Author's Note I know I said I wouldn't start a new story until CWM was finished but read the beginning of this and tell me if it does not sound soooo much more interesting.
For those of you who haven't read any of my other stories welcome.

Everyone who's a Blaise/Hermione shipper, ENJOY!

If Draco Malfoy was the prince of Slytherin then Blaise Zabini was its king. Outside of the Common Room he let Draco try to rule. Draco's pitiful attempts at superiority made Blaise want to laugh. If you were above everyone else they knew it and you knew it too. You didn't have to parade pompously through the hallways cursing first years. All that showed was that you were desperate to be feared, desperate to by a tyrant, and you never ever would be; at least not to the people that counted.

Blaise reclined lazily on a couch with green upholstery in the Slytherin common room watching the other inhabitants. He knew much more about the actual characters of the students than even their closest friends did; or closest allies to be more precise. Slytherins did not have friends. During the first few years of his schooling at Hogwarts Blaise had kept solely to himself, watching everyone and talking to no one. By the time he had reached his sixth year he was cognizant of what each Slytherin meant when they said something, the tensions between housemates, and the fact that he held a certain sway over girls. He had flung off his cloak of imperceptibility and had emerged as the leader of a coup d'etat that had flung Malfoy off the throne.

Hermione tucked a strand of curly hair behind her ear and looked up from her piece of parchment. The school had only been in session for one day and her hands were already ink blotted. Hermione had been named Head Girl, and she planned to live up to her duties. After the Welcome Feast had concluded the previous night she had had a talk with Professor Dumbledore and the new Head Boy: Ernie MacMillan. Every year since her fifth year, when Umbridge appeared, the Sorting Hat had been warning the students of the dangers of staying divided, yet none of the students had taken a step towards becoming united. Hermione had wanted to do something but did not believe any talk she could give would be as poignant or as generally accepted as the Sorting Hat's song. In between filing and taking floo-messages for the Order Hermione had thought of a way to change the school. When she had received a beautiful school owl bearing the Head Girl badge it had cemented her idea into brain. Albus had readily agreed to it and Ernie and concurred with her opinion.

Even if the Sorting Hat had made a more interesting speech than the one she was currently writing, she doubted its words would speak as loud as her actions. She had begun to write her speech soon after she had received word of her appointment to the position of Head Girl. Standing in front of a mirror she had practiced it daily without fail. The mirror had once belonged to Mrs. Black so the comments it had made were nasty. Hermione had smiled though and run through it again, memorizing it but even more importantly, putting passion, feeling, depth and emotion into every word which graced the page. Tonight she was putting the finishing touches on it and tomorrow she would present.

Lavender and Parvati had the red curtains drawn away from their beds. Magazines entitled Teen Witch and Fabulous Fashion already littered the floor. Neither girl had thought to unpack any of her schoolbooks. The bookshelf was austere. Both vanities though were piled with every type of make-up that had ever existed. Not only did the basic lipstick and mascara hold places of honour, the magical means to beauty were also there.

"Oh my god," Lavender giggled. "Did you see that Zabini boy this year? He's utterly gorgeous. I wanted to go over to the Slytherin table and ravish him."

"You wouldn't have though." Parvati had a few more brains than Lavender, Hermione was glad to remember. "I'm going to kiss him this year." Hermione grimaced, no more than a few.

"HERMIONE!" Lavender squealed when she first noticed Hermione enter the room. "You look absolutely stunning!"

Hermione smiled her thanks to Lavender but didn't take the compliment to heart. Lavender complimented anything and everything; she had a need for everybody to like her and felt that being a sycophant was the best way to attain her goal. Hermione had never straightened her gloriously free hair since the fourth-year Yule Ball, but her teeth were straight now and when she smiled she was pretty. She would never be stunning though. This didn't hurt her feelings in the slightest, her confidence was strong and she didn't need the praise of others to attain happiness.

"I hate the Sorting Hat," Draco complained. "All it does is sing stupid songs and waste our time. They should sort the first-years on the train or something and let us get at the feast right away. Those carriage rides always make me bloody hungry."

Blaise didn't lower himself to answer. He enjoyed the Sorting Ceremony both for the tradition it brought to the school and for the song itself. Blaise had never believed that the hat was stupid or brainless. In fact, he had more respect for it than he had for many of the students. It appeared to him that he was the only student, in Slytherin at least, that had noticed the dire warnings the Hat had dropped for the third year in a row, woven between tales of the special qualities of each founder.

Pansy didn't dare disagree with Draco. She wanted to marry him. That was her only goal in life. If she married him she would gain wealth, notoriety, and a high social status in society. Millicent however didn't care about Draco or his feelings. "Is food all you ever think about? I thought you had a little more than that in your head. I can't wait to see how you do in your NEWTs this year, especially after being so disappointed in your OWLs. I quite like the Sorting Hat. He was very nice to me when I got to try him on that once."

Listening to the conversation Blaise knew that Draco did not really mean what he had said. It was a plea for others to listen, to see that he was capable of thinking for himself. The only problem was his thoughts didn't have good reasoning behind them and somebody arguing in favour of the Sorting Hat could crush his weak opinions easily. The one thing Blaise did not understand about the trio in front of him was why Pansy wanted to marry Draco. He understood her need to feel more powerful than she already was but couldn't comprehend how that could take precedence over love. Blaise's mother had shown him love, compassion and kindness. He envisioned her as an angelic being with the beauty of Aphrodite but not her cruelty. She had died when Blaise was young and he had no ability to recall her face, all that was left on him were the impressions of her ability to make the sun shine in everybody's lives. He also remembered that he had been loved. Loved for who he was, just as he was. Blaise knew that if he ever found another person who loved him like that he would be theirs unconditionally.

A/N... So, what'd you think? A little out of my normal but I couldn't resist. This was a sort of introduction to the characters, especially Blaise. The plot will deepen, and in future chapters see if you can spot some famous philosophies that I am going to throw together and mix up.

I offer hot chocolate to anyone who feels like naming the author of "The virtue of Selfishness" (Not me of course, and one thing, I don't agree on all her views, I just liked the name of her paper)

Read and review because you Love me, that's right L O V E me!