Chapter 5: Much Ado About Babysitting

Ginny and Draco left for the Bahamas for their honeymoon, however, Narcissa had told Blaise that he could continue to stay at the manor for as long as he pleased. He had lied and told her that he was considering moving back and living on his own, so he would need a while to find a place as well as work.

His real intentions were to stay up until Rashida and Dean's potential wedding, which was to be another month away.

For three days, Blaise didn't reach out to anyone. He planned out what he was going to do, how he was going to make situations happen for himself, and exactly how he was going to successfully get the love of his life back.

His first step was to get a tried and true ally on his side. He knew that he couldn't use Ron, as Ron had already made it known that he was not going to have Hermione angry at him for meddling into Rashida's affairs. So he decided to go to the one person who he knew would not mind it in the slightest, and would probably take delight in it.

"So, what brings you here on this nice Tuesday morning, Blaise?" asked Pansy as she sipped her tea and stared at her friend that was sitting across from her. "Are you doing me a favor and babysitting for me? I could use a muggle mani/pedi."

"Actually I came to have a chat with you about something."

"And then to babysit afterwards, correct?" said Pansy, raising an eyebrow.

Blaise smirked. "Fine. I'll babysit for an hour."

"Three."

"Fine, three. I guess I should cater to you, seeing as what I'm going to ask is going to be putting you against one of your dearest friends."

Pansy raised the teacup once again to her mouth. "Continue."

"I need your help Pans." said Blaise. "I want to get Rashida back."

Pansy looked over at Blaise, teacup still raised to her mouth. "Go on." she said.

Blaise spent the next ten minutes explaining everything that he felt, his talk with Dean, the tiny moments he and Rashida shared, and what he wanted to try to do. Pansy didn't interrupt as she listened attentively to his words, the wheels in her own head turning.

When Blaise finished with his story, Pansy looked at him, her face unreadable.

"You do know that what you're asking me to do is help you bust up one of my best female friends with her fiance, just because you can't get over your Hogwarts sweetheart." said Pansy. "However, I'm not too fond of Thomas either. He and I don't get on, never have. So I really wouldn't want to see my wonderful friend with such a mess."

Blaise grinned, excited to have Pansy in his corner.

"Now, for me to help you, you have to go along with what I say and do, no questions, no complaints." said Pansy as she accioed a quill and parchment and began to write. "Your help starts now. And the time limit of your babysitting just went up to when Harry gets home."

Blaise's grin fell. "Are you kid-"

"No complaints." smirked Pansy, as she got up and walked to her fireplace. She threw in some Floo powder and sent off the n parchment in green flames.

"What did you do?" asked Blaise.

"You'll see in a few minutes. Anyways, as I was saying, no complaining, no second guessing me, no trying to get me to do things that only benefit you and not her. I know Rashida inside and out, even more than you do, as you have been giving away in Verona. So I will be able to give you the best advice. Also, do not mention that I'm helping you to Harry. Dean is one of his most trusted friends, so he would be rather hacked off at me if he knew."

Blaise nodded. About a minute later, green flames once again ignited in Pansy's fireplace. They brought Rashida with them, walking out in a yellow sundress with slippers on, her hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"Pansy...and Blaise..." said Rashida, very much confused. "What's going on?"

"Blaise has volunteered to watch Jamie and Maddi." said Pansy cheerfully. "Problem is he doesn't have a lot of experience, so I thought you would love to help assist him."

Rashida gave Pansy a curious look. One that she also gave quickly to Blaise before turning her attention back on the Slytherin witch. "If he doesn't have experience, why ask him?"

"Because he owes me. As do you, remember?" said Pansy, her voice sugary sweet.

Rashida rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "How could I forget? You remind me every other week."

"Well, it's time to cash in." said Pansy, getting up from her chair. "You and Blaise are going to watch the kids while I go and do some much needed pampering of myself.

Rashida looked at Blaise then back over to Pansy.

"Why do I get the feeling that-"

"Well I'm off." said Pansy, rushing to the door. "The kids are in their playroom and will want lunch soon. Ta-ta!"

And with that, Pansy walked swiftly out the door.

Blaise and Rashida looked at each other and grimaced.

"So, what is she making you do this for?" asked Blaise.

Rashida shrugged and chuckled. "I wanted this special yarn for my hair, and she knew where and how to get it. She claimed that she had to fight tooth and nail to hunt it down. She probably just had to apparate to another country or some shit and get it at a muggle store."

"So she has been holding it over your head? How very Slytherin of her." said Blaise. "That's what's in your hair now?"

Rashida nodded.

"It looks beautiful." said Blaise sincerely as he touched a strand of her hair, causing Rashida's cheeks to tingle with blush.

"Thank you." she said, backing away from him. He couldn't touch her hair like he used to, he just couldn't.

Blaise tried to ignore the small gut punched feeling that he was having at the backing away of Rashida. "So, what are these tiny tossers like?"

"Don't call them that, they are just kids." scolded Rashida. "And they are sweet, but James can be a bit of a handful. One in which you will have the energy for."

Blaise smirked. "Why do I get the ball of energy and you get the baby?"

Rashida didn't give him any answers. Instead, she shrugged and beckoned him to follow her to the kids.

Blaise followed behind her, making no attempt to hide the fact that he was watching her hips sway back and forth in her dress. It took everything in him not to reach out and grab her as he used to. Rashida could feel his eyes on the back of her. She hated herself for liking it.

When they got to the small room filled with an endless mix of toys, both muggle and wizard, they gazed upon the mess that Pansy had purposely left them in. James, who had many of Pansy's key features with his almost pale green eyes and a respectable blend of black and brown hair, looked up from the muggle Hot Wheels cars he was playing with and squealed when he saw the familiar face of his godmum.

"Shi-Shi!" he cheered, running over to her and latching onto her neck as Rashida had knelt down to meet the child. "What are you here for?"

"I've come to watch you and your sister while Mummy is out and Daddy's at work. Is that okay?" said Rashida in a soft voice that Blaise had never heard her use before.

James looked positively ecstatic. "Can you tell us stories like last time, Shi-Shi? Please?"

"Sure," she said, letting go of James and standing up. It was then that James had finally noticed Blaise standing against the doorsill. Both gentlemen eyed each other intently for a few seconds, as Rashida went to pick up Madison, who was a spitting image of Pansy, minus the emerald green eyes and jet black hair of her father.

"Who are you?" asked the curious toddler as he looked up at Blaise with half interest, half annoyance.

Blaise couldn't help but be amused by the boy's lack of intimidation by a new adult. He stuck out his hand for James to shake.

"Blaise Zabini, sir." he said, not really knowing how to introduce himself to a kid.

James eyed Blaise's hand cautiously for a few seconds, then took it and gave it a shake.

"James Potter, sir." he said, mocking Blaise, causing him to chuckle.

Rashida stood here with Madison and watched the interaction with the two closely, anxious to see how Blaise would be with the boy. Though James was only four, he was extremely bright, and very in tune with people and their emotions, so she was curious how he was going to be with Blaise.

"What are you here for?" asked James.

"I'm here to help Rashida watch you and your sister."

James scrunched up his nose. "I don't need watchin, Imma man."

Blaise let out a laugh. "A man, eh? And tell me, what does a man do?"

"A man goes to work like my Daddy does, and he sits and talks and plays quidditch, and saves the day."

"And do you do any of those things?"

"Yes!" said James, puffing out his chest.

"What's your job description then?" asked Blaise, shooting Rashida a quick wink.

James looked confused for a second. "What's that mean?" he asked.

"What's your job is what I'm saying. " said Blaise. "When someone says description, they mean describe. Tell them what you do."

"Ohhhhhh." said James, as if he should have known it all along. "Ummm, I play."

"You play, eh? And how much does that pay?" humored Blaise.

"A many many! You wanna play with me?" Come on!"said James, pulling on Blaise's hand.

"How about we eat some lunch first and then we play?" said Rashida. "Blaise can cook for us."

Blaise gave Rashida a sour look. He really wasn't in the mood to cook anything. James however, gave him an awestruck look.

"You can cook? My Daddy can cook sandwiches! Can you cook sandwiches?"

"Sandwiches it is, I guess." said Blaise, more interested in showing off that he could easily make more mouthwatering food than sandwiches.

They went into the kitchen where Blaise ended up making he and the others grilled cheese sandwiches with milk and honey and peanut butter celery logs, a treat that his mother used to make him when he was a kid. Rashida watched as Blaise and James started to hit it off as if Blaise was a constant like Draco and Ron was in his life. She liked seeing that Blaise didn't talk to James as if he were a baby, something that James had never liked people to do. She also liked how quickly Madison (who did not like meeting new people) warmed up to Blaise.

After lunch, Blaise and Rashida took the kids to the backyard, where the Potters had a small playground that had many protection spells casted on it and allowed them to play. Blaise pretended to not know a thing about Quidditch, and allowed James to "teach" him the rules of the game with his father's old Firebolt that had been charmed not to go higher than four feet.

As she watched Blaise and the kids interact, Rashida couldn't help not admire the man. She had remembered when they had a conversation about children at Hogwarts. He had said that he had yet to meet a child that liked him. But here, she seen that the kids were absolutely enamored with the man they had only met not even two hours ago, and thought about how they had known Dean pretty much since birth, and yet James was just starting to want to come around him. Madison didn't want anything to do with him.

Soon, it was time for naps. While James went to sleep immediately, Madison took a lot of coaxing, in the manner of rocking and songs. At first, when Rashida was trying to do it, Madison cried and squirmed and very much didn't want to be in the arms of the witch. However, when Blaise offered to give it a try, she calmed down tremendously, laying her head politely on Blaise's shoulder, letting the soothing sound of Blaise's voice lull her to sleep in less than five minutes.

After laying Madison down in her crib, Blaise and Rashida sat in the Potter's parlor, while Rashida served the both of them tea. They sipped quietly for a few moments, each one stealing glances at the other when they thought the other wasn't looking.

"I have to say, you've really surprised me today." said Rashida.

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't know you were so good with kids."

Blaise shrugged. "I didn't know I was either. I figured they would hate me."

"Why would they hate you? You didn't give them any reason to." said Rashida, sipping her tea.

Blaise shrugged again. "I didn't know you were so good with kids either." he complimented.

Rashida grinned. "Well, they are my god babies, and they are great kids, so it's not hard to be good with them."

"Do you want kids?" Blaise asked, taking a bite of a biscuit.

Rashida dipped her biscuit in her tea and hesitated a bit before answering. "I do. I would love to have kids."

Blaise sensed her hesitation. "But..."

"But, Dean doesn't really like the idea of having children. " she said, almost in a whisper.

Blaise scoffed. "Well isn't that lovely." he said in a sarcastic voice.

Rashida glared at him. "What do you have to say, smart ass?"

"A smart ass, am I? You know me well. Then you should know exactly what I'm going to say then."

Rashida sighed. "Probably why am I marrying someone who doesn't want what I want, huh?"

"Brilliant, Holmes."

"Oh shut up. And anyways, he more said he didn't want them right away. He may want kids later down the road, you never know."

"So you're willing to take that risk and end up in a marriage where you aren't when sure both of you have the same intentions? Shida, that isn't like you."

"And what do you know of me?"

"Please. I know that you wouldn't do something with someone if you knew that both of you weren't in sync. Look how long it took us to have sex with each other."

"What does that have to do with Dean and I?"

"Have you and Dean had sex yet?" asked Blaise, smugly.

Rashida sat her teacup down with more force than intended. "That's...that's none of your business."

Blaise cocked up an eyebrow. "I'll take that as a no."

"What difference does that make?"

"It makes a hell of a difference because it shows that you don't trust him enough to have sex with him."

Rashida sucked her teeth. "Maybe I want to wait until marriage, Zabini. Ever think of that?"

Blaise smirked. "Please, Mosi. You don't trust him enough, admit it. I bet when you two get married, you won't even have sex on your honeymoon."

Rashida's jaw dropped. "You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Maybe not, but I do know you." said Blaise, remaining calm.

"And what do you know of me so much, Blaise?"

"I know that you really don't want to do this. It's written all over your face." said Blaise.

Rashida felt her blood beginning to boil. How fucking dare he try to tell her what she wanted, what she wouldn't do with the man that she was marrying in less than a month. It had been five years! He didn't know her at all anymore!

Before she could answer, they each heard Madison cry out. She had awakened, and didn't see anyone there. Rashida made to get up but Blaise put up a hand, stopping her.

"I'll go check, you stay here." he said, getting up and walking towards the sill.

"For what it's worth, I'd give you children, if that was what you wanted." said Blaise, before going out the room.

For the rest of the day, there was an awkward tension between the two as they watched the kids. They only really spoke to each other when it concerned James and Madison, and by the time Pansy had returned, Rashida was done with Blaise's presence.

Rashida said a hasty goodbye when Pansy stepped into the door, without wanting to hear one back from her. Blaise rushed after her, grabbing her arm.

"Let go of me, Blaise..." said Rashida in a voice of warning.

"Look," sighed Blaise, "I apologize, okay? I shouldn't have said any of that. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"Just, I'm sorry. Let me make it up to you. Let's have dinner Friday night "

"I can't. My parents are having Dean and I over for dinner." said Rashida in a low voice.

Blaise slipped his hand down her arm and to her hand. "Saturday night, then? Please? Just us friends? Hell, we don't even have to go anywhere. I'll come by and cook for you."

Rashida looked at their hands and then back at Blaise's hope filled eyes. "Fine." she said, pulling out a muggle pen and a bit of parchment out of her purse. She wrote quickly on it, and then handed it to Blaise.

"This is my address. Be there at 7." she instructed. "And no funny business."

Blaise nodded, letting go of Rashida's hand to take the parchment. As soon as the paper slipped from her fingers, she apparated away.