The thing about living year-round in a huge castle with 300 talkative witches and wizards that you've basically known your whole life is that news and gossip always travels terribly fast. When something major happens, one can be 100% sure that every single person that lives at Hogwarts will know in less than twenty-four hours.

This was the case for Blaise Zabini, as the news of his attraction towards Neville spread throughout the entirety of the population of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in record time. It seemed to him that everyone knew and began to tease him with Neville's name in about thirty minutes, and seeing as it wasn't quite a conventional time to go to the dorms and sleep, he couldn't escape it without being questioned endlessly.

His friends definitely weren't helping, either; they could barely believe that Blaise-- quiet, eternally annoyed Blaise-- could possibly develop feelings for such a happy-go-lucky Gryffindor, their rival house. They asked him questions nonstop, asking things like why he started liking him, and when.

He could also guess that the Gryffindor in question had been told, as Neville avoided him like never before. They didn't speak much in the first place, but it was obvious he didn't like him back and was uncomfortable by his mere presence. Nowadays, Blaise was often seen in the dark, cold dungeons with a dejected expression on his sunken face, curled up with a heavy blanket on the shiny leather couches.

By this time, Pansy, infamous among Slytherins for being the ultimate overbearing Mother, had had enough with Blaise's insistent moping and sulking. She walked right up to him sitting on the couch late at night, and gave him a piece of her mind.

"Blaise, you need to sleep." No response. He didn't even look at her, the only thing in his eyes being the bright, dangerous flame of the common room fireplace.

"I know you're upset about this whole Neville thing, and I know you're sad about him avoiding you, but I think that's a normal response. You two have barely spoken, and then one day Neville hears that you called him daddy. That's kind of weird, you must admit." She was awarded a small glance and a huff of breath.

"Just find him and explain yourself. Try to make yourself look less creepy and more sincere," she advised. "You like this boy, don't you?"

"...Yes," Blaise croaked, his voice sounding strained from disuse over the past week.

Pansy didn't respond, only nodded and tapped his shoulder, heading back up to her dorms to sleep like a normal person. Her job was done.

Blaise stayed down in the common room for a few minutes more, lingering by the fire and thinking about what Pansy said. The worst case scenario already happened, so what more could he lose? Blaise stood up, the blanket falling around his legs before being thrown over the back of the sofa. He went up to the dorms and got into bed, making sure not to wake up his mates, as he was sure Draco could hold a grudge like that longer than the average wizard.

He fell back into his comfortable mattress and curled in on himself, the cold of the dungeons almost making it through his heavy blankets. His eyes closed for a moment, and then they closed for the final time, and he was asleep.

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The title, man. 👌

Anyway, please leave a vote or comment! Feedback is very appreciated.

I don't have much to say, really. The gay will happen in the next chapter, I promise. (;