Hogwarts Harem

Mask

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit. 

Salvatore's resolve to demand answers from Victoire as he approached her in the Great Hall. Dinner was practically over, but he, Link, and Kit had eaten many snacks prepared for them by Knobbles within the kitchen. He noticed she was sitting with her muggleborn friend - was her name Jane, or something? And suddenly he felt very foolish. He wasn't used to drinking, and he felt his head swimming with horrible ideas as he stood stupidly in front of Victoire without saying a word.

"Sal?" Vic said tentatively, noticing his normally shrewd, perceptive eyes looking rather glazed over. 

"Hi," he answered lamely. 

"Are you alright? Come sit with us," she offered, and her friend - Janet? - scooted to make room for him.

"No," he said, glancing nervously at the Slytherin table. He knew he was in hot water with them already for having zero enthusiasm for torturing muggleborns and doing their parents' bidding. He couldn't be seen hanging out with Victoire and her muggleborn friend without having to answer for it later.

"Can I...can we go somewhere to talk in private?" he asked. Jenna (?!) gave Victoire an encouraging look as if to tell her she didn't mind if Vic abandoned her. Vic bit her lip and followed Salvatore, and in his woozy state he gave...(Jillian?) a nod of thanks for letting him steal her away. She offered a small, tentative smile and his brows pinched as he led Vic to the Room of Requirement. 

"Are you alright, Sal? I'm not sure what Kit planned for you tonight but I know that he was up to something," she questioned lightly.

"He sent a house-elf to fucking kidnap me and Link in the Kitchens."

"What?!"

"Yeah."

"Oh my god...then what happened?"

Salvatore shifted his weight onto his other leg, looking for all the world like he didn't know himself what followed that event. "Whatever. I escaped."

Victoire raised her eyebrow at that but didn't press him for details. She suspected that things had to have gone well, considering Salvatore wasn't covered in anyone else's blood, nor his own.

"Victoire..." he started, reaching towards her. She fell into his arms, knowing intuitively how desperately he needed her touch. She needed to feel him, too. She ached for him and yearned for him whenever they were about, just like she did for Link, Kit, and Teddy. It was more than a bodily need - in her four kings' presence her own soul felt at home. It was an ease she could never find words important enough to describe while with them. And she knew Sal must've been feeling the same.

"Fuck, Victoire. I came here because I wanted to be angry with you and make you choose between me and those two fuckwits."

"Don't call them that," Victoire frowned, stepping away from him.

Salvatore just stared at her for a long moment. "What do you want from me, Victoire?"

She looked shaken by that question. "I want you."

"How could you want all four of us the same? You have to choose at some point."

She shook her head, rejecting his pronouncement. "Nature chose all four of you for me. I want all of you the same - I want all of you every fibre of my being."

"What do you mean, nature?" he asked, confused by her word choice. She took a deep breath in and explained everything to him. He conjured himself a sofa to sit down on as he processed all she'd told him. Victoire looked into Sal's eyes with hope and vulnerability. She didn't know how he'd react, and had been holding off on doing so because she feared his reaction. But he sat there, not meeting her eye, absorbing all she'd said in silence. After what felt like ages, she begged him to tell her what was on her mind.

"How could that be possible? How could you have two Veela chosen soulmates and still want me?"

"I don't know, Sal. But this pull I feel towards you...don't you feel it for me, too? What other explanation could there be besides you being my soulmate as well?"

Part of him wanted to deny it. He wanted to hurt her like he felt hurt -  to deny all he felt for her and reject her. It would hurt him more than it could ever hurt her to do so. Victoire had been the one light in his life since she'd entered it. On the days when he'd see her in Potions class, their repartee and hot and cold relationship had made him feel for the first time in possibly all his life.  She'd given him something to look forward to, to strive for. He'd thought of himself as no more than an unfeeling weapon, honed by his parents to be violent and unforgiving. But since Victoire had stood up to him that very first day; refused to be intimidated by the mask he'd worn for so long; it made him want to be so much more. He'd done foolish, reckless things that would threaten his own safety if his parents and colleagues ever found about it; all in the name of being a better man. One that he foolishly, secretly hoped might be worthy of her. 

But he couldn't find it within himself to say as much to her right now. The fact of her being bound to Link and Kit as her soulmates - as her equals - destroyed any hopes he had of them possibly ending up together. How could he be her equal? He was a monster, not even fit to kiss and grovel at her feet. All of these emotions were foreign to him, and he felt his cold mask of indifference slamming down over him now. He had to protect himself, just like he did when he was child. He couldn't let anyone see him hurting. There could be no greater shame than to reveal his weaknesses. 

"I don't have a soul, baby. So it's impossible for mine to belong to you. If Kit and Link are fine being made cuckolds by you, then so be it. But I'm either all yours, or nothing. It's black, or its white. So I suggest you finally take my advice, and leave me the fuck alone."

With that, he left the Room of Requirement, and ignored when Victoire called out for him in a voice that told him he'd successfully broken her heart. 

He only let the mask slip once he was alone, and he found he didn't recognize who he was without it.