After All

Blaise Zabini hated Halloween.

To be quite honest, he hated all holidays, but that was beside the point. He simply had no desire to participate in plebian festivities. Cheerful decorations, over-played emotions, and worst of all...

Costumes.

Honestly, the person who came up with the idea of dressing up as someone you're not should be shoved into a vanishing cabinet. It was completely ridiculous. He happened to like who he was, thank you very much. There was no need for him to pretend to be someone else. Why should he? He was Blaise Zabini - handsome, wealthy, charming Blaise Zabini, heir to the Zabini fortune, not to mention heir to the power and recognition that came with the name. He was practically worshipped among the female Slytherin population, not that he would actually lower himself to be with any of them. Useless, twittering airheads, every last one.

All of these things pounded angrily into his brain, mocking him as he stood surveying the "party", if one could even call it that, with one of those twittering airheads glued to his side, giggling and squeaking like a broken music box. Good gods, why did he put up with this? He couldn't even remember the girl's name, let alone why he had asked her to attend the celebrations with him. And he certainly didn't know why he was standing in the middle of this crowd, wearing a mask and a costume. He should have his head examined.

All right, so maybe he did know why he was at the masquerade, but he didn't want to admit it, knowing it would sound as stupid out loud as it did in his mind. The truth was that his presence there had nothing to do with the holiday, nothing to do with the space cadet next to him, and certainly nothing to do with his mother's insistence that people like him had to at least make an appearance at these sorts of events.

It had everything to do with her.

He scanned the crowd, knowing his mask would conceal his search and feeling grateful for it. It simply would not do for anyone to know he was seeking out a girl, let alone one like her.

A Hufflepuff.

There must be something seriously the matter with him. Perhaps he would have someone examine him to find out what was amiss. It just wasn't like him to be this irrational. And that's certainly what this was - completely and utterly irrational.

It was stupid really, the way it had begun. It most definitely hadn't been what he'd expected. She'd smiled at him, that's all. She'd bloody smiled at him and he'd fallen to pieces like a common, hormonal schoolboy. Well, he was a schoolboy, but he wasn't common, and he wasn't hormonal. Not totally. He'd never let his emotions control him before, and he wasn't going to let it happen now. Besides, he'd never even spoken to her. He'd merely watched her, curious to see if that smile was something she only put on for show. It wasn't.

It didn't matter. It didn't matter that her auburn hair lay in soft, tantalizing curls around her shoulders. It didn't matter that her eyes were as green and sparkling as emeralds. It didn't matter that she was the only girl who'd ever smiled at him so sweetly, without any ulterior motives - or so it seemed. No, those things didn't matter. What mattered was the fact that he was Blaise Zabini, and she wasn't good enough for him.

First of all, she was a Hufflepuff, practically the scum of the earth as far as he was concerned. Loyal and hardworking? Weak and unmotivated was closer to the truth. Secondly, according to his sources, she was a Mudblood, which was an unpardonable sin among his circle of acquaintances. Thirdly, she was a lowly fourth year, which obviously meant she was childish and immature - definitely not something he wanted to deal with. Fourthly, as if all of his other reasons weren't bad enough, she was... she was nice.

Blaise didn't know any nice people, not really. Oh sure, people were "nice" to him - after all, they knew who he was and where he came from - but he had never met anyone who was genuinely kind without trying to get something, and quite honestly, the lack of this sort of acquaintance hadn't bothered him until now. Until her.

He let out an angry huff, causing his date to look up in surprise. He ignored her, pretending he didn't hear her calling his name as he stalked off. He shouldn't have brought her in the first place, whatever her name was. He should have come alone rather than spend the evening with that twit. He should have asked the person he truly wanted to spend the evening with, but he knew it never would have happened. After all, he had a reputation to maintain.

Blaise pushed his way through the crowd, determined to salvage what remained of his night before it got any worse. He was angry with himself for... well, for a great many things, actually, the least of which being that he had not been able to find her face among the throng of students packed in the Great Hall, and the greatest of which being that he had looked for her in the first place. It was absurd that he couldn't rid her from his thoughts. She was so... unworthy.

His first breath of fresh air as he stepped through the main doors of the castle and into the dark night did nothing to assuage his anger, nor did his decision to slam his fist into the stone wall; it merely made his hand hurt. He swore loudly, regret for his actions making him angrier at himself than before.

"Are you all right?"

He spun around at the intruding voice, only to find himself face to face with the very one he'd been searching for. Not even her costume could hide those eyes. "Laura."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "How do you know my name?"

He didn't answer. What would he say? He wasn't about to tell her that he'd spent the last two months watching her, and he certainly wasn't about to admit that he'd actually asked someone who she was. Granted, he'd asked in a manner that had concealed his true motives, but nevertheless, he'd asked. It just wouldn't do to have the entire school know that he'd asked her name, nor that the answer - Laura Madley - had caused him more than a few sleepless nights.

She looked at him curiously as he battled within himself. "It doesn't matter," she said. "I suppose you seventh years know everyone by now, even us lowly fourth year Hufflepuffs."

Blaise blinked in surprise at her words which so closely mirrored his thoughts of late. He opened his mouth to give some scathing retort when he saw the amusement in her smile. His words died in his throat and he merely stared at her.

She laughed. "It's all right. I know." He didn't have a chance to ask her what exactly it was that she knew, because all of a sudden she had taken his injured hand and was examining it in the light of her wand. "I don't think you've broken it, but honestly, what possessed you to attack the wall? Did you think you had a chance at a fair fight?"

She was laughing at him. She was laughing at him, Blaise Zabini! He didn't know how to react, never having encountered such a situation before. He merely continued to stare down at the top of her head as she gently turned his hand over in hers, checking it for injury.

"Well, I think you'll be fine. Most likely just a bruise or two, and it will probably be quite sore for a few days, but I'm sure you can handle it."

"What are you doing out here?" he demanded, wincing at his harsh tone but hoping it would conceal his racing heart.

She didn't seem to notice. "I just needed a breath of fresh air, and I figured my date wouldn't find me out here." She grinned. "He's not exactly the best conversationalist, seeing as how it takes two to converse and he seems quite content to do it all by himself."

Blaise frowned. "Then why did you go with him?"

She blinked, apparently this time noticing his angry tone. "Well, he asked me, and he's nice enough, I suppose. I thought I'd give him a chance, you know? You can't get to know the real heart of a person unless you give them a chance." When he didn't reply, she added, "What are you doing out here? Surely you came with a date as well?"

His mouth replied before his brain had a chance to stop it. "I was looking for you."

The look of shock she gave him made his stomach fall to his knees. "You... you're joking, right?"

This was his chance. Say yes. Say you were joking. It was just another excuse to laugh at a stupid Hufflepuff. He cleared his throat. "No."

She looked straight into his eyes as if searching for the truth behind his statement. She frowned, apparently not satisfied with what she had seen. "But... why?"

A question he was definitely not prepared for, but one his mouth again decided to answer without his consent. "I've been watching you." Oh, great, now she'd think he was stalking her. "I mean, I... I just wanted to meet you."

She frowned again. "I'm not sure I understand."

"I wanted to meet you, Laura!" he snapped. "I like you, all right? Bloody hell."

Her eyes narrowed, boring into his own, refusing to let him look away. "You wanted to meet me?" She shook her head. "I thought people like you didn't dare associate with people like me."

He heard the challenge in her voice and felt his heart sink, hating the sound of his own small-minded thoughts echoed in her words. What could he say to that? It was true, and yet... "You can't get to know the real heart of a person unless you give them a chance."

She laughed, a laugh of surprise and delight, and then she was smiling at him with that same sweet smile she'd given him the first time he'd seen her in the corridors. "Blaise Zabini, you really are quite the paradox, aren't you?" She shook her head. "Well, I suppose there's nothing I can do but give you a chance, is there?"

He smiled at her - Good gods, was he smiling? Blaise Zabini didn't smile! - and shrugged in a useless attempt at nonchalance. "No, nothing you can do at all."

She stepped towards him, reached up on tiptoe, and kissed him on the cheek. "Happy Halloween, Blaise," she whispered before turning away and disappearing through the doors of the castle.

He stood there for quite a while in surprised immobility before finally forcing his legs to carry him back into the castle - back to the party.

After all, Blaise Zabini loved Halloween.

FIN