the kiss list, adrian pucey
𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟐

chapter twenty-two
number 20: TERRENCE HIGGS

✧ ━━━ · ✦ · ━━━ ✧

BIANCA HAD NO IDEA HOW THE TIME HAD flown. All those minutes that had passed like they were nothing, had gathered into hours until the party had died down to only a few Slytherin boys and the odd Hufflepuff, and the sun was well on its way up.

Despite the mass of time spent in a corner of the kitchens, being waited on by the house elves that inhabited the castle, there were many a silence. Just a few moments here and then where the echoes of a dish clanking in the sink or even just a drop of water from a tap was the only sound being made. Another one of those had fallen. A comfortable silence, that didn't feel out of place at all.

"So, how do you know him?" Adrian spoke, breaking the lull that had peacefully fallen.

"Know who?" Bianca replied. Had Adrian had her full and undivided attention, the person he was referring to, would have come as something obvious. But that was if. Bianca was biting the tip of the nail on her thumb, staring into a cobweb in the smallest cranny where the cold, stone floor met the cold, stone wall.

Adrian looked up towards her and watched as the nail between her teeth, crack under the pressure. She noticed his eyes fall on her, but was in too much of a daze, she didn't return and look at him as well. "Preece."

"Oh, right," she replied, allowing her eyes to linger just a second longer, and then draw away from the crack in the stone, to look at him. She looked away not shortly after, to focus on the plastic wrapper she was fiddling with. "Old friend." Bianca shrugged.

This wasn't exactly the answer Adrian was hoping for. He didn't expect nor want such a vague reply. "That it?" he prompted.

"Didn't know you wanted any more information," Bianca said, discarding the wrapper and finally meeting his gaze. "Or are you just worried I'll kiss him before you have time to catch your breath?" she smirked.

Adrian chuckled very dryly, his head relaxing into a shake. "I asked, didn't I?"

"Doesn't mean you actually want an answer," she replied smugly.

Adrian wasn't sure if he wanted an answer either. He thought that he might have even preferred it if she lied about it, or better yet, like she had done, say nothing much at all.

It's safe to say that Adrian's confidence about the bet he had put in place had deteriorated rapidly. She still had three solid months to do it all, and as much as he didn't want to admit it, Adrian was beginning to think she could actually do it. He didn't at first, of course, because why would he have proposed it in the first place?

If you had tried to put Bianca Larsson, alone in the Kitchens at four o'clock in the morning, with nothing but a few chocolates and cakes, along with Adrian Pucey after a very eventful party a few months ago, she would have hexed you and walked away without another word. And yet, she was in that exact situation, and no one had been hexed, and there was nothing but peace and stillness in the Kitchens.

That was until the painting of the fruit bowl at the entrance blast open with a large crash against the wall, and in strode four very drunk boys, bottles still in hand, making such a racket, that that same tranquility would never be restored while they remained.

"Adrian!" Graham Montague's voice boomed onto the walls, startling the elves, as he stumbled over to the corner that Bianca and the Slytherin boy were comfortably sat. He clumsily slumped beside Adrian, very almost smashing his head against the wall.

"What you doin' down 'ere?" Marcus Flint wailed, doing the same and making sure he was relaxed, by sitting down, leaning up against a table, besides Graham.

"Hungry," Adrian shrugged.

"What bout you, Brianna?" Cassius Warrington had practically thrown himself to the floor, almost collapsed onto Bianca, before he collected himself, sat up straight, and playfully nudged her a few times in the side. Not to mention getting her name wrong in the process.

Bianca sighed, already missing the peace and quiet that had practically been ripped away by four teenage boys, too drunk to get her name right. "Couldn't sleep," she said, as casually as she could. She didn't see the point in acting all frustrated, as much as she wanted to tell them to piss off. "Talking about sleep," she looked over at Adrian, "I'm gonna retire."

Bianca hadn't planned on staying that much longer anyway. Her only goal was to pass some time in hopes she would eventually grow tired. She had just got lost in conversation and free toffees. The arrival of four irritating boys just gave her another reason to leave.

Terrence Higgs was quick to groggily stop her just as she stood up, "Hey, don't go. Stay." he said, drunkenly.

"It's four o'clock in the morning, and you're all too drunk to recollect my name. I'm good," Bianca said, nodding her head, bitterly.

"Oh, that's just Cass. He slurs his words when he's wasted." Terrence's arm flopped in the direction of Cassius, as if, if he weren't drunk, he would be pointing at the boy. But because he could barely see straight, it was a weak attempt at a sort of gesture in that direction.

Bianca was still stood, almost at the center of the circle they had formed. Adrian was amused watching her interact with his closest friends, in their worst state. A drunken state that he was used to.

"But there's no "R" sound in Bianca..." she trailed off, sighing, before retreating back to her original seat, seeing no use in arguing. She hadn't even yawned yet anyway.

"W-we'll, we'll play a game," Terrence's voice reeked of alcohol, and the stench more or less pushed Bianca further back into her seat.

"Where's Miles?" Adrian asked ignoring Higgs' drunken suggestion. He had his legs now crossed out in front of him, completely unfazed by the four new arrivals, that were drunk beyond average.

"Went to bed like two hours ago," Graham stumbled on his words. "Said some shit about a test."

Miles Bletchley was about the only other boy in their year that Bianca could stand. She admired how he had responsibly returned to his dorm from a party, purely so he would be healthy and prepared for a test he had later on the same day. Bianca was just glad they didn't share a Herbology class because she would not be ready.

"What 'bout that game, ey?" Terrence tried again.

Bianca was beginning to wonder what teenage boys did in their free time. She knew that they were all a part of the Slytherin Quidditch team, but surely they did more than drink at parties, and play futile games? At this point, Bianca was almost worried.

"Yeah, alrigh'," Marcus agreed, sipping on his beer again.

Cassius and Graham made an inaudible agreement with their bottles and glass of Firewhiskey, currently too busy in the midst of drinking to talk.

Bianca didn't know whether she wanted to play this or not, nor did she know whether she was included. But Adrian practically agreed for her, with an enthusiastic nod to the other four boys. Bianca, however, felt slightly outnumbered. It was five to one, and she wasn't sure whatever the game was, whether she wanted to take her chances.

"What about a classic?" Terrence smirked, "Never have I ever."

Bianca had never wanted more than to slap that stupid sneer off of Terrence Higgs' face until she realized what could come of a stupid game like this one. Since the last time she checked, Graham and Terrence were still two uncrossed names on her very important kiss list.

Bianca had only ever played "never have I ever" once. She was ten. And so was the rest of the group. From what she had learned so far about these five boys, is that teenagers play the game a lot differently than children.

"I'll start," Terrence spoke again, after a few enthusiastic compliances from the other three boys. Adrian had since then taken the bottle of Firewhiskey out of Graham's hand, grabbed a glass from a nearby shelf, and served Bianca a glass. She was right, teenage "never have I ever" was already tonnes different to the child version. There was certainly no drinking involved when she was ten.

The five boys had played the game of "never have I ever" quite a few times. Some with other companies and some just as a group. They knew a lot about each other, and not in the same way that girls tell their friends everything because that's all the cutesy and innocent kind of stuff. It's not the same for five teenage boys. They all mostly just wanted a scoop on Bianca. They didn't know a lot about her.

Terrence took a quick second to think, relaxing the arm holding his bottle, into his lap. "We'll start easy: Never have I ever had a one-night stand," he said, followed by a subtle smirk. All five boys took a chug of their bottles and cups, casually, yet Bianca could see the pride in their movements.

Bianca has not had a one-night stand. She did not take a drink.

"Disappointed, but not surprised," Adrian said to her, taunting her with sarcastic sympathy.

Bianca faked a chuckle with a very sarcastic smile, wanting this all to be over already. She didn't know what the object of a game like this was, nor did she know whether there was a winner or loser, but she could already tell, she was not going to come out on top.

"Okay, okay, I'll go," Graham said. "Never have I ever slept with someone on the first date." he dragged out his words, taking another sip of his drink, shortly followed by Cassius and Terrence, then Marcus and Adrian.

Bianca slouched further back onto the wall she was up against, feeling the eyes on her. She knew they were all waiting for her to drink, or at least to say something.

Bianca has not slept with someone on their first date. She did not take a drink.

She offered a shrug, a haste one, in hopes to hurry them onto the next.

But before Cassius got the chance to open his mouth, in burst Lucian Bole, stumbling down the stone steps from the Fruit Bowl Painting, a beer in his hand, a smile on his face.

"Oh Christ, not another one," she muttered under her breath, as the other boys greeted their friend, beckoning him over to their corner. The boy took a seat beside Marcus and was informed of the game

Adrian, however, stayed silent, his legs out in front of him, his back up against the wall. Bianca looked over at him, and by the sight of his expression, she could only assume he had heard her mumbled words. He grinned, and raised his glass a little higher, in playful cheers.

"Okay, never have I ever had sex with more than one person in the same night," Adrian said, excessively more drunk than earlier, watching to see who would drink and who wouldn't. It was only Cassius and Terrence to take a sip this time, followed by a few wolf whistles. Bianca scoffed, wondering how on earth that was something to be proud of.

"No drink for you Bianca?" Lucian smirked. No one had exactly expected her to admit to something like that, because Bianca has not slept with more than one person in the same night and she did not take a drink. All of them just wanted to encourage her to let loose a little more. She had yet to actually drink in response to one of the statements.

"No, because I'm not a scumbag," Bianca said bitterly.

Lucian surrendered his hands, "Hey, don't look at me, have a go at those two." he chuckled, gesturing to Cassius Warrington and Terrence Higgs: the two who had actually drunk.

"Now, now, let's not get aggy." Terrence smirked, "Let's just get Larsson over here to take a drink, ey?"

"How do you suppose we do that, Higgs?" Adrian sneered, "She's not exactly the 'fun type'," he didn't once break eye contact with the girl.

Terrence started, "Never have I ever gone on a date with no intention of paying for anything."

Lucian shrugged, taking a sip, Graham, and Cassius quick to do the same.

Bianca scoffed, "You're kidding right?" she looked around the group, "How do you actually manage to get a girl to go on a date with you?" she asked, almost genuinely curious, with a hint of distaste.

Her eyes landed on Adrian, who offered a shrug and a shake of his head, suggesting he didn't know how they pulled girls either. Bianca felt a smile creep up on her lips.

"It's all apart of the hustle, sweetheart," Cassius smirked.

Bianca sighed, ready for them to continue.

"Okay, Bianca," Marcus said, "Never have I ever had a friend with benefits."

The Gryffindor didn't move, as she watched Adrian, Terrence and Graham all take a swig of their drinks.

Bianca has never had a friend with benefits. She did not take a drink. Instead, Bianca carefully placed her glass out in front of her, and folded her arms, keeping her composure and holding onto any confidence she had left.

"Never have I ever gone on a date just to make someone else jealous." Graham queried.

Bianca had not ever gone on a date just to make someone jealous. She did not take a drink.

      Adrian, however, along with Graham had taken a sip.

Tamsin Applebee. He had tried to 'romance' her as such, so she would be a more difficult target for Bianca to kiss. Unfortunately for him, she became too attached and he still had to avoid her in the halls. He had taken her on one date a little after the initial plan to make her harder to kiss, purely to piss off Bianca. He would consider it trying to make someone jealous, had Bianca actually known about this date.

"Disappointed, but not surprised," Bianca said, looking only at Adrian, slowly nodding her head, mocking him.

The game continued and had now become a hit and answer, sort of like a lightning round, made up of one on ones with Bianca, to see what she would actually drink to.

"Never have I ever slept with someone I wasn't attracted to."

Bianca had never slept with someone period. They did not need to know that. She did not take a drink.

"Never have I ever flirted with someone that was in a relationship."

Bianca had never flirted with someone that was in a relationship. She did not take a drink.

She was beginning to get disgusted by the number of times they had each drunken to.

"Okay, okay, okay," Lucian said, "Never have I ever had a rebound."

Lucian, Graham, and Adrian took a sip. The only reason Cassius, Marcus, and Terrence hadn't, purely was because they had never had an actual relationship to 'rebound' from.

"Never have I ever shoplifted," Graham said, almost desperate for her to drink something, even if it was something as petty and as boring as stealing something tiny and meaningless.

"That's just disrespectful," it was the first few words she had spoken in a while. But by the sheer number of sighs of giving up from the boys, she felt that she had to explain herself.

"You are literally impossible," Marcus said matter-of-factly.

Bianca kept her face as neutral as possible. Not smug, not innocent, not regretful, and not a look of self-loathing and pity.

"Never have I ever stripped at a party," Terrence said, inclining his head. He spoke almost emotionless, but Bianca could see behind the act and it was clear that he was desperate to smirk.

Bianca was trying desperately not to walk up to him and kick him where it hurts for bringing it up. She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks, and the suppose-to-be silent sniggering from the other boys. She could practically smell Adrian's smirk from opposite her, but none of that was going to stop her.

She slowly leaned forward, grasped the rim of her glass, still full and untouched of Firewhiskey, and took a long sip, all five boys watching intently as she did so.

      Bianca had stripped - not completely of course - at a party. She did take a drink.

Bianca could have sworn she heard a little applause but ignored it as the game went on. And a lot more enthusiastic now she had finally admitted something, despite them all knowing this one anyway.

"Never have I ever skinny-dipped," Terrence said, giving in to the smirk now.

That was her private information. She was fifteen. It was the last day before summer, and Angelina Johnson was not taking no for an answer. It wasn't exactly a secret event, but no one was out on the Black Lake that day, at least when they visited.

But then she thought about it, not just on the surface though. Wasn't the whole point of agreeing to the bet with Adrian a way to let off some steam before her exams? She had never been this free-spirited before if that's what you could call it. She was going to parties, getting drunk, gambling. Admitting to a few teenage boys that she had gone swimming naked surely wasn't as big a deal as she was making it out to be, even if it was on the school campus.

Bianca hadn't returned her glass to its previous spot on the cold floor, but it had remained in her grasp. She lifted it to her mouth and took another sip, the liquid burning a little as it went down her throat, but she tried to ignore that part.

Bianca had skinny-dipped. She did take a drink.

All other five boys too had taken a quick swig of their drinks, not of course before showering Bianca in wolf whistles in all their boyish ways. Adrian had shifted in his seat.

Bianca could now feel the tension in the room, and she decided that she had said enough. Her plan, however, was not to retire back to bed, but take matters into her own hands. Adrian had had his fair share of taunting and teasing.

"Okay, Terrence, this is for you," she smirked. The Slytherin's face quickly turned smug, and he readjusted his seat position, so he was sat more upright against the table legs. "Never have I ever," she dragged out her words, flirtatiously, "kissed a Gryffindor." her voice lingered for a moment.

Adrian, who had previously been looking at the floor, dazed, shot his head up in slight surprise.

"Can't say I have," Terrence replied, smug as ever. "Why? Did you want to change that?"

Terrence Higgs was a Twat. A Twat with a capital T.

The answer to his question was a no, honestly. No, she did not want to kiss him, nor would she ever want to kiss him if it wasn't for the fact he made up space number twenty on The Kiss List.

Bianca shrugged innocently, as five of six boys watched keenly, "Do you?"

Terrence's smirk couldn't get any bigger if he tried. But Bianca didn't need much more. Although Terrence hadn't technically communicated consent, it was pretty clear to all of them, he would not mind at all if she got up and kissed him.

Which is exactly what she did.

Bianca didn't know how she felt about kissing him in front of everyone, all of them intently watching. But in her mind, it had to be done. That was the bet after all. She imagined she'd have to do a lot worse than kiss a boy in front of an audience of six in the near future just to pull off The Kiss List.

She carefully stood up, depositing her two-sips-down drink, and walked over to the boy. His head tilted back a little as she got closer. She leaned down, lifting his chin up towards her with the bend of her finger, connecting their lips. It was short, but that's all it needed to be.

There was a tense, lingered moment after she pulled away. His smirk regained its evident form as she straightened up and returned to her seat on the other side of the group's circle.

Graham and Cassius were exchanging beaming sneers to each other, and Adrian felt a rather large kick in his stomach.

Adrian hated this. He hated how she had done it again. He hated how Terrence was one of his best friends. And yet he couldn't help but applaud her. Not literally. But as she settled once more, in a comfortable position, taking a swig of Firewhiskey, just for the thrill, he caught her eye, and mouthed the words "well played", as subtly as he could.

Way to fuel her ego, Adrian.

➼

IF YOU WERE TO ASK THE STUDENTS AT Hogwarts what their least favourite subject in school was, Bianca Larsson would have no trouble in giving you an answer.

Every Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson was a nightmare. A complete bore that served her no purpose whatsoever. Bianca believed that if she were ever in the position where she was faced with a comrade of any sort of Dark Arts association, all she could do was distract them with one of Professor Lockhart's fairytales that she had come to memorize seen as that was all that was taught during lessons. Following making a fool out of herself, she would then run for her life because they had never actually made it to the 'defence' aspect of the subject.

"It wasn't easy of course," the self-absorbed supposed Professor continued his story about how he managed to subdue a whole Dragon, with nothing but a jelly bean. Bianca was very much on the cusp of drifting asleep on her book. "A Hungarian Horntail is not a force to be reckoned with! No, no! I'll tell you that much. It was lucky I had a box of Bertie Botts when I did! All it took was one sulfur-flavoured bean, and it was out like a light!" he driveled, with dramatic arm gestures as he sat on the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom.

Bianca liked to think she had once enjoyed Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Quirrel was by no means that much better, but she at least had learned something last year. Now, all she was being taught, was how much of a complete twat Gilderoy Lockhart truly was. That was becoming apparent with every lesson.

Her eyes were practically shut, with lack of sleep, whilst her cheek rested on her palm and her elbow was on the edge of the table when Adrian took the courtesy of shoving her arm, causing the weight of her head, to collapse and her elbow to fall off the side of the desk. Her eyes shot open like she had just been awoken from a bad dream. Which, now she was fully awake, a lesson with Lockhart could definitely be compared to a nightmare.

Since his row with Draco Malfoy, and he had joined a lesson late, Adrian's seat beside Bianca at the back of the class was more or less permanent. For him at least. Bianca remained there because Leo was on the other side of her and Adrian only continued to sit there because he didn't particularly have any interest in anyone else in the room.

Bianca gave the Slytherin a rather angered glare, as she rubbed the tip of her elbow that was still aching with slight pain. The boy gave nothing but a shrug back and sighed as he reverted his focus back on the so-called 'Professor'.

"Now. As your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, it is my job to arm you against the foulest of creatures. We have of course touched on the Banshee," Lockhart said, earning a scoff from the Gryffindor, knowing all they discussed was how he apparently defeated one.

The Professor stood from his desk and approached the untouched, covered cage at the side of the room, that had rattled a few times since the beginning of the lesson. "But now, we must move onto worse things. Creatures you must all be prepared to face in the possible near future." he was now stood directly beside the shaking, clothed cage. "I have previously tested this on the lower years, but I have hope you lot will have much better success."

Bianca wasn't listening, nor was she planning to. Adrian gave her a second nudge to make sure she was paying attention. He had reason to believe that they were about to learn something for once.

She glared again, but this time sat up straight and stared at the teacher, folding her arms, not expecting anything remotely educational to come out of Gilderoy Lockhart's mouth.

"Oh, and by the way," Adrian whispered, leaning sideways towards her, as the Professor continued. "That kiss last night? Your little stunt? I thought about it. Doesn't count." he leaned away, sitting up straighter facing the front.

Bianca's mouth fell open a little. He was the one to applaud her. "May I ask why?"

"Not consensual," he said bluntly.

Bianca scoffed, "You and I both know that Higgs was asking for it. He was quite happy, thank you very much," she replied, confidently. Adrian didn't say a word, not looking away from Lockhart. "Stop being such a sore loser, Pucey."

The Professor drew his wand and tapped the cage once, the cloth flying off.

Behind the rusted bars were little flying things, electric blue in colour, and voices higher pitched than anything Bianca had heard ever before. They rapidly bounced off of the sides of the cage, devilish grins plastered on their faces.

Cornish Pixies were not what Bianca was expecting, and yet she was not at all surprised that they were the creatures that Lockhart had brought in to teach with. They posed no threat whatsoever and Bianca didn't think anyone would class them as anything remotely to do with the Dark Arts.

Bianca scoffed, "This is ridiculous." she rolled her eyes, before resuming her more comfortable position on the desk, where she could rest her eyes.

"Not scared are you, Larsson?" Adrian taunted, watching her slide her forearms onto the table, resting her head between them.

Bianca lifted her head, just an inch, to send him an apathetic look. "Funny," she said sarcastically, now resting her chin on her wrist.

"Let's see what you make of them!" Lockhart suddenly said, after a few murmurs of acknowledgment, and a few giggles of amusement. Without another word, Lockhart opened the latch, and a second later, the flying devils were running havoc around the classroom.

Bianca lifted her head off of the desk and suddenly became a little more startled than before.

Adrian had gotten up; books were on the floor; pages were being ripped out piece by piece; and students were hurridly scurrying around the room, trying to avoid any trouble the creatures were causing.

Lockhart had already fled to his personal office, at the end of a small staircase. After a few previous lessons with lower years, he had learned his lesson not to stay to find out how they were getting on with the pixies from the very start. It was almost ironic: he had learned his lesson, not to teach them one.

Panic had broken out, and Bianca was out of her seat. Leo and Alicia had opted to stay hidden under their desks, a heavy textbook ready in hand as an act of defense, a shield from the Pixies. The chaos had erupted in less than a second. Everyone was now forcing their way to the door, trying to get out as soon as they could. Almost all of them had laughed at the idea of a Cornish Pixie. Bianca included.

Bianca and Adrian were now swatting books at the pesky creatures, desperately trying to shoo them away, as the rest of the class hastily ran in all different directions.

"What kind of teaching is this?" Bianca yelled over the mayhem of noise, still continuously smashing her book against the air, missing any Pixies that came near her.

"Thought you said you weren't scared?" Adrian smirked, even whilst doing the same with his own book.

Bianca's arms were aching from the weight of the textbook, yet she wasn't in the mood for Adrian Pucey's unwanted sarcasm and teasing. She smashed her book into his arm, causing him to whip around and face her.

Adrian's smirk had completely vanished, and he was no longer caring about the pixies flying around by his ears, but instead was grimacing and scowling at Bianca. "The fuck was that for?"

"Sorry," she faked a sympathetic smile, as he rubbed his now very sore arm. "Thought I saw a Pixie. Must have missed it." Bianca smiled sarcastically and resumed swatting the annoying brutes out of her way, knowing full well there was no Pixie; she just wanted to hurt him.

The room was a mess and looked as if catastrophe had struck. The Pixies were a complete menace, and none of the remaining students, Adrian and Bianca among them, seemed to have any clue as to how to stop them.

Bianca was reaching for her wand that was tightly tucked into her robe's pocket when she was startled by sharp pain from her right ear. A singular pixie had nipped at her ear lobe, which was now growing increasingly red. Bianca grimaced and muttered a quiet "ow". Adrian snorted from behind her, knowing she was the one now in pain. He found it funny that the roles were now reversed.

Bianca turned to face him, scowling and raised her book over him, threateningly. Adrian stumbled back a little, knowing that she was very much prepared to hit him again. He held his book out in front of him, acting as a barrier of some kind.

"Alright, alright," he said. Standing up a little straighter, dodging the Pixies that were still flying everywhere and anywhere, Adrian gathered himself. Bianca continued to whack the creatures out of her way and had now retreated to under her own desk. Now, at a lower level, she noticed that Leo and Alicia were no longer under their own. Looking around, Adrian and herself, were the only two left.

Adrian had now drawn his wand. "Diminuendo," he said with slight concern.

The Pixie that had flown in front of him, at waist level, had now shrunk to the size of a golf ball. It drooped a little, but regained its balance and continued to fly around the room, just smaller now, and a lot faster.

Bianca, who was still crouched down said, "Oh great. Now they're smaller and faster, they'll be much easier to hit." she said sarcastically, looking up at him.

"You got a better idea genius?" he asked, almost surrendering to the pests as he returned his wand back to the insides of his robe.

Bianca stood up, depositing her book onto the desk, evading the flapping bug-like creatures that were screeching at a deafening pitch, and removing pages from books. "Yes, actually." she hastily grabbed his arm and dragged him to the door of the classroom, ducking almost every second, using her free hand to beat the Pixies away.

They reached the exit, and he followed her out of the chaotic room, slamming the door behind them with a rather large crash.

The two of them panted a little, as they rested up against the wooden panel, where they were met with a couple of students milling around outside of the classroom, waiting for something, anything.

"What do we do about the Pixies?" Adrian asked, looking over at Bianca who had her two hands pressed behind her and up against the door frame.

Bianca exhaled deeply, and rotated her head to look at him, "You're kidding right?" he shook his head. "That's Lockhart's problem, not ours," she said, through pants for breath.

"Your ear's bleeding," Adrian said with a little concern, pointing weakly at the little drops of blood on her right ear - the one closest to him.

Bianca dabbed her hand against the spot where the Pixie had bitten her and pulled her fingers to her eye line to check. There was a little red stain on the print of her finger, and she grimaced again at the sight and the stinging sensation on her cartilage.

"I'll get over it." she breathed out.

The pair stood for a little longer, catching their breaths and gathering themselves.

"Right," Adrian said with a sigh, after a hot second, "Off to potions then?