Human Design | Sirius Black

xiv. Valentine Blues

EVEN THOUGH HOGWARTS tended to go all out for any holiday season and Valentine's Day was no exception even when it fell onto a Monday. The bannisters of the marble staircases had been decorated with red and pink tinsel with hearts, fairies shone like tiny lights on top of large rose bushes probably grown by Hagrid that had taken the spots where Christmas trees had stood in winter, strings of hearts hung from archways, and harp music could be heard in the corridors though it had no apparent source. 

As the final embellishment, Peeves flew around delivering love poems of his own either by blaring them at the top of his lungs or dropping notes to students (roses are red, violets are blue, I thought a troll was ugly, but then I saw you; shall I compare thee to your mother's cunt?...; to all the quills I've lost before; you are milk tea but I am lactose intolerant, etcetera).

And everybody knew it wouldn't be Valentine's Day if James Potter didn't get up on the bench at dinner to declare his love for Lily Evans in front of the whole school with some terrible poem (or Merlin forbid, song, as he had attempted the year before). There was a unanimous groan amongst the people around Reece when James got up (oi! Everyone). "Here comes Potter," said Joshua, letting his face fall into his hand. "Every fucking year, like fucking clockwork. Evans isn't interested you daft cunt, gue te folle un pez."

"Fucking menaces, him and his friends," Connor said, glancing over his shoulder to look at the boy for a moment, rolling his eyes as he returned to his dinner.

"At least you don't have to go to class with them," said Kevin, evidently thinking that they didn't really have the right to complain. "They can't go five minutes without making a scene, like fuck off some of us are trying to learn here, nobody likes you."

"I just feel bad for Evans, to be honest; she's had to deal with harassment for the last five years," Alex said. "Mate really can't take a hint." Reece's eyes moved to find Lily at the table. She was sitting beside Mary McDonald with her face buried in her hands probably waiting eagerly for it to just be over.

Then he stuffed the rest of his food in his mouth and swallowed it without chewing properly. "Let's get to the library before Potter kills off all our brain cells." He was the first to stand up though all the others were quick behind him, none of them particularly eager to listen to James's infinite declarations of love.

"Do you reckon they'll ever go out?" Reece asked as they headed toward the library, a spark of curiosity lighting in him abruptly and it confused him so much that he forgot to listen to their answers; he wasn't ever interested in people's dating lives so why should he care about this?

Kevin shook his head. "Evans is far too stuck up for that. She's decided to hate him and I don't see her ever changing her mind," he said, then added, "Not that I blame her; Potter's a wanker."

Josh was picking up a few of Peeve's cards from the floor that had been littered into the corridors throughout the day. "Look, here's a Valentine's Day card addressed to you Kevin, probably from Nova," he said as he opened one up. "I keep thinking about how fit you are in your slacks, an image glued to my eyelid, your muscles like a statue made of brass. If only you could've made me climax, but you never did, 'cause you're such a selfish ass." His raucous laughter barely had the time to ring out of him before Kevin had jumped on his back, wrestling the card out of his hands and ripping it up before smacking him repeatedly on the shoulders (– "That was one fucking time" with a hastily added "one time you know of").

"I've got a Valentine's card, a real one" sniggered Alex.

Reece didn't believe him for a second because his voice was hardly holding back a laugh and his expression was far too amused for him not to be lying. "Yeah, who from?" he asked with scepticism laced into each syllable.