the thief
Venus would never admit it to anyone, but almost nothing terrifies her more than the dark.
And as she is walking in the corridors of Hogwarts, hours after curfew, she can't help but curse her great-aunt Mina for giving her this impossible task. But then again, who is she to deny the last wish of her dead relative, as ridiculous as it is.
It has only been a week since school started again, and it is the third time already that she sneaks out to steal from the library. She would never have thought that the restricted section was so easy to rob. Especially since she cannot say that she is the most discreet student in this school.
Honestly, the more she spends time out of her dorm at night, the more this castle seems like the gloomiest place ever.
Holding back a sigh, she hurries as best a she can to get back to the ravenclaw common room. One could think that after sixteen years of being alive, she would finally stop imagining monsters everywhere as soon as the sun sets. But no, she can't help it, she is almost petrified.
"Hey stop ! You cant' be outside this late ! "
A masculine voice echoes behind her.
Shit !
She slowly turns around, only to find herself face to face with what seems to be a tall Slytherin boy. It's difficult to be sure in the dark. But the colors of his uniform seem to correspond.
She looks at him as he raises his wand to light them better, and now she can see his face. His dark hair fall over his eyes, and he stares at her, coldly. She finally recognizes him, Regulus Black.
He seems to realise who stands in front of him as well, because he raises a brow, surprised.
"Selwyn ? What are you doing here ?" He asks more curious than annoyed.
Merlin! Not this goody two shoes. Three nights that everything was perfectly fine and now I have to get caught by Regulus Black ?
Venus never really appreciated the younger Black. Partly because he always ignored her when they were young. She was regularly forced to come to his house with her parents in their childhood, and he would always pretend to be terribly busy with some stupid drawings or his piano lessons. Even when he was talking to her, he would always talk very slowly, like she was some kind of idiot that could not understand otherwise. They were only six or seven at the time. And it is not only out of pure childhood pettiness that she does not like him. It appears that he is also, terribly serious at any time, and terribly annoyed with everything. Not really her kind of person.
"I..." She tries to think of a quick believable lie.
She wouldn't want to be brought to Flitwick right now, having to explain why she have books she should never have even touch. She is not really good at making up stories, that's an understanding. Xenophilius would have been a hundred time more efficient right now.
"I'm a sleepwalker"
Well, at least it was quick. But by the look Regulus is giving her, not so believable. Still she doesn't give up, if she has to lie, she will at least try defend herself correctly.
"I woke up near the kitchens" she continues. "It's really inconvenient you know, always opening my eyes and finding myself in a new place. But well, you get use to it, like everything. C'est la vie I guess. Anyway, I am going to go now, wouldn't like to be tired for tomorrow's classes. Goodnight Black !
Yes, definitely convincing. She quickly tries to get around him but he immediately blocks her with his right arm. He has raised his brows and he looks pretty annoyed that she's taking him for a fool. Slowly he lowers his gaze on the books she holds tightly against her chest.
"Those are from the library" he affirms, then looks back at her. "Are you stealing books Selwyn ?"
His lips are tight and he squints without taking his eyes of her.
Venus hesitates, what could she possibly say now ? She doesn't want to end up in detention. Moreover, Black seems to enjoy this little interrogatory more than he should. Now that she looks at it, he definitly likes playing the little auror in the corridors at night. Being a prefect must have gone to his head, and given him a feeling of control infinitely too good.
This bloody psychopath !
"No" She finally responds. " Those are my books"
He immediately rolls his eyes and she curses him in her mind.
Doesn't he have something else to do, like casting crucio on insects with all his weird slytherin friends ?
He sighs dramatically, again.
"Stop lying Selwyn" he orders loudly. "Those are from the library, maybe even from the restricted section. If you don't want more troubles, just tell me what you're doing"
How does he even knows that ? Does he keep the accounts of the library or something ?
It's her times to roll her eyes. If he thinks that she is going to say anything about her task, he is fooling himself. She has to find a way to get out of here, and the more she thinks of it, the more it begins to seem obvious.
Calm down Venus. You are a ravenclaw, you are smart, you are wise, you are creative, you can do it.
In front of her Regulus is losing patience, he keeps looking at her with insistence. But suddenly, she raises her arm to point at something behind him, horrified, and she starts screaming.
"Merlin, what is that ?!"
Regulus immediately turns around, tightening his wand in his hand, and without wasting another second, she starts running off in the opposite direction. She doesn't look back, but behind her, the Slytherin prefect is simply flabbergasted. He probably cannot believe he fell for something like that.
"Selwyn come back here right now !" He shouts.
He is not going to have to chase her, is he ?
"Selwyn what are you doing ? You can't do that ! Come back you little- "
Venus keeps running. He can takes all the points he wants from ravenclaw, at least now, the books are safe. If Rowena is watching, she is certainty proud.
__________
When the morning comes, Venus wakes up slightly irritated. Firstly because she did not make any progress with her researches after she came back to the dorm the night before. Then, there is also the fact that the annoying slytherin bastard, so called Regulus Black, is probably still upset that she outsmarted him and he might try to take his revenge at some point.
She yawns loudly, gets up and walks slowly to the bathroom, as if she is walking to the guillotine. She does look bad after loosing so much sleep during the week. There are ugly dark cicles behind her eyes, and then again, the usual pimples that have been living on her face seens she reached puberty. Enduring the adolescence is hell on earth, nothing can be worse, and it says a lot when there is a literal war going on. Or maybe not worse than the war to be fair, sure. But she just prefers to not think about that at all.
The two other girls in her dorm are chatting together, getting ready before breakfast. She does feel a little excluded, it has always been like that with these two. Jenny Fawley and Lucy Chang were childhood best friends long before they even started going to Hogwarts. And even if they are always friendly with Venus, they are not her friends. She did try, at least until third year, to fit in their duo, but it was just not possible, so she finally gave up after some time. Some people are just made to be nice acquaintances, she learnt it the hard way.
She tries not to take too long to get dress. The ravenclaw dorms are pretty nice, she actually likes her house well enough. She is the only one of her seven siblings that did not end up in Slytherin. Not a problem for her family at least, her mother lineage are traditionally always ravenclaw, like her great-aunt Mina. Being a ravenclaw is actually the only thing that ever made her mother proud of her. But then again, maybe the word is too strong. There is no such a thing as a Selwyn being proud of their offsprings.
She grabs her wand on her night stand and her eyes fall on the book that she stole last night.
"Hidden and dark fairies, between legends, tales and realities"
Fairies are just some little creatures with a weak level of magic that you can find in pretty much every woods. Well that is what she always thought. And actually, that is what she still thinks, judging by the way all her researches have got her literally nowhere. But still, she remembers Mina's words, how her great aunt seemed so sure, so convinced that she was giving her an old lost knowledge that could change everything. Venus doesn't know why she continues to search, she just does. Stupid fairies, literally the dumbest creatures ever. But still she does not stop, she doesn't know why, how.... She just knows that she really loved her great-aunt, and at least, she is doing something that stop her from mourning endlessly.
----------
When she arrives in the great hall, Kingsley immediately spots her and waves until she sees him. She walks to where he is sitting and takes place in front of him. She begins to grab some toasts and pumpkin juice, still tired from her night getaway.
"Where is Xen ?" She asks with a morning voice, looking around for her other friend.
Kingsley mouth changes into a grin as he points the slytherin table. Xenophilius Lovegood is nervously sitting near a beautiful blond girl, helping her tie a ribbon in her hair.
"Lestrange asked him to take his breakfast with her" Kingsley explains. "He was so nervous he almost spilled his tea on me"
Venus rolls her eyes, shooting a piece of bread in Kingsley's face.
"Stop mocking him" She orders. "He's just a little shy when it comes to Pandora. But she is a nice girl. I like her and I approve of her relation with Xen. Don't ruin it"
He snorts and she lets her eyes find Xenophlilus at the slytherin table. Lestrange is telling him something, their faces are close, and he becomes as red as the strawberry jelly in front of him.
Love ! Venus is almost jealous. Lestrange and Xen futhermore, how weird ! Everything started during summer, at least, that is how Xen has explained it. He worked in London, two months straigh, at his father's grimoire bookstore. Apparently Pandora came once, by a total hazard. Then, she came back, and again, and again... They talked a lot, and discovered a lot of common interrests, who could have guess ?
"Relation ? What relation ?" Kingsley finally protests "As far as I know, he is so awkward when they are together that he'll still be afraid to hold her hand in ten years from now. And anyway, you may approve but I don't think her brothers ever will. Can you imagine, Rabastan and Rodolphus at a family gathering with Xen ? Just picture the three of them, chatting, laughing, joking. I don't think Rodolphus even have the physical ability to smile. And what if they bring you know who. Like, Xen will just have to sit in front of him and ask him to pass the salt ? Excuse me my lord, could you give me the water next to... "
"Okay stop !" She shouts. "Merlin ! I'm just trying to eat, no need to analyse the Lestrange family life so early in the morning. Pandora is nice, end of discussion. They are too far from the simple idea of marriage to start worrying about her relatives now. Plus, my last name is literally Selwyn in case you forgot. And believe it or not but your little interpretation was scarily correct. I don't want to think about how pure-blood families are practically all messed up, especially mine. You're a lucky one with your perfect parents and perfect brothers and perfect...
"Fine, stop" he pleads "I understand, I understand."
She sighs loudly, and nods. Xenophilius and Kingsley are really nice and all, but sometime, she just really wishes she could have some girl friends. That's why she is so supportive of Pandora and Xen, because at least now she gets to spend time with the pretty blond as well.
Pandora Lestrange is just wonderful. She is funny, confidant, curious and overall very caring. In fact she is almost perfect to Venus eyes, but for some obscure reasons that the ravenclaw will never understand, she's also Regulus Black's best friend. It is literally one of the biggest enigma of the century, how the amazing Pandora can allow herself to spend even just one minutes with this git.
"Er-... Venus ?" She sees Kingsley's brows rising as he looks behind her "Do you know why Regulus Black is walking toward us like he is about to break someone nose. He is literally glaring into my soul, and not in a sexy way"
" What ?!" Venus immediately feels her stomach twist. Merlin's balls, not now ! She hasn't even finished eating her toasts.
Nervously, she tries a little look to her right, the slytherin prefect is indeed not very far, and it's not Kingsley he is looking at, but her. His grey eyes are somehow shining with irritation, and this is enough for her to go. Time to fly.
She grabs her stuffs as fast as she can and stands up.
"What did you do this time ?" Her friend narrows his eyes with suspicion.
"Nothing" She cries out as Regulus is almost there "Literally nothing"
Kingsley shrugs. "I didn't even know you and Black talked enough for you to anger him. Anyway, if he tries to break your neck, don't expect me to help you. I'll let you know that I have a date this weekend and I don't want to end up in the bloody hospital wing."
She doesn't even take the time to rolls her eyes at him and start walking out of the hall, as fast as she can.
Is Black following me ? He wouldn't, would he ?
She doesn't try to look back and continues to walk as far away as she can, but as she finally makes her way out in the corridors, she feels a hand strongly grab her shoulder, and she is turned around before she can even react.
Regulus, because it is him, glares at her like she is the most annoying thing in the world. His dark curls are falling on his piercing eyes, again. He also looks tired as always. Not that she looks at him very often, but he kinda looks like a living corpse sometime.
She proceeds to push his hand away from her but does not try to escape this time. If she does, the boy may as well throw a curse at her, she wouldn't be surprised.
"You're really ruining my breakfast because I run in a corridor after curfew ?" She finally asks while he continues to stares. "Come one Black, stop looking at me like you're going to commit a murder."
To her surprise, the younger Black just starts to sighs very dramatically before placing a hand in front of her face.
"The books Selwyn" he asks. "Just gives them back and I will let you alone. You can't just steal from the library. You do know that most of the works from the restricted section are unique in the whole world, right ?"
There is a moment of silence. Then, Venus's mind is exploding. Is he bloody serious right now, he just followed her for the books ?
What is he, the little justicer of Hogwarts library ?
Is he not, going to rat her out to Dumbledore or at least Flitwick ? No, he just... wants the books ?
His grey eyes are still fixed on her, he is waiting. Now that she looks at him so closely she can see how much he looks like his brother. The more he grows, the more he is like Sirius. Physically at least, because their personalities on the other hand, are more like fire and ice.
The Black brothers actually got most of their look from their mother. Walburga Black has always been nice to Venus every time she saw her while growing up. But Venus Selwyn is no fool, she knows that the Black matriarch is in fact, a real bitch. Almost worst than her own mother actually.
"I would rather have you giving me a detention" She finally says. "Like really, just forget about the books already... please"
Regulus raises a brows, with a mix of curiosity and irritation. Two emotions that he may be experimenting a lot since last night, thank to her.
"You can't do that" He stated "You can't just steal them, so give them back. Why do you even needs them so much ?"
Venus just narrows her eyes, literally holding back herself to scream. Why does he even care ?
"It's none of your business" she simply replies, doing her best to stay polite.
Can't aunt Mina just curse him from the after life already ? Because it would really help keeping her secret safe right now.
Black is even more annoyed by her answer, she just knows it, even if he choses to keep his face completely emotionless. He is literally everything his brother is not, she can't help but notice. Sirius is funny, warm and always excited, she actually consider him a childhood friend, unlike this stupid younger brother of his.
"Fine" Regulus grumbles. "Don't say anything, but give me the books and go before I change my mind about not saying anything to Flitwick"
She could maybe try to argue a little bit more, but she does not think it will actually work, and she just wants to go back to the "zero interaction a day" thing Regulus and her had before. Anyway, the book that she, in fact, really needs the most, is still in her dorm and it's the only one that could clearly indicate what she is working on. So she just opens her bag and takes out the two other, before giving them to the slytherin.
He quickly grabs them out of her hands and immediately looks at the titles.
"The forbidden Magical Forest Of Brocéliande" He reads, intrigued. "Dark creatures of the ancient time"
He slowly raises his gaze back to her face. He genuinely looks confused about why Venus Selwyn would be interested by those two books. They do not seems very... light magic friendly ?
She knows that he would never have taken her for someone interested in the dark art, even slightly. As long as he has known her, it doesn't really match with her personality. But then again, what does he really know about her ? Just because their parents are friend doesn't mean they are.
" Why do you need that ?" He asks. He almost seems concerned. But she knows better than to believe that.
She looks at him straight in the eyes before she just decides to smile. She smile like an idiot and hope that he is annoyed even more. With everything inside her she prays that it can piss him off. She could not care less about him, they never talk, at least not often. But this time, she just wants him to be as irritated as she is.
"I guess you'll never know" She finally speaks, with a very calm voice.
And without an other word, she turns around and goes.
----------
The library is a calm place, and it usually sets her in the correct mood to work when she needs it. Well, at least most of the time. But with Pandora and Xenophilius miserably trying to flirt, just in front of her face, she cannot possibly concentrate on her potion's homework.
She truly loves her friend, she really does, but she cannot deny how weird he is sometime. She just sits there for the next twenty minutes as he proceeds to explain to Pandora how most of living creatures on earth are in fact invisible, and that people may sleep with a giant transparent butterfly on their face every nights without even knowing it. And sweet Pandora just stays here, listens to his bullshit, and stares at him with eyes full of love. Why on earth would she willingly choose to suffer like that, well, Venus might never know. She is just glad she does.
Finally she can start working again as the two lovebirds decide to elapse together. She waves at Pandora as they make they way out, smiling. But when she opens her textbook, some weird thought pops in her mind. Does Black also have to watch Xen and Pandora growing love ? She has to physically restrain herself from bursting out loud at the idea. She simply cannot brush off the image of Regulus Black sitting in front of these two with an emotionless face, listening to every sweet words they usually exchange, screaming internally.
At last she regains control of herself and tries to work, for real this time. However it is not long before something else comes to challenge her determination. Indeed, not far, near some shelves, she notices Alice Fortescue, as beautiful as ever, delicately choosing a new book.
Oh Alice... Venus Selwyn's ultimate one sided love since she was only twelve.
She stares as dramatically as possible.
Everything used to be fine, she was fine just being friend with the gryffindor witch, loving her in silence and dreaming that one day, she would gather some courage... But then, before she could, he came... Frank Longbottom, ten months ago, and he stole Alice away faster than a bloody snitch. Now she can only watch from afar as her heart is shattered in thousand of pieces everyday.
A little bit too much maybe, but she deserves it, at least that.
She continues to admire as the the witch sits at a table near by and starts reading. How beautiful, how amazing, how graceful, how-
"Enjoying ourself, are we ?"
She literally jumps in her sit as the boy behind her speaks. A hand on her heart, she is completely panicked when Sirius Black and James Potter appear in front of her, grinning like two utter morons.
"Well well, I don't think Frank would really appreciate if he knew you were staring so lovingly at his girlfriend, little Venus"
Sirius places his hands on her shoulders, teasing her. His dark hair are all over his face as he bends. It's so similar to Regulus, but in a way more sloppy , neglected and rebel way. She looks into his eyes, then again, the same grey eyes.
"Shut up Sirius" She eventually groans. "Longbottom can fuck off, I liked Alice first."
"But she likes him"
Venus just groans again, putting her face into her hands. As if she needed that right now.
"Hey don't worries" Potter encourages her. "I am on your side. Team Venus ! You and I, my friend, we're on the same boat. Lily and Alice, we'll get them. This year is our year, just wait and see.
Venus glares at him, narrowing her eyes as he smiles like as big idiot. Knowing how many times Lily Evans has rejected Potter, his little speech is not really comforting her.
"I can teach you everything you need to know about the art of seducing women." he proposes while Sirius loudly bursts into a laugher.
"Er no thanks Potter"
Potter immediately places a hand on his chest, pretending to be vexed. Then he lets himself fall into Sirius' arms. Those two are just imbeciles, but she easily grins at their stupidity. They're are one year above her, but still, they always find time to randomly pop out of nowhere and annoy her a little. It's like a ritual, maybe once every month. She is not the only student that has to endure this. They're basically haunting everyone in this school.
She doesn't want to say it but she knows she will miss them next year. Just like she will miss Lily Evans who is everyone favourite head girls. And obviously, Alice...
"What are you even doing in the library" She murmurs. "What about I'd rather be caught dead than caught here"
Sirius scoffs and Potter puts his glasses up on his nose, smirking.
"New prank I'm presuming ?" she guesses
"Absolutely little Venus, absolutely"
"Right, of course."