take from me

[Benjamin Burke]

It had been weeks since he'd last been to the lake. More specifically, the last time he'd been here, it had been with Imogen, and he had been in a decidedly better frame of mind back then than he was now. Because it was the 17th. He'd forgotten, strangely enough. Strangely because he never forgot. He always remembered the date at least a weak ahead, always had it marked on his mental calendar. Not because he knew he'd be acting any differently on that day, because he hardly ever did. Not in the past few years, anyway, and before that, he had been good at hiding it. He'd spend his time in the library, working away at his homework, and, on the 18th, when his friends asked him where he had been the other day, he told them he'd been doing his homework or gotten distracted reading because he'd found an especially good book and simply hadn't been able to let it go. It wasn't a lie, because that was what he'd been doing, and he wasn't worried about anyone catching him out on it, because there were only two friends who could guess what it was about, and one of them was Rose, who was entirely too gullible for her own good and would accept his explanation without question. Now Ian, on the other hand, was a bit hard to get around, he was just so damn perceptive. Benjamin didn't know if he'd noticed a particular pattern about the way he tended to disappear on that specific day or not. It was possible he didn't because it wasn't unusual that they didn't see each other for several days, being in different houses, but Ian noticed things that easily slipped past any other regular person's peripherals. Besides which, he might notice for more than just his tendency to be uncannily observant, because he has a similar day. You see, to Benjamin, the 17th of January was a death anniversary.

Jamie's death anniversary.

And was it any surprise that it was hitting Benjamin harder now than it had in the past years? It was almost as bad as the first year the day passed by. And, just like that year, he was dealing with it alone. Admittedly, he was significantly less subtle this time around, seeing as he'd skipped the rest of his second morning class after he'd coincidentally overheard a girl confirming to her friend that, yes, it was the 17th of January and, just like that, it had clicked. 17th of January. Jamie's death. He was ashamed for forgetting in the first place. Knowing he couldn't stay in Hogwarts lest he get caught wandering around (even if he lied and told Filch that he had a free lesson, it was possible he'd get punished anyway), Benjamin left the castle, an uncontrollable shudder running through him as soon as the biting cold hit him. It was too late to go back in and get a coat, and it didn't matter anyway. For what he had in mind, he wouldn't need it. Finally, he was at the lake again. He hadn't meant to avoid it before the holidays; afterwards, he'd done it on purpose. It reminded him of Imogen. It reminded him of what he'd done with Imogen, of the clusterfuck of emotions associated with her, with this lake. And, for the past three weeks, he'd been pointedly avoiding all of the above, Imogen in particular. It was harder not to think about her than Ian and Rose, and not just because she was in his house and thus had a greater ability to try to "talk to him about his feelings" while the other two didn't have that same advantage. He'd figured out that it was because she had been a large question mark in his life before Marlene had died, and now she was an even larger one. He hadn't gotten the chance to sort out his feelings for her before the shock of his best friend's death had hit him, and since he'd been stubbornly avoiding any sort of emotions, period, she remained a baffling part of his part who doesn't quite fit into any category, and his natural tendency to want to over-analyze everything fought with his need to push her out of her life, which just doubled his mission to stay as far away from her as possible. Unfortunately, it was easier said than done. Avoiding someone who was in your own mind was almost impossible, after all.

But he wasn't thinking about Imogen today, even as he began stripping like he had that day. He only thought of Jamie, the boy - no, the young man - whom he'd let down, whom he'd let die. He kicked his shoes off in a movement that was more violent than was necessary, managed to pop off a few buttons when he ripped at his shirt, the tiny globes bouncing off his feet and becoming lost in the grass. He rolled his eyes and shoved his pants down to his ankles, stepping out of them; this time, he kept his boxers on. It was broad daylight and he wasn't exactly eager about getting caught naked during the day. Not giving himself any time to prepare, Benjamin half jogged, half ran to the lake's edge, hesitated for a split second, and then waded into the water, gritting his teeth. It was even colder than it had that night; for some reason, the water always was during the morning. Shuddering violently, he swallowed a gasp and dove head first once the water was brushing against his waist. He came up almost immediately, this time gasping out loud, the ice water a freezing burn that spread all the way down to his bones. He gulped a few, quick breaths and then began swimming, keeping his strokes slow and long, even though every fiber of his being wanted to go quickly to warm up. But swimming too fast would exhaust him too soon, and he didn't want that. He didn't exactly know where he was headed - he'd never seen the end of the lake, if there even was one, it was that large, but he'd always wondered where it would lead. Today seemed like a pretty good day to find out. That is, if he didn't drown first. But Benjamin didn't have a death wish. Not really. He'd already decided that death would be too easy of an escape. But pain? Pain was good. He could relate to pain. He knew pain. And when it came, when his muscles started to ache with the strain he was putting them under, his lungs burning even as he gulped mouthfuls of air. Finally, he had to turn back, and he was suitably surprised when he saw how far he'd gotten. He could still see the castle, of course, but it was slightly smaller than it had been on the bank. He could also make out a figure, too, and he rolled his eyes. Had someone followed him out? Had Imogen followed him out? Benjamin gritted his teeth, then, because he hated how his mind automatically jumped to her. Maybe it was Rose. The class he'd walked out on had been one they shared, and even though he sat at the back and thus out of her field of vision, she might have noticed.

Mentally shaking himself, Benjamin began the painful swim back. Predictably, covering the distance this time around took longer, but his teeth finally touched wet sand and he continued on foot, trembling slightly as the droplets of water still clinging to his body. He stopped when he was knee-height in the water when he, again, took notice of the figure he'd seen in the distance. Up close, it wasn't difficult to place her; Gen.

Wrong Sauveterre, his mind supplied unhelpfully, in reference to his guess from earlier.

"Gen," he stated, his tone softer in his surprise, although it hardened following his next words. "What're you doing here?"

Genevieve Sauveterre

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[vivi]

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Vivi was bored. And she so hated History of Magic. One would think having a lesson taught by a ghost would be somewhat exciting, but Binns had to be the worst dead floating spirit thing in the history of dead floating spirit things. Once in second year, Vivi had asked him how he died, and even his death was boring. She still wasn’t sure how he managed to grade their essays, since she didn’t think ghosts could hold quills, but didn’t want to ask. Honestly, she wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d been murdered by a student who was bored to – pardon the pun – death. No one cared about goblins or trolls or who died when. She didn’t care about the founders or Merlin or Morgana or any of those stupid old dead people. They were dead; it wasn’t like they cared what students thought about them.

As usual, Vivi took the seat closest to the door so that she could make a quick getaway as soon as class ended. But today, she really didn’t want to be there at all. When Binns called her name for attendance (the dunce still pronounced it all wrong) she gave a dejected, “Here,” and rested her chin in her palm. The halls were chilly that day, but the sun was peeking through the clouds for the first time since the new term began, and Vivi didn’t want to be in a stuffy out classroom with a stuffy old windbag dead-guy professor for over an hour learning about Merlin-knew-what. And Vivi was used to getting what she wanted, one way or another.

Turning her attention back to Binns for a moment, she saw that he was facing a student more toward the window, asking a question he’d apparently been asked. It was now or never. Binns would never notice she was missing; she’d responded to attendance, and never contributed in class anyway, and they didn’t have any homework to hand in and weren’t due to get any back yet, so… Grabbing her bag, Vivi slid out of her seat and took a few steps until she reached the door. Binns was still talking to the student and no one had seen her yet, so Vivi pushed the door open a few inches until she was able to squeeze through and quietly shut it behind her.

Freedom only tasted this great when it was against the rules, really.

Grinning to herself, Vivi shouldered her bag and started through the halls. She was on the landing of one of the staircases when she happened to look down a few floors and saw a very familiar heading toward the Entrance Hall. Benjamin Burke was leaving the castle, and Vivi couldn’t believe her luck. Of all the days and all the classes she’d chosen to skip, she had picked today, and it appeared as though she would have company. She took her first step onto the stairs to head down when she felt the all-too-familiar tingling in her nose and slight itch in her eyes.

“Oh, shit,” she groaned, and almost immediately after she heard the screechy yowl of Mrs. Norris. Vivi didn’t hesitate or look back, because wherever Mrs. Norris was, Filch was bound to show up soon. She was already on his shitlist for throwing a Fanged Frisbee his way (by accident, she swore, though she and Filch both knew it was totally deliberate); catching her skipping class would be sweet revenge for him. Vivi generally took her time on staircases, since the Hogwarts steps had a habit of going soft and making your foot sink and get stuck in them, but she couldn’t afford to do that now. She flew down the stairs, sometimes two at a time and leaping over the last three, and she had to admit that she was amazing herself with her surefootedness. From several floors above her, she heard Filch shout “OI!” but that only made her let out an excited giggle as she reached the bottom floor. Ah, now, here she faced a dilemma. Should she go after Benjamin immediately, thus leading Filch straight to them, or should she lead him on a merry chase through the castle first? All of the professors would be in class at this time, so she considered herself to be fairly safe on that front. She glanced behind her and saw that Filch had gained considerable ground. Giggling again, Vivi turned toward the corridor that led deeper into the castle, then took the first right and hid behind the closest statue. There was a loose rock near her foot and she picked it up, then waited until she heard Filch wheezing at the place where she’d turned. Daring to peek out, she saw him looking down the left corridor, which she knew led to a dead end and wouldn’t take him long to explore. While his back was turned, she tossed the rock down the right corridor and quickly retreated into the shadows. Filch let out a triumphant chuckle and chased the noise, his cat cradled in his arms, and turned around the corner to continue his chase. Vivi didn’t waste time waiting for him; as soon as he was out of sight, she left her hiding spot and turned back, this time heading for the Entrance Hall and the exit to the grounds.

It was colder outside than she anticipated, but the pink in Vivi’s cheeks was more from the chase than the weather. Besides, she could just make a fire and Benjamin could share it with her. She was always good at those little fires. She trudged through the snow, stuffing her hands into her pockets to warm them, and followed Benjamin’s footprints out to the lake. Oh, surely he wasn’t swimming! That was clearly insane, since the lake must have been freezing, and Merlin knew what lived in there. She rolled her eyes; he either wasn’t as smart as she’d pegged him to be, or he was incredibly reckless. Well… now that she thought about it, she was hoping for the latter. Those blokes were always surprising.

Of course, when she saw the pile of clothes by the shore, Vivi was pretty sure he was just crazy. It was one thing to go swimming in the lake at all, but to go practically naked? That was another thing entirely. Or maybe he was totally… No, she didn’t see any boxers, or briefs. Unless Benjamin went commando, which was an interesting thought in itself, but she doubted it. He seemed too prim and proper to be that daring.

Then again, he was swimming in the bloody freezing lake. The boy was just full of surprises, which was rather delightful in a male, Vivi had to admit. She looked out onto the lake and saw that he had actually swum quite far out, but he seemed to be on his way back now. Well, she might as well make herself comfortable. Taking out her wand, Vivi performed the Hot Air Charm on the snow surrounding her feet until it melted away to grass, then tossed her bag down and, deciding that the charm dried the ground enough to make it sit-able, she sat down and set about conjuring up a small fire. Benjamin drew closer and closer until finally he began to walk out of the water, and the drops of water that fell from his body looked rather lovely in the sunlight. Vivi grinned and shrugged in response to his question, leaning over to grab his robes and toss them over to him.

“Needed a mental health break,” she said, leaning back on her elbows and crossing her knees. “A day in the sun was far more important than troll wars. I saw you heading out here, so I led Filch in the opposite direction and then decided to join you. You can thank me later.” She aimed her wand at the small flame before sending it over to Benjamin. “And what are you doing out here, hmm? Getting an early start on the swimming season? Looked like you were trying to swim out to the ocean.” She nibbled her lip and let out a small chuckle. “Probably could reach it too, with your power strokes.” She looked up at him from under her lashes. “So what’s the real reason you’re out here, then?” Leaning forward slightly, she met his gaze with her own. It was funny; ordinarily, Vivi had some ulterior motive for asking a person why they chose to do something, because she honestly didn’t care one way or another how they felt. But asking Benjamin right now was different. She didn’t really care about his reasons, or him, but she didn’t care about what she could gain from his answers either. It was… conversation.

Huh. It was different.

“Did you need a mental health break, too?”

[Benjamin Burke]

Why had he asked her what she was doing here? He wasn't particularly interested in her story, and it was pretty obvious that she was skipping class anyway. Fourth years didn't get free lessons. He'd given her opportunity to start a conversation and now it would be even more difficult to shake her off. Granted, Gen didn't know about his newly acquired loner status, so she couldn't be blamed for trying to find entertainment in him, especially since the last time they had seen each other, before the break, he'd been more than happy to be it when they'd gone dancing. He caught the clothes she threw to him, and then dropped them to the ground once he'd gotten his wand from within his robes, suddenly wishing he hadn't gone into the lake in just his underclothes, because now they were soaked through and he'd have to dry them off, which was always awkward by magic - although it would have meant that he'd give Gen an eyeful. Her presence also meant he couldn't simply take off his boxers and put on his dry clothes. This irrationally irked him even further and he simply grunted in acknowledgment of her response, mindful - and wary - of the fact that she was kind-of flirting with him. Had he given her an idea that he was interested in her the last time they'd seen each other, given her hope somehow? He couldn't remember, but usually he was careful about that. Then again, she was young - only fourteen, fifteen maximum, he thought. Young people tended to be overly optimistic and romantic, although she didn't exactly strike him as the doe-eyed type who fell for the first person who looked in her direction. Nevertheless, he would have to quell any ideas that might be brewing her head as soon as possible. One Sauveterre was more than enough, he didn't want to have yet another on his plate. And it would be just his luck if she ended up as...infuriating as her sister. Inwardly, he cursed himself, because infuriating wasn't the first word that came to mind when he thought of Imogen.

After muttering the Hot Air Charm under his breath, he began doing his best to dry himself off without making his privates too uncomfortable. Once he was dry enough that he wouldn't make his clothes wet, he dressed himself quickly to protect himself from the chilly weather, deciding to forgo his socks and simply stuffing his feet into the shoes, haphazardly tying the shoelaces together. Once he was done, he looked up at Genevieve, his face tight. He really wasn't in the mood to talk, and especially not to a Sauveterre. She was nothing like Imogen, he thought. There was something very pronounced about her looks; Genevieve was the type of beautiful that was apparent, that you noticed right off the bat. Imogen was less striking; her beauty was subtle, almost constantly changing. It was more dangerous, because it made you want to stick around and see those changes. And he wouldn't even begin to touch on their different personalities, but it was more than just the fact that Gen was obviously outgoing whereas Imogen was more closed. There was something about Genevieve that had him feeling particularly cautious. He just couldn't quite put his finger on it. Suddenly conscious of the direction his thoughts were taking, Benjamin angrily shook himself back into the present. Gen needed to leave.

"Something like that," he told her shortly. He supposed you could look at it that way, only he doubted anything he did or thought lately was healthy for his mind. If anything, it was the opposite. A cold breeze swept past them and he unconsciously shivered, running his fingers through his wet hair, making it stand up in clumps. He couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten a hair cut. Usually, Rose or his foster mother just did it for him, but he'd gotten lazy before Christmas, and after...well, that didn't need much of an explanation, did it? Sometimes he thought of shaving it all off because it was such a bother, but he'd probably end up getting hurt if he did it himself and he wasn't in any position to ask anyone else to do it for him. "If you're looking for someone to entertain you, then I'm not-so-sorry to say, I'm not it. Run off and find someone else who's skipped class," he told her. Perhaps it was cruel. Probably, he could have worded his dismissal better. But considering it was, in fact, a dismissal, and that was harsh in itself, it couldn't be helped. He would have walked away, too, only he didn't feel like going back to the castle just yet. Knowing his luck as of late, he would run right into Filch or that damned cat of his and get a week worth of detention for his efforts. No, he'd much rather stay here, where there was less of a chance of being found.

Then again, Gen had managed to find him, so he must be doing something right.

Biting back a groan with difficulty as his muscles protested any sort of movement, Benjamin purposefully took a seat a feet or so away from Genevieve's spot. He carefully stretched out his arms, wincing when the joint in his shoulder popped painfully. He'd pushed himself too hard, and it'd hurt even worse tomorrow. Maybe he'd skip class then, too. But maybe not. Ian would definitely notice. They had Potions together. And though he didn't particularly care if Ian became too worried about him, he didn't want to give him a reason to be on his case even more than he was now. Which meant he'd either have to pick up a potion from Pomfrey later, or power through it. Knowing himself as well as he did, he'd probably choose the latter.

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[vivi]

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Bollocks, Vivi hated winter. It was too bloody cold and wet, and she hated having to wear layer upon layer to stay at a bearable body temperature. She was the type of girl who was more comfortable in light clothing. She loved shorts and form-fitting shirts, especially now that her body was filling out more maturely. She liked sandals, not boots, and preferred the option of going for a swim to cool off rather than building a fire to warm up – and she liked fire, so that was quite the statement. She hated how white and grey the world became as it was covered with snow, and the sky was almost always overcast with dark clouds. Today was an exception, but it didn’t make her hate winter any less. But she and Benjamin were just getting to know each other, so she couldn’t be bad-moody around him just yet. No, she had to give the impression of being upbeat and constantly positive, the exact opposite of her sister. Someone smart like Benjamin would probably appreciate that more than someone who was constantly broody and snappy.

Benjamin seemed to be struggling with how to dry himself, and Vivi bit her lip to stifle a laugh. He probably thought she was a prude like her sister, but Vivi had seen some male genitalia in her time, despite never having sex. Even if Benjamin did manage to give her a show, it would be nothing new. Still, to keep up the illusion of modesty, she averted her gaze from his pelvis to his face and looked at him with her best doe-eyed expression. Looking innocent was better than being too forward, she figured. It crossed her mind to let him know that if he wanted to forego the pants all together, she would be willing to cover her eyes until he was changed, but decided to let that one slide. It could freak him out, and freaking out Benjamin was the last thing she wanted to do. She was silent as he dried himself, waiting for him to get dressed so that they could have an actual conversation – or whatever it was people did when they interacted. It was almost sad that Vivi didn’t really know how normal conversation ensued; almost, because even though the thought crossed her mind, she decided not to care about it and simply waved it away.

To be honest, she was taken aback when he all but told her to get lost. No one had ever spoken to Vivi like that before – well, at least without being egged on – and at first, she didn’t know how to respond. Initially she felt a surge of anger rising from her stomach, but she held her tongue and settled for narrowing her eyes. Taking a breath, Vivi regained her composure and forced a smile. “Who says I’m looking for entertainment?” she challenged. Vivi pushed herself to her feet and brushed off her backside. “I didn’t follow you out here because I’m looking for a knock-knock joke. I followed you because you’re actually intriguing, which is definitely rare at this hole, and because skipping class is always better when you’re doing it with someone.” She couldn’t help but smirk at the double entendre, though she wasn’t sure he’d notice.

“Anyway, what were you doing in there? It’s dirty, you know. Can you imagine all the creatures in there just… floating around?” She looked past him at the water, which was now calm and undisturbed. “Do you think there’s anything hidden in there?” Her eyes glinted slightly as she grinned at Benjamin. “You know, things students keep secret from professors, or… maybe professors keep things down there secret from students.” She approached Benjamin, standing directly in front of him to look down at the water. “I wonder if there are any dead bodies in there.”

It was a completely morbid thought, she knew. She wouldn’t have been surprised if Benjamin scoffed at her, but as she grinned sideways at him, she couldn’t help but hope he’d find it just as intriguing. “I mean, Hogwarts is a dangerous place. We’ve even got a tree that tries to kill people. Can you imagine what sort of dangers are under there? It’s… a whole new world of monsters. You got lucky swimming this time, but maybe some other poor arse got pulled under by a Grindylow. Maybe even a mermaid. Or the squid. I wonder where he is, don’t you?” Her body gave an automatic shiver of excitement and she giggled. “You’ll have to take me with you next time you go swimming. We’ll go diving. Look for some skeletons. Maybe even leave a secret of our own.”

After all, what happened in the water stayed in the water.

[Benjamin Burke]

She talked entirely too much. Benjamin felt a tick start in his jaw as words continued to pour from her mouth and Merlin did she ever stop? Benjamin from a few weeks ago might have found her to be a fascinating conversationalist, might have even appreciated how much she talked because it made up for the fact that he was one of little words, but right now he was anything but appreciative. He wondered if he could use the Silencio charm, and he fingered his wand, seriously considering it, but he figured more harm than good would come of it and decided against it, rolling his eyes instead. Maybe if he made it completely obvious that he didn't want her around - although he had thought that his earlier dismissal had been quite plain, but perhaps she just wasn't good at taking a hint - then she would leave. Then again, he might have to end up verbally telling her to leave him alone, without any sort of beating around the bush. He wouldn't mind. Even if she did feel hurt by his rejection (which was entirely possible because some girls were sensitive, and while "delicate" was the last word he'd use to describe a girl who liked fire and talked about death as if it was something exhilarating, he'd learned not to pass judgment on people he'd just met, because, more often than not, they'll end up surprising you.

Doing it with someone. Benjamin mentally snorted. Either she was trying to make the conversation lighter, or she was doing a very poor job of flirting with him. Benjamin glanced at her over his shoulder, dragging his gaze over her features rather critically. He guessed that she was younger than Imogen, fourteen, maybe, if even that. Perhaps she was one of many who was trying too hard to grow up quickly. Probably she was, he corrected himself, remember the way she'd danced with him just a couple of weeks ago. Had it really been that long ago? It felt like months since he'd been that care-free. Frowning to himself, he turned his gaze back on the lake. And still she talked; this time, he didn't bother holding back a sigh, going along with his plan to continue making it clear that he was very discomfited by her presence. "I was playing Quidditch," he answered her sarcastically. A stupid question deserved a stupid response, he reasoned. "Not much else to do in the lake but swim, is there?" She didn't seem too disturbed by his sarcasm, unfortunately, or perhaps she was ignoring him because she continued speaking anyway and he palmed his face in agitation. That silencing spell was starting to look more and more appealing by the second, but he resisted. Technically - beyond being irritating as hell - Genevieve wasn't causing him any harm, and while Benjamin wasn't up for making friends, he didn't want to go out of his way to upset anyone unless absolutely necessary (although sometimes he couldn't help it; he was positive he'd hurt Rose at least three times in the past week, if only by ignoring her).

"I'm sure there are plenty of terrifying beasts in the lake. I've been fortunate enough to avoid them, but there's probably been an incident or two with a student who went too far and got dragged into the depths. Tragic, but unavoidable." He wasn't entirely sure why he was humoring her when he'd been so bent on making her leave just two seconds ago. Rolling his shoulders uncomfortably, he vowed to maintain his disinterest in her until she went away. While her presence was slightly more tolerable than that of his friends, mostly because he didn't feel as guilty about not wanting her around, it didn't mean he still wanted to endure it. Or that's what he told himself, anyway. "I don't have to do anything," he stated, his tone colder than before. The small part of him that was desperately clinging onto the real Benjamin flinched. He hardly recognised himself anymore. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so rude or standoffish with anyone before. Not anyone who'd given him reason to be this unfriendly, that is. And Gen's only mistake was that she was talking to him. Beyond that, she was a perfectly amicable person. It was all him. But if his buried guilty hadn't managed to get him to act reasonably with his best friends, then it certainly wasn't going to work on Genevieve.

Convinced that he'd been callous enough to scare her off, Benjamin crossed his arms behind his head and let himself fall until his back hit the grass, closing his eyes. Her question about what he'd been doing in the lake came to him again, and, with an unpleasant roll of his stomach, he remembered Jamie, hating himself for forgetting in the first place. Sighing, he sat up and turned to her fully. "Listen, Gen. The reason why I came here in the first place was to be alone. As intriguing as you might think you are, right now? I'm simply not in interested." He paused here and then added a half-hearted, "sorry," in an attempt to lighten the blow. He was done dropping hints. And if she decided to stubbornly stay? Then he'd probably stop feeling any guilt over his attitude. And then walk away himself.

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[vivi]

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This Benjamin was certainly different from the last time they’d spoken. Then, he’d been almost coy, and had certainly returned her flirtations. Now he was being… well… a dick. Vivi narrowed her eyes, and for the first time she felt a twinge of uncertainty. She didn’t know how to deal with this… angry and bitter Benjamin. Any attempt to advance on him to offer “comfort” could result in a shove, which Vivi didn’t really want to happen. His initial greeting had been cool, and now he was downright hateful. Perhaps he’d heard some nasty untruths about her from an unreliable source. Or maybe he was bipolar and she was catching him in his depressive state.

Vivi didn’t know why he was being such an asshole, but she did want to find out. Over the winter holidays, she’d had a handful of meetings with Bellatrix Black and had practiced a little bit of Legilimency. Although her abilities were far from perfect, she had practised enough by now that she could sometimes catch words or images from her weaker-minded classmates. She wished she could use it on Benjamin right now and try to at least get a hint of what was really inside his head, but she knew she couldn’t. Vivi didn’t know wandless magic yet, and muttering the incantation under her breath couldn’t be risked when he was looking right at her. She’d have to wait until she was near enough to him to focus on him without him noticing her, or at least, noticing that she was using Legilimency on him. Since he was a tad more observant than the classmates she’d practiced on, she wasn’t sure how well it would work, but she’d have to do it anyway. It would just… be hard. That only added onto her frustration, and for a moment, she wanted to hit him.

She didn’t, though. Instead, Vivi summoned up as many tears as she could and pouted out her bottom lip a little. Crying had worked wonders for her in the past. Fleeing in tears, however fake on her part, had often made the person from whom she ran feel like the “bad guy” and do whatever he could to apologise to her. Benjamin seemed like the sort of bloke to hate making girls cry, especially girls who had done nothing wrong. “I just thought you looked… I…” She let her sentence hang for a moment before inhaling rapidly, as if to quell tears, but it didn’t work. Letting out a sob, she turned on her heel and ran back toward the castle. It was hard, given that she had to run through snow, but Vivi was quick and light and sure she would make it. Even if she didn’t, that would be okay, since the only reason Benjamin would stop her would be to apologise. Right?

She didn’t hear him behind her, but she didn’t dare look, either. Looking back would be a dead giveaway that she was faking and expected him to follow her and apologise. And then he wouldn’t do that at all, and would probably just get more pissed off, so Vivi resisted the urge. It was getting tiresome to run in the snow, though, so she did slow down to a walk, but kept her pace as brisk as possible. About halfway to the castle, she stopped and chewed her lip. Now she had an issue: go back inside the castle and face the wrath of Filch, or shamefacedly go back to Benjamin until the class ended.

Well, she decided, Benjamin was the reason she was out here in the first place. Squaring her jaw, she turned and headed back, this time considerably more upset than before. Keeping up the pretense that he’d made her cry, she wiped at her eyes and sniffled a bit to make it seem like she’d made herself stop. “Filch is looking for me,” she said, her voice thick with tears, “and since following you is the reason I’m out here in the first place, if I get caught, you’re gonna get caught with me.”