LANCE

I rubbed my temples, suppressing the growl building in my chest. I had picked a sickening night to check in on Jennifer. Judging from the scene I just witnessed, my efforts were not enough – in fact, they were producing the opposite effect. I guess it's back to the books.

The clock in the main hall chimed in the distance.

Bong

Bong

2 am.

I opened my eyes, sighed roughly, and left my room to get water from down the hall. "Lumos," I murmured, setting my lit wand on the counter. My reflection was stunningly sinister in the wand light, and I couldn't help but smirk. I needed a shave, my skin was too pale, my hair turning too dark, and yet… I was still impossibly charming.

'So then why is Jennifer with Diggory?'

I frowned. I didn't have a complete answer, and that was troublesome.

Certainly, I had made mistakes. Done things to make her angry with me. In my defense, she was practically irresistible when angry, and I had done a lot of it out of amusement and desire. Foolish of me, really. But did she not know?

I gulped down a large glass of water and filled the glass again to take with me. I left, picking up my wand in my other hand as I went.

She had to know that I loved her. How could she not? Why else would I risk everything just to save her? She was the only one who could ever understand me. She, out of everyone in my life… well, who pretended to be in my life, was the only one who had ever made sense of my mind.

But that was a separate matter entirely. If I wanted to tackle the task at hand, I would need to focus.

I lit some candles around my room with a flick of my wand before sitting down at my desk. There was a large stack of books piled there, and I began sorting through them, trying to decipher which one would be the most useful. I had been so absorbed in research that nothing was organized, much to my dismay. I began sorting everything by subject, stacking books neatly on my desk: dreams, love magic, mind control, ancient curses. Trying to read Egyptian hieroglyphs by candlelight was somewhat difficult, but I finally chose my newest purchase. I hadn't yet been through the book in its entirety, so perhaps there was something that could help me.

As I searched through the final few chapters of the book, my mind wandered again. I shouldn't have been this hung up on her, but I was. What in the world did she see in him? Sure, if there was nothing to compare to, Diggory was a reasonably attractive mate. He was almost comparable to me in physicality, and had proven to be at least vaguely intelligent in his classes. But he was soft, weak. He should be dead, by all rights, if Jennifer hadn't interfered. Silly girl. How soft he had made her. Jennifer could have been carved out of stone if it wasn't for him. He was far too forgiving, too willing to show mercy upon the weak, probably because he felt a kinship to them. I smirked again. Yes, Diggory didn't stand a chance when compared to me. I was by far more powerful, more clever, and dare I say better looking. I could make Jennifer into what she ought to be, a masterful witch, while he tore her down.

How dare he defile her.

I snarled again, gripping my desk. He was so hopelessly devoted to her it was pathetic. He obviously couldn't function without her, and she was becoming the same way. He was dragging her further away from independence, from power and glory and all the wonderful things she could do. But how she had smiled at his words, blushed under his touch… I shuddered. Utterly sickening. I felt a bit of bile rise in my throat.

Why had she never been like that for me?

Perhaps I was a little too rough. I pushed her too hard, even though she could easily make the standards I set for her. I only asked for the very best, her utter loyalty, something she has given so easily to Diggory. She was clearly capable of these things. She could have easily been with me right now, and yet here we were.

Dream Control

This was where I had left off, my notes on various slips of parchment sticking out of the pages. I frowned as I skimmed through the notes and text, trying to find out if I wasn't doing it right. No, everything had been followed to the letter… Perhaps this wasn't the most correct route. Perhaps it was my methods, not my means, which needed adjusting.

As much as it pained me, I attempted to reimagine the conversation between Jennifer and Diggory that I had witnessed. They had talked about a lot of things… Diggory was completely enamored with her, but Jennifer's commitment seemed slightly shakier. She seemed scared of the future, so sure of her own death… it sent a stab of pain into my heart that I hadn't felt in a long time. But then… oh, what an idea… I grinned at the thought. I was too good.

The obvious solution was to weaken Diggory, not Jennifer. If I could get him to bend a little, maybe then it will be easier to separate the two. Diggory's delusion had brought them together, after all, so why shouldn't it tear them apart? Yes… yes, but how… I wasn't as familiar with Diggory, let alone how his mind worked. I doubted I could break into it as easily as I could Jennifer's, if at all. This is where challenges began.

Or maybe not. This could be all wrong.

I growled in frustration again, ripping through pages of my book to maybe find something more useful. Dream control was fine, but I needed something better. Something that would really shake both of them to their cores. And since I highly doubted that I would be able to control Diggory, then something else would have to do.

I went and laid down on my bed, flat on my back, eyes closed. I started running over every interaction I'd had with Jennifer in the past two years, really, everything since she decided to shack up with Diggory. The Quidditch World Cup, the Yule Ball, watching her drag Diggory's bloody and mangled body away from the Third Task, every class, hallway, and room we'd ever been in together, the fight at the Ministry… Jennifer was not one to scare easily, and most of the time, I had just annoyed or angered her. I smirked, imagining her face heating to match her hair, sparks flying out of her honey-colored eyes—

No Lance, stay on track.

Moments when I had seen her go deathly pale though… those were much more rare. My mind jumped back to the night in the Ministry, when I had every intention of ending her life. I had been so terribly stupid, so blinded with rage that she had chosen him over me. Myself, who could help her defeat Voldemort. Who could fix all her problems, lift her up beyond mortality, who could bring her everything she had ever wanted—

'Stay. On. Track.'

I focused and brought her face into clarity from that night. She was terrified. Helpless. She had paled so much that I honestly couldn't have told the difference between the blood loss and the fear. No, that wouldn't do. Her life had been endangered, and that was different. I needed something better; some other emotion to expose that would shake her to the core.

I sat up very quickly when I remembered it, remembered that little pause she had given him when he had asked her if she still loved me. She had said no, but that was nonsense – of course she did. But that pause… that was it. My opportunity. And clearly, if Diggory was asking, it meant he was insecure about Jennifer's feelings as well…

The night in the warehouse.

She had been so shaken after our encounter. Perhaps she was so used to my aggression that any softness confused her. My smirk grew wider. Confusing her feelings confused him, and made him angry. I wondered how angry he would be when he found out about the night, how soft she had been under my lips and touch, how her breath caught in her throat. If only I had a way to convey her feelings when she is with me to Diggory… that would surely break him. He wouldn't be strong enough to survive knowing that his beloved was far better suited for someone else, someone better than him. I had to make sure he found out that she wasn't completely devoted to him. If I got rid of Diggory, Jennifer would be much more likely to come back to me.

I got out of bed again and retrieved another book. This one was about the Department of Mysteries, and I flipped to the only chapter that had ever interested me – the locked room. Though Unspeakables were bound to not share their work, the Ministry had cataloged a number of inventions that had been born in the department. But the locked room was still a mystery, and the short chapter could only theorize what workings went on in the room. I found the paragraph I had circled immediately:

Though there are many different possibilities as to what lies in the Locked Room, perhaps the most plausible is that of the magic of love. Much is unknown about the oldest form of magic, due to its undetectable nature, but accounts from wizards and witches who have encountered its power are often stunning. Accounts of children miraculously saving parents, lovers sharing dreams, and the most stunning and recent revelation, self-sacrifice that can counter death itself, have proven that this type of magic runs deep, but is often impossible to control.

Impossible to control. That was the hard part. I had always suspected that a deeper connection between myself and Jennifer had been why I could so easily read her mind. Certainly, she had no training in Occlumency, but the only other case I knew of of being able to control the dreams of another person was the Dark Lord and Harry Potter. Their connection was obviously different. I had only, successfully, been able to directly influence her dreams twice now, and that was after a lot of study. It was helping, but nothing was going to work better than in person interaction.

What then? She was so careful now, it was hard to even see her in glimpses. And now, knowing her, she would have a much more violent reaction if she saw me. But I had to make her question everything, and Diggory had to find out. Somehow.

I put the book down and rolled over, thinking harder. The idea was so simple that I had been dancing around it for weeks – I would need a disguise. I had to trick them.

I smirked, my mind finally at peace with this formation of a plan. This would be enough for tonight. I could work out the intricacies tomorrow, after attending to any duties the Dark Lord may have for me. I would need to continue my Legitimacy lessons, as well, if anything was going to succeed. This was, after all, a small piece of a larger picture.

I finally drifted to sleep at some point, still dreaming of destroying such a petty, ridiculous relationship.

Happy Monday everyone! Please bear with me, I haven't explored Lance's voice as much as other characters yet, but hopefully we will be hearing from him more often.

As always, I greatly appreciate your feedback, especially as I (finally) move forward with the story. It means a lot!