I didn't think it would go like this

Christian wasn't hiding from everybody else so much as looking for Ace. Though the former did come into play a little bit. So, rather than wandering into the common room in hopes of finding her, he ducked into the Room of Requirement, figuring that, with how little he'd seen her lately, she might have been spending her time in there. It was a Saturday, so he gathered his books and headed there after lunch.

So with a full but guilty stomach, and a rather empty chest, he settled in at one of the chairs the room conjured for things like PA meetings. He spread his work over the top of the desk, and tried to work but really just ended up staring at the words or staring at the wall across from him. He didn't need her to care. He would of course like her to do so. But he just needed her to know. He needed her to know before anybody else got around to telling her.

It was their seventh year and everyone was acting like it was supposed to be the time to get all of their youthful revelries out?! Um, seventh year was their last chance to prove to whichever future employers that they were worthy of the career paths they wanted, the last year to make sure they left the castle in good working order, the last year to impress upon those younger than them to be good, study hard, and change the world. And people like Margo Richards were taking like their last year to throw the world's best party.

Ace had known it for years but it had become a daily mantra at this point. I'm surrounded by idiots.

Truth was, there was a fondness and almost a longing for those idiots. She didn't understand them, and they certainly didn't understand her, but she truly wanted good things for the people around her. In every relaxed Sunday afternoon and fun but uneventful Hogsmeade weekend shone the sacrifices of people like her parents, her grandparents, in safeguarding the future of peace. And it worried her that no one seemed actively involved in maintaining that protecting anymore. It was a Catch-22. She wanted her peers to enjoy their peace and freedom, but she couldn't help but resent that only she seem worried enough to fight for it.

It was why she spent so much time in PA's headquarters. Not just because she was always planning, but because it was a nice reminder that she was not the first to bear a burden of pessimistic certainty. Harry Potter had sat in this room, making plans with Hermione and worrying that they weren't ready to defend against Death Eaters. Jack Dyllan had taught defensive spells and duelling in this room. And now it had come to her and Christian.

She only hoped she was doing enough.

She stepped inside, hand rummaging through her bag as she looked to retrieve her Potions book, lifting her head and starting is surprise when she found she wasn't alone. "Oh." Really, she just felt like they didn't see each other as much anymore, though that might have been her fault. "Hey." She crossed and dropped down into a chair of her own, doubling over to really dig through her bag.

Christian didn't really hear her enter the room, but when she sat down he jumped, turning to look at her. "Hey," he returned, almost cautiously. It wasn't like he didn't see her anymore, but it wasn't like they were good as they once had been. When he looked at Ace, he didn't see Christmas anymore; he saw fights and distance and the word 'done.'

He didn't like that word, as it applied to them. To her. Christian would never be done with Ace. Not like he was with... Well. He looked down at his textbook but just ended up shutting in, directly in opposition to what Ace was starting to do.

"I was looking for you, sort of. ... I need-- I need to tell you something, before word gets out." It maybe wasn't the best way to start the conversation, but oh well. He'd already gotten too far in to stop now. "Um. See. ... Charlotte broke up with me."

Ace blew her bangs out of her face, wishing she could abandon her assignments entirely to just take a breath. Exams were coming up, the holidays squeezing all their time from her lungs, and she couldn't shake the feeling that the Hitchens kid was up to something, and the way Lula's lips seemed to tighten at times once their little posse left and she and her urchin of a brother had the opportunity to speak alone-

Because yes, Ace was watching. And she couldn't help but think they were plotting something. And when they tried to execute it, she would be there.

But now, she was here, with Christian, with whom she apparently needed no intervention because he was just fine without her getting involved-

Oh.

Ace lifted her head and tried to slow the quick crank of her neck as she turned to look at her friend.

She wanted to ask what. Why. All the's w's, really. But that wasn't the question she asked.

"Are you okay?"

Her surprise was expected, really. Christian had been waiting for it, hoping to see it in fact, because that make him feel like maybe she thought it was strange and like he hadn't made a complete and utter mess of everything. But he had, though. But it had taken until the train ride home for Charlotte to realize his lack of real investment. He had never actually understood her interest in him, and his interest in her had been admittedly mistaken. At least he could admit it, now, and at least she had seen the truth.

"Uh, yeah," he decided after a moment, nodding. His eyebrows were still pulling together, though.

Still, he shrugged and leaned forward on his arms as he looked over at her. If he wanted things to be normal between the pair of them again, he knew the solution was to be as open as he could. So although he took a moment to really collect his thoughts, he finally just sighed.

"Honestly? .. I'd been trying to get her to do it for a while. I've been pretty crap and I was sort of hoping she'd work it out for herself. I thought maybe she'd be less upset about it that way."

Anyone who had bothered to notice might have put together that Ace cared about Potter's Army more than anything... and she had gone to Christian Zabini. Initially, it had been because he was well liked and decent and she thought he could reach people she could not. But as partnership had turned to friendship, she continually put her trust in him because he was worthy of it, because she believed in him. She thought he was a good person.

One of the best.

And so it didn't sit right with her. She didn't particularly like Charlotte, and she very much didn't like Charlotte dating her friend. But this was worse. Because Christian was better than this.

And while he probably needed her sympathy, she couldn't help but frown. "That seems pretty dishonest."