Violet's thought process is a trip to follow, sorry it took so long but you know how the muse goes, enjoy all and sorry that it does in fact need editing but I'm tired and I'm sick of dealing with the formatting issues with google docs.
Edit-I'm taking this down and reuploading it because apparently it vanished and I have no idea why, lets see if this re-upload works.
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The walk back to the Slytherin dorms was decidedly quieter than the one preceding it; which was by design considering Violet was pointedly ignoring her cousin Draco's presence beside her. One had to be firm in letting one's ire be known to their contemporaries after all; even if you're not even angry anymore, and are just keeping up face to prove a point that even you forgot was trying to be proven but won't admit it.
Still, she honestly felt kind of bad for leaving the boy stewing like this, and really it was rather juvenile, especially after having to sit through the Heads meeting with him earlier.
Seriously, Soothestone hate fucking Diggory's stupid, oblivious, beautiful arse with her eyes had to be one of the few moments in Vi's life where everyone else in the room was blessed with sharing what she has to go through every. Single. Fucking. Day.
Choke upon the obvious sexual tension, plebs! The one that none dared speak of, in fear of being the one to have to explain this shit show to Diggory in stifling awkward silence! CHOKE ON IT!
Ah that feels better.
Still, Vi could only keep up the angry facade for so long before even she would have to admit that she was just being a bitch for the sake of the reputation, and seriously it was just Drake and herself here after all. The hell was she trying to prove to anyone?
Sighing, she turned her head to meet Draco's gaze evenly, and he grinned his stupid charmers grin that worked on pretty much every non-Gryffindor witch; especially that Parkinson bint, but never herself.
As it so happens she was above such things, thank you very much.
Thus with a glance over her glasses she was given a brief look at her friend's feelings and nothing more, it was not offered and she would never intrude.
Teenage male sex drive predominates all that follows from most extreme to least;
Annoyance, you made your bloody point already woman, and this has gone on long enough.
Bemusement, I just can't help thinking you are adorable even when you are- Ah no wait no especially when you are terrifying Vi.
Worry, Vi you can't keep stewing in anger like this in public, I put up with it because I care about you, everyone else is just terrified of you and you are not stupid enough to think that is sustainable.
Despair, Father was right, we are predestined to be doomed to fall for the "fun" ones who scoff at other people's attempts at "keeping life interesting" and insist on doing it better.
Acceptance, ah well at least it will all make for interesting stories if we all survive to adulthood.
Pushing her glasses back into place Violet let out a put upon, "Fiiiiiine, apology accepted Draco."
Thankfully her following resigned sigh did its job though, so mission accomplished.
He immediately relaxed and shot her a genuine real smile, you know, the one that actually made her think about things she stalwartly refused to ever acknowledge much less wish to act upon.
Romance, especially teenage romance, was a fools game for the plebs.
She was going to do just like Uncle Peter did before her; 'let natural selection deal with the genuinely stupid ones up until my early twenties then observe the healthy surviving couples and figure out what they are doing right and where they are fucking up.'
His conclusion was that James married someone crazier than himself, and he wasn't sure which one was pushing or pulling the other to or from divorce or going on a fifth honeymoon any given day of the week, but it works for them, so hey cheers, mate.
Sirius taught him that being a man whore was brilliant, up until you're caught in a three-way with your older cousin and are suddenly married, haha!
Remus, he-well he did what Remus did and waited until the right one came along and completely avoided the minefield known as dating by going about his life and seeing where the dice fell.
Do as Moony and Wormtail do if you want love, stability and comfort if some potential initial loneliness at the beginning.
Do as Prongs and Tigerlily do if you want life to be filled with love, spontaneity, and delving into scientific magical research none must know nor speak of and yes this means you Violet.
Do not ever under any circumstances do what Padfoot would do in matters of romance.
As that rolled through her head Vi decided to just let the latest disastrous attempt at wooing her attention pass.
He was a boy yes, but she had thus far been vindicated into thinking that with proper supervision, much like Ronald he'd survive to adulthood a well rounded member of society. Thus after graduation allowing them to move on to someone who had significantly more time and patience to make sure they didn't run with scissors for the rest of their lives.
"So, what do you think the chances are of you and my brother keeping our houses in order for the tournament?"
Quickly glancing about to make sure they were still alone while surreptitiously dropping a few extra security charms over the ones she had already placed, he replied with a pained smile.
"I have no bloody idea Vi, no bloody idea at all. I saw the look Longbottom was giving me, he's clueless as well. Not good? I suppose that is an answer if any."
Well, merit where it is due; the boy acknowledges he has a problem, that his cohort shares the same problem, and they have no idea what they are doing.
She hummed and nodded, "Yeah yer kind of fucked mate, all told."
He let out a relieved sigh while wiping a hand across his brow, "Ah, crisis averted. The lady does agree of the direness of my situation; alas her only words of encouragement are as always and I quote, 'Haha, better you than me, mate.'"
Violet let out a surprised laugh at his faux dramatic swoon ending in deadpan snark, resulting in her to lightly smack her now smirking friend's shoulder.
The following giggles made her followup reply a bit difficult to understand.
"Stop it, I did not say it so meanly! I said you were proper fucked is all. Not that I'm happy that it happened, there is a big difference damn it."
Leaning in a bit, Draco gave her a tired look, "Is that true Vi, really?"
She paused, then tipped her head back and forth sending her black curls swaying, "Sorta kinda? I'm glad it isn't me, but I'm not happy it happened to you. This would usually mete out to a net-neutral gain, which would necessitate no further action on my part. Unfortunately I like you so your problems have become my problems…Damn gonna need to break out the coloured flashcards..."
Violet thankfully missed Draco's eyes widening in horror as he hastily hooked his arm through hers and quickened their pace.
"As interesting as that sounds it is something you can talk about with Granger later, yes? Speaking of which, what was it you two have been planning for the younger years?"
Blinking in a brief moment of surprise as her train of thought we re-railed she quickly replied without missing a beat. Draco silently sighed in relief, putting those two together when one of them gathered steam was a terrible idea, thankfully he'd be busy with Quidditch practice when it exploded rather than here and now.
Out of sight, out of mind, someone else's problem.
"Easy actually. An interactive 'This Is Hogwarts-You Are Here-This Is Your Destination,' map. It's something we'd already been putting together with Dad's help. The charm work is mostly laid out with Dad's supervision, tweaking and building off of the original Marauder's Map, but severely cut down in function while trimming off vestigial work from prior renditions. Hermione, Mum, and myself have tightened down all the security parameters with no Marauder input so we're not enabling a new generation of troublemakers. This is a teaching aid, not a toy."
Draco stopped and stared at her a moment looking torn between fondly amused, baffled, and definitely some underlying exasperation.
"First of all, you asked me to point out moments when you begin to completely nerd out on a subject, and I am about to allow you to continue to do so because I think you are cute when you are excited. Which does in fact annoy you but you secretly like the attention and pretend not to notice. This is one of those moments."
Violet pouted and crossed her arms at that, "I was not nerding out."
Draco refrained from rolling his eyes at the fact she had ignored everything else he said because it was unnecessary, she knew he would have done it if it were.
But the intent, it was there, and she knew it.
She let out a resigned huff then gestured for him to continue.
"Second of all, I'd accuse you of over achieving on a project already not worth any sort of credit towards our grade but I know you Violet Potter. You would never do something that would require so much effort without some sort of net gain. There is an ulterior motive, some angle, some way to…profit."
"Was there a question, Drake?"
"I was unaware I'd need one Vi."
She huffed then nodded while allowing him a wry smile, "I was going to hand them out with tracker charms and a slew of helpful guidance and emergency alerts on them. We've gone to the same school for the past four years Drake. We know the shite that goes on around here, and how while no one cares about us being Prefects outside these walls?
"The kids we grow up with are going to remember the leaders who stood above the rest, to guide them when no one else was there when things around here just got…stupid.
"Not the Professors, not the Headmaster, not the Headboy and Girl, but eight prefects who would always know where they were when they were lost, when they were scared, or when they just needed someone to talk to."
Her grin was Cheshire cat wide, "We'll be an integral part of an entire generation's lives and it'll cost us nothing in time or effort. The only time they can track us down to bother us is a legit 'library hours' we sign up for and our regular schedule. The emergency summon pings the closest Prefect but it has a three strikes rule, after that it summons your head of house."
Draco blinked at that and then nodded, "That is…very impressive Vi, actually I am…wow that is brilliant work Vi, really!"
Clearly excited at his excitement she hopped on the tips of her toes a moment nodding quickly, "I know right?! So yeah seriously Mia and I already have this project in the bag so we're completely free to help with your and my brother's impossible project."
Curiosity got the better of him so he asked, "It isn't like you to prevent mischief though Violet, so really is it locked down?"
At that she let out a genuinely amused laugh, "Ha! Mum and dad sent me in here with nothing but my wand, wits, and owl, the next generation can get into their own mischief. I'm here to punish them for being lax enough to get caught."
"Fair enough."
Nearly reaching the Dorm entrance Draco gestured forward, "Right, fine. Anyway funs over, time to look the part and drop the security."
Straightening out their robes, checking each others hair, and setting their postures to that of their proper standing they dropped the security charm revealing their presence to the empty hall.
Before they could open the door Draco asked, "Wait the maps are only for the lower years, what about the upper years?"
At that Vi blinked in genuine confusion as she turned to meet Draco's gaze, "What about them?"
He shrugged, "Well I mean what about them? I mean you're bloody networking with the younger years, or planning to after all."
Vi scoffed, "I'm a witch it's what we do."
"Regardless you're also an opportunist, you're teaching the younger years that you and the other Prefects can be trusted, what about the upper years?"
At that Violet laughed, "Drake, seriously? Our very first potions class our first year? The first time someone sabotaged my brother's cauldron and got away with it all while thinking it was funny? Remember how I proceeded to blow my own cauldron up to take you out with me despite it tanking my own grade for the day and sending us both to the hospital wing and detentions for the weekend? On purpose, after announcing it to the entire room that I was going to do it?"
Despite himself Draco smirked at that, "No one believed you would do it. I certainly didn't."
She nodded, "I say I am going to do something in retribution, I will do something in retribution. The threat of it is meaningless, warning others to not do something is pointless if they really want to do it. They will just find some other way to do said things thinking they are clever, which means I'll have to do things where I otherwise would not have to because they are being cunts.
"Be kind, but give no quarter, and crush absolutely anything that earns your ire, your friends and enemies will get the message soon enough."
She grinned at that as she hissed the password out of the corner of her mouth, "If the upper years need me to spell that out for them after four years of dealing with me that's their problem not mine."
Draco let out a light scoff at that, "Too true."
With that the door slid open and the Slytherim common room was met with the cold judging gazes of the returning Prefects, all parties successfully ignoring each other equally disdainfully in the process.
Once again into the pit.