The Detective Club | Blaise Zabini

I. XII. XII

Antheia's quill hovered above the page. She didn't know what to write. She didn't believe it was natural, but why couldn't she blame it on Contessina? She bit her tongue as she wrote accident. Her chest felt heavy as she didn't believe it was an accident at all.

Antheia was sprawled out on the floor in the common room. Right in front of fireplace was a rug and she liked to lay there sometimes. It was her favourite place to think as the warmth of the fireplace warmed her skin and the cackling of the fire gave her some comfort. It also wasn't the greatest place to think during the day because there was too many people for it to be remotely enjoyable.

Winona was on the floor too, but she had her back pressed against the sofa where Hamilton sat. His legs were crossed and angled away from Winona as if the thought of touching her disgusted him. Winona was finishing up her homework for the evening, a much more productive student than Antheia who hadn't touched her homework since classes ended.

On the sofa, Hamilton was reading as he always did. Antheia rarely ever saw him do anything that didn't involve a book, she wasn't sure how he did it.

"Oh, that's cute," hummed Winona.

Antheia turned her head, which caused her to bump it against Winona's feet. She scrunched her face as she touched her forehead. Winona looked up and showed Antheia —  her notes, specifically the doodles.

"Hey! Where'd you get that?" said Antheia as she reached over and attempted to snatch it out of her hands.

"You should become an artist," teased Winona as she held it out of her reach.

"Her dad would probably disown her," responded Hamilton. He was half right and half wrong. If she got married to someone he approved of, he probably wouldn't care at all what she did with her career. Afterall, she wasn't the one who was going to pass on their family name.

"I don't even like drawing," said Antheia as she finally managed to grab her notes back.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you ladies, but could I borrow you Ms. Artino for a moment?"

Antheia looked up from where she was pressed against Winnie only for her cheeks ro flush when she saw Professor Sprout.

"Oh, of course," she said as she gave her notes to Hamilton, who put them behind his back safe and sound from Winnie. She almost had a heart attack when she saw Winnie with her journal as she had scribbled some things about the club in the back out of stupidity. She made a mental note to get rid of those pages later,

She stood up to face Professor Sprout.

"Ms. Artino, I'm so glad I found you. I have some good news for you, my dear." Did he actually agree? "Mr. Zabini agreed to be your tutor for the rest of this term. He said he'll reach out to you soon to arrange your meetings."

She knew this was her idea and she was brilliant but she didn't think he'd actually agree. This posed another problem for her because why did he agree? What benefit did he see from doing this when he seemed to still hold a grudge against her?

Blaise was leaning against his chair, staring at the drink in his hand while Antheia practically gaped at him. His eyes flickered up to her, but he did not lift his head.

"Are you trying to catch flies? You look ridiculous."

How did she end up here? She wasn't even sure herself. All she was trying to do was sneak food into her dorm, so she could stay up late gossiping with Lizzie and Natalia (her dorm mates) while snacking. Instead, she was cornered by Theodore, who kindly informed her that Blaise wanted to "surprisingly" see her. She knew why, of course, but she was taking a break.