Sometimes I hated where the Slytherin common room was. It was always the one furthest from the classrooms and so, when at the end of the day, I wanted nothing more than to crash onto my bed I would instead be forced to trek around the school just get to the common room. But thankfully the entrance to the common room was always clear. There was no milling around outside of the portrait, waiting for the crowd surrounding it to disappear. Instead all you had to do was walk up to the portrait, mutter the password and off you went.

It might not have always seemed like it but there were many advantages to being a Slytherin, I thought as I headed towards the common room, the portrait in sight. Firstly, there was the instantaneous respect that you gained from being a Slytherin and the status that came along with the respect. Plus, I might have been a little bias, but Slytherin always threw the best after game parties.

But, alongside the positives came the disadvantages. The common room, whilst being one of the bigger ones was drafty but what else would you expect from having a common room in the dungeons? Then there was all of the blood lunacy that appeared to have become synonymous with the name Slytherin. And with that belief there was also the assumption that you were the newest deatheater.

But contrary to popular belief, that was not the case. It was as if the majority expected all Slytherins to walk around bearing the dark mark and blindly following their parent's prejudices. That wasn't the case.

For example, I knew people in all of the other three houses that believed in the blood lunacy. Then there was the matter of prejudices, it wasn't as if Slytherins were the only prejudiced bunch. No – Gryffindors, whilst they might like being known as the almighty heroes also had more than their fair share of prejudices.

I, for instance, was an exception to what was stereotypically Slytherin. I would rather die than take the dark mark and I certainly didn't advocate any of the pureblood mania that the dark mark represented. Stepping into the common room my eyes instantly fell onto the boys that were lounging on the sofas in the middle of the common room. The Slytherin Prince Draco Malfoy, and his right hand man, Blaise Zabini were sat talking quietly to one another as if the other people around them weren't important enough to hear their conversation.

The two were as different as night and day, their personalities and mannerisms clashing completely. But for them, it worked. Many people wondered why they were best friends. But how could they not see that the answer when it was glaringly obvious?

Draco was constantly surrounded by simpering girls that were only after his family's money and the status that was linked to the surname Malfoy. He was flocked boys as dull as bricks that hoped to insure a good relation between one of the undeniably influential pure blood families around. Altogether, he was worshipped. He was the pedigree pureblood that would become the crowning jewel for any pureblood to have as a friend or as a member of the family. Draco needed someone that wasn't awed by the content of his family's Gringott's vault, someone that he could consider to be his equal in every sense of the word. That was where Blaise came in.

Blaise, on the contrary to Draco, had no patience for flattery. He, instead, often needed someone to deflate his ego and match his male bravado to stop his head from becoming so big that it would no longer fit through the door. But he also thrived for a challenge. So what bigger challenge was there than befriending Draco Malfoy, the boy that many failed to get close to?

The boys were polar opposites, in both personality and appearance. Both were exceedingly handsome, but Blaise had captivating indigo eyes which contrasted with Draco's striking grey ones. Their hair was always tamed, each hair staying in place giving Draco a complete air of composure as he slicked it back. Blaise, however, chose to style his hair causing him to come across as suave and approachable.

Where Draco came across as being polite to the point of being cold, Blaise oozed charm. He had the ability to render you speechless whilst he schooled you on why you were a certified imbecile. While Draco could be considered to be an open book to his closest friends, and unreadable to everyone else Blaise was constantly guarded and only truly opened up to Draco. To everyone else the boy was a mystery. From the very beginning of first year Draco allowed his surname to define him but Blaise? Blaise had refused to do so.

Anger. They both felt it, but they expressed it very differently. Draco was easy to anger and retaliated with cutting remarks and drawing his wand. However, Blaise was different. He became cold, completely unfeeling and chose to wound you with precise words, each meant to pick on your hidden insecurities that you yourself might not have realised were your greatest weaknesses. But once he had exposed you to them then you knew that he could not have picked a target that would have hurt less. That didn't mean that he was unable to handle himself in a duel. No, the moment that Blaise drew his wand, even the thickest of people knew that there was no way that they were leaving in one piece.

I found myself pulled away from my thoughts when Draco, having noticed my presence motioned me over to join them. Heading over to the small group of people I sat myself down across from him, crossing one leg over the other as I ignored Pansy's death glare that she seemed to reserve only for me. Pansy had somehow deluded herself into believing that Draco had a soft spot for me. She wasn't the only one. But in truth, Draco and I were nothing more than friends. Or rather, if you thought about it the two of us were almost like a pair of siblings.

It was our closeness that had allowed people to misunderstand our relationship. I could still remember the moment, in our fourth year, when our parents had sat us both down in order to discuss an alliance between our families which would be formalised through the process of marriage. When they had brought it up we had merely looked at each other for a second before we started to laugh hysterically.

It was easy to tell that my parents weren't pleased that I had managed to wreck the chance of forming a once in a lifetime relationship with one of the most influential ad affluent pureblood families in the magical world. So in their eyes at least, I needed to marry into a purebood that could be considered to be the equal of the Malfoys.

"How was detention?" Draco asked with a smirk, his amusement plain to see.

"Snape had me clean cauldrons," I said simply, not in the mood to humour Draco and play along with his games. "He had me clean all of them."

"You poor baby." His laughter was barely hidden behind his words. We all knew how strenuous it was to clean a single cauldron – let alone the amount of work that went into cleaning all of the cauldrons.

I rolled my eyes at him, "Well it's not as if we can all be his godchild."

"And why would you want to be?" Blaise asked, speaking up for the first time since my arrival and managing to divert all attention to himself. "I've heard that his godchild is a complete git."

The smirk fell from Draco's lips as he turned to face Blaise, starting yet another argument with the other boy.

Throughout our six years here at Hogwarts, Blaise and I had never really had a proper conversation with one another. Sure we spoke to each other when it was necessary to and it wasn't as if we couldn't stand the sight of each other. It was just that we didn't talk.

I watched on in amusement as their daily argument progressed. My eyes flickered between the two but I was stunned when I saw Blaise wink at me from the corner of his eye.

Well, that was new.

**********

He was watching me. Again. I was in the most hidden corner of the library and yet somehow he was still able to find me in order to watch me. Sitting directly behind me, three tables back with two open textbooks before him, Blaise Zabini was sat, watching me. For some this could seem like a coincidence but I knew it was not. Now, I wasn't conceited enough to state that Blaise had made his way to the library for the sole purpose of watching me. It was just that he was here and he was watching me – again.

You see Slytherins are perceptive; it's one of our lesser known traits. So when a fellow Slytherin is caught watching you five times in two weeks than you know that something's wrong. First of all, Slytherins weren't the type of people to draw attention to themselves by being outwardly obvious in their observations but it was without doubt that I knew that he was in fact observing me.

The first time that I had caught him watching me, I was sure that it wasn't me that he was looking at. It made no sense for him to be looking at me.

I had caught sight of him watching me in the middle of breakfast as I buttered up a slice of toast. I went to pour myself a glass of pumpkin juice, meeting is eyes over the top of the jug of juice. He didn't look away as I held his gaze. Instead I had been forced to look away. Before that I had been concentrating on finishing my essay in the last possible moment and so I hadn't felt the heavy weight of his stare. But from the moment that I had met his gaze, I felt the weight of his stare all too much.

It wasn't unnerving. More so it was odd. It was a strange sort of change from having Blaise only acknowledge me when we were speaking, which we did very rarely, to having him watch me, quite blatantly from across the table. That was what had started the formation of my assumption that I was not in fact the person he was watching.

At that point, I believed that it was Draco that he was looking at. After all, Draco had been sat beside me and he had been unusually quiet during breakfast and as one of Draco's best friends it was only natural that Blaise was concerned for his best friend. But it was when I took the moment to decipher the look in his eyes that I began to question whether or not it was actually Draco that he was looking at.

Perhaps it hadn't been Draco that he was watching – Blaise wouldn't look at Draco in such a manner. There had been something in his gaze that was found in many Slytherins and quite often it was found in the eyes of the Weasley twins. Blaise was planning something. He knew better than to plan something against Draco, who would only retaliate with something much worse until the boys were involved in a petty war consisiting of one act of revenge followed by another.

I cleared my head of those thoughts as I caught sight of the frown that seemed to be permanently etched onto Draco's face. Quickly, knowing that Draco was ticklish, I poked him in the side, knowing that it was the most ticklish spot that was easily accessible. I turned back to my breakfast in satisfaction as I saw the corner of his mouth curve upwards for the slightest of seconds.

**********

The second time had been during potions.

As per the rather stupid tradition, the Slytherins had been sat at the back of the classroom. Some of us sat taking notes, others pretending to take notes and then there were those that did not even bother to pretend. I was in the first category and Draco was in the last. Really, the boy would've been screwed without me because the moment that the lesson was finished he would ask to copy up my notes. Sometimes I couldn't help but wonder how, in the name of Merlin's wand, he was able to pass any of his classes that I wasn't a part of. But, then again – he was naturally bright.

Part way through one of Snape's infamous lectures, a rather grating voice began to whisper to another grating voice. I let out a sigh, knowing exactly whose conversation it was that my ears were picking up. As per usual, Pansyy was in discussion about the latest alliance that her parents were trying to fix for her whilst simultaneously watching Draco's reaction. She was still hoping for a big declaration of interest from him.

When her conversation continued for over ten agonising minutes I was unable to stop myself as I cut into her speech. "Pansy!" I muttered to the girl beside me, "Do you even hear yourself? This is the same conversation that you've been having for months now. Months! Is it necessary for you to do this every bloody lesson? Are you really that desperate to get married and have a boy define you for the rest of your life?"

"What is your problem?" She hissed back, leaning in to glare at me. "How is my conversation affecting you in any way?"

"It is affecting me," I exclaimed, risking a glance up to see that Professor Snape was thankfully unaware of our conversation – he was currently berating a poor Hufflepuff. I did not want another detention with him. Especially not one that would have to be served alongside Pansy. "You're idiotic conversation is distracting me and funnily enough I don't think it's even remotely important or interesting enough for you to be talking about in class? I mean really, there's hardly going to be a question about it on the end of year exam, now is there? It's not going to say 'name the fourth by that the parents of Pansy Parkinson were unable to trick into been engaged to their daughter', now is it?"

Her face turned a horrid shade of red as she opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, looking for something to say. She looked back at Snape who had finished chewing the Hufflepuff out and was now looking at the back row. Or rather at the two of us. Realising that she had no time to reply she let out a scoff and turned away from me.

I turned away from Pansy as Professor Snape's voice grew louder, effectively blocking out Pansy's persistent voice which had now moved onto the idea of growing out her hair. Turning back to Snape, my eyes clashed with indigo hues which really should have been facing in front of him. In fact, all I should have been able to see of him was the back of his head.

Glancing away from him I picked up my quill again. It was just a coincidence.

**********

The next time had been during a quidditch match which made it even more suspicious. During a quidditch match all of the interesting events were happening on the quidditch pitch and I knew for certain that the quidditch game was much more interesting than the side of my face. Blaise had been stood close to me, not right beside me. Some of the other Slytherins; Theo Nott, Crabbe and Goyle had been stood between us. And yet I knew that he was watching me – I could feel his eyes on me.

The match was Slytherin vs Ravenclaw and was one that Draco had been very nervous about. But, from my fairly limited knowledge of the game, Draco had no real reason to be worrying. He had been playing the game fairly well, throwing in the occasional dive in order to trick Chang into following his lead. So she remained on his tail, always remaining vigilant to even the smallest of his moves.

The match had lasted for half an hour so far and the weather was bitter. The cold wind was blowing all of the rain in our direction and I sniffled slightly, burying my nose into the scarf wrapped tightly around my neck. Looking around the stand at the other Slytherins, I met his gaze. My eyes narrowed in pure instinct.

This was the third time that Blaise had been watching me not so subtly. There was definitely something fishy going on. But from the look in his eyes I was having a hard time figuring out if that something was malicious or not.

I cocked an eyebrow in his direction, waiting for him to look away – I wouldn't be the first to look away this time. Blaise, instead of looking away from me, continued to watch me. A purely Slytherin smirk, one that was full of mysterious intent, curled at his lips when I burrowed further into the scarf at was a particularly vicious gust of wind. I glared at him – the boy was amused.

A tap on my shoulder broke my determination to not be the first to look away. I looked away from him reflexively, glancing back over my shoulder to meet the eyes of Terrance Higgs. The older wizard gave me a smile when he managed to fit himself beside me on the stand, his shoulder brushing against mine.

Higgs was talking to me, his mouth beside my ear so that I could hear him over the deafening cheers of the crowd. When I tried to cover more of my face with the scarf he gave me a small laugh before reaching into his pocket to pull out his wand.

"You're so cute," he said as he tapped me on the head with his wand and muttered a warming charm. An instant warmth covered me and I still buried my face in the scarf, trying to hide the redness of my cheeks which could be passed off as a result of the cold.

Higgs spoke to me throughout the remainder of the game but all I could concentrate on was the feeling of Blaise's eyes on the side of my face.

Draco caught the snitch. Slytherin won the match.

**********

The fourth time was when I knew that something was definitely going on. Draco, acting like the entitled brat he was, had sent one of the first year girls into my dorm to tell me that he was demanding to see me. Having grown up with Draco I already knew what he was like so I went along with it. He'd just moan otherwise.

So I walked down into the common room, expecting to see it full of people. But it was empty save for the two boys waiting for me. Blaise had been sat on the sofa as Draco stood before him, pacing in front of the fire place. At the sound of my footsteps both boys looked up at me. Draco's eyes left me as he resumed his pacing but Blaise's eyes remained on me.

I made my way over towards them, "What's the matter Draco, you spoiled princess?"

He continued with his pacing and I rolled my eyes. He was always so dramatic. "You're not going with Higgs' to Hogsmeade."

"And why not?" I demanded.

"I've already told him that you're not going to go with him," he said dismissively as he stopped his pacing in front of me and met my gaze.

"And who are you to decide who I can and cannot go to Hogsmeade with?" I snapped at Draco. "You had no right."

"He wasn't right for you," he answered me, his gaze unwavering.

"We were just going to Hogsmeade together Draco!" I threw my hands up in frustration when I realised that none of this was getting through to him. "It's not as if he had proposed to me!"

"He was after an alliance between your families. He wanted your money," He all but shouted as I saw him loss his composure for the first time tonight.

'What Slytherin isn't?' He looked at me in shock. "This is what Slytherins do – they look for the best business deal that can be made."

"You only said yes for the sake of saying yes," he stated, able to understand me as always. "You said yes because your parents would be angry if you let a family like the Higgs' slip through your fingers. You deserve someone who likes you and isn't after your money. Someone who doesn't just want to extend their connections but wants to be with you because they love you."

I scoffed at his words, they may have sounded nice but they weren't possible. My gaze softened on Draco though, "A slytherin that isn't after someone's money in order to further their connections? Draco, there's no such thing."

Draco sighed, crossing his hands over his chest, "I stand by what I did. I did the right thing in order to stop you from getting hurt." Draco, having had enough of this conversation went to work past me towards the dorms. He laid a hand on my arm as he went passed which I leaned into. We needed no words. I had already forgiven him.

With Draco out of the room my eyes drifted to the only other person in the room. The silent boy was still sitting on the sofa and was unsurprisingly still watching me in the same position that he had been in when I had first come down into the common room.

"You told him didn't you?" I asked, able to read everything in his eyes. It was all there, clear as day. He glanced away from me for the first time and I took his silence as a way of proving my thoughts to be correct.

But I was struggling to understand why. I couldn't think of a possible reason for him to tell Draco about my previously planned date with Terrance. It didn't make any sense. He had nothing to gain from Draco interfering and he wouldn't have lost anything if Draco had not interfered either.

I narrowed my eyes at him again. "So why did you do it?" I asked in confusion.

There was no other emotion in my voice. More than anything else Blaise Zabini had the ability to confuse me. He always seemed to defy the expectations that I had come to associate with Slytherins.

He remained sitting silently, his eyes finally returning to me as I stood before him. His head was tilted to look up at me and I set my hands on my hips. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for his answer. Momentarily he seemed to consider his words and I could just tell that he was weighting the pros and cons of answering my question.

I shook my head, unable to bring myself to no longer care about his reasons for interfering in my life.

"You had an even smaller right than Draco to get involved with my personal life," I muttered before I turned on my heel to walk back up the stairs and into my dorm room.

**********

Honestly, by the fifth time it was just plain annoying. I was in the library once again, on my way to my corner of the library and as soon as I had entered that section my eyes fell onto Blaise sitting at a table, his seat angled so that he could see where my usual seat was.

I narrowed my eyes on his figure, having had enough of dealing with this. It would slowly drive me insane if I couldn't figure out what his new found fascination with me had to do with. Walking over towards him I decided to find out the truth once and for all.

"Why do you keep watching me Zabini?" I hissed sliding into the seat across from him. He made no attempt to hide that he was watching me this time.

Instead he looked at me, completely unfazed as he set his quill aside onto the table. "Well, someone definitely seems to think a lot of themselves, don't they?" He raised an eyebrow at me before his eyes fell onto the table studying the grains of the table in detail. "Pray tell, what reason would I have to be watching you? What do I stand to gain from that?"

"I don't know," I said in obvious irritation, putting my textbooks onto the table as I leaned across the table in a futile attempt to intimidate him. "That's why I asked you Zabini. And I'd really appreciate it if you'd tell me because it's been driving me insane."

"As amusing as it is to know that I seem to occupy so much of your time, tell me," he said sitting up straighter, making me unconsciously back up slightly. "What are you so sure that you were the person that I was watching? For all you know, I could have been watching someone else."

"Don't you think that I already thought of that?" I rolled my eyes. "I thought of that and dismissed it already. But, really? Trying to make me doubt what I know? That's such a Slytherin thing to do. But then again, you are the very embodiment of Slytherin yourself, aren't you?"

His eyes hardened momentarily, "You have no right to make such assumptions. Especially when I know exactly what you in particular association with being a Slytherin, despite being one yourself."

"You mean like you had no right to interfere in my life?" I asked as I cocked an eyebrow, brushing aside the comment he made about me.

He gave me a lazy half smile, "You'd think that I'd have no right wouldn't you?"

"Obviously. What -"

"Tell me, do you think that all Slytherins are only after money when they ask you out? That they're trying to build up their connections?" He rose from his chair, standing to his full height.

"Isn't that the truth?" I asked as I watched him closely. "That's what we're taught isn't it? Go after someone that will help to make the family name better?"

"Maybe that's what you were taught." He made his way around the table to stand beside my chair. I looked up into his face. "I was never taught anything even remotely similar to that. So I guess that means that when I ask someone out then I'm not interested in money or connections, right?"

"I guess," I said uncertainly as he leaned down to take hold of my hand. Looking into my eyes he raised my hand to his lips. A shiver ran down my spine.

"So I guess this means that I have a bigger right than you first thought." He let go of my hand and went to gather his book. He walked away from the table, leaving me alone to stare at the previously occupied spot.

I looked at the folded piece of paper that was in the space were his textbooks had been. Picking it up I read my name on the top of it. Unfolding the paper and smoothing it out I read the note.

Go with me to Hogsmeade? I have already spoken to Draco and he gave his approval and told me to tell you to hold onto me.

BZ

P.S don't even try to back out, I won't take no for an answer anymore.

**********

5 YEARS LATER

The years following the battle changed the way pureblood society ran itself. But that didn't translate to all parts of life. I was still being pressured by my parents to get married to a suitable pureblood boy. It was because of them being the way they are that I hadn't told them about me and Blaise. I already knew what they would have said if they'd known. They'd have told me to get pregnant and marry him.

Blaise had no idea that I hadn't told my parents yet and I hadn't broached the subject with him. I was just worried that they'd say something to him that made him think he had to propose to me. Or even worse, if it made him break up with me. Besides, I could just gently break the news to my parents if we ever did get engaged.

Or rather that had been the plan.

I hadn't expected Blaise to find out, let alone to confront me in the middle of a wedding reception. I had been talking to one of the bridesmaids just a minute ago only to be pulled away by Blaise to a secluded part of the venue. Now I was standing in front of a pouting six foot something Italian, desperately avoiding his eyes.

"Were you ever going to tell me?" He asked, eventually giving up on his pouting. I met his eye briefly and looked away, snagging a champagne flute from one of the passing waiters. "I'm taking that as a no then."

"How did you even find out?" I asked taking a sip of the champagne.

"Your father approached me." He lowered his voice as a group of women passed us by, their eyes flickering inquisitively between the two of us. "He wanted me to see if I could set you up with Draco because I'm friends with the two of you. Can you imagine how shocked I was? The father of my girlfriend asking me to set my girlfriend up with my best friend!"

"Blaise," I started placatingly, reaching out to put a hand on his arm. He shook it off.

"Just answer a question of mine." He looked down at me, the weight of his stare rooting me to the spot. I nodded. "Are you ashamed to be dating me? Because I'm nothing like Draco?"

"Of course I'm not!" I exclaimed, stepping closer to him. "How can you even think that? Merlin's beard Blaise, if you were like Draco then we wouldn't have made it passed the first month, let alone last five years."

There was a smile playing on his lips. "Really?"

I nodded, smiling back, "Really. You of all people should know that Draco's not my type."

"And just what is your type then?" An arm was slung around my waist, pulling into a broad chest.

Fingering one of the buttons on his shirt, I looked up at him. "Brooding Italians who turn pouty the moment they don't get what they want."

Blaise chuckled, leaning down to press a kiss to my lips. Pulling back a fraction to mumble against my lips, "I don't pout."

"Oh please," I muttered, pulling completely away from him. "You're the king of pouting."

Blaise was silent again and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. He was only this silent when he was overthinking things. I nudged him in the side to snap him out of his thoughts.

"What are you thinking about now?"

"You didn't explain why you haven't told your parents yet." And the pout was back.

"Because the moment that my parents found out, they would start hounding you to marry me."

"And that's a problem because?"

I rolled my eyes, nudging him slightly. "Be serious for a moment here Blaise."

"I am being serious."

With that he took the champagne flute from my hand and tipped the rest of its content down his throat. Signalling a waiter he picked up a glass of fire whiskey and my eyes widened.

"Blaise," I protested, moving to take the glass from him. "Are you trying to get drunk? You know what fire whiskey does to you!"

"I also know that it's liquid courage," he replied, tipping the liquid down his throat before I could snatch it away from him.

"And you need liquid courage because?"

"Because I'm going over to your father and offering for your hand." He said as if he was discussing the weather.

"Blaise!" I hissed after him but he ignored me and started to walk away. Catching his arm, I forced him to look back at him. "Don't do this because you think you have to."

His eyes narrowed at me. Using his free hand he rummaged through his pocket. Taking something out from it, he threw it towards me and I caught it with two hands. I stared down at the black velvet box in my hands in shock. Slowly raising my eyes to meet Blaise's I tightened my hold on the box.

"I've been carrying that around with me for over a year now," he announced casually, fixing his robes. "Now if you'll excuse me."

He disappeared off into the room and I opened the box slowly, taking in the beautiful ring nestled inside. I scanned the room, looking for him to tell him off. My words died in my throat when I saw him approaching my father. The two men started a quiet conversation which they continued as they made their way to the edge of the room.

Looking back down at the ring, I let out a deep breath. I snapped the box shut.

He did not just propose to me by throwing the ring at me.