The castle was quieter at night, the flickering torches casting long shadows across the stone corridors. The usual murmur of students had long faded, leaving only the occasional rustle of tapestries and the distant hoot of an owl. It was the perfect time for patrols—undisturbed, uninterrupted.

Lilith Nightingale strode confidently down the corridor, her hands folded neatly behind her back, her steps deliberate. Tonight, she was taking charge.

Elias Thorne, as expected, walked a few steps behind her, watching with amused curiosity. Usually, he was the one who dictated the pace, the one who made their patrols a game of infuriating flirtation and sharp retorts. But tonight, Lilith had decided she wasn't going to let him take control. Not this time.

"You're quiet tonight, Thorne," she mused without looking back, her voice smooth and measured. "That's unusual."

Elias chuckled, catching up to her with a lazy stride. "Just enjoying the show."

Lilith finally turned her head to glance at him, one brow arched. "And what show would that be?"

He grinned, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "The one where you pretend you don't enjoy this."

Lilith scoffed, quickening her pace just enough to keep ahead of him. "Delusional."

"You say that, and yet," he drawled, effortlessly keeping up, "here you are, taking this patrol very seriously. Leading the way, setting the tone—dare I say, dominating the situation?" He tilted his head, smirk deepening. "I didn't know you liked to be in charge, Nightingale."

Lilith halted abruptly, causing him to nearly bump into her. She turned, fixing him with a pointed stare. "And I didn't know you liked following orders."

Elias let out a low chuckle, eyes flickering with something unreadable. "For the right person? Maybe."

Lilith hated the way her stomach twisted at that. The way the words settled somewhere beneath her skin, leaving a trail of warmth in their wake.

She rolled her eyes, resuming her patrol as though nothing had happened. "You're insufferable."

"And yet, you'd miss me if I wasn't here," Elias countered, easily slipping back into step beside her. "You'd be bored, Nightingale."

Lilith didn't answer, because he wasn't wrong. And he knew it.

They continued in companionable silence for a while, their footsteps echoing down the deserted corridors. The tension between them had shifted—not quite the playful banter it had been before, but something else, something heavier, something lingering in the spaces between words.

When they finally reached the main hall where their routes diverged, Lilith hesitated. Just for a second. Just long enough for Elias to notice.

He leaned against the stone wall, watching her with that damnable smirk still tugging at his lips. "You gonna miss me, Nightingale?"

Lilith exhaled, shaking her head with a small, almost amused smile. Then, before she could overthink it, before she could stop herself—

She stepped forward, rising just enough on her toes to press a quick, feather-light kiss to his cheek.

Elias froze.

For the first time since she'd met him, he seemed genuinely caught off guard. His smirk faltered, replaced by something softer, something almost vulnerable. His hazel eyes flickered with something she couldn't quite place.

Lilith, now thoroughly regretting her impulsiveness, cleared her throat, stepped back, and turned swiftly on her heel. "Goodnight, Thorne."

And with that, she strode toward the Slytherin common room, forcing herself not to look back, forcing herself not to acknowledge the heat creeping up her neck, forcing herself not to question why, exactly, she had just done that.

But as she disappeared down the corridor, she couldn't ignore the quiet laughter that followed her—low, amused, and entirely too pleased.

She was never going to live this down.

As she made her way down the dimly lit corridor, her footsteps quickened, the warmth still lingering on her skin from where her lips had brushed against his cheek. Her heart hammered in her chest, loud enough that she swore he could hear it even from where he stood. What in Merlin's name had she just done?

She clenched her fists, cursing herself under her breath. It had been impulsive, reckless—completely out of character. And yet, she couldn't shake the image of his expression, the way his smirk had vanished, replaced by something almost vulnerable. The way his hazel eyes had flickered with something unreadable, something deeper.

Lilith slowed as she reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room, exhaling sharply. She had expected him to laugh it off, to make some smug remark, to twist it into another one of his endless taunts. But he hadn't. He had simply stood there, stunned, watching her.

And that was what unsettled her the most.

She leaned against the cold stone wall outside the common room, pressing her fingers to her lips as if to erase the sensation still lingering there. Why did you do that? Her mind raced for an answer, but nothing made sense. The tension had been building between them for weeks, an undercurrent neither of them had dared to fully acknowledge. But tonight... tonight, something had shifted.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the faint sound of footsteps approaching. She stiffened instinctively, expecting to see one of her housemates returning late from the library. But instead, she saw him.

Elias was still standing in the hall where she had left him, his hands shoved into his pockets, head tilted slightly as he watched her from a distance. Even from afar, she could see the slow curve of his lips, the amusement sparking behind his eyes—but it wasn't his usual arrogance. No, this was something else. Something that sent heat creeping up her neck all over again.

He didn't say a word. Didn't tease her. Didn't smirk like he had won some sort of game. He simply gave her a look—one that made her breath catch in her throat—before turning on his heel and disappearing down the corridor.

Lilith stood frozen in place, chest rising and falling unevenly. Damn him. Damn him for looking at her like that. Damn him for making her feel something she wasn't ready to name.

She pushed off the wall, muttering the password to the common room and stepping inside before she did something else reckless—like chase after him.