the kiss list, adrian pucey
𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆

     IF YOU WERE TO ASK ALL OF THE STUDENTS currently in their sixth year at Hogwarts to name their favourite couple, duo, whatever you chose to call it, they would no doubt say Adrian Pucey and Bianca Larsson. The most interesting part isn't that everyone would say the same two people, but that the two of them weren't even together, but actually despised each other. So they said, at least.

     Adrian Pucey was a name all sixth years at Hogwarts knew. Some, in fact, knew it well. He was the kind of guy that most girls fell in love with when he uttered one word to them. It could be him asking if anyone had a spare quill because he wasn't organized enough to bring his own and that would be enough for them to fall completely and utterly, over the moon, in love with him. And it was a charm he knew he had. He knew he was attractive, he knew he was charming and he took pride in it. But not in a way that was snobbish or ignorant. He was humble. And sure, maybe he did flirt with a girl or two, here and there, but he was too afraid of commitment to share more than a snog with one. He wasn't a dick. Heartthrob? Yes. Dickhead? No.

     As a matter of fact; he was the perfect guy. Not only was he one of the most good-looking guys in the entire school but, he didn't fail practically everything because he was too busy worrying about Quidditch or his good looks like most of his fellow Slytherins. He did well in all his classes, due to his parents breathing down his neck about it every time he went home for holidays. His parents drilled the idea that Muggleborns and Halfbloods didn't deserve any of his attention and he was to befriend only Purebloods.

     Well, at least they tried to. Adrian was a Slytherin sure, and because of that, he was automatically deemed a horrible person by the other three houses, but he didn't believe people should be discriminated against because of their parents and blood status. Maybe that was actually because Bianca Larsson was Muggleborn. But he'd never admit that.

     And that's another asset to mention; he was athletic. The one thing that Bianca hated most about Adrian; something he was good at, that she wasn't. Bianca hated how Quidditch made his ego too big and gave him something to gloat about. When in actual fact, he didn't boast about his flawless abilities on a broom. She just chose to think he did so she had a reason to dislike him even more. And sure, all the guys on the Serpent's Quidditch team were jocks, but Adrian wasn't a pureblood supremacist like Marcus Flint, and he didn't think he was better than everyone else like Draco Malfoy. He was Adrian Pucey: gorgeous in every way, utter playboy, and no doubt, a girl magnet.

     A magnet, yes, but for Bianca Larsson, a serious feminist, hardworking and avoids all guys unless it was her best friend Leo Raywood, the force was apparently not strong enough.

     Bianca Larsson was a name you most likely know as a sixth year at Hogwarts. Sure, you might have classes with her, someone has to, but unless your name was Leo Raywood, you didn't exactly hang around with her after those classes. And this is not because you wouldn't want to, because there was no doubt that Bianca was utterly beautiful and it wasn't exactly possible to not stare at her for at least five seconds at least once a day without developing a severe attraction to her because she was, stunning, but because she wouldn't want anything to do with you. She thought that every guy that tried to hit on her was misogynistic in every way and only wanted to pull her for a quick snog and then leave her be. And in most cases, that is all they wanted.

     So, the guys went nowhere near her, against their horny selves' desires, thinking she was just a frigid nobody. As for the girls, Bianca had more respect for them. In terms of the girls, she had talked to and would consider 'friends' rather than just 'classmates', Bianca was sweet in their eyes. They never truly understood why she hated all men so much, but sweet nonetheless. She'd talk to them in lessons, be friendly, discuss the work, but never really 'gossiped' like most girls at the school. Because all that 'gossip' entailed was the guys in their year. Which she was quite clearly not interested in.

     To the girls Bianca had never really spoken to, they weren't exactly 'fans' and, although it really shouldn't be, the main reason the bratty-type girls disliked her, was because she was so beautiful. Despite her annoyingly alluring self, her persona was a bit of a bitch, the sort of unlikeable kind (to the guys at least). And being a seriously independent woman, she didn't 'have boyfriends'. She didn't want one. She didn't need one.

      In terms of school work, Bianca thrived. She loved every aspect of it. Learning new things, acing a test (specifically when beating Adrian), and most of all, the thrill she got when a teacher acknowledged her for the amazing work she had done. All of this made Leo question why on earth she was a Gryffindor and not a Ravenclaw. He couldn't care enough to ace a class. He didn't fail, but a pass was fine. She thought you couldn't go anywhere in the Wizarding world if you got a boyfriend before leaving school. Work was all that was on her mind. No time for boys. Leo thought that the reason she worked so hard was so she would easily beat Pucey at everything. And not because she hated him so much, or because she loved winning.

     Now, you're probably wondering, how come the one person she actually talks to, is a guy? That's because he was the only friend she managed to make as an eleven-year-old starting this scary Wizarding school. Let's just say that puberty hit her like a bolder and no one approached her until now. She had zero social skills, being an only child to muggle parents and previously homeschooled, so making friends was a hard task for young Bianca. Leo was a timid guy that seemed just as confused and frightened as she was when she started Hogwarts. So hence why they automatically bonded over their joint love for Pumpkin juice and the "Back to the Future" film franchise. And when Bianca one day woke up to be the beautiful goddess she is today, suddenly everyone wanted to be her friend. But she was smart. So when all the guys at her school abruptly wanted to go out with her, she was quick to catch on and she wasn't one to be in a relationship with a guy that just wanted her for her good looks.

     Attractive, yes, but for Adrian Pucey, utter heartthrob, skilled chaser, and claims he completely hates every bone in Bianca's body, she apparently was not his type.

     The emphasis on the apparently.

     NOW IT WAS CLEAR TO PRACTICALLY EVERYONE that attended Hogwarts that the sexual tension between Adrian Pucey and Bianca Larsson was insanely obvious. The two of them, however, were apparently the only two that didn't see it. They hated each other or at least claimed to. To the rest of the school, they were the perfect couple. To them, they couldn't imagine anything worse. No one even knows how they came to despise each other the amount they did. And, whoever did know, didn't really believe it could excuse that much hatred.

     Obviously, the two of them did.

     It was September first, 1987 and the two of them were first years, boarding the Hogwarts Express like everyone else. Bianca had opted to sit on the furthest compartment at the back of the train, as she thought this would be the safest option because she had no one to sit with. That way, no one could see how lonely she was, sat alone, staring out a window.

     Adrian wanted to sit wherever he thought he could make friends. He was a social butterfly and he thought that by making friends on the train before he even made it to Hogwarts, he would have someone to sit with at the Sorting ceremony; he couldn't think of anything worse than to be lonely before even making an impression.

     Long story short, Bianca was going one way, Adrian the other, and: contact. The two had bumped into each other. The worst part about the encounter was that neither apologized as they thought the other was in the wrong and didn't think it was their action that needed to be accounted for.

     So the two of them went their separate ways; Bianca ended up in Gryffindor (How? She doesn't know to this day) and Adrian, a Slytherin. And from then on, neither one of them had forgotten the face of the boy or girl that had walked into them on the Hogwarts Express on September first. Adrian always recognized that yellow blonde hair forever and Bianca, those mesmerizing steel blue eyes, that practically hypnotized anyone that stared into them long enough.

     Everything after that was a competition: test scores, house cup, becoming prefects (which they both did in their fifth year). Anything that could possibly have a winner, was seen as a contest. When, whoever won, could hold it over the other's head until the next competition came around.

     So, they hated each other. And honestly, was a harmless, albeit careless, act on their first day enough to fuel the deep hatred they had for each other? No, not really. But every time one of them noticed each other or walked past one another in the corridors, a snarky comment was exchanged. Nothing too harmful and neither of them classed it as bullying.

       And one day, an entertaining bet was made between the two of them. One in which Bianca's consequence entailed several torturous hours that she would have to put up with if she didn't manage the 'playful' task he had set: a date. A date that he was planning to make the worst of her life.

     A Kiss List.

     One Bianca knew she had to complete. Because after all, a date with Adrian Pucey would be agonizing.