II. roman holiday | blaise zabini

chapter 17

chapter 17

"Nowhere to run from all of this havoc
Nowhere to hide
From all of this madness"

-Ruelle

Blaise could half-ass his way through any essay or final exam or even most of his assignments if he didn't get enough studying done. He could mask his anger or laughter behind a look of displeasure or boredom. He could act like the world wasn't on fire when everything felt like it was wrong. He was a natural at pretending.

His plan had been to keep things that way. Go through Hogwarts as a shadow. People didn't need to pay too much attention to him, just a comment every once in a while about how his mother was the Black Widow. Then he would use whatever connections he could find and his well-earned grades to get a job at the Ministry.

A job at the Ministry would be enough to sustain him, enough to the point where he wouldn't need his mother's money and there was no way she could get him into an arranged marriage with a pure-blooded girl that he couldn't care less about.

He was set for life.

And then Lyra Knight snuck into the Slytherin common room and his life and she ruined all of that. Suddenly his plan wasn't as satisfying as he used to think, suddenly he wanted more. He wanted the fairytale. The happy family, the house that felt like home, maybe even a pet, he wouldn't mind getting a cat.

And it was all because Lyra Knight had been dumb enough to get caught in the Slytherin dorms those many years ago.

He managed to pretend he was fine during school. He was cold and quiet and no one had a clue that his chest pounded whenever Lyra was in the same room as him. No one needed to know that tears prickled behind his eyes when she sat close enough to him for the scent of her pear perfume to fill his nose.

Or that watching her punch McLaggen after that one quidditch game made him want to laugh and cry at the same time. Or that seeing her win the House Cup that year made him so fucking happy because she deserved it. No one knew, no one needed to know.

And just like that, no one would ever notice how Blaise's eyes roved over her pale face, contrasted strongly by the black of her dress. No one but Theo, who nudged him when everyone was standing, and he stayed sitting, eyes still following his ex-girlfriend who was holding onto her dad's hand on one side, and Zara's on the other.

The Slytherins sat at the back during the burial. It was increasingly obvious that no one wanted them there, no one trusted them after their golden boy turned Death Eater. But leaving before the funeral would do them no good.

Especially Theo, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle. While they hadn't known a thing about Draco's plan, they had gone along with his mission. Maybe it was because of the meeting from break, or just because Draco was his friend and he shouldn't have to go through this alone, but when he had asked for help, Blaise couldn't say no.

(Draco had asked for just a few minutes and to know what the Orders' plan was. All Blaise and Theo had to do was go to McGonagall's office, keep her there for just a few minutes. And if they were lucky, listen in on the Order members that had been guards that day.

What they hadn't been prepared for was Lyra. Her voice was pinched, sounding close to tears, "... I really need you to believe me right now and set up defenses or patrols because I can't lose anyone again because the Order wasn't prepared for an attack that a group of teenagers saw coming."

Please don't listen to her. Send her to her common room. Please.

But McGonagall was agreeing and the footsteps were nearing, then the door was opening. A Weasley that Blaise didn't recognize, a pink-haired girl that looked no more than three years older than him, and McGonagall came out with Lyra not far behind and Blaise felt like he was being punched in the chest because she looked so small standing beside them.