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Post by Blaise Zabini on Mar 14, 2011 11:21:47 GMT -5
Desideria gave a short nod to Lindsey's words about children. Some people didn't hold the same sway that she did, of course. Blaise was around more than one male role model in the past, not that she would consider them actual role models because Desideria held the power. Blaise would learn from her and only her. A less intelligent child might be led astray by someone with charisma, but not her Blaise. Depending on the father of the children things could go wrong. If it was Blaise there wasn't much to worry about, she thought proudly. Blaise wondered if Lindsey was at all serious about him giving her ideas about her place. Probably not, it was probably a part of the act. But Blaise was the sort of person who would volunteer his ideas whether she liked it or not if he happened to be at her house when she was thinking about decorating. “I wouldn't mind that. I could help you get the guest rooms together at least so that you'll be more fit to entertain,” he said with a nod. He was starting to have fun making his mother suspect things. So he added on something that even the most skeptical person would suspect as having a double meaning. “It could take a while though to give you all that I have. Knowledge, you know. I might have to stay overnight.” Maybe it was something that would even surprise Lindsey. He doubted that she would be surprised at just anyone joking about that, but him, that might be a different story. As he expected his mother stared at him for a moment as though she couldn't believe he would say something so impolite and possibly offensive in front of company. Or rather, to and about the present company. “Blaise, I'm sure that you could manage more frequent visits rather than fewer long ones,” she said uneasily. Though at least she wasn't assuming that Lindsey was the sort that would jump into bed unmarried, otherwise instead of encouraging visits she would have forbidden them. It was a good test, actually.
Blaise mentally kicked himself for letting Lindsey hear his mother talk that way. It was like an invitation to let Lindsey monitor his behavior. He knew that Lindsey would come away with something to make fun of him for unless his mother was in especially good humor but this was something that Lindsey would have fun with. And never forget about. “That's... like Crabbe telling Goyle to stop eating,” he said quietly enough that only Lindsey could hear it. At Lindsey's next words, Desideria nearly glowed with pride. She loved hearing about Blaise doing well in school. Because it cast a positive light on her as well. “But think of the benefits that will come of you making it through school as Head Girl and passing grades regardless of... them,” Desideria said to Lindsey. She had never been a real supporter of Voldemort and was actually afraid of him, thus her words. Blaise wasn't that enthusiastic about networking. It was alright as long as he wasn't always brought along. Then again, if he stayed at home that would mean that his mother would be alone with Lindsey. That would either drive his friend crazy or give her more ammo to use when she was with Blaise. So he would probably tag along anyway. There was nothing wrong with learning from the people that his mother knew at the same time. “Maybe if you get any of the ancient guests you can send them up there instead,” Blaise said with a grin.
Blaise looked at Lindsey for a moment. She didn't seem to be kidding. Maybe one day he would tell her a little bit about his grandmother, the seems-to-be black sheep of the family. She was traditional to the extent that she married another pure-blood and didn't associate with people of other blood statuses, but she never seemed to be as proud as others were. That was something Blaise had trouble coming to grips with. One of the more important people of his childhood was a bit like the people he would deem soft now. But he forced himself to stop thinking about it when the subject changed. Yes, it might come up again someday. What was trust for if not sharing little things? If it started to make him sound too weak then he would stop. That was all. He did give Lindsey a smile though. Which always always looked strangely out of place on him. “I hope that this year brings closure for everything,” Desideria said in a quiet voice. Blaise looked at them both for a second, then shrugged. “I doubt that it will stay as it is. One side will come out of it, the other won't,” he said as though it didn't make a difference to him. They both knew that it did... But he was trying to say that he didn't want to continue on the subject.
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Post by shava44 on Mar 14, 2011 17:04:37 GMT -5
Whether it was Blaise getting comfortable with their trick or whether he was just feeling good, he seemed to enter into the spirit of things. "That is very nice of you, Blaise, I know I could use a hand with it all. And clearly you have experienced different styles so it would help." If you had been watching her face carefully you could have caught the widening of her eyes after his next statement. For Lindsey to say something like that people could deal with and probably laugh about, but for Blaise to say it was another thing all together. She wanted to question him about what he meant, but certainly not in front of his mother by any means. She chuckled and hit him soft on the arm as she had done a minute ago, almost forgetting not to do it as hard as she might have at school.
"Naughty boy," she said with a laugh and turned to his mother saying "Sorry, Mrs. Zabini, he's pulling a trick on me to try and make me blush. The house has charms and jinxes built in to prevent anything 'not proper' from happening which I told him this afternoon." She elbowed him again playfully, clearly comfortable with her son and his ways. "Besides, there are more ghosts then just the Butler so any time he comes over he would be chaperoned." Lindsey gave him a mock glare although humor was in her eyes and body language. "I apologize, Ma'am for you getting caught up in our jokes. Since I have your permission to straighten him out I'll get him back later." Let him hear that, she thought, not that she was going to tell his mother the real reason that the house wouldn't let him find her bedroom if she didn't want it.
When his mother only looked partly mollified, she tilted her head on one side and added with a thoughtful look at Blaise "I will probably need him to stay over a night sometime to see what I'm missing in the guest areas I suspect. There are these two cute little boy ghosts hanging out and they keep moving things around when they play. If they are messing with stuff in the guest rooms I'd have to have a talk with them and they won't do it when I'm around." However she was partly surprised to hear his mother wasn't pleased about the Death Eaters being in the school either, something she was glad to hear; so mother and son shared that common view, good. She shrugged and added "Well since 'they' are going to be there anyway I just have to find a way to deal with them. I'm not looking forward to it, that's for sure. As one of our house mates says, always avoid fanatics." She knew Blaise would know she was talking about Finn their quiet friend, but he more often meant it about sports nuts.
Who could be quite deadly as well as vastly disturbing.
She chuckled in response and leaned in as if she adored his sense of humor at his 'ancient' guest comments and said softly "Well I'm sure the ghosts will enjoy it. Their own private space in the house. But really, I can't get rid of it, it's been in the family for so long I just don't want it out in the main rooms. I need something more suited to having kids around, not to mention ou-- friends." The slip was in there on purpose; let the old woman think she almost had descendants in the bag; suited Lindsey especially if Blaise decided at some point to go ahead with her offer. The conversation moved into small talk as they sat down, the kids on the couch and the old woman in her chair; what Lindsey was studying, what she was planning on doing with her degree, the state of Hogwarts and the new choice of Headmaster, etc. Time passed, but not swift -- Lindsey was aware she had to watch what she said and since she was still a student she was grateful for the excuse to pretend ignorance on a lot of the current news. Something he said however certainly did remind her that she shouldn't hang around to get into too many deep conversations really; too many possibilities for a slip of the tongue to be honest. With a nod over the subject she turned and said "Well then, I guess I'd better get back and finish getting things ready for the term. Meet you on the train? I'd save you a seat, but I'm supposed to be patrolling."
She stood, automatically it seemed smoothing ut her dress as she stood and looked towards her cloak. Her eyes promised success in this current trick though as his mother certainly seemed to be listening very carefully. "Walk me to the corner, Blaise, before I head back since you know the streets around here so well. There was a park we passed on the way in that looked like a better spot for arrivals..." Turning to Blaise's mother she said "Great to meet you, Mrs Zabini! I enjoyed seeing the house too, gave me some good ideas. Maybe I will see you on one of the breaks?" "So soon?" A glance at the clock showed more time had passed then any of them had expected. "I guess it has, what a shame! You will be sure and come visit whether he brings you or not? We'll sit down for a nice tea sometime maybe..." Giving her another nod of respect she turned towards the doors waiting for Blaise to walk her out. "Sounds good!"
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Post by Blaise Zabini on Mar 30, 2011 20:42:41 GMT -5
Considering Blaise was in a perverted mind frame from his own thoughts, what he had or would say, Lindsey saying that he had experienced different styles almost made him crack up entirely. His mother wouldn't take kindly to that. Worse, she might catch on that this was only a ploy. He reached up to rub his arm, though it hadn't really hurt, resisting the urge to pass Lindsey a wink to show that he was having fun with the whole thing. She probably caught onto that anyway from his behavior, and it was out of character for him, but in a way that he could get used to. Nothing wrong with putting his mother out of the comfort zone while also throwing a good friend off guard. “It sounds like you have me all figured out. I mean, it all figured out. See, mother, her house even protects her from teasing boys.”
Desideria was of course uncomfortable with this but she was also relieved to know the house had such enchantments. Did it really though? It was easy to come here and say what they thought that she wanted to hear. And Blaise, being her son, would be able to guess at that pretty well. “You can certainly give it a try,” she said about straightening him out. Blaise gave Lindsey a quick annoyed look while his mother was looking at her. He didn't like the situation that he was in too much... Well, more like he wasn't exactly thrilled that his mother had given Lindsey that leverage. Now he would have to put up with her teasing for.... how long? Days? Weeks? Oh God, years? But he put on a happy face when his mother glanced back into his direction. It was seamless; Blaise was becoming a wonderful actor, perhaps because he watched over people at their acting all the time at Hogwarts while he was minding his own business.
“It's true – there are a lot of rooms in your house where they would be better suited. The ghosts, I mean. All those rooms that you have hidden away.” Blaise was curious about what she might have in her house but naturally he would never find out, even if he were to stay at her house for a while. It wasn't like the randomly changing staircases at Hogwarts – Lindsey had control over when the rooms were visible so they weren't random at all. Telling a ghost where they could be might be a problem, of course. He frowned when they were speaking about the Death Eaters. They were all very lucky that there wasn't any other company around, because it wasn't really safe to talk about the Death Eaters in that way. But their house had its own protections so he didn't actually think anything would happen. “I think that we are the least of their worries. They wouldn't hurt purebloods with a good reputation unless they were provoked. That would be backward from their intentions.” Would it come to standing up to them? He still didn't know, and wouldn't until the time came. His mother (and Lindsey, for that matter) didn't need to know how much the subject was on his mind.
Blaise was always bored by common conversation. His mother, though, was an expert at moving fluidly from one subject to another, seemingly without a hitch. For all of them the time did pass quickly – for Blaise's part, it was because he had actually gone half-lidded in his attempts to stay awake. Occasionally, of course, he was there to submit his opinion or subtly hint to Lindsey that she was going astray of what his mother would like to hear. Lindsey's stating that she should be going was what finally brought him back to full consciousness. From his mother's words, he assumed that she ended up liking Lindsey after all. He smiled and nodded. “Alright. I'll be back, mother, once I've seen that she gets back safely.” No, he wasn't going the whole way, but as she was apparating the only danger could be here in their area. He took Lindsey by the arm and waved over his shoulder. His mother followed to the doorway and watched them for a moment before closing the door, the light fading from the doorstep. Blaise smirked at Lindsey once he was sure they were a safe distance away. “I think that she likes you... It's amazing, she's never liked anyone I've introduced her to so much. Of course, the fact that you're a girl probably has something to do with that... Are you really going to get help in decorating from me or was that part of the act?” he asked in a quiet voice. He didn't mind the idea... But maybe she was only bailing him out. “Oh, and I'm sure she didn't mean that you could order me around.”
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Post by shava44 on Mar 31, 2011 19:51:23 GMT -5
"Blaise honey, if someone is touched in the head as a fanatic, you don't trust in what they believe anymore. They are too focused to stay logical. That's one of the things which makes them so dangerous." Lindsey was rather glad when Blaise took her cue to stand and escort her out of the house. It seemed like a successful visit none-the-less, but she didn't want to hang around a long time either. As they walked away from the house, Lindsey made sure to not only keep her arm wrapped around his, but keep her head over on his shoulder as well as if adoring.
"I tell you, just leave them with the impression grandkids are on the way and the old people fall over themselves. It's almost sad to see how easy it is to get them tricked by that..." As he spoke she listened intently, not missing he felt much more comfortable to speak about how it had gone on. "Yes, I think we were quite successful. Yes, I could use another opinion when it comes to decoration and that music box was awesome!" She poked him lightly in the chest as she said "And yes, she did mean me to do it, but I'm not gonna doofus. You know me better then that. Am I getting graded by her? No. Does she effect my grades? Nopers."
She chuckled out loud as she added "There's no advantage to following her orders with you, lover boy," she teased him sliding her other hand down his arm and then dropping her arm so she only held his hand, "Now I might bring it up again someday, no harm in that, but not because I'm serious or anything. Anywho, that should free up your time more I bet. Let me know if you notice any changes in her attitude towards you before school. We can always plan another attack one day if you need it." As they reached the park edge she laughed out loud and said "Well at least I have lots to chuckle about while I pack tonight."
And if things became more serious and they ended up considering marriage? How much would Blaise's freedom skyrocket then? Surely the woman wouldn't expect to be taken along to live with them. Not much point in thinking about it really; they might all be dead this time next year. Maybe she ought to stock up the supplies before she left for school with the way things had been happening.
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Post by Blaise Zabini on Apr 1, 2011 0:03:59 GMT -5
Naturally Blaise resented actually being told that about fanatics. But he was almost sure that even if they were fanatics, they would worry enough about the uprising if they hurt someone that they weren't supposed to. A lot of them had adapted into society, after all, as though they had never been allied with Voldemort to begin with. But he didn't talk about any of that. He just smiled and gave a one-shouldered shrug as if to say that he surrendered that point. It was better that he pretend that he was alright letting Lindsey have the final say. It would 'prove' to his mother that she was important enough for him to be wrong.
“The music box,” Blaise said in a quiet voice. He had put that from his mind with the rest of the conversation but now he thought about it again. “If ever I get married, I'm going to try to get my mother to let me keep it instead of her. As you can yell, she didn't care that much about it anyway.” He still didn't fully show how much the box meant to him, but it was obvious with the way that he treated the subject. He was silent for a moment, then he looked back at Lindsey again and gave her a smile. Not the somehow condescending one that he gave her during the meeting with his mother. That was one that he was feigning mostly because of the subjects they covered, and at other times because he was trying so hard not to laugh.
“I suppose that I should thank you for doing that at all, and more for acting as well as you did. Not everyone would have done that for me.” It was as sentimental as Blaise was likely to get. He didn't have a lot of real friends in the first place. And his mother would only believe that he was considering marriage or at least a serious future with a girl that was pretty and charming as Lindsey. In the nice dress or not. It wasn't hard to pretend, except that his mother had to be so damn amusing when she was being fooled. “I'll give you an update when we're back in school. I don't think that I'll have any more trouble with her before then. Well, except maybe school shopping...” He shrugged casually. He didn't really expect it even of himself, but before she could leave he leaned in and gave her a parting kiss on the cheek. “Wish me luck.”
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Post by shava44 on Apr 1, 2011 18:19:38 GMT -5
She nodded as they walked, feeling strangly comfortable hanging out with a guy like Blaise as if he was a boyfriend for real. Well, who knew, it might happen someday. In the meantime it was good to feel that it could work if things worked that way one day. "I wasn't kidding about what I said, there are some things in there that look good. And wood would certainly help with it, maybe I could make a den or something private like that." His comments about thanking her made her feel good indeed and the smile on her face was quite genuine.
"Your welcome, of course, If you need a place to stash stuff out of her reach or discovery I've got the space. And it's a simple thing for me to do for a good friend. You deserved space for yourself and since I could help, I did." She shrugged, not really needing the thanks, but appreciating it was there. Nodding as she heard his hopes for easier times, she patted him on the arm as she released his hand in preparation for leaving. "Of course. I'll probably see you on the train at some point. If not then after the feast we can talk I'm sure."
HIs kiss was entirely appropriate and she found herself smiling back at him, a touch surprised. "Wow, thanks Blaise! You're certainly a fast learner in charmers," she said giving him a light poke with her elbow. Turning directly to him she said "Thanks for trusting me to pull stuff on your mother." Lindsey giving him a kiss on his own cheek and giving him a squeeze on his arm before stepping back to leave. "Hey you never know, maybe your mother will start sending me letters for you to be amused at."
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Post by Blaise Zabini on Apr 11, 2011 3:48:37 GMT -5
“You know, my grandmother once tried to teach me how to make things. By hand... I was too young to grasp it all,” Blaise said, afterward not completely sure why. He wished that he did know how to make things now that time had passed. It was something that he would deny because magic was what they should work with, considering muggles went without and created things on their own. Things felt more sentimental when they were made with someone's own two hands but Blaise was even less likely to own up to those thoughts. “I don't know why I said that... I wouldn’t mind being your consultant in this matter though.”
He smiled at the idea of having something to hide from his mother. Other than protecting the things his mother would throw away, he really had nothing to hide from her. Not that her nagging and snooping around didn't make him want to hide things for the sake of it. “Thanks. I don't know really what I could do in exchange... I just know that I don't like charity.” He gave her a smirk because of how she had reacted the last time he used that word to her. “I'm glad that you'll be there. I can't stand a whole year with the Slytherins who are fanatics without some sane people around, too.” He shook his head.
The idea of being a charmer oddly intrigued Blaise. He could have charmed girls in school if he'd wanted to, he always knew that to be the case, but when it came down to it, would it really work? Apparently well enough. The poke of her elbow reminded him again of her joking about putting Blaise in his place and he shook his head. “Thanks for being so convincing...” He seemed like he was going to say more but cut off when she kissed him on the cheek. The action seemed to affect him more when it was Lindsey kissing his cheek instead of the other way around. “I'll strangle the owl before she sends anything. Be careful, okay?” he added, realizing only after that he sounded just like his paranoid mother.
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Post by shava44 on Apr 11, 2011 16:22:21 GMT -5
Lindsey chuckled and chucked him on the arm again, harder then before. "Your hired then, Mr Consultant. I'm sure you will do an excellent job," and she laughed out loud. It was another excuse for him to get away from his mother's control so she didn't think it would be a big stretch for him to go out with her to look at stuff. "As to paying me back, I'm sure I'll need something at some point. We'll just say you are building up credit with me. I won't make you do anything you don't wanna. You can trust me on that at least."
A sigh from her showed she felt the same way. "Ah, don't remind me. We have way too many classmates with their heads up their own asses." Lindsey rolled her eyes and grimaced. "I don't think I can find an easy way to deal with them. You'll have to tell me if you see any problems. Really." His words of concern however touched her and she wasn't used to being cared for like that. Could she deal with it? Well.... it went counter to her life, but it was a nice thing to notice.
"Thanks, I will try I promise. See you soon Blaise," and she turned on the spot and disappeared before she could show how much he was getting to her.
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