The Story of Blaise Zabini

Chapter 7

Christmas Holidays

In my first and second years, I'd gone back to Izzy and George's house for Christmas. My third year was no exception. I was to meet them at King's Cross Station again, and they were going to take me to theirs for two weeks for a proper Christmas.

I should have known something was up when I received a letter from them.

Dear Blaise, it said.

We can't wait to see you; only a few more days until we do! We have a special surprise for you this Christmas, but don't worry, that's not your only present! Don't get into anymore trouble; you've been in quite enough.

Love George & Izzy.

I was touched at their words, and it only made me want to see them even more. And it got me thinking: what was this special surprise? I have to admit, it didn't occur to me, even then, what it could be. It seemed so obvious when I went to George and Izzy's.

Nearer Christmas, Malfoy and Pansy seemed to have cooled off. That is, Malfoy was too preoccupied with trying to get our Care of Magical Creatures professor fired, to pay any attention to Pansy.

You remember that gigantic guy at the beginning of my first year? Well, he's the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, believe it or not. He was quite a good teacher, until Malfoy got injured by a Hippogriff and made it his job to see Hagrid get sacked. It wasn't Hagrid's fault; Malfoy wasn't listening when Hagrid told the class that Hippogriffs are proud and don't like to be insulted. So what did Malfoy do? He called the Hippogriff an 'ugly great brute.' And the funniest thing about it, was that Malfoy screamed like a girl. It still makes me laugh.

Anyway, mine and Lydia's taste for pranking had certainly been diminished since the Bean incident. We'd let up with the tricks and stuff for a while but we both knew we'd start it up again; it was just too fun to give up.

So at the end of term, I left Hogwarts for Kensington Manor, to see George and Izzy again.

At King's Cross, I spotted them from the train window, and I couldn't wait for the train to stop. When I got off the Hogwarts Express, I hurried over to them, through the very first snowflakes of the holidays. They really did look happy to see me, even if they were shivering in the freezing cold.

We went quickly to their house; I was shaking in anticipation for this special surprise George and Izzy had planned for me.

As I went through the front doors of the manor, I stopped halfway, frozen in shock.

Because there, standing at the bottom of the grand staircase, was my grandmother.

"Oh my God!" I shrieked as I ran over to her. "Grandma!" And I hugged her for the first time in nearly three years.

"Blaise," she said softly, and she hugged me tightly back.

She looked great, better than when I'd been back in America with her. She held me at arm's length so she could look at me properly.

"Oh, you look so different," she said smiling, "much older. But you still have that same smile. Oh, Blaise, I've missed you so much!" she added and hugged me again.

That night was a cheerful reunion, with so much smiling and laughing and happiness. My grandma wanted to know everything about Hogwarts, about my friends and the kind of stuff we did, so she bombarded me with questions. I didn't mind; I was happy to answer them. I was so glad to see her.

When I went to bed that night, I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about my mother for some reason. About how bad my life had been when she'd been alive, and how good it was now. Maybe it was because I was seeing my grandma again, that brought all these thoughts to the surface of my mind.

Before I knew it, I was dozing off, looking out at the quiet grounds, my eyelids slowly closing until I was asleep.

***

For the rest of the holidays, until Christmas, me and my grandma talked nearly every day. I listened to what had happened after I'd left for Hogwarts, and I told her about everything that had happened to me while I was at school, including all the stand-offs with Malfoy.

When I told her about it, she gave a small, knowing smile.

"What?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing," she said, waving her hand as if to prove it really was nothing.

"No really," I persisted, "what?"

"I'll tell you some other time," my grandma said. "Now tell me more about this Lydia."

She certainly sidetracked me with that; Lydia was my best friend, and I was eager to talk about her.

On Christmas day, I woke up at about six 'o' clock, the earliest I've ever gotten up on a Christmas day.

So I waited a while, until I heard everybody else get up, and then I hurtled down the stairs to my presents under the Christmas tree.

George and Izzy gave me a lot of presents, including a new eagle feather quill, boxes of sweets, and some books on magic; stuff like that.

My grandma then handed me a large box. It was quite heavy and it had holes in the lid, so whatever was inside it was alive. Cautiously, I lifted the lid and looked inside.

Inside, curled in a ball, was a tiny, black kitten. It looked up at me with green eyes and mewed loudly.

"Oh, he's so cute!" I gushed, and gently lifted him out. He began to purr softly as I stroked his jet black fur.

"I figured you'd like a pet," my grandma said. "He doesn't deliver mail like an owl, but I know how you liked cats, so I got you one. I hope you like him."

"I do, he's adorable," I said, and smiled.

"What are you going to call him?" Izzy asked.

"I don't know," I said thoughtfully, and looked down at my little kitten. "How about Shadow?" I suggested, looking at his gleaming black fur. The kitten seemed to like it, because he suddenly meowed and tumbled from my arms. He stayed where he was for a moment then sat up, and looked around inquisitively.

I laughed, and watched him scamper around the room for a few minutes, before he settled on some discarded wrapping paper and went to sleep.

Then my eye caught sight of another box-shaped present right underneath the tree. It was wrapped in ordinary, brown paper, and tied with string. That was what made it look so interesting; the fact that it looked so ordinary.

I reached over and picked it up. There was a small white tag attached to it, and I flipped it over to read what was on it.

To Blaise, love Dad.

"Oh," I said simply.

"Blaise?" George asked. "What's up?"

"This present," I said slowly, "it's from ... from my dad."

"What?" my grandma said quickly, and whipped the present from my hands to look at the tag. Then she threw it back at me, and said in a tight voice, "Aren't you going to open it?"

I began to open it, untying the string and removing the brown paper until only the box was left. With trembling hands, I slowly lifted the lid...

Inside was a silver bracelet with a tear-shaped blue gem set in silver. It was very pretty, and I was tempted to take it out of the box and put it on.

But then a hot surge of anger coursed through me. How dare my father, the man who left my mom on the night before their wedding, the man who I've never seen in my whole damn life, send me a present when I don't even know what he looks like or where he is?

"It's nice," my grandma said grudgingly. "Very nice."

"Yeah," I said with a sarcastic laugh, "it's nice. It doesn't erase the past thirteen years of not seeing him, but it's nice!"

"Blaise," George said quietly, "I think you should give Nelson a chance. He's obviously trying to make up for everything he's done."

"Well you know something?" I asked him heatedly. "He can fuck off! He left my mom, he's never been to see me, he's never talked to me! He doesn't give a shit about me. This is all some sick prank to ease his guilty conscience!"

There was a silence; my grandma was sat in an armchair, her face pale and drawn. Izzy and George sat side by side, holding hands.

"Thank you for a great Christmas," I said to them. "Really it was the best. Can I go to my room?"

They nodded, and I rushed upstairs to my room.

I threw myself on the bed, tears of rage in my eyes, and cried for a while. Once the sobs had subsided, I got up and opened the balcony doors, and stood on the balcony, watching the snowflakes fall from a leaden sky. The grounds were under a thick blanket of cold snow, and looked even more peaceful than ever. It was cold, but I barely felt it, the anger I felt towards my dad was still coursing hotly through my veins, warding of the cold more effectively than a cloak. I couldn't believe my father had the nerve to try to give me a Christmas present, when he'd missed twelve of them already. And okay, maybe I didn't love my mom, but at least she stuck around to raise me, even if she didn't do it too well.

Just then, the door opened, slowly, and Izzy's face appeared around it.

"I thought you might want Shadow," she said quietly. "For some company."

And in came Shadow, scurrying over to me, then rubbing against my ankles and purring.

"And Blaise?" Izzy added, "I know how you must feel about your dad, but don't be too hard on him if he ever comes to see you. He's only trying to make up for the mistakes he's made."

She closed the door softly before I could say anything, leaving me in my cold dark room with only a kitten for company.