Blaise's POV
Valentines Day has to be one of the most overrated holidays out there. It's not that I don't believe in love or hate relationships, I just can't stand the amount it's advertised. Christmas is a holiday that anyone can celebrate so I understand, but Valentine's Day? If you're not in a relationship then you have no reason for existing on February 14th.
"Attention all students! All Sickle Valentines are banned. If caught buying or selling them, detention with me for a week."
The announcement immediately puts everyone in a bad mood. The Weasley twins have been selling Sickle Valentines for a couple of years now, they're a huge hit around this time.
You pay a Sickle and get a small piece of parchment that supposedly has the name of your soulmate. It's a bunch of rubbish if you ask me, but I do think it's quite clever.
"Are you guys buying Sickle Valentines this year?" Theo asks the table.
Everyone looks at each other awkwardly.
"Fuck that," Draco yawns. "Soulmates aren't real."
All of the girls at the table shoot him glares, except for Malory. She keeps her head down in her book.
"Soulmates are real, you git." Aary hisses.
Pansy joins in. "Yeah just because you don't have one doesn't mean you need to ruin it for everyone else."
All of the Slytherin's burst into laughter and Draco is left speechless. Pansy blows him a kiss to let him know she was messing, but I know it bothered him either way.
"Well they're banned so it looks like no one is participating this year." I mutter.
"Just because they're banned doesn't mean Fred and George aren't still selling them." Daphne responds.
Most of the Weasley's products have been banned from school but I do still see people using Puking Pastilles every once in a while. So I don't doubt it.
Aary gets up from the table and grabs her books. "Even if I wanted one, I'm not giving them my money."
I feel a sense of relief when she says she's not buying one. Mainly because I don't think it would be good for her to talk to Fred right now, but I also just don't want to know who her soulmate is.
"You barely touched your cereal!" Malory says to Aary.
Aary completely ignores Mal and continues walking towards the exit of the great hall. Draco slides down and takes Aary's spot on the bench.
"What are you reading today?" He says while snatching her book.
His eyes scan the book cover slowly. "The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe..."
He flips through the pages, reading a few words on each then skipping the rest. Something catches his eye.
"He was dead, dead as a stone," Draco quotes from the book. "Bloody hell, Malory. Could you be anymore terrifying?"
She rips the book from his grasp and nudges his arm playfully, then goes back to reading.
"So after practice do you all want to do something?" Draco asks the remaining Slytherins.
"Can't," Malory sighs. "I offered to help Snape re-organize the shelves in his classroom."
We all give her a disgusted look.
"What?" She asks, confused.
I'm not sure if Malory is some sort of alien, or just different, but organizing is one of my least favorite things to do. If a teacher ever asked me to help them I'd laugh in their face, so who knows why she's willing to spend her free time doing that.
Malory's POV
I do like organizing, and Snape did ask me to help him. But I've started spending more time with him after classes lately. Not in a weird way, it's just nice to not have to play an act for a little bit.
To everyone else I'm Malory Roberts; the outgoing, laid back 5th year that's friends with some of the most popular Slytherin students currently at Hogwarts.
But in reality I'm a 15 year old death eater that has just uncovered a shit ton of information about my past and is trying to find some way to cope with it all. Oh, and my last name is Riddle.
"You don't have to place them alphabetically." Snape mumbles.
I turn around and look at him, then stare back at the alphabetized ingredients on the shelves.
"Sorry," I chuckle. "I sort of just did it."
He sighs and goes back to grading the papers on his desk. Once I finish stacking the jars of Moonstone, I join at his table and start picking up more bottles. Scattered all out on his desk are the Weasley's Sickle Valentines.
"Trying to find your soulmate?" I scoff.
Snape looks up at me irritated. "You have no idea how many of these I've had to confiscate today."
I knew the twins were still selling them after the ban.
"Did you buy one?" He asks me while still focused on his papers.
"If I did I couldn't tell you or I'd get detention." I say jokingly.
"I'll take that as a no then."
I narrow my eyes at him but he doesn't look my way so I go back to what I was doing and pick up the jar of Neem oil.
"Take one of these." Snape says to me.
He finally decides to make eye contact with me.
"I don't know what you mean?"
His eyes point at the Sickle Valentines on his desk. "Do something that kids do, you're too focused on acting older than you are."
I roll my eyes and set the oil on the shelf with the other N ingredients.
"But what if I don't want to do it?" I mutter.
Snape closes his textbook and starts stacking the papers nicely, then gets up from the table.
"Why wouldn't you want to do it? Scared you won't see who you want?"
I shrug my shoulders and he nods his head while heading towards the exit of the classroom. My eyes can't help but stare at the pieces of parchment with the bright red hearts.
"I won't tell Umbridge." He says quietly before vanishing.
As I make my way over to the table and continue to look at the parchment, I feel a sort of anxiety rush through my bones like a shock. My fingers pick up one of the Valentines slowly and read the words on the front.
Sickle Valentines
For only one Sickle, find out who your soulmate is!
I can't help but smile at the thought of someone's name coming up; no one particular comes to mind but the idea of it is calming. But it quickly gets taken over by the real fear I have in my gut.
I'm not scared of seeing someone I don't want, I'd be happy with almost anyone. Something tells me deep down that if I opened the Valentine and waited patiently for a name to appear, I'd be staring at a blank piece of parchment forever.