The Room of Requirement

As Ginny stepped into the room after Blaise she almost walked right into him; he'd stopped dead in his tracks and stared at something that she couldn't make out.

"What is that?" he asked, sounding both curious and suspicious.

Ginny, wondering what he was talking about, closed the door behind her. She walked further into the room to get a better view, and gasped in surprise.

"No way..." she muttered to herself.

This was what the room offered her?

It was as good as empty, the walls creamy white and the floor black and polished. In one corner there was a table with a device standing on it. On the wall next to it, there was a shelf stuffed with CD:s. They all had different and funny looking covers.

"What is that thing?" Blaise asked again, nodding towards the table.

Ginny couldn't help laughing; it was all quite absurd.

"It's... it's a CD player" she eventually told him, shaking her head in confusion.

How was this ever going to help Blaise get in a better mood?

As she headed towards the corner to examine the CD player and the CD:s more cloesly, Blaise held out his hand and stopped her. Ginny looked up at him, furrowing.

"What's the matter?"

"How do you know that thing isn't dangerous?" he asked, nodding towards the table but still not letting her go.

Ginny laughed.

"It's a music player Zabini, muggles use it to play music. I'm pretty sure I'll survive. I have no idea what it's doing in here though..."

She mumbled the last part to herself and, finally having convinced him that he had nothing to worry about, she headed towards the CD player. She felt excited. Blaise followed her slowly, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes suspiciously as he asked:

"How do you even know that, you're a pureblood... Does Granger have one of those or something?"

Ginny shook her head again, absentmindedly stroking the CD player. It looked completely new; silver coloured and with dozens of buttons in different shapes and sizes.

"No... But my dad is obsessed with everything that has to do with muggles. He has tons of muggle devices and artefacts in our garage. My mum always gets crazy when he brings home new things and tries to put them back together, after having made them more... magical"

When Blaise didn't say anything she turned around to look at him, jumping slightly in surprise when she realized just how close he was standing. He stared at her as if he'd never heard anything less sane in his entire life and she couldn't help grinning.

"And I just gave you another reason to think that my family is completely nuts, didn't I?"

"You could say that..." Blaise muttered, raising his eyebrows. "Why would he collect muggle things, there's nothing they can do that we can't..."

"Oh believe me, this runs way better than a gramophone" Ginny interrupted him, nodding towards the CD player. "The sound in these is amazing"

He still didn't say anything so she told him:

"Anyway... One day, dad had managed to get ahold of a few new muggle objects and my mum was already furious about the fact that Fred and George had 'accidentally' turned Ron's hair blue the same morning... When dad got home from work and started talking about creating a flying car she lost it completely and didn't talk to him all afternoon"

Ginny smiled at the memory. Of course, back when it happened it hadn't been too funny watching her mother that angry. But now that she looked back, it all seemed so... simple. Like she remembered something that had happened in another life. An easier one.

As she met Blaise's gaze, his dark eyes were not filled with contempt, but interest. Maybe this sounded so weird to him that he even found it hard to be true. To him, it was probably a story of a life he'd never lived and never would live. Something new and different.

"What happened next?" he asked quietly and, after having forced herself to drop his intense gaze, she continued:

"He convinced her to join him in the garage after dinner and in there he had a CD player just like this one. When he turned on the music, and they started dancing, she couldn't help smiling..."

Ginny drifted off.

That was it. The answer was right in front of her, so obvious all along. Her dad had showed, all those years ago, that getting happy didn't have to be complicated. In fact, sometimes it only took some music...

But would it work with Blaise? And dancing... Of course Ginny remembered some moves from the Yule Ball three years earlier but she was sure that he was way more talented, being a rich pureblood and all... What if she'd make a fool of herself?

And what if she wouldn't? None of her parents knew how to dance and yet they'd enjoyed it... What if it was worth it, if it'd make him see that there were still reasons to smile?

"Why is this... thing in here?" Blaise asked, interrupting her thoughts.

Ginny looked through the CD:s, until she found the exact one her dad had played that night, and put it in the CD player.

"I didn't know at first..." she told him, pressing the PLAY-button. "But I think I do now"

Blaise's point of view

Blaise just stood there, staring at Ginny when she turned around to face him, smiling at his confused face expression. The music that filled the room was like nothing he'd ever heard before. It was happy, simple and... interesting. It made him think of muggles; it sounded muggle. But it also sounded nice.

The words came out of the CD player one by one, making no sense at first but then, somehow, filling him up.

Baby if you just say you care
Follow you most anywhere
Roll away the stone, roll away the stone

And then, Ginny held out her hand for him to grab, again. Before he had time to question it she said:

"Come on"

Blaise snorted, crossing his arms defiantly.

"What are you talking about?"

And, in the darkest night
I'll keep you safe and all right
Roll away the stone, roll away the stone

Ginny sighed loudly and then laughed at his shocked face expression as she ignored his protests by grabbing his hands firmly.

"You're rich and pureblooded, aren't you?" she asked and he could almost hear her smiling. "Surely you must know how to dance?"

"Of course I do but..."

"But what?" Ginny asked, somehow forcing him to move by moving herself. "Don't you slytherins ever do anything just for fun? Stop being so stiff and just... relax!"

Won't you roll away the stone
Why be cold and so alone?
Won't you roll away the stone
Don't you let it die

She wouldn't stop moving whilst she spoke and Blaise stiffened slightly at her words. He thought of what he'd been thinking after he'd spoken to Tracey that night...

What if I don't want to be one of 'us'?

What if this, dancing with Ginny Weasley, meant that he'd get the chance to be a part of something new? If he never tried he'd never know...

So he let go. If only for a short while, he didn't care about what would happen if someone found out what he was doing and who he was doing it with. The only thing that existed, that kept his mind off every pain he'd ever felt, was her and the music. And he danced with her.

No matter if fools say we can't win
I know I'll fall in love again
Roll away the stone, roll away the stone
So sing, we still got a chance
Baby in love and sweet romance
Roll away the stone, roll away the stone

For some reason he couldn't even explain, the music seemed to get louder by the second, and took over every part of his body. He watched her laughing as he spun her around twice. Why didn't people do this more often? Why wasn't it always this easy to forget?

Won't you roll away the stone
Why be cold and so alone?
Won't you roll away the stone
Don't you let it lie

It lasted for another minute, maybe one and a half at the most. Then, as the song was about to end and the music had almost stopped playing, reality hit him like a bomb. Soon, the room would get completely quiet again and he'd have to return to the real world waiting outside. A world that she could never be a part of.

What was the point of this?

They'd stopped moving and just stood there, faces only inches apart while looking into each other's eyes. The smiles had slowly disappeared from their faces. And Blaise got the feeling that she knew, that now that the song was over, it was all over. He felt like explaining to her, screaming that what he was about to do wasn't the truth. That he had no choice.

Her brown eyes stared into his darker ones, and the message was clear: Don't go.

He didn't want to, but that wasn't the end of it. What could this ever lead to? If something happened between the two of them, everybody he knew would turn against him. Even his own mother, not that that counted for much...

Doing this, pretending like they shared something they never could, would only hurt him. Make him hate himself and make him hate her even more. And he didn't want that.

He dropped her gaze, couldn't bring himself to look into her eyes whilst he spoke. He sighed.

"I have to go, Weasley"

Ginny's point of view

Ginny couldn't move, couldn't think. All she knew for sure was that she felt lost as soon as Blaise let go of her hands and turned around to leave the room. When the door slammed shut behind him she closed her eyes, swallowing hard. She knew why he did it, that it was stupid to even pretend that things could ever be this normal between the two of them.

And yet she hated him for letting go of her hands in the first place. She didn't want him to leave.

Soon, she forced herself to move and left the Room of Requirement, heading towards the Gryffindor common room. As she walked through the corridors she passed several students that she recognized and even knew, but not a single one of them caught her attention. She was too busy with her thoughts. Thoughts concerning Blaise Zabini.

She headed straight for her dormitory, silently thinking that she wouldn't even bother coming down for dinner... Madison was the only one inside the room and she looked up from her book as soon as she heard Ginny close the door behind her.

"There you a..."

But she drifted off when she saw the troubled look on her friend's face and sat up straighter in bed, looking intently at Ginny.

"Oh no..." she said worriedly. "What did he say to you?"

Of course, Ginny had known that her friends were most likely to ask questions after having watched her join Blaise Zabini for a walk, but she still felt too tired to give Madison a proper answer. She couldn't tell her eveything he'd said. Everything that happened.

And didn't happen.

"He said 'I have to go, Weasley'"

Madison furrowed, looking almost as if she hadn't heard what Ginny had just said.

"What?" she asked confusedly. "He said 'I have to go'?"

Ginny nodded slightly and as her friend kept staring intently at her, she sighed. There was no way she'd get away without giving her a real explanation... She told Madison exactly what had happened, but she left out the part about him telling her about his family problems.

Despite everything, she got the feeling that he'd actually confided in her. And he probably didn't want anyone else to know about it.

When she was done Madison was quiet for a moment and then she raised her eyebrows.

"Let me just make sure I got this right..." she started, sitting down next to Ginny on the latter's bed. "You danced?"

Despite feeling quite miserable, Ginny couldn't help rolling her eyes.

"That's what you picked up from everything I just told you?"

Madison shrugged.

"Well, that and the fact that he was probably about to kiss you..."

"KISS ME?!"

Ginny's voice was louder than she'd first intended it to be and Madison laughed at her face expression.

"Ginny, how many times do I have to tell you that you're gorgeous? I mean, you've dated Harry Potter and Dean Thomas, two quite popular seventh years..."

"That's not the same thing" Ginny interrupted her. "Zabini isn't anything like them..."

"Zabini, pouty slytherin or not, is still male" Madison said determinedly, raising her voice. "Of course he's noticed that you look good"

Ginny didn't say anything. In fact, she couldn't even bring herself to look at her friend. She'd never really considered the possibility that Blaise might be attracted to her in any way. That was just... too unlikely. But of course, she had commented on his looks inside her head dozens of times, why wouldn't he do the same?

Because he is who he is. He could never feel that way about someone like you. He left, didn't he?

"You're still wrong..." Ginny mumbled, barely loud enough for Madison to hear her.

But she wasn't sure anymore. About anything. Her friend shrugged.

"Whatever you say" she said quietly, before returning to her bed and her book.

How do you make a time line haha

Lying in bed that night, Ginny thought that it was only stupid of her to even hope. It would only destroy her, like the break-up with Harry had...

Except this would be worse. Way worse. Because this felt real. Real in a completely different way.

She swallowed, taking a deep breath while gazing out of her window. The stars seemed to shine even brighter than usual this night.

Maybe she should just follow his advice, for real this time. And stay away from him.

Blaise's point of view

It was getting late, past midnight, but Blaise didn't feel even the slightest tired. He was the only person left in the Slytherin common room and whilst he sat in one of the comfortable armchairs, staring into the fire that was about to be extinguished, the thoughts kept spinning through his head. It was all very frustrating and it even gave him a headache. Not to mention the fact that he really needed to sleep...

But he was too angry. In fact, he'd never felt this kind of fury before. He was angry with Ginny Weasley for making him doubt and he was furious with the world with all its rules and judges. But most of all, he was angry with himself.

Blaise sighed heavily, covering his face in his hands. Since when did it get so bloody hard to just make up his mind? He didn't even know what he wanted... And if things would never be easy between him and Ginny, if it was all about complications, then why did he spend time with her?

Why couldn't he just stay away?

This wasn't right. Not to himself and not to her. "Fake" was the right word to describe it all. It was all fake. And lies. He lied to himself and he lied to her. He knew where Luna was, he'd known it for a whole week now, and he hadn't told her. He couldn't.

But he should. Shouldn't. Should. Shouldn't.

Blaise growled in frustration and without really thinking about what he did, he grabbed one of the ornament vases that stood on the table in front of him. He threw it hard into the mantelpiece, closing his eyes when it broke into thousands of pieces. It felt nice. It felt like something he wanted to do with himself. And with the world.

He looked around the common room for something else to take out his frustration on. Anything. So what if he woke people up? He was a seventh year, most students wouldn't want to get in a fight with him anyway...

"Trying to wake the whole school up?"

Blaise turned around on the spot, watching Tracey as she made her way down the stairs and into the common room. She had a way of showing up when one least expected it... But he didn't say anything. What was there to say, really? He sat down again and it didn't take long before she did the same, eyeing him seriously.

"What's wrong Blaise?"

What isn't? He hated her question and he didn't feel like talking. So he didn't. But Tracey wouldn't give up. She continued quietly:

"Of course... Why do I even ask?"

Despite still being in a really bad mood, Blaise couldn't help himself. He looked up and glanced at his friend, trying to read her face expression. Realizing that it was impossible, he rolled his eyes.

"What are you on about?" he snapped.

Tracey smiled slightly, tilting her head one side without dropping his gaze.

"You can see it on your face, you know" she said. "Every time it's about her you have that special look in your eyes..."

"I don't"

He didn't even have to ask who Tracey was talking about.

"Yes, you do" she said calmly.

"I don't"

"You do"

He didn't oppose again. Having known her for the past twelve years he knew that it was hopeless; she wouldn't give up in the first place. And not in the second, either...

"You just don't know it yet"

Tracey interrupted his thoughts and he followed her gaze that rested on the broken vase.

"I don't know anything"

His voice sounded just as hollow as he felt inside, and he realized that it was the truth.

He didn't know what would happen between him and Ginny and he certainly didn't know why he even cared. He didn't know what to do about Draco, who walked around the castle like a living ghost and who'd soon have to go home for Easter and face all horrors in Malfoy Manor. He didn't know what would happen between his mother and that awful wizard that she intended to marry...

"I'm completely messed up"

His words came out as nothing but a mere whisper, but Tracey seemed to have heard him all right. She moved slightly closer to him on the couch and somehow managed to make him look at her. Her blue eyes were such a contrast to his own, dark ones.

"It's the world that's messed up" she said softly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Not you"

How do you make a time line haha

Ever since she was very young and had sneaked out to steal her brothers' broomsticks from the old shed at the Burrow, Ginny had loved quidditch. She loved the way it allowed to her concentrate on one thing, and on one thing only. And now, she enjoyed quidditch more than ever before.

She'd realized that flying, trying her best to throw or catch the Quaffle and get it past the keeper were the only things that really could take her mind off Blaise Zabini. When she was up in the air she didn't have to think about his eyes that she could never read, his voice that often sounded so... frustrated and his last words "I have to go, Weasley".

Why did he have to go?!

When flying, that was all gone. But as soon as Dean announced that practise was over and summoned his players back on the ground, it all came back. It made Ginny wish that someone would just perform an Obliviate-charm on her to make her forget all of it. Sometimes, she wondered what things would be like if she'd never met him. If she hadn't entered the Hog's Head that afternoon back in December...

Back in the changing room, Dean was practically jumping out of both frustration and excitement as he stood in front of his team.

"Okay, we all know that Slytherin is nothing like Hufflepuff, this is real business. And we have to win"

Ginny couldn't agree more. Losing against Slytherin and having to realize that they had no chance at winning the Quidditch Cup wouldn't exactly lighten her already miserable mood...

"Now, one of their chasers is out so..."

"Who's in instead?" one of Ginny's teammates asked, looking expectantly at their captain.

Dean was quiet for a short while before closing his mouth and then opening it again.

"I... I don't know, actually" he admitted. "Anyone?"

"I know who it is"

The whole team turned their heads to look at Cormac McLaggen, who'd taken over the position as the Gryffindor team's keeper after Ron had left the school. He continued:

"It's Malfoy's friend, the quiet one... Strange last name..."

"Zabini?"

Now, all Gryffindor players turned to look at Ginny instead. The word had escaped her mouth before she had time to stop it and she got a feeling that she looked almost as shocked as she felt.

"Yeah, that's it..." Cormac said slowly, eyeing Ginny curiously. "Do you know him?"

Ginny was sure that if her team had been able to burn holes through her with their stares, she would be gone by now. And it would be mostly Dean's fault; he looked almost angry... She tried her best to hide her true feelings and to look unbothered.

"No" she mumbled. "No I've just... I've heard the name before"

After what felt like an eternity they finally looked away from her, waiting for Dean to continue his speech about tactics for the upcoming game. Ginny let out a sigh of relief but she couldn't help feeling very frustrated.

Great. Why now? How could she possibly avoid him during the game when they were both chasers?!

When Dean had finished talking she left the changing room with her teammates and started walking towards the castle and the Great Hall where it was now time for lunch. However, she soon remembered that she still had a letter addressed to her mum lying in her pocket. Thinking that she might as well head for the owlery right away, Ginny gave the rest of her team a brief explanation before she changed directions.

Blaise's point of view

"Well, how bad was it?"

Tracey smirked as she and Blaise made their way from the changing rooms, heading towards the castle. The latter grimaced.

"Could have been worse, I guess... And I think the fact that I'm playing, and not some clumsy fifth year, keeps Draco in a good mood"

"Yeah... I guess that's always something" Tracey said slowly, the smile completely wiped off her face now.

She, too, was aware of the difficult situation that Draco was in and that it couldn't be too nice to have your own home appointed headquarter for the death eaters and Voldemort himself...

Draco was the reason why Blaise had agreed to play chaser during the game against Gryffindor in the first place. He wasn't sure that he could stand his friend's gloomy behaviour for much longer and he knew that, even if it didn't mean as much as it once had, quidditch was still important to Draco and losing against Gryffindor wouldn't exactly make him any happier...

"So you only went there to discuss tactics?" Tracey said, furrowing slightly. "Why didn't you just join them for practise?"

"Because I have to finish that essay for Slughorn or I'll fail Potions for sure" Blaise replied dryly, feeling quite miserable when he thought about the almost empty piece of parchment that waited for him in his dorm. "So they'll just have to do without me today and I'll join them on Wednesday..."

He drifted off, coming to an abrupt halt on the lawn they were currently crossing. Tracey stopped, too, and looked at him curiously.

"What are you doi... oh"

Her eyes widened as she caught sight of what Blaise had already seen; Ginny Weasley walking straight towards them in her dark red quidditch robes. She held something in her hands, probably a letter, and since she rested her gaze on it she didn't seem to have spotted them.

Yet.

Blaise hated the bare thought, but he could still hide...

He didn't want to see her right now because he had no idea what to say to her if he did. He'd, once again, told himself to stay away from her and that would be impossible if he had to look into her eyes and talk to her...

It took him only a moment to make up his mind and he looked around quickly, spotting a huge oak standing only a few metres away.

"I'll go over there..." he muttered and Tracey stared at him, raising her eyebrows.

"You'd better not be serious..."

"I am" Blaise interrupted her and before she had time to say anything else he'd taken off.

Author's note: Strange ending to this chapter, I know. But I didn't want it to get too long :) Please review if you feel like it!