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Backdrop

Blair had never reallynoticed the pale haired boy. Not really. Oh, he'd known about him, sure—but then everyone did.

Everyone knew about him, and no one really knew him. Now that Blair thought about it, he could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen the boy converse freely with anyone outside of class.

He was something of a celebrity at Rainier, both for his arrogance and for his aristocratic looks. Pale, pale blonde hair, which half the class swore up and down he bleached, and grey eyes like the sea during a storm—or so the girls claimed, anyway. Blair himself had never really paid attention to that kind of thing. A thin, razor sharp nose, and high cheekbones completed the look, along with pale, perfect skin, and long lean muscled limbs. He was a god in the eyes of the female population, and yet he never accepted any of their subtle—and not so subtle—invitations to, shall we say, become intimate. He just waved off their advances with cold, perfect politeness, and a barely noticeable sneer marring his perfect face.

Blair had seen him so it once or twice, and was impressed. It's not just everyone who can say no to Lina Brown, the Campus Slut.

The blonde had transferred in to the sophomore class last spring, and had in fact been a Philosophy class that that Blair had been assisting in that first semester. At the time, Blair had a vague memory of him looking like death for those first few weeks. Deathly pale under his tan, and too thin under his muscles; he'd been sickly looking despite his expensive designer clothing. Once, Blair had thought he caught glimpse of a tattoo on his wrist—a Death's Head, or something like it—and several suspicious bruises, like he'd been fighting. He remembered thinking to himself that clearly this new student was trouble. Or in trouble. But then one day he came in looking perfectly fine and normal—well, mreo beautiful than was normal for a boy, but still, perfectly healthy—and Blair had goggled for a moment, shrugged, and forgotten all about it.

He'd been an attentive student—smart, and well read too, though sometimes he mentioned reading things in publications Blair was sure didn't exist.

Who'd ever heard of a periodical called 'Bi-Annual Muggle Ramblings'?

Still, the care and interest young Mr. Malfoy took in the subject had more than made up for his occasional wanderings into questionable territory.

And then in April, he'd left for the summer with an A in the class, and every other class as well, and Blair hadn't thought about him since. It had been over a year since then—the boy would be a senior now, Blair thought; hardly able to be called a boy anymore.

He'd be leaving Rainier soon, without ever having made any real friends there, despite having many, many acquaintances and fan-girls.

Blair thought that was rather sad.

But still—it wasn't really any of his business, was it?

He hardly knew the young man—he was just another background person in the story of his life, just another extra.

And then he'd left; graduated. And that had been that.

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well... we really should be working on our other story, but what the hey- we were inspired, this got written, and the next chapter of HL... didn't. consider this an apology fic the ridiculously long wait.

this may, at some point, spawn a sequel or related plotbunny. you never know!

Hope you enjoyed! Leave a review at the door?