Chapter 17: Charity's Last Fight

May, Fifth Year

I had lost track of how many times I'd been in this situation over the past week – I was walking to class, alone. Puck was skipping and Brittany was off somewhere with Artie, again. It was completely ridiculous how much time she was spending with him – she had never ignored me this much for Mike. Jacob Ben Israel had spread the news that they were dating around the school even before Hogweekly was published a few days later. Was she still angry at me for what I'd said? Was she just doing this to spite me? It didn't sound like something Brittany would do; she was the least spiteful person I'd ever met. But ignoring me for a fucking cripple wasn't exactly something Brittany normally did either. The irritation buzzed through and I glared at anyone who glanced my way, daring them to prompt my anger.

"Watch it ladyboy!"

I glanced back to see Karofsky shove Kurt to one side further down the corridor, propelling him so hard into a passing Brittany that they both ended up on the floor. I was marching forward before I'd really processed what had happened, my wand already clenched in one hand. I whipped it forward and the force of my magic knocked Karofsky a few paces back before I had even said a word. Who did he think he was, roaming the halls like he could knock anyone to the ground and get away with it? Did he think that just because things were weird between me and Britt right now that I wouldn't defend her against anything? My wand jerked up to dig sharply into the skin under his jaw, a dozen hexes on the tip of my tongue.

"Hey gilipollas, what the fuck? I get that your troll blood makes it hard for you to walk in a straight line, but you need to open your eyes more and watch out for Britt, okay? She gets hurt because of your oafishness, it's on your head, comprendes?"

He looked too shocked to do anything other than nod. I didn't move except to lower my wand a little to let him take a step back then quickly skirt around me. Normally I wouldn't have let anyone who did that to Britt get away so easily, but my parents had warned me about getting into any more fights, and Puck would be kind of mad if I sent his friend to the Hospital Wing. I turned to find Brittany and Kurt both still on the floor, staring up at me. Kurt looked nervous, but I couldn't work out what Brittany was thinking. I offered a hand to her and after a momentary pause, she took it and I pulled her to her feet.

"Are you okay?" I asked. My eyes were searching her for any sign of damage, because if Karofsky had actually hurt her I'd march after him and hex him till he didn't know what day it was, never mind what might happen to me. I couldn't find any injuries though, and she nodded.

"I'm fine."

I hesitated for a second, wanting to make sure, but then I realised that next to Brittany's feet Kurt was still on the floor. My eyes shifted to him, and I noticed that tiny tremors were running through him.

"You?" I tried not to be too blunt, but he still flinched and nodded quickly. I rolled my eyes and grabbed his hand to pull him up as well. "Stay here much longer and he'll be back for more. You coming to Divination or not?"

He nodded again, but still wouldn't speak. I tried to make an effort to be nice for once and just get more of the same expressions of terror I see every day. I linked little fingers with Brittany, only realising after I'd done it that it was the first time in weeks. Her finger felt warm next to mine, and curled perfectly around to grip tightly. It was nice, just having that tiny contact back. Together we continued towards my least favourite class, and I was vaguely aware of Kurt trailing along behind us. I only took Divination because Brittany wanted to, and she still loved it, but it was all mumbo jumbo to me. I couldn't read tea leaves to save my life.

We were silent all the way to class apart from the occasional glance at each other, and Kurt was smart enough to know not to say anything. I released Brittany's finger with regret only when we reached the ladder to let her climb up.

"Miss Pierce, you're late! Hurry to your seat! Now as I was saying- Miss Lopez! Also late, seat!" Professor Fernsby took a deep, calming breath and straightened his velvet top hat as I sat next to Britt, but just as he started to speak again Kurt's head appeared through the trapdoor. "For goodness sake! Sit!"

Kurt's eyes widened in alarm and he dropped down in the seat next to me that was closest to the trapdoor, apparently more nervous of Professor Fernsby's reaction if he walked across the room to the only other available seat than of sharing a table with me. Professor Fernsby was known for being a little unpredictable at times - right now he was smoothing down his bright purple jacket as he stared intently at the trapdoor, daring anyone else to climb through it and interrupt him. When no one else emerged, he muttered something under his breath and turned his attention back to the class.

"As I was saying before being so rudely interrupted, we shall be continuing our previous work on libanomancy. Collect your incense and work in threes to interpret the smoke using the questions you worked on last class. You will be expected to present your results to the class after 40 minutes, so keep notes!" As people started rising from their tables to collect the incense stacked at the back of the room, he called out again. "Remember to feel before selecting your incense! Feel to ensure you select the one that will produce the best divining for you!"

"Off you go then, Britt," I grinned across at her. She grinned back, a little hesitantly, and hopped up from her seat to wind her way through the circular tables. Whenever Professor Fernsby started going on about feeling which incense or tea cup or bird eggs to pick out, Brittany was always the one who went because whenever I picked out something no one could get anything from it. At least if she chose, she could make some sense of it - for me, it was still useless.

Drumming my fingers on the tablecloth, I saw Kurt edging his seat away. "I don't bite," I told him, raising an eyebrow. Just because I hung around with Puck and Karofsky and Azimio didn't mean I went around hexing everyone - well okay, I did go around hexing people, but only those who deserved it. And I didn't have a problem with Kurt; he'd never done anything to upset me or Brittany. He didn't respond and I sighed, turning my head to look for Brittany. She was coming back towards us with a handful of bright purple incense in one hand and a stand in the other, and smiled when she saw me watching her. I smiled back warmly, suddenly feeling inexplicably happy - at least, it was inexplicable until I realised she was smiling at me just like she had before her breakup with Mike, with no hint of regret or hurt in her expression. Were the weeks of blinked-away tears, awkward glances and ignoring me for Artie finally done with?

"Here, I'll set it up," I offered, taking it from her, my fingers brushing against hers. She didn't even flinch, there was just a tiny pause as our eyes met. She thanked me and settled back in her seat, and I pushed the incense into the slots in the holder then lit them one by one with my wand. "Alright, what questions have we got?" I wondered aloud, digging in my bag for my book only to find Brittany pushing hers in front of me so I could see it, a sheet of notes marking the right place. She was already leaning in and pressing the tip of her wand to the incense holder.

"May we ask?" she said formally, prompting a large billow of smoke rise from the incense. Professor Fernsby was a big believer in being polite while divining. "Okay, um…" She glanced back at her book. "What will the weather be like next week?" For a moment nothing happened, and then the smoke began to drift into shapes that even I could recognise - clouds.

"Scottish weather at its finest," I muttered with a roll of my eyes, but I couldn't help but smile when I heard Brittany giggle. "Alright, my turn. Come on, incense." I pressed my wand against the holder and looked down to find the next question. "Is danger about?" I stared intently at the smoke, which continued to rise steadily through the air without change. I tried again; it was supposed to at least indicate a 'no' if that was the answer. "Is there danger for anyone nearby?" Still nothing. "Ugh, specifics - danger for anyone in this room?" The smoke began to change, so slowly that at first I thought it was nothing.

"Santana, it's working! It's yes!" Brittany exclaimed after a few seconds of tense silence as the smoke drifted towards Kurt. "Oh, wait, that's not good…" I looked up to see his eyes widen, but then it got close enough for him to reach and he quickly lifted his hand to wave it away so that the smoke dissipated into the air. "Why are you in danger, Kurt?" Brittany whispered urgently, leaning across the table to examine him with worry. I found her little finger under the table and squeezed it to reassure her.

"It's probably nothing, it's not like I'm a reliable diviner," I pointed out.

"Yeah, it's… I'm not in danger," Kurt agreed, in a voice too quiet to make me believe he was telling the truth. My thoughts shot back to Karofsky knocking him down in the corridor earlier. It wasn't the first time I'd seen it - in fact, now I thought about it, Karofsky had always seemed to have a problem with Kurt. "Let's not include that in the presentation," he said in a stronger voice, flipping through his notes with a shaky hand to find a question of his own. I glanced across to check that Professor Fernsby hadn't noticed - because if he had he would certainly bring it up in our presentation - but fortunately he was engrossed in Tina's loudly crackling incense while sipping from a tiny yellow teacup. Bizarre man.

It was the only response I got from the incense for the whole class. Kurt fared a little better, getting three or four smoke changes, and Brittany of course got an answer to basically every question she asked, which meant that she did most of the presentation as well. Professor Fernsby shook his head in disappointment when I told him I'd had no luck with the incense, but he wasn't exactly surprised. It didn't matter that I had to admit it in front of the whole class, either - it was common knowledge that Santana Lopez considered Divination a waste of a class. Muggles on the Pierces' television were way more precise at working out what the weather was going to do than incense smoke.

But for once, it hadn't been that much of a waste. Even though I hadn't got anything useful from the incense - except perhaps an awareness to watch out for Kurt in case that danger prediction really was true - for the first time in weeks, things had been normal between me and Brittany. It was like nothing had ever changed, and it was wonderful. At the bottom of the ladder I took her little finger again and she smiled across at me brightly. We walked together down the corridor and to the many flights of stairs that would take us to the Great Hall, in silent content until we were halfway down and suddenly she paused.

"Oh, wait - Santana, I forgot. I'm meant to be meeting Artie outside his classroom…" She trailed off and stared at the floor, and suddenly everything was awkward again.

I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let her drift away again.

"I'm sorry," I muttered under my breath, risking a glance up after a few seconds. She was surprised.

"For… for what?" She sounded hopeful. Dammit, I hadn't meant to give her ideas that she'd been right after all about that whole… love thing.

"You know… for yelling, and overreacting and stuff, when we were in Hogsmeade. You can… date Artie if you want. I mean, it's not that I get why you'd want to date him, but you're right. It's your choice and I shouldn't have got mad at you. Okay?"

I'd barely finished speaking when she barrelled into me, her arms wrapping around me and squeezing so tight that it was hard to breathe, but I didn't mind in the slightest. I breathed in her smell, my face buried into the side of her neck, and hugged her back as hard as I could to let her know I'd missed her just as much as she'd missed me.

"I'm sorry, too," she whispered directly into my ear.

"Why are you sorry?" I asked, pulling away. Sorry for ignoring me? Sorry for dating Artie? She was looking over my shoulder rather than at my face.

"Because I started this, with what I said. And… I guess... you were right, about me being… confused." A wave of relief ran through me. I'd been right all along. But she was still talking, and still not looking at me. "You were right, so we can just go back to how we were before, yeah? We should just go back to that, except now it's Artie instead of Mike."

"We can do that," I agreed immediately. Finally her eyes shifted back to me and my stomach churned at seeing the gratefulness there. Wait, but why was I feeling bad about this? This was great! Everything was going back to how it should be! "You should go find Artie, then you guys can sit with us at the Slytherin table. And maybe he can come to that party next weekend too?" I suggested. I had to make her feel like it was okay, because even if I didn't like him, she did. I couldn't let my dislike of him hurt our friendship any further than it already had. I would not lose Brittany.

"Yeah, that's a great idea!" she nodded enthusiastically. She stepped forward to hug me one more time, and I felt her lips press against my cheek. It burned my skin, but when she pulled away I wished her lips were still there. "I'll see you in a bit!" she called as she hurried back up the stairs, towards Artie's classroom.

She'd get over him soon enough, anyway.

2 days later

"Have you seen Brittany recently?" Sugar just shook her head and continued doing her nails without even a glance in my direction. "Anyone? Becky?" I snapped, getting edgy. We always ate a late lunch together on Saturdays, so where was she?

Becky looked up from her chocolate cake and shrugged. Ugh, I had to ask him, didn't I? The idea that Artie might know where Brittany was when I didn't was infuriating, but he was the only person I hadn't asked yet. I pulled my bag over my shoulder and begrudgingly walked over to the end of the Hufflepuff table where Artie was sitting with Finn. Finn, really? Since when had they been friends? I guess it fit – if Finn wasn't on the quidditch team he'd be as much of a loser as Artie.

"When did you last see Brittany?" I asked, knocking the leg of the bench to get Artie's attention. He blinked up at me and I rolled my eyes. "Come on, it's not that hard a question. Are you deaf as well as everything else?" He looked mildly offended and I was tempted to knock his stupid glasses right off his face. Lucky for him, he seemed to suddenly realise my mood and quickly spoke up.

"She was looking for her cat about an hour ago. I offered to help but I don't think she heard me, and I couldn't keep up when she ran off…"

I turned away to head towards the large double doors. I didn't need to know anything else from him. I knew all the places Brittany looked when Charity went missing - something he obviously hadn't learnt yet, which wasn't a surprise. He knew nothing about her. Outside was my best bet, because Brittany always worried that Charity would start a fight with something bigger than her and get hurt.

I peered around as I stood in the main doors, searching for her, but without any luck. It was drizzling a little, but not too bad. Just at that annoying level that would make my hair look terrible after. I turned right towards the Forbidden Forest so I could work my way around the edge of the grounds.

"Britt? Brittany?" I called as I circled the greenhouses to move closer to the lake. Hearing a noise behind me I spun, but it was just an owl perched on a ledge at the side of the castle. It began to rain harder and I groaned aloud, fishing in my pocket for my wand to make a shield above my head that would deflect most of the water. I could see from here that she wasn't along the edge of the lake, so I turned to my left and closer to the Forbidden Forest. If Charity really had been hurt - which was unlikely, I didn't think she was quite stupid enough to take on a centaur or thestral - it would be in that area. "Brittany, are you there?" I shouted again as I walked down the tree line, scanning the area. I was about to start back towards the castle to check by the quidditch pitch on the other side of the grounds, when I noticed movement to one side. I turned in that direction and squinted, and sure enough there was a blonde head just next to the Whomping Willow.

I hurried forward, and as I approached I realised she was sat in the wet grass, her arms wrapped around herself. My stomach dropped. Had Charity really been hurt? She would be devastated…

"Brittany!" I called one last time, but she didn't even look in my direction. My jog slowed to a walk as I reached the top of the slight hill and I saw a ball of ginger fluff lying immobile a few metres away. Every few seconds a hefty branch of the Whomping Willow swung dangerously close to Brittany and directly over the ball of fluff. I dropped to my knees next to her and immediately noticed the scratches on her bare hands and arms.

"Brittany," I murmured, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. She jumped violently and spun her head around. Tears were dripping slowly down her face and she looked utterly lost.

"San… Santana," she mumbled, staring at me for a few moments in shock before she leapt forward, still half-kneeling and buried her face into me, clinging on. "You h-have to get her, S-Santana. Y-you have to, I can't r-reach and she's… she… I need to know! She n-needs to be… Please, Santana, please get her," she whimpered into my shoulder. Over the top of her head I tried to look more closely at the cat. My throat felt stuck when I noticed something red matted into the ginger fur. No, please no… Please be okay, Charity, for Brittany.

I gulped heavily, forcing my voice to start working again.

"Okay, Britt, I'll get her." I didn't want to let go of her. I didn't want to let go because she was crying, and because when I let go I'd have to look closer at Charity. She wasn't my cat, and most of the time I complained about her bringing in animals I had to clear up, but… she was Charity. She was always there, whether I wanted her about or not. The swinging branch of the Whomping Willow sent an icy breeze over my face and reluctantly I released Brittany. I drew my wand from my pocket, noticing for the first time that my shield from the rain had dissipated, but it wasn't even raining now anyway. I held it out, pointing it at Charity. She was so still. Brittany's fingers were digging into my arm but I barely noticed.

"Accio Charity," I whispered. She came towards me straight away, too fast for the flailing branch that came crashing around a second later. She landed heavily next to my knees, knocking against them from the rush of movement but otherwise still not moving. I hadn't been imagining the red - it stuck to her side in a heavy layer, and her eyes were closed and she still wasn't moving. I heard a squeak from my side as Brittany crawled forward, her shaking hand reaching out tenderly to try and brush away the blood. She knew more about animals than me, but even I could tell there was no hope for Charity when she was so quiet and cold and still.

"Britt, I'm sorry, I… She must've got too close to the tree," I breathed. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the cat until I heard Brittany let out a heart-clenching sob. Then I turned to her and pulled her to me, cradling her head against my chest as her hands clawed desperately at my back. I was crying too, for a stupid cat I'd never even liked, but I couldn't imagine her ever not being there to annoy me with dead mice and birds, and how could I not cry with Brittany so inconsolable, curled up against me? She'd loved that cat with everything she had since the moment they were introduced in Diagon Alley. I turned my head away so I couldn't see the creature lying next to me, so obviously dead.

I lost track of time as we sat there, me staring off at the lake and Brittany clutching me tight, dampening the front of my shirt with her tears. When I realised her crying had slowed considerably I began to stroke one hand softly through her hair, finally working my way round to her face to wipe away her remaining tears. She shifted so she could look up at me, her head resting in my lap and her eyes still shimmering.

"We n-need to bury her, okay? We need to bury her properly, like… like with a funeral, and a big stone where she's… b-buried…" She burrowed her face into me as she trailed off, sniffling again. I leaned down to gather her up in my arms, gently kissing her forehead.

"Of course, Brittany. We'll do all that," I assured her, wiping away the fresh tears that had appeared on her face. I had to look at Charity again. I had to do it; I had to be strong for Brittany. I found my wand in the grass next to my leg and made sure Brittany's face was firmly directed away from the cat and into my shoulder, then turned my head to look again. Charity was lying in the exact same position she'd landed on the floor in - of course she was. I cleared my throat, then whispered the spell I needed as quietly as possible so that Brittany wouldn't be able to hear. Slowly the blood siphoned off the fur and dripped onto the grass, fading into the mud, but watching it made me feel sick. Another spell dried her fur, but that almost made it worse for me because now she was just like normal - like she was just sleeping, and in five minutes she'd jump up and start chasing a squealing frog.

"Where do you want her buried?" I asked quietly, turning all my attention back to Brittany. She was sodden, and I wondered how long she'd been out here alone with Charity before I found her. Suddenly remembering the scratches on her arms I gently manoeuvred one of her arms from around my back to examine them. She must have tried to reach her cat but been stopped by the Whomping Willow. At least they weren't too deep.

"By the lake," she murmured, her head turning away to stare at a familiar spot we'd sat by many times - one particular grassy patch at the lake's edge where Charity had always loved to lie out in the sun.

"Okay, we can do that. Do… do you want me to carry her?" I asked.

She paused, still staring down at the lake, then straightened in my arms to turn to look at Charity. Her eyes widened a bit when she saw that the blood was gone, but then her shoulders slumped and she shook her head.

"No, I'll do it," she decided. Her arms retracted from around me and she shuffled over, scooping Charity up ever so tenderly into her arms. She swayed a little as she stood and I jumped to my feet, ready to catch her, but then I realised she was just rocking Charity slowly back and forth. New tears were forming and dropping down onto the cat, and I wrapped an arm securely around her waist as we walked towards the lake. My wand was ready in my hand, and as we approached I sent the appropriate spell at a spot of grass near the edge, which began digging itself up. We paused nearby as my magic did its work and I wrapped my other arm around her, staring down at Charity with her.

"You want to say anything?"

There was silence for a little bit, and then finally she spoke.

"Ch-Charity, you were an amazing cat. You never did learn how to bring me things when I asked, but you always brought me your own presents. I'm sorry I always made Santana clean them up, but Sugar hated the smell if I left them there. You… I… I'll miss you. I'll miss you s-so much." She bent down and pressed a gentle kiss to Charity's head, several tears dripping down her nose to wet the ginger fur. Noticing that blood had started to collect on the cat's back again, I pressed one hand on Brittany's shoulder, encouraging her. She was trembling as she lifted her head from Charity and I walked with her as she stepped forward towards the hole.

"I… I can't put her in there. It's too muddy, she'll get all muddy," she said. She was shaking even more now, and I quickly released her to pull off my jacket, holding it out for her. She looked up at me, biting down on her lower lip as she tried to stop herself crying any more, and then gradually lowered Charity into my jacket. I was as gentle as I could be as I folded the sleeves in to wrap around her, tactically hiding the growing patch of blood, and then rolled the rest of the jacket in to cocoon her. I left her face until last, but the moment the dark material covered it Brittany let out another sob and fell against my shoulder. I felt more wetness on my own cheeks as I crouched to place the bundle into the hole. Flashes of the only other funeral I'd ever been to kept running through my head, and it wasn't helping me stop crying. I needed to stop, I needed to be strong for Brittany. My legs began to ache and I forced myself to my feet, leaving the bundle at the bottom of the hole.

The moment I was standing I felt Brittany's arms curl around me again. I flicked my wand and muttered the words, and the dirt began to dig itself back into the hole, over Charity. Brittany couldn't even watch, her face was buried against my neck again and she was quivering against my hold. I drew tiny circles into her back with my thumb. I wished I could say something, but I didn't know what. No one had ever been able to say anything about Tony that helped me, and I knew that mentioning that she could get another cat would be worthless at this point. She didn't want another cat, she wanted Charity. Even I wanted Charity back right now.

The last of the soil packed itself into place and I was left staring at a muddy patch surrounded by grass, nothing else displaying the fact that Charity was lying there. Brittany was right, it needed a stone. I summoned a few flat rocks from beside the lake until I found one that was decent, and tugged Brittany forward to press it into the ground above Charity.

"What do you want it to say?"

She looked lost again, but then she reached into her pocket for her own wand. Slowly, letters began to carve into the rock.

Charity Pierce
5 ½ years old
Best present giver in the world

Her wand dropped to the ground and I wrapped her in my arms again. It was cold now, without my jacket, and starting to rain once more. Big, heavy drops were plopping into the lake, and a distant rumble of thunder sounded overhead.

"We should go inside, Brittany," I told her. She nodded and I helped her to her feet, pocketing both our wands. My arms remaining around her as we trudged back towards the castle. She kept glancing back towards the lake, and I did too. I found the closest side door and helped her through - her whole body was limp, and she hadn't said anything since pointing out the hole was too muddy. I took the most obscure corridors I knew to lead her up to the appropriate floor, finally arriving at the familiar patch of wall. "Choose whatever you want, Britt," I told her. I tried to release her so she could walk, but she pulled me along as she moved back and forth, her brow furrowed. The door appeared and we stepped through together into the same room we'd been visiting since first year. I couldn't see anything different though - I'd been expecting some of Charity's toys or maybe a litter tray, but there was none of that. It looked just like it always did.

"I just want you," she whispered, as if reading my thoughts. I turned to look at her, and was glad to see she wasn't crying anymore. But the intensity with which she was looking at me was making me nervous. "Please. Tonight, just you. Please."

"Okay, okay. Of course," I assured her. Now I was even more nervous. We hadn't done anything like that in… it had been weeks! And I'd been craving it a bit, but I figured it was best to let her get things straight in her head. I guessed that now it was all sorted though, since we'd had that talk after Divination. "But first, I'm going to get you some food because I know you haven't eaten today. So get dry and find some clothes, and I'll be back soon. Is that okay?" I asked. I didn't want to leave her on her own, but she really needed to eat. Luckily she nodded, but she looked worried still. I stepped forward impulsively and leaned up, kissing her softly. It was a joyous release from the last hour or so. No one else could make me feel as good as Britt could when she kissed me. After a few seconds I reluctantly pulled back, brushing her hair out of her face. "I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise. Okay?"

"Okay," she agreed. I watched her for a moment more, then took a deep breath and turned to exit the room.

I broke into a jog as soon as I was out the door, hurrying down the corridor to the closest flight of stairs and down towards the elf kitchens. I ignored everyone who called out to me, until I reached the entrance hall and ran straight into Puck. I sighed in irritation and was about to dart past him when he stepped to the side to block my path.

"Where are you going? You're like half an hour late, I thought you weren't coming."

"What are you on about? I need to go," I replied, attempting to sidestep him again and failing when he matched my movements.

"What am I on about? The date I booked at that fancy restaurant for tonight?"

"Ugh Puck, seriously, now is not the time. I have better things to do than talk feelings shit with you," I snapped. Could he have any worse timing? Not that a fancy feelings date with Puck was ever at a good time.

"What is with you recently? I'm trying to make an effort and you're throwing it back in my face!" Puck protested, throwing his arms up in the air. He looked genuinely frustrated, and it surprised me, not that I cared.

"What's with me? What's with you? What happened to how we were before, where we never had to worry about anything except what flavour pizza to get and how to perfect silencing spells? What made you think I wanted fancy restaurant dates?"

"Well sorry for making the effort to try and be a decent boyfriend, should've known all you wanted was a regular fuckbuddy."

"Fuck you! Don't act like you were any different till you got these crazy ideas in your head, you wanted everything just the same as me! It's not like I need you about, I could get any guy I wanted in this school!" I pointed out. I really didn't need him anymore. He'd been useful for my status for a while, but now I had that anyway with or without him. It would be good to liven things up a bit - there had to be some guy in this school who was as good at sex as Brittany was.

"Fine, go on then! It's not like I'm short of options either," Puck yelled, stepping forward. I grabbed his arm and shoved him to the side as I stepped past, wishing I was bigger or he was smaller so that I could actually make him move more than just one step back.

"Good luck with that!" I shouted over my shoulder. Fuck him. I didn't need him. I had Britt waiting for me upstairs, and at the party this weekend I could find some other guy to drool over me at the appropriate times.

Marching into the elf kitchens, I demanded all of Brittany's favourite foods, the adrenaline from my fight with Puck still coursing through me. I was done with him, and good riddance. So much that he did annoyed me, and now I was free of him. I grabbed the tray from the trembling elf and left quickly as soon as I'd checked that everything was there, hurrying up the castle and very glad Puck had left the entrance hall when I passed it a second time.

I pushed open the door to the Room of Requirement with the tray held tight against my body with one arm so it wouldn't fall over, peering around for Brittany straight away. The lights were dimmer than when I'd left, but I soon found her lying belly-down on the bed, changed into dry clothes and her face buried into a pillow. I approached slowly, setting the tray down on a table and grabbing a few items from it as I settled down on the bed. I reached out and rubbed her back lightly when she didn't move.

"I'm sorry I took a while, had a bit of a run-in with Puck," I told her quietly. "I got some of your favourite foods. Apple pie, and jam tarts, and toffee ice cream-"

"Puck?" she interrupted, turning her head to look up at me. My stomach twisted when I saw she'd been crying again.

"Yeah, doesn't matter. Apparently I was meant to go on some date tonight and he got pissed. So… I figured it was time I moved on to better things. He's been annoying me for weeks."

"Wait, you broke up with Puck?" she asked urgently, half-sitting up and staring at me with wide eyes. I nodded slowly. Wasn't that what I had just said?

I was completely unprepared for her lips to crash against mine, pulling me down against the mattress and her hands curling around my neck, pulling me closer as she kissed me frantically. The food I had picked up fell onto the duvet but I paid it no attention, my arms wrapping around her back to keep her close as I responded, breathing in the intoxication of Brittany as it burned through me. She was already struggling with the buttons of my shirt and as her thigh pressed between my legs and wonderful, familiar sensations began to shoot through me, I decided that the food would have to wait. Weeks of nothing but Puck had left me dreaming of this, and now it was happening again I reminded myself to never let it stop.

Drawing to go with this chapter can be found here - laurasfantasia. tumblr. com

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