Quidditch. Fantastic. My favourite thing in the whole world. Just brilliant.
Valentine scowled darkly in the stand. Her disgruntlement rolled off her in waves and everyone in the vicinity could sense it. Students around her we're edging away as if she was a wild animal ready to attack at any moment. The chants echoed around the stands, drowning out any nervous whispers others might have had about her. The wind and the rain that swirled and blew in from every direction didn't help. Today, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were playing and those were the names being changed.
Valentine and her friends shared three umbrellas between them. One between Valentine and Draco, another between Leah and Olivia and the last between Liam and Blaze. They were all bundled up in coats and scarfs and yet the rain still seemed able to find its way to them.
The fog was thick and made things difficult to see. In this weather, binoculars were useless, glass obstructed by mist and rain. Even with Valentine's keen eyes, she was having a hard time following Harry as he zipped across the Quidditch pitch.
The fact that they allow games to be played in this weather is absolutely absurd.
"This game is totally pointless. They should just have Slytherin and Gryffindor play against each other." Draco gloated loudly in her ear. "The pigeons and bumblebees can hardly stay on their brooms let alone play a decent match."
Valentine didn't even want to think about her cousin flying around on the field today. She was on edge enough as it was.
"I can't see anything!" Leah whined, trying to inch forward as far as she could.
"Why are we even here? To get rained on?" Blaze shouted over the storm. "I'm soaked to the bone!"
"This really isn't worth the cold I'll end up with!" Liam added.
"I know right!" Blaze replied. "I mean, I got out of bed for this?"
Are they really going to scream at each other for the whole match?
A streak of white lightning struck down on the pitch. Leah squeal in fear as it hit a player and sent them plummeting. Pressed against her side, Draco stiffened like ice. Valentine opened her mouth for the first time since the match had started.
"Still wish that was you?" She spoke loudly into Draco's ear.
He didn't reply, just looked at her, paler than usual.
Valentine turned back to face the field just in time to watch the key to the survival of the wizarding world disappearing and reappearing in the fog and rain. Her hair was plastered to her scalp and face, hanging in knotted ringlets.
Then Harry and Hufflepuff Seeker, an older boy named Cedric Diggory, seemed to spot the same thing. They both darted towards the heavy cloud cover, disappearing completely from sight. Valentine held her breath for a moment trying to slow her heart rate before she went into cardiac arrest.
Damn this stupid game!
"Oi, where's Potter!" Liam shouted, struggling to keep a grip on his umbrella as a particularly strong wind swept past.
"I saw him go up!" Olivia answered, pointing to storm raging above them.
"Good riddance!" Draco laughed.
Valentine tuned them out, eyes on the clouds above them.
I hate this game. I hate this game. I hate this freaking game!
The others watched the game still going on closer to the ground but Valentine's attention was a rapt and static thing.
Where is he?
She was two seconds from finding a broom and tracking down Harry herself when Cedric Diggory fell from the swirling grey above.
"Oh, my, god." Olivia gasped.
Someone in the crowd screamed. A fall from that height would surely mean death.
Then Madam Hooch came barreling out of nowhere. She zipped across the field like she herself was a bolt of lightning and snatched the boy from the air. A cheer resounded through the crowd.
She must have been waiting from the moment they went up.
The game continued on, other players paying no mind to what had happened. Valentine didn't relax. One Seeker had come down but two had gone up. A minute past. Then two and three. She bit down on the inside of her mouth, hard, twisting the ring on her finger.
If he doesn't-
Valentine didn't have time to finish her thought. Harry dropped from the cloud cover. She heard the chants that had risen again and we're ringing in her ears died down. He was falling. Quickly. Valentine felt her heart plummet into the pits of her stomach.
No.
"Arresto momentum!" Dumbledore's voice echoed across the field and Harry's fall slowed to halt.
He stopped mere metres above the ground. This time the game stopped as well. Both Seekers were down for the count.
Valentine squinted past the gale-force winds and swallowed. Harry wasn't moving.
Suddenly was Leah screaming. Not a startled squeak. A sound of true horror.
"Leah?" Olivia gaped at her.
"Look!" Liam pointed up above them as a panic set into the crowd.
Valentine followed the gesture and saw them. Three Dementor's hovering just beneath the clouds.
"Please, not again." Leah whimpered.
--Pretending To Hate--
Glaring down at Harry's face, Valentine felt the extreme urge to slap it.
Stupid Potter. Stupid Quidditch. Stupid Dementors.
It was late, probably close to three AM by now. The storm still raged on outside, wind battering the ancient walls. Valentine had been woken by that same dream after a few hours of sleep and had resorted to her hobby of stalking the halls like some kind of ghoul. Standing over Harry like that she practically was stalking.
She looked across the rest of the hospital wing. There were two others in for overnight. Diggory and the Gryffindor girl that had been struck by lightning. Apparently, Diggory had gotten the same treatment. It was only a small relief that he hadn't been attacked as Harry had.
Dumbledore had sent them all away the moment he put two and two together. At this rate, with Dementor's going after students, they were just as much as a threat as Sirius Black. Valentine didn't even feel smug about her early warnings. She felt useless that there had been nothing for her to do and grateful that Dumbledore had stepped in. She really did hate Quidditch.
Looking back to Harry, Valentine saw that one foot was uncovered from the blanket. Moving without a sound and gentle fingers, she pulled the blanket into place, watching Harry making sure he stayed asleep.
She wondered why it was him that had to deal with all of this. All things considered, Harry was just a normal kid with an unfortunate past, what did he ever do to deserve this? He was a good person who just wanted to pass his exams and spend time with his friends and yet he was cursed to experience hardship after hardship. And it had not been a choice he made. Valentine had agreed to this hardship. She'd made that choice on her own. Harry hadn't even been allowed that. She supposed that she could blame it all on Voldemort. He was the psycho, after all, all bent out of shape because he failed to kill a baby. Obsessed with genocide and blood purity like some disgruntled senior that needed a hobby.
Why did he have to go and make that everyone else's problem? So what if he hated Muggles and Muggle Borns? I hate unnecessary time skips in novels but you don't see me trying to wipe out all the authors of such poor choices. What makes him so damn special?
Valentine pursed her lips and stepped away from the bed, holding back a sigh.
Alright. Screw Voldemort. That's far more than enough brooding for now. Who am I? Snape? I can't change what happened. Lingering on it won't fix anything. What I need is a long, long, deep, death-like nap.
She ducked out of the room without disturbing so much as a shadow. She walked the halls for a while unhindered, the prefects and Flich nowhere in sight tonight. She listened to the rain and thought back on the times when she had been able to sleep all through the night. Oh, how she had taken them for granted.
Before too long she was heading back to the dungeons, hoping for another hour or two of sleep if fate found the time to smile on her. They had another Care for Magical Creatures class that next day and that meant the trek down to Hagrid's house. Or as her friends called it, hovel. She'd always found it a pity that they'd been raised to hate someone like Hagrid. Valentine thought he and Leah would get along great considering their love of animals. She hoped one day they would have a chance to form a friendship of sorts. It wasn't fair that the world couldn't see her friends as more than miserable bullies. Not that she'd ever blame them. As she had already decided, all her current blame would be going to Voldemort.
Valentine headed down a flight of stairs, taking her time but not exactly taking in the sights. She turned the corner at the bottom and froze. Down the end of the hall, around the next bend, she could see the white light of someone's wand spayed across the wall.
Crap.
She backtracked quickly. She kept her footfalls silent and measured, heading back up the stairs. Worst case scenario, she had almost just run into Sirius Black himself. Now, that would have been an interaction to remember.
Dumbledore had sent the Dementors away and if Black had been still in the area it was likely he might have noticed and decided this was the perfect opportunity to strike. She suddenly wished she had stayed in the hospital wing or at least close by.
And if it wasn't Black, perhaps a teacher or another student out of bed, then there were others way to get back down to the dungeon. It would be a fair-sized trek but it was much preferable. What she could be sure of, was that she knew for sure she wasn't going to be sleeping again that night.
She moved back towards the hospital wing, sticking to the shadows. Taking the fastest route, she reached it in only a handful of minutes, not wasting any time.
The hall outside the hospital was as she left it. The door was shut and the only sound to be heard was the rain and the wind whistling through the corridors. There was a statue of a knight just a stone throws from the doorway. She crept over, depositing herself from one shadow to the other.
Hidden behind the knight she leaned against the wall. She would stand there until the sun came up. She didn't know what she would do if she just went to bed and woke up the next day to the news that Black had broken into the hospital wing and savaged Harry and likely the other two students in their beds while they slept. She was willing to sacrifice some sleep considering she probably wasn't going to get it in the first place.
It wasn't long until she heard footsteps approaching. She felt for her wand in her pocket. This person, whoever they were, didn't seem to be in a particular hurry but we're certainly walking with a purpose. Hidden behind the statue and hidden from their sight, she saw the white light leaking out across the floor and walls.
It had to be the same person as before. Every nerve in her body was alive and hardwired. She slipped her wand from her robe.
There was a small gap between the wall and the back of the statue and she peeked out through it. A part of her hoped it was Black so she could take him out now and solve her largest current issue. An even larger part hope it was anyone but him.
Squinting in the light, she saw the shape of a tall man, likely too tall to be a student. As he approached, he pointed his wand towards the floor and whispered in a voice familiar to Valentine.
"Nox." The light immediately went out.
Lupin? What the hell is he doing here?
A streak of dread ran through her. Snape's words, his suspicions. Had Dumbledore been wrong to trust the man? Had that bastard Snape been right?
Lupin tucked his wand into his pocket and pulled out something else. In the dark, Valentine could just make out a bar of chocolate. It was a well-known brand. They sold them in Honeydukes.
Okay, unless Lupin is going to bludgeon Harry to death with a candy bar, Snape's still wrong. And thank God for that. Just thinking about how smug he would be gives me hives.
Lupin opened the door and stepped into the hospital, closing it after him.
In her first year, after the situation with Quirrel had been permanently settled and Harry laid up in the hospital unconscious, Valentine had given him a chocolate frog. He'd had a whole score of gifts from other students so no one would question it. It had been her way of congratulating him, thanking him. It was all she had to give him and even then it had been stolen from Crabbe and Goyle's not-so-secret stash. She supposed that Lupin had something similar in mind although he probably hadn't stolen his.
The man brings chocolate to injured students, no wonder Snape hates him so much.
She knew Lupin was a werewolf and all but Snape had shown no signs for that being the reason for his hatred. Snape seemed generally indifferent to that fact altogether. It looked as though all of Snape's animosity was coming from his childhood. Dumbledore had said that James Potter and his friends had been less then kind to Snape, but if Lupin's current state of being was anything to go off of them he had completely grown out of such things. It didn't surprise her that Snape hadn't.
Perhaps a minute or so later, Lupin appeared again. He lit his wand and headed off in the same direction he had come.
Valentine waited until he disappeared around the corner and then she cracked the door open and peeked inside. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Closing it again, she looked at where Lupin had been last.
I should probably check to make sure he's gone.
Creeping through the shadows, she followed the path he had taken, eyes flickering about with sharpened awareness. Rounding the corner, she saw nothing. He was gone. There was nothing but a long hall and shadows.
Stepping out of the dark, once again alone, she pursed her lips and sighed. It really was a pity that such a decent and ordinary person was cursed so horribly. It would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Turning away, she took one step and then felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She snatched her wand out of her pocket and spun around. She knew what it felt like to be watched.
"I know you're there." She growled.
She half expected for Sirius Black to come barreling out of the darkness.
"You can lower your wand." Instead, came Lupin's voice.
She kept her wand at the ready.
Lupin stepped out where he could see her, hands raised in a sort of surrender, wearing a most certainly unthreatening smile.
"Lower your wand." He repeated.
This time she did, but only so it pointed towards his knees.
Damn. How did he know I was even here?
"Now." Lupin's smile fell away to something more serious and Valentine suddenly remembered that he was a teacher and she was about to be scolded. "Care to explain why you're wandering the halls at night?"
"Only if you do first." She replied coldly.
"I was visiting, Harry." Said Lupin matter of factly. "He's in the hospital for tonight. I just wanted to give me a little something. You, however, would have no such motivation. So, I'll ask you again, what are you doing?"
"If I don't answer will you give me another detention?"
Lupin studied her for a moment as if searching for an answer. She didn't like that look. It reminded her of the ones she'd get from Harry every so often. A kind of grim interest that could prove dangerous for her. So, as he studied, not a single fraction of her expression moved. Cold, indifferent, taciturn. She didn't want him to see a shred of anything else.
Lupin's chin tilted slightly upwards and she realized he'd found an answer.
"You couldn't sleep, could you?"
Right or not, her expression never changed.
"And why would you think that?"
"You've mentioned before that you ditched a class of mine to sleep." Said Lupin. "You don't seem like the type that sleeps for the fun of it, rather because you have to. To sleep during the day, you must have been tired."
"Analysing a student? That's disturbing."
"Really?" Lupin said as though he didn't believe her. "I apologize."
"How humble."
"Does this happen a lot?"
"This?" Valentine allowed herself to arch a brow.
"Trapezing about the halls in the dead of night."
"I do not trapeze." She narrowed her eyes into a glare.
"Would you prefer skulking?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact."
"Well then, do you often skulk the halls after lights outs?"
"And if I did why would I ever tell you?"
"It's dangerous for one thing." Lupin's tone slipped back into that serious, teachers voice. "Against the rules for another."
"Hmm." Valentine hummed. "And I'm I supposed to care about either of those things?
"Yes, actually."
"How dull."
"Dull though it may be, I'll be escorting you back to your common room post-haste." Lupin stepped aside with a motioning gesture. Valentine didn't move but Lupin seemed more than ready of that possibility. "And if you do not I will be forced to rouse our dear Professor Snape and have him deal with this."
Valentine's arm, still clutching her wand, dropped to her side. She glared at the man sourly.
"You are utterly no fun, sir."
"Fun is meant for the day time." Lupin smiled amicably. "Night is generally for sleeping."
You tell the bug in my head that.
"Come on, now." Lupin nodded expectantly. "Before Mr Flich catches us both."
Valentine huffed and made a show of shoving her wand back in her pocket.
--Pretending To Hate--
Valentine wished it had been anyone else. Anyone else at all. Anyone but Neville. Most days, Valentine didn't even like to look at him, as if that would sever the connection that would always exist between them.
Blaze had started it, of course. Valentine was just going to walk on past. Draco, Leah, Olivia and Liam had gone ahead to lunch while Valentine and Blaze had been in the bathroom. How unlucky for Neville that Blaze seemed to be in a mischievous mood today. Now, typically, one wouldn't think being mischievous would cause that much need to worry, but when Valentine's friends were in such a mood, it was an entirely different situation from the common perception of mischievous.
Blaze had knocked into the other boy with his shoulder hard enough to send him tumbling. Neville's knees hit the floor and Blaze laughed.
"You alright there, mate?" Blaze asked with an untrustworthy grin.
"I..." Neville swallowed and shot Blaze a defiant look. "I'd be better of you hadn't done that."
"Oh, come on! It was just an accident." Blaze snorted. "Don't be such a baby."
Neville grumbled something under his breath as he hauled himself back up onto his feet.
"What was that?" Blaze leaned in, feigning interest.
"Nothing." Neville bit out.
"Didn't sound like nothing."
"Yeah? Well, it was."
"Oh, we got some balls on us today, do we?" Blaze snickered.
The annoyed look in Neville's eyes vanished. His face flushed pink and he dropped his chin down to his chest.
Valentine's fingers itched to pull on Blaze's ear like the stupid little kid he was.
Neville was just minding his own business. Why did he have to go and start something?
She'd been standing back watching, disengaged from the scene before her. For her to get involved could surely only make things worse for Neville. All she could do was speed it along.
"Blaze, hurry it up would you?" She rolled her eyes, not missing how Neville's shoulders stiffened when she spoke. "I'm hungry."
"One second." Blaze was still smiling. This was all fun and games to him. "So, how's your granny?"
"...fine." Neville refused to look at him.
"Yeah, wouldn't want anything to happen to her, now would we? If something did, you'd be left all on your lonesome."
Blaze, you have officially graduated from mischievous to total arse. Have a gold star.
"Blaze." Valentine huffed. "You have three seconds to finish up playing before I leave you here."
"But I was just having fun." Blaze pouted.
"Two seconds."
"Uh, right!" Blaze got real close to Neville and smiled widely. "You're a freaking weirdo and no one likes you. Okay, I'm finished now."
"You have such a way with words." Valentine drawled sarcastically.
She turned on her heel to lead him away, give Neville the time he needed to curse at them in silence and pull himself together. She heard Harry's voice before her foot even touched the floor.
"Oi, Neville!"
"What's up?" Ron's voice joined in.
"Oh, uh." Neville's head snapped over at them, clearly relieved. "Nothing."
"Potter. Weasley." Blaze spoke so sourly he could have had a lemon between his teeth. "You missed out on the fun I almost got to have."
Smartass.
"Were you having fun, Neville?" Asked Harry.
"Uh..." Neville looked from Harry and Ron to Blaze and Valentine, unsure of what to say.
"Doesn't sound like much fun to me." Ron hummed, slinging an arm over Neville's tense shoulders.
From Valentine's point of view, it was almost comical. Both Neville and Ron had at least a full head-on Blaze, even Harry, who was not particularly tall, had two or three inches. Blaze also wasn't necessarily strong, so if it had somehow come to a physical fight, poor, not-quite-five-foot-tall Blaze would have gotten the short end of the stick. They only thing he had more of then the other boys was a boatload of inherited ignorance passed down from generation to generation.
"Ahem." Valentine cleared her voice.
Harry raised both eyebrows at her casually.
"Yes?"
"That wasn't for you, Potter." She scowled. "Blaze."
"What?" The boy in question blinked at her innocently.
"We're leaving."
"Now? Don't you want to grind them into dust or something? Get in on the fun as well?"
"I thought we decided there was no fun going on here?" Said Ron.
"No one asked for your input, Weasel."
"Oh, like I've never heard that one before!"
"It's a classic!"
"And you're a classic git!"
"Yeah, well- gah!" Blaze shrieked as Valentine snatched up the hood of his cloak. "What was that..."
He trailed off fearfully as he saw the fierce glare in her eyes. She knew what both Blaze and Ron were like. If left to their own devices, she had no doubt they could argue like that for hours. It wasn't something she was hankering to watch.
"I am going to go eat. You can stay and continue this little battle of weak wills of your wish. Just wash your hands after. God only knows where they've been."
"We're perfectly clean, thank you." Said, Harry.
Valentine lifted her eyes to glare at him as well. He didn't seem afraid. He never really did when it came to her, she supposed it was the hot-headed side to him that she had observed over the years. However, a measure of caution was certainly there. As bold as Harry was, he knew better than to start a brawl over something like this. Especially when he knew he wasn't going to be winning.
"I don't expect someone like you to understand the kind of dirt I'd rather avoid." Her eyes snapped over to Ron as she spoke.
He flinched and so did Neville even though he was quite forgotten by now.
Valentine then released her hold on Blaze and stomped off down the hall without another word. She hadn't been lying she really was hungry. As she walked away, she hurried Blaze pouting.
"Thanks for ruining my fun, you miserable sods!" He words clearly directed at Harry and Ron.
"You're welcome." Harry replied, too polite to be genuine.
"Oh, nick off, Chosen One." Blaze spat and then was chasing after Valentine. "Val! Wait up!"
She didn't. Part of her was glad that Neville had friends like that. Another part of her worried about the kind of trouble Harry and Ron were going to get into with such gall.
--Pretending To Hate--
This whole 'actually attending her detentions' thing was honestly rather strange. Leah had been the first to say how weird it was and Liam had reiterated that. Valentine just silenced them with a glare and made some excuse about Lucius ragging on her about it, not that it was a lie. She left out the part where he had threatened to involve Draco.
She had been given several in her time at Hogwarts but never had she gone so willingly. She didn't mind being around Lupin. He was intelligent and unafraid of her, if not a little odd. If circumstances had been different, she liked to think they might have been friends. But since the circumstances were not different and she had made it very public that she did not like him, she was resigned to her practised haughty ways. It wasn't a terrible way to spend her nights. It wasn't as though she spent them sleeping or anything.
She opened the classroom door without knocking and Lupin sent her a look. She imagined it was designed to be scolding, but she could see the amusement behind his eyes. She wasn't entirely sure why he found her so amusing, typically when he was often the butts of her jokes. She supposed that after decades of being treated like diseased vermin due to his affliction, that a thirteen-year-old pointing out his shoddy clothing wasn't all that insulting.
"What is it today?" She asked briskly, slamming the door shut behind her with a kick.
She moved to take off her cloak and he stopped her.
"Actually, I'll be needing your hand with something down at the lake."
"If you're going to try and drown me, sir, I should mention that I can swim just fine."
"Now, why would I try and drown you?" Lupin, brow creasing in faint concern.
"I assume it's what most of the professors would like to do to me from time to time." She shrugged. "I'm not exactly a teacher's dream student."
"I believe that would be murder."
"Don't underestimate the effect can I have on the human mind. Especially after several years."
"I can assure you I'm not at that point yet." Lupin stepped past her to the door.
"Just wait."
Lupin chuckled and opened the door, gesturing for her to follow.
"What is it exactly that you need help with?" Asked Valentine.
"I'm releasing the Grindylow." He replied. "All my classes have gotten the chance to see it and quite frankly, I'm tired of it glaring at me all day."
"Has it somehow slipped your mind that it'll be lights out in an hour?"
Lupin arched a brow at her.
"And here I thought you weren't overly concerned with that particular rule?"
Valentine glared and pursed her lips. Lupin walked on ahead a few steps, moving down a flight of stairs.
I mean, he's not wrong.
"Whatever. You can take the fall if Snape throws a tantrum over this." She followed.
"Oh, I think between us, we can handle Professor Snape."
"You hold him and I stab?"
"Perhaps something not so blatantly violent..."
"And like that, you've lost me."
"You know, there are ways to deal with your problems besides violence."
"Yes, but none that are any fun."
Lupin sighed but Valentine didn't think he sounded overly exhaustipated. It a sound she was will familiar with.
"Is there a reason a student has to help you assist the Grindylow?" She asked, making sure to appear annoyed with this task. "Surely there's someone else?"
"Well, initially, I was going to have Hagrid's assistance. That's why the Grindylow is currently at his place. However, he found himself occupied with other work tonight and I'd like to have this done sooner rather than later." A prefect passed them and Lupin nodded in greeting. "Evening."
"Evening, sir." The prefect eyed Valentine with a note of caution and kept walking.
Valentine ignored them.
"And why do I have to be his replacement?"
"I figured it would be a decent way to spend a detention." Lupin smiled at her. "Far more diverting then writing out lines, after all. And although you've proven to know a lot about the Grindylow, I doubt your experience with them has ever been outside of my classroom."
"Sir, I think you may be overestimating my interest in the creatures."
"Nevertheless, why turn down the learning experience?"
"Because it would inconvenience you?"
"Don't you ever get tired of that?" Lupin asked, voice taking on a more serious tone.
"Tired of what?" Valentine frowned.
"Of treating everyone like they're your enemy." Said Lupin without a hint of sarcasm.
"Is the answer not blindingly obvious?" She scoffed.
"It's hardly you against the world, Valentine. I think you have fewer enemies than you see."
"I'll decide who my enemies are." She growled with such sudden ferocity that she swore she saw Lupin flinch. "And you can keep your damn questions to yourself for once. Mind your own business. I'm sick of you trying to pry into places you don't belong."
Lupin didn't say anything for a long while. They walked side by side, without a word shared between them. Valentine quickly shut out the guilt seeping in.
He's a full-grown man living maybe one of the most unfortunate existences. He's not going to lose any sleep over something I say.
That proved evident when he started to hum a song Valentine had never heard before. They past Madam Pomfrey as they entered the first floor and the two greeted each other kindly.
Yes, I think he'll be just fine.
--Pretending To Hate--
The Grindylow gnashed it's pointed teeth at her, tentacles plastered to the glass of the tank. It was as sickly green as the day she first saw it and just as vicious.
Valentine was kneeling on the rocky shore, staring back at it. She pressed the tip of her finger to the glass and the creature immediately zoned in on it. It gnawed and scratched hopeless at it, murky yellow eyes reflecting the moonlight and glaring up a storm. She dragged her finger from one side of the tank and then the other, the Grindylow following her every movement with unyielding determination.
Not overly intelligent but dangerous enough to make up for it. That's practically the bully stereotype right there.
Valentine felt Lupin's eyes on her and she sent him a glare of her own.
"What?" She spat.
Lupin looked maybe more amused than she had ever seen him before, eyes glittering, lips pinched thin as if holding in laughter.
"The first year's named it." He said. "They held a vote. It was a tie between Fluffy-Kins and Britany. Britany eventually won out."
Valentine looked back at the Grindylow.
"It's a male."
"Well, I doubt he cares much about the genderization of human names." Lupin shrugged. "Shall we get to it, then?"
He gestured out at the Black Lake, sparkling beneath the moonlight. It might have been more beautiful if Valentine didn't have an idea of the things that were in there. She wasn't completely sure where he would need her help will this anyway.
They'd picked up the tank from Hagrid's and Lupin had levitated it all the way down to the shore, Valentine carrying a lantern to light the way. Now here they stood like a couple of weirdos with an angry little Grindylow in a fish tank.
Lupin took out his wand and once more levitated the tank. His brow was furrowed with focus as the water shifted around inside. The green creature watched him just as carefully, almost promising to eat him in his sleep if he dropped the tank.
The tank had already been set down close to the water so Lupin didn't have far to go. He let it hover for a moment, hanging just over the edge of the water.
"Now, for the fun part." He said, keeping his eyes on the tank. "We need to remove the top."
He stepped towards it and Grindylow launched itself at the glass, far more furious than before.
"I don't think Britany likes you." Said Valentine.
"I suppose I can't blame him." Lupin sighed. "He's been in there longer than I planned to keep him."
"If you open it he's going to make a snack out of your face."
"Very likely."
"Maybe you aren't so boring after all."
"I doubt having my face mauled off would make me more interesting, Valentine."
"Hmm. Maybe you're right." Valentine cocked her head to one side. "Something's already tried and you're duller than wet paper."
"Has anyone ever told you that you have an incredible knack for uncalled insults?"
"Why point out the obvious?" She snorted and gestured to the tank. "So, what are you going to do about that?"
"I'm sure it'll be fine if I'm quick enough."
"Why doesn't that sound very convincing?"
"Because it wasn't."
"How did you ever manage to become a bloody teacher of all things?" Valentine sighed and moved around to the other side of the tank.
"Valentine." Said Lupin in warning. "I understand that you are feared by many, but you are just as susceptible to Grindylow mauling as I am."
"Perhaps, but Britany here seems to hate you a lot more than me." They both peered back into the tank. The Grindylow hadn't given up in its mission to break free and attack his captor. He chewed away at the glass, eyes shooting a glare at Lupin in particular. "Strange thing that. To be the less hated one. Feels quite... underappreciating. Anyway, I assume you plan on tipping him right into the lake? You just stand there like a good boy and distract the ugly little monster while I take the lid off."
"Valen-"
But she was already reaching for it.
"Be extra distracting if you please."
Lupin did have much of a choice at that point. She was opening it regardless of his warnings. And the Grindylow didn't seem to need much more motivation to bare its teeth at him.
The glass top was closed with a metal latch, probably to stop the Grindylow from just bursting free in a rage.
"One..." She grabbed the latch. "Two..." She flicked it open. "Three."
She threw open the top and the second she had, Lupin, still holding the tank in levitation, flipped it on to its side.
The water came rushing out, the Grindylow with it, landing in the lake with a splash. Lupin immediately grabbed Valentine's sleeve, yanking them both back several metres.
The Grindylow, half-submerged in the water, glared at them with the heat of a thousand suns. It seemed as though they had robbed him of a chance for revenge. Even if he had tried, he wouldn't have gotten to them before they were off and running. He stared at them for a while longer, boiling with unexpended rage.
I feel sorry for whatever runs into him down there.
Britany bared his sharp teeth at them in defiance one last time and then dove below the surface of the water.
"Well, that was anti-climatic." Valentine wrenched her arm out of Lupin's grasp. Compared to Snape's grip, Lupin was practically a marshmallow.
"Sorry." Lupin took a pointed step back from her. "I just didn't put it past him to try and pull one of us under."
"I think it's fairly obvious that he would have chosen you out of the two of us."
"Maybe. But you are smaller and thus more likely to be actually pulled under."
Valentine's expression changed from indifferent to something stoney and cold.
"If that statement is alluding to my height, sir, then you best rethink every decision you have made that has led you to this point."
"No, no." Lupin held up both hands quickly, stepping away to go and collect the tank. "I assure you I wasn't."
"For your sake, you better be telling the truth."
"And nothing but." Lupin nodded, tucking the tank under one arm. "Back to the castle now before we catch our death. You're not even wearing a scarf."
"The cold doesn't bother me." Valentine was already walking away.
"Is that so?"
"Well, I just said so, so yes, that is so."
Lupin scooped up the lantern that had lit their way to the shore. By now the light had gone out. He jogged to catch up with Valentine as she made a beeline for the well-worn path threw the trees.
"It's practically pitch black." He said. "How can you see anything?"
"With my eyes?"
"You know, if sarcasm was a competitive sport, you'd be winning."
"I know."
They walked in silence for a time. Valentine leading the way and purposely not being considerate of the load that was slowly Lupin down. She also didn't offer to help. She figured she'd already done more than enough of that.
"I have a question," Lupin spoke up a tad breathlessly as they broke through the tree line.
"And I have a moraless view of murder. Tread carefully."
Her threat had a genuine bite to it but Lupin didn't seem to pay much attention.
"What do you plan to do in the future? When you're done with your schooling, of course?"
Valentine hadn't been expecting that and she found it wasn't something she'd thought a lot on. She present issue was clearly much more important than where she might have been in ten years. At this rate, she might not even have to think past two months let alone year's. Her friends had once speculated on this subject. Olivia had suggested the life of a researcher, discovering new areas that hadn't yet been studied, while Blaze insisted that she should have a job where she got to beat people up. It was occurring to her now that her friends had given her future more thought then she ever had. So, she gave the most Valentine Lestrange answer she could.
"I'll do whatever I damn well, please."
Lupin laughed at that.
"I know that your family is very wealthy. You wouldn't have to work if you didn't want, but I do feel that would be a waste of your intellect and talents."
"Who are you to tell me what I should do with my intellect?" Valentine bristled.
"I'm not telling you to do anything. I'm simply saying that you have a lot to contribute in a lot of areas."
"You really like to state the obvious, don't you?"
"Do you not have any plans then? That's not odd at your age."
"Hmm." Valentine had always been proud of her abrupt switches from angry to indifferent.
"At least you know you'll always have a home to go to." Lupin added. "My parents had to sell my childhood home a long time ago, you see. You are very lucky-"
"I wouldn't call Malfoy Manor my home." She snapped.
"But there is an ancestral Lestrange homestead in France is there not?"
Valentine let out a bark of dry, bitter laughter.
"I swear every time you open your mouth you say something worse than the last. The château is condemned, crumbling stack of stones in the middle of nowhere. There are few places I hate being more."
"I suppose you'll have to forgive my mouth."
"Not bloody likely."
"What exactly is it that I have done to offend you so?" Despite his words, Lupin didn't sound particularly argumentative. "Since the moment we first met you seemed determined to hate me."
Valentine stopped in her tracks and turned to him. She looked him up and down once, eyes sharp and cold.
"I can smell trash from a mile away. Although, usually trash minds it's own business and doesn't ask impertinent questions."
Lupin didn't seem hurt by her words but Valentine had seen that look on his face before. Disappointment. Usually, only Draco and Narcissa looked at her like that.
"Is that really what you think of me?" He asked.
"No." Her eyes never leaving his. "You don't want to know what I think of you."
She turned away and kept walking, leaving him standing there.
"I think I've had enough detention for one night. And I've certainly had enough of you."