Rumor has it...right or wrong?

[Jean Snow]

In the aftermath of RHI and that terrible house meeting, Jean had learned a few things: Gryffindor House was a lot bigger than he'd thought and now he had less time than ever. Quidditch was thankfully over for the season, the team finally securing a victory that meant the season wasn't a total wash. For the first time in ever, he was actually happy to put the season behind him, and he looked forward to cheering his brother on for the quidditch cup. But, he still had classes and now the addition of daytime prefect patrols. With all of that, Jean had to squeeze in trips to the library to carry back piles of books to study in the common room or his dorm room after dinner. As miserable as he was finding being trapped in Gryffindor Tower at night, Jean had been getting a lot of studying done. But he hadn't done one thing that he'd been wanting to. It was during one study session in his room that Jean had hatched a plan and he'd quickly written up a note, folding and tucking it into his uniform pants.

The next day, after History of Magic, Jean had casually dropped the note on Victoire's desk as he had headed past her desk with his brother. He hoped that no one else had noticed. The note had asked his fellow Gryffindor to meet him in the abandoned classroom on the second floor right before dinner. It was here that he was waiting, sitting on what would have been the professor's desk if this was still used as a classroom. As he waited, Jean had his wand out, writing random swear words into the air. Occassionally, he'd throw out a real spell as practice. He had no way of knowing if Victoire would actually show up, but he hoped that she would. They'd avoided each other the last time they'd been mentioned in a school publication and Jean didn't want that to happen again. The prefect glanced towards the door, sighed, and then returned to wand writing. It wasn't like he'd even planned what to say to her, but he'd figure that out if she showed up.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

The note on her desk had come as a surprise, mostly since she had no clue what she was going to do about it, the rumour in the magazine had been somewhat annoying for her, Victoire hadn't exactly enjoyed the entire school knowing about her private life, and even worse she didn't particularly want to come under the wrath of Jean's twin over anything that he thought had been wrong. The teen had been interested in knowing his take on it, and unlike with the Monthly, she felt better if they could just sit down and talk about it. She knew she'd feel better about what it had said about them if she could just talk to about it with Jean, what they'd called her wasn't exactly ever going to be fixed, and it sat with her more than any other part of what had been said, she'd never been ashamed by her blood but it was always in association with his family that she seemed to be tarnished with this mudblood brush, she worked hard, did that honestly account for nothing to people? Would her academics always be associated with her lack of magical heritage and Victoire knew she was smarter than most of the people in her house.

Heading towards the abandoned classroom, the girl felt nervous, she'd sworn herself off boys in general following the Yuleball and she was feeling ultimately like this went against it, but losing the ability to leave the dorm after a certain, earlier time had thrown her need to be able to walk around grow stronger and she was heading to the room just before dinner. Victoire had left her books in the dorm, though she still wore the Gryffindor uniform, hair for once sitting in lose curls rather than tied back. Finally the Gryffindor prefect reached the abandoned classroom and rather than lingering outside feeling nervous about this, the girl walked in carefully and then glanced at Jean with a small smile, "Hey," she muttered quietly in french, switching back to their more comfortable language, "How've you been?" Victoire approached him, continuing to speak in french until she stood in front of him with a small smile, waiting for him to speak before sitting down, she had no idea where this might lead, but she was curious, they always appeared to have no luck and she had no clue how she felt about him, considering everything else.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

Jean smiled when he finally heard the door open and saw Victoire slip in. Like him, she was still in her uniform. The Gryffindors didn't have a lot of free time these days, and Jean wasn't going to waste any of it changing out of his uniform, especially since it wasn't so different from his regular clothing. At some point during his walk, he'd stuffed his tie in his pocket though and undone the top few buttons. Victoire was speaking in French, which was the language that he was most comfortable with so he was very happy about this. There'd be no struggle to find the right word. Her first question caused a shrug from the boy. If he was being honest, he'd been better. The Gryffindors had lost priviledges, which was partially his fault, and he was just too busy these days. Just like the professors had warned, OWL studying was kicking him. Jean couldn't wait to kick back and go back to slacking on homework.

Jean had taken a deep breath while Victoire had walked over. He was happy that she'd met with him. In the past, they'd let issues linger for far too long. Jean hated that, and if they were going to be trapped in Gryffindor Tower at night, he really didn't want to add avoiding his friend to his ever-growing to-do list. As she stood in front of him, the boy put his hands on her shoulders. "My brother doesn't call you a...you know anymore." At least, Jean didn't think he did. Lucien was at least smart enough to not do it in front of him if he did. "And, I never have" he added. He knew that had caused them a big problem in the past, and when he'd seen that word in the article, Jean had flinched knowing it would touch a sore spot. "Whoever wrote that article is just a no-good, busybody son of a" Jean finished that sentence off and then let Victoire go with a small shrug of apology for his foul language.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire smiled at Jean with a small smile, she enjoyed the company of her best friend and she assumed that in this time where they were barely allowed to leave that they would likely end up spending more time together that they wouldn't otherwise just because of the circumstances of it, the teen didn't mind such a prospect but she knew that if they'd let things fester like they'd done on so many other occasions that this would just end up with something bad happening and worsening feelings, she liked Jean a lot, he was a friend first and she really didn't want to lose that, she knew that this dance they did was only going to end in misery if they didn't start being clear with one another, and she didn't want to ruin everything with Jean. The teen wasn't looking for anything in them, she had told herself that boys were just pretty awful and not worth her time at all. The teen took a seat in front of him, and brushed the strands of her hair to adjust to the move in her position, to sit better as she sat in front of Jean smiling at him, because despite all their problems he was still her friend, and she was still his, and she could only think fondly on things like the Halloween feast and the time they'd spent before that.

Victoire was a little surprised when he placed his hands on her shoulders and she couldn't help but smile a little sadly at his statement, she knew that his brother was different than him and she could see him calling her such a thing but was glad that he was at least assuring her that he didn't and she definitely knew that Jean had never called her that but it didn't stop the rest of the school knowing it and for the other purebloods and other purist from knowing it and saying it, it didn't matter what else had been written about others, she had been the only one called it, despite the likelihood of others mentioned being so, lots of people had been called hurtful things, or had hurtful things said about them, but she was the only one called such a thing, "I know you've never but it doesn't stop the whole school now knowing it and for me to be known by that, Victoire the mudblood Fontaine," she sighed a little at her statement, feeling like that was honestly all anyone was ever going to remember her with. She looked at him as he continued and just shrugged with him, as he pulled his hands away, she let out a long sigh and just shrugged, "Whomever wrote the article clearly doesn't like people like me," she told him trying to make a light joke about it, not wanting to call the person any of the names, "It made me feel bad for your brother's girlfriend if what it said is true," she stopped herself from saying much more, having stuck to her french throughout what she was saying, ignoring all the times they'd spoken in english because of where they were and the fact they should. Victoire really did feel bad for the girl who was dating Lucien if the article was true, but it was also her way of bringing the conversation to what was written about them a little, unsure of whether there was any validity in what it had said about them, would Lucien ultimately get involved if they ever happened to get involved.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

"Victoire..." Jean began, still speaking French with her. "I think there's probably a couple of other things people will know you as like...Victoire the only prefect not on probation Fontaine" he said after a moment. "Maybe Victoire the only Gryffindor who doesn't lose housepoints Fontaine" he continued, a smirk on his face. Both were true. Victoire was probably the only prefect who actually deserved her badge this semester. He knew that Professor Kingsley would probably agree. She was still barely smiling at him when she saw him, but he'd actually overheard her say hello to Victoire the other day. He'd tried to catch up with her then, but she'd been too far ahead of him. The Gryffindor put his wand down beside him on the desk and shook his head at her as she continued, his features darkening for just a moment as she tried to make joke. Purebloods could really be jerks sometimes. He would know since many of his family members were those pureblood jerks. He knew that most of the people in his family wouldn't hesitate to call her mudblood.

The Gryffindor girl was sitting across from him, and as she spoke, Jean nodded his head. "Yea, me too. I think they'll be alright though. Lucien likes Clara..." Jean added, trailing off as he realized he'd never heard Lucien actually use those words. He'd seen Clara run out and he hadn't met up with his brother for long enough since then to ask him if he'd been able to work things out with Clara. It wasn't something he wanted to ask his brother in the middle of a crowded hall or in front of his sisters, so that's why he had no update on the situation. Jean knew that Lucien really liked snogging Clara, but he wasn't sure how much stronger those feelings ran now that he thought about it. "The whole article is probably trash" he stated quickly, hoping this wouldn't backfire on him. "Did your Yule Ball date really go badly? You looked like you were having fun when I saw you" he added trying to prove that the article was complete trash, not even realizing that he had just admitted to watching her at the ball. The events of her Yule Ball night had been something that Jean had thought about a time or two, not that he would ever admit that to anyone. And, he definitely wasn't going to outright ask if he'd been the cause of her date going badly because of him which was what the magazine had alluded to. If that had even happened at all. It could be that nearly everything in that article was a lie. He hoped so.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Listening to Jean say those things Victoire just smiled at him, but she was shaking her head at him, while he was talking about this, she knew that he meant well, but it didn't stop what she'd said from being true, she shook her head at him, and just continued smiling at him, "That's what you think, but no matter how much work I do, people will always just think of me as a mudblood," There was a hint of sadness in her tone at always having to remember as such rather than of all the achievements which she made during her time in the school and all the work she had put in, "I'm always just going to be Victoire the mudblood to most of this school's population, even more so because of this magazine," Victoire tried her best to just smile at him, to just put on her best face with this, having that name hang over her head and knowing that it would always be an aspect of her schooling and aspect of her life in the wizarding world. She then just sighed a little and shrugged, knowing that nothing could be done about it, that they were never going to be able to change anything, not them, it would take too much for them to do.

Moving on from that brought a little more of a smile on her face, she did feel bad for her, she felt bad that the magazine had written all about them and put all of their dirty laundry out in front of the school, because no matter the relationship, having the entire school be told about it was just wrong, it was just horrible. She didn't understand why anyone could be so mean or want to write such things about the other students in the school, and she wondered how much it had affected the others in the school, with a small smile she nodded, the entire magazine had been awful and no matter how true or false the articles were they were all still trash, but his small question made her shrug and sighed slightly, "It was fine, it was fun but," the girl stopped and sighed again, running her hand through her blonde hair and glancing and the ground between them, "I like Alex, he's a good friend, but half way through the night he said he love me," Victoire looked up at Jean, "And I don't like him like that, we're just just good friends, or we were supposed to be," Victoire was trying to explain how it was without just rushing to say that it wasn't because she had other feelings for someone else that it had gone bad because that would sound too defensive but it was the case, she didn't like Alex like that, but he liked her like that, "And it's just awkward because he loves me, but I just like him as a friend and knowing that he loves me, just," she stopped herself from saying anything else, knowing how pointless it was to explain it and just how upset she got over thinking about it because she couldn't bare to hang out with him knowing this about their relationship. The prefect glanced up at him, "It just ruined the evening because it changed the dynamic, I wouldn't have minded just saying that he liked me, but love," she let out a breath and just shook her head, giving a little laugh to try to relieve the small amount of annoyance she felt towards it, but Victoire just shook her head again, "But you and the girl, you had fun right?"
​

 

[Jean Snow]

A part of Jean knew that Victoire was right. Being a pureblood was a big thing for many wizards, especially these days since there really weren't that many any more. Even big families like the Weasleys had been watered down, so to speak. Blood mattered to a lot of people. But, Jean knew that it probably didn't count for as much as the pureblood people wanted it to. Jean didn't think one's blood counted for much if you were a terrible person or a terrible wizard. He knew purebloods that were both. This was always a touchy subject between them. Jean had learned that a long time ago. He hates that it kept coming up, time after time. Jean barely paid attention to his own blood status, but then again he didn't have to side he was a pureblood. It opened doors for him that Victoire would unfortunately never get to see just because she wasn't one. Jean hated the injustice of it because he knew for a fact that she was better with magic than he'd probably ever be.

Jean listened as she began to speak about her Yule ball experience. He hadn't been sure if she would open up about it or not. As she spoke, the smile on the Gryffindor's face froze. "Love?", he thought to himself, not realizing that he'd choked the word out as well...in English. It was a big word to the fifteen year old. And someone had said it to Victoire. Jean found himself nodding his head as she continued though he wasn't sure he understood it all. She'd been speaking quickly and after hearing that Alex or whatever his name was had declared his love for Victoire, Jean's mind had sort of checked out. "What? Oh, yea. Lydia and I had a nice time" he stated after a minute, picking at a piece of something on his uniform pants. "We're in the Wild Patch Club together" he added as he looked up at Victoire, his blue eyes meeting hers. For some reason, he felt the need to explain this to her and make sure she understood. "But we're just friends. It was nice to have a date and not go to the ball alone for once."

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire looked at Jean as he uttered the word love and she just shrugged at him with it, she didn't love anyone in the same way that she was sure that Alex seemed to love her, she had been there for him, she had worked with him, she liked him, but what she felt for him wasn't love and to be around him when he felt that way towards her didn't exactly make things simple, she didn't know why it had changed things but it had, she had just sat unable to comprehend why he would even tell her. There was just so much running through her head during it and she didn't think that what he felt for her was love, it couldn't be, as much as they'd grown close they hadn't been close enough for love to be anything but platonic and she was really beginning to see him as not just a friend but like family and she just couldn't wrap her head around the fact that he loved her. What it really did was show her how silly her own crush on Perseas had been, though she'd never loved him, she had felt something and it had affected how she'd acted towards him, and that had she thought therefore affected their relationship, she was beyond that now, things with Jean had never been simple and unfortunately things had always hung over and happened which had made things even more difficult for them, like the pureblood aspect of Jean and his family's apparent hatred of her, no where in Victoire's mind did she think telling Jean about Alex's confession would do anything.

Hearing him talk about the date he'd had and how nice it had been, made her think of the time they'd ended up spending in the Halloween, and how nice it had been for them, how good it had felt to just dance together and she wondered if it would ever be so simple for them without having to hide part of who they were, Victoire smiled at him, nodding a little at his last statement and moving stray stands of the blonde hair from her face, it had admittedly been nice to be asked to the Yuleball a part of Victoire had thought the Jean might've asked her, even to go just as good friends but he obviously hadn't, "It's nice to be asked," she had switched to english without realising, the ease with which they interact with both languages meant she, like him slipped between the two as they spoke, since it did in a strange way feel quite natural. She just shrugged at him, not knowing what to say about it, not knowing how to address the fact that the article had implied like the monthly one that they liked one another or that one liked the other, it just wasn't helpful to her own feelings and to this relationship she had with him, "Like with Halloween, it was nice to be able to spend the time with someone rather than just being alone," she looked at the ground between them, "All things considered though, with Alex, I think it would've been better for me to go alone," she gave a little sigh and flashed a small smile at him, regretting her decision to say yes to Alex, and also believing that saying no to him would've likely meant that she would have to go alone, thinking that no one else might ask her and really not wanting to be alone at it.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

At Victoire’s words, Jean couldn’t help but wonder if she was making a slight hint, suggesting that he should have asked her. The Gryffindor had certainly intended to do just that, but time and his nerve had slipped away from him. Before he’d known it, the ball had been here and Jean just assumed that she had a date and had asked Alex. The teenager wondered if she had already said yes to Alex by the time he asked Lydia. After a second, he realized that he didn’t want to know. When Victoire brought up Halloween, Jean smiled and nodded. That had been a great night for him, and he was glad that she’d enjoyed it as well. For once, the two had been able to put their drama, the things that always seemed to stop them from being fully open and honest with each other, to the side. They’d simply enjoyed each other’s company for one entire evening. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy her company during other times because he certainly did. But, Halloween had been absent of the…tension, yes there was no other way to put it, that seemed to just always be there. “Or maybe you just need to go with me to every dance or the next one anyway” Jean blurted out in French without thinking.

Then, he realized exactly what he had just said, and he ducked his head down, embarrassment filling him. A second later, Jean reconsidered and determined that he wasn’t really that embarrassed at what he had just said. They really had had a good time at the Halloween dance, and if she’d had a horrible time at the last dance, it wasn’t because of anything to do with her. It was because of the company that she’d chosen for the dance. Jean raised his head back up and stared straight at Victoire, his blue eyes searching for something, anything that wasn’t rejection. “I mean…” he rolled his eyes as he continued, “I don’t think anyone would be surprised if we did considering what they write about us.” Jean hoped that had saved his last comment somewhat, though he also knew that he might have just made things worse. It would depend on what Victoire thought about the article, about him, about everything. Jean honestly didn’t know. He barely knew his own feelings on the situation. The Gryffindor was really tired of seeing his name in papers, people speculating on business he considered extremely personal. At this point, the next article would have them eloping. It was hard enough to sort out his feelings without having his siblings and people he barely spoke to let alone liked coming up to him and throwing their two sickles in.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire had admittedly hoped before the Yuleball that Jean would've been the one to ask her, not even in the capacity of a date but just two friends who knew each other quite well, she hadn't expected to ask someone else but then again, she had agreed to go with Alex regardless of what Jean had then decided. As much as they'd been close, she had come to realise that one of the issues was they didn't always talk about the right things at the right times that avoided such trouble like halloween, and the previous articles which had pushed a wedge between them. She looked at him when he spoke just realising what he was saying, knowing that he probably hadn't meant it to sound like it did, but she had only picked up on the fact that he was in a strange way almost inviting her to the next dance with him, to which she wanted to agree to, but didn't want to get her hopes up about it or get excited about it and for it to then not happen because of some of the other factors which seemed bent on making them associate with one another, seemed bent to make them pay attention to each other, or force something between them.

The girl just smiled and gave a small nod of agreement but it was obviously not too serious at all, the teen would not hold him to such a weird statement when they were so far from anything and she didn't even know how she felt towards him, there might be someone else in the school in the next year with whom she might become interested, or that he might become interested in. They had never faced any of their feelings if there had been any, she didn't take her eyes off him as he then spoke, she had to give him a little smile at the statement, she had to agree with him, that it didn't matter what they did, people just assumed that they were an item or possible item or that one of them had feelings for the other, just why did others seem to think it was there place to get involved in whatever this friendship was, "I don't think they would be," the teen agreed with a nod of his head, "Someone in the printing press of the school seems bent of putting up together," she added with a small, slightly nervous laugh, it was always something being printed that seemed to always need for them to be together, from the superlatives to the Monthly and now this magazine, something seemed to want them to be together ignoring what they felt, "I mean there are worse people to be matched with," she joked with a small smile, believing that there really were worse people to be placed with but not sure if her joke with Jean would land at all.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

She was still smiling and had sort of nodded to Jean, he was sure of it. It was the smiling that her was most happy about. At least, she hadn't closed herself off after hearing his comment which was a distinct possibility. The teenager took some happiness that that hadn't happened, and he picked up his wand again, turning it over and over in his hand as Victoire agreed that it wouldn't be a surprise for them to go together to another event. The Gryffindor found himself nodding, amusement that someone or several someones seemed to have such an interest in the two Gryffindors' lives. Jean didn't get it. Surely, there were more interesting people in the castle. He just didn't understand why he and Victoire had been linked together not once or twice but three times! "Yea, they're obsessed. It's getting kind of weird " he admitted. And annoying for him, especially now that his sisters were beginning to comment on things.

As Victoire continued, Jean frowned and glanced down at his pants, picking at a stray strand that had come loose earlier in the day. He bothered it for a moment before responding. "Oh, I see" he finally muttered, not bothering to hide the hurt in his voice. So much for being called a 'swoon' in the article. Victoire sure knew how to bring a guy's ego down a notch. If Jean hadn't been sure of Victoire's feelings towards him, the teen felt like he'd just figured it all out. There were obviously people she considered much lower on the list than him, but from the sounds of it, he was pretty low. He hadn't thought that at all about her. He was just annoyed that it was public. The teenager rubbed at the back of his neck. "Well, I don't want to keep you from dinner, Victoire. I just wanted to make sure you knew that what they said about my brother in the article was a lie" he stated abruptly. It wasn't the total truth, but Victoire wouldn't know that. "...and that's it" he finished lamely. He glanced towards the door, hearing the commotion of what had to be students heading for the Great Hall. Jean made no move towards the door. If she was going to leave, he'd have to wait a few moments to prevent even more rumors from spreading about the two.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire couldn't understand why of all the possibly people to pair so much they'd seemingly focused on herself and Jean, it had in no way helped them in their friendship, or helped her in understanding her feelings towards Jean, she liked him, but in the back of her mind she questioned whether they could ever be with one another in any capacity because of his family who made it very clear their opinions on her, it didn't matter that he didn't believe it about her, but she knew that no matter what happened it would end and she would be left without being able to do anything but just with the possibility of a broken heart and terrible memories of someone she counted as a friend, she had to wonder how different things would be for them if no one knew about her muggle upbringing, if it meant that they at least would never have to worry about that aspect in all of this, because Victoire was sure that if it sat on her mind, it sat on his. At his words she nodded a little and looked down between them, running a hand through her hair, beginning to wonder where this strange awkwardness between them was coming from, and if it had anything to do with the fact that all these publications seemed bent on trying to make them be something.

As her final comment escaped her mouth, she couldn't help but hear the silence which followed and the tone at which Jean spoke, and she looked up at him, with an almost curious expression, what did that mean, she considered that in all things considered she was pretty lucky to have been paired with him and not someone worse. Someone who wasn't a good friend, or someone who actually didn't care about her, like the stories of his brother. She was a little startled by his words which followed, did he want her to leave, was that it. She tried to see what he was thinking, but Victoire was just at a loss, "Jean," she began softly, switching back with no problem to French, "I didn't mean it in a bad way, it was a joke," she attempted to reassure him, "I wanted to lighten the mood," Victoire tried to meet his gaze, truly thinking that this situation could be worse if she'd been placed with anyone else, she didn't know how he felt about them always being placed together, but she knew the joke she'd made had just fallen flat, "But come on, you have to sort of wish you were matched with anyone but me, it would be easier and your brother wouldn't be breathing down your neck about it," she shook her head slightly, Victoire gave a little sigh and just smiled at him, there was a pause as she thought of what to say next because she admittedly knew that she liked Jean and that of all the people she knew at the school this forcible pairing with him wasn't desirable but she had to think that maybe there was something to it, that maybe she had to just take a risk if they were on the same page. Victoire had no other friends she was quite as close with as she was with Jean, and part of her always wondered if what she felt in their closeness was something stronger than friendship, but she had always been so confused and at a loss with what meant what she wasn't even still sure, but, with a small smile, the girl just looked up at him, "I like you, Jean,"
​

 

[Jean Snow]

A joke. It was a joke. Jean let out a strange sort of laugh filled with chagrin at having totally misinterpreted what she'd said. The Gryffindor scoffed at her comment that the whole situation would be easier if they had been matched with different people in the magazine, if he had been matched with a different person. Jean didn't like his private life made public at all, so to him, it wouldn't have mattered who'd been named along with him. Jean would have hated it regardless. And although his brother was a pain about some things, he'd definitely eased up on the whole his being friendly with Victoire situation since he'd learned to snog. That had proven to be a great distraction for the Slytherin, no matter his feelings towards Clara. It was actually his sisters who had become particularly annoying since the magazine. Not that they weren't always annoying, they were. Especially Katrina. But, she seemed to be taking it as a personal agenda to let Jean know how stupid it all was.

His blue eyes looked at her as he sighed heavily. "Victoire..." he began, but he was cut off by four short words. The words literally died in his throat as he very much heard hers. There was no need to point at himself, no need to be sure that it was him she was speaking to. They were alone in the room, the world passing by beyond the doors. She'd tacked his name on at the end to ensure that he knew. This wasn't love that they were speaking about, thank Merlin. Jean didn't know anything about like let alone love, but he figured like was something he might be able to handle. Maybe. The Gryffindor looked at his friend, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke. "Orwell and Archie came back this semester trying to figure out who I liked. Orwell figured it was Lydia because we went to the dance together and hang out during meetings" he began with a smile. "And Archie thought it was Ailsa because..." he paused, a confused look on his face. "Actually, I don't know why." He chuckled slightly and then grew contemplative as he brought his hands down to gripping the desk's edge. He brought his eyes back around to Victoire. "But, they were wrong. It's you. For a while now, I think" he stated softly, admitting that just as much to himself as to her. The Gryffindor had never voiced this before, and he didn't know what to expect. This was uncharted territory for them, and that completely terrified the Gryffindor in a way that nothing else ever had.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire wasn't sure what Jean's reaction was going to be, a small pause and developing silence around them did nothing to assure the blonde about what become of her confuession after all, she expected following everything else to have it perhaps thrown in her face, if everything in every article had ever been false, when she herself had barely been able to figure out her feelings for him or anyone it hadn't helped and his own silence about it before hadn't helped, but her feelings for Jean hadn't really been like her feelings for Perseas, she hadn't been so certain of them, and anything she had developed for him, came and went in waves, the winter she'd spent working had helped her become less focused on him, but there were perhaps residue feelings, and she did like him. Finally she was taking that step, saying enough that he could know what she meant but also turn her down if he wanted to, Victoire knew that should he turn her down, it would probably affect their friendship, but at least in knowing where he stood she could move forward. The teen looked down at the ground between them as he rubbed his neck, wondering what might become of what he had to say.

At Jean's words, Victoire had to admit she was confused, what did the strange coloured hair boy and his friend have to do with this, she looked up at him and noted that he was smiling, and she couldn't help but return the smile, listening as he explained what had happened, she wondered why they had been so curious but she didn't give it too much thought, just following along with what he was saying admittedly unsure why he was telling her all this, was it just to build up to telling her that he wasn't interested in any of them, or interested in one of the other girls, but his tone was a little light, he laughed slightly and she just smiled back at him, keeping her gaze on his and wondering what this meant, as a small silence once again elapsed, and finally he admitted that he liked her. A strange flood of emotions, of relief and of a little bit of joy over such an admission just came all at once, she didn't know what this really meant, but she very slowly reached out with one of her hands and placed it on the table, palm facing upwards not wanting to just take his hand but indicating that he could if he wanted to, "Where does that leave us?" she asked, knowing that even if they liked each other, it wouldn't be the end of their troubles, or the beginning of something necessarily, considering his family and their feelings towards her, but she wanted to know what it all meant, or what Jean wanted to do, just because they felt the same way didn't automatically fix everything.
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[Jean Snow]

Jean only looked down at Victoire's hand for a second before slowly moving his hand from the desk top. His hand was trembling slightly as it met with Victoire's, a small smile on his face at how nicely they fit together. The teenager hoped that his hand wouldn't burn hers. It felt like it was on fire to him, though he knew that wasn't the case at all. It was probably normal, just at the moment everything felt like it was happening a little slower than normal. Jean was feeling like he was in a dream at the moment, at least until Victoire broke the silence. Her question brought sine reality back into the moment, and Jean ignored it for a second, choosing to keep looking at their hands before giving hers a small squeeze and looking up. His blue eyes looked at his friend as if he hadn't seen her in a long time. They see each other nearly every day though.

Jean finally shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know where this left them at all. So, they liked each other. Now what? "I don't know" he admitted. He knew what the possibilities were. They could just go on as friends, content in the knowledge that they liked each other. Jean was pretty sure that would eventually lead back to awkwardness. At least he thought so anyway. Or they could date. He had no idea how that would go at all. Jean had never been in a relationship. He still hadn't even really kissed a girl. Jean didn't think there was a third option. "I know we're definitely still friends and that's good" he rushed to continue. Jean really liked having Victoire as a friend, and he wanted this revelation to change that as little as possible. "But maybe we can go on a date and see how it goes? See if anything else would even work" he mused, his heart beating rapidly as he waited to see how she would take that.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire watched slowly as Jean moved his hand towards her outstretched one, she wasn't too sure he would take her hand, but when he did, a smile graced her features. She couldn't help but feel like it was oddly right, it felt comfortable, a little odd to her was this strange feeling of comfort in just holding someone else's hand, like it felt somewhat right, she had never been certain about her feelings for anyone but regardless of that this just felt good, but Victoire as much as she liked how it felt she didn't know what it meant for them, she had to voice her concern, Victoire needed to know the next step. But his silence made her believe that like she was, he was trying to figure it out, and she just followed his gaze to their hands were he gave her hand a light squeeze and she just met his gaze and smiled back at him, knowing the trouble that likely awaited them, Victoire was glad for this silence, the simple look he was giving her and soft, familiar feeling of his hand in hers. If this moment could last forever the teen wouldn't have minded, she was working her for her OWLs, but this moment was simpler than those and she just wanted it to last, but she had voiced her question and was still in part waiting for an answer.

At his words the Gryffindor prefect couldn't help but let out a small laugh, it was true that she didn't know what this meant or anything about the future this would lead to, but it was good to know that he seemed as clueless as she was, after all she'd never been in a relationship before, she'd never kissed a guy, she had only recently even really begun to figure out that it was indeed boys that she liked. As he continued she just nodded, "We are definitely still friends" she said in agreement knowing that she valued Jean for his friendship above most other things, and whatever this was the beginning of she knew that should it fail, they always had their friendship. She shot a glance at their hands unable to stop the small smile at them, just as Jean suggested they date, and she couldn't help but blush slightly, "A date?" she repeated, "That would be nice," it was something she'd never done and she at least knew that it was a beginning a non-committal beginning, which might've been slightly hinder by their most recent punishment, "How though? We aren't allowed to go to Brightstone and really I'd rather not have your family find out we're going on a date," Victoire really didn't want to be a downer on this, but she couldn't think that it was hilarious, "Unless, I found this room, it would be private, I use it to study, sometimes it's there other times it's not," Victoire had dropped her tone to slightly above a whisper, switching easily back to French, "I don't know how many other options we have, I've never been on a date, I'm not sure how it works," The girl admitted, hoping that if her suggestions weren't good enough that he might have a few.
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[Jean Snow]

Jean was more than happy to hear Victoire confirm their friendship. He liked that they could talk French with each other and liked having someone who forced him to study when he felt like being lazy. There was no doubt that their friendship had developed and morphed over the years, sometimes taking very strange turns, but he was glad for all of it. He knew that the mention of a date was definitely one of those strange turns, but he hoped their friendship would be able to survive even if things were disastrous. They'd gone through some pretty bad stretches, surely a small date couldn't be too bad. The teenager didn't have to wait too long to learn that his fellow Gryffindor didn't find the idea of a date too terrible. As she mentioned that it might be nice, Jean smiled and nodded his head slightly. He thought so too.

Sighing as she mentioned the obvious, Jean's free hand drifted to the back of his neck. He'd been thinking that they could hang out on the lawn or by the rosebush or something like that, but he could understand her not wanting his family to find out. Understanding didn't stop the smile from vanishing from his face. He wondered briefly if things did work out and whether they'd just keep things secret forever. Jean wasn't sure how he felt about that. For one thing, he didn't know how possible it would be to keep things secret. For another, he wasn't sure he wanted to. He figured that, for now, he would let things progress with just them figuring out what this was. He knew that this was probably the best course of action anyway. His expression changed, filling with curiosity as Victoire's voice dropped down. What she said was a great idea. "It's real?" he said, more to himself than to Victoire. He'd heard rumors for years. A second later he was eagerly nodding his head. "That sounds great. You find the room. I'll take care of the rest" he stated confidently. He wasn't sure what he would do, but he'd figure it out.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire knew that for the beginning of whatever this was, she wanted to be careful, to take things slowly, she knew that she didn't want his family finding out too early on, because from the way his brother had acted towards her in the past she couldn't imagine how he would react to her now. The girl just was glad she'd stumbled upon the strange room, it was always a little different when she used it, sometimes she found it, other times she didn't, it seemed to come and go at it's pleasure and it really was a good room to be away from all others that she wanted to be away from, it was like studying in the Prefect's common room, without having to worry about the other prefects, those select few, this room was private and only accessible to some it appeared. The girl couldn't help but smile at his statement, she too had read stories of a vanishing room, but she hadn't even really associated it with the room, now it seemed obvious that it was.

"It's real," she told him with a small but happy grin, before then just nodding her head at what he said, giving his hand a small light squeeze in agreement, they would figure this out, and the room would be just perfect for them to at least have some peace away from prying eyes, away from keen writers and things of that sort. Private enough and close enough to the gryffindor common room that she knew she'd barely need to worry about missing curfew, "Okay, sounds good," she hoped now she would be able to find the room again and that she would be able to get him into it too, "This will be good," she told him with a small smile, unable to sort of understand the strange but good happiness she felt over the prospect of this date, it was something different, never something she'd done and the the teen was really looking forward to it, but having said this, silence just lapsed and Victoire wasn't sure what else to say, she just kept her gaze on him.
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