daughter of wands (d.m)

VI

Blaise motions with a nod to follow him and I do. We walk out through the common room filled with fellow Slytherins and toward the stone passageway. I cant help myself from peaking over my shoulder to see if Draco was still around, but to my disappointment, there was no sign of him.

I toddled next to Blaise, trying to keep at his pace as we went up the moving stairs and entered a bustling hallway.

"Typical first years... Watch this," He says as we walk past a group of young looking Hufflepuffs huddled together. "Hey kiddos! What class are you looking for?" He asks with fake kindness.

They turn to him, a small girl in the front opening her mouth to speak but snapping it shut when she notices his green robe and looking frame.

"It's Zabini!" Another shouts, all girls all grabbing each other by the arm and darting down the hall.

Blaise laughs with a shrug, "Smart kids, I was going to send them the wrong way anyway."

I chuckle nervously as I continue to follow him through the crowd.

"You have quite the reputation, I'm noticing." I say, looking up to his dark eyes.

He smiles smugly, "You could say that, I mean we all sort of have this persona to uphold."

"What do you mean?" I ask genuinely. "Do you want everyone to think you're evil?"

He laughs loudly, "Evil?! I don't have to make anyone think I'm evil... I actually am."

His tone is joking as he walks backwards through the students, lifting the hood of his robe up and wiggling his fingers. I chuckle along with him but something deep in my gut aches as we fall back into a normal pace.

"I'm guessing whoever was hoping you'd be in Gryffindor told you were we all evil..." He says confidently.

I force a smile, "My mom and Aunt, they were both Gryffindor's when studied here."

He seemed satisfied with that answer as we make our way through the maze of gothic hallways.

As we walk I begin to notice envious eyes falling on me, girls from all four houses whispering to their friends between jealous glances.

I look back to Blaise, his skin glowing and his smile radiating as he rattles on about some trouble Crabbe and Goyle got themselves into last year.

I look again at the faces we pass, everyone looking from Blaise to me and wondering how I got so lucky. I feel my ego inflating slightly but I squash it quickly, my mind telling me Blaise and I were only friends of circumstance.

"Can I ask you something else?" I say raising my eyebrows.

He shrugs, "Anything."

"Are you like... popular?" I question stupidly.

He lets out a laugh as we turn down another hallway, his strong hand grabbing my arm and pulling into the first door on the right.

"Popular? Depends on who you ask I guess..."

He pulls out a chair for me toward the back, a group of Gryffindor's in the front sneering at us as he sits down next to me.

"To them," Blaise motions to the angry eyes as he sets his bag down on the chair next to me and continues, "I'm not popular. Potter, Granger, and the Weasleys are. I'm sure the weaselbee's will love you!"

He reaches over and rustles up my red hair with a laugh.

"Are they the gingers? I saw them watching me while I got sorted." I say replacing my bobby pins.