V was starting to realize that when you were an adult, you could find careers that were so niche compared to the “typical” career paths she usually thought of. Benjee’s hobby here could very well turn into a lucrative career for him if he so wished it to. She had very recently started to give some thought to her future after Hogwarts, and one of the jobs she had in mind she didn’t know if she was necessarily cut out for. It was why she had started lugging her journal with her everywhere instead of keeping it in her room and only writing in it before bed. She had to get used to jotting things down, to expressing herself in the written form. Had she seen any improvement? Slightly. She wasn’t as impressive as she wanted to be, though.

“That is pretty cool, Benjee. I can’t lie,” she said with a small, genuine smile as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Oh MERLIN she wanted to hug him tightly at this explanation. He looked so SAD and his words felt so sad, and Victoria found herself getting a little lost in the sadness of his eyes, both melting but also lamenting for him. Who could ever reject BENJEE? Were they stupid?! Victoria certainly thought as much. “Well..even if you’re fine, if ever need to vent…you know where I am. We share a common room, after all,” she shrugged. “My dagger eyes are here if you ever need them.” She had a MEAN glare. OK?

SIGH SIGH SIGH ALL THE SIIIIIIGHS.

Her shoulders sagged in one, and V ran a hand through her loose strands of hair before once again tucking them back. “Just…a lot of stupid stuff, really. People liking people other people like…someone asked Daniel to the dance before me, and I was going to ask him, but now I’ve bungled it. BUNGLED it. I wish I was old enough to go with you,” she let slip, and as SOON as she did she squeaked.

OH. NO.

Her cheeks turned ROOOSE red and she ducked behind a shelf of chocolate frogs very quickly. Inhwihdiehfierfuehrf

Should she run? She should run. But they were having a great conversaaaaation and he thought of them as FRIENDS and so did she and he was her “out of league” crush and Daniel was her “this could maybe happen” crush and her thoughts were all ramming together, and she thought about the fact she had never even KISSED someone before, and she flared up with embarrassment. Benjee thought of her as a little sister, probably, and she just didn’t want him to ever know juuuuust how handsome she thought he was. Nor that she doodled about him in her notes for school O_O