AU! No war.

Written for Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

House: Thunderbird.

Class/Task Number: Cultural Studies. 1. [Language] someone not being understood or not understanding someone else.

Bonus Prompts:

[character] Blaise Zabini

[dialogue] Are we there yet?

[object] flying carpet

Word Count: 2496/4500

Flying High

Three Slytherin friends go on holiday to Turkey and ride a magic carpet.

Blaise Zabini had never thought he would become an Auror. He'd always thought he would start his own business, earn millions of Galleons and enjoy partying with gorgeous witches all night long.

But it came to him as a surprise when Professor Snape called him over to discuss his future with him in his fifth year and declared that he would be a fine Auror.

"You are a Slytherin through and through," Snape had started his speech, "and I have heard you like to keep an eye out for persuading opportunities. If you use these talents, you'll be an outstanding Auror."

Blaise had gaped at Snape with disbelief. Him? An Auror? It sounded unbelievable to his ears, but he'd been intrigued. So, he had applied at the Academy along with several other boys in his year.

Only a handful had been selected out of the dozens of applicants: Blaise had been one of them. And then, the gruelling training had begun.

Blaise had spent weeks working on his regimen tirelessly. He'd been determined to be the very best. He had practiced duelling with everyone he had known. It hadn't been unusual to find Blaise training in a Muggle gym too.

The weeks had turned into months, and the months had soon turned into years. Blaise had graduated from the Auror Academy with the highest scores in every area he had been tested in.

He had been drafted by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, which soon became his home away from home.

As the years passed, Blaise turned into a workaholic. He rarely saw his friends, barely went out on dates or even had fun.

Draco liked to joke that he had turned into the Hogwarts-version of Theo. Even Theo claimed he had more fun than Blaise did.

But Blaise loved his job. He loved the exhilaration of figuring out a criminal's strategy. He loved the feeling of the wind in his hair as he flew through the skies on a broom. He loved the feeling of pride he felt when he managed to nab another criminal.

And then, the accident happened. He broke most of his bones when a drunk driver ran his car over him.

When he woke up in St. Mungo's, the Healers advised him to take it easy.

He was horrified when they got the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to send him on a forced vacation.

Draco and Theo decided to grab the opportunity with both hands.

The next thing Blaise knew, the boys had immediately packed Blaise's bags and were dragging him to the Ministry of Magic where they would take a portkey to Turkey.

"Finally! I'm a Malfoy; I shouldn't have to wait like a commoner in a line!" Draco haughtily strutted forward and asked the receptionist for their portkey.

"Don't be a brat, Draco," Theo said as he rolled his eyes.

"I don't even want to go on this trip — why are you guys making me?!" Blaise grumbled as they were instructed to wait for the portkey to activate.

"Because it's been a long time since we had any fun together," Theo stated, as he grabbed Blaise's arms to keep him in place.

"Yes, Blaise. You haven't gone on any trips with us since you started at the DMLA. We're your friends, we care about you," Draco said pitifully.

"You've gone soft, D, just like your —" Blaise was interested by the old lady behind them.

"Please don't finish that sentence, boy," she growled as she glanced at the small child beside her.

"I was about to say 'your girl'," Blaise amended his words quickly.

Theo snickered and, in a low tone, said, "See? Draco's right. You haven't had any fun with just us boys."

Blaise sighed and ran his hand through his cropped hair. He knew they were right, but he wouldn't admit it.

When their portkey activated, they disappeared in a whirlwind of colours and sounds. Everything swivelled around the three as they flew through the cosmos.

A few minutes later, they found themselves standing in a large lobby with beautiful chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Queues of passengers stood near a line of counters, with their portkeys and documents in hand.

"Come on," Theo said as he tugged on Blaise's arm to pull him towards the line.

As they exited the Turkish Bureau of Magical Transportation, Blaise decided he would enjoy his vacation with his friends. Maybe they won't blame him so much for being a stick-in-the-mud.

The trio of Slytherins sat on the boat, drinks in hand, as they gazed at the Bosphorus View. Neither one of them had seen such a magnificent bridge that joined two continents together.

"I wish Hermione were here," Draco suddenly blurted out as he gazed down into the crystal-clear blue ocean.

"What's happening with you guys?" Blaise asked, curiously.

Draco and Hermione had started dating back in their seventh year at Hogwarts. It hadn't come as a surprise to anyone, though. They'd all seen how Draco had mooned over the brunette ever since they'd arrived at Hogwarts when they were eleven. He'd only got the courage to ask her out when Ron and Harry, of all people, dragged Draco into a broom cupboard and knocked some sense into him. They forced him to fess up to his feelings — or they'd tell Hermione to date someone else.

Draco had panicked and had immediately asked her out, rejection far from his mind. They had been together ever since.

"I want to marry her, but she wants me to ask her parents for permission. So I'm waiting for her parents to come back from France to do that," he admitted quietly.

Blaise smirked and teased, "Asking her dad for permission, huh? That's going to be difficult. He already thinks you're a bad influence on his sweet, little daughter."

"At least her mum likes you," Theo said.

"Yeah, I'll need her mum's support when I ask her dad."

"You're going to mess it up — just like you messed up asking her to the Graduation Ball," Blaise said with an amused smirk on his face.

"Oh, bugger off! I told her I wanted to match her dress — she didn't understand me!" Draco grumbled when he remembered the fiasco.

The boys laughed as they continued to tease Draco about Hermione.

When the boat ride ended, Theo said, "Alright, it's my turn to choose what we'll do tomorrow. And.. I've chosen something that'll surprise you two."

"Please don't say we're going to the Hagia Sophia or the Basilica Cistern," Blaise groaned.

"No, we're not going there. It's a secret — I promise you'll love it," Theo pleaded.

"Very well, let's head on back. We'll walk to our hotel," Draco decided.

The next morning, Theo levitated them out of bed and dropped them on the ground.

"What the hell, mate?" Blaise snarled, his eyes still filled with sleep.

"Get back to sleep, Nott, or I'll rip your head off," Draco grouched as he tried to slide back into his bed.

"Nope! We need to get going.. now! Come on, chop-chop!" Theo grinned enthusiastically as he shoved Blaise towards the toilet.

"If we don't like this precious surprise of yours, I'm going to kill you," Draco deadpanned as he dropped his head against the wall.

"We're going to kill you," Blaise corrected loudly from the toilet.

"Yes. We'll kill you."

"You'll love it, I swear!" Theo laughed at his best friends' grouchiness.

They had breakfast in the hotel's dining room. Then, Theo Apparated them to a large clearing on the island of Büyükada.

"What are we doing here?" Dravo questioned as he looked around the clearing.

In the distance, they could see large mountains and hills. There were trees and flowers all around the clearing.

"Wait a minute," Theo said before he whistled loudly. Instantly, a large horse-drawn carriage became visible in front of them.

In fluent Turkish, Theo said to the driver, "Take us to the Flying Carpet Stop." The driver nodded and motioned for them to get in.

Blaise asked, "When did you learn Turkish?"

Theo shrugged and said, "Neville and I came here a few years ago. He taught me a few phrases."

Absentmindedly, Blaise nodded.

Theo and Neville had been dating for the past five years, after a decade-long infatuation on Theo's part. After Neville had started his job at Hogwarts as the Herbology Professor, Theo had asked him out. And the rest, as they say, is history.

"Just tell us where we're going!" Draco suddenly said.

"You really don't understand the meaning of secret, do you?" Theo mocked him.

"Don't make me hex you," Draco hissed, his eyes narrowed.

"I'll tell Granger," Theo retorted.

"I'm stuck with children," Blaise muttered to himself, as he amusedly watched his best friends argue.

"Are we there yet?" Blaise asked.

"Not yet," Theo said.

"Are we there yet?" Draco grumbled.

"No, not yet," Theo said.

"Are we there yet?" Draco and Blaise asked at the same time.

"No! And if you ask me again, I'll throw you both out of the carriage!" Theo barked at them.

The two snickered, and asked, mischievously, "Are we there yet?"

"Rictusempra!" Theo snapped, his wand pointed at them both. The two burst into peals of laughter as the spell took immediate effect.

"Okay, okay, sorry!" They cried out, as tears ran down their face.

"Don't ask me again, you wankers!" Theo grumbled, but cast a Finite on them.

"You're so mean," Draco mocked.

"Don't make me hex you again," Theo warned. The two boys quickly shut up.

Finally, they arrived at a small abandoned building.

"Let's go in," Theo said, a grin on his face, as he tugged on their arms.

The inside of the building was unlike its exterior. The walls were a soft pastel blue and the floor had a large, beautiful, maroon carpet covering it.

"What is this place?" Draco gawked at the chandelier that hung from the ceiling.

"We're going on a flying carpet ride!" Theo cheered as they entered a hall with several other people inside.

"A what?" Draco and Blaise asked, surprised.

"Yup! And because you two were being annoying, you two will go on together. I'm in no mood to listen to your incessant idiocy," Theo declared and shoved them both in front of an official.

"Two carpets, please," Theo said.

"Very well, that'll be 40 Galleons," the man said.

Theo didn't even blanch when he handed the outrageous amount of Galleons. Soon, the three boys stood at the front of the line.

"I'll go with this man," Theo said as he walked over to a man who stood beside a beautiful blue carpet.

"What about us?" Draco whined.

"Go with that one," Theo suggested as he pointed at the man he'd spoken to earlier.

"Fine, this is going to be awesome!" Draco grinned.

Blaise, too, felt excited at the thought of taking a ride on a flying carpet. The two friends sat down on the maroon carpet behind the Turkish man. The man motioned for his passengers to hold onto the edge of the carpet. Once they had done so, the carpet slowly rose in the air. Blaise and Draco grinned excitedly as the carpet rose higher.

"This is great!" They laughed and hooted as the carpet flew off with them on it. It swirled, dipped, dived and turned as it flew faster.

Draco suddenly thought of that Muggle song he'd heard Hermione singing in the kitchen a few times.

He'd asked her why she'd been singing a song about a magic carpet ride — she was terrified of brooms! She'd laughed and explained to him that it was a song from a Muggle animated movie.

He'd asked her to sing it again; she had a lovely voice, and he loved watching her dance around in the kitchen.

As they flew through the skies, Draco accidentally started to hum the song.

Blaise didn't notice; he was too busy enjoying the feeling of the wind against his face and the sight of the gorgeous sea underneath.

"Did Theo tell us when the ride will end?" Blaise suddenly questioned after half an hour of flying.

"No, he didn't. Let's enjoy it while it lasts," Draco suggested.

But some time later, Blaise grew worried again. Were they even supposed to be flying over land and water? He'd assumed they would only fly over the island. The man showed no signs of stopping.

When they started to fly over Kazakhstan, Blaise tapped their pilot's shoulder and asked, "Uh, mate, what are we doing here?"

The man turned his head and frowned, confused.

"What are we doing here?" Draco questioned him, as well.

The man cocked his head to the side and tried to understand what they had said.

"Stop the carpet, now," Blaise ordered, quickly.

"Do as he says!" Draco barked at the man, angrily. The man frowned but didn't reply.

"I don't think he understands English. Okay, let me try." Draco pointed at the man and then made the stop sign with his palm.

The man scowled when he saw Draco's signs and suddenly lowered the front of the carpet towards the ground beneath them.

When the carpet flew down to the hot sand dunes of the Ryn Desert, the man waved his hand and pushed them off the carpet angrily. Without a word, he flew off into the distance.

"What the hell?! Did he just drop us off in the middle of a desert?!" Draco roared, outraged.

Blaise's eyes widened as he remembered what he'd read in one of the travel guides Theo had forced him to read last night. Pointing at someone and displaying your open palm in front of someone's face was a huge no-no in Turkey.

"You idiot! You didn't read the travel guide, did you?!" Blaise cried as he smacked Draco's arm.

"What travel guide? Oh, you mean the one Theo gave you?"

"Yes!"

"Yeah, I didn't have the time to read it," Draco said with a small shrug.

"Merlin, Draco! You just made the man misunderstand your intentions! If you point at someone here, that means you're singling them out! And you showed the guy your palm?! Another faux-pas! That means you were shaming him!" Blaise moaned exasperated at how dense his best friend could be at times.

"Oh," Draco mumbled as he looked around the hot desert.

The sun beat down on the two men, as sweat slowly formed on their brows and dripped down the back of their necks.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Draco muttered as he looked around nervously.

"I'll send a Patronus to Theo," Blaise said with a roll of his eyes.

Theo guffawed at Draco's mistake and decided to let them stay in the desert for a few more hours. He would go save them later, he decided as he leaned back on his own carpet and enjoyed the cool air against his face.

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