There really was no other way to explain it: this day had clearly been conjured up by some insidious malcontent for the express purpose of upsetting the careful, painstakingly maintained facade of her life. Any other day she would have simply blamed Peeves but she had no clear proof that Valentine's Day as a whole was his fault - he did pre-date it being a day where everybody insisted on being altogether over-familiar with one another though (she had checked in the library), so perhaps it really was his fault that she was enduring her current torture?

Begonia had been caught in the same trap outside the library, because of course she had, and with the option of kissing each other in front of the others who were also being shooed out by Mrs Aesalon and her rattling keys - the implications of which frightened the life out of Lena - or to sit on the floor until it wore off, which the librarian had assured them didn't take longer than a few hours, the Gryffindor had immediately insisted on the second. At which point everybody else had promptly wandered off, potential spectacle over, and Lena had begun to wonder whether this was the world's cruelest and most ironic jest.

"Are you warm enough?" Lena asked, adjusting her wand from one hand to the other where it was throwing out gentle heat that was just about stopping her extremities from going numb. It was much simpler to focus on the charm rather than think about the fact that they could be in bed already if only she had the stupid courage to- or be in the same bed no! They just had to wait, that was all. She bit her lip and risked looking sideways, almost crumbling at how pretty Begonia looked in the light from the dying torches on the walls. "I'm sure it won't take long."

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MJ: still raising the graphics bar as of 2022