The Keeper

Chapter 30

I listened to That's Entertainment by The Jam, Fire Burning by Sean Kingston and I'm A Ruin by Marina And The Diamonds.

Please vote and comment <3

*

The liquid was instantly recognisable, the smell stronger than anything I'd ever smelt before. Except for the one time I had smelt it - Potions. And Oliver was taking a sip.

"No!" I cried.

Heads turned and I knew Madam Pince would be heading straight for me, but I kept my eyes glued to the pair. Gillian was staring right back at me, her lips curled into a sickening smirk. Oliver, on the other hand, continued drinking.

"Quiet!"

I kept staring.

"You! Was it you that made that awful racket?"

I tore my gaze away to see Madam Pince. "Yes, miss," I murmured.

"Speak up!" she snapped. "You seemed to have no problem with volume a few moments ago." Suddenly, she turned to look at Gillian and Oliver. "No food or drink in the library! All three of you will meet me for detention immediately after your final period tomorrow!"

I swallowed. Gillian's cheeks turned a delightful red while Oliver finally set down the glass.

"Sorry, miss, did you say something?" he asked sincerely.

Madam Pince's jaw clenched. She'd ascended from the state of anger she was already into a state beyond rage. "Excuse me?" she hissed through gritted teeth.

"I said," Oliver sighed, "did you say something?"

The following events happened in a blur. Madam Pince began yelling, a few kids quickly packed up and left, most shuffled closer to watch.

"You," Madam Pince said, a long finger pointed directly at Oliver, "will be spending your entire evening with me in detention. If you're a second late, you'll be seeing me for another three weeks!"

"But I can't!" Oliver said, frowning.

Her previous rage was nothing compared to the murderous look on her face. I suspected making eye contact would kill me instantly. For that reason, I kept my eyes firmly on the floor. "Why not?" Each word felt like ice.

"Because I need to spend time with Gillian," he stated, wrapping his arms around her. "I love her and I want to be with her all the time."

Madam Pince raised her sharp eyebrows as her beady eyes flicked to Gillian, who was still blushing furiously. "Is that so?" she questioned, her voice low.

I prayed that she was suspicious of Oliver's dreamlike state. If she picked up on his unnatural behaviour, perhaps she would monitor Gillian more closely. But all I could do was hope.

"Nevertheless, I will be seeing you in detention," Madam Pince said. She held up her finger menacingly when Oliver tried to protest. "I do not care if you would rather be somewhere else. You will come to detention and that is final!" Her volume had been increasing to the point of a yell, causing a few more people to edge closer out of curiosity. She dropped down to a murmur. "I've got my eye on you."

With a final dramatic glare, Madam Pince stormed away. Gillian burst into laughter as soon as she was out of earshot.

"Did you listen to that?" she said between laughs. "She thinks she's so scary. And Oliver, please don't tell me you're actually gonna go to detention."

"Of course not," he replied. I bit my lip. "I wanna spend time with you. I love you."

"I love you too!" Gillian squealed, leaning in to attack his lips.

I turned away instinctively. When I was sure they were finished, I turned back around and cleared my throat. "Now that you're done," I snapped, "Oliver and I have work to do."

She shrugged. "Go ahead." She planted a wet kiss on his cheek and he leaned into her. "I'll see you later, love. Don't be too long."

Another long kiss later, Gillian waltzed out of the library, leaving Oliver like a dog without a bone. I clenched my fists.

"Let's get this project done," I said.

A few hours had passed and the sky was well and truly pitch black before we finished. Together we had written a full four sheets of parchment, overly detailed diagrams included, full of information about Io. I knew that Professor Sinistra would be satisfied.

"I'm so glad that's over," I sighed, slotting the last book onto the shelf.

"Same!" Oliver exclaimed, his abrupt cheerfulness surprising me slightly. "Now I need to go."

Before I could stop him, he'd picked up his stuff and hurried out of the library. He was obviously going to see Gillian. My heart dropped.

I trudged back to my dorm. Everyone was there except Gillian. The trio inhaled sharply when they saw me and started talking over each other.

"How did it go?"

"I bet you Gillian turned up, didn't she."

"Anything about amortentia."

I merely put the parchment on my bedside table and fell onto my bed. "It went bad."

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"What happened?"

"If anyone did anything to hurt you I will slit their throat."

I managed a small chuckle before telling them everything that happened. "...and then he picked up his stuff and left as quickly as he could. He even left me to take all of our work back without a word of thanks."

Aleeza muttered something under her breath, probably a violent plot to take Gillian down permanently.

"At least we know 100% that it's amortentia now," Louise said. "I guess that's an improvement."

"We need another way to flush it out of his system," Sasha said. "Another way to separate him and Gillian for over a day."

An idea suddenly formed in my mind. It relied upon the intense hoping I was doing earlier. "I think I might have something," I said tentatively. Their faces perked up with interest. "Remember what I said about Madam Pince's suspicion? What if we get Gillian and Oliver to interact with them in front of her again? She'd become more suspicious and, best case scenario, discover what Gillian's been up to."

Sasha clasped her hands together. "That's brilliant! And consider his detention. It's clear he won't turn up. So Madam Pince will follow through, track him down and ultimately find out he spent what should've been detention with Gillian."

"And if none of that works, I'd be more than happy to march up to Madam Pince myself and tell her everything," Aleeza added. "After I've savagely beaten Gillian up, of course."

I laughed at that. Things were beginning to look up. I couldn't wait to take Gillian down.