Venom & Virtue

chapter 17

I stumbled down the old steps, reaching the archway into the busy common room as I pulled my gloves on.

Adrian and Terence were already waiting for me, chatting between themselves whilst I approached.

I inspected Adrian's attire as I neared; he was fully dressed in his quidditch robes, leather knee pads and all, ready for war.

It was the first match of the term for our house, we were due to play Ravenclaw.

It was supposed to be quite a tactical game, I'd been informed that they thrived upon designing their own plays, which meant the Slytherins were in for a mentally exhausting game.

"Morning," I adjusted my hat as I greeted them, "are you ready for the day?"

I directed my question to Adrian, knowing he'd been nervous the night before.

I suspected his concerns weren't helped by the fact that he was going to have to be on Draco's team.

They'd blatantly ignored one another after the conflict, and in a way, I was glad.

What happened in London had nearly been a disaster, and I was keen to avoid a repeat of the situation.

We'd debated telling Violetta and Terence about what had occurred, but decided it wasn't worth the issues it would cause.

Instincts told us that she would likely storm up to her brother in the middle of dinner, causing a scene by confronting him about his behaviour.

I, particularly, had been relieved when we'd agreed not to broach the subject with anyone else. It would have meant explaining why I was standing alone with Draco in the first place, a question Adrian still pondered on, and one that I had no interest in answering.

The moment amidst the garden felt private somehow, both entirely confusing and intimate. Plus, I was sure he wouldn't appreciate me sharing the details of his gentle inspection of my neck.

There was one fact I had been unshakeably curious about though: what he was going to say before we were interrupted.

"I feel okay about it, I think we can win this one," Adrian replied, interrupting my thoughts.

I nodded, glancing at the clock on the wall, "where's Violetta? We'll be late if we wait much longer."

"She said something last night about being busy, she didn't seem sure if she was going to come," Terence replied.

"Is she okay?" I frowned.

"I don't know, she hasn't been around that much lately, it's hard to tell."

It was a good point, she had been pretty absent in recent times; she'd stopped asking me to edit her memoir as often, and rarely sat with us in the evenings, even when she did, she appeared blatantly distracted over something.

"I'll go check on her, maybe if I insist, she'll join us," I mused, "but you guys go ahead, Adrian can't be late."

"Are you sure? We can wait a little longer," he offered.

"No no, don't worry. We'll catch up," I reassured, waving them off as they headed out of the common room with the rest of the students.

I turned around, walking back up the stairs I'd just come down.

It was a few minutes stroll to Violetta's room; her luxury dorm had been added onto the castle as an extension, which had placed it at the very end of all the girl's bedrooms.

Once I reached the familiar door, I didn't bother to knock as I twisted the handle and opened it.

But when I saw the sight before me, I regretted my decision not to stick to the formality.