Closed Honesty

[Snowdrop Chase]

Snow had a heavy thought weighing on her mind. Should she go through with going to the ball with Gregory. It wasn’t that he wasn’t nice, they were friends and she liked him, but they hadn’t clarified if they were going as just friends and she didn’t want to hurt him if he thought it was more. Sure she’d thought she had a bit of a crush on him at some point but as she started to grow up more she had realized her caring for him was much like how she cared for Melinoe. She sighed entering the student lounge. She noticed Cass within a minute or so and walked over to where the massive student was lounging. “Didn’t know you ever stopped doing things for lessons.” She teased, standing near where he sat. Though she didn’t come to talk to him about her problems it was clear in her face that she wasn’t all there in the conversation.

 

[Cassius Styx]

Cassius Styx had a lot on his plate, and really had more homework than other fourth years because of the amount of classes that he decided to take. It was hard, but he was doing as well as he could. He even had some downtime, which was why he was in the student lounge, with a notepad in hand and doing some writing of his future plans. He knew the steps but he would need to approach the right people to get to where he needed to be. He wrote on his notepad in Bulgarian so that he could read it, and no one else could. Cass was private, of course. His train of thought was interrupted when a voice rang next to him. He looked up to see Snow, and snickered, "I do have somewhat of a life. Not much of one, but I do have one." He noticed how she looked, and how she seemed that she had other issues going on. "Something has you worried, so what’s up?"​

 

[Snowdrop Chase]

Snowdrop looked down at the notepad briefly, not necessarily eavesdropping but definitely curious. It was in a foreign language though and she couldn't be bothered to ask about it - it seemed sort of private. "Can you ever stop reading my mind?" She asked in response to his comment on her seeming bothered. "I didn't come here just to complain about my problems to you, I don't think that's a fair friendship." She said pointedly. She took a seat across from him and looked around. "But... If I'm honest I'm bothered about the ball. More specifically my partner." She said. "Gregory asked me this year... and I sort of said yes because I didn't want to hurt his feelings. I'm pretty sure we're going as friends but what if he's got other ideas?"

 

[Cassius Styx]

Cass snickered under his breath when she said for him to stop reading her mind. “I don’t need Legilimency to read your mind because it was written all over your face.” The Slytherin shrugged his shoulders with the whole ‘problems’ statement. He did not mind because he thought of it as a distraction from his own life. Dante was giving him a headache but he would do whatever he could to help him. But then Snow dropped the bomb on him, which he now wished that he did not asked. Since when did he care about that? He didn’t have plans to ask her to the Yule Ball this year. He rather not suffer another humiliating rejection if he could help it. “He has other ideas. He has a crush on you. He practically admitted it to me.” Before he punched him in the gut over the whole comforting Snow ordeal. It was a relatable experience, and the grief was still fresh. “Unless you want to break his heart, you need to set boundaries before he tries something at the dance.”​

 

[Snowdrop Chase]

He was right, Snow had a habit of wearing her thoughts on her face. Around Cassius it was typically annoyance, but even now when it was concern and confusion he could recognize it. When Cass spoke Snow furrowed her brows. "Gregory told you he has a crush on me?" She asked, clearly a little disbelieving. She didn't think Cassius was a liar but it could be that he misunderstood. She sighed at his words and responded honestly. "Gregory is in a hard place all the time, he always seems to be so sensitive and he... I don't know but I think if I say anything to him verbally he's going to be even more upset. But I feel like if I drop hints to him he won't get it either. I would have been flattered a year ago but now... It just feels awkward." She admitted.

 

[Cassius Styx]

Cass shrugged his shoulders. He was sure he heard Gregory talk about his feelings before he got punched in the gut. But the Slytherin was conveniently leaving that part out. It had nothing to do with Snow so much as just Cass reacting about his grief. "There is no way for you to win this one, Snow. Either he is going to be upset, or you are going to be stuck in a unrequited relationship, or you are going to be known as someone who leads people on, which will make yourself look bad." Cass figured that if he was fairly hard about the topic, then she might understand what he was talking about, and what direction to go. "What changed since last year?" Cass asked, since last year, she was dead set on going with him - which never panned out, but he heard about the Valentine's thing. He luckily had his own issues at that time, so he didn't exactly care.​

 

[Snowdrop Chase]

Snowdrop listened to him. He was right. She hated to admit it but she wasn’t going to come out on top with this. “I wish I had said no.” She bemoans. She pauses to hear his next question and thinks hard about the answer. “I wanted Greg to ask me because he’s nice. I hadn’t ever had a crush before and… I thought that it should be someone nice that I have a crush on. But I just… we went to the Valentine’s dance and it was super awkward and a little weird.” She admitted. “Now I think I’m sort of stuck going to the dance with him.” She looked at her hands for a second. “Maybe if I tell him at the dance, or stress that we’re going as just friends right?”

 

[Cassius Styx]

Now, she was regretting her decision. Cass was good at hiding how he was feeling, so he was just mentally laughing at her predicament. She should have considered everything before answering. But Snow seemed to be more impulsive than him. And a lot more emotional - with the exception of perhaps his temper. "You can always explain it before you go. Backing out is not a cowardly move if you are not feeling it," Cass explained, as he finally stood up to stretch his legs. "You cannot force a crush, even if the boy or girl are nice. Sometimes, crushes happen outside of your control, and it bites you in the a**." Cass was referring to his own experience with it, since he only had one. Or has. Hard to say currently. "Just talk to him, and make sure he understands that you guys are just friends. Might want to use small words so he can understand it clearly."​

 

[Snowdrop Chase]

Snowdrop watched him stand to stretch his legs as he spoke. Why was he so d@mn tall and why did that make her stomach do something weird. It almost felt like she was sick but not? His advice was solid and she nodded, chewing her lower lip for a second before answering his statements. “I’ll figure it out. I just hope he understands. I don’t think he can take much more negativity.” She said honestly. “Thank you, Cass.” She said, shortening his name for the first time, almost trying to imply that she viewed him as a friend. “Are you going with anyone this year?” She asked politely, though not expecting him to continue the conversation if he didn’t want to.

 

[Cassius Styx]

Cass folded his arms across his chest, making sure that his note was folded and in his pocket before doing so. Seemed like he managed to get through to her, which was good because he did not want to make it sound any worse than it already was. And then she shortened his name after thanking him, which made him raise his eyebrow, but did not correct her. He could tolerate her calling him that. He would only correct it for those that he didn't care for. "No, not going to bother, since last year didn't work out. I have no reason to go, and a little brother to take care of." Cass was buried in ways to keep his brother safe. Just had to figure out to get Styx to get over his prejudice attitude with werewolves.​

 

[Snowdrop Chase]

Snowdrop nodded at his words. It made sense. It seemed like he was ready to end the conversation so she moved away slightly, hinting she too was going to head for the door. "Well I'm sure you not going is going to be a spot more fun than me going." She joked. "I'll catch you later I guess?" She said, unsure what else to say. She'd already thanked him after all.

 

[Cassius Styx]

Cass would never understand why she would even bother or just tell the guy the absolute truth, but maybe her heart was too big - or her pride. "See you later," Cass said with a gesture of his hand so that he could go back to what he was doing. The whole thing just irked him. She came to him for her issues this time - though he went to her for the beginning of the year. Even if he had no intention of asking her out, it still made him irritated to know that someone else got there first. Oh, what would he do...​

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Fin​