Have You Ever Loved Me? (2)

But before the little boy could finish speaking, Mrs Zabini's cold words came through.

"Take you with me? What good will you do? Your good relationship with Malfoy and the others is the biggest help I can receive!"

"... Okay, Mother... I understand..."

Blaise hung up the call, feeling as if he had used up all his strength, and slowly sat down on the floor against the wall.

The long days that followed flowed by one by Tenten.

Blaise gradually got used to being alone in the mansion. He no longer rushed downstairs at the sound of a door opening, nor did he push open his mother's bedroom door with anticipation every morning.

Whether it was a lively festival or an ordinary morning or evening, he learned to pass the long hours alone, no longer expecting sudden surprises, nor feeling disappointed after disappointment.

The vast and exquisite mansion remained deserted. He had long since grown accustomed to this prolonged solitude, quietly concealing his innermost hopes in a place unseen by anyone.

It wasn't until almost a month after he received his Hogwarts Academy acceptance letter that this happened.

"Mother, I'm going to the Hogwarts Academy soon. Aren't you going to come back and visit me?"

"Are you even useful?"

On the other side of the mirror, her mother's indifferent tone remained unchanged; she seemed perpetually busy.

"It's no use. Sorry to bother you."

Blaise let his hand holding the Two-Way Mirror fall to his side, and calmly looked out the window, while Mrs Zabini's voice came through the mirror.

"Now that you know, don't contact me so often!"

The call ended, and Blaise stood quietly by the window, his gaze aimlessly drifting outside, watching the daylight fade away, the sunset slowly dissipate, and twilight gradually envelop the courtyard, the light sinking inch by inch.

The room gradually darkened, shadows spreading across the floor and furniture, enveloping the small figure in a hazy gloom.

He remained standing in the same spot.

Actually, at the beginning of the first year, Blaise and Malfoy had some conflicts because of Su Yu. Malfoy felt that Blaise had always been a show-off, especially after Su Yu showed his powerful strength after the start of the school year. Blaise had become like a lackey. Although he was similar, Malfoy did not act like Blaise and become a sycophant.

(I remember when I first wrote the beginning, I planted some foreshadowing, like how Blaise was particularly respectful to Su Yu back then, and he didn't even hang out with Malfoy at Christmas. I also specifically wrote a sentence about how his feelings for his mother had changed. I should have written Haha, Haha.)

The two men disagreed on how to treat Su Yu, and Blaise and Draco had a very unpleasant falling out. Neither was willing to back down, and the two secretly competed with each other, deliberately avoiding one another, and fell into a long cold war.

"Did you and Malfoy have a falling out?"

One late night, Mrs Zabini contacted Blaise for the first time in her life.

"Do you know how embarrassing your actions have made me in front of others? Because of you, I can't even hold my head up high now!"

Blaise leaned against a corner of the Slytherin common room, speaking calmly.

"Is it important to you whether I have a fight with him or not?"

On the other side of the mirror, Mrs Zabini seemed somewhat angry.

"Hmph, stop with this clumsy act. Aren't you just blaming me? But why are you making a scene with them?"

"Don't think of me as so filthy, Mother. What have I done to blame you? What have I said? In your heart, there has never been a place for me; you only have yourself."

This was the first time Blaise had ever spoken against his mother, and his entire arm trembled after he finished speaking.

"Blaise Zabini! How could I have given birth to a son like you!"

Mrs Zabini angrily hung up the phone.

"What a coincidence, you were born."

Blaise put the Two-Way Mirror back in his pocket, walked back to the ball, and started drinking with a few Slytherin girls.

"Hey, Blaise, what are your plans for Christmas? Aren't you going to see Malfoy and the others?"

As Christmas drew near, Blaise was woken up early one morning by the sound of Two-Way Mirror. Upon answering, he immediately heard his mother's voice.

"I understand, Mother. I will go and curry favor with those Pure-blood nobles for you."

Blaise replied impatiently to his mother, who had never, ever cared about him even once. Even when she contacted him through the Two-Way Mirror, it was only for her own benefit.

"How can you talk like that! I'm only doing this for your own good! If you keep talking to me like that, don't call me 'Mother' anymore!"

Mrs Zabini was furious and immediately hung up the phone.

"That's perfect..."

Blaise rubbed his head, which was still throbbing from drinking the night before, and casually tossed the Two-Way Mirror aside.

The worst argument between the two, which was also their last contact, happened last year, before the Quidditch World Cup. Malfoy's mother, Narcissa, wanted to invite some of her Little Dragon's best friends to watch the Quidditch World Cup, so Malfoy told Blaise that she wanted to contact his mother, Mrs Zabini.

"Mrs. Malfoy is looking for you."

After Blaise answered the call through the Two-Way Mirror, he promptly stated the reason for the call and then tried to hang up.

"What have you done now to make them come knocking on your door?"

However, Mrs Zabini, sitting on the other side of the mirror, clearly misunderstood and thought that Blaise had caused trouble.

"Tch, what does this have to do with me? Have you finally gone completely insane after being out there for so long?"

Blaise retorted without hesitation.

"Can't you speak properly? Don't come looking for me again if something happens. You disgust me. Leave me alone, Blaise."

Seeing Mrs Zabini's madness reflected in the Two-Way Mirror, Blaise chuckled, "Double happiness, I couldn't ask for more."

Mrs Zabini, on the other side, was clearly taken aback by Blaise's words.

"You damned thing, how dare you live in this world! You're disgusting!"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm doing just fine."

After saying that, Blaise ignored the roar from the other side, crushed the Two-Way Mirror that had been with him since he was a child, sat on the edge of the bed, and held his head. He didn't cry. He hadn't cried since he was four years old. However, when he stood up again, his eyes were a little red. He let out a long sigh of relief. Blaise felt as if he had shed something from his body.