Hannah was once again standing in the main sitting room of Zabini Manor holding a tin of cookies. This time she'd gotten artistic though. She gotten a green tin and painted little black snakes on it. Hannah shifted nervously. She didn't want to lose a new friend over her inability to hold herself together. Sure, she had a crush. She'd just get over it. They could work past this. She'd gotten over her other crushes. She could move past this one as well.

Blast! What was taking Didly so long?

Maybe he didn't want to see her. After all, she had behaved horribly. Well, not horribly, but she shouldn't have attacked him like that. Hannah let out a sigh. She'd worn some of the clothing he'd picked out for her today as a peace offering... even though she had felt, and still felt, that the pinstriped slacks were too tight across her bottom and the cornflower blue blouse dipped too low in the front. Her hair was up in a bun with little wisps hanging out. She looked professional, she had to admit, but that was because she had a job interview today.

Blaise was scratching away at some notes for the potions Weasley would need for her business when Didly popped in right beside him and started wringing his hands. Blaise rolled his eyes and kept marking things on the parchment.

"What, Didly? I don't have the time."

"Miss Abbott be downstairs. She is bringing you a gift."

Blaise snorted.

"Well, you just pop right on down there and tell her that she can leave the gift at the door and be on her way. I'm busy, Didly."

The house-elf whined and disappeared, while Blaise started writing just a little bit harder.

Hannah gasped when Didly told her that. The house-elf started wring his hands nervously at the look in her eyes. With good reason.

"Didly, you go back up there and tell that... that... horse's hind end that I was going to apologize to him, and I am not leaving until I see him. Even if that means going upstairs and checking every room in the place."

Didly looked like he wanted to faint.

"Well, go on. Do be a dear and pass that message along. If he's not down in the next few minutes, I'm going up."

Didly looked like he'd rather be given clothes. Hannah had a stubborn streak though. She had decided she was going to apologize to Blaise, and he was darned well going to hear it.

Blaise laughed when Didly told him the message from Hannah.

"Right. She'd get lost once she was up the stairs. I'd like to see her try." He paused. "Actually, tell her that. If she wants to apologize, she can work for it. She can come find me, with no help from you lot!" He snickered. This was going to be interesting.

Hannah's eye twitched when Didly passed along the latest.

"Thank you, Didly. Please tell the other house-elves if they hear any strange crashing noises that it's just me."

Didly looked frightened. He should. She did have this bad habit of throwing things when she got truly upset and lost her temper.

Hannah tucked the tin under her arm and started storming up the stairs. Didn't matter if she got lost. She'd make him come to her. One way or another. Hannah stomped into the room she'd been shown into her first night here. It was his personal living room. She'd known he wouldn't be in here. She plunked the green tin of biscuits loudly on the coffee table in the room, set her purse beside it, then stalked towards one of the doors. Hannah got what must be his bedroom. She gasped as she stepped inside though. The bedroom wasn't what she thought it would be. Such light colors. Hannah stepped inside slowly. She didn't begin to think he was in here either, but a part of her wanted to see it. It was so... modern. Not what she expected.

She giggled and threw herself backwards onto the bed and messed the covers. She'd have to adjust her hair again, but she could. Thank goodness she'd cast a wrinkle-free spell on her clothing before leaving Grimmauld Place. She rolled back and forth on the bed, sensing his bed being mussed without him being a participant in the mussing would annoy him.

Hannah didn't know how, but she knew he could hear her. "I have my shoes on your bed... RIGHT NOW!"

He heard her come in to the main living room and knew she would just start trying doors. His study door was the hardest to find because it blended into the wall so well. The most obvious was his bedroom, which she opened first. He noticed the ward on the door light up and smirked. It was when she shouted her shoes were on his bed that he growled. He doubted she would just toss her shoes on the bed, so either she was jumping on it or laying on it.

The images of her laying on his bed in the pink corset and candy underwear was suddenly seared in his brain, and he dropped his head to his desk in a loud 'thud'.

"You are not thinking of her like that. Not now. You got it out of your system," he said to himself.

With a sigh, he steadied himself and grabbed his wand. He touched the crystal ball on the edge of his desk, which allowed his voice to carry into any of the rooms he so desired. His mother cast it so he could scare the house elves when he was little, but when he got his wand, he adjusted it and had great fun scaring his friends instead.

"I'm so glad you're enjoying yourself on my bed. Was that your gift to me, then?" he said into the crystal ball, knowing she would hear his voice.

Hannah started and sat up, hair all over the place. She wondered if he could see her. She could hear him clear as day, but he was not in this room. Had to be a spell. If she could hear him so easily, he could likely hear her just as well. She rolled off of the bed and toed her heels off. Hannah pulled the rest of the pins from her hair and shook it loose. It was better down anyhow.

She put her hands on her hips and looked around the room.

"It would be best for you to come out now and face me like a grown person, so I can apologize. Real apologies are meant to be face to face, you know. If you don't show yourself, I shall be forced to become rather childish."

Hannah waited. Nothing.

She yanked the cover back on the bed, upsetting the pillows.

"Has your bed ever been jumped on before?" Hannah shouted before hopping on the bed. She began jumping. "Maybe I'll just strip down and leave something behind! Go to my job interview with no bra or knickers on! They're the black lace pair! You liked those, right?"

He started banging his head on his desk. Those images did NOT need to go in his brain. He was trying to work, and he knew she was jumping up and down his bed and threatening to take off her black lace underwear. Even as he said it in his mind, he growled.

Blaise sat up and narrowed his eyes, tapping his wand on the crystal again.

"Well, if you do that, then I'll just add those nice knickers to my already large collection of knickers left behind. You remember that collection, right? Those knickers belong to me anyway! And besides, you going to an interview with no bra is a sure way to either get hired on the spot, get a load of groping you don't want, or get told to bugger off so quickly it'll make your head spin."

After a few moments, he leaned towards the crystal again. "And I already told you, I'm busy. If you want to apologize, that's great. You want to be face to face, then try to find me. Otherwise, I'm going back to my job. I actually have to do work, you know."

He tapped the crystal ball and started to begin his list revisions over. "Stupid bint, interrupting my work."

Hannah sighed and actually sat down on the bed. Maybe she should leave. He'd said he was busy. He obviously didn't want her here. She wasn't going to cry. Not again. She was far too sensitive. Always had been though. She took things too seriously. Always. She let things that shouldn't mean anything hurt her. Why did he have to make things so difficult? Because he was a Slytherin with no feelings, that's why. It boggled her mind that he wouldn't leave it. She should form a nice fat crush on Harry instead, but that just was not the way it had worked out.

Hannah stretched out on her stomach and put her head in her arms. Might look like she was crying again, but she was just thinking. He was nearby, and either she could play his game, or start tearing things up and make him show himself by hexing her to a stop. Neither of those sounded good to Hannah, so she was thinking. His bed was comfortable. She could take a nap right now.

She had to wonder how long it would be before the lack of noise or movement would bother him.

She hadn't left, but she was quiet. Too quiet. He put his quill down and walked out of his study and into his main living area. He spied a weird tin on his coffee table and guessed she had brought more biscuits. The door to his bedroom was open, and she was just lying on the bed... crying. He debated on what to do. Apologize or be cold as ice?

After thinking a minute, Blaise walked up to the door and leaned against the door frame, while crossing his arms. Who said he couldn't be both?

"Look, I'm sorry, but could you please not get the bedspread wet? I just had it specially cleaned and pressed, even though you made a mess of that last one."

Hannah rolled onto her side and put a hand on her hip. "And why would I be getting the bed wet?"

She could tell by his look that he wanted to throttle her. He'd thought she had been crying. How sweet that he'd come to check on her - though she'd never tell him that.

"Look at you, all fussy and cranky." And completely wonderful to look at. "Your bed's pretty comfy. I like it."

That said, Hannah extracted herself from the comfy thing and practically bounced up to him with the biggest grin on her face. She didn't care what it took - she was going to mend this. The idea of not being around him was not acceptable to her. She'd thought on it, and she needed him in her life just now. Besides, he wasn't finished teaching her stuff. If she needed to remind him that she owed him, she would.

"I baked you biscuits, and I painted the tin myself. I'm..." she blushed darkly. "Terribly sorry about assaulting you yesterday. It was poorly done."

Blaise snorted. "Assaulting me? That's what you called that? You have a very interesting definition of assault."

He looked her up and down. "Very nice. What job are you interviewing for that you have to be all dressed up?"

Hannah rolled her eyes and walked back around the bed. He was going to make this difficult. Fine. She hadn't expected it to be easy. She was trying to be as diplomatic as possible, but he was making her upset about things all over again with his cold manner. Hannah started absently making the bed back. She cleaned or straightened when she was upset or nervous. Half the time she didn't even realize she was doing it.

"Now this is actually funny. I um, interviewed to work for Professor Snape, well no, not professor any longer. Potions Master Snape, I guess. Anyhow, that went dreadful, as you can imagine, but he asked me these odd mixing questions and when he ushered me towards the floo... I thought to throw me out... he had spoken to someone at Madam Puddifoot's. Very odd, but I did get a job there, and wouldn't you know it, one of the customers is Megan Jones. She was in our year in Hufflepuff with me. She said they're looking for someone to help answer the howlers in the Misuse of Magic Office, so I've an interview. Both jobs are only part-time, but two part-times make a full-time, right? I just started at the bakery, and it's rather nice. I like it."

She finished by tucking the pillows back where they were. He was looking at her oddly.

"Oh, now what?"

He smirked. "One, it's rather humorous that you have a job at a bakery. Two, it's even more humorous that you interviewed with Snape and he's the one who got you to the bakery. Three, and this is the funniest thing of all, you're going to interview to answer howlers in the Ministry." With that he started snickering. "Little Hannah Abbott answer howlers!"

Sometimes he just said the absolute wrong thing to her. Hannah frowned. She didn't see anything funny about it at all. She'd been quite proud of herself. Now she just felt foolish. It irritated her that he could affect her mood so severely. Her pride, a thing she didn't know she had any left of these days, was wounded.

"Well, I'm certainly glad I can amuse you."

Bother, she was going to cry after all. She was way too sensitive about things. Hannah stuffed her feet into her shoes and shoved past him. She needed the bathroom. Or a mirror so she could manage her hair. She snatched her purse off of the coffee table and started trying doors until she found what she was looking for.

And nearly fainted. His bathtub was gorgeous.

She stopped looking at it with a huff as she took her brush from her purse and started pulling it rather angrily through her hair.

He was still snickering when he came to his bathroom.

"Oh, I heard that little gasp. Did you not even look in the bathroom of the guest suite you stayed in? Sometimes I like it more than I like mine." Blaise grinned at her reflection as she pulled the brush through her hair. "You're going to lose all your hair brushing it like that."

"Well, since I do everything so very wrong," she snapped. "Why don't you just do it then?" Hannah chucked the brush at his head.

He didn't know about her temper. It was actually quite dreadful. She usually kept it very much in check, but the last few weeks had made that very difficult.

Blaise laughed outright when he had to duck her brush. "Maybe I was wrong. You'd be wonderful at answering howlers. Just make sure someone insults the way you brush your hair before you go to work." He summoned her brush back and handed it to her. "That's some apology... throwing brushes at my beautiful face."

"Well, you didn't seem to react to the true apology, so I thought I'd try a different tactic," Hannah snapped, whipping her brush so hard through her hair that tears sprung up in her eyes. She hissed and set the brush down, patting at her abused scalp.

He rolled his eyes and stepped up behind her, picking up the discarded brush.

"I told you, you were going to lose your hair brushing it like that. Your hair is thin and the harder you brush the more brittle it will become, and then it'll fall out. Here," he said, running the brush slowly through her hair. "Now, doesn't that feel better than the torture you were putting it through earlier?"

There was a bit of an awkward silence as Blaise finished brushing her hair. He put the brush down and leaned against the counter.

"Now, why do you need two jobs in the first place? The bakery I can get; I saw the tin, that I'm guessing is full of biscuits. Thanks for that. But... why howlers? And why listen to what's-her-face anyway?"

"I was supposed to be someone else entirely. I had a purpose. Now I don't. How pathetic is it going to be that all I do is work at a bakery? I don't own it. I don't manage it. I work there. Everyone else I know does something. They have real jobs."

Hannah folded her arms across her chest and looked up at him. She almost sighed in appreciation. He was right. He was very pretty in a man way. She looked away then, a bit sad. Nothing in her life lately was going the way she wanted it to.

"There's nothing wrong with two jobs. I have two jobs, and I don't own either of them as well. There's nothing wrong in being a partner or having a boss. And you also do not have to have a job to have a purpose. I certainly don't. I just get too bored, so I figured I might as well make use of my mind."

"But I have a frightful need to mean something, somewhere to someone. Once upon a time I was doing things I thought meant something, then the war ended and Wayne and I... I don't want to have died alone, a virgin, a never having amounted to much of anything."

He was about to give her a very stern talking to when threw in the word virgin. Then his jaw locked and he couldn't speak a word. He had guessed. It was hard not to assume someone like Hannah was anything but a virgin, but her saying it and him thinking it were two very different things.

Finally, he was able to talk. Blaise decided to steer clear of her 'virgin' comment, even though he could have completely taken that and ran with it.

"You said that you were staying with Potter because he was the one to offer a place when he had been asked to search for you. Who asked him to search for you?" he asked calmly.

"Ernie," Hannah said confused. "But what--"

"Someone, this... Ernie obviously cares for you. You mean something to him. You obviously mean something to Potter as well for him to offer a place for you to stay."

Hannah blinked in confusion. Then she realized he had not understood. Of course not. What would he know of sharing his life with someone else?

"Of course I have friends. That wasn't what I was referring to. It's probably a foreign concept to you, but I was speaking of love. I want to find someone who is the air that I breathe. He must be out there. He's certainly not going to be interested in some unemployed sponge. No one I've fancied so far seems to think I am worth the effort as is, so I must make myself worth the effort."

This was about to get very awkward. She was right. What the hell did he know about love? He was a love 'em and leave 'em guy... without the love.

"Look, I know I may not be an expert on the subject, but if this bloke is as amazing as you say he is, he's not going to give a kneazle's arse if you work or not. Like I said, it doesn't bother me if you work or not, so why should it matter to someone else?"

But you don't want me, she nearly said. That's why it matters.

"Well, you're not an interested party, now are you? No. We're friends." Oh how it bothered her still to admit that. She didn't want to be just friends with him. "I've been thinking of trying to date. Might be too soon, but I am beginning to discover that perhaps I didn't fancy Wayne at all, just the idea of him. I'd ask you if you knew any blokes who might know what to do with a sweet girl, but we both know what the answer to that is. It's possible Harry might set me up with someone. Ernie just gave me this horrified look. I haven't actually seen Justin yet to ask."

"You are not dating."

Oh damn. He had just sounded a bit too much like a jealous Draco when he said that. Half petulant child, half jilted lover. And the bad thing was is he really didn't know how to recover from it. Normally when he dealt with a jealous Draco, the idiot would realize he was jealous and confess it and Blaise would make fun of him, but this was a slightly different situation. Oh hell. This was bad.

Hannah just blinked at him. "Why not?" Oh dear. Something was wrong with her. She wasn't date-able. There was something off to her, and he had seen it and just hadn't told her yet. That's why no one was attracted to her. That's why she only had male friends. Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear. "What's wrong with me? Well, whatever it is, you have to correct it. You just have to correct it, yes. You have to mend me, so I can do this. I miss being held. I miss having doors held for me on dates. I miss... having someone to dress up for. I don't want to be lonely."

He wanted to yell at her. Why the hell do you think I bought all those dresses?! But he didn't.

"There is nothing wrong with you. At all. But..." Oh he really needed an excuse here. "I think it's a bit too soon after the break-up. To go from nearly spending the rest of your life with someone to not having anyone is a bit drastic. Give yourself time to adjust. If you went dating now, all you'd want is a man to appreciate you, and men everywhere would appreciate you. Just not in the way you'd want."

This was far too serious a discussion for him. He had to lighten it up a bit.

"Besides, if you want a cuddle friend, I'll do it. I have to do it for Draco and Tracey all the time. I've been told I'm a very good pillow."

That just made her even more depressed. Sure, she could snuggle up to him, but he'd made it clear it wouldn't go anywhere. What was the point? Maybe just to be held. She thought he was lying to her. Just trying to placate her. There had to be something wrong with her. She was just pretty on the outside. She had to make herself pretty on the inside. That seemed like a daunting task.

Hannah sighed, feeling wretched and not at all up to the interview.

"You cuddle with Draco Malfoy? Why? He seems so mean and cranky. Not good for a cuddle at all."

Blaise snickered. "Why not? And Draco's not mean. Cranky, yes, mean, no. He's like a little teddy bear. A slightly mad teddy bear, but one nonetheless."

"I don't believe you, and I somehow doubt Draco Malfoy would agree to let me cuddle with him to see for myself. You could always ask him, couldn't you?" Hannah smiled. "I can see that now. Malfoy... no you likely call him Draco... Draco, can you cuddle with my friend Hannah. She thinks you don't give good cuddle. I'd like you to prove her wrong since I, Blaise Zabini, am never wrong."

Hannah started giggling then stopped when she realized Blaise was not. Not that he giggled, but he looked so severe just now.

"Goodness. What's wrong now?"

"Oh really? I'm never wrong?" He stopped and narrowed his eyes. "Alright then, how about I floo him and ask him to come over. He would, you know. I have too much blackmail material on him for him not to."

Hannah didn't understand him at all.

"So I can't date anyone, but I can cuddle with your friends? So it's just not public I'm fit to be out in then? I can be with someone... just not out in public anywhere? Floo him if you like... since he's such a good cuddler, and you are never wrong. Maybe I'll just leave, and he'll wonder if you didn't make up some lie to get him here."

Goodness, if he flooed Draco Malfoy, she was leaving. Honestly. She wouldn't cuddle with him even if it was freezing and she needed the body heat. Blaise on the other hand... No, Hannah. Stop that.

"That's not how it is, and no, I'm not explaining it to you. You wouldn't understand, you'd get angry, and then you'd leave. Then we would have to repeat this whole damn thing over again, and once is draining enough! Date for all I care! I don't understand why we always have to go back to such a serious subject! Loosen up a bit! Not everything is about love and relationships!"

Hannah looked at him with wide eyes.

She placed a hand on his chest. "My goodness, if it bothers you so much, I won't date anyone. I'm sorry I keep mentioning it. I'll try to remember not to. You'll find that I'm quite good at following orders and not repeating offensive behavior."

Hannah frowned. She should leave and let him get back to work. She didn't want to though. She wanted to just stay and be around him. Maybe he'd let her just sit there and watch him while he worked? She needed to get a cat or something. She couldn't abide by being alone lately. Thank goodness Dobby didn't seem to mind her odd behavior, and Harry had not noticed how clingy she could be.

"Stop talking like you're still abiding by his rules. If you want to be offensive and rile me up, then go ahead. You're one of the very few people who can, it seems. Even Draco doesn't ruffle my feathers this much."

Blaise sighed. "Now I'm too tense to do much good at that potion list. I'm also a bit peckish. Fancy a snack?"

"All right," Hannah said, confused. If she bothered him so much, why did he keep her about? Why didn't he just ask her to go? "I'm sorry I bothered you. I just... oh I don't know what I just."

Hannah grabbed her things and stalked out of the bathroom. She didn't know what to do with herself now. She tossed her purse onto his couch and started to pace and wring her hands.

Blaise laughed. "To be honest, neither do I," he said leaving his bathroom. "Which is why some good food and some amusement shall help me think. Off to the main kitchen, then, unless you'd rather me bring you something myself?"

Kitchen? She loved a kitchen. Hannah's eyes went wide. She stopped pacing and wringing. She was more excited about this than she had been the shopping.

"Show me," Hannah breathed.

He stopped and stared at her for a bit. He heard those two words a lot in the tone she had used, but it certainly never dealt with the kitchen. It was strange.

"I have a feeling that if you and Draco ever did get along, he'd adore you forever because he loves baked goods of all sorts. He just loves food."

Blaise led Hannah to a door on the other side of his living room that had a staircase going downstairs. When they reached the bottom, Blaise turned right and at the end of the hallway was the large kitchen.

"I remodeled most of the Manor when Mother left, mostly because I hated the old gothic look. Everything looked too worn down. I let the house-elves choose what type of kitchen they wanted. I gave them a book to look through and of all the kitchens they looked at they chose this one. I'm pretty sure they only did it so they could stare at each other through the fish tank."

Hannah bypassed the fish tank entirely and ran her hands along the counter tops. Could she move in here just for the kitchen? Hannah had never seen anything so beautiful. The range and the ovens, yes ovens as in two, were huge. She completely ignored him and started inspecting everything, running her hands along things with sighs of wonder and appreciation.

"Like it, do you?" Blaise said sarcastically. "If I had known this would have made you so agreeable, I would have brought you here earlier."

He rummaged through the many cupboards and drawers, pulling out crackers, two plates and a sharp knife. He went to the refrigerator and pulled out a large block of cheese. Grabbing the cheese, he cut off bits and put them on one of the plates with the crackers and slid it down the counter to Hannah. He stabbed a piece of cheese and stuck it in his mouth.

"Are all Hufflepuffs this in love with their kitchens? I half except you to want to move in here and sleep with the fishes."

"If I moved in here, I'd sleep in your bed," Hannah said, then froze. "I didn't mean it like that. I... I... I... your bed's very comfortable. I just meant..." Hannah blushed. She grabbed a few pieces of cheese and stuffed them in her mouth so she'd have something to do besides ramble on and make things worse.

Blaise managed to swallow before he laughed so he wouldn't choke.

"You are the epitome of a person who doesn't think before they talk. It's refreshing. If you want you can sleep in it tonight, now that I've tempted you with it. It's big enough for two, but if you hog the covers you'll get my cold feet."

It was just too cute that she kept saying things that were innocent in nature but sounded so wrong. He meant it when he said it was refreshing. It was nice to be around someone who just talked and didn't think about every word before they said it. He was curious as to what she'd say to his offer.

Hannah started choking. He came over and clapped her on the back several times. Her eyes were all watery. She was looking at him incredulously. He didn't want her, but he was going to let her sleep in his bed? Tonight? That made the kind of sense that was not to her.

But she wasn't going to say no. Oh no. Never that. She was too weak to deny herself what might be her only chance to do this. It had been too long since she'd slept in the same bed with another person.

"All right," she answered quietly.

He paused. Surely she hadn't just agreed. He wasn't surprised at all by the choking, but saying yes wasn't part of his plan.

Now she's going to be in your bed, and that's just going to be great! You'll never sleep! Then he tried to reason that if she was in his bed, he didn't necessarily want to sleep. But he had time to think this through. She still had her interview, and maybe after it was over she wouldn't want to stay tonight.

Oh who was he kidding. He wanted her to stay regardless.

Clearing his throat, he noticed his hand was still on her back. Through the shirt, he could feel her body heat.

"What time will you be done with your interview? Do I need to have dinner ready?"

Hannah looked at her watch. "Oh my goodness! I have to be there in ten minutes!" She didn't even think. She kissed his cheek and then started rushing towards the stairs so she could grab her purse from his rooms then apparate. "Dinner would be great! I'll get my jimjams from Harry's and be back here later!"

She stopped. "Can I apparate from your balcony?"

He was still facing the other way, stunned by the kiss on the cheek. He was going to have to remind her about cheek-kissing behavior. Hearing her question, he finally turned.

"You can apparate from my room, now. I switched the wards when you first showed up because I wasn't sure if you'd get so mad you would try to apparate out in a huff. I haven't changed them back, so go ahead."

"Excellent," Hannah said with her thousand suns smile in full effect before hurrying off.


{SUMMARY} Hannah comes to apologize to Blaise for her behavior the day before and gets shown more of the house and invited to sleep over... IN HIS BED. He certainly knows how to forgive a girl.