"Simplicated: Chapter One, Part One"
Don't throw things at me, but I started another fic. Because it's Christmas season and everyone should be happy. So for the girls who liked Blaise (namely, onecrimsontie and marshmallowmin), I present a Blaise fic, which came very nearly titled "The Blaise Fic."
Other titles, in case you're interested, were: Blaise The Great, A Life in the Day of Blaise Zabini, Blaisesu, Bless You, Lover Boy, Little Lost Lover Boy, but by then I was getting desperate, and onecrimsontie and I batted around other titles before deciding anything with 'mystery' in it would be terrible.
So how did this title come to be? It's all thanks to the Draco/Ginny theme song (IMHO), "Playing For Keeps" by Matchbook Romance. The first line is "It's so simple and complicated the way you can crush me." And my mind heard it, clicked it, and afterwards I wondered whether 'simplicated' is a word or not. I don't think it is, come to think of it. Simplified is though. Yeah.
Then, in the spirit of (JENN: OMGWTF, DAMN ENGLISH) the poll, Blaise is paired with another Hogwarts character: Su Li. She's a Ravenclaw in Harry's year. I know of her because when I was doing research for another fic, I came across her name at the handy dandy Harry Potter Lexicon.
Anyway, I have a lot of his planned out in my head. It'll be a short novella, probably five or six chapters. It's part of the "Sugar Cookie" verse, after it, so yes, you know Draco and Ginny get together and stay together, and they're still featured in here quite strongly.
Title: "Simplicated"
Ship: Blaise Zabini/Su Li
Rating: PG-13 (might be upped later)
Summary: Blaise discovers the Blaise Zabini Method of Falling in Love. (Ahhh, I can't think of a summary right now, my brain fried trying to think of the title.)
Blaise Zabini had never discovered the benefits of chewing gum. He thought it was rather plebian. However, Blaise decided glumly, perhaps it had its merits. He supposed it gave one something to do when one was in situations like this.
Draco Malfoy stared at him silently. Blaise refrained from squirming with concentrated effort and a great deal of self-restraint.
“Yes?” he finally said with a hiss of breath.
The Malfoy heir shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing. I didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers.”
Blaise scowled. “You didn’t.”
“If you say so,” Draco said politely. He stretched out his legs from behind his polished desk and rifled through some papers without looking at them.
Blaise withstood this for another minute, thirty seconds of which he spent staring at the absolutely hideous paperweight on Draco’s table.
“Fine,” he blurted out irritably. “What the hell do I have to do?”
Draco beamed at him, although Blaise strongly suspected it was only with superhuman effort that Draco abstained from smirking. “Take her to this place.” He scrawled something down on a card and gave it to Blaise, who took it with great distaste and suspicion.
“And then what?” Blaise felt he was entitled to be rude.
Draco, who had gotten what he wanted as usual, clearly felt too smug to take offense. “Just go there. I’m sure even you can figure out what happens next.”
Blaise folded his arms across his chest irritably. “You know, I’m your chief of staff, Malfoy, not your lapdog - ”
“Because the extended metaphor would be disgusting - ”
“ - And not your troubleshooter,” Blaise finished, glaring.
Draco shrugged. “So troubleshoot. This is a problem. She’s being courted by Wolfgang & Company as well. We could lose the deal.”
“You have a troubleshooter,” Blaise pointed out crabbily. “Stewart Ackerley. Call him. Use him.”
Draco gave him a pained expression.
Sadly, Blaise had to agree with him. Stewart Ackerley, while brilliant at providing solutions and getting Malfoy Industries out of muddles, was hopeless when it came to women. Stewart Ackerley would just as soon give a woman a rose as a tulip, and there were big differences. They might as well run the paper the contract had been written on through the shredder.
“Why can’t you go?” Blaise sighed, already resigned. Also, he was genuinely curious as to why, if the situation called for wooing and flirting, Draco didn’t just go himself.
Draco shrugged again. “Well, Gin wouldn’t really like it, would she?”
Privately, Blaise wondered when Draco would ask Ginny Weasley to marry him. He would never say this aloud, of course. When it came to the pretty redheaded witch, Draco was vehemently stubborn and suffered the worst case of denial Blaise had ever come across. Draco still clung obstinately to the belief that he would break up with Ginny when he tired of her, and it was just easier to not mention even the possibility of a long-term relationship. Granted, Draco had been seeing Ginny for only three weeks - well, it had to be at least three months in all; they’d gotten back together just under a month ago after a breakup Blaise had very unhappily and against his very resistant will been dragged into - but the fact that Draco had launched such an elaborate mission to win her back was saying a lot of things Draco wouldn’t say. Frankly, sometimes Blaise just wanted to hit him.
This was one of those times.
“And besides, she wouldn’t trust me,” added Draco. “Trust me, Blaise, you’re much better suited for the part.”
“What part?”
“Well,” Draco said musingly. “Let’s just say that you’re a very trustable guy.” Blaise’s expression didn’t change, and Draco sighed. “You’re more sincere. At least, you seem it. She’ll love you.”
“Fine.” Blaise glanced at his watch. “I have to go and meet your banker.”
“Really?” Draco looked vaguely interested.
“Yes, really.” Blaise waited. “You really don’t care, do you?”
“Not really, no.”
“It’s about the windfall of Galleons your branch in Paris just got,” Blaise informed him.
“I was thinking about taking Ginny to Paris,” said Draco, brightening. “Well, perhaps not Paris. I think she’d like Cannes, do you?”
Blaise stared. “Okay. I’m going now.”
He turned and tripped on the edge of the thick carpet that Draco had forever been saying he’d get rid of but never did. Blaise spun around, looking suspiciously at Draco, waiting for the acerbic comment.
Draco was nonplussed. In fact, he looked happy. “Oh,” he said succinctly, “She’ll definitely love you.”
Other titles, in case you're interested, were: Blaise The Great, A Life in the Day of Blaise Zabini, Blaisesu, Bless You, Lover Boy, Little Lost Lover Boy, but by then I was getting desperate, and onecrimsontie and I batted around other titles before deciding anything with 'mystery' in it would be terrible.
So how did this title come to be? It's all thanks to the Draco/Ginny theme song (IMHO), "Playing For Keeps" by Matchbook Romance. The first line is "It's so simple and complicated the way you can crush me." And my mind heard it, clicked it, and afterwards I wondered whether 'simplicated' is a word or not. I don't think it is, come to think of it. Simplified is though. Yeah.
Then, in the spirit of (JENN: OMGWTF, DAMN ENGLISH) the poll, Blaise is paired with another Hogwarts character: Su Li. She's a Ravenclaw in Harry's year. I know of her because when I was doing research for another fic, I came across her name at the handy dandy Harry Potter Lexicon.
Anyway, I have a lot of his planned out in my head. It'll be a short novella, probably five or six chapters. It's part of the "Sugar Cookie" verse, after it, so yes, you know Draco and Ginny get together and stay together, and they're still featured in here quite strongly.
Title: "Simplicated"
Ship: Blaise Zabini/Su Li
Rating: PG-13 (might be upped later)
Summary: Blaise discovers the Blaise Zabini Method of Falling in Love. (Ahhh, I can't think of a summary right now, my brain fried trying to think of the title.)
Blaise Zabini had never discovered the benefits of chewing gum. He thought it was rather plebian. However, Blaise decided glumly, perhaps it had its merits. He supposed it gave one something to do when one was in situations like this.
Draco Malfoy stared at him silently. Blaise refrained from squirming with concentrated effort and a great deal of self-restraint.
“Yes?” he finally said with a hiss of breath.
The Malfoy heir shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing. I didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers.”
Blaise scowled. “You didn’t.”
“If you say so,” Draco said politely. He stretched out his legs from behind his polished desk and rifled through some papers without looking at them.
Blaise withstood this for another minute, thirty seconds of which he spent staring at the absolutely hideous paperweight on Draco’s table.
“Fine,” he blurted out irritably. “What the hell do I have to do?”
Draco beamed at him, although Blaise strongly suspected it was only with superhuman effort that Draco abstained from smirking. “Take her to this place.” He scrawled something down on a card and gave it to Blaise, who took it with great distaste and suspicion.
“And then what?” Blaise felt he was entitled to be rude.
Draco, who had gotten what he wanted as usual, clearly felt too smug to take offense. “Just go there. I’m sure even you can figure out what happens next.”
Blaise folded his arms across his chest irritably. “You know, I’m your chief of staff, Malfoy, not your lapdog - ”
“Because the extended metaphor would be disgusting - ”
“ - And not your troubleshooter,” Blaise finished, glaring.
Draco shrugged. “So troubleshoot. This is a problem. She’s being courted by Wolfgang & Company as well. We could lose the deal.”
“You have a troubleshooter,” Blaise pointed out crabbily. “Stewart Ackerley. Call him. Use him.”
Draco gave him a pained expression.
Sadly, Blaise had to agree with him. Stewart Ackerley, while brilliant at providing solutions and getting Malfoy Industries out of muddles, was hopeless when it came to women. Stewart Ackerley would just as soon give a woman a rose as a tulip, and there were big differences. They might as well run the paper the contract had been written on through the shredder.
“Why can’t you go?” Blaise sighed, already resigned. Also, he was genuinely curious as to why, if the situation called for wooing and flirting, Draco didn’t just go himself.
Draco shrugged again. “Well, Gin wouldn’t really like it, would she?”
Privately, Blaise wondered when Draco would ask Ginny Weasley to marry him. He would never say this aloud, of course. When it came to the pretty redheaded witch, Draco was vehemently stubborn and suffered the worst case of denial Blaise had ever come across. Draco still clung obstinately to the belief that he would break up with Ginny when he tired of her, and it was just easier to not mention even the possibility of a long-term relationship. Granted, Draco had been seeing Ginny for only three weeks - well, it had to be at least three months in all; they’d gotten back together just under a month ago after a breakup Blaise had very unhappily and against his very resistant will been dragged into - but the fact that Draco had launched such an elaborate mission to win her back was saying a lot of things Draco wouldn’t say. Frankly, sometimes Blaise just wanted to hit him.
This was one of those times.
“And besides, she wouldn’t trust me,” added Draco. “Trust me, Blaise, you’re much better suited for the part.”
“What part?”
“Well,” Draco said musingly. “Let’s just say that you’re a very trustable guy.” Blaise’s expression didn’t change, and Draco sighed. “You’re more sincere. At least, you seem it. She’ll love you.”
“Fine.” Blaise glanced at his watch. “I have to go and meet your banker.”
“Really?” Draco looked vaguely interested.
“Yes, really.” Blaise waited. “You really don’t care, do you?”
“Not really, no.”
“It’s about the windfall of Galleons your branch in Paris just got,” Blaise informed him.
“I was thinking about taking Ginny to Paris,” said Draco, brightening. “Well, perhaps not Paris. I think she’d like Cannes, do you?”
Blaise stared. “Okay. I’m going now.”
He turned and tripped on the edge of the thick carpet that Draco had forever been saying he’d get rid of but never did. Blaise spun around, looking suspiciously at Draco, waiting for the acerbic comment.
Draco was nonplussed. In fact, he looked happy. “Oh,” he said succinctly, “She’ll definitely love you.”