Dark Harmony

Chapter 3: Playing Games

Ron Weasley eyed the raven-haired boy sitting across from him carefully. Harry Potter returned the scrutiny, both boys glaring at each other before slowly turning their gaze back to the table in front of them. Suddenly, Ron's face broke into a grin.

"Check mate!" he said triumphantly, maneuvering his queen so she left Harry's king with no chance of escape.

Harry shook his head and leaned back in his chair with a sigh.

"One of these days, Ron," he said, threatening the same as he did after every game of wizard's chess.

Ron merely grinned. For all the seven years he had been playing at Hogwarts, he had yet to be bested. His victory was short lived, however, for at exactly that moment Hermione barged into the common room looking frazzled, yet determined. She stormed past them, on her way to the dormitory, and the two boys exchanged glances.

"Erm," said Ron, eying the girl nervously.

"Probably better not to ask," Harry said, and the redhead nodded in relieved agreement as Hermione's bushy head disappeared up the stairs. He knew better then to try and glean information from his friend when she had that gleam in her eye.

"So..." he said, paused in thought, and then grinned, "chess?"

^^^^

Hermione lay back on her bed, Gabriella's piece of parchment clutched tightly in her hand. She had refused to open it until she was quite assuredly alone, and now that she was she wasn't sure that she wanted to know what the note contained. An invitation, the girl had said, but although she had gone through every possibility, Hermione had no clue as to what she could have meant. Well, she decided, she wouldn't find out while just sitting there fretting over it, and carefully smoothed the note open on her lap.

-Saturday morning. Same time, same place.

-Hogwarts Library, Section 33: Blood Magic, second shelf. Blood that Binds, pg. 420.

Hermione's eyes widened and she flipped the parchment over, but nothing was written on the back. That was it? She didn't know what she had expected, a letter with soul baring contents, a spell or hex ... in the very least a threat of some sort. But no, that was it. Two lines written in delicate, loopy handwriting. She sighed and collapsed back into her pillows, not realizing how tense she had been until then. Same room, same time. She supposed that Gabriella was talking about the room in which they had first met, but she couldn't get the thought that Gabriella was toying with her out of her mind. She scowled. She hated that the younger girl had such an obvious advantage over her. Hermione, as of yet, did not know exactly what game it was they were playing, and so had to play strictly by whatever rules Gabriella laid out for her. She hated being the underdog, and she refused to be jerked around. Realizing that she was tense with anger and anxiousness, Hermione decided that the only way she was ever going to get to the bottom of this would be to play by Gabriella's rules... for now. She stuffed the parchment into her robes once again and headed back to the library, determined to figure it out.

"Blood that Binds," Hermione muttered to herself as she ran a finger over the huge volumes that occupied the second shelf at the very back of the library. She had arrived to find herself blissfully alone, and had wasted no time in searching for the book she needed. The book, however, seemed to be missing, and she growled in frustration as she realized that it was nowhere to be found.

"Looking for something in particular?" a deep male voice asked her from behind and Hermione gave a start, grabbing the nearest thing in order to keep from toppling over. Too late did she realize that instead of grabbing the bookcase, as she had hoped, she had grabbed a particularly muscular human leg. Scratch that, she thought as her gaze traveled up to the owner of the limb, she hadn't grabbed a human leg at all. She had grabbed the leg of a god.

Leaning casually against the bookcase, his blue-black curls falling just so into his cobalt eyes, his mouth curved into a bemused expression, was Blaise Zabini. He raised a dark eyebrow in question, and she struggled to remember what it was that he had asked.

"Erm..." she stumbled before spying a book clutched in his arms, and her foggy thoughts cleared enough for her to blurt out an answer. "Yes, I was actually, but someone seems to have already taken it out," she said, secretly proud that she had managed a normal, stutter-free reply.

"Ah, well that's too bad," he smirked, shifting the book in his arms so that Hermione could just pick out the title.

Her eyes widened and she could have sworn that his smirk broadened. Glaring at him slightly, and cursing that Slytherin version of a smile, she composed herself and decided that it was time to leave.

"Yes, well, I really have to be going," she informed him, and he nodded, unmoving. "If you'd just move so I could get up..."

"Well, Granger, it is rather difficult, as you insist on molesting my leg," he said, and she realized that her hand was indeed still wrapped around his calf. She quickly pulled away and he grinned wickedly at her. "Don't worry," he said, turning to go. "You can be assured there are other parts of my body that wouldn't mind a little molestation," and with a quick wink, he was gone.

Hermione stared after him, knowing that she should somehow be offended or indignant, but unable to get her mind past the rear view that she was presented with as he strode away. She shook herself as he disappeared from her sight.

"Damn Slytherin's," she muttered as she got to her feet, remembering suddenly the book that he had been holding.

The same book that she had been searching for. That was a little too much of a coincidence for her liking.

"Oh Gods," she moaned, sudden realization striking her.

They were in it together. They had to be. But... she paused, thinking. Why would Gabriella request that she read a book, when Blaise was just going to go and steal it before she could even get the chance? It made no sense whatsoever. Unless, she thought, Gabriella had changed her mind and decided that maybe it wasn't such a good idea that Hermione read that book. She sighed. The only way she was going to figure this out was if she could get her hands on that volume, and she was quite sure that Blaise wasn't going to be returning it anytime soon. A slow smile spread up her face as a thought struck her. If the dark haired Slytherin wasn't going to give it to her, then she'd just have to take it herself. And little miss ice princess wouldn't be expecting that either.

Hermione hummed to herself as she left the library, content that she finally had a plan of her own.

^^^^

Blaise Zabini lounged comfortably on his massive bed in the Slytherin dormitories. He had his own section, of course, as had Malfoy before he had become Head Boy and therefore gained privilege to his own room. His parents had paid for it, as it would have been socially unfit for him to have to share his sleeping quarters. Blaise was continually thankful for the privacy it gave him.

The book he had taken from the library lay in his lap; a copy of the note Gabriella had given Hermione on his bedside table. He had no clue as to what his sister had meant by "same time, same place", so, having dismissed that, he had moved right on to the second matter. The book. He frowned down at the unopened volume.

Blaise knew his sister better then most, and while she still continued to utterly confuse him at times, he had a fairly good knowledge of how her mind worked. He could, quite accurately, sum it up into a single word. Twisted. She wasn't crazy, or inhumane, or even evil. No, those were all far too simple to begin to even scratch the surface of Gabriella Zabini. He admired her, of course, and respected her, but he far from trusted her. Trust had never entered into their relationship.

His sister seemed to have developed a sudden interest in Hermione Granger, and he couldn't seem to shake the feeling that it had something to do with him. The night after he had introduced the two, he had caught her penning a hasty note in a dark corner of the Slytherin common room, and by pure instinct had he tossed a replica spell in her direction. The results of the spell had left him curious, and so, after taking the book mentioned, he had camped out in the library to see who would come to claim it. The fact that he now knew did not console him in the least.

Brows furrowed slightly in thought, he opened the book to the specified page, scanning its contents quickly. His eyes widened at what he read, and he suddenly slammed the book shut. What was his sister playing at? He rose, considered confronting her about the matter, and then slowly sank back down. He was angry, an emotion that he rarely bothered with, and barging through the Slytherin house to find his sister would do more damage then he was ready to deal with. Anger often resulted in rash, spontaneous decisions, robbing people of their common sense, the flood of adrenaline causing them to act first, think later. Blaise rather preferred not to make a fool of himself.

Putting the book to one side, he lay back on his bed, staring up at his green and silver canopy. Gabriella was smart, conniving, and stopped at nothing to get what she wanted, but she had yet to best him. He had a multitude of resources, information he had stored away, and allies that he wouldn't hesitate to put to good use. If his sister wanted to play, then it was fine by him. He frowned slightly. He just had to figure out what exactly it was they were playing at. Hermione Granger. Where exactly did she fit into the picture?

Shaking his head, he placed the heavy volume carefully under his bed. For now he would be holding onto it, until he found out what Gabriella thought she was doing. Then, he grinned, he'd play along to the best of his abilities. It had been a long time since he'd had a good challenge, and in truth, things had been getting slightly monotone. Yes, this might yet be interesting. Smiling at the thought, he flicked his wand, extinguishing the lights and closing his eyes to welcome sleep.

^^^^

While Blaise poured over the contents of mysterious volume, his sister lay awake in her own dormitories, a slight smile hovering over her lips. Things were going exactly to plan.