NO MORE A PRETENDER~ {The Lestrange Daughter #3}

𝟏𝟓. Meriton

"...and than Chetan tripped over the tree root, rolled down the hill and landed right in the water! It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen!" Ben beamed, recalling a story from over the summer. It seemed, despite the ongoing war, he'd somehow managed to still have a good time. "He crawled out, dripping wet, ready to kick my butt but he slipped in the mud and went right back into the water!"

Leah and Blaze laughed, Liam and Draco snickered, Valentine sat in silence. 

She glanced at her friends' faces from the corner of her eye. They were in a rather good mood today considering that most days Draco was utterly miserable and Leah riddled with anxiety. Benjamin's jolliness tended to be infectious but it was only morning so far. Once classes started and they had to be stuck in a room with Amycus for an hour, she wouldn't be surprised if they turned back to their miserable, anxious selves. 

It was moments like these when she hoped with what hope she had left to give, that Benjamin was exactly as he appeared. Friendly, considerate and bubbly. He liked cats and the colour purple and hanging out with his friends whom he seemed to have all over the place. She hoped that the only connection he had to Selena Benson's schemes was an unfortunate relation. She hoped that he would be different from just about everything else in her life because often the more she hoped, the more wrong she was.

"He must have been mad." Said Blaze. 

"Oh, he was," Benjamin nodded. "almost drowned me as well."

"Ah, the abandon of youth." Liam sighed wistfully.

"You don't need to be young to drown." Draco scoffed.

"Not with your suicidal tendencies." Liam shot back. 

Leah and Blaze laughed at that, drawing looks from the other students. It had always been commonplace for people to stare but this was different. Many of the students seemed disturbed and offended that the general silence was being broken. Like this was no time for jokes, especially from the villains of their own lives. Valentine didn't wholeheartedly disagree. She just wished they could have known how much her friends would have done to take everything back and stop this war from happening.

She took a bite from her toast and cast a glance over the should. She noticed that Ginny was gone a while ago because she'd grown so used to ignoring her glares across the Great Hall, but one girl unaccounted for wasn't a reason to take much more notice than that. But now she saw that Neville and Seamus were as well. 

Then Lavender Brown, the Patil's and Colin Creevy too. Her eyes scanned the rest of the hall. Luna Lovegood and Cho Chang were both missing from the Ravenclaw table. There was only one thing all these students had in common. They were all members of Dumbledore's Army. And for them all to be absent from breakfast at the same time? 

"What are you looking at, Val?" Asked Benjamin.

She turned back to the others.

"Nothing that concerns you."

"That's Val speak for 'I was just glaring in general disdain, don't mind me'." Blaze explained.

"Ohhhhh." Benjamin nodded in understanding. "That's cool. Hey, you guy's want to see this picture I drew in Charms of a donkey in a ball gown?"

"Yes!" Leah nearly leapt out of her seat in excitement. 

"No, thanks." Draco diverted his gaze to Liam. "I've had more than enough artistry." 

"You need to get over that, man." Said Liam. "I told you before I started that drawing isn't in my skill set."

Valentine rolled her eyes, once more tuning out of the conversation.