“Varius –”

“Good to see you’re not calling me Mr. Lestrange anymore,” he cut through, almost icily.

His tones were cool, yes, but not cooler than she had expected. Jenna fell quiet, her heart hammering against her chest for a reason she could not comprehend - could she say she was stunned, or even touched, by what he had said? He had said it before and, frankly, no. But perhaps it was the fact that she had not expected it of him, tonight.

Or ever again.

When she spoke, her tones were soft. Understanding, but not perhaps in the happiest way. “This is exactly what I did not want to happen,” she said quietly. “I – it is better if we do not speak to each other again, Varius. This will not be good for either of us.” She did not want to have to think of him - it caused her more discomfort than she could put into words.

She would hate to hurt Varius Lestrange.

Varius looked down at his hands, silent. “But why?” He looked up all of a sudden, and his tones were demanding. He wanted, she knew, an answer that would clarify. But how could she give one? “Why? We've been through this before, Jenna. We could get engaged and –”

“Varius, please!”

“I want to know why, Jen. You can not make excuses - you have no excuses.”

She turned away. “You know, Varius – you know Si would never expect such a match.”

“Is it my fault that my family is a bunch of cold-blooded death eaters?” he asked bitterly. How could he have forgotten? This was the one excuse she could make - the one excuse he had no answer to. But the most bitter part was, he knew it was not true -- if she really had loved him, she would attempt to tackle the problem.

But she didn't want to try, and he wanted to know the reason. Things had been different between them, once. He had thought she might feel the same -- what had changed?

“No,” Jenna said clearly. “You know I have never implied that – Varius, I would never. But to let me date – let alone get engaged to, or marry – someone who is well-known to come from a family and company of death eaters – Si would never. Nothing will move her.”

“I am not like them,” Varius said stiffly. He wanted to grab her by the shoulders, shake her. “You know that!”

“I can not hurt Si!” Jenna said quietly. But she spoke it in a voice that made it clear that, had she been someone else, she would have snapped, at this moment. “Not after all that she has done for me, not after all the love that we share. You are only hurting yourself – you are hurting me more than you are hurting yourself, Varius! I will be with no man Si would hate, I will not make her unhappy through my actions.”

“I am not a death-eater, and you know I do not have any plans to become one in the near or distant future, both,” Varius said angrily. His hand was curled around his wand - an action that showed he was unhappy. “But you know what, Jen? You, yourself, are one. You. You talk of keeping her happy, but you have betrayed Sion yourself!”

Jenna White looked as though she had been stung by a thousand volt live wire.