the kiss list, adrian pucey
𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟐

chapter seventeen, AN AFFAIR OF HONOUR

✧ ━━━ · ✦ · ━━━ ✧

     SINCE THAT ONE EVENING IN THE LIBRARY rude remarks and snide criticism had been non-existent. It wasn't just like it was kept to a minimum, but in actual fact, neither Adrian nor Bianca had insulted one another on the school grounds at all. Not once. It was unheard of, and yet, it felt normal to each of them, like, things that had said to each other before, meant nothing and were completely pointless. Looking back, those comments about how Bianca looked that day, or the fact the Adrian had gotten a mark lower on their History of Magic quiz, were boring. Annoying. Like it was almost weird that they had ever bothered to say them in the first place.

     Also since that one evening, the snow had yet to stop. Maybe that's why Bianca hadn't bothered insulting Adrian; because she had been in a better mood since the snow had begun to fall, and even he couldn't change that. And maybe he hadn't bothered in reply, because he didn't want to intrude on her delight about the weather.

     She had always loved the snow. How it all fell so perfectly on the floor, and carpeted the dead leaves underneath, that were once beautiful oranges and reds, but are now dead due to the change in season and temperature. Yet how such cold climates still managed to be so picturesque and although, had she not had gloves on, her fingers could quite possibly drop off. How the frost kissed her face, turning it all red and flustered. How snowflakes, as they playfully swirled in the glacial air, glowed as if they were lit up from the inside.

     Bianca had such lovely memories as a child, playing in the snow. It wasn't necessarily a rare occasion for the snow to fall in winter, but never when she wanted it to. They weren't any White Christmases for all she can remember, but what she can, is her and her parents each rolling the snow into their own ball of three different sizes; Bianca the smallest, her mother the next and her father the largest, all put together to form a snowman, that they would later embellish with knitted hats and scarves. Then, of course, a reward for the hard work and putting up with such low temperatures, a hot chocolate, later accompanied by a Sunday Roast made up of crispy roast potatoes, juicy turkey and her favourite part, a homemade Yorkshire Pudding.

     It was times like these, wandering around the grounds alone, the snow being crushed beneath her feet's imprints, that made her think: where did it all go wrong?

     The Hogwarts Castle had such potential for utter pleasantness when the snow eventually came. Whether that was Christmas time in December, late January, or Bianca's least favourite time of year, but when the hopeless romantics thrive, in mid-February and Valentine's day, it never ceased to be beautiful. Bianca was so glad that Hogwarts did in fact, live up to that potential that year. And because of this, she was currently enjoying her second walk of the day, at only noon, roving the castle's grounds, in peace.

     She didn't mind for the no-company. If anything, she preferred it that way. No one to have to listen to drone on about something Bianca didn't care for, but because she was relatively nice, she would let them continue without knowing how much she wanted them to shut up. No one to be there, leaving room for awkward silences whenever neither of them had anything to say. Thinking about it now, there were probably only three people Bianca could think of that she hadn't had that sort of experience with: Leo, Miles and as much as she didn't want to think about it, Adrian.

     There had never been an uncomfortable mist of awkwardness between Bianca and Adrian, even if that was because they were insulting one another, or Adrian was simply being irritating, but maybe that's why they always had something to talk about: each other's flaws, if Bianca was helping him with something work-related, how one was better at the other at something, and although there had been minimal of that recently, she still realised how often they spoke for two people that were supposed to hate each other.

     Bianca may have preferred to be on her own at that moment, but when she heard the crunching of the crisp snow underneath someone's feet that wasn't her own, and the familiar sound of a voice she had realized she had heard a lot of calling out for her, suddenly, some company sounded nice.

     "Hey, Bianca, mind if I join?" he asked, jogging up to meet her side.

     What Bianca wanted to say was: 'no, not at all actually,' yet she didn't think he needed that subtle confession that she didn't mind him at all.

     "Uh, no," she replied, looking up briefly to see how his eyes were so beautifully suited to this kind of weather. How they matched the frozen lakes and bodies of water dotted around the grounds, and the snowflakes currently falling effortlessly around them. He had his hands tucked deep into his pockets and his shoulders hunched up to his ears. She imagined he did this to reduces any body heat loss because he had nothing covering his ears, but just his hood from his coat that was thrown loosely over his head, leaving his ears blood-shot red out of the cold.

     "I saw you signed us up for the duelling club," he pointed out, as the two began aimlessly walking up and down paths, down stone laid steps and carefully down now snow-covered, but once grassy hills.

     "That was the plan," she chuckled softly, almost as if it were inaudible.

     "From what I've heard, you are meant to pair up, so do you think you can actually beat me, or have you finally come to the realisation that you might not be better than me at everything?" he said with a smirk, and although her head was down, watching as her boots imprinted into the brilliant white ground, she knew it was there.

     "One: who's to say that we would pair up in the first place? And two: you think I'm better at everything then you?" she said, her herself smirking now.

     "That's not what I said," his chuckle was a lot more audible than Bianca's was and to her, it was almost adorable.

     "You said, 'might'," she said, pointing her finger out, that was wrapped in a woollen glove.

     "You're twisting my words," he replied.

     "Mhm sure. But I'll give it to you, you are better than me at a few things, Adrian," she said, angling her head slightly to just about see him via her peripheral vision.

     Adrian believed that a statement like this one, coming from her, was too good to be true. That there had to be something else to it that would soon follow. Bianca may tolerate Adrian now and her feelings towards him had no doubt eased, but she would never downright admit things that she wasn't as good at than he was. Right?

     "There's no way I can be as irritating as you can," she said matter-of-factly, before letting out a low, hushed chuckle, that was sweeter than you would imagine if had you heard it.

     "There it is," he nodded his head, letting out a sigh.

     "No but seriously," she said after both of their subtle laughs had faded away, "You are much better at being extremely disruptive than I am," she said.

     Adrian ran his tongue along the rim of his top row of teeth, a laugh being held off, "Really? That must have been hard for you to admit, huh?" he faked a look as if he were interested.

     "Very," she nodded in the same way he did, turning her head back to the scenery she had been missing so far, having been talking to someone she told people she hated. "But in all seriousness, I can't fly a broom as good as you can."

     "See? That wasn't so hard to admit now was it Bianca?"

     "I guess not," she said in a more reserved tone.

     Adrian had always noticed this about Bianca. How reserved she could be. She rarely spoke about her emotions ─ she would never discuss them with him, of course, but she seemed a very closed off person in the first place. He always knew she was a dignified, sedated kind of person, but he hoped that after all the development they had been through that year so far, that maybe, those bottled up emotions and thoughts he imagined she had, would come out eventually, maybe even to him. And all because of some dumb kiss list he created just to prove a point and piss her off when he won.

     "But thank you," he said, very genuine and very appreciatively.

     Bianca always knew that Quidditch was the one thing he could do that she couldn't. Of course, she had tried, several times, but she never got to grips with the game. Her, finally admitting that she recognised he had talent to his face, meant a lot more to him than it would to anyone else. This is Bianca.

     "That might change though," he shrugged.

     "What do you mean?" she asked, intrigued.

     "I thought you and Wood were training together?" he asked like it were obvious.

     Adrian didn't particularly want to bring up the list. Not because he was losing, but because he didn't want their relationship to be something purely built off of some bet. But he wanted to know. He wanted to know if she liked Oliver, how close they were. It sounds creepy and stalker-ish, and Adrian wasn't the jealous kind. He just always wanted to be the one to teach her how to throw a Quaffle into a hoop, whilst riding a broom.

     But the truth was, Bianca had made that up on the spot, something to make him jealous and worried at the moment. He had fallen off his broom and telling him that she was going to be taking Quidditch lessons from someone who hadn't, made her feel like she was in power, which right now, sounded like a horrible thing to do. But the lie must go on.

     "Oh yeah, that. I'm doing great." she replied, her eyebrows knitting together, "Soon I will be as good as you, and you can bet on that."

     A shower was always a good way to clear the mind and of course to warm up on such a cold day.

     Adrian and Bianca had spent roughly half an hour talking, discussing how Bianca will one day be good enough for the team, the duelling club they were both attending that same day, how Bianca was sure to cross another one of the twenty-one students from the list, seen as it had been almost a week and a half since the bonfire bash. Just the two of them, slowing freezing up in the cold until it became too much and they each retreated to their common rooms for the remainder of the afternoon until dinner.

     The shower water came as perfect rain, warm and steady, awakening her skin in all the right ways. It came as a soothing cascade, and to her, it felt as though she were within arms that flow and hug so gently.

     The water fell and her hair drooped over her face as her mind fought for answers. Why did she feel like this? How did it go from: "I hate his guts" to: "I enjoy his company" in such a short amount of time? It didn't make sense to her. Adrian was good at flirting, yet not good enough to crack Bianca. And besides, the way he spoke to her wasn't in any way flirtatious.

     Whatever she felt, she still thought it would be interesting to see how that night could go: the two would be duelling, and this time with magic, not words.

➼

     BIANCA DIDN'T KNOW WHETHER SHE was excited for the duelling club or concerned about how it could go. She definitely believed that however it would go, it would run a lot smoother if Gilderoy Lockhart wasn't hosting it. She wasn't sure if she would even learn something.

     At the time of signing, Leo hadn't even crossed Bianca's mind. She had almost assumed that he and Alicia had already signed themselves up, which it turns out, they had not.

     "Do you think it's too late for me to sign up now?" Leo asked.

     "I mean, we signed up even after the first session took place, so I don't think so. Then again, I don't know how it works and I doubt Lockhart is organised enough to even know who is meant to be going," Bianca replied, beginning to feel slightly guilty she hadn't mentioned it to him beforehand.

     "I'll sign up tomorrow if I can find a sheet. You go without me tonight, although I don't think that's a problem now you have Pucey for company," he nudged her in the side lightly.

     "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, turning to look at him, "Are you pissed or something?" she asked tentatively. She didn't quite believe that was the explanation, but it could have been.

     "Pissed?" he repeated, "No, why would I be pissed? I hang out Alicia just as much as you do with Adrian. All I'm saying is you two seem to be getting close?" he said suggestively, his body sinking lower into his chair, scared at how she would react.

     "I wouldn't say we're close," she defended, meeting her knife and fork in the middle of her plate, and lowering them to meet the porcelain surface, signifying she was finished with her meal.

     "I didn't say you are close, I said you were getting close," he replied, doing the same with his own utensils and wiping any remaining gravy from his bottom lip with a nearby napkin.

     Bianca thought about a reply, but before she could even open her mouth, Professor Dumbledore, stood up, drawing everyone's attention with the volume of his voice, "Thank you, everyone. Please all head back to your common rooms and for anyone who has signed up, please return here for eight o'clock this evening, for Professor Lockhart's Duelling Club. That will be all."

     The shrieking of the benches rubbing against the cobblestone floor sounded as everyone got up from their seats and began exiting the great hall, a few remaining to finish their meals.

     Seen as the both of them were done, the two of them got up themselves and joined the line of students ambling towards the other end of the room; Leo leading and Bianca following.

     Adrian, Graham and Miles had done the same, around a similar time and the five seemed to meet in the middle, at the large opening doors; the Slytherins to the left-hand side, the two Gryffindors, the right.

     "Evening Bianca, Raywood," Miles greeted the two of them, with a grin, before him and Graham wandered off, not noticing Adrian straying behind for just a second.

     "I'll meet you here at five to eight?" Adrian suggested, with a slight asking tone to it.

     "Sure," she nodded sweetly.

     She watched as he grinned with delight, before walking away, jogging to catch up with Graham and Miles not too far ahead. She turned back to face Leo, who at this point, didn't know what to think.

     Any time Bianca spoke of Adrian, it was with disgust. This was different. She was willingly going to spend time with a boy, that a few months ago, she absolutely hated.

     Leo had a grin that Bianca could immediately read, "I ship." he joked, beginning to walk away in the high chance she would slap him or do something similar.

     Bianca may have slightly changed her opinions about Adrian Pucey, but that did not in any way mean she had feelings for him. She was yet to even refer to him as a friend, let alone anything more than that.

     She gave him a look as if to say: 'really?', before actually speaking her mind, "Oh shut up."

➼

     AN AFFAIR OF HONOUR IS A dispute to be decided by a duel, or the duel itself.

     Bianca and Adrian had many an argument, many of which never had a 'winner' or someone that came out on top. Bianca liked to think she won, Adrian of course, liked to think he himself one. It's all a matter of opinion.

     Duelling club could actually be quite a good decider for the two, even if it was just for one argument: who was the better dueller? Adrian or Bianca?

     Duelling began in ancient Europe as 'trial by combat,' a form of 'justice' in which two disputants battled it out; whoever lost was assumed to be the guilty party. In the Middle Ages, these contests gave the winner bragging rights and honour.

     It's not the middle ages, and of course, no one would die or be injured at that, but 'bragging rights' of course sounded appealing, even to two teenagers that made everything a competition. Competitions that no one cared about bar themselves.

     In this modern age, solving a problem by asking a student to 'step outside' is generally considered an immature, low-class thing to do. Plus it would never happen with punches and physical violence at a school like Hogwarts; the student body is made up of weird kids that can shoot stuff from a stick.

     But for many centuries, challenging another man to a duel was not only considered a pinnacle of honour, but was a practice reserved for the upper classes, those deemed by society to be true gentlemen. People like Lockhart, only he was the only one that deemed himself a 'gentlemen'. He and a few second-year girls that are in love with him.

     Basically, Adrian's plan was to duel with Bianca to prove he was better than her at something that wasn't Quidditch and a few minor quizzes during lessons.

     Bianca wandered through the halls alone - the halls that were a lot less silent now that duelling club with the oh-so-perfect Lockhart had started - a draft rippling through her robes now the temperature inside the castle itself had dropped too, not just the outside. The castle was made of stone and Wizards didn't have central heating as Bianca did back home, so she would have to deal with it.

     Adrian was waiting just where he had said a little before five to eight, just so he wouldn't be the one keeping her waiting.

     He was leaning casually up against a wall just off of the great hall's large entrance, one leg crossed over the other, whistling a little to himself.

     "After you," he opened out his arm in the direction of the hall, that students were now beginning to file into.

     The great hall had been almost emptied. There were a few long tables, lined up against one another to form a kind of stage, for Lockhart who obviously believed he deserved one for some reason.

     Bianca followed Adrian to the back of the stage arena, behind a few younger students where they waited for what Bianca assumed would be Lockhart's 'big entrance' he so desperately needed.

     "Welcome, welcome!" he bellowed, ascending up the small set of stairs at the other end of the table, where he waltzed to the middle. "Welcome to our second session of the Duelling Club!" he announced proudly.

     Bianca didn't listen to much after that; she imagined he was reminding everyone of his latest achievements and more or less informing everyone what a 'great wizard he is'.

     She watched as Snape joined him on stage; his all-black attire flowing behind him, as he walked aggressively.

     "Today we will be returning to disarming charms!" Lockhart explained, throwing his cape over his shoulder. "Pair up and begin!"

     Bianca was almost glad that they had missed the first session because she got to miss Lockhart ramble on about how amazing he was at disarming charms. Although she would have liked to see him abysmally fail in a duel against Professor Snape.

     The crowds bustled around, finding a free area and some already starting their own mini battles.

     "Shall we?" Adrian gestured to a vacant space in a far off corner, like he was asking her to dance at a nineteenth-century ball.

     She assertively brushed past him, making her way to the corner of the hall that was still unoccupied despite all the scurrying.

     "Now, let's really decide who's the better dueller." Adrian sneered as he joined her not long after, "Although, when I'm through, it will be so painfully obvious."

     "Oh yeah?" she challenged, as the two approached each other, both so confidently.

     "Scared Larsson?" he taunted, as they met halfway, wands now up to their faces.

     "You wish," she jeered, throwing her wand back down to her side, sharply; him doing the same. (author here: i just had to, im sorry).

     Turning their backs to face away from the other, they walked away, their wands at the ready. With a final whip to stare at the other, both of their eyes narrowed, their arms raised into a poised potion as if they were ready for anything.

     "On my count," Bianca announced, her expression not swaying from its serious tone. Bianca didn't trust Adrian when counting; he would do anything to win. "One - two -"

     But before she could even make it to three, Adrian scooped his wand, "Expelliarmus!" he yelled and there was a spark of brilliant red that went shooting towards Bianca, leaving her no time to react at all.

     She was launched backwards, and hit the floor with a loud thud, followed by a few groans of pain, as she gathered herself. She was so glad that everyone else was so preoccupied with their own battles, that they missed her embarrassing defeat.

     Bianca shouldn't have been surprised when Adrian hit her. He wasn't one to cheat when it came to Quidditch, but maybe he didn't trust her when it came to duelling.

     He was tempted to walk over to her and help her to her feet, but it was a duel, not a pity contest.

     "I didn't even make it to three," she said, louder than before so he could hear her without her having to yell, as she clambered to a stand, not forgetting her wand.

     "I didn't think you would without shooting," he smirked, patiently waiting to resume their duel, slightly too cocky seen as he had only got one hit.

     "You don't trust me?" she queried, whilst sneering.

     "Not right now I don't."

     What was that supposed to mean? She didn't want to question because she still very much wanted to win this duel, but she couldn't help but wonder. Did that mean he trusted her outside of a situation like this?

     Without any warning - not that she was meant to give one - Bianca lashed her wand around her head, poising it perfectly, "Everte Statum!" she yelled, the element of surprise working so perfectly in her favour.

     Adrian's eyes widened as he watched the dashing ray of silver light shoot from her wand and straight towards him, sending him through the air, rolling on the ground when he came down.

     Bianca relaxed her arm and wand, smugly smirking, as she watched him groan, still on the floor.

     He gathered himself, still in shock she had done that at all, "Bet you enjoyed that didn't you?" he smirked, but still in a playful way.

     She chose to walk over to him, offering her hand for assistance, "You bet I did."