A/N: Okay so I debated with myself a looong time about posting this chapter. See there's really no point to it except a tiny glimpse into Blaise's past, and it doesn't line up very well with the rest of the chapters around it…but, finally, because I couldn't help myself I settled on a compromise.

The first half of this is the Questionable Blaise stuff, the second half is a little bit of PLOT(woot woot!) that I put in so this chapter wouldn't be completely worthless.

You have permission to ignore the first half and(yes yes I know there are some minor glitches in it) please don't review about a problem with it unless it's just killing you(or if you're really confused).

That's all kiddies.

"That's all. Yer free t' go. Just remember t' come down ever' other evenin' and take notes on our lil beauties," Hagrid said as Care of Magical Creatures ended one day near the end of October.

"I will not," Draco said flatly. "I see enough of these foul things during lessons, thanks."

"Yeh'll do wha' yer told," Hagrid growled, "or I'll be takin' a leaf outta Professor Moody's book...I hear yeh made a good ferret, Malfoy."

The Gryffindors roared with laughter and Vince and Greg had to grab ahold of Alex to keep her from drawing her wand on another teacher. She struggled against their significant bulk briefly and settled for glaring slow murder at the Professor.

Draco ground his teeth, the memory of his father's orders still strong in his mind. The effort of controlling his rage brought a faint pink flush to his face.

"Draco," Greg said in a low voice, "class is over."

It was all the reminder he needed. Draco whirled and stalked off. The other boys kept a firm hold on Alex as they followed. When Draco saw what they were doing he raised his eyebrow in surprise.

"Don't give me that look, Malfoy!" Alex snapped, yanking herself free. Arriving in the slowly filling Entrance Hall, Alex had a clear view of the newly posted notice.

TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT

The delegation from Beaubatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at six o'clock on Friday the 30 th of October. Lessons will end half an hour early. Students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast.

Spotting Blaise, Alex made her way towards him. He pushed towards her when he saw the look on her face.

"Bad lesson?" he asked sympathetically.

"That…oaf Hagrid dared to-"

"Bring up the ferret incident." Draco interrupted her with dry amusement in his voice. "I've never seen anything else that can make Alex lose her temper faster than that."

"Go away Malfoy." Blaise ordered good naturedly. Draco just glared at him. Blaise sighed. "Unless you want her to do something worse to you for tormenting her I suggest you leave until I remind her that she has a brain and should use it."

Shrugging Draco moved away, Vince and Greg following.

"Remind me I have a brain?" Alex asked dangerously.

"Lex!" Blaise snapped taking ahold of her shoulders. "what the bloody hell is up with you and this ferret thing! You take more offense at it than Draco does!"

"Have you ever been on the wrong side of a forced human transfiguration?"

"No…have you?"

Alex grimaced. "Yes. It isn't pleasant let me tell you."

"When? How?" Blaise's eyes narrowed. "Who?" he growled.

"Not Moody." Alex glanced around the now crowded hall. "My parents if you must know. And this is hardly the time."

"Fine! But you will tell me and you have got to stop leaping to Draco's defense over this. It looks…"

"Yes?"

"It looks bad Alex. Think about it for more than a second and you'll see what I mean."

Alex frowned and glared up at her friend. "Not really, no." she snapped.

"Then you're being dense on purpose Alexandria! People are starting to call you Draco's watchdog and Malfoy's Mistress. Not where I can hear them of course. They know better."

"Aw, Blaise!" Alex mocked. "Are you playing my older brother? How touching!"

"You are touched!" Blaise yelled. "In the head!" grabbing her arm he dragged her into a side hallway empty of people. "Do you really want people considering you Draco's plaything?"

"I don't care what people think, as long as it isn't the truth. If I really was Draco's plaything…" Alex stopped and shook her head, chuckling bitterly. "Look Blaise I appreciate the concern. Really, I do. But this isn't your problem."

Blaise just watched her, his eyes darkening slightly. "Draco isn't some kind of wounded animal. He takes what he wants from whoever has it, regardless of what it'll do to them. He may even be a sadist, from what I've heard, and he doesn't cast a sound shield around his bed, it's very likely. Draco has power, that's why they come back. Not because it's pleasurable for them. Keep that in mind."

He began to turn away, but Alex grabbed his arm.

"I'm not an idiot." She said bluntly. "Neither is Pansy, Milli and every other girl who's ever had anything to do with Draco, sexual or otherwise. They use him just as much as he uses them. And I don't get my information through overheard sounds in the dark of night. Girls talk about this stuff, face to face, all the gory details."

Blaise frowned.

"And if you must know, from what I've gathered Malfoy never did anything they didn't ask for."

A slow ripple, that would have been a shudder in a girl raced up Blaise. The ice in Alex's gaze melted.

"I…" he whispered.

"I know it's hard for you. If I had your past I'd see it everywhere too, but I can promise you Draco wasn't abusing anyone."

A long, shaking sigh escaped his lips. "You're sure?"

"I'm sure. Merlin, Blaise." Alex whispered, wrapping her arms around his waist, a fiercely protective light gleaming in her eyes. "How long has this been eating at you?"

It seemed that he'd been waiting for an invitation. Blaise grabbed her in a bear hug, crushing her in his desperate clutches. "The memories…the dreams have been…bad…lately…."

"I'll bet." Alex said sympathetically. Blaise's past was different from her own, in that his parents had been worse than hers. Bad enough to get themselves caught and convicted. When she'd first met him he'd been massively different than he was now but with his parents gone he'd eventually bounced back. These days his bad days were less often than hers and he rarely would talk about them. "Shall I ask Draco to control himself?"

Blaise laughed weakly. "I think I'd like to watch that conversation."

"Sure thing, ya lecher. I'll set it up."

She felt him relax beside her and he loosened his hold. "Gods I have such a headache. You working with him so closely when I had it in my head that he…" he sighed.

"Even if he isn't some kind of abusive animal in bed I'm still not going to prove the rumors true." Alex pushed off Blaise and shot him a Look. "You should know better than to listen to rumors about me."

"Okay, so I'm a blind, forgetful person. You should still cool it with the ferret thing though, Lex."

Alex sighed and rolled her eyes, but the appearance of several Ravenclaws kept her perfectly scathing response in her mouth. Instead an annoyed, "I'll try." emerged.

"You do that…" Blaise trailed off as Alex rubbed her nose. "You okay?"

She paused in her attempt to pinch it pointy. "It's a little squashed." She complained, easily changing the subject away from her and Draco.

He winced. "Sorry."

"Stop that!" She sighed. "You're such a moron you know. You may squash me any day…as long as it's in private, or the witnesses are people nobody would miss."

"You're a bloody idiot."

"Yeah, so what's your point?"

"Hey, baby," the rough female voice wove its way through the mid-afternoon air, "wanna have a little fun?" The witch, her hair obviously bleached to a straw blond, twirled her wand suggestively, her robes slipping from her left shoulder.

Inside his own, faded, black robes, Wormtail shivered. He had little experience with the various activities she was blatantly insinuating and, while the idea terrified him, it also made his mouth go dry in longing.

Finally, the fact that his funds couldn't sustain any kind of detour kept him from turning aside. Wormtail shivered again as he walked. What sunlight made it into Knockturn Alley was dim, filtered and cold.

His mission was elegant in its simplicity, but a headache in practice. He needed to find something, anything, that could sustain the life of his Lord. Or, if by some miracle, a spell or a potion that could bring him back to a body.

The inconspicuous store front on the infamous "Jackle's" loomed up suddenly in his vision. Wormtail swallowed and tried to affect a casual, unconcerned air as he pushed the door open.

The interior was not what he expected. It wasn't dark; rather, huge skylights brought sunlight into the interior, shining on rows of black shelves and the books they contained. The only smells that drifted to his nose were those reminiscent of a library; books, paper, ink and dust.

Starting to relax, he'd always liked libraries and the peace and quiet that came with them, Wormtail decided to start on the left.

Working his way across the store went faster than he'd expected, probably because most of the books he came across were ones he'd already searched through in his Master's library. Only a few were new, and thus required that he actually crack the cover, and all of these were completely useless. Wormtail frowned.

Where were the books on deep magic? Illegal magic? Blood magic and sacrifice magic? Why was this place infamous if all they offered was this drivel!

That thought pulled him up short and Wormtail almost laughed. Of course! Infamous it might be but that didn't mean it was safe to have such illegal works displayed in the front room.

He turned, a slightly manic gleam in his eye, and walked up to the service counter. When no one appeared to help him he knocked loudly on the wooden top.

Jackle knew when the…creature entered his shop. It would have been impossible to miss, even if he didn't have spells and wards up to inform him of such comings and goings.

This man smelled of death….death and desperation.

As he prowled around in the front room Jackle kept his seat. When he walked up to the counter, nervous excitement adding itself to his scent, Jackle ignored him.

But when he started knocking on the newly polished counter top Jackle got annoyed. Heaving himself nimbly off his chair he stalked out into the store, casting a baleful glare at the short wizard.

"Yes?" he barked.

The customer jumped just a tiny bit and Jackle almost smiled.

"I…" he leaned in over the counter, as if sharing a secret. "I would like to see your…private stock."

Jackle scowled. The wizard wasn't one of the Great Families, wasn't one of his good customers, wasn't known to Jackle at all…and he obviously wasn't a friend of one of those who were or he would have known better than to ask like that.

Worse, for the man not Jackle himself, the creature smelled like a thief. And while Jackle would sell to almost anyone he drew the line at rude, desperate, death obsessed thieves.

"I'm sorry," he said coldly, "I have no idea what you're talking about. This is the extent of my stock. If you would like to special order a specific volume I'm sure something could be arranged."

The man's face fell and for a second Jackle watched as terror and fury chased themselves around it. But then the little wizard pulled himself up and pulled his wand.

"You will show me your private stock of dark books or-"

"Leave." Jackle spat, the word a trigger for one of his wards.

Wormtail found himself flying through the air and slamming into the stones of Knockturn Alley. Glancing up as he scrambled to his feet he saw Jackle stride to the door.

"You are no longer welcome in my establishment. If you attempt to visit again your next removal won't be nearly as pleasant."

And the door was shut in Wormtail's face.