Stammerer

Chapter Five

"I don't know what I'm doing,

Don't know, should I change my mind?

I can't decide, there are too many variations to consider."

Fiona Apple, "On the Bound"

As much as she loved her husband, Loletta often wondered why didn't leave the bastard. He had lied to her in the beginning of their relationship, convincing her to sleep with him. Not that she had taken much convincing, but that was not the point. And Stefano was hardly easy to live with. He was strong willed, aggressive at times and prone to fits if he didn't get his way. He tended to jump on furniture and smash the dining China ("Not the blue and white, Stefano, please!!") to prove his point. Loletta had already had to replace the cream settee in the gold parlor three times! Stefano was snarky, spoiled, and quite often immature. Hardly good husband material, and very much the drama queen.

She also realized, however, that if she did leave Stefano he would be devastated. Immature or not, it was clear he was devoted to her and loved her as much as, if not more so than, himself. He was thoughtful in odd little ways, surprising her occasionally with gifts or blatant displays of affection. He noticed when she was down and would put on great shows of solving her problems. She had never once doubted him, either. Stefano had never given her any reason to believe that he would stray. The thought never seemed to cross his thick, but sometimes sweet, head. Plus, there was the sex. It was incredible sex.

Which was always the end of the argument. She couldn't leave Stefano Zabini. She would miss the sex too much.

**********

Ginny watched her orange-haired friend carefully. Something was definitely off. Again. Caroline wasn't acting herself. Colin had tripped over his own feet getting to their usual table in the library, and she hadn't even commented on his lack of grace. Ginny herself had been humming one of Caroline's least favorite tunes for the last three minutes, and the Hufflepuff had as yet to tell her to piss off. Caroline was quite assuredly distracted. Ginny had a guess why, a dark-haired, Italian, roguishly handsome guess why, but wanted her notion confirmed.

Pulling out her quill with a flourish, Ginny quickly drew eyes and a top lip on the side of her middle and forefinger, and a lower lip on the side of her thumb. Clearing her throat to get Caroline's attention, she presented her creation to her friend.

Caroline looked at her a long moment. "Have we really resorted to communicating with hand puppets? Have we sunk so low?

"Don't insult Beatrice, now, Caroline. She's very concerned about you and wants to find out what's wrong," replied Ginny primly, sitting on the edge of her seat.

"'Beatrice?'" repeated Colin. "Couldn't come up with anything better?"

"And how do you know it's a girl hand puppet?" asked Rosemary, glancing up from her Potions assignment. "It could just as well be a boy."

Ginny looked a little peeved. "I created Beatrice, so Beatrice is most certainly a girl. I think I would know the gender of my own hand puppet. And Beatrice would like to know what is up with-"

"Oh, she's just a little upset that she is so easily seduced by Zabini," answered Colin, who then turned to Rosemary, asking for help on his own Potions assignment.

"Oooohhhh!" cried Ginny, then lowered her voice immediately, catching the warning look Madame Pince sent her. "I knew it! Blaise Zabini, Italian sex god, is at it again! What'd he do this time?"

Caroline shifted uncomfortably in her seat, eyes narrowing at the red head, and opened her mouth to reply when Colin interrupted, "Took her to his bedroom. Got in a little snogging, but Caroline was able to come to her senses before it went too far."

"Will you people stop-"

"Wait, how did you know all this and I didn't?" asked Ginny suddenly, her own eyes narrowing at the mousy boy. She whirled on Caroline. "You would tell him about your sexual exploits before me?!?"

"They are hardly sexual exploits!" defended Hayes, her face going bright red. "And Colin just happened to be in my way when I was heading back to my dorm. If you had been in the way, you would have heard first."

"Oh, okay," breathed Ginny. "Our friendship has been restored."

"I'm so glad. I was worried there for a moment," replied Caroline sarcastically.

"And she's back," commented Rosemary, grinning at the Hufflepuff.

Beatrice returned. "Beatrice is absolutely relieved that Caroline is being herself again. She is also delighted in the news about the latest developments in the Zabini-Caroline drama. Or should she call it the Zabini-Caroline porno?"

"Shut up!"

"One wonders why Ginny and Beatrice find so much amusement in Caroline's love life," mused Rosemary, tapping her quill against her chin.

"It's called 'living vicariously,'" Colin contributed.

Rosemary broke into peals of laughter, earning the group a prompt dismissal from the library.

**********

Generally, Blaise wasn't one to stop and smell the roses. Roses smelt just as well in a vase as they did on the bush. He wasn't one to simply sit by the lake and enjoy the view, under normal circumstances. Yet, there he was, early Saturday afternoon, gazing across the water, contemplating the spectacular display afforded him by nature's beauty.

Directly across the lake from him were three sunbathing sixth-year girls- a Gryffindor, a Slytherin, and a Hufflepuff.

**********

"Zabini's such a perv," muttered Caroline.

"Honestly, sweetie, I think you should be flattered," teased a grinning Rosemary. "Blaise is usually far above being a peeping tom. Not for just any girl would he stoop so low."

"What makes you think he's looking at me? Or even just me? You two are wearing smaller suits than I am!"

"Zabini hasn't cornered us for snogs," shot back Ginny, smiling at Caroline's discomfort as well. "He hasn't gotten 'accidentally' stuck to us, either. All in all, I'd say those facts are quite telling."

"Shut up, I hate you both!"

Ginny laughed, then said, "If it'll make you feel any better, we could always jinx him."

Caroline perked up.

"Not a chance, Weasley," contradicted Rosemary. "I couldn't do that to my own housemate. Besides that, he's too far way. The curse would be ineffective by the time it reached him."

"Damn," contributed Caroline.

Oh, darling, it's so sweet,

You think you know how crazy,

How crazy I am.

**********

"Really, Zabini, I admire your persistence," praised Draco Malfoy, lowering himself elegantly to the grass next to Blaise. "Wear her down until she gets frustrated and gives in. Always works with Maddie."

"Shut it, Draco," sighed Madeline Higgins, seating herself next to her boyfriend. "And I really don't know how well that tactic would work with Caroline, Zabini. She's more like Hannah, if you frustrate her she's more likely to hex you than give in."

Malfoy grimaced slightly at the mention of the blonde Hufflepuff. "Forget my earlier words, Blaise. Escape while you still have your life."

"Don't be silly, Draco," said Madeline, tugging on his sleeve. "There are much worse things she could do than killing him."

**********

Loletta saw a great deal of her husband in her son. Granted, he was not quite as volatile; he hadn't had a downright tantrum since he was eleven, and was much more likely to brood than explode. But he had inherited the Zabini stubbornness and shared his father's propensity to always be able to get his way. Blaise could be quite determined and aggressive when it came down to things he wanted.

**********

"Look, Zabini and the others are leaving," commented Ginny.

"Perhaps you should put out more, Caroline," taunted Rosemary.

"Shut up!"

"I think we should go inside, too, else we'll be fried to a crisp," continued Rosemary, smiling at Caroline.

The girls gathered their things, putting their uniforms over their bathing suits, packing towels and sunglasses back into their bags. Glancing at the orange-haired girl, Ginny suddenly got a vicious and highly amusing idea. She pulled Rosemary over by her arm and whispered in the other girl's ear, "Let's do Zabini a favor." She nodded her head toward the lake, and the Slytherin girl understood immediately, breaking into evil giggles.

"Oh, Caroline..."

**********

All Loletta Zabini could hope for, really, was that Blaise would be able to find a nice, patient girl who would be able to tolerate all his quirks and deficiencies. A nice, quiet, calm sort of girl who would remain rational and logical at all times and would by no means incite Blaise to more contrary and obstinate extremes. The kind of girl that Blaise himself would never actually be interested in.

**********

Hayes was soaked. Water dripped from her hair, her clothes were plastered to her, her shirt most revealingly. She glared up at Blaise for obviously interrupting her quest to become dry.

He couldn't suppress the grin that spread over his face. "You have just made my day. What did you do, fall in the lake?"

Caroline's fierce scowl informed him that that was, indeed, the case. "Or, rather, I was shoved in by two maniacal, so-called best friends." He snorted his amusement.

"Yes, yes, Zabini, laugh it up. I'm so glad you find my humiliation entertaining. Now, if you will excuse me, people are beginning to stare."

Blaise glanced around him, still chuckling a bit, realizing that her statement was true. People were staring. His laughter stopped abruptly. Not just people, though. Boys. Teenage boys were staring at Caroline, particularly at the wet shirt that clung to her every curve. The situation was no longer funny.

He began removing his robe.

"What are you doing?" she asked, looking at him suspiciously.

"Covering you up, what do you think," he muttered back through gritted teeth, managing to put the robe over her shoulders, concealing her front.

A few voices from the crowd communicated their displeasure, and Blaise threw those few a look that clearly said, "Fuck off."

Caroline tried to wriggle away from him and out of the robe. "Don't be ridiculous, Zabini, you'll get your robes wet, too. I just need to do a drying charm, that's all."

Blaise mentally kicked himself. Of course that was all they needed to do. He took his garment back, drawing his wand and performing the spell himself. Her clothes were put to right immediately. Having directed his wand at her outfit, her hair remained wet. Hayes pulled out her own wand, aiming it at the orange, clumped mass.

"Don't!" protested Blaise, wrapping a hand around her wrist.

"What?"

"Don't dry your hair, at least not yet. It looks good this way."

"Right, fine, whatever," said Caroline, pulling her arm out of his grasp. "May I go back to my dorm now?"

Zabini grinned. "Asking my permission, are you?"

She stamped a foot and walked away. Or she tried to, at least, but Blaise's hand on her upper arm made it a rather pointless effort. "What?!?"

"Are you busy right now?"

"Excessively," Caroline replied hotly.

"With what?"

"Trying to avoid you. Behold my lack of success."

Blaise frowned. She looked completely serious, her face screwed up, her eyes blazing, her shoulders rigid and unyielding. She had always been a little resistant. Perhaps she really didn't want to be around him. Now he was angry.

"So sorry to keep you from your sacred task," Zabini sneered, flinging her arm loose. "Won't happen again, Little Hufflepuff. I won't bother you with my unwanted attentions any more."

Caroline shook her head and turned on her heel, face flushed, muttering, "Drama queen," as she left.

Blaise stood where he was, just a bit stunned. Drama queen?!? Fucking Merlin, when had he turned into Malfoy? Or, worse yet, his father? He laid his head in his hands, moaning slightly.

Why had he gotten so upset? He recognized he was growing more attracted to the odd Hufflepuff by the moment, but that sort of attraction had never been able to throw him off as it did just then. Perhaps the thought that his feelings weren't reciprocated had sparked some of the emotion. He moaned again. Chasing after an orange-haired Hufflepuff (a Hufflepuff!) who didn't even fancy him.

He lifted his head again as another thought struck him. What made him think she didn't fancy him? Besides her words, of course, all the evidence pointed to the contrary. She had willing snogged him approximately five out of the seven times. And her behavior toward him was never cool or indifferent; he definitely incited some sort of reaction. Getting right to the heart of the matter, he concluded that the question was not really, "Did she like him," but more accurately, "How could she not like him?" A smug grin spread rapidly over his face and he breathed a relieved sigh.

"Are you quite all right, Zabini?"

Blaise jumped at the sound of the voice, spinning around to see that Colin Creevey was staring at him as if curious about his mental health. He scowled heartily, realizing that he had been standing in the same spot for several minutes, making all sorts of facial expressions and noises.

"Fuck off, Creevey," he replied less than politely.

Colin rolled his eyes. "As if I haven't heard that one before. Honestly, you and Caroline are perfect for each other." He turned around, making his way down the corridor, Zabini deciding to follow. He was not going to pass up the opportunity to do a little reconnaissance. The Gryffindor glanced knowingly at him, but otherwise made no comment.

"So, ah... Caroline's a great girl," began Blaise, being as neutral as possible.

"No, she's not. She'd just as soon insult you as lend you a helping hand. In fact, she'd probably insult you while lending a helping hand. Which is why, I suppose," he added thoughtfully, "she's a Hufflepuff, not a Slytherin. At least she would lend a hand."

Zabini nodded shortly; these were things he already knew, though he was amused by Colin's analysis. There were other things he wanted to find out. "Right, so... Caroline..."

"Right, Caroline. The one I lost my virginity to."

Blaise stopped dead. "What?!?"

Creevey stopped a few feet ahead of him, turning around with an innocent questioning look on his face. "I'm just kidding, Zabini. Relax. Try not to fly off the handle."

Blaise glared at Colin, but breathed another relieved sigh.

"Ginny was first, then Caroline."

Fists clenched, teeth gritted, Blaise glared down the mousy boy. "Creevey..."

"It was a wild night, that. Plenty of firewhisky, know what I mean? You should have been there."

"Where, exactly?" he demanded, decidedly unsure whether Creevey was completely serious or merely yanking him around. He'd prefer the latter, then he could just wail on the boy. If he spoke the truth, however, he would have to wring Caroline's neck, and then wail on the boy.

"The monthly Gryffindor-Hufflepuff orgies. Everyone above fifth year comes. We have game nights, strip poker and naked Twister; sometimes we even have masquerades where everyone dresses up so we can later take it all off-"

"Creevey..."

"Caroline's the one who started it all, it her was brilliant scheme. She suggested the idea to Harry Potter, but he's such a prude, you know..."

"Why would she suggest it to Potter?"

"Because she was shagging him at the time. They broke up shortly thereafter, and she shacked up with that Seamus Finnigan for a month, there... dark, dark times, those..."

"Creevey!"

Colin walked over to the Slytherin, a sympathetic expression on his face. "Don't worry, Zabini," he said comfortingly, patting the taller boy on the cheek. "She told me Seamus was shit in the sack, so the field's all clear for you, my friend."

Sometimes my mind don't shake and shift,

But most of the time it does.

**********

How much did Blaise really now about Caroline Hayes, anyway?

Angry strides complimenting his agitated state of mind, Blaise stormed down the corridor, searching for any glimpse of that distinctive orange hair.

She could be the exact trollop that Creevey had painted her. He was one of her closest friends, wouldn't he know? And he was a Gryffindor! Surely that equated his word with absolute truth. Unless he was a Gryffindor bent on pissing Blaise off, in which case it would just equate to a dead Gryffindor.

Zabini, unlike the first time that day when his temper had gotten the best of him, understood perfectly well that he really had no right to know whether those horrible things were true. It was none of his business. They weren't in a relationship, they weren't shagging, they were barely snogging and at the moment, they probably weren't even speaking to each other. His steps faltered a bit. Was she still upset with him from before?

Didn't matter, he decided with a shake of his head. His was going to hunt her down, get the truth out of the floozy, then estimate the amount of damage to Creevey's person the boy had warranted.

Hayes had no right to be sleeping with anyone else. That was the bottom line, however irrational it may have been.

He finally found her coming out of the Hufflepuff dorms, hair still damp from earlier, holding a sheet of parchment, running over some sort of list with Madeline Higgins.

"I know Justin's become really fond of Otis Redding, but honestly, I think very few of them are as lovely as 'Try a Little Tenderness.' He'd probably like 'Sittin' on the Dock (Of the Bay),' that's a classic, but-"

"May I speak with you?" Blaise interrupted.

"Finally!" exclaimed Madeline with a smile. "A livid Slytherin who isn't mine!"

"What do you want, Zabini?" asked Caroline, looking a little resigned.

"I want to speak to you. Alone," he added pointedly, glancing at Madeline.

"That was subtle," Madeline commented sarcastically, then took the list from Caroline. "I'll pass this along to Justin and try to convince him that ten Reddings are not the way to go."

Caroline nodded, then leaned back against the way next to the portrait entrance to the dorms, eyeing Blaise warily. "Make it quick, please, I have a detention to serve in the dungeons."

"What did you do?" he asked conversationally, keeping a lid on his ire.

"Insulted one of your housemates while trying to help him clean up a mess."

He snickered suddenly. "Of course you did."

"Do you have a point?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Did you sleep with Creevey?"

Caroline slid speedily to the floor in her shock, bum hitting the ground rather hard.

"Fuck, that hurt! What the hell did you say?!?"

"Have you ever slept with Creevey?"

"No! Not that it's any of your business," she added quickly, attempting to regain her feet.

Zabini leant out a hand, which Caroline promptly ignored. To expedite the matter, Blaise grabbed her by her upper arms and hauled her to her feet. He wasn't finished yet.

"Have you ever participated in an orgy?"

"No! But it's on my to-do list."

"Don't tease me, Hayes. And finally- this one's important, pay attention- did you ever shag Harry Potter or that Irish arsehole Finnigan?"

She tilted her head to the side. "Harry Potter is worse than an orgy?"

"Answer the damn question!"

"No, I didn't! Why would you ever think something like that?!?"

Blaise, now that all his worries were laid to rest, grinned ferally. "Your friend, Creevey... you're not that close, are you?"

"What? Why?"

"I don't want you to be too devastated when you hear the news, is all." Blaise made as if to go, turning away, but as another thought struck him, turned back around to face her. "Oh, yeah," he stated, right before leaning in to kiss her.

She groaned slightly, but adjusted to the situation well, letting him back her further into the wall, one arm twining around her waist, the other burrowing into her hair. Her own hands landed on his chest so that she could push him away when she was good and ready. Which turned out to be sooner than he would have liked.

He groaned slightly in pulling away from her, but after a few seconds regained his focus and his determination. Setting his shoulders, standing straighter, he nodded smartly. "Right. Now, to kill me a Creevey."

**********

Loletta often debated whether it had been a good idea to let Stefano help raise their son. Perhaps then she would have been able to stamp out the bad temper and penchant for violence Blaise seemed to have caught from his father. But then, again, she never worried that Blaise would go too far; his common sense and better judgment would always prevail. And, if that didn't prove true, there was always Azkaban.