sink or swim

“ now that’s more like it! ” he exclaims, eyes glinting as he takes in the hard-bound cover. he was impressed to say the least, hiding a book true form from prying eyes. “ scheiss! how’d you manage to get that? ” he asks, looking from the book then at val.

Valentino shrugged, grinning at the other’s reaction. He was immensely satisfied in both himself and his magic. “The Hogwarts library sucks at keeping their Restricted Section...well...restricted. It wasn’t hard to sneak in and out. They won’t even notice it’s gone,” he said, shrugging. “Just some careful spellwork.”

she huffs, folding her arms across her chest as she takes him head-on. “ got anything else val? this is old news, ” she states, pretending to be unaffected by his taunting. it was half-true, it was something she’s lived through almost half her life so far – an issue that’s long been resolved. “ yes, im adopted because my real parents managed to fuck a simple job up. sooo, what else? ”

Valentino took a step closer to her. “I don’t think they fucked up anything. I think they just realized how worthless you are. Sucks your new parents haven’t realized that yet,” he said, meeting her eyes unblinkingly. He tilted his head to the side, considering her for a moment. “You know what else though? You’re getting mouthier than I’m used to. Getting brave, Kenzie?”

her breath caught in her throat for a moment and she was finding it hard to swallow. she silently struggles for a while, before finally masking her expression with indifference. she meets his gaze, tilting her head to the side before she speaks. 

“ which parents? ” she asks, almost child-like. 

Valentino watched the girl struggle for a few moments before she finally mustered up a reply to his query, entertained by the look on her face. When she finally answered him, her question made his eyes glint dangerously and he shrugged, nonchalantly. “The second ones, probably. The first ones clearly knew you were a lost cause from the get-go.”

Valentino smirked, almost impressed with how much fight the blond had in him. “I can’t decide if you’re brave or just an idiot,” he commented dryly, dragging Louis back up by his hair. He leaned in closer. “You’re not going to be telling anyone, anything, querido,” he made a slashing motion across the other male’s throat, whispering an incantation under his breath, practically seeing the severity of the damage he was wreaking on the other’s vocal chords in his mind’s eye. “In fact, I don’t think you’re going to be saying much of anything at all.” He released Louis’s head once more, but then tilted his chin up with one finger. “And you’re wrong about that. My record is extra squeaky clean. Face it, Weasley. I’m untouchable.”

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he laughs at that. “ that’s just one way to put it, ” he states with a shrug, feeling amused. as soon as he sets eyes on the book cover, he couldn’t help but let out a snort. “ well, that’s utterly UNEXCITING, ” he comments. “ uh, no offense or whatever. ”

Valentino huffed, his paranoia warring with his need to impress the older student. Finally he sighed. “If you tell anyone about this, I will hex your pretty face until it isn’t so pretty anymore,” he threatened, before tapping the book with his wand, and turning it again so he could see the real cover.

Elena wasn’t even bother to hold back a scoff at the glimpse of the book he carries. Her eyes fixated at his features, not even a flinch, as he takes the seat on the empty desk next to her. Valentino isn’t always the person she wants to associate with. But, he’s still family. Ironic for her, as if the first instinct that came to mind was to avoid him, unless Ines was around; she knew her sister manage to outwit his scornful remark. But, for now, the presence of someone familiar will do the job – to aide her forlorn moment, even if she had to deal with him.

“–You don’t think by pointing things out, means you know about everything, right?”

Valentino snorted at her comment, and shook his head. “I never pretended to know everything. But in this case the source of your moping is pretty dang obvious,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Why else would you be in here, willingly spending time with your dearest cousin of all people?” He contemplated his next words in his head, but figured if Elena hadn’t attacked him yet, he could take a few more steps across the line. “Besides, since they took the Thomas girl and her cousin, that means they don’t care about only picking off one person from each family. Maybe they’ll take you next and you’ll see Ines that way.”

she was frazzled, her insides practically shivering at his words, almost as if anticipating what’s about to come – his voice almost as if drawing her in. “ i didn’t know you were here. i’m sorry, ” she says in a meek tone, eyes raised and unblinking – as if daring him to do something about it. 

Valentino raised an eyebrow, and got up from where he’d been sprawled in a chair to read. He crossed the room in a few long strides, and then tilted his head to look at her. “So what you’re saying is if someone else was in here, you’d have no remorse about interrupting them? That’s just rude. Didn’t your parents ever teach you any manners?” He asked mockingly.

he couldn’t help but smirk at how.. intense the other’s gaze was. “ well, something like that – but not anything that exceeds that, ” he states with clarification, head titled as he waits to see how the other would take it, before letting out another chuckle. “ reading? and what were you reading if you don’t mind me asking? ”

Valentino wrinkled his nose. “Okay, now you’re just being deliberately vague, but whatever,” he said, shaking his head. He picked the book up again, and drew his finger down the side, before turning it so Xander could see the cover...or well, what he’d made the cover look like: One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. If Xander really was a friend of Ahren’s, he hardly thought the other male would be started by what he was actually reading but he wasn’t willing to trust him quite yet.

feeling agitated, she wills her feet to take her somewhere where she could be alone – somewhere where she could dissect her thoughts and deal with them privately. she chooses an empty classroom in the first empty corridor she comes into – but unlucky for her, she wasn’t the sole occupant. she calms her racing heart at hearing the sudden remark, sighing at recognizing who it was.

“ val it’s me. ”

Valentino grinned when he realized who it was, setting his book aside carefully, as he watched the girl, the way a hawk would watch a mouse in a field. “Kenzie, darling, hasn’t anyone ever taught you it’s rude to barge into rooms without knocking?” He said, voice deceptively innocent, as he took in her frazzled appearance. 

“ really? ” he questions before chuckling. “ more than schoolmates but, guess that still applies, ” he adds with a shrug. he looks around him, at the empty classroom before looking back at val.

 “ was i interrupting something? ”

Valentino’s eyes narrowed, a spike of jealousy clawing through him. “So what...friends then?” He asked, furrowing his brow. He glanced at his book and then shook his head at the question. “Nothing important. I was just getting some reading done away from all the people.”

“ valentino, “ he repeats, giving the other a firm shake. “ a pleasure to be finally be meeting ahren’s PLAYMATE, ” he adds with a shit-eating grin. “ my name is alexander wolfe but please, call me xander. ” 

Valentino raised an eyebrow at the word playmate, but he supposed it wasn’t exactly...inaccurate. “I can’t say Ahren’s told me very much about you, I’m afraid, but I assume you’re schoolmates,” he said, releasing Xander’s hand. 

      “Because why not? It’s nice to hear you say it out loud but we both know we have a reputation to up hold which we both hate to ruin because of either of us.” he made a crooked grin, noting that even if physical attraction might be there there were far more factors that stopped them than the other might think or label as ‘uptight’. Plainly, he thought breifly, knowing Val was being pushed to his limits—his edge of whatever facade he deemed appropriate for the moment. Valentino de la Cruz’s infamy at Castelobruxo was nothing more that a spoiled punk, one infected with power and believed it only was held by cruelity. “I guess, plainly that is,” exhaling smoke as he spoke, “I know the type of cloaking charm your using isn’t easy let alone meant for just books but hey…” shrugging, “what would I know? After all I’m just some stoner moron after all.” 

Valentino tilted his head up, his cool blue eyes meeting Ignacio’s dark ones and he shook his head, smile poisonous. “You’re awfully fond of running your mouth. I have a feeling it’s going to get you killed one day,” he commented, barely even blinking. He glanced back over at the book, picking it up, and stroking the cover fondly, before he looked back up at the taller male. Ignacio thought he was so smart with his ability to see through his charms. Part of Val wanted to gut him, see how clever he thought he was then, but impulsivity had never gotten him anywhere. His father always told him that if he got too hung up on hunting the flies, he’d miss the dragons that he could slay right in front of him. Ignacio was annoying, yes, but ultimately insignificant. Val could tolerate his presence for that reason alone. “That’s your big aha? So I’m reading a different book than what most people see. No one’s going to send me to jail for that. I’d get a detention at best.”

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      “We both know you are inclined to stroke more than that.” he laughed, liking the idea of the boy thinking about the option but never letting it happened. Valentino was handsome for his age but in Ignacio’s eyes he was a child, which made him nothing more than a platonic connection for him. Even if that proved to be hard. “Oh come now hombre, don’t act like letting lose and having fun deems you moronic. Sorry not all of us can be as noble as you Gavião-real.” teasing again before taking his hit in the roation, listening to the other but not letting much of it sink in. Rolling his eyes, discreetly, he played up the other boys narcissism, “Oh I bet.” he elongated his sentiment, sarcasm at it’s finest, “I mean you are a champion now. Though whatever you choose to read privately, try not to let it spoil your that mind of yours. Since things done in secret will or could be REVEALED.” he empahized on the end of his sentence, hinting he knew more than maybe the other wanted him to. 

Valentino smirked, and gave him a very thorough once-over. “I won’t deny it. We also both know you’re too uptight to ever let me have it though, so what’s the point in discussing hypotheticals, right?” He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I’m all for having fun, and even getting high every once in awhile. I’m just not going to let my education suffer to do it. I’m going places, Ignacio. My mind needs to stay sharp.” He snorted and accepted the joint back from the older male, taking another hit before he passed it back, eyes narrowing at the other’s words. “Champion or not, I don’t let anyone spoil anything for me, and if there’s something you want me to know, speak plainly,” he said, venom seeping into his voice.

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