no one mourns the wicked

“I’m not panicked, and I wasn’t crying for help,” Royce rolled his eyes, leaning back and crossing his arms now that he had pointed out he couldn’t possibly be reading. His charade was up, and he didn’t quite know what to do next. He turned an incredulous look on the other boy as he took his book. “Are you deaf? Or just dense? What are you trying to prove here, man?”

“I’m sorry, who was reading their textbook closed? You want to try that again?” The remarks were relatively normal, however a grumpy Royce was an entertaining Royce, and it was the look on his face that had drawn Ace over to him in the first place.

“I am awfully busy,” Royce grumbled, not looking up from his currently closed textbook. “What makes you think I need help? I’m fine.”

“Oh, I don’t know... perhaps it was that dreadful stare of panic I mistook for a cry for help.” Ace sat down beside him, although he could tell his presence was unwanted. “Besides, unless you’ve got a spell to read through the cover of that book,” he tapped it a few times, “I really can’t imagine you’ve done much for yourself here.” 

“Of course you haven’t because I’m not nagging at you to,” Ana said teasingly. Her fingers stopped messing with her hem at his question while she held his gaze. Her first instinct was to say no, but stopped herself before responding. After a moment of stalled silence, she smiled softly at him, giving her head a quick nod. “Y-yeah. I’d like that.”

“This is why,” he said quietly: a phrase here that had often meant “this is why I love you”, back in their heyday.  It were the little things that mattered to him. Whether it be nudging him to get on top of his schooling, or enjoying a night in practicing spells, where Ace was determined to create his own. Her encouragement was one of the reasons he wanted to keep her in his life, however he could. Though, it did make him wonder if he offered anything for her in return.

Emilia opened her mouth to shoot back something to defend herself, but swallowed it. She flinched when the ridiculously long feathered quill was ripped from her hand without warning.

Emilia shrugged, trying to look aghast and innocent, “I-I thought it was mine.” She said, “I, um, I got the desks confused.”

Ana fidgeted at his answer, her eyes falling to the cracks in the stone floor rather than look at him; she still found it difficult to hold eye contact with Ace despite her constant reminders that she would be strong the next time they spoke. That was before she was actually face to face with those piercing blue eyes.

“Oh…” her voice was barely above a whisper. Regardless of their “status,” as he put it, she felt guilty for making his holiday less enjoyable, but wasn’t sure on how to put that thought into words. “Quidditch?” She almost laughed at the thought, a confused grin crossed her face as she shook her head. “Not unless you have some sort of spell that will magically fix me,” she joked half-heartedly. “I heard about the internships the seventh years get, though. I’m a little jealous you guys get to get away for a little bit. Have you gotten your assignment yet?”

Ace’s quip wasn’t meant to be a low blow, though once it registered what he had asked her, it was immediately something he wished he’d thought over. 

“I’ve gotten my assignment, yeah... have I started is another question all together.” He had no excuses for why he hadn’t started. “You know.. I was wondering if you’d wanna take a look at it with me.”

“I presume because studying?” she asked, her tone making it apparent that she didn’t believe he would be studying the assigned schoolwork if he had been. “I guess so. It was quieter than usual, but it wasn’t bad.” Ana bit her lip as she finally brought her gaze up to him. “And yours?”

“You know it,” Ace had said with a smirk. But of course he hadn’t been studying schoolwork. His father had other things in mind for him to be educating himself on. 

“I didn’t think I’d need one, honestly.” she mumbled under her breath, quickly clearing her throat before waving awkwardly. “Um, hi.” Ana fidgeted with the hem of her robes, her gaze drifting past him to a group of younger girls. “That one, by the way.”

“Been there, done that,” Ace joked, not bothering to look anywhere but Anastasia.

“Apparently she’s trying to smuggle you a love potion.”

“So we’re speaking again.. I’m impressed.”

“How did I know that’s what you were going to say?” She let out a sigh before shaking her head. “Well you seemed rather certain so I figured it was a quill. I’m rather good at borrowing and never returning them.”

“I think you owe someone an ex-planation.”

“Oh, on the contrary, my dear.”