Day 12: I believe in a cruel God.

[actionreaction]

As part of a yearly tradition with yabamena, we write each other drabbles for the 12(+1) days of Christmas. Day 12: More surprise fanfic! Blaise/Draco is probably my #2 Harry Potter OTP and so they're the other one I've written more than a few fics on. So here's another, set in one of our RP-verses.

Blaise was a very private person and always had been. If fact, one of the things that drove Draco mad about him was how much he didn't know about him; the tall, dark, often cruel Zabini kept very much tightly under wraps. Over the years Draco had learned a few things about Blaise: his taste for wine, his disdain for anything he deemed beneath him, his quick mind, and his incredible patience.

But it was Blaise's feelings and motivation that Draco wanted to decipher. The things that made him a little less a mystery and a little more real. He learned about Blaise's affection for his pet lizard Portia, his respect for his mother and a greater respect which bordered on fear for his grandmother.

Draco learned about the things Blaise enjoyed: a good wine, a better shag, philosophy, and Draco himself. Sometimes Draco wondered what else he'd ever learn about Blaise, what Blaise would allow him to discover.

So when Draco, wandering about the Zabini estate in areas he'd never really gone before, stumbled onto Blaise's private study and heard a deep beautiful baritone singing a stunning Italian aria, he froze in his tracks. It wasn't just that the voice was arrestingly beautiful, or the tune haunting, the notes perfect. It was that the was a voice he could recognize in his sleep.

Blaise Zabini, a wizard who was outwardly a statue and a devil in the sheets, could sing like an angel. Draco remained where he was, listening and quiet as Blaise sang through the entire piece, his voice drifting to a sweet silence at its close.

Draco could feel his heart pounding in his ears. It had left him in a state, between being moved by the aria and being very nearly set ablaze by the rich tones of Blaise's voice. Just when he thought he could move again to slip away unseen, Blaise stopped out from the room he'd been singing in, not even glancing at Draco as he walked past. For the briefest moment, Draco thought Blaise hadn't noticed him, until Blaise paused to toss over his shoulder, "If you were wondering, that was Credo in un Dio crudel from Giuseppe Verdi's Otello*. Now are you going to just stand there or are you coming with me?"

Draco swallowed hard and pushed off from the wall. He'd ruminate later on how Blaise let him see a side of him Draco had no idea existed. For now, they had something else to attend to.


--

*Fun fact: Iago sings this aria.