A/N: I bored everyone with the Arrivals of the Schools, I know, but I have some good news. I reread what Alex wrote about the Feast before the Start of the Tournament and I have decided that I don't need to put that in. So, on to the good stuff…..Blaise.

Like it was most afternoons, Common Room was quiet. Only the turning of pages or the mumbling of spell words interrupted the silence. Since it was a nice day, many of her housemates were outside. Some of them were certain to be hanging around the foreign students, allowing them to curry favor with the purebloods, but there were a few in Common Room actually studying. Tania was a part of this last group.

Spread out in front of her were quills, extra paper, equations, and other notes. She had her nose buried in her book. It was a long tome, describing the technical process of Apparating. It also explained some of the Apparation Network. A green and sliver bound book lay next to the tome, filled with her neat, careful handwriting. She was copying anything relevant into her book. It was half full, which was good. She needed to understand this expertly if she wanted to finish her Project.

BANG!

Tania was startled out of her study by the sound of books being dropped on the table right in front of her. Her quill tip broke as she jumped. Tania hurriedly looked up to see Blaise Zabini dejectedly sliding into a chair across from her with a dramatic sigh. The younger Slytherin frantically tried to come up with a reason that he would have chosen to sit with her. Alex was nowhere to be seen, but Blaise always knew where she was.

"My life is over!" he declared, "Unless you can save me." Tania stared at him for several long moments, then looked around quickly to see if Blaise was really talking to her. There was no one else nearby. She had chosen a secluded corner to work, out of the way of traffic. It seemed clear that Blaise was talking to her.

"Can you believe that Alex abandoned me? For one of her….Projects." he continued. Alex was doing a project? Tania could understand how engrossing a project was. It tended to take up a lot of one's time. She seriously doubted, however, that Blaise was being truly abandoned. A Bellmonte abandoning an ally? A friend? Unthinkable. But, Blaise apparently wanted her to answer him.

"I'm sure she'll be finished soon," she ventured quietly. Blaise sighed again and put his head down on his books.

"No," he moaned, "She won't. She won't be done until after Hogsmeade. She has no care for my time, my efforts, my reputation, or my pocketbook. All of my plans are ruined!"

Tania once again glanced around the Common Room for anyone else who could help Blaise. She didn't know what to do. What did he want her to say? She didn't deal with boys. They were all bad news….except Hunter, but he wasn't a boy, like the others were. He was just Hunter.

"I'm sorry," she said, "Perhaps you can reschedule your plans?" There, a decent suggestion. Maybe now he would leave her alone. He would jump up and say, 'of course. I'll go right now.' and he'd rush away and let her to get back to her work. Unfortunately, Tania's dreams hardly ever came true, and Blaise, obviously, was not inclined to oblige her.

"No, no," he protested, "That won't do." He looked up at Tania. "You see I have reservations for two at Mistress Monocarp's Munchies. Those are impossible to get. I had the whole weekend planned."

Ok, you can stop looking at me now, Tania ordered him silently You're freaking me out! What now?

"Can't you take someone else?" she asked. His eyes lit up and he grinned one of his most charming grins.

Suddenly he reached out and snatched her hand. "Why yes! Yes I can. And since you had that wonderful idea, it shall be you." He said it like a king bestowing a great favor, but with a grin on his face. "I shall take you with me. Oh, please, my dearest darling Tania, won't you save me from this dreadful fate? It will mean ever so much if you would just say yes."

She froze and the blood drained out of her face. She didn't want to, but she did. Go with Blaise to Hogsmeade? Oh, that would never work. She couldn't put him at risk. Falon would…she shied away from that. How could she back down? If he would just stop holding her hand, she could think, but it would be beyond rude to pull free.

"I, um, Blaise, as much as I appreciate to offer…." Tania began, but was cut off.

"I knew you'd say yes! Besides, I don't remember seeing you at the last Hogsmeade weekend, and since you're a Third Year now, someone had better show you around. Wouldn't want you to get lost." He grinned again and the protest she had been intending to say, died on her lips.

"I didn't go to Hogsmeade last time. I stayed back with Hunter. He… didn't want me to go alone." She said, softly.

"Well, that settles it. You won't be alone, you'll be with me. I'll take good care of you… Maybe I should talk to Hunter, your very protective brother. Not that I mind, I understand completely." Suspicion grew in the back of her mind. This was a little too neat, a little too planned.

"What was the bet?" Tania asked. He looked puzzled, but then all Slytherins were good actors, it came with the territory.

"Bet?" he repeated, "Which bet are you referring to?" She sighed and gave him a Look. He knew what she was talking about.

"The bet about me." Tania clarified. He paused and seemed to seriously consider her statement.

"Bet about you? I bet on…with Malcolm and then there was that bet with Draco and Alex, but that one is over and, hmm… Nope, no bet about you," he replied cheerfully.

"You bet with someone about taking me to Hogsmeade." Tania said, disdaining him for his lies. Did he think she was that stupid? That she wouldn't have seen through him? Wait, could he be telling the truth? That was impossible… he wouldn't have just sought her out. No one sought her out except her brothers. But what if…

Slightly panicking now, since he still was going on and acting like he was serious. She couldn't think of what his motive was, but there didn't seem to be any way to find out. Tania tried to come up with anything that might stop him. She could tell Hunter to say no, but that was not honorable. She could get sick….oldest trick in the book. He'd see through that. Be forced to stay back… the only way she could think to do that was a detention., but Hunter would be disappointed in her and Father and Falon would be furious! The youngest Dethart had a sudden burst of inspiration.

"What about Alex?" she asked, "Won't she object to me going with you? You two are best friends, after all." There, that might work….but no, Blaise was shaking his head.

"Ah, Alex won't mind. She isn't aware of anything once she starts a project. Besides, she likes you." Tania stared at him. Blaise stood, still holding her hand, and bowed over it.

"Thank you, I am forever in your debt." He released her and strode off, stopping briefly to speak with one of Malfoy's minions.

Tania sat frozen for several long moments. What had just happened? She didn't want to go to Hogsmeade with Blaise. That would make Falon that much more upset. But she couldn't say no to a Zabini. And what would Alex think? Tania couldn't hope that Alex considered her a friend, but Tania cared very much about what the Bellmonte thought of her. She would be heartbroken if Alex hated her. How could she get out of this! Nothing presented itself. How? How? How! The pages of her book held no answer to this problem.

Hunter Cornelius Marcellus Pierpont Fitzgerald Dethart ran his fingers through his dark brown hair and stared at a complex formula. Tania said his hair was dark chocolate with hints of black, but he just called it dark brown. He never protested, though. It was his duty as an elder brother to indulge his sister's whims, and Merlin knew, she was never indulged by anyone else, not even Mother, for all she might want to.

Returning his wandering thoughts to the page in front of him, Hunter tried for the sixth time to understand it. There were small isolated pieces that he could recognize, but the overall process was way beyond his 5th year knowledge. He couldn't figure out what the purpose of the spell was. The pages that came before and after this one were just as confusing and didn't provide any clues as to what his little sister was trying to do.

This was Tania's book. She had a million of them, all identical, green and silver bound, each one covering a different subject or set of subjects. Hunter was still uncertain of exactly what her organization method was. Tania had hurriedly shoved this one into his hands the other day when Pansy had suddenly joined them. His poor sister had been scared senseless for several seconds, unable to respond to Ms. Parkinson's questions except to blink. Hunter had been quick to cover for her until she could regain her thoughts. Tania hated to be startled.

The other Slytherin girl had been cordial, though Hunter had picked up on a few flashes of uncertainty in Ms. Parkinson's face. She seemed nice enough, all things considered. Maybe Tania had made another friend. Two in one term. Hunter smiled as he reflected on that. First Alex Bellmonte, now possibly Pansy Parkinson. The Elder Dethart was pulled back to the present by someone approaching him. Closing Tania's book and hiding it in his bag, he turned to the newcomer and came face to face with Blaise Zabini.

"Mr. Zabini…can I help you with something?" Hunter asked.

"How very Gryffindor of you, Mr. Dethart, but this is not the time for insults. You see, Hunter…I want your sister."

Luckily for Blaise, Hunter knew not to take everything he said at face value. Blaise…was dramatic. "Care to try that again?" he asked calmly.

Zabini's whole manner changed as he stiffened, fixing Hunter with a frigid glance. "No, now that you mention it, not really." He flashed his companion a smile that was not entirely pleasant. "Might I ask you, whether it offends you or not, what your views are on hitting women?"

Hunter's entire thought process stuttered to a halt. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you see," Blaise began, his expression thawing somewhat, "for some reason, Alex likes you. So I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt that you aren't simply an older, more Slytherin version of Falon the Annoying."

"I think that is the least accurate insult I have ever heard directed at my younger sibling," Hunter mused, "Though I do agree, he is annoying."

"I was merely trying to be polite Mr. Dethart. I assure you there are quite a few other lovely insults I'd be more than willing to level at your younger brother."

"Oh, really?" Hunter asked, a thread of steel creeping into his tone, "Like what?"

"I have no proof, not enough to satisfy myself, and certainly not enough to satisfy Alex's curiosity, so I think I'd rather not say."

"Please, sit down Zabini," he gestured to the chair across from him, "And you may certainly 'say' without fear of offending me…at least about Falon."

Blaise complied and lounged across the appropriate chair. "Well then," he smiled with the utmost politeness, "I say that I think your brother is a sadistic bastard."

"I'm afraid I can't confirm that for you, so what's this about Tania?"

"Your darling sister has insisted that I obtain your permission before she'll agree to accompany me during the next Hogsmeade weekend."

"I see."

"Yes, I thought perhaps she might need someone to show her around. At least that's my theory as to why she stayed at Hogwarts during the last trip. Anyway, I had already been abandoned by all of my friends, so I thought…perhaps us loners…could go…" Blaise trailed off as the words 'I will kill him' wrote themselves briefly across Hunter's face. There was a moment of strained silence.

"When you kill whoever it is you're apparently planning on killing, can I help? A good murder offsets the monotony of just torturing people all the time, dontcha think?"

"I'm sorry but no. When the time comes it will be my prerogative."

"If there's anything I can do to help, let me know."

"Just make sure she has a good time on Saturday."

"You have my Word."

"I had better," Hunter warned. "Remember, Zabini, she's my little sister. My. Little. Sister."

"I'll remember, Dethart. I doubt there's much of this conversation I'll forget." Blaise stood and offered his companion a half-bow. As he turned away Hunter added one more word, one more, exceedingly important, possibly life-altering word.

"Peppermint."

"Excuse me?"

"Peppermint. Tania's favorite candy." Hunter clarified.

"Ah." Blaise grinned. "well, thanks for the tip. I'll make sure to buy her the entire Peppermint corner of Honeyduke's."

"She'll never accept it."

"Oh I'll think of some way to convince her…without making her feel bad." Blaise added soothingly.

The older brother laughed. "Good luck."

"Somehow I think I'll need it."

"You will."

"Thanks."

Actually, Hunter thought after Zabini had gone, when Tania finds out I didn't get her out of this it'll probably be me who'll be in need of luck.