the kiss list, adrian pucey
𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟐

chapter fifteen
number 4: CHO CHANG

✧ ━━━ · ✦ · ━━━ ✧

     BIANCA LARSSON AND ADRIAN PUCEY were in fact enemies or at least had a strong dislike for the other one, but there was never an awkward silence. Not even a minute where the two would be in each other's presence without a snide expound about how Bianca had no life or an insult towards how Adrian's hair looked that day. Or a lovely reminder to the girl about her past decisions about drinking alcohol and how it was in fact the person she hated the most that had saved her from any further self-inflicted humiliation. Or maybe how Adrian had so gracefully played a game of Quidditch and ended up crying on the pitch's floor, with a broken femur and an overreaction. Nonetheless, an uncomfortable silence was a rare if not a non-existent thing for the couple. Up until now ─ when one fell between the two, as Adrian shuffled to the empty seat beside her, in the middle of class.

     "What did I miss?" he asked, in a quiet tone, as he got comfortable beside her.

     "It's Lockhart, so nothing," she said bluntly, not taking her eyes off of the front of the classroom.

     He stifled a chuckle, "Good to know."

     He slouched into the back of his chair, now focussing on the cracks in the walls of the cobblestone-surrounded classroom. Lockhart's story-telling was the only sound in the entire room but seen as they were more towards the back, Adrian couldn't help but make conversation.

     "I am sorry by the way."

     She paused before replying, "For what?"

     "The fight. You were right ─ it was uncalled for."

     "It's your punishment." she shrugged, yet her head hadn't left the front.

     "Yeah, well, it wasn't that bad." he shrugged.

     Now was the first time she actually looked at him. Adrian's bruise was dark and she could tell it was painful. He had managed to open his eyes a little more since he sat down, but the swelling was bound to get worse.

     "What was it?"

     "A week's detention."

     Bianca never really got detentions, so whether this was as bad as it sounded, she didn't know. He didn't seem to think so.

     She averted her gaze back to the teacher and nodded her head slowly, in time with the clock on the wall, above Lockhart's head.

     It was now that she was beginning to feel slightly guilty about how she reacted previously. He defended her, was that such a bad thing? She could never bring herself to say "thank you" or show any type of gratitude towards him because of his little "act of chivalry" ─ she had more dignity than that. And, she may have thought how she reacted was slightly dramatic, but that doesn't mean she thinks that she was in the wrong at any point.

     "Some company would be nice," he smirked. And with one line, the mood completely changed.

     Bianca rolled her eyes and scoffed, "You're asking me to get a week's detention, just so you won't be so lonely?" he nodded his head confidently, "That's pathetic."

     "Just a question," he said defensively.

     "You didn't ask me anything," she said smugly, yet to Adrian, it was like she was flirting.

     They both looked at each other, and Adrian's smirk grew, "Bianca, will you care to join me in my detentions this week?" his tone was assertive since he was assuming she would say yes, seen as she was the one that brought it up again after rejecting his wishes.

     She gave a look as if to show she was thinking before finally answering with a simple and blunt: "No."

     She tried to hold back her sneer, as she turned away from him once again, within enough time to notice his mouth fall open slightly. He was so convinced she was going to say yes, his hopes were so high up, you couldn't even see them.

     "Keep your mouth shut, Pucey; you might drool."

     Defense against the Dark Arts had become the most boring lesson of them all, beating History of Magic with Professor Binns, a literal ghost, and the lesson dragged on and on, but finally, Lockhart's tell-tale session was over and at the sound of Lockhart's dismissal, she gathered her things, bundled them together in her bag, and abruptly stood up. The boy, however, hadn't moved an inch.

     "Goodbye, Adrian." and with one swift movement, she was out of the room.

➼

     NOVEMBER FIFTH WAS FAST approaching and although she never went to any events either the Weasley twins or the older years held, Bianca was still anticipating the night of the fifth of November.

     Bonfire night was always her favourite holiday. Before she came to Hogwarts, this was the one night of the year that she celebrated with her parents. She rarely spent Christmas away from school, or new years and before she started Wizarding School, or whenever she did go home for Winter break, she wouldn't be spending it with her parents, but rather the house butler and sometimes even on her own, trapped in her own little world, that was her bedroom, on the top floor, isolated from what she loved most: magic. She would indeed spend Christmas day itself with her mum and dad, but only briefly. After her turkey dinner, they would most likely be finishing what seemed to Bianca to be mountains of work, and that's only because she never saw them for the rest of the day.

     But firework night was different. Her parents worked mostly during the day and the fifth of November doesn't require celebrations all day, but rather just the evening, on its own. She had memories of her younger self and parents, spelling their names out in the cold, fall air with sparklers, the bonfire blazing in the background. Going to sleep with your clothes smelling like the fresh aroma of the flames that had long burnt out. Good memories. Some she hadn't experienced in a long time.

     Until these past few months, she didn't hang around big crowds that much, or rarely if not ever experienced social events, unless a study group at the back of the library that consisted of her, a few Ravenclaws and Leo, of whom she dragged out there and forced him to participate because she seemed to care more about his grades than he himself did, counts. Which she thought it certainly, did not. She would usually spend November fifth in her dorm, with Leo, the two of them creating small fireworks and little sparks with their wands, whilst Katie and Angelina got wasted elsewhere. Or, maybe she would sneak to the kitchens on her way to the Astronomy tower; she could sometimes see the explosions of magic from there. But she was on her own up there and looking back, it was sad as hell.

     But when coming across a poster, pinned to the cork notice board in the Gryffindor common room, "WEASLEY BONFIRE BASH" printed in a large font towards the top, November fifth had a whole new meaning.

     "You coming Bi?" she heard a voice say from behind her.

     She whipped around to be met with two tall and identical figures, with flaming red hair, standing before her. Her expression melted into a smile when she came to realize it was the two boys that were organizing the event. Who else could pull off a night like these two were planning, but the Weasley twins?

     "Yeah, definitely," she grinned, earning two larger grins from the two beaters.

     "Great." Fred beamed.

     "See you there." George crowed.

     "Nine O'clock," Fred said with a short nod.

     George continued: "November fifth."

     "Obviously," Fred added; the two of them finished each other's sentences 95% of the time.

     Before she could say anything else, the two boys turned on their heels and wandered back into the more crowded center of the common room; both of them handing out flyers to some other Gryffindors, who gladly excepted with an enthusiastic grin.

     "First, stupid bets with your enemy, then a Halloween party I wasn't invited to, and now Guy Fawkes night celebrations? Who is this Bianca?" she heard a familiar voice say, who she quickly identified to be her best friend, even before she turned around to see him, scanning the same poster she was staring at not long before; his legs crossed one over the other, leaning up against the wall.

     "I'm calling her 'Bold Bianca'," she nodded with pride.

     "And where has this version of Bianca been for the past five years?" he tilted his head in questioning.

     "Honestly, I have no idea, but there's a first for everything." she smiled. "You going?" she inclined her head to the poster, a small push pin punctured through it.

     He nodded, "Alicia brought it up a few days ago." he tried to sound as casual as possible, but Bianca saw through his 'confident facade' and noticed his cheeks blush pink.

     "Oh yeah, how's that going then huh? Stole a kiss yet?" she teased him.

     "Not yet," he said, before coming back in quickly to defend himself, "but, I am planning on making a move at the bash."

     "Don't scare her away, Lee," she taunted with a chuckle.

     "I am not 'scaring her away'! It's actually going very well and I think she feels the same way," he blushed again.

     "I'm happy for you." she playfully nudged his shoulder, almost knocking it against the wall.

     He gave her a grateful smile before speaking again, "Maybe you could try the same?" there was a slight smirk as he spoke.

     "What do you mean?" she questioned before following him to two vacant, cushioned armchairs.

     "I know you're 'on track' or whatever, but all houses are welcome at the bash; everyone will be there. At least everyone on the list."

     She brought her hand to her face and began considering his advice, whilst lightly nibbling on the tip of her nail.

     She almost didn't want to. She had so many memories of Bonfire night; ones she enjoyed. Having been deprived of them for five years, made her just want to enjoy this one night, without having to target, or bother someone on the list. She didn't want that to be the one thing she thought about all the time and maybe by finally starting to let loose and attend a famous 'Weasley festivity' for once ─ something she never would have thought about before this new school year ─ was her chance to do just that. Besides, she didn't want to have to make anymore awkward small talk, unless they initiated it.

     "If this is about Adrian, then I'd ignore it. Forget him. I know he's kind of involved in the bet or whatever, but it would feel good, especially after the fight you didn't ask him to start," Leo advised, noticing her deep-thinking face.

     She hadn't thought about Adrian. And now she was.

     "Yeah, you're right. It's just, a night without The Kiss List sounds . . . fun?" she shrugged, hoping she didn't sound stupid and that he'd understand where she was coming from.

     "What if, you don't go 'looking for someone' as such, but rather, have fun, relax, and if someone maybe approaches you, or you find yourself in conversation out of nowhere, with someone from the list, then and only then, you can think about it," he suggested.

     A smile grew on her face. That was perfect.

     A night to relax, watch fireworks created by the Weasley twins, light sparklers, and a kiss? A bonus at most.

➼

     BIANCA WAS SO GLAD TO HAVE Maxine O'Flaherty on her side for this bet and after their night in the Astronomy tower, the two had remained friends since. 

     Maxine had learned all about Bianca and Adrian's little bet and had now become the Gryffindor's second wingman. She had helped her a lot and still was.

     The two were currently discussing whatnot, the bet included, at the back of the library; Bianca's favourite spot. Bianca caught up on some Defence against the Dark Arts work; she hadn't missed any - Lockhart just hadn't taught anything and Maxine, studied the list, for the third time that week, seen as she had no other homework to do and felt as though "if Lockharts not teaching it, no one will know it, so I won't be the only one failing DADA, so not my problem".

     "Doesn't Tamsin Applebee have a boyfriend?" Maxine questioned, flicking through the book of twenty-one of 'Hogwarts' finest' according to Adrian Pucey.

     "I don't know," Bianca shrugged, copying the notes from her textbook of what she assumed she was meant to learn about in the past few Defence against the Dark Arts lessons, but didn't, due to Gilderoy Lockhart's incapability to teach them anything remotely useful. "You're her teammate ─ you know her better than I do."

     "Well, that's what I thought. I thought she would tell me, but seeing as she's on this list, I'm not sure," she shrugged.

     "Everyone on that list is single. I'm not a homewrecker, Max. And Adrian did his research," Bianca explained.

     "I swear I saw her with some boy once. I don't know who, but I'm sure I've heard her talk about someone ─ I just don't like her enough to pay attention to anything she says," Maxine huffed, earning a little chuckle from the blonde.

     "Uhhh,"  Bianca thought for a moment, before remembering what Maxine was talking about. "Wait, Tamsin Applebee?" she asked for confirmation and the Hufflepuff gave it, by nodding. "Yeah, yeah. Adrian flirted with her in an attempt to sabotage me. I can't believe I hadn't thought about it until now."

     "Well did it work?" Maxine asked, flipping through more pages in The Kiss List book, as she readjusted her sitting position in the armchair she was perched on.

     "I mean, she claims they dated, but Adrian insisted they didn't. I never actually saw them much together after that." Bianca shrugged, returning to her quill and parchment.

     "So it didn't work?"

     "She fucking hates me, if that's what you mean," Bianca said, causing her to finally realize this might be a problem for her future self if she wanted to win this bet, which she most definitely did.

     "So it did work?" Max inclined her head slightly. Bianca glanced over her shoulder to look at the girl, slouched back into the sofa. She scratched the back of her neck and her expression read: 'this could be a problem'.

     "You should probably speak to Adrian about this one hun." The Hufflepuff suggested.

     "I haven't spoken to him since he started a catfight with Malfoy." Bianca scoffed.

     "It wasn't that bad, Bi." Maxine shrugged, with a smile, "If anything it was kinda hot. If the boy I hated, beat the crap out of some kid that-" Bianca glared at the girl before she could even finish. Maxine's eyes widened slightly at how agitated Bianca became and soon realized it wasn't the right time. She almost immediately made a surrendering motion with her hands, "Not hot. Not hot. Pathetic. Really pathetic." she dragged out her vowels through the word 'really' and to avoid any further eye contact, stared back down at the book.

     "That's what I thought." Bianca too returned to her note-taking.

     "You still should talk to him about Applebee though," Maxine brought up Adrian again after a few seconds of silence, "It's not exactly fair."

     The brunette momentarily glanced up from the book in her hands, simply for the purpose of making eye contact with Bianca, to make sure she was actually considering her advice, but instead was met with the Gryffindor's back, as she was still sat facing the other way and instead scanned the rest of the library to notice a tall, dark-haired figure, browsing the shelves of books, not too far away.

     "And, if you wanted to get it over and done with, now could be a good time," Maxine almost smirked unnoticeably through her words, but that was unbeknown to Bianca, who only after the smirk had disappeared, fully rotated herself to face the Hufflepuff.

     "We're in the library. Studying. Adrian Pucey isn't." Bianca scoffed, shaking her head slightly.

     Maxine inclined her head to the boy scanning the left-hand side's bookshelves, she had seen not seconds before, of whom she soon familiarised to be the Slytherin chaser, that Bianca was 'so friendly with'.

     Bianca followed the girl's gaze, where her eyes landed on the same boy, who had now moved more to his left; it looked as if he was searching for a particular book.

     Adrian Pucey didn't enjoy reading. Miles Bletchley did. Bianca Larsson liked Miles Bletchley because he enjoyed reading.

     Adrian didn't necessarily want to 'impress' Bianca by checking out his first library book that is supposed to be a 'classic' according to Miles and he actually grimaced at the idea of trying to impress her. He was slightly jealous at how much his enemy and best friend had bonded over their shared love for novels written before a time Adrian couldn't even imagine; he'll admit to that. So, according to his thinking, by him, Adrian Pucey, the boy who has literally read one book in his life and that is purely about Quidditch, checking out a classic piece of literature, he could normalize reading books by muggles written one hundred years ago, in hopes Bianca wouldn't be as impressed by Miles reading so much.

     So, yes, he was trying to impress her.

     After peering over her shoulder to confirm what Maxine had told her, to her surprise, she did, in fact, see who she was told, standing by a pile of books, filing through a few and flipping them over; Bianca assumed he was reading the synopsis. She stood up and strode towards him.

     "What a nice surprise to see you here, Adrian." she faked a smile.

     At the sudden and unexpected sound of her voice, the boy turned around, with a slight scare. He knew it was her by the pitch of her speech, but sighed nonetheless when he eventually faced her. "Hello, Bianca," he murmured, with a bothered sort of tone, before returning to his book search.  "Can I help you with something?" he asked, as she was still standing stock still beside him.

     They hadn't spoken properly since their DADA lesson, a few days prior, and although they never really engaged with one another, they still passed comments and at least acknowledged one another. None of that had happened in the past seventy-two hours.

     "I was actually wondering if I could help you. You seem lost."

     "I was just looking for a book," he said in the most casual way feasible.

     "Any book in particular?" she asked.

     He paused a moment, concerned with how she would react. "Pride and Prejudice." he finally answered.

     She snorted slightly, earning herself the same glare she had given Maxine not long before. "W-what?"

     "You heard me." he scowled. "I'm trying to start reading more. You know, for 'fun' or whatever."

     "Then I wouldn't recommend 'Pride and Prejudice'."

     "Well why not?" he asked, slightly dumbfounded.

     "There's a lot of big words in a book like that, Adrian," she taunted, treating him like a child in a sense, "And there are no pictures, just so you are aware."

     "Oh fuck off," he scoffed.

     She laughed at his reaction, which was just the one she wanted. "No, but seriously, 'Pride and Prejudice' is a romance novel; it has got nothing to do with Quidditch," she said, matter-of-factly.

     "Are you going to help me or not, Larsson?" he said miffed.

     "Oo, someone's touchy." she stifled a laugh, but he quite clearly wasn't going to laugh in response, and he continued to stare at her. There was a second's silence, as the two of them stared into each other's eyes ─ Bianca waiting for him to ask for her help, nicely, and Adrian waiting for her to just help him.

     She gave in. "You really don't know how a library works, do you, Adrian?" she taunted.

     "What's that supposed to mean?"

     She gestured to the small, wooden painted 'P' on the shelf, "This is the 'P' section," she stated.

     "Last time I checked, 'Pride' starts with a 'P'," he said confidently, still unaware he was wrong.

     "That it does, but again, that's not how a library works," she pursed her lips together. "You want 'Pride and Prejudice'? You'll find that in the 'A' section, for 'Austen'." she leaned over and pointed to a section coming off of the aisle that she knew to be the novels and textbooks, written by authors with the last name beginning with 'A'.

     He still hadn't quite caught on and she noticed him furrow his eyebrows.

     "Books are categorized by the last name of the author, not the title," she said, slowly nodding her head. "Jane Austen wrote the book you're looking for."

     "Right," he nodded sharply, once. "Thanks."

     He returned the few books he had taken out of the shelf, and brushed past her, making his way to where she had pointed. She was quick to follow him, seeing as she hadn't asked what she wanted to.

     He almost expected her to pursue him and when he noticed her figure, walk up beside him, from the corner of his eye, he spoke up, "So, did you actually need my help, or?. . ."

     "Oh right, yes. Well, I need you to remove someone off of The Kiss List," she said, as the two of them made their way to the branched-off section, filled with shelves of books, the author's names beginning with 'A'.

     He scoffed, with amusement, "What?"

     "Tamsin Applebee? You know, the girl you flirted with just to try and disrupt my end of the bet?"

     "That was harmless."

     "She hates me though."

     Adrian laughed, "Then that's on you. You're not exactly a very likable person, Larsson." he said smugly.

     "Funny," she smiled at him sarcastically. "Just take her off the list, Pucey." her tone was fed-up, and he could tell.

     "Why would I? That would give you an advantage," he pointed out, as he began running his finger along the spines of the neatly aligned books, in search for 'Jane Austen'.

     "You brought it upon yourself when you decided to flirt with her." Binaca propped herself onto the desk, using her hands for support, crossing one leg over the other.

     He watched her do this and wondered why she seemed to get so comfortable beside him. Adrian had now turned fully to face her, where their eyes met. Another silence fell. The library felt as though it were empty, and although it is meant to be kept quiet, it was as if a pin drop could be heard like they were the only two in the entire world. But only for a moment.

     "Fine," he sighed, knowing she was technically right, yet pissed that he knew it was his own fault and that was not how he wanted his plan of flirting with Tamsin Applebee to go.

     "Great!" she grinned, lifting herself off of the counter, and landing on her feet beside him.

     It was then that she noticed he hadn't yet been successful in finding the book he had come all the way to a place like a library to find - somewhere he never came. Bianca briefly glanced to her right, but it was almost unnoticeable, where she reached to a shelf, fourth from the top, having to stand on the tops of her toes just to make it and she grabbed a smallish book, with a tattered, maroon cover; the words 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'Jane Austen' engraved in a golden font. "See you at the bash." she dropped the book into his free hand, turned on her heels, and sauntered off, returning to her little nook at the back of the library.

     Adrian hated being in the library and would only be seen there if he had to, and, as much as he didn't want to admit it, if Bianca was there, with or without him, yet he didn't immediately leave, at the first chance he got. But instead stood, slightly stumped about everything.

     She didn't bring up the fight. She wasn't as impressed about reading a book like the one in his hands as he had hoped, yet he was pleased with how that went.

She was going to the bonfire tomorrow night.

And so was he.

➼

     BIANCA HAD ALWAYS LOVED THE FIFTH of November, although, it was always a mystery to her why they celebrated it in the first place.

     Guy Fawkes night, also referred to as Bonfire Night is celebrated on November 5, across the United Kingdom, commemorating the failure of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. The Gunpowder Plot was a failed attempt to blow up England's King James I and the Parliament. The plot was organized by a man named Robert Catesby, not, surprisingly, Guy Fawkes, in an effort to end the persecution of Roman Catholics by the English government.

     And although Fawkes was the one caught red-handed, underneath the Houses of Parliament, accompanied by a load of gunpowder, Bianca always wondered why it wasn't called 'Robert Catesby night' instead; he planned it all.

     What she did find quite funny was that Fawkes and the other surviving chief conspirators were sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered in London. A quite disturbing way to die and a slight overreaction for something like treason, but it was the 1600s. Moments before the start of his execution, on January 31, 1606, Fawkes jumped from a ladder while climbing to the gallows, but in the process, he managed to break his neck and die immediately.

     Nonetheless and despite the strange origins, Bianca found herself and Leo, leaving the Gryffindor common room at 9:03 pm on November fifth, on their way to the black lake.

     Bianca had decided to take Leo's advice, and only allow herself to think about the list unless she had to, and only if someone on it (she didn't know who) waltzed towards her and made conversation.

     They made it to the nearest exit of the castle when Bianca quickly thanked herself for deciding to wear jeans. The night was cold and the air was crisp. She couldn't wait to get the chance to stand beside the raging bonfire they were about to see.

     As they neared the water, the sounds of laugher and cheers were already echoing in and out of the trees. Bianca was beginning to wonder how they were getting away with this, and whether it would stay like that.

     They made it around thirty seconds later and let's just say, Leo wasn't lying when he said 'all houses were welcome'. The black lake's shore was jam-packed with students, all sixth years and above.

     The woody fragrance of smoke overtook Bianca's senses almost immediately, to the point that she couldn't smell anything else.

     The bonfire was as large as a house, the sparks flying well above the treetops. Its dark smoke was lost in the night; grey melting into black, dulling the shine of the stars. A red, orange and yellow ball of rage roared upward eating its way through the wooden pyramid at its base; the crackling reverberating in the air, in combination with the elated laughs of the people.

     "I'm gonna go find Alicia," Leo tells her and she smiles in return, just in time before he is whisked away by the mere thought that he could kiss that girl tonight.

     Bianca wandered onto the sand and rocks by herself, passing drunk and sober seventh years, a few of her classmates until she reached the bonfire itself.

     A few people were crowded around it, but not as many as she had imagined would be.

     She stood beside it, watching as her skin glowed red and gold until two redheads walked up behind her, and although its in their nature, they were careful not to make her jump, seen as she was less than a meter away from a scorching, giant flame. And it's Bianca: not exactly someone they wanted to get on the bad side of.

     "'ello there, Bianca." George grinned, standing to her left.

     "George. Fred." she looked at one, then the other.

     "Nice to see you here." Fred nudged her playfully.

     "Nice to be here," she replied.

     "Just so you know," George started and Bianca assumed his twin brother was going to finish whatever he was about to say,

     "Sparklers are over there by the water." Fred completed the sentence.

     "And the firework show starts in ten."

     "Great, thanks, boys."

     The twins strayed away from the bonfire until they found Lee Jordan and Oliver Wood, of whom, were both on the verge of being very tipsy.

     Bianca rubbed her hands together, warming them up, before starting to approach the stand of sparklers, just beside the water. It was unsupervised and had a 'help yourself' sign, nailed to the arch.

     She grabbed one out of the bucket on the left, the other filled to the brim with water, for any 'accidents'.

     Sparkers were muggle things and honestly, so was Bonfire night. It wasn't a Wizarding tradition and the Weasley's were one of few older year, completely pureblood families. Not that that was a problem. November fifth was her favourite night of the year after all.

     After lighting the end of her sparkler, she watched as glittering flares jumped around and the light made its way to the end of the stick, the end she was holding.

     "Uh, excuse me? Do you mind?" she heard a quaint, soft voice speak from behind her.

     She looked over her shoulder to see a short, dark-haired girl, with an unlit sparkler in her left hand. Her skin was pale and her black, silky hair fell to her shoulders. Bianca could see the fire's flames' reflection flickering, in the girl's eyes, each iris containing a small picture of the bonfire.

     Cho Chang. Ravenclaw.

     The girl lifted the still dull sparkler, gesturing to Bianca's still lit one.

     "Oh, yeah, of course." Bianca smiled sweetly, before leaning over slightly, connecting their sparklers, so the flame on Bianca's, would light up Cho's. "Being Muggleborn has its perks."

     Quickly, both girls were standing by the water, the crowds by the stand increasing, both of their sparklers' refections, glowing against the water.

     "Yes, I bet. Thank you," the Ravenclaw said.

     Bianca smiled back and returned to admiring the glinting stick in her hand. She soon noticed, however, the girl beside her, standing almost pointlessly, but she was quick to catch on.

     "Uh," Cho stammered, gesturing to her sparkler; she had no idea what she was supposed to do with it.

     Bianca chuckled, causing the dark-haired girl to grimace slightly at her own embarrassment, "You're sort of just meant to wave them around. They have no real purpose." Bianca explained.

     "Right," Cho laughed herself.

     "You can write your name, see?" Bianca suggested as she began spelling out the letters: B I A N C A in the air, the sparkler leaving a glitter trail as she moved to the next letter of her name.

     "Bianca," Cho read the words that remained in the air, briefly, until they disappeared, "That's a really pretty name."

     "Thank you," Bianca smiled appreciatively, "It's Cho, right?" she asked the girl, who nodded gently.

     The two spent the next few minutes or so, making their sparklers dance in the air, until they faded out into the darkness, all whilst making small talk and exchanging little giggles (author here: i hate that word ugh) now and then, until Cho's teammates and friends whisked her away, but not before the two girls traded 'goodbyes' and 'see you later'.

     Bianca wasn't left on her own again for more than a second, before Maxine came up behind her. "Cho Chang, eh?"

     "I'm not perusing anything, Max. It makes me feel like such a bad person. She just asked for me to light her sparkler from my own, that's all." Bianca replied, rolling her eyes at how quick Maxine was to decide everything that had just happened in the last few minutes between the two literal strangers.

     "Anything you say, Bi, anything you say." Maxine shook her head. "I'm gonna go get a drink, you want anything?" she asked.

     "No, I'm good thanks," Bianca half-smiled, as she watched her Hufflepuff friend nod, "And don't do anything I wouldn't do!" she yelled, earning a thumbs-up from Maxine, as she walked back into the crowds beside the bonfire.

     Bianca hadn't even had the time to admire the lake and the stars for even a second ─ which she had planned on doing to pass the time before the show ─ until someone else joined her by the water's edge.

     "Evening," Adrian's voice dragged out the vowel of his 'E'.

     "Good evening Adrian," she replied, not taking her eyes off of the scenery in front of her. "No detention tonight?"

     "Had it," he said, "Snape likes me enough to not force me to have detention this late on Guy Fawkes Night."

     "I'm sure the fact it's November fifth, had nothing to do with it."

     "I beg to differ. It's a four hundred year tradition ─ not even he would keep me from this." Adrian laughed.

     "Three hundred and eighty-eight," she replied emotionless.

     "What?"

     "The gunpowder plot. It happened three hundred and eighty-eight years ago, not four hundred. And no teacher is meant to know about this, although I'm not sure how, so technically, he wouldn't be keeping you from anything. For all he knows, he would have been keeping you from a night in the Slytherin common room." she explained, still with no sort of expression.

     "You think too much into things," he said, taking a sip from his cup.

     "And you should also stop calling it 'Guy Fawkes night'." she continued, ignoring his advice, which she could use right about now. "I know 'Robert Catesbury night' doesn't quite have the same ring to it, but he was the one that was the brains behind it all. Although, that's sort of contradictory, seen as the whole thing went to shit and it failed abysmally." she began, but Adrian just seemed to watch her as she spoke, admiring her, not saying a word. ". . . Fawkes was actually the fifth member to join the plot and had no real significance bar the fact he was the one that was going to light the gunpowder."

     Adrian didn't even think she knew how much she was rambling and he imagined if anyone else was standing beside her, and not him, they would have either politely interrupted her and made an excuse to leave, told her to 'shut the fuck up' or straight-up walked away. But he didn't think about doing any of that, instead, enjoyed how she knew so much about one topic and how she could continue talking without interruptions.

     He admired how beautiful she was. How blonde her hair was. How soft her lips looked. How perfect her voice was. How each flickering orange flame from the bonfire not far off, was playing a light show on her pupils.

". . . I'm not kidding; he literally sent a letter to his brother saying: 'don't come into work today, cause we're gonna blow it up'. And so they were caught and all died within a month. It's quite funny really. And I thought Marcus Flint was thick."

     She had now finished what seemed like a whole speech about the gunpowder plot and realized that Adrian hadn't said a word. When she looked over at him, it was as if he was in a daze.

     "Adrian? Adrian?" she repeated.

     "Y-yeah?" he asked.

     "You good?"

     He blinked a few times and it made it look like he had fallen asleep, with his eyes open, whilst standing up because he couldn't bear to hear her talk any longer. When in actual fact, he was in a trance of her beauty, like he had fallen in love.

     "I'm good."

Bianca loved fireworks. Before she found out she was a witch and could do so much more than she could ever comprehend, just with the swish of a wand and a short incantation of what sounded like made-up words, fireworks were magic.

The display had begun and Maxine was yet to return, so Bianca perched by a tree on the shore. Everyone else was now seated, all staring up at the sky as the fireworks exploded above; the bonfire still raging.

Bianca had to give it to them; Fred and George did a heck of a good job.

The fireworks were like explosions of vivid colours, igniting the otherwise black sky. The air was thick with a tincture of gun powder and smoke; a smell that takes her back to every bonfire night she experienced as a child. The fireworks burst through the dark night, fiery blooms amongst the stars. It was all like a perfect real-life photograph.

"Is anyone sitting here?"

Bianca looked over to her left, where Cho Chang was pointing to the empty space beside Bianca.

"Oh, no. You're welcome to sit there." she smiled and Cho took her seat, beside Bianca, who had now readjusted her seating position.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Cho pointed out, as the two stared up into the night sky.

The fireworks were bursting above, searing their brilliant light and vivacious colour onto everyone's retinas. Each one drew a pattern into the sky, something unique and breathtaking, never to be repeated, no matter how many are ignited and sent into the canvas above.

"Stunning."

     The two of them had talked their way through the show; laughing, discussing things they had in common, both of them confused as to why they had never spoken to one another before now.

     There were yells from the crowds like, "GUY FAWKES NIGHT, 93!" as they all raised a glass to the sky and cheered to the night.

     Cho huffed slightly, "I wish they didn't call it that." her voice had become more and more relaxed and natural as the two of them spoke more; she was comfortable with who she was sat beside.

     Bianca had almost forgotten the girl beside her was a Ravenclaw and enjoyed studying and reading, just as much as she did.

     "Because it was Robert Catesbury that planned the whole thing?" Bianca queried.

     Cho's expression melted into a relieved smile, "Yes! I'm glad someone knows their English history."

     "Me too," Bianca huffed, "I was talking about this to my friend Adrian earlier-" she stopped when she realized.

     Did she just refer to Adrian Pucey as her friend? Adrian Pucey? The boy she has despised since day one?

     Cho inclined her head slightly, waiting for her to continue. ". . . And he wasn't paying any attention. That kind of stuff bores most people." she finally finished.

     "But it doesn't bore you?" Cho asked.

     "Nope," Bianca shrugged.

     Then there was a pause. Just between them. The laughs still roaring behind them. Cho was staring into Bianca's eyes, considering what to do next.

     Bianca, on the other hand, wasn't thinking about the kiss list, or the fact Cho was admiring her lips, and her eyes and her hair, but how she called Adrian her friend.

     Without even noticing, Bianca felt her lips pressed up against Cho's.

     The Ravenclaw had made an impulse decision that she thought could go both ways, unaware that Bianca would gladly kiss her back.

     She had leaned forward, Bianca still in her own thoughts, and pushed their lips together, melting slightly at the Gryffindor's touch and gentleness.

     Cho didn't know what she was doing, but Bianca did.

     Still very taken aback, by Cho's unexpected move, she kissed back quickly, before Cho pulled away.

     "Oh, crap. I'm sorry. That was out of order. I shouldn't have done that. You barely know me. Oh, Bianca, I'm so sorry. You're probably uncomfortable now, and oh no-" Cho began stressing her words, rambling almost, trying to apologize for something that Bianca was pleased she did.

     "No, no, no, Cho. Seriously, it's okay." Bianca gently placed her hand on top of Cho's, to calm her down and reassure her she did nothing wrong; the fireworks still bursting above them.

     Cho didn't even flinch at Bianca's touch. "It just, it felt right and I've never kissed a girl before," the Ravenclaw shrugged and blushed, her cheeks going pinkish.

     "Well, now you have."

𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔!

was that kiss was rushed af? yes.
but ive been coming back to this
chapter like so many times because
the writer's block just aint it.

also, i am aware cho is younger
but she isn't in the same year as harry,
she's older.
bianca is NOT a creep OKAY?