Time for a Change

"Hi Susan."

Susan Bones looked up from the book she was reading and saw Blaise Zabini standing in front of her. She wasn't surprised; he had been spending a lot of time around her ever since the beginning of the school year.

"Hi, Blaise. What can I do for you?" she asked him, putting aside My Tale of a Lethifold Attack.

He sat down across from her and glanced around the library. A few first years were huddled in a corner reading a Quidditch book but no one else was around. "Well - erm... since it's a Hogsmeade weekend, I was wondering if you'd like to go with me?"

Susan smiled to herself. With all the time she had spent with him, she noticed that Blaise was always nervous talking to girls; he really didn't know how to act around them at all. "Like a date?"

He nodded and gave her a goofy smile. "Yeah, like a date... so, will you go with me?"

She thought about it for a minute before smiling at him. "Sure. I'll go with you."

"Okay, so I'll meet you tomorrow in the courtyard at eleven?" he asked.

When she nodded, he sprang up out of his seat and nearly knocked over the bench. Madame Pince shot him such a sharp glance that he could practically feel the daggers flying at him. Blaise gave Susan a smile and told her he couldn't wait until tomorrow and skipped out of the library.

Susan smiled and finished the chapter she was reading, then took the book up to Madame Pince to take out. Clutching the book, she made her way to the West Tower of the castle and to the Hufflepuff Common Room. A few of her fellow students were lounging around the Common Room and Susan made her way over to a group of students from her year.

"Hello, Susan," Hannah Abbott said as Susan sat down with them. "Did you get the book I asked for?"

Susan bit her lip and shook her head. "I'm sorry Hannah, I got distracted and forgot."

"Ooh!" Wendy Moon exclaimed, leaning forward and pushing aside her blonde bangs. "What distracted you?"

Registering the girly tone and change in conversation, Justin Finch-Fletchly and Ernie McMillian went off to another part of the room to talk about Quidditch.

Susan shrugged - she wasn't planning on telling them, but Hannah fairly quickly persuaded her to do so. "You know how Blaise Zabini has been spending time with me this school year...?" They both nodded and she continued, "Well, he asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him tomorrow."

"Really? And you said yes?" Hannah asked her.

"Yeah, I did say yes. Why?"

"I wouldn't have if I were you - I mean, his parents are loyal to You-Know-Who, and Dumbledore's not here this year - what if it's a trap?"

Susan shook her head. "No. I think he's different. He doesn't seem the type."

"Exactly. That's probably part of the plan! To get you close to him and take you to You-Know-Who."

Wendy rolled her eyes. "I really shouldn't have given you all of those Nancy Drew books, Hannah. I think Blaise is fine for Susan. And he's rather handsome too." She gave Susan's hand a squeeze and smiled at her. Susan returned the smile, but she couldn't quite forget what Hannah had said - what if she was right?

The next day, Susan woke up late to find the dormitory empty. She quickly pulled on a pair of jeans, a long sleeved shirt, a sweater and shoes, then combed out her red hair and put it in a braid. Ready for the day, she made her way down the long hall where the girls' dormitories were and out to the Common Room. No one was there and she hurried out through the portrait hole and down to the Great Hall.

Inside was a buzz of many chattering noises. Susan was pulled down into a seat next to Wendy, so she didn't have time to look for Blaise at the Slytherin table.

"Where were you? I was just about to go up and get you," Wendy told her. Susan heard her vaguely but was busy trying to look across the other bench of Hufflepuffs and the two benches at Gryffindor table, still searching for Blaise at his house table.

"Um, I just slept late," she told Wendy, quickly piling some food on her plate.

After breakfast, Susan searched for Blaise whilst all the students were filing out of the Great Hall but couldn't find him. She went back to the Hufflepuff Common Room and started reading My Tale of a Lethifold Attack from where she had left off yesterday. She had reached the last chapter when Wendy came over to her.

"Hey, girl! It's almost eleven," she told Susan. "Everyone's heading down to the courtyard now, because we're only allowed an hour there."

"Why just an hour?" Susan asked, following her friend through the halls.

"Because of all the Death Eater attacks and things," Wendy told her.

"Oh." Susan nodded. "I guess I forgot with everything going on."

As it was the first year Hogwarts had been without Dumbledore, security was incredibly tight; this would be the only Hogsmeade visit all year, and they were only getting an hour to buy gifts for their families.

Once at the courtyard, Susan searched around for Blaise. He was standing by himself by the now still fountain in the middle of the courtyard. She walked up to him.

"Hi, Blaise."

He had been looking down at his hands but looked up when he heard her. The cool air had made her cheeks red and he smiled at her. "Hi."

"So, are you going to buy any gifts while we're in Hogsmeade?" she asked him as they waited to get their names checked off by Professor McGonagall.

"Nah. I don't really have any family to buy for," he told her, a shadow crossing his eyes. It was gone in a second and he turned towards her. "What about you?"

She shook her head. "No. Me neither."

Blaise and Susan sat together at a table in The Three Broomsticks, having had to fight their way through the crowds of people in the small pub.

"So," Susan said, running her left index finger along the rim of her mug of butterbeer.

"What?" he asked, smiling at her.

"I want to know why you asked me out."

He took a deep breath then let it out. "Oh - er - well, do you know that my parents are supporters of You-Know-Who?"

She nodded, noticing that he was having a difficult time explaining himself. "Yeah, I know that."

He looked up, saw her blazing green eyes and smiled a little. "I like you, Susan. And I wanted to prove to you that not all kids are like their parents. I'm not like my parents. I don't support what You-Know-Who's doing to the world. I want to let you know that I'm never going to be like my parents either."

Susan was surprised but pleased. "Well, I like you too, Blaise. Actually, the only reason that I've been spending time with you this year is because I hoped that you weren't like your parents. You just proved that to me and I like that."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And I think that we should seal this conversation with something."

"Like what?"

Instead of answering him, Susan leaned over the table and pressed her lips against his in a kiss.