Chapter 16: The Invisible Horse

The day of the champion selection brought about a rare day of November sunshine, but in a deeply unpleasant way. The sun glared into the eyes of anyone who stepped outside, and did nothing to help ease the cold of the sharp November winds.

Marinette had been determined to study for potions and get ahead, but after two hours of staring blankly at the pages of her textbook, fretting about the days upcoming event, she had given up and vacated the library, hoping to find a way to clear her head. Unfortunately, all she'd come across so far was a crowd of people, all muttering amongst each other, staring at something she couldn't see.

As she attempted to get past them, she couldn't help but pick up on the general conversation, and despite her best efforts, she found herself becoming curious. They were talking about one Adrien Agreste.

This in itself was not an unusual occurrence, as he was a celebrity. It was something she tended to forget whenever they spoke, which always seemed to please the blonde immensely. It had recently gotten out that the she and Adrien had spent at least some time together, and while nobody really knew how often the two were in each other's company, she'd quickly become the resident expert on him. Marinette quickly turned the other direction, trying to put it out of her mind. If she got lucky, maybe she could avoid being spotted and-

"Hey! Dupain-Cheng!"

Marinette cursed her bad luck and turned back around.

"What is it Kim?" she asked wearily.

"Is Agreste sane?"

Marinette cocked an eyebrow. That was a new one.

"To the best of my knowledge."

"Can… You explain this then?" Kim asked, waving vaguely behind the crowd.

Marinette paused and began to push her way through the crowd towards Kim, her curiosity piqued.

When Marinette was able to see what the crowd was looking at, Kim's concerns seemed to be well founded because Adrien appeared to be petting… air.

"Huh," she said eloquently, watching him in confusion.

"What is going on out here?" a shrill voice demanded.

"Oh Merlin's saggy ball sack," Kim muttered, causing Marinette to snort.

"Get out of my way!" Chloe demanded, shoving her way through the crowd, with another unwelcome face behind her. "Care to explain, Maritrash?"

"Chloe. Xander." She turned back towards the lake, watching as Adrien continued his odd actions. "Your favorite celebrity is doing some odd things. Want to go ask him why? After all, you never shut up about how you think the two of you are meant to be."

Chloe bristled indignantly as those in earshot chuckled.

"Better than you cozying up to him!"

"Cozying up?" Marinette laughed. "I try to treat him like a normal person and not a celebrity and you call that cozying up? What will you say next, that I'm trying to slip him a love potion?"

"Even a love potion wouldn't make you loveable Dupain-Cheng," Chloe said viciously.

"Oh, so who's a better choice for Adrien then?" Marinette retorted. "You? Don't make me laugh."

Xander chose this point to enter the conversation. "Well she's a more likely candidate than you Marinette. What does a mudblood like you have to offer him?"

Marinette felt her hand creep towards her wand. It was instinct at this point. Anytime that word was said meant either a physical attack was coming next, or a social one.

"Watch your mouth Yates." Kim stepped forward, looming over the smaller boy, but Xander merely stepped around him.

"A Gryffindor standing up for a Slytherin!" Xander said, raising his eyebrows. "Never thought I'd see the day. Did you have to lick his boots clean in order to get him to stand up for you?"

"Oh please Yates, some of us actually try to make friends instead of blackmail our peers into becoming our 'followers'." Marinette replied. "Besides, we both know you'd dive to the floor and lick Adrien's boots if you could."

"Ooh the mudblood's got a silver tongue," he leered. "Best be careful with it. You never know if someone will try to rip it out."

"Threaten me again, and you'll find yourself in the infirmary." Marinette could feel her already limited patience starting to vanish.

The crowds murmuring suddenly fell silent, and Marinette could feel all eyes on her. Xander started laughing.

"Me in the infirmary at your hands?" he asked, still chuckling. "That'll be the day."

"Keep it up and that day will be today Yates," Marinette spat.

"Oh really?" he asked, sneering. "Why don't you go ask your celebrity friend for help? You know, the apparently insane one who barely tolerates your presence?"

"Tell you what Dupain-Cheng," Chloe said, cutting in. "Why don't you go down and talk to him? After all, you know Adrien so much better than any of us. I'm sure he wouldn't mind you bothering him." Her voice was practically dripping with disdain, and Marinette scowled.

Marinette spun on her heel and started walking down the hill, ignoring the laughter from some of the people behind her. She used the walk to try and calm her temper, with little success. Xander and Chloe had always been good at getting under her skin, and Marinette had often imagined ripping his stupid black bangs off of his head and ramming them up Chloes nose.

As she got closer to Adrien, she began to notice a few things that she hadn't picked up on when she'd been up on the hill.

One was that he was not just petting thin air, he was also speaking to it, murmuring words that she still couldn't quite pick out yet.

The second thing that she noticed was that he wasn't wearing his school robes, and instead was wearing a light sweater and what appeared to be swim trunks. Is he planning on swimming? She wondered, shivering at the mere thought. The lake was notoriously cold after the Halloween feast.

"Hello Marinette." Adrien greeted as she approached, continuing to pet nothing.

"Uhm... Hi," Marinette said warily, stopping a few feet short of where he stood.

"How are you?" He asked, kneeling down to his bag and muttering a spell under his breath.

"Fine! Just fine I suppose," she answered awkwardly, shuffling her feet.

He glanced at her, a cheeky grin on his face. "Wondering why I'm petting nothing?" The amusement was clear in his voice.

"Perhaps a bit," she admitted. Adrien frowned, turning his attention to his bag when his expression brightened.

"There you are!" He pulled out a small item, which flopped over in his hand. Marinette's mouth dropped when she identified it.

"Is... Is that raw meat?"

"Yup," he replied, standing up and holding the meat aloft in front of him. "Here you go girl." He whispered. Marinette stared at him incredulously, before recoiling a few steps when the meat was snatched from Adrien's hand and tossed up into the air, before falling and disappearing amidst the sounds of chewing.

"What in the everlasting hell just happened?" Marinette gasped, hesitant to move back to her original spot.

"This," Adrien said, resuming his petting of nothing, "is a Thestral." Marinette eyed the air where he was petting warily. He beckoned her forward, and Marinette was tempted to flee, but Adrien seemed perfectly safe, at least for now.

She took a deep breath and set her bag down. "What is it?" She asked, taking a reluctant step forward.

"A winged, carnivorous horse. They're very benevolent though. They often enjoy the presence of humans." Adrien suddenly laughed as he staggered back a half step. "Yes I enjoy your company too girl." Marinette assumed the invisible horse had nudged him.

"Okay... But why can't I see it?" Marinette asked curiously. Adrien paused and his eyes flicked to her for a moment, before switching back to the creature she couldn't see.

"They're only visible to those who have witnessed death." He murmured. Marinette felt like she had been punched in the gut.

"So… You've watched…" She couldn't bring herself to finish.

"My mom." He said softly. "I don't remember it too clearly, but then again it wouldn't have mattered. I lost a friend a year ago as well."

Marinette suddenly felt incredibly guilty for bringing it up. "I'm sorry." She murmured.

Adrien gave her a sad smile. "You have nothing to be sorry for princess."

"Can… Can I touch her?" she asked, feeling the desire to both change the topic as well as satiate her curiosity.

"Of course!" Adrien said, a smile lighting up his face. Marinette's heart tapped against her ribcage, reminding her brain of the feelings she was only half-heartedly trying to supress.

She took another step forward, glancing at Adrien for guidance.

"Okay, so this might be a little difficult, so I think I'll just guide her to you if that works?" he asked. When Marinette nodded he reached out towards the invisible beast and began to move closer to her.

"Hold up your hand vertically, yes just like that, good. Now stay very still."

As he slowly approached her, Marinette slammed her eyes shut, her brain screaming at her that this was a terrible idea and that she should run as far away as fast as she could, never looking back, running away from- Oh. There it was.

Her eyes flew open, but to her disappointment, there was still nothing there. A huff of air from invisible nostrils brought her back to her focus, and she began to pet, slowly making her way along its snout.

"Warn me if I get near her eyes?" Marinette asked. A glance at Adrien showed him staring at her, slack jawed and eyes full of wonder. He nodded wordlessly, and she turned back to the invisible creature.

"Well you feel like a horse for the most part," she murmured to the creature she couldn't see, rubbing her hand along it's muzzle. "A little smaller if I had to guess. You're probably scavengers huh? Bony face structure, are they bony everywhere?" she asked Adrien the last part.

"Yeah, they are," he replied, stepping next to her. "They're how they pull your carriages actually. At the beginning of your term."

"Oh," Marinette said, pausing in her petting. "Well that makes sense. Kind of underwhelming though. I thought maybe someone had used a super complex charm."

"I'm afraid not," Adrien chuckled. A strange warble that Marinette had never heard before emanated from the forest, and Adrien pet the Thestral again. "Alright they're calling her back. Just let her go."

Marinette broke contact, but as she stepped back she felt something bony bump into her, causing her to stumble into Adrien who quickly caught her before she could fall.

"She was saying goodbye," he whispered, watching past her. They stared in silence, though Marinette did still feel a little foolish. Trying to watch something invisible was a somewhat fruitless endeavor after all.

Then she realized something else. Adrien was still holding her from when he caught her. They'd hugged before, a few times in fact, but there was something about this hug that felt more intimate, and Marinette really didn't want it to end. But just as she thought this, he seemed to realize it as well, and quickly let go, turning back to his bag and picking it up. Marinette felt a twinge of disappointment but pushed it aside.

"So what brought you down here?" she asked. "Was it just for the thestrals, or was it something else?"

"A bit of both actually," he replied, moving towards the shore of the lake.

"Oh Merlin are you actually going to swim?" Marinette gasped, staring at the black water lapping the beach.

"Yes I am." Adrien ditched the sweater he was wearing, revealing a tank top which showed off his very nicely toned arms, and oh god that's coming off too OH NO HE'S HOT. She whirled around, cheeks burning, and heart beating at a pace that could not be healthy for her.

Adrien seemed blissfully unaware of the predicament that Marinette was in, and just as well, because she wouldn't have been able to respond to anything he might have said.

"Hot! I mean- COLD! I meant cold!" she blurted some seconds later. Adrien grimaced, putting an experimental toe into the water.

"Yeah I'm aware, trust me. I'm gonna be miserable."

"Why are you putting this upon yourself, may I ask?" she asked, chancing a peek behind her. Oh my god those abs, she thought. She glanced up, and her stomach swooped. He'd noticed her staring. He was smirking. It was smug. So smug. It was a look she'd seen on Xander's face many times, and she'd always wanted to slap it off. But on Adrien… Well.

"Something you like?" he asked, smirk still well and truly present. Marinette's cheeks burned. Adrien Agreste, professional quidditch player, Ancient Greek God incarnate was teasing her, and her face was surely scarlet at this point.

"Yes." OH MY GOD DUPAIN-CHENG WHAT ARE YOU DOING? She screamed internally. She was so busy internally panicking that she almost missed Adrien laughing.

"How bold Marinette," he said, still chuckling.

Marinette buried her face in her hands and let out a mortified squeak, refusing to even look at him now.

"Marinette, it's okay to look at me," Adrien said, starting to laugh harder.

"No way. You can't make me."

"I guess not," he conceded, falling silent for a few moments. "Hey," he said suddenly, and Marinette's head snapped up. He was way closer than he'd been. Hell he could kiss her if he want-

NO. MARINETTE STOP IT. HE IS A FRIEND AND THAT IS- wait does he look nervous?

"What's up?" she asked, bewildered.

"I have a question." He stepped even closer,

"Y-yeah?" she stammered. Damn he smells good.

"May I kiss you?"

Marinette's brain short-circuited. She felt her heart rate spike again, that seriously could not be healthy, she could smell his cologne, she could feel herself nodding her head, she could feel- wait did I just nod?

She felt soft lips on hers, and her eyes drifted closed.