A/N: Happy New Year, everyone! This story was written for Draco's Den's Let the New Year Slither In event! Participants submitted a canon Slytherin and a word or phrase that related to celebrating the New Year. I was prompted Blaise Zabini and fireworks. The only other thing I needed to include in some way is that the characters were stuck celebrating at Hogwarts rather than home with their families.

Title: The Show Goes On
Rating: K
Character: Blaise Zabini
Summary: Every little spark makes the new year shine bright. COMPLETE

Grammarly was my main beta for this piece.

I hope you all enjoy this little drabble and have a very prosperous New Year!

Love always,
~starr

The Great Hall was decorated for the New Year's Eve celebration that was being hosted by the Professors for the students who were unable to go home for the holidays. A million star-like lights were floating in the roof. The long Blaise Zabini stared at it, the more he was able to convince himself that he was actually looking at the stars.

It appeared as though Headmistress McGonagall had cast a spell to allow the night sky to be seen through the ceiling. The view sparked an idea in the mind of the young Slytherin, bringing a wicked smile to his face. It may take a bit of finagling to put his plan into action, but it would be worth it to see the smiles on his peers' faces.

Thinking about the items he would need to gather to put his plan into action, Blaise pushed away from the Slytherin's dining table. For things to work out the way he had planned, he needed to get to work.

"Where are you going, Zabini?" Draco asked, glancing up at his fellow snake out of the corner of his eye.

Blaise glanced back at his friend and winked. "You'll see. Just be in the courtyard at midnight."

"Just don't cost us points, Zabini," Theo mused, looking back over his shoulder as their friend walked away from them.

"I make no promises!" Blaise announced as he walked out of the Great Hall with a smile beaming brightly from his face. While he wasn't entirely sure how he was going to pull this little stunt off, he knew that it was going to make this New Year's Eve a night for all to remember.

. . . . . . . . .

At a quarter to midnight, Blaise looked around the courtyard and smirked. Everything was falling into place, and all he needed now was an audience to perform for. Hopefully, the show would be worth watching.

Realizing that he might have to conjure up an audience if no one comes down out of the dorms, Blaise pulled his wand out of his pocket and aimed it at his throat. He coughed to clear his throat.

"Calling all students stranded at Hogwarts to ring in the New Year, could I have your attention please?" Blaise announced, his voice amplified by his wand. "Make your way to the courtyard for the show of the century. The countdown begins at 11:59 pm. Be there or miss the chance of a lifetime."

Once he was satisfied with his announcement, Blaise tucked his wand back into his pocket and walked to the far side of the courtyard. As soon as everyone made their way outside, things could get started.

He double-checked the connection to the speaker. If the music fails, then this was going to be a disaster out event, and Hermione had promised that as long as he plugged the Muggle device in that everything would work.

"Here's hoping that everything goes according to plan," Blaise mumbled to himself. He crossed his arms over his chest and turned to watch for people to start making their way out of the castle. He could hear the scuffle of feet against the corridor leaning to the courtyard.

Blaise glanced down at his watch and smiled. "Showtime." He reached down, pressing the play button on the speaker, and the music kicked into life.

He smiled to himself as he watched the faces of his peers light up when they recognized the music that was coming from seemingly nowhere. Now that the music was filling the courtyard, Blaise made his way over to where the fireworks were laid out to be lit. He quickly double-checked that everything was in order and then stepped away from the collection of fireworks and extracted his wand once more.

"Incendio," he whispered, smiling broadly as the spell jolted out of his wand towards the fuse that was extended above the fireworks. As soon as the fuse sparked, Blaise lowered his wand and tucked it back into his pocket. He walked away from the setup and joined his classmates in the middle of the courtyard as the fireworks filled the sky.

The courtyard was suddenly brought to life with the booming explosions of the fireworks in the sky and cheering from the students who were watching the show below. It continued until just before midnight when the lights formed a series of numbers.

All of the students in the courtyard could be heard shouting each number as the countdown dropped from ten down to one. The clocktower behind them chimed out as midnight struck, and the finale of the show began.

Each of the houses was represented in the finale as their colors lit up the sky, but of course, the best house was saved for last as the number of the new year lit up the sky in green and silver, reminding everyone that Slytherin would reign supreme this year in the House cup.

Chuffed with his show, Blaise crossed his arms over himself and smiled broadly. It had gone better than he could have ever imagined. Now the challenge was making sure that someone was willing to continue with the show after he graduated this spring.