Call It Home - Prinxiety [COMPLETED]

Chapter Fifteen: Asking Advice

Virgil sat slumped at one of the large banquet tables in the Great Hall. It was early on a Saturday and he had no classes. However, some of the members of their friend group had plans or extra curricular activities going on. 

For example, Roman was sitting with his Quidditch team, eating breakfast before they began rigorously training for next year's season. Val was sat with them too and despite Virgil's less than ideal answer to the question of a date, he seemed to be doing fine. He still treated the house-less student with just as much kindness and respect as he had before. He was smiling as Roman told a story, causing the team to laugh. 

Val looked up and met his eyes by mistake. Virgil panicked for a moment, but the Gryffindor tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows. 'Are you okay?' he mouthed across the room. He glanced at Roman meaningful and looked back at him; another silent question.

The darkly dressed boy nodded, trying to shake off the feelings of unease that were hovering over him. Val looked unconvinced but gave him a small nod and focused back on his teammates.

He sunk back into his thoughts, feeling depressed for reasons he couldn't explain. He didn't want to be alone, but also felt no desire to seek out any of his friends. He was sure Patton or Emile would listen to him if he wanted to talk, but the thought of opening up about his feelings toward Roman was terrifying him.

Though he planned not to seek them out, fate seemed to have a different opinion. The two people he happened to be thinking about sat down with him. "Hey Virge!" the Hufflepuff greeted.

"Uh, hey, what are you guys doing here?" he asked.

"You looked like you needed company," Emile said, looking him up and down. He frowned and pushed his glasses up. "You also look like something's on your mind. We're great listeners if you'd like to talk."

Patton nodded. "Oh yes, and Emile gives great advice!"

Virgil sighed and thought the offer over. "You're going to keep asking me about it until I do, aren't you?" he questioned knowingly. They both looked away innocently, shrugging. He sighed again and nodded. "Fine... I'll tell you what's going on, but you're not allowed to tell anyone else about this, okay?"

"You have my word, I won't share anything," Emile reassured him.

"Yes! I promise too! I won't tell anyone," the Hufflepuff agreed. 

He looked between the two and took a deep breath. "Okay... when I first joined your friend group, I... developed an interest in two people in it," Virgil began. They both gasped comedically and looked incredibly intrigued, like two girls being told juicy gossip. He rolled his eyes. "I'm being serious and this is difficult for me to talk about."

"Right, we're sorry," the Ravenclaw apologized. They both looked guilty.

"It's fine, whatever," he mumbled. "Anyway, the two people... I liked Val and... Roman..."

They both gasped louder, making him shush the two. Patton leaned forward with a beaming grin. "Oh my gosh, really?! That's so cute!" he gushed. "Oh my gosh, I don't know who you would look cuter with!"

"While I see why you're excited, Pat, we should probably focus on the issue," Emile pointed out, clearly fighting a grin of his own. "So Virgil, what's happened since developing these feelings?"

"Well, I've been kinda oblivious to them myself," Virgil admitted. "I didn't realize I felt the way I did until about a week ago, at the party for Gryffindor's championship victory. Roman's brother... he came over to me and started blabbering about how his brother was a romantic and determined, and I didn't realize what he was saying at first. After some thought, it clicked. I think Roman likes me... romantically..."

Patton looked less surprised than Emile. "You didn't hear this from me, but Roman was really jealous of Val when you first joined the group," he whispered across the table. "I wouldn't be surprised if he does have feelings for you, even if he doesn't realize it himself."

"Yeah, so that's a thing... but that's not all that happened at the party," he continued, swallowing. "Val asked me out on a date."

"No way," the Ravenclaw said, face lined with shock. "Really?"

He nodded as Patton squealed a little and grabbed his arm. "What did you say?! What did you say?!" 

"I didn't get to say anything," Virgil explained. "I... I was distracted by the fact that Roman liked me, I was staring at him from across the room... Val noticed that I was looking at him and read my mind... he said he understood and that it was fine, but why do I feel so guilty then?"

"Well, do you have feelings for Val?" Emile asked him seriously. 

He grew quiet as he took in the question. He wasn't really sure anymore. He'd felt flustered around him, he was touched whenever he was kind to him, and he wanted to be around him more. Virgil swallowed. "I don't know... I thought I did but..."

"But you were going to say no anyway, weren't you?" Emile replied, adjusting his brown sweater a little. 

"I don't want to lead him on," Virgil explained."I don't think- even if I do have romantic feelings for Val, I think what I feel for Roman is stronger, and it wouldn't be fair to go on dates with Val if I'm secretly in love with Roman behind his back."

Patton gasped softly, looking at him in a new light all of a sudden. He felt self conscious. "What?"

"I think you answered your own question Virge," he said with a bright smile. "This whole time you've been using the term 'feelings' to describe your attraction to Val and Roman... but you switched to saying 'love' when you started talking about only your feelings for Roman."

"He's right," the boy beside him replied. "You distinctly only described yourself as being 'in love' with Roman."

Virgil swallowed as a blush rose into his cheeks. "So what do I do now?"

They both grinned across the table at him. "You ask Roman out on a date, of course!"