black and white ✰ g.w.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

In the weeks leading up to the Yule Ball, Angelina and Alicia were much like the other students; all they ever wanted to talk about was the upcoming dance.

"Nikola asked me as soon as he heard," Alicia was saying. "It was so sweet. I mean, his accent is so thick I could hardly understand what he was saying, but I got the gist. Maybe Fred and George are just waiting for you to ask them. They're odd like that."

"If that's the case," said Angelina, "then Fred will be without a date."

Alicia rolled her eyes. "What are you thinking, Liv?"

"If George wanted me to go to the ball with him, he'd ask," Olivia said.

"So what? You're just gonna die alone with your plants and your cats?"

"Not my cats. I wouldn't want them to be sad."

"What about George?"

"Well, I wouldn't want him to be sad either."

"Look, there are still weeks left until the ball," Angelina said. "Just because everyone else is rushing it doesn't mean the twins feel the need to ask us right away."

While patrolling the corridors one day, Olivia encountered her cousin Faustus. He was also on his prefect duties since he had been made one for Slytherin House at the start of the year.

"Long time, no see," Olivia greeted him.

"Yeah, you too," Faustus said. "How long's it been? Three months?"

"I guess so. This year has been crazy already."

"You're telling me. They're already assigning extra homework to prepare us for the O.W.L.s. It's mad, the amount of homework I've been getting. I mean, they've been doing this since last year, but it's worse this year. I get we've got the O.W.L.s this year, but they're not until June! Makes me kind of glad we don't have Quidditch so I can keep up with it all."

"Yeah, I suppose I should've warned you about that. Better get used to it now, though. It only gets worse from here."

"Joy. Hope someone else gets the burden of making captain then."

"They give you a choice, you know. But I think you should. You'd be great."

"Thanks, but I don't think I'd be very efficient. My team, and my entire House for that matter, don't respect me like yours respect you."

"I don't see why not. You're the best on that team, in my opinion."

"And that's the only reason Flint let me on. Otherwise, he would've gladly accepted someone else."

"But he's gone now."

"Exactly. He's gone and I'm not sure what I'm gonna do."

Olivia felt bad for Faustus. He wasn't all that different from them, but since most of his Housemates' parents were Death Eaters (who acted like former Death Eaters), they distrusted him. Faustus's parents, Regulus and Anastasia, had been Death Eaters as well, but they defected, which got them killed just after Faustus was born. They were also well aware that his grandfather and some of his other relatives were Aurors, and they didn't want their parents thrown into Azkaban. Those whose parents hadn't gone over to the Dark Side didn't see a problem with Faustus, but those people were very few in number. As for people from other Houses, if they weren't related to Faustus, they didn't like him, simply because he was a Slytherin.