PRETENDING TO LIVE~ {The Lestrange Daughter #2}

𝟓𝟔. Cabinet

Valentine turned the page of her book and scanned the words, although, in actuality, she wasn't absorbing anything she read.

She listened to birds nesting somewhere on the Lovat Manor's grounds and pretended not to hear her friends conversation.

Draco, Leah, Blaze, Liam and herself sat out in the pavilion not far from the house itself but hidden by the tall trees and bushes that lined the back exit. It was a place that Valentine, Draco, and Leah had often used it as a starting point in their games or an optimal place to have afternoon tea. Ivy grew and wound itself around the beams and if you were to look up through the glass ceiling, you'd see the thick mat of ivy that spread across it, only letting in the smallest streaks of sunlight.

It had been Leah's idea of course. A last-minute idea at eleven PM. She rushed to send the owls out and convince Valentine and Draco that they had no choice before the sun rose.

Valentine, in particular, couldn't protest. She had been attacked by Rodolphus only hours before Leah had been struck with the idea and her throat still ached. She kept her voice low and the talking to a minimum so it was unlikely that anyone would notice the rasp twisted in with her words.

Then Leah had told Valentine in secret right before they left that morning for Lovat Manor, that she hoped bringing everyone together would fix something, maybe help Draco in some way.

It made her feel like she wasn't protecting Draco alone, and she wasn't.

"Leah, stop eating so fast." Blaze scolded her as she shoved two biscuits in her mouth at once.

"But 'heir nummy." Leah's words were severely muffled through her mouthful.

"And don't talk with your mouthful. It's gross." Blaze threw a napkin at her. "When you choke to death, I'm not going to help you."

Leah swallowed and shot him a droll look.

"So, I guess we're going to completely ignore the food gobbling monster you become when it's Halloween?"

"That's different."

"What? How?"

"It's Halloween!" Blaze exclaimed as if that explained everything. "If I die choking on candy then that's how I go."

"Hey!" Leah object. "That's so not fair. You don't get a free pass every year to die on me!"

"Well, you don't get to die on me ever!"

"And why the hell not!"

"Cause I don't actually want you to die, dumbass!"

"This is adorable and all," Draco interrupted tersely, looking up from the heavy book he and Liam were pouring over. "but please shut the hell. Some of us are actually trying to do something important."

Usually, the two of them would have grumbled or turned their tormenting to Draco instead, but they understood the situation. Liam hadn't shown up with this particular book for fun and games and they knew that. For all their ridiculousness, they understood and in a lot of ways, they were all in the same boat.

Valentine had noticed the similarities between her cousin, Liam and Blaze the moment she saw them.

Liam looked exhausted. It wasn't that he had dark bags under his eyes or looked like he was struggling to stay awake. He just seemed to be more emotionally exhausted than anything.

Valentine had never heard him sigh so much in only a few hours. And she certainly had never seen him put so much effort into a greeting smile.

Blaze, on the other hand, had this perpetually worried expression. His brows seemed creased even when they weren't. He was always alert and stiff shouldered like he would be attacked at any moment.