CLOUDGAZING - blaise zabini

one

Aurora sat criss-cross on her plush four-poster bed and closed her eyes. She breathed deeply, trying her best to center herself and calm down. Out loud, she whispered, "I am confident. I am strong. I am kind. I am worthy. I am happy. I am ready to start the day, for nothing will go wrong."

"Aurora, what the hell are you doing?" Jasmine's effervescent voice called from the bathroom.

"I'm setting my intention for the day, dumb!" Aurora called back.

Jasmine stepped out from the bathroom now, a grin on her face. "Let me know how that works out for you."

"I will, thank you very much," Aurora replied, trying to hide her smile. To most of the students at Hogwarts, it would appear that Jasmine and Aurora were pissed at each other 24/7. But in reality, it was just their way of communicating. Besides, without some humor, what was the point?

"Anyways, we have charms first, right?" Jasmine asked.

"Yeah, with your main man Dean Thomas," Aurora joked.

"Stop it, Aurora. You know I don't like him anymore." Jasmine furrowed her brow.

"Oh yeah, just like how I hate quidditch now." Aurora quipped.

"Oh shut up," Jasmine slung her bag around her shoulder and headed out the door. Aurora did the same, and the two girls were off to charms class.

+++

Sitting in the very back of the lecture hall, like always, Aurora and Jasmine unpacked their things and prepared for the first charms class of the school year. The room filled quickly, sixth years filing into the old wooden desks. Minutes before the start of class, two tall figures dressed in Slytherin robes strode up to where Aurora and Jasmine were seated. One was Draco Malfoy, the other Blaise Zabini.

Draco slammed himself down into a seat, leaving a space between him and Aurora. Aurora did her best not to scowl at him, knowing damn well that all he wanted was a sliver of attention.

A gravelly voice suddenly said, "mind if I sit here?" Aurora looked up at Blaise, a little surprised at how deep his voice had gotten over the summer.

"Yeah, no problem," Aurora answered him. He slid swiftly into the empty seat, neatly stacking his textbooks on his desk. Aurora struggled not to laugh at the stark contrast between Draco and Blaise. Draco was wild, temperamental, sensitive, and angry; Blaise was collected, clean-cut, eye-catching, and refined.

Flitwick began the lecture after welcoming students back to school. Aurora zoned in and out of the lesson, hearing bits and pieces about a spell that could heal toenails and a charm that could change the color of ones eyes. She was snapped out of her unfocused trance when a small piece of parchment was slid onto her desk. Aurora bit her lip and discreetly looked down to read it, squinting her eyes a bit. It read, damn, blaisey boy got hot, didn't he?

Aurora summoned her inner-strength, desperate not to laugh at Jasmine's comment. Out of the corner of their eyes, Aurora and Jasmine made eye contact, worsening Aurora's desire to laugh significantly. Before she could stop herself a rather unattractive snorting sound forced itself from her throat. Luckily, nobody really noticed.

Except for Blaise.

He cut his eyes over to Aurora, then to the note on her desk. As he read it, a smirk creeped onto his face. Smoothly, he grabbed the note from the desk and slid it in front of him, uncapping his quill. He flipped the note around and scribbled something, and then slipped it back to Aurora.

Aurora's face burned, and she was caught between the urge to laugh and the need to cry. She looked down and read the note. Blaise had written, damn right I did, hope thats alright with you.

Aurora showed no response, just looked back up at Flitwick and tried to focus on educational endeavors. But focusing on educational endeavors is pretty difficult when your best friend is sitting to your right with tears in her eyes, trying desperately not to laugh, internally cracking up at your expense, and an exceedingly attractive boy is on your left, thinking about how dumb but somewhat intriguing you and your friend are.