The Color Yellow ~ Blaise Zabini

ten

Christmas break was a joyful time for most. Blaise Zabini did not fall into that category of most. Christmas holidays held far too much meaning for him to find them anything but terrible.

He was supposed to take the Dark Mark.

There was almost no way for him to escape it. The Mark was awful and vile and Blaise wanted no part of it. His parents did. They wanted him to take it so that their family would be safe from the Dark Lord's wrath. And Blaise wanted to please his family and keep them safe so he had agreed to take the Mark over break. However, he agreed to that before meeting Isabelle.

The Slytherin paced his room until his expensive black socks had a hole worn into the sole of the left one. His mind was in a million different places but his heart was in only one.

Blaise walked slowly downstairs to where his mother and father sat in the parlor. Mr. and Mrs. Zabini could tell by the quietness and smallness of their normally larger than life and boisterous son that something was wrong. That suspicion was only confirmed when they caught a glimpse of the boy's face. His face as a whole was quite doleful but his eyes were the most helpful in distinguishing what Blaise's emotions were. They were downcast and bleary.

"Son?" Blaise's father questioned, voice conveying his concern plainly.

"I need to speak to you, it's important."

His parents shared a look before his father nodded for him to continue and get to the point.

"Mother, Father, I'm so very sorry," he started but had to stop and try to regain control of his overwhelming emotions, "I cannot take the Dark Mark; yes, I know that I am supposed to take it for the safety of all of us. However, I can't do it."

Blaise once again lost control of his emotions and had to take a seat. His mother and father sat together on a small love-seat and he was splayed out on an overstuffed velvet chair. Mrs.Zabini reached across the distance and squeezed her only son's hand as a tear fell down his cheek.

The boy took his hand out of his mother's grasp and used it to wipe his eyes fiercely. He opened his mouth to continue but was cut of by his father's voice.

"Do you mind sharing why, son?"

"I was just getting to that," Blaise mumbled, "I've fallen in love. Her name is Isabelle and she is absolutely wonderful. Mother, I'm certain that you'd love her as well. She is so very, very kind and she befriended Draco and I at the start of term. I tried so hard to be rid her but something about her kept drawing me in. And now I realize that it's because our hearts new somehow, even then, that we were supposed to be together."

His mother and father sat silently for a moment, processing their son's heartfelt words. Mrs.Zabini was the first to move and first to speak.

The tall, thin woman took the few steps and embraced her son lovingly and said, "I'm so proud of you, Blaise. I envy your bravery."

"If you are sure. And I mean absolutely sure, son, we will honor your decision," the man smiled, "the only condition is that we get to meet her as soon as possible."

Blaise broke into a grin so large that his parents were concerned it would split at any moment. So overcome with joy, Blaise lunged at his father to embrace him warmly. At first his formal and aristocratic father was stiff and rigid but the longer he hugged him the more he relaxed into the moment.

The next morning at Hogwarts you could not even try to dampen Isabelle's excitement. She was so excited for Christmas and Christmas shopping. She could hardly contain her excitement as she pounded against the Gryffindor boys' dormitory door. A very disgruntled Harry Potter opened the door, scratching his unruly hair.

"Harry! Let's go we have tons to do!" She smiled cheerfully as she shoved her way into the room to find the boy some half decent clothes.

"You know Isabelle, you're lucky I was the only boy our year that stayed behind?" He said as he begrudgingly grabbed the stack of clothing the Hufflepuff had sat out for him. Isabelle sat herself on top of Neville's bed and drew the curtains to allow him privacy to change clothes.

Once he was done he opened the curtains and Isabelle jumped out and charmed Harry's teeth clean so that they could leave immediately.

"Where are we going, Short-stack, if you don't mind my asking?" Harry joked as the small girl looped her elbow through his.

"And though she be but little, she is fierce," she laughed before answering the raven-haired boy's question, "Hogsmeade of course! We've got presents to buy."

The pair continued their walk to Hogsmeade joyfully singing muggle Christmas tunes loudly and off-key. They playfully shoved eachother off of the path and played with the crisp white snow. Needless to say, it was the most fun Harry'd had in ages. He was quite glad that Isabelle had chosen to attack him in the corridor that one day.

Isabelle lead them into Honeydukes first and bought a large box of chocolate frogs and a smaller box of acid pops. Harry passed on everything in their for once, he had a plan for his money that he couldn't fulfill if spent it all on candy.

Harry then tugged Isabelle into Gladrags Wizardwear so that he could purchase the first item he needed: a ghastly pair of baby pink knee high socks with white cat heads and unicorn horns emblazoned on them. Isabelle laughed at Harry's purchase but he knew it was just what he needed. Isabelle also found a pair of socks that she informed him were for Blaise. They were bright yellow with little badgers floating randomly all over the sock.

After Gladrags, they stopped in at the Three Broomsticks for lunch where they shared stories of Christmas past. Next they went into Dervish and Banges to purchase the items they had left. They left there with two pairs of leather quidditch gloves.

Isabelle smiled as they collapsed in the Hufflepuff common room with their goodies and began wrapping them. An hour or so later Isabelle received a letter from an owl she recognized to be Blaise's, inviting her and Harry to his family's estate to exchange gifts and celebrate with him and Draco. Of course Isabelle agreed enthusiastically and sent the letter off with the tawny owl.

A.N. hope you guys liked this chapter!!!💛💛💛 also the next chapter will probably be shorter than usual!!
Love you and thanks for the reads, votes, and comments!
-o l i v i a