Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. I)

Slytherin Perceptions (Blaise Zabini)

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.