head up, he protested, "I'm not crying!"
Of course he wasn't being childish. Of course not.
This, much to his confusion, evoked another fresh round of laughter from the other students.
What he didn't realize, of course, was that he looked rather comical. The normally reserved, perpetually in black Slytherin's hair was mussed up, his face was red with embarrassment, and he was actually pouting petulantly.
Lisa burst into giggles again.
Her day was certainly looking up.
She was in high spirits for the rest of the class period. Not only was wandless magic absolutely fascinating (she beamed with pride as she remembered Professor Flitwick's words of praise), but also that stupid Slytherin boy had been absolutely miserable the whole time.
Well, he certainly got what he deserved.
Almost, that is.
Lisa Turpin, who had never served a detention in her life, received excellent marks in all of her classes and was well liked by most of the student body, had a secret fondness for revenge.
And oh boy, was Blaise Zabini going to get it.
Blaise Zabini sighed self-pityingly as he forlornly made his way towards the Slytherin table for lunch. Not that he wanted to be there at all. From the disdainful looks that most of his classmates had thrown his way after class, he had a feeling that it would be a rather nasty lecture he was in for.
Most likely it would begin with something about how he was a disgrace to the pureblood name, and blah blah blah...
No one really appreciated him, and that was quite a shame.
He sat down casually next to Draco Malfoy and eagerly filled his goblet of pumpkin juice, immediately cheering up a bit. Food was always a good thing.
However, at that moment, his blond friend turned to him.
"So Zabini," Draco drawled, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. "That was some display of excellent spellwork in Charms, eh?"
Blaise stuffed his mouth with turkey irritably, feeling his cheeks burn up once again. "Oh sod off," he finally muttered.
"Don't chew with your mouth full," Draco responded cheekily.
Git.
"Yes, Mum," Blaise responded sarcastically. However, he remembered to swallow before he spoke that time.
Of course, Draco being the excellent friend that he was, decided to persist in his teasing. "Oh yes," he sighed, turning his eyes upward as he clutched a hand to his chest dramatically, "What was that unexpected bout of passion for, Blaise? Were you declaring your love to that feather? Or were you simply trying to threaten that Ravenclaw mudblood? I must say," he relaxed his posture as he smirked once again. "I don't think you were quite successful at all."
The rest of his friends (who had been listening in the whole time) sniggered appreciatively.
And of course, Blaise, who couldn't stand getting his pride hurt at all, had to open his mouth and talk again. "Of course she was afraid of me!" he scoffed, glaring at the still snorting Crabbe and Goyle as convincingly as he could. "I threatened her," he copied Malfoy's confident smirk, "And she was absolutely terrified of me during that lesson."
Pansy leaned languidly over the table, her dark eyes flashing in amusement. "Oh of course," she replied in mock-seriousness. "That would certainly explain why she made an absolute fool of you."
Draco grinned, pecking her on the cheek as he regarded her admiringly.
Pansy blushed and smiled back, leaning in to rest her head on his shoulder.
Blaise wrinkled his nose in distaste. Really, sometimes those two could be so disgustingly sweet to each other that you'd think they were Hufflepuffs, for god's sake.
"Of course, Zabini," Draco helpfully added, "When someone's especially terrified of you, they do tend to baby you and comfort you when you're in tears."
Blaise pouted some more. "I wasn't in tears," he protested, but the other Slytherins simply gave him knowing smirks.
Sure, they seemed to say.
Blaise took one look at them and groaned inwardly.
God, he needed some more turkey.