𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 — 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐙𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐢
SUMMARY: Three hours trapped in a dusty storage room with Blaise Zabini wasn't how you planned to spend your evening. Surprisingly, it wasn't how you wanted it to end either.
A/N: This is a part of #blaiseappreciationevent hosted by the lovely @i-await!!
Forced Proximity
Being stuck in a room with Blaise Zabini was the last thing you expected tonight.
It had started as a stupid thought that Pansy put in your head — she swore there was a secret passageway in the old fifth-floor storage room that led straight back to the Slytherin common room. You, after the thought scratched at your head, had gone to check.
When you entered the storage room, your eyes widened fractionally when you saw Blaise already a few steps in.
He looked at you over his shoulder.
And that’s when the door had slammed shut behind you both.
No handle.
No spell would open it.
Even Alohomora laughed in your face.
Three hours had passed since then.
Now the two of you sat on opposite sides of the dusty room, surrounded by old trunks and forgotten furniture. A single torch flickered weakly on the wall. Blaise looked perfectly composed, legs stretched out, back against the stone wall.
You, however, were growing restless.
“This is ridiculous. Snape is going to murder us,” you muttered, kicking lightly at a chest.
Blaise didn’t even look up, reading an old book that was left behind.
“Panicking won’t make the door open faster.”
You shot him a glare. “I’m not panicking. I’m thinking.”
“Violently,” he added smoothly, finally glancing at you.
His dark eyes held a hint of amusement.
“You’ve glared at that door like it personally offended you for the last twenty minutes.”
You crossed your arms. “And you’re just sitting there like this is a spa day.”
Blaise closed the book and set it aside, leaning his head back against the stone wall.
“What would you like me to do? Curse the walls? Yell dramatically? That’s more Mattheo’s style.”
You hated how calm he sounded.
How effortlessly elegant he looked even covered in dust, robes slightly rumpled, his expression as casual as ever.
Silence settled again.
This time, it wasn’t quite as tense.
After a few minutes, you sighed and slid down the wall to sit properly.
“How did you end up here?”
Blaise shrugged lightly. “Curiosity. Pansy is very persuasive when she wants to be.”
You let out a soft laugh. “So you came for the same reason as me?”
“I suppose,” he replied casually.
You studied him for a moment.
Blaise had always been a bit of a mystery — elegant, quiet, never raising his voice, never getting involved in the loud drama the others thrived on.
He observed everything.
“You’re not what I expected,” you said, tone honest.
Blaise raised an eyebrow. “And what did you expect?”
“Someone colder,” you admitted. “You always seem so… above everything. Like nothing touches you.”
He was quiet for a while, staring at the flickering torch.
“I suppose that’s how I prefer it,” he said eventually. “Easier that way. Less mess.”
You nodded, taking in his words and the meaning behind them.
“I get that. Sometimes I wish I could be like that. But I feel everything too much.”
Blaise looked at you then, longer than he had ever before.
“That’s not a weakness,” he said, voice quiet. “It’s rare. Most people in our house only feel ambition.”
The conversation flowed easier after that.
You talked about everything and nothing.
He told you how he hated that people only saw his mother’s reputation and his looks, never who he actually was. You confessed how exhausting it was sometimes to keep up the Slytherin mask when all you wanted was to be honest.
Hours passed.
The torch had burned lower when Blaise spoke again, voice softer than you’d ever heard it.
“I’ve always noticed you,” he admitted. “You’re… different from most. You don’t try to impress people. You just are.”
You felt warmth bloom in your chest.
“I’ve noticed you too. You’re quieter than the rest, but when you speak, it matters.”
Blaise gave you a small, genuine smile — the kind that reached his eyes.
The door finally clicked open just before dawn, no doubt Pansy or someone she’d sent that didn’t stay long enough to face consequences.
But neither of you moved right away.
You stood up slowly, brushing dust off your robes. Blaise did the same.
As you reached the doorway, you turned to him.
“Tonight wasn’t completely terrible,” you said, a small smile playing on your lips.
Blaise looked at you for a long moment, something soft and new in his dark eyes.
“No,” he agreed quietly. “It wasn’t.”
You walked back to the common room side by side in comfortable silence.
For the first time, the distance between you felt smaller — not because of forced proximity, but because you had finally seen each other clearly.
And maybe, just maybe, that was the beginning of something more.
This was so cute in my head lol, thank you @i-await once again for proofreading and correcting the mistakes<33