Valentine watched the snow crunch under the soles of her boots as she walked up the steps of the owlery. She'd sent out her letter to Haleywell over a week ago now and in all the fussover the Yule Ball had almost forgotten all about it. Having Darcy deliver it to her on mail day in front of the entire school was far too risky especially with how nosey Draco and Leah could be. And this gave her an excuse to get out of the castle, even for just a little while.
She entered the owlery, ignoring the smell of bird droppings and the owls that eyed her. Darcy was perched right in the centre as usual. With his size, he never would have fit in the wall cubbies with the others. She could remember how huge he'd seemed to her when she was a small child, even now, his wingspan wasgreater than her own height, despite her recent growth spurt.
"Hi there." Valentine greeted as she approached. She stroked the back of his neck gently as she reached in underneath it and grabbed the envelope he'd been sitting on.
He gave her a look that said 'what am I? A dog?'.
Valentine rolled her eyes and removed her hand. Contrary to her friend's beliefs, she wasn't the only person Darcy listened to. Darcy didn't listen to anyone unless he chose to. He had a complete and utter mind of his own, if he suddenly had the urge to maul her? Well. He would. She had never tried to tame him, she was just lucky to have formed a mutual respect with him and so she hadn't been screeched at or scratched since she was young. Draco and Leah had never been so lucky. This all worked on a 'if he feels like it' basis. It wasn't the most ideal situation but what more could you expect from the owl of a Death Eater.
She ripped open the envelope and unfolded the letter. She realised that she had never seen Haley's handwriting before, even in all the years that she'd know her. It was nothing fancy, just neat and clean printing.
Valentine quickly scanned over the words, frowned and did so again. She cursed.
Haley had gone to the store that Snape had given her and been denied access altogether. Apparently, the store owner said that she clearly didn't belong here and probably wouldn't be worth any unnecessary trouble she might cause. Valentine could see where the maid's hands had trembled at the end.
This meant she would have to collect it herself.
"Damn it." She hissed, clenching the letter in her fist.
This is all that's standing between me and getting this stupid thing out of my head. I get this done, I can cross one of the many problems off my list. I can live past fourteen. I can finish my mission. I'm not about to let some shifty black marketer get in the way of things.
"How the hell am I supposed to get off school grounds?" Valentine sighed and shoved the letter into her pocket. "And with this freaking Yule Ball, we won't be going back to the manor until after the Christmas break. Damn it."
I'll have to speak to Dumbledore about this tonight.
--Pretending To Live--
Meriton had been staring at Liam since class started and Valentine was beginning to wonder what the hell his problem was. Meriton usually kept to himself and seemed to have no problem with anyone let alone Liam, so what was the one-sided staring contest about?
Herbology was Liam's best class and so he was paying more attention to Professor Sprout's lecture on how to care for a Flitterbloom plant rather than where Meriton was looking. But since Valentine had noticed, she couldn't stop noticing. She'd even checked at one point to see if Liam had food on his face or in his teeth. She might have been paying attention to the lesson as well if Flitterblooms were nothing but harmless house plants.
They were often mistaken for Devil's Snare by those who didn't know any better as they bore some resemblance, but anyone who had ever seen the two plants could tell the difference.
The specimen on the table in front of Valentine, for instance, was very much a docile Flitterbloom and not a dangerous plant that would strangle the life out of her if it really wanted to. She'd dealt with only one in the past and that was enough for her.
But analysis of the plant aside, Meriton was still staring.
"God, I'm about to pass out from sheer boredom." Draco grumbled under his.
"I think already did." Said Blaze.
"Shush." Liam hushed softly.
"Oh, forgive us, oh Father of Plant Life." Blaze rolled his eyes dramatically. "Did we disturb your children's slumber?"
"Don't be mean." Said Leah. "Leave Liam and his plant babies alone."
"Wow, I just had the worst image I could possibly ever have." Draco grimaced.
"I'd ask but I'm afraid." Said Blaze.
"You should be." Said Draco.
"Ahem." Sprout cleared her voice pointedly and the whole class turned to look at the Slytherins. "Am I interrupting something here gentlemen?"
"No, Miss." Liam answered before Draco or Blaze could start something. "They were just discussing what might happen if you mistook Devil's Snare for a Flitterbloom, ma'am."
Nice save.
"Hmm. Well, it might not turn out too well for whoever made such a mistake." Sprout clearly wasn't convinced but didn't pursue it. "Now, if I can continue..."
As the rest of the class turned back to either the teacher or poking at the witless plants before them, Meriton did not.
Valentine met his gaze with an arched brow and once he caught it he turned bright red. He finally looked away, turning to watch Professor Sprout.
Valentine frowned. He really was acting strange.
When the lunch bell sang out and Sprout dismissed them, Draco and Blaze were the first out the door, Valentine, Leah and Liam not far behind. They were maybe ten feet from the greenhouse when a nervous voice cleared at their heels.
"Uh, Hey Liam?" Said Meriton. "Could I talk to you for a moment?"
Liam smiled when he saw him.
"Yeah, sure."
"Um. Alone? It won't take long."
"No problem." Liam looked to Valentine. "You guys can go ahead if you want."
And so Valentine and Leah continued, meeting up with Draco and Blaze just another ten feet ahead.
"Hey, what's up with that?" Asked Blaze.
"They're talking." Said Leah.
"Well, yeah, that much I can see. But about what?"
"Who cares?" Valentine huffed.
"Okay, so I know it's not a big deal but Hasani was totally eyeballing Liam for the last hour."
Valentine blinked.
"You noticed?"
"Huh, yeah? I do have eyes."
"That doesn't seem to help with all the numerous other things that go straight over your head."
"Ouch." Blaze slapped a heart over his heart.
"Was he really staring?" Asked Leah.
"I didn't notice." Said Draco.
"That's because you were too busy being bored." Said Blaze.
"So? It's a boring class. What do I care about plants? That's what people have servants for."
Wow, cousin could you be more humble?
"Some people like plants, Draco." Liam said as he appeared beside him.
"That's nice. I'm not some people."
"Sometimes I'm not sure you're a people at all."
"Good. People are gross."
"Hey, what did Hasani want?" Blaze asked rather abruptly.
Liam frowned.
"You know? I'm really not sure. He was so nervous you'd think he had murdered someone and was asking for help hiding the body. I think he wanted to ask me something?"
"Maybe it was something embarrassing." Said Leah.
"Hmm. Maybe. He was putting a tomato to shame with how red he was." Said Liam. "He is kind of shy too, so it could have been anything."
"Ugh, who cares? If it was important he would have said it anyway." Draco groaned. "Can we get going? It's lunch time and I'm hungry."
"I second that!" Leah cheered.
Valentine spotted Meriton just past a crowd ahead of them. He was walking quickly, head down, book clenched to his chest.
I wonder if he's alright...
--Pretending To Live--
"So, I have the choice between Camille Lefevre and Agatha Giry." Said Draco. "Agatha is better looking but Camille comes from a better family."
"That's definitely a conundrum." Liam hummed, only half paying attention.
"Is it? Better looking all the way." Said Blaze.
Valentine sat with the boys in the Great Hall. It was study period and Leah was seated a ways down the table, talking with the two girls from Parkinson's dorm and Parkinson herself. Said dorm was only a few doors down from their own, although Valentine had had little interaction with them over the years. Leah had expressed the need for some girl talk and said that Draco's judgmental nature just wasn't cutting it anymore. Liam was only lightly offended.
Valentine imagined that they were talking about ball gowns and hair and makeup and thought it was probably better Leah took the conversations somewhere else. There were worse things to talk about but Valentine really didn't have much to contribute. She liked her dresses black and generally simple, she liked her boots comfortable and her hair untouched. Leah had all the right in the world to dress like a colour blind clown but Valentine was just fine where she was.
"Oh, please." Draco rolled his eyes. "As if you have any taste at all. You like Leah of all people."
"Okay, I know she's an annoying spaz? Have you not seen her? I mean, actually, looked at her? She's like...just so...tall and leggy and shiny...she's just really pretty, alright!" Blaze snapped and then realised he had done so, attracting the stares of other students from their studies. He quickly dropped his head low.
"That was disgusting." Said Draco.
"You grew up with her so your opinion is biased but she's literally the most beautiful thing I've ever seen and I know she'll never go for me because I'm such a jerk and now I am going to go to my dorm to cry for the rest of my miserable life." Blaze stood up abruptly and his shoe squeaked loudly on the floor. He froze with a cringe as everyone stared at him again, including Leah and the other girls. He ducked back down into his seat like he was dodging a snipers bullet. "On second thought if I do that I might just die of embarrassment. Why the hell is everyone staring?"
"Because everybody knows?" Said Liam.
"What?" Blaze balked.
"Everybody knows that you like Leah."
"No. No, no, no, no. Please, no."
"You're just not very subtle, man."
They fell silent as Snape moved past them with a pointed glare. As Slytherins, he largely ignored any bad behaviour, so long as Valentine wasn't the main instigator, but this might be pushing it.
"That man is like a dementor." Valentine scoffed under her breath.
Liam stifled a laugh across from her.
"You think if we set him up with one they'd end up becoming friends?"
"That's just cruel." Valentine frowned. "To force a dementor to be friends with Snape."
Liam bit down on his bottom lip to keep in the sounds of his amusement as Snape moved past them again on his side of the table.
"So, have you actually made any progress then?" Draco asked Blaze.
"Huh?"
"Leah." Draco rolled his eyes.
"Let me rephrase that. Huh?"
"Idiot. Liam told me that you might actually try something with her."
"What? I didn't say that!"
"You didn't say no either." Said Liam. "Although it was pretty hard to know what you were saying at all considering you were mid-mental breakdown."
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about." Blaze grabbed his abandoned textbook and hold it up in front of his face, trying to act causal.
"Both Val and I were there." Said Liam. "Right, Val?"
"Hmm. He did seem to be having a psychological event of some sort."
"See? You can't run from a psychological event with eyewitnesses, Blaze."
"I can't run by choice but I sure as hell can deny."
"You can't deny your feelings, Blaze."
"I can and I will."
"You shouldn't."
"Why? Why the heck is this any business of yours?"
"Because you're my friend and I delight in meddling with your life."
"But they'd be awful together." Said Draco. "They barely cut it as friends."
"And you barely cut it as a functioning human, doesn't mean I get to destroy your hopes and dreams." Said Liam.
"Jokes on you, I don't even have any hopes and dreams."
"...You have a long life of depressive episodes ahead of you, Draco."
"I know."
"Anyway." Liam turned his attention back to Blaze. "Back on topic. Leah. What's the go?"
"Go? It's me going insane. That's the damn go. She doesn't like me. Not like that anyway." Blaze slapped his face down on the tabletop miserably."Screw Draco's future. I think I'm having a depressive episode right now."
"And what makes you think that?" Asked Liam.
"I'm not in the mood to get that deep with you, right now."
"No, I mean, what makes you think that Leah doesn't like you?"
"She called us mortal enemies once?"
"She called a curtain her mortal enemy once. Invalid."
"Well, I don't freaking know...she just...doesn't."
"Okay. Cool. I'm not convinced."
"Bloody hell! Can't you just leave me to my misery!
--Pretending To Live--
"So, I was thinking black. Or dark blue. Either one." Anna Henley tapped the end on her feathered quill on the table.
She was a brunette girl, hair cut into a chunky short into a bob, that made Pansy's evermore the joke by comparison. She had grey-green eyes, a lopsided smile and a seemingly unbothered disposition.
"Awe, but why such dark colours?" Leah pouted. "What about yellow? Draco threw a hissy fit when I said I might wear it, but I think it'd look even better on you."
Anna looked less than thrilled about the aspect.
"Uh. No, thanks. Yellow hurts my eyes."
"You sound like Val." Leah snorted. "She acts like any colour that isn't black is going to creep up on her and smoother her in her sleep or something."
"I don't think anyone or anything, including the colour yellow, has the guts to even try that." Said Anna. "Regardless, yellow just isn't my thing."
"Orange then."
"No, Leah."
"Chloeeeee." Leah leaned towards the other girl sitting beside Anna.
"Sorry, Leah. I don't think anyone could ever persuade her to wear yellow."
Chloe Connelly's hair was quite the opposite of her friends, blonde and hanging over one shoulder in a long braid, her hand's usually toying with it. Her eyes were a cool, light blue but we're in no way cold. She was sweet, friendly and bashful. Another Slytherin no one would assume to be one.
Anna and Chloe, to Leah's knowledge, had been best friends since first year when they had both been assigned the same dorm as Pansy Parkinson. Despite the shared space, the duo had never become a trio.
"Who cares about colours right now?" Pansy sighed heavily. "I want to talk about hair. Don't even think of wearing it that same old braid, Chloe. You should do something different for once."
Chloe's fingers tightened on her braid.
"I know, but this is just how I've always worn it." She laughed a little, clearly self-conscious. "I don't even think I look like myself with it down."
"I love your braid." Anna smiled and shifted so Chloe couldn't see Pansy on the other side of her."It's your style, but you know, if you want...I'm thinking curls? Curls could be cute."
"Hmm, maybe." Chloe hummed in genuine thought. "I'll think about it."
"You should totally do it!" Leah cheered. "It'll be adorable! Curls are always cute even if Val would kill me for saying that."
"What about you, Leah?" Asked Anna.
"What about me?"
"Your hair?"
"Oh!" Leah sat straighter. "You know, I never really thought about it. I always do ribbons whenever I dress up. It's my thing. I own basically every colour and type to ever exist."
But now Leah was really thinking about it. She tugged on one lock of her own hair. Caramel blonde, in cascading waves down past her elbows. It was now at that moment that she realised she was like Chloe. She'd worn her hair he same way her whole life. And for good reason, her hair was beautiful as she knew it. But a change? A change might be beautiful too.
"Well, you need to figure it out so we don't clash." Pansy interjected again. "I don't want to deal with a same dress situation."
"Same dress?" Leah frowned.
"Yes. If someone dared show up in the same dress as me someone might think it was me that copied them. Not that I ever would. And since I'd outshine whoever it was by tenfold they'd just look like a fool anyway."
Anna arched a dubious brow at Pansy.
"Uh-huh. Sounds like a total nightmare."
"Anyway," Chloe cleared her throat. "What about dates? I'm going with Michael Corner from Ravenclaw."
"You already have a date?" Pansy pursed her lips sourly.
"Uh, yes. He asked me the other day."
"I don't think I really want a date." Anne shrugged her shoulders in a manner so stiff and aloof that even Leah noticed. "Probably just a waste of energy. I'm not super big on dancing either."
"Aweeeee." Leah was pouting again, eyes wide and misty. "I'll dance with you though. It'll be fun. I'm so tall that I could even be the guy and everything. You can't dress up all pretty and then not dance!"
A smile crept its way onto Anna's face and she relaxed slightly.
"It's a plan then I suppose, but what about Zambini?"
"Huh? Blaze?"
"Yes, Blaze." Pansy rolled her eyes. "I thought you and him were a thing or whatever."
"I thought the same actually." Chloe added. "Aren't you?"
"What would make you think that?" Leah blinked in honest confusion.
She wondered for a moment if she was dreaming. Her and Blaze? Who, what, when, why and how would have even happen?
"Um, like everything?" Pansy looked at her like she mad. Which is was, but that was beside the point.
"Well, you guys are just always around each other." Said Anna. "You argue like you've been married for a decade or something even though he obviously has a soft spot for you. We kind of just assumed."
"Are we wrong?" Chloe frowned, worried Leah's confusion might have been offence.
"We're around each other because we're friends and friends with each other's friends. That's how a friend group works. And we argue because Blaze is a jerk and yet to realise how awesome I am." Leah explained like this all should have been obvious.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure he already thinks your pretty awesome Leah." Anna exchanged a knowing glance with Chloe. "We overheard him talking about you with Lestrange and Highcourt the other day, after the first task. Well, screaming about you is more like. Something about you might like girls and he wouldn't ever have a chance? I think? To be honest, he wasn't completely coherent."
"Maybe it was someone else?" Said Leah.
"Someone else talking to Lestrange and Highcourt?" Anna said pointedly. "Look, if you need more proof than that, he's been staring at you for the past ten minutes. I highly doubt he's trying to copy your Potion's essay from twenty feet away."
"Huh?" Leah looked over at the boy in question and he immediately seemed to panic. They sat there staring at one another for a total of three seconds before Blaze wrenched his head away so quickly he grimaced in pain. "He's probably just teasing me again, that butt. I should go over there and scream at him. That'll set him straight."
"No, don't do that." Chloe reached over the table and grabbed Leah's arm. She glanced at Snape on the other side of the room. "Slytherin or not, I don't think Snape would spare you. And I really don't think he's teasing you either."
"You don't know him like I do. All he does is tease me."
"Are you serious? You really don't know, do you?" Pansy just stared at her in disbelief. "Blaze has a crush on you. Like a bad. Like disgustingly bad."
"What? No, he doesn't. He thinks I'm an annoying spaz."
"You are." Anna nodded "But that's beside the point. Zambini has had a thing for you for a while now. It's kind of glaringly obvious to anyone who has ever seen you both in a room together."
"Since when?" Leah stressed, she still couldn't wrap her poor little head around this.
"I don't know. It's not like I could give you an exact date, but we all know. Literally. All of us. I wouldn't be surprised if the teachers were holding bets at this point."
Leah looked back over at Blaze, massaging the kink out of his neck. No...just...no. Blaze like her? Blaze like her like THAT? In what world? In what galaxy?
"That poor boy." Chloe sighed.
"What? Why poor Blaze?" Asked Leah.
"Well...because we all thought you liked him too." Said Chloe.
"Yeah, rejection must suck." Pansy admired her nails like she would know nothing about the topic.
Leah's chin nearly hit the table. Blaze somehow liking her was one thing, but her liking him? She paused. Wait. Just how did she feel about Blaze? It wasn't something she'd ever put in the effort to think about. He was a jerk and he got under her skin so easily but he was still her friend just as much as the others were even though she didn't always show it. She liked being around him and on the grand occasion that she won whatever argument they were in the middle of, she even enjoyed that too. But on a different level? A romantic level? What was Blaze Zambini to her?
She looked back over at Blaze. He was staring at her again. She saw his eyes widen like saucers and in his panic to just- hide, he slapped a hand over his face as if that would help.
A moment passed and he parted his fingers to see if she was still looking. When he saw that she was he visibly jumped and quickly pulled his hood up over his head and face.
Wow, thought Leah. That was stupidly cute. Like a gopher. Or a naked mole-rat.
Then it hit. She had just thought of Blaze Zambini as cute. She nearly leapt up out of her chair, startled by her own thoughts.
"Leah?" Chloe gave her a strange look. "Are you alright in there?"
"I think I'm coming down with something." Leah put a hand to her forehead. "I just thought Blaze was cute. Oh, God, this is fatal, isn't it? How long do I have left?"
"Calm down. You're not dying." Anna laughed.
"No, I'm pretty sure I am." Said Leah. "I should go see Madam Pomfrey before it's too late."
"You don't need to see Madam Pomfrey and you're not dying." Chloe assured her gently. "It just might mean...that you do really like him back."
"Nope. Nah uh."
"Leah-"
"That's insane and this is coming from me!"
"Stop being so dramatic." Pansy scoffed.
"You're not helping." Said Anna.
"Who said I was trying to help?" Said Pansy. "Even if she does like him, she clearly doesn't want to go out with him."
"Well, how is she going to make a decision like that right now mid-freak out?"
"Have you not been paying attention for the last four years, Henley? She's in constant mid-freak out."
"Alright, everyone let's just calm down." Chloe spoke up. "This doesn't have to be a big deal."
"This feels like a big deal." Leah wrapped her arms around herself.
"That's a sign." Said Anna.
"A...sign?" Leah asked cautiously.
"Of you're taking this so seriously then maybe you do like him."
Damn. Damn. That kind of actually made sense. Why would she care do much if she didn't like him more than a friend? But why Blaze? How did this even happen? What if he didn't really like her in the end and this was all some cruel joke?
Why did the thought of that hurt so much?
Now, a situation like this could be handled perfectly calm and maturely. She could have waited until she was ready and then broached the subject with Blaze in some kind of safe space where they could talk things out. But alas, that would take at least four brain cells and Leah's only two were currently dancing the Macarena. And so thusly, she immediately descended into utter panic.
"Oh, crap. I think I might like Blaze. Like a lot. Oh, crap, OH, CRAP! I think I'm having a heart attack. What do I do? What do I do?"
"First off, you calm down." Anna shot a glance at Snape across the hall. "It's not that big a deal. I mean, okay it is a big deal, but it's nothing to lose your head over."
"What the hell do I do? Should I tell him?"
"If you want to, then, of course, you should." Said Chloe.
"When? Like now?" Leah stood from her seat.
"Leah, not now." Anna hissed under her breath warningly but Leah ignored her.
"No, I really need to do this now."
She stepped up on to the bench and then table without any reservations. She kicked over her ink well and sent it splattering over Pansy's face and uniform.
"Ew! What the hell!"
"Leah, please get down!" Chloe urged her.
"Lovat!" Snape's venomous growl from across the room.
Leah's chest tightened but she didn't let it stop for now she was on a mission.
She turned on her heel and started up the table, ignoring the cries from the other Slytherins as she doggedly made her way up towards her friends. Unlucky fingers crunched under her feet and books were kicked on to the floor.
"Ouch!"
"Oi! Get down!"
"Watch what you're doing!"
"Get down off that table Lovat!" Snape had begun making his way over.
Valentine and the others stared at Leah as she came closer.
"What in the hell is she doing now?" Said Draco.
"I don't know but she's coming this way." Liam leaned back in his seat.
Valentine grabbed her book and shifted back just in time for Leah came crashing through like a one-woman stampede. She stopped directly in front of Blaze with a fire in her eyes.
In pure shock and a little fear, he fell backwards off the bench, hitting the stone floor with his legs still slung over the spot he'd be sitting.
"Blaze!" Said Leah.
"Y-yes?" Blaze gawked up at her as he scrambled to his feet.
"Lovat!" Came Snape's fury once again.
"Oh, my, God." Liam blinked. "It's happening."
"What? Now?" Draco gap at him.
"Do you like me?" Leah asked Blaze point-blank, face set in determination. "Like, like like me?"
"...What?"Blaze didn't seem to understand.
"Do you like me more than a friend?"
"I...I..."
"Just tell her already!" A random student shouted from somewhere on the other side of the hall.
"Hurry it up! I have ten galleons riding on this!" Came another.
"I...yes...yes, I like you!" Blaze nodded, jaw clenched in embarrassment.
"Oh, bloody hell! What the hell is taking you so long, Professor?" Valentine called over to Snape, quite disgusted as he rounded the end of the Slytherin table. "I think I'm going to vomit. Hurry up so you can hold my hair back."
But in that moment, Leah was oblivious everything going on around her. All she could see was Blaze and all she could hear were his words.
She beamed as she launched herself at him. He barely managed to catch her without ending up back in the ground.
Leah wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could, squeezing with that viperous grip of hers. Half hall erupted into cheers and the other half was still trying to figure what the hell was going on.
Leah pulled back to look at him
"Go to the ball with me?" She asked.
"Yeah." Blaze answered immediately. "Yes."
Leah threw her hands around him in another hug.
Snape glared daggers at the two as he finally arrived.
Valentine wrinkled her nose at the display of affection.
"Now, I'm definitely going to vomit. Thanks so much for all your help, Professor. Now, we all have to look at this and it's all your fault."
Snape gritted his teeth, looked as though he might combust but Leah didn't notice. She was just thinking about Blaze's hands and how warm they were on her back.
--Pretending To Live--
That night, Valentine and her friends sat before the fire in the common room as usual. Valentine and Draco shared a couch, while Liam sat in the armchair beside them. The other couch was occupied by Leah and Blaze who hadn't left each other's side since the fiasco during study period.
"You two are disgusting." Said Valentine.
"We're literally just sitting here?" Blaze blinked confusion.
"I don't need to explain myself to you." Valentine turned her chin away sharply.
In truth, she was happy for them. She wouldn't pretend to understand anything that had happened, Leah hadn't even known that Blaze liked her five hours ago and now they seemed to be a 'thing', but whether or not she understood was secondary. If they were happy and didn't kill each other by sunrise then she wished the best for them. After losing Olivia, Valentine thought Leah deserved to be happy and if this is what it took, then so be it.
"Aweeeee, are we grossing you out, Val?" Leah giggled and grabbed Blaze's arm, pulling him closer.
"Yes." Valentine hissed stiffly.
"Are we just sooooo cute you want us to die?"
"How did you guess?"
"Leah." Blaze growled under his breath, trying to shake her off. "Can you please not poke the bear? I didn't plan on dying today."
Leah just laughed at him like he was being a silly billy. She'd been somewhat air-headed all afternoon and Valentine figured it was either pure elated excitement or some kind of head injury.
"I don't think you planned anything that happened today." Said Liam.
"I mean...yeah."
"I'm just surprised that Snape didn't flay Leah alive after all of that."
"No, he was too busy blaming me for something out of my control." Valentine snapped.
"Yeah. That wasn't so surprising."
It was true. In typical Severus Snape fashion, the Professor had seemed too forget all about Leah and honed in on her like she was the sole instigator and needed to be held accountable for her crimes, which for once, she didn't even commit. Valentine could have been confused by his wild spite of her is she hadn't helped create it in the first place.
"I can't believe this actually happened." Draco gestured to Leah and Blaze with a somewhat lost, somewhat horrified expression. "This completely goes against everything in this world I know to be true."
"How?" Said Blaze.
"You're happy! You got what you wanted but it wasn't supposed to happen like that! You were supposed to be miserable forever while Leah lived a long, fulfilled life!"
"Someone please remind me why I'm friends with such a git?"
"We're all gits, Blaze." Said Liam.
"Ah."
"Let's just change the subject before I have an aneurysm." Said Draco. "Liam. Have you asked Philips?"
"No, not yet."
"You better get there quick." Said Blaze. "She's probably already had a bunch of guys ask her."
Liam passed hera faint glance and if she had been anyone else, she wouldn't have noticed. It lingered for only a brief second before to looked back to the others.
"I'll ask her tomorrow."
"Yay!" Leah cheered out of nowhere, shaking Blaze's shoulder excitedly. "The ball is going to be so much fun. We're going to dress up and dance and I am going to eat everything in sight!"
"Ugh." Valentine massaged her temples. "Please shut the hell up about the stupid ball."
"I'm too happy to shut up!"
"Well, would you like me to make you unhappy?" Valentine looked at her sharply.
Leah froze and seemed to shrink about five inches. She hunched down and pulled Blaze in front of her.
"No, I'm fine."
"Oi, weirdo." Blaze turned and poked at her cheek. "Don't use me like a human shield."
Leah leaned in close to him and whispered.
"You like me, you like me." Leah sang teasingly.
Blaze yanked himself back to the other side of the couch, eyes advertised in embarrassment.
"I'm with Val!" He pointed at her. "Shut the hell up!"
Leah took one look at the finger extended towards her and licked it.
"EWWWWWWW!" Blaze leapt up, wiping his finger on his shirt. "What the actual God damn hell is wrong with you?"
"Aweeeeee." Leah cooed, jumping up as well. She was on him in a second, squeezing his cheeks together. "Blazie is bashful."
"Okay. Now it really is disgusting." Said Valentine.
Draco nodded in fervent agreement.
"Um...yeah." Said Liam. "That's a hard pass from me."
Blazie seemed to be in full agreement.
--Pretending To Live--
"So, we have a small problem." Said Valentine.
Snape arched a brow at her pointedly.
"If you are alluding to me being said problem Professor, I feel as though I have failed in my mission to be the biggest problem that you have ever encountered."
"Then I was not."
"Pity. Anyway." Valentine turned to Dumbledore instead, leaning her hands on his desk. "Haley, the maid I had go collect the ingredient wasn't able to. The shop keeper didn't like the look of her and sent her packing."
"That is a problem, indeed." Dumbledore nodded.
"It's a small one though." Valentine sighed. "I'll just have to handle it myself."
"The seller would not trade with what I assume was an adult and yet you presume they would with you?" Snape arched that brow again and she wanted to snatch it off his face. "You may not realise this but you are a child and barely pass for your own age."
"What damn choices do I have?" Valentine snapped at him.
"You could die?"
"True. I could. But then you'd miss me and we couldn't have that."
"You are deluded."
"No, I'm just sarcastic. There's a difference."
"Ahem." Dumbledore cleared his voice, smiling light. "It is, as it stands, the only option left open to us. Severus you will have to transport our dear Miss Lestrange to her desired location."
"That was not part of the deal." Snape scowled. "I create and concoct. I am not an errand boy."
"Stranger things have happened, Professor." Said Valentine. "Take today for instance. Leah and Blaze have confessed their affections and it's all your fault."
"I had no part in that!"
"You could have stopped it if you didn't take forty years to drag your backside across the hall!"
"What happened today is not relevant to the current situation!"
"Fine! Back to the matter at hand then! As for you being an errand boy, I don't see that being an issue as you haven't been a boy since dinosaurs roamed the Earth!"
"Lestrange!"
"What? Offended? Good. Because I'm dying and I don't really care if I hurt your feelings."
"Do not presume that you can hurt me, you little brat!"
Valentine gave him her best dead-eyed stare and then slammed her heel into his foot.
Snape hissed and stumbled back, glaring at her furiously.
"Oh, would you look at that. I hurt you. How miraculous."
"You heathen!" Snape reached out a hand for her and she quickly ducked away. "When I get my hands you-!"
"The sun will be rising in the West!" Valentine backed up to the door and gave Dumbledore a cheerful wave. "Good night, Head Master!"
"Good night, my dear." He chuckled.
"Lestrange!" Snape roared as Valentine slipped out the door and slammed it in his face.