Sasha had completely broken with tradition that morning.  Most mornings saw him up and going early.  He was usually amongst the first students to trickle into the Great Hall as soon as the elves started shuffling the breakfast plates from the kitchens below.  But, this morning was different.  It was Valentine's Day. 

And, for the first time, that meant something. 

Amongst a variety of meanings was the importance of a well-timed present delivery.  Fergie's present was restless enough that extended periods of time waiting in the small hole-lined box wasn't a great idea.  The less time between attaching the parcels to the owl's leg and the owl finding its destination the better.  And, it wasn't lost on Sasha that the Slytherin wasn't as much of an early riser as Sasha was - especially on weekends.  So, Sasha had lingered in bed.  Or tried to, at least.  Lingering in bed wasn't as easy as Sasha suspected it was supposed to be.  Especially when, if he were being honest, he was as excited about Valentine's Day morning as he ever remembered being about Christmas.  So, by six thirty, he'd given up on this trying to sleep in thing and had distracted himself with Ancient Runes homework. 

Finally it seemed late enough to ensure Ferguson would be awake, if not in the Great Hall.  Sasha gathered the parcels together and made his way to the owlery (taking care to make sure he didn't bump into anyone along the way.)  Once the owls had taken flight, their mewing collection of gifts in tow, he hurried to the Great Hall.  Remaining discrete was going to be a challenge in itself but he'd spent four years convincing his family he was a muggle. 

Of course, the curious, eager glance in the direction of the Slytherin table wasn't the way to achieve discretion.  The second glance wasn't going to help either.  Quickly, he made his way down the Ravenclaw table and plopped down, pulling a few pieces of toast and a pear towards him, resisting the urge to look a third time. 

In fact, he was working so hard to keep his attention diverted to his food that he didn't notice the owl standing on the table with its own package until it plucked the piece of toast from his hand.  His heart skipped a beat and he had to physically wrestle the excited grin into a more muted, surprised scowl as he untied the package from the bird's leg.  An honest to goodness Valentine's present.  From an actual Valentine.  And, not just one of those little pieces of candy that was given to everyone so no one felt left out.  He quickly peeled the wrapping back from the present and froze, his heart freezing in his chest for an entirely different reason. 

"Mein Gott."  He breathed, hoping beyond hope that the owl had simply ... missed its target.  Surely, Fergie hadn't ... sent that.  Right?

Eirene had returned to the Great Hall a second time, supposedly to eat the breakfast she'd missed earlier in her excitement over receiving a Valentine's Day gift. She only managed a few bites of eggs before straightening up and grinning when Sasha finally, finally arrived to the Ravenclaw table. As he sat, sneaking glances at the Slytherin table, she was not so subtly sneaking glances at him, waiting for the owl post to make another round. Waiting for him to notice her, smile, and inquire politely if she'd gotten any surprises in the mail this morning. Waiting for him to compliment her pretty dress.

One of those hopes came through! Soon enough, an owl landed right by Sasha, waiting patiently (just like Eirene). But he didn't notice! He didn't see! Oh this was horrible. What if the owl flew away?

But the owl plucking at his toast did the trick, and Eirene's own heart skipped a beat as he smiled for a second and unwrapped the present.

She leaned forward, trying to catch his words. The students sitting closest to Sasha first noticed the gift, and then slowly, the silence spread to the ends of the table. Eirene held her breath, watching his face. He was one of the few boys who liked unicorns well enough to work with Gelar at the Healer's Hut - hence the stuffed unicorn. He had introduced the story of Peter Pan to the muggle club, which had inspired her to dress up as Wendy for Halloween - hence the Tinkerbell card. The Valentine was so full of meaning and depth! Surely he knew who it was from! Her eyes widened in worry and excitement, wanting yet not wanting him to realize it.

When laughter broke out around the table, she looked around, completely baffled. They must be laughing because they were jealous! Everyone secretly wanted a stuffed unicorn to cuddle in the common room. Everyone.

"Shhhhh!" She told the students closest to her, as if this were the library.

Blushing, Eirene sent a shy grin in Sasha's direction, then glanced away as soon as he caught her eye.

The floppy, pink unicorn sat angelically amidst the folds and ridges of the wrapping paper, staring up at Sasha with its beady, inanimate eyes.  Perhaps it was just his imagination, but he was certain the pink bow around the things neck was growing bigger by the second.  Quickly, he fished the card out from under the paper and opened it, hoping with every inch of his being it was addressed to someone else. 

But, right next to the sparkly Tinkerbell was ... his name.  And, though it was familiar, it was definitely not Fergie's handwriting. 

From both sides of him, subdued chuckles were turning into full blown laughs.  Looking up, he did his best to offer a non-chalant grin to his closest neighbors despite the scarlet radiating from his cheeks.  This could not be happening.  "It's ... from my sister," he quickly offered in lame explanation.  "She likes ... jokes.  I ... um ... sent this to her last year.  It's like a fruitcake."  A complete and utter lie.  Though, if anyone knew Jacoba, it very well might be plausible. 

The plausible, fictitious explanation did nothing to stem his housemates' amusement, though. 

Amidst the snickers and inquiries as to 'Pinkie's' name, Sasha heard a rather bossy shhh from a short ways down the table.  He found the source just in time to catch the shy grin.  He then remembered exactly where he recognized the handwriting from:  His chemistry textbook. 

It might have been cute if it weren't so utterly mortifying. 

"You ... sent this?"  He supposed he should be grateful she wasn't terrified of him anymore.  Perhaps, in a few weeks, when the rumors had finished circulating the school and had grown boring once again, that gratitude would have a chance to prevail.  Until then, he'd just find himself waiting and hoping the rumors didn't reach Knight or Tawse or any of the other Slytherin boys.  Or the Gryffindor boys for that matter.  "Thanks."  And, etiquette prevails again. 

Was she hoping for something in return?  Expecting it?  Would it be too obvious if he rewrapped the unicorn and pretended to be surprised that he'd gotten her the same exact thing?  What in the world was he supposed to do?  He cast a quick glance around, trying to send out a non-verbal cry for help to anyone that wasn't too amused by the situation to want to intervene.

Eirene's frantic shushing did nothing to stem the laughter from her housemates, nor the nicknames. She didn't see what was so funny! Sasha thinking the gift was from his sister, and therefore giving her all the credit, was not funny at all!
 
But then he made eye contact with her and realization seemed to dawn.

"You... sent his?"

Eirene's eyes widened. Oh, no. Oh no no no. This was not the way it was supposed to happen! The laughter got louder and the glances turned her way. First of all, she'd imagined that he'd be pushing back tears of joy upon opening her present. Second of all, she'd imagined "oohs" and "ah's" from the table as they admired the thoughtful gift. Third of all, she'd expected more enthusiasm in his voice when he thanked her! None of this was working out the way it should!

She shook her head, face crestfallen, "It's not from me!"

Eirene hopped up, walked around the table, and hovered near Sasha, trying her best to ignore the other students mocking them.

"It's from your secret admirer!" Eirene emphasized. "She sent it to you because she wants you to know that you're nice, and that she doesn't believe the rumors about you." At least not today.

"Don't you think it's a thoughtful-" she suddenly swiveled around to face their housemates. "Stop laughing!"

Even as Sasha stared at the unfortunate gift, he could hear the laughter deepen at the first year's attempts to shush them into silence.  He'd been afraid of what the pink unicorn would do to his already mangled reputation when he'd looked up and asked the question he already knew the answer to. 

He knew it was from her.

But, the quick denial only made it easier for Sasha to look past his own humiliation and see the disappointment on the girl's face.  For a moment, he ignored the slowly fading giggles around the table and a memory flashed in the back of his mind: early Halloween evening.  He'd been dressed in the stupidest green tights, ready to go to the dance with the other Muggle Appreciation Club members as Peter Pan characters.  Despite being from a very pureblood family, Eirene had come to the meeting and they were all going as a group.  He'd been determined not to care what others thought.

But, then, another Skeeter article had been published and Sasha had skipped out on the dance.  He'd hidden out on the lawns instead with Ava.  And, they'd kissed.  He'd left school the next day; that had been the last day things had felt ... normal.   

Maybe, he could get back there.  Get back to when he didn't care that much what everyone else thought; this first year, after all, was making an attempt.  And, that crestfallen look made it clear he was totally mucking it up. 

"Well," he said, his heart racing as he tried to force his face to resume a more ... relaxed expression.  "It took me, you know, completely by surprise.  I wasn't expecting this."  Which, of course, was true.  Just delivered more like the present was something other than a death sentence. 

The color still brightened on his cheeks as she snapped at those still snickering around them.  But, trying to sound as earnest as he could, he offered: "they're just, you know, jealous.  Because they don't have secret admirers.  I really like-" he forced himself to take a closer look at the toy.  Which, unfortunately, required picking it up and making it visible to those beyond Ravenclaw table.  "-the yellow highlights.  It's like a pink brindle." 

After Sasha explained that he wasn't expecting the present, and she'd attempted to quiet down the students at the table, Sasha picked up the unicorn and told her that he really liked the yellow highlights. He'd noticed! And he thought the other kids were just jealous!

Eirene's face went from disappointed to ecstatic in two seconds flat.

"Exactly!" She breathed, beaming at him. "It has a bow, too," she tugged on the bow a bit to show him. "Whoever picked it out for you put a lot of thought into it."

It was so much easier to ignore the derisive snorts and snickers when Sasha himself seemed pleased with the present. Eirene couldn't stop smiling.

"The only thing she forgot is a basket," her smile dimmed slightly. "Because how will you carry it with you to class, otherwise? Wait..." Puzzlement crossed her features.

"Unless you want to keep it safe in the common room? Or dormitory! So mean people can't laugh at it!" She sent a glare at the other Ravenclaws.

It had worked.  His previously mangled reputation might now, officially, be lying on the floor in its death throws but it had worked.  The rest of it, he'd just have to deal with or, more likely, try his best to avoid later. 

"Yes," Sasha said, trying not to let too much of his inner turmoil show.  Of course, the color that flooded his face when she tugged at the bow was unavoidable.  "Yes.  It has a very big...pink bow."  A big pink bow she just called more attention to.  "It's very elegant which does take a lot of thought." 

Was it age?  Was it her stubbornness?  Whatever it was, Sasha wish he had enough of his own share of it to be able to ignore the snorts around them.  No - there was no ignoring it.  Each one resonated loudly in his head.
"Aww.  You forgot the basket?  My sister's got one he can borrow"

The color on his face reached an even darker shade but he forced himself not to look at the not-so-helpful contributing neighbor. 

"I ... that's ... okay."  She didn't really expect him to go ... gallivanting through the halls with a pink and yellow unicorn in a basket, did she?  Was she actually still suspicious or mad at him and this was some dark plot on her part to get him killed?  The last scenario might, actually, be the more reassuring one. 

"Dormitory.  Definitely the dormitory," Sasha confirmed, nodding his head.  If for no other reason than she wasn't allowed in there and wouldn't know it was stuffed safe, securely and deeply in the chasms of his trunk.  Except, not being allowed in there hadn't stopped her before. 

At least, due to the nature of the source of the gift, Sasha was alleviated of one part of the awkward situation.  "Well, unfortunately, since I don't know who it came from, I don't know who to give a gift back to."  A real shame.  Especially since he didn't have a gift.  But, hopefully, Eirene would buy the excuse as to why he didn't have one.

Eirene noticed with delight that Sasha was blushing. Nevermind that blushing was his default facial expression, and nevermind that it could mean he felt embarrassed. In this instance, it must mean that he was overcome by gratitude and appreciation! Just look at the way he tugged at the pink bow!

He chose the dormitory instead of the basket and she nodded in approval, thinking that he'd snuggle with the unicorn whenever he missed his horses at home. Because all the interesting people in the world owned horses and abraxans and missed them desperately while they were at Hogwarts.

She let out a giggle when Sasha claimed that he couldn't give his secret admirer a gift back since he didn't know who it was. This game was fun.

"Don't worry at all about that," Eirene reassured him. "The only gift your secret admirer needs is to see that you're happy with your present," she proclaimed nobly, chin raised.

Plus, she'd already gotten her present from him! Eirene couldn't stand it anymore; she had to show it off.

"And look!" She pulled the necklace around her neck forward a bit. "My secret admirer sent me the prettiest, most thoughtful gift ever!"

Eirene grinned at him. "I will wear it always." She might even frame the card.

How nice would it be to be that young and naive. 

It was a good thing Sasha couldn't read minds.  It was even better that no one else at the table could do so, either.  Otherwise, there was no telling the levels of humiliation that would have been achieved by the image the first year created for herself.  Luckily, chances were slim she'd ever really find out that Sasha had absolutely no intentions of any such toy snuggling. 

In fact, the idea of getting caught in such a situation would have sent an uncontrollable and subconscious pang of fear through the fifth year.  But, luckily, he was able to remain perfectly oblivious to those images.   

Sasha looked confused and only slightly alarmed when Eirene giggled.  He'd expected disappointment.  Or (worst case scenario), for the first year to admit it was her in the hopes of getting her own non-existent gift.  She hadn't expected her to ... show off the gift.  The gift he hadn't sent. 

"I ... oh."  He stared at the necklace before blinking several time. 

This was when life needed a pause button.  He could hit it now, leave her frozen, and then dash off somewhere to consult with someone - or something - on what one does in these situations.  Does one lie and confirm what this girl was, obviously, really hoping was true?  Did they admit it wasn't from them and send the girl into tears of rejection?

But, there was no pause button.  Eirene was, likely, fully aware of every single quiet second that ticked by during Sasha's baffled indecision. 

"You have your own secret admirer," he said, trying to feign surprise and delight. 

Then, it occurred to him and, with more excitement he repeated: "you have a secret admirer!  That's not, you know, from..."  Me.  Someone older than you.  There were a lot of potential ends to that sentence but none seemed to fit.  So, he plowed on.  " You actually, really have one."  Oh please, please, please let this work.  Maybe she'd get distracted by her own stalker suitor.

Eirene was deterred for just a second when Sasha looked absolutely baffled by her necklace. For a second, she worried that he'd never seen it before! That maybe the present wasn't from him. Still holding the necklace, she let her arm droop slightly, her forehead puckering in surprise and confusion.

Then, he awkwardly commented on the fact that she had a secret admirer, and his voice affected an upbeat tone. Faster than the school's Nelson could shout 'haw haw!', Eirene's mind jumped to conclusions. He was putting on some kind of surprised act! Wasn't he?

He continued talking about her having a secret admirer, and all Eirene could focus on was the excitement in his voice. She didn't quite understand what he was trying to tell her, but whatever it was must be good!

"Right! I do!" Eirene nodded enthusiastically, not allowing her lack of understanding to get in the way of being happy for him. "I have one!"

She grinned at him, gestured at the unicorn. "And! And you have one too!"

With enviable speed and resilience, Eirene accepted the notion of her own secret admirer at face value and with remarkable enthusiasm.  This, of course, explained a lot about her crush (maybe, perhaps, previous crush?) on him.  She was able to get distracted so quickly by this new prospect; that must explain why she gets focused on him so quickly whenever she sees him. 

The best approach now would be to encourage the distraction of this new person. 

"We both have secret admirers," Sasha agreed, brightly.  "That's pretty exciting.  And, they both came up with the perfect, thoughtful gift.  Jewelry, you know, is significant gift.  Your secret admirer must really like you." 

This wasn't too manipulative, was it?  Sasha, of course, had no idea who this real gifter was.  To a certain extent, he wasn't that concerned about who it was, either.  After all, it was unlikely to be anyone creepy - this unknown person was interested in Eirene.  Those that were drawn towards nerdy, know-it-all Ravenclaws like them were unlikely to be that creepy weird. 

"I wonder who it could be."  Sasha rose up off the bench slightly and gazed around the Great Hall, trying to spot anyone that might be watching, anxiously, in their direction.  "Do you have any guesses at all?  Anyone you hang out with in classes?  Maybe ... put it on and I'll keep an eye out for anyone watching."  Anything he can do to encourage this distraction.

"He does? He does!" Eirene exclaimed, prouder than ever of the pretty necklace she'd received, since it meant her secret admirer must really, truly like her. He had the same mindset she did: jewelry was significant! Just like the stuffed unicorn and the Tinkerbell card was significant to Sasha.

She was already daydreaming about other significant gifts in her future, such as a ring when she turned seventeen, but then Sasha continued the game of pretending not to know who her secret admirer was. There was something about the way he said it that made Eirene look at him curiously. For all her academic success, she didn't always understand other people's humor. Sarcasm often went over her head. Even teasing, when kids pretended to be happy for her or mocked her overachieving behavior, went over her head sometimes.

He asked if she had any guesses, and emphasized the students her own age. Eirene's smile faded. "But I'm already wearing the necklace. You don't need to look for anyone watching."

She tried smiling again and playing along, but Pax's earlier warning that perhaps it wasn't Sasha finally made an impression.

"Are you still joking or are you being serious?" She asked in a small voice.

The thing about having a secret boyfriend as opposed to one you could tell everyone about was that in order to keep the secret you had to act like you didn't have one. Fergie didn't know how Sasha felt about it, but for the Slytherin it wasn't easy. He was the kind of person who liked to demonstrate the fact that he cared about someone with physical displays of affection. Hugs, kisses on the cheek - these were regular greetings Fergie shared with his close friends. And he would have loved to be able to do that kind of thing with Sasha, or hold his hand, or lean his head on the other boy's shoulder, without having to check first to make sure no one was looking.

It was just... inconvenient. He understood why Sasha wanted to keep it quiet, and why he knew he himself should want to. But even though there would have been a considerable risk for him personally were they to make their relationship public knowledge, Fergie was having an increasingly difficult time remembering to care about that. Especially today.  It was Valentine's Day, and the first opportunity Fergie had ever had to share that particular holiday with someone. Someone special. He didn't want to be stuck eating breakfast by himself.

So he decided not to. He made some excuse to whatever Slytherins happened to be listening (he was pretty sure they weren't really paying attention, anyway - most people seemed to be too busy giggling over the candy or presents they'd received, and speculating who had sent what to whom) and made his way over to the Ravenclaw table. He opened his mouth, ready to make the same excuse he'd given his own housemates (they were completely out of treacle tarts over at the Slytherin table!), but broke off when his gaze landed on the fluffy pink unicorn sitting in front of his boyfriend. "Oh dear Godric! That's..." Fergie faltered slightly when he spotted Eirene, remembering the little girl's crush on Sasha, and quickly corrected himself mid-sentence, "adorable! Who sent it to you?"

She was getting more animated.  Whether that was good or bad was hard to tell but one thing was for certain - there was no middle ground.  Either it was going really well or it was going miserably.  Or, was about to go miserably.  He had a sinking feeling he was about to find out which. 

That moment of revelation was blossoming forth as she pointed to the necklace that, indeed, was around her neck.  "I ... that's true," he offered slowly as the hollow echo of impending doom settled somewhere behind his navel. 

Sasha shook his head slight, even though the question was hardly a yes or no one.  He didn't know what the right answer was.  He'd been staring at Eirene, his mind reeling in pursuit of the correct answer so Ferguson's approach had gone completely unnoticed.  Until, at least, he heard the Slytherin's exclamation.  The Ravenclaw jumped in his seat and glanced over his as he grabbed the unicorn in an attempt to conceal it as much as possible. 

"I ..."  His face scarlet, he shook his head.  "I don't ... know.  I have a secret ... admirer.  Eirene does, too."  Sasha widened his eyes, trying to pass on a non-verbal summary of the whole current, disastrous affair.  He didn't know how one conveyed 'she thinks its me' via eye contact but he hoped a partial message got through. 

His widened eyes made it easier to spot the pair of owls passing once over the Slytherin table before circling back up Ravenclaw's.  He had hoped to see the presents delivered to Fergie ... this hadn't been exactly the situation  he'd been envisioning.  "Oh."  The perforated box was set down in front of Ferguson first.  Almost immediately, a small paw prodded at one of the holes, toppling the box over on its side.  "Looks like ... you have a secret admirer, too."

Eirene stared at Sasha, waiting for his answer, tears threatening to pop up any second now. The shake of his head didn't many any sense to her, because she couldn't tell if it meant no, he was joking, or no, he was being serious. When Fergie approached and Sasha reacted by clutching the unicorn, she thought maybe, just maybe, it was an instinctive move so that no one would try to take the toy away from him!

She looked at Fergie with a woebegone expression, giving him a tight-lipped smile at his exclamation, though she secretly wished he would leave so Sasha could answer her. "Yes, we have secret admirers," she parroted Sasha in a defensive tone.

When the owls dropped a gift in front of Fergie, Eirene frowned, not at all happy that he had a secret admirer as well. The timing was wrong! Sasha was supposed to talk to her, not look at Fergie's owl delivery!

But then, a little something lifted her spirits. A little paw poked at the hole, a meow sounded, and the box tipped.

Eirene gasped and leaned forward to see better. "Ooooo! It's a kitten! Open it, open it!" She told Fergie, barely resisting opening it herself.