Chocolate Roses

Chocolate Roses

Chapter 3: Trains and Tears

Ginny had noticed Blaise at the station. She wasn't sure what she wanted to happen, so she had tired to avoid him. As fate would have it, however, the milling bodies on the platform pushed against her and she ended up right next to him. She stared, wide-eyed, at him for a moment and then regained her composure. She rushed away from the dark-skinned man and ran toward the train. She could feel his eyes following her; hear his thudding footsteps in the panic of her mind. Her heart raced at a beat unnatural to men. Bodies of students got in her way, yelling obscenities as she knocked them over. She looked back at Blaise; he was faster than her and catching up. The students simply melted out of his way, giving him a clear path to her. It seemed as though he was walking, that it was useless for Ginny to run.

Finally she reached the scarlet engine. As luck would have it, her bags were already in a compartment. If only she could remember which compartment that was. She looked back out at the students on the platform. She saw no sign of the tall, dark man who was following her. She let out a sigh and her brain seemed to turn back on. She walked to her right, down the corridor of the train to her compartment.

Blaise saw how panicked she was when she turned to look at him. He continued to follow her, but ducked out of the way when she finally got on the train. He watched as she seemed to relax and turned right.

Blaise walked up the steps so he could watch her enter her room. She paused halfway down the hall to talk to someone and continued on for a couple doors before turning into her compartment. He followed slowly, trying to look completely natural.

Halfway down, a girl spoke to him. "Hello, you're Blaise Zabini, aren't you?"

He looked at her, her blonde hair and radish earrings framing her pale face. He raised an eyebrow at her blunt way of speaking. "Yes I am. And you are...?"

"Oh!" The girl's eyes were wide and seemed to look through him. "I'm Luna Lovegood. You're following my friend, Ginny Weasley." It wasn't a question, so he didn't answer her. He was intrigued with how she seemed to know everything about him.

"I think you like her very much. She seems to like you, too."

"Really?" Blaise interrupted her. He was suddenly very interested in what this Luna girl had to say. She nodded at him, her eyes seemingly popping out of her skull. Then the shocking blue grew grey and cloudy. Her mouth fell open and she stared through him. She swayed and he thought she would fall over. But then, just as suddenly, she turned back to as normal as before. She looked up at him and smiled.

"You need to act fast, Blaise Zabini, or her heart will remain with the one who has it now forever. She can not decide yet. Go to her." The compartment door closed on his face. Luna's words filled his mind as he stood there, staring at the glass that now shielded the young seer. He came to and walked down three doors, still thinking of the girl.

He knocked on the glass, not wanting to startle her by bursting in. Ginny opened the door, peering out at him. He smiled at her, trying to make it look like he wasn't about to attack her, and she opened the door the rest of the way.

"Hello, Blaise."

"Hello, Ginny."

Her eyes glittered in the lights of the train. He was transfixed with her obvious innocence, forgetting Luna's advice for a moment. Students jostled Blaise, sending him into Ginny's compartment. He flushed, his cheeks turning darker than they were before. Ginny blushed as well, though her embarrassment was much more noticeable.

"Erm, sorry about that. There were too many students in the hall." Blaise stood up again, making sure he wasn't touching Ginny.

"Yes, of course." She remained standing as well, though she did close the door to let them have a little privacy. They looked awkwardly at one another for a moment. Then the train gave a little jerk, starting on its course to Hogwarts, and they both fell over. Their laughter filled the room and seemed to lessen the tension between them. They chose seats across from each other and started talking about the holidays. Blaise was horrified at what had happened at Ginny's brother's wedding and at the fact that she wasn't allowed to leave the house.

"But surely you must have heard about it. You're friends with Draco Malfoy."

"I only heard from him a few times, and none of his letters were very long. He was trapped in his house all summer as well, apparently. He also said that the Dark Lord is staying with him. Of course, no one knows where Malfoy Manner is now. It's been put under the strongest Fidelius charm known to wizards. I can't even go and see him now."

"Wow. I'm surprised you told me so much. You know I'm connected to the order."

"Yeah, I know. I also know that they probably have already guessed all these things."

"Yes, I suppose so. They've been doing a lot now that the war is upon us."

"By the way, where are your friends? Aren't you normally riding with them?"

"Yes, but they all are in hiding now, aren't they? Barely any of them are Purebloods and most have gone into hiding. I'm afraid I won't see most of them ever again." Tears leaked from her eyes at the mention of her friends. Blaise moved over to her and put a comforting, though awkward, arm over her shoulder. They spent the rest of the ride in silence, simply enjoying each others' company.

The ride to Hogwarts wasn't exactly what Blaise had been expecting. For example, he hadn't dreamed she would have let him into her compartment. He didn't think they would be able to talk through most of the ride without their conflicting views getting in the way. And he definitely didn't expect to be comforting a crying Ginny as she worried about her friends.