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Love Is Deaf (Penguin Desperado/Madam Mim)

Madam Mim

Madam Mim

One Big Modern Mess
Joined
May 30, 2013
Autumn always bored Peeves. The worst he could do was track in mud from outside. Winter brought snow and he could pelt the students with slush or ice, spring brought the rains and soggy students looking to get dry only to find themselves pelted with water balloons. What did autumn have? Mud and leaves.

Still, beginning of term was always better than the middle of the summer with no one but dear old Dumbles here, and he didn't mess with the headmaster. No, Dumbledore commanded even Peeves's respect. So with only ghosts and Filch to harass for three long months, autumn was refreshing in that he had so many more students to pick on.

Term had technically started last Friday, being the first of September. The students had settled in over the weekend; old friends reunited and new friends being made. Peeves could see that it had been very hard, therefore, for most students to get up and face Monday's classes. If only there were someone to make it just that much worse for them...oh wait. There was. The poltergeist was just trying to decide who to start with. Ickle firsties were always fun, but too easy. He wanted to start the year off with a bang (perhaps literally), but the Weasley twins had gone. He was bobbing along the ceiling of a busy corridor when he spotted one of his favorites. With a grin he darted down three floors to the potions supply room.

Maggie pushed her way through the crowd toward her first class of the year, Charms. She liked Charms and the kind professor who taught it. Of course, it was possible that being head of Ravenclaw that Professor Flitwick tended to favor her and a few of her friends, but Hermione Granger was a favorite too. People thought Hermione, who was in her year, to be naturally friends with most if not all Ravenclaws, but Maggie didn't actually know her that well.

Someone waving caught her attention. Looking up, Maggie smiled and waved at Ernie MacMillan. She frowned, unable to make out what he was saying at this distance. She moved closer, but Ernie started pointing upwards.

Slime. At the shock of the blow, Maggie had opened her mouth and got a mouthful of whatever it was Peeves had dumped on her. She understood a split second too late that Ernie had been trying to warn her. With a tired sigh, the sixth year wiped the slime out of her eyes and looked up to see Peeves cackle and blow a raspberry before zooming away. Shaking her head, she tried to wipe off as much as she could. What was this stuff, anyway? It smelled like it might be frog sputum...
 
Blaise Zabini never looked forward to these dual sessions. He could get the basic reason behind them, sure. Fostering inter-house competition and friendships, if it came to that, but he usually found them dreadfully dull. The Gryffindor house (but for the notable exception of Hermione Granger) was a house full of dullards at best. The Hufflepuffs were, in their own special little way, even worse. He'd often viewed the house as the miscellaneous drawer of houses, with the others at least getting virtues, but the Hufflepuffs being relegated to "Oh, but they try so hard!", a notion that bothered him.

The Ravenclaws weren't quite so bad, though. Blaise had always prized himself for his intelligence rather than his blood purity. Sure, he played at the whole "blood purity" thing because his mother believed it, and his various friends in Slytherin were also proponents for it, but it didn't bother him so much. Were it not for his own ambitions (and frank vanity), he would have likely been a Ravenclaw rather than a Slytherin.

He was presently sitting towards the back of the class, looking over the rest of them. Presently, Draco was nearby, and was prattling on about something or another as Flitwick went on with the class. Blaise watched with some amount of curiosity as the familiar specter of Peeves slipped through the wall with a pot of... something... and promptly upended it over a blonde's head, several rows down.

Blaise's eyes briefly narrowed as he looked her over from above, and several students in the class broke out in laughter, among them Draco. A Ravenclaw he recognized. He couldn't but a name to the face, but he knew here the same way many others did; she was the deaf girl.

He wasn't sure why he did it, but Blaise dug into his robe, withdrawing his wand (a large, sleek black walnut wand cored by a dragon heartstring), before flicking it almost carelessly with a whisper of the spell scourgify. Almost instantly, the slime that Peeves had dropped onto Maggie's head disappeared without a trace.

Draco stared at him openly, as did a few other curious students who glanced up his way, but Blaise paid them little attention as the slid the wand back into his robe. Of them, Flitwick was perhaps the one who stared hardest of all.

"Er," the little man began. He had been about to draw his wand to do the very same thing, and wasn't expecting to be pre-empted by any student. Much less a Slytherin. "Ahem. Five points to Slytherin. In any event, back to the lesson," Flitwick said. He gave Blaise one last, curious look before turning back to the board he'd been writing on.
 
Maggie didn't scream, didn't cry. She had flinched and gasped in surprise,but she was far too used to this by now. Since discovering that he could make all the noise he wanted and still sneak up on her, Peeves had been trying to get at her almost daily for the past four years. To be honest, it was getting very, very old and it was a wonder to her that anyone but first years found it funny anymore. She had been used to people making fun of her or treating her as if she was mentally challenged long before she'd come to Hogwarts, so that didn't phase her either.

Instead with a weary sigh she reached into her bag to pull out her wand. By the time her hand had reached the bag she and her belongings were all clean. She turned to her friend Adriana, sitting next to her, and signed -thank you.- Adriana shook her head and jerked her head towards the back row. Maggie turned in her seat to see Draco Malfoy staring with some disbelief at Blaise Zambini. Personally she didn't believe it; what she knew of Blaise, only by reputation of course, was vanity and arrogance. Still she gave him a small smile and turned back around.

Five points to Slytherin still glistened on her paper before disappearing. So it was true. That was...interesting.

In her first year, Professor Flitwick had shown Maggie how to bewitch her quill to write what was being said long enough for her to take notes, then disappear so it couldn't be considered cheating. She'd had a quick quotes quill before, but this was much more accurate and saved on parchment. If Flitwick had given five points to Blaise then it must have been him.

"Hey! Wait!" After class Maggie pushed her way against the tide of students to follow Blaise. Finally she got to him and put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "I just wanted to thank you," she said once he'd turned around, signing quickly as she spoke out of habit, "for helping me in class, I mean. It was very...surprising, all things considered. But a nice sort of surprise." She smiled brightly, unable to hear that her own voice sounded a little odd. "I'm Maggie, by the way. Maggie Cartwright." She stuck out her hand to shake.
 
The rest of the class seemed to pass somewhat uneventfully. Blaise seemed to be getting the cold shoulder from his "friend", which didn't surprise him so much. Draco had seemed a little distant from them anyway. He had his guesses as to why that could be, mostly gleaned from his ever-gossiping mother.

As Blaise departed class, snaking in front of a couple of other students so as to leave Draco momentarily behind in the back row, he considered what was next. Lunch, of course, and then potions. Good lord, he couldn't stand Slughorn. He was briefly considering if there was anyway to ditch that class before he found himself in the grip of a Ravenclaw girl, grabbing him by the shoulder.

He turned on his heel, looking down to Maggie. The girl he'd magicked clean, of course. "Don't mention it. Peeves is a nuisance to everyone," Blaise said easily. He honestly still didn't have much of an answer for what he'd done, but hating Peeves seemed to be a pretty good excuse. He could probably spin some lie to the Baron to smack Peeves up one side of the castle and down the other. That'd bring a smile to his face.

As she stuck out her hand to introduce herself, he hesitated for a moment before taking it. Cartwright; he knew the name. Pureblood family. "Blaise Zabini," he said back. He knew the girl was deaf, but apparently she could read lips. Well enough, he supposed. He glanced out of the corner of his eye Malfoy, who seemed to be a little bit steamed after being left behind so brusquely. Great.
 
Maggie smiled. She hadn't expected to receive any sort of answer, so this was another pleasant surprise. Everyone deserved a chance, she figured, and was always pleased when someone went against the stereotype; that Hufflepuffs were stupid, Ravenclaws cold, Gryffindors jocks, and Slytherins assholes. It was funny what you could find out about someone when you bothered to take the time.

"What the Hell, Blaise?! Why--? Oh..." Draco came wading through the students up behind Maggie. "I'll bet she's hot for you now, isn't she?" he said just as loudly though still behind her back. "Girls like that always are; do something nice for them and they follow you around like some lost puppy." He rolled his eyes and sneered.

Maggie caught that Blaise had seen someone behind her and turned around. She tried to smile pleasantly, but unlike the former with whom she'd had no prior experience she'd run into Draco a few times. She was unlikely to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Hi Draco," she said pleasantly, keeping her voice even. She rolled her eyes when he mouthed wordless nonsense at her. "I'm not an idiot, I know when you're actually talking. Thought we'd gotten over this childish crap years ago?"

Draco snickered. "All just a bit of fun, don't get your knickers in a twist." He looked over her head at Blaise and pointed to her. "Seriously though, what's with the voice?" He made strange noises in the back of his throat, making it sound as if he thought her mentally challenged.

Maggie, who'd been watching, turned pink and spun on her heel. "I'll see you later maybe," she said quietly to Blaise, eyes lowered to the floor. "Um...thanks."

Keeping her head low and eyes down she disappeared into the crowd. Maggie was used to being made fun of; it had happened all her life and was likely to continue into adulthood and she didn't really mind much, especially since she couldn't hear it. Draco Malfoy, the asshole, had picked the one thing she was sensitive about. She didn't know what her own voice sounded like, but she had been tormented enough in childhood about it that she preferred to sign so other people wouldn't hear it. There were some instances, like when people didn't know sign language, that it couldn't be helped and she'd have to speak. Often around people like Draco Malfoy she would regret it almost instantly and make a private, short-lived resolve never to talk again.

Watching her walk away, Draco laughed. "Fuck, you'd think she'd be used to it by now! So what, was she just giving you a pair of her panties or something?" he snickered again. "What was with that, anyway? Peeves was brilliant!"
 
Blaise favored Draco with a cool look. He wasn't the worst in the school, let alone Slytherin. But for all the intelligence he'd inherited from his father, Lucius, he seemed dead set upon wasting it all on petty insults. It was really easy to never improve when you already had it in your head that you were perfect.

"Goodbye, Maggie," Blaise said as Draco trampled over their conversation and drove the Ravenclaw away. Then Blaise turned an eye on Draco. "I would think that there were better things to do with one's time then antagonize a Ravenclaw. A pureblood at that," Blaise said coolly. "Besides. Peeves is a bothersome little tit, no matter which way you slice it. Would that Dumbledore make himself useful and have the thing exorcised," Blaise said wistfully.

"In any case, it couldn't hurt to endear oneself to the other pureblooded families. There are not so many of us left, and it doesn't hurt to consider that, hm?" Blaise asked, as he turned from Draco, but not so quickly so as to leave the other student behind. Instead, they both had lunch just then, and the Great Hall was promising a late summertime feast, which was always appealing.
 
Draco shrugged. "What do I care she's a pureblood? They're no friends of my family, which probably means they throw their lot in with the Weasleys." He snorted derisively as he followed Blaise to the Great Hall.

"What, doesn't hurt to consider that there aren't many of us left?" Draco arched an eyebrow. "You sound like you're talking about breeding." He laughed as food appeared on his plate and he picked up his fork and knife. "Because we're pure and elite doesn't make us animals, Blaise." He dug in hungrily, having skipped breakfast that morning in favor of a trip to the Room of Requirement--though Blaise didn't know that.

As he chewed he spotted the blonde Ravenclaw signing rapidly with her friends between bites--she hadn't many, but the few she did have were very close--and an idea began to form. Blaise had been so keen on endearing himself to the pureblooded retard...How close was he willing to get?

"Seduce her," he said once he'd swallowed. Glancing sideways at his friend, or as close to a real friend Draco Malfoy could have, a smirk spread across his lips. "You wanna endear yourself to her family so much, seduce her. Bet you a hundred Galleons you can't do it." He grinned, confident Blaise would turn down the challenge rather than lower himself to regular conversation with the handicapped.
 
"No, because my mind isn't presently in someone else's pants," Blaise said, as they entered the Great Hall. As usual, they headed for the Slytherin table, getting a seat far down it near to the usual gang. Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, and many others. Draco he could stand to some degree, but the others were dumb and even more bullish. That didn't sit well with him. "I'm talking about maintaining social niceties within our steadily dwindling social circles. Just because you see a bridge and happen to have a match doesn't mean you should burn it," Blaise said simply.

Of course, it was all just justification, though a real enough reason given what he'd heard from his mother, a woman he quite idolized. The Zabinis were fabulously wealthy, partly due to the fact that Blaise was on his sixth step-father. My, she did seem to go through them. She had a way about it, a way that she had passed on (at least in part) to her son.

"... excuse me?" Blaise asked, as if caught off-guard by the initial suggestion. He'd hardly expected it. "One hundred Galleons, you say?" he asked. He didn't need the money, but making Draco that much poorer appealed to him greatly. Not to mention... "Alright. But I'll have your oath not to speak a word of it. I'll not have you being a sore loser and backing out of the deal by revealing it to anyone... lest you end up like Edgecomb. Do we have a deal?" Blaise asked. He was savvy enough to know not to leave such a loophole open... and Draco had seen the curse laid on Marietta Edgecomb for her role in the previous year's busting of the army.

He could appreciate Granger's surprising devious streak over that one.
 
Draco smirked. "What, afraid people'll think you've gone soft are you?" But he stuck out his hand anyways and shook Blaise's heartily. "Deal. But ah...let's make it a little more interesting shall we? Double if you do it by Christmas." The blond was that confident in his friend's inability to suffer through slow conversation with the girl. Once they had a deal, he shoved Blaise in the arm. "Well go on, Romeo! No better time to start than now, hmm?"

Maggie was already halfway through lunch. Blaise Zabini actually showing compassion had been one of the first topics of silent conversation, but they had moved on fairly quickly after marveling for a moment. What had surprised her was that for all his vanity he actually had a reason to be; it seemed that all Slytherins were either fashion model gorgeous or looked half-troll, and Zabini had definitely been graced with the genes of the former on top of intelligence. She had never interacted with him before today, but knew that she (privately) competed with him for top marks in the classes they shared.

As they complained about siblings or gossiped about the latest celebrity of the wizarding world (Harry Potter and his "Chosen One" fame being one of them), first years stared at the seemingly flailing hand gestures but most others who knew about her ignored them. Luna Lovegood, an acquaintance though not really a "friend" per se, stared politely at their hands as if she knew what they were talking about and would join in at any moment.

-...said they showed up in the Ministry of Magic itself- Jacob Abernathy signed before taking a large bite of pudding. -You-Know-Who and a whole load of Death Eaters.-

-Except we knew about that ages ago,- Maggie pointed out. Adriana tapped her on the shoulder.

-You know that Malfoy kid's been staring at you.-

Maggie rolled her eyes. -Probably trying to think of some new way to get Peeves to bother me. Honestly it's just so old by now.-
 
"Afraid that you'll let your injured pride get in the way of you losing this bet," Blaise said smoothly, giving Draco a firm shake of the hand. Their deal set in stone, Blaise departed his fellow models and trolls at the Slytherin table, working his way across to where the Ravenclaws sat having their lunch.

If there was one thing that Blaise wasn't lacking, on top of everything else, was just a sort of confidence or self-assurance that seemed like he belonged. It was very easy to go unquestioned when one acted like they owned the place, and with enough aplomb that others were inclined to believe that you did. To that end, Blaise set himself down at the Ravenclaw table, pressing his hands together and giving both Maggie and her friends a smile.

"Hello, Maggie, everyone," he said, taking a pointed moment to level dark eyes on her own blues, before his gaze flickered across to the others. "Might I take a seat here? My friend is continuing to mope about the incident in charms class, and it was starting to grate," he said smoothly, with a quick and pointed glance Malfoy's way, before he turned back to the Ravenclaws he'd briefly fallen in with.
 
Conversation stopped abruptly when Blaise sat down. Maggie and her friends weren't the only ones to look curiously over at him, green in a sea of blue. He was very out of place at the table, but seemed to insert himself smoothly into her own little group. It was quite curious.

"Sure you can," Maggie answered after a moment or two, "guys?"

"Well he's already sitting here anyway."

Maggie kicked Jake under the table. -Be nice!- She scowled, then pulled her lips into a genuine smile when she looked at Blaise. "So you're sitting with us out of spite, then?" She shrugged. "I can live with that."

"Spiting Draco Malfoy is somewhat of a hobby of Mag's," Adriana mentioned casually.

"The fact that I breathe his air spites him, so I'd say it's a hobby I'm rather good at," she returned coolly. "...at which I'm rather good," she corrected herself as an afterthought. "Prepositions." She shook her head disdainfully.

"And what's wrong with prepositions?!" Jake demanded indignantly.

"Yeah, they're all the sex words; in, on, behind, beneath, above..." Adriana grinned at the flush that crept up Maggie's neck.

"Above? You...really need a shag, don't you?" Jake raised an rundown at the girl sitting next to him. "I've told you, if you ever hit a dry spell I'd be happy to--"

"Moving on!" Maggie announced loudly. Offering to break Adriana's dry spells was a running joke, but of the three of them, she was the only virgin; not something she wanted to be made common knowledge lest it give students even more reason to pick on her. "Sorry Blaise, this is Adriana and Jake. You'll have to forgive them for living in the gutter." Adriana signed something which made Jake burst out laughing, but only served to deepen Maggie's blush.
 
Blaise favored Jake with a cool look, before glancing back Maggie's way. "It's something of a second language among Slytherins. Passive-aggressive spiteful asides rendered through clenched smiles. It's less spite and more just wanting a moment or two away from the complaining," Blaise said smoothly. He plucked from one of the bowls across the table an apple, brushing the rosy skin of the fruit across his vest before taking a bite out of it.

As the two of them prattled between each other while Maggie watched, Blaise considered Jake and Adriana. These are Ravenclaws? But he kept that particular thought to himself, and instead gave Maggie a brief nod.

"Oh, that's fine. I hear far worse out of some of the younger Slytherins. It's a game of continuous one upmanship played by people who've only heard raunchy stories from each other. Nice to meet you, Jake, Adriana," he said as he polished off his apple. The core would be summarily magicked away by the ever-industrious house elves.

He regarded Maggie curiously as her cheeks seemed awash with crimson. He'd have to figure out that language of theirs -- sign language, he believed it was -- so as to communicate more effectively. That would come with time. But first... "I can only imagine how, ha, peeved that Peeves is after his prank was foiled. If you'd like, I could see you to your next class. Peeves is too terrified of our house ghost to ever do anything around Slytherins," Blaise said.
 
"I'd like that." Maggie smiled before finishing off her lunch.

-That didn't take long.- Adriana received a kick under the table same as Jake had.

It wasn't long until they finished up lunch. Maggie parted company with her friends just outside the entrance to the dining hall as they went outside to go to Care of Magical Creature. She turned with Blaise toward the stairs. It was a long climb to the sixth floor where her Ancient Runes class was.

"Sorry about them," she said as they began climbing. "Ravenclaws aren't always as dignified as the Sorting Hat makes us seem." She climbed in silence for a little bit before looking over at Blaise.

"So...why the sudden interest in me?"
 
Blaise tagged along into the entrance hall, bidding Maggie's friends farewell before they were off to her next class. Ancient Runes. He'd almost wished that he'd thought to ask just where her class was before offering to take her to it, but hindsight was 20/20 and all that.

"Don't worry about it. I've ran into Luna Lovegood before. I'm already well-aware of how much Ravenclaws can differ from one another. Same with all of the houses, I suppose," Blaise said. Granger the brilliant Gryffindor, Luna the loopy Ravenclaw, Cedric the brave Hufflepuff... and while most Slytherins were jerks, he did like to think that he escaped some of the worse stereotypes for his house.

As they climbed in silence, Blaise glanced up at Maggie. Though this had started out as... he didn't know what. Pity? It could have been. But he could have just said that rather than rationalizing the whole thing to Draco... he would have to seriously admit that she was quite pretty. And he certainly had high standards. Vanity was perhaps one of his largest flaws.

"Hm?" he asked, coming to a stop behind her on the steps. "Besides spiting Malfoy?" he asked with a small smile. "I've always gotten along better with Ravenclaws anyway. If you want a more specific reason, I suppose I just find you interesting. Why? I could leave, if you'd like that of me," he said. He made no effort to turn around, however, and he took a few steps up until he rose above her, glancing down to her with a small smile.
 
Maggie stopped when Blaise did. He offered to leave and there was a thrill of panic in her chest. She didn't want him to leave, and it wasn't out of rest of Peeves. She just...really enjoyed his company. And the way he looked at her when he walked up a few steps above her. She returned his smile with a slow, shy grin of her own.

"C'mon," she said before putting her hand on his bicep as she passed him and pulling him with her as they continued.

"It's just that...well, nobody thinks I'm interesting is all. People always start talking to me out of pity or on a dare to publicly humiliate me." The tone of her voice was as though this were a regular occurrance for everyone. "It's strange to think that goin of all people finds me interesting. Or anything, really."

They had reached the fourth floor and Maggie still hadn't let go of Blaise's arm yet. With a sigh she rolled her eyes. "Wish I could skip Ancient Runes today. I'm having more fun walking with.you."
 
As she settled her hand on his bicep, there was the barest rippling of the muscle there. On top of everything else, Blaise was a chaser on the house team. He might not nearly have been as good a flyer as some of the others, but it had left him in great shape. He allowed her to drag her along up the stairs, keeping pace with the shorter Ravenclaw.

"Ah, yes. I believe Malfoy was working towards something similar. He always was a bit of a tosser. He seems to balk at basic decency," Blaise said. He figured he ought to cover his bases. Why would he say something if this was all on a dare? And he could use it to discredit Malfoy if he ever tried to throw a wrench into the whole affair. "On that note, I would keep an eye out for one of his minions trying the same thing. Not that Crabbe or Goyle are known for their ability to charm," Blaise said with a roll of the eyes as they took to the fourth floor.

"Likewise. Never cared much for Ancient Runes myself. I took it in third year, but I dropped it after that," he said. He was generally better at theory than application, but an entire class of nothing BUT theory had been a little grating.
 
"What, you think he was going to try and charm me to humiliate me?" Maggie snorted and rolled her eyes. At the feeling of his muscle tending beneath her hand, she gave Blaise's arm another gentle squeeze. "No, I suppose they aren't charmers, are they? They seem more inclined to go the Peeves route, I feel, and toss me into the lake or something."

Subconsciously the Ravenclaw slowed her pace as they climbed the stairs to the fifth floor. One more to go and she wanted to make it last; fresh conversation was a rare thing for a girl people were too shy to speak to. The corridors were empty now, with only a straggler here and there. Maggie herself might be a minute or two late, but Professor Victor was understanding about these sorts of things anyway, and she had always shown up ten or fifteen minutes early.

"Oh no, don't get me wrong. I love Ancient Runes, it's fascinating. It's just...I'm having more fun right now." She smiled at Blaise, her cheeks tinged pink for a few moments. At last, unfortunately, they came to the sixth floor and the Ancient Runes classroom. "Well...this is me," Maggie said as they stood outside the door. "Um...thanks for walking me to class, Blaise. And for everything today. It ah, it was lovely meeting you." She smiled cordially at him, but didn't move to go inside.
 
"Or try and dare me into doing it. I left before I gave him the chance," he said. He was noticing that her earlier long strides and quick step had slowed quite a bit. He almost grinned at the implication. "Most likely, in any event. I gather that their idea of charming someone would be to throw them over their shoulders and climb into their hidey holes with their victims. I'm not convinced that they don't live in the owlery, mind," he said, unable to suppress a chuckle at the thought. He could honestly imagine that happening.

"Oh, agreed. My next class is potions. Slughorn is a little too.... himself for my tastes, I have to say," he said. The man actually looked like a slug. How that came about was likely a bewildering tale that he wouldn't care to get into. If he ever let himself go that much, he would have preferred for someone to do the merciful thing and just put an end to him long before then.

As they arrived at the sixth floor, where her class was held, he gave her a small smile. "However, he's a good bit more tolerable when you have someone to make it more palatable. He's gone and invited me to one of his dreadful parties, and I'd be much obliged if you would come with me," he said smoothly. He was noticing that she was taking a moment or two longer to go to class, even once they were there. "Don't mention it, in any case. It was a pleasure to meet you, too, Maggie."
 
Maggie giggled at the mental image of Crabbe and Goyle climbing the stairs to the owlry, unconscious Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bullstrode thrown over their shoulders. Well, maybe not Millicent; she was the one more likely to be carrying them.

"Well thanks for not taking him up on that dare," she said with a look of gratitude and slight admiration. "It's happened a few times before. Well, with being my friend, anyway; it's not like anyone would ever actually want to go out with me." She tucked a stray lock of hair behind one ear self-consciously. "But still, hurts just as much every time. It's like they think just coz I can't hear means I'm subhuman and don't have feelings. So, y'know, thanks for that." It was then that she realized that while she might be a minute or two late, it would take Blaise much longer to get to his next class. "Potions?! Well why did you come all the way up here, silly man? Go!"

Maggie was caught off-guard by Blaise's invitation to one of those Slug Club parties. She raised her eyebrows momentarily. Did he remember who he was talking to?

"Me? I'd love to. I mean, if you're sure, that is; I don't want your friends or people there poking fun at you for it. I just...I mean..." She shook her head vigorously and took a deep breath, letting it go with a grin. "Yes, Blaise. I'll go to the dreadful party with you." She grinned widely and, after getting the specifics of when and where, slipped into the classroom with a silly grin plastered on her face.

"Why do I never have anything to wear to these sorts of things?" Maggie moaned, rummaging through her clothes for the sixth time that night. It was an hour before the party and she was clueless what to wear.

-Because you never get invited to these sorts of things?- Adriana waited until her friend had once again backflopped onto the bed to speak.

-Shut up!-

-Well it's true! You've never even been on a date before, have you?-

Maggie sat up abruptly, blushing. -It's not a date!-

-It's so a date!- Adriana argued. -He obviously fancies you. You obviously fancy him. Why shouldn't it be a date?-

-He's just being nice, and I don't fancy him.-

-Sure you do. He's fit, smart, rich. What's not to fancy? Apart from, y'know, being a vain arsehole Slytherin and friends with Draco Malfoy besides.-

-He's not an arsehole and he actually doesn't seem to like Malfoy very much.-

Adriana rolled her eyes. -No, you don't fancy him at all. My mistake.- This prompted her being walloped in the head with a pillow.

At a quarter to six Maggie stood by the stairs in the Entrance Hall, waiting for Blaise. She nervously twisted her fingers together, regretting allowing Adriana to put makeup on her. It wasn't much; mascara, eyeshadow, and lipstick, and her friend was good at this sort of thing, but when normally she didn't wear any at all she felt over-dressed. The dress didn't help matters; it was simple, classic black with a green sash, knee length, nothing fancy, but she was strictly a jeans sort of girl. Outside of her uniforms, that was all Maggie would wear. The dress had been borrowed from another girl in the dorms about her size.

Ten til six. Oh God...he wasn't going to show. She'd be left standing there waiting half the night like always. This was such a stupid idea. She should go. Just...give it til six. Maggie really wanted to have faith in Blaise Zabini.
 
"Don't mention it," Blaise said. "On either case, I suppose. I can come up with some sort of excuse for Slughorn. For all his skill with potions he seems... terribly easy to fool." He'd listened quite silently as she had gone on about how no one would ask her out... Even with her issue with speech (it honestly didn't bother him that much; he had to deal with people that sounded far dumber, and, well, often were), she was far smarter than people like Crabbe or Goyle... and immeasurably easier on the eyes, too.

"Excellent. Let's make it... six, just outside the Great Hall. I look forward to it," he said with a small smile before he turned from her and made for the stairs. For all his talk of playing it cool, the moment she was in her class Blaise started taking the steps two at a time. Even Slughorn could only be pushed so far.

Blaise had taken some time to prepare. It was perhaps a testament to his vanity that it took him a full hour to get entirely ready. A long bath, followed by the minute grooming of plucking, followed by tiniest bit of makeup. It was something he kept in secret, covering the natural blemishes that were inherent to any teenaged boy. No one had ever been able to tell, and he was going to keep it that way. It was all part of looking good.

Some few minutes later and he was on his way out, up the steps to the Great Hall. He'd dressed simply, but elegantly, in a spotless black suit; shiny leather shoes, pressed slacks, shirt, and coat, though the latter hung open with no tie in sight. It was about six until six at that moment, ticking over to five until six when he saw her. She certainly looked lovely. The green sash was a touch he hadn't been entirely expecting. He had to admit... she cleaned up nicely. Not that there was much to be cleaning up in the first place.

"Good evening, Maggie," he said with a full smile. "Sorry if I've kept you waiting. Shall we?" he asked, holding out his arm for her.
 
Maggie jumped at Blaise's sudden appearance and wondered how long he'd been standing there. He looked nothing short of incredible, of course; she had never seen him look disheveled or lose his cool. She smiled as she moved to take his arm, pleasantly surprised for once.

"You look very nice," she said quietly, trying to keep from grinning too hard. She smiled when she was nervous. "Um...thanks for actually showing up." She loved it when people didn't live up to her expectations and turned out to be decent human beings. Blaise Zabini was quickly becoming one of her more favorite decent human beings.

They showed up at ten past six, fashionably late. Being late made Maggie anxious, but she supposed Blaise would never have it any other way. It did turn out to be dreadful, despite the delicious food and decent company of the others there. It was clear that Slughorn was collecting people he believed to be the movers and shakers of tomorrow and spent the entire meal bragging about it. Maggie touched her date's ankle with her toes lightly to indicate disdain, then immediately regretted it. What if he didn't understand and thought she was making a pass?
 
"You look stunning, yourself, Maggie. And of course I was going to. I'm not in the habit of leading people on," Blaise said. He made sure to maintain eye contact with her, giving her a warm smile before he headed for the steps up into the heart of the castle. Slughorn's office was a good bit nicer than the dungeon office that Snape had chosen to maintain during his stint as professor of potions.

The party was, of course, utterly dreadful. Blaise hadn't chosen to misrepresent that fact, as it was full of "the best and the brightest", but more than anything else, it was full of Slughorn. Blaise had taken every opportunity to duck conversation with the man, instead choosing to focus on dinner and Maggie.

As he felt her foot brush across his own, Blaise glanced over to Maggie. There was nothing accusatory about it, but rather a simple curiosity. A small smile tugged at his lips as he nudged her back with his own foot in turn. Presently, he was entirely ignoring Slughorn. He was making some dinnertime speech about how he had helped catapult various other young students to fame and fortune after they left Hogwarts, and how he, in turn, had been lavished with presents by them for being such a good teacher. The man was a bore.
 
Maggie looked up from her dinner when she felt Blaise's foot nudge back. Biting her bottom lip to keep her smile from making it too obvious that she wasn't paying attention, she nudged back again, a little harder this time. She was, of course, adept at wordless conversation, but wished Blaise could sign that they might be able to actually talk. She disliked being confined to relying upon body language when she was bored, which happened often as was usual with intelligent people. Another reason Maggie was selective in her friends, as much as they were selective with her, was that she found ordinary people of ordinary intelligence boring. She liked the intelligent types and the more mysterious and eccentric types; Blaise was a combination of intellect and mystery to her, though his level of eccentricity remained to be seen.

More than once she caught Ginny Weasley staring at them, as though trying to figure out what they were doing together. Like Luna Lovegood--also present, at least in body, as Harry Potter's date--Ginny was somewhere between friend and acquaintance. It was clear she didn't approve of the combination and likely thought Blaise was trying to take advantage of her. Luna, on the other hand, gazed serenely with an absent smile whenever her eyes landed on them. She liked that Maggie had a new friend, no matter who he was.

It came to where the Ravenclaw was full. With no food to focus on now, she had to rely entirely on this foot-nudging and sideways-glancing with Blaise; she didn't trust herself enough to be able to whisper. Playfully she nudged him again, still making an attempt at pretending to pay attention. She, at least, had the excuse of not being able to understand; she often used this with Slughorn, mostly because it was funny to watch him shout and flail. She could tell he shouted whenever he spoke to her, as if he might be the one to finally be loud enough to cure her of deafness, and gestured wildly in some sort of faux sign language she wasn't sure even he understood.
 
Blaise had idly taken to scanning the room. Goodness, this place was dull. He'd been right to bring someone, lest he'd just ended up standing in a corner staring at the wall for the entire party. It would have made the whole thing just a little more exciting. All he wished was that he knew sign language so that they could more easily communicate. That was something he was going to have to dedicate himself to learning in the coming weeks.

He had to get out of here. He sent a knowing glance Maggie's way before turning back to the other side of the table. He considered the boy across from him. Slipping his wand out of his pocket, he flicked it under the table. The magical spark zapped the boy across from him, causing him to jerk and knock over his glass of juice. Right into Blaise's lap, as a matter of fact.

It certainly put a stop to Slughorn's ranting, and Blaise was quick to stand. He waved off the apologies, and turned to Maggie. "Come on," he mouthed at her.

The moment they were out into the hallway outside, Blaise was quick to wave away the juice from his lap, leaving nothing more than a few trace spots on the stone floor beneath himself. "Fortuitous, no? I don't think I could have stood to have stayed in there another hour. I probably would have tried to choke myself on a dinner roll," he said, slipping his wand back into his pocket. It had been an easy enough ruse. None of the others were any the wiser at how he'd managed to duck the rest of the party.
 
Maggie caught the look, but wasn't sure what exactly was meant by it. She didn't have to wait long to find out. With a noise of affected despair she scooted away a little to avoided getting spilled-on, then grabbed her napkin. She made to mop up the mess, but drew her hand back when it was inches away from Blaise, blushing furiously as she realized just where she would have been touching him.

With a sigh of gratitude she followed him outside, no one else any the wiser as to what had happened. As Blaise cleaned himself off, she couldn't help but chuckle. The whole situation had been ridiculous.

"Yeah, but then I'd have had to recuscitate you. Then neither of us would've been happy." She grinned. "But at least it would have made the party more interesting. That was good thinking, by the way; that man is such a bore! I'm not sure who I prefer teaching Potions; him or Snape." She smiled again and shook her head.

"So um...it's only seven," she said at length as she stood in the hallway with Blaise. "We've got three hours til curfew. I uh...I suppose you'd want to get back to your common room, huh?"
 
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