As We Fall (Blaise Zabini Fanfiction)

Chapter 14

Zoe

As you may be able to guess, the day that tags after my corridor confrontation with Seamus and Blaise is tense.

Blaise doesn't speak to me, which is no surprise. Usually, he will at least throw me a few indistinguishable looks throughout the day, but now he won't even meet my eyes. Seamus and I don't talk, either - it's clear that the friendship he and I had is not ever going to return to the way it was. A definitive line has been drawn in the sand.

I keep thinking about what Seamus said, no matter how hard I try not to - that Blaise was not who I thought he was. That he'd done things that would appall me. I look at it from this angle and that, but I can't figure out what it means. Sure, Blaise is mysterious and has emotional walls as thick as ice, but he's never struck me as a Julian-like deviant. A few times, I consider the fact that Seamus might've been lying to save his own skin, but that doesn't feel anywhere close right.

At lunch, I slide myself in between Stevie and Eric at the Hufflepuff table in order to avoid my Slytherin housemates (primarily Blaise). A few seats down, a group of fourth years are working over a thick study guide.

"Hey, gal pal." Eric coos. "What brings you to this neck of the woods today?"

"Avoiding Blaise."

He sets down his fork, looks at me like a stern father would. "What's he done this time?"

I explain to the two of them what happened in the corridor last night. Afterwards, they both look disgusted.

"I didn't think Seamus was like that." Stevie says, her face wrinkled with concern. "He's always been nice to me."

"Well, he's clearly fucking not." Eric says. "Good thing Blaise, hot boy wonder, was there to rescue your ass. Why are you avoiding him again?"

"Because Seamus said some things about him that sort of freaked me out. That he wasn't a good person, and he'd done things that would shock me - stuff like that."

Eric's mouth twitches as he scans the room for the Slytherin table. Once his eyes lock in, they narrow. "Strange. He's the only person in this entire school that I can't find dirt on - or anything on. That meathead can't possibly know more about Blaise than I do."

"He might." Stevie adds thoughtfully. "Speaking of Blaise, Zoe, he's staring right at you."

This catches my attention. Without hesitation, my head snaps in the direction of the Slytherin table across the room. Blaise is sandwiched between Flint and Crabbe, who are devouring a plate of honeydew chicken legs and pointing at some girl's ass. And sure enough, just as Stevie said, Blaise is looking right at me. Not a zoned-out, unfocused trance that happens to fall in the direction of an unlucky individual. This is more of a subtle gaze - a conscious, know-what-you're-looking-at sort of thing that has less of an intensity and more of a intrigue.

Our eyes meet, something mutual clicks, and then he quickly looks away. Whatever may have happened next is over before it even started.

"Well, I'll be fucked." Eric chirps from beside me. Despite his sudden words, I cannot tear my eyes off of the boy in the green. "Sigh. If only Hank would've looked at me that way."

***

The Slytherin quidditch team must've never found a replacement for their boy that quit, because by no later than thirty minutes after lunch, the walls of Hogwarts have been completely smothered in thousands of green posters advertising auditions for a new chaser. They're plastered across the corridors, in stacks by doors that have been charmed not to open unless you grab one.

"Are you interested in becoming part of Hogwarts' most successful Quidditch team?" Eric reads in a mocking falsetto tone, emphasizing each "s" sound as though he were hissing. "Come to the quidditch pitch tonight at 7:00 to audition for the role of chaser! SLYTHERINS ONLY."