Chapter 16: Analytics
The redhead smiled sleepily as she snuggled herself under the covers, her sigh the embodiment of contentment.
Blaise had tried to find her friend, but the blonde girl Ginny had named had stumbled out the door with Fawley just minutes after the redhead had pointed her out to him. So he'd resigned himself, and helped her up the stairs to one of the rooms he'd already designated for those too drunk to get home that night. Being too lazy to go all the way down the enchanted hallway to find a free room (having held parties at this house for a few years now, he'd invested enough to make sure the accommodations were plentiful), he'd opened the closest door and cheerfully kicked out the couple that had been snogging in the corner. He'd directed her to bed, but was still eager to return to his party.
"Wait-" Her hand was reaching out from beneath the fluffy down comforter, grabbing at the hem of his shirt and tugging it back toward her.
She was sloshed.
He sighed and took a couple of steps back toward her, sitting on the edge of the bed with an incredulous smirk. "What, Weasley?" He was wary of trashed girls. They were a bit of a mess – even if they were a cute mess, like the redhead who was smiling goofily up at him from the crisp white bed.
She was quiet for a moment or two. "…Goodnight, Blaise." Her head was lolling to the side as she smiled at him, her fingers clumsily stepping their way up his chest as she bit her lip obviously, his fake specs askew on her petite freckled nose.
He couldn't help the chuckle of amusement as he pushed her hand away, and he leaned over to pull her glasses off, folding them and setting them on the bedside table. "Goodnight, Weasley," he murmured sarcastically, watching her arm drunkenly dangle off the edge of the bed as he stood, her eyes closing happily. The black-haired boy shook his head in disbelief as he turned away, heading out the door.
He blinked a few times, cocking his head to the side as he raised an eyebrow. "Draco?" He looked to his friend questioningly, taking in the frustrated pout on the blonde's generally stoic face.
Draco was glaring at the now sleeping redhead, nursing a glass of something – rum, bourbon, scotch; whatever it was, it was assuredly alcoholic. He was leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest, looking quite bitter. "…She called you Blaise."
He must've really been listening, to hear that little muttering from here. "Yeah," Blaise shrugged, closing the door behind him, "So?"
"Why's she calling you Blaise?"
The black-haired boy snorted at his friend's accusatory tone. "Because that's my name?" He suggested, sarcastically, locking the door with a charm to keep out drunken party-goers. Blaise shook his head at his friend's childish tone, and began to walk back toward the stairs. When he glanced back to the blonde, his friend was still looking as though he were enjoying some sort of inner tantrum. "Jealous, Draco?"
The blonde shot his so-called friend a look of pure scathing venom. "Fuck off, Zabini."
If anything, Blaise's smirk grew, and the two boys made their way back toward the party. "I told you, Draco: it's my thing. Girls love me for it." He was calling over his shoulder, loud enough to be heard over the music and the crowd.
"You're a clit-tease, you mean," the blonde snarked, rolling his eyes as Blaise shot a dazzling smile at a girl dressed as a 'sexy quidditch player.'
His friend turned on a dime, and Draco nearly ran into his smug grin. "Precisely," Blaise muttered, quietly, tapping the blonde's nose and looking incredibly satisfied with himself. He held himself there for a moment, blatantly invading Draco's personal space, and the blonde realized this was another of his power games. It was only after Draco's brow began to furrow into a scowl that Blaise pulled away, laughing.
"Your game, Draco-" he pointed out, leading his friend steadily through the party, surveying it for something that might catch his interest, "-is the authority figure."
The blonde narrowed his eyes at his friend, suspicious and a bit out of his element, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well," Blaise grabbed a bottle from the kitchen counter as they walked by, and leaned against a wall, popping it open against the edge of a nearby table. "You have this dominant vibe going on," he explained. "Like, you're the one girls want to put them in their place." He wasn't looking at his friend, instead gazing over the party as he took a swig from the bottle. "Girls want you to boss them around and take control."
Draco felt a slight blush rising on his cheeks, and worked to calm it. He hadn't really thought of it that way before… he didn't really like analyzing himself like this. He refused to even glance at Zabini, facing slightly away from him and taking a slow sip of his liquor. "…" He didn't say anything to stop his friend from continuing, but didn't encourage it either.
"Now me-" Blaise mussed his own dark hair, and shared his patented swoon-worthy grin. "I can pull that off, if she's into it," he shrugged, "But I'm more the sort who's there for fun. You promise them something that gets their blood pumping: I promise them a good time."
The blonde shifted uncomfortably. While they'd shared casual details of their hookups, he was a little put off by the amount of thought his friend had put into this. "What are you getting at?" There must've been a point to this conversation beyond just making Draco squirm – then again, Zabini himself never denied his love of making others squirm.
"My point is, Draco: Red doesn't need someone to tell her what to do." His tone was bright and simple, with just a touch of smugness making his golden eyes glint. "Given a taste, she's more comfortable setting her own boundaries, and I'm happy to let her make the moves." His wolfish grin was just a step short of gloating.
Draco looked to his hands, running a finger around the edge of his glass and thinking. He had wanted this little flight of fancy with the Weasley girl to be done by now. He'd wanted to figure her out and dismiss her. Snog her, maybe, or shag her if necessary, but just the once, just enough to get her out of his head. Apparently, it wouldn't be so easy.
A/N: Just sending out a quick thanks to all of the readers, followers, favorite-rs, and reviewers! I really really love reviews, so extra brownie points to anyone willing to drop me a line on what they think of the story so far!
