Warning: Extremely long chapter ahead. Enjoy!
If I could take everything back
I would without a second thought
If the fall would wash away your pain
Stand with me in the rain
And we'll lose it all
Isn't there a way to make myself forget this? Blaise thought gazing out the window.
He chuckled a little. That would have meant that he didn't deserve to suffer, that he hadn't done it for a good cause. He did. He'd done it for her, to protect her, to help her the only way he felt he could. He'd done it out of love.
But this love wasn't sweet and kind, it was tears and pain, blood and sacrifice. It was bittersweet torture and it only got worse. While the memories comforted him to a degree, they taunted him all the same. Kind of like the taste of really good German chocolate cake when you're on a diet. It was so worth it, but made you feel guilty afterwards. He wanted to laugh, and almost though it would happen. He was comparing Elena to chocolate cake...
Because that's always helped.
But she was. She was sweet and warm and inviting. He hadn't even dared to lay eyes on her when he climbed aboard for that very reason. He had to keep his distance or it would all come crumbling down.
"Tch," he scoffed.
It was already in rubble and he was being slowly crushed to death under the weight.
After the final exams were over and everyone was preparing to go home from the summer, Elena got an interesting owl from her family in America. They wanted her to come spend the summer with them saying something about a nice trip away from rainy old england and a chance to get the full tale of her years at Hogwarts. With Noemi gone on a long trip as a consultant for a fashion tour, Blaise had nowhere to really spend the June, July, and most of August with. He could have gone home, but at best he would have been trapped in his home or running around the fields all day everyday.
"Come with me," she'd said. "You've never been to America right? My cousins say they've planned a whole summer's worth of crazy for us...It'll be fun."
He agreed unable to say no. Of course her mother asked her why Draco wasn't coming along and it was quickly silenced by a "He wasn't invited."
She was fuming, Draco was pissed but obligated to spend the summer under his father's wing to prepare for their last year, get ready to take over the family business, and of course prepare for the wedding. They packed their things and stayed their last night in Italy at the Zabini Manor.
He laughed a little as Elena and Miss Miran Valencio chatted animatedly over whatever she was cooking up for them. Besides the rest of the servants, he, Elena, and Miran were the only people in the Zabini Manor. His mother had had the funeral for his step father a few days before he returned, his sisters were off somewhere, and his father... well who knew where he was.
"Your girlfriend is a smart cookie, don't let her get away," Miran said tossing the dough and he coughed as Elena flushed.
"She's not my girlfriend," he said calmly.
"You don't have to be embarrassed, Blaise. I can see that you two are close... just don't let your sisters, let alone your mother find out about it."
He was going to protest again but her tone caught him off guard. Why would any of them care?
"We're not dating... she's my best friend." He said. "Besides what do they have to do with anything? They wouldn't care."
"Well... you're sisters would do everything in their power to give your girl hell," she said sprinkling oregano into the do among other things.
She decided that every recipe needed improvement and Blaise had loved her for it. His mother had nearly fired her, but Blaise insisted that since he was the only one that was ever consistently home to eat her cooking, he got to choose. He chose Miran. It had been the first time his mother had heard him speak to her for longer than a few words at a time. He was sure it was just the shock that had convinced her.
"Furthermore, your mother is trying to find you a girl to marry," she said. "I would suggest you set her straight before she brings some prissy pure blooded idiot to meet you."
Elena laughed, "Aw... is Blaise's mother trying to play matchmaker?"
"She'll bring back some gold digger that's just like her. I'd rather live long enough to see my kids grow before I had over my inheritance to a perfect stranger."
She laughed and Miran shrugged.
"I'm just warning you," she said. "I would say cart young Miss Elena off to the Ministry and get married before you two get out of school. You can have a proper ceremony after you've gotten your mother off you back."
Elena laughed and Blaise looked mortified. He should have been used to Miran's antics. After all she was the one who first inquired about his tastes in sex. She'd been worried when he hadn't shown any obvious interest in girls and had been so bold to say , "If you swing the other way, your secret is safe with me."
He'd sputtered and told her that he was very much attracted to women. When Elena had come to stay with him, Miran had almost had a heart attack.
"I'm sure your parents are trying to do the same,"Miran remarked to Elena. "You're too much of a good catch for someone to not be after you, so you should hurry up Blaise before someone else steals her away."
Blaise smirked, "But she's here with me."
Elena flushed, "Blaise!"
Miran turned around and nodded, "Quite, but you know how pure blood families are."
Elena smiled a little, "I know. I've already been betrothed of sorts."
"Well Blaise you'd better do something quick. Is he an ass?"
"Completely," he replied.
"Oh, then there's no competition."
Elena laughed as Miran slid the pizza in the oven. Elena got up to use the restroom and Miran turned to face him.
"You love her too much to let her go Blaise."
He smirked a little and shrugged, "It's not up to me."
"She loves you to much to go without a fight."
He flushed briefly.
"Not to mention you two are perfect for each other."
He sputtered, "Don't you think you're overstepping it a little bit? We're friends Miran."
She scoffed, "Because friends run around the city together, go swimming together in the middle of the night, share a bed for no good reason, they eat romantic meals together over looking the ocean..."
He cleared his throat.
"Friends don't sit that close either..."
He didn't turn his head to see what she was talking about. He hadn't realized that she had been sitting close enough to feel her all up his side. They'd always sat that close unless they were across the table from one another but then he could see her and he rarely removed his eyes from hers. He sighed at Miran's smile. She was right and there wasn't anything he could say as Elena chose that moment to come back and slide up on her stool beside Blaise. He closed his eyes as her warmth pressed along his side.
"What'd I miss?"
"I was just explaining how perfect you two would be together," Miran said flippantly, turning back to her pizza ingredients.
Elena laughed and Blaise just gave up.
"I was beginning to think what our children would look like with your eyes..."
"Or yours?" She asked in between a giggle. "And all the curls..."
"Sounds adorable," Miran said. "When you two planning on starting that?"
"Hmm... how fast is that pizza gonna be done? Gotta eat before such activity after all."
Elena flushed and fell silent at Blaise's jibe. Miran laughed.
"I think you've mortified the poor girl."
Mortified? No, she was anything but mortified. If anything she was letting the idea roll around in her mind. Roll...oh dear. The word roll was not something her imagination needed to roll with. She'd already felt the hardness of his body beneath her, the idea of it above her, on top of her while they rolled around in the sheets in some passionate dance...She swallowed hard and shook her head clear of that thought and was so thankful that Blaise had not learned Occlumency.
"You look like the idea appeals to you..." Blaise commented reading the embarrassed and shocked look on her face.
"Shut up!"
Miran and Blaise laughed. They stayed in the large kitchen and ate with Miran enjoying the conversation until it was time to sleep if they meant to have enough energy to deal with her cousins and whatever they had planned. Elena skipped her way down the stairs to the room that she used when she stayed with them after saying goodnight and couldn't say why she tossed and turned and woke up much more tangled in her sheets that usual.
When Blaise came in to wake her, she was tossing in her sleep writhing around her sleep and mumbling. Her body was sweaty and she looked as if she had a fever though the room was perfectly cool.
"Elena," he called. "svegliarsi, miele."
"Blaise," she moaned out turning over as he reached out to her.
Her skin was feverish as he shook her gently.
"Wake up," he said and her eyes flew open and she sat up with a scream in a whirlwind of curly black hair.
He blinked as she tried to catch her breath and looked at him with wide and hazy eyes. They were soft, warm, and dark even in the light.
"Blaise," she said as if he shouldn't be there.
"You alright? You looked like you were having a nightmare."
She refused to blush but shook her head, "I'm fine."
That had been so far from a nightmare it scared her. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she felt wet all over, hot and sticky. He got up running a hand through her hair.
"Breakfast is ready, I'll wait for you in the Ocean Room."
She smiled, "You called it the Ocean Room..."
He blinked, "I suppose... I did."
She grinned in triumph and detangled her legs from the sheets to hop out of bed. She went into the bathroom to hurry and shower refusing to blush at the stickiness between her legs as she hopped in, showered, and got dressed for the weather in good old Miami, Florida: shorts and a tank. She made it to breakfast almost toppling herself out of the chair with excitement.
"I can't wait for you to meet them! It's going to be so much fun! No Draco, no Mom, no worries for the rest of the summer!"
He grinned at her excitement and they finished breakfast fairly quickly. The dishes vanished before their eyes and they headed down to the main fireplace to Floo across the world. Blaise stepped in.
"Angelina Romano," she told him. "5345 Sunset Drive. Miami Florida."
He repeated it and vanished in a flourish of green fire.
Now Angelina Romano was a fairly successful 20 year old woman. She worked for the American branch of the Ministry of Magic and was quite good at her job. She took care of her two sisters Marie and Nikita who were both going on their final year of wizarding schooling as well. She was level-headed and even though she lived in the wizarding world, somethings still surprised her.
"Sis'! There's an amazingly tall, dark, and handsome Italian man walking out of our fireplace!" Nikita called.
She frowned and came out of the kitchen and lo and behold he was climbing out of their fireplace with a bag on his back. He smiled nervously at them.
"Hi... you must be Angelina..." He said and the three women stared at him with disbelief.
"Are you Adonis?" Marie asked.
Nikita laughed at the uncomfortable expression on his face.
"No... I'm not. I'm-"
The fireplace roared with Elena's appearance and she grinned.
"I'm home!" She called.
"Topolina!"Angelina cheered as she came out of the fireplace to hug her three cousins tightly. Blaise looked on in interest as Nikita and Marie continued to look at him in interest.
"It's nice to see you're not too banged up..."
She laughed and kissed her cheek, "Yes of course."
" 'Lena,"Nikita started. "Who is this Adonis you brought with you?"
"Is he single?" Marie asked.
"Is he related to us?" Nikita cut in.
"Is he your boyfriend?" They teased.
The twins had always been that way and Blaise laughed at their antics.
"I'm Blaise. Blaise Zabini, I'm a friend from school." He said holding out a hand to shake.
"This is Blaise?" They nearly screeched in confusion.
"Yes... What did you expect?" Elena asked.
"They know who I am then?" Blaise asked.
"Of course, if you have Noemi, I have these three..."
He nodded and smiled at them as they stuttered out their indignation.
"Y-You never said he was tall?"
"Or hot?"
"He's HOT!"
Elena was a little amused that he had the nerve to look uncomfortable with them staring up at him.
"You had better jump on that," Nikita said. "I love you cuz' but if you don't want him I'll take him."
She laughed, "Long distance never works out and you know it."
She sighed. Elena was right, "Well how about a very passionate summer filled with quickies in broom closet and possibly some sex on the beach?"
He sputtered, "Are they always like this?"
"Nope," she said. "I'm actually surprised at how tame their being."
He looked at her as if she'd grown two heads.
"We'll show you to the room you'll be staying in!" The twins volunteered pulling him by the arms down the hallway. He looked at Elena with a desperate look and she shrugged as they pulled him along and Angelina laughed.
"Why didn't you say he was hot?" Angelina asked.
"He's my best friend," she supplied. "Besides, if I had nothing would have changed."
Angelina conceded her that point as the twins came back. Elena had a feeling that Blaise would never forgive her if she kept leaving him alone with her cousins. If he was a Lord of teasing, they had to be Queens, after all they'd had all the practice they'd need in life on Elena since they were kids. Elena had never seemed to pick up the skill.
"Elena, please, please, my dear cousin tell me you are at least trying to jump on that."
She laughed, "He's my best friend and I'm supposedly getting married-"
"That's bullshit and you know it!" Nikita said. "What's the real reason? Huh? We all know you have no intention, curse or not, of marrying the Malfoy bastard."
"So what is it? Is he gay?"
"Not that I know of."
"Well is he deformed? Is he crazy? What's wrong with him the reason you're sticking to this "we're just friends bullshit." "
"I've been wondering the same thing," Blaise said from the hallway.
"So what's wrong with you?" Marie asked with absolutely no shame. Elena didn't even think either of the twins knew what that was.
"Good question," Blaise said with a mischievous glint in his eyes as he looked at Elena. "What's wrong with me Elena?"
She flushed, "Nothing's wrong with you-"
"So why won't you date me?" He asked smirking as she started squirming.
The three sisters looked on in amazement. They'd never seen Elena act like that before.
"You're my best friend," she tried weakly.
"Wrong answer," he said. "But that's okay. You'll tell me when you're ready."
She didn't respond and her cousins laughed.
"Holy crap, Elena! What did you do?" Nikita asked.
"Please teach me," Marie said. "I want a hot guy to fall in love with me that deeply."
She was red by then and it was bleeding into every part of her now. Her hair had turned red, her eyes, her cheeks.
"Now you two see here," she scolded. "I haven't done anything! I don't know what you're talking about!"
"But Blaise loves you," Angelina said. "Right?"
"Right," he replied.
"That's enough picking on me for one day thank you!" Elena declared. "What is the plan for the summer?"
They dropped it but the other four looked at each other with mischievous glints in their eyes. They'd just found a new ally for keeping Elena's spirits up.
"We just tease you out of love."
"Especially Blaise," Nikita said and before Elena could say anything, Marie had pulled out a Calendar and began explaining the marked dates.
"There's a concert we have tickets to, a few parties we're going to, of course Quidditch games, soccer games, more parties, a banquet which we have to go shopping for. Concert, party, concert, party."
They glanced at Blaise who looked like he was ready for a run on the beach.
"Please tell me you brought party clothes?" Nikita asked the pair.
Elena and Blaise blinked, "Uh... no."
Nikita huffed. "Damn it."
Marie was on the phone calling up a few guy friends and friends a like to come over and help this crisis. How did neither of them bring party clothes? Elena rolled her eyes. It was Miami, Florida. If the party wasn't inside, it was outside and all that required was a swim suit. She hoped that they weren't going to try and make her wear a bikini again. That was the last thing any of them needed.
They did, and this time they succeeded. They knew it was because they had a new ally in Blaise that teased her about it. The first concert they went to was Rihanna and Britney Spears and it seemed more about the dancing than actually listening. There really wasn't much to explain about that since it was far too dark to really see what was going on around him. The Quidditch game was amazing.
Angelina had a friend on the winning team and they got to take a picture and have it autographed by the whole team. Elena had been bouncing around ever since they got there. It was her favorite American team after all. Blaise could only smile at her enthusiasm and watch her while being watched by her cousins. The summer was rushing towards the end and as the weeks passed on, Blaise was beginning to wonder if he could really do this? For all his good intentions, he wondered if he had the strength to really let his angel go.
This isn't going to end well...
It was the last week that they were going to be there. The last night was the next one and he couldn't sleep. They'd been going to the party the next night and heading back to Italy for the rest of the summer the next afternoon. Nikita and Marie had still kept up the guise of being attracted to him, but he could see through it. They loved their cousin and had pulled him aside some night after a few weeks of being there.
"If you hurt Topolina," Nikita said.
"We'll kill you and make it look like an accident."
"Be glad it's us and not her brother, or her father."
Blaise frowned, "Her father?"
The twins blinked and wore the distinct expression of two people that had said something that they shouldn't have said. But they din't say anything about it and went back to trying to determine his intentions and affections for their cousin.
"I love her," Blaise said. "And that's why I'm here."
Nikita frowned, "What do you mean? What are you planning to do?"
He told them what he was going to do and they looked somewhere in between mortified and impressed. It wasn't as if they hadn't known that Blaise cared for their dear cousin. Everyone but she saw that.
"I look forward to having you as part of the family." Marie said and they hugged him tightly.
For all his good intentions, and his planning, he'd been blind to one crucial fact: Elena loved him too. It wouldn't take long for them to figure that out and for the two to get together. They hadn't spoken much else about it and continued on with the teasing and the flirting all the way up until the last week. Blaise had gone outside to watch the waves wash up on the shore and be alone with his own thoughts. Marie and Nikita had invited their boyfriends and a few other friends to hang out for a while. He could hear them laughing inside, more specifically he could hear Elena laughing and he closed his eyes to absorb the sound of her happiness and the waves. It was all so calming, he wished it would stay that way forever.
They'd spent her birthday together. The twins had something to do during the day and Angelina had to work but Elena and Blaise had toured around Miami for a while, stopped off to eat and got ice cream and a cupcake to sing Happy Birthday over in the park. The people walking around the park had giggled and pointed as he teased her. Murmurs of how cute they were together echoed around the park and made her blush. They had been in a joyous revelry the entire summer break and it was going to end soon.
Elena stuck her head out the glass sliding doors to call him in from his isolation, "Hey Blaise, we're going to make food are you hungry?"
He turned to her and stood smiling, "Starved."
He wasn't really hungry. He felt sick with the coming tragedy he was going to bestow on their lives, but he smiled and at anyway. When she asked him if something was wrong he'd said, "Only the fact that we haven't kissed this entire break."
She huffed and grumbled about him deflecting her questions and puffed her cheeks. He grinned and kissed her cheek making her gasp and gawk at him.
"I could kiss you on the lips next time if you'd like."
She puffed up her cheeks and went back to eating in a disgruntled and embarrassed silence. Night washed over them again and before Blaise knew it, it was the last day of happiness. Nikita and Marie started getting around when the sun went down. Blaise got carted off to help set up for the party with their boyfriends and let them get ready in peace.
"So... you're the guy that's dating Elena right?"
He grimaced, "No we're not dating."
"Then you want to date her."
"Yes."
There really wasn't anything else to say about it. Evan and Quillan were cool guys with a penchant for mischief as their girlfriends were. They teased Elena almost as mercilessly as their girlfriends did. He had a sneaking suspicion that the'd known each other for a long time.
"I'm not wearing that-"
"You are," Nikita said laying the piece of clothing down on the bed. "And we won't even have to force you."
Marie pulled outhe proper heels to go with it and grinned at her. Elena crossed her arms.
"Why is that?"
"Because you want Blaise to stop treating you like a friend."
"Because you want to jump all over that-"
"Because you love him and you're tired of being just a friend to him. You're going to wear that because you want his attention."
Elena didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. The twins left the room and she glared at it. They were right and as much as she prided herself as one who didn't play those games, there was a time and a place for them.
Marie and Nikita were fixing their eyeliner when Elena came out and the click-clack of heels announced her arrival in the bathroom.
"Whoo~! Sexy~!"
The music was pumping through the room as Blaise, Evan, and Quillan hung out on the edges near the bar sipping water as the music kicked up and Evan nudged him.
"Over there," he said pointing towards the entrance where Nikita and Marie were descending into the crowd.
Behind them there was a part of him that knew it was Elena but he didn't really believe it. She was too... too something that he could place. Her hair was a sleeker version of her normal curls and she was wrapped in some skin tight halter top and hot pants, fishnets and heels that made her legs look even more to die for than they already was. He swallowed hard as Evan waved them over and the girls made their way through the party.
"What type of spell did you cast on her to make her wear that?" Evan asked.
"No spell needed, she got dressed of her own accord." Nikita said. "Did we do good, Blaise?"
He smirked a little and looked her over. His gaze dragged over her leaning on the counter of the bar and a rush of heat rushed through them both as he met her eyes.
"Yeah," he almost breathed. "Very good."
Nikita rolled her eyes and grabbed Evan.
"Time to dance!" She declared and dragged them onto the floor as another song started and Elena gave Blase a look that said come dance with me but he watched her walk past him and followed her through the crowd happy to find that she stayed close enough for him to see her. "Move Shake Drop" began to play and he couldn't help but shift uncomfortably but didn't dare stop watching when she danced. He almost felt guilty that he was watching her like this, but decided it didn't matter. She was working up a sweat and it wouldn't be long until guys would notice it either.
He decided to dig his own grave and get up from his seat and make his way to her as another guy had just gotten the same idea. He laced his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him.
"Dance with me," he said.
She nodded almost breathless as a remix of "Push" by Enrique Inglesias started to play. She couldn't say what took over her but having him so close to her made her loose all inhibition. She was hot and sweaty, there was no telling what type of drink had been spilt on her at one point but it didn't matter. If he didn't care, she didn't either. It didn't take long for them to start panting and a sense of attraction covered them. Every roll of the hips and bounce was a competition to see who would give in first. Were they friends or was it something else? It was "Freakum Dress" that was the last song. Blaise had lost.
She'd lost her mind, grinding against him. She'd spun around and dropped down and somehow he'd kept up with her no matter what she did. She felt perfect against him. The sprinklers had gone off or someone had set they off and now they were wet and rocking against each other. She didn't know how much more she could take when Blaise pulled her with him across the floor to a dark corner and trapped her against the war, silencing her with an open mouth kiss that she returned with as much passion as she'd danced with, maybe more. Instead of the solid state numbness, there was a warmness and maddening electricity running through her when he backed her up against the wall and lifted her up so she could wrap her legs around him.
He groaned as part of them were still moving in time with the music and making it impossible to think about how bad of an idea this is. She cried out in some mix of surprise and desire as he attacked her neck with open mouth kisses and nips along her pulse line.
"Blaise," she moaned clinging to him. "Oh,Blaise..."
"I love you," he breathed in her ear as they started to breath and come down from the frantic high they'd ascended to. "I love you,I love you so much."
She couldn't speak as he smothered her words with his lips still mumbling words of love and adoration. It wasn't until she felt wetness drop onto her cheek as he pulled her off and stepped back. He was crying looking at her, licking his lips and savoring the taste of her mouth and skin. She looked at him with those eyes he loved, full of confusion. She hadn't heard a word he'd said, he'd said it too softly for her to hear. At least that was what he'd intended but she heard him.
He loved her, so why was he crying.
He kissed her again, robbing her of her thoughts and breath in one fail swoop and rushed through the part faster than she could follow.
"Blaise wait!"
Marie and Nikita said nothing watching him rush up the stairs and out of the party and Elena pushed through the crowd after him, screming after him to wait. But he didn't hear her and rushed off towards Angelina's home and grabbed his bag, a handful of Floo powder and screamed.
"Malfoy Manor!" He vanished into a blaze of green fire just as Elena made it up the stairs. He was gone and she'd had no idea where he'd gone. Where could he have gone?
Draco lounged on the couch and smirked as Blaise stepped out of his fireplace. He'd knew it was only a manner of time.
"Hello Zabini," he said.
"What is it that you want Malfoy? What do you want to stop torturing her?"
Draco didn't speak but Blaise continued.
"You already have her, isn't that enough? Why must to you torture her too?"
"To make you suffer," he replied.
"What do you want?" Blaise asked. Screw the Zabini way and all that bullshit. Malfoy wanted the upper hand? Blaise would give him the upper hand, or at least a sense of it. "What would I have to give you to make you stop?"
He smirked, "I'd thought you'd never ask..."
The slimy little git...
"I want you to stay away from her," is what Draco said. Blaise had hoped against hope that it wasn't what was going to happen. Hoped against common sense that there would be something else he wanted. A painting, homework, anything, but he knew that it was what it would come down to.
"Deal."
He smirked and a piece of parchment appeared before him. A magical and binding contract.
"I knew this would come to be so I had it drafted." Draco sai.
"You're agreeing to this much easier than I thought."
"With you out of the way, the curse will work its way through her system much faster than it had before. Hell before Christmas break I won't even need the influence of the curse to make her putty in my hands."
Blaise swallowed, he'd known that too. If he stayed with her, she'd die of agony and disrespect decades before she was meant to... If he left her side, the Elena he loved, the happy smiling one, would be lost forever and there was no telling what type of slimy disrespect Malfoy would subject her to. But even so, there was a chance that she, with all her strength, would still fight it. Somehow, she would still be the Elena he loved and adored and that was the only thing he could have hoped for. He added in "any physical, mental,or spiritual harm magical or otherwise" and "any unwanted contact" into the terms of the contract.
Draco signed first, he signed afterwards and he felt the binding as soon as he'd finished his signature and shuddered at the col feeling racing through him. In short, he could not engage in conversation, he could not speak to her, he could not even pretend that he knew her all for the sake of a chance that she would not die because of him and that she would be alright. He knew that when e arrived home there would be a copy of the contract to keep as a reminder and an anchor for when it felt too much to bear.
"Great doing business with you, Zabini. I'll make sure to tell my fiancée that you said goodbye when she comes back from her trip."
He glared at Malfoy and turned back to the fire stepping into the fireplace with a handful of Floo Powder.
"You may think this is over Malfoy," he said softly. "But it's not."
"Why would you say that? You're out of the way aren't you?"
He almost laughed. Yes he was out of the way, he suffered with her and without her but at least she would not have to suffer as much.
"You haven't met her family."
Draco didn't say anything and before he could ask what that meant, Blaise yelled out a non descript address in Venice, Italy and marched out of the large fireplace at the bottom of the stairs. It was raining outside he could hear that and he climbed the stairs to knock on door 513.
"Coming!" She called from the other side of the door.
The sound of soap operas and cooking dinner came from the other side as the doors unlocked and Noemi opened the door.
"Topolino? Wha...What are you doing here? You're not supossed to be-"
Her voice broke off when he stepped in and hugged her tightly. His shoulders were trembling and he was wet with sweat, rain, and the deep darkness of despair. Just for a moment he needed to hug her and be held. She understood and wrapped her arms around him not minding the smell of party and Floo Powder all over him. She was sure he'd explain soon enough why he was trembling but not cold, sobbing but not crying.
"Blaise," she said softly. "Come inside it'll be alright?"
He nodded silently. It would be alright. It had to be, he didn't have a choice.
Elena stared into the fireplace for a long time, expecting him to come back and explain. But he never did. When she was ready to leave, she hugged and kissed her family tightly before going to the Zabini Manor. Miran told her that he wasn't there and wouldn't be there for the rest of the summer. She'd even gone to the Malfoy Manor only to find Draco sitting on the chair and laughing as she asked him about Blaise's whereabouts.
"Worrying about another man while your husband is right here?"
She growled at him, "Spare me. You know where he is."
"If you must know, he probably went to see his Squib wench of a sister, Noemi."
She drew her wand and pressed it against his throat.
"Do not... test me Malfoy. You will not speak of Noemi in that way again."
He smirked and looked at her, up the length of her wand.
"Or you'll what? Curse me?"
She huffed and stormed back to the fireplace and home. She wrote a letter to him hoping that it her dear Nimue, a beautiful Eurasian Eagle Owl with black and chocolate brown feathers, would find him.
"Please Nimue, can you find him?"
She hooted and few out the window clutching letter in her claws and soaring off into the sky.
Blaise came out of the shower later that night and dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt, sitting on the couch with his sister as she finished making dinner and his hair still dripped around his shoulders.
"What happened Blaise?"
"I let her go," he replied. "I had to Noemi... I had to."
She frowned and sat back watching him and listening as he explained it to her. Everything from the curse, the party, and the contract. When he was done he looked so lost, so disgusted with himself she could help but hug him.
"Aiutati che il ciel ti aiuta. Che sarà sarà e Breve orazione penetra." She said sullenly, holding him tightly. "You did what you thought was right Blaise and all you can do now is hope that there is a better life waiting for you beyond the pain. A better life waiting for her as well."
He nodded, "I just want it to stop hurting her. I want her to be happy. Is that too much to ask?"
She sighed and shook her head.
"No Topolino," she whispered. "It's not too much to ask."
But Blaise felt as if he didn't ask hard enough when the familiar owl pecked on his sister's window with a letter from Elena. He welcomed the bird who rubbed her head against him with affection. Nimue had always liked him and almost pecked Draco's eyes out. He wondered if they were just so in tune when Elena first received Nimue or if it was a cultivated relationship.
"I suppose you're going to stay here until I take it, huh?" He asked her running his hands gently over her feathers.
She hooted and flapped her wings asking him to take the letter but he couldn't.
"Go home, Nimue," he whispered softly and opened the window.
"Won't you are least take the letter?" Noemi asked from the table. "She did fly all this way."
He sighed and as tempting as it was to take the letter, he couldn't. He refused. It was no doubt filled with words that would kill his resolve and have him flying across the skies to be with her again.
"Go home," he repeated but Nimue stared at him not bothering to do anything but swoop over the table, drop it in the middle and swoop out of the window.
She's just as stubborn as her owner, he thought and sat down. He made a move to take the letter and throw it away but Noemi snatched it up first.
"If you're not going to read it, I am." She said. Blaise sighed and managed a whole slice of bread before his guilt got the better of him and he couldn't eat anymore.
Noemi opened the letter just as he stood to put his food away with the hope that his raging metabolism would eventually win against his agony and shuffled off to his room to go back to sleep. Staying conscious seemed like too much of a trial and he'd been through enough. His head had barely hit the pillow when Noemi finished reading the letter. Her eyes burned and ached for the girl that may have never understood why Blaise would do the things he was going to do.
A week passed like that with Blaise barely eating anything and moping about the apartment. When he wasn't moping, he was running around the block around the city, swimming in the ocean trying to keep himself exhausted that Noemi wouldn't be able to tell him what the letter said. He ate more because of the activity and may have beefed up a little bit but it wasn't anything that Noemi was going to point out. She knew the pattern and when the morning of September 1st came he woke up minutes before Noemi came in to wake him.
"Blaise."
"Yeah?" He whispered afraid of what she was about to say.
"It's time."
He sighed and pushed himself out of bed, repacking his trunk and getting ready to go. His uniform stashed in bag on his shoulder. He managed a whole bowl of oatmeal without needing to go running first. They went Floo Powder to a station in London and walked into King's Cross Station. It had the nerve to be the one sunny day in September on September the 1st, one of the worst days of his life.
Noemi hugged him, "Siate forti. You know how to contact me anytime you need to."
"I'll try," he said softly and let her go, rushing onto the train to vanish in the sea of students and claim the almost unknown compartment and opened the letter that had been waiting for him on his dresser back home. Miran had sent it to him at Noemi's along with a very angry scolding about how Elena had come to see him and he wasn't there to greet her. He'd never hear the end of it when she found out what he'd done.
Congratulations Mr. Blaise Zabini, you have been selected as Head Boy for this year's graduating Hogwarts class... Your duties are as follows...
He groaned as if his life couldn't get worse. He swore the Fates were laughing at him for his decision as he grabbed his bag and headed towards the Head Car. He could hear sounds of congratulations and screams from inside the car.
"I'm not sure what was so shocking about it? You already knew you were going to get it," Ron said.
He heard Elena's laugh and decided against it. It's not as though anyone else knew he was Head Boy and no one would have to know until they reached the Grand Hall. Hermione was Head Girl? Great, he could do that. He and Hermione got along just fine. He returned to his compartment and glared out the window, somewhere in between raving mad and horribly depressed. He hadn't even bought chocolate when the trolley came by.