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Horray for timely chapter updates! Will Blaise's detective work be enough to breakup this newly formed friendship or will he, too, be accepted of his house rivals? Who knows!
Enjoy!

You Shine Brighter Than Anyone
Chapter 8

In the Slytherin common room Blaise Zabini was harshly awakened by the sound of a door slamming. Bolting upright, he rubbed his eyes and glanced at the large grandfather clock that was near the fire place. It was already 10pm.

"Fuck!" Blaise said as he scrambled towards the door. Looking down the corridor he managed to catch a glimpse of the back of Theo's head. If he was going to see what he was up to it was now or never.

Slipping out of the doorway and down the corridor he caught sight of Theo going up the stairs that led out of the dungeon with a backpack in tow. Taking a note from his favorite Muggle spies, he stalked Theo at a safe distance. Blaise continued following him this way before he was led to a set of marble steps. Theo reached the top and walked out onto the balcony. Excited greetings bounced down and reverberated off of the walls of the stairwell. The sound made Blaise's ears ring and he swallowed deeply to try to rid himself of the unpleasant feeling.

Out in the open air of the balcony Theo, Hermione, and Harry were enjoying the perfect night. The navy blue of the sky was pierced with hot white stars and there was a light breeze. It would only be a few more months before they'd have to find another place to hang out. The night air would be far too cold by that time.

Oblivious that they were being watched the trio settled down against the far wall and got comfortable. Since they had a free month ahead of them they were going to be up here for a long time, most likely until morning. They sat in silence for a moment until Harry noticed Theo's backpack.

"Hey, what do you have there Theo?" Harry asked with a nod towards the bag.

Theo widened his eyes slightly before looking down to where Harry had indicated. "Thanks for reminding me! I had almost forgotten."

He grabbed the bag and began to unzip the front most compartment. "Since you guys were so accommodating last night, I thought I'd return the favor."

With a mischievous glint in his eyes he pulled out a baggie with clear gel capsules filled with white powder and a few strips of something wrapped in aluminum foil. He took two capsules out of the bag and laid them next to the aluminum foil. After he put the extra capsules away he looked expectantly at Harry and Hermione.

"So, how excited are you?"

Harry reached forward tentatively and picked up one of the capsules.

"It depends. Is this what I think it is?" He said with his eyes brightening.

Theo nodded and smiled. Harry grinned back at him and reached out to pull Theo into a hug. Hermione looked at the two of them, an expression of confusion on her face. Harry noticed this and explained.

"This," he said while holding the capsule between his thumb and forefinger, "Is K."

Hermione's already big brown eyes widened.

"You mean Ketamine?" She said with her eyes even wider "Harry, that's an animal tranquilizer! You can't possibly tell me that you're going to swallow that!"

Harry let out a light scoff.

"Course not, 'Mione!" He raised one eyebrow and smirked as he continued. "I'm going to snort it!"

Hermione shook her head. Harry was insatiable sometimes. Maybe having him tranquilized for a little might be a good thing. She looked back to the aluminum strips Theo had set out. She looked up at him and motioned at one strip while Theo nodded his permission. Setting the thin strip on her leg, she carefully began to unfold it. Inside were 3 small squares of colorful gel tabs. Now it was Hermione's turn to hug Theo.

"Thank you so, so much!" She said while clasping his hands.

Theo blushed and looked away nervously.

"Really, it's the least I could do. You guys were so much nicer to me than expected last night. I really didn't think you'd want to hang out with someone from a different house."

"Me either." Said a mocking voice from the stairwell.

The teens on the balcony stood up quickly and turned towards the stairs.

"Show yourself!" Harry said menacingly, brandishing his wand.

From the stairwell came the intruder with his hands splayed palms out. Harry and Hermione observed their uninvited guest. His flawless chocolate, skin slightly slanted eyes with long lashes, and high cheekbones made him look slightly feminine. He carried himself with an air of confidence and regality that showed he thought very highly of himself. Obviously if he was aware he wasn't wanted here he didn't care.

"Blaise!" Theo said in surprise.

Harry, with his wand still pointed at Blaise, looked at Theo.

"You know him?"

Theo smiled. "Yeah, he's one of my friends. He's in Slytherin as well."

With his wand now tucked safely back into his pocket, Harry stuck out his hand.

"I'm Harry," he said with a smile. "Sorry about that. You just scared me a bit."

Blaise seemed to consider this before reaching out and shaking the hand offered to him.

"I'm Blaise, it's nice to meet you." He waved to Hermione who was standing close to Theo. "What's up?"

Hermione waved back, "Nothing really. The fun was just about to get started. You can join us if it's okay with Theo. It's all his stuff."

Blaise looked expectantly at his housemate.

"Of course!"

Hermione smiled and ushered everyone back to their previous spots. As she sat down she looked back up at Blaise. "I'm Hermione, by the way."

Blaise, always the smooth one, reached down and grasped Hermione's hand lightly before kissing it. Hermione giggled. Theo looked away as though what he was seeing pained him before getting down to the matter at hand.

"Alright, so Harry, that's a forty capsule I gave you. I suggest you split it with someone unless you want to be knocked out." Theo warned him as he took out a flat pane of glass from his bag.

Harry nodded. "Anyone want to split this with me?"

Hermione shook her head and held up her doses to show that she was set for the night. She had never done K before but was pretty sure that Ketamine and acid wouldn't be a very fun combination. Theo also declined. He had enough to last him the rest of the year anyway. Blaise, forgetting that he was supposed to be breaking the group up, nodded.

"Sure, why not?"

It seems that Blaise isn't as competent of a spy as he would like to believe.
The next chapter will be minorly graphic and have descriptions of different kind of highs.
Just an early warning if that makes anyone uncomfortable.
Reviews, as always, are greatly appreciated!