BLAISE ZABINI

Malfoy sat alone before the fire, staring transfixed into the flames. It was strange to see him y himself, without the pretence of his thick friends. "Are you alright?" I said as I sat across from him in the empty common room.

"I'm fine."

Nodding towards his bandaged fist I tried to dampen the awkward silence by asking, "How's your hand? Does it hurt much?"

He turned to me with a face like thunder and a biting edge of hostility in his hollow voice, "Why do you care?"

"What?" I said, furrowing my brow in confusion, he'd been so moody as of late, and I think I knew why. "Why are you so pissed off?"

The arrival of Mara had somewhat driven a wedge between us as friends, even if we didn't admit it. We tried to ignore it, we never spoke about it, but that didn't change the fact it was still there. The unspoken wall that separated us from one another.

Maybe if we ignored it for long enough it would one day crumble? But deep down we both knew that was a losing game, futile in its foundations, it would only continue to grow and grow until it became so thick and so fast it would be insurmountable and we would never be the same again.

Before he could answer footsteps thundered down the staircase, echoing tenfold off of the stone walls. "Guess who's back!" The girls jeered as they appeared closely followed by a panting and red-faced Crabbe and Goyle. "-And we come bearing gifts!"

Malfoy and I turned in unison to see Millicent brandishing a strange brown ball of fur above her head like a trophy, the look on her face beamed as though she'd just a hundred house points.

At first I thought she had stolen one of Umbridge's horrid hats until the ball gave a small squeak as she threw herself down into an emerald armchair. I squinted at the thing, but it coiled in fear so that I could scarcely make out its pale pink nose through the thick fur. "What the fuck is that?"

"It's not what it is that's important-..." Millicent began, shooting a smug look at Pansy who'd reclaimed her usual seat besides Malfoy, who looked entirely unimpressed. Pansy finished for her, "-It's who it belongs to that matters."

"Ouch you little bastard!" Millicent let out a shriek as the creature latched its teeth around her little finger and she moved as if to strike it.

"Don't you dare." She stopped dead in her tracks at the distinctly dangerous edge in Draco's voice. "Give it here, now."

At once Millicent practically threw the thing into his arms, where it settled quickly on his lap.

There was an awkward moment that settled between us all, like a thick blanket of empty air weighing down upon us but not in a comforting way, this was suffocating.
No one dared speak as Malfoy pet the rodent-like creature affectionately until it fell asleep and he finally looked up.

"Are you going to tell us who it belongs to or not?" He snapped, stroking the sleeping creature between the ears with his index and ring finger.

"Take a wild guess." Pansy said smugly, looking perfectly proud of herself. She wasn't going to let this moment pass easily, she wanted to hold onto it, draw it out and bask in the spotlight for as long as Draco would permit. After all, she sought his approval above all else, that's why she looked at him in the way she did even as Crabbe spoke up. "Hagrid?"

"Don't be stupid, if it was Hagrid's then he would've fed it to that horrid bird thing by now." Pouted Millicent, sucking on her injured finger.

"Potter's latest pet?" Suggested Goyle. "Or Weasley, haven't seen his scabby rat in years, this could be his latest rodent replacement."

"Close, but not quite." Her wicked grin only grew with every teasing guess, and I didn't miss the way her eyes intermittently flickered back to Draco to make sure he was still paying attention, still looking at her.
-But he wasn't, instead he watched the resting ball of brown fur that curled on his lap.

"Enough of the games Pansy." He said coldly, looking bored as he absentmindedly drew small circles with his fingers between the rodent's ears. "Spit it out already."

"...Mara Williams."

A sickening feeling curled like a viper in the pit of my stomach, and I don't think it was solely down to my Binberry snack earlier.
"You've got to give him back!" I said without hesitating to thing of the consequences of my words, Draco's head snapped towards me instantly.
"...And why is that Zabini?"

"Because..." I was quick with my words. "Because we don't even know what it is," I motioned to a still fawning Millicent who's face significantly paled as I said, "For all we know it could be poisonous!"

"Poisonous? Don't be stupid, it's a fucking stoat." Malfoy drawled cynically, using his ability to make me feel instantly inadequate as he gazed down at the thing. "...Besides, I've taken quite a liking to it... I think I might just keep it, I don't think Mara will mind, don't you think Blaise?"

I clenched my jaw to keep from answering back something that would only serve to get me in deeper shit. -I knew damn well she would.

"Where did you even find it?" Asked Goyle as he crammed what was at least his fifth chocolate frog this minute down his throat. "Swear those things are like impossible to catch?"

Pansy shot a sideways look at Millicent who smirked, "We may or may not have heard from a very reliable source that a certain rodent was on the loose and decided to lay a little trap."

"..And we'd heard rumours that this one is particularly partial to chocolate frogs." Millicent grinned at Goyle who clutched his empty packets a little closer, quickly guzzling the last of the magic chocolate. "Better hide your snacks boys."

Mara had barely been at Hogwarts five minutes and already she'd unknowingly made enemies. Enemies spiteful enough to go out of their way to cause her and even those around her harm.
As I stared at Draco still stroking the creature it was almost as if I could read his mind.

He didn't really care about the little stoat at all, he was just cultivating it as his latest and strongest way to get to her. I wondered what exactly she'd done to him to deserve such a bitter hate?

Though that mattered little now, the rat was in amongst the snakes, and it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt.

• • •

MARA WILLIAMS

"Come on Cedric, don't be a pussy!" I yelled over the noise of the hall. "Just do it! Hit me with your best shot!"

"Please Mara." He grimaced, shifting his weight nervously from foot to foot and glancing around, "Do I have to? I really don't want to incase hurt you..."

"-Shut up and get on with it!" I snapped.

"Okay... Are you ready?" He winced apprehensively with a heaving breath, preparing himself and pulling out his wand from the pocket of his robe.

"You're not supposed to ask your opponent if they're ready!" I laughed at the look of concentration on his handsome face, raising my own wand in turn.

"Stupefy!"

"Protego!" I blocked his spell with ease and I watched in amusement as Cedric seemed to give a sigh of relief.

"Protego?" He said, raising a sinfully thick eyebrow at me. "Where did you even learn that one?"

I shrugged, "It's either learn fast or get cursed at Dermstrang. You figure out how to defend yourself pretty damn quick." It wasn't entirely a lie, so I didn't feel bad saying it to him. I just never mentioned what you had to defend yourself from...

"Right, so now it's your tur-." He didn't even manage to finish his sentence before I sent the spell flying his way. A bolt of pale blue light shot from the tip of my wand, hitting him square in the chest as he was thrown backwards.

"What the hell was that for?" He spluttered, clambering quickly to his feet, rubbing his head with a thick palm and a low hiss. "I wasn't ready! You didn't even count me in!"

"Cedric darling, rule number one, always be prepared for anything." I shot him a wink and a dazzling grin to dull his hurt, twirling my wand expertly around my fingers. "I sincerely hope you don't expect your opponents to give you a count down in the real world?"

"No of course not..." He grumbled, wiping the dust from his robes. "... I just thought you'd at least hesitate a little, you know?... Can we go again anyways?"

"Of course, I'll try to go easy on you this time. Are you ready?" He gave a nod and I sent the spell hurtling towards him for the second time, though this time at the very last second he let out a shout,
"Protego!"

The shield spell worked, partially. It blocked my stunning spell enough that he wasn't launched like he was the last time, instead only stumbling back a few steps before regaining his balance.

"Yes! I did it!"He threw his arms in the air with a triumphant hoot, "Mara did you see that?"

"Very impressive." I agreed, giving him a high-five as he approached. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a small, dark haired girl sending a murderous look my way.

"What's her problem?" I asked, staring back at the girl who quickly looked away just as Cedric turned and scoffed, "Who, Cho? Ignore her, she's just jealous."

I raised my eyebrows, "You know her?" It was strange for a friend of Cedric's to look so envious. I wondered if she was maybe more than just a friend, or at least she thought so.

"-She's my Ex."

"Ah..." That explains, I thought as I pressed my lips together into a fine line, not knowing how to feel about this new information. I mean I didn't exactly know what I expected?
-Of course an attractive boy like Cedric probably had hundred of Ex's, I guess I just didn't expect her to look to... Raw. It did nothing to quell the slight burn of jealousy that ran bitter in my chest.

"...Don't worry." He whispered to me as he subtly guided me out of Cho's line of site behind a group of people surrounding Neville Longbottom, who was desperately trying to Stupefy Ron to no avail. "It ended quite a while ago, she's just a bit... How do I say?.."

"-Psycho?" I finished for him and he let out a chuckle. A rich, booming sound that made my skin tingle and my cheeks flush red with warmth.

"...Yeah, something like that."

***
QOTD-What do you think Draco is planning? What do you think is going to happen next?
Don't forget go vote and comment!
-TFOA