Leah leaned over Draco's lap to breathe on the windowpane and draw pictures in the mist.
"Cut it out." Draco slapped her hand away and pushed her off him.
"Vallll! Draco hit me!"
"Oh?" Valentine didn't bother to look over at them. "Should I give him a gold star now or later?"
"Liaammm!" Leah turned to him next.
Adjacent to them in the compartment, Liam threw up his hands in surrender.
"I reject any and all responsibilities in these proceedings."
"Huh?" Leah grimaced.
"He said no." Valentine clarified.
"That's not fair!"
"Life's not fair."
"Doesn't anyone care about my feelings!" Leah exclaimed with a dramatic slump.
The compartment door slid open and Blaze shuffled inside.
"Already started have we?" He asked Liam as he sat.
"I just want to be loved!"
"It would appear so," Liam grumbled.
"Stop screaming in my ear would you?" Draco nudged her with his elbow. "You get to see Olivia later. Save your crazy for her."
"Oh, man, that poor girl." Blaze nodded solemnly.
"But I don't want to wait! I want to see her now!" Leah demanded.
Draco dug a hand in his pocket and grabbed a handful of coins. He tossed them into Leah's lap dismissively.
"Here. Go find the trolley lady." He told her. "And make sure you get me something."
Leah scooped up the money with a scowl.
"I'm not doing this to admit defeat," She said. "I'm doing this because sugar is my greatest ally."
Leah turned her nose up at him and headed out into the corridor.
"So," Liam watched her go for a minute and then turned to look at Valentine and Draco. "How was the rest of your holiday?"
"Awful," Draco replied immediately. "Leah was around practically every day."
"You say that as though she didn't always do that." Said Valentine, not paying too much attention to the conversation.
"She was annoying then and she's annoying now." Draco sniffed and wiped away Leah's artwork from the window.
"I honestly don't know how you've stayed sane." Said Blaze.
"I'm sure she'll calm down a little once she gets to see Olivia again," Liam added reassuringly. "She wrote me a three-page letter about how much she missed her. It would be almost cute if she didn't do it once per day."
"Leah doesn't exactly grasp the concept of moderation." Valentine shrugged.
"Enough about that spaz," Blaze rolled his eyes. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but how did you like the books?"
Valentine blinked. Well, now she had to pay attention.
"I read Liam's first." She sat straighter. "It was actually quite interesting. Malfoy Manor's library is fairly substantial but it's non-fiction titles lean more towards Dark Art's then magical creatures."
"Uh." Liam swallowed. "So, you liked it then?"
"That's what I said." Valentine huffed.
"What about mine?" Blaze asked, seemingly a touch more nervous now.
"It was certainly amusing, to say the least." Valentine thought back on the novel. "The main character was a little irritating at first but she manages to mature along the way."
"So..." Blaze trailed off expectantly.
"It was good." Valentine rolled her eyes and Blaze let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, I'm glad you like them." Liam smiled.
"Been enjoying your pretty comb?" Draco had to smirk at that.
"Yes, actually." Liam's face blushed pink and she smile become strained. "Thank you for bringing that up."
"My brains wicked." Said Blaze. "The one in the jar, I mean."
"Let's see if you can manage a passing grade with two brains at your disposal." Draco sniggered.
"Ha, ha, you're hilarious," Blaze grumbled.
-----Pretending To Hate-----
Leah had been ready to climb out the window once they started pulling into the Hogsmeade Station. She was basically vibrating with excitement, entire body shaking in a way Valentine knew just couldn't be healthy. And so, she was the first off the train, leaping down on to the platform.
"I have returned! Now! Where's my Olivia!"
"And so, it truly begins." Blaze gave a heavy sigh as the rest of them stood and started out of the compartment.
"You could always try not teasing her." Liam laughed. "I think it might make your life a little more peaceful."
"None of your blasphemy, man! Or I shall have you burned at the stake!"
Liam laughed again.
They stepped down on to the platform where Leah was looking around frantically for Olivia.
She blinked owlishly up at Hagrid.
"You're not Olivia."
"Um." The half-giant blinked back down at her.
"It's almost time for dinner, idiot." Said Blaze. "That's where she'd be."
"Awe!" Leah stamped one foot. "But I want my Olivia now!"
Despite all Leah's whining, it would not get her to the girl she wanted any faster. And so they started the journey up the castle, Leah pouting the entire way.
The second they stepped into the Great Hall, Leah seemed to spot Olivia instantly and was squeezing her tightly in a bone-crushing hug.
"I miss you so much!"
"I...missed...you...to...but I...can't..." Olivia wheezed.
"You're killing her," Liam said casually as he sat.
"Huh?" Leah blinked and then looked down at Olivia's face that was quickly turning purple. "Oh! Sorry!"
She quickly jerked away and Olivia started to cough, waving one hand around to dismiss her apology before she could even get a proper breath back into her lungs.
"Well, I saw that one coming." Draco scoffed under his breath just loud enough for Valentine to hear.
Olivia smiled honestly as she regained control of her airways.
"Welcome back."
-----Pretending To Hate-----
"Do you truly believe that a being as powerful as Voldemort would be complacent with his current position?"
"Now, don't judge me too harshly. Animal taming through the art of the harp isn't exactly my speciality."
"I always wanted a wife."
"Do you think he really has the scar?"
"He's got the Snitch! Harry Potter receives 150 points for catching the Snitch!"
"You will look at me when I speak to you."
"I'm getting hints of bacon, orange juice, pepper, sausage and...yeah, that's definitely milk."
"Perhaps it does not even know itself."
"I smell the blood of a well-deserved suffering."
"TROLL! IN THE DUNGEON! T-TROOLLL IN THE DUNGEON!"
"Clean that up."
"Do you...do you ever miss your parents?"
"Oh, to hell with it! SLYTHERIN!"
"Just because you find the lesson boring does not give you the right to take a learning opportunity away from others."
"This world isn't yours to command."
"Merry Christmas, Professor."
"I think we're going to need another feather over here, Professor."
"Sir, I don't treat anyone with respect between the hours of ten PM and eight AM."
"She's a scary one."
"Wait! Don't. Please, I was just coming here to protect the stone! I swear!"
~~~
Valentine's eyes snapped opened and for a moment she'd forgotten where she was, she looked at the room around her to find herself back in her Hogwarts dorm. Even with all her excitement to get back, she'd gotten used to life back at Malfoy Manor. But that wasn't what concerned her.
"That was...weird. Again."
Images and words swirled around in her mind. Jumbled together with no apparent order. She recognized all the scenes that had been laid out before her, every phrase and occurrence, but the order in which she saw them made no sense. She didn't feel any different, albeit a small part confused as she'd never had a reoccurring dream before. It wasn't as though her life wasn't filled with oddities. She decided that, although strange, the dream didn't have any significance.
-----Pretending to Hate-----
Draco glanced at Valentine and waited for her next move. She rolled her eyes.
Today they were brewing a Cure for Boils and Draco was happy simply to copy whatever it was she did. Her textbook lay closed on the workbench. She didn't need to check the ingredients or the methods. As she worked it all flowed back to her.
She crushed the fangs and added them to the cauldron. She then added four-horned slugs and took the cauldron off the fire before adding two porcupine quills.
Potions had always come easy to her as all one had to do was follow the instructions as told. She couldn't quite figure out why Leah's seemed to harden within minutes of starting or how Seamus Finnigan continued to set his cauldron on fire no matter the potion. She supposed that some people simply weren't meant to brew potions.
As Valentine stirred five times clockwise she watched Harry, Ron and Hermione on the other side of the room.
Hermione seemed to be scolding Ron and trying to help him but the boy was being stubborn and refusing her advice. Harry just stood there, listening to Hermione and Ron while his cauldron started to boil.
Then came Snape with his swishy cloak and his foreboding glare.
God. He never takes a day off from being an ass, does he?
Hermione and Ron immediately fell silent as Snape began to berate all three of them.
Meanwhile, Valentine set her brew aside, finished and early as usual.
"How are you already done?" Draco grumbled, still adding the horned slugs and begrudgingly reaching for his textbook now that he'd actually use it.
"What?" Blaze gaped.
Blaze and Liam were at the table in front of them and they both turned to stare at Valentine in disbelief.
"It's so unfair." Blaze pouted. "How come you get to be so good at everything?"
Valentine threw a passing glance Blaze's brew.
"If you don't turn up the heat on that you'll have to start all over again."
"Huh?" Blaze turned back to his cauldron. "Crap!"
"Honestly, I'm with Blaze." Liam glanced over his shoulder at Valentine. "You've got to save some intelligence for the rest of us you know."
"Something tells me that would be a grand waste." Valentine scoffed.
As if on cue, at the desk directly behind them, Olivia spoke loudly.
"Um, Leah, stop. It's four slugs not...why do you have eleven?"
"I'm bored!" Leah announced flippantly.
"I see what you mean." Liam sighed.
"Lestrange." Then there was Snape again, riding in on a wave of condescension.
Ugh.
"I'm finished," Valentine said before Snape could scold her for a lack for productivity.
Snape didn't even bother to glance down at her cauldron. They both knew it would be perfect. Making a big deal and calling her incompetent only to be made a fool of himself would just be embarrassing for both of them at this point. If the first term had taught them nothing else, it was that Valentine was annoyingly flawless when it came to potions and she revelled in how it infuriated him.
"I suggest you keep to yourself then." Snape hissed. "You're not the only student here and you are a distraction."
"How nice of you to say, Professor."
"I'll have none of your sarcasm." His black eyes narrowed.
"Oh, but I insist." Valentine smiled elegantly.
"I will not put up with your blatant disregard for my authority!" He snapped.
"Alright!" Valentine stood from her chair and looked around at the other students. "Which one of you told Professor Snape he had authority? It's really quite unkind of you to mislead him like that."
She heard Blaze give and snort and Snape quickly silenced him with a burning glare.
"Sit down." Snape ground out between his teeth.
Valentine could have grumbled under her breath and done so. Gone on with the lesson. But then she would be missing the high light of her day, which at this junction, was seeing just how furious she could make Snape.
"I don't feel like it."
"I don't care what you feel like." Snape did his best to tower over her and he did it well.
Very threatening and yes, very towering, but Valentine was quite accustomed to intimidation and unless Snape was going to beat her cousin as penance for her behaviour, then she had dealt with worse.
"I'm not asking you to care." Valentine returned smoothly. "I'm asking you to get the hell out of my face and go annoy someone else for a change."
Snape moved quickly, snatching up her wrist and yanking her out into the aisle.
"Let go of me!" She pulled back. "Keep your damn hands off me!"
"I will not be subject to your disrespect any longer!" Snape growled back at her.
The class watched in tense silence. No one was stupid enough to get in the way of what was happening.
"Let me go!" Valentine snarled, kicking at his shin.
Snape gave a pained hiss but it didn't stop him from dragging her to the door.
She struggled against him, fully expecting to be thrown out into the hallway and the door slammed in her face. Instead, Snape kept her in that bruising grip and continued to pull her out the door and along the corridor.
After a few minutes of trying to pull herself free Valentine stopped. Her arm hurt and Snape wasn't about to let go. So, she dug her heels in and forced him to stop moving.
He turned on her with a vicious glare and she returned with one of her own.
"You know you'll be the first suspect if you kill me."
"As if I'd go through with the trouble." Snape scoffed.
"Good to know you'd think me a challenge then." She sniffed indignantly. Before Snape could rebut her she spoke again. "If you're not killing me then where the hell are we going?"
"You can be someone else's problem." Said Snape, pulling her along again.
"You do realize that you're my head of house, right?" Valentine arched a brow at him and walked quickly to try an keep up and not just be dragged along. "If other teachers can't handle me then I go to you. I'm not so sure it works the other way around."
He didn't reply and just kept walking.
Valentine sighed. She was quite over their little spat but he seemed no less angry than before. Then they turned a certain corner and it clicked in Valentine's mind. There was only one person above the heads of houses.
"Are you kidding me?" Valentine shot him a look as they entered the hall leading to the Headmaster's office. "You're telling on me to the Headmaster?"
Again, Snape didn't reply.
As they approached the door it swung open, Dumbledore was already sitting up in his chair, watching them enter.
"I refuse to have such a disobedient brat in my classroom!" Snape growled and shoved her forward.
She turned to glare daggers at him but he was already walking away, slamming the door behind him.
Valentine rubbed at her arm with a scowl. She looked back to Dumbledore.
"Bloody hell. He acts like every move I make is some personal vendetta against him." She scoffed.
"So, you're entirely innocent in this then?" Dumbledore gave her a knowing look.
"Uh." Valentine pointedly looked at the wall. "Yes. Totally innocent."
Dumbledore just laughed.
Valentine wandered over and sat in her usual place in front of the large desk.
"Sherbet lemon?" He gestured to the bowl of yellow sweets.
"No, thanks." She said. "Not a fan of lemon personally."
"Well, then." Said Dumbledore. "What brings you here?"
"An angry Professor?"
Dumbledore laughed again.
Valentine wondered why he always found her so funny. He always seemed to be laughing at her but not in a teasing or cruel way. He simply found her...funny.
"He's always looking for things to fault in me." Valentine rolled her eyes. "He does it to practically everyone else as well. Only when he does it to me he struggles to find things to fault because I'm just great like that."
"And what was it today?"
"I may have mentioned something about him not having any authority." Valentine shrugged. "So, apparently my fault is not taking his crap."
"I don't believe Severus is accustomed to being questioned." Dumbledore smiled.
"Well, if he, a fully grown man, wants to bully eleven-year-olds, then he'll just have to put up with it," Valentine said stiffly.
"I think it'll be good for him."
"Ha! Don't let him hear that, Professor. He'll be kicking you out next."
"Now, that would be a sight." Dumbledore chuckled.
"Honestly though," Valentine shook her head. "He's hated me from the very start. And Harry. Just what is his problem with Harry Potter? That boy has certainly never done anything to him."
For a long moment, Dumbledore was silent, looking for at nothing. Valentine cocked her head at him.
"Sir?" She blinked and then realised what the silence meant. "There is a reason isn't there? This isn't just Snape being some grumpy old man, he actually has a reason."
"Yes." Dumbledore finally nodded, voice sounding strange and almost distant. "There is a reason. A reason why Professor Snape is a Professor at all."
Valentine inched forward in her chair. She could tell how serious this was. Dumbledore wasn't laughing anymore. There was no twinkle in his eyes. Snape had a story behind his hate and her curiosity riddled her.
"Well?" She prompted. Dumbledore glanced at her like he was debating whether or not to speak. "Who would I tell, sir?"
Dumbledore sighed. He seemed resigned to this.
"It was during the war," Dumbledore began. "back when Severus was hardly more than a boy and the Dark Lord's most devoted follower. He had been very much in love with a girl named Lily Evans for much of his life. And that girl became Lily Potter, Harry's mother. Severus and Harry's father James were not friends, to say the least. To be frank, they despised one another. James and his friends made Severus's life at Hogwarts somewhat difficult and well, it cannot be said that Severus himself was innocent when it came to their interactions. In the end, Lily chose James. Severus chose Voldemort. As you may know, Lily and James Potter were members of the Order of The Phoenix who stood against the Dark Lord and when he came to where they hid, he killed them both. Of course, you know what happens next."
"Well, yes, somehow the spell rebounded and killed Voldemort himself." Valentine nodded.
"Ah, a mothers love." Dumbledore smiled sadly. "You see, it was Lily's love for her son that protect him. That's what rebounded the Dark Lords spell."
A mothers love?
"I don't understand." Valentine frowned.
"She sacrificed herself for him." Dumbledore's voice was soft and sombre. "There are some types of magic that reach outside our understanding, my dear. And her pure love for her son created such magic."
Narcissa and Draco flashed through Valentine's mind. The way Narcissa had looked at Draco on the platform months ago.
I think I understand.
She nodded.
"But what does this have to do with Snape?" She asked.
"The night Lily Potter died was the night he lost what he loved the most. He was ready to die himself, but then there was Harry. A combination of what he both loved and hated. We both knew the Dark Lord would someday return and when he did, he would come for Harry to finish what he started."
"So, he really is just trying to protect Harry?" Both Valentine's brows raised.
"What did you think his motivations were?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe I thought he was somewhat decent and he didn't want Voldemort to come back?" Valentine snorted at her own words. "Now, that I say it out loud it just sounds stupid."
"He does what he does for Lily." Said Dumbledore and for a moment it seems like he was elsewhere.
"Well, I suppose that explains why he hates Harry." Valentine sighed. "He hated his father who ended up with the woman he loved who then sacrificed her life for Harry's."
"Yes." Said Dumbledore, blinking as though coming to.
"So, this is all because he liked Harry's mum? All the bullying and unfair retreatment?" Valentine frowned. "That's ridiculous."
"I'm afraid love makes us all a little ridiculous."
"So, people say." Valentine made a face. "But to let it affect how you treat an innocent boy? And I thought I didn't understand love in general. That's just stupid."
Dumbledore smiled thinly.
"Perhaps you'll understand a little better when you're older."
"God, I hope not." Valentine slumped in her chair. "Just thinking about having to kiss someone and hold hands and stuff. It makes my skin itch."
Dumbledore laughed and she liked that he seemed to be perking back up after their conversation. Then she remembered something.
"Wait a minute." Her eyes narrowed and she sat straight again. "If that's why he hates Harry then why the hell does he hate me? He sure as hell wasn't in love with my mother."
"I'm afraid, Miss Lestrange," Dumbledore sighed with a slight grin. "that he simply doesn't like you."
"Well, the feelings bloody mutual." Valentine huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
-----Pretending to Hate-----
Valentine put her book down for a moment to eat and Draco picked it up.
"Okay, now I know that you've read this one at least six times."
She snatched it back from him.
"I like it." She said stiffly.
"What's it about?" Asked Blaze, shovelling a forkful of potatoes into his mouth.
"The total destruction of self-worth and dignity," Valentine replied.
"Cheery," Liam muttered as he reached for his goblet.
"Hey, have you seen the girls?" Blaze asked, looking about the room.
"Yeah, Leah's never late for meals." Said Liam. "And Olivia's never late for anything period."
"They went to the bathroom." Valentine shrugged. "They'll probably be back soon."
"Fair enough." Liam nodded.
"Ah." Blaze closed his eyes for a moment. "Peace and tranquillity."
Across the room, Neville Longbottom tripped and knocked a plate from the Gryffindor table noisily. The hall immediately erupted into laughter.
"You were saying?" Liam snorted.
"It's a wonder Longbottom has managed to live this long." Draco scoffed loudly as to be heard as far as the Gryffindor table.
"He can only escape death for so long," Valentine said off-handedly.
"Ominous." Liam nodded with a grin. "I like it."
"Oi, Longbottom!" Draco turned in his seat and shouted. "Longbottom! Forget how to walk? Let me give you a hint! It's one foot in front of the other!"
"Lay off, Malfoy!" Harry shouted back.
"Mind your business, chosen one!" Draco said snidely.
Harry opened his mouth to throw an insult but then McGonagall was walking slowly down the aisle between the two tables. She didn't look at them or say anything. Just her easy pace was warning enough.
"Bloody Potter." Draco turned back around in his seat, grumbling to himself.
"He's not worth it, mate." Said Liam.
"I didn't ask your opinion." Draco sent him a glare without any real bite in it.
They went on eating. It was another ten minutes before Leah and Olivia arrived and they were almost finished their meals.
"Were you in the bathroom that whole time?" Blaze asked incredulously.
"Are you seriously going to ask about what they did in the bathroom?" Liam asked pointedly.
"I didn't mean it like that!"
"It's a weird thing to ask is all."
"It's not that weird! I was just wondering what took them so long!"
"I kind of is."
"Olivia." Blaze turned to her as she sat. "Is that a weird thing to ask?"
The girl promptly flushed bright pink.
"Um...it is a little odd." She answered unsurely.
"Told you." Said Liam.
Leah sat beside Olivia with a great slump. Valentine noticed immediately that she looked pale and unsteady. Blaze seemed to as well.
"What's wrong with you?" Blaze scrunched his brows together.
"Huh?" Leah slowly raised her head and blinked at him.
"You're not screaming or waving your arms or standing on anything you're not supposed." Said Blaze. "Not that I'm not grateful for this blessing, but it's weirding me out. Like any minute now the sky is going to fall in and crush us all."
"You look like you're going to be sick." Draco made a face.
"I'm fine," Leah grumbled, laying her head on the tabletop. "It's just a tiny headache."
It was certainly strange to see her with such a lack of energy that usually bubbled around her like magma.
"She's been feeling a little off for a while now." Said Olivia, rubbing Leah's back. "I asked her if she wanted to see Madam Pomfrey about she won't."
"Have fun with that," Draco grunted. "She hates medicine."
"Here." Liam pushed the bowl of mash potatoes towards Leah. "You might feel better if you eat something."
"Arggggg." Leah groaned miserably. "I'm not hungry."
"Oh, hell." Draco stared at her wilted form. "You really are sick, aren't you?"
"No." Leah raised her head again and squinted in the light. "I'm fine. I just need...sleep or something. I'm not even nauseous anymore."
"Leah," Valentine said firmly and waited for the girl to look at her. "if you're sick you need to go to Madam Pomfrey before you pass it on to rest of us."
"But I'm fineeeee." Leah dropped her head again.
"Leah, Val's right." Olivia brushed Leah's hair back so it wouldn't end up in the potatoes. "Madam Pomfrey could make you feel better right away."
"I'm not sick," Leah grunted stubbornly.
"You're not calling me names or laying yourself all over Olivia or even eating. And you never miss meals let alone a chance to piss me off." Said Blaze with an arched brow. "You're sick and I'm not a fan of catching whatever weird alien diseases you're probably carrying."
"Don't mess with me, Zambini." Leah raised one fist feebly and dropped it again.
"Bloody hell." Cursed Liam. "I think she's dying."
"Leah, just see Madam Pomfrey, please?" Olivia asked sweetly, her face creased in concern.
"You can't make me." Leah sulked.
"Alright, I'm getting Professor Snape." Draco was half out of his seat when Valentine stopped him.
"No." Valentine grabbed his sleeve and looked back to Leah with an even gaze. "Leah Lovat listen up."
Leah, again, slowly raised her head, eyes unfocused.
"You're going to the hospital wing if I have to drag you there myself. You can't just stay sick. I share a room with you and I'm not putting my own health at risk because you don't like bloody medicine." Valentine shoved her book at Draco and stood. "Now, get the hell up and stop being impossible."
Valentine and Leah stared at one another for a long time, Leah's face set in a tired kind of defiance.
Thirty seconds passed before Liam spoke.
"Okay, now this is just getting weird."
"Leah," Valentine growled lowly.
"Fine." Leah finally sighed. "But..."
"But?" Valentine arched a brow testily.
"...I think my legs have gone numb." Leah admitted. "If I have to stand it won't be for long."
"It's okay," Olivia said tenderly. "We'll help you."
"Or we could just stay here?" Leah asked with dull hopefulness.
"Up and at 'em, Lovat." Said Blaze as he, Draco and Liam stood to help her.
-----Pretending To Hate-----
Leah was sick. Obviously. This was especially apparent when she vomited on Blaze's shoes halfway to the hospital wing.
Madam Pomfrey checked her over and went through the necessary questions. Leah had a headache, sore throat, stomach ache, hot and cold flashes and nausea. And still had the audacity to insist that she was totally fine.
"You're an idiot." Valentine had spat and fought the urge to slap her.
Leah was always like this when she got sick, although that was rare. When it hit, it hit hard. Valentine assumed it was from all the time she'd spent out in the snow recently and she was surprised that no one else had come down with anything.
If Leah had just gone on being stubborn she would have been painting their dorm room floor with her lunch. Valentine thought it was better Blaze's shoes then where she slept.
So, Leah was given her dreaded medicine that practically knocked her out in seconds. According to Madam Pomfrey, she would be totally fine by morning and able to attend all her lessons with no problems.
Olivia elected to stay with her but Madam Pomfrey was firm that they all needed to return to their common room before lights house, assuring them that Leah would sleep until morning.
They left the hospital wing but Olivia's worries didn't leave her.
"But what if Leah does wake up?" Was Olivia's nervous question. "What if she wakes up in the middle of the night alone? What if it frightens her in her own delirium?"
The thought left a sour taste in Valentine's mouth but she swallowed it. Leah would be fine. She'd sleep through to the morning like Madam Pomfrey said. But now Draco and Liam were asking questions as well.
"Leah's such an idiot," Said Draco. "what if she panics and falls out of bed and hurts herself?"
"And Leah's got such a wild imagination." Said Liam. "She'll probably think every shadow is a monster out to get her."
Valentine shrugged them off. This was ridiculous. The sooner they went to bed the sooner Leah would be better and everything would be fine. But then Blaze opened his mouth as well.
"You're sure she'll actually wake up, right? Like, what if Madam Pomfrey gave her the wrong stuff by accident? Far be it from me to actually care, but what if she's just lying there poisoned?"
And now they were all paranoid messes.
Thanks, Blaze.
Valentine told herself it was only to get the others to shut up. Maybe some peace of mind would stop them from freaking out and posing questions that raised her blood pressure. Yes. That's why they were creeping through the halls after lights out with blankets and pillows in their arms. Yes, it was all just so they would stop being paranoid and ridiculous.
Valentine led the way, knowing the halls well, especially well in the dark.
"Something tells me you do this a lot more often than we've noticed." Draco hissed in her ear.
"That's none of your business." She growled and walked on.
"Damn, this place is creepy at night," Liam whispered.
"What if we get in trouble?" Olivia's voice shook lightly.
"I think it's a little too late for that." Said Blaze.
"Just shut up and we'll be fine." Said Valentine.
They fell into silence but that only lasted so long.
"I fell like something is going to jump out at us." Blaze swallowed audibly.
"Please, don't say that." Olivia whimpered.
"Don't be such babies." Draco scolded. "The only people up this time of night is the prefects."
"Uh, yeah, and Flich." Said Liam.
"Please." Draco scoffed a little too loudly. "I'm not afraid of him."
"Speak for yourself." Liam huffed.
They reached the hospital soon enough. Valentine slipped inside to check that it was all clear. Leah had been the only one in when they left and she still was now.
Valentine then stood at the door and kept an eye out as they filed inside like ninjas in pajamas and slippers.
They found Leah, surprise, still sound asleep, snoring lightly. The colour had already returned to her face, even in the moonlight, Valentine could tell.
"Well." Liam sighed. "Now, we're here."
"Sure are." Blaze dropped an armful of blanket onto the bed beside Leah's. "Guess she's not dead then."
"That's what her breathing would indicate, yes." Valentine rolled her eyes.
"She looks so peaceful in her sleep," Olivia whispered.
"Yeah, but she's probably dreaming about making our lives hell," Draco grumbled.
"I don't think she does it on purpose." Olivia sat on the end of Leah's bed. "I just think she likes to know that someone's paying attention."
"Well, that's a nice way of saying she's an attention hog." Blaze snorted.
"She could always be worse." Liam shrugged. "She could have a twin."
Everyone turned to look at him, part horrified, part annoyed.
"Do not even start." Draco threw a pillow at him.
"That's probably why she's such an attention hog." Said Blaze. "She's an only child. She never had to share attention in the first place."
"Are you forgetting that all of us are only children?" Liam arched a brow at him.
"Ah, to be an only child." Blaze sighed wistfully. "Lucky bastards."
"I actually would have liked to have some siblings." Said Olivia. "But I don't think my parents intend to have anymore."
"My parents don't need anymore." Draco grinned. "Why bother when they already produced perfection?"
"And you all know where my parents are." Said Valentine, matter of factly as she stood to lean against the windowpane.
The silence that followed after that was nothing compared to the one that came after Liam.
"My parents are dead, so..."
Draco, Olivia and Blaze all exchanged awkward glances.
"Well, that thoroughly murdered the mood." Said Liam.
Olivia cleared her throat.
"I'm sorry." She said softly.
"It's fine." Liam shrugged. "I was six so at least I have some memories."
"It was an accident, yes?" Asked Valentine, her face showing none of the pity she felt for him.
Liam blinked, somewhat surprised by her question.
"Right." He nodded. "My father worked for the Ministry in the Office for the Removal of Curses, Jinxes, and Hexes. His team was trying to remove a cursed and it rebounded and killed them all. Then my mother got splinched while apparating a few months later. Slit her throat."
Valentine's heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. Now she knew why Narcissa hadn't gone into details.
"That's awful." Olivia clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. "Liam, I'm so sorry."
"So, your grandfather took you in." Said Valentine.
"Yes, and now here I am." Liam smiled.
"Sitting around the bed of a snoring idiot." Blaze barked out a laugh.
"How offensive is it to say that this is a downgrade?" Asked Draco.
They all laughed at that.
"I remember my parents a little, you know." Liam sat on the bed beside Blaze. "And I think they would have liked you guys."
"It's my glowing charm." Blaze winked and rubbed his shoulder against Liam's.
Valentine turned to look out at the window so the others wouldn't catch the shadow of a smile threatening to twitch onto her face.
They talked for nearly two hours before they started nodding off.
Olivia was first, propped up on Valentine's shoulder. Then Blaze, laid out like a slaughtered deer. Then Draco and Liam last.
Valentine stayed up to keep watch encase she heard anyone coming. They planned to leave early before Madam Pomfrey even had a chance to catch them. She'd stay awake for as long as possible and then wake Liam. She'd tell him to awake Olivia next. She didn't trust that Draco or Blaze wouldn't fall asleep on the job.
And it was Olivia who shook her awake in the early hours of the morning. The sky outside was only just lightening. Not even the birds would be awake yet. They woke the others and then they all left the way they had come, unseen and unbothered, yawning all the way, Leah still dead to the word and snoring.
-----Pretending To Hate-----
"Do not cry, dear friends! For the light of my grace has returned!" Leah announced grin on her face and bounce back in her step as she arrived at the table.
Everyone, save Liam who was stretching his five more minutes a little further than five minutes, looked up at her with tired eyes and grimaces.
"Woah." Leah stopped dead in her tracks and stared at them. "You guys look awful."
"We should have killed her when we had the chance." Blaze dropped his face into his hands miserably.
"Awe, come on!" Leah slid in between Valentine and Olivia. "You know you missed me!"
"What's there to miss?" Blaze shot her a glare.
"Didn't you hear that bit about the light of my grace?"
"Please, just shut the hell up." Draco groaned.
"Well, I know that at least Olivia missed me!" Leah beamed. "Right, Olivia?"
"Actually," Olivia smiled over her goblet. "it was almost like we were never really away from each other."
"What!" Leah exclaimed. "But we just spent hours apart!"
"Oh, the bliss of ignorance." Draco sighed.
"Huh?" Leah frowned. "What does that mean? There's something you guys aren't telling me, isn't there?"
"Not particularly." Valentine shrugged.
"No! There's definitely something." Leah squinted her eyes at them all. "Spill the deeds before I spill the blood."
"There's nothing to tell." Said Draco shooting the others a knowing look of the secret they shared.
"What was that!" Leah pointed at him accusingly.
"What was what?" He blinked.
"That look!"
"What look?" Draco shot the others another pointed glance.
"That look right there!" Leah was ready to lose it.
"There was no look, you idiot." Blaze rolled his eyes and then proceeded to give them all a look.
"Wha the hell is going on? Someone just tell me!"
"Arggggg." Liam then sloped into the space beside Blaze, face pale, usually perfect hair twisted into a haphazardly mess.
"Are you alright?" Olivia frowned.
"I think my head is going to explode. Was the sun always this bright?"
Oh, no.
Valentine, Draco, Blaze and Olivia groaned in unison, already tired faces quickly becoming exhausted.
"Somebody tell me what's happening!"