CLOUDGAZING - blaise zabini

nine

"That is, if you're okay with it being a date," Blaise added, noticing the surprised look in Aurora's eyes.

"Uh," she stuttered, "yeah, I haven't had one in a while either." She paused. "It's a date." Her face broke out in a smile, and she took a welcome swig of her tasty mocha.

"How is it?" Blaise asked, smoothly changing the subject.

"The coffee?" Aurora asked, looking to Blaise.

"No, Slughorn's awful cologne," he quipped, his signature smirk creeping onto his face.

Aurora shook her head in mock disgust at Blaise's joke before answering, "it's actually really lovely."

Blaise smiled slightly at her. "I'm glad."

Suddenly, a thought popped into Aurora's mind, making her stomach drop. "Don't you think Katie will be upset by this?"

"By what?" Blaise questioned, tilting his head to the side a bit.

"By us... on a date."

"It's none of her business what I'm doing," Blaise spoke. "I barely even talk to her."

"You know she's mad for you, right?" Aurora muttered.

"I'm aware," Blaise replied. "I told her as politely as possible last year that I was interested in someone else."

"And if you don't mind me asking," Aurora started, smiling, "who were you interested in?"

Blaises eyes narrowed. He knew he'd been caught. "There's this completely insane girl in our year. Goes by the name of Aurora Bennett. That's who I'm interested in."

Aurora blushed profusely, so she hid her face slightly by taking a drink of coffee. "You're bold," she laughed slightly.

"That I am," Blaise admitted. 

"Should we walk around some shops too?" Aurora offered, seeing that Blaise had almost finished his bitter drink.

"That sounds good," Blaise nodded. "I've been meaning to pick up some items from Scrivenshaft's anyways."

"Scrivenshafts?" Aurora asked.

"You know, the quill shop? It's where I get most of my drawing stuff."

"Oh, that place," Aurora nodded. "I've never been inside it before".

"It's great," Blaise enthused. "Got some of the best sketchbooks in the area. And they have enchanted ones where I can hide certain drawings I don't want people seeing." He paused. "Not that I've ever had to use that feature before."

"Sure you haven't," Aurora shot him a disbelieving look before taking one last sip of her drink. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go." Blaise stood up, Aurora following him. They thanked and waved goodbye to the barista as they stepped out of the shop and into the brisk air outside.

"Let's go to Scrivenshaft's first," Aurora said as they emerged from the alley "Which way is it?"

"Are you sure? It's to the right, just next to Gladrags."

The two walked slowly towards the shop, occasionally waving at fellow students. Aurora was glad she wore her cozy sweater; even though it was only the beginning of fall, the temperature was enough to make her shiver.

"You cold?" Blaise asked Aurora.

"A bit," she admitted.

"I would give you my jacket, but I think it'd swallow you whole," Blaise joked.

"Shut up," Aurora said, scoffing.

Blaise chuckled a little before coming to a stop in front of Scrivenshaft's. He and Aurora entered the shop, and it was much busier than she had expected. About five rows of dark brown bookshelves were placed in the center of the shop, along with the same style of shelf lining the crimson walls. An elderly man with exceedingly large circular glasses and dark skin sat behind an old wooden desk, scribbling something on a notepad and watching the students in the shop all at once. He looked up as the doorbell rang, and his wrinkly face lightened immediately when he saw Blaise. 

"Mr. Zabini," the man said, his voice oddly reminding Aurora of a crackling fire. "How do you do?"

"I'm well, Mr. Benson, how about yourself?" Blaise responded politely, greeting the man with a wave.

"I'm doing well myself, thank you. Who's this?" Mr. Benson asked, nodding at Aurora.

"This is my..." Blaise paused. What was Aurora? His friend? Date? Girlfriend?

"I'm Blaise's girlfriend," Aurora said confidently, half-joking, half-serious.

"Lovely to meet you," Mr. Benson bowed slightly. "If there's anything I can help you two with, please just let me know."

"Thank you sir," Blaise smiled briefly before grabbing Aurora by the hand and pulling her behind the bookshelf that was the farthest away from Mr. Benson. He dodged several shoppers along the way, most of them Ravenclaws. "What was that for?" Blaise whispered. "We aren't even dating."

"I thought this was a date," Aurora shrugged her shoulders, preparing for a battle of wit with Blaise.

"Well, obviously, but I haven't even asked you out officially," Blaise said quickly. 

"Were you planning to?" she raised her eyebrows.

"I-- uh," Blaise stuttered.

"If it'll help you think, you can let go of my hand now," Aurora grinned. Blaise dropped her hand immediately, realizing he'd been holding it this entire time. She glanced around, making sure that nobody was paying attention to her and Blaise. Then she looked up at Blaise's chocolate eyes, not breaking eye contact. "Fine then, if you're so stubborn. Would you like to be my boyfriend?"

Blaise blinked quickly, surprised. Heat rose to his cheeks, tingled in his chest. "You're joking."

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Aurora kept her eyes on his.

"Prove it," Blaise said.

Aurora stood on her tippy toes and placed a delicate kiss on his cheek. A flutter graced her chest, heat moving to her face much like Blaise's.

"I guess that'll have to be a yes," Blaise flashed a smile, trying to act cool, making Aurora's heart beat even faster. He glanced at his watch, shaking his head a bit. "We've only got an hour left. Let me get my things from here quickly, and then we can go wherever you need to."

"Okay," Aurora agreed, following Blaise as he began to walk along the bookshelves, glancing at the various supplies available for purchase. As he wound through the store, he stacked quills, sketchbooks, small tins of paint and pigment, pencils, some folders, and a jar of standard black ink in his arms, careful not to drop anything. At last, he approached Mr. Benson's desk and carefully sat his items on it, pulling a small leather satchel from his coat.

"Been working on lots of art?" Mr. Benson asked, looking up at Blaise as an enchanted quill added up the total of Blaise's purchases on a sheet of yellowed parchment filled with numbers from other wizards' purchases.

"Yes sir, as much as I can," Blaise told him.

When the scratching of the quill stopped, Mr. Benson read Blaise his total. "That'll be twelve sickles and seven knuts."

Blaise drew the correct amount of money from his satchel and placed it in front of Mr. Benson. As soon as the coins hit the desk, a brown paper bag flew over from a nearby shelf and opened itself, allowing Blaise's items to fly inside the bag. Once it had landed, Blaise grabbed the bag off of the desk and said goodbye to Mr. Benson. Motioning towards Aurora, Blaise strode towards the shop's heavy brown door and opened it. 

As the two moved down the shop's stairs, Mr. Benson called, "oh, and you two!" Aurora and Blaise turned around to look back inside the shop. "Do have fun on your little date!"

They both waved and thanked him. Blaise was able to close the shop door just before the two burst into fits of inexplicable laughter.