SOULLESS ° BLAISE ZABINI

now.5

BLAISE FELT RATHER IDIOTIC, STANDING at the edge of the lake and shuffling from one foot to the other. Nervousness was a new experience for him - for the darkness never let him be nervous. But there was something about this girl - no, mermaid - that the darkness couldn't affect. And it couldn't affect what he thought about her either.

He wanted to speak to her again, ask her more questions than he had last time, but he had no idea how to get her attention. How to call her to the shore. And besides, he was worried he might have offended, or scared, her in his rough meeting the night before.

He had been thinking about her all day. How could he not? He had never met a mermaid before, sometimes even doubted that they were real, which was stupid really, because when you have creatures like hippogriffs wandering around, mermaids should be the everyday normal. Her face, with its slightly slanted eyes and almost greyish skin, had been shining in his mind throughout all his lessons, and had helped him not fall asleep in Defense Against The Dark Arts, which had truly grown awful.

The only time she left his mind was when the Potter boy yet again began shouting at Umbridge, earning himself yet another detention. Even if Blaise agreed with some of his protests, it was such a waste of time. Couldn't he see that the frog like woman would never take him seriously. And though no one else noticed, Blaise saw the scars on his hand.

"Um, hello?" he called nervously, his voice barely louder than it normally was. He didn't want to be heard yelling into thin air, especially by Malfoy or any of his cronies. They wouldn't fear him any more if they thought he was mad.

Nothing.

Nothing but the silence of the lake, and the occasional chirp of a bird.

Blaise cursed, angry at himself. What if the mermaid had only been an illusion? He turned to go when -

"Blaise?"

A face poked itself above the water, followed by two slender shoulders and a mass of dark hair. Blaise meant to call out her name in surprise, but shut his mouth again, realising he didn't know it. Instead, awkwardly, he waved.

"Hello," he said, and coughed. The girl smiled, moving closer to the shore.

"Hi, Blaise." She grinned, brushing away her heavy wet locks from her face, as Blaise felt embarrassment creep over his cheeks. What was this? Why was he suddenly acting like this? Why wasn't the darkness strangling his emotions, dampening them so that he was indifferent?

"Hi," he repeated uselessly. If this was what being a normal teenage boy was like, he almost took back his plea to be one.

"What are you doing here?" She frowned.

"I come here everyday," he said, shrugging. "But I... Uh... Wanted to talk to you." He stared at her, his piercing black eyes boring into her until she looked away -

Except they didn't. The mermaid stared right back.

"What's your name?" he asked, stepping back in shock.

"I'm Asherah," she said, looking at him in concern. "Are you -"

"I'm fine," he snapped, cold fury - though more at himself - pouring through his veins. She looked a little taken aback, as if she wasn't used to anger.

"I'm sorry. You see, I've never met a human before, and I..." She shrugged. "Don't know how they behave."

"You've never met a human before?" Blaise asked, unbelieving.

"Well, I do live under the water, in a lake where not many people venture," she said, blushing, though her blush was more of a darker grey moving over her cheeks like a stormy cloud.

"The Black Lake."

"Ah, so that's what you call it? That sounds awfully...dark." She shivered, and Blaise absentmindedly wondered if she would be afraid if she saw what his soul was reduced to.

"Why, what do you call it?" he asked.

"Home," she said longingly, looking around her at the dark waters. "Its beautiful under here."

"Some people went down there last year," Blaise remembered. "There was a tournament." Asherah laughed.

"Oh, I remember! Some creatures helped."

"I thought they were mer -"

"Oh, no, the school got that all wrong. They're just vicious fish who like to think they're mermaids. They look a bit like us, I suppose. But my kind gets very offended when people call them that." She sniffed.

"Sorry," Blaise said hastily.

"Oh, its fine!" she interrupted. "You didn't know. It's not your fault the school didn't do their research." She paused. "Why do they call this the Black Lake?"

Blaise opened his mouth. But then he closed it, unsure as how to answer. Honestly, he had no idea.

"I think it's because they are afraid of it. There's said to be a giant squid living in there." He shrugged.

"Nonsense." Asherah flicked her hands through the water. "Every creature that lives in here is harmless."

"Maybe to you -"

"No, Blaise. Most of the things in here are afraid of wizards."

Blaise fell silent, watching her face with its big grey-green eyes. "It does look a little dark, though," he offered.

"No, it doesn't. It looks like...home." She stared out across the lake, her wet hair slowly drying and whipping up in the breeze. Blaise was reminded of how she was not human - a wild thing, uncontrollable.

"I have to go," he said, looking back towards the castle. He doubted people would pick up in his absence, but still...

Asherah's face fell. "Oh." She flicked her tail, sending her back out into the deeper water.

"I'll come again tomorrow," Blaise said without thinking, and mentally kicked himself. He shouldn't spend too long down here. Acting out of order would make people notice him. But the way Asherah smiled, her face radiant, eased the regret until it vanished.

"Really? Oh, thank you! I get so lonely -" She bit her lip, bit down on the flow of words. Blaise wanted to press her, but he could see the uncertainty flickering in her eyes, and the fear behind her tongue.

"Right," he said, backing away towards the path. "See you tomorrow."

"I can't wait!" she squealed enthusiastically, diving beneath the rippling surface with a final wave. Blaise smiled and shook his head at her child-like exhilaration. She seemed so innocent and young, and he wanted to protect her.

These unfamiliar emotions twisted in his chest, emotions that normally the darkness killed.

Which was a relief in a way. Maybe, even after the episode with Draco, he wasn't losing his soul after all.

For the first time, Blaise entered the castle with a smile on his face.