Apprentice Potter
Girls are Crazy
By Draco664
Girls are crazy
"Potter? What in Salazar Slytherin's name are you doing here?"
I stared down at the surprised features of Blaise Zabini, too stunned to say anything. Fortunately, Zab came to my rescue.
"Potter? Exactly what are you doing on top of my great-granddaughter?" He asked, amusement and innuendo evident in his voice.
That immediately got my hackles up. "I didn't mean to! She attacked me!"
"Bollocks!" Blaise snapped, as she started to struggle again. "You attacked me first!"
"You had your wand out!" I retorted.
Blaise finally wrenched her hands away from mine. "That's because I was turning up here early!" she said hotly.
"You're ready to duel when you show up through the floo?" I gapped, probably looking as confused as a first-year on first entering Hogwarts.
"She should be." said Zab sternly. "I'll attack anyone who comes through that floo point unexpectedly." With a flick of his wand, my legs felt free once more.
"Oh." was all I could think to say. I stood up and held out a hand to Blaise in a silent offer to help her to her feet. "Sorry." I offered.
Blaise ignored my hand and rose gracefully to her feet herself, breathing in and out deeply, staying silent but watching me closely. After a few moments she nodded. "Fine. Just don't do it again."
"Not likely." I said with a wry grin, and rubbed various sore places of my anatomy.
"Blaise?" said Zab, an edge in his voice. "You came here expecting resistance, and yet you were overpowered?"
"I was not!" she said with not a little indignation. "I almost had him where I wanted him."
Zab's lips twitched. "Really?" he said, leaving absolutely no doubt what was on his mind.
Blaise blinked and instantly reddened. "That's not what I meant." she said softly.
My mind finally caught up with events. "Zabini?" I turned to face Zab. "Zab is short for Zabini?"
My new master gave me a sour look and rolled his eyes. "Here I was thinking you were over your habit of asking questions. You were doing so well."
Blaise snorted. "You're subjecting him to that too?"
Zab gave her a superior expression. "I do not subject anyone to anything. I merely feel that questions do not assist learning. In discovering things for yourself, both facts and reasons are-"
"-far more firmly entrenched in memory." Blaise parroted. "Yes, Great-grandfather, I know."
~~~
That wasn't to be the last time I got assaulted that night.
Zab and Blaise had left the room to catch up, and it was obvious to all the fondness they had for each other.
Blaise was certainly an enigma, I thought an hour or so later, as I entered my designated room. While in no way as pretty as Cho or the Patil twins, she certainly wasn't unattractive. She was obviously skilled in what Zab called duelling; she knew spells I'd never seen before.
With no false modesty, I did believe I was one of the better duellers in our year. After all, I had had both the incentive and the opportunity to develop my skills. But earlier this evening, Blaise had come close to incapacitating me quickly. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. The room contained a table, two chairs and a bed. A well-stocked woodbin sat next to the fireplace, itself alight with a cheery glow. The only thing out of place was the bedraggled snowy owl furiously hammering on the outside of the window with her beak.
"Oh, bollocks!" I said as I ran over and let Hedwig in. "I'm sorry girl, I just- OW!"
Hedwig expressed her displeasure by sinking her talons into my arm, then leaning over and biting my wrist. I gritted my teeth and let her vent, I certainly couldn't blame her for her anger. Looking out the window, I could understand just why she was so pissed at me.
We were on the second or third floor, and there wasn't a tree within half a mile. Poor Hedwig had been sitting on the window ledge in the pouring rain waiting for me to let her in.
"Look." I said through clenched teeth. "I know you're bloody angry, but drinking my blood isn't going to make you better." I paused. "Actually, I suppose it may make you feel better."
Hedwig let go and looked up at me, her amber eyes expressing her displeasure really quite eloquently.
"I said I'm sorry girl. Here, let me get you something to eat."
Hedwig gave me a hoot of anger and sank her sharp beak into the base of my thumb.
"Ow! Ok, you're not hungry, I get it. Sorry. Um, let's get you warm and dry."
Hedwig shook her head irritably. I groped around in my trunk with one hand for a dry towel. I was apparently taking too long, given Hedwig's sudden growl.
"You have a real way with the ladies, Potter."
I looked up at my visitor. Blaise was standing in the doorway, nonchalantly leaning against the doorframe. "Why on earth don't you cast a drying charm on her, instead of fumbling around for a towel?"
"We are out of school." I pointed out, only to wince for two reasons. Firstly, we'd just exchanged almost a dozen spells between us without a peep from the Ministry, and secondly, not to mention more importantly, Hedwig had clenched her talons again.
Blaise rolled her eyes. "You are such a muggle sometimes." she said, and deftly cast a drying charm at Hedwig. "The Ministry hasn't got a clue what is happening here. Underage magic can't be tracked at an unplottable location."
I frowned. "Bastards." I hissed, expression quite a bit of feeling.
Blaise raised her eyebrows. "Potter? Don't you know noble heroes aren't supposed to use language like that."
I snorted with laughter at her tone. "Good thing I'm not a hero then. No, I was thinking about last summer. I spent quite some time cleaning an unplottable house from top to bottom without magic. The adults there neglected to tell us that we wouldn't have been caught if we'd used magic."
Blaise frowned herself. "I thought you stayed in the muggle world during the holidays. What were you doing at an unplottable house?"
I nodded glumly. "I do. But after I was attacked, Dumbledore decided to-"
"What?" Blaise asked, curious.
"Um, I'm not sure if I should tell you."
Blaise's expression darkened. "Fine. See you 'round." she snapped, turning to leave.
"Wait!" I said, not sure why.
"What?"
I stood there blankly. "Um, I, sorry. It's just that, I just don't trust anyone anymore. And I mean anyone."
"Not even Dumbledore?" she asked in a rather sarcastically sweet tone.
"Especially not him." I snarled in response.
To say she looked surprised would be an understatement. "Huh? I thought that you Gryffindors thought Dumbledore walked on water."
"I wouldn't trust him to walk on wet pavement. He's a great wizard, no one who's seen him in action could say otherwise. But he's a crap guardian."
Blaise walked over and sat on my bed cross-legged. Hedwig floated over to her on silent wings and nuzzled her hand.
"Traitor." I said fondly, sitting on the foot of the bed.
"What did Dumbledore do?" Blaise asked, gently running her fingers down the back of Hedwig's now-dry feathered head.
I shook my head. "All this time, all these years, I trusted him. With everything. Only to find out that he has been lying to me ever since I met him." I looked directly into her eyes. Rather pretty pale blue eyes. "It turns out that my entire shit life is due to him."
Blaise tilted her head to one side. "What about You-Know-Who?"
I waved away her question. "Do you remember Sirius Black?"
Blaise blinked in surprise at the apparent non sequitur. "Of course. But he hasn't been seen in years."
I sighed and took a deep breath. "He is my godfather. I spent a few weeks with him last summer. He and my father were best friends."
The shocked look on her face was quite satisfying. Blaise finally nodded. "That last bit I knew." she said, her voice softly stunned. "My mother had a crush on Black for a while at school, but she was two years older than him."
"Well, the night that my parents died, Sirius arrived at their house, to find Hagrid carrying me out of the ruins, with this bloody cut on my head."
"I always wondered how you got your scar. Every book that you've been in mention it, but none of them say how you got it. Most float the theory that the Dark Lord gave it to you."
I shrugged, not really interested in talking about it. "Sirius asked Hagrid to give me to him, since he was my godfather."
Blaise's expression turned indignant. "Good thing he didn't!"
I shook my head. "I wish he had."
"What? Why?"
"Because Sirius didn't betray my parent's location to Voldemort."
"Yes he did. He was their Secret Keeper. Everyone knows that."
I gave her a sad smile. "How did everyone know that?"
The young Slytherin looked uncomfortable. "Well, who else would your father have chosen?"
I snapped my fingers. "Exactly! Who else. Everyone knew that Sirius was their Secret Keeper." I raised my eyebrows questioningly. "As a Slytherin, you don't see anything wrong with that scenario?"
Blaise grimaced. "Too obvious."
I nodded. "Sirius convinced my father to make Peter Pettigrew their Secret Keeper."
Blaise frowned, deep in thought. "Then what happened when Pettigrew cornered Black?"
"What do you think?" I asked her.
She gave me a sour look. "I get enough of that from Great-grandfather, I don't need more from you."
I smiled. "Sorry. Pettigrew set a trap for Sirius. He killed all those people, cut off his finger and turned into a rat to escape down a sewer."
"A rat?"
"Yeah. He was an animagus."
Blaise nodded. "So Black was arrested and imprisoned, and you got sent to live in the muggle world."
I nodded with a growl. "If Dumbledore had just kept his big fat nose out of it, I'd have grown up with Sirius. Pettigrew would have been captured or on the run, and Voldemort wouldn't have been able to return."
Blaise shivered. "Don't say his name!" she said.
"Why not? It's just a name."
Blaise ignored my challenge. "So what has soured you on Dumbledore now? All that happened years ago."
"Sirius and I exchanged letters ever since he escaped from Hogwarts at the end of our third year. He was at Hogwarts after I brought Cedric back from..." I swallowed, trying to shift the lump in my throat.
Blaise leaned forward and placed a small hand on my own. "For what its worth, I never believed that you had anything to do with his death."
I nodded, not trusting my voice. "Thanks." I said thickly. "It just hurts to talk about. I've not done many things more difficult than tell Skeeter what happened that night."
"I can imagine."
"Anyway, that summer, the Ministry sent two dementors after me."
Blaise leaned back surprise and disbelief mixed in her face. "Dementors?"
"That was the reaction Fudge was after." I said sourly. Quickly, I recounted the rather terrifying events that happened last year. "I drove them off, but got a letter saying that they were going to snap my wand and expel me from Hogwarts."
"But?" Blaise asked.
I gave her a vicious grin. "Fudge didn't reckon on there being a squib nearby who saw the whole thing."
Blaise burst out laughing. "Oh, that would have been hilarious, seeing his expression."
I nodded. "It was funny when I thought back on it afterwards. Anyway, during the past year, I kept in contact with Sirius. Voldemort found out how much I meant to him." I closed my eyes in an effort to keep tears from forming. "I was tricked into thinking that Voldemort had Sirius at the Department of Mysteries."
Blaise looked shocked. "You believed him?"
I felt a flash of anger. "Hey, it felt real at the time!"
She rolled her eyes. "Potter, why would the bloody Dark Lord keep a captive in the middle of the Ministry, the very institution that was denying his existence?"
I coughed. "I didn't think of that."
Blaise grinned at me. "You are such a Gryffindor. So let me guess, you went off charging to the rescue?"
I nodded forlornly. "Turns out it was us that needed saving. Sirius and the others came to our rescue."
"Us? Others?"
I hesitated. What was I saying? I was talking to a Slytherin, for Merlin's sake. I closed my eyes and examined my mind, only to find that there were no external influences on me. I opened my eyes and looked at Blaise.
"Sorry. I was just wondering why I was telling you all this."
She shrugged her shoulders slightly. "Because I asked?" she offered with an impish grin.
I didn't answer her, I just looked down at my hands.
"It's because I'm in Slytherin, isn't it?" she said with a hard edge to her voice, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed.
I shook my head emphatically. "No. It's just that there are things I haven't even told Ron and Hermione."
She relaxed back onto the bed. "You know, from the way the three of you go around school, I thought that you told them everything. Especially Granger."
Blaise's emphasis on Hermione's name caused me to pause. I just knew I shouldn't, violating someone's thoughts was an awful thing to do, but I gently pressed my consciousness into Blaise's mind and got a sense of...
"You're jealous?" I blurted.
Blaise tensed and her eyes darted around the room for a second, but she quickly relaxed. "Of course. Have you got any idea just how difficult it is to make really close friends in Slytherin? We are all ambitious, but we are also aware of that ambition in others."
I see. "I never really thought about it."
"Yeah, well, if you come from a family like the Malfoys or the Parkinsons, then everyone wants to be close to you, as though respectability can be achieved from association."
I smirked. "The Malfoys aren't exactly respectable now."
Blaise actually sighed with relief. "I know, and you have no idea just how pleased I am. That blond idiot was doing everything in his power to ensure everyone hated Slytherin house." She shook her head. "He actually thought that Slytherin won the bloody House Cup this year."
My surprise must have shown on my face.
"What? You're surprised that even us Slytherin's think Malfoy is a git? Don't be."
"A lot of Slytherin house seems to agree with him and his politics."
Blaise snorted. "Again, we are just back to the idiots who think that by associating with someone perceived as respectable, they are somehow respectable themselves." She looked me straight in the eye. "Do you know how difficult it is as a half-blood in Slytherin?"
"One of your parents was muggle-born?"
She nodded. "My mother is like your friend Granger. She had no idea magic existed until she got her letter. Anyway, you didn't answer my question. How difficult do you think it is as a half-blood in Slytherin?"
"Half as hard as for a muggle-born?"
Blaise blinked at my answer but nodded with a sad smile. "Yeah, but there aren't many of those."
"What about those who were brought up as muggles?"
"They're treated like muggle-borns." she said, matter-of-factly.
"Then I wonder how I would have fared if the Sorting Hat got its way?"
Blaise coughed. "What?"
"That bloody hat. It wanted to put me in Slytherin."
"You're kidding."
I shook my head. "Nope. I asked it not to. I told it anywhere but Slytherin."
Blaise looked at me in wonder. "You actually argued with the Sorting Hat?"
"I'm not sure 'argued' is the right word. It told me that I'd do well in Slytherin, but I'd been introduced to Malfoy's obnoxious side by then, and he'd already been put there. It was the last place on earth I wanted to be."
Blaise looked at me coyly. "I wonder who would have been your friends then? Who would have been your Slytherin version of Weasley and Granger?"
Before I could answer, Zab knocked on the door-frame of the open door. "Sorry to interrupt, but you really need to be getting your rest, both of you." He smirked at us. "Besides, I'm far too young to be a great-great-grandfather."
My face heated quite quickly, just as quickly as Blaise's turned red. "GoodnightPotter." she blurted, and hurriedly left the room.
"Good night, Blaise." I said to her back as she dashed from the room. I looked up at the amused expression on my new Master's face. "Good night, Master."
Zab bowed slightly. "To you too, Harry."
~~~
A small elf came to inform me in a high squeaky voice that lunch was served. I gathered the sheafs of parchment Zab had given me the night before. There had been several times after Blaise left that I found myself concentrating on the memory of her sitting on my bed rather than on the task Zab had assigned me.
As such, the sun had started peaking over the horizon by the time I finally rolled into bed. Now, lunch was being served, and it would be my breakfast.
I made my way down the short corridor to the room where we had arrived last night. The doors opened to reveal three place settings at one end of the main table.
Zab was sitting at the head, Blaise to his right. He stood as I arrived. "Good Morning, Harry. I trust you slept well?"
I nodded, forcing back a yawn. "I just got to sleep late."
Blaise gave me a smirk, and I had a flash of intuition that she was thinking something rather inappropriate. I gave her a sour look. She poked her tongue out at me.
"That's enough, children." Zab said, a smile on his face at our antics. "Harry, sit."
I obeyed quickly, just in time for the elves to begin serving us.
Lunch passed easily, and I found myself rather enjoying the banter with Blaise, and the question/non-answer method of imparting information with my new Master.
Finally, two elves cleared the table away, and Zab gestured towards the pile of papers. "How did you fare looking over the material I gave you?"
"It was interesting, at least most of it was. The stuff on wizarding law was, shall we say, an excellent insomnia cure."
Zab nodded. "Not to mention, probably out of date. I shudder to think of the changes Fudge has made to the lawbooks since I last checked the code."
"I'd guess that was a few years ago." I said, quite proud that I didn't actually ask a question.
"You'd be wrong." said Zab. "I last checked it a few days ago."
Blaise laughed, easily and genuinely. The sound surprised me, I had not ever heard such a merry noise from a Slytherin. "Fudge is having to face an impeachment panel. During the hearing that is going on at the moment, someone gave evidence of the criminal activities one of his secretaries got up to last year."
I felt my face redden slightly. "That would be me."
Blaise blinked. "What do you mean?"
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. "After what happened at the Ministry at the end of last year, Madam Bones wanted to know exactly what Umbridge got up to. She was the one who ordered the dementors after me. Anyway, the night I went charging off on an idiot's mission, she admitted sending them after me, and then threatened to use the Cruciatus curse on me."
Both Zab and Blaise gave small gasps on surprise. "Did she actually use it?" Blaise asked.
I shook my head. "From what I saw of her level of magic skill, I'm not sure she'd be able to cast it."
Zab cleared his throat. "Don't bet on that. That woman has a rather impressive talent for curses."
Blaise shrugged. "She'd have to, give the lack of talent she displayed in every other bloody area."
Zab chuckled. "Exactly how did you go in your OWLs, young lady? What areas did you display talent in, hm?"
"I got nine, thank you very much." Blaise said primly. "I got an O in Potions, Defense and Charms, an E in Herbology, Transfiguration and Arithmancy, and an A in Care of Magical creatures, Astronomy and History of Magic."
I blinked. "Well done, Blaise!" I congratulated her.
She blushed. "Thanks." She looked at Zab, pride obvious on her face. "I was the only Slytherin to get an O in Defense, so I should thank you for your help."
"You are most welcome, Blaise. How did your classmates go in Potions?"
Blaise growled softly. "Snape all but gave us the bloody exam beforehand. Any competent brewer could have got an O in they're in Slytherin."
I found this very interesting. "Snape gave you the exam beforehand?"
Blaise shook her head. "No, the exams are charmed for secrecy. But he's been teaching for what, fourteen years now? He knows what will be on the exam."
I grumbled to myself. "He probably does that to make sure that the Slytherins outnumber the other students in his Advanced Potions class."
"Of course." replied Blaise, as though it were obvious. "Though it also brings up the average score for his students. It makes it easier for him to claim that he is a good teacher."
Zab snarled. "A good teacher can impart lessons onto all students, not just those with a talent for that specific discipline."
I quipped, "No one ever claimed Snape was a good teacher."
Zab rounded on me. "Regardless of your personal feelings, all teachers should be shown respect."
I swallowed, a little unnerved at his tone, but I sure as hell wasn't about to back down on this subject. "Like I told him yesterday, he doesn't teach. Ergo, he's not a teacher." I stared back at Zab.
Blaise kicked me under the table. "You saw Snape yesterday?"
I nodded, surreptitiously reaching down and rubbing my leg. "We finally had it out." My grimace of pain turned quickly into a smile of remembrance. Though my eyes were open, I was looking at the memory of Snape lying slumped against a shattered mirror. "There was no hiding behind the student/teacher relationship, no pretending that there were any rules. It had been coming for a long time, and neither of us held back. It was a most satisfying feeling, blasting him across the room."
"What?" she exclaimed, shocked to the core.
"Last time I saw him, he was lying against a wall, bleeding from the nose and ears."
Zab spoke up, his voice even, though laced with disapproval. "I hardly think that possible, Harry. Severus is a fully trained wizard, more than a match even for you."
I snarled at my new Master. "I did! He invaded my thoughts, my memories!" I stopped there, feeling quite ashamed at how I had just spoken to Zab. "I just forced him out of my mind a fair bit harder than was necessary."
Zab leaned forward, an intensely interested expression on his features. "Forced him out? Are you referring to Occlumancy?"
I nodded. "Snake-face has been trying to get into my thoughts, so Dumbledore asked Snape to teach me to be an Occlumens. After what happened at the Ministry, I've been practising for hours every night. I won't let it happen ever again." I finished defiantly.
Zab leaned back in his chair, his poker-face back in place. I felt a tiny wisp of a mental touch before reacting violently, clenching my eyes and fists, slamming up my shields so fast I could almost hear my mind shut itself off.
Zab hissed, and I risked opening one eye. He was clutching at his temples, his own eyes closed. "Let... me... go..." he croaked.
A lot slower, I lowered my defenses, noting that the tiny flicker of consciousness I felt was still caught in my mind. I let it go quickly.
Zab took a deep breath, and his face relaxed. "You weren't exaggerating." He opened his eyes and stared deep into my own. "You expended far too much effort and energy just then. There was no need to erect your defenses so violently." He traced a fingertip around the edge of his goatee. "Your technique is crude, but effective. Am I correct in assuming that the majority of your skill has come from practising on your own?"
I nodded, still getting my breath back.
"As I suspected. You have progressed far without direction. A remarkable feat, though a pity in some respects. You will need to unlearn some of what you have learned."
I swallowed. "Each time I've used it suddenly, I've been drained just afterwards."
Blaise was turning her head to face each of us as though we were playing a particularly long tennis match. "What's going on?" she whispered.
"Harry has been taught the rudimentary basics of a mental discipline called Occlumancy. In essence, it is defending the mind against external influences, attacks and stimuli."
"It also wards off the effects of creatures like Veela." I added, much to Zab's surprise.
"It does? Hm, I suppose it would, though I've never had the inclination nor occasion to test that theory. Would you care to explain the circumstances?"
I shrugged. "Fleur Delacour, one of the Triwizard Champions, is in London, supposedly to improve her English, though it probably has more to do with the fact that her boyfriend works for the London branch of Gringotts."
Blaise harrumphed.
I grinned at her. "Anyway, yesterday she approached me, and I felt my mind start dribbling out of my ears. I raised my shields, and she turned into just a pretty girl, rather than a perfect goddess."
Zab nodded, ignoring Blaise's reaction. "A fortuitous discovery."
I waited, mentally screaming the question on behalf of both Blaise and myself.
Zab smiled. "I understand that some magical European creatures have joined the Dark Lord. The latest reports indicate that at least two full clans of veelas have joined the Dark. The fact that Occlumancy protects somewhat from their influence is very good news. I should pass this intelligence along to Alastor."
Zab rose to his feet. "Blaise, I would be most appreciative if you would show our guest the rest of the manor. Mr. Potter, do behave yourself, don't use your fame to take advantage of my naive great-granddaughter."
I gave him a sour look, which must have corresponded quite nicely with my flaming face. Blaise graced him with her own scowl, voraciously objecting to him calling her naive.
~~~
The rest of the day passed pleasantly enough. Blaise was a warm hostess, though occasionally her temper flared at odd things I said. Those episodes quickly passed, though they did put me on edge. I could not be sure what topics of conversation to which she would find worthy of exploding.
The Zabini family manor was quite grand and spacious, with incredibly high ceilings in the main entrance and reception rooms. The gothic style was very well done, not giving me the willies until the sun went down. The shadows lengthened quickly, making the airy rooms suddenly become dark and foreboding.
Blaise retreated to her own room after dinner, leaving me to my own devices. I helped myself to tiny glass of the chocolate liqueur, and moved over to one of the fireplaces.
I collapsed into one of the comfortable looking armchairs in front of the fire, discovering to my fatigued delight that it was as comfortable as it looked, if not more so. The leather had an odd texture, almost like furry satin. It felt absolutely delightful to trace my palm over the chair. I closed my eyes and traced my fingers over the armrest. The wonderfully soft material made suede feel like sandpaper.
"You're in my chair."
I snapped my eyes open and looked up to see Blaise standing in front of me, fists on her hips.
"Oh, sorry." I said, getting to my feet, not without a little disappointment.
Blaise rolled her eyes and put her hands on my chest, then gave me a sharp shove, pushing me back down onto the chair. "Bloody Gryffindors." she muttered.
"Wha-" I started to say, only to watch in fascinated horror as she sat herself down on my right, squirming slightly to both force me to my left and to get comfortable. I raised my right arm in an unthinking reaction, allowing her to wriggle under my guard.
She placed an arm around my rather tense waist, leaned her cheek against my chest and gave a happy sigh. "You're rather comfortable, Potter." She tilted her head up to look into my eyes. "At least you will be once you relax. I'm not going to bite."
"I, ah..." I said. My arm was still straight up in the air. I grabbed hold of my hair, just to have my arm doing something. I hoped against hope that I wouldn't have to grab my ear just to stay in this position.
Blaise sighed softly. "Eloquent as always. Now put your bloody arm around me, you look like an idiot holding it up like that."
"Um, are you sure?"
She placed her head back against my chest and gave me a mock growl. At least I hoped it was a mock growl. "No, you're taking advantage of me. You've cunningly manoeuvred me into hugging you. Well done."
I gently placed my arm around her shoulders, and I couldn't help but notice just how... warm she was. "Sorry. I'm just not used to this."
"Come on. Surely you've had some good snog sessions in Gryffindor Tower. What about Granger? Or that girl you took to the ball in our forth year, what was her name? Patil? Or the Weasley girl?"
I swallowed nervously, wondering where this was going. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I've never been in this situation. With any girl."
Blaise frowned. "Really?"
"Really."
For some reason, Blaise seemed more comfortable after that. "Well you won't be able to say that again." she said, and I could feel the smile on her cheeks against my chest. "For someone with your fame, I'd have thought you'd have been a hit with all the Gryffindor witches."
"Then I guess you don't know me all that well then." I replied.
Blaise snorted with laughter. "No kidding. Before yesterday we'd spoken all of ten words to each other since our sorting. All I know of you is what I've seen and heard from third parties." She gave a small sigh. "Now, are you going to relax, or am I going to have to hit you with a calming spell?"
I tried to relax, I really did. But each time I felt some tension leaving my body, I became painfully aware of more tensed muscles in other parts of my body.
"Bloody hell, Potter. I'm not going to hurt you. Relax!" She twisted slightly to bring her left arm into view, and looked at her muggle watch for a few moments. "Your heart rate is just under one hundred and thirty."
"Only that?" I stammered.
She actually giggled. "You really haven't been in this situation before, have you?"
"No." I answered honestly.
"Have you ever kissed a girl?" she asked slyly.
"Um, yes. Sort of." I replied, not sure why I even answered her. I felt my face heat up.
Though I couldn't see, I just knew she was rolling her eyes.
"Either you have or you haven't, Potter. Which is it?"
I sighed at the memory. "Cho kissed me. It shocked me at the time, so much that I didn't really kiss her back."
Blaise nodded, but stayed silent for a long while. Slowly, I relaxed all the muscles under my conscious control, but I still felt my heart beating wildly. After a short while, I also became rather embarrassingly aware of another part of my anatomy.
Fortunately, Blaise's breathing had evened out, and her warm breath gently ruffled my shirt, lightly tickling me. I closed my eyes, letting my mind focus on the sensation. For a long time, I sat there with a small smile on my face, simply enjoying the feeling of a soft, warm body pressed comfortably against my own.
I must have dozed off, because I briefly flickered awake as Zab gently covered us with a blanket. I mouthed my thanks, but that was the last thing I remembered that evening.
--