Bright White Noise (I)

[bisharp]

Summary: Blaise pursues Zacharias, Zacharias makes no move to stop him. Thus, lots of snogging, shagging, and awkward conversations occur.

 

Char/Pair: Blaise/Zacharias

 

Genre: romance/slash, humor, fluff, smut

 

Rating: NC-17 for gratuitous amounts of sex

A/N: I don't know what communities to post this to >>;;

Zacharias Smith stared at the letter in his hands. It had been sitting there for quite some time now, but he still couldn't believe what it said. And what it was inviting him to do.

Dear Zacharias,

I invite you to house on the afternoon of 18 July 1998, for tea and perhaps supper if you choose to stay longer. I assure you that while my family has been fighting on the wrong side for the past few years, this meeting has no traps, for I only wish to share a small meeting with you with the past behind us. I do hope the Zabini Estate is to your liking and that you will be just as pleased as I will for you to come to this meeting. Please send an owl confirming your attendance.

Regards,
Blaise Zabini

First of all, Zacharias barely had any idea who Zabini was. He had heard of him, sure—that dark handsome Slytherin whom all the Hufflepuff girls ogled from afar (very afar.) But now Zabini was inviting him over for tea? Since when did Zabini know who he was? They probably had barely ever talked, save for maybe a few times they had classes together and were forced to ask each other questions or talk to each other or something. It was just that Hufflepuffs and Slytherins rarely communicated. At all.

Second of all—Zacharias wasn't sure if he could even trust Zabini. His family had been on You-Know-Who's side—or rather, Voldemort, as everyone was now calling him since he was dead (Zacharias still flinched every now and then). And even though Zabini had claimed that he was just doing this in interest of Zacharias… well, since when had Zacharias even interested him anyways? They barely looked at each other at school. They barely talked to each other. So it was suspicious. Very suspicious.

Third of all, who invited someone over for tea two months after a war?

Still, a little part of Zacharias was curious. Curious and interested. He had seen Zabini before—despite his family's beliefs, he wasn't that bad of a bloke. Zabini wasn't stupid; he wasn't too obnoxious, though he was quirky every now and then (from what Zacharias could deduce from his past observations). Plus, what harm could Zabini's family ever do to him? If they wanted to harm him, that is. The War was done. And Zacharias still had a few tricks up his sleeve with the spells he had learned in fourth year, from Potter's little Defense Club. So if the time came (which he partially hoped it wouldn't, because he still had to work on his Impediment Jinx), he could probably defend himself.

Zacharias stared at the letter again. Please send an owl confirming your attendance, his eyes read over and over again. And again, until Zacharias picked up a piece of parchment paper and a quill, and started writing.

x x x

The morning of July 18, 1998 was rather clear, though slightly bleak in the distance. Zacharias stared off into the distance. He was going to be leaving for Zabini Estate at around one in the afternoon. After telling his mother—who seemed very surprised and highly reluctant to let him go ("I can take care of myself, Mother; really, don't worry about me.")—that he was going to leave for afternoon tea earlier in the week, he had been waiting anxiously for today.

He wondered what Zabini wanted. Perhaps he wanted to get some information out of him? Well, Zacharias certainly wasn't going to give him that. He hadn't been at the Battle of Hogwarts, in all honesty; courage just wasn't his strong suit. He'd rather stay behind and let the others do the fighting for him. Despite his doubts a few years back, he had had some confidence that Harry Potter could win and conquer over You-Know—Voldemort. And even if he couldn't, well, there was nothing wrong with hiding just in case, right?

And if Zabini just wanted to have tea with him just to have tea with him…

The clock in the house rang one. Zacharias glanced to the open doorway of his bedroom. "I'll be leaving now, Mother!" he called out, hoping his voice would carry downstairs.

His mother called back, "Stay safe, dear!" Then there was a loud clatter; Zacharias assumed that she was cooking lunch for his siblings. Sighing and shaking his head, Zacharias turned back around, held up his wand, and Disapparated.

He found himself standing in front of large metal gates, beyond which was a green grassy courtyard with occasional flowers. The sidewalk running through the courtyard led to a royal stone grey mansion, and Zacharias could not help but to admit to himself that he was impressed. Zabini was right: his house certainly was to Zacharias's liking. Zacharias wouldn't mind having tea in there. Or living in there.

Rather cautiously, though, he pressed a hand against a cool metal bar on the gate, and sprung back when it opened of its own accord. Zacharias stared at the gates. They must have blood magic on them, or something. Most Wizarding manors did, though Zacharias was fairly surprised that Zabini's had let him pass.

He briskly walked through the courtyard and tried not to stare at the stone statues standing near the outer wall, as fountains and decoration. It really was an impressive place, but Zacharias was not one to let his guard down. Even in such a luxurious estate like this.

He pressed a hand to the front door of the house the same way he had done with the gate; however, instead of allowing him access, a loud ringing noise echoed throughout the grounds. Rather startled, Zacharias leaped back and was just about to turn around, in case he had done something wrong—but then the door opened and a small house elf stepped out.

"Ah! You must be Master Zacharias!" said the house elf, beaming up at him. "Master Blaise has told us you would be arriving—Master Blaise is still in his bedroom, getting dressed, but you can come in if you is would like!"

Zacharias nodded numbly. The house elf beamed even more, and then stepped aside to let Zacharias enter.

Zacharias looked on in awe at the inside of Zabini's house—crystalline chandelier; large, cherry wooden staircase; golden paintings left and right without a trace of dust on them. Everything was shiny and completely clean, as if they had just been cleaned today. Though Zacharias wasn't quite sure why Zabini would want to clean his house just because he was coming.

The house elf led Zacharias to the sitting room, where a small table with cakes and biscuits were already set up. A beautiful black woman was sitting in a chair, sipping her tea gracefully. When they entered, the house elf ran up to the woman and whispered something into her ear, and the woman turned around to look at Zacharias, surprise evident in her gaze. Zacharias met her eyes and didn't break contact, hoping to earn a smile from her—but all he got was an approving nod before she turned back around to her tea.

There were two other chairs set next to the small table. Zacharias awkwardly placed himself into one.

The woman opened up her mouth to speak just as Zacharias sat down, but was cut off when footsteps suddenly bounded down the stairs, down the hall and into the sitting room. There was Blaise Zabini, looking as handsome as ever and slightly flustered.

"You're here!" he said to Zacharias, looking ever so surprised.

Zacharias inclined his head. "Well, you said afternoon…"

"Yes, I did, didn't I?" Zabini seemed oddly amused. "Sorry, I was just finishing getting myself ready… have you met my mother?"

Zacharias turned to the woman who was still giving Zacharias the slightest bit of an evil eye. Zacharias quickly looked away and nodded.

"I suppose…"

"This is the Zacharias Smith you have been talking to me about?" said Zabini's mother in a loud, dignified voice. Zacharias's head felt a bit silly for a moment. Zabini had been talking about him?

"Yes, yes this is," said Zabini, looking gleeful and not at all sounding as he had in the letter he had sent Zacharias.

Zabini's mother looked Zacharias over—from his combed blond hair to the light smattering of freckles on his face, then to his best navy dress robes and finally to his boots. Zacharias shifted uncomfortably.

"Interesting," was all Zabini's mother said.

Zabini still looked happy. But then when he glanced at the table of biscuits and cakes—and a kettle, Zacharias noticed suddenly—he straightened up.

"Merlin, I forgot to get a cup for you!" he said, moving towards the hallway. "Be right back!"

He left.

Zacharias contemplated calling out after him. He didn't want to be stuck alone with Zabini's scary mother.

Said mother turned to Zacharias suddenly, placing her cup on the table and folding her hands on her lap. She sent Zacharias a very calculating look.

"Apparently you, young man, have stolen my son's heart."

What? was all Zacharias could think of. His brain was buzzing. He had been greeted by an over-cheerful elf, seen a slightly more animated side of the Slytherin whom he had always thought was mysterious, and now the mother of this Slytherin was saying that somehow he, Zacharias Smith, had stolen his heart.

It was all very baffling.

"What?" he managed out, once he convinced himself he had gotten over his surprise.

Zabini's mother looked very irritated at this point. "You have stolen my son's heart," she said to him. "Now let me tell you that my son's heart is not very easily stolen. Many women for the past few years have tried to persuade my son to take their hand in marriage—but he has refused. He is not easily taken into the tidings of romance and partnership." She scoffed. Zacharias had a feeling that she cared very little for "partnership." "And now he has told me that he will settle for no one other than you, Zacharias Smith."

Zacharias blinked at her. Was he supposed to be told all this?

"My son is very talented in the ways of pursuing what he wants," continued Mrs. Zabini, not at all bothered by Zacharias's lack of response. "And I assure you that you will be falling under his spell soon enough. But if you do anything to hurt him—his body, his head or his heart—then you will not be facing him, but me."

Zacharias suddenly noticed that she had her wand in her hand. Where had it come from? He felt even more uncomfortable than before—if that was even possible.

"I have had seven marriages in the past," Zabini's mother said loudly. "And all of them have ended. Rather gruesomely." She gave Zacharias a wicked smile. It reminded him of a black widow. "I will know how to deal with you, Smith, if you do anything to harm my son…"

She trailed off just as Zabini ran into the room, clutching two tea cups in one hand, a plate of cakes in another. Zabini grinned down at him as he set the plate on the table.

"Jotty said that this was his best batch yet," he said to him, not noticing his mother slipping her wand back up her sleeve. "You should try one, Zach."

Zacharias nodded faintly. So Zabini's mother had just threatened him over her tea, and Zabini had just called him by his first name. A shortened version of his first name.

Plus, there was the whole thing about Zacharias having stolen Zabini's heart. Since when did Zabini have an interest in him? Although it did explain why Zabini had invited him over in the first place. A very bold thing to do, Zacharias had to admit, since if he was in Zabini's place, he wouldn't have done the same thing himself. Perhaps Zabini's mother was right, that Zabini knew how to pursue objects of his interest.

Though Zacharias wasn't sure if he would be falling for Zabini any time soon. Well, he had always had a mild interest in blokes… but it wasn't much, really.

He grabbed a cake when he realized that Zabini had been staring at him for too long. He should get lost in thought less often.

"How is it?" asked Zabini eagerly, watching Zacharias.

Zacharias glanced at him and bit into the cake. The sweetness filled his mouth. "Quite good," he said after swallowing, aware of Zabini's mother's gaze on him the entire time.

Zabini beamed at him—beamed—and took one for himself. "I never doubt Jotty," he said, biting into his own cake. "But it's just nice to know what others think, isn't it?"

"I suppose," said Zacharias, still bemused at his current situation.

"I'll be leaving now."

Zabini's mother stood up abruptly. Zacharias glanced at her as well. Her expression was cool, although she was gazing at Zabini in a loving manner.

Zabini didn't seem bothered, however, as he took the seat next to Zacharias. "All right, Mum," he said, watching Zacharias. "We'll be here if you need us."

"I'll send a house elf if I need you," said his mother.

Zabini waved in her direction. "Right, right." He seemed slightly more joyful as Zacharias reached over for another piece of cake.

Zabini's mother left.

"So—er—Zabini, why did you invite me here?" asked Zacharias as Zabini reached over for the kettle to pour him a cup of tea.

"Oh, didn't my mother tell you?" said Zabini, glancing over at him. "I like you, of course. Do you want milk?"

"Oh—Sure," said Zacharias absently. He hadn't expected Zabini to admit it so freely.

"And please," continued Zabini, "call me Blaise." He sent Zacharias a dazzling smile. "I don't want to be referred to as my father." He let out a small laugh.

"Er—All right. Blaise," Zacharias tried out. It sounded rather nice coming out of his mouth.

Zabini—Blaise must have thought so as well, for he sent Zacharias another award-winning grin as he poured milk from a bottle he had picked up on a nearby tray into Zacharias's tea. Then he gave it to him. "Cheers."

"Yeah. Cheers." Zacharias sipped out of his tea. It wasn't bad.

"So," said Blaise, preparing his own cup of tea. "Are you going to Hogwarts this autumn?"

"I…"

Quite honestly, Zacharias didn't know. He had received a letter, of course, inviting him back with the rest of the students. It was true that he did have to start and finish his seventh year, although in the past year he had learned more magic than he could ever hope to imagine due to the Carrows. It was Dark Magic, yes, but it was still magic. The coming-seventh and "eighth" years weren't required to go to school next year, although apparently it was advised by Professor Sinistra, who had become the new Headmistress (with McGonagall still as Deputy), and Zacharias's mother had encouraged him to go. Still, Zacharias wasn't quite sure.

"Are you?" he asked hastily, knowing that Blaise, who was an "eighth" year, probably wouldn't because he didn't need to.

To his great surprise however, Blaise nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Though Mother says I know enough magic as it is—I want to learn more." He smiled at Zacharias. "Sometimes I wonder if I could do well in Ravenclaw, with a brain like mine." He laughed again. Zacharias was starting to find that it was a pleasant noise.

"You're a Slytherin, though," he said to Blaise. "Surely you have much more Slytherin tendencies."

Blaise just looked at him with mild affection in his gaze.

"I do indeed."

x x x

The scarlet train was steaming around the platform, clouding most of Zacharias's line of vision. Zacharias coughed and batted the smoke away, trying to find the trunk compartment.

Once he had his suitcase all safe and settled inside the train, Zacharias turned around and looked around the platform. He could make out his little sister, a coming first year, running to greet his mother's friends' children. He looked around for his own fellow Hufflepuffs, especially the ones who were a year older than him—that might have been Ernie, getting into a compartment. Zacharias bounded over toward him…

A hand clasped on his arm. Dimly, Zacharias thought for a moment that it was Blaise Zabini, whom he had not talked to since their rather pleasant albeit random tea together—but the hand was not dark and masculine, but rather small and soft.

"Hi," greeted Hannah Abbott, beaming up at him.

"Hey," said Zacharias, relieved to see one of his friends.

Justin Finch-Fletchey materialized beside her. "Zach!" he exclaimed, pulling him in for a brief embrace. "How've you been? How were your summers?" he added to Hannah.

"Good," answered Zacharias vaguely. "Hey, I think I saw Ernie over there…"

He pointed to the carriage he had been running toward.

"Brilliant," said Justin, grabbing both of their wrists. "Come on, then."

Ever the more enthusiastic out of all of them, he dragged them over to the compartment. Hannah send Zacharias a weak smile; their families had been staying together ever since the middle of the War when Hannah's house had blown up, and Zacharias could not help but sympathize for her that she had been stuck with Justin like thisthe whole summer.

They got on the train just as it tooted loudly, the steam rising even more as the engine started. Zacharias tugged at the messenger bag around his waist to make sure it was still there, and joined Hannah and Justin in the hallway, who were now peering into the compartment he had indicated.

"Yup, that's him!" said Justin, throwing the compartment door open and scrabbling in, Hannah and Zacharias entering from behind him. Justin plopped into the seat next to him, startling Ernie.

"Justin! I didn't hear you!" Ernie exclaimed, and laughed when Justin very messily pulled him in for a hug. Ernie looked at Hannah and Zacharias as well. "And you two," he said with a smile.

"Hi Ernie," said Hannah, sitting down on the seat across from him. Zacharias joined her.

"Well, I suppose we should try to find the rest of the D.A. members, shouldn't we?" said Ernie pleasantly, retrieving his bag from his feet. "Invite them to our compartment—ah, here it is!" He pulled out a large, thick gold coin. "Wonder if it still works," he mused, rubbing the side.

Immediately, Zacharias felt an odd warmth coming from his bag, and he opened it to see that his own D.A. coin was inside of it as well. He hadn't recalled putting it there—although it might have just been there since last year and the year before. Hannah and Justin must have kept theirs, too, since they were now fishing through their pockets, looking for their own coins.

"Though I don't know if they're coming to Hogwarts," said Ernie very matter-of-factly. "We're all 'eighth years' now, aren't we?—except for Zach, of course," he added kindly. "So I suppose it's not mandatory—"

But he hadn't even finished what he was saying when suddenly a blond face appeared in the window of their compartment. The four of them turned to watch as the compartment door slid open.

"Luna!" cried Hannah, jumping up from her seat to bring Luna Lovegood in for a hug. "You felt your coin! Goodness, I haven't seen you in ages—what have you been doing?"

"Oh, not much," said Luna, waving her hand which was holding her coin and smiling at them distantly. Zacharias had always thought she was weird. "Dad spent a lot of time with me over the summer, traveling to places so we could spend more time after last year—I was captured to Malfoy Manor, you know."

Yes, they knew, Zacharias recalled with some discomfort. Luna was talking as if they were talking about the weather, however, as she rattled on.

"It was quite dirty, actually—you'd think with such a lovely house as theirs, they'd keep the cellar clean as well. But I suppose that they'd need some place to let the dust collect."

"How was your summer, Zach?" asked Justin suddenly, turning to him.

Zacharias shrugged, glad to have his attention turned from something other than the cleanliness of Malfoy Manor. "All right," he answered truthfully. "Boring, really. Although I did get an Owl from…" He trailed off, not sure if this was information that he should reveal to his friends.

Justin cocked his head curiously. "From who?" he asked.

Zacharias shifted in his seat. "Blaise Zabini," he said. As usual, the name, although unfamiliar, felt rather nice on his tongue.

Justin furrowed his eyebrows. "Blaise Zabini? Wasn't his family—"

"—on You-Know—Voldemort's side, yes." Zacharias felt himself flinch, but was not disappointed to see that Justin seemed a bit uncomfortable with the name as well. "But we didn't even talk about that. He seemed like he just wanted to talk to me… Apparently, I've stolen his heart."

All four heads turned to him at that. Luna, the first to recover, regarded him with some coolness.

"I heard that Blaise Zabini's mother has had eight marriages," she said.

"Seven," Zacharias corrected.

"And each one of her husbands died."

"Well yes, that's a tragedy, isn't it?" Zacharias plowed on with some force. "But I don't think that that says anything about Blaise—if that's what you're thinking."

"You mean, you're in love with him back?" asked Hannah, her eyes as wide as Galleons.

"No!" said Zacharias quickly. "And who said he was ever in love with me? I just said that I 'had stolen his heart'—his mother told that to me—"

He noticed that Luna was watching him interestedly as if he were an insect at that, but Ernie, who had stopped stroking his D.A. coin, turned to him.

"So what did you do at Zabini's house?" he asked casually, though there was an obvious trace of suspicion in his voice.

"Have tea. And supper," said Zacharias. And when Ernie opened up his mouth to say something, "And no, he didn't put anything in my food. I checked," he confessed with some haste.

They all continued staring at him. Finally, Luna spoke up again.

"Well I think you and Blaise would make a wonderful couple," she said cheerfully. Zacharias half-wondered if she was being sarcastic, although he doubted "sarcastic" was even in Luna Lovegood's vocabulary. "You're so light, and he's… not. Rather handsome as well."

"Isn't he?" giggled Hannah.

Zacharias chose not to answer to that.

"I hear it was because his alleged father was part Veela," Luna whispered to Hannah.

Hannah's eyes went even bigger.

"You don't say!"

"Yes, and while Veela are also known to be stunningly beautiful, they have a strong scent of Mooglewoogles—"

"What are Mooglewoogles?" asked Ernie.

"Oh, a type of cherry blossom, only grown in the thickest parts of Australia," said Luna. "But they only smell like Mooglewoogles when they're strongly sexually emotional, which is very hard to get a Veela to feel—"

The compartment door clattered open suddenly, and two very familiar faces poked inside.

"Neville! Hermione!" Ernie rushed to get up, knocking his book out of his lap. Rather clumsily, he bent down to pick it up, before beaming at the Gryffindors. "I didn't know you guys were on the train—where are Harry and Ron?"

"Auror Department," said Hermione, although she was smiling. She brushed aside a lock of brown hair. "Both were offered places there—and Harry's going to be Head after training, since Kingsley Shacklebolt's Minister."

Zacharias bit his lip from saying a scathing, Figures. Even though the Boy Who Lived had certainly saved his and everybody else's skin a few months back, he still couldn't help dislike Harry Potter for his personality. There were some things that saving the world just couldn't cover.

But Ernie seemed even more jubilant at this news. "Thought so!" he said, ushering them into the compartment. "Harry'll be a fine Head of Aurors!"

"He will, won't he?" Luna unexpectedly chimed in. "As long as he doesn't let the Nargles get to him."

Hermione sent her a brief smile. "Yes, those darn Nargles."

"What about you, Neville?" said Hannah, sending a shy smile Neville, who had been quiet this whole time. "What do you want to do after school?"

"Oh, I don't know." Neville shrugged, although there was an unmistakable knowing smile on his face. "I was thinking about doing something with Herbology—although there aren't many jobs that involve it—"

"That's because it's such a pointless subject in the real world," Zacharias couldn't help cutting in.

Both Neville and Hannah sent him looks. Neville was clearly offended by his words, but Hannah—well, it was probably because Zacharias had just interrupted her perfect opportunity of flirting with Neville.

"I mean," Zacharias continued, "what can you do? Grow a garden in your backyard?"

"Professor Sprout wouldn't like to hear that from you," said Hannah meaningfully.

"Yeah," Neville said angrily. "And you shouldn't insult your Head of House that way—"

"I wasn't insulting her, I was just pointing out the facts," Zacharias opined. "And you have to admit, I have a point, the only thing you can really do with Herbology is teach it; otherwise, it's just another side subject that you need to get on with in every other career in life—"

"I actually was thinking about teaching Herbology," said Neville, turning to Hannah and now ignoring Zacharias completely. "You know, maybe as a mentor or something."

"Oh, that'd be delightful!" Hannah squealed. "Imagine, you becoming the new Herbology professor—oh Neville, you really should…"

Realizing that he was now cut out from the conversation, Zacharias turned to the others. However, Hermione and Ernie were now in an engaging conversation about what they had been doing all last year during the school year, while Justin was teaching Luna how to fold a paper crane. Luna looked very intrigued and was telling him about the types of diseases that came from standing around dragons for too long.

Sighing, Zacharias unceremoniously stood up. "I'm going to the loo," he announced, though no one paid him any attention. He huffed and stepped out of the compartment, glad to be rid of all the noise from inside.

Zacharias wandered up and down the train corridor. After some time, he decided that since he had nothing else better to do, he might as well just change into his robes. He saw Anthony Goldstein and Terry Boot on the way, asking him about the other D.A. members, and pointed to the compartment, not keen on going back. While he liked his friends… it was much better being alone…

He changed into his robes and then walked out of the restroom, occasionally glimpsing into some compartments. There were a few first years who looked nervous and excited to be going to Hogwarts; second years who looked surprised that they were still alive. Zacharias rolled his eyes; they were the same as the first years. Quite frankly, many of the younger years were all the same: loud, talkative and annoying. It was no wonder why he avoided his yearmates when he was a first year, and then when he finally made friends, got acquainted with people a year older than him.

Zacharias wasn't paying too much attention to where he was going that he bumped into someone, and mumbled, "Excuse me," as he attempted to sidle by.

"Zacharias!" said the person he bumped into, and Zacharias turned to see that the person was none other than Blaise Zabini. Blaise was grinning at him as if he had been told that Christmas was coming early.

"Blaise," said Zacharias, and was surprised to find that he actually felt slightly happier at seeing him. "How are you?" he added politely.

"Oh, I'm fine," said Blaise, still beaming down at him. "You look rather lost—do you want to join me and my friends in our compartment?"

Zacharias considered his options. He could genially say no, because he had his own friends to tend to, and though this was not true, he would probably be more comfortable around loud annoying people than Slytherins he had never met. On the other hand, however, he could say yes, and meet these Slytherins… although there was no telling what they could do. Zacharias knew that not all of them were Death Eaters, but people were still wary. Including himself.

"Sure," he finally said, telling himself to get over his fear. Besides, Blaise was perfectly nice to him, and what if his friends would treat him that way as well? It would be better than the way his friends treated him.

Blaise beamed even more, if possible. "Excellent!" he said, grabbed Zacharias's wrist, and led him down the corridor to a compartment near the end of the train.

He opened the door and pulled him in. Zacharias glanced to Blaise's friends. He recognized one as Pansy Parkinson, who seemed rather sour-faced at his arrival, and another, Gregory Goyle. The third boy looked familiar, though Zacharias couldn't place a name on him at all.

"Zacharias, this is Pansy, Greg and Theodore," said Blaise, indicating each of them. "Pansy, Greg and Theodore, this is Zacharias." He chuckled to himself.

Parkinson shot him a look. "Don't you look delighted."

"Oh, you know I am dear," laughed Blaise, plopping himself next to her and patting down on the seat. Zacharias took it as an invitation to join him.

Parkinson shot Zacharias another sullen look. Zacharias had a feeling that she didn't approve of him at all.

Goyle, however, was now peering at Zacharias curiously. His gaze was fixated on Zacharias's yellow tie. "You're a Hufflepuff," he blurted out suddenly.

"Yes, I am," said Zacharias. And when Parkinson continued looking at him like that, he added, "And a proud one, at that."

Parkinson snorted. Goyle continued watching him. Blaise beamed at him.

"And there's nothing wrong with being a Hufflepuff, right?" he said, winking at Zacharias.

Zacharias did his best not to blush, although he was now distinctly aware that their thighs were touching. "Er, of course not," he spluttered out.

"That's not what you said three years ago," said Parkinson meaningfully, looking at Blaise over her copy of theDaily Prophet.

"Oh posh, what I said three years ago." Blaise waved her words aside. "We're better people now! Smarter! Wiser!" He turned to Zacharias. "Cuter."

Zacharias blushed even deeper. Theodore—the quiet boy—scowled.

"Yes, well," he managed. "Not everyone is lucky enough to make such improvements, are they?"

"You certainly are," Blaise teased, and this time, Zacharias could fully ignore the betrayed look on Parkinson's face.

x x x

The rest of the train ride was pleasant, though Zacharias focused on ignoring Parkinson's disapproving looks and instead did his best to engage in conversation with Blaise. However, Blaise had started talking to Theodore about schoolwork, and when their words starting flying right over Zacharias's head, he was forced to stare out the window. Greg had soon enough busied himself when the food trolley arrived. Zacharias didn't mind much, though; the feeling of Blaise's thigh pressed against his own sent tingles all the way down to his feet, and he was quite aware of the coil of heat in his stomach. He wasn't quite sure what it all meant, but Blaise's hands occasionally finding the fabric of his robes and teasing with them was enough to speak for him. Zacharias wasn't too bothered by it at all.

When the train finally arrived at Hogwarts, Zacharias bid good-bye to the Slytherins—although Blaise was the only one who really responded—and then dashed through the maddening crowd to find his friends. He saw them near the carriages, an empty spot next to Justin. He ran over to them immediately.

"Where were you on the train?" Hannah asked once he was in the carriage with them. Not much to his surprise, Zacharias could see the Thestrals. Apparently the rest of them could as well, by the way Ernie was staring at one's wing warily.

"Changed into my robes," said Zacharias. "And when I was walking back, I ran into Blaise, and he invited me to his compartment…"

"So he's Blaise now?" said Ernie, glancing at him.

"Yes, he's Blaise," said Zacharias impatiently. "And he's quite nice, too, for a Slytherin…"

"Imagine that," said Justin darkly.

"Oh boys, grow up," said Hannah, rolling her eyes at him. Then, to Zacharias, "What did he want?"

"Just to talk to me… meet his friends… and stuff…"

"Bet that was pleasant," muttered Justin.

Hannah shot Justin another look before turning to Zacharias again. "He still likes you?"

"Yes! Why is that such a hard thing to understand?" Zacharias said impatiently.

"I never said it wasn't," Hannah reasoned. "I was just wondering. And it didn't bother you at all, since apparently you don't like him, that he wanted to spend time with you and invite you into his compartment?"

Zacharias shrugged. "Not really."

"You didn't feel uncomfortable? At all?"

"No," said Zacharias truthfully. "It wasn't that bad, actually… Though I'm pretty sure Parkinson hates me…"

"Parkinson hates everyone," said Ernie cheerfully. "Except for Malfoy, of course. And her slimy Slytherin friends."

"Blaise isn't slimy," said Zacharias defensively.

Ernie and Justin shot him a surprised look.

"Didn't think you cared," said Ernie.

"And how would you know, anyways?" said Justin.

Hannah sent them another disapproving look. "Boys, stop fighting," she said. "Honestly," she muttered under her breath.

"And Malfoy wasn't in the compartment," said Zacharias. "Actually, it was just her, Blaise, Goyle and another boy named Theodore… I think they're the only Slytherin eighth years…"

"Theodore Nott?" Justin crinkled his brow. "He's slimy."

"He is," Zacharias couldn't help agreeing. "Scowled at me the whole time too."

Hannah, however, seemed more concerned about Blaise as she tapped her chin. She turned to Zacharias again.

"So you're saying that even though you know Blaise likes you and you don't like him back, you were completely okay with him flirting with you?"

"He wasn't flirting with me!" said Zacharias indignantly, though a voice in the back of his head said pointedly, He was.

Hannah looked like she agreed with this voice.

x x x

They arrived at the castle within minutes, and hopped out of the carriage as quickly as possible; Zacharias assumed that the others, like himself, wanted to get away from the Thestrals as soon as they could. While Hagrid claimed that they were safe, Zacharias had never really trusted Hagrid (a Blast-Ended Skrewt had once blown his hand up and he had to stay in the Hospital Wing for two whole days for Madame Pomfrey to heal him up); plus, the Thestrals were as creepy as hell.

The Sorting was plentiful this year, and Zacharias was mildly glad to see that despite the fact that he disliked the younger years, the Houses were filling up again, making up for the pulled out students and the missing lives from the War. This made Zacharias a bit more settled with being back at Hogwarts; his father had wanted him to stay out, saying that they should keep their business to themselves, but his mother had protested and said that the children should get a proper education, and his father finally agreed only through much persuasion.

Headmistress Sinistra said a few words after the Sorting and then the plates in front of them filled up with food. Zacharias noted with mild amusement that there was a collective gasp from the large number of first years as he dug into his shepherd's pie. Beside him, Hannah was chattering on to Susan Bones about what they had been talking about in their compartment, as Susan had been staying with her family at an inn in Hogsmeade and was not on the train.

Zacharias cast a quick glance to Slytherin table while he waited for his goblet to refill itself with pumpkin juice. There was Blaise, cutting up a filet and eating it with the most proper of manners. He did not seem the way he had been earlier on the Hogwarts Express. However, when he caught Zacharias's eye, he grinned and winked. Zacharias blushed and glanced back down to his food.

After dinner, Headmistress Sinistra said some stuff about the War and the new school year and how they should put the past behind them—as well as House rivalries. Zacharias was sure that she was inferring the harassments that Slytherin house could possibly have during the school year, and told himself not to partake in it. As much as the more undignified part of his head was saying that it was something that they deserved, Zacharias knew in the back of his mind that they didn't. He was raised pureblood enough to know that not all Slytherins were Death Eaters, the same way not all Death Eaters were Slytherins, not all purebloods were Slytherins, and the actual amount of purebloods were so little that it was hard to say if anyone's blood was really "pure" these days. Plus, all the Death Eaters had been sent to Azkaban, so there was nothing to fear in Hogwarts.

And Zacharias was sure that Blaise wouldn't appreciate being bullied either. (He doubted if Blaise could actually bebullied, as well. Blaise was strong, wasn't he?)

The end of the speech was finished with the acknowledgement of the lack of prefects (Sinistra explained that over the summer, so much effort was put to repairing Hogwarts that prefects this year would be assigned in early October) and words of goodnight, and then the Hogwarts students clambered out of the Great Hall. Zacharias walked with his friends, Ernie and Justin arguing about the next World Cup, and Susan and Hannah catching up with their summers. Zacharias was so out of it that his brain only barely registered the fact that someone had suddenly poked him from behind.

He turned around to see Blaise smiling at him. None of Blaise's friends were around.

"Hi," said Zacharias, suddenly feeling very awkward.

Blaise chuckled at him. "You have a little…" He indicated his own mouth. Zacharias realized that he must have a little bit of leftover pudding on his face, and turned a very embarrassing shade of pink.

"It's all right. Here. Scourgify." Blaise grinned and then pocketed his wand, as Zacharias felt the residue of food leave.

"Thanks," said Zacharias, still blushing.

"No problem." Blaise fell into step with him. Zacharias noticed, from the corner of his eye, that his friends had stopped talking and were now gazing at them. Blaise didn't seem to have noticed, though.

"What did you think about Sinistra's speech?" he asked, looking at Zacharias curiously.

Zacharias shrugged. "She has a fair point. Your House doesn't deserve to be punished for something a madman who happened to be in your House did."

Blaise smirked. "Yes, though I think Voldemort should have had a House for himself. A madhouse."

Zacharias was impressed by the way Blaise didn't even flinch at the name, and vowed that he would stop doing so as well. "Yeah," he said, amused at Blaise's play on words. "But even if students do pick on you, you'll be able to fend for yourself, won't you?"

"Of course I will. I don't need a knight in shining armor," Blaise scoffed. "Unless it's you, of course."

Blaise was so obviously flirting with him now, and by the way even Justin and Ernie seemed embarrassed to be eavesdropping on their conversation, Zacharias flushed even pinker. Hannah and Susan looked delighted.

"Well I'll be seeing you," said Blaise cheerfully. "Have fun, Hufflepuffs," he added to Zacharias's friends, before smirking again and then disappearing.

Once he was out of earshot, Justin turned to Zacharias.

"What," he said, looking to the space next to him that Blaise had previously occupied, "was that?"

"I thought that was cute," piped up Susan. "Do you like him, Zacharias?"

"No!" Zacharias, if possible, felt himself going pinker. "I don't! He just… well he likes me, but there's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"Of course not," said Hannah consolingly, and then turned to explain something to a bemused Susan.

"You're not bothered with the fact that a gay bloke who likes you is flirting with you?" said Justin, ever still bewildered.

"No, I'm not," said Zacharias defiantly. "And I don't know why you guys care so much. I'm going to the common room."

"You're delusional, mate!" called Ernie as Zacharias turned the corner and sped away from them.

What did it matter that Blaise "liked" him? Blaise was nice, and even though he had a reason for that niceness, it wasn't anything that Zacharias wanted to stop. Zacharias was never one to miss out on opportunities when people actually liked him—too often his mouth would say something that he would later regret saying. Besides, if anyone was going to like him, they were going to be at least good-looking, and there was no denying that Blaise was exactly that.

Zacharias arrived at Hufflepuff Tower soon enough, and entered the common room. It was bright and full of younger-years, but Zacharias paid them no mind; he could only think of his yellow four-poster bed waiting for him upstairs. He walked up to the boys' dormitory, and, satisfied and satiated, collapsed onto his bed for the first time in nearly a year and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

x x x

His timetable, which arrived at breakfast next morning, was almost identical to the one last year, although this time with Defense Against the Dark Arts rather than Dark Arts (Zacharias hadn't really had a splendid time performing Crucio on Michael Corner who had gotten detention for talking back to Alecto Carrow. His stomach clenched at the memory.) He had Herbology and Potions in the morning, and then Charms and D.A.D.A in the afternoon. Briefly, he wondered when Quidditch season would start. And who the new captain was.

"We have Muggle Studies together? Excellent!" said Ernie, glancing over at Hannah's schedule.

Hannah glanced at Gryffindor table dubiously. "I wonder if Neville's taking Muggle Studies…" she said thoughtfully.

"Doubt it. He probably learns everything he needs to know about Muggles from Granger," said Zacharias, glancing in their direction. And when he noticed the look on his friends' faces, he said, "Oh come on, don't deny it, it's probably true."

"Yes, but you don't need to actually say it," said Susan pointedly.

Zacharias grumbled under his breath and picked up a hash brown with his fork.

He soon bid good-bye to Hannah and Susan, and made his way to Potions with Ernie. Ernie had told him that Blaise had been in his class in sixth year; however, Zacharias was disappointed to see that Blaise was not there. Professor Slughorn had told them, through a mouthful of mead, that Blaise had already gotten his N.E.W.T.s for Potions earlier in the year, being a fully competent student.

Then Slughorn rattled on about something or other about Potions, and Zacharias was momentarily lost.

The morning went by quickly, with Zacharias adapting to his new classes and seeing old classmates, although he barely exchanged a word or two with them. Sometimes he felt like his fellow seventh years behaved like sixth years. Who behaved like fifth years, who were like fourth years, and so on. Really, it was astounding that they were all different ages from the way they so often acted.

Lunch went by and Zacharias had eaten enough, and then he had Charms. He looked forward to Charms; it was actually his easiest class. How anyone could get below an Exceeding Expectations was a wonder to him.

Zacharias was fairly surprised to notice that Blaise was in his class. He hadn't seen him before. Then again, he supposed with everything that had gone on last year, noticing his Charms classmates had been the last thing on his mind.

He contemplated taking the seat next to Blaise, and when Blaise spotted him and waved him over, Zacharias found it difficult for himself to shake his head. He walked over to Blaise and Blaise pulled out the chair for him, smiling.

"You know," said Blaise conversationally, "I liked you ever since last year, when you did such a good Decaying Charm that your robes nearly fell off as well."

"Did you?" Zacharias turned pink as he remembered the embarrassing experience. "It wasn't all that great…"

"Flitwick said it was one of the best he had ever seen," Blaise said earnestly.

"Oh… well then…"

"Plus, you're pretty fit under all those clothes." Blaise smirked. "Not that I had any doubts beforehand."

Zacharias felt the heat flood his face. Once again, he had no idea what to say.

Blaise smiled at him languidly as Flitwick clapped their hands for his attention and started on with the day's proceedings. They were to be learning a Protean Charm today, by changing the text in their textbook to different stories from The Tales of Beedle the bard, based on the reader's wishes. As Flitwick went on to explain to the Muggle-borns what the stories were about, Blaise turned to Zacharias, giving him a small smile.

"Do you want to do it first?" he offered.

Zacharias felt flustered under Blaise's questioning gaze. "I—um—sure," he muttered, turning to his Charms textbook and the copy of The Tales of Beedle the bard Flitwick had handed out to all of them next to it. Focusing very hard on the fictional text, he pointed at his textbook and shouted, "Proteas!"

Immediately the words in the textbook shivered, and then dissolved. Blaise bent down to look at it curiously.

"Can I see it?" he asked Zacharias, and Zacharias nodded, not quite sure he had done it correctly. Blaise had, after all, distracted him.

Professor Flitwick was coming around, watching their progress.

As soon as Blaise touched the textbook, words immediately shimmered on the page. Zacharias could see the titleBabbity Rabbity and her Cackling Stump on the left side.

"Exactly what I wanted to read!" said Blaise, pleased. "I love the part when the king thinks she turned into a crabapple."

"Very good, Smith," said Flitwick, passing by and giving them an approving nod. "Zabini, you should get onto work as well."

"One moment, Professor," said Blaise, holding up a finger and flipping through the book. "I'm reading."

Zacharias rolled his eyes, but grinned at Blaise all the same.

x x x

"I already know how to do a Dampening Charm," Zacharias admitted as soon as Professor Flitwick stopped giving his instructions.

Blaise's eyebrows flew up in surprise. He glanced around them where the other students were busy casting, "Moistius!" on the socks and tea cozies they had been given (apparently donated by the house elves). Then Blaise looked back at Zacharias.

"When did you learn to do it?"

Zacharias felt his cheeks heat up. "Over the summer," he muttered. "I had free time, so I read ahead…"

Blaise seemed impressed. "I think you might be a Ravenclaw in disguise too," he chuckled, nudging Zacharias's thigh with his own. "Go on, show me your amazing Charms skills."

He was teasing, Zacharias knew; Blaise had been saying things like to this to him for the past week now. They didn't see each other very often throughout the rest of the school day. Occasionally Zacharias would catch his eye in the Great Hall, spot Blaise in the corridors but would be too cowardly to say hello, and sometimes saw him in the library, if Zacharias was really lucky. But Charms was the one class they had together despite Blaise being an eighth year, and it was also the class in which Zacharias would not be disrupted by his friends (Hannah and Susan would give each other every time he mentioned Blaise—which was not often, thank you very much), and so whenever they talked, it was always in midst of their classmates shouting and attempting N.E.W.T. level spells.

Zacharias's wand hovered above his sock. Well aware of Blaise watching him, he flicked his wand and murmured, "Moistius." Immediately the sock darkened in color.

"Impressive," said Blaise, bending his head low near the desk, and reaching out to poke the sock with his finger. "Perfectly damp, too. Not too wet, but hardly completely dry." He grinned up at Zacharias.

Zacharias's cheeks heated even more. "Th-Thanks," he said. And slightly indignant to being reduced to flustering, he nodded toward Blaise's tea cozy and said, "How about you try?"

"Sure, but I'm not as great as this as you are," chuckled Blaise, sending him a charming smile. "Moistius!"

His tea cozy lay dry on the table.

There was a tutting behind them. Zacharias and Blaise turned around to see Professor Flitwick frowning at Blaise's tea cozy. "You might want to work on that, Mr. Zabini," he said, pointing at it. "Say it with more meaning. Imagine it nice and damp in your palm. As for Mr. Smith." Professor Flitwick reached around him and grabbed his sock. "Ah yes! Well done, Mr. Smith! Perfectly damp, no more or less! You'll almost be good as Miss Granger over there!"

He pointed to the other side of the classroom, where Hermione Granger stood helping Lavender Brown with her own Dampening Charm. Hermione seemed a little caught off guard at hearing her name, but smiled kindly at Zacharias before telling Brown not to prod her wand, but to flick it.

"Thanks," Zacharias muttered. He wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not.

"Yes, yes. Now help out Mr. Zabini, Smith, please!"

Professor Flitwick walked off to the next pair of students. Blaise smirked up at Zacharias.

"Yeah, Zacharias, help me," he said.

Zacharias flushed again, but ignored his pink cheeks and went around the desk to Blaise, and started instructing him on how to improve his Dampening Charm.

A few minutes later, when Blaise was busy evaluating his own tea cozy in terms of wetness ("It's not too wet, don't you think?"), Hermione suddenly materialized before them. Zacharias glanced up at her, started; Hermione sent him a small smile.

"How are you doing?" she asked, referring to Zacharias's sock.

Zacharias shrugged. "Fine."

"Did you do the Charm all right?"

"Are you kidding? Zacharias is a natural at Charms," said Blaise, lazily flicking his wand at his tea cozy, making it turn a bright shade of yellow.

Hermione seemed bemused by this statement. "Really?" she said, turning to Zacharias.

Gritting his teeth, Zacharias replied, "Yes, really. Is it really just so hard to believe?"

"No, I just… I didn't expect it," stammered Hermione. "Could you show me?"

Zacharias rolled his eyes and let out an all-suffering sigh. Since when was it any of her business to see what he could do? Still, he wanted to prove it to her that he could do a perfectly good Dampening Charm, and so he pointed at his sock and said very loudly, "Moistius!"

The sock (which had been dried out before) turned very damp. Zacharias sent a smug look to Hermione.

Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprise, but all she did was send a curt nod to him before starting to stalk off.

"Hey, Granger!" Blaise said suddenly, perking up. "What was yesterday's Ancient Runes homework? I dozed off in class yesterday."

If anything, Hermione looked even more surprised. "Sixteen inch essay on the misuse of runes in the seventh century," she responded.

"Thanks," said Blaise, nodding.

Zacharias felt a little bit peeved at this exchange. What business did they have to have together? Wasn't it obvious that Blaise liked him? Who cared about Ancient Runes when they were currently in Charms class?

The rest of class was spent with Zacharias continuing to teach Blaise how to do the Dampening Charm until finally his tea cozy was at least a little more wet (for his first several attempts only made the fabric a tad cooler than usual). When class was over, Zacharias bid an insignificant good-bye to Blaise, and then headed down to the Entrance Hall.

Zacharias often liked walking out on the grounds during his free period, which was right after Charms. It gave him some time to free his thoughts, and even though he'd sometimes see Hagrid and one of his ferocious beasts prowling around, as long as he stayed away, he was barely disturbed. The view of the grounds was quite nice too, including the Forbidden Forest which he pointedly avoided when he walked around the east side of the lake. Occasionally he'd see some fifth and sixth years studying on the grass, or couples eating on a blanket, or older boys trying to lure the Giant Squid to the edge of the water. But they never paid him any mind, neither he them, so his walks were silent and peaceful.

Zacharias glanced up at the sky and thought about Charms class today. He thought about the way Blaise had smiled at Hermione; it wasn't like the smiles Blaise sent to him. Zacharias briefly wondered if this was a good thing or not.

Yes, he decided. Yes it was.

x x x

Part II