Chapter Thirty-Five: Whoops
(Pink – Fucking Perfect)
"I just don't understand it." Trent said, shaking his head disparagingly as the three 7th years joined their friends and all sat themselves down around a table in the library.
"Can't understand what?" Blaine asked, looking up from the books he and Rachel had been studying from.
"Why they keep letting you back in," Wes finished. "I mean honestly, you'd have thought they'd have come to their senses by now."
"Yeah, since when do they let Hobbits into Hogwarts anyhow?" David said, sliding in next to Blaine and giving him a nudge.
"Well, they do say that entry is all in favour of equality…" Kurt said quietly in monotone, not looking up from his work.
"Still, there's a limit," Wes sneered, plonking himself next to the younger boy, "And what is with you working so hard? It's the first day back - jeez."
Before Kurt could answer, David chimed in for him: "He and Blaine have clearly been far too busy to spend any time on studying over the holidays."
All three boys started laughing loudly, earning a hiss from Madame Pince.
Finn looked determinedly in the other direction and Rachel tried to hide a smile before she reached out and took the tall Keeper's hand. He seemed a little surprised by the gesture, smiled himself and went a deeper shade of red.
"Surprised you managed to find your way in here Wes, when was the last time you picked up a book?" Blaine asked casually, unphased by their teasing.
"Who needs books?" Wes asked, folding his legs up on the table and leaning back in his chair; "It's all up here."
He tapped his forehead smugly. Kurt lifted the hand with his wand in, still without looking up and flicked it so that the chair gave way and Wes went crashing to the floor.
Kurt looked up momentarily to smirk before returning to his papers.
Madame Pince shushed them very loudly this time and walked away muttering something that involved the word 'rapscallions'.
Wes sat back up on his chair, rubbing his shoulder and sulking silently.
"Have you guys seen Brittany?" Trent enquired. "I haven't seen her since we got back, except for in the Great Hall yesterday evening."
They all shook their heads, nonplussed apart from Rachel; "She was in Arithmancy this morning."
"Brit takes Arithmancy?" David asked, trying to stifle a laugh.
Rachel gave a look that affirmed his question and also showed that no; she did not seem to benefit from the class.
David shook his head chuckling but just then his attention was drawn away.
He got up and crossed the room at a fast pace.
The others all followed his direction and saw that Mercedes had just entered the library, undoubtedly looking for them all.
They all pretended to have not noticed, whereas really they all pricked up their ears and stole glances at the distant couple.
"Hey," Said David.
"Hi," Mercedes returned, seeming startled by the sudden approach that she clearly had not been prepared for.
"So…" David shuffled from side to side, looking everywhere but her face, "Did you like your present?"
Mercedes smiled slightly and lifted up her arm. There on her wrist sat a thin silver bracelet with an oval pendant in the centre, now glowing pink.
"It's lovely, very pretty." She answered shyly.
"It's appropriate too," David said hurriedly, a jolt of confidence hitting him from seeing that she had chosen to wear the gift. "That's a mood stone, you see, magically enchanted to give you an indication of the emotions of those closest to you. I mean, generally you seem pretty good at reading people and helping them out, but I know your friends are important to you so I thought that with that you could now be sure if any of them are hurt or in need. Or happy..."
He trailed off as Mercedes lifted the charm, scrutinising the colouring.
"What does pink mean?" She looked up at him for a moment and he bit his lip.
"Err, I guess you'll have to look it up," He said in a tone which clearly indicated that he knew exactly what pink meant and its affiliation with his present feelings.
Mercedes did not push the answer from him but merely smiled, embarrassed.
"Thank you, it's… it's a great gift."
David turned his head now to look at the table of their peers who were now unashamedly staring at them.
"Err… We should probably…"
Mercedes nodded as she walked towards them all. David following her in tow.
Santana folded her arms as she made her way up the stone stairs, which led to the Clock Tower. She sighed and stared at her feet as they climbed each step at a slow pace. What was she doing? She was positive that no good could come from this. She had already been spending a great deal of her time sorting out the mess of a Slytherin boy Karofsky had turned into, which she might add, she should be awarded a medal for because that was no easy task and she did not often lend her time so generously. Perhaps she was going soft. She rolled her eyes; like that would ever happen. Oh well, she supposed finding someone equally miserable was to be taken as some kind of blessing, how exactly it was meant to be interpreted as so she hadn't quite figured out yet, however.
Santana finally reached the tower and pulled herself up into the decking where a blond girl stood by the window, the sunset lighting her frame in a delicate orange glow.
She turned around at the sound of her friend's arrival and beamed widely.
Santana did not unfold her arms, merely fidgeted with them uncomfortably. "Listen, I have a Charms practical to prepare for tomorrow, so I can't stay long…" She said, attempting to make excuses while she did everything to avoid Brittany's gaze.
The Hufflepuff smiled and skipped forward, "This won't take long."
She took Santana by the hands and led her over to the stone step, indicating that she should sit upon it before walking back to the middle of the floor.
"What are you doing?" Santana asked suspiciously.
"A while ago you told me something," The Slytherin shuffled nervously but her friend continued, "Something important that I asked you to give me time to think over. You know, like how I need time to figure out how to spell words over four letters and remember how to tie my shoelaces. Anyway, I know you got kind of mad at me for asking that and I understand now, because I think that if things were different now, and it were me telling you, I'd be kind of upset too."
Santana stared at her, confused but unfolding her arms, "What do you mean?"
"I thought that maybe instead of saying the words to you directly I'd sing a song like you did for me, because then I can return the favour – plus they seem to be the new kind of fashion around here, and that's cool because songs are fun and help to keep away monsters in your closet."
Brittany smiled and took a deep breath.
Made a wrong turn
Once or twice
Dug my way out
Blood and fire
Bad decisions
That's alright
Welcome to my silly life
Brittany held her hands up and shrugged, then made a gesture to her head, mocking herself and causing Santana to break her resolve and laugh.
Mistreated misplaced
Misunderstood
Miss "no way, it's all good"
It didnt slow me down.
Mistaken
Always second guessing
Underestimated
Look I'm still around
Brittany tilted her head to one side and smiled as tears began to build up in the Slytherin's eyes, no laughter passing from her lips anymore as she was starting to realise…
Pretty, pretty please
Don't you ever, ever feel
Like you're less than
Fuckin' perfect
Pretty, pretty please
If you ever, ever feel
Like you're nothin'
You're fuckin' perfect to me
You're so mean
When you talk
Brittany walked over to Santana and took her hand, pulling her to her feet.
About yourself, you were wrong
Change the voices in your head
Make them like you instead
So complicated
Look how we all make it
Filled with so much hatred
Such a tired game
It's enough
I've done all I can think of
Chased down all my demons
I've seen you do the same
Ooooh
Pretty, pretty please
Don't you ever, ever feel
Like you're less than
Fuckin' perfect
Pretty, pretty please
If you ever, ever feel
Like you're nothin'
You're fuckin' perfect to me
Santana started to sing now, both of their hands now held together as she shook her head through the tears.
The whole worlds scared
So I swallow the fear
The only thing I should be drinking
Is an ice cold beer
So cool in line
And we try, try, try
But we try too hard
And it's a waste of my time
Done looking for the critics
'Cause they're everywhere
They don't like my jeans
They don't get my hair
Strange ourselves
And we do it all the time
Why do we do that?
Why do I do that?
Why do I do that?
Then they sang together, to each other, looking at the person opposite and knowing at that moment, exactly what they were thinking, like true best friends, but now something a little bit more.
Yeeeeaaaahhh
Oooooooh
Oh pretty, pretty please
Pretty, pretty please
Don't you ever, ever feel
Like you're less than
Fuckin' perfect
Pretty, pretty please
If you ever, ever feel
Like you're nothin'
You're fuckin' perfect to me
You're perfect, you're perfect
Pretty, pretty please
If you ever, ever feel
Like you're nothin'
You're fuckin' perfect to me
Their voices slowly faded out into the tower and they were left alone in silence, staring at one another.
"I think you're perfect Santana," Brittany said simply, "And I think that with that alone, I know the answer to what you asked me before, it seems kind of obvious now because there's no one else who will ever know and love me as much as you do. That's all I have to say."
The snow had still been falling around Hogwarts since they had been back and that evening Kurt and Blaine had been down to Hogsmeade, to just relax and get away from the others who had started to become annoyingly intrusive. In all fairness they were doing so similarly to Finn and Rachel as well now, but since the two of them had made a hurried escape after dinner, the two boys thought they would also take a leaf out if their book.
"Nervous?" Kurt asked as they made their way back to the castle at an extremely slow pace.
"Hmm?" Blaine asked, looking up from what must have been some deep thought.
"About tomorrow." Kurt said.
"Oh right, yeah,kind of, but it's only Ravenclaw – they came 4th last year."
The Gryffindor-Ravenclaw Quidditch match would be played the next day, another reason why it was probably a good idea to give Wes and Davis a wide berth whenever possible…
"True, but I wouldn't really want to play in this weather… Don't really fancy standing in it either if I'm honest." Kurt said, nuzzling his chin further into his scarf as he said so.
Blaine grinned and nudged him; "You better not be thinking of a way of worming your way out of coming to watch."
Kurt wrinkled his nose, "No, of course I'll go, but you'll have it on your conscience that I shall be standing there entirely miserable the whole time."
"Hey, at least you can wear a coat and a load of your numerous accessories to keep you warm, all I have is our flaming uniform." Blaine said, pulling a face.
"Yeah, but you'll be moving around."
"In ice-cold winds."
"You're just being difficult now," Kurt said, rolling his eyes.
Blaine laughed and put his arm around him, "You say that like you're not doing the exact same thing."
Kurt scoffed, "It's not like I have much choice in the matter, regardless of whether or not you and Finn were playing, I'd still have to go because not attending a Quidditch game at Hogwarts – perhaps with the exception of being dead, in detention or trapped in a broom cupboard – is like a sin or something."
Blaine nodded, "It's true, they'd probably even judge you for not having wheeled your sickbed into the stands if you fell ill."
"Har-har." Kurt said bitterly.
"And to think, you were so jolly in the holidays, now you've turned into some post-Christmas scrooge."
"Sports Scrooge," Kurt corrected.
Blaine shook his head, "I'm just offended that you don't wish to share in my enjoyment of the game, how can you not like flying?"
"To be fair, I've never actually been on a broomstick," Kurt said off-handedly.
"What?"
The violence of Blaine's reaction to his throw away comment caught Kurt off guard as they both came to a halt.
"What?" He said innocently, "No need to be so over-dramatic, you'd think I'd told you that I'd never tasted Butterbeer or something."
"Didn't you get flying lessons in your first year?" Blaine asked, ignoring his previous comment.
"Well, technically yes… Okay, so I sort of went on one once, but not really." Kurt bit his lip looking like he regretted having brought this up.
"What happened?" Asked Blaine, genuinely fascinated by this.
Kurt raised an eyebrow, "You don't want to know."
"Yes I do."
"Okay fine, you want to know, but I don't want to tell you." Kurt said quickly.
Blaine laughed and took a step towards him, "Come on, it can't be that bad."
Kurt sighed and stared at the floor.
"Okay… So, on my first flying lesson I tried to go on the broomstick, and it went up about a four or five feet in the air but then I kind of freaked out, and felt sick and fell off – I was fine, but then after that I was made to go to the Hospital Wing because I was still panicking and Madame Pomfrey said that I could be excused from future lessons if I wanted to."
"You must have been bad…" Blaine said after a moment or two, trying to stifle a laugh.
Kurt's eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms. "See, this is why I didn't want to tell you."
He turned forwards again and started to walk away, a little bit irritated.
Blaine rushed after him, still chuckling a little and said playfully; "Aww, come on, it's not so bad."
"Really?" Kurt asked flatly, not having any of it since he knew that Blaine didn't mean that. "See, you just think that I'm stupid now!"
"No I don't! Okay, maybe it is a bit bad, but that doesn't make me love you any less, and I don't judge you for it."
Kurt pulled up short and turned around on the spot to face the older Gryffindor.
"Excuse me?"
He stared at Blaine wide eyed but his boyfriend's eyebrows merely furrowed in confusion. "I don't judge you?" He said quizzically, wondering if that was the reason for Kurt's sudden alarm.
"No, before that part." Kurt said in a whisper.
Blaine seemed to retrace his words in his mind for a fraction of a second and then he stuck his tongue between his teeth slightly and his cheeks reddened. "Ah crap."
Kurt pursed his lips for a moment but then couldn't help but fail to keep up his anger as he broke into a wide smile. He cocked his head to one side and asked teasingly; "So you love me then, huh?"
Blaine pulled his hand through his hair nervously, "That's the first time one of us has said that, isn't it?"
Kurt nodded and the Chaser scrunched up his face.
"Damn, that should have been said in a far more romantic context…"
Kurt shrugged and closed the few feet that stood between them after he had just been trying to run away from the boy before him. He held his hands out and Blaine took them:
"It was good enough for me. I love you too, you know."
"Well, that sure is a relief." Blaine said, feeling less annoyed at himself as he leaned in for a kiss.
Unfortunately, that never came to be because at that moment a snowball smacked right into the side of his head.
The two Gryffindors had been so caught up in their own affairs that they hadn't even realized that they already stood before the castle walls and there was a pair of unfriendly faces looming down at them.
Peeves swooped towards them, sending his snowball towards Kurt this time, who ducked and missed it by inches, but stood up too fast and received a blow to the chin by the second missile propelled at him.
"Hehehe, poor sniveling 6th Years getting snow-bombed!" He cackled as he flew past, chucking the last few at them as they crouched down together so that they only hit their backs.
In the meantime, however, they heard a series of clicks and clunks from the castle walls and peeked to see Wes' face reappear in the first floor window.
"Good luck getting back in here for a good night's sleep before tomorrow's match, loser!"
And with that he and the Poltergeist disappeared.
Kurt and Blaine ran towards the doors and pummeled on the frame to try and gain entrance, but they were bolted shut.
"Oh, well this is just brilliant." Kurt muttered, tucking his mittened hands under his armpits to keep warm.
Hagrid eventually found them outside a while later, through a stroke of luck since he was taking Professor Snape some ingredients he had found in the Forest to replenish his cupboards.
"Whacha doing ou' here this time o' yer?" He asked, puzzled when he found them huddled together on the stone steps.
"Wes and Peeves." Was all Blaine had to answer before the half-giant rolled his eyes.
"Well, let's getcha both inside before Filch catches yer and gets yer in trouble, ey?" He said, bringing out his ring of keys and opening the door. "I'll take yer to your dorm and if anyone sees us I'll tell 'em you were helping me out with collecting these."
"Thanks, Hagrid." Kurt said, teeth still chattering as Blaine put his own scarf around him to try and warm him up some more.
"Best be getting' yer to the common room's fire a.s.a.p. ey?" Said Hagrid, shaking his head. "So, how you feeling about the game tomorrow, Blaine?"
"Vengeful." Blaine said in monotone as the last of the melted snow dripped from the front of his hair.
I am so sorry that I haven't updated in ages! Back to university, fundraising and trying to get a job has invaded all of my free time! And whatever of that I have gained I have been spending on my novel, so apologies but hopefully you'll like this and that shall make up for it!
Can't write much here because I have dinner in 2 minutes but thanks to everyone who is still reading this, it means a lot and there's more to come! Next chapter will be a good'n and I will get it up as soon as I can!
Much love! Hope you're all enjoying the show and hating Ryan for cutting all the Klaine for Finchel. Grr. Will never happen here, I promise :P