Who: Galvin Gudgeon and Alecto Carrow
What: Vinny's suspicions begin
Where: His dorm
Notes: Alecto played by Brie
He hated doing rounds. Galvin really, really hated doing rounds. He’d hated it while being a prefect, and he hated it even more as Head Boy, because as Head Boy, he was required to do it three times a week, instead of the one. Shouldn’t earning the title come with some privileges, instead of more work?
Letting out a sigh, he kicked an ink well that must’ve been dropped, and watched it skid down the corridor…and stop right in front of a pair of very fine legs. Alecto Carrow. Vinny grinned, walking a bit faster now.
Alecto was making her way back to her room from the library. She had promised Professor Slughorn she would get the new book on Potions and have a summary prepared for him by Tuesday of chapter six but she hadn’t even bothered to get the book yet. She was just happy he wasn’t making her redo all the practical shit they’d covered that week.
So book in hand she was traipsing back to the dungeons when a bottle of ink hit her foot. She looked down and picked it up, wondering where it came from. Then she heard foot steps and looked up to find Vinny making his evening rounds. Count on her to choose the hallway he was patrolling. Of all the luck in the world… she had to run into the one person she really didn’t want to see at this point. Potter would have been better…Betty would have been better.
“Hey Vinny,” she began weakly, picking up the bottle and holding it out to him. “Drop this?”
She looked a bit weary, and this worried Vinny. “Are you still feeling sick, dear?” he asked affectionately, putting his hands on her arms, rubbing them gently. He’d never had a girlfriend get sick during their relationship (thank Merlin), but Galvin figured that it shouldn’t be hard to deal with. Be sweet, offer to do things, and…let her sleep?
“Want to stay in my room, tonight? Don’t have to deal with the roommates?” His eyebrows quirked with a smile, “I promise to leave you alone.”
Alecto smiled gratefully. “That would be really nice.” She honestly didn’t want to deal with him at the moment but the idea of a nice, uninterrupted sleep was too tempting to turn down. Maybe she wouldn’t have to talk to him too much…she could blame being sick. But how long would that work for? Her issues with Amycus didn’t seem to be going away and there was a huge rock in her stomach that she didn’t understand when it came to Vinny. “I appreciate the thought,” she continued, taking his hand in hers.
Ehh…the castle’ll be fine, he thought, though, being the good Hufflepuff he was, Vinny knew that once Alecto was asleep he’d have to leave to finish off the rounds. His conscience would eat him alive if something actually did happen, and he was off sleeping (not even snogging) with his girlfriend.
They reached his door, and Vinny whispered the password (“Jambalaya”) and let her enter first, because that was the gentlemanly thing to do. He knew he said he’d leave her alone, but he hadn’t seen her in so long, and it was hard to ignore such a beautiful girl. Vinny cupped her face, pushing her hair away from her face.
“You couldn’t tell you were in the Hospital Wing for a week,” he lied, but thought it was a good one. Vinny grinned and leaned forward and gave her a small kiss on the cheek, and lingered, because he’d noticed a rather distinct mark on her neck. Stiffening slightly, Vinny pulled back, trying to keep his face neutral. “You were in the Hospital Wing the entire time, yeah? Anyone visit?”
Alecto stepped into his room and smiled, putting her book on one of the little tables. “Nope, Pomfrey was being a real beast. She wouldn’t let anyone in except the stupid professors with homework.” She paused, bending down to take off her socks and shoes. “Luckily Slughorn was nice enough to only make me read and not make up all the practicals.”
Once she had shed her shoes she sat down on his bed cross legged. “It was lonely.”
“Huh.” Vinny joined her on the bed, staring down at his knees. He knew what that mark was, he’d given it to a number of girls before. It was definitely a love bite, or whatever people called it, and Alecto wasn’t even trying to hide it. This clicked in his head, and Vinny snapped toward her, jaw set.
“So, Slughorn give you that mark, then?” he said darkly.
Alecto looked at Vinny for a second, trying to figure out what he meant. Then it dawned on her…the bite from Amycus. Curse Amycus, fucking Amycus, it was always Amycus! She tried to smile. “What are you talking about?” Play stupid, just play stupid. Maybe it’s not that noticeable. She had used a spell earlier in the day but it was getting late and it must have faded. Please don’t let it be that noticeable she thought to herself…
He wouldn’t grab at her, of course, but Vinny pointed at his neck, indicating the spot where the mark was on hers. “That, what’s that, Alecto?”
Knowing she could just shrug it off, he summoned one of his hand held mirrors (he liked to make sure his hair was perfect) and jammed it into her hands so she could examine it for herself.
“Oh that,” Alecto said softly. She put the mirror down without really looking into it. She knew it was there, exactly where it was, where his teeth had been sucking on her neck. “What do you want me to say, Vinny?” she asked softly. “It’s not what you think.”
“‘Oh, that’?” he repeated, standing up and crossing over to his dresser. “What do you mean, ‘oh, that’? It’s a bloody---bloody hickey, Alecto! If it’s not what I think, then what the hell is it?”
“Vinny you’re making a big deal out of nothing!” Alecto stood up and went over to him. “It’s not what you think, I swear.” What was she supposed to tell him? Oh, yea, don’t worry that’s just from my brother snogging me on his dormitory staircase, no worries? That would go over really well.
“So what is it, Alecto?” he repeated, hating that he wasn’t getting a straight answer. “If you were just avoiding me, if you don’t want to date me anymore then just bloody tell me!” Vinny hadn’t meant to sound so whiney and wounded, but Merlin, he’d been miserable this past week without her company and there she was, snogging some bloke behind his back!
“I-“ Alecto began but couldn’t think of what to tell him. What do you tell your boyfriend when you have a hickey from someone else? “It’s really not what you think, Vinny,” she whispered. Then Alecto did the only thing she could think of…she started to cry. She put her face in her hands and she started to cry. She had never cried in front of someone before and it was a bit unnerving but she was beyond caring. Why did everything have to be so complicated? Why did Amycus have to ruin everything?
“I wasn’t cheating on you, Vinny,” she whispered through her hiccups. “I swear on my family’s honor that I wasn’t snogging some other bloke.” And that was the truth. She hadn’t snogged Amycus, she had just let him snog her. She let out another sob, her body shaking.
“You have to believe me. I promise, it’s not what you think,” she said again, shaking her head. It wasn’t what he thought…he could never think the truth about what it was. She wasn’t even sure what it was. “Oh Vinny, please believe me. It’s not like that.” Her voice broke off as she continued to cry. “It’s not like that,” she repeated, barely above a whisper, maybe telling herself more than Vinny this time.
His stance faltered and at first Vinny stubbornly kept his back to her. He wanted to believe what she was saying, but what else could it be? Why couldn’t she just tell him if it wasn’t a hickey? Her cries increased and Vinny felt his posture slump. He couldn’t stand there while Alecto cried her eyes out.
“Come here,” he said softly, shaking his head. Vinny didn’t wait for her to come; he reached out and pulled her to him, holding her tightly to him. “Stop, stop, its okay---I believe you.”
Alecto just stood there with Vinny’s arms around her. She had stopped crying but she was still shaking. What was she supposed to do? What could she say to him? What could she tell him to make it all better?
She finally did put her arms around his waist in return and just stood there with her face pressed against his chest, inhaling his smell deeply. She was beyond words but just feeling his heart beat was making her feel a little better. She stifled a small yawn and cuddled her head closer to him.
Vinny smoothed down her hair, pushing her away slightly to look down at her face. He sent her a soft grin, wiping some tears away from her eyes. Whatever had happened, it had shaken up her up badly, and he didn’t want to force her to talk about things she didn’t want to talk about. Of course, if something bad happened that resulted in a hickey…Vinny decided he’d keep those thoughts to himself for the moment, and began to lead Alecto to the bed.
“Let’s get you to sleep, I have to finish the rounds, but I’ll be back as soon as possible, okay?” Vinny summoned some t-shirts from his dresser, and handed them to her, “You can wear my stuff, if you want.”
Lex gave Vinny a quick kiss before taking a yellow shirt and black boxers out of his hands. “Thanks.” She smiled but hesitated for a moment, unsure if she wanted to undress in front of him. She wasn’t sure about the sudden urge of modesty that overcame her but she was fairly sure it had something to do with the possibility that there were other signs of Amycus somewhere on her body.
She bit her bottom lip just slightly before turning and going into his little bathroom to change. She came out moments later in his oversized shirt and boxers. “I really appreciate you letting me stay here tonight,” she began as she climbed onto his bed for a second time. She considered adding that it was especially nice of him since he wasn’t going to get any but she decided that was probably best not to mention at this moment.
“It’s not a problem,” he said smoothly, kissing her one more time before straightening out his robes and heading to the door. Vinny was a little disappointed that the time he’d had with her was cut so short (and, of course, that he wasn’t getting any), but decided that if he were sick, he’d appreciate being left alone as well.
“Go to sleep,” Vinny said with a wag of his finger, and then softly closed the door behind him. He didn’t leave right away, and leaned against the door for a few moments before pushing off and heading out to finish his rounds. Whatever had happened to Alecto was seriously upsetting her, and Vinny had the horrible feeling that something really bad had gone down.
