Down the Rabbit Hole | J. POTTER

9 | eat me

Val had been spending the following weeks avoiding her room at all costs. She had been sleeping in the Room of Requirement and only went to her room to get ready for classes.

She said the password and the portrait door swung open. Having to wake up at the crack of dawn everyday so she could be in and out unnoticed was becoming a bigger effort than she would have liked.

"What has you returning here so late?" someone spoke up and Val jumped. She shook her head as she focused on Sirius who sat on the couch, an accusatory expression on his face. "Or early, depending who you ask."

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" she asked as she made her toward the stairs that led to her room.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" he countered and she rolled her eyes. He stood up and followed her to the stairs. "If you're cheating on him, I will end you."

She huffed before turning to face the boy, "I'm not cheating on him." She wanted to add that he was an idiot for even thinking it but she was aware of how the situation looked. "I wouldn't do that."

"But you're going to break up with him?" he inquired and she frowned.

"I didn't say that."

"But you're not not saying it."

"I'm not not not saying it either."

"None of us ever thought he would ever get over Evans," he explained and Val wanted to tell him to shut up but thought better of it. She really didn't want to sit here and listen to how much James loved Lily. Correction: loves. "I didn't even believe it when he first told us you were dating. But then I saw the way he looked at you."

Val took a deep breath. This would really be the best time to fess up. To tell him it was all an act. But it wasn't her place to do so.

"Just, be gentle, okay?" Sirius requested. "James had a big heart and as much he would refuse to admit it, he's a softie."

"I'm not going to break up with him," she informed the boy. They would mutually agree to break up, she wanted to point out, but once again, not her place.

"Does he know that?"

She was taken aback by this, "What?"

"He may be oblivious pretty much all of the time but he's not an idiot," he informed her. "He can tell that something is up."

"But nothing is up."

"Then why are you returning at four in the morning?" he asked and she wanted to tell him but 'to avoid being murdered in my sleep' didn't seem like a sufficient response.

"I have to go," she announced. "I'll see you in class." She started up the stairs and he didn't call for her to come back.

Val sat down at the table next to James later that day and dropped a bag full of galleons in the middle. "Boys really do think they're original."

"Where did you get all of that?" Sirius inquired as he looked at the bag.

"Did you already forget about the banner hanging in the common room?"

His face dropped, no doubt thinking about their conversation from earlier. "And you did it?"

She rolled her eyes, "Of course not. At least not in the way they were expecting."

"What does that even mean?" James asked in confusion. She turned to look at him and she couldn't get a read on his expression.

"It means when they handed the galleon over, I kneed them right between the legs," she explained as she placed food on her plate. "My technique improved after the first four or five."