Thought it would be good to have Rashida and her parents speak in their language (because Rashida really didn't want Blaise to know certain things) so here are some Afrikaans translations (side note: sorry if it is butchered. I can only work with what Google gives me)

kosbare: precious

Ons moet oor dekaan praat.: We need to talk about Dean.

O kom Mama, nie weer nie.: Oh come on Mama, not this again.

jy weet ek het hom nooit lief gehad nie, Shi-Shi: you know I never liked him, Shi-Shi.

Dis my keuse, mamma. Ek is lief vir hom. Hoekom kan jy dit nie aanvaar nie ?: It's my choice, Mom. I love him. Why can't you accept that?

Omdat hy jou nie liefhet nie! : Because he doesn't love you!

Ja hy doen! En ek is siek vir jou twee en nou probeer Blaise om my lieflike lewe te hardloop!: Yes he does! And I'm sick of you two and now Blaise trying to run my lovelife!

Chapter 9: The Woes Of Masika Mosi

Rashida had no idea that Blaise even knew where her parents lived. They had recently moved back to a home that they had in Narobi, Kenya, so she was a bit surprised when her and Blaise's side along apparition brought them right in front of their door.

"What are we doing here?" asked Rashida nervously. "And how do you even know where my parents lived?"

"I asked, of course." said Blaise, pulling Rashida along and knocking on the wooden door.

"How did-"

"Shi-Shi!" exclaimed Rashida's father Akil Mosi as he opened the big wooden door. Rashida's face lit up as she was scooped into the arms of her dad. Blaise thought it seemed odd. They had acted like it had been ages since they had seen each other.

"Where have you been, kosbare?" said Akil as he hugged his daughter to him tight. "I was beginning to think I didn't have a daughter."

"Don't exaggerate, it hasn't been that long." said Rashida quickly.

"It's been almost five months, Shi-Shi." said Masika Mosi, appearing beside her husband. She did not look thrilled, and Blaise sensed instant tension.

"Well, I'm here...surprisingly." said Rashida in a bit of a harsh tone. "Of course you remember Blaise."

Akil and Masika smiled. "Blaise Zabini, still as handsome as ever." said Masika, hugging Blaise like he was her son.

"Good to see you ma'am. Mr. Mosi." said Blaise after Masika let go of him. He shook Akil's hand firmly, causing the older man to smile.

"You're a man now, Zabini. You can call me Akil or King if you so please." laughed Akil. "Come in you two, we were just preparing tonight's dinner."

The four of them made their way to the kitchen. Blaise looked back at Rashida's disgruntled face and was confused.

"We will be there in a second." said Blaise to Akil as he stopped walking and gently grabbed Rashida's arm. Akil nodded and continued to follow his wife.

"Shida, whats-"

"What the fuck, Zabini!" whispered Rashida harshly, as she snatched her arm out of Blaise's grasp. "You couldn't give me more than a two second warning?"

"Warning?" questioned Blaise. "Why would I need to warn you about going to your parents house?"

"Because Blaise, you don't know what's going on in my life to just do what you please!"

"It's only your parents, love. It's not like you don't love them or have some kind of animosity. Look, I ran into your dad a week ago and I agreed to have dinner with them, and I figured you would want to too. What's the problem?"

Rashida sighed. Leave it to Blaise to once again put her in an awkward fucking position. She huffed and walked away from Blaise, towards the kitchen, leaving Blaise bewildered and wondering what he could have possibly done wrong.

The preparation of dinner seemed cheerful enough. Rashida discussed how well her art was selling and how she was working with Hermione to paint pictures to help spread the word for her S.P.E.W. project, which had continued and blossomed since fifth year Hogwarts. Blaise talked about his new Charms position and what other plans he was making for his future, and things seemed for the most part, normal. Even Rashida was acting less cold to him.

As they sat down for dinner however, the entire evening changed.

Akil, Masika, Rashida, and Blaise sat across from each other, with Rashida sitting beside Blaise. The four of them talked civilly for about ten minutes. Then, things seemed to take a turn for the bad when Akil asked Rashida a question.

"So, Shi-Shi, how is Thomas?"

Blaise immediately felt the tide of the room change as he saw Rashida give her food a piercing look.

"He's fine, Pappa." said Rashida shortly. "Just excited about the wedding. You are coming, right?"

Masika and Akil looked at each other and then back at their daughter. "Of course, kosbare. Wouldn't miss my only daughter's wedding for the world, even with circumstances being what they are."

'Oh shit.' thought Blaise.

"Oh god..." groaned Rashida.

"Ons moet oor dekaan praat." said Masika in Afrikaans, glancing quickly over at Blaise then back to her daughter.

Rashida groaned and rolled her eyes. "O kom Mama, nie weer nie." she responded.

"Yes, this again Shi-Shi. You're going to hear us out." said Masika firmly.

"Not in front of Blaise, please."

"Why not?" asked Akil. "Isn't Blaise your friend?"

"Of course he is, but he is also-"

"Jy weet ek het hom nooit lief gehad nie, Shi-Shi." said Akil with a disgruntled look on his face.

"You've made that very apparent, Pappa. That's why Dean never wants to come here." grumbled Rashida.

Blaise was shocked. Was this really happening? Was she suggesting that her family did not approve of Dean?

"All I'm saying Rashida, is that maybe you two should put off the wedding for a few more months, maybe another year."said Masika nervously. "There isn't any need to-"

"Dis my keuse, mamma. Ek is lief vir hom. Hoekom kan jy dit nie aanvaar nie ?" snapped Rashida, banging her hand on the table, causing Blaise to jump. He didn't know what the hell she was saying, but it must have been an insult because Masika looked furious.

"Omdat hy jou nie liefhet nie!" she yelled at her daughter, standing up.

Rashida stood straight up as well. "Ja hy doen!" she exclaimed. "En ek is siek vir jou twee en nou probeer Blaise om my lieflike lewe te hardloop!"

And with that, she stormed off, leaving Blaise completely stunned.

"I'll go calm her down." said Skip, getting up from the table and exiting the room. Marika sat down, hands shaking.

Blaise felt like a bystander that had just witnessed the Knight Bus crashing into a building. "Um...Mrs. Mosi, are you...I'm sorry. I shouldn't ask."

Masika gave Blaise a dismissive wave. "No no, Blaise. Totally understandable. I suppose you're wondering what all that was, yeah?"

Blaise nodded slowly. "Not trying to pry, but it was hard to understand."

"You're totally fine." said Masika, taking a deep breath. Blaise felt as if she was bracing herself.

"So, I suppose you already know about Rashida and Dean's upcoming wedding." she said, practically saying the word "wedding" through her teeth."

Blaise nodded.

"Well, we had of course met Dean back when you kids were students." began Masika. "Didn't think nothing of him at the time of course. I mean you and Rashida were dating at that time. Well after that untimely incident, Rashida was very depressed when you left, dear. She didn't talk about it, but she was hurt for years by it."

Blaise looked down at his plate. He couldn't help but feel even more like an ass.

"Fast forward four years, and she and Dean run into each other. "continued Masika. "They hang out and then eventually start dating. We thought that this was good. She was appearing to be happier, she was smiling more, and she just seemed like she was getting her light back. Her art was improving, and her business was starting to boom, which was great."

Blaise really didn't want to hear how Dean was improving Rashida's life. It should have been him to do that, not the Gryffindor bastard.

"Around February, there was a ministry dinner at Malfoy Manor to celebrate some anniversary of some evil wizard you had in England that had been vanquished decades ago. We all went. It was formal, there was dancing, and for most of the night, Dean and Rashida were attached to the hip. Then, I needed to step out for a bit of air, so I went out to the Malfoys gardens and I spied Dean kissing on some other witch."

Blaise felt a twinge of anger flow quickly through his body. Masika seen it in his face and nodded.

"Yes, he was cheating on my daughter. And he seemed perfectly content on doing so. Thankfully he didn't see me, so I was able to creep back in, and I quickly found Rashida and told her what I saw. It was a disaster, I'm shocked you didn't hear about it, even in Italy. When Dean came back into the manor, she confronted him. He lied about it at first, and then after she yelled about how I wouldn't have made that up and told her, he confessed. She hexed him a few times. The next day, he begged her to come back to him. Said it was the alcohol. Promised the girl meant nothing. A week later, Dean and Rashida both came to our England flat and there was that hideous diamond on my daughter's finger."

Masika took a breath and patted under her eyes with a napkin. "I'm sorry. It's just when I think about it, I just-"

"It's fine, Mrs. Mosi, take your time." said an extremely attentive Blaise.

Masika gained her composure and continued with the story. "Immediately, Akil blew up. He was already angry because Dean had not done the proper thing in his eyes and ask him for her hand in marriage. Knowing what had happened made the situation ten times worse. Rashida was shocked by it a. I guess she assumed that we would just be happy with whatever she decided, but we weren't. We begged her to reconsider. She wouldn't. And tonight is the first time we have seen her since."

Blaise was flabbergasted. "You're joking! She didn't!"

"I feel like Dean told her not to see us. She would write from time to time, but when we would suggest her come for dinner and even when her brother came to visit, she wouldn't come. We would write to her, begging her to reconsider the marriage. I would lie and just say postpone, but really, I don't want him marrying my daughter, Blaise. He's no good. That whole time before I caught him cheating, he eyed and treated Rashida like she was more of his property than his girlfriend. I don't know what hold he has over her, and I don't know what she is trying to prove by still marrying him, but I feel once she does, I'm going to lose my only girl."

Blaise looked at Masika with shame in his eyes. This was not the Rashida he knew. She had broken up with him for the sight of him almost cheating. Why did she just take Dean back so effortlessly when he actually did kiss another witch?

"I get the feeling that you aren't hanging around Rashida for simply friends, am I correct?" asked Masika.

Blaise nodded. "I still love her, ma'am."

"As her mother, I shouldn't tell you to do this. But also as her mother, I can't help but be compelled to tell you this. I don't want that man with my daughter. He will do nothing but hurt her. I saw it in his eyes. He is a bad person. I don't know all your intentions Blaise, but I do know that I would like for you to do anything you can possibly do to stop her from marrying him. And I'm not telling you to do that for your own gain, or for me and her father's sake. Do it for her. My daughter deserves a good man. And if you're him, that's fine. If you're not him, that's fine too. But please, for her, make her see reason, I beg of you."

Blaise couldn't help but feel like even more of a bastard. He was being completely selfish in wanting to split them up for the sake of getting back who he felt was rightfully his. Dean had seriously wronged her. He honestly and truly didn't deserve to be in her presence, and sure as hell didn't deserve to marry her.

But did he himself deserve to have her? Could he get Rashida away from Dean for her sake and not for his own potential personal gain?

"I love your daughter, Mrs. Mosi." Blaise finally said. "I love her, and I would love even more to be with her, just like before. She means the world to me. And if he is not good for her like you say and I already could tell, then regardless of if I gain her or not, I promise to try to get her to see reason. I promise."

Masika gave Blaise a small smile and patted his hand. "You're a good man, Blaise Zabini. Even with the mistakes of her youth, I can look at you and tell you are a good man. Any woman would be blessed to have you, even if it isn't Shi-Shi."