Aionios

Chapter 52

Author's Note

Dear lovely readers, did you miss me?
Well, I missed you too.

I just survived my first year in college, and I am now on summer break. Here is that update that is long overdue! Hope you enjoy!
Love you all to Jupiter and back!

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February 14, 1996

"Who's the masochistic asshole that invented Valentine's Day anyway?!"

Isabelle is unable to stop her eyes from rolling skyward, jogging alongside her best friend who, unsurprisingly, sported the deepest, gloomiest frown. It was bright and beautiful that morning, the first notes of spring being its most prominent after months of harsh winter, yet Ace Pirtine looked, even more than usual, miserable to be alive.

"You're being dramatic, Ace", the redhead sighs outward, creating a faint cloud that dissipates into thin wisps as she runs through it, getting closer to the top of the hill back to Hogwarts. "It wasn't that bad."

"I almost died!", he screamed indignantly.

He had woken up on his bed buried under countless assortments of flowers, and love letters, and chocolates, and all the other trinkets associated with Valentine's Day. Theo and Draco were actually the ones who helped the girls—and the handful of boys— to get the gifts into the dormitory; they knew Ace would just detest it. They were right.

Apparently, a daffodil petal fell into Ace's mouth as he was snoring inward. It got jammed in his throat, and he woke up choking. An attempt on his life, he'd been complaining since their morning ran began, and another reason to loathe Valentine's Day, he vowed.

"Yes", Isabelle deadpans, "Because a lone flower petal is enough to end your life. You've faced Death Eaters, Dementors, and vampires—but oh no, Ace Pirtine says beware of the daffodils!".

He glares at her like he'd want nothing more than to hex her. "I hope your boyfriend gets frostbites where the sun don't shine today," he mumbles.

She snickers, "I hope you choke on more daffodils."

And she runs away just as Ace attempts to shove her toward the snow, her mocking laughter echoing into the dewy air as Ace chases her the rest of the way up the hill, through the corridor, and just a little past the Great Hall.

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Isabelle heard their argument first, just before she turned the last corner to the Gryffindor Tower. She had been so eager to shower off the sweat and grime from that morning's run and chase with Ace but stopped dead in her tracks when the familiar voices reached her ears, cutting through the serenity and lightness of the morning.

"I already told you. It's not like that."

No mistake—that was Harry. Judging by his voice, which was deeper than usual, and how he prolonged every last syllable of his words, Isabelle wagered he was still a bit drowsy.

"And I don't believe you! Enough with this—what's really going on between you and Hermione?"

Isabelle sighs. And that would be Cho.

The redhead, tired as she was, settles on the floor as quietly as she could muster, her back
leaning against the wall. She knew that this argument, like all the others before it, would take long to be resolved, if it would ever be resolved at all. As she closes her eyes to listen, she couldn't help but think it was a bit early for them to have at it, especially since it was a day of romance. She fully expected Harry to have at least taken Cho on a date first before they had their usual quarrel with the same, never-changing topic: Hermione.