She pulls desperately at his sleeve. "Don't leave," she begs.

He gazes down, eyes flat. "You know I can't do that."

"—Yes you can," she gasps. "You have a heart of gold, you and Naruto—"

"—Naruto nothing," he sneers. He knows of her past affections for his goddamned best friend. He turned to leave. "Don't say his name again."

"No!" she cries. But already he tore away from her clutches, robes fluttering in the wind as he left into the darkness of the night.

She looks around desperately. It is too dark to tell where he stands, and anyways he'd already entered the Forbidden Forest, but if there was anything she learned from him it's to never give up.

"Don't go to Orochimaru-sama!" she calls. The wind whips and howl and burns at her lungs, but she merely cups her hands as she continues screaming into the void. "It was never your fate! Didn't you see how Nii-san writhed during Potions?"

Maybe she's being selfish now, but if anything she's only living up to her expectations as heir—"He calls for the Hyuuga—the Cursed Seal of Heaven burns for us, for our eyes!"

Even unbranded she can feel the call of the glowing green light, and it chills her to her very bones. "Please," she begs, "Don't do this to yourself."

Suddenly she sees a glimmer of red and gold and he's standing in front of her again. This time, he has his wand drawn, and she is wary. "Hyuuga," he says. "If you don't shut up, I'm going to knock you out and leave you on a bench."

So it's come to this, she thinks, as her eyelids lower. A tear runs down and she brusquely wipes it away as she looks up hungrily into his eyes. At least he's listening.

"He isn't worth this, Sasuke," she says. "Don't throw away your li—"

"You know nothing."

"…Were those notes I gave you really nothing?" She says softly. "How about the study sessions? Your Gryffindor girls didn't take too kindly to a Slytherin in their dormitory." Neither had the Slytherins.

"Hn," he says, but he sounds a little less sure. "Hyuuga, you have my thanks, but—"

"Never forget that I was there when your friends left you, Sasuke," she begs. "I understand you! The pain you felt—Nii-san and the clan—they resent me—I was never good enough." It's the first time she confides this to anyone, and she's surprised at how easily the words tumble out. "Maybe I didn't lose them like you did, but—Sasuke—I never had them in the first place."

Her words were quiet as she finished, and he almost has to lean in so that they don't get lost in the howling wind. They're standing close, he notices, and she reaches forward, both hands gripping his freezing one with surprising force.

"Sasuke," she starts again. "I didn't leave you. So I'm going to ask you this. Are you a coward?" She draws the accusation and looks unflinchingly into his eyes, at the black fire that burns behind his irises.

"Hn." His hand curls around hers, but he looks away.

Her hands, cupped around his, slowly lifts them to her lips. She presses a blessing tenderly into his palm.

She drops his hand as he retracts it, quick as a snake. His head whips back to her, shocked gaze meeting hers. "Show me some of your Gryffindor fire," she pleads softly. "The will to never give up on your precious people. Or will your leave me for your desecrated brother," she spits bitterly. This time she looks to the side, vengeful thoughts dancing beneath her cold, pale gaze. Itachi damaged Sasuke and she hates him for it.

Then she feels warmth. Enveloping, encasing her until all she sees again is black, but this time of wool and lint, rough beneath her fingers. He wraps her in his cloak and holds her against him. "Hn. You're manipulative," he comments. She smiles into his sweater and he pulls her a bit closer.

She closes her eyes and imagines what they must look like right now. A lover's embrace on the border of the school grounds. Their scarves, whipping in the wind, green and silver and red and gold. The Slytherin princess and the fallen Gryffindor. What a pair they must make.

In the dark of the night, they trek back to school.