2033 ~ Slytherin Common Room

Lara smiled softly as she read her little sister Lynn's letter that had just arrived. Considering Demyan now attended Hogwarts as well, Lara couldn't help but worry about her baby sister, all alone with Aunt Dessa and Uncle Steve. After all, Lynn had spent her whole life surrounded by people, especially her siblings, so naturally that would cause for some change.

Thankfully, it seemed Lynn was having an easier time adjusting to "only child" life, evident by her letter which informed Lara of yet another pet she had added: a hedgehog named Prickles. It had taken a bit of persuading for their Uncle Steve to allow Lynn to have pets, as he was allergic to fur, but compromise and a little hint of "puppy eyes" had gone a long way, as the house's shed was converted into a mini-farm of sorts.

Eager to respond to Lynn's letter, Lara summoned a quil and bit of parchment and went to work.

Outside the Slytherin Common Room...

Will stormed off as fast as he could without running, towards the Slytherin Common Room. His face was set to a prominent scowl so that anyone who would approach him reconsidered. He's robes flowed about him like he was some sort of Villain, a Darth Vader of the sorts.

Calmly he spoke the password, and was granted access to the Common Room.

There he found just who he was looking for, sitting down with a quill and parchment in her hands.

"Is it true?" He said, consciously keeping his voice down while all he wanted to do was scream. "Are you going out with..." Oh he couldn't even say his name. He coughed and altered his question slightly. "Are you going out?" With someone hung about the air.

At the familiar voice of one of her best and oldest friends, Lara broke her gaze away from the parchment, raising an eyebrow at the scowl on Will's face.

"Hello to you too, Dude." she replied dryly, irritated by the random anger radiating from him. "What's got you all ticked?" she asked, flipping a lock of dark blue hair out of her eyes.

Will remain unfazed by Lara's apparently irritation. Why the heck was she irritated? He was the only who couldn't even describe the irritation he felt right now. So irritated in fact that he was rather snappish to sister when she asked him a question about something he couldn't even remember. So irritated that when a few of his friends saw him in the hall and attempted to high five him, he blatantly ignored them. He rephrased the question. "Are you going out with..." Again oh Merlin he still couldn't say it! Just the thought of him and Lara made him sick to his stomach. "someone?" He finished finally.

Lara flinched as she realized what Will was getting at. So he had heard about her agreeing to go out with Ace Malfoy...

Silently and slowly, she nodded. "What's it to you?" she asked, her words coming out a bit harsher than she had intended and wanted. After all, in all honesty, why did he care who she went out with? It's not like there was anything going in between them... much to Lara's dismay...

"What's it to me?" Fitzwilliam repeated, astounded. "What's it to me?!"

"I'll tell you what it is..." However, when he tried to articulate his utter qualms about the sick pairing between her and Malfoy, he found he couldn't. He took a deep breathe and re-evaluated the situation. "Why are you going out with... with Malfoy?"

Lara looked at Will incredulously, her confusion and frustration at her confusion mounting at an alarming rate. "What, did I need to ask your permission before I started going out with someone?!? Did I have to wait for your approval? Why do you care if I go out with Malfoy or any other bloke in this school?"

Will's first thought was, well yes, she had to ask him for permission. He needed to know these things! Now on the approval part... well he probably wouldn't have given it even if she asked. And he did care... he cared so much she just couldn't go out with him!

"Well you can't." Will said folding his arms. "You can't go out with him."

Lara's jaw dropped from an intricate blend of anger, irritance, shock, and pain. The parchment in her hand began to smoke slightly as her emotions took over her control on her magic. "Who do you think you are?!?!" she snarled, her eyes turning into little slits of emerald.

"Last I looked, you weren't my father, not my Aunt, not my Uncle, not my mo-" she stopped herself, pushing away from that awkward course. "Not my Head of House, not my Professor, and, as of this moment, not even my friend! What gives you the right to think you can tell me what to do?!?" she demanded.

"I - " Will said a little bit flustered by her show of anger. What was it with his voice today? "I'm -" what he wanted to say was in love with you, but instead he said...

"I'm not trying to tell you what to do!" He shouted. Her anger fed off his anger. In addition he had no idea what was wrong with him. "We've got potions to do on the weekend!"

Smooth Fitz, real smooth.

"You're...?" Lara asked, getting more and more impatient.

"You so totally are!" she bit back with a harsher glare, folding her arms over her chest. "Don't try and blame your psycho-ness on potions! Just admit it: you're just mad and want to suck the fun and happiness out of everyone and everything like always!" she hissed, the words slipping out of her mouth faster than she could even think about them.

"Suck the wha..t?" Will said utterly confused and still slightly bothered. A slight thought came about him. He enjoyed seeing her angry, something nice in the way her eyes fieried up. "What do you mean just like always?"

"What are you on about?"

"You know what I mean." Lara scowled. "Whenever you're not having fun, you always have to suck it out of everyone who is!"

She took a deep breath, struggling to get a grip on herself. "What is your problem?" she demanded in an exasperated tone.

"Dios mio!" Fitzwilliam grasp his hair in frustration. He barely knew spoke spanish but when he did it usually meant he was feeling very very irriated... like now for example.

"What's my problem?" He said incredious. "What's your problem!? You're the one going out with Mr. I-am-so-pale-I-can-blind-people-when-they-look-at-me!" Not really one of Will's best work but he was so furious he couldn't really think of a proper insult. It would have to do.

Lara stiffened as an exclamation in spanish cadenced to her. She'd known Will for a long time, and knew he only spoke it when he was extremely irritated.

"What, jealous?" Lara retorted with a sneer, not at all understanding why Fitz was so upset. Unless he was upset because... No, no way. He didn't think about her that way. Unfortunately...

"Jealous that I can find someone and you can't, Mr. Fun-sucker-who's-going-to-doom-the-entire-universe-with-his-fun-sucking?" Prety lame insult, in her opinion, but it worked.

Will flinched when she said the word 'jealous'. He wasn't jealous! He just didn't think she should go out with Malfoy! A phantom thought whispered denial... Will ignored the voice.

Oh but her taunt got to him. Level-minded Will could have a hot head when things went sour, and these were one of those times. Why in Merlin's beard was she going out with Malfoy!?

Fine. If she wanted to go out with him. That was her problem. Will scowled and crossed his arms. "I can find plenty girls who'd want to go out with me."

Well alright, there were a couple of third years who'd made goggly eyes at him. But he was sure he could find someone better. He just wasn't looking. And you know why...

Lara scoffed, her anger and irritation taking over with a mind of its own. "Imaginary ones don't count, Will!" she retorted venomously, though a pang of guilt jolted her mere seconds after she spat out the words.

Rapidly and desperately, Lara blinked, furiously trying to get rid of th accumulating tears in her emerald orbs. She wasn't normally an emotional person, but she couldn't help it this time.

Technically, Will was right. From all the gossip and girl talks constantly going through the girl's dormitory, tons of girls wanted to go out with Will. And she was one of them.

Will's eyes blazed with hurt but that was minimal compared to the fiery anger it projected. As such, he didn't notice the rather telling shininess in Lara's eyes.

He was more focused on what she had just said.

What Lara had just suggested was a challenge... A challenge in Will's angered state, he was willing to take up. "We will see then, won't we?"

If she wanted to go out with someone else, that was her prerogative. Perhaps out of the two of them, he was the foolish one who imagined something to be between them. Despite the emerald crest on his uniform, Will was proud.

"Go date Malfoy, I don't care." Will drawled but in his mind, Lies it did scream.

Lara couldn't help but wince at Will's drawl, slowly nodding. "Fine. I'll date Malfoy and you can go date all your imaginary friends and any girl willing to go out with you." She retorted sharply in a voice thick with emotion.

"Just stay out of my business."

"I don't think that'll be a problem." Will's voice was shaking, trying to control his anger. "Since, like you said, we aren't friends anymore."

He didn't know what made him say that. He didn't know what made him turn around and leave the common room. He didn't know what got into him.

He was going to beat up Malfoy.

When she was sure Fitz was beyond earshot, Lara turned on her heel. running into her dorm room where she shut the door and bounced unto the bed, sobbing all the bottled emotion.