PRETENDING TO LIVE~ {The Lestrange Daughter #2}

11. Realisations

Valentine watched the snow crunch under the soles of her boots as she walked up the steps of the owlery. She'd sent out her letter to Haley well over a week ago now and in all the fuss over the Yule Ball had almost forgotten all about it. Having Darcy deliver it to her on mail day in front of the entire school was far too risky especially with how nosey Draco and Leah could be. And this gave her an excuse to get out of the castle, even for just a little while.

She entered the owlery, ignoring the smell of bird droppings and the owls that eyed her. Darcy was perched right in the centre as usual. With his size, he never would have fit in the wall cubbies with the others. She could remember how huge he'd seemed to her when she was a small child, even now, his wingspan was greater than her own height, despite her recent growth spurt.

"Hi there." Valentine greeted as she approached. She stroked the back of his neck gently as she reached in underneath it and grabbed the envelope he'd been sitting on.

He gave her a look that said 'what am I? A dog?'.

Valentine rolled her eyes and removed her hand. Contrary to her friend's beliefs, she wasn't the only person Darcy listened to. Darcy didn't listen to anyone unless he chose to. He had a complete and utter mind of his own, if he suddenly had the urge to maul her? Well. He would. She had never tried to tame him, she was just lucky to have formed a mutual respect with him and so she hadn't been screeched at or scratched since she was young. Draco and Leah had never been so lucky. This all worked on a 'if he feels like it' basis. It wasn't the most ideal situation but what more could you expect from the owl of a Death Eater.

She ripped open the envelope and unfolded the letter. She realised that she had never seen Haley's handwriting before, even in all the years that she'd know her. It was nothing fancy, just neat and clean printing.

Valentine quickly scanned over the words, frowned and did so again. She cursed.

Haley had gone to the store that Snape had given her and been denied access altogether. Apparently, the store owner said that she clearly didn't belong here and probably wouldn't be worth any unnecessary trouble she might cause. Valentine could see where the maid's hands had trembled at the end.

This meant she would have to collect it herself.

"Damn it." She hissed, clenching the letter in her fist.

This is all that's standing between me and getting this stupid thing out of my head. I get this done, I can cross one of the many problems off my list. I can live past fourteen. I can finish my mission. I'm not about to let some shifty black marketer get in the way of things.

"How the hell am I supposed to get off school grounds?" Valentine sighed and shoved the letter into her pocket. "And with this freaking Yule Ball, we won't be going back to the manor until after the Christmas break. Damn it."

I'll have to speak to Dumbledore about this tonight.

-----Pretending To Live-----

Meriton had been staring at Liam since class started and Valentine was beginning to wonder what the hell his problem was. Meriton usually kept to himself and seemed to have no problem with anyone let alone Liam, so what was the one-sided staring contest about?

Herbology was Liam's best class and so he was paying more attention to Professor Sprout's lecture on how to care for a Flitterbloom plant rather than where Meriton was looking. But since Valentine had noticed, she couldn't stop noticing. She'd even checked at one point to see if Liam had food on his face or in his teeth. She might have been paying attention to the lesson as well if Flitterblooms were nothing but harmless house plants.