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Ten Spot. Ten times I should have said no
Aug. 18th, 2008 12:06 pm1. When Draco offered me his friendship that first day. It was a stupid move and cemented his control over the House early on.
2. When my mother asked me if she could stand in for me as Head of House Zabini
3. When Millicent asked me to help her with her project for Hagrid.It took days to get the smell out
4. When Luna asked me that if I loved her, I'd not try and protect her.
5. When Luna told me to leave and not come back.
6. When Hermione offered to teach me the spell she'd used for her parents to keep them safe.
7. When Pansy tried to sleep with me in sixth year.
8. When Slughorn invited me to that party.
9. When Will and Cian asked if they could have pets.
10. When Dad asked me about Mom.
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
2. When my mother asked me if she could stand in for me as Head of House Zabini
3. When Millicent asked me to help her with her project for Hagrid.
4. When Luna asked me that if I loved her, I'd not try and protect her.
5. When Luna told me to leave and not come back.
6. When Hermione offered to teach me the spell she'd used for her parents to keep them safe.
7. When Pansy tried to sleep with me in sixth year.
8. When Slughorn invited me to that party.
9. When Will and Cian asked if they could have pets.
10. When Dad asked me about Mom.
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
Happy Endings - TM # 244
Aug. 18th, 2008 12:05 pm"That's something I think is growing on me as I get older: happy endings."
Alice Munro
Endings? I prefer to say instead happy continuances. Endings is such a final word. I prefer not to dwell on the end of my life, I rather like where it is now. I have a beautiful wife, five children, five step children, and a rather insane group of extended family and friends. Business is going well (the well oiled machine works flawlessly), all the family is well.
( Read more... )
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
Alice Munro
Endings? I prefer to say instead happy continuances. Endings is such a final word. I prefer not to dwell on the end of my life, I rather like where it is now. I have a beautiful wife, five children, five step children, and a rather insane group of extended family and friends. Business is going well (the well oiled machine works flawlessly), all the family is well.
( Read more... )
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
Ten Spot. Ten things before I die
Aug. 3rd, 2008 04:19 pm1. See Aiyana become Minister of Magic
2. See Brayden happily married with kids.
3. See Alana and Dylan's 50 year anniversary.
4. Make my wife finally understand that she doesn't have to be their be all end all - it's okay to tell someone else to save the world sometimes.
5. To see Garrett happy and married.
6. to have Luna forgive me To see Neville and Millicent's grandchildren and spoil them rotten.
7. To see Will live through his childhood and adolescence.
8. Ditto for Cian
9. To seeKingsley his Dad be content.
10. To mud wrestle Potter and win.
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
2. See Brayden happily married with kids.
3. See Alana and Dylan's 50 year anniversary.
4. Make my wife finally understand that she doesn't have to be their be all end all - it's okay to tell someone else to save the world sometimes.
5. To see Garrett happy and married.
6.
7. To see Will live through his childhood and adolescence.
8. Ditto for Cian
9. To see
10. To mud wrestle Potter and win.
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
240. An Individual Who Scares Me
Jul. 18th, 2008 11:33 pmMy daughter, Alana.
No seriously, my eldest sometimes scares the living daylights out of me. She's this fascinating blend of her mother and me. She's got all of my brains and all of her mother's fearlessness and that's a very scary combination sometimes. She's been trained on both Earth and Kinan, her mother and I have given her every bit of training she could possibly need to survive.
Duel is from a different planet? Dimension? Whatever...she's lived on the battlescars of a war not yet over, a broken place, different, dangerous. I'm the child of an Auror and a priestess of the order of Baron Samedi. I grew up during the days of Voldemort and Potter. My world is not truly safer, old prejudices die hard here. My generation is a group of children forced to grow old before their time. We still bear the marks. We always will.
Our children are equipped to deal with whatever situation they come against. So when my daughter decided that she wanted to become a magical researcher and join a Consortium located in Cairo with ties to the University there as she studied different ways of integrating Muggle technology and Magical charms, potions, and what have you. I was thrilled for her, thrilled and scared. Her work, while revolutionary, is also highly secret and dangerous.
There are people who will go to any length to protect what they hold dear and Alana is seen as a threat to them. Thank the Merlin she has Dylan there with her. He's got her back (and as my daughter would say her front too) and he will protect her...has protected her for a while and will continue to protect her.
So yes, while I love my daughter and cherish her, she does quite frequently scare me.
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
No seriously, my eldest sometimes scares the living daylights out of me. She's this fascinating blend of her mother and me. She's got all of my brains and all of her mother's fearlessness and that's a very scary combination sometimes. She's been trained on both Earth and Kinan, her mother and I have given her every bit of training she could possibly need to survive.
Duel is from a different planet? Dimension? Whatever...she's lived on the battlescars of a war not yet over, a broken place, different, dangerous. I'm the child of an Auror and a priestess of the order of Baron Samedi. I grew up during the days of Voldemort and Potter. My world is not truly safer, old prejudices die hard here. My generation is a group of children forced to grow old before their time. We still bear the marks. We always will.
Our children are equipped to deal with whatever situation they come against. So when my daughter decided that she wanted to become a magical researcher and join a Consortium located in Cairo with ties to the University there as she studied different ways of integrating Muggle technology and Magical charms, potions, and what have you. I was thrilled for her, thrilled and scared. Her work, while revolutionary, is also highly secret and dangerous.
There are people who will go to any length to protect what they hold dear and Alana is seen as a threat to them. Thank the Merlin she has Dylan there with her. He's got her back (and as my daughter would say her front too) and he will protect her...has protected her for a while and will continue to protect her.
So yes, while I love my daughter and cherish her, she does quite frequently scare me.
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
Ten Spot: Titles for autobiography
Jul. 15th, 2008 10:45 pmTen Titles for my Autobiography
1. Blaise Zabini: Slytherin Sex God
2. A Slytherin's View on Saint Potter's Time at Hogwarts
3. The Man, the Myth, the Legend - How I Helped Interplanetary Relations with Three Governments.
4. Man and Coffee
5. A Slytherin's Biography and the Lifeblood that Sustains Him
6. Blaise Zabini: Master Magician
7. Wizard at Large
8. Blaise
9. A Kept Man
10. In His Own Words
(Titles also suggested by his wife and children)
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
1. Blaise Zabini: Slytherin Sex God
2. A Slytherin's View on Saint Potter's Time at Hogwarts
3. The Man, the Myth, the Legend - How I Helped Interplanetary Relations with Three Governments.
4. Man and Coffee
5. A Slytherin's Biography and the Lifeblood that Sustains Him
6. Blaise Zabini: Master Magician
7. Wizard at Large
8. Blaise
9. A Kept Man
10. In His Own Words
(Titles also suggested by his wife and children)
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
Playful!Blaise for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
redheadduelist
Blaise grinned as he dodged the snowball. They were having a snowball fight, Blaise, Garrett, and the twins vs. Duel, Alana, Brayden, and Aiyana. So far they were winning. They'd constructed a lovely set of snow trenches around the huge tree that had been Garrett's tree house and was now "owned" by the twins. Blaise had also lightly shielded the trench walls. Currently they were all laughing because he'd charmed a set of snowballs to continually follow Duel around, hitting her in the back of the head. She'd gotten him earlier by dumping an handful of snow down the back of his jacket. All's fair in love and snow ball fights after all.
redheadduelistBlaise grinned as he dodged the snowball. They were having a snowball fight, Blaise, Garrett, and the twins vs. Duel, Alana, Brayden, and Aiyana. So far they were winning. They'd constructed a lovely set of snow trenches around the huge tree that had been Garrett's tree house and was now "owned" by the twins. Blaise had also lightly shielded the trench walls. Currently they were all laughing because he'd charmed a set of snowballs to continually follow Duel around, hitting her in the back of the head. She'd gotten him earlier by dumping an handful of snow down the back of his jacket. All's fair in love and snow ball fights after all.
Drabble Meme
Jul. 7th, 2008 08:58 amThe Drabble Meme
Pick a Blaise and I'll write a fic or a drabble based on him and your muse. Pick your top three and I'll write at least one.
1. Playful!Blaise
2. Murderous!Blaise
3. Flailing!Blaise
4. Incarcerated!Blaise
5. Deviant!Blaise ( Blaise argues that this is him all the time...I, the mun disagree)
6. Ill!Blaise
7. Intoxicated!Blaise
8. Wildly Inappropriate!Blaise
9. Eloquent!Blaise
10. Cooking!Blaise
11. Naked!Blaise
12. Bitchy!Blaise
13. Inexperienced!Blaise
14. Young!Blaise
15. Long-winded!Blaise
16. Bedtime!Blaise
17. Jealous!Blaise
18. Inquisitive!Blaise
19. Confused!Blaise
20. Arrogant!Blaise
21. Angry!Blaise
22. Loving!Blaise
23. Working!Blaise
24. Needs-a-Hug!Blaise
25. Choose-your-own!Blaise
Pick a Blaise and I'll write a fic or a drabble based on him and your muse. Pick your top three and I'll write at least one.
1. Playful!Blaise
2. Murderous!Blaise
3. Flailing!Blaise
4. Incarcerated!Blaise
5. Deviant!Blaise ( Blaise argues that this is him all the time...I, the mun disagree)
6. Ill!Blaise
7. Intoxicated!Blaise
8. Wildly Inappropriate!Blaise
9. Eloquent!Blaise
10. Cooking!Blaise
11. Naked!Blaise
12. Bitchy!Blaise
13. Inexperienced!Blaise
14. Young!Blaise
15. Long-winded!Blaise
16. Bedtime!Blaise
17. Jealous!Blaise
18. Inquisitive!Blaise
19. Confused!Blaise
20. Arrogant!Blaise
21. Angry!Blaise
22. Loving!Blaise
23. Working!Blaise
24. Needs-a-Hug!Blaise
25. Choose-your-own!Blaise
236. Respect
Jun. 23rd, 2008 10:59 amWhat does respect mean to me?
There's an interesting question. Respect for a business standpoint means we agree to take each other seriously, to uphold whatever ends of a given project that we have said we would uphold and to be upright and direct with you if an issue pops up.
This does NOT mean we will let you trample over us and our employees. Nor does it mean that because we do business together, you have a controlling interest in what I do with my holdings, time, and how I manage my employees and my money.
Respect from a non-business standpoint? It means that at some point in my life, my wife and her myriad assortment of relatives will learn to take me seriously. That her eldest daughter and son will actually figure out that I'm not going anywhere, I'm not going to leave their mother high and dry to deal with five kids whilst I go on my merry way.
( Read more... )
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
There's an interesting question. Respect for a business standpoint means we agree to take each other seriously, to uphold whatever ends of a given project that we have said we would uphold and to be upright and direct with you if an issue pops up.
This does NOT mean we will let you trample over us and our employees. Nor does it mean that because we do business together, you have a controlling interest in what I do with my holdings, time, and how I manage my employees and my money.
Respect from a non-business standpoint? It means that at some point in my life, my wife and her myriad assortment of relatives will learn to take me seriously. That her eldest daughter and son will actually figure out that I'm not going anywhere, I'm not going to leave their mother high and dry to deal with five kids whilst I go on my merry way.
( Read more... )
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
233. Surprise!
Jun. 4th, 2008 10:43 amSurprise! Your mother/a priest/an arch nemesis/the tax man/dinosaurs/your ex/a famous talk show host is at the door -- and at a most inopportune moment! Now what?
Was it really all that much to ask for one single solitary hour alone? He just needed to finish this one last thing. After he finished this, he'd gladly spend how ever much time anyone wanted talking about business or family lunches or whatever. This one last thing...he focused on it as he picked up the brush once more. This sort of thing took some very precise touches to make it picture perfect. One wrong move and he'd spoil it, quite possibly irrevocably.
BAM came a noise as someone came through the Floo upstairs. It momentarily startled him, his hand jerked the brush and paint splattered everywhere. He growled out an oath or two before very carefully wiping the paint spatters off. Finishing the last coat of paint, he left it to dry as he went upstairs to chew out whoever that was that was making such a racket.
( Read more... )
"I'm leaving for several hours. I'm going down to the pub to get really really smashed." Blaise replied as he backed out of the room, hand still held firmly in front of his eyes.
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
Was it really all that much to ask for one single solitary hour alone? He just needed to finish this one last thing. After he finished this, he'd gladly spend how ever much time anyone wanted talking about business or family lunches or whatever. This one last thing...he focused on it as he picked up the brush once more. This sort of thing took some very precise touches to make it picture perfect. One wrong move and he'd spoil it, quite possibly irrevocably.
BAM came a noise as someone came through the Floo upstairs. It momentarily startled him, his hand jerked the brush and paint splattered everywhere. He growled out an oath or two before very carefully wiping the paint spatters off. Finishing the last coat of paint, he left it to dry as he went upstairs to chew out whoever that was that was making such a racket.
( Read more... )
"I'm leaving for several hours. I'm going down to the pub to get really really smashed." Blaise replied as he backed out of the room, hand still held firmly in front of his eyes.
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
230. Black and White
May. 16th, 2008 05:36 pmBlack and white?
No such thing. The world is actually comprised of varying shades of gray, not that the Gryffindors or Hufflepuffs would ever admit it.
I live and thrive in the shades of gray. They make life fun, dangerous, exciting, boring, livable.
No one has purely good or purely evil motives anymore (not even Saint Potter). There's always the "Well if I do this, not only does it benefit so and so, but it also makes me look benevolent and that will help me with x and x." In a line from one of the best holiday films, "Everybody has an angle." They do, call me a cynic, but people these days, there is always another reason, always another level to their thinking.
And on the off chance that a person doesn't have any deeper reasons or motivations (unlikely, but stranger things could happen), then they are almost automatically assumed to have such things, even if they aren't present.
The theory that the world can be divided up into black and white is simply fiction. Fiction perpetuated by the people in charge because after all, it makes a good story.
The truth is like I stated before, the world is made up of shades of gray.
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
No such thing. The world is actually comprised of varying shades of gray, not that the Gryffindors or Hufflepuffs would ever admit it.
I live and thrive in the shades of gray. They make life fun, dangerous, exciting, boring, livable.
No one has purely good or purely evil motives anymore (not even Saint Potter). There's always the "Well if I do this, not only does it benefit so and so, but it also makes me look benevolent and that will help me with x and x." In a line from one of the best holiday films, "Everybody has an angle." They do, call me a cynic, but people these days, there is always another reason, always another level to their thinking.
And on the off chance that a person doesn't have any deeper reasons or motivations (unlikely, but stranger things could happen), then they are almost automatically assumed to have such things, even if they aren't present.
The theory that the world can be divided up into black and white is simply fiction. Fiction perpetuated by the people in charge because after all, it makes a good story.
The truth is like I stated before, the world is made up of shades of gray.
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
Three things I am looking forward to? In the near future? I mean I know my wife would probably say, weddings and grandchildren and a house to ourselves for once.
But personally? In the very near future I am looking forward to...
My afternoon cup of Brasilian coffee, freshly ground, with a heap of sugar and no cream or milk of any sort. I mean really, if humans could ever approach the ambrosia of the gods, this was to be in the top runnings for it. Strong and smooth and mouth-wateringly delicious.
Sitting in my comfy chair and finishing my book. For a muggle, Dick Francis writes extraordinarily well, I've gotten hooked into reading his mysteries and I'm gobbling them up as Neville or Hermione might put it.
Making love to my wife when she gets home from her job and there's a solid hour between her getting home and when people start knocking on the door to ask her questions. I've finally gotten her sisters and all of the children to learn and appreciate the art of knocking and then waiting for permission to open the door. As much as my wife would blush if she heard me mentioning it, that one time when one of her sisters decided to come barging in to my study to find my beautiful Dulinte...and caught us in flagrante delicto. I don't believe I've ever seen someone go so red so quickly. I am grateful that it wasn't Kimber. Kimber would have offered suggestions and then made popcorn, sadistic jewel that she is. Dulinte's good friend and Sister would have thrived in Slytherin. Almost too well.
But yes, those are the three things that I am looking forward to in the immediate future.
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
But personally? In the very near future I am looking forward to...
My afternoon cup of Brasilian coffee, freshly ground, with a heap of sugar and no cream or milk of any sort. I mean really, if humans could ever approach the ambrosia of the gods, this was to be in the top runnings for it. Strong and smooth and mouth-wateringly delicious.
Sitting in my comfy chair and finishing my book. For a muggle, Dick Francis writes extraordinarily well, I've gotten hooked into reading his mysteries and I'm gobbling them up as Neville or Hermione might put it.
Making love to my wife when she gets home from her job and there's a solid hour between her getting home and when people start knocking on the door to ask her questions. I've finally gotten her sisters and all of the children to learn and appreciate the art of knocking and then waiting for permission to open the door. As much as my wife would blush if she heard me mentioning it, that one time when one of her sisters decided to come barging in to my study to find my beautiful Dulinte...and caught us in flagrante delicto. I don't believe I've ever seen someone go so red so quickly. I am grateful that it wasn't Kimber. Kimber would have offered suggestions and then made popcorn, sadistic jewel that she is. Dulinte's good friend and Sister would have thrived in Slytherin. Almost too well.
But yes, those are the three things that I am looking forward to in the immediate future.
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
During Blaise and Dulinte's eldest child's first year at Hogwarts.
To say that he was mad would have been a gross misstatement of the emotions currently fueling him. He was more aptly put, furious. Completely livid at the mismanagement of something as important as this. Really, there was hardly anything that rated above this in his opinion.
"What do you mean she's not here," he asked the bumbling official softly, with a dangerous gleam in his eye. " Explain it to me now" he ordered, "Or I will show you just how unforgiving I can be." He hissed the last part so that the listening devices would not be able to pick it up.
( Read more... )
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
To say that he was mad would have been a gross misstatement of the emotions currently fueling him. He was more aptly put, furious. Completely livid at the mismanagement of something as important as this. Really, there was hardly anything that rated above this in his opinion.
"What do you mean she's not here," he asked the bumbling official softly, with a dangerous gleam in his eye. " Explain it to me now" he ordered, "Or I will show you just how unforgiving I can be." He hissed the last part so that the listening devices would not be able to pick it up.
( Read more... )
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
He was looking for his cufflinks. The nice silver and emerald ones that Neville and Millicent had given him for his birthday two years prior. He'd looked all over the moderately clean apartment for them and couldn't find them anywhere. He'd flooed Adrian and Marcus, Hermione, everyone but Neville and Millicent themselves and he couldn't find them anywhere. It was really starting to drive him to distraction. He'd an event to attend to, and those matched more than perfectly with the outfit he'd had in mind. As head of House Zabini and heir to more than one powerful magical bloodline, it was vitally important that he look his station today. As he ran around the apartment, still looking for the thrice-blasted cufflinks, his wife was watching him amusedly from their sofa.
( Read more... )
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
( Read more... )
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
221. Justice
Mar. 7th, 2008 08:01 pm221. "Never pray for justice, because you might get some." Margaret Atwood.
This is true. I can think of better things to pray for than justice. Justice doesn't need to be prayed for, it just happens of its own accord sooner or later. Voldemort, Fudge, Umbridge...Potter.
All got justice in the end.
If it were me? I'd pray for peace, for a chance that my children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren won't ever have to live through the things that I lived through.
Or a really excellent cup of coffee.
That would work.
Blaise Zabini
Happy Potter
218. A lie your parents told you.
Feb. 22nd, 2008 10:13 amHm.
Well it'd probably be easier to ask me what lies my mother didn't tell me. I mean she lied about my father, she lied about arranging for the deaths of all of my stepfathers except for Giuilermo. He's the only one that died of actual natural causes. I miss him. He was older than my mother by at least 2-3 decades, but he was good to me. He died when I was five.
That was when the real lies started to pile up. Lies about what my mother was doing, who she was seeing, what really was going on when she spent hours by herself down in the catacombs beneath the manor house.
About whether or not she really was working for Riddle or not.
My father on the other hand has only ever told me one lie.
I asked him how it felt to be the one that'd taken her out. He told me that at the end of the day she'd just been another Death Eater and that he slept fine at night, knowing that she'd been neutralized.
I never asked if he loved her or not, it's too personal a question right now. When Dad's ready, he'll tell me. Besides we've only just now found each other again, Dad and I. There's not much of anything I'd do to jeopardize our relationship.
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
Well it'd probably be easier to ask me what lies my mother didn't tell me. I mean she lied about my father, she lied about arranging for the deaths of all of my stepfathers except for Giuilermo. He's the only one that died of actual natural causes. I miss him. He was older than my mother by at least 2-3 decades, but he was good to me. He died when I was five.
That was when the real lies started to pile up. Lies about what my mother was doing, who she was seeing, what really was going on when she spent hours by herself down in the catacombs beneath the manor house.
About whether or not she really was working for Riddle or not.
My father on the other hand has only ever told me one lie.
I asked him how it felt to be the one that'd taken her out. He told me that at the end of the day she'd just been another Death Eater and that he slept fine at night, knowing that she'd been neutralized.
I never asked if he loved her or not, it's too personal a question right now. When Dad's ready, he'll tell me. Besides we've only just now found each other again, Dad and I. There's not much of anything I'd do to jeopardize our relationship.
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
214. Misunderstood Greatness?
Jan. 22nd, 2008 08:11 pm"To be great is to be misunderstood."
And the smallest violins in the world are playing right now. Merlin, Nimue, and St. Wilgeford! Who came up with that quote? And by what standard are they basing it from? What equates greatness in their eyes? Is it someone achieving the same sort of things that Dumbledore did in his prime? As much as I didn't particularly care for the man, there was a reason he was referred to as "the greatest wizard of our time." He managed to do and achieve an astounding amount in his lifetime. Granted, I suspect very few people ever actually understood Dumbledore and his various motivations for doing things (the man should have been a Slytherin, really he should have), but half of that was because the man himself occluded much. Or do they mean someone like Tom Riddle? Is that what they would consider great? Misunderstood, he was not, mishandled perhaps, but generations of wizarding folk could tell you that misunderstood he wasn't. He made his views very clear and they terrorized people for two decades. Golden Boy Potter? Well, there you've got me. He's been great and also misunderstood. Not so much now as before, but Gryffindor bravery coupled with Slytherin canniness is bound to make for some misunderstanding, not counting the emotional handicaps he grew up with. I doubt anyone disputes that Potter is great. But is that really the same thing? I doubt Potter is great because he was misunderstood or is misunderstood now. It's all so very odd, I really don't care for this prompt. I'm going to go and get some coffee.
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
And the smallest violins in the world are playing right now. Merlin, Nimue, and St. Wilgeford! Who came up with that quote? And by what standard are they basing it from? What equates greatness in their eyes? Is it someone achieving the same sort of things that Dumbledore did in his prime? As much as I didn't particularly care for the man, there was a reason he was referred to as "the greatest wizard of our time." He managed to do and achieve an astounding amount in his lifetime. Granted, I suspect very few people ever actually understood Dumbledore and his various motivations for doing things (the man should have been a Slytherin, really he should have), but half of that was because the man himself occluded much. Or do they mean someone like Tom Riddle? Is that what they would consider great? Misunderstood, he was not, mishandled perhaps, but generations of wizarding folk could tell you that misunderstood he wasn't. He made his views very clear and they terrorized people for two decades. Golden Boy Potter? Well, there you've got me. He's been great and also misunderstood. Not so much now as before, but Gryffindor bravery coupled with Slytherin canniness is bound to make for some misunderstanding, not counting the emotional handicaps he grew up with. I doubt anyone disputes that Potter is great. But is that really the same thing? I doubt Potter is great because he was misunderstood or is misunderstood now. It's all so very odd, I really don't care for this prompt. I'm going to go and get some coffee.
Blaise Zabini
Harry Potter
211. Old Acquaintance
Jan. 2nd, 2008 12:18 amHe'd been walking down the hall of one of the Ministry buildings when he had run into a old friend of his.
Literally.
He'd been looking over some of the latest figures from some of his Magical holdings when he'd run smack into a short black-haired, brown-eyed woman. Looking past the papers, he immediately had apologized (sort of) and helped her stand up with her papers in order. Looking at her for a second, it finally registered who she was. "Andromeda!" He exclaimed, surprised to see her there, "Oh excuse me, I mean Lady Penthalion." He gave her a short bow. She'd merely quirked an eyebrow at him, "Hello, Lord Zabini, how is business?" she replied in a sweet low tone as she fell into step with him. He'd answered and then inquired after her family and business, all falling into the sweet intricate dance of Civilized Society.
He'd asked her out for dinner. She'd accepted and paid for their coffee at the restaurant the next afternoon. Falling into their same old routine from years ago, a perfectly matched pair, both driven and ambitious, looking for an equal, someone to keep up. They'd been business partners, comrades, occasional lovers when it suited them. She knew how he took his coffee and he knew how she preferred her hot chocolate (warm and lightly spiked with Bailey's). They knew the small details, the little touches that made it all worthwhile. Time passed, they drifted away again, she was married and then so was he. Every third Saturday of the month, they met at an outdoor cafe in Paris to catch up. Sometimes it was dinner, sometimes breakfast. Neither of them cared, just enjoying the presence of a like soul.
When either of them toasted at parties, they always toasted to "the old acquaintances and the new."
Literally.
He'd been looking over some of the latest figures from some of his Magical holdings when he'd run smack into a short black-haired, brown-eyed woman. Looking past the papers, he immediately had apologized (sort of) and helped her stand up with her papers in order. Looking at her for a second, it finally registered who she was. "Andromeda!" He exclaimed, surprised to see her there, "Oh excuse me, I mean Lady Penthalion." He gave her a short bow. She'd merely quirked an eyebrow at him, "Hello, Lord Zabini, how is business?" she replied in a sweet low tone as she fell into step with him. He'd answered and then inquired after her family and business, all falling into the sweet intricate dance of Civilized Society.
He'd asked her out for dinner. She'd accepted and paid for their coffee at the restaurant the next afternoon. Falling into their same old routine from years ago, a perfectly matched pair, both driven and ambitious, looking for an equal, someone to keep up. They'd been business partners, comrades, occasional lovers when it suited them. She knew how he took his coffee and he knew how she preferred her hot chocolate (warm and lightly spiked with Bailey's). They knew the small details, the little touches that made it all worthwhile. Time passed, they drifted away again, she was married and then so was he. Every third Saturday of the month, they met at an outdoor cafe in Paris to catch up. Sometimes it was dinner, sometimes breakfast. Neither of them cared, just enjoying the presence of a like soul.
When either of them toasted at parties, they always toasted to "the old acquaintances and the new."
