turn back for me
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For Kitty Kat
prompts (quoted):
"Blaise/ Parvati
I have an unhealthy obsession with time-travel fics.
No M-rated stuff. Humor/ romance, fluff, and/or angst is good."
Notes: I doubled up your two short drabbles into one bigger fic. Hope that's alright, Kitty.
(I admit I'm not happy with this fic at all.)
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It starts like this: the Granger girl is walking down the hallway, her steps light and quick. This, in itself, is not that surprising. What is surprising is that when Blaise turns the corner, she's suddenly entering a classroom. Now, Blaise is a wizard, but he knows that the laws of physics have just been broken before his very eyes.
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But he's more than a wizard. He's a Slytherin. It doesn't take much to deduce that the Granger girl has a Time-Turner. And from there it's a simple leap of logic: of course the Professors' mudblood pet was given a Time-Turner. Blaise is momentarily pained at the thought — the power of time squandered on school lessons.
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So he files this knowledge away, like a squirrel with its precious food. He saves it for the day he'll need it. The day comes too soon, though. And he's not at all happy that it does.
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"You're staring again, Zabini," Malfoy drawls.
Blaise lowers his eyes and takes a sip of his water. "You're staring at me, Malfoy, to have noticed that." He slices up his bacon into perfect strips.
Malfoy rolls his eyes and sets down his fork. "Merlin, Zabini, just ask Patil out already. This staring during mealtimes is frankly embarrassing and rather plebeian."
Blaise lifts a lip in a perfect sneer. "And you would be well acquainted with all things plebeian, wouldn't you?"
Malfoy grins loftily. His poncey hair is gleaming. "Know thy enemy."
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He's not sure exactly what happens. One minute, he's walking down the dungeon corridor with a few friends (his mother preferred the terms "allies"), and the next there's screaming. He takes a moment to be thankful that he'd bunked Potions class today (being one of Snape's Snakes has its benefits), as something has clearly gone wrong.
The Potions' classroom door bursts open and a student — absolutely frantic — rushes out.
Blaise quirks an eyebrow and stretches his neck a little to see. What meets his gaze leaves him pale. It's Parvati — intelligent, intriguing Parvati. She's lying on the floor, crying. There are patches on her robes — he surmises from a potion accident. But it's the one on her face and neck that has him hissing in shock and horror. The potion has burned her. And it has burned her badly.
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He gets the story out, bit by bit: Snape left for the Hospital Wing at the behest of Madam Pomfrey. There was a medical emergency with a student, and she suspected foul play in the form of a potion poisoning. He'd instructed all students to immediately put their cauldrons into stasis mode, and then vacate the classroom. He then left. Some bumbling fool — Longbottom — had not put their cauldron under stasis correctly, and then another — Finnegan — had knocked some vials into the same cauldron in his excitement for a "free period." Parvati paid the price.
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Blaise follows her and then observes. She's in pain, and listless, and she tilts her face to hide the burn. Professor Snape and Madam Pomfrey hover over her. The Potions' Master's nostrils are flared with anger, but Pomfrey exudes only professionalism and concern. They spend the next two hours after the accident trying to figure out the exact composition of the potion that caused the burns. Blaise purses his lips and turns away from the Hospital Wing. Steely resolve grips him.
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He approaches the Granger girl in the library. She's pouring over a book. And while he could just ask to borrow the Time-Turner, he doesn't have the patience to convince her. So he sits down next to her. Pulls out some homework.
"Granger."
She stares at him, utterly shocked. "Zabini?"
He hums affirmatively. He grasps his wand and covertly casts a warming charm on Granger, from beneath the safety of the table.
She's tense, and suspicious, but as five minutes pass, and then ten, she relaxes.
Once she does, he reaches into his schoolbag and pulls out a water bottle. He pretends to take a sip and then eyes Granger. The spell has done its job — she's sweating.
"Some water?" he offers, carefully modulating his tone.
She looks hesitant, but she's parched, and so she accepts. "Thank you, Zabini," she says stiffly, and drinks.
In five minutes, she's sleeping away, her head resting on her book. A stolen Sleeping Draught — glamoured for covertness by an upperclassman (his wallet does not thank him) — has worked brilliantly. He smiles and leans over, gently removing the Time-Turner from around her neck.
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Blaise takes five minutes to brush up on how Time-Turners work, and then away he goes, spiralling into the past.
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He makes his way to the dungeons and then waits outside. He's gone back to a time before Potions class even starts for Parvati or him. He waits.
She comes, looking absolutely stunning. Her skin is a rich caramel, but it's her smile that he can't look away from. She's happy, all girlish giggles one moment and then a sophisticated smirk the next.
Her friends titter when they spot him casually leaning against the door.
"Parvati," he greets with a smooth smile, ignoring the gaggle flanking her.
"Zabini?" she asks, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Blaise," he corrects her.
"Blaise," she repeats, and the sound of his name on her lips is a wonderful thing.
"May I speak to you?"
She hesitates. "Sure." She waves her friends inside. Away they go, still giggling. Lavender Brown's laugh is high-pitched and annoying.
"I know you believe in Divination," he begins.
"I do," she says, eyeing him oddly.
"Well, Trelawney told me to tell you that if you enter the Potions classroom today, you'll regret it," he says solemnly.
"Oh?" she asks, and narrows her gaze. She studies him and his sincere expression. "Well, if Professor Trelawney said that …"
"She did," he lies.
Parvati hesitates. The indecision is clear on her face.
He convinces her. Eventually.
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"Would you go to Hogsmeade with me?" he asks her, as they relax in front of the Great Lake.
Parvati pauses.
He convinces her. Again.
It's all wonderful, just like her impish smile.
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And later he thinks this: he wouldn't mind turning back time for her. He'd do it again and again and again. Besides, seeing Granger drooling on a precious book is a payment in and of itself.