the kiss list, adrian pucey
𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟐

chapter sixteen, WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

✧ ━━━ · ✦ · ━━━ ✧

THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO A BET. Both want to win. Both, can't.

In Bianca and Adrian's case, at this point, it looked like Adrian couldn't.

Adrian didn't exactly think Bianca was going to be at the bash at all, let alone manage to cross Cho Chang off of the list, and up until this point, his night had been enjoyable.

The fireworks couldn't cease to amaze him, he had had a conversation with Bianca that hadn't ended in her insulting him and it was more or less a party; so that on its own was enough for it to be fun.

But even just watching Cho Chang do as little as sit beside Bianca for the beginning of the fireworks display, was enough to ruin his night, even if he didn't end up watching them laugh, and talk and eventually kiss.

Cassius wasn't a big enough distraction, and as much as he tried to make it look like he wasn't glancing back and forth from Cassius to Bianca and her new friend, it was obvious he was.

"Yo, you good man?" the boy asked him, noticing how Adrian's eyes moved from him to his right-hand side.

Adrian now tried to focus on Cassius rather than anything else as he cast his eyes finally onto the boy in a slight shock that Cassius had spoken up, "Y-yeah, I'm good." he half smiled and took another sip of his drink, ignoring the pit at the bottom of his stomach that was telling him not to.

➼

THE BONFIRE BASH AND BIANCA'S slip-up when calling Adrian "her friend" changed nothing. Insults and disparaging comments about one another were back to a normal schedule, despite there being fewer and Bianca still refused to let Adrian participate during potions practicals.

"Can't I do anything?" he whined.

"Do you want to get a good grade?" Bianca replied in her uptight manner.

"Who's to say that we won't get a better grade if I was allowed to help?"

She sprinkled in the Jobberknoll feathers required for the memory potion she was brewing, before turning to look at the boy, stood, purposeless, leaning up against the desk, "Me." she said matter-of-factly before her expression melted into a sarcastic smile.

He sighed, giving up, waiting for her to finish their supposed to be 'joint' classwork.

Of course, Bianca ended up flawlessly completing the potion, with no mistakes, and none of Adrian's contribution, which, in her eyes, is the reason she did it in such little time, with zero interruptions.

"I'd like a two-page essay on the Draught of Despair on my desk by next week," Snape whirred, slightly aggressively. "You are dismissed."

The class erupted into their own quiet groans, Adrian included. Bianca, however, seemed to be the only one seated, whose expression didn't change into one of complaint, and she simply gathered her things and began placing them neatly into her bag, which was now in her hands and no longer on the floor by her seat.

Adrian noticed how she didn't seem so bothered by the homework, and as he did the same, he watched as she repacked her bag and stood up.

Bianca never minded doing homework. She liked learning new things, being independent, and discovering unfamiliar topics for herself, and, in this case, in the form of a two-page essay, due in but a few days. Says no one ever.

There was no goodbye as Bianca got up to leave the classroom, and Adrian decided against doing it himself, as he had begun following her, in hopes she could help him on the assignment, he had no clue at doing.

He walked behind Bianca until he reached her side and began walking alongside her.

"Wanna help me do my assignment?" he asked.

Bianca's resting expression didn't change, as she took the lead and walked ahead, trying to leave him behind as she headed for the library, seen as it was the last lesson of the day, and where else would she go?

He didn't stop walking, nor did she lose him. Instead, he too matched her faster pace and followed her into the library that they had now reached.

"Or better yet do it for me?" he said grinning.

They reached the library ─ Bianca walking in first, Adrian following. She still hadn't said a word to him and when they were almost to the seats Bianca was planning on sitting at, by herself, she noticed he was no longer by her side. She ignored it, almost pleased she had managed to shake him away and that maybe he had realized she wasn't prepared on helping him, and he had spotted someone that was.

What she didn't know is that Adrian had seen a poster, with big fonts that had caught his eye and he was actually just wandering over to the noticeboard to pry it off and show it to her.

When Bianca sat down at her chosen desk, and he didn't follow immediately after, she thought she had lost him for good and therefore, allowed herself to get more comfortable, taking out a few textbooks, and her copy of Richard Clewin Griffith and John Herbert White's "Modern Chess Openings" or "MCO", sinking back further into her chair.

She had read approximately seven words from the fourth chapter before she was disrupted by the sound of a bag making contact with the chair opposite her own, and the crinkling of parchment.

Adrian had in fact followed her, and he himself was getting comfortable not even a meter in front of her.

She glanced up from her book to see the boy leaning on his forearms, looking right at her.

"Hi?" she said, narrowing her eyes.

He didn't give her a greeting back, but instead, returned to filing through his bag, where he pulled out a slice of paper and placed it on the table, before sliding it towards.

She huffed, "Seriously Adrian, I really don't want to participate in any more of your stupid bets, okay?"

"Read it." he inclined his head to what looked like a poster.

Bianca met his eyes, before rolling her own. She let out a deep sigh and slid the paper closer towards her, to get a better look.

"GILDEROY LOCKHART PRESENTS ─ Dueling club."

"I saw it on the noticeboard on the way in." he shrugged, "Thought maybe we could sign up together."

Bianca furrowed her eyebrows at him, then at the words 'Lockhart.'

"Do you know that little about me, Pucey?" she questioned.

"What do you mean?" he huffed; his once encouraging smile had now faded.

"Dueling club? With that tool?" she asked incredulously.

"I thought it could be fun." he defended, "And educational." he added, in hopes that would appeal to her almost.

"Yeah, you thought it could be fun. Why would you need me?"

Adrian didn't have an answer to that, so gave up with the whole 'dueling club duo' idea, "All right, fine. We won't do it then," he frowned, rolling his eyes and moving the paper out of the way so it was closer to the window. "Moving on then."

She had reopened her book, and glanced up from it when he hadn't moved an inch, "go on then." she prompted towards the door.

Bianca didn't know what he exactly meant when he said 'moving on then' and her mind told her that it meant he was going to leave only because she hoped that would be true.

"Oh I'm not leaving," he said as if that was obvious.

"Well, why not?" she asked.

"I need your help on the assignment."

"I thought you were great at potions, Pucey? Why can't you do it on your own?" she taunted.

He scoffed, "Well, I hoped we could do it together." he shrugged, lightly.

Bianca sighed, letting the book fall onto the table before she looked up to connect their eyes in contact. She stared into his steel eyes for just a moment, before speaking, "Do you think we are friends Adrian?" it sounded as though she was asking a genuine question; at least that's what he took it as.

He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head, "Why, do you not?"

"I wouldn't say 'friends'."

Bianca told herself that she needed some sort of reassurance for personal purposes, that she didn't like him, in any way. 'Enemy' was a bit of a stretch, but after saying it out loud, Bianca certainly didn't consider him as someone she would refer to as a 'friend'; it sounded wrong after all these years.

"Really? I thought I was having an effect on you, Larsson. Is there really no relationship development between us two?" he said smugly.

Her bored characterized face turned into an amused grin, "What is this, couples counseling? No, I would not consider you a 'friend' Adrian." she shook her head, once again picking up her book, in hopes he could see that as a sign to end the conversation.

"So, frenemies?" he queried after a second of no talk.

"What?" her tone was baffled almost, and her book drooped in her grasp.

"You know, frenemies? Friend-enemies," he explained.

"I thought I just told you, I don't consider you a friend," she repeated.

"Exactly," he said, "you don't hate me, you don't love me. Well, you won't admit to that last part," he said, quieter than before.

Apparently not quiet enough. Bianca scowled at him, narrowing her eyes, before kicking his shin under the desk, earning an inaudible 'ow'.

"Anyways, we are frenemies." he smiled more genuinely now like he was proud of what he had come up with.

Bianca raised her book, so it was no longer facing the ground, and she resumed reading, as she was before she was disrupted by the boy who hadn't yet left, but was still looking at her, waiting for her to spark further conversation. Bianca had no interest in doing so.

"Call it what you want, Pucey. Whatever helps you sleep at night ─ I don't care." she didn't look up from her book, that she felt as though she had finally got the chance to relax and read.

"So, about the assignment," he spoke up again.

The girl had read no more than ten words before she once again was forced to stop. Her head fell back in annoyance, fed up, and she groaned.

"Do you do this to everybody?" she asked, irritably. "Talk at them while they try to sit and read, without disruptions of any kind? Do you enjoy it? Because I'm busy." she flicked the book that was grasped in her right hand; her elbow resting on the desk as she glared at Adrian.

He surrendered his hands, "Sorry. I see you're busy reading─" he inclined his head so he could read the words that read the title of the book, "─Modern Chess openings?" he read out; his tone becoming more and more questioning as he stared at the book. He re-inclined his head, and looked at the girl, "I thought that was a joke?"

"Was what a joke?" she asked.

"That you play chess."

"Why would I lie about that?"

He gave her a considerable shrug, that said, 'I dunno'.

She let out a rather large sigh, "Can I get back to reading now?"

"Sure. Although I'm not sure why you would need to read a book on chess tactics." he chuckled.

"How is me reading this," she lifted the book higher, "any different from you reading 'Quidditch through the Ages'?"

He leaned in closer, "Tell me, truthfully, is there is actually a chess team?"

Bianca gritted her teeth, "No." she admitted reluctantly, seeing absolutely no point in trying to lie. He'd see right through her.

"Exactly," he nodded his head, expecting the answer she gave him, "Now, see, I actually play Quidditch against real people for a real trophy, so I need to improve and learn from previous professionals, in order to win that trophy." he made hand gestures that made it seem like he was playing dumb with Bianca.

Bianca didn't think this was the time to inform Adrian that Hogwarts holds an annual Chess Championship in December because she decided to stash that nugget of information away for another time once she's won it. She plans to this year. "Ohh, I get it," she nodded her head. "Yup, totally understandable," she said sarcastically, "So, are you going to shut the fuck up, or better yet, leave me in peace, or are you going to just talk at me for the next couple hours?" she asked irritably.

"Next couple of hours?" he asked incredulously. "That's how long you stay in here for? Jesus, you're lonely."

He couldn't believe that students, Bianca in this case, actually spent their time in the library. Whether that was to read like Bianca was, or whether they were completing homework, like every other student in the school did, he didn't quite seem to grasp the idea that libraries weren't as lame as he made them out to be; they were normal.

     There were a few dozen "Shhh!" sounds at this point, which was understandable for Bianca and she could almost empathize, seeing as she didn't want to be talking either.

"But maybe you could teach me sometime?" he suggested, ignoring the now very aggravated library-goers asking him to shut up, and Bianca's very irritated face.

"Teach you what?" she asked, trying to keep her composure to the calmest it could be with him constantly making conversation.

"Chess," he said casually.

"I hate to break it to you, Adrian, but you don't have the brain capacity to play chess," she sneered.

"That's not true," he defended calmly, "I've played a game of chess before Bianca." his tone made it sound like it was obvious.

'Isn't this the guy that called chess lame?' she thought to herself, before deciding to go along with his little game, seen as he seemed so desperate to talk to her, "Name one playing piece." she quizzed, just to clarify that he actually didn't know anything, which is what she assumed to be true.

Adrian tried to piece together a word, by opening his mouth like he was about to start speaking when in actual fact, he was just trying to figure out a letter that a piece began with.

"Solider," he replied, a little too confidently, seeing as he was wrong.

"I'll give you that, and only because I assume you meant a knight."

"See. I know more than you think. And besides, is that not what teaching is for?" he smirked.

She breathed out, "I'll think about it."

He smiled appreciatively and almost like he was excited for the possibility of her saying yes.

"So, the assignment?" he brought up again, in hopes that if he mentioned it for a third time, she would have to help him because he was so persistent.

"Fine," she rolled her eyes, "but I'm not doing it for you," she said sternly.

"Fine by me," he grinned.

Adrian had already taken out his things that he required, including his Potions textbook and two pages of clean, fresh parchment, ready for Bianca to feed him information and for him to scribble it down in the form of an essay. Bianca hadn't as she was just planning on reading for an hour or so; the essay wasn't due the next day, but getting out of the way and ahead of the class wouldn't hurt, so she reached into her bag, and there was the rustling of parchment as she pulled out her own clean slate of paper to write on, and her own textbook.

"I'm getting a bit of deja vu right now, aren't you?" he smirked, whilst waiting for her to finish.

"Yeah? And why's that Adrian?" she asked, finally sitting up, her things laid out on the table.

"Well, look around you Bianca," he said. She pulled her eyes away from him for enough time to see what he was on about.

It was the same desk. The same cornered spot in the library. The same area of books organized alphabetically ─ their particular section was the letter 'J'. And even the same two chairs, positioned in the same exact way. Where Adrian had proposed his bet, that the two of them had become so invested in and Bianca had become pleasantly surprised at herself for one: agreeing in the first place, and two taking the lead.

See this, was where it all began.

"Aw, that's cute," she said sarcastically, earning herself a rather large grin. "But instead of dwelling on the past, since you pestered me into agreeing to help you write an essay you should be able to write on your own ─ you are a big boy, after all, Adrian," she mocked, pouting her lips, " ─ can we start already? Or there is another cutesy comment you want to make?"

To the pleasure of the rest of the library, Adrian and Bianca's discussion had fizzed out to a minium and when they did speak, it would have been at a respectable volume.

After spending around an hour and a half there, Adrian had begun to understand why Bianca and many others spent their time in the library ─ it was peaceful, tranquil, harmonious.

The sun had started to set and the afternoon was fading away into the evening. Dinner was soon approaching, and Bianca didn't seem to be particularly hungry, whereas Adrian was on the verge of dying of hunger (author here: bless him).

"Okay, read me your opening," Bianca instructed to make sure their two separate essays didn't sound the same, seeing as he had asked for her help and she gave it to him.

Adrian lifted the top of his parchment, so his first paragraph was in a clearer view: "'The Emerald Potion, also known as the Drink of Despair, is a mysterious potion that induces fear, delirium, and extreme thirst.'," he looked up from the parchment. "Is that enough?" he asked, after finishing reading his out loud for her.

"Sounds great," she replied.

"How much have you written?" he asked.

"I'm just finishing off my final paragraph," she said, not looking up from her parchment and freshly applied ink in the form of words that she had just looked back to.

His mouth fell agape slightly, "What? How? I only just started my second page!" he said in a whiney tone.

"I write fast," she shrugged.

He let out a little cackle, shaking his head, before returning back to his essay, in hopes to catch up, despite knowing that was near to impossible.

Another silence fell over the two of them, but it settled. It was comfortable. Not awkward, not odd, relaxed. Soon, Adrian once again found himself staring. He had done this a lot recently.

Her head was down, her yellow hair, falling over her cheeks, covering her eyes from his view. The sound of her quill scratching against the parchment sounded so peaceful and every now and then, she reached over to the ink pot beside her, to dip the feather in, before going back to writing. And soon, she was at the end of the page.

"Okay I'm done," she said, before drawing her eyes away from her flawlessly written essay and up to Adrian, who was already looking at her. "What?" she asked.

Adrian shook his head a little, shaking away his thoughts, whilst trying to cover up the fact that he wasn't just staring at her. "Uh nothing." he stammered.

"Creep," she muttered, causing him to chuckle to himself, knowing she took it as a joke. As Adrian went back to finishing his own essay, knowing she was finished with her's, Bianca leaned over and returned to reading her book.

"You're staying?" he questioned.

"Where else would I go?" she replied.

There were a few places she could go ─ the great hall for some food, the Gryffindor common room, back to her dorm, the astronomy tower. The castle was huge, yet she didn't seem to see the point in moving, even if she was in the company of Adrian Pucey if she stayed where she was.

"I dunno, dinner?" he suggested.

She shrugged, "Not hungry."

"Well, maybe you could─" he started, before her immediate interjection.

"No, Adrian, I am not bringing you anything from the feast." she looked him in the eye and gave him a look as if to say: 'really?'. He huffed in protest, not that he actually believed she would go and get him some food the first place; she did it once, who was to say she would go out of her way to do it again? "Get on with your essay and you'll get to eat sooner."

She was right, so he starting scribbling down information that he remembered Bianca mentioning earlier, whilst also cross-referencing his own ideas with the textbook beside him.

With Bianca silently reading now Chapter five of her "Modern Chess Openings", and Adrian concentrating so much in order to finish, it was quiet, bar the sound of a page-turning and ink dripping.

Adrian wanted to bring up the kiss between her and Cho, but he felt as though it were unnecessary and he was sure she would have loved to gloat. He felt that this had been the one singular evening or interaction between them that was friendly? Like they didn't hate each other, but that they were friends.  Sure she had called him a 'creep' and said he was too dense to understand the rules of chess, but they were jokes? Right? He didn't want to ruin that from his end. She may enjoy rubbing it in his face, but he certainly wouldn't.

"I like the book," he said, still staring down at his page, wanting to spark further conversation just so he didn't feel as lonely or as a burden seen as she was staying, despite already finishing.

"What?" she peered over her page towards him. Her voice sounded more affable than ever.

"Pride and Prejudice," he finally looked up, "I like it."

"If only you had realized that sooner." she teased.

She noticed how it had gotten darker in the area they were sat and that there was little light coming from the window beside them. The sky was no longer a light haze of blue, but instead a brilliant white, fogged clear. Snow had begun to fall softly and she got up to get a closer look.

Little flakes of snow danced in the air as if choreographed, and a blanket of crispy white was beginning to form everywhere, as if the ground, grass, and castle grounds were all feather cushions, soft and warm.

"What are you looking at?" Adrian asked as he watched her stand up and stare in awe out of the window.

"It's snowing," she smiled.

"Really? But it's November?"

"We're in Scotland. December, January, and February are generally the coldest months, but snowfall has been known to have started in early November, with the average maximum temperature usually around 5°C," she started, without even realizing he was admiring her every move, "The average number of days with snowfall in Scotland ranges from 15 to 20 days. However, the peaks and mountains of the Highlands ─ where we are ─ experience around 100 days of falling snow." she finished, still looking out of the large, glass window onto the snow-cast grounds. (author again: she went all spencer reid on his ass).

"You know all that off the top of your head?" he queried incredulously.

"I read a lot. Let's not forget that," she said, before finally returning to her seat, the signup sheet for the dueling club, still sitting, collecting dust to the side, catching her eye. She ignored it briefly and took her seat, where she found him staring again, rather than writing the remainder of his essay.

"Stop staring Adrian. People might think you're in love with me."

It was well into the evening now, and the snow had not yet stopped.

"I'm gonna get going. Starting to get a bit peckish," she said, after glancing at her watch: 6:58 pm.

"Oh yeah, good night Bianca." he wished her with a smile. It wasn't late, but he wasn't finished with his essay, and he assumed that by the time he was, she would be done with dinner and disappeared to her own house common room, done for the day.

"You not finished yet?"

"I have some other Herbology homework to do, so I'll stay a little longer," he explained. This would have been the longest he had spent in the library,

"Are you not hungry?"

"It'll wear off. It's not as bad anymore," he shrugged.

"Oh, okay, well night, Adrian," she gave him a small, yet genuine smile back.

She had already gathered her things, and stood up, heading for the exit of the library. Adrian briefly watched her walk away, before looking back to where she had previously sat, where a single piece of parchment, was positioned slightly closer than it was before.

It was no longer pushed away to the window, but was as if it was right next to her before she had left: the signup sheet for Lockhart's dueling club, Professor Dumbledore had given him permission to host.

With a closer inspection, there were two more recent, two new additions to the list, written on the bottom two lines, under all the other names that had been written before:

She had written both of their names and he hadn't even noticed.

When he looked up from the signup sheet, she was already out of sight. Still smiling, he returned his gaze back to her name in particular. It stood out against the rest ─ her handwriting was so much tidier than the ones above it. It had such flair to it, confidence, yet class.

The first session already had taken place that same night, and they had missed it, but he didn't care ─ he was just happy that she had signed up at all.