Chapter 8. Truths and Rumours

After the Yule Ball and the hangover that had spread over the school population were over the holiday continued peacefully, or as peacefully as it could continue. Few days after the Yule Ball there had been several rumours going around of what had happened between Ven and Sarida, making Gryffindors and Slytherins become more hostile towards each other than they had been in a very long time. Of course, the situation had calmed down after a while.

Ven hadn't bothered going to eat at the Great Hall in days. It was much easier to either sneak to the kitchens or ask for the House elves to bring something to the dorm than face the Gryffindor girl. Sarida Rai had made herself very clear; Ven was going to be hers and that was it. Even Rosier had showed some sort of pity towards her tanned classmate.

"The holiday is over soon", she said as casually. "Gonna hide under your bed till then, are you Zabini?"

"None of your business, Rosier", Ven growled from the couch.

Rosier shrugged. "But you know… if you need some female advice–"

"Then you'll be the last one I'll ask for it", Ven concluded.

The New Year – just like the Christmas Day and Halloween were – was an awaited day at Hogwarts. A group of seventh year students from the elective Charms course had been in charge of planning the night's feast and its aftermath.

"I heard there's going to be fireworks", Darius stated eagerly and high-fived Marcel when the group of Slytherins was leaving for the late night's supper at ten in the evening. The seventh year students had evaded few rules when planning and so the curfew was removed for the day; the supper had been postponed and younger students were allowed to hang around the castle and its grounds the whole night. The Forest was, of course, still off-limits.

"Zabini, are you coming?" Scorpius asked Ven.

"I'm not interested", Ven replied indifferently. "And before you ask–" At this point he glared at the blonde Slytherin. "– it's my own choice and has nothing to do with Rai. Just stop worrying so much about me, Malfoy."

"If you say so but if you need–"

"Seriously? Have you turned into Rosier or something?" Ven snarled.

"Have I what?"

Ven waved his hand dismissingly. "Nothing. Just go watch those fireworks. I'll go see if Miss Page has some books she would recommend."

Yes, library would be a good place to calm nerves, Ven thought when he had finally convinced Scorpius to join Darius, Marcel, and the rest of the Slytherins. Ven hated being babied by his classmates, even if it were just Scorpius and occasionally Rosier. He was independent. He didn't need them to protect him.

The New Year had ended with a bang. The seventh year students had bought the whole collection of fireworks from the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and fired them from the Astronomy Tower. The night sky had been filled with the most marvelous colours; it had been truly fascinating sight.

But after that it had been the returning back to school life. The Professors were exceptionally strict about all the essays the students were meant to write during the holidays. Even Jeremiah, who was known for his good grades and being always on time, wrote only three feet essay for Astronomy a night before it was meant to be returned because he had forgotten the whole thing. Luckily Professor Dogwood was much kinder with his students than Professors Blishwick and Norwood were; he accepted even the half-done ones without publicly scolding anyone.

"You will be having your OWLs next year", Dogwood explained. "We all expect the best from you. Studying hard is important if you want to get good, or at least decent, grades then. And no, Mister Turner–" Anthony lowered his hand when the professor looked at him with a kind smile. "–we're not demanding you to ignore your friends or stop having fun."

There were relieved sighs all over the Tower. "The thing is about balancing the two", Layla whispered to Mary who was being very nervous, and not just about the OWLS but also about their upcoming final exams of the year. Layla smiled. "You can do it", she said. "I can help you with Charms at least."

Toby instead seemed like he couldn't care less about the exams. "I'm aiming to be a professional Quidditch player", he hummed when the class was dismissed for the night. "That's 100 percent fun and zero percent work."

"You know it's not quite like that", Alistair said seriously.

"Oh, right. I forgot the skill. Maybe it's about 60 percent fun and 40 percent skill?"

"You're joking, right?"

Toby rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm joking. I'm not an idiot. Though I really am aiming to play Quidditch for living but don't mean I won't do my best with the exams. DADA will be easy-peasy but Potions… Well, we'll see."

"Speaking about Quidditch", Alistair started uneasily. "Is the team still–?"

"Lacking players?" Toby sighed glumly. "Yeah… But we'll find the replacements. I heard Kerr has possibly found someone to play Chaser but that's all. I don't really want to think about it. The last game… It sucked, okay."

"Well, it's Valentine's Day soon", Alistair said with a kind smile. "You'll get something else to think about."

Mentioning the Valentine's Day was apparently a wrong thing to do. For a split second Toby looked like he was going to punch Alistair.

"You and Layla going on a date, right?" he asked through his gritted teeth while they walked down the Hufflepuff staircase. "A nice walk around the lake and flowers and stuff. Have fun with that."

Alistair halted. "Umm, no?"

Toby grimaced. "What?"

"We're not going on a date."

"And why not?"

"We broke up after the Yule Ball", Alistair explained, toning his voice down as a prefect passed them. He and Layla didn't go around yelling about it. Toby instead wasn't as subtle.

"You WHAT?!" he cried out and even grasped Alistair's shoulder with force. Alistair flinched but before he was able to explain any further Toby continued yelling. "I don't believe you! Why would you leave her?! She's perfect! You hear me!? PERFECT!"

"I-I WASN'T HER TYPE!" Alistair practically screamed over Toby's yelling and hoped their voices wouldn't reach their common room. Toby blinked sheepishly and somehow he seemed more childlike than in years.

"I… You… She… What?"

"Toby, my shoulder's going to bruise", Alistair muttered, holding back his laughter. He was going to have a lot to explain. Though he would have to leave out his and Layla's little agreement.

The second task had been some sort of treasure hunt held less than two weeks after Valentine's Day, not that Ven cared about the Tournament anyway. Valentine's Day on the other hand had been a completely different matter. That cursed day had only lead to another fight between Ven and Sarida which caused almost the half the class getting detention. Blishwick had been completely furious.

"You know", Rosier started while munching bubblegum and reading the front page Daily Prophet he had taken from Ven during the breakfast barely a week after the event she called 'the greatest potions lesson since Albus' cauldron explosion'. "Maybe you just have very strong bitch-attracting pheromones?"

"And you know–" Ven snatched back his paper from the girl. "–I don't really know why you care so much."

"That's such a great question", Rosier said her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Because I like you, that's why."

"I'm not interested in you", Ven said simply and wished Albus and Scorpius hadn't left the Hall already.

Rosier rolled her eyes. "As if we haven't had this conversation already", she drawled. "I like you as a friend, you incompetent arsewipe. Besides I'm dating Hawley. I want to help you stay away from girls like Sarida Rai, Catherine Berwick – don't you dare to say anything!" she yelled when Ven was about to interrupt her. "I saw her checking you out! Oh, and Fiona Penn. Damn, she can be annoying sometimes."

"I think we also had a conversation about me not wanting your help", Ven said.

"Bloody ha! You may not want my help but you fucking want it! Admit it, Zabini! The truth is you wouldn't find your true love even if she would stare you in the eye!"

There were several 'ooh's and Ven felt Sarida Rai glaring daggers at him from the other side of the Great Hall.

Toby instead had been overly happy after the Valentine's Day. Alistair sighed, watching Toby confidently cutting dandelion roots for their draught. With poor concentration, he added after his dorm mate accidentally cut on his finger as well while goggling at Layla. They hadn't even gone on a date together but the thing was Layla hadn't gone on a date without Toby either. Apparently that was called a progress.

Yeah, right, he thought and healed the small cut on Toby's finger.

"Are you gonna come to watch the practice?" Toby asked when the class ended and smiled at Layla when she left with Mary. "Kerr got us a Chaser so we're training him. You know, he can't be worse than Alnwick. So, you coming?"

"Nope. I'm helping Professor Longbottom at the greenhouses today", Alistair said and gathered his books, accidentally toppling his ink-bottle. He huffed and started cleaning the mess he made.

"Teacher's pet", Toby snorted and stuck out his tongue. "JP, you coming?"

"I promised to have an essay session with Will and Gennie", Jeremiah said. "And I need some help with Transfiguration. Exams are near, remember?"

"How can I forget?" Toby grimaced. "Everyone reminds me of them. Every. Single. Day."

"Well", Alistair hummed. "You can't say we didn't tell you."

"Oh no! I'm being surrounded by boring academics!" Toby yelled theatrically. "Oh, please! No, the exams!"

"A-hem." Professor Blishwick glared sternly at the three Hufflepuffs who were still in her class. "If I recall correctly I dismissed the class already. Do I need to take points from you three?"

It didn't take more to have the Hufflepuffs out the dungeons.

"I hope you all have slept well", Sophia said, pacing back and forth in the Slytherin chancing room. "Because we–" Her knuckles made a cracking sound. "–have worked our arses off for this match. But so have the Ravenclaws. It will be a pleasure to slaughter them on the pitch."

"Damn, she can be scary", Darius muttered, his voice drowning under Sophia's laughter. Marcel nodded in agreement. Their Captain was a special case, hiding her almost maniacal lust for winning behind her chilly demeanor.

Bulstrode instead whooped. "Let's go win this game!"

Sophia Goyle, the team's Seeker Evanna Cringe by her side, lead her team to the pitch. Rosier elbowed Ven before getting on her broom.

"What now?" Ven hissed.

"Just so you know", Rosier said and grinned. "Girls like Quidditch players. Just a rumour though."

"I'm going to push you off your broom."