The Wishing Web

- Prologue -

The murmur of voices echoed from behind me as I sidled down the corridor towards the room I knew like the back of my own hand. I should have done - I'd been in and out of the boys' dormitory more times than I could care to count the last five years. It was my Sixth Year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the routine was practically instinct.

I entered the dormitory quietly. It was empty, as I had hoped. I didn't like unpacking all my belongings with the other boys barging around and irritating me. I preferred the quiet.

The green and silver furnishings were depressingly familiar. Oh well, only one more year and I would be free. Well no, there was more training to come after; to become an Auror is a gruelling task where only the best, the very best succeed. I suppose that was why as a career it appealed to me it was the ultimate challenge.

I started unpacking my things, praying I hadn't forgotten anything this time. My memory is atrocious; I had not gone one school year without leaving something I needed behind. This year it appeared I might have broken that cycle however. Well, I had actually brought all my spellbooks and wand at least. That was very good for me.

I was finishing up when the door was flung open with a loud bang to my right. I flinched at the assault of unwelcome noise and turned to see who was causing the disturbance. I rolled my eyes in exasperation when I saw Draco Malfoy and his foot soldiers Crabbe and Goyle striding in as if they owned the place. Malfoy gave me his trademark sneer but didn't make any comment. He did not even respect me enough to verbally abuse me but that suited me just fine. I slipped out quietly as Draco started on a tirade about something or other - I thought I heard the name Potter mentioned. Not so unusual. Draco was practically obsessed with his Gryffindor rival, the legendary Harry Potter. I found it kind of pathetic.

I headed back to the Common Room. I hated being down there; it was always damp and drafty. Maybe Professor Snape felt at home in such surroundings but I certainly did not. I faintly caught the sound of dull snorts of laughter coming from the dormitory. It had to be Crabbe and Goyle. I could not understand why Draco Malfoy tolerated them. They made anyone merely stood in their general vicinity look stupid. Then again, they also looked like they could squash you into mush with one hand and not even call it exercise so I suppose they had their uses. Seeing as I was rather small for a teenage boy I had always avoided a confrontation with them. I never really conversed much with any of my fellow students. The truth is 99% of them bored me.

There was a notable exception - Daphne Greengrass. We had been friends since first year. We bonded over our shared habit of seeking out suitable targets for our cutting quips. Well, we liked to think they were cutting anyway. Unlike people such as Malfoy, we didn't verbally bully these people to their faces; just had a good laugh between ourselves. There had been plenty to laugh at amidst the chaos that made Hogwarts such an interesting school. We never hated our fellow students; we just didn't really like them either.

I spotted her the moment I entered the Common Room. Her thick glasses and bobbed, dark brown hair were easily recognisable after five years. She was snacking on a Chocolate Frog, nothing new there. Daphne had a voracious appetite and denied herself nothing. As a result she was rather dumpy but that didn't bother her. She waved me over with an excited look.

"Blaise, darling!" she exclaimed, affecting a silly, overly dramatic voice. "I feared you were not coming back, that you had abandoned me to suffer amongst these people alone!"

I frowned. "If you do that voice one more time I'm never speaking to you again."

"Fine, your loss."

I sat down in the chair next to her. There weren't many people there, despite what I had heard before. Theodore Nott was sat on his own in a corner, looking more like a disgusting miserable weed than ever. There were a few second years that I did not know. The usual gaggle of first years was absent. I supposed that made sense, everything would be different that year. A sobering thought. All summer the Daily Prophet had been filled with accounts of the activities of He Who Must Not Be Named, although I had often suspected they had toned down the nature of some of the incidents when reporting them.

"Think we'll win the House Cup this year?" I asked Daphne as she scribbled in her journal. She had had one of those every year, filled with notes and doodles.

"That depends on whether Harry Potter saves the world again. You know how Dumbledore can't resist giving him a million points." She replied blithely. I chuckled at that. I wouldn't ever have wanted to be in Potter's shoes.

Draco chose that moment to barge back into the Common Room as if he could actually sense the very mention of Potter's name. The thought amused me and I made a mental note to share my observation with Daphne later. Malfoy had a malicious gleam in his eye, the kind he got when he was up to something. I watched him, curious, as he walked straight over to Nott with his two shadows in tow and said something to him. Theodore looked suddenly nervous. I could not hear what they were saying but I leaned over the back of my chair regardless in the hope of catching even a tiny snatch of what was being discussed. It could be something interesting, more likely it would be something for us to poke fun at and nothing more.

Daphne looked up from her scribbling and saw me watching them. She craned her neck to see what had caught my attention. "Since when have those two been friends?" she asked with a snort of disbelief.

Nott nodded in response to Draco's words. He did not seem at all comfortable in the presence of the tall, pale boy. Interesting.

"They started hanging out last year," I said, recalling the time I had seen Potter run into them in the library. "I think they were mutually bonding over having their fathers being named as Death Eaters." Daphne giggled. Unfortunately Theodore overheard her and turned sharply in our direction with a scowl. I sighed inwardly, this was the kind of attention I could have done without.

Just as I predicted Malfoy strode over to us. I immediately fell back on my own defence mechanism, the one I had always used to dissuade the morons of that school from trying to talk to me. I have very large, round eyes you see and they look sickeningly cute most of the time. When I am surprised or scared they look downright weird though. In any event I had discovered the simplest way to get rid of someone was to look at them with an expression of pure bewilderment, the little boy lost look at it's finest. It usually worked; unfortunately Malfoy was one of the few people who could not take the hint. Either that or he just didn't care that I would rather drink poison than talk to him.

Daphne smiled at him and his cronies. "Can I help you Draco?" she enquired sweetly.

"We were just wondering what you were laughing at." He turned to me and I widened my eyes a bit more so they looked as if they were on the verge of popping out of my skull. "Zabini?"

I shook my head, apparently clueless. Being so close to Crabbe and Goyle was rather disconcerting. She can handle this one; at least, I hope she can, I thought.

"You."

Draco reacted. "What?"

"I was laughing at you. Satisfied?" I felt a laugh bubbling up inside me that I struggled to conceal. One of the many things I admired about Daphne was her audaciousness despite the fact that it had got us in to trouble a number of times.

Before Draco could say anything more Daphne started giggling again. "I'm only joking Draco, I was just laughing at something Blaise said. No need to be so paranoid dear." Her tone was utterly insincere and I'm fairly sure it did not escape Malfoy's notice but for whatever reason he dropped it. Not without getting a last shot in first though.

"I didn't realise Zabini was so funny," He sneered.

"I'm a funny person," I deadpanned. Having nothing more to say they sloped off.

"Nicely handled Greengrass," I sneered in a perfectly terrible imitation of Malfoy.

"One day Zabini, you'll be as good as me."

"I hope not."

*

I have often wondered what it was that first made me even consider the thought of becoming an Auror. It certainly wasn't a profession anyone in my family's long history had ever entered in to. My family are Purebloods - my father's side can be traced back to the time of Merlin. My Spanish mother too is from a strong magical tradition. Ministry jobs seem to be the common thread although there are exceptions.

Well, whatever it was that implanted the idea it was nevertheless what I wanted and what I would do, my mind was made up. At least, that's what I told myself. Staring at my newly handed out timetable at breakfast the next day I suddenly wondered why I wanted to put myself through Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts and Advanced Transfiguration when I had shown nothing but average ability in those subjects.

I was good at Potions though, very fitting since our Head of House was the Potions Master. But the subject I really excelled at was Astronomy. Since it was a lesson held at midnight most people couldn't stand it and would use any excuse to wriggle out of going. Still, I liked it immensely. There is something about the stars that is just fascinating; I've always thought so.

I set the timetable down. To my left Daphne was chatting with Pansy Parkinson. Despite thinking that she was an irritating airhead she nevertheless spent quite a bit of time in Pansy's company these days. I think she was trying to glean information on what Malfoy was up to from her. After what had happened last year we were all waiting for the inevitable fallout that was going to descend upon the Gryffindors. I wouldn't be a part of it of course; I had never taken any part in the infamous House rivalry, not even in that Inquisitorial Squad rubbish Professor Umbridge had set up last year although I had found the idea of deducting points from people at my leisure rather funny.

Daphne on the other hand had been a member and I still had not stopped teasing her about it. She can be very bossy - in fact she admitted that when she left Hogwarts she wanted a nice Ministry job where she could order people around. Daphne was never forceful with me though probably because she knew I would not lie down and take it.

Without warning she turned and snatched up my timetable. "Thank Merlin - we're taking most of the same classes," Daphne said after giving the parchment a quick perusal.

"You're saying that like it's a good thing." I smirked as Daphne acted offended and smacked me up the back of the head knowing full well I hated that.

"Ow! Hey, I was just kidding," I protested, rubbing the back of my neck. Daphne laughed and told me to stop being such a big baby. I sniped that she had a significant weight advantage on me.

"And height," She sneered back. I laughed, accepting the hit. To anyone else my remarks would have seemed exceedingly rude and personal but I knew Daphne and they did not.

"At least we'll be able to continue where we left off," She said, referring back to my timetable. "Mocking, laughing and when we're really bored, making lists."

"Hm, do you remember when we did that one on the 101 Ways Snape Is a Vampire and he found it on you?"

"Yes. I will live with the memories," Daphne affirmed. "The detention was a riot though."

"Hagrid, a riot?" I asked with raised eyebrows. Hagrid was amusing but only because he was such a disaster as a teacher. I had not actually taken Care of Magical Creatures but I knew all about his 'lessons.' I actually regretted not taking it since apparently I'd missed out on some fun.

"The Forbidden Forest is. And he's ok; when it comes to his grounds keeping duties he actually does know his stuff. Hey, what's Malfoy up to now?"

Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson and Nott had all got up and were heading en masse towards the Gryffindor table. A few others tagged along behind, hoping for a fight. They would be disappointed as Professor McGonagall had seen them and was already heading over, nostrils flaring. I decided it would be smarter to stay in my seat and watch the drama unfold at a distance. Daphne had joined the hangers on anyway and she could fill me on the finer details later.

Harry Potter saw them but he ignored them initially. At his side Ron Weasley tensed up. I couldn't see his hands clearly but I imagined they were curling into fists. Who needed a wand when you could engage in some good old-fashioned brawling? Hermione Granger sat very stiffly on Potter's other side but otherwise she gave no acknowledgement to the approaching Slytherins.

The crowd gathered around and blocked the seated Gryffindors from view. I couldn't see what was going on but I saw, or rather heard, when Professor McGonagall got there.

"What is going on here?" she demanded angrily. There was a brief, tense silence and then a chorus of loud explanations broke out.

"We're not doing anything Professor."

"They were making rude gestures Professor!"

"Doing what Professor?"

As wily and sly as we Slytherins were meant to be we were truly rotten at lying and excuses. The crowd quickly dispersed when it became apparent McGonagall was not buying any of it. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Professor Snape still seated at the staff table. He had made no move to stop his students yet his sharp black eyes had probably seen the whole thing. There was very little that escaped the notice of Severus Snape.

Students were starting to file out. Daphne sidled back up to the table as I was collecting up my equipment. The look on her face was one of distinct puzzlement.

"What was that all about?"

Daphne shrugged. "I'm guessing Draco wasn't extending the hand of friendship but what he said...it didn't make any sense to me."

"Probably something between him and Potter," I muttered. The first lesson was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Our new teacher this year was a thin, gangling man named Professor Dorsten.

"That would explain a lot," Daphne sniggered. I stared at her as we left the Great Hall, weaving in and out of our fellow students, occasionally suffering jabs from sharp elbows and angular book corners.

"What do you mean?" apparently, I had missed something. She eyed me pointedly. I stared back until she eventually became fed up.

"Something between Malfoy and Potter? How does that sound to you?"

"Like something only you could think up," I said, amused. As it happened, Potter and his friends were just up ahead although fortunately had not heard what we had said. We both smothered our laughter when we saw Malfoy knock his shoulder into Harry's on purpose.

We were still laughing when we reached the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. As I pushed through the door I reminded myself of my vow to work harder in this subject. I knew I could be good at it and that I had not always applied myself in the past.

Well, that's going to change Blaise.

"Um, Blaise?" a hand waved in front of my face. I slid into the seat next to an impatient Daphne. I had walked right by her without noticing she had sat down.

"Sorry, wasn't looking," I mumbled. She stared at me for a beat, a knowing look on her face but she made no comment. Daphne knew when it was best to stay quiet.

"Hello class, I am Professor Dorsten." The Professor offered us a smile. He had a noticeable amount of missing teeth and the effect was rather frightening. "Welcome to Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Great," Daphne hissed. "We're stuck with Captain Obvious for a teacher. I'd rather have Umbridge!"

Professor Dorsten went on to explain the various modules of the course. There was one dedicated entirely to the study of the Dark Arts but that did not come until later on in the year. For the moment he wanted us to catch up on all the work we had missed out on last year, thanks to the lovely aforementioned Professor Umbridge.

"I want you to get into pairs," He went on. "To practise the protective ward I am going to teach you to do. It's not particularly powerful but it is a useful little spell to know nevertheless."

He began pairing people up alphabetically. It was a decision that did not sit him in popular stead with his students but the class did what they were told with only a few mutinous glares as they moved to sit next to their assigned partner.

Daphne was partnered with Hermione Granger, which didn't make her very happy at all. In her view Hermione was the worst kind of student - "an anal retentive swot." My partner, as I had dreaded, was Ronald Weasley. We looked at each other for a beat. I sighed, realising that Weasley was not going to move, and got up. I sat down beside him without offering any pleasantry. Weasley just scowled.

I sighed again inwardly. It was going to be a long day.