Because I am just too kind.:3

JustinMurad - Well, I am planning on ending this fic at the end of their fifth year, as it's already going to turn out to have like, probably up to 30 or more chapters. But if there's any demand for a sequel, I would *gladly* write one, so yeah, if all you guys aren't fed up with me and my lame jokes and decide you'd like to read and review a story about their sixth year (perhaps seventh...and perhaps a short epilogue style story cause I don't wanna leave you hanging...) then I'd consider A Very Glee Sequel (oh, how original *facepalm*) confirmed. ;)
ChasingAspirations Your reviews are totally awesome. Oohh, Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans!... Broken Computer. Great. ...Got any redvines? :P

Chapter Twelve - The Riddle.

This Friday was to be Kurt's last detention with Umbridge.

He had taken Blaine's advice, or rather he forced him to take it, and hadn't run into her all week. He and Blaine didn't risk any public displays of affection, and had even taken to not sitting together in her classes. Their seperation however grew impossible at times, as there had been an outbreak of illness around the school, and thus many of their classes had been cancelled, so they couldn't even concentrate on their school work to get them through not being able to spend time together. It went without saying that, whenever the two of them were nowhere to be found, they were putting the room of requirement to good use.

Kurt hoped that maybe with him finishing his punishment, Umbridge would try find someone else to pick on, but Blaine wasn't a fan of his thinking. If she owned something as evil as that quill, and had no qualms about using it on him, it wasn't likely she'd let him get off that easily.

"Last time, Kurt." Blaine muttered to him at the end of dinner that Friday, as his boyfriend stood up from the bench. It broke his heart to have to watch him go there and not being able to stop it. "Courage." It was their word.

"I'll be fine. Seriously Blaine, she's not going to do anything worse to me, is she? You look more scared than I am. I can handle the pain."

"Just... forget it." he shook his head.

"What were going going to say?"

"Nothing, I.. I love you. Come back to me quick."

"You'll probably still be with Snape when I'm back." he smiled sadly at him, and leaned in to kiss him, before remembering that he couldn't. "Sorry." he sighed. "It's hard not to." instead, he let his hand linger on his leg for a few seconds before getting up and making his way out of the great hall.

Kurt thought he would never get used to being in this room. As he knocked on the door, and Umbridge opened it, giving him one of her 'how-lovely-to-see-you-now-lets-get-down-to-torture' smiles, he was again assaulted by the vivid pink colours in the room, and the sound of cats miowing from the walls. She was probably the original definition of a crazy cat lady.

"Mr Hummel, sit down." she gestured to the chair at her desk this time, as opposed to the small one at the table where the quill usually lay, waiting for him. "Let me see your arm."

Reluctantly, he held it out to her. In the week, the cut had become pinkish, healing. The word was however, still readable. he could tell Blaine was right about it leaving a nasty scar.

"Very nice."

That wasn't Kurt's definition of what it looked like, but he said nothing, pulling his arm away sharply.

"So, do you think you should continue? Just to make sure the message is...clear."

He stayed silent.

"Or have you gotten it into your head?"

Silence.

"What have you learned from this about yourself?"

He pressed his lips shut.

"Mr Hummel, answer the question."

"I have learned that this is wrong."

"What's wrong?"

Your methods, your position, you. "What I am is wrong."

"Yes." she nodded. "What you are is wrong. Why did you choose to be like this?"

I didn't choose it. I didn't choose to be gay. I only chose to be happy. "I don't know."

"Have you told your boyfriend that you think he is wrong? That you will not be together anymore?"

As if. "No."

"Will you?"

"Yes."

"Good." she smiled again. "Otherwise I can assure you that Mr Dalton will have an awfully hard time in the tournament..."

"What?"

"Not for you to worry about, dear, now that you have nothing to do with him, am I right?"

If you lay a finger on him I will rip you to pieces. "Yes."

"Run along, then."

And so he did. He ran out of that place, not knowing where he was going, but ended up oitside the Gryffindor common room. He barked the password at the portrait of the fat lady, dashed up the stairs to his room, let himself fall onto his boyfriend's bed, and cried.
Because he would have rather taken the physical pain from that quill to what was going on in his head right now.

"As you know, the first task is coming up soon." Snape said. Blaine and Quinn had been in his office for an hour practising spells that he had taught them, and finally dropped their wands as he gestured for them to sit down. "We will not be able to have another lesson before then, unfortunatly. And I cannot reveal to either of you what the first task involves. However, just because I can't..." he quickly glanced at his office door. "Doesn't mean that I don't want to. So hear me out. You will have to fight a magical creature - not an awfully uncommon one, although you would generally not find it in your day to day lives, and one that many muggles think to be imaginary. They are extremely vicious, and they will not be reluctant to try and attack you. But you have to take something that is theirs, for it is a hint to the second task. I need you two to get into that arena and out of it as fast as you possibly can. You're only allowed to bring a wand - but think of what you can do with that wand."

"Can we...summon something?" Quinn suddenly lit up.

Snape nodded.

"Can't you tell us what the creature is? It could be anything."

"I have given you all the hints that you are getting! Even a first year muggle could guess that!"

"We must be really, really stupid then." Quinn muttered.

"You may go. Think about it. And good luck. I'll be away on business for the next few days, but I will be back on time for the task. I will get you through this."

Twenty minutes and a heated conversation with Quinn outside of Snape's office about what the hell the creature could be, Blaine was sitting in the common room, in the seat in front of the fire, waiting for Kurt. He surely couldn't be finished his detention already. But another ten, twenty, thirty minutes passed, and there was no sign of him. Maybe Umbridge let him off lightly.
As if.
Blaine took quick, but quiet steps, up to the dorm, in case Kurt was sleeping up there. As he walked over to his own bed, he saw him, curled up amongst the sheets. "Kurt?" he whispered.
He stirred, and turned over. Blaine at once noticed his red raw eyes. "Kurt?"

"Blaine." he said, his voice sleepy but monotone.

"What did she do to you?"

"Nothing." it was the truth, afterall. "She just spoke to me. She said that if I didn't break it off with you, she would make your life a living hell in the tournament."

So it is Umbridge, Blaine thought. "She'll probably do that anyway."

"But...what does she have to do with the tournament?"

"She must be part of the organisational team." he lied. No way was he telling Kurt anything. "Probably all talk though. We just...gotta keep doing what we've been doing."

"No." Kurt stared at him. "I don't want to do that. Did you not hear what I said last week? We're supposed to be proud of who we are. We're supposed to not care. Umbridge can't -"

"Umbridge can. She is probably more powerful than Dumbledore at this school right now."

"Well, I don't want to act like I don't know you."

Blaine sat down on the bed, and pulled Kurt close to him. "We'll just have to figure something else out then, won't we?"

Kurt sighed. "I love you."

"Good." he replied, forcing him to grin slightly. Good had been Blaine's reaction to the first time Kurt had told him this, at King's Cross Station last year.

-Flashback-

"Alright, Mum. I get it." Blaine said, through gritted teeth. "I'll try not to be an embarrasment to you this year."

"You're not an embarrasment to me, Blaine." Lorraine Dalton shook her head. "Your father is just a little disappointed in you."

"You would have thought he'd got over it by now? Big deal, I'm in Gryffindor."

"It's just the way you seemed perfectly content with that. And you're friends with mudbloods. I mean, really? He thought he raised his son better than that."

He laughed bitterly. "Remember his reaction when he found out I'd taken muggle studies?"

"That wasn't funny! He almost had a heart attack!"

"What about the -" but he stopped, as he heard someone call out his name. "KURT?" he spun around in disbelief, and sure enough, his best friend and the boy he had also fallen madly in love with, was making quick strides towards him, three suitcases in tow. Typical, Blaine thought to himself, smiling.

"I missed you!" Kurt jumped a little in delight. "I can't believe -"

He didn't care if what he did now was going to send his bystanding mother to an early grave. All he knew was, he saw nothing else to do right now than to grab his face, and kiss him. It was soft at first, but if there had been any doubt that this was a real, full on, decleration of feelings kiss, it was gone out the window as it progressed. Kurt had dropped his bags on the platform, his arms around him, nails digging into the back of his neck, Blaine sliding his hands down to his waist, pulling his body so close to his own there was no distance between them.
"Holy shit." Blaine whispered as they broke apart.

"...I love you." he sounded breathless, but there was no mistakening what he had said.

"Good." was all he could respond.

"Good?"

"Good because... I love you too." he took his hand, smiling. "Bye, mum."

I really hope at least some of you who are AVPM fanatics get what Snape's saying in his riddle. :P Also, I dunno, I really wanted to throw in some flashbacks from the previous years in certain places to kind of explain things, especially when the Glee Club forms, as they've all known eachother for almost five years now and they all probably have a history with eachother, so I was just testing that out in this chapter. Is that something you'd like to see? I'd kind of want to write one about Mike and Tina as well, and some Brittany/Santana, and some stuff involving Blaine, Quinn and Draco as well. Thoughts?