[Blaise] Little black butterflies deep inside me.

[Ariana Shallow]

Laying awake in her bed, Ariana laid their listening to the girls snores and mumbling filled with sleep. Everyone except her was awake. Perfect. Her gray eyes stared at the ceiling, not at all used to Hogwarts, and it's new ways. It was uncomfortable to sleep with all the things on her mind. A few more minutes, anger filled within deep of her stomach, forcing herself to get up into the nipping cold air. Running her fingers through her messy, but not horrible, brownish black hair.
A small part of her wanted to go back into her warm bed and just lay there all night, but that wasn't going to help with school tomorrow with the uncertainties of what was going to happen. Turning her head back towards the groups of girls, a slight roll of the eyes and she turned to head down the stairs into the common room.

Ariana stood there, her rather low, form fitting black top hugged her body as she slightly shivered. Normally she wouldn't even let her self show her own body like this, but this was night. No one was likely to be up at the time she was. Her pale body was hit by some moon light making herself look like a ghost with some clothes that wasn't transparent. Making her way down to the last step she lightly placed a foot on the ice cold ground a chill racing up her spine, widening her eyes. Damn. It's freezing. Her eyes fell on just a dim coal burning in the fireplace. Ariana's slim legs shuffled over to them in a quick movement, but it was quiet enough not to wake anyone up.

Plopping herself on the couch she hummed to herself, it really was a sweet sounding one like a person who was humming a baby to sleep would do. Her bare legs were brought up to her chest as she stared blankly into the coal, that was a small dimming red color. A few minutes passed and she wasn't even tired enough to go back to bed. But she was yet exhausted enough not to drag herself up the stairs to get a jacket or a sweat shirt at least.

Ariana's Pjs.

[Blaise Zabini]

Blaise had trouble sleeping himself, but it didn't have anything to do with the way that school might go. True that he hadn't quite figured out his feelings regarding it, and maybe he never would, but he knew that the worst thing to do was guess at what might or might not happen. The Death Eaters had taken over. For better or worse this school year was going to be run differently. He'd read up on other magic schools and at least a few were more strict in their acceptance of students. Even Durmstrang, which in itself wasn't a bad school, only accepted pure and half-blooded students. If only it ended there, though. He didn't mind the school becoming exclusive and catering more to purebloods. He did mind that the Death Eaters could be there at all times, and that they were probably not allowed to do all the same things that they could before. Hogsmeade weekend stood out the most. By seventh year it wasn't the same as it used to be, actually quite boring most of the time, but it would have been an escape from the mundane schoolwork.

Instead what was bothering Blaise was what could be happening outside the school. His mother had been overly paranoid but when he was separated from her he did get uneasy about her safety. People were dying all the time. They were not typically the high-class, good quality people like her. That didn't seem to make a difference to Blaise's sleep-deprived mind. He went to bed later than everyone else most of the time. Usually, though, that meant that he was reading. Why should tonight be any different? He got out of bed, pushing the covers back so that they didn't get too wrinkled, and grabbed the book from the surface next to him. It was a book on charms, more advanced than school could teach. He was going to be out of school this year so it didn't daunt him.

He didn't notice Ariana immediately because he hadn't expected anyone to be there. He couldn't help but notice when he sat down on the other side of the couch, though. “Couldn't sleep?” he asked with hardly a glance. When he looked over to gauge her reaction to his question, he did a double take. She wasn't very dressed, and she probably hadn't expected anyone just as he hadn't. Smirking, he averted his gaze and opened his book, not yet reading. “Aren't you cold?”

[Ariana Shallow]

Ariana sat there thinking to herself about what could happen to the school. Her body shivered repeatedly in the cool air and it bugged her that she wasn't in her bed asleep with the rest of the house. But part of her was glad she was alone, not exactly all happy about being with everyone once again, the people who stayed out snogging all night came in later and they weren't as quiet as most people would enjoy them being. Her gaze never left the coal, lighting up her face just a bit. But what also was a thing she was thinking about was... the people she was with over the summer. They all seemed rather comfortable with the school new year, but this highly bugged her. Only because after you spend a summer with a worrying mother about who is who and what is what, you start to notice everyone's differences death eaters were easy enough to blend in. But once you see what they look like and how they act, you start noticing some in everyone.

Even now that Ariana started thinking about of it, she tried to see Death Eaters running through the halls freely. Killing off people, if they got in their way... Letting out a long sigh she moved her face towards the door, as if expecting anyone to just appear and do the same thing that happened to Carter. Slightly shaking her head, she wrapped her arms around her body, which was already in a ball, and the shivering stopped. She had friends here, which she trusted. Only because she saw them and Blaise's mother was as scared as her mother about the subject of it. If not even more. Ariana could bet millions of Galleons that he wasn't one, except the people he hung out with were. Her mind shifted to Lindsey, a smirk came to her face about the one girl who always had to get into trouble somehow. Not possibly, she was happy all the time. Well most of the time. Then lastly her mind came on Finn. The rich school boy who thought he had less privileges than his family, but he got way more than Ariana could with her mother who spent things for their well being.

Ariana moved slightly and unwrapped her body, moving her body up against the side and back of the couch for warmth, it wasn't that soothing. But hey, it was better than upstairs. Her mind raced through thoughts right before a voice came out of no where. Letting out a small yelp of surprise, she jumped up covering her mouth over her hands when she looked for who it was. Of course, it was Blaise. "You scared the hell out of me!" She hissed in a quiet tone. Part of her wished she could of just gone to bed but nope, here she was. With Blaise..in her pajamas. Not even daring to fix her clothes just a little bit, only because she was thinking that he would see her as self conscious. But right now she was. It was like she wasn't wearing anything! Her face went back to the normal small smirk and she slowly went back to the couch, "I'm going to make you answer that." Her voice sounded hard but part of her wanted to be like it was after the whole fight back in his house, and then everything sounded better. Where they were just talking like the guests they were, except with more of a...friendship? Tone in their voices though. Ariana sat back down and once again huddled in the corner. Not willing to admit it, she wished that they were friends after that, but she couldn't blame him if they weren't.

Her gray gaze fell on the Charms book and she tilted her head to the side, "What are you reading?" Her voice sounded more soft and curious than it did before. A ghost of a smile appeared on her face, only because he didn't gawk at her like most of the boys did (Okay. So maybe she is self centered but oh well...) and Finn did when she was looking at a couch. For heaven sake, she didn't like the feeling of it. It made her feel more like an object then a girl. Just one person, that was her friend that was a guy, who didn't even try to look at her like that. At least not by any means too, she knew what temptation was, but there was a point that you can stop it for a better time. Not realizing her gaze was no longer at the book, but at Blaise, she turned back to the book. Not really sure what she felt about catching herself staring, only for curious purposes other than interested...she hoped...

Shaking that thought from her head, she looked back down at her bare, pale legs. Not sure if she should just hold them up to her chest like she did before or just kind of lay them on the space they had in-between. She chose the one that made her the most cold, her eyes were unwavering on them though. Ariana shook slightly, but she could manage to not have her teeth chatter. Trying to make it seem like she was fine with the cold air on her skin, but frankly she wouldn't be able to handle it much longer, her body tempting her to go get a jacket, but something held her back. She wanted to talk to Blaise, only because she wanted to find out what happened after the dinner. He didn't look all the happy when they were all eating, he was silent. But oh, how much her mother told stories about what happened and that he seemed all that nice. The memory caused Ariana to roll her eyes and giggle only a little bit. But it wasn't her full out laugh, which was in her case. Very, very likely to happen because she would most likely become slap happy, and that may never actually end with her remembering what happened that night, or she just passes out when becoming way too tired. People had to admit that she was much happier and easy going when tired, so people liked to see her after the grumpy stage and into the slap happy one. Ariana's eyes glimmered with humor and she looked back too see if he was watching, "I'm not crazy. I just remembered something funny." She muttered to him and then faced towards the fire, awaiting his comeback to her saying and yet alone giggling for no apparent reason earlier on. Opening her mouth to defend herself before he could answer, thought better of it. Only because if you were all ready digging yourself a hole, you shouldn’t dig any deeper than it is.

[Yay for long posts? I was home all day and got super bored xD]

[Blaise Zabini]

Blaise was on the verge of laughter at Ariana's reaction to him. While she obviously hadn't been expecting him, and he knew that, he hadn't been expecting her to react in such a comical way. He grinned at her rather than actually laughing. It was truly the least that he could do. She was probably quite lucky, all things considered. Many of the boys in the Slytherin dorm were perverts who really wouldn't mind looking at her in the little bit of clothes she was wearing. But Blaise prided himself on being a gentleman in that regard. It was the only one that he took seriously. Being raised only with a solid mother figure and no father figure, he was much more respectful toward women in a romantic sense than men or women otherwise. Not to say that he necessarily saw Ariana as a romantic target, but peeping due to personal interest would fall into that category ideally. “Sorry. How was I to know that someone else was going to be down here? Usually when I can't sleep, I'm the only one that's up.” He always assumed that he was the only one with sleeping problems because of it. If that was so, then what was she doing up?

“I'm not that cold because I'm dressed properly,” he pointed out, leaning back casually into the couch. He was actually a little cold. He thought that it would be warmer down here for some reason, but of course, heat rises and he had been wrong about that. Still, he wasn't so cold as to need to go collect something from the boys' dorm. He didn't even mind the tone that she used. With even one night, being forced to stay around a person, you learned a thing or two about them. She wasn't the most moody of people he knew, and one impression might mean that she was having a bad day. The point was that she had even cried over the summer before dinner came. She had gotten angry at him for nothing, she had been sarcastic more often than she was serious. So being spoken to this way from someone with a wide range of nonsensical emotions really made it lose its punch when she was mean. It wasn't as though Blaise was guilty of being innocent in that regard! “Do you want me to go to the dorm and get you something?” he asked, guessing that she really was cold. He had nothing to lose by getting up now because he hadn't started in on reading yet anyway.

By choice of course Blaise wouldn't have gotten to know Ariana but a part of him was happy that he did. He didn't have the same misfortune that a lot of students were having this year, of knowing that their friends weren't going to be coming back. And that was only because he was friends with Slytherins, the pure and half bloods. It never hurt to have more friends though. Especially ones that didn't immediately flock to the Death Eaters. He didn't know Ariana's beliefs about this to a full extent but it hardly mattered. He would be finding out soon enough with the added staff members. He was glad that he had been told in advance about the changes. Well, technically, he had been witness to Draco telling someone else about the changes, since the nosy little Ravenclaw had asked the things that Blaise thought not to. He hadn't wanted to give Draco more reason to think that he was better than him, after all. He had spent the while before school started thinking about how he would handle it. Now that he was here, there was not much to it other than going with the flow. He would have warned Ariana about the staff changes most likely had the dinner meeting taken place at a later time. He really wasn't sure what she thought of him or because of it if she would have believed him anyway.

He was distracted from his thoughts when Ariana asked him what he was reading. He looked down at the cover of it as though he hadn't been reading the same thing since the Hogwarts Express. “It's a book about Charms,” he said, showing her the cover that was something in a foreign writing. The book itself wasn't in another language, but as it had maintained the same title through different publications, it did make for an impressive thing to show someone. “More advanced than the rubbish they'll teach here, I imagine.” Flitwick wasn't his least favorite teacher at all, though part of him was naturally disgusted from learning that he wasn't a full, ordinary human. It was the same reaction that he'd had about that girl who was part veela. He had been, he recalled, pretty much the only boy to hold such an opinion since the rest had been trying to win Fleur over. Having the book on the Hogwarts Express had been nice because he could pretend to be reading when anyone tried to talk to him. He wasn't the only one thinking about what the school year was going to be like, and it didn't help that he was one of the only ones who would know about some of the staff changes. Unless that pathetic half-blood had opened her mouth. He wouldn't doubt it. He looked up at Ariana in time to catch her looking at him and assumed that he must have been quiet for too long. It didn't feel like he had been...

Blaise set aside his book, thinking that they were more likely to engage in conversation than he was to get very far in the book. That was alright with him, for once. Had it been (almost) anyone else he would have pretended to be distracted by the book. He would have also made it clear that the book was more interesting than the person could ever hope to be even though the thing was getting tattered from use at his home. He wasn't a Weasley, so people would see the book for what it really was. An old family book, not a hand-me-down with someone else's history. Coming up with a topic, Blaise had settled on the dinner party and was going to comment when amazingly, she started to laugh out of nowhere. He had seen her cry and get upset, and had once thought that she was going to shout loud enough for their mothers to hear, but this out of nowhere giggling with something new. He looked at her in a wide-eyed way for a moment. “Did you now? Something about the book or the fire remind you?” he asked casually. “Though for the record, I still think that you're insane.” Looking toward the fire Blaise was reminded of how cold he really was. Not caring that his earlier claims were proven wrong by himself, Blaise cupped his hands and blew into them while waiting for Ariana to answer. The silence was more comfortable than he would have imagined, which made him realize that actually, he had become comfortable with her.

[Ariana Shallow]

Ariana looked at Blaise; a smile was on his face. Nothing she would have expected from him. Part of her thought that he would never smile at her, or something she did. Her mind filled with different thoughts and her glossy lips were spread out and she smiled back. Feeling things were as they did a long time ago. A true smile came from deep within her; to be honest herself she always held smiles back. Afraid. But it was more of a comfortable. Her eyes looked brightened and she turned her head back towards the fire, growing more and more aware of her surroundings, when his voice echoed in her ears. Ariana smiled a little more before she spoke and she shrugged as if she was just talking to a person she was used to hang out with, or she just mastered the 'shrug' "I don't know make a louder noise. See if anyone jumps or turns their head. Sneaking up on them is a nice way for a prank if you knew they were there," She paused. Even though her voice was still a bit cold sounding. But to what it normally was she sounded more...feminine...less harsh and more of the girl sound. Her thoughts wondered for a bit, she was a night owl. But she always forced herself to sleep in the night, just laying in bed. Unless she felt sick to her stomach, she would pace down stairs. Ariana paused and had to think of why she wasn't down here when she couldn't sleep, "I don't feel like walking down here when I can't sleep. I try to stay in the warm bed. But tonight I just didn't feel like it, I have too much on my mind to be completely honest. But then again, insomnia sucks ass. So it is a part of this whole thing." Her eyes wondered around the room. A small glow of the ground from the Black sea over them. It made her calmer, liking the look of the green glow.

Ariana suddenly twisted her head to him and gave a slight roll of her eyes, "Well then. I didn't really expect it to be this cold. Like you and I didn't expect to have company. But it happened." Her face fell on his, just looking curiously at his clothes. A shrug showed she saw what he meant by fully dressed compared to herself. A part of her made her feel more comfortable he did mention that he did glance at her clothes but he didn't mention anything pervy like most guys would. She bit her tongue before saying something about it. Ariana's face went back to normal, which was not a smile, but something about the way, her eyes shown. Showed she was happy. Back into thought, she didn't want him to leave to go get something for her. Because she had her own and didn't make it want to seem like she was just asking for his stuff action wise. Her mind raced back towards the dinner party she had with him, before she could think about what she would say, out came an apology out of no where, "I'm sorry I acted like that at the dinner party. But you caught me at a bad time. I was furious with my mother never telling me that it was going to be on the day...Carter died. So there she was forcing me to get ready for someone I didn't know. I was also hungry..." Her voice seemed to trail off going back into her head for her thoughts and she shook her head. A quiet silence went through out the room and she paused looking up at the ceiling. Gazing at the fishes shadows.

Breaking out of the daze, thinking she was being to quiet for to long. His words came back into her head "Oh no. I don't need anything. I can get one if I get to cold," turning her head back towards the stairs she walked down from and let out a sigh of annoyance, "It's too far away to walk. I'll live." Her wavy, messy hair landing on her shoulders like a feather. A messy feather. A smirk plastered on her face when she thought of him getting something for her and it made her almost laugh out loud at the thought. Someone doing something without her telling them to do so, it was new. But she liked to hear it.

Turning her head to look back at the book she nodded, "Cool. Favorite class? Because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be reading something I didn't like for fun." All the words that she could think of before the thought of sounding nosy hit her, hard. Something she loved to do when she got information out of someone that just needed to talk, but doing it unintentionally made her feel like a Gryffiondor or a Ravenclaw. A small frown on her glossed lips was only there for a moment. Then thinking back about the book, part of her hoped he would just put it down like someone would do in a conversation. But then again she wasn't so sure if he wanted to engage with it. Seeing that he was still holding his book, Ariana felt kind of bad for keeping it from him to read while she was perfectly capable of being quiet and fall asleep on the couch. A laugh she couldn't hold back at his comment escaped, "They are far from advanced here." Bitter sweet her tone of voice was heard. "So is that like 5th year charms or what?” Bluntly stating that the charms they were learning here are for younger kids.

Feeling slightly good about their conversation once he put his book down, she seemed more unconcerned about what she said or did towards him. Only because bugging people when they were sleep deprived when you didn't know what they were like could be a bad...bad thing. Then her mind followed back towards more words to say and thoughts to think before she saw him get wide eyed after she giggled. An amused grin appeared on her face, "Well, duh. I laughed." Stating the obvious and she crossed her hands over her legs lightly before continuing on, "Nope! Just was thinking about things. Something’s come a crossed as funny still to me. My mother kept on talking about how much she loved your house and things and your niceness." Shrugging with a shake of her head, "Sometimes I worry about her health and how deaf she is if you didn't listen. But it's most likely I noticed you weren't so happy when we came, because I use that exact tone of voice." Once he spoke about her being insane, she'd let it fly. Not really having the energy to defend herself. Why not joke about it? "Your talking to me I'm pretty sure you would get used to it though." She laughed and looked up to see him cold.

Feeling slightly bad that he still felt cold, letting the silence fill the air again. She liked it. More than she thought she would, but talking and getting to know him wasn't a crime either.

[Blaise Zabini]

Blaise smirked at Ariana's suggestion. Him, pulling a prank on someone? He hadn't done any in the way that Fred and George had, though it wasn't unheard of. He mostly thought that words were a better way to get back at someone for something that they did, and he would never prank someone that he had nothing against. It wasn't out of decency so much as self-preservation. Blaise wouldn't want to start a fire that he would have trouble putting out. With a small smile intact, he gave her a shrug. “Well, if you're into that sort of thing, you should pull a prank on Crabbe or Goyle.” They were stupid, they didn't know a lot of magic. They were physically intimidating but what was that to a wizard? And if she was lucky maybe they were even the sort not to hit a woman if they had the chance. He doubted it because that was a far-evolved mode of behavior that he wouldn't expect from two boys who grunted and agreed with everything that Draco said. Contrary to seemingly popular belief Blaise wasn't actually around them enough to know their reactions in most situations. Why would he need to make a louder noise to begin with? What he did was sufficient to make her jump anyway. “I like to be in the common room when everyone else is asleep. It's the only time when things are completely quiet.” He looked toward the boys' dorms when, amazingly, he thought that he heard someone snoring. That killed his theory right then. With a smirk on his face he turned back to Ariana. “As close as it will ever get. At least when they're asleep they aren't gossiping... There is less of that this year because they're all afraid that they'll be tortured if they speak too loudly.” He thought that her comment about insomnia 'sucking ass' was delightfully inappropriate but he didn't say anything about that. He wondered if Ariana was much into gossip. He hoped not. He thought that it was a waste of time, and she seemed far too sensible a girl. Or was he just tired? Because she hadn't seemed nearly so sensible at dinner.

And then, she rolled her eyes at him. What was that about? He shrugged at her words. “You should always assume that it's going to be cold. And maybe you should also always assume that someone is going to be around. There are ghosts in the castle, girls and boys who are out in the night with each other, and... who knows if someone in Slytherin house has been using an invisibility cloak and is listening to every word that we're saying,” he pointed out with a smirk. He didn't think that was the case. Most of them had more lives than that, they didn't need to sit around and listen to other students. Unless it was someone that fancied Ariana but found her too insane to approach. He smirked at the idea more than ever, looking as though he was enjoying a great inside joke. He wondered if she was particularly insecure about what she was wearing. A lot of girls flaunted what they had, and he liked it better when they were somewhat modest about their appearance. He thought very briefly of Ginny Weasley, who was pretty without looking as though she spent hours in front of the mirror, and who didn't exactly wear skimpy clothing. But in Ariana's case, it was appealing only because she slept that way, and not because she would wear something that revealing normally. As they had uniforms he couldn't know for sure, so maybe he was only imagining what he hoped was the case. When she started to talk about the dinner party he thought of his mother's reaction. “I suppose I should apologize. I didn't really want to meet you either.” That sounded strange since they had been going to school together for years. “But hopefully your opinion of me changed. Are you saying then that you would have acted a lot different if it were another day?” He probably wouldn't have, unfortunately. It was the idea of a party, a gathering at all, that set him off to begin with.

Her not wanting to go get something, but also saying that she would go get something if she got too cold, predictably amused Blaise. He was doing the gentlemanly thing for once, and she rejected it. He shrugged in reply, then he saw the amused look on her face. “What? Are you laughing at me?” he asked. Maybe she thought that he would resort to servant duty for her. He wouldn't resort to that for anyone! And if she was looking for someone to own, she also might think that he was a great catch. Blaise had put a lot of thought into not wanting to get used, and if she was thinking of dominating him and turning him into a little puppy, then she was going to be disappointed. Too late he realized how strange those thoughts were. They weren't dating or anything. Were they even friends? It was far too early to be thinking about preserving his pride in an arrangement akin to a marriage.

He thought that Ariana was strange for saying that she wouldn’t read something she didn't like for fun. There were a lot of reasons why a person might read something, and not all of them led to fun. He didn't assume that she was nosy but assuming that she was that laid back was maybe not the best compromise. “It's not my favorite class, but you can never know too much,” he said, wondering if he sounded particularly like a Ravenclaw. Not the worst thing that he could be thought of as. He looked at the book and, deciding that he hadn't said quite enough in explanation, carried on. “They don't teach all of the charms that would be useful to me. You are right that they don't have the most advanced of classes. That's why I prefer to do more of my reading outside of school.” A lot of things that you needed to do in life weren't fun, but then, she was probably a lot different than he was. Part of his loner persona was obtained through his studious side.

Blaise ignored her sarcastic comment because it did remind him of the conversation about 'the man' that burst into her house. He didn't want to get into an argument, and even if he was annoyed at the moment, he was interested enough in talking to Ariana that he held back. He listened to her explain. Her mother thought that he had been nice? It was very strange how he could be as impolite as possible and still everyone had good reviews about his behavior. But he assumed that it had something to do with the fact that most people couldn't catch onto his brand of sarcasm. Adults especially seemed to think that he was one of the good kids. “That is pretty funny. I imagine though that my mother went out of her way to make both of us appear to be better people than we are,” he noted dryly. He could understand that Ariana caught onto his true attitude because she had been feeling the same way as he was. “Being home with our mothers is not the best experience. Considering my mother becomes a more tolerant person when we have company I wouldn't be opposed to you coming to our house to escape your mother,” he said honestly without thinking. Once he realized that he had not only invited Ariana over, but with it being an unspecific and thus in-expendable offer, he was startled. It was the first time that he went out of his way to make time for someone. If she called him insane this time, he was pretty sure that he would let it fly, too. “I talk to plenty of insane people, by the way.”

[Ariana Shallow]

Ariana stared at him and she felt the need to laugh her pulling a 'prank' on someone ended with someone getting hurt. Feeling her shoulders shrug she looked back down and pulled her tank top so she could twist into fetus position only because her head felt heavy with thoughts. Her stormy gray gaze hit the fireplace and she shook her head, scrunching up her nose. Ariana looked at him in disgust, "I'm going to be honest. Crabbe and Goyle are so thick-headed they they wouldn't be able to tell if they were being pranked or not. And no...pranking isn't so much of my thing. I enjoy just watching them screw up their own lives. That's my opinion," Her face going back to normal she saw part of him go into thought and she stayed quiet deciding to think of where this conversation would lead. It wouldn't lead to anger or anything like that on her part but on his she had no clue. Her skin was cold to the touch, like ice and she shrugged it off like she would do at home if no one was there. Back at home she was told to do certain things and when to do them. On the other persons time not hers. He thoughts wondered off into the dorms and how noisy they were, but no out here was much better than she could admit. "Completely could be a nice word to fit in there. Because compared to the Dorms this is like heaven if you are like me." But when he said 'completely quiet' she looked at him and refrained herself from frowning but you could hear the small bit of sad emotion, "If you want me to leave you be. Or be quiet for a bit just tell me." Shrugging, she got the concept of liking to be alone at night, because it was a time to do things on your own time. When he started to talk about gossip she frowned, "There are these groups of girls who always giggle about who likes who and what's going to happen. I find it very stupid that people always believe what they are told, it's like they rely on someone else's brain to have their own thoughts. I mean I listen to it, how is it not possible to have those people who say it around you million of times a day, and not hear at least one thing or two. But spreading it isn't..smart in the long run." For Ariana it was always about her future and her choices now. Because it just seemed better. A small indeterminable smile came a crossed her face when she realizes that she wasn't the only person that talked about those things. The last part about getting tortured made he go back into her shell of thinking, "Why would someone keep saying rumors then with that fear...." It was out there for him to answer but she was saying it to herself.

Ariana's eyes went back to the fireplace when he spoke. Part of her wondered if he thought it was rude not to look a person in the eye while they were speaking to you, but for her if that was the case for him. She thinks better when she looks away at something else. But what he said about expecting everything baffled her mind, "I know I should of brought a jacket down but what was the point of bringing it down when you were sure to come back up sooner or later. Along with expecting people. I know that. I just don't really put it in my head when I am tired and are down in the common room when everyone else is snoring away... I can't always expect the unexpected." She stopped and then a smile creeped to her face he possibly should of known what it was like for guys to come in after everyone was asleep but for girls, they were all giggly, giddy, and oblivious to the world around them that they wake everyone up. "Oh my god. I can't even explain what gets into the girls when they come back from whatever they were doing. One thing I know is that I wouldn't be exactly with a person 24/7 I mean I would be loyal as ever but I do respect space. I hope the guy I get married too, if I do choose to, has the same respect for me. I don't do cute puppy dog love." Her eyes seemed filled with confused emotions, even though she has figured out the whole Boys are nice and crushing. Stage it just never came on as strong as someone else would think. Her mind stood still once she stopped talking. Ariana said too much, and went off topic about marriage I mean what's with that? "Also a person creeping on other students is vowed to get payback some way. But that is just plain odd."

Giving up after sometime of looking at her self consciously she tugged down her shorts and pulled up her shirt. Even enough was enough when it came to what she wore and when she wore it. Her gaze fell unwavering on Blaise, looking way more at ease that she was more covered, even if he wasn't taking a peep. Her body was hers and no one else needed to get any ideas. Her face went blank, as if she didn't know what to say because he apologized about something. To her at least it was a huge step to what she wanted, which was a friendship. But savoring it because she had a feeling that it was something rare from his mouth, as it was hers too. Sitting up she crossed her hands over her stomach, what was he saying? Ariana smiled a warm smile and she nodded her head, "Yeah it's changed, has yours?" It was a simple question, but why not ask about it. A smirk crept to her face, "I wouldn't be like this you know. I would still be bitter. But I wouldn't be emotionally wrecked as I was that day. If you could tell. I dislike being dragged places with my mother without a warning." It was honest, and if honest is what he was looking for. He got it.

Looking at him a part of her tugged to ask if he had something to laugh about in life, but she held it back because she saw it earlier in the beginning he was close enough to laughing. But when he asked her if she was laughing at him. Ariana dug in her thoughts and tried to think of why she was laughing, "No no..." she said at first and then went quiet, "I thought I would never hear a person offer something towards me. I mean my mother has done it once, but for something petty which I can't even remember. I guess I wouldn't expect it from someone in our school." Confused by her own statement she hoped he made sense of it but she knew they she sure couldn't.

Shrugging at his statement she sighed, "I guess so. But for me I work better alone, like you are or well… going to do. I can work and learn independently to the point where I get what I'm doing so when someone tries to teach me and force me to do it their way. I loose interest in the subject, fast." Ignoring that fact that he could have been a Ravenclaw. Just because someone loved to study and read didn't change her view of them... most of the time. What he said next made her nod, "It's a smart idea. I would rather do that if I found out there was a purpose for what we were doing. Like that. Also you learn at your own pace."

Her eyes glimmered; part of her wondered if his mom talked about her family at all. It didn't bug her if they didn't. But it was always something that she wondered about. Once most parents have an impression on a kid, it stay. She remembered feeling a bit awkward when they ate, because of the distance that they were at. When he spoke about being better than they were she shrugged, "All mothers do the same I guess. But you don't seem much different from it, only that you are more talkative here, I guess tonight." She refrained herself from together because it seemed just that they were a 'thing' but they clearly weren't. "Not to mention less sour towards me, I'm not saying that to be rude it's just true." She said a bit too honestly and she tried to think of a better way to reword it in her head, but nothing came. All she did was nod at the offer and just said, "Thanks." She wasn't sure if he was just trying to be nice or if he really meant it though, but seeing a little bit of shock she was leaning more towards the fact that he meant it. Looking at him she bursted out into a fit of harmonic laughter but this time, what he said struck her to the bone. After a few minutes of laughter she started to gasp for air, pausing every 40 seconds and then start up laughing again. Putting her hand on the couch arm to hold her up for support she rubbed the tears coming down her face, "O-oh I'm sorry... I don't know why but that made me laugh..." Her voice sounded like she was going to start up laughing all over again.

[Blaise Zabini]

Blaise thought from the way that she adjusted herself that she was getting tired now, and preparing to fall asleep. That wouldn't be so bad because he could still read here unless she was the sort of person to kick a lot in her sleep and miraculously land a hit no matter what. He looked at the fire silently for a moment, and when she spoke, he actually felt a little relieved. Maybe in some way he did want to keep talking to her. Obviously she wasn't planning to drop into sleep at any time. “That is true about Crabbe and Goyle,” he admitted. In a way, they were almost endearing in that they were like the dogs following their master everywhere. Completely useless for the most part, except intimidation, but loyal nonetheless. “I enjoy watching them screw up their faces when they're trying to think.” He chuckled at his own words.“I wasn't hinting that you should go away. If I wanted you to leave, you would know it. I wouldn't waste time with mixed messages because most people aren't clever enough to see them for what they are.” He realized that she could also take that wrong if she wanted to. “And I'm not saying that you're stupid. You probably would have caught on, but there was nothing to catch onto because I was just making an observation. This time I guess that I don't mind the company so much.” It was another compliment that would seem like an observation if you didn't know him. She was still in the process of getting to know him so he wasn't sure that she would see it for what it was. In a small way he hoped so. “Gossip is usually never that informative,” Blaise said with a little shrug as though she didn't know that already. “Once you start to spread rumors about people, you'll get them spread about you,too. I don't know from personal experience. I know from watching other people. They spend all day spreading rumors only to find that one of those days, the rumor isn't about someone else. And they wonder why they're the one that has to suffer.” He shook his head with annoyance. People who couldn't see their own downfall coming were simply trying not to see it. “Most of the things that they think is worth talking about are the things that the Death Eaters don't really care about. I don't know if they'll start playing with fire soon but if they're still talking about who's dating who, unless it has to do with Harry Potter I don't think they'll really care.” He shrugged. He never had cared. It was all pointless to him. Destructive, really.

“I guess that you can't always expect the unexpected... But you can try to use logic. Yes you would need to bring a jacket down and then bring it back up... You bring it down because you're cold, wear it, and return it to your dorm while still wearing it. That makes more sense than sitting down here being cold. You're going to take yourself back upstairs whether you have the jacket or not, it wouldn't make that much difference. Then again, if you're that tired I probably shouldn't be mocking you. Maybe I should have gone to get the matron instead.” He smirked at her, clearly enjoying the fact that she gave him things to work with. He recalled the many times when he had said something offensive in school and someone had placed their wand to his throat or threatened to do so. In the end, he had only been in a few fights, and they were ones that he deemed unavoidable either because someone he really hated happened to be there or because someone attacked him first. The former of the two could technically be avoided but why would he want it to be? Blaise was surprised by Ariana's words. It was the second time since last year that a girl had said that she respected a guy's space. It was still something that he had trouble believing after he saw all those girls clinging to their boyfriends in the corridor. Also, having been in the common room once or twice when girls had returned from whatever romantic escapades they'd been on gave him the same idea. Since he didn't want to get someone that he thought might be as clueless as him on the matter angry Blaise didn't say anything that would imply that she was a liar. “It's good that you respect space. Men probably look for that in a woman more often than they realize. At least for marriage. While they're young I imagine that boys like when a girl is all over them. It would make them feel validated. But once you're married you need that time to yourself.” He was speaking as if he'd already been married, but he thought enough about the inevitable future that he still thought he could predict things like that. Most of the women that were married of his mother's friends were classy and well-mannered. It might just be the blood status and wealth talking but he could only speak from personal observations. The reminder of the creepy student in theory made Blaise grin at her. Had she been meaning to answer that part all along or just been distracted by the rest of the conversation? Wow, late night talks could get personal.

Blaise had a strange smile on his face when she turned his question around on him. “Part of it has. I still think you're mental, but that's alright.” He looked as though he were on the verge of doing or saying something more, but that he changed his mind abruptly and looked back at the fire. “There aren't that many Slytherins I know that aren't falling to the Death Eaters' feet or doing everything that they can to prove that they at least support the Dark Lord. When the time comes, if it does, I might do the same but I won't do it willingly.” Basically, when they were accusing people of being traitors or something, he would stand up for himself because he did believe the basics of what the Death Eaters stood for. But he wasn’t keen on devoting his life to something that he only half believed in. When she said that she would still be bitter Blaise could do nothing but smirk because... well... he would still be bitter no matter what as well. If she hadn't appeared to be crazy, crying and whatnot, they might not have gotten their frustrations out early. Instead, they could be continuing an argument here in the common room. He wouldn't put it past either of them from what he'd seen from her. “My mother likes to take me shopping, but that 's mostly all that I need to worry about. My mother doesn't like to go to other witches and wizards' houses if she can help it. I think that it's because it gives her more control over what people see.” He especially hated when she was particularly excited about a certain guest and made him even clean his room. And his room was usually immaculate but she always tried to find something wrong with it, and that ended up wasting more time.

Blaise considered what she said about his offer. He shook his head slowly in reply before he could work up one of the verbal nature. “I never thought that I would offer something either.” He wondered if she would think that it was a special occasion, then immediately following, he wondered if it was. He had rarely gotten along with someone for this long without getting into an argument. Often even with Draco he did, but that was different. The way that they puffed out their feathers and began on who they knew and what they knew... it was just the way that they had always interacted. For that Blaise actually valued the friendship more. “Most Slytherins wouldn't, would they? Though I still think it's strange that you would laugh.” He raised his eyebrow a little bit. It was almost asking for a misunderstanding after they had already had so many.

In this way, they were alike. Blaise didn't mind learning from teachers. To an extent they did have more to offer. Flitwick, for example. He didn't have all of the spells that Blaise would find useful but the ones that he did know he knew very well. Mastered might be a better way to word it. So he was someone to learn from. Most of their teachers other than Trelawney and Lockhart had at least taught him something. Technically, so did the failures! Trelawney had taught him in the hardest way that Divination was mastered by very few, and that Hogwarts was seemingly incapable of employing one of them. Lockhart had taught him that if he didn't do well in school he was going to end up compensating it in other ways. “You aren't the worst person to share a common room with,” he said, referring to the fact that they were the only ones that were here now and would likely both end up here at a later time if she decided to be an insomniac again. How exactly had they not properly met before? “We could both sit and read or do homework when everyone else has gone to bed. Though... You probably would want to get to bed before me.”

Blaise did decide to speak about his mother and what she said about Ariana and her mother. “My mum said that you were well-behaved. I think that she was expecting us to fight. She didn't say that much about your mother other than the fact that she felt sorry for her for... losing a son.” He wondered if the mention of that would make Ariana sad again. Blaise had the feeling that the only reason his mother hadn't talked much about Charlotte was because she already knew her prior to the dinner party. He wondered if they were going to meet up again while Blaise and Ariana were at Hogwarts. Blaise almost cringed about it, thinking that it was almost a certainty that they would talk about them while they were away. Hopefully nothing too terrible or anything like that. He didn't mention it because he thought that would make it more true. “I wasn't being that rude to you. You haven't seen me interact with Gryffindors or other blood traitors,” he said, his lips tugging into the smallest of smiles. He had actually made a girl cry before, but it wasn't completely his fault. After all, she was the blood traitor that had decided to be chummy with him first. At the offer, Ariana didn't seem to respond much at all. That made him rather uncomfortable. It would have been one thing if she'd laughed at him and called him crazy like he thought she might, or if she'd told him that he shouldn't say things like that, or even if she'd gotten up and left, perceiving that he meant something different. As it was, he could only sit in awkward silence and wait for the next subject to come up. Her laughter was nearly as startling to him because she had completely lost control. Wondering if the laughter would spread in the way that the snore did, Blaise glanced toward the dorms. There were no footsteps. Not that he could hear properly with her laughing so much. Once the surprise passed, he did allow himself a chuckle. “Then you're even worse than I thought! Are you always going through emotions like that?”

[Ariana Shallow]

Ariana looked at him and when he gaze shifted towards the fireplace she relaxed, but what he said about Crabbe and Goyle was more than obvious that he wasn't such a fan towards them. Her mind pondering on if he did even enjoy their company at a moment or two. But other than that she thought that she wouldn't. I would be more horrid towards them. Just to get to the point that they are stupider than a pair of rocks. Being pulled out of her thoughts by his chuckle, it made her smile a very small smile and looking towards him she acted completely serious, "Oh! They try to think?" Even though she wasn't surprised they attempted, she was just curious how they made it into 7th year without being held back for their stupidity. About Blaise's comment on the company thing she nodded slightly, not really sure if she would of picked up anything in that kind of order if she was really as tired as she thought she was. But some how she was awake, in a way that her mind was slowly clearing by the fact that they were talking about things that went on inside her head. Opening her mouth to reply, "I could tell you really make it obvious when you don't or do want to talk to someone." Flicking her finger towards the book, "If you didn't want to speak to me. I have a feeling you would have just read the book while I attempted to talk, until I left or just shut up. But instead you put down the book and we are talking... But I don't know you as well, that's just a quick observation." The comment about not being stupid made her feel slightly good on the inside, because some people would see her as one person from their rough day and count them as stupid. Her eyes brightened that they were talking fluidly back and forth, "The snowball effect. No one who gossips gets it. They put others down to make themselves look high and mighty, only to get knocked off their high horse sooner or later." When he spoke about Harry Potter she twitched a little, "That boy isn't worth being gossiped about. I find him repulsive, if that Weasly girl was a muggleborn. He is sure to be a blood traitor. I see no point in the Order, but I wouldn't go to the Death Eaters if it was one of my choices. I wouldn't go down without a fight, but they have the right ideas. Just they are too...ruthless, for my liking. But if I had to choose you see where my view is on that."

"True. But logic isn't always in my mind. But I'm not as thick-headed as Crabbe and Goyle. Or as smart as a Ravenclaw. I would of gotten it, one but I was sure that I would wake up one person in the process. That really wasn't what I was looking forward too. I would go get mine, but I don't want to talk to any of the girls." Ariana added on in her head, and I don't want to stop this conversation over something about being cold. A smile came to her face, "Yes I am tired, but you can see I would move myself to the bed if I was that tired. Part of me not wanting to go up and get it is because I am lazy enough after I get comfortable in a position that I won't do much after." Seeing it as an easy target to comment on arrogantly, she tried to think of something that could protect her from it. But not even coming up with something but she probably would let the comment fly if he thought of one in his mind. Unless it offended her in anyway. "Ehh. I would of felt bad." Her statement was blunt, hiding emotions in it very well. Her gaze moved back towards the stairs and soaking in the silence she thought of what she was going to say before saying it. "Some girls think of men as a pair of shoes, they can just throw it out and get another pair. Then using them for granted, or wearing them out till the end of how much they can give. When guys say that about girls, saying they are ‘replaceable’ girls get all angry at them, because it’s improper for guys to see girls as that. Funny isn’t it?” Pausing before going on it gave her a moment to smirk at the girls who did think that it was fine for them to say that, but not be able to say it back. “I think it's stupid. Guy's are humans too, so why not treat them like one?" Pausing before she went on she stared him straight in the eyes, a part of her was hoping he would listen to her on this, "When I'm older. I want a man who can treat me the way I want to be treated and just live with my faults, just like I have to live with theirs. I want a loyal relationship and a stable one. Loyal is in they have trust in me to let me go talk to some other guy without getting over protective, Vise versa. But I would get a little jealous if the guy I married hung out with a lot of pretty girls, but not enough to go ballistic at the man. I wouldn't want him to be controlling over me, but I want to have a little power over what goes on in the house." Pausing and hesitating on what she was going to say she let out a sigh, "I'm smart. Like I could be in Ravenclaw if I had none of my traits that made me, me. But who would guess that. So I hope when I get married he realizes I'm smart. I also hope he gets that I won't dress all sexy for him, I want him to like me for who I am and not what I have. But that's hard to find now, but I am not going to show myself like that.. Uhm. That might sound off because of my clothes now… but I wouldn’t be dressed like this if I knew you were down here." Her nose scrunched up. Pausing going back into deep thought she shook her head, mentally piercing herself with harsh sayings, why would she tell him what she wanted from a guy? "Yes. I have thought this out before. Just because I don't feel as strongly for guys as much as others do. But I have always wondered what was good for me. I guess it is a girl thing then."

Ariana looked at him, giving him a weird look at his smile, "Better than none I suppose." Even though she hopped he wanted to be friends with her. Her ego wouldn't be hurt as bad if he didn't and was just being kind. Looking at him intently as if her eyes said the words of 'what?' but knowing she wasn't going to get an answer she didn't press it. Her gaze went back to the water and she moved her fingers, "Neither have I. Like I said earlier. I would fight until I was forced on the Death Eaters side." Sitting there she smiled to herself. It was nice to have a say in her opinion with another student, who basically had the same views. When he spoke out his mother she nodded, with a grim look on her face, "That sucks. It's like she wants to control who you are. Thank god she hasn't gone crazy over protective and attempt to become a teacher to keep an eye on you." Her pale skin glowed in the moon light and she looked back down at the fire place feeling the urge to go start a fire. She knew how to start one, but not so much putting it out.

Ariana paused and shook her head slightly, her wavy hair moved quickly, "I'm guessing we are surprising both ourselves tonight. It happens, rarely I guess..." Her voice sounded more interested in the conversation than it did before. Drumming her finger on her thigh a beat came into her head forcing herself not to hum along with the tune. But his comment about being Slytherin made her look up, "Well grouping Slytherins in a group is it could be true. But for me, I guess it's nature to do someone else's dirty work for them...." thinking on why she laughed, also made her a slight bit confused too, "I am strange, I thought you would of known." She joked kindly and then shrugged fixing her gaze back onto the top of the ceiling where the fishes swam, "I just found it funny that you would offer something to me. I just didn't think you would. It wasn't like 'ha ha' funny it was more like a funny in a twisted sort of way. If you get what I mean."

Ariana's eyes flashed to her remembrance of the teachers in which have gone and given her a hard time and she sighed, the one that stood out the most was Defense against the Dark Arts. Every. Single. Teacher had something wrong with them. The worst was Umbridge. She got a detention from her for talking back in class. An immediate reaction when she thought of her she grabbed her hand, having a scar for writing it too deep. Looking down at her hand, she traced the letters, 'I will not talk back to teachers.' Her gaze left her hand slowly before looking back up at Blaise, "Nor or you for that matter. If it was anyone else besides you Lindsey, or Finn. I would be up in the room without a second to think about it." Her mind pondered her own thoughts curious if this was going to happen again, she hoped so. "Sure, I wouldn't mind it one bit. Yeah, I would sleep before you I guess." Looking down at her hands she sighed. Going back to tracing her hands scars and she suddenly asked out of no where, "I didn't like Umbridge as Defense against the Dark Arts. She got on my nerves because she blocked out the whole fact that none of these things that were happening were real. I mean look at this. Her stupid pen did that." Her voice sounded cross in the memory of the pink plump lady. Throwing her hand she was tracing for him to glance at it.

Ariana looked at Blaise and sighed slightly about what his mother said about her, "Oh. That's great, my mother thought I would start one too. That isn't her concern though; it was nice for feeling bad though. Nothing she could have done to stop Seth." Her voice was unwavering. This time out of all the joking her in voice, suddenly disappeared for the moment in time. She knew he really didn't mean to bring her down, so it made her cheer up back to what she was before and she looked at him and blinked, "Excuse me. But how in the world am I a blood traitor? I haven't even kissed a guy in my life. Like I said. I am not going to break the pure blood line by dating someone else that wasn't." Way to openly, the second sentence came out before she even could think of something else to say. Her eyes stared at him curious now, what he would say about her being a 7th year and not even kissing anyone. Hoping he was a civil as he seemed, that he wouldn't have that he was someone like her on saying he hasn't either or just letting go and not commenting on what she said. Losing the laughter in her eyes, she looked worried of being judged. Well..that's new.. Normally Ariana wouldn't even mind of being judged and it didn't bug her. But now... she didn't know. Now suddenly the quietness felt awkward to her, lifted her legs closer to her body, just about to get up and go to bed, she heard him chuckle. A small smile appeared on her face, "Ahh don't worry about it. I'm full of surprises! But what you see now is what you would probably see the most if this happened more often. This as in us talking." A broad smile a crossed her face, feeling good that he chuckled even if it wasn’t for the best reason.

[Blaise Zabini]

Blaise found himself wondering if his words about Crabbe and Goyle would be sufficient to put to rest her thoughts about him being one of Draco Malfoy's followers. Probably not; when people had formed an opinion of someone they usually didn't change it because of something that the same person said. If she didn't change her idea of him before too long, he would just forget about her and stop talking to her. Because letting someone that you think of as a friend (well, in Blaise's eyes most were just 'friendly acquaintances) think of you as something lower than you were rendered the process of making friends pointless. “Actually, I don't think that Crabbe and Goyle do try that hard to think most of the time. I think that...” He knew that he was probably going to be laughed at for the next thing that he said, but it was a theory anyway. “I think that even if they were smart they wouldn't act like they were. Draco doesn't want followers that are smarter than he is. Even if Crabbe and Goyle have some intelligence they don't have the charisma to lead anyone.” He shrugged. They had to be a little smarter than they appeared to make it through exams. They couldn't cheat in the usual way then. “Since you're in my house and not completely nerve-grating, that probably would have been the way I would hint for you to go away. And if you were someone in another house, another blood status, or just irritating, I probably would have done it even more obviously.” He thought with amusement at the various ways he had basically told someone to go away. It was a long list – the wrong sort of people seemed attracted to Blaise, maybe because he seemed less threatening than the Slytherins like Draco and goons. He was quiet. That didn't mean that he was sweet and sensitive, or that he didn't approve of Slytherins showing up the other students. Proving their impression wrong was a wonderful feeling. Blaise was pleased that her idea of gossip was quite similar to his own. Certainly the whole being in high status could apply as well – the Malfoys , for example, once so well-thought of and respected, were now being judged from all sides from what he could see. Not even the Slytherins respected Draco as much as they used to, and Blaise's mother didn't often speak of them. “Has this ever happened to you?” he asked curiously, wondering if she had indulged in gossip in the past or if she had simply observed it in the way that he had. Blaise tilted his head when she spoke, a bit confused by what she said. “The Weasleys are pure-bloods, even if they don't act like they should. As Harry Potter is a half-blood, I suppose that technically their kids might be considered pure-blood,” he said, though he didn't know if Potter actually planned on marrying Ginny Weasley. They had only started dating the year before. Sad that the gossip of two Gryffindors dating had actually reached them. “I don't think that there is any reason that we would have to choose one side or the other. At least, not at this point.” If they were forced into something Blaise would have to be a Death Eater though if the muggleborns could go into hiding he supposed that he could, too, so not to be tied to a lifetime of service. Eventually someone would stand up to the Death Eaters and he could be free. Or he would fight it... He wouldn't know until he got there. He wasn't a self-sacrificing Gryffindor or anything...

“I guess that I should thank you, then,” Blaise said, referring to the fact that she didn't wake anyone up to get a jacket. He didn't mind having Ariana there, that was true, but he wouldn't have wanted a gaggle of girls in the common room, or even just one other one. There was already the risk of someone coming into the common room after sneaking out at night. How many times had Blaise overheard a teacher complaining to a student about their sneaking away? They felt especially rebellious in the times when the school had ordered them a mandatory early curfew. This year he thought that they would take things differently. Slytherins might think that Snape would let them off easy but even the stupidest of them probably realized that the Carrows wouldn't. They were likely sadistic and also likely bored if they had been imprisoned. Waiting for someone to break the rules.. “You remind me of a cat,” Blaise said bluntly after she said that she was lazy once comfortable. Cats were the only animals other than owls that Blaise wouldn't mind owning, and that was because a cat was a bit like him. Independent, keeping to itself, looking to people only on its own time, showing grace and pride even when, for example, one had rolled off the couch in a moment of clumsiness. Blaise was rarely caught doing something like that but everyone had times where they were careless. He listened to her idea of the explanation of why girls went through men so quickly. The sad thing was, in some ways, it was true. If a man was willing to let himself be used, or was too blind to see the warning signs, then maybe he wasn't much of a man at all. “That's true I guess. If he's dumb enough to be handled that way then he deserves what happens to him. And the women who do it will eventually find themselves alone because no one will trust her. It's not always like people say – sometimes people learn best from other peoples' mistakes and never from their own. That's why they never change.” He listened also to her idea of a good marriage, looking at her but not saying anything until she was through talking. “Are you saying that you would want to be in an equal-opportunity marriage?” he asked. “They aren't that easy to come by; it isn't always the man that has the power, but someone almost always does. Whoever has the job I suppose.” He hadn't decided yet if he wanted to marry a working woman or have a housewife, because he did need someone that would take some responsibility for whatever children came along. And they had to, to carry on his family name. In a time with so many changes he wanted to preserve that at least. “Unless both do. Ideally you should get to know whoever you're going to marry before you make an engagement. If you already know their flaws and they know yours, then they can't complain about it once you're married. People are good at pretending that there is nothing wrong with the little annoying things that they do. For the record, we do exist,” he said, seemingly random until he finished his thought. “People who don't want you to dress sexy all the time. If I was married I would expect her to dress in a way that represented us well. Modest, tasteful. The less is more approach won't work for people who want a solid reputation. The thing is... men date women who will sell themselves over like that. They marry the ones who maintain their dignity.” He suddenly started to laugh. “It isn't a girl thing. Men have even more at stake than women do when it comes to marriage! Whose name is usually tacked onto the newcomer? If I were to marry someone that made my family look bad, they would blame me.” He paused for a moment, thinking of something that his mother had mentioned to him after the dinner party had gone their different ways. “I think that my mother would like me to marry someone like you.”

Blaise was quiet for a moment, and he closed his eyes. He was thinking about years before, how they all sort of ran together. From the moment that he had arrived at Hogwarts his act was on. He pretended not to be impressed by the gates, the Great Hall, everything. Even though nothing that he could find in a book was as impressive as the castle itself, he still told himself that he had seen the same thing before. Nothing had changed, really. He faced the world with indifference. But the time was coming when he might have to change that, and take a side in matters that he didn't let affect him before. It would put him in a foul mood if not for the fact that both Lindsey and Ariana seemed to find the magnetism of the Death Eater lifestyle beyond them. He opened his eyes at last, abandoning what was probably the illusion of sleep. “If nothing else, I suppose that we could fight together. Against them. We aren't the only ones that feel that way... Even if we have the rest of the school against us by default, we're still not alone.” He wasn't sure if he meant actually fighting the Death Eaters physically. If he was that could lead him into a fight against Draco. It wouldn't be something he was hoping for because Draco was one of the few people who he considered near an equal. Not that there was anything wrong with Ariana and Lindsey but they were girls. Why exactly did he associate with more girls than guys? Vanity, maybe? “My mother couldn’t be a teacher if she wanted to be. She has too many other things to concern herself with. You know, like herself.” He smirked. She was probably only concerned about him because his reputation would cast some reflection upon hers.

If Ariana normally didn't speak to people a lot like Blaise was assuming, then they really were having a strange night. Perhaps, as the hated Trelawney might have said, the stars were in a perfect position for things normally improbable to happen. Smirking at the thought of such nonsense Blaise gave a little shrug. He normally would have gotten angry with her for tapping. Then again, normally he would have been reading rather than talking, and reading took more concentration. Since they were talking the little things like that didn't bother him. Obviously he wasn't having silence no matter what. “Dirty work? Wow, you really don't want to go get that jacket,” he said in a teasing voice. Then he looked toward the dorms once more, the last time since he intended on casting away the subject. “I know what you mean. And you're right – it's not something that I would do.” He tilted his head slightly, looking at her now. At least she hadn't taken advantage of a time that he wasn't like himself. Was that a good thing? He couldn't quite figure how it would be bad.

“Looks like we have made a break through after all,” Blaise said, as though admitting that neither was the worst person to have to be around was the perfect way to begin a friendship. In his mind the beginning, while hazy, had indeed been back at his house. He didn't let on to his mother that it was the case because then she might start trying to invite a lot of other people over, and he was sure that most of them wouldn't be so easy to tolerate. Everyone was likely to make a good thing happen on accident. His mother would still think herself a miracle worker for getting Blaise to socialize. Another reason it was good that she wasn't a teacher to see him interacting with others here. Then again if that were the case maybe she would invite more of the people that he did like to see over. “So you know Finn and Lindsey,” he said in a tone that was more like an observation. He suddenly wondered if they would talk about him. Probably not. That was a paranoid thought. When she started to talk about Umbridge, Blaise shrugged. “She was the worst teacher that we've seen in that post. But to be honest, I wasn't sure that I believed it either when He came back,” he said casually. Maybe because it didn't affect him either way it was in one ear and out the other. Just another thing to watch. He looked at her hand, then leaned over and took her hand, examining it more closely. “I can't recall. What did you say to her?”

Blaise wondered if she was going to get emotional again, talking about what had upset her that day. He didn't mind. He could probably deal with her freaking out for a while, then retreat to the dorm when he was tired of it. But she didn't seem to be as bothered as he'd expected. Maybe because they had already discussed it or maybe because this time it wasn't the anniversary. “I guess that we might have to be brought together again anyway.” Their mothers seemed to be friends even after the dinner party, so they were pretty much stuck. Not that he minded. Blaise looked a bit annoyed at her reaction to the blood traitor sentence. “I didn't mean that you were a blood traitor. That emphasis was toward the Gryffindors – most of them are blood traitors if you hadn't noticed. Blood traitors need only to think that muggleborns are the same as pure-bloods. So I meant Gryffindors and blood traitors that were in other houses as well. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. That's all that I meant.” He shook his head. Sure it was an easy mistake to make, but why did she have to assume that he was just offending her? He actually didn't say anything about her not dating. The reason being that he hadn't dated either; no one had yet reached his high standards, and maybe they never would. Suddenly, Ariana looked awkward. He tilted his head, but then she explained a little bit. “I don't mind that much. Laughter is better than crying, isn't it?”He smiled.

[Ariana Shallow]

Sitting there she thought, wondering what it would be like if she hadn't come down the stair to just think about things and get things straight in her mind. It made her feel a bit weird that she hadn't just let him read his book in peace. Even though she was kind to people and their space at night, but no. Tonight she let the curiousness get the better of her and talk to the boy that she found interesting, compared to the rest of them. Them meaning the guys. Ariana stared at the coal and she rolled her eyes at it, as if it mocked her about it being warm, while she sat there talking to Blaise, which on her book wouldn't be as bad as someone who just gaze her in the halls or something like that. Who could judge her in what kind of person she was if she only gave expressions. The expressions on her face were a smart way of lying on how she felt. Only a person could guess that after watching her for awhile, which was creepy. Or they knew her well enough. When Blaise talked about Crabbe and Goyle in a harsh/down-grading way it made her think for a moment or two. So he was just a person who was friends with Draco and didn't get sucked into his drama and highness in a way that made her sort of even though she wouldn't admit it, proud to be talking to a person with a good mind who realizes followers don't make it very far in life. But when he talked about Draco not wanting someone being smarter than him, be his friend made her ponder her thoughts. They were talking about how he liked more of the unsmart followers and friends. Furrowing her eyebrows she turned her head back to him, "Uhm... So you’re basically implying that he wouldn't want you as a follower because you are a lot smarter than he is? Well I couldn't say that as a fact, but you are pretty smart in my books." A complement came out, quick proud that she let it come out without the slightest bit of hesitance that she expected from her own voice. As he talked about how he would have suggested her to leave, a smirk came to her face, leaning forward as far as her knees would let her, "I'm pretty sure I didn't seem the welcome type. I made it noticeable too." The way he said the last part made her smile, "Trust me. I wouldn't be beating around a bush for someone I didn't like to go away from me. Quick and an easy way to get that thing out of my hair." Ariana sat there looking at the guy who seemed to be much more easygoing at night, and she turned back to her thoughts being curious now. Being a person who held things against people who rarely changed her ideas she thought of what she did think of him. Now that they spoke Blaise seemed to have more a loner persona, not much of a follower. Or none for that fact because he didn’t like his mothers rules either. Her eyes fell on him; she was partly right about what she thought of him because he was more enjoyable when he was with a person, not a whole lot of them. Tilting her head to the side and she muttered something that was undectiable about what happened when she was younger. A frown was now viewable on her face, “No. I wasn’t part of it at all, but someone put me up as a… I don’t know what they call it. Hm like a ‘hot topic’ sort of thing because I was yelling at some guy for doing something like touching me where I don’t like. But apparently it sounded like something he did to me and I let him in the night, if you get my drift. Him being uncivil, he told everyone that we had sex and I was more of the one night stand kind of person. That was it though.” Thinking about what she said she shrugged slightly and then realize that he could of taken it the wrong way and thought that she had done it, “Which I didn’t. But I did get a lot of looks from the guys. It’s the reason I am intolerable of guys who think that way.” She quickly added on a small light tone of pink shone on her face. Ariana sighed and looked at him, “I really don’t get the pureblood and halfblood thing. I just know that I am pureblood and would like to keep it like that.” She smirked but feeling slightly down graded on how the whole thing didn’t make sense to her. It probably made sense to him, which would give him a thing to annoy her about how smart he was. Or giving her a long detailed reason. “I hope I won’t ever have to choose a side.” Her voice was only about a whisper compared to how she was talking earlier.

Just nodding at his thank you she furrowed her eyebrows again. He seemed to thank her a lot in the time they were down just talking in the common room. Part of her wondered if he was tired enough just to say what came to his mind without really thinking much of it. Only this hit her as off, because he didn’t seem like the person who would say thank you about random things she did or didn’t do. Tilting her head towards the side, showing her slight confusion. She couldn’t put the words together to ask him so she just let the silence fill the room once more. Slightly pressing her head against the back of the couch she closed her eyes lightly, even though she was awake. Her eyelids were just heavy. One or another would have to talk before she fell asleep and he went back to reading the book, then leaving her down there to sleep whenever he felt the need to go back up to the boys dorm. She wouldn’t mind it if he did leave her down there, but it would still be the best in her mind to be woken up and go back to the girls dorm. So no one else could see Ariana dressed like that. It wasn’t something she would enjoy being judged over. Or god knows what could happen if another guy came down. All the muscles in her face relaxed, hoping that she wouldn’t go into full out sleep mode, but it would still be nice to get at least a minute of rest to her mind. Part of her wondered if he was going to get the wrong idea and just go back to the book. Ariana was in her sleep, but she could still hear things outside of her. Thinking that he went back to his book she expected not to hear another word from him until his voice made her jump slightly. Opening her eyes she sighed. Taking a few seconds to see what he just said to her, once the words came together in her head, she looked at him with a long stare. A gap in her mouth she tilted her head to the side, “Uhh…” She was at a loss for words, a cat? Seriously. That was the first time she’s heard that one. “That’s…nice... Thank you?” Her voice sounded more confused than all the things she said put together. Ariana didn’t mind cats, she liked them. But she has never once in her life been compared to one. Now she was awake. She lifted her head up only a little bit, but then it hit the couch once again. Stifling a groan she looked back at him, “If they expect pity for what they did to themselves…I would call them mental. But I don’t know how I learn to be honest. I learn from myself, yes. But being the one to watch from a far, I learn from everyone else’s mistakes also.” Ariana never really has found out how she learned the most. Having the faults she had made it hard for her to learn, but being too stubborn to let herself look like a failure, she tried to learn from both. Knowing she couldn’t make the mistakes that love struck teens could, only because she saw the better in being single. When he asked if she wanted an equal-opportunity marriage she shrugged, “If you thought to put a label on it. Then yes, and I know about how it is rare. That’s why I can see myself living alone and not marrying. But to me, I hope we both get a job and serve the best for the family. Showing that we are both capable of living on our own if a thing happens to us like Death or Divorce. But before kids, I want a stable marriage only because I would be mad as hell if I had children and they left me. So I am going to wait a couple years before the thought of children.” Ariana looked at him as if he grew another head. They were having a conversation about marriage. What…the hell? She never even spoke about what she wanted in a marriage with a girl that wasn’t her mother. But it was nice he didn’t laugh about them talking about something that girls would take endlessly about. Ariana took the moment of him talking about who she should marry, “Uhm to be honest. I don’t want anyone to pick out who I want to marry. Or have an opinion of who I chose when it comes to that time. I want to be able to know the person, not exactly sell myself out to some stranger on the street who seems, ‘perfect’ to me from someone else’s eyes. I would marry a trusted friend, which I enjoy having around. So the silences we have aren’t awkward and don’t have to fill it with pointless word.” Not even putting it into her mind that she was absent mindly explaining what was happening at that very moment with her and Blaise. It probably wouldn’t even come to her mind until someone mentioned it too her. Slightly confused at where he broke off saying ‘we’ instead of ‘they’. So he was explaining about himself and part of her felt good that he was explaining what he saw girls as, other than the other half. “I think there should be more men like that though. I know they are out there. But it’s getting rarer every decade. But that’s nice to know,” Sounded good natured in that moment of time. Her mind raced back to the difference between dating and marrying. “Do you see the point in that? It’s like he’s using a girl just dating her, seeing no possible chances to get married… It’s a waste of time in my book.” She snorted at the fact at most people seem to waste their time on things about dating people who only they are physically attracted too, when they are just setting themselves up for a disaster, then they start bashing the other person for breaking their hearts. It all seemed silly. Being taken out of her thoughts when she heard him laugh she paused every single on of her thoughts. A chuckle was one thing, but laughing was another. His reason made sense too her but part of her made her smile and she slightly joined in on the laughing but her voice was just as teasing before, “Well the girls loose their last name to a man. I don’t see much of a difference.” Her normal stormy gray eyes were a lighter shade and they looked much much happier than someone could have seen in a while. When he went quiet she paused and looked at him, but when opened his mouth to hear him talk about what his mother said about her, she was in slight awe. “Okay…?” Her voice was quiet before she added on, “I think my mother was dropping hints about it too.” Her voice suddenly was turned into a barley noise.

Once he closed his eyes a part of her felt the need to just see what he looked like, without him getting any ideas of something else. Ariana did as her mind told her, just glancing over him. Not like most girls would find on the American side, which was in fact tan muscular…, things like that. But has much as she hated to admit to herself, Blaise wasn’t horrible looking at all. He was lanky, but some how he managed to pull it off. She couldn’t think much more of it before she could feel her mind go to different place of just being curious. Slightly shaking her head, she averted her gaze and moved it over to the ground, it wasn’t very interesting, but it was better than what she was doing before hand. Resting her hand on the top of her head, she started to think back to what she was before he came down and scared her. Surprised at herself for not just walking back up the stairs if he really was asleep. Turning her gaze back at him, she noticed that he had his eyes open and started to talk again, shrugging at the fighting together thing she didn’t have much of an opinion about fighting against the Death Eaters unless her family was in danger in any sort of extreme way, “Sure I guess that wouldn’t be a bad thing. If that time comes.” Moving her body a bit she felt more comfortable, why was she always closer to guys than she was girls? The question hit her head way too often to and was never answered. It didn’t bug her that she was closer to guys, but sometimes it would be nice to have a few friends that were girls so they could talk about all the things she couldn’t with guys. A smirk came to her face and then it disappeared into a smile, “Oh!” She gasped in a small tone, “I totally forgot about how important that was. Now I can see why she isn’t a teacher.” Bringing her down to her cheek in one of those gasping faces, she held back giggles that were sure to come on later. There it was, the sign that the night was getting to her. If she was thinking without the haziness of lack of sleep, she would be hoping he didn’t ask anything to personal, only because he was going to get the truth from her if he did. Night was like a drug that made a person say what they were thinking.

Shrugging only slightly when Blaise mentioned about dirty work, a small smile came to her face. Glad that they’ve gotten to a point where they could tease in a small way without blow up in each others faces, which probably would have happened if it was the night of the dinner party, Ariana smirked only a little bit, letting the jacket conversation go way beyond gone in the conversations they were having. Her gaze followed his back to the dorms and they stayed there for a longer moment than him. Listening to him talk about how she was right, she felt good about herself. “Glad I’m not the only who is treated like a servant when it comes to cleaning and doing other things that are pointless in many ways.” Her voice sounded dull and she slowly moved her gaze back. Thinking out loud Ariana spoke, “This is an odd night if you ask me. Nothing like this has happened often. Nor did I expect it to happen.”

Chuckling at what he said she just nodded, “Things can change, and I just didn’t expect it to be as quick as this did. If it changed for you, because it sure changed for me.” Ariana looked at him and sighed for a moment she felt at some sort of peace. It was a nice calming none hectic way they could just talk and just be themselves. Even though Ariana wasn’t different around other people, she felt that she wouldn’t be as open as she would with Blaise if they weren’t alone. A slightly paranoid thought went back to him saying something about someone listening to them under the cloak of invisibility. She looked around and let out a breath that she was holding in for that moment of time. Looking back at him she shrugged when he made it sound like an observation, “Yeah.” It was blunt enough, but there was nothing to add onto it. When he replied to her about Umbridge she rolled her eyes, “If I had a teacher like her ever again. I swear I would move to a different class. They are pointless.” It was true, if they were going to learn something by baby stuff they gave them to be protected, what was the point of even coming to class? Lost in her thoughts she was brought out of it very quickly by him grabbing her hand. Visibly tensing, she fought back the urge to take her hand back. What was that? She didn’t hold her hand out for him to touch, but in that case it was sort of dark and the scar was faded, but still clear that you could read it. Looking away from her hand she kept her gaze on the couch, part of her cheeks were a bit pink for the sudden grasp of her hand, but she was still tense. Looking back up at him she rolled her eyes with a laugh, “Oh you know. My mind. After her telling me to do something for her. Saying no. I could go on.” Laughing slightly at the sound of why she was in hold of the scar that wouldn’t come off her skin. "But that pen was one of the most painful things I've ever encountered in my life." Ariana added on a more serious note.

Ariana blinked, part of her knew she wouldn’t get as emotional anymore about the subject to him. Only because she spoke of it before to him, and he listened to her. It was all she really needed to become less emotional about it, but she told him and she cried which made her feel weird after that but she let her emotions get the better of her. She would have been bothered only a little bit more if it was the anniversary, and she wouldn’t be sitting there with him laughing and doing this if it was. She would be in her dorm alone, or outside where she could think alone with that. Shrugging, “That would have bugged me if we weren’t talking like this now. But now the idea doesn’t bug me as much.” Ariana watched him slightly when he came annoyed with her and her misunderstanding, but she was lucky enough not to be annoyed back. “Oh. I get it now,” Blinking the smallness of what she said, “That’s true. That’s probably why your in Slytherin other than RavenClaw isn’t it? I mean you look like you would be fine in the house if they didn’t have what they have now…” Her voice seemed to go off into her own world; curious what house she would be in if she wasn’t as against the other blood types. He never answered or replied on the dating or kissing thing and she slightly thanked him inwardly for that. She wasn’t exactly sure if he just didn’t want to talk about it or he never has. Ariana sat there getting more used to having her hand in his but she still wasn’t used to the feeling, when she was going to comment on it Blaise spoke before her and it brought a true smile to her face “Much better.” Pulled slightly to look at him before she could think of what to say she blinked to take a glance at her and she blinked “Could you let go of my hand now?” There was no bitterness in the sentence that is most likely to be heard with it. She did enjoy how it gave her ice cold fingers warmth, though she wasn’t really sure if they would both take it the wrong way. Even if Ariana knew it wasn't, she would still doubt her self in the later future if it did tend to come to her head and confuse her with all her fears in one. Fighting back a shudder she glanced around, taking a long blink which felt good in a way. Just to take in and Savor the warmth she got inside her hand for only a few moments, or minutes. She was loosing track of time, but she didn't care. It was nice to talk to someone who you thought you would hate forever, but then changed in the night you both were up late. I could get used to this... Us being friends of course... She thought to herself, causing a small smile to come to her face. It was like she was holding a little secret inside that she could share with herself, for a good feeling and no apparent reason.

[Awhh She's a sweetie in a non-sweet way? LONG POSTS THAT TOOK ALMOST THREE HOURS FOR THE WIN! ]

[Blaise Zabini]

Although it was never actually suggested Blaise laughed a bit at the idea of Draco admitting it – they were talking as though it were real fact rather than a theory that Blaise came up with. It wasn't a hard theory to come by though based on the fact that Draco almost constantly had Crabbe and Goyle near him to make himself look better. Someone with Blaise's intelligence (not to mention influence and family reputation) would only serve to diminish the effect. As long as Crabbe and Goyle were around when Draco was near Blaise in public it probably didn't matter. Being compared to them was one of the reasons that Blaise preferred to be around Draco when he was alone, so that people would stop assuming that he had given up his own life to be Draco's little follower. How they could assume that anyway based on his test scores and avoidance of most social contact was beyond him, but it was obviously still the case even going into seventh year since Ariana had mocked him for it. “It sort of goes both ways, doesn't it? Draco wouldn't want someone who could match wits with him because I wouldn't follow him blindly, and I wouldn't want to be one of his goons because I have my own ambitions. None of them are to ride on anyone else's coattails for influence.” He wondered what Crabbe and Goyle were going to do once they were out of school, or whether they were going to be able to pass their final one. Wait – of course they were, because their fathers were death eaters and they were running the school right now. Outside of school people like Draco Malfoy still ran certain things so maybe they actually had a good idea in following him to an extent. He shook his head to remind himself to get back to the conversation at hand. “That's why I don't want to join the Death Eaters, either.” When she said that she wasn't the welcome type, he wasn't completely sure what that meant but it did remind him yet again of the party. He smirked and raised his eyebrows slightly. “There is nothing wrong with not being welcoming. If it's in your nature all the better, that way I won't be the only one getting in trouble if we have dinner again. Of course, my mother does seem to have a blind spot for other peoples' children. Probably just trying not to get on their parents' bad side.” It seemed to work well for her so far. This time she wasn't that far off the mark. Ariana obviously had moments where she wasn't as polite as a parent would like her to be but she was intelligent and seemed to know her worth in this world. It was the kind of thing that Desideria looked for in her own friends. It didn't hurt that other than the actual dinner most of the time it was Blaise and Ariana talking separately from the others. Had his mother overheard the things that they said to each other Blaise had the feeling that she would still have found a way to cover it up. A female around Blaise's age wasn't exactly a common guest there. When she said that she wouldn't waste time in getting him to go away, Blaise laughed, because that wasn't a surprise at all. “Oh yeah? What exactly would you do to get me to go away? If you wanted me to. Jinx me, insult me?” In either case he would have defended himself. Good thing that they were getting along, otherwise Snape (Slughorn was the new head of house, Blaise thought, but it was hard to remember that) would be very grumpy when he found the mess of the common room. The rest of the students likely wouldn't even notice until the morning either if the snores that he'd heard earlier were the usual. He was lucky because when he went to sleep, it was usually easy to block people out once he was even in the beginning stages of sleep. A fight with words was his preference anyway but once they lost their tempers it wouldn't matter which he would rather have. Listening to her tale on gossip, he shook his head slowly. It wasn't hard to believe that she was telling the truth because the stereotype of men was there for a reason. That they would do that and people would later gossip about it was not at all unusual. “People can misunderstand anything if they want to. On occasion it is a real accident, like when you are just in the room and you hear something that sounds like one thing but turns out to be another. It's one thing if it actually concerns you... But if it's someone else then why should it be so important that you know? People don't really talk about me. I suppose it could be because I don't volunteer anything that they could use.” What were they going to gossip about, except perhaps his mother? What student he had slyly tripped while outside reading, using his wand in a whispered jinx? They didn't know about that. Everything that they did know was so uninteresting that all they could do was make up unusual things that he must be doing because no one was that uninteresting. Suddenly that was so believable that he was sure he had been talked about once or twice. Good thing he didn't know that Lindsey and Ariana had actually done so. He thought of how to word the difference between pure-bloods and half-bloods other than what people would tell her. That was the secret to pure-bloods. They were so involved in themselves that they only saw what they wanted to see and neglected to remember that others didn't have a built-in filter. “Well... depending on who you ask, a person is pure-blooded as long as they have all magical grandparents. I don't know what I think of the whole thing, only that I wouldn't marry anyone who was less than half-blood.” He frowned as he realized to have pure-blooded kids himself that would mean looking at their family tree. Getting someone to let you do that was hard, at least not one that they had revised. And what was the point then? “It's no secret anymore that people simply take the people off their family tree that don't seem like they should be there. Everyone does it but no one admits it. Have you seen your family tree?” That question had several reasons for needing to be asked. Though most he wasn't going to talk about openly.

“I mean that you're like a cat because you've gotten comfortable and didn't want to get up because of it. I don't know if it's an insult or a compliment... Just an observation, really.” Blaise was fighting not to laugh even as he explained his reasoning to her. It seemed obvious to him what he meant even if it did come out of nowhere. Sometimes, when you knew exactly what you were talking about, it was even more difficult to translate it to someone else. But the connection between her not wanting to move and cats was obvious otherwise wasn't it? The fact that she learned from herself as well as other people showed that she knew that you didn't learn everything in one place. It was good to know that he wasn't the only Slytherin with brains, as it was hard to keep that in mind when you were sitting near Crabbe and Goyle in a class or in the great hall. He gave an approving nod. “That's the best way to learn in my opinion. I read a lot but I think that I learn more from the people around me. Especially...” He trailed off, about to say his mother. It was her life experience that he was comparing to his own rather than things that she had told him herself. And saying that he learned from, say, her love life... it was something that he probably shouldn't cover with someone that he had just met so he quickly stopped talking about it, looking slightly annoyed. Not at her but at himself and his mother. Her thoughts on marriage instantly reminded him of what Lindsey had said about wanting to have children early... whether because of the times or because she wanted to pass on her last name as well, it was something he'd been thinking about so he decided to share it without giving Lindsey's reason or her name. “Some people want to get married sooner because of what is going on in the world. I want to delay it as long as possible. I'm doubtful about whether or not I'm going to find someone that I want to be with. But if I'm meant to spend my life with them I want to at least know them better than I know most people. That won't be too hard I imagine.” He didn't know most people all that well at all! In fact, he didn't even know the first names of a majority of his classmates which suited him fine. But his wife-to-be would of course have to be someone that he knew better than that. If Lindsey was right about it being a friend that gave him four options. Pansy, who was Draco's girlfriend, Isabella who was out of school now and thus hard to get into contact with, Lindsey who didn't ever seem that interested in him other than as friends, and then the girl who was before him now. But they hadn't been friends long so he didn't want to spook her with the idea, even if he was only joking about it. “The main reason that my mother wants me to get married soon is because she's worried that I'm going to die and there won't be anyone to pass on the family name. I think that's another thing that she was worrying about other the summer, where people were being killed.” Was it cruel that a smile came to his face when he thought of his mother's worries, or was it just slightly patronizing? She had nothing to worry about. But this new theory made sense. His mother had done amazingly well at ignoring him during part of his childhood and suddenly she was panicking over him leaving the house? The times hadn't changed her love for him. Rather it had reminded her of what the family had in stake should he die. He felt a little bit upset about it but wouldn't let it show on his face. “If you're able to, then you should choose who you'll marry. Parents and other people can try to get you with someone as soon as possible but only you'll know what will actually last. If they want you to be divorced and bitter before you've had any children they'll have trouble talking you into doing it a second time. A friend would be the best choice especially if you're planning on marrying early. You would already know more about them than someone that you were only looking to marry...” He said that because he believed it and also because he was feeling bitter toward his mother. He thought it an insult that suddenly she was trying to marry him off to people. Before the end of fifth year or so Desideria was still bragging that she believed that Blaise would make the wrong decision, that he would never choose the wrong sort. Even if it was the times that were getting her down couldn't she respect him enough to understand he would make the right choices? Because it would make the moment much more dramatic while they'd been getting along so well Blaise didn't say any of this aloud. It was something he had to think over before he discussed it with everyone. When Ariana said that the boys dating different girls than they married was pointless, Blaise thought it over for a moment and then shrugged. “I don't know if it's such a bad idea. I think that the people that I'm physically attracted to are the same that I would think to marry. But a lot of people aren't that way... If they date they can get what they want out of their system before they're married to someone that they need. Then there is less chance of an affair. But the person who gets the wrong impression of the person that they're dating, who believe that they might marry them one day, they're getting the worst end of the deal and might not even realize it until it's over.” He realized then a double standard in himself. He seemed more likely to forgive a woman for being used but not the men. Whether it was a sexist thought or just a tendency to give women more pity and credit he wasn't sure. Both sexism and a concern for the well-being of the girls that he knew were present in Blaise. He couldn't possibly know which one was more dominant. “The girls lose their last name to the man. That's exactly my point! Whatever they do they're no longer bringing shame to their own family, they're bringing it to their husbands. A bad thing for the man if the marriage goes sour.” He ticked a little bit, shaking his head. So Ariana's mother had been hinting at her, too. At least his mother wasn't the only mental one. He felt less creepy about mentioning it after she shared that bit of information. “They... were probably looking for something that would happen sooner rather than later. It could be worse. I feel comfortable around you. I'm astounded that my mother would even be on the right track.” That was one hell of a compliment coming from Blaise.

She hadn't completely rejected his idea to stand up to the Death Eaters if it came to it, but she was still reluctant. He supposed that wasn't much of a surprise because of how dangerous it was. Once you stood up to one of them, they would know you. Especially with the pure-bloods who most likely had prior associations with at least one of the Death Eaters. He frowned at her for speaking as though he meant it was an immediate thing. “Don't worry – I'm not suggesting that we stand against the school right now. We'll hold our ground until we have to. Other people have already started to talk back to Snape and the Carrows anyway. I think the best thing to do would be wait to see what happens to them first.” Blaise would have bet money that a self-righteous Gryffindor was the first one to stand up to the Carrows and Snape. And that was disregarding what had happened at the feast because more people than just one were involved. Before long, there would come word of what the punishments were and how far they had come. He was pretty sure that they were more creative than what Filch could come up with. Then again, that was Filch operating under Dumbledore's care, so it could be a lot different now. Was Filch still here? He didn't care to check earlier and had yet to wander around at night to find out. He sighed a little. So far it had all been distracting, knowing that it was going to be so different.“If I can I just want to have a normal year.” What a dream that was. Already it had been anything but. It wasn't even only the staff changes! It was the students reacting to it. It was going to be different, they should just cope with it quietly to avoid getting into trouble. Then again he had had time since getting his school supplies to think on the new year. Other than Draco who would probably brag openly about it, he was pretty sure that he was one of the only ones who knew ahead of time. Now he was wondering if he should have thanked Draco rather than being secretly amused and annoyed at once that the boy would always have something to brag about just because he made a poor choice here or there. “What do you think of Draco Malfoy, anyway?” he asked suddenly. “We talked about Crabbe and Goyle and I can tell how much they bother you, but what about the ringleader?” He figured they should be careful about discussing him since his connections still made him safer than anyone else among the student body. Unless his father's arrest was still having an effect on the family's influence. Ariana had basically just made fun of Blaise's mother, and most people would be in trouble for that. But she was safe since he had started it anyway. A peculiar look came over her and he gave a half-pretend exasperated sigh. “You're going to laugh again, aren't you?” He figured he could put up with her insanity since it came with the rest of her tolerable qualities.

Blaise scoffed rather loudly. “If you want to talk about being treated like a servant you should hear what my mother made me do when I got back from shopping in Diagon Alley. When I went there, I met up with Draco and we went to the Leaky Cauldron. There some Ravenclaw girl came over for the newspaper. I suppose that's what started it, what with Ravenclaws being so nosy all the time... I found out some of the changes that the school was going through. I tried not to tell my mother, but she could tell that I was hiding something. When I didn't tell her, she made me go around and clean the house all over again! I think she was under the impression that I might sneak out at night or something. Which, I might add, I've never done in my life.” It reminded him of the boys and girls sneaking out at night, which wasn't something that he wanted to emulate any time soon. He was an adult now, if he wanted to leave the house he could just do it. If he wanted to leave the house without an interrogation, though, he was going to have to be more careful the next time. At least he had left out the fact that two Ministry workers were in the Leaky Cauldron when they were. “I would have told you about the school changes if I saw you again before the feast.” He added this on without really thinking about it. There was no reason not to tell her. There was also no reason to tell her, either, as she found out when everyone else did, and that's all that she was, someone else. Wasn't she? Her statement confused him for a moment because it seemed to come out of nowhere. “I didn't ask you. What's so odd about it? Talking to me?”

“Defense Against the Dark Arts was always pointless... Though, to be honest, I thought that Lupin and Moody were our best teachers.” He was probably the only Slytherin who was ever going to admit that Lupin's hands-on lessons were useful to him, even though he was a werewolf and very obviously poor. “Lupin introduced us to the Dark Creatures, and Moody... well, you know... the imposter... He taught us the dark spells. And he was right. We can't exactly protect ourselves against something that we don't recognize. Umbridge's lessons, on the other hand, would have us falling at the Death Eaters' feet, if we lived that long. Since we'll be learning Dark Arts rather than Defense Against the Dark Arts it might end up being a good thing. The best defense is a good offense.” Where had that saying come from? He had no idea. And praise for teachers? He guessed that part came from the realization that even though they were all mediocre teachers at best, they had a lesson for them. Teachers couldn't be judged to the same standards as everyone else was. He would never make friends with an impoverished werewolf but he could always learn from him. He looked at Ariana blankly as though daring her to question his views on it. Most wizards other than him were prejudiced against werewolves. He was one of them so if she accused him of being a sympathizer he would probably get a bit annoyed with her. He sighed a little bit at the thought of Umbridge, undeniably the worst of them. His laid-back nature was the only thing that allowed him to get through the year without a scar to match Ariana's. “When Umbridge was the teacher I played along even though I thought that everything that she said was rubbish. Did you know that members of the Inquisitorial Squad could get away with not getting homework as long as they pretended that they were spending the time looking for a trouble maker? Not that I would anyway most of the time, but for Divination class I probably would have.” He tried to remember why he had taken the class. He thought that it had something to do with a relative of his insisting that the art was worth knowing. Who wouldn't want to predict the future? Blaise was skeptical about it from the beginning because it was a form of magic that was questionable at best. But he hadn't been prepared for the poor excuse of a teacher that Trelawney was. When she said that the pen was one of the most painful things, he shook his head. Despite what his words might imply he didn't mean to give her a lecture and was only giving a sort of warning not to act out again. “Then you should be more careful this year. If a pen hurt that badly then imagine what the Cruciatus they're likely employing this year would feel like.”

Blaise shook his head with a smirk. “It doesn't bother me either, to be honest. If it's someone that I like at our house that means that there isn't time or room for the people that I don't like.” Then again, if she bothered him he wouldn't have invited her to come to his house whenever she wanted to get away. Even though he had already expressed his thoughts about it he couldn't help but words things in a way where you weren't quite sure if you were getting an insult or praise. Backhanded compliments were his specialty. They weren't normally this easy to see through, of course. Regarding the houses, Blaise said, “I don't know that it says anything good about me but the main reason I think the house placed me in Slytherin over Ravenclaw is self-preservation. I know that I'm smart but I wouldn't use what I know to help people other than the ones that I care about. The company that I keep probably does have something to do with it though.” Blood status alone didn't have a lot to do with the sorting from what he'd seen. But how much importance you placed on blood status did. He thought of Ernie Macmillan in particular only because he was a Hufflepuff prefect. He knew that he was a pure-blood and he knew that one of his best friends was a muggleborn. This was only known by Blaise because he had been petrified when they were in their second year. People who associated that closely were more likely to marry muggleborns as well! That would be like Blaise marrying someone like Hermione Granger. Her hand (Ariana's, not Hermione's) was rather soft as he would have imagined. Not that he had before. Though looking at her, he guessed that all of her skin was so soft. He had almost forgotten though that she would probably want it back until she commented on it. Laughing in a slightly embarrassed way that he of all people should be so absent minded, he looked up and her and decided to tease her. “Are you sure that you want me to let go?” It wasn't as awkward or uncomfortable as he would have imagined. Like the silences their words left behind.

[Ariana Shallow]

Staring at him when he started to laugh a little bit she raced through what she said, and nothing was funny. All she could do was stare at him with a confused look on her pale face. But once he began talking she had to be curious enough to ask, right? Wrong. She didn’t laugh about it, she just sat there dumbfounded and she blew the strand of hair out of her face, which automatically fell back in front of her face again. She let out a exasperated sigh, but didn’t bother to move it because he started talking again. Ariana nodded slightly and then thought it over again, before she knew what she was saying“Well I still think you’re the smartest Slytherin I’ve ever met. So I have a feeling he is intimidated by you.” Hey, a hell of a complement again. She smiled slightly when he said something about not following Draco, “I guess I should apologize then from saying you were.” She blinked and stared at him, why must she keep saying sorry or complimenting him, why? Ariana glanced at him when he went off into his own thoughts and she turned her head back down towards her legs and she let the silence take over. It wasn’t awkward if they have noticed it in the beginning. She was getting used to it which made her happy. Her eyes went back to him and when he shook his head, bringing him out of this thoughts she bit back saying something sarcastic before he spoke, is that seriously why he didn’t want to join the death eaters? Because they are in his way of his own ambitions? Many people are having their own ambitions but that really stopped him from wanting to become a Death Eater. Sighing“Ah. I just don’t want to become one because I don’t like being grouped so to say.” slightly on the face that what he said could be true from both points of views, In her daze of thoughts she grumbled something to herself and then looked back up at him with a smirk on her face when he commented on what her nature might be. “I’m pretty sure that my mother does the same thing to other people’s children. But if we do have another party dinner thing, I wouldn’t be unwelcoming if you aren’t.” She smirked giving him a look basically asking him if he would be unwelcoming. She paused and then blinked, “You got in trouble after the dinner?” She asked curiously staring at him in confusion, she knew she didn’t but maybe he could just be read that well… When he laughed she smiled a bit, her eyes grew a little bit with laughter, “Well…whatever gets you away from me the quickest I guess.” She blinked with a grin, “I don’t know maybe even both if you are too slow to realize it.” Ariana shrugged with a small roll of her eyes. A smirk followed her laugh when she stared around the room and then chuckled, “I wonder what would happen if you and I didn’t get along… Like tonight.” Her voice was rather happy sounding. When he shook his head after her little story of her moment for drama she sighed, glad when he believed her. “Well you’re lucky I must say if you haven’t been a victim of one of their go arounds with drama and gossip. Exactly what I thought too. If it isn’t you why care what is going around. I just don’t see the hype of everything that they say…” Ariana looked at him and crossed her legs Indian style. Obviously he didn’t like it either and she sighed, “No one really does volunteer if they are not part of that group. Unless they really do care that much about what is said about them and being part of a thing for even only a moment in time.” Her gaze went to the fire when he spoke about purebloods and halfbloods , her mind went curious on how he was going to put it. Smirking slightly she looked at him when he spoke, “Well then I’m glad I asked you. You have a more…reasonable? Approach to this kind of thing compared to the rest of them. But yeah I guess that makes a lot more sense now.” Ariana paused and looked at him. Blaise was reasonable about this, like he sorta knew the way she got things, but again anyone could. Her eyes fell on the couch and she blinked, turning her gaze back to their hands. Surprised that she forgot about him holding it, a smile came to the edges of her mouth then she looked back up at him, her smile faded not wanting to give him a wrong idea. When he asked if she has seen her family tree she was caught off guard and she furrowed her eyebrows, “Yes I have actually. My family has been pureblood for at least three centuries.” Her gaze fell on him and she was curious a little too curious, “Why?” she asked staring at him. It was a long stare that would scare the younger years away into her telling them. Having a feeling that he wouldn’t just say it out loud she wanted to know even more about it.

A smirk came to her face when he explained why he thought of her as a cat; well how she reminded him of a cat. Ariana wasn’t asking for an explanation exactly why she was, she was just confused how random it came to her. Shrugging, “Well. Some people would use it as an insult towards me. Calling me lazy, honestly I wouldn’t mind if they did call me a cat though.” A quick thought came out of her mouth, it just sort of slipped, “I wish I was a cat at the moment. I would like to have fur to keep me warm. But I don’t. All I have is your hand giving my hand warmth, while the rest of me is cold.” Ariana sighed, and she rubbed her arm without thinking about it. Raising her eyebrows when he nodded towards her, she nodded back. Sitting up a little straighter, “Hm. You are one of the most different guys I have met, Blaise.” She paused waiting him to go on after he said especially. Ariana started at him for a long moment and then opened her mouth, “What? Especially what?” She asked her voice was confused enough that she partly confused herself. Frustrated in a little way that he just went on to the next subject, Ariana stared at him for a long moment. Forgetting herself being frustrated at him she listened to what he had to say. Her face went into something that looked like a frown, only because he yet to think there was someone who would never meet his standards, also frowning because people would be somewhat selfish and tries to have kid while this was going on, so they would pass down the family name is someone was to die. This would leave their kid and or kids in the danger that they were in, it never her stopped her from speaking up before. But this time she wasn't exactly sure how to put her words in a good way of saying it. "Well those people may choose that way. But I don't see the point. If you think you are threatened enough that you could die...what's the point of putting your future kids in danger too? To me it's mental because that would be saying something like. I want this family to go on while we are basically in the worse stage of my life." Pausing to look at him she shrugged again, "Well if or if not that was the case. Leaving options like you said you are going to do, is a smart idea in a sense. It gives you a longer time to think things over if you really do or do not want to get married and have someone's heart break in the future," Once again, Ariana frowned at him and she sighed, "I know there is someone out there for you. Maybe you would find just the right person in your mind. But when you look at your standards they could meet most, but not all. That's when you need to lower if of course, unless they are muggles or muggle-born." It was more of a thought coming out of her mind but obviously it went along with what he was thinking. But why would he be so bland about not finding someone, sure keeping your options open for a while is nice, but wouldn't you want at least someone in your life you could die with so you’re not alone? Her mouth opened just a little bit and she stared at him she was sure he didn't have much people around him... but whatever. Listening to what he said about his mother made her jaw drop in a slight way, closing it so it was back to what it was before with only a little bit of his opened a smirk came to her face, "Well doesn't that make you feel special?" It was a sarcastic comment but heck, if her mother was probably thinking the same thing. She would feel down-graded in a sense. People are always being killed, day in and day out. So why not just let Blaise be for awhile without worrying about him. Pausing to think of what she was thinking of before, she tilted her head softly to the side. Looking him straight in his dark brown eyes, "Do you worry about her, Blaise?" It was a serious question. I mean sometimes you want to kill your mom for doinng something stupid, but this was a question she wanted to know from him. If he really hated his mother that much. Her gaze fell on his smile and she furrowed her eyebrows, "You confuse me with your random emotions..." she muttered. Ariana twitched slightly and smiled, "Uh, have you met my mother? She would try to control everything I do with someone if I wasn't away every time we go to school. But hopefully she would get to see the freedom in what she gives me when it comes to who I want to spend the rest of my life with." Ariana stared back at her hand that was in his and shook her head slightly with a chuckle, "I don't think I would be able to listen to another word they said if they made me bitter and divorced. But it would feel good to prove them right about how much I can help myself." She apused when she finally registered the fact that she would probably choose a friend, dusting off her shoulder and then playing with the end of her hair made it slightly unconfortable, "That would leave me with two choices now if I were to choose a friend." Keeping her gaze down and avioding eye contact with him, because she felt like she didn't have much to go with when she got older. Finn, had a different lifestyle than her. Something about him seemed nice enough, but she wasn't really sure how much she would let or like that relationship go. Then there was the guy who sat in front of her, she gave a nice thought of what it would be like, but she shook the thought away too and she looked up to him and she rolled her eyes slightly, "I have a feeling neither of them see me as a target. Who would? I became an emotional wreck after Seth. I have to admit it's getting better though. Much better than where I started." Naturly she was a nice girl who saw some what of the brighter side of things, but now she was more of the pessimestic person. But now that she really thought it over, she felt better when she found someone who she could talk to. Thanking herself quietly in her head that she said the right words to Blaise, to the fact that they had almost the same opinion about marriage. His words made sense to her when he spoke, other than her mother who was always being, ‘oh! You will know when I meet him.’ Or something like that, showing slightly that she had the higher opinion over who she was to get married too. Rolling her eyes at the thought she turned her head away from the face of Blaise. Talking suddenly her voice sounded as if it was deep in thought, “That’s rather smart, what you think. Other than the others. But what you say seems true enough to me. If I started to think of it more that way, then I start to go double sided on this. I mean I would like to have the guy date all he wants so he gets it out of his or her system so they don’t do anything metal in the marriage.” Pausing before answering his last sentence, “They are only setting themselves up for something that will break their heart in the end.” Thinking of something that most girls talked about when they got back from the summer with another girlfriend of theirs is how deep their conversation got when they were about to go to sleep. Ariana’s eyes glazed over in thought, always thinking that it just happened girl to girl at a younger age when they had their puppy dog crushes and loves. But they were adults, thinking about what they were going to do in life… Curious now why she has never experienced this before hand, but to her this seemed like a way to… actually she had no clue what it was to her. When he explained how the girls could bring more the shame to the guy she shook her head with an exasperated sigh, “Well then to fix that problem they seem to have about having a marriage go sour. Is to have a more of a higher standard and sort of test around with the person for while.” Irking her to some point that people would just go all pity and shame someone else’s family when it could have been either of the man or the woman at fault. But some people did choose which one they felt more pity for, but for Ariana. She was most likely not to pick a side or anything, just see that they are both somehow to blame in their situation. Opening her mouth she spoke a quick thought, “Well the guy shouldn’t be so absent minded about who he brings to the family, now should he? If he had married her, it was for his judgment. If it was for the money per-say I would see how the relationship went sour.” Questioning him, it wasn’t exactly a rude comment towards him. She was just stating the fact that they could have gotten something to go past his view of how it would bring shame to the guy more than the girl. What he said after she asked, Ariana wasn’t really sure how to react, staring at Blaise, her mouth slightly open, it looked like she was shocked, which wouldn’t be a wrong assumption, Feeling a bit proud in the comment he gave her, she forced herself not to smile. Something like that she hasn’t been told, part of everything that happened so far has been something that she hasn’t been expecting from others to tell her. Not really sure what to take of it she went into her thoughts, what the hell? Did he just say that I could me marriage material? Ariana shifted slightly and blinked, she wasn’t sure if she should answer him or just leave it as is. Looking at him she blinked, “Thanks, Blaise.” She meant it too, partly because she never thought of herself as marriage material. But as she began to think about it, she thought it was better not to get to her. “You aren’t too bad yourself I guess.” It was true; he wasn’t bad to her once so ever. Thinking back to the people not thinking of her as someone who would marry her, she smiled slightly and then thought to herself, don't get used to it. It won’t happen when they are gone. They were speaking nonsense...right? Or did they really mean it? That's what scared her.

Staring at him she wondered if he took what she said the wrong way, when she thought what she meant to herself was completely simple. Don’t worry… it caught her off guard. Did she look like she was worrying over something that wouldn’t affect her in much of a way? Tilting her head to the side she sighed and she laughed slightly only because she could see someone speak their mind like she did once which ended up with her in tears in front of a teacher. Ariana could see it in her head clearly, “That sounds good enough for me. I would enjoy watching people mess with the top people of the school.” A smirk came to her face and she moved her eyes to the side and she shook her head, maybe he expected her to join in with him. Because it seemed like he had his mind set on something without giving much of her a choice of what was going to happen in the future. Most likely she would object for being told what to do by another student; she didn’t mind him telling her what to do mostly, unless it put her life in danger which has happened more than once. But she wasn’t so sure if she was willing to do it for someone she really just met over the summer, but oh well she couldn’t think of what else she would do if they became closer. Her eyes glittered and she turned her head up to the ceiling when the green ripples hit through the glass and the moon shone in between them, causing her to smile taking in what it was like before all hell was bound to break loose. Ariana looked at Blaise and sighed dreamily because of what it would be like to have a normal year, “Something’s we can just make up in our head. Even though it may be different and bad, but the times you have for freedom and old times. You should go back to hanging out with your friends and being you without feeling the need to prove yourself for Snape and the Carrows.” Her voice sounded lost in her own thoughts and she smiled lightly, “I want it too. So I’ll try to make the best of it. Even when times get rough.” Her gaze went back down to Blaise and she kept the smile on her face before slightly shifting her body staring at him and blinked, “Are you nervous…you know about the year? How the students are going to act…?” It seemed like a stupid question, but oh well it seemed like something to ask, because he didn’t seem much like a person who would just get over something that quick. Her eyes went back to him when he suddenly mentioned Draco. Her eyes faded over for a moment and then she went to her thoughts and was curious what she did think of him. It wasn’t much but they weren’t enemies so to say. “He’s cocky. But other than that he seemed like we could be friends…” Her eyebrows furrowed again when she became curious where it came from. She shook her head and then sighed, “[b]More like acquaintances to be honest. He isn’t the person that I would like to get to know as much as other people…”

[/b][/color] She said in a whisper. Ariana suddenly felt cautious of her surroundings, one bad thing she could say about him could end in a disaster. Glancing around she sighed, she was probably over reacting. But better safe than sorry. The nervousness went away when she turned her head back to him and smirked, “I was. But if that bugs you that much, I bet I can live without laughing over that.” Her lighter gray eyes stared him straight in the eye, part of her wanted to see what he would say about her mocking his mother, but then again. He didn’t mention anything about it. Now confused about how she didn’t get her hand smacked or something like that for mocking her. Part of her was surprised she didn’t laugh to make him go away if she wanted to. But apparently she wanted to have this conversation with him. Mentally slapping herself for not laughing she frowned on the outside, what was it about them tonight. Knowing well enough that he wasn’t the person who would let things go just like that, and for her changing her reactions for the other person sake.

Immediately getting her attention, she widened her eyes; her hand gripped his slightly from the sudden outburst. Hell that scared her. Ariana looked at him, and he thought she was the loud one… Not speaking until he was done she had time to think, the whole house of cleaning only because she could read right through her son. Staring at him, her mouth ajar she blinked. His words coming together like he seemed peeved that he cleaned the whole house. Feeling slightly bad for him because he had to clean the house, most likely by himself because to her he had elves or whatever she didn’t have to do that work. She would walk in that part of his shoes, only because she didn’t have them and she had to do the cleaning herself when her parents were off doing whatever, Ariana never bothered to ask what her parents did when they left the house at random times together. They both worked for hours, so being alone was something she was used too. Except when she came back from school, because she was used to having everyone around her at all times. Before drawling out her thoughts to much she attempted to focus herself on the story. Making a curt snort she rolled her eyes, “Ravenclaws. I don’t expect any less from them.” At least that part caught her attention from his outburst to keep her mind on track. “That sucks. I can’t believe you can be read that well from your mother, like on here it’s like you have a safety lock on. Hiding things from the students. But at home, you let your guard down…correct?” It sounded like an observation but it was a question she had to ask him. Or it would bug her for awhile. Looking at him, something hit her off. But she would ask after he was done with the story, assuming he would take a little bit of questions at the end, “So you’ve never left the house. Well snuck out to be more precise on what I mean…” Who was Ariana to judge? She’s snuck out a few times only because she was angry with her family. Ariana sat there deep in thought for a moment and she shrugged slightly, “Normally most girls like bad guys who do all the bad stuff. But I think it’s more stereotypical that the bad guys are hotter in some sort of sense. But to me, I think a guy who follows rules and see’s no point in it if you are just bound to come back later on are the better ones.” Ariana admitted, not exactly saying she was attracted to him by any means, it’s just what she sees in her head as the better guy. Now that the story was over Ariana still wasn’t satisfied enough with what he gave her to work with. She wasn’t exactly sure if Blaise told his mother or not, because he just said what he assumed his mother was thinking. “Uhm…What were you hiding from her? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want too.” He kept her gray gaze on him and let her grip go off his hand, even if he was still holding it. “Sorry. Also! Did you tell her?” Ariana suddenly thought and felt like she was a little kid needing to know more information… Pausing when he went on after a while she nodded slightly, “Oh. So that’s what you were hiding from her… Never mind. its fine, no worries.” She shrugged lightly, it would have been nice to know but other than that, it wouldn’t bug her if he didn’t tell her because she was bound to find out later on. Looking up at him when he went quiet she paused on her thinking and saw him get a slight confused face that vanished right away. “Oh. Nothing really I just wasn’t expected us to get along so well if you know what I mean. I was ready for a rough start and then I hoped that we would slowly become talkative like this. But it just struck me as I don’t know.” Leaving the subject hoping it would drop she went on to listen what he had to say, of the other school teachers. Striking it off to her that he praised a werewolf. Most of her thought that he was against most off human things. Her gaze slowly faded towards the fire, sighing at something that wasn’t for him to be discovered that fast. Even though he knew it, what he didn’t know is how she actually felt about him... (Not Blaise.)

“Lupin was only a werewolf; it didn’t bug me as much as it did too others. He did teach us more than useful things to help us towards the future. The Bogart dresser made me interested in that class. It was the only respect I could of given towards it I guess, because you could see others weaknesses and what they thought what was funny to fix it. He had to be my favorite teacher for Defense against the Dark Arts.” Her gaze turned towards the door and sighing slightly, “I wish there was some sort of curse you could have used to backfire a killing spell.” It was to be spoken only inside her head, not on the outside. Slightly annoyed that it came out, she turned her gaze back to him, only to see he was looking at her blankly. Forcing herself not to move, she stared back at him, making an attempt to mock his face and mirror it back to him. She didn’t feel the need to comment on Moody’s imposters’ position, only because she hoped he got the point that she knew it, but she felt somewhat worthless when it came to it because she wasn’t really sure if the class taught her enough to satisfy her needs and questions. Only because they were on the topic of the teachers, she spoke her mind about what she thought about each of the teachers, “Quirrel was a stuttering mess, who made everything seem so horrid and different creatures so real. Then there was that one teacher that all the girls swooned over, except me because I saw right through his smile. Lockheart was a complete idiot with no chance of survival if you placed him on an island. Lupin was my favorite, despite how poor and that he was a werewolf. Moody or aka Crouch Jr. had to be second in that choice of favoritetism, although I hold a grudge over the spells that he taught us only because of that thing that happened. Then there came the horrid witch Umbridge. Snape…” Pausing trying to think of how to talk about him in her own words that were well enough to put any questions to rest, “he was good. But I liked him more as the Potions Professer. Carrow, isn’t going to end well with me. I have a question though, why is his sister teaching students about muggles? When obviously they are against them from my point of view.” Honesty dripped from her mouth. What he said was like a riddle in her own head, she didn’t get it but it could make sense if you thought about it for awhile. But still, he had to have made it up somewhere or it just sort of came out of the air into their jumbles of words. “I couldn’t let some things fly. Once something bugs me, it will bug me for a while, but if a person keeps going at it in front of me. They get me fired up about something that I find wrong, they are asking for it.” Her eye glimmered in anger at that very moment and then she stopped and listened to what he was saying about the little team the Umbridge made up, grimacing, “No I didn’t know that.” Pausing to laugh about his comment on the Deviations class. “God she was scary looking. Even as weird as she was and crazy, I have to admit I found that class to be one of the interesting ones.” Giving him a hard look, daring him to make a comment on how she was crazy for liking the class. Her gaze softened when he was talking, a quick thought that almost escaped her mouth she bit back at the last moment and said it in her head, Thanks mother… for that input I needed. Very happy and proud it didn’t escape her mouth, because she didn’t want to bring up any unneeded quarrels between them, but nothing made her stop thinking the thoughts she would say if they weren’t having a pleasant conversation. “It was like you were on fire.” Ariana said rather bluntly only because she felt the need to put that input in on how it felt. Nodding feeling the need to thank him in a small need, “I will remember that fondly. Thanks.” It could have sounded sarcastic if you really put the time in to think what she said, but who knows. His input could have been the difference between life and death if she ever got to angry at a teacher. Or the head master. If it was a difference between that, and she thought better of it, she would have to go to Blaise and say thank you again. Not really in the mood for dying after her brother. She wanted to live to see herself have a husband and kids (If she changes her mind.)

Ariana stared at him with a long stare before thinking of the words to answer him, but there were honestly no words that she could say to add on to her own words. But did think of her as a friend now? That’s what made her curious and she just nodded for an answer. Pulled or really a better way to put it is dragged into her thoughts but has his thoughts changed about her more than slightly…She knew she could be annoying and overly arrogant when she wanted to be, which tends to turn people in the opposite direction of friendship. But hey, she was starting to become interested in the person in front of her. He wasn’t as one sided as she thought he was, more round and dynamic in personality for to speak, which made her interested right away. Ariana listened to him and smirked slightly when he mention self-preservation. Like that wasn’t hard to notice, no one really enjoyed it if they were in a different house, because they all become so nosy in what everyone’s doing every second of every day. He was one of those rarer people who just sat back and watched everyone. “Ah. I’m pretty sure you hold yourself with more of the smart type of friends. To be honest you don’t seem like the kind of person who would go out of the way to help a friend, well just a friend in your eyes. With your logic, I mean. But in the future, if you do ever find yourself a perfect woman, I would see yourself doing it more, but you wouldn’t seem to be afraid to let her learn from her own mistakes without your input. But I don’t know, it just seems like it to me…” Ariana was rather proud of her skill of watching from afar for a small bit of her life, then being able to tell how that person works almost in a great sense. But who knew for him, he was quiet. Not sensitive, but yet everyone has their worst topics that could turn them from a normal person then next to a person who looks like they could just go and cry. Ariana was sure he saw her main one, but her worst fear? He saw it come out just only a little bit which he could forever hold against her if he realized what it was. Her second fear of being alone, has he seen it? Nah, she had always been playing it off like she could just live by herself for no matter how long. But on a different sort of note she needed to be able to have a person or people to be around. Ariana wasn’t really sure if she wanted to see what was his worst fear or touchiest subject to talk about… He seemed to block out all emotions in her eyes. Blaise’s words put a smile to her face because one, he seemed a bit caught off guard as if he forgot that he was holding her hand and two, he could joke. No, I’m not sure. Ariana thought to herself with a small sort of frown but then she opened her mouth and smirked, “Yes. Even though I enjoy the warmth…” this was a lie and truth to balance it out if he was ever to catch on. Part of her wouldn’t actual mind him knowing the full truth but the dislike of being left alone kept her from it. Looking back at him she rolled her eyes, “Well since you’re so eager to hold it… I have to live.” If that comment was enough to get his hand off of hers, so be it. Even though it was a teasing tone in her voice she was hoping it didn’t sound awkward to him. Looking at him, Ariana decided that her hand was going to just be unmoving so she moved her fingers and lightly traced his outer palm. Her conscious became interested and she looked down, and settled her eyes on her hand. It looked small and a bit fragile in his. Now more in depth of her thoughts she let the silence take over only to see if it was, to her it wasn’t. Odd… With others around and maybe if it was a different person she would have been straighter forward with the fact she didn’t enjoy her hand being held by someone Ariana has yet to trust. But part of her suddenly realized with a quick jolt that ran though her head, she did have trust for the semi-stranger. It was sudden for her, a little to quick for her liking…She would have to see for herself if she really did maybe it was just the night getting to her head.

[Sorry If some parts don't make sense. You could kinda get the idea that I give you. I am sick with a fever and vomiting. Along with no teeth ): But I do want you to post when you get on <3][/blockquote]

[Blaise Zabini]

“You think I'm the smartest Slytherin?” Blaise asked, looking rather surprised. She had specifically said that she had ever met so that counted a little less than a full statement. Still, with how quiet he was most of the time it was odd to hear. She knew him better than most Slytherins already which was saying something because they hadn't known each other that long. Another intelligent Slytherin was Theodore Nott, but he was even more obscure than Blaise was. So he compared himself to the only Slytherin (besides Crabbe and Goyle, who had kept appearing in their conversation) that he was sure Ariana knew. Other than Lindsey and Finn, that is. “I know that Draco's done spells that are beyond our level, but I think that his attitude makes people assume that he isn't. I guess that I haven't completely stayed off of your radar. Hard to do, though, when we're forced to be around each other.” If more people were as easy to get along with as Ariana and Lindsey were maybe Blaise would have been more social. He could only take one person who was like Draco Malfoy, for instance, before he were to grow frustrated. Lindsey and Ariana in their small ways broke the Slytherin mold. The Slytherin mold was better than any of the other three but it got old very quickly when they would all think like one entity and change their opinion because someone in their house thought that they should. When Ariana said that she should apologize for thinking that he was a follower, Blaise shook his head with a surprisingly friendly look on his face. “You don't actually have to apologize. If you've changed your mind about it then that means more to me than saying that you're sorry.” Saying sorry didn't hurt though. The words themselves weren't as important as the fact that she said them. 'Sorry' was one of the hardest words for some people to say. Even though she hadn't gone out and said it directly, the fact that she implied it was good enough for Blaise. If he accepted things that way he would imagine that she'd be more likely to as well. They wouldn't be those mushy friends who were sensitive about everything. Like Ariana had about him, he thought that her reasons were quite strange indeed. Wasn't she already labeled by being in Slytherin house? They already thought that everyone in that house was going to be a death eater one day. “That's your reason? You don't want to be grouped?” When she spoke of being unwelcoming Blaise gave a little shrug. “No. I think that my mother got the message. There's no reason to keep blaming it on you, is there? The worst that will happen is a third classmate, and then we can be unwelcoming to him or her instead.” That really wasn't fair, was it? But Blaise didn't care. Unless it was someone else at the school that he could tolerate, but that was extremely unlikely given the circumstances of Malfoy's family and that Lindsey didn't have parents for his mother to try to win over. No, he was pretty sure that most of their visitors were going to be adults anyway. Most of them he was careful with because they would have more of an impact on his future than the students that he was going to class with now. There would be time to regret not dating Millicent or sucking up to Crabbe or Goyle later, should their futures turn out differently than Blaise expected. An insult a curse drive Blaise away? That was a funny thought. “I would probably get both, in that case... because I would insult you back, and then we would jinx each other. It wouldn't get me away from you sooner.” In the morning they would find the two teenagers injured or passed out from battling. That, or they would have become friends after fighting each other physically. It seemed like their friendship, if it was indeed that, would never be conventional. That was good. Conventional was overrated. He smirked when she wondered what would happen if they didn't get along. Did she really need to ask? “Then we both probably wouldn't be sitting here.... I don't know what that means, exactly.” He frowned when she said that he was lucky not to have been a victim of the rumors. He was showing a broader range of emotions today than he usually did! “I can't be completely sure that they aren't talking about me because I refuse to associate with people who are that petty. If they are talking about me then it must not be that interesting because it hasn't reached me. I care because when they're in Slytherin house I'm sharing something with them, and I don't want to have anything in common with people who are like that.” It wasn't the full story but it was a big part of it. He cared more about being talked about personally than he did about... say, the muggleborns giving the school a certain reputation. That wasn't personal. Talking behind his back most certainly was. “Most of the time what they say doesn't matter. But if it's something that will hurt my future career then I want to know. Have you heard them say anything about me?” He didn't realize until after he said it that it was a paranoid question. She knew more about the people who spread rumors than he did so it was worth a question. But if she thought that he was one of Draco's followers, was that her own assumption or something that she'd heard from rumors? Maybe they really had found something 'interesting' about his life. “Three centuries? Were there any burn marks on the tree? Or any other way that they might have been removed from it? Even if they aren't in your direct line, like a cousin or something, almost every family has the odd person who strays from tradition. Few family trees, if any, are completely pure.” Since he wasn't one of the ones that shamed his family he wasn't bothered by telling her this. He didn't really want her to talk about it with other people. Since they shared the same basic view on gossip he was sure that wouldn't be a problem. It was his mother that would be embarrassed anyway. When she pressed him about why he was asking, Blaise looked away from her in a way that said quite clearly that he wanted the subject dropped. “It doesn't matter. I just like to know who I'm dealing with.”

“Considering it's so late, and we're still up, being called lazy wouldn't be the worst thing that they could come up with. Besides, I think that the worst part of being thought of as a cat would be the inevitable comparison to Mrs. Norris.” Not only because of Mrs. Norris creeping around and startling students who were up to no good, but also because she in turn was associated with Filch. He wondered suddenly if Ariana had any pets at Hogwarts. He would probably know had they had dinner over at her house rather than at his. Still, he decided not to ask that right now because it was just another question that would have been completely out of the blue. When she said that all but her hand was cold, Blaise took on a playfully lecturing voice. “I bet going to the girls' dorm for that sweater is starting to seem like a good idea right about now. Here, this is a temporary fix.” He took off the long-sleeved top that had a short sleeved one underneath. He wasn't going to tell her that he just slept that way because for some reason it was important that she not think that he was a wuss even about something as universal as the temperature. And anyway, would she be in a position to complain after Blaise offered her something to keep her warm? And not even in a perverted way like a lot of his classmates would have! Being told he was different from other guys, Blaise tilted his head. “Different? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” When mentally he compared himself to other people he had trouble seeing where it could be a bad thing. Most people were basically interchangeable from one to the other. The ones that weren't were even worse, because their differences were made a statement. So technically Blaise was happy about her words though since they had argued before he knew that she was also different from other girls and might be cleverly insulting him. Ariana pressed him for what his trailed off 'especially' meant and he told her, mostly to get her off of his back if shes really wanted to know. “Especially my mother... I don't know if it's because I'm around her so often or because her mistakes are more frequent or more blaring, but I learn from her. In my opinion her life hasn't got any meaning right now. She thinks that it does... But I find worth in different ways.” Holding parties and reminding people that you were still there felt empty somehow. What would Blaise do to find worth in his life? He wasn't sure, but he didn't think that he was going to make getting married his profession. He had money anyway. “To some people, it's more important to put the family name and the purity of the wizarding world ahead of their personal lives. I can understand that to an extent. But you are giving them more targets. When someone comes after another, most of the time they won't think of the family as outsiders to the event – they'll think of them as a way to get to the person they want gone. I don't know, though. If you think about it, everyone in our year was born during the last time that the Dark Lord was in power. Our families all decided to have children regardless.” People like the Malfoys probably thought that they were untouchable then. Some people probably had children on accident because they just wanted to be closer while they were alive, to be married and happy for a while before the Dark Lord reigned completely. The ones that made the most sense and were the least selfish were obviously the ones that never knew what was going on in the first place – the muggles. It was the only area in while Blaise would compliment them and it was only due to circumstance, not something that they actually did. When he heard the words do or do not want to get married he shook his head. “I have to get married. I have to have children. And I'll wait until I can't wait anymore... That doesn't mean that I have a perfect image in my mind right now. Actually... Lindsey thinks that making sure it's an acquaintance at least is the best way to go about it. And I'm inclined to agree with her.” It did keep coming back to that. Blaise could say that he just wanted someone who believed in the same things that he did, but that would possibly also include death eaters and he wouldn't let someone else drag him into the lifestyle that he avoided joining himself. “Special. Yeah.” He wasn't sure if Ariana was mocking him or being sarcastic about his mother in general. In any case, all he did was roll his eyes at the idea. Being asked if he was worried about his mother was not something that he liked much. He didn't want to be thought of a mama's boy more than he already was. He sort of had no choice but to be considered that as he had no other parent. So he spoke in a defensive tone. “I worry about her when I'm not at home. When I'm there it doesn't seem like anything could reach her anyway, so I don't worry so much. I don't know... When you're at school the ideas of what could happen are just as clear as what probably is – nothing. What about you? Do you worry about your mother, then?” Most of the students probably worried to an extent. But probably not as much as the parents were worrying about their kids. Only the most fanatical of death eaters would like what the school was going through right now. Most with children at the school would be concerned for their well-being. Or maybe it was one of those times where he was just 'spoiled' by having someone that cared about him. “If she does try to control you then make sure that you let her know that it's her fault that she didn't get as many grandchildren as she wanted. Or at least make sure that she knows that she's made you regret adulthood. Hm, maybe if my mother tries to get me to marry someone that I don't know I'll pretend that I'm engaged to a muggle.” The idea was laughable but Blaise had an inkling that even if his mother didn't completely believe him, she would be made uncomfortable by the suggestion. Like him, she was the sort of person to drop hints about something they were upset about in ways that others wouldn't quite pick up on. So again she would get the message that he wasn't pleased at all with her meddling. And if she didn't stop, he would choose someone that would embarrass her even though that someone would definitely not be a muggle. He had his standards too. When Blaise thought about his potential friend-wives, he thought first of the obvious two then remembered that he had actually gotten along pretty well with Isabella. However, she had always been more likely to go to the dark arts than the other two he had mentally listed as possibilities. He would have a very hard time being accepting of someone that was a death eater without being mean to them or at least mildly insulting. They were just on two different wavelengths. Was Isabella actually a death eater now? He wasn't in that social circle so he wouldn't know. “If I marry a friend, then that leaves me with two choices too. Maybe three if I were to marry someone who was older than me but that's unlikely. And about you being an emotional wreck... I imagine that you would get over that before you got married. It would take time... Hasn't talking about it helped?” Tonight she seemed mostly normal. Actually later on in the dinner party she seemed normal. The difference between the beginning of the dinner party and their time in the common room was so different that Blaise wondered if there were other sides to her emotions. That would explain her words better. Maybe every time that he met her she would be a different person. He didn't think so, though. That had been on the anniversary of something that had happened in her family. She had a right to be a bit insane then and he would still take her over a gossiping girl. “I have always been good at controlling myself. Part of it may be because of my high standards, but also I just look to the future.” He had the manners not to look at a girl when she wasn't completely dressed. Sometimes that was easier than others. Ariana, which her soft-looking (and feeling, if her hand was any indication) pale skin was harder to look away from than most of the girls, who he could spare a second glance for if by accident. “Well no man should marry someone that they think will shame their family in the long run. You don’t seem to share the same opinion as I do... I'm not saying that men are all innocent. But if they ruin their family then it's on their own head. If the wife does, and it's not really his fault that she got bitter, then it isn't as though he can turn the same around on her family.” People changed sometimes were they were with someone. His mother had done well in choosing people who doted on her but there was one man in particular that Blaise actually remembered. He was a tall man who was powerfully built. In the beginning Blaise saw a lot of him, and he was nice to the pair of them most of the time. Then, once Desideria thought that she had him, Blaise only caught the door as he heard his mother and the man arguing. Sometimes no matter how selective you were people changed, and the person that you cared about wasn't there. “Thanks. I've never been so honored to be called 'not so bad' before.” It was Blaise's turn to be uncertain. Was she saying that he wasn't bad as a person or that he wasn't so bad as a possible husband? In their mothers' eyes at least. He also didn't know if she was mentally comparing him to someone. All he really knew was that the conversation in the common room was more serious than he had expected it to be; at the same time it felt like they were treating the subject casually which was the only way that Blaise could have continued on so long.

Mess with the top people in the school? Blaise got an amused, almost sadistic smirk when she worded it in that way. He could just see the Gryffindors one by one getting themselves tortured or even killed. He wouldn’t want to see that probably but having the irritating boy scouts out of the way would be nice. And then, the school year would be even slightly more normal again. “They can certainly try; I have a feeling that the usual troublemakers are going to have trouble with the new staff. Even when people did get in trouble last year and before they had Dumbledore to protect them. This year they have to stay under the radar or suffer the consequences. And some people don't seem able to help themselves.” Ginny. Probably because she was dating that Potter, she had to stand up to Malfoy and by extension the death eaters. Should Blaise consider himself lucky that he had befriended Draco earlier in their academic careers? Probably. Otherwise he likely would have said something at the table too. He didn't like being controlled by people at schoo as well as at home. He gave a little sigh at the temperaments of the school leaders in years past and present. “There can't be a middle ground, can there? First we have Dumbledore as Headmaster then straight to the death eaters.” They could really only get more contrasting if Voldemort himself were to take over the headmaster duties. Until Draco hinted that Snape was going to be headmaster Blaise had actually considered the possibility that it would be Voldemort. He could recruit followers as well as have a quick track to finding enemies. Only, his main challenge (Harry Potter) wouldn't have been at the school anyway so in the long run it was better for Voldemort not to work at Hogwarts. Better for everyone else, too. The students would have been even more tense from the feast on.“We're lucky in one way at least. All of the people that we talk to are probably still in school.” Those not in Slytherin were also of good blood. If ever he had not put thought into what his future would need, he would have his pick of potential wives now. The friend thing though grounded him from trying things with girls who were merely pretty. He didn't have many acquaintances outside of Slytherin house. There were a few Ravenclaw students that he was on friendly terms with. And one that he despised but that was another story. “Yes. I'm worried about the death eaters being in charge but I am at least as worried about the students themselves. When they come up with their uprising they're more likely to get people involved that simply aren't. They'll have us all punished for things that we didn't do.” His words made it clear that he would only resort to an uprising of his own when he didn't have any other choice. The ordinary school year was impossible to have with people running their mouths and talking action. He despised people who were always trying to do the right thing. Most often it backfired on them, and rightly so, since they seemed incapable of minding their own business. “He acts like he knows everything. Did over the summertime, but I got the feeling that something was bothering him. I suppose he found out that the death eater lifestyle is more than fun and games.” If ever Draco had gone out and asked Blaise his opinion he would have told him honestly that he didn't think that being a death eater paid off. Not for putting your family in danger and making you into nothing less than a follower. Would it have made a difference in Draco's decisi0n if he'd compared Draco's following the death eaters to Crabbe and Goyle following him? Probably not. The cherry on Draco's stupidity was his tendency to brag about his importance with people who could really change the rules of the game. They had eyes and ears everywhere. “You can laugh if you have to. I still don't understand it though.” He thought of her talking about being emotional. Laughing was better than crying still, but... Oh, god, what would she be like when she was pregnant? Crying one moment and then laughing hysterically at the next?

Her rolling her eyes at Ravenclaws in general made Blaise smirk, because of the Ravenclaw in question. In life there were always those people who drove you absolutely crazy, even when they weren't doing very much in the first place. This was one of those times. Wondering if Ariana was against Ravenclaws in general or only remarking on their 'intelligence' (or tendency to overdo it), he gave a short nod. “In that case it was alright. It got me answers when I didn't want to give Draco too much credit and ask him myself.” It was just too obvious that Draco was pleased when the girl asked him questions about the school year. Blaise wondered how Draco would do if he had a gang of Ravenclaw students around him rather than Slytherin. Since he suddenly knew so much about the school Blaise thought that it would still take him places. Dumb people like Crabbe and Goyle were easier to control but at least Ravenclaws were tempted by knowledge and would ask the questions Crabbe and Goyle would never even think of. The idea of his mother actually reading him well disturbed and annoyed Blaise. If she really could read him that way then he would be in as much trouble twenty years from now as he was today. “She didn't read me that well, I don't think... She knew that I was hiding something. Actually, she probably just assumed that I was doing something that I shouldn't because I didn't wait for her to go school shopping. And for the record,” he began, more annoyed than ever, “no, I don't let my guard down at home. I'm exactly the same there as I am here, it's the people who are different. When you live with someone for so long you pick up on things better than if you're only a classmate.” Maybe that was why he got along better with Ariana. It was as though within the school there were immediately walls that a person put up, especially Slytherins, so that people wouldn't see them as they were outside. Ariana and Blaise had. Though that was supporting her theory when he left the logic at that. He didn't like the vulnerability that a close relationship like mother-son brought along. It was especially bothersome because there was nothing that could be done about it. “I never did sneak out. There was no reason to. I didn't like to be trapped at home, but most of the summer I would have been there anyway. It bothered me more that she didn't trust that I could protect my self and stay out of trouble.” When he spoke of his reasoning aloud he was slightly uncomfortable. Did it make sense? It did to him. Being at home was something that he was normally happy about. It was the same servants (most of the time) and surroundings that he knew. But when his mother forced him to be home, sometimes with people that he'd never met before in his life, he tended to get a bit antsy. Didn't she realize that it was just the sort of behavior that would eventually lead him to sneak out of the house if he were a different sort of person? Only then, after he sneaked out, his mother would trust him less and this time have good reason not to. If it was going to be a battle forever then it was best that it be one where he came out ahead. Blaise was pleased that Ariana was not stupid enough a girl to fall head over heels for the troublemakers. Even some girls in Slytherin liked Potter (though they tried badly to hide it) because he had probably broken more school rules than most of his classmates combined. And the Slytherin boys were never innocent of trying to impress girls with their bad image. “I think that is part of the 'date the bad ones marry the good ones' mentality. You shouldn't have any trouble in getting a suitable husband then.” Not to consider himself better than other guys but he did fall into that category. Well, why deny it? He was better then most people his own age. Boys and girls both, as the girls were busy chasing down the boys that were busy impressing said girls with their bad habits. He leaned back slightly and sighed. “I was only hiding what I learned about the school. All the parents were interested and I learned ahead of time. I didn't want her to know in case she changed her mind about me going back. In the end, though, she thought it was safer not to go against the death eaters at all. She didn't learn it from me. And I don't think she ever realized that was what I was hiding from her, either.” So she hadn't expected the m to get along. It would be an understatement to say that he was surprised that he was sitting here talking with the girl who had made a scene at his house. But he didn't comment on it because it would be like a broken record if he did, and he was starting to lose whatever thoughts he'd held about her before. Amazing what a little friendly chat could do for someone.

Suddenly it was important that Ariana not get the wrong impression of him. No, he didn't care as much about the fact that Lupin was a werewolf as other people did, but he still didn't like half-breeds and other non-human creatures. Even if they seemed to be of the same intelligence as the humans were when not transformed. In the case of creatures like centaurs, Blaise had never encountered one other than Firenze and he was only able to think that anyone, human or not, was a better teacher than Trelawney was. “I don't like werewolves,” He clarified, shaking his head. In all other areas, he did keep himself from associating with non-humans. Sometimes, it had been hard not to openly scowl at Lupin when he came to class in his old shabby robes. He carried on but was quick to make sure that she didn't misunderstand his next words, because it was just not possible for people to actually like Umbridge. “I normally would prefer a Ministry official over a werewolf but education is one of the only areas in which what a person is doesn't matter as much as what they can teach us. I don't know... I suppose that we shouldn’t let other people hear us talking this way, or they might get the wrong idea. As for the boggarts... I didn't mind that because I stayed in the back of the line so that I wouldn't need to do it. It was interesting to see what people were afraid of. Some people are scared of the silliest things. I imagine that one or two of them has gained some experience in their life so far, though, and have changed theirs.” That or maybe boarding with the Dark Lord's servants would show them what real fear was. If Ariana had seen her boggart Blaise at least didn't comment on it because he couldn't remember what form it was anyway if it had come out. He had the feeling though that now it would have something to do with what had upset her before. If it affected her that badly on the anniversary alone he could only imagine what coming across a boggart or (worse) a dementor would do. When she talked about a spell backfiring the killing curse, Blaise couldn't help but smirk. She might be thinking about her brother or whatever, but he instead thought about the one person who was said to have survived a killing curse and they still didn't know why. He gave a little shrug. “Well, you could hold Harry Potter in front of you as a shield and see if that gets you anywhere.” Blaise listened to her explanation on the teachers with a confused look. How was Quirrell so bad unless she was really afraid of the animals that Quirrell had in his classroom? In Blaise's opinion the classes had been real snore-fests. Not exactly the travesty that was the History of Magic. More irritating though because Blaise had expected Defense Against the Dark Arts to be interesting; Quirrell was only one in a long series of disappointments that the class brought. No one had really thought that History of Magic would be exciting in the first place. “Quirrell can't really be blamed for stuttering though I suppose his teaching was rather boring anyway. And Lockhart... All of the boys could see through him. Makes one wonder how different second year would be if there had been a beautiful witch author instead of him that came to teach.” The complete reversal, if not worse. In second year though boys hadn't yet developed as many hormones as the girls did. The older students though would have been a problem. Thinking of the way that they had seemed to evolve come the Yule Ball, Blaise smirked slightly. At least he thought that he would have been able to see through her if she'd existed. “Moody, though, or whatever you would call him, even if you had your own reasons for not liking the spells, he did have a point. I'm still glad that I learned what the curses look like.” Since 'Moody' hadn't gone the extra step and killed a person in the class, it would look different. Did it really matter in a real life situation what it looked like? You'd be dead before you really had a chance to stop it. Unless you had amazing reflexes and a body that didn't freeze up when it realized it was about to be hit full-on with something it would never recover from. Naturally, again, Blaise didn't say this, because he wasn't sure what he would do if he was in that situation. Most likely he would just make sure that he never got a chance to find out. When Snape's tenure as Defense Against the Dark Arts came up, Blaise looked quite annoyed. The reason came out with no pressing at all. “If Snape hadn't transferred teaching positions then I wouldn't be stuck in the Slug Club.” As much as Blaise complained about it, because it really was boring and annoying to sit in with those people, it did get him out of trouble once in a while. In the future, too, Slughorn might be as useful as promised. If that was the case it was lucky Blaise came along when he did. The old man was getting on in years. Even though he had no issues apparently with inviting muggleborns and blood traitors to his little club...“I imagine that muggle studies is going to be extremely different from what they've taught before. If you've heard what they are saying about muggleborns now I can only imagine what the new class is going to be like. Probably turning us against the muggles. Those of us who would want to associate with them in the first place.” He didn't want to take the class but only because he wanted to have his schedule full of things that were associated with careers that he would actually want to go into. Though it was advised by some to take muggle studies because a lot of jobs meant that you needed to understand and even speak with muggles... The ones that he wanted, not so much. Blaise laughed at her opinion of Trelawney's class. He had never heard of someone liking Divination while Trelawney was the teacher so it took him by surprise. “Did you really? I would have liked it fine if we were taught by someone that knew what they were talking about. Trelawney didn't. I suppose that it was interesting to see an alcoholic's downfall from the outsider point of view. Anyway, I should have dropped that class in third year, but people made the subject itself sound interesting.” They weren't completely wrong since Firenze had done better work. Still not his favorite, though.

“There are times when I think that I would go out of my way to help someone. The biggest problem is that most of the people who I'm friends with are like I am. They wouldn't ask someone for help... But I would help some of them if they asked. Or if... I thought that they would actually benefit from me interfering.” When he said all of that, he was thinking specifically of Draco Malfoy. It was spooky how much he thought about him lately (in a non-gay way, I promise) but he was sure that it had to do with Draco's behavior in Diagon Alley. In the year before he seemed different, as though heavy of mind or heart, and over the summer Blaise got the feeling that he was experiencing the same thing that Blaise was to a greater extent. Blaise was happy to have gotten away on his own to shop, to be away from home. Draco seemed happy to be away from home too because unless Blaise was wrong, he was being especially smug. He just wasn't sure whether he would want to help Draco even if he asked. It probably had something to do with the Death Eaters which Blaise had always been rather indifferent about. Even if Blaise had been a supporter he didn't think that he would ask him for help. Hell, non of Blaise's friends were the sort now that he thought about it. Ariana said that she wanted him to let go of her hand, but he wasn't completely sure that he believed her. He wondered if it was like the moment he'd experienced with Lindsey which probably meant nothing to her because she was used to that sort of thing. Maybe Ariana was not used to this and curious, but wasn't interested in Blaise. That would be two girls so far. But there wasn't anything wrong with that anyway. Since she basically said that she would deal with it, Blaise thought that it was a confirmation that she didn’t' really want to let go. If she was able to throw curses and insults as well as she said, she would have no problem making sure that he let go of her hand. “I'm eager to hold it? Well, if you insist that I am I guess that it's true... You know, I've never held hands in the common room.”

[Sorry sorry, somewhat repetitive on Blaise's thoughts but you know, that's how he rolls. ALSO I misspelled a lot and noticed, but... yeah. Didn't want to change it. I especially like 'Schoo'. xD]