vain & vane

The potion was making the world a better place. Coupled with the feeling of Romilda’s tongue running over her own Lavender felt at bliss. At Bliss. Lavender chuckled softly into Romilda’s lips, eyes half-lidded. “I think I know how I’ll thank you,” she murmured, thoughts moving to her own tongue exploring Romilda. She lay down on the couch without struggling, smiling dreamily. She threw her t-shirt to the floor, lying back down again, grateful in the back of her mind that she’d worn a lacy, sheer bra that day. Her fingers found Romilda’s hair, winding their way through her locks delicately, excitement heating between her thighs as the other girl’s kisses made her skin tingle, humming her pleasure. She was completely intoxicated — by Romilda, by the drugs.

Romilda’s reaction — or her lack of reaction — was almost worse than if she had pushed the scar issue. She felt a twist. Romilda didn’t care. But what did she expect? They’d hung out like three times, had so far slept together two out of three times and one of those was when they were high as kites. Lavender tried to let the thoughts melt away and focus on the trail of kisses Romilda was leaving on her neck and let a soft sigh escape from her lips. “Yeah,” Lavender swallowed, watching Romi leave, anxious for her return. When she did, and Lavender spotted the vial, a smile dimpled her cheeks. Bliss was exactly what she needed. “Good idea.” Eager fingers reached for it, uncorked it, bringing it to her lips. It was just as sweet as she remembered it to be and as soon as she swallowed it, she was sure it had started to take affect. “Thank you,” her voice was a whisper as she held out the potion to Romilda, the familiar need to bring their lips together taking over. “Oh fuck,” she hissed, eyes fluttering closed. “I nearly forgot how good that was.”

Seamus stared at Romilda indignantly. “Do I look like most blokes?” He raised his eyebrows before giving a twirl in the dress. He was slightly annoyed that Romilda was holding back, he was used to making people laugh a lot. 

Romilda bit the inside of her cheek, willing herself not to crack a smile. “No, you look like most girls. Dress like this more often and I might just start falling for you,” she simpered sardonically, batting her eyelashes at him. 

“You’ve got me there.” Padma laughed. “I’m curious: does it ever deter them from buying from you?”

“They’re addicted, Pads. They want what they want and they don’t care if I’m pleasant or not.” She paused for a second to think, “Besides, I’m not the only one selling. There are other locations.”

“I’m … not sure how to ask this,” Lisa began, almost wanting to go back to talking about the random man that had tried to haggle with Romilda. “I DON’T want anything akin to pot, I just, need something that’s similar to prescription medication?? That would help with … – anxiety. Maybe depression as well.”

Romilda stared at her for a moment, unblinking. “Look, I don’t sell medication. I only sell recreational drugs. I don’t care what you use them for, when or with who, or even if you self medicate– hell if you get addicted it’s better for my vault– but nothing I sell will cure you. It only makes you forget.”

She felt a pull, a need to ask Romilda about her dad. She wanted to know why Romilda was glad to be out of that shit hole. She wanted to know if Romilda had siblings and if her mother told her stories when she was growing up. But she resisted the urge. This ( whatever it was ) was a far cry from a relationship. God, that was a depressing thought. One she wanted desperately to kill with drugs, specifically Bliss. Her thoughts were running, dragging her away from the moment when Romilda kissed the withered skin on her face. She pulled away before the kiss could linger. “Don’t. Not there. Please. I don’t want—” Sadness, fear of rejection, horror. It was all poisoning the moment. “I don’t want you to be reminded of— of what I am.” Fuck, fuck, fuck, you’ve ruined it. Fuck.

Romilda pulled back, studying her features as she spoke. “Okay,” she shrugged not giving what Lavender had said any deeper thought. She wasn’t going to jeopardize her chance for another night of bliss. Bliss. The word rang through her mind as she started planting light kisses on Lavender’s neck. Her kisses trailed up to her ear where she whispered, “I’ll be right back.” Romi hurried towards the spare bedroom that she used as a potions laboratory and found the potion she had been looking for. With a smile on her face, she reentered the sitting area. “I thought you could use this. Take the edge off.” 

He gave Romilda his best model face. “Don’t know why blokes don’t wear these more often, offers a nice breeze in the downstairs department.” He said mildly while offering a wave to a passing stranger on the street. 

“Most blokes don’t feel comfortable with their sexuality,” she deadpanned. She was amused by him, yes, but she was never one to laugh at everything. She had laughed enough in the past few minutes for it not to be normal and she chalked it up to having not seen him for quite some time. Her amusement could only be detected by the slight twitching of her lips and the sparkle in her eyes. “You need better shoes.”

As soon as Romilda turned on him, Blaise’s smile fell. “What the fuck, Romi?” He hissed and when the worried kid spun around to face him, he forced a smile. “Yeah. Sure. Of course. No fucking problem.” He gave him another clap on the back, this time much harder. “Right. Two galleons, yeah? Yeah.”

Romilda gave him a withering glare and mouthed, “Don’t fuck with how I do business and I won’t fuck with you.” She nearly laughed when Blaise said two galleons, “No, no. He only gave me two galleons– you’ll owe me eight.” She turned the kid around, “Look kid, if you make him pay your debt is settled and you can walk away– but you’re never going to get another drop of my potions again.”