Eyes on the Stars Feet on the Ground

The Blazing Blaise

"Blaise!" Cielo waved at his cousin as he returned form the holidays, "how was Yule?"

Blaise held back a smile as Cielo came closer, chatting his ear off. The boy had never thought his mother's nephew would be this interesting. He had seen him as a weak link in their family; a weak link that would require his guidance to make something of himself. But Cielo proved him wrong; it was Blaise himself that was being guided. Cielo was a good person, so good that it made him want to try and emulate him.

"There's no need for such fanfare," Blaise said cooly, instead of expressing his true feelings for his cousin. His mother had already scolded him for his weakness when he had arrived home. He had to abide by her wishes; he would wipe all traces of weakness, emotion, and care from his interactions with his cousin. It was what must be done.

"Party pooper," Cielo pouted, slinging an arm around his cousin's shoulder, "come on Blaise, tell me about your holidays."

"Get your hand off of me please," Blaise rolled his shoulders, pushing off Cielo's arm, "and my holidays were fine. Mother was well."

"I'm glad," Cielo pulled out a wrapped gift, "I made you a Yule gift, but didn't bother sending it. The ministry is monitoring and filtering my mail, so it wouldn't have gotten to you in time anyways. Here, open it." 

"I'm still upset about that," Sirius frowned, "why are they treating him so badly?"

"Corruption is an unfortunate part of life," Lily sighed, leaning onto James, "I can only hope the new generation does better."

Blaise carefully tore the paper, revealing a small, framed piece of parchment. Carefully drawn on it, was Blaise and Cielo in the Greenhouse. Cielo was grinning widely as he pruned a glowing flower, while Blaise has stoic, yet fond look on his face. The frame was carefully carved out of wood, vines swirling around the edges.

"Thank you," before he could continue to praise and admire the gift, an obnoxious voice interrupted the pair of cousins.

"Why are you talking to a worthless Puff, Zabini?" Draco Malfoy's voice rang across the hall the two had been talking in. Standing as if they were bodyguards, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle approached from behind. Giggling, Pansy Parkinson clutched on his arm, which Malfoy ignored in favor of confronting Blaise. "He's nothing but a blood traitor bastard. I thought you would know better than to associate with such scum. We've been looking for you. Follow us, we're off to the common room for a game of chess."

"I'm busy," Blaise replied, his eye ticking at the insult to his cousin. He glanced at Cielo to see of he was offended. Cielo just look bored; this wasn't unusual. Many of the Slytherin boys in his year said similar things. He'd learned to ignore it.

Cielo sighed. He knew how uptight, entitled pureblood boys like them tended to behave. They were smoking firebrands; hot and blowing off steam, yet ultimately harmless. The best thing to do was remain calm, and if needed, put them in their place with cold, hard facts and logic.

"There's no need to be rude Malfoy," Cielo said placatingly, "it's in no one's best interest to start a fight. Blaise and I's relationship as cousins has nothing to do with you, nor do you have any right to say anything about it. As soon as we're done, I'm sure Blaise will be happy to join you. I would like to finish speaking with my favorite cousin."

"He's polite when dealing with those assholes," Pandora smiled, "good. He's taken after you Xeno."

"You think so?" Xenophilious asked his girlfriend lovingly, "I think he acts a lot like you actually. Luna's the one who acts more like me."