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The only thing that sucks more than the Scholomance is not going to the Scholomance
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The incantation Scorpius casts is longer than his usual ones, and the reason is obvious soon enough: it's small and not explosive and very localized, very unlike most of his usual combat spells, and zaps directly at a small thing that had unobtrusively attached itself to the side of Yvette's skirt, hiding unobtrusively between folds. The spell doesn't burn her at all, but turns whatever small thing had been clinging to her into cinders.

"...I have to go," he says as soon as he determines that there isn't anything else trying to kill anyone, and without waiting for a response he turns tail and runs back up to the library.

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Alexei blinks sloooowly and then turns down to look at the blackened remains of... whatever that was. Which was small. And smart, maybe? If it'd gotten attached to Yvette like that and hadn't tried anything yet? But still, that was a very strong reaction for something that looks that small.

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It really was, wasn't it.

She... guesses that she will now have to have a second awkward conversation that she doesn't want to have??

Does this mean they can avoid having the first one it likely doesn't, and she really does owe Alexei some kind of explanation. Or something. Probably.

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He just looks at her in confusion and, after a couple of seconds of nothing enlightening happening he shrugs slightly and resumes walking.

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Yvette's just as quiet the entire way back to her room. Nothing else comes out to try to kill them, even, which really would have been a nice distraction.

She lets him into her room, does her habitual mal checks, and then sits on her bed and just. Looks at him.

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Alexei follows her inside but stops in the middle of the room, standing awkwardly. He wants to look away but he feels like that would be cowardly. "You killed it. Didn't you?" he asks, looking straight at her.

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This earns a little twitch of her mouth.

"I did say I did, yesterday, didn't I? I suppose I never said what it was. But. Yes."

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"Are you..." How does he even finish this sentence. She's not okay, obviously. And he's not even sure why he wanted to talk. To confirm it, he supposed? Even if he'd already been pretty certain, hearing it said has a certain finality to it that shakes him to his core. "How?" is what he asks instead, because that's... it's... impossible. It's impossible. It takes dozens of wizards and several weeks to do, with casualties. It's not something a seventeen year old does in one afternoon consuming fifteen Sanguine Blossom mana crystals.

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"I am really, really good at killing things, and. I wasn't..." She looks away, and tries to will away the tears coming to her eyes. "I wasn't expecting to come back from it, or even. Expecting I'd be able to kill it at all? That probably helped the, the balance of it? Magic likes its..." and she waves vaguely, "its paradoxes. 'I will suffer forever for just the chance to stop you' is the sort of thing it... rewards with success. So. Uh. Sorry."

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"...'sorry'?"

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"... That I threw myself into a maw-mouth instead of prioritizing... us? Kind of being a shitty ally, that."

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Okay now he's starting to get mad. He will try not to project mad at her because she is having an awful time but. "I told you. I am not unaware of who you are. I am not—Yvette I am not expecting—I've met you. If you weren't, didn't, didn't do that you wouldn't be you."

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"I wouldn't be, this was in retrospect very like me, it's just, that, you." She chokes back a sob and looks down at her lap. "You deserve someone to put your life first?"

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"I don't want someone else who puts my life first, I do that well enough, I want you—"

Oh shit.

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Yvette looks back up at him then, blinking. That... was sure a phrasing that he now seems disproportionately mortified at. Some things get recontextualized. Like how Sofia did seem very concerned about Alexei's heart instead of just... his likelihood of surviving puberty. Even though, clearly, him surviving puberty is so much more important.

She stands to close the distance between, and reaches out to take his hand. Ways to reply to that with words aren't... coming to mind, not yet, but holding his hand is easy. She's a little scared that if she doesn't keep hold of him he'll flee at the things he's just implied without giving her time to interact with them.

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Yeah she has also met him and she was absolutely correct. Unfortunately he does not... know... what to do now, either. He's not fleeing? That's something?? He's sure she can't have missed his meaning, there, only that makes no sense because it would imply that she, she, she what, she reciprocates????

aaaa.

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He's panicking, and she still doesn't know what to say. So many things are coming to mind. Like how she's been trying very hard to not have any real personal feelings, or that she feels he could do better than her, or how she might be having some sort of ???? something????? with Scorpius even though they are still not dating and mostly they are trying to be friends, except neither of them know how to do that without flirting, or, or, or...

Instead she just. Pulls his hand to her lips and gently kisses it. Because. He's freaking out and is scared that he ruined everything, and he really, really didn't. She just doesn't know what to say.

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"aa?"

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This vocalization earns a fond little smile.

"... I was a little worried you'd try to run if I didn't have hold of you," she admits, and then because it was nice she kisses his hand again. "When I don't want you to go, and I'm just, I don't, I've, I don't know how to..." And then because words are hard she instead nuzzles his hand against her face. There. That's easy. That works, right? Right. ".... There was no class worksheet on this?" is what she ends up on.

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Well he's going beet red is what's happening right now.

"...sorry. We were, I did not mean to—change the subject."

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"Oh no you don't. I didn't run from the topic I didn't want to talk about once you had me cornered. Turnabout is fair play, Alexei darling," Yvette teases.

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And then she notes that she just called him 'darling' and now she's all shy and nuzzling his hand again. Words are confusing. Hand is soft and warm and belongs to Alexei.

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Fuck this shit.

He takes the remaining step between them and lifts her chin up and kisses her.

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Oh.

Oh physical touch can be really really nice, actually.

She makes a little needy sound in the back of her throat and melts into him.

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So Alexei wraps his arms around her and pulls her in and he's never kissed anyone before but there's no time like the present to learn, really, and he wants to learn, and he wants to learn with her. And this is stupid and ill-advised and they're two tired, scared, malnourished teenagers in a school that is trying to kill them except it's trying to do that a lot less hard that the things outside the school would be and if they're probably going to die anyway within the next year then actually he doesn't want to die without knowing what this tastes like. What she tastes like, because there's no one else he wants to do this with, there's never been anyone else he's wanted to do this with, the whole idea seemed like the kind of thing he could as well do without but he can't, actually, do without it, not anymore, not after noticing how much he's wanted it and discovering that he can just have it.

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