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

𝟐𝟓. Retribution

The dream Valentine woke from was hazy. She'd used some of the sleeping potions Snape had given her and damn was that stuff potent. She'd only used it twice before since he'd given it to her as she didn't want to waste it or have it become a reliance. Unfortunately for her, it seemed to be the only thing that made her sleep through the night and wake feeling fully rested. 

She stretched as she sat up, glancing over at Leah's bed before remembering that it was empty. She knew it had to be later than she usually woke as, despite the potion, she'd still hadn't gone to bed until near midnight. 

I probably missed breakfast...

She rubbed at her face, pulling back the covers and getting up. She could still feel the vague images and faint emotions from the dream fading away.

It was probably just some horribly traumatic scene anyway. What else is new?

She got dressed at an easy pace, with no Leah to avoid she didn't feel the need to get out of the way as soon as possible. Instead, she actually looked through her clothes before choosing unlike how she would typically grab the first thing she saw. It was all black at the end of the day and even if something didn't match quite right, it wasn't as though someone was going to point it out. Not unless they had a death wish. 

So, she pulled on her boots and headed downstairs, expecting to find an empty common room and at first, it seemed like it was.

Then Benjamin's head popped up from the right-hand side of her vision with a smile.

"Good morning. You usually don't sleep in." He had Tulip slung over his shoulders lazily, leaving ginger fur on his purple sweater. "It's almost half-past ten." 

"Funny how that happens when I don't have anyone to wake me up." She muttered. 

"Yeah, your room must be so quiet without, Leah." He laughed.

"That's an understatement. Now, is there a reason you're here and not bothering someone else?"

"Oh!" Benjamin suddenly remembered something. He dug one hand into his pocket. "You missed breakfast so I grabbed this." He pulled out a red apple wrapped in a handkerchief. "I know it's not much but it should keep you going until lunch, right?" 

Valentine stared at it for a moment.

"I promise it's clean!" Benjamin nodded earnestly. "I just didn't want you to have nothing at all. My dad says that not having breakfast can seriously mess up your day."

Hmm...Somehow I don't think eating an apple is going to ensure I have a good day...

Sighing, she took it from him regardless. There wasn't much point in arguing when waiting until lunch wasn't very appealing to her either. She rubbed at the surface with the handkerchief before handing it back and taking a bite. 

"Happy now?" She asked as though he had been forcing it upon her. "Why are you still standing there?"

"Well, I was waiting for you-"

"Obviously."

"Right. Yeah, obviously. I was waiting for you to come down so I could give you the apple and I had a great idea!"

"Do you now?" Valentine arched brow.

"Yeah so, I was talking to Anthony right- oh, he's the fifth year Hufflepuff, by the way, you know, Bradley's big brother?- Anyway, we were talking last night and he said that this is his third year staying at Hogwarts over Christmas because- and this made me so sad- his family is poor and they can't always afford to have them at home. And he was telling me about the other times he's stayed and that this one year he and another student borrowed someone elses ice skates and they went skating on the Black Lake!"