A/N I hate to ask and I'm usually not a fan of author's notes like these…but is there any chance I can get a few reviews for this chapter? Not for an ego boost or anything like that lol, but because I want to know which characters you all like. So for instance, which characters you want to see more of and perhaps even what you'd like to see happen in the future. Just more feedback really because I'm loving people's comments so far.

Not even joking this has to be one of my favourite chapters so I hope everyone enjoys this one.

Chapter 39

Gilderoy Lockhart was labelled by the boys in the Slytherin common room as 'Satan'. Why you may ask? Because he had set the curse of Valentine's Day on Hogwarts. The previous two years; Reece had ignored the piles of letters and gifts he had received, and this year would be no different. He planned to ignore the pretentious gifts, letters, poems and nervous smiles as per usual, but Reece did plan on doing one thing different this year: he was going to send Granger a gift.

"Reece I 'aven't 'zeen you in ages." Reece was pulled from his thoughts by the friendly call of Fleur. She sat politely on the end on the Slytherin bench across from Reece, pushing away a plate that had previously had Theodore's dinner on it with a revolted frown. "Danielle told me what 'append at 'ze ball," She smirked and he couldn't help but admire the fact that she was straight to the point. "But am sorry to tell you she's set 'er sights on Roger now, petit frère."

"Don't worry Fleur I'm not exactly heartbroken." Reece shrugged, picking at the small slice of cake that had appeared for desserts.

"You are still thinking about 'arry Potter's friend? Am I correct?" Fleur questioned quietly. "You are in love-"

"No I'm not." Reece snapped.

"Oh, 'ow long are you going to be in denial?" Fleur sighed, exasperated. Reece gave her a small glare, holding back a smirk as he continued to pick the chocolate cake apart with his fork.

"Let's just say for the sake of argument," Reece muttered as he watched one of Fleur's perfectly sculpted brows rise in question. "That I want to send her a gift. How would I do that? Would I use an owl or what?"

"I knew you were a, romantique, at 'eart." (Romantic) Fleur teased, grinning at Reece. "What 'ave you got 'er? For Valentines?" He sighed as he discreetly opened his robes, taking a long black velvet box from the inside pocket and passing it over to Fleur. She gave him an approving nod upon feeling the material and her eyes widened as she cracked the box open. There lay a beautiful necklace that to Fleur seemed to be very, very expensive. It wasn't a huge pendant, but it was large enough to catch someone's eye if they looked closely. Attached to the gold chain of the necklace was a lion carved miraculously from the same material as the tiny beads that made up the chain. The details were sharp, and one thing about the lion caught Fleur's eye. As it only had one sculpted side (the other was flat) it only had one eye, and that eye was in fact a soft shade a red – for now. "Iz this, alexandrite?"

"I figured it was kind of fitting, you know." Reece said as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Cost a fucking fortune though – because it's not used in jewellery much apparently, but the fact that it can change from red to green makes it special, I thought."

"Reece, eets beautiful." She gasped, not daring to actually touch the item in the box out of fear that she could ruin it. Fleur shut the box softly, passing it over to Reece so that he could put it away before anyone noticed what they were doing. "I've heard a bit about alexandrite, my muzzer 'zaid that eet iz incredibly rare. It iz amazing – I can't believe eet goes green in daylight and red in artificial light."

"How is it that you know more English when talking about gems than when you're engaging in casual conversation?" Reece laughed as he made sure the box was safely tucked in his robes.

"Ah, zee, for me," Fleur said with a grin. "Talking about gems iz normal conversation." Reece laughed again, finally deciding to push away the plate in front of him so that he could lean on the table with his elbows. "Eet iz truly a beautiful gift, petit frère. She iz lucky to 'ave you falling at 'er feet."

"Shut up," He muttered, twisting his neck when he felt an uncomfortable heat rising that Fleur would soon point out as a blush. "I'm not falling at her feet – I just thought that she'd appreciate the gift because I didn't get her anything for Christmas."

"I suggest you 'zend eet by owl, if you wish to stay 'zeecret." Fleur said, finally answering Reece's initial question. "Ooh," She'd suddenly had an idea. "Write a note so she knows that eets you, but don't give who you are away to anyone but 'er."

"And what do I say on this note?" Reece asked attentively.

"You 'zay what you told me." She said, shrugging as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "That you think she will like eet and that 'opefully eet makes 'er think of you."

"Oi I didn't say those exact words."

"But you are thinking them."

Reece was sitting on the bench facing the Gryffindor table, scratching at the skin round his nails nervously; anxiously, as owls began swooping into the hall. He watched with narrowed eyes as the school owl he had trusted with his gift dropped it in front of Hermione. A few cards of sorts also began dropping in front of her and Reece grit his teeth in jealously. Of course she'd have admirers now, after the ball. He discreetly looked on as Ginny swooped down on Hermione just as the owls had been doing, eyeing the cards and specifically pointing out the black velvet box.

"Oh my Merlin, Hermione, look at that box – it looks really, really expensive. Go on, open it." Ginny pestered, pushing Harry aside and squeezing onto the bench in-between her two close friends. "I told you you'd have boys sending you all sorts of stuff but I wasn't expecting anything like this." She said to Hermione in awe, running her hand over the velvet box and sighing as her friend began to pick up all the cards and put them in a neat pile.

"If you're so excited about the box Gin, why don't you open it?" Hermione asked, flicking her gaze to the Slytherin table suspiciously, noticing Reece watching her out of the corner of his eye as he tactfully avoided all of Blaise Zabini's questions and statements. "I think I know who the box is from." She sighed under her breath as she took it from under Ginny's hand and gently lifted the lid. As soon as the necklace inside was revealed Reece smirked as he watched both Hermione and Ginny gasp loudly. Hermione put the lid on the table softly, looking blankly at Ginny for a brief moment before taking the lion delicately in her fingertips and removing it from the box.

"Bloody hell Hermione," Said Fay Dunbar who was now looking across the table at the two girls and the stunning gift. "That looks like it cost a mountain of galleons." She exclaimed as Hermione eyed the coloured gem in shock. It was currently red – but she could've sworn it was green when she'd taken it out the box. "Who's it from?"

"I don't know." Hermione replied, glaring at Ginny when the redhead passed her a note that had been in the box with it.

"Read it out loud then." Angelina Johnson said. She had suddenly appeared with her two friends: Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell. Now all of a sudden Hermione was surrounded by the three older girls as well as Fay and Ginny, who were still interested in the gift.

"I'm not reading it out to you all." Hermione argued, fighting a blush as she opened the folded note and held onto the necklace out of fear that someone would steal it on their way past the table. The five girls all glared and now even Parvati Patil had joined the group, quickly being filled in by her roommate, Fay. "I hate you all." Hermione muttered playfully as her eyes scanned the note to make sure it wouldn't give away anyone's identity. "Right so;

It is in my belief that as the Gryffindor princess, you should be treated like royalty; and royal people receive expensive gifts every once in a while. I do hope you like the necklace, and who knows – perhaps it will make you think about how I'm always around. The gem is alexandrite by the way. It means a lot, wouldn't you agree?"

"That's so sweet, oh my god." Alicia Spinnet said in appreciation. "That there is how guys are supposed to do it." She stated proudly. "It wasn't completely sappy and it wasn't a poem or anything, but at the same time it makes you think and it was incredibly flattering."

"Yeah but what's that thing about the gem?" Katie Bell asked with a frown.

"Ooh I know." Parvati squealed happily, gaining the attention of all the girls. "Me – and Padma, love our jewellery and I'm sure my mum's mentioned alexandrite before. It's rare. Like, they don't really make much jewellery with it," She then paused as she leaned over the table, inspecting the design briefly. "As I was saying, they don't make much jewellery with it, and the fact that its custom made – this must have cost a fortune to get done."

"So the guy said that it means a lot because it costs a lot?" Ginny frowned. "There's got to be more to it than that – it's too much of a vague statement."

"Wait." Parvati said, twisting on her heels to face the Ravenclaw table. "Padma!" She shouted across the hall. "Please can you come here for a minute? We need your jewellery expertise!" Upon hearing the mention of jewellery Padma Patil shot up from the bench and scurried over to the constantly expanding crowd of girls. "Right so this gem in here is alexandrite, and I remember mum mentioning it saying there's something special but-"

"Oh I know." Padma cut her rambling off just as excitedly. "Alexandrite is special because under one type of light it is kind of a raspberry colour, you know, a soft red; but under another type of light it turns to a bluey-green shade."

"That's why our mystery gentleman said that the gem means a lot." Angelina Johnson concluded as Ginny gave Hermione a kick under the table.

"He's either a Ravenclaw or a Slytherin, because one colour will be his house colours, and the red is yours Hermione." Fay Dunbar continued, getting a holler of yeses from Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell and Parvati Patil.

Reece continued to watch, amused as the crowd around Hermione grew bigger and bigger. She still hadn't put the necklace on yet though and that alone was slightly irking him. What if she didn't like it? Or she thought it was too expensive to keep? He just wished that Hermione would put it on, because that would shrink all of his insecurities and let him eat in peace.

"We need to find out who!" Alicia Spinnet said with a determined edge in her tone. Hermione glared at Ginny, knowing that it was her fault that this massive gathering started. Ginny simply gave her a smirk back, shifting her eyes without moving her head to gesture towards the Slytherin table; to gesture towards Reece.

"I agree Alicia." Katie Bell stated eagerly.

"Yeah, come on Hermione," Ginny said smugly as she took the necklace from Hermione and waited for her to move her hair so that she could get to Hermione's neck without all the hassle. Reece watched with the smallest of smiles when Hermione let the necklace hang around her neck. He looked down at his plate, letting his face crack into a full on grin as the girls continued nagging. "I mean come on, look at this. This isn't just a normal Valentines gift 'mione."

"It really isn't." Parvati agreed, being backed up by Padma who was nodding her head. "No one in their right mind would go through that much effort and spend that much money on someone just to be nice-"

"This guy – whoever he is – is totally head over heels in love with you Hermione." Fay Dunbar finished as every girl that had been involved in the conversation (even Ginny) burst out into squeals and theories as Hermione sat in the middle of them, considering the idea of Reece Lestrange being in love with her, of all people.

The second task arrived soon after Valentines, and only Hermione herself had questioned Reece about the gift. She'd even warned him, begging him – for his own good – to keep his head down, as many of the Gryffindor girls were only the lookout for anyone that appeared remotely attracted to Hermione (that wasn't Viktor Krum). He'd laughed it off, saying that they'd mostly target the Ravenclaws rather than the Slytherins but Hermione had snapped at him, saying that it was his own fault if people found out who sent her the beautiful gift.

The weather on the day of the second task was indeed freezing, and Reece stood way away from the drama up in the stands with Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. Secretly, he was incredibly worried when Fleur had to withdraw from the competition, leaving her little sister underwater. But alas, Harry Potter had come to the rescue, saving both Ron Weasley and Gabrielle Delacour. Fleur was incredibly disappointed in herself and Reece understood why. She couldn't save her sister in a competition and that must have stung her pride badly.

"Fleur, are you alright?" Reece had asked once he managed to catch up with the French champion, who was walking back to the carriage hand in hand with her sister.

"As alright as I can be." Fleur had replied briefly, obviously not ready to talk about her feelings yet.

And that was that – the second task had been and gone. Reece was silently hoping that there'd be no new drama leading up to the final task, but boy was he wrong. It appeared that Blaise and Daphne's relationship was beginning to go through its first rough patch. At first it was just the old snapping at each other and maybe arguing over small things, but then one thing would escalate to another and all of a sudden Tracey Davis would be in the middle of the two on damage control. They'd only been going out for a few months but if this was what it was like already, Reece thought to himself, they'd have no chance in the long run.

Other than that it was all quite chilled. The 'Drinking Club' as Bulstrode had named it were planning another get together with the drink that Pucey had smuggled, and Reece's friendship with Granger was going okay – apart from Reece's odd snappy comments about Krum that she'd fire back at him. Ginny had laid off after Hermione received the stunning necklace and even Fleur's morale was making its way back up after her loss in the second task.

Now Reece was standing in the huddle outside potions, allowing Pansy to shove a copy of Witch Weekly into his hands.

"There's an article about Granger and Potter and Krum, it's really funny." Pansy snickered as she, Daphne, Tracey and Millicent all began to flick through their copies, paying slight attention to Draco, Crabbe and Goyle as they held their own private conversation.

"And you actually expect me to read a girls gossip magazine, in public?" Reece asked in a humorous tone. "I swear you're trying to get me teased or something."

"Oh just shut up and read the pissing article." Tracey snapped jokingly, turning it to the right page for him. Reece snorted as he read the title: Harry Potter's secret heartache. He skim read the rubbish that slandered Granger but couldn't help laughing at Pansy's statement.

"She's really ugly, says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student," Reece quoted teasingly, changing his voice to a more feminine tone as he spoke. "You weren't saying that about her at the ball." He winked, watching as the Gryffindors approached and chuckling to himself when Pansy threw the copy of Witch Weekly at Granger. They all went and sat in the classroom, listening to Professor Snape telling them to get their ingredients prepared. But every Slytherin – including Reece – turned to watch Granger's reaction as she read the article under her table. Reece almost laughed when she finished reading and gave him and his housemates a sarcastic wave from across the room. The sassy side of her wasn't exactly new but it was definitely on show more now than it was in third year.

But then the lesson took a drastic turn, as it seemed Snape had spotted the article under the table and chosen to read it out to the whole class. Although the Slytherins had already read it, they snickered at the end of every line because in honesty hearing Snape read something about romance was humorous in itself.

"Well," Snape said once he had reached the end of the article. "I think I had better separate the three of you, so you can keep your minds on your potions rather than your tangled love lives. Weasley, you stay here. Miss Granger, over there, beside Miss Parki- actually no, beside Mister Lestrange…" Reece smirked as she made her way over into the Slytherin dominated area of the classroom, ignoring Pansy's snide remarks about almost having to sit with a mudblood.

"What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" He asked, purposely using the cringe worthy line as he smoothly looped an arm round the bottom of her back. Who was going to stop him? Snape? Their Professor was too busy with Potter so Reece had freedom to do whatever he wanted.

"Seriously?" Hermione asked, forcing her lip into a curl of disgust. "That's the best you can do?" If she wanted to act and put on a show then Reece would too.

"Would you like me to try a little harder Granger?" He questioned deeply, using the arm wrapped around her waist to pull her back towards him as she tried to move away. Enjoying the feeling of her body beside his, Reece pulled her even closer – so close in fact, that he could feel her spine chilling heat against his side.

"Not even joking Lestrange, you'd flirt with McGonagall if she let you." Tracey said from a few desks in front. "Don't you think this habit should stop?" She questioned bitchily.

"What habit?" Reece asked as Hermione once again tried to move away, being stopped by his arm around her just like the first time.

"Flirting with anything that moves." Tracey replied, sneering at Granger with a full sense of hostility. "I mean come on, look who you're touching – again."

"It's not my fault she's hotter than you Tracey, don't take your jealously out on me because I'm flirting with her and not you." Reece said sharply, coming to Hermione's defence within mere seconds. He moved his arm from her lower back slowly, hanging it over her shoulders instead as Tracey stood gaping like a fish.

"I'm not jealous." Tracey said after a drawn out silence. "I'm just trying to help you Lestrange." She said sincerely, turning back round to work on her potion quietly. Reece looked to Hermione, who was still standing close beside him with his arm hanging over her shoulders in a friendly gesture.

"Welcome to the Salazar Slytherin's snake den." He uttered to Hermione through gritted teeth as he removed his arm from her shoulders and began working on his potion. "Bite or get bitten, Granger – that's how you survive in Slytherin."

"So she's not mad at you for saying that to her?" Hermione asked quietly, pouting in thought as she reread the instructions for what was probably the fifth time.

"Nope." Reece muttered, a sudden grin appearing on his lips as he looked Hermione up and down mischievously. "So…come here often?" Hermione grimaced at the second pickup line Reece had used since she'd moved. He was going for the most cringe worthy ones, probably in attempt to make her squirm.

"Lestrange what are you doing?" Theodore Nott questioned amusedly. Reece shrugged, purposely avoiding eye contact with Blaise and Daphne out of fear that they'd be giving him an extremely knowing glare.

"Entertaining myself." He replied nonchalantly. Theo gave him a sort of approving look as he went back to working on his potion, and Reece nudged Hermione with his arm, distracting her again. "Granger, your smile disarms me quicker than expelliarmus."

"Oh my gosh." Hermione let out a dignified snort, ignoring her reddening cheeks and instead thinking about how awful that line was. "That was atrocious – I can't believe you actually said that."

"Well believe it," Reece said with a comic smile. "Because I save all my dreadful pickup lines for you."

"I'm flattered." Hermione commented dryly, attempting to concentrate on cutting up her ginger roots perfectly. Unintentionally, Reece's eyes fell to her chest, wondering if she was still wearing the necklace he had sent her. She was, much to his satisfaction. He lowered himself closer to her, lightly resting his chin on her shoulder when Ron had stopped staring at the two heatedly and Draco had turned around.

"I love that necklace on you Granger." He mumbled, moving his hand to play with the lion until she slapped it away.

"I don't doubt that you do," She replied as she cupped his jaw, lifting it from her shoulder. "I still don't agree with you spending so much money, by the way." Reece simply hummed and pouted at her petulantly when she removed her hand from his jaw so that she could continue with her potion.

"Parvati Patil is watching us very suspiciously." Reece whispered, chuckling when he noticed Hermione roll her eyes.

"That's because of your gift." Hermione stated in a sour whisper. "Ever since you sent the necklace I've had Ginny, Fay, Parvati, Padma, Katie, Angelina, Alicia and even Lavender hunting for who sent me it." She said quickly. "They've been harassing Ravenclaws ever since and because you're talking to me now Parvati's going to tell them all its you – just like Katie Bell did when she saw Anthony Goldstein say hello to me the other day. The whole lot of them trapped me in the common room, flinging twenty questions at me asking about Viktor and if I'd 'break up' with him to date Anthony."

"Just deny it and tell them I was saying shitty pickup lines like when I did when you first moved over here." He said with a shrug, smirking in victory as his potion turned the correct colour as listed on the instructions.

"That is exactly what I'm planning on doing." She muttered, blowing a stray piece of hair out of her face.

"Great minds think alike, ay?"

"Well," Hermione said in a rather sassy tone with a cheeky smile backing up her image. "I wouldn't go that far."