"Your body is not who you are.
You shed it like a snake sheds its skin.
Leave it, forgotten, behind you."
─────
𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐍
- 𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒏
The thin outer covering of the body;
An outer layer.
➵
Born with the type of beauty that many craved, Gemini Delmar...
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27| A DANCE GONE WRONG
The entirety of the Slytherin population seemed to have gained a curious rapture ever since Draco and Gemini 'made up'. Unsurprisingly, the primary cause of this was the lack of entertainment they had suffered from in Gemini's social absence. They were always expectant whenever she was around — to see something out of the ordinary happen. Be it the suits of armour charging across the halls on Hippogriffs, an enchanted speaking mirror randomly appearing in the common room (which took its duty of judging people so seriously it reduced several unsuspecting students to tears), or Snape's cauldron spontaneously bursting into flames upon the addition of some mistletoe berries: she never failed to get a laugh out of them.
Moreover, the aspect of the approaching ball created far too good an opportunity for the boys to pass up. Being around Draco made her more approachable to the Slytherins since she barely talked to anyone when he and the others weren't around. Ultimately, it had been Draco who had convinced her to socialise with people during their first year, and though it was through a twisted way that involved a lot of pestering and teasing, it had worked.
Blaise found himself unbothered with any of this; he always made sure his bridges with Gemini weren't completely burnt. He would tease the flame, toast the edges, toe that line between being the best and the worst if only to see her crack in the face of his unpredictability. But he knew when to pull the flame away, when to stop toying. He could not afford to lose whatever they had until he had puzzled her out. There was something... off about her — he could sense it.
On the surface, she seemed so unlike what people pictured a Slytherin to be like, but Blaise knew better. People only looked at that surface, that reflection she allowed them to see — they didn't reach deep into her oceanic being, they didn't dive. Blaise wanted to. He wanted to delve into her secrets, unveil them, leave them naked and vulnerable before his eyes. He wanted to know.
But she wouldn't let him.
To be fair, they were both stubborn. One wouldn't relent and the other wouldn't leave well enough alone.
Blaise took every opportunity he could get to know her more. On occasion, impatience ate him up from the inside, but he never let anyone see that. To the world, he was the embodiment of the phrase 'calm and collected'. He wanted to maintain that image.
It wasn't hard for him to convince anyone to think what he wanted them to think of him. But Gemini and her twice-damned insights always knew. He could sense it in the way she looked at him. Her eyes never mirrored that desire he saw on the faces of several others. He thought it was funny how unrequited feelings worked. He didn't want the girls who were after him, and the one he was after didn't want him.
Hence, it was unsurprising that he had made it his ambition to charm his way into her heart. Of course, that didn't hold him back from messing around a little with others. He wasn't going to dedicate himself to anyone. That would be dangerous.
