Pills N Potions

Saveli Pendleton

Mother of Two // Ded
 
Messages
922
OOC First Name
Cole
Blood Status
Mixed Blood
Relationship Status
Married
Sexual Orientation
Reuben <3
Age
6/2026
Saveli Matveev couldn't stand another night alone in the big house she called home. The teenager had been bored, and lonely. She knew that Monty was comforting a friend, she knew that he was just trying to do what he thought was right, but the blonde needed guidance too. She needed to feel cared for not thrown to the side. His distance had been growing since the party incident and now Saveli started to wonder if perhaps Monty just wanted nothing to do with her. If when she turned 17 he'd kick her out. Though the slytherin tried not to think that way she couldn't help it when she was alone. So she invited someone over to make things easier.

Saveil would have invited Alexei - but he was so strict on himself. He didn't want to break any of Monty's rules and get her in trouble. Viviana was away on Christmas Holiday in Europe with her cousin, and Alana and Chaos were often wrapped up in each other- and besides that she'd not spoken to Alana since the party either. So Saveli turned to her newest friend, Reuben Lagowski. Sure she and him hadn't started on the best foot, but since bumping into each other again in the school the two had become closer by the day. They had a few common interests in classes and interests involving the muggle world as well. Besides that Saveli loved the idea of the united States and often she would be mesmerized by him talking about it and his accent. The blonde looked to her companion, now standing under the dim lighting of her herbology shed, holding in her hand a nightshade flower. "I think they're beautiful, regardless on their poisonous properties you know?" She finished her small speech talking about one of her favorite plants. "Do you agree?" She asked, her Irish accent always more pronounced when in his presence - their accents so startlingly different.


 
Saveli Matveev was an unlikely friend, but, as far as Reuben was concerned, a wonderful one. He was relieved she had apparently forgotten all about the time he'd tried to flirt with her by offering her lint-covered candy from his pocket - or that she was too polite to bring it up, if she hadn't - and pleased that she didn't think he was too young or to dumb to hang around with. Rudolf had been better about the teasing of late, but as his twin brother he was practically obligated to be mean every once in a while, and Reuben still always took it to heart. The Gryffindor insisted it was nothing but playful banter, but Reuben wished he'd stop it anyway.

Reuben had never been to Professor Pendleton's house before, and it was surprisingly normal. The Victorian rooms were furnished with fairly old, dark furniture, and there was a study piled so high with books they nearly grazed the ceiling, but otherwise the only eccentric thing about the house was the weird devices and inventions scattered around the place. He wanted to look inside all the rooms and ask about what it was like to have Professor Pendleton as a dad, but he didn't think it was his place to pry.

After a while Saveli took Reuben out to a shed in the back garden where she grew herbs and plants and came to get away from the house, if she needed to. It was dark, now, but the low moon provided sufficient light to discern the plants in their tubs and pots. He listened, awestruck, as Saveli spoke about the nightshade in her hand. The very ordinary plant, to which he'd never paid much attention before, suddenly seemed mesmerising, caressed by her soft hand and the smooth lilting tone to her voice. He looked up into her eyes and smiled. "Yeah," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'd, like, never really looked at it so close before. But you're right... It's beautiful."
 
The moonlight faded in and out as wispy clouds passed over it in the sky. Savelis eyes though had long ago adjusted to the darkness and her ability to see Reuben's dark colored orbs was easy enough. She was able to meet them when he spoke, seeing that he hadn't been even looking at the flower - at least not for as long as she'd been looking at him. She smiled at his comment and nodded. "I don't know, maybe it's my weird obsession with ingredients. I just find each one more fascinating than the last. I like Angel's trumpet too, but I've only got dried samples of it. It's extremely poisonous. I'm not sure if touching it is bad but I've always handled it with gloves." Saveli placed the nightshade on the soil, allowing it to decompose in it's own time and act as a fertilizer for the plant it was plucked from.

The blonde turned around to face the door for a moment, but wasn't sure if she was ready to go back to the house. So she turned back to face her guest. "Would you like to do something? I'm not very fun I'm sorry. I just talk a lot." Saveli laughed slightly and tucked a strand of goldenrod hair behind her ear. It was hard for her lately to feel important or interesting. Her best friend had all but abandoned their friendship upon moving, and Monty was never around to talk to. The only person who found her interesting was Viviana - but sometimes Saveli only wondered if she was being polite.
 
Reuben did think Saveli was a little obsessed with her ingredients, but in a strange way, he liked it. He'd never heard anybody talk so passionately about Angel's Trumpet before; it was as if his eyes had been opened to beauty in a place he'd before been blind to it. So rather than agree, he shook his head, moving slightly out of the way so that she could put the nightshade down. "I think it's cool," he said. "This whole shed is really, really awesome. You should do something like this for a living." He watched Saveli pause by the doorway, startled by her question. He'd never been very good at making decisions, in somebody else's house even less so than in his own. Wasn't it up to Saveli what they did? But he didn't want his friend to think he couldn't take any initiative. He got enough flack about that from Rudolf.

"Huh?" Reuben said suddenly, frowning. "Why wouldn't you be interesting? Nobody's ever made ingredients sound so interesting to me before." It was true. Professor Carter was a great Herbology teacher, but he really could have taken some tips from Saveli. Reuben took a step forward, the moonlight from the window lending his face a silvery glow. "Y-you're really fun, Sav. I really like you. I..." He shook his head. Saveli was so much older than him; his feelings would never be reciprocated. What were his feelings, anyway? He'd never felt anything like this before. Never thought somebody was so beautiful, on the inside as well as the outside. "I'm sorry. It's kinda late. Maybe I should go..."
 
Saveli chuckled gently at his comment. "Maybe when dad - Erm Professor Pendleton retires I'll take over that position. A girl can dream right?" The blonde shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know though. I used to want to be a hit witch, but when I moved in with Monty I really got into potions." The blonde revealed a little of herself every day to her newfound friend. However there was a large part of Saveli that told her to hold Reuben at arms length, and never let him any closer.

Saveli cocked an eyebrow upwards at Reuben's words. He really lied her? Sure they'd gotten close, but he barely knew her. The Slytherin was so guarded. Maybe he'd seen past that - past her reserve. Maybe he knew more about her from the school, or from Viviana whom was her close friend and also friends with Reuben. Saveli found herself hard to approach, with a mean resting face and quite the history of drama. However the idea that Reuben so far liked her was rather nice, and her chest felt increasingly warm at the thought. "I like you too Reuben. A lot. You're super nice. Helps that you can make me laugh by making an a** of yourself."
 
Reuben understood. He'd never really liked Potions until Professor Pendleton had shown him his potential in the subject. Now it was one of his favourites, and the only one he could consistently get a good grade in. He smiled, unable to offer advice, but sure she would work out what she wanted to do eventually. That was what everybody kept telling him, anyway.

Reuben snorted, blushing. "Oh, yeah. I can do that whenever you like," he said, less embarrassed than such a comment should have made him. Perhaps being such a klutz worked out in his favour, after all. He still would have preferred being as cool and confident as Rudolf, but he was beginning to realise that it was OK to be his own person, with his own strengths and his own weaknesses. He tilted his head a little, trying to decode Saveli's words. Did she just like him, or did she like like him? Admittedly, she'd only ever been friendly toward him, but then he'd hardly revealed his own feelings for her, either. There hadn't been any point. She was way, way out of his league. But when he looked at her, and the way the moonlight fell on her hair, and thought about the way she made his heart race, he didn't really care about leagues any more. He wanted to kiss her, even if only once, just to see what it was like. So without much warning he lifted a hand to her cheek and brought his lips to hers, the execution clumsy, but soft.
 
Saveli felt some tension lift when Reuben chuckled. She always had a way to lighten any mood with dark humor, light humor, or jokes in general. It was something she had to become good at in order to survive the dreary parts of her life. The blonde looked at her own feet, Reuben's in view only adding to the heat she felt on her face. He wasn't too far from her. "I'll keep that in mind next time I need a laugh." She whispered, barely bringing her eyes up to meet his. It seemed so nice to spend this time together, but what made it nicer was Reuben unabashedly moving in on her and kissing her lips. Sav hadn't kissed anyone since Felix, and that had been some time. She forgot how good it felt to have soft textured lips against her own and a hand on her face.

However Saveli was ever the moment ruiner, and didn't allow that kiss to stay sweet. Her hands quickly found his face and as if kissing was all the hormonal teen knew she pressed her face harder against his, leaving no room for him to pull away until they both ran out of breath. Saveli didn't see leagues, or care that she'd slapped Reuben with his own hands at one point. Right now what mattered was that she wasn't alone - and felt alive breaking more rules than she could count.
 
Reuben wasn't sure what he'd been expecting. Another slap, maybe. A startled comment and an instruction to leave. So when Saveli brought her hands to his face and forced their lips together he could hardly manage to make the gasp of surprise she elicited from him. His fingers moved to cup her jaw, touch her neck, and within seconds his knees had turned to complete jelly. He finally broke away, his chest heaving, to take the breaths he required in order to stay upright. He didn't have anything to say - words would have been inadequate even had he been able to form them - but the way he looked into her eyes said enough. After a moment he brought his lips back to hers, this time leading the passionate movements. He knew it didn't mean much - that it was two friends kissing each other for comfort, kissing each other for the pure and unbridled thrill of it - but who cared? He was kissing Saveli Matveev. In a shed. Next to poisonous plants. One of his hands was on her waist, and the other was caressing her neck. Professor Pendleton probably would have killed him.
 
Saveli could have chuckled if she weren't so breathless herself. If she was going to be kissing she'd need to start working out - or she'd just be bad at what she did. The blonde caught her breath fairly quickly though, and gave her partner a coy look. Her large orbs reflected the green blue and silver that the moonlight allowed before they were closed again, his lips on hers. Saveli leaned back against the door bringing her friend forward, willing to continue kissing as long as he could keep up - unaware he'd never snogged another girl. Instead she was only aware of the way his chest felt against hers when she pulled him flush against her. The way it felt to be close to someone. Aware only of her breathing and her want to maybe not let go of this feeling for a bit - and instead let go of Reuben and let him come closer than arms length.
 
Had the night always been so still and quiet, or had Reuben's attention span simply shrunk since he'd started kissing Saveli? They could have been the only two people in the entire world, as far as he was concerned. After what could have been five seconds or five minutes - Reuben wasn't sure - he finally broke away, his chest cold where hers no longer pressed against it. "Um," he said, slowly removing his hands from her body. Wow. "I think I should... probably go home. My mom will go crazy, and... and... you know..." Kissing Saveli was one of the best things he'd ever felt, but he didn't really want to feel anything else right now. She would understand, right?

Because he had already begun to miss the feeling of her lips on his, he moved forward to kiss her one more time, lingering for a moment before pulling back. "Yeah. Um. Maybe we could... see each other again soon. If you want, I mean."
 
As suddenly as he'd started back in on her they were separate again. The kiss hadn't lasted long enough and though Saveli's plump lips were swollen and appeared as otherwise - she still felt the absence was too quick - as was his need to leave. Saveli, ever unsure, wondered to herself if she'd done something wrong. She didn't care it was half past midnight - or that Monty might even be home and looking for her. In that moment with furrowed brows she wondered if her actions had been too aggressive.

It makes you look easy an almost unfamiliar voice rang in her head. Saveli licked her lips and moved sideways and away from the front of the door. She looked away from the boy and nodded. "Yeah it's uhm, late." Are you trying to make yourself look like trash?. "I'll show you to the floo system yeah?" She offered, moving to open the door and leaving without looking back, suddenly aware of the chill of her body, or the prickling of her skin. She wrapped her arms around herself to fight an imaginary chill and without another word moved toward the house and then toward the floo. "Have a good night Reuben." She spoke gently, waiting for him to leave.
 
Reuben frowned. Why was Saveli suddenly avoiding his eye? Had he done something wrong? He thought quickly back over the last few minutes, wondering if there was some customary way of ending a kiss that he had not adhered to. He didn't know - he'd never kissed anybody before! Biting his lip, the Hufflepuff followed Saveli out into the garden and up toward the house. The night had suddenly become strangely chilly, and he noticed he wasn't the only one feeling it. As they reached the floo fireplace he turned to look at her. "Sa-" he started, only to be interrupted by the distant clicking of what was unmistakably the front door. "Oh... was that your dad?" Without waiting for a reply, he said quickly, "I'll send you an owl, OK?" Then he took a handful of floo powder and vanished into the fireplace, simultaneously elated and concerned. On the one hand, he'd just made out with Saveli, but on the other, why had he suddenly turned her so cold?
 
Saveli almost thought for a moment Reuben was going to say something, but the click of her front door made her blood run cold. She assumed the lack of color in her face was what really pushed Reuben to leave, and she didn't bother to stop him. After all, if Monty walked in she'd have hell to pay. So for a moment Saveli stood in front of the empty floo place, unmoving, waiting to listen to Monty come in. However instead of greeting him she turned toward the stairs. She would have stuck around, it would have seemed less suspicious, but as she wiped at her face with soot covered hands she realized she was crying. When it had started she wasn't sure - but the thought of Gabriel's unkind words mixed with Reuben's sudden absence made her weak in her chest. She needed to get away before Monty saw her.
 
The moment Monty stepped foot over the threshold, he knew something was wrong. It was strange that his paternal instincts should have been so strong when Saveli was not his biological daughter, but heedless of logic, they were, and he was immediately concerned. He shrugged off his coat just as she entered the hall, her face shielded from his view. "Sav?" he said, lingering by the front door. Following her - or pressing her to admit to whatever had upset her - by experience he had learned was unlikely to glean successful results, but he couldn't very well ignore the fact she appeared to be crying. "I'm sorry I'm so late. Is everything all right?" He hadn't intended staying so long at Ava's, but with the trial so quickly approaching she'd needed his support.
 
Saveli froze on the first step, freedom only a dozen more away. She took in a breath. "It's okay, things must be hard for Ava." She avoided the question next by remaining silent for a minute. Her voice had sounded so distant and so hard to understand, her voice cracking slightly. She wasn't about to tell Monty what had just happened. There had to be a good lie. There had to be. "I'm fine. just had a sneezing fit before you came." It was lame, but Saveli edged up the stairs one by one slowly, though her sniffling was more than that of someone who had been sneezing. She then stopped. "I've just had a bad day. You know? I'm sorry its stupid." She spoke loud enough for him to hear, but low enough for her voice to be even.
 
Monty was grateful for Saveli's understanding of Ava's situation, but her comment did not relieve the anxiety in his chest. He slipped off his shoes, his eyes narrowing slightly as she claimed a sneezing fit responsible for her sniffing. Still, he would not press her - and as it turned out, he did not have to. "Hey - it isn't stupid," he said, gently. "Is it something I can help you with? I'm here now." Suddenly the Professor wished he had returned home sooner. Ava might have needed support, but she was an adult. Saveli was not.
 
Saveli sighed and dropped her hand from the railing and turned around. Eventually the teen sat down and began to unzip her boots and take them off. "I thought about Gabriel today." She spoke honestly. She left out the fact that she'd seen a boy and been kissing him in the shed Monty had graciously built for her - this was the part that mattered right now. This was the part that was hurting her. "When I got my belly button pierced I showed him you know? Do you remember? How he said it made me look easy and like trash?" The blonde sighed. This was much more difficult to talk about than she'd imagined. "I thought about that today and about how the guys I've seen haven't been for more than a few months. For more than to kiss me."

Saveli leaned her head on her knees, looking past Monty to avoid eye contact. "What if the reason they're like that is because I am trashy? My dad obviously thought so right?" Saveli hadn't even thought of bringing up the letters to Monty. No now was not the time it'd only make her more upset. "And I guess when I thought about him saying those things i thought about how much it mattered to me because I cared about him..." Saveli felt a sob rip through her chest and speaking suddenly seemed impossible. "Monty what if Gabriel was the only guy who would ever love me? What if I made a mistake by letting him out of my life?" She asked, now shaking from trying not to cry. "All these other boys thought I was trash. Think I'm trash. I mean even Alexei hasn't seen me in weeks. What if he realized I wasn't going to be intimate with him and decided he wanted nothing to do with me because I'm not interesting, or I'm too mean?" Finally Saveli looked at Monty. The hormonal problems she'd never talked about were obvious now as she spoke - Saveli's low-self esteem painfully visible when she cried. What if her father was right the first time to abandon her - Saveli felt unwanted in that moment. And Completely vulnerable.
 
Monty was on guard the moment Saveli mentioned Gabriel's name. After he'd learned of the way he'd treated her, he'd felt it quite fortunate the boy had moved to Durmstrang, for standing within a few feet of his worthless being might have enticed him to punch him. It frightened him how awfully Gabriel made his blood boil. How dare he tell Saveli she looked 'easy'? Demeaning her in that way, in Monty's eye, was one of the worst things he could possibly have done, and he would surely never forgive himself for not having noticed his behaviour.

He stood still as Saveli's wall came crumbling down, unprecedented emotions spilling out of her like a punctured water balloon. How long had she been keeping this in? It nearly hurt him, physically, to hear that she didn't think anybody but Gabriel would ever love her - that so long as she declined intimacy, no man would ever love her for who she was. And with the genders reversed, he could almost perfectly relate. Setting down his keys, Monty came up the stairs and sat down beside her. "I know that Gabriel meant a great deal to you," he said, "and I know how easy it is to believe the things that somebody you care about said to you. But sweetheart, not a word of it was true. Gabriel was very, very afraid that he would lose you. So afraid that he thought the only way to prevent it was to convince you you weren't worth any better. And why was he so afraid? Because you're wonderful. You're lovely. Much too lovely for somebody like him." Monty looked down at the front door, sighing gently. "I don't know very much about the way most men think," he admitted. Love and relationships were a tricky subject for him. "But I do know that the respect you have for yourself is admirable. Nobody thinks you're... you're 'trash.' You're confident - and that's good! Good for everybody except Gabriel, of course. What would he have done if he'd thought anybody might take you away from him, hm? There's absolutely nothing wrong with... with anything you might choose to do. If you want to, that's fine. If you don't - that's fine too. And some day you're going to meet somebody who loves you for every choice you make, for all that you are. I promise."
 
Saveli didn't like the silence that was provided. The sound of Monty coming closer was louder than anything he could have said. Saveli pulled her knees closely to her body, becoming her own protection as she so often did. She put the best wall she could between herself and anyone who got to close, and even though she'd let some of that away with Reuben tonight she'd be damned if she told him that she was self conscious. That she felt he was too good for her - that anyone with half a brain was too good for her. The blonde didn't want anyone to see her weakness - Monty was a special exception and even he often times had to dig deep to get her to open up.

Sav's heart ached slightly when Monty spoke the way he did. How could he think so highly of her when all she did was insult his ears and throw hot tea at him? She hadn't been much of a good daughter - and perhaps for that reason she should let her father take her back. At least he'd keep her in her place. She'd not be caught dead with a boy or throwing a party - mainly because her father had a temper much like she did. Saveli sighed, breathing shaky. "I wish I was confident. I'm not like Prudence I mean have you seen that girl? She doesn't have the body of a twelve year old boy. And shes smart. She is coping better with her parents deaths than I am with losing a friend who I could try and write to." Save leaned her head back and looked at Monty from the corner of her eyes. "Thank you though. I'm glad you sat down." She didn't know what else to say - she didn't feel any better for lack of believing him. And she wasn't sure when she'd ever believe him.
 
"Hey," Monty said gently, nudging Saveli's shoulder with his. "Stop comparing yourself to Prudence! The only person you need to worry about being is you. OK?" He could have listed a dozen ways in which Saveli was kind or confident or clever, but he couldn't imagine she would appreciate gesture. Besides which, it mattered not whether he believed it: if Saveli's was set in her perspective, he would never persuade her out of it. All he could do was stand stubbornly by her and hope that she might some day attest this to her worth.

Monty smiled. "Well, it's quite late, so... are you going to be OK?" The Professor hadn't realised just how tired he was until he'd left Ava's house. He could hardly imagine how exhausted she must have been, with two young children to take care of. It was fortunate she had so many good friends.
 
Saveli looked to Monty and tried to force a half smile onto her face - though it appeared more as a grimace. The blonde couldn't help it. She was close to Prudence - she saw so much of Prudence in herself. And she saw so much of herself in her sister. Perhaps their recent closeness has spurred this need to compare - but even before that she had compared her pale skin to Viviana's soft tan skin. And how her pores were large than her friends'. The blonde nodded a little bit. She then answered. "I think so. I just need some sleep." She whispered. Saveli wondered if she told Monty of the real events leading to her thoughts if he'd have reacted differently, but maybe it was best not knowing.

"Goodnight Dad." She said before moving to walk up the stairs. Frankly she wasn't even sure she was going to change before bed - the tiredness of the day hitting her all at once.



END


 

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