the kiss list, adrian pucey
𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟐

chapter twenty-four, THE VERGE OF ABANDONMENT

✧ ━━━ · ✦ · ━━━ ✧

     MADAM ROSMERTA HAD NOT FORGOTTEN THE two students that she had served that day in Hogsmeade, knowing full well that they should be somewhere else. Lucky for Malcolm and Bianca, she reported it to Professor Dumbledore after that same shift.

     Bianca wasn't one for detentions. She wasn't one to want one.

     A lot of students didn't care for the fact that they were being punished for something they did that was considered bad enough to put them in detention. Most people did the things they did, knowing full well they would get a detention.

     At the time, it hadn't even crossed Bianca's mind that any of this would equate to a week's detention, but when thinking about the concept of the staff of Hogwarts finding out what she and Malcolm had done, detention would surely be the only way out ─ it's not like they could suspend her by sending her home, right? And being expelled was surely off of the table. Right?

     Bianca had not convinced herself that the last one was true when Professor McGonagall knocked on the classroom's door and asked Professor Snape if she could "borrow" Bianca and Malcolm "for a moment".

     She felt sick to her stomach, as she followed the Hufflepuff boy and the Transfiguration teacher out of the dungeons and to her office, where Professor Sprout was already sat.

     Professor McGonagall settled in her chair, as Bianca cautiously took a seat opposite on the other side of the desk ─ Malcolm beside her.

     "So," the Professor began with her quaint, yet seriously stern voice, "Care to tell Professor Sprout and I where you were all day yesterday?"

     Bianca rotated her head to Malcolm almost in desperation, with high hopes that he would come up with some brilliant, improvised excuse to save them, so she wouldn't have to face detention with a guy that she was practically; maybe; she didn't know; wasn't quite sure; yet to conclude - falling in love with.

     Malcolm looked at Bianca his mouth sort of hanging open, waiting for the words to come out, but he only stammered. He returned to the teacher.

     "W-we were, we er we were-" he stuttered.

     "-Sick!" Bianca's expression had sharpened up to an enthusiastic grin.

     "Is that so?" Professor McGonagall questioned. The two of them nodded confidently, Malcolm matching Bianca's hopeful smile. "And you are both fine now?"

     "Yup!" Bianca's grin widened even more, believing that the Professor had bought it, which couldn't be further from the truth.

     "Totally," Malcolm said.

     "Tonnes better, Professor."

     "So it wasn't you two that Madam Rosmerta served in the Three Broomsticks yesterday at twelve thirty-one?" Professor McGonagall said. The Herbology teacher sat quiet, almost waiting for when she was supposed to talk.

     Bianca's face reddened rapidly, "Must be someone else." she shrugged after a hot second.

     "Yeah, someone else." Malcolm supported.

     "So it was another," Professor McGonagall lifted her reading glasses that were hanging via her neck, and nestled them on her nose, before lifting up the top half of a piece of parchment, glancing over the words, "yellow-blonde, wavy-haired teenager with Gryffindor robes and a defined bone structure" and another, "lanky, scruffy-haired, dimpled face boy in Hufflepuff" was it?" Professor McGonagall finished reading out what Bianca could only assume was the description of the two of them Madam Rosmerta gave the school.

     Technically speaking, Bianca probably wasn't the only blonde Gryffindor with a defined bone structure, but she assumed that Professor McGonagall knew too much about her and Malcolm's history to not be able to connect the dots.

     "N-no," Malcolm argued, very unconfidently, and Bianca was pretty sure he was sinking in his seat.

     "I'm so sorry Professor! I should have been honest! I know you know that this is not like me and that I have never ever done anything like this before and I never ever will do anything like this again. It was a mistake, and yeah, maybe it was a little fun at the time, but I regret it, and oh please don't expel me!" Bianca blurted out at a pace, fiddling with the hem of her robes' sleeve.

     "Oh Miss Larsson, I'm not going to expel you! But you're right, you won't be doing this again." Professor McGonagall replied. Bianca exhaled heavily, her shoulders drooping, despite knowing what's coming next. "As for you," she turned to Malcolm, "your second day and you're already skipping school!" she tutted, and Professor Sprout did the same. "Both of you will join me in detention tomorrow, at four o'clock sharp. I'll tell you more then, but as for now, off you go. Back to class."

     "Yes, Professor," Bianca sulked, and Malcolm just nodded solemnly.

     Professor Sprout met them at the door, and opened it for them, sending a look of disappointment at the boy, before they left the office and were trudging back to the dungeons.

     "Hey." Malcolm nudged the girl, as she moped, her head hung low, "It could have been worse, you know. One detention? That's nothing." he laughed, in hopes to cheer up just a little.

     Bianca knew Malcolm was right - it was nothing. "You're right. Thanks."

     "You need to break a few more rules if this is how you react to one detention."

     Bianca snorted with laughter, and Malcolm's face grinned even more at the sight that told him, he had made the situation just that little bit better.

     But despite that, just the thought of him made Bianca ache with guilty concern. The dimples on his face that arched around his perfect smile. His kind words that warmed her up inside. His laugh that could cure this world of trouble and pain. It was all becoming too much, that it pained her to say his name, let alone look him the eye like he wasn't a target on her board of kisses ─ a pathetic and childish game that she had agreed to play. A game that was now at the expense of a bond that she had truly missed, and was grateful to have restored.

     Bianca returned to the back of the class to her seat, where Adrian sat up a little straighter at her return.

     "What d'ya get?" he smirked. He ignored the thought that the person Bianca had bunked off with was Malcolm, because Bianca Larsson had broken a rule, and Adrian liked to think that he had something to do with it.

     "Detention tomorrow at four." she huffed, as she slumped back into her seat, staring straight.

     "Whoo-hoo, don't get a lot of those, do ya?" Adrian chuckled, and Bianca turned to look at him, her eyes narrowed trying to find what he found so funny.

     "Shut it, you."

     Adrian surrendered his hands, before returning to his work. His mind was already bubbling up with ideas surrounding a new plan.

     But as Adrian formulated a way to join Bianca in detention, like the unaware love-struck boy he was, Bianca's eyes drifted back to Malcolm.

     He had already resumed smiling, despite it being a Potions lesson, and that pang of guilt, soon returned.

     Now was not the time, but she had decided ─ Bianca was calling it off because deep down she knew she had to. And at the next chance, she got.

➼

     "WELL? WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE I DO?" Bianca pleaded for the second time to her best friend, as they strolled to the Gryffindor Tower.

     "Don't have a go at me!" Leo defended, earning him a sigh. "Look, I know where you're coming from, I mean, I don't understand how you feel, I'm not a part of this, but I know that you feel bad. But Bianca, at the end of the day, Adrian's a prick, and you can call it off whenever you want to." he finished.

     "You think I should?" Bianca said, her face tightened a little, as they hopped onto the staircase before it moved.

     "Don't you?"

     Bianca did think she should. She had since her date with Malcolm. She just needed a second opinion.

     "I mean, yeah, but-"

     "No "but's". You said it yourself. Call it off. What's he gonna do, cry?" Leo interjected.

     "You're right." Bianca said, turning around, "I'm gonna do it."

     Leo bid her adieu and Bianca headed back down the steps, careful not to fall off, and back down the way they came, but turning off at the dungeons, and down to the Slytherin common room.

     Bianca still remembered the password from Halloween night, and at the first chance she got, at the stone wall sliding open, she strode in.

     Adrian was relaxed in a chair, with his feet up against a coffee table on the far right of the room; Marcus Flint sat on the sofa beside him. Bianca was surprised to see Adrian staring at a ready-to-be-played chess set, on the taller table in front of him.

     It was only when she spoke, that Adrian noticed Bianca standing over him, "I'm calling it off." she said rather confidently, careful to make sure that none of his other friends such as Miles, were anywhere in earshot.

     "What?" he said, startled by her sudden appearance.

     A few Slytherins were staring now, especially at the red sewing on her robes, along with the lion emblem on her chest.

     "The bet. I'm not doing it anymore."

     "You're kidding me?" Adrian said, his eyes narrowed. He took his relaxed legs off of the table and sat upright. "Why? Even I hate to say it, Bianca, but I will, er you're the one that's winning."

     "I just don't want to do it." she shrugged.

     "You fell for someone didn't you?" Adrian smirked.

     "No, I just hate the idea of using people and I can't do it anymore." Bianca's tempo was fast with stress, hiding any thought that she had of what she believed to be feelings for Malcolm.

     "Who was it?" Adrian tried again, his smirk still evident, as he stared up at her.

     "I didn't fall for anyone Adrian," Bianca said more sternly, determined to not give in, in any way.

     "Well then, I'll pick you up from Gryffindor Tower on Saturday." Adrian stood up, their faces now inches apart.

     "For what?" she scoffed.

     "Our date. Remember?" he smiled sarcastically, glancing around to see that a few people had continued to stare, others trying to mind their own business. Marcus Flint was trying not to laugh. "The one that I'm planning on making unbearable."

     "I just turned it off. I don't have to go forward with the consequences."

     "You for-fitted, so yeah, you do."

     "I thought the date was supposed to show me how "you're not that bad". Surely by making it unbearable that will do the opposite?"

     "Oh, it was. But seen as you for-fitted, and I think I have done that over the course of the last two months, making this date insufferable would be a lot more fitting."

     "Who says that you have proved to me that you're not that bad?" Bianca folded her arms into each other.

     "Exhibit A," Adrian held up a finger, and he walked to her side, "You agreed into teaching me how to play chess."

     Bianca remained facing the same way, "That was just because I don't have a partner-"

     "Exhibit B," he was now behind her, circling her, "You overlook almost every piece of homework I do to make sure I do well."

     Bianca rotated her head so it was now to the side, "No, you're twisting it-"

     "And Exhibit C. Probably the most prominent in this case: you referred to me as your friend." Adrian finished, as he stood back in front of her.

     "We talked about that."

     "Yup and they were all completely natural statements." Adrian's face was emotionless, yet so full of cockiness. He then gasped, "But how could I forget about Exhibit D: we have a song together!"

     "You're pathetic."

     "Thanks, but is the bet on or off?"

     "Off," she said, matter-of-factly, before turning on her heels, unfolding her arms, and walking to the stone exit.

     "I knew you'd be the one to break first," he called out.

     Bianca tried to collect herself as she turned back around, "Well it was never going to be you, was it?" she said. "You don't have to do anything. It's not like you have twenty-one good people to use and then cut off, is it Adrian?"

     "You're just weak." Adrian shrugged like it was a harmless thing to say, "Too nice to hurt anyone's feelings." he chuckled dryly, as she gritted her teeth.

     "Last time I checked, that's nothing to be ashamed of." Bianca said, "But maybe you're the weak one, Adrian? Too pathetic to do anything that doesn't wreak of childishness and immaturity, just because you're in desperate need of attention. Did your parents not give you enough as a baby?" She taunted and he only scoffed. "I'm not doing this anymore," she declared firmly, "And you can forget your date." Bianca had resumed walking away, but it was clear that Adrian wasn't giving up yet.

     "And I knew it would be Preece."

     Bianca took a deep breath in, and rotated back around slowly, "Excuse me?"

     "I knew Preece would be the one that broke you," Adrian said, casually, as Marcus Flint snorted subtly. Adrian didn't know that "it would be Preece". He improvised.

     "And what do you mean by that?"

     "You know, too much history really," Adrian said with another shrug. He descended down a few green velveted steps, approaching her.

     "But do you wanna know the real reason I made you do all of this?" he asked.

     Adrian knew what he was planning on saying next would be pushing it. But this bet was just about the last exciting thing he had going, besides Quidditch, and he would do anything to salvage it. Even if that was exaggerating his opinions a little, for dramatic effect in hopes to get a reaction out of her.

     "It was to show you just how bad of a person you really are. How selfish even someone as textbook-good as you can really be. Think about it, Bianca. You made at least five people believe that you were truly interested in them, just for some stupid bet against a guy you hate." Adrian inclined his head, as Bianca's blood began to boil underneath her skin. "You're so competitive it makes you narcissistic and you can't even see it." he chuckled. "But you probably saw it as a good thing right? Oh "I boosted their ego". Well, Bianca, that's not how it works. You're just plain and simply selfish. You used them, and I know you know that, but now you can finally see the point of all this. I broke you and I still won." he finished now only a meter away from her, a grin on his face.

     "Fuck. You." she separated her words. "You're just as egotistical as I am, Adrian. You know that? And there, I said it! I was selfish and I was self-centered. But you were the one that set me up to all this Adrian, because deep down, in that sick and egocentric brain of yours, you don't care about anyone but yourself! I may hate you more now than I ever have before, but you can best believe that you will soon be kissing that beloved spot on that perfect team of yours goodbye. I will win this. And I will beat your sorry ass." she spat her last words, and stormed out of the common room.

     As she stormed away from the dungeons and up to her dorm, Bianca couldn't help thinking: how the hell did this all go to shits in such a short space of time?

➼

     BIANCA LARSSON WOULD NEVER CONSIDER her and Adrian Pucey to be on "speaking terms." Before this year they rarely spoke unless it were insults or any kind of comment that on the outside, people would consider rude and uncalled for. But they enjoyed it. The hatred between them thrived.

     But this year, the feud and hatred they felt for the other surely weakened. Bianca would consider them to talk regularly, and in ways that weren't rude. But now? Speaking terms were unheard of. Speaking did not happen at all.

     As the month of November drew to a close, Bianca found herself at a loss. Not but a few days ago, she was at breaking point ─ the verge of abandonment. And maybe she still was. Any thought of Adrian made her blood boil, and everything was just the same as it was at the beginning of the year. She hated him. And as much as she wanted to triumph in their bet that she had been so close to turning off, she still hated the idea of using people ─ it ate her up inside.

     Malcolm Preece hadn't changed. He was still the bubbly, charming, and so-nice-it-hurt guy that Bianca had fallen in love with when she was ten, and maybe she was close to admitting the fact that that could definitely happen again.

     And it wasn't like she could own up and tell Malcolm all about the Kiss List like she had done with Maxine and that's what made it worse ─ she had no game plan. Because she was at a loss.

     Besides the Malcolm situation, Bianca was determined to win. After all this, that would be the only good outcome.

     With an approaching Christmas and the excitement of Winter break, the Great Hall was flourishing with happiness. First years couldn't wait to see their parents again after being separated for the longest time in their lifetime, and older years needed a break from the masses of stress from school work and what seemed like endless amounts of studying.

     Owl Post was a way parents could communicate with their children whilst they were away at Boarding School.

     Bianca's parents were not just Muggles but worked too much to even try and send their daughter a letter by a live owl, despite giving in to their eleven-year-old daughter and purchasing Marty ─ a chocolate owl named after the main character in her favourite film franchise.

     Bianca liked to let him fly around at the Owlery with the rest of the students' birds, seen as he had nothing to deliver.

     So as Leo, Alicia, Maxine, and what seemed like everyone around her received their letters and mail and all types of packages from home, Bianca continued studying ─ birds flying over her head, and students ripping open brown paper and envelopes around her.

     "Aw, are Mr. and Mrs. Larsson yet to work out how to operate an owl?" a voice, soon identifiable as Marcus Flint, said not far over from the Slytherin table. As the people around him began to snicker, Bianca continued writing not seeing any point in retaliating, especially since Adrian Pucey was sat on the other side.

     Adrian Pucey had found himself at a bit of a loss. Bianca wasn't exactly going to talk to him for a long time and although it could come across as quite rude, Adrian stood by what he said. Maybe he needed a reaction out of her. Or maybe he thought that was the only way for her to not turn the bet off. That's sort of what he planned, and well it worked, didn't it? For this whole bet to be amusing for him, they were supposed to communicate through it all, and now they weren't and Adrian was at a bit of a loss. Adrian was at fault, but a loss nonetheless.

     He had yet to decide whether he wanted to go forward with his plan that he was brewing up in Potions, but Bianca wasn't talking to him, so it sort of defeated the point.

     Marcus Flint did want a reaction from Bianca. Because of course, he found it funny that Bianca didn't get any mail because her parents were muggles. He thought it was because they were too "incompetent" to do so. But then if you thought about it, you can't exactly expect a pair of workaholic muggles to send their witch of a daughter a letter via an owl? A letter is bad enough, seen as no one uses them anymore, but a bird? She couldn't ask that of them. But Flint being the blood supremacist he is, thought that muggles were simply too stupid to even try.

     "That's okay, I'm sure they tried." Marcus tried again. Adrian didn't laugh again.

     Bianca took a deep breath in and glanced over to the group of Slytherin boys. Having a clear view of them, she examined the table, specifically, the people sat there and the display of letters sprawled out in front of them.

     Marcus Flint had no mail either.

     Bianca scoffed, "That's a little hypocritical of you, isn't it Marcus? Because at least my parents would write to me if they had the chance. It seems as though Mr. and Mrs. Flint decided against sending you anything Marcus. I'm sorry." she faked a sympathetic look. Marcus gritted his teeth, trying to hide his skin tone that had turned pinkish.

     Bianca didn't know whether there were personal issues that went on at the Flint household and if there was a reason that his parents didn't write to Marcus. But Bianca didn't care for the details. He was unnecessarily rude and that's all that's to it.

     Miles, who had been busying himself with his studying, his head still down, was now covering up his smirk, with a swipe of his hand across his chin. Adrian too was hiding any evidence that he wanted to laugh.

     Marcus soon got over her little punch at his home life, with a comment that was private to the rest of the Great Hall's ears: "How's your little bet going, Larsson?"

     Bianca gritted her teeth, and looked back up at him, "What bet?" she said, purely for the sakes of Miles Bletchley sat beside him and Cassius Warrington not too far to their left. Thank Merlin Graham wasn't anywhere near, because she imagined Flint wouldn't drop the subject however dumb she played ─ at least she had kissed the other two.

     "You know the one, the Kiss List," he smirked. Miles Bletchley wasn't exactly paying attention, but if Marcus kept going on, it doomed Bianca that he was at risk of finding out everything. "Heard you were close to calling it off. Good thing you didn't right?"

     Looking at Adrian Pucey's face even for half a second was enough for the blood running through Bianca's veins to boil under her skin. Marcus Flint could do just about the same.

     "Watch it, Flint." she spat.

     "What?" he replied, his tone dripping with fake puzzlement, "I can tell you're already at breaking point, so why not let the truth be told? Malcolm Preece is only a call away you know. Then we can get the whole crew over here and have a little chat. How does that sound, Larsson?" Marcus said, his smirk continuously creeping up his face, as he watched Bianca clench her fists a little and suck in some air.

     Adrian hadn't moved. He was letting it all unravel in front of him, with no intentions of stopping it. Frankly, it was all too amusing. Bianca was getting all worked up about something that Adrian doubted Marcus would go forward with.

     Bianca took a second to gather herself and debate whether he would actually do that - which she came to the conclusion that Marcus Flint most definitely would. What she couldn't crack, was why. But Marcus Flint leads a sad life, full of false hope and beliefs that he is better than everyone else. That he has authority over most of the school just because he leads six boys to fly around a pitch and throw balls. The title of "Quidditch Captain" was a title that meant nothing to most.

     "Just because I've kissed more girls in the space of a few months than you have in your entire life, does not mean you can jeopardize this for me." Bianca sneered, gathering her things in one swift movement. She pushed the bench out with the back of her legs and strode to the exit of the Great Hall.

     Despite his recent behaviour ─ showing personality traits of being a complete prick ─ two months was long enough. Bianca knew that Adrian wasn't that bad, and she didn't need a date to find out ─ she already had found out. Bianca was just confused why Adrian didn't stop him.