the kiss list, adrian pucey
𝒐𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟐

chapter twelve, INTO THE BELLY OF THE BEAST

✧ ━━━ · ✦ · ━━━ ✧

     BIANCA HATED HALLOWEEN AND Adrian couldn't love it more.

     It was a pointless holiday in Bianca's mind. She wasn't sure if you could even call it a holiday. It was an American tradition and a stupid one at that, she thought. It was another reason why she didn't particularly like Autumn. There was no excitement to her about October 31st.

     It was Adrian's favourite night of the year. He loved the parties, the junk food (specifically the endless amounts of sweet treats the Hogwarts' Halloween feast provides), the alcohol, and the thrill of the idea of it being the 'spookiest night of the year'. Which is why when he found out Bianca Larsson had been invited to the annual Slytherin (emphasis on the house) October 31st party, he was pretty pissed.

     "You invited her?" Adrian asked Miles incredulously.

     "Yeah, so what?" Miles questioned, stuffing a small cake in his mouth; the crumbs remaining around his lips.

     "So what?" the chaser repeated incredulously. "Are you serious Miles? Where have you been for the past five years? I hate her."

     "I wouldn't say hate," Graham interjected, causing Adrian to shoot him a scowl.

     "I thought she might like to come," Miles shrugged innocently.

     "Bianca Larsson? We're talking about the same Bianca Larsson?" Adrian asked, giving Miles a look that said 'seriously?'. "She hates parties."

     "So why did she say yes then?"

     Adrian gritted his teeth and took a deep breath in, calming the fury building up inside of him. "I can't believe I'm even still talking to you."

     "If this is about the date with Bianca, then you're just pissed I beat you to it," Miles said smugly.

     "Beat me to what?" Adrian asked.

     "Kissing Bianca."

"You kissed Bianca?" The boy's blood was boiling at this point, even though the way she spoke about the date yesterday when she informed him she would be blowing him off, he shouldn't be surprised. It was bad enough he asked her out, let alone kiss her.

     "Yeah and?" Miles asked, oblivious as to why his best friend was becoming so aggravated.

     "And?" Adrian repeated in disbelief, forgetting Miles knew nothing of the bet, being number fourteen and all. Although that still doesn't mean it was okay for him to not understand why Adrian was bitter the two of them had kissed.

     Marcus snorted to himself from beside Adrian, discretely. Although it wasn't discrete enough. "What you laughing at? You'll be the one losing your best player," he said heatedly, referring to the consequences of The Kiss List. This immediately shut the captain up. Sure, he was now in on the whole bet, but let's just say he wasn't particularly pleased that Adrian had put such a precious thing on the line, let alone the fact he came up with the stakes himself.

     "What's that supposed to mean?" Miles asked.

     Marcus and Adrian suddenly lost their expressions and their faces blanked, now slightly sheepish.

     "Nothing," Adrian said quickly after a moment of awkward silence.

     Adrian was beginning to regret putting Miles on the list in the first place. Along with Cassius and Graham.

     There were a few reasons as to why he had put his three closest friends on this kiss list.

     He knew he could refrain from telling them and he honestly just needed people to fill the list to at least make it more of a challenge for Bianca. What's the point of just having a few on there?

     He also felt that he needed to have enough 'house diversity'. He easily could have chosen some other douches from the Ravenclaw Quidditch team but he decided on his own friends because he trusted them more when around Bianca. He didn't know what would happen when she was alone with people he didn't know very well (he didn't know everyone on the list well but he wanted at least a few people he could confide in on there).

     In short, he trusted them. Hence why Miles Bletchley, Cassius Warrington, and Graham Montague could all be found on The Kiss List. He was mistaken for trusting Miles in his opinion and now he would have to deal with the consequences.

     "Right, okay . . ." Miles trailed off as he refilled his plate with his second serving of lunch, including a cupcake frosted like a pumpkin and a cookie decorated to paint the face of Frankenstein. He particularly liked the cookie and the reference to Mary Shelley's novel himself.

     "Can you three drop it please?" Graham interjected once again, getting sick at the row they were making, "Ade, Bianca probably won't even get in. It's strictly for Slytherins, and news flash: she's a lion. And even if she did, you'd just have to put up with it," he had turned to Adrian, who gave a diffident nod, realizing Graham was right.

     Graham now turned to Miles, "Miles, it was a bit out of order to ask Bianca out knowing her and Ade's history, so just don't take it any further?" the keeper too nodded his head, also realizing that the chaser was right about the whole argument. He liked Bianca and he enjoyed their date -he would have liked a second if she had wanted one too - but he had to let that go because he saw how it was a bit questionable.

     "And Marc? Stop being such a prick."

     The group made a silent agreement and just went back to enjoying their October 31st lunch.

     On the other side of the spookily decorated great hall, Leo Raywood was just as surprised that Bianca Larsson was going to a party that was strictly for Slytherins.

     "You're kidding."

     "No actually, I am not," she said.

     Leo huffed in disbelief, "What? How? Why?" he badgered her with questions.

     "I'm going to the Slytherin Halloween party. Miles Bletchley invited me last week and it gives me a chance to kiss either Cassius or Graham before the end of October. Remember, I need to kiss at least three a month. I've only kissed two this month and today is the last day of October in case you forgot." she listed the answers to the questions he had thrown at her.

     "No, I remembered. What I also know is that you hate Halloween. And parties." he said, stating the obvious.

     "I know, but as I said: I need to take this chance. I'll just have to deal with the horrors of a party in the snake's common room to do that," she said.

     "You surprise me every time Bianca."

➼

     TRANSFIGURATION WAS NEVER Bianca's favourite subject. And it certainly wasn't going to be now.

     This was the first time she was going to see Miles since he dropped her off at the portrait hole and the first time seeing Adrian after she stormed off, leaving him alone in the library.

     She didn't end up rescheduling with him, but she felt slightly guilty, so she didn't ask for her notes back, leaving him in possession of them as a revision tool. He spent hours staring at her apparently 'unreadable' writing and took in about 30% of the content. Max.

     He managed a B.

     Bianca on the other hand, walking out of the Potions classroom after Professor Snape returned their papers, with a large A+ roughly written in deep, black ink.

     Fridays were always the longest days, especially when everyone wanted lessons to be over, as tonight, they had the chance to get immensely drunk and get laid seen as it was Halloween. Bianca obviously didn't mind and wasn't exactly as 'hyped' as everyone else was about the day. She enjoyed lessons, so they didn't seem dragged out and particularly lengthy just because it was Friday the 31st. She was excited for the weekend ─ unsure about the party of course - but she wasn't necessarily going to be bored during lessons and desperately awaiting the sound of McGonagall's dismissal like most others were.

     She and Leo followed a few other Slytherins into the classroom and made their way to their seats on the third row. As she proceeded to get out a quill, parchment, and her Intermediate Transfiguration textbook, Leo doing the same, she didn't even notice the scowl she was receiving as five familiar boys, with green accented robes walked in and sat down at their desks, directly opposite her own.

     Marcus and Graham immediately got distracted by Lucian Bole and Terrence Higgs who sat one seat ahead of them. Adrian himself tried to ignore Bianca who had just noticed their entrance, by making conversation with Cassius Warrington, sitting to his right.

     "How are you, Bianca?" Miles had turned around to face her, seen as everyone else around him had preoccupied themselves. His voice was sweet and although it probably wasn't true, he sounded like he didn't just turn around to talk to her purely because he had no one else to, but because he wanted to.

     "I'm fine thank you, Miles. And you?" she replied with a smile.

     "Not bad, thanks." he returned her same soft smile. "So, you still coming tonight? It will be great." his voice was enthusiastic, just because of how much he wanted to see her there.

     She nodded her head, "Yeah I think so. Just hope I don't get eaten alive," she chuckled nervously.

     He let out a little laugh too, "Uou won't, don't worry. I've told these guys I invited you and apart from Ade, no one was particularly bothered." he gestured to the six boys around his desk.

     Adrian's ears tensed slightly at the sound of his name. He gritted his teeth, which Bianca seemed to notice. She watched as he stretched out his shoulders and continued to discuss the Quidditch cup with Cassius, who hadn't seemed to notice Adrian's suddenly more tense posture.

     She looked back to Miles, "I'm not surprised." she laughed lightly.

     "Hey, I managed to find this in the library," he pulled up his bag from under his seat and pulled out Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles, "I remember you saying it was your favourite but that you left your own copy at home this year so I went looking for it. That library has more books than at first glance," he chuckled.

     Bianca was awestruck. It was the sweetest thing anyone had done for her.

     He slid the book onto her desk and she looked up at him, taking it in her hands, "Miles, you didn't have to. I bet that took hours."

     The library was of course organized in alphabetical order, but it was huge. The walls were lined with probably a thousand books and most of the time, people didn't ever put them back in their original places, or at least not exactly right.

     "Maybe," he shrugged, "But I also checked out A study in Scarlett whilst I was there and I haven't put it down since." he beamed at her.

     "I told you it was the best book series ever written."

     "And I told you, you weren't wrong." his lips curled into an even bigger grin.

     Leo was staring at the two of them, unbeknown to whatever they were talking about, glancing from Miles to Bianca then back to Miles then back to Bianca until Professor McGonagall strode into the room.

     Miles turned back to face the front, a smile remaining on his face. That was until Adrian sent him an angry glare, that Bianca noticed herself.

     'Was he jealous? No. He can't be. What about?' she asked herself, squinting her eyes at him. She noticed Graham lean over his desk slightly to make eye contact with Miles. He shook his head. To her, it looked like he was warning Miles. What about, she didn't quite know.

     "Today you will be performing the Scribblifors charm we were discussing last lesson, that allows the witch or wizard to turn any object, into a quill. Please pair up and begin practicing. The ones that are successful shall receive house points." she bellowed in her quaint voice.

     Leo leaned over to her, to whisper in her ear, "You need three a month right?" he asked, referring to how many people she needed to kiss after thirty days.

     Bianca nodded her head and she watched as Leo gestured to one of the boys in the row in front of them.

     "Warrington?" she asked, slightly confused.

     He nodded his head encouragingly, before turning away from her, "Alicia! Partners?"

     It was now that she looked around: Katie was paired with Angelina beside Leo and Alicia who were now partners. In front of her, Marcus and Graham and a little further in front than them, Terrence and Lucian. She watched as Miles nudged Adrian, and he inaudibly asked to be partners. Adrian eventually gave in to his scowl and nodded. Miles was alright at Transfiguration and he wanted nothing more than to win the house cup. Well, that and the Quidditch cup. And that left a sulking Cassius Warrington beside Adrian, huffing partnerless.

     "Hey, Cassius?" Bianca said, slightly flirtatiously, but it wasn't obvious. Only to him. He turned around to the source of where his name was called out, "You wouldn't mind partnering would you?"

     He smirked at her expression, "Not at all."

     Adrian gritted his teeth, his jawline and cheekbones becoming even more defined as if he was about to crush them.

➼

     HAVING BEEN TO ONLY ONE HOGWARTS party during her time at the school, and only very few outside of her education workplace, Bianca had no idea how to dress, who to talk to, or how to approach a party like this one.

     She lay, resting her head on her hands, staring up at the ceiling of the four-poster bed, debating whether she actually wanted to go to this party.

     'Is it the best idea?' she constantly asked herself. She saw how jealous Adrian was acting during transfiguration earlier (if that's what it was), and although a party was not at all her scene, she couldn't help but want to see him angered with jealously once more.

     She decided to go.

     'What's the worse that could happen?'

     There was a lot. Like every other party, she has gone to, Bianca had thought, in advance, all the disastrous things that could happen. After the last one, she couldn't take any chances with any type of alcohol at all. After the last one, she wouldn't be touching it.

     So, after deciding on her 'game plan', which was to one: only pour her own drinks, two: don't leave her drink alone with anyone unless they had her complete trust (who that would be, she hadn't thought of yet. She hoped that when she got there, she'd see someone she trusted enough), and three: don't interact with anyone she didn't know.

     She slid herself off of her bed and shuffled over to her wardrobe, in hopes she could find something that would be suitable for this kind of event.

     "Where are you going?" Katie questioned, her textbook opened and resting on her knees. She didn't look up, but she could see a figure trudging to her large oak closet and stand staring for a few seconds. She gathered the girl was choosing something to wear. What that something was for, she wasn't sure.

     Bianca took a deep breath in. She hoped they wouldn't question it because she knew she'd be trampled with questions. She knew they would be curious at least as to why she would be getting changed out of her sweats and Gryffindor sweater. It was seven-thirty on a Friday evening; where would she be going that needed such a thought-out outfit. It couldn't be a party; this is Bianca we are talking about.

     She wasn't surprised when Katie piped up, "A party."

     "I hadn't heard of one that the older years were throwing," Angelina questioned, with slightly squinted eyes.

     Angelina and Katie would have already been rearing to go to a party had the seventh years planned one in the Gryffindor common room; any party would do for those two.

     "That's because it's exclusive?" Bianca replied. Her two dormmates still weren't catching on and gave her a baffled look, "It's not in the Gryffindor common room." she eventually admitted.

     "Bi, what are you saying?" Katie tilted her head.

     "I got invited to the annual Halloween Slytherin party," she stated.

     "Hold on. Bianca Larsson is going to a party?" Angelina asked and the girl nodded, "On Halloween?" she nodded in response again, "In the Serpent's den?" And again.

     "Good luck girl," Katie shook her head, returning to her homework that was spread out on her bed.

     'Good luck'. It made her rethink. She would be torn apart walking in there alone. It technically was exclusive. Exclusive to Slytherins. It wasn't really the kind of 'invite-type' party. If you weren't a Slytherin, you couldn't come. This could be dangerous.

     "Actually," Bianca started, and the two of them looked up, awaiting what she was about to suggest, "Would you two possibly come?" Bianca didn't get the reaction she was hoping for: she thought they would jump at the chance at a party, but they just furrowed their eyebrows. "Please?"

     "What? No way," Angelina shook her head.

     "Please. It's not really my place to, but without you, I'll be like a sheep in a pack of wolves. Like you said, I won't stand a chance." Bianca was begging now.

     Katie sighed, "I don't even see why you want to go so much."

     "You don't have to." she shrugged, but still giving them a pleading look.

     The two chasers looked at each other, asking for confirmation from the other, before turning back to Bianca, standing hopelessly beside her wardrobe.

     Angelina and Katie eventually agreed and only because they couldn't turn down a party, Slytherin host or not. They were disappointed when they found out none of the Gryffindors were throwing a party for the 'spookiest night of the year' due to exams the seventh years had to focus on, so although it wasn't the safest outcome, it was a party none the less.

     They were, by all means, anxious and terrified that they were going to be ripped apart and bullied out of there quicker than they can say 'Halloween', but they felt determined, if you will, to have a good time, despite the location and attendees. It was October 31st after all.

     The two chasers helped Bianca chose something to wear and get ready in general. Angelina claimed that Bianca didn't own anything 'party-friendly enough' so she offered one of her own pieces: a deep red and satin dress, that fitted her figure perfectly. Red was one way to stand out with the extent of green interior they would soon be surrounded by, but that's what Gryffindors are meant to be like.

     "Embrace your inner Gryffindor-ness, Bi. Be bold." Angelina had told her. Whether she assured Bianca not to be as apprehensive as she was, they weren't sure. But she convinced her to wear the dress anyway.

     The three snuck out of the portrait hole and, despite the clacking of their heels, went apparently unnoticed as they crept to the dungeons at 9 o'clock.

     The halls were eerily silent. It simply added to the uncanniness of the idea of Halloween. It was dark and the sun had long gone.

     As they passed the kitchens, they could hear the faint pumping of music and distant laughter.

     "The badgers are enjoying themselves," Katie whispered as they followed the steps down to the deeper part of the school's grounds.

     They eventually reached what Bianca was almost certain was the entrance to the Slytherin common room. She could hear the waves of the music from inside, hitting the walls; she wouldn't be surprised if Snape walked in on their 'little gathering'. Then, she'd be in trouble. She couldn't believe how many rules she had already broken. She wasn't a Percy, but she was still a religious rule follower and this was too many: out past curfew, mixing in another house common room. And soon they would be at a party, which was one in itself.

     "Pureblood," Bianca whispered at the wall.

     'What a pathetic password,' she thought to herself. A Gryffindor that was invited to a Slytherin party and actually ended up showing was bad enough. But a muggle-born? They were going to eat her alive.

     At this point, she didn't know what to think, feel or do. Should she just turn around now? What about the other two? She had asked them here already. But she needed to be more confident. Everyone had always told her she was a bore.

     She was half hoping it wouldn't open so it wouldn't have been her fault for not showing up. But she was also so hoping it would slide open any minute, because, had it been the wrong wall, she'd look so insanely stupid talking to bricks. But it did.

     They all took a deep breath as it slid open (making a little too much noise for their liking), put on a confident smirk, and in they went, into the belly of the beast.