The Golden Boy

46

This chapter and possibly the next few will be in 3 person. So that means the chapters will be getting longer.

Blaise tried to stay awake for his best friend but couldn't do it. He was far too tired. And if he was tired Harry was usually feeling exhausted so he was surprised when he was being told to wake up.
"Didn't think you'd actually wake me up."
Harry shrugged and went to sit on his bed. "You told me to. All I did was do what you asked." Blaise glared at his best friend from across the room. Though it came across more of a pout that he was right.
"Anyways, Astronomy was boring as always. But that's because they make it boring. Like what if we were to make a game out of it? A memory game to be exact. I feel we wouldn't be falling asleep so much."
Blaise hummed tiredly. Half paying attention to the talkative Hufflepuff. "Where is this energy coming from?" He asked. Harry shrugged and moved to put on his night clothes.
"Oh and before I forget!" He turned around to look at the sleepy slytherin. "I figured out why they're merging our schedules." At closer inspection Harry saw that Blaise had fallen asleep. 'I'll just tell him in the morning.' He thought. And with that he climbed into his bed. Harry laid awake for a few minutes just thinking about it all. 'I'm starting to hate Wednesdays.'  With that last thought he fell into sleep.
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"I remember you saying that you figured something out. What was it?" The duo sat across from each other on their respective beds.
"Oh! I figured out why they suddenly wanted to merge our schedules." Harry paused. Blaise could see how a vein popped out in irritation. "They know we'll retaliate because of the news so they're doing this in hopes we won't because we'll be together." Blaise sat and stared at his best friend.
Harry counted to three waiting for the reaction he knew would come.
"Those idiot teachers. Persuasive Gandalf lookin Professor. Think we won't retaliate because they merged our schedules. If they think something so small could overshadow.... These teachers are a mess. These teachers must think we're a joke."
Harry expected more than that from his friend. Though he was sure it wouldn't be the last time he brought it up. Knowing Blaise he very well could go to the teachers themselves.  "Just remember to think through your actions." Blaise turned to Harry with an offended look.
"Pardon? Do you think me mad? Why would I..." Blaise's sentence died in his throat. He started over more calmly. "Why would I impulsively confront a teacher? That, mind you, is a bamillion(Anybody watch KND as a kid?) times stronger than me."
"Yes. I mean no. But maybe."  Blaise sighed and glared at Harry. It wasn't as intense as the ones he sent to the public.
"I am very much offended, Harry." Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard a faint scoff. He went to speak but remembered that one Harry was right there, and two Blaze probably wouldn't answer. 
"Sorry."
"No need. You may be right. No matter. I'm sorry for my outburst, it was uncalled for."
'Ugh. That sounded far too formal. I sound like Blaze.' Blaise shook his head violently to rid himself of his thoughts. 
Harry laughed nervously. "Are you gonna bow for me too?"  Blaise raised an eyebrow.
Harry thought he looked a bit defensive as he strongly said, "I bow for no one."
"Yeah. Of course." Harry looked away from the dark skinned boy. Not wanting to meet his friend's fiery gaze. They both sighed and laid back on their beds.
"Back to the situation at hand. Remember when I had to speak with Snape?"
"Yeah. Finally, gonna tell me what that was about?"
"No. I was just thinking about what we said at the end. The question he asked at the end. Was that like some form of foreshadowing?"
"Maybe. Remember what we said."
Blaise laughed drily. "How could I forget?"
"Do you think the merging will cause problems?"
"I'm gonna say no for the sake of optimism." Harry turned his head to look at Blaise. Hearing his movement Blaise stared back. 
"I think it will too. But for the sake of optimism..." Blaise nodded and turned back around. "We have Magical Theory today. How do you think it'll go?"
"Well. Given that Magical theory can be a bore, I doubt many people will care or notice."
Blaise and Harry continued to lay about until 09:00. When the time finally came they gave each other hugs and wished each other well like it would be their last time seeing each other for the next lifetime.
Harry was bored out of his mind in DADA. The topic was interesting but the delivery wasn't there. Professor Mcgonagall was trying her best to keep them all invested but it wasn't working. Upon further inspection of his peers Harry found that many of them held faces of pity and disgust.
"You can cure a werewolf bite." This seemed to catch everybody's attention. "Using a mixture of powdered silver and dittany. Thus preventing a victim from bleeding to death. Even then, wizards and witches begged to be allowed to die." The class was silent in sorrow for their teacher who obviously knew from experience.
'How sad.' Harry thought. 'Even to live with a curse, at least you're alive.'
"Cowards." Looks were cast over to the Gryffindor side.
"I beg your pardon?" Mcgonagall asked.
"Sorry Professor. But it's just like, were there no reasons to live. Family, friends, love. Nothing. They'd rather die and give the werewolf who changed their lives the satisfaction."
"Satisfaction of what?" Harry asked before he could stop himself. Weasley didn't glare or glower; he answered Harry's question calmly.
"The satisfaction of knowing they successfully killed someone, ruined someone's life." The class sat in silence for several minutes as Ronald Weasleys words hung in the air. Minerva cleared her throat to get everyone's attention again.
"Mr. Weasley, you must understand that werewolves, no matter who they are, are ostracized from society. Even their families would turn against them. They're judged heavily for something they can't control." She took a long shuddering breath before she continued. "I'm sure you are all smart enough to realize now why death didn't seem so bad."
She walked back to her desk and sat down. "You may work on school work or read. Please...just be quiet." Sensing that their teacher needed the break and quiet they all took out books. Not even Weasley spoke. Harry continued to spare glances at his professor. Her eyes glazed over as she wrote. 'It'll be okay.' He thought. He turned back to his potions textbook and tried to focus on the study of poisonous mushrooms and their uses.
In Charms, Blaise was feeling lonely.  Usually he would talk to Blaze to pass the time. But that was out of the question because he was still scheming. So he sat still and just watched. 'What to do?' He thought.  'What to do?' This question continued to plague his mind.
"If everyone would lift their dominant hand," The students did as directed. "The movement for this jinx is simple. Follow me, everyone." Blaise did as directed. He wanted to practice more but found that he couldn't. His mind was distracted but also void of all thoughts. 'What to do?' He continued to ponder. 'Blaze?' He desperately wanted him back. It was far too quiet without him. 'Blaze.' He sighed heavily. 'He must have gone deeper. There's no way he'll hear me.'
"Mr.Zabini, if you would demonstrate for the class." Blaise rolled his eyes and stood up. 'Can't you see I'm busy being bored.' That's what he wanted to say. Instead he said, "Of course sir." And stood up to perform the jinx. He waved his hand around and for a second he felt stupid. The stack of books next to his professor were thrown backwards with extreme force.
"Good job, try not to use so much magic next time. Wouldn't want anyone gettin' hurt. 10 points to Slytherin for a successful jinx." Blaise nodded and sat back down. He turned his head to the side to check the hourglass.
'Just a few more minutes.' He thought.
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"Hey Blaise." Blaise turned around to look who had called for him. It was one of Harry's fellow Hufflepuffs. He wondered if he should ignore them or not. He waited too long because the hufflepuff had started talking again.
"I was wondering if you could tutor me?" The girl pulled at her sleeve awkwardly.
"No. Ask Granger." And continued to walk back to their room to wait for Harry.
As expected Harry was still gone. He picked up a random POtions textbook and started to read.
When Harry did arrive he instantly sat down at his desk and started doing work.
"Anything interesting in Defense today?" Blaise asked as he turned on his bed to face Harry. He reached over and sat the book down.
"Quite the opposite. It was gloomy today." Harry answered without looking back at his friend. "It was sad. What about Charms?"
He shrugged. "I knocked a couple of books over with too much force."
"So strong." He heard Harry whisper.
"Flitwick said I could hurt somebody if I wasn't careful. So yeah I'd say I'm pretty strong." He grinned up at his best friend. Harry playfully rolled his eyes.
"You also had transfiguration, right?," At Harry's half nod he continued. "How did that go?"
"The same as Defense. Mcgongalls upset. The topic we were discussing in Defense really took a toll on her." Blaise hummed.
"How sad." Harry spared his best friend a glance at his tone of voice. Knowing exactly why he said it with so much sarcasm.
"What's this?"Harry held up a letter with his left hand and showed it to Blaise.
"Mhm." Blaise turned around to look at Harry. Not sure."
"It's addressed to you." He got up from his bed and walked over to get the letter. Blaise stared at the letter. 'Must be from mother.' He went back to his bed to read the letter. It read,
Dearest Blaise,
I have received the majority of books you asked for. Those books being
Classic Horror Stories
Arsene Lupin (All of them)
The Dark Verse (All of them)
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carro
One Thousand and One Nights
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klun
The Haunted Bookstore - Gateway to a Parallel Universe by Shinobimaru
They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai
The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
    They will all be delivered to you tonight. Don't forget to rate them for me. I must know which books were superior. Do tell Harry I said hi for me dear.
Truly,
Mother
"It was a letter from my mother. The books we asked for will be coming tonight."
"Really? Then we need to finish all our homework so that we can binge read some of them."
"Sure." Blaise got up from his position on his bed and went to his desk. He pulled out every page of homework he had. Organized them from which would be the quickest to finish to the harder ones that would take more time.
They worked in complete silence. Comforted by the others' presence. Until they had to leave for Magical Theory at 12:55.
"I just thought about it. "
"Mhm."
"We'll be in a class of Slytherins and Gryffindors." Blaise raised his head from his paper and turned to Harry questionly. "I didn't mean that in a bad way." Harry raised his hands in surrender. "It's just that the hostility in the room will be off the charts. The house rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor runs deep. And I'll stand out like a sore thumb. in a sea of green then bam yellow."
Blaise answered as he turned and went back to work. "The Slytherins won't do anything. The gryffindors could try," He watched as Harry flinched in his peripheral vision. "But Slytherin house wouldn't let that happen. Even if they hate us they wouldn't let anything happen." Harry sighed. Blaise could tell he was still worried.
"My mom gave me a meditation book. I think I still have it. When I find it, wanna try meditating? Mom says it can help with stress." Harry nodded as he went back to working. HIs hand shook just the slightest bit.
Blaise got up from his seat and walked over to his bed and pulled out his trunk. 'Wait, I don't remember mom handing me a meditation book. ' He opened up the first compartment and inside sat two books. The first was the book he was reading on the first train ride. The other was the meditation book. 'I think I left it here. How did I know it was here? Blaze.' He shook the frightening thoughts from his head. He then grabbed the book, closed his trunk and put it back under his bed.
"Harry, I found it." Harry got up from his seat and stretched his back before walking over to Blaise bed.
"What's the time?"
"12:04."
"Okay. That means we have enough time. First we need to get comfortable. You can either lay down on your back. Or sit straight in a chair."
"I'd rather lay down." Harry climbed into Blaise's bed and laid down on his back in a straight line. Blaise laid next to him. It wasn't awkward or anything. It felt normal to them. It was normal to them. "Relax your body, calm your breathing. You can repeat a word over in your, for example Peace. Or a mantra. If that doesn't work for you, you can focus on your breathing."
"What works for you Blaise?"
"Not sure. I'm gonna try all of them."
"Then I'll do the same."
"Mhm. Let's start with a single word. Mine will be Blaze."
"I'll use garden." They closed their eyes and started to repeat their chosen words in their heads.
'Why did I choose Blaze? He's already in my mind. And I miss his company already. Why would I remind myself that he's not with me right now?  Maybe a different word?  Embers. Embers. Embers. Embers. Embers. Embers. Embers. Embers. Embers.
"After a while the word sounded weird."
"I agree." Blaise nodded.
"I think I know what my mantra will be."
"Oh?"
"The guardian's garden is perfectly protected, yours?"
"Blaze's beautiful blazing fireplace." A sad smile crossed both faces. Neither knew why they hadn't asked the other how they came up with their mantras. They felt that the other would tell them in time.
Blaise looked to the side at the hourglass. "We should get up. If we continue to lie here, we won't leave."
"Like that one day we slept through the whole day."
"I was sure Snape was going to kill us that night. "
"Worth it."
"Yeah we needed that."
"But the work we had to do after."
"Can't believe he gave us extra potions work. "
"It's Snape."
"Good point."
They continued to talk about random things from their school year so far while they reorganized their desks.  Harry tried not to talk about the time where Blaise was bullying him, but Blaise wanted him too. Saying that he still needed to be held responsible or something.
By the time they finished it was 12:43. So they decided to head to class.
"I guess when they said merge they actually meant merge." Harry spoke once they were a few feet away from the classroom.
"Meaning you'll have some classes with Slytherins,"
"And you'll have some with Hufflepuffs."  They sighed together and walked in. "Where do you sit?"
"In the back of course." Beside Blaise's seat there was another desk. One that hadn't been there before. 
"Guess this is my seat now." Harry moved to sit down. Blaise followed suit. He then reached over and pulled Harry's desk closer to his.  At this Harry raised his left brow.
"Don't look at me like that." Harry giggled at his friend's antics as students started filing in. 
And true to his words, Harry did stick out. Eyes landed on him as soon as they walked in the room.  Blaise was right too. The Slytherins gave him one glance and that was all. When Kellah went to speak, most likely oppose, Harry's presence in the room, the Slytherins were quick to shut her up. Of course they did it in a discreet way.  Even after that the lions continued to stare. Even as the professor started to lecture.
Blaise and Harry took out their journals to take notes. Not bothering to give the troublesome lions their attention. "If they want to be distracted, let them fail." Snape had told them that once.
"The Fundamental Laws of Magic were a number of principles about the general nature of magic. They were formulated by the magical theoretician Adalbert Waffling. Do any of you know what the first law is?" When no hands were raised he continued. "In essence, the first Fundamental Law of Magic states that, as a rule, the further somebody goes towards meddling in the deepest underlying laws of magic, the more drastic and terrible the consequences will be."
The duo had just finished writing when their professor told them of their homework. "You are to find all you can about The Fundamentals of Magic and write a four page essay. Follow me. In a straight line."
The class of red and green, plus one yellow followed the teacher to the library where he stopped them outside the doors. "You are to be quiet and respectful. Now go and find your sources."
Blaise and Harry shared a look. The look that reassured the other that they would work together.  Before they took off in different directions. Blaise went to Madam Pince to see if she would be of any help and Harry went to roam the shelves for tomes. 
They met up at their usual table in the back of the library. Harry had found two books that seemed promising. Madam Pince had found a book that "Is better than the ones they have you skids buy". To quote her.
"What did-" Blaise was cut off by the teacher.
"Come children. Class is almost over." And so they did. They made it back right on time.
"This was my last class for today, what about you?"
"Sadly, I've got Flying at 15:40."
"So we have about an hour and thirty to work.  Can we go to your room? I'm starting to get tired of the dungeons."
"I'm glad you asked. I've actually started missing the color yellow."