Blaire Zabini || Draco Malfoy

22 - Best Of Five

"I told you, I was in detention. It wasn't my fault."

My stomach gave an unpleasant twist as I looked up into Cedric's disappointed face. I had managed to catch him in the Entrance Hall after breakfast, and he wasn't happy that I'd stood him up the night before. And even less happy when he learnt the reason why.

"It's a bit childish though, don't you think? Getting a detention for play fighting in class? I thought you were more mature than that, Blaire. I guess I was wrong."

I felt panic flutter in my chest as Cedric turned to leave. My hand shot out to grab his arm, halting him.

"You're right, I'm sorry," I said quickly, eager to placate him, "It was immature of me. And I'm sorry I missed our study session, I know you went out of your way to get me that extension on my Charms homework."

Cedric frowned, his eyes studying me carefully. I felt like I was holding my breath as he seemed to mull it over in his head.

And then his face softened and he reached out his arms, allowing me to embrace him. I clung to his torso feeling relief flood me as I nuzzled my face into his chest and inhaled his enticing scent.

"I can never stay mad at you, baby," he murmured into my hair. "I just worry that Malfoy is a bad influence on you. You've been friends again for less than a day and already you've got into trouble because of him."

I stiffened, not liking the way he was making it sound as though it was all Draco's fault.

But before I could say anything, we were interrupted by a female voice.

"Ced! Are you ready?"

I looked up from Cedric's embrace to see a pretty raven haired fifth year walking towards us.

Cho Chang.

Cedric let his arms drop from around me, and turned to face her with a big smile. "Hey, Chang; wait for me out front, I'll be with you in five."

He turned back to me, his grey eyes glinting. "You don't mind do you? We got chatting last night when you were in detention and she asked if I could give her some pointers about Quidditch, so I offered to take her into Hogsmeade this morning for a coffee."

"Umm... okay," I said, feeling slightly discombobulated. Normally on a Saturday morning we would go and find a private spot by the lakeside together.

"Are you sure?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because I could always cancel... for you."

"Of course not." I said, forcing a smile, trying my hardest to ignore my growing panic. "You go ahead. I have homework I need to catch up on anyway."

Grinning, he leant in to rub his nose against mine. "You're the best. I'll see you after lunch. Perhaps we can do something together later?"

I nodded, keeping the smile plastered on my face as I watched him turn to leave, racing to catch up with Cho.

*****

"I thought you were hanging out with Pretty Boy this morning?" Draco asked as I slumped down next to him onto the common room sofa.

"Nope," I said rubbing my forehead, trying to ignore the heaviness inside of me. "He's gone into Hogsmeade."

Draco blinked at me. "You didn't fancy going with him?"

"It's a Quidditch thing, apparently." I said, chewing my lower lip, trying not to think about Cedric and Cho having a cosy chat over a coffee.

"Fuck, I miss Quidditch," Draco sighed heavily, throwing his head back dramatically over the sofa. "I'd do anything to have a 'Quidditch thing' right now. You don't know how sodding bored I am without it."