Lezioni di Lingua

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A/N: My response to the Flirting in the Library Challenge at blaise_hermione
Note: I used a translator for the phrases so I apologize if they’re not perfect!
Dedicated to ashleyfanfic for embracing the GraBini ship with me and writing me lovely fics and spending hours discussing "our Blaise" :)
This is a fluffy little ficlet for all the fans of blaise_hermione *hugs*

Originally Posted: July 19, 2004

"Glaring at the book is not going to suddenly provide you with any answers."


Blaise Zabini paused in his glaring at the History of Magic text to turn said glare on the person who dared interrupt his rare immature display of annoyance. Indigo eyes looked into amused coffee colored eyes and his full lips curved into a frown. He should have known it was her. Who else would be in the library on a Friday night? Just when he thought the day couldn’t get any worse, the beautiful witch that had enchanted him for the past three years had to witness his juvenile behavior. He arched a brow and drawled, "How do you know? Perhaps I am experimenting with a new form of Divination."


"You’re not in Divination," Hermione informed him smugly, wondering again what had caused her to leave her safe corner of the library to venture into dangerous territory. The danger being the complex and far too girly feelings that this handsome raven-haired wizard caused. She had first noticed the dark Slytherin two years before, finding herself fascinated by the beautiful wizard that had to be descended from the Gods themselves. She was intrigued by his brilliant mind, amazed by his ability to fade into the background despite his beauty, astonished by his observations and sarcastic wit, surprised by his lack of arrogance, pleased by his elegance and grace, delighted by his unpredictability and charm, and aroused by every single aspect of his looks and mind and personality.


She’d been wanting to approach him for the last year, once she realized that her infatuation was not fading or merely the case of overactive hormones. But, she always chickened out, being brave and secure about every other aspect of her life except relationships. It was sixth year and she had never had a boyfriend. In fact, the number of dates she’d been on could be counted on one hand, well, two fingers. Viktor and Ron, neither one meaning anything more than a platonic outing with friends.


Besides, he was a Slytherin, a Pureblood, from a wealthy family, extremely handsome, graceful and charming, one of the most intelligent wizards she’d ever met, and barely acknowledged her existence. Every time she had contemplated making an overture to test the waters, so to speak, to see if he might, for some strange and unknown reason, be interested in getting to know her as something more than that ‘Know-It-All’ Gryffindor with the bad hair and overprotective friends, she had realized that rejection was something she was not fond of and had decided not to take the chance. She looked into his indigo eyes, watching him study her for a moment before he slowly smiled, causing his face to look even more handsome.


"And may I ask how you happen to know whether or not I am in Divination, Miss. Granger?" Blaise asked, watching her cheeks turn the most delightful shade of pink. He couldn’t resist teasing, "Are you stalking me, perhaps?"


"Some call it stalking….I call it love," she replied as her eyes met his. Merlin, had she really just said that? Judging from the way his eyes narrowed and had begun to darken indicated that she had. Great, just great. She had intended to come over and speak to him, just let him know she was alive, and here she was making a complete fool out of herself.


"Lo amate?" Blaise asked softly, his eyes looking into hers as he unknowingly spoke in his native tongue, "Siete così bei, Hermione. Adored voi per gli anni."


"Uh, okay," Hermione had no idea what he had just said but it sounded beautiful. She smiled apologetically, "I don’t know Italian."


"Spiacente. I mean, sorry," Blaise smiled sheepishly, thankful that she hadn’t understood a word of his surprised admission. Way to play it cool and mysterious, Zabini. Tell the girl you’ve wanted her for years the first time she speaks to you outside of class. He gathered his thoughts and smiled flirtatiously, "What were we talking about?"


"You were going to ask me to help you so that the poor defenseless book no longer had to suffer from your intense glare," Hermione smiled slightly, deciding to ignore her faux pas by admitting she fancied the handsome wizard within moments of first exchanging words.


"Really, Granger. I thought you knew everything," he smirked, finding it rather entertaining to flirt with the witch he’d been watching since third year. He had honestly not expected her to approach him first, knowing that he was not the most welcoming wizard around. He preferred his own company than that of his House mates and he was fully aware of his reputation as the handsome but mysterious dark Slytherin.


That was perfectly acceptable to him, relieved that he was not required to socialize with his classmates. He had no particular dislike for them, finding them highly amusing and entertaining a majority of the time, he just wasn’t very good at making ‘small talk’ and loathed being forced into conversations when he had nothing of interest to contribute. With Hermione, however, he felt the urge to flirt with her, to charm her, to cause her cheeks to flush because he found it adorable. He deliberately prevented himself from thinking of other ways to cause her cheeks to flush, most involving them naked and on this very table or wherever else he could simply enjoy her for hours.


"I never said that," she denied, her lips curving into a smug smile as she allowed, "Just almost everything."


"Siete adorable," he laughed, his long fingers running through his curly black hair as he found his eyes unable to move away from hers. He had done it again, he realized. He took great pride in the fact that he rarely spoke his native language at school, tending to do so only when he was visiting home or emotional. It would appear that finally having the chance to talk to Hermione fell into the latter category. He nibbled on his bottom lip before he collected himself and informed her haughtily, "Slytherins do not ask for help."


"Oh, that’s right. They spend hours glaring at their books instead," she laughed softly, glad that the library was empty giving them a chance to actually talk. She found him even more handsome and charming than she’d imagined, though she hated not being able to understand him when he spoke Italian.


"I was not glaring," he denied with a smirk, "As I told you previously, I was merely practicing my Divination skills. It is typically Gryffindor to be so forgetful."


Siete," she repeated suddenly with a curious gleam in her eyes, "You said that word earlier. What does it mean?"


"Granger, really, I am attempting to finish my homework," Blaise motioned at the parchment before him, "I do not have time to give you language lessons."


"My name is Hermione," she told him, "what about a trade? I assist you with your History of Magic homework and you teach me a little Italian. Just a few phrases, Blaise, not the entire language."


"You are aware that I loathe the idea of not being able to find this blasted answer on my own, are you not?" he asked with a glare at the book.


"I imagine that you are frustrated and annoyed and ready to hex the book," Hermione smiled, "at least, that’s what I’m like when I don’t know something and can‘t find the answer."


"Just so we understand one another," Blaise confirmed, "you volunteered to assist me with this assignment in exchange for a language lesson."


"Exactly," she rolled her eyes, "you have not broken any Slytherin rules by daring ask for help."


Blaise smirked before he explained the question that was stumping him. She nodded and confessed that it had taken her forever to find the answer when she’d completed her assignment the previous day. Instead of telling him the answer, she told him what chapter it was in and sat back and watched him find it. He could feel her eyes on him as he wrote, lifting his head and looking into her eyes to find a curious and thoughtful gleam in their depths on several occasions. Once he was finished with the his homework, he set aside and told her, "Thank you, Hermione. It’s doubtful I would have found that so easily without your guidance."


"Wow, I wasn’t aware that Slytherins knew how to say thank you," Hermione grinned at him, finding it enjoyable to just sit this close to him and be able to flirt a little without feeling so awkward.


"The words are in our vocabulary, we just rarely have reason to use them," he informed her loftily, his eyes a light violet and gleaming with amusement and, dare she say, attraction.


"What does siete mean?" she asked as she leaned back in her chair, wanting to know what he had said earlier.


"You are," he translated.


"You think I’m adorable?" she smiled shyly, hoping she had the meaning correct. She watched him look away and could have sworn he might be blushing, delight flashing in her eyes as she realized that he might at least kind of like her.


"Yes, well, moving on," Blaise muttered, relieved that he was not cursed with Mafloy’s pale skin that would have betrayed the heat he knew was in his cheeks. Merlin, please let her forget what he had said the first time, knowing that he would sooner be forced to spend a day shopping with Parkinson than admit that he had adored her from afar since third year. "You mentioned wanting to learn a few words. What are they?"


"Would you like," Hermione said thoughtfully.


"Gradite," Blaise replied, finally looking into her eyes. He could get lose in those eyes. They were amazing. The most beautiful shade of brown with flecks of green around her iris, they were usually the color of coffee but he had seem them lighter when she was amused and darker when she was angry.


"Tomorrow?"


"Domani."


"With?"


"Con," Blaise arched a brow, finding her selection of words a bit unusual, deciding that she was just choosing random phrases to fulfill her end of the bargain since he had refused to ask for her help.


"Go?"


"Vada," Blaise answered, watching her decide on her next word.


"To?" Hermione asked, wondering if she could remember all these.


"A."


"Me?"


"Me," Blaise smiled at that one, "Are you planning to spend the entire ‘lesson’ asking for random words or would you like to learn a phrase? Perhaps something you would find useful and could say often. I know. Sono più astuto di voi."


"What does that mean?" Hermione asked, wishing he wouldn’t do that. Distract her by speaking in that sexy accent in that lovely voice and saying all those words that were going to mix up the ones she wanted to learn.


"I am smarter than you are," Blaise smirked, "I do believe you could sincerely say that to most the students at this school and even some of the Professors."


"I do believe you just gave me a compliment, Zabini," Hermione arched a brow, a pleased smile crossing her face.


"Perhaps," he smiled slightly.


"Gradite a vada con me a Hogsmeade domani?" Hermione asked softly, nibbling on her bottom lip as she waited for his response, not believing she’d found the courage to ask him such a thing, deciding this was the bravest thing she’d ever done, even beating facing Voldemort beside Harry and Ron.


"No, that’s not right. In that context, it would be gradite andare domani a Hogsmeade con me?" Blaise corrected, repeating, "would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?"


"You know, to be so smug about how smart you are, you’re rather obtuse," Hermione sighed, her hand moving through her unruly brown hair, "unless you *do* realize what I was asking and are just too polite to tell me no for risk of embarrassing me since I helped you with your homework and all. But you’re a Slytherin and I assume that one of the house rules would declare that ‘thou shall not be polite to Gryffindors‘ or something like that. Merlin, forget I asked. This is too…." her words were caught by his lips as he gently kissed her.


To be honest, it had taken him a moment to figure out what she was rambling on about, surprised to realize that she had asked him to go with her to Hogsmeade. He had been about to accept her invitation when she had gone into her analysis of his silence, over thinking things as was her normal routine. He had had to kiss her, he justified to himself, to get her to be quiet so he could say yes. He had stood up and leaned across the table and caught her lips with his. Now, the kiss was deepening, her lips opening beneath his, her tongue sliding into his mouth as his hand tangled in her soft hair. When they broke the kiss, he looked into her eyes and whispered, "Andrò felicemente con voi dovunque, il mio amore."


"That was a yes, wasn’t it?" she smiled nervously.


"Yes it was," he confirmed with a brilliant smile, his fingers moving along the curve of her cheek as he smirked, "So, was it my charming personality or witty intellect that is responsible for this lovely invitation?"


"Perhaps I’m merely using you for your handsome face and gorgeous body," Hermione teased, a bit surprised that she was able to say such things to him so soon after their meeting without blushing.


Blaise laughed, "If it were any other witch, I might suggest such a thing but I know that you, like me, place no particular value on looks and, instead, find a brilliant mind and intelligent conversation attractive. Since I am one of the top students of our year, I assume you are after me for my mind."


"Actually, Blaise," Hermione smiled as she stood up so he wouldn‘t have to lean so far across the table to reach her, moving her mouth above his and saying, "it was the language lessons," before she kissed him gently.


*the end*

End Notes:

Translations:

Lezioni Di Lingua: Language Lessons
Lo amate: You love me?
Siete così bei, Hermione. Adored voi per gli anni: You are so beautiful, Hermione. I have adored you for years.
Siete adorable: You’re adorable
Andrò felicemente con voi dovunque, il mio amore: I will happily go with you anywhere, my love