Nov One-Shot: Harry/Fem! Riddle romance

I've been working on/off (mostly off recently) on this for like a year and a half now. I've got like 12k words written, but I did change things around slightly to give myself an out if I want to go a different direction for the next chapter. This will be a two-shot, three-shoot at the most, and I hope you guys enjoy it.

....

Harry smiled widely as the sorting ended and the opening feast commenced. He loved his family very much, and summers at Godric's Hollow were never dull, but he simply loved being at Hogwarts. The castle called to him in a way that no other place could match.

"This year's gonna be a big one lads, I can feel it!"

Harry rolled his eyes "You say that every year, Sextus."

The brown haired boy gave him a wide grin, "And every year I’m right."

Harry was popular. He had been the star seeker for the Gryffindor quidditch team since his second year, leading them to victory in the past two quidditch cups. He was good natured and well liked by most everyone in his year, and he was a top student to boot. 

Sextus Bones was a brother to him in all but blood. The boys had hit it off since their first train ride and hadn't looked back since.

"How was your summer, Harry?" Asked Sophia Smith, a blue eyed blonde in their year.

Harry shrugged, "Twas alright, my brother opened up a broom repair shop so I helped him out for a good bit."=

Sophia's chin rested on her hand as she listened to him intently. "How bout you Sophie?"

The girl blushed a little as she put a strand of hair behind her ear, "We were supposed to go to France on holiday, but with the war going on and all we decided to go to Barcelona, it was quite beautiful." her eyes had a faraway look as she reminisced.

"You reckon the war's gonna keep going on for a while?" Interjected Sturgis Longbottom, a brown haired boy with thick, rectangular glasses.

Harry looked thoughtful, "Maybe a year or so more, I think. Grindelwald is strong, but his side is faltering, my dad said the coalition is retaking France early next year."

Harry heard a sarcastic laugh from behind him and whirled around. His eyes narrowed as he saw a familiar face; blood red lips, pale skin and long flowing black hair framing a small nose and large, coal black eyes.

"Of course you'd be naive enough to believe your father's fantasies, Potter." she said in a mocking tone, whipping her hair behind her ear as she did.

"No one was talking to you, Riddle!" Sophia hissed, glaring at the Slytherin.

Riddle looked over at her lazily, "I was simply trying to elevate the level of discourse past your vapid chatter, Smith." 

Riddle smiled as the entire group of Gryffindors now openly glared at her. She twirled her wand, daring any of them to move. 

"Is there a reason for the visit, Riddle?" Harry asked calmly from his seat.

Emily cocked her head to the side as she observed the raven haired boy, "I just wanted to confirm that you had been made prefect. I must say, the standards for Gryffindor house are quite… lacking."

Harry licked his lips, "As opposed to the Slytherin standard of who's lipstick left a bigger mark on Slughorn's ass?"

This brought a round of laughs from his house mates but roused no reaction from Riddle except a tut, "I see your wit's as dull as ever, Potter." she reached her hand out and moved a strand of his unruly hair away from his forehead, "Two months off yet you still couldn't find a comb?"

She turned abruptly and left before Harry could retort.

Harry stayed facing her for two reasons. Firstly because his eyes couldn't help but be drawn to her retreating form, and secondly because if he turned around, his friends would see the blush that covered his face.

It had been a lot easier the first two years. They were in rival houses, and when they both quickly emerged as prodigies over the first few weeks of class, it didn't take long for a rivalry to form. It helped that Riddle had a chip on her shoulder, probably from being a muggleborn in Slytherin. Harry was sure she had been the one to start the insults, though Emily told the story differently.

Everyone else thought she was a picture perfect student, outside of him and his friends she wasn't even that antagonistic toward Gryffindors, she actually reigned in the rest of her house's worst impulses. But Harry knew it was all just an act, just a mask she put on. He could tell none of her smiles were genuine. The only time he could see real emotion on her face was when she was insulting him.

It had been so much simpler then, they hated each other, and Harry pushed himself to match her in any way he could. She was always a bit better at charms and potions, he in transfiguration and defense. When third year rolled around they both took runes and arithmancy and got identical marks. When he spied her reading a seventh year book in the library one day, he snuck into the restricted section and took out the most advanced book he could find. He'd almost blown his entire leg off when he'd first tried a spell from it, but eventually he'd learned it front to back.

Third year had been when things got complicated. She had grown, she was practically as tall as him. She had grown in other ways as well, she was no longer a little girl. He tried to ignore the bubbling feelings that he got from looking at her, but it was made worse when they bumped into each other one day. His hand touched hers and he felt a jolt of electricity rush through his body. He couldn't help but stutter as he'd excused himself and quickly rushed off.

Since that day, Harry had refused to confront those strange feelings, even as he had watched with boiling rage last year when Abraxas had asked her out to Hogsmeade. She had declined, but even still the blonde boy found himself in the hospital wing the next morning after a mysterious attack.

…

Emily was distracted. 

Her housemates were all around her, wrapped up in their inane conversations. Emily usually participated, even if she mostly found their topics of discussion to be beneath her, but right now she was unfocused, staring off into space as she fiddled with her hand under the table, traces of that spark still running through it.

She had been stupid. Why would she touch his head? And in front of his stupid little friends, too. 

Over the summer, she'd decided that she would leave antagonizing Potter behind, it was a childish endeavor and she had more important things to concern herself with. Things like unlocking her heritage. 

=Reading through the treasure trove of books in Salazar's chamber was her priority, not teasing some hard headed Gryffindor.

But then she'd seen him and his stupid  unkempt hair and she found her feet moving towards him. 

Their exchange of words was a blur to her now, all she could think about was the moment where she'd impulsively pushed his hair back, touched his face. The fire that rushed up her arm and through her body.

Emily knew she was different. She knew she was generally devoid of most positive emotions. She could feel fear and dread easily enough, and she could feel a twisted sense of glee as well, but warmth? Directed at other people? She had spent most of her life simply tolerating people, allowing them to exist near her as long as it suited her purposes.

Potter was the exception. It was like she needed him to see her, needed him to acknowledge her superiority, needed to see a smile wiped from his face and know she was the only one who could cause him to react that way.

Abraxas said something to her and she responded absently. Noelle asked her opinion on something and she offered it vaguely. Roockwood made a joke and she didn't even bother laughing, completely caught up in her own thoughts. 

She was strong, she was able to manipulate and control this gaggle of Britain's most prestigious purebloods, despite the fact that when she'd arrived she had been nothing more than a mangy mudblood in their eyes. She had a tight rein on her own emotions and impulses, otherwise she would have killed several people already. She would get past this irrational hangup on the Potter heir.

Anything that did not lead to her goals had to be shed.

…

The first day of classes had passed uneventfully for Harry, but as he followed Sextus down into the dungeons, he knew that would change. They were running late. Sextus, having missed breakfast after sleeping in, wanted to grab a quick snack from the kitchens, which devolved into a dozen elves feeding them a three course meal.

For some reason they had always been paired up with the Slytherins in potions, every single year without fail. He sometimes wondered if the headmaster or whoever set the schedules had done so on purpose. He excelled at potions, but Emily was a prodigy. This meant that every single year they shared at least one class where she could constantly lord her achievements over him.

They entered the classroom to see everyone else had sat down. 

"Aahh Mr Potter, Mr Bones, finally arrived!" Slughorn's voice was cheerful, but it still carried the reprimand that made the two dip their heads slightly. "I hope nothing happened on your way here." 

Sextus rubbed the back of his head as he answered, "Err no sir, Professor Leigh just needed to have a word with us."

Harry wanted to smack his friend. Sextus was bad at excuses. If a professor had pulled them aside, they would have given them a written excuse to show their next professor. From Slughorn's expression, Harry knew the man didn't buy it. Thankfully, Harry was Slughorn's second favorite student, so they'd get a pass.

"Have a seat, have a seat please and we can get started on brewing the Draught of Peace. Harry, I am sure you can make an excellent potion without me needing to repeat the theory."

Harry gave a forced smile, "Of course, sir." He'd always read through his entire book list before the year started, and potion making itself was something that felt instinctual to him, an extension of his love for cooking. 

They looked to sit down and found the only empty station to be at the front, next to Riddle and Malfoy.

Harry glowered internally as they scooted into their seats, waiting for the jab that was sure to come from Riddle. But as he slid into the seat next to the wall, she remained quiet. In fact, she didn't even turn to look at him, eyes facing forward as she waited for Slughorn to instruct them to begin. She was also sitting against the wall, with Malfoy to her right, leaving two whole people blocking his line of sight. The fact that it was bloody Malfoy sitting next to her enraged him. Why did she sit with the boy when she knew of his infatuation? What sick, twisted person liked toying with people's emotions like that?

Harry was so enraptured in his thoughts that he jumped when Sextus poked him hard in the ribs. He turned to glare at his friends but then saw that everyone else had begun working on their potions and gave him an apologetic look.

"What had you so lost, Har?"

"S'nothin." Harry grumbled as he tapped his wand to ignite the flame under their cauldron.

It turned out to be one of the most difficult potions Harry had ever had to brew. Not because of the potion itself but because he couldn't help but constantly steal glances at the table next to his. Emily completely ignored him, focused solely on her own work. Harry's glare deepened with each passing moment. Usually, during potions class she would taunt him or make a face at least once or twice. Harry was also hyper focused on ensuring Malfoy wasn't getting too close to her. At one point the blonde ponce's hand got dangerously close to brushing up against hers, and Harry became furious.

"-help here!" Sextus' low hiss brought Harry back to reality.

"W-w-wha?" 

"I need help here mate, you know this stuff is more your forte." Sextus whispered, cradling an assortment of ingredients in his arms. Harry glanced at their potion and his eyes bugged out as he saw it was about to turn a sickly yellow when it should be green. He needed to get his head in the game, he'd never messed up a potion before and he wasn't about to start now.

If you mess it up she'll make fun of you

Harry twitched grumpily at the unbidden thought. Focusing on the task at hand, he looked over to Sextus, "Go and find some porcupine quills, I'll keep stirring and add an eye of newt." They must have added too many lacewing flies and altered the acidity of the concoction too early, which would result in a violent explosion if they added any plant material. Thankfully, Harry was good enough at potions to know how to pull himself back from the brink.

He stirred and added the eye of newt, relief flooding him as the potion turned a muted green. Glancing to his left, he saw that Malfoy had stood up to grab some supplies as well, and so he had an uninterrupted view of Riddle.

He held back his impulse for maybe a second before he started trying to catch her attention. The girl continued to ignore him, eyes focused on her potion while the knife she'd enchanted chopped and crushed her root of asphodel.

Harry shot a glance back to his potion and saw it was steady. The porcupine quills would neutralize the acidity completely and then he could add his own asphodel.

Satisfied that he wasn't about to fuck up his potion, Harry grabbed a leftover eye of newt and tossed it at her. 

…

Emily had been having a frustrating time of it in class. She'd decided to stop antagonizing Potter, but she'd forgotten that this was Potter, a being of endless stupidity. First, the idiot decides to show up late, likely because his equally idiotic friend had wanted to grab a snack in the kitchens or something. Emily had had to hold her tongue to not make a snarky remark as he walked in. 

If only Slughorn wasn't such a softie.

She'd sat next to Abraxas, knowing that Potter despised him and would be remiss to look in that direction. Somehow it had backfired and he kept sending glances their way. It took all her willpower not to shoot him a murderous glare. 

Then Abraxas and Bones went to the supplies cupboard and Potter's eyes began boring a hole into the side of her head and she dug her nails so deep into her palm she actually drew blood. 

And now, as she was finally able to control herself enough to refocus on her potion, the absolute baboon throws a slimy, dirty eyeball at her!

Enough was enough.

Emily whipped her head, glaring daggers at the boy, "Were you dropped on your head as a child, Potter?" She hissed.

He had the gall to give her an innocent look, as if he hadn't been trying to get a rise out of her since class began.

"What do you want?" She asked in the loudest whisper she could muster.

Potter looked dumbstruck for a moment, like he hadn't thought things out this far.

"Oh err…" He ran his hands through his hair in that infuriating fashion of his, "You stirred it too many times, you're gonna make it unstable and it'll separate."

Emily gave him her most incredulous look. "Really? I stirred it too many times? You're talking to the greatest potioneer in this entire school. I'd suggest you worry about your own potion, you shoved so many lacewing flies in there it'll start eating through the cauldron soon."

Potter actually looked triumphant at her words, "So you WERE looking!"

Of course the fool couldn't grasp the concept of an inside voice. 

"Ahem." 

The two of them, who realized they had been leaning over their partner's empty chairs to bicker, glanced up at once to meet the eyes of one Professor Slughorn. Behind him, the entire class was staring at them.

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Riddle…"

"Ummm." Sextus interjected, having returned with the porcupine quills, "Is it supposed to be bubbling so much, Harry?" 

Harry, Emily and Slughorn turned back to look at Harry's cauldron, which was back to a sickly yellow and bubbling violently.

"What did I tell you Potter?!" Emily exclaimed.

Suddenly she heard the same bubbling in front of her and turned to see her cauldron had turned the exact same color as Harry's.

There was a moment where everyone in the room remained frozen. Then three wands whipped out immediately and all spoke at the same time.

"Protego!"

A massive explosion rocked the classroom, making the students duck under their desks. When the trembling stopped, there were two ruined cauldrons and a pool of yellow liquid, but Harry, Emily and Slughorn's shield charms had contained the explosions.

Slughorn sighed as he waved his wand and vanished the mess. "Class is dismissed. Mr. Potter, Ms. Riddle, if you would stay behind."

…

Harry stared at the wall as everyone walked silently out of the potions classroom. Sextus gave his shoulder a squeeze before exiting the room, leaving only Slughorn with his top two students.

Slughorn let out a big, deep sigh. Harry took that moment to glance over at Emily, to see she was sporting her tried and true blank expression, refusing to return his glance and staring straight ahead at the professor. 

"You two… you know… I've allowed your rivalry in my class, because I saw it as harmless and thought it would help elevate your work." Harry looked back at Slughorn with the prerequisite shame, and he was sure Emily was pretending to do the same thing to his left. "And up until now, it has! You are my two best students." He shook his head "But now…"

"Professor, it was me who distracted Riddle." Harry had no idea why he'd come out and confessed to that. Why would he want to save Riddle's perfect little reputation? 

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Riddle stare at him as if he'd grown a second head. "Oh?" Slughorn intoned.

Harry braced himself and continued talking. "She was minding her potion and I kept trying to distract her, if I hadn't, her potion would have been fine"

Riddle was now glaring hard at him, "Professor, I actually threw some additional lacewing flies into Potter's cauldron, which caused his explosion."

It was Harry's turn to look at her in confusion, "No you didn't!" He exclaimed. Riddle simply stared back at him with that superior smirk of hers, "Just because you weren't able to notice, doesn't mean I didn't do it, Potter."

Harry was about to growl out a reply when he was startled as Slughorn clapped his hands.

"Well, I believe I've heard enough," he looked at the both of them with something that almost resembled amusement.

 What could he possibly find amusing about this situation?

"You have been the best students I have ever taught, and I'm sure that will continue to be the case. Therefore, I will not punish you for what happened today."

Emily's shoulder sagged almost imperceptibly, while Harry felt confused. He wouldn't even dock them some house points?

"However, you must partner with each other for the rest of the year."

"What!" they both yelled in unison.

"Unless you'd rather serve a few detentions." Slughorn offered.

Harry was actually weighing the pros and cons of this option, but Emily spoke up quickly. "No Professor, that will not be necessary. I will partner with Potter." Harry had to admit, the fact that she'd said those words as neutrally as she had was a testament to Riddle's acting ability.

…

Later that night, Harry was finishing up his first night of prefect rounds with the other fifth year Gryffindor prefect, Madeline Wright. 

"I swear Harry, if you dare to pull some shit like that again," she shook her head "You're lucky you're Slughorn's favorite, any other class and we'd be out our star seeker right now."

Harry rolled his eyes. Madeline was a chaser and the newly minted team captain, and the girl was obsessed with quidditch. Harry was very good, maybe even good enough to go pro, but he simply didn't love the sport enough. Madeline had a mind for tactics along with impressive flying skills that left no doubt as to what career she'd be pursuing. 

"Don't worry about it Maddy, I know you guys are hopeless without me."

She scoffed, "We're hopeless if Bones and Flint can't learn how to do a proper backhand smash with those beater's clubs."

"Speaking of Sextus." Harry sent her a wry grin, "He told me he'd be hanging around near the astronomy tower." Harry wiggled his eyebrows and Madeline blushed a deep red. 

"So what?" She grumbled. Harry had no idea why she was so secretive about their relationship, Harry knew for a fact they'd been sneaking around since at least christmas last year.

"I'm saying that if you wanna split up and patrol over there-" he waved his hand in the general direction of the astronomy tower "Im fine with it."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "What are you sneaking off to, Harry? Gonna have a passionate rendezvous with Riddle?" 

Harry bristled "I'm trying to help you out here Maddy," he shrugged, "But if you don't want my help-"

She raised her hand up, "Fine, fine. I don't care, go do whatever."

She turned and walked away. Harry waited for her to disappear around the corner before he began his own search. Riddle had a few usual haunts whenever she snuck out late at night, and he was sure prefect rounds weren't going to change that routine too much.

So yeah, he was trying to bump into Riddle, but definitely not in the sense that Madeline had implied. 

It only took him ten minutes of maneuvering around the castle to spot Malfoy doing his rounds alone, something that massively lifted Harry's spirits. He'd known she would find the first opportunity to ditch Malfoy, not even Riddle could pretend to enjoy his company for that long when there was no one else around she needed to impress.

After spotting Malfoy, Harry turned the opposite way until he was at a painting of a group of wizards playing poker. He pulled a knut out of his pocket and tapped it against the poker table "Raise." 

The portrait swung open to reveal a secret passage. One of the many he'd discovered over the years. He entered the damp, narrow passage that worked as a shortcut between the defense classroom and the library. When he emerged out of the other side he saw that there were no prefect doing rounds in the area. He leaned against a wall near the library entrance and waited.

It took about ten more minutes of waiting for the door to the library to open. Riddle stepped out, holding her satchel close to her side as she glanced around to make sure she was alone. Her eyes met his and she visibly tensed, before she realized who it was that was waiting for her. "Potter, didn't get your fill in potions? Come to incriminate me again?" 

Harry bounced off the wall and walked towards her. Her dark eyes and hair shone under the moonlight, and as he approached, Harry couldn't help the goosebumps that sprung on his arms. 

"Why did you lie?" That hadn't been what he'd planned on saying, but it was what his mouth blurted out.

She raised an eyebrow as she shifted, adjusting the strap of her satchel higher up on her shoulder as she put a protective hand over it. "So this is about your bruised ego, then? As I said before, just because you weren't able to see me do it doesn't mean I didn't." she looked straight at him, and even though he knew she was lying, he also knew he'd never get her to admit it.

"I'm sorry." 

Pure shock was plastered on her face, and Harry couldn't help but drink in the change in her features, her thick and perfectly lined eyebrows, the way her nose scrunched up-

"What are you playing at?" 

Harry took another step forward, enough for Emily to lean back against the wall. "I'm sorry… Riddle. I was childish and ruined both our potions."

"Take it back."

"What?"

Emily sneered "Rescind your apology, Potter. Now."

"Why?" He asked incredulously, his voice raising.

"Because I don't nor will I ever want apologies from the likes of you." she spat.

"The likes of me?!" Harry was now shouting, "What does that even mean?!"

Riddle didn't respond, instead spinning roughly in place as she faced away from him and began walking away. Harry growled in anger and lunged at her, grabbing onto her arm. Riddle became furious, she whipped out her wand faster than Harry could react and brandished it at his face.

"Let go, Potter!" She hissed, her eyes full of a fire that sent Harry's stomach flipping as the tip of her wand glowed red.

Harry knew he'd stepped over a line. As long as he'd known her, he'd noticed that Riddle avoided all physical contact that she herself did not initiate, and she never really did initiate it. Everything told him he should let go of her, but instead he pushed her against the wall, hand moving from her arm to her face. 

His heart began drumming loudly in his chest as he touched her face, thumb sliding from the smooth skin of her jawline up to her supple lips.

Riddle was staring back at him with a look he could not decipher, though he could at least see that her wand was still at her side. It was like a fog had gone over them, a steaming sauna in the middle of this drafty castle. His thumb ghosted over the soft, succulent skin of her lips and Harry felt pleasure run through him at the sensation. Riddle shuddered, and then she opened her lips, her tongue lightly licking at his finger for a moment before she took the appendage into her mouth and bit down, hard.

Harry hissed at the sudden rush of pain. But he didn't move to pull his finger away. His eyes were locked into hers, a demure look on her face and a light blush lining her cheeks. He felt himself falling into her, as if her eyes were sucking in his very soul. 

Then there was a rattling of metal in the distance, the hooting of an owl nearby, and the two teens jumped apart as if electrocuted. They stared at each other in complete silence, shocked at what they had been doing. Harry's thumb throbbed and his entire body tingled, feeling a lightness he had never experienced before.

"It's late…goodnight, Potter." Emily blurted out and instantly turned to head for the dungeons. Harry stretched his hand out, words dying in his throat as he simply stared transfixed at her retreating figure.

…

Emily was taking deep, calming breaths as her body guided her to the Slytherin common room.

She had spent a few hours in the chamber. She sometimes wondered if she would have discovered the chamber as quickly as she had, had she been a boy. She'd gone to that second floor bathroom in her first year, noting with curiosity the snake carved onto one of the sinks. There had been so much going on in her life - especially those early years when she'd just been trying to survive in Slytherin and the magic taught by her professors still somewhat engaged her - so it wasn't until her third year, when she'd been much more secure in her station, that she'd remembered that sink with the peculiar snake carved onto it. 

She'd found the chamber then, and even met Farnese, the ancient basilisk that lay within. She remembered that first encounter, when she had the impulse to unleash the snake upon all those who had slighted her, starting with her own house. But she had calmed down, enough to realize that going around killing students would bring nothing but unwanted attention and scrutiny. She already had to tread carefully around Dumbledore after she had foolishly laid herself bare to the man in their first meeting. No, she could not use Farnese for her intended purposes, at least not now, not at Hogwarts. Salazar was a great wizard, but he was also from a different time, and his ideology of blood purity did not fully ring true to her. After all, her mother had been a witch, and the woman had died from simply giving birth to her. No, the only true measuring stick was power, those who had it were above those who didn't.

Over the past few years the chamber had been a haven for her, she would go down into its recesses and speak with Farnese, or practice some of the darker curses she had discovered. Then, at the end of last year she'd found a secret within the secret, a hidden room with volumes upon volumes of books on parselmagic, some written by Salazar himself. She'd made the discovery with only a few days left of term, and the books were charmed so that they couldn't be removed from the chamber. So, she'd had to conform herself with waiting, waiting until tonight.

After she'd exited the chamber, she'd needed to go to the library, to cross reference something she'd found in one of the books. Something relating to immortality, to conquering death. And then of course, she'd run into Potter.

Her eyes refocused and she found that she'd been standing in front of the entrance to the common room. She wasn't sure for how long. Her breathing had returned to normal, though her body still felt the ghost of his touch. Tossing any thoughts of him to the back of her mind, Emily whispered "Dominus." and passed through the doorway.

The common room was empty, except for three people huddled up in a nook. As Emily walked in, their heads shot up in her direction.

"Mulciber, Rosier, Walburga." Emily nodded at the little group. The two males simply gave her a neutral nod. Walburga Black, on the other hand, openly glared at her.

"Riddle." she hissed with barely concealed contempt.

Emily had used all her cunning to wrap Slytherin house around her finger, but some things couldn't be helped. Walburga was a jealous, vindictive little bitch, and Emily was a smarter, much more beautiful version of the Black heiress. Petty envy could not be helped, and honestly, Emily loved to twist the knife on the little pureblood princess.

"It is rather late, I believe you all have charms early tomorrow." Emily looked pointedly at the group, a smile plastered on her face. She saw that they had been hovering over a parchment of sorts, raising a curious eyebrow.

Walburga's glare intensified, but Mulciber and Rosier stood up, Mulciber tightly rolling the length of parchment and attempting to hide it behind his back. They were sixth years, which made it all the more delicious that they were forced to bend to her will.

They walked over to the stairways, and right before they split up, Emily's smile widened "Aren't you forgetting something?" She pointed at the table they had just sat at, where the piece of parchment was laying, completely unfurled.

Mulciber jumped, searching his person to find he in fact didn't have the document. He made to retrieve it when Emily quietly summoned it to her outstretched hand.

"Here you go." she held it out to Walburga, who looked to be about to pop a blood vessel.

"You m-" Walburga swallowed her words, her rage tempered from memories of the previous times Riddle had been called that word. 

"Thank you, Riddle." interjected Rosier, who took the paper from her hands and motioned for the other two to leave.

She found so much joy in humiliating them. Really, nothing compared…

…Except for Potter pushing her up against the wall

She tamped down on those thoughts once more and made for her dorm. She walked into the quiet room and slipped into her bed, her usual privacy wards humming dully as she snapped her finger and her bed lit up from above.

She unfurled the parchment she'd taken from them, having left them with a duplicate. 

Her eyes scanned through the page, and the more she read, the more disappointed she felt.

It was an announcement for a Samhain Ball, organized by the ministry. 

She had thought that they were scheming against her, or up to some other duplicitous activity, something she could hang over them. Instead, they were just… being teenagers.

Emily cast a few diagnostic charms on the paper, in case it was actually concealing something else, but they all came back negative. She scanned the paper one more time, searching for any sort of coded language, and found nothing. With a grumble, she snapped her finger again and the light turned off while the paper began to burn, no ashes falling on her bed.

Emily lay in bed, eyes wide open, trying her hardest not to think about… that. And so her thoughts drifted to what she'd just read. While not as exciting as a plot against her, the more she thought about it, it was an excellent opportunity.

She'd been going to Slughorn's little parties since last year, when the professor had deemed her old enough. This was that on a much grander scale, an opportunity to sink her claws into the wizarding world's upper crust. She would be in prime form, throwing around her charm as the fools ate out of her hand.

She could easily secure an invitation, either from Slughorn or one of her acquaintances. The poster had been rather vague on the particulars, but she was confident she would uncover every single minute detail of the event. If it required a date, though, that might be a problem, because no matter how hard she tried, her traitorous mind continued to supply only one possibility to accompany her to the event.

Letting out a growl of frustration, Emily cleared her mind, hoping that sleep would take her and she could at least escape her volatile emotions until the morning.