[Chapter Twelve] Simmer
The potion simmered, a silent bubble that could not be heard unless you were within a few feet of it. The brunette smirked and left the bathroom.
The polyjuice potion will be ready tonight.
Her jealousy raged as she thought of that filth, Yavari, with the love of her life. How could Louis Flint do that to her? They had been together for years, and he just tosses her aside and takes that slime, Yavari. He had said he loved her. She had loved him. How could he do this to her?
Lena held hands with Louis Flint. It was Saturday, the day after the big game, and Lena was thankful for some time away from her intense studies.
She was determined to make Head Girl next year, and no pesky tricks would stop her. Louis waited for her outside of the Potions dungeon, and she lept into a hug and resisted the urge to kiss him. She could afford to rush things and ruin them. Or did she need to rush things to stay with him because that was how Louis was?
Unsure of his reputation, Lena preferred not to look like a slut and just remain herself.
She had only slept with one guy, subtracting the one incident that she tried desperately to forget, and she wasn't about to go around living up to Witch Weekly's reputation for her.
Louis took her hand and pulled her toward the Great Hall.
In the short time Lena had taken note of Louis Flint, she had found that he was a gigantic attention whore, and loved nothing more than to sign pre-fame autographs while Lena was pushed inevitably away from him by the accumulating crowd, until he finally got his fill and found her at the Slytherin table, the end farthest away from Draco Malfoy, and the other Slytherin players, as well as the Slytherin groupie girls.
Louis took a seat next to her that afternoon and grabbed some toast from the center dish as Lena ignored the plate of food in front of her and took a sip of orange juice.
Her own gloomy attitude caused a question to arise.
"Everything okay, Lena?" Flint asked.
He hasn't even asked me to be his girlfriend yet. Who am I kidding?
The blonde felt a blush arise to her cheeks and her eyes darted down to her plate. "Yeah." She muttered in response, not caring how long it had taken her to answer. She did her best to chipper up and ignore the mutters coming from the end of the table. A quick glance assured her that her and Louis were still the topic of the hour...or week.
Louis shrugged and began to stuff his face. Lena waited politely for him to finish his meal without any further questioning.
"Do you want to come to Hogsmeade with us today?" He asked after a sip of some tea.
With us.
Why did those words stand out so much to Lena?
"With who?" she asked hesitantly, felling her eyes glance toward Draco.
"Just some of the team, and a few others."
Her stomach churned and she looked down at the other end again. Despite how far they were away, Lena still felt like they could see every flinch on her face, every mistake in her step. Drawing a long breath, Lena answered, "I don't know if that's the best idea."
Louis eyes darted up quickly. "Really?"
Lena shrugged and looked back at her plate.
"Look, half these people aren't half as bad as you make them out to be. And most of them are just intimidated by you," he began slowly, choosing his words carefully and managing to confuse himself.
"Intimidated?" Lena spat sarcastically. "They loathe me."
"What person wouldn't be intimidated by a gorgeous, intelligent young blonde?" Louis smirked and Lena melted, nodding, agreeing to go.
Louis jumped up and snatched Lena's arm, dragging her toward the crowd of Slytherin's forming by the Great Hall.
Louis wasn't exactly known to be the most observant of people. And he certainly didn't hear the whispers about Lena as they passed, but the girl ignored them, and tightened her grip on Louis' hand.
This is the last place I want to be.
The group consisted of every single Quiddich player, and most of the richer purebloods from Slytherin...Including Draco, and a gaggle of his fan girls.
Lena held her chin high and proud as they walked down the snowy pathway to Hogsmeade, remaining silent as Louis began to chat up some of his fellow players. He pulled his hand away from hers, using his hands as he began to talk about some weird new play he had thought up.
"Talk to Draco about it," some guy told him, and Louis immediately went toward Draco, dragging Lena with him. Lena felt herself blushing profusely and hoped that it was not more than the chilly wind would have caused.
"Hey, Malfoy," Louis began and suddenly the two of them were next to Draco, Lena on the far side, of course. Louis repeated his play, but as Lena looked up at the conversation, Draco's eyes were on her.
Her blush deepened and she didn't dare speak. It felt as though time froze, and she enjoyed his gaze, having not experienced it in so long.
Draco forced himself to look away, and back at Flint. "Not now, Flint, can't you tell I'm busy?" Draco's eyes narrowed and he latched arms with two of the younger Slytherin girls, Parkinson budded in immediately, taking Draco's left arm.
Lena looked away as Louis spoke. "What's his deal?"
Wondering the same thing, Lena shrugged. Could it be possible that he still has feelings for me? The thought made her smile and she suddenly felt the clench in her chest disperse and a wide smile forming on her cheeks.
The large group was now entering Hogsmeade and toward the Three Broomsticks. Lena followed along easy and they took the large corner table.
Flint put his arm around Lena and tugged her closer. Allowing him, Lena found herself scanning the table, searching for the eyes that she felt piercing her. And as she found them, she drew a sharp inhale of breath.
His gray eyes flickered dangerously beneath the dim lighting, and Lena's insides erupted in butterflies. Her palms sweated profusely as the waiter took the large order, and Draco withdrew his wallet to pay, though his eyes always returned back to one place. Her.
Immediately, Flint bustled for his own wallet, and took out several galleons, a rather large tip for the waiter. The waiter took Flint's money, because Draco had been slower. Draco's eyes flickered dangerously back to Flint now, moving between Lena and him rapidly.
Lena pulled herself to Flint's ear, feeling Draco's gaze, and of course, Flint was oblivious to Draco, and he held Lena's leg with his large warm hand. "When are we going to get to spend some time alone?" she whispered quietly, knowing the loud bustle at the table would overrule her whisper.
Louis smirked and squeezed Lena's leg. Unable to control her escaping giggle, she jumped several inches into the air in response, and tried to playfully pull Flint's hand away, knowing she had gone into a dangerous zone. Draco's eyes were now stationary on them, as the drinks were delivered.
The waiter tried to get Draco's attention, but failed miserably. "Sir, could you pass these down?" After several more attempts, the situation quieted the entire table. And suddenly everyone was looking at Draco, and following his gaze...
...to Lena.
Lena felt her cheeks turning cherry red and suddenly Draco returned to reality, and roughly shoved the drinks down past him, uncaring of the sloshing liquids. Parkinson grabbed Draco's arm, and he roughly shoved her off of him, the rest of the table now returning to normality.
Louis' unawareness of the situation ceased and his eyes found Draco's. Flint brought Lena's hand to the table and clasped his fingers with hers as he took a steady drink from his butterbeer.
After one last glance at Lena, Draco looked away and returned to the conversation at his side of the table. Louis glanced at Lena and gave a reassuring smile and the rest of the time passed with no more events.
After the drinks, the group split up, and Lena pulled Louis away from the group, ignoring all the different eyes on her. He trudged along behind her for a long while until they reached the edge of the town, she went into a small apothecary and Louis followed her inside.
Lena grabbed several of the items she could not get from within the school without stealing and gave the old woman at the register a large tip.
As she finished paying and held the different items in her bag, she walked up to Louis, who had occupied himself looking at a book about potions and serums for broomsticks. She placed a few more sickles on the counter for the book, and walked out of the store, pulling Louis by his arm.
Louis Flint was certainly not that vocal of a person, and was much more physical than verbal. Lena didn't mind, it was nice to walk with someone that didn't constantly pester her about her past, or bring up Blaise, or why she always wore long sleeve shirts.
Even in the shower, Lena hardly noticed her Dark Mark anymore. It never seared as it had over the summer. In fact, it hadn't seared in calling since the day the Dark Lord had told her she had the year off.
It was not surprising that nobody had told her about Draco until she herself saw him on the train—she would have been furious. But it was sad that the day she was looking forward to the most was the day she was going to be able to confront the Dark Lord, the Malfoys, and her parents. At the Ball this Christmas, a mere two months away now.
Louis pulled her onto a path that led to the Shrieking Shack, and Lena followed skeptically. He led her to a patch of leafless trees, held her hands gently. Reaching his hand up to her cheek, he pulled her gently toward his face, and her entire body was tingling with desire. How long had it been since somebody had touched her this way?
It was then that Lena realized that besides the caress of the Dark Lord, nobody had touched her, skin on skin contact, since the day she had gotten her Dark Mark. She did not realize that she would ever feel comfortable with somebody touching her again, besides Draco of course. His body heat seemed to warm her very soul.
But now, as Louis stroked her cheek gently with her thumb, she let him press his lips against her gently and slide his tongue inside. She twirled her tongue in his mouth and sucked on it gently as they pulled away, their breath heavy on the cold air. He gave her another peck on the lips as they headed up the back trail toward the Hogwarts entrance, and Lena's body felt a renewed sense of warmth and welcoming, grateful that somebody wished to touch her this way, after all the evil her body had been though, how had she managed to remain attractive to anybody at all?
Her thoughts zoomed to Draco's jealous rage in his eyes, and her heart soared again, and she pushed her body closer to Louis' as his arm tightened around her, and she shivered unconsciously at the thought of the Dark Lord's touch.
Awaking to an icy chill from the window, Lena shivered and jumped up to close the window. Her wand shot sparks at the fireplace and it ignited. She bundled her robe around her, and collapsed on her bed, feeling absolute bliss erupt as the images from yesterday imprinted in her mind once more. Her fingers lingered over her lips at the thought of the top of Louis and her at the top of that hill, surrounded by dark and gloomy trees, snow scattering over them and landing on their eyelashes. It was the perfect moment.
Lena sighed and slid her feet into her slippers as she moved toward the common room with a change of clothes slung over her arm. It was early morning on a Sunday; it was likely that nobody would be awake. She headed out of the common room in the cold dungeons, and worked her way upstairs, the clattering of bricks aligning behind her was the only sound on the chilled air.
Several minutes later, Lena found herself in front of the bathrooms on the seventh floor. She entered easily after a moment of arguing with a bird who asked for the password.
She entered the familiar circularb hallway, and instead of continuing down the Slytherin hallway, like she had so many times before, she turned around and headed down the Ravenclaw wing, and entered a door in the middle.
When she exited the room nearly an hour later, a heavy pile of steam escaped behind her, smelling of effervescent flowers and exotic fruits. As she moved around the large statue in the center of the wings to the exit door, a door down the Slytherin hallway opened. Lena was in a sudden panic. It could only be two people, or possibly someone that had snuck in just as she had.
Before she had a chance to hide, a figured exited the door and Lena exhaled a relieved sigh as she saw the white blonde hair amongst the emerging steam.
Draco stopped as soon as he saw her. He hadn't gotten dressed yet. His chest was exposed and a white towel was wrapped around his waist. Lena's heart pattered rapidly at the sight of him, but she urgently reminded herself of how he had treated her for all of the summer, for the past few months of school, and she scoffed making her away toward the exit.
Suddenly, Draco's arm was on hers. His touch ignited her entire arm and shoulder, and it spread a tingling feeling throughout her body. Lena drew a sharp inhale as he pushed her arm until she was forced to look at him.
He towered above her, growing even taller since the year before. His new serious stare caused Lena to melt, and she felt as though soon she would be a mere puddle at his feet. He looked into her eyes for a long time, and spoke no words. Lena found herself forgetting to breathe, and the minutes lasted seconds, before he nodded plainly and walked away, releasing her shoulder.
As the door closed behind him, Lena collapsed against the edge of the statue, gasping for breath, and felt actual tears of joy come to her eyes. Her heart pattered with excitement, and it took her a long time to recover and stand up. The long amount of time caused her hair to go stark cold and she quickly waved her wand, and began to charm it dry as she exited the bathrooms, every bit of her still shaking with the overwhelming emotions.
When she entered the Slytherin common room, Draco was fully clothed and surrounded by his charming group of followers. And as Lena had done each time she gazed at him, longing for him to look back at her- for the first time, he looked back at her, and gave her a small wink that was so tiny that it went unnoticed by everyone except Lena and Draco.
The tremendous weight on Lena's chest began alleviating once more, just a tiny bit more.
Each day that passed, Lena looked for that gaze from Draco. And each time, he returned it, and each time, the same feeling erupted inside of Lena, never dimming from the times before.
Lena glanced over this particular morning, a few days after the incident in the bathroom, and Louis met her at the bottom of the girl's dormitory steps. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and exited the common room, just soon enough to miss the rage in Draco's eyes, and the prodding of his followers, asking him what was wrong.
The day's classes went normally, and Lena went out to the Quiddich pitch after classes to watch Louis practice for the day, and perhaps to get another wink from Draco, though she wouldn't dare admit it aloud.
She went to the bottom of the pitch instead of going up to the stands and saw Draco looking particularly happy, especially considering his demeanor since the start of school, chatting up the usual crowd, leaning against his broom.
Lena searched for Louis among the crowd and when she didn't see him she veered other way but not before catching the drift of Draco's boast.
She instantly was reminded of the year before, with Blaise: that smirk. Not just a normal smirk from Draco; it was positively evil.
Lena rushed up to the Hospital Wing, praying that her instincts were wrong. When she entered, she was immediately proved right.
Louis sat in a partially curtained bed, with a large pile of gifts forming at the bottom. At the sight of him, Lena wasn't sure why the surge of joy pulsed through her veins, happy that Draco had been so jealous perhaps, but as she approached the bed, her smile quickly turned down as she saw Louis' leg held up by a string and a large white cast covering past his knee.
He saw Lena and wave a weak smile, wincing in pain as he struggled to move to see her. Lena placed her hand gently on his shoulder urging him not to move.
"By the look on your face, I can tell you don't seem surprised." Louis began.
Lena shrugged, wanting to hear it from his lips before her own. "Who?" she said, allowing a sudden expression of confusion to cross her face.
Louis frowned at her, and she looked into his eyes as he responded. "Malfoy. Didn't even tell me what I did. But judging from the day we went out for butterbeers..." His voice trailed off.
Lena leaned forward and sat down next to him holding his hand. She gave him a quick peck on the forehead, and then found herself speaking before she had fully considered her thoughts.
"I don't know if we can keep seeing each other." Lena paused and glanced away as Louis gave a pained look. "I'm sorry, I can't have a repeat of last year. I've lost so many people that are important to me, and if I have to suffer to keep the people I care about safe, then I will do so."
Louis nodded, barely, but Lena saw it, and she began to walk away. "If you walk away, its because you want to. You can't just walk away from something when its real, or because you don't want to get hurt and say its to protect me. If you walk away, its because you want to," He repeated and Lena felt a tear surface.
She nodded, and didn't dare respond, knowing the knot in her throat would erupt. Her eyes pleaded for him to forgive her, and she left the room, knowing that the same opportunity would never arise again.
Lena was positive that if she had stayed with Louis, and allowed herself to care for him, she would inevitably lose him. And she would only have herself to blame. Just as with Blaise.