Chapter 5: Quidditch and questions

Ginny ended up sending a note to Blaise. After all, she couldn't refuse to communicate with him since McGonagall had personally requested the two of them to share this – now rather wearisome - task. And, despite her growing workload, it had sounded like such a perfect assignment for her to do in the first place, being both Quidditch captain and Head Girl.

But, of course, they weren't able to split up the task between them as she had first hoped and suggested. That much the Headmistress had been clear about when Ginny first gave her the plan for the First Years' introduction to Quidditch that she had so carefully formulated. Having to introduce all of the First Years to all the aspects of Quidditch just within a year required at least two persons present when guiding the younger students through it all. It would be too strenuous if it was just one person's responsibility alone, the Headmistress pointed out and Ginny had to reluctantly concede to her reasoning.

She rubbed her forehead in frustration. Why him? Why her?! Why were the powers of Merlin against her? Had Professor Trelawney foretold something in Divination regarding all this that she had overlooked? (Honestly, she didn't pay much attention to her classes to begin with, so it was fruitless to ask herself that).

Ginny sighed. She was in no mood for this deal to be anything but a strict business arrangement between them - no fudge; nothing that could be misinterpreted on her behalf - and had shortly written what she had in mind should be included in the introduction to the First Years. She expected him to fill in the blanks where he'd see fit and not start any unnecessary off-course nonsense once they began. She gathered they were both equally eager to get this task over and done with.

Then again, she'd misjudged Zabini before. Maybe he had some sadistic streak like the rest of the former Slytherins and wanted to prolong the torture a bit more; probably getting pleasure from seeing her squirm under his malicious, meaningless teasing. He couldn't exactly be called capricious; he still remained impressively cool in his entire stoic superiority-vanity complex – or whatever he had going on - even when he was flipping his lid the few times she'd encountered him (and, she proudly thought, been the reason he had flipped his lid). But she concluded she just had to figure him out somehow; picking up everything from his minuscule expressions to his controlled reactions to his likes and dislikes to the people he surrounded himself with in order to read him properly. Why, her line of thought was positively Slytherin! (She didn't know how to feel about that particular realization).

She had a feeling, though, that she wouldn't be able to read him entirely. Was that even what she wanted? Practically spying on him? Getting under his skin? It was not like he was even worth all of her time and brain-power! Ugh, here she went again; going all Hermione-analytical on everything surrounding Blaise! Then again, it was the necessary evil in order not to fall into one of that boy's deceitful traps and frustrating mind games. She refused to come out the losing part in whatever he was planning. Typically Slytherin! It was not like she even knew what he wanted from her – it was just natural for a Slytherin to manipulate everything and everyone.

Yet, she decided she wanted to be the mature one; sending the note to him. It was the formal thing to do; coming off neither too friendly nor too hostile. Hermione - who was in the same House as him – had gotten hold of one of the younger boys who could deliver the note to the boys' dormitory if he didn't happen to spot Blaise in the common room. When Ginny first didn't hear from him, she began to wonder whether he would be so impertinent to dismiss the task entirely. He didn't seem the type to deny a request from the Headmistress herself, no matter how lazy and bored he appeared to be. Then Hermione had appeared with an answering note that said nothing but: 'I'll be there, Red', and Ginny couldn't help feeling a bit relieved. It was a big task for one person, after all, and she didn't want to make bad excuses for his absence to McGonagall. She still had her doubts whether or not he would actually show up on time and be of any help at all. He was a Slytherin to the core and she had to remind herself of that in order not to slip or become too trustful if he suddenly attacked or bailed on her as Slytherins were prone to do.

Hermione hadn't been able to be of much help either regarding figuring out Blaise's character - even though they shared the same House now. She was way too preoccupied with her internship and more absent-minded than ever and said she hadn't noticed anything different regarding his behavior, but then again, she hadn't paid much attention before and couldn't really conclude anything different about him now.

"Still seems as cold and uncaring as ever," she had said over breakfast in the Great Hall one morning when Ginny had asked, shrugging.

"Thanks," Ginny had replied drily, shooting a disgruntled glare at her friend's bushy head buried behind the Daily Prophet, probably lapping up the latest news from the Ministry.

Hermione hadn't looked up from the newspaper when she spoke a couple of minutes later, still a distracted note to her voice: "What's the deal with you and Zabini, anyway? Have you two had an argument of some sorts? I don't know why you bother, really. Former Slytherins or not; don't expect any of those boys to have changed much. In fact, I think they're just grumpier now than before because they lost the war."

Ginny had grumbled at her friend's somewhat preachy, ignorant attitude which at times irked her more than usual. She could use the attention of a close friend at the moment. Yet, she could hardly blame Hermione's detached mode when she was as ambitious and enthusiastic about a project as she was right now. Ginny suspected it was also her friend's way of dealing with the war somehow and how things had turned out with Ron. Her way of making sense of the world again. Ginny could forgive her for not being particularly interested in her deal with Zabini. Why she herself bothered that much was a mystery to her, still. She had to manage this one on her own but was glad to see Hermione readily accepting the task of passing the note for her when she had asked.

X

To her surprise, Blaise had arrived on the dot on the morning they were to introduce the first bunch of First Years to Quidditch.

The weather was the usual for Scottish autumn; cold, wet and dark, and most of the First Years weren't exactly prepared for half an hour's lecture out in the windy, cold weather. Some of them had even forgotten their robes. Ginny had mentally rolled her eyes and told them that this was a quite common weather condition around Hogwarts and that they needed to come more prepared next time. They had nodded their small heads instinctively and Ginny thought she'd spotted Blaise trying to cover up an amused smirk from the sideline where he stood.

He didn't say much since she covered most of the details surrounding the game, its rules and culture, but he did answer some of the more enthusiastic questions from some First Years in her House. Most of them were on the topic of previous events on the field. She didn't particularly like how he came across totally biased regarding the matches that Slytherin had won and found that he laid on pretty thick how some of the other matches and – in his opinion – 'horrible' judgment calls had played out in the past. The small heads actually grinned when he relayed more embarrassing moments among the former Houses, none more so than Gryffindor, of course, and they seemed to swallow his one-sided tales raw. She bristled slightly but was unable to interject or stop him with so many children to manage. Many of them still wanted to hear about the war and the Battle of Hogwarts, still tender subjects for her to naturally answer, and it had become more and more clear to her that these were questions the children hadn't dared asking their parents or teachers.

"Did you defeat Voldemort?" a small, dirty-blond boy asked her loudly and unabashedly, making Blaise snap his head towards them from where he had been relaying a probably detailed description of one of Slytherin's victories to a bundle of students. His inscrutable gaze trailed from the kid to her, alert of her response. She wrung her hands, giving a tight smile to the boy who had asked.

"Well, actually, it was Harry Potter and his friends as well as the Order of the Phoenix – which I've no doubt you've already heard about – who defeated him together."

"But weren't you there, too?" a girl with a pageboy cut asked nearby her.

Ginny shot a glance at Blaise who still had his dark, unreadable eyes fixed on her. "Well, yes, I was. I did help Harry Potter and the Order during the war and when Hogwarts was attacked –"

"Were you scared?" another small voice cut in from somewhere in the crowd.

Ginny smiled calmly, having been asked this one before. "Yes, but I had my friends, family and teachers around me to protect me as I protected them and though we were all scared, we stuck together 'till the end."

"Wow, you are brave! Are all Gryffindors –," another boy started but was elbowed by a girl beside him and he winced shamefully at the admonishment, "I mean – are all former Gryffindors this brave?"

Ginny smiled at the display. "Some of us are – or were. You could say it was a House trait we were sorted by back then. But not all Gryffindors have been brave and good; remember Peter Pettigrew," the students around her nodded in awe as she continued, "and in war bad things happen to even the best of people. Sometimes it makes you do whatever it takes for you and your family and friends to survive whether through bravery or cowardice…"

Ginny trailed off, her eyes darting across the crowd of expectant faces around her. Though, she had already given this speech what felt a hundred times, knowing what she had to say and what she had to acknowledge about her own role in the defeat of one of the darkest wizards of all time, the presence of Blaise halted her somewhat. It was so different when it was just her and a bunch of innocent kids who didn't know what horrors she and her peers had experienced. Now there was one who had been there, too. Someone whose choices and ideals had been much more... ambiguous.

She didn't know how to proceed exactly. She didn't want to sound like she was bragging, nor did she want to undermine her or her friends' presence in the war. More importantly, she didn't want to risk awkward questions about Blood Purity and the particular animosity between Slytherin and Gryffindor; who had been on the right and the wrong side. They were too complex for her to go into – she wasn't even sure she could! – and it was far from the best time or place to begin and explain such dark matters. Especially in the presence of Blaise.

She swallowed and glanced towards him again. He had turned slightly away so she couldn't see his face, the bundle of kids around him apparently having scuttled closer to her in the meantime.

"Right, I think that's enough for today!" she spoke with a forced cheer, voice slightly hoarse; hoping to divert the situation from becoming what she feared.

Luckily, a misty drizzle of rain from the mountains had begun fogging the view of her surroundings and chilling everyone to the bone it seemed, as several students shivered in their underdressed states.

"Let's get you back inside before you catch cold and begin to fill up Madam Pomfrey's beds at the Infirmary. No need to piss her off unnecessarily," she joked lightly and the students laughed, politely thanking her for the lecture and quickly started to trek towards the school; some of them unsuccessfully trying to shield themselves from the rain, not quite having mastered the particular rain-shielding spell yet.

Blaise hadn't looked once at her since the beginning of her speech, and with his just as unreadable back turned to her, he silently picked up his broom and guided the hoard of students towards the school entrance, leaving her to pick up the rest of the Quidditch gear she had been displaying earlier.

As she walked alone through the now grey, heavy drizzle towards the school, she couldn't help but wonder about how he had reacted to what she had said. Had he felt personally targeted in that last one? She hadn't tried to make it personal, quite the contrary. Then why had he suddenly looked away, not daring to look at her again? Was he ashamed of the past? Sure, he had been in Malfoy's disgusting gang back then, silently backing every taunt and slur, but unlike Draco he hadn't been forced into joining the Death Eaters and he had kept a somewhat low profile until the end. He certainly hadn't been one of the worst during the school years or under Voldemort's regime. And he and his family might have suffered just as much as the Malfoys had. Yet, did he seem repentant for his actions - however 'small' they were compared to those of some of Voldemort's followers? When she first encountered him in the Prefects' Bathroom she would have said no, but since then, the more she had encountered him and been close to him – well, closer than ever before – she had begun to wonder whether he had something to hide. A conscience, for example. Actually, it wouldn't surprise by now if he actually had one. Something in her gut told her so and, for all her faults, her instincts were rarely wrong.

A/N: I like toying a bit with Ginny. Blaise, as well. They seemed almost too perfect and controlled in the canon. They had their flaws, sure, but we never really got deeper into their characteristics, so it's fun to shake things up a bit. I like to imagine she and Blaise have more in common that what meets the eye and I like making them profusely deny any parallels whatsoever between them as the story progresses. They are both a bit full of themselves, aren't they? I don't find it unthinkable that Ginny could be 'positively Slytherin' in her mindset sometimes; cunning, sly and somewhat manipulative, not in a necessarily selfish way. Less malicious than the real Slytherins and less hot-headed than her brothers and the rest of the Gryffindors. Like a nice mix between the two of them. I like the fics where she has a rather astute sense of a complicated situation and good at advising people to follow their instincts. It's interesting to explore her as a main character, however, and give her doubts and weaknesses one wouldn't otherwise see.

The question is whether the enigmatic Blaise has some Gryffindor in him? …You'll get to hear more from his POV soon enough :)