A Great Night for Flying

Regina Palmer was not happy. She had received an owl from her parents saying that she wouldn't be able to go home over the fall break, and she would have to spend a whole week alone at Hogwarts. She would be stuck there while they went to New Zealand for "research". Regina huffed as she yanked her Gryffindor uniform off of her body and replaced it with pajamas. She finished the drawstring on her shorts and threw herself onto her bed. She pulled her glasses off of her face and set them on her nightstand.

"This bites." She rolled onto her side and gazed out the window. "Everyone's gone, I can't even be kept up by Kelly's snoring. I never thought I'd miss that." She was closing her eyes when she saw something flash across the window. Regina sprang out of bed, grabbed her wand, shoved her glasses onto her face, and crept toward the window sill. She peered out, thinking it must've been a bird, but suspicious that it might've been something more diabolical. Her breathing grew shallow as she stepped forward, and she was nearly hyperventilating when she was a few inches away. Regina swallowed her fear, chanting "Gryffindor courage" in her head. She unlocked the window and pushed it open. Leaning out, she looked left to right, but didn't see anything but the grounds.

"I guess it was just a bird," she breathed, as she looked over to the right, where she could see Hagrid's cottage. Regina turned to look straight ahead and screamed, stumbling backward. Right in front of her hovered Cedric Diggory, sitting on his broomstick. "What the hell, Diggory?" Regina yelled, pushing herself to her feet.

"Just came to say hello."

"You could've used the bloody door!" she waved at the dorm entrance.

"Yeah, but it's a great night for flying," Cedric shrugged, smiling. He really did have a wonderful smile. It was always genuine, unlike so many of the guys at Hogwarts.

"So is there something you need?"

"I'm Head boy. I need to keep an eye on students. I had a feeling you might need some extra supervision this week."

Regina fought the blush creeping up her cheeks, "Well I was about to go to sleep."

"Would you like to go for a ride before bed?" From any other boy, Regina would have taken that as a sexual innuendo, but she knew Cedric better than that.

"I'm not really one for flying," she muttered, "I have this fear of-ah!" she shrieked as Cedric leaned inside the window, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her onto his broom. He kicked off of the wall and sent them soaring over the black lake. "Bloody hell!" Regina buried her face in Cedric's chest, clutching the front of his shirt, her eyes squeezed shut.

"It's alright, Regina, I've got you," Cedric whispered in her ear, "I'm never going to let you go."

Regina's grip slackened, and she peeked over Cedric's shoulder. She could see the Hogwarts grounds zipping backward, away from her. It was an amazing sight, to be sure.

A Petty Riddle

Waking with a start, Michelle Petty whipped her head around, taking in her surroundings. Realizing she was in the restricted section of the library, her mind filled in the blanks. She had fallen asleep while studying for her Charms exam. Michelle sighed, rubbing her eyes and brushing her short brown hair out of her face. She closed her books and began gathering her parchment and quills, absentmindedly loosening her gold and black tie. Standing, Michelle pulled the strap of her messenger bag over her shoulder and froze. She heard hissing. And it was growing louder. Michelle's eyes widened, her breathing quickened, and she turned to run- right into something solid. She landed on the stone floor with an undignified "Oof!" and her bag spilled its contents. But as Michelle's eyes met those of the solid something, she lost care for her spilled possessions. Before her stood a very cross looking Tom Riddle.

"I…uh…I…" Michelle tried to make a coherent sentence, but her brain failed her.

"You're out past curfew, little Hufflepuff." Michelle gulped. If there was anything that Slytherins hated, it was her house.

"I was studying, and I…fell asleep I'm sorry I'll get to my dorm straight away!" She began scooping up her belongings and shoving them unceremoniously into her schoolbag. She froze when Tom's large hand landed on her own hands, easily holding the both of them. She gulped, hoping to suppress the blush creeping up her body. She glanced up through her bangs at the Slytherin, who was staring at her intensely. She had always found him attractive, if not slightly evil, and now, bathed in moonlight, he looked positively magical. His skin looked like marble, and his features flowed flawlessly. His eyes were dark, and held an emotion that Michelle could not recognize. "I.."

"Tell me, Hufflepuff, do you like riddles?"

"Um…It depends," Michelle was growing more nervous by the moment.

"Let's make a deal. A bet. If you can solve my riddle, I won't tell the teachers you were out past curfew."

"And if not?" Michelle's voice squeaked involuntarily.

"If not, you're my personal slave for the rest of the year." Fear flashed through Michelle's mind. She could only imagine the horrible things he would make her do. Iron his socks, do his homework, or- god forbid- cut his toenails.

She gulped and managed to squeak out, "Okay."

Tom smirked and leaned back on his heels. "What's black, blue, and red all over?"

Was he really asking such a generic riddle?

"A newspaper?" she ventured. Fear panged in her stomach when he leaned forward, still smirking.

"Wrong."

"Wha- what do you mean? What's the answer?"

"The answer is a blushing Maureen Connelly." Oh god. He was referring to one of the Ravenclaw girls. Maureen was one of the most spirited, school spirited, that is, girls in the school. She also blushed at almost anything.

"That's not fair!" Michelle cried. "How was I supposed to know you were talking about a person?"

"It's a riddle. Now, slave, get to your dorm. You're going to need a good night's sleep if you're going to be able to do my laundry."

"You are so petty!"

"A petty Riddle? Never." He turned to leave, but stopped and turned back to face Michelle. "Isn't Petty your last name?"

"Uh, yeah, but I meant petty as in-"

"Goodnight, Hufflepuff. I'll see you in the morning."

To be continued upon requests ((if you like it, review it!!))

Double Bubble, Gryffindor Trouble

Screams rang through the second floor corridors, accompanied by a loud explosion, and a looming cloud of smoke. Students poured down the staircases, coughing and wheezing, as small fireworks spat out of the second floor after them. Just another mishap from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

Now, sitting in detention, covered in soot, Fred and George Weasley conspired as Regina Palmer sat ten feet away. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her legs were crossed, and her face was contorted into a scowl. Professor Snape sat at his desk, grading papers and paying little attention to the delinquents. Regina heard a chuckle and whipped her head around to see the twins, smirking at her.

"The second we get out of this room, you two will wish you'd never been born," she hissed under her breath. The twins' smiles never faltered. Regina narrowed her eyes and turned back to the front of the classroom. For several long moments, the only noise was that of Snape's quill scratching against parchments, making snide remarks as to the intelligence of the authors. But the silence was broken by the door being flung open and Draco Malfoy strutting in.

"Professor, you're needed in the Slytherin common room." Without a word, Snape stood and followed the pompous young blond out of the room, closing the door. Regina, who had watched them leave, now turned to the redheads.

"So what the bloody hell were you hoping to achieve with your little stunt?" Her eyes were glinting with sheer rage, but the twins' smiles only widened. They stood, in synch, and sauntered toward the third year.

"We were practicing for our performance."

"Performance?" Regina's eyebrows knit together.

"Yeah. Fireworks, sparks, the whole shebang." They sat on the desk that Regina had been sitting at. She could feel her cheeks warming as the redheads gazed down at her through their bangs.

"Well, that practice sure went well for you," Regina rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair. The twins responded by leaning forward, their hands supporting them as they loomed over her. "Aren't you finished yet?" her eyes flicked up to look at the redheads.

"Not even close." In the blink of an eye, Regina was pulled out of her chair, and onto her feet between the two.

"What are you…" she trailed off as Fred traced her jaw. Was it her imagination or did the room just heat up? Regina could only stare into Fred's light eyes as George placed a hand on her hip, lightly rubbing his thumb against the fabric of her skirt. She felt George's lips brush the nape of her neck and her skin began to tingle. "What are you…" she tried again, but her mind couldn't come up with anything to follow up with.

"You talk too much," Fred whispered before lightly grazing his lips against Regina's. Her legs nearly collapsed, but George had an arm wrapped around her waist, supporting her. The kiss deepened, and Fred placed a hand on the back of Regina's neck, tilting her head slightly. He wrapped his other arm around her and pulled their bodies together. Regina slid her hands up Fred's muscular biceps and felt him tense as she raked her nails across the fabric of his shirt. The hand that Fred had on Regina's neck slowly slid down to the hollow of her throat, before venturing, painfully slowly, down the center of her chest to rest on her hip. The boys simultaneously untucked Regina's shirt. The third year arched her back when she felt Fred's hand slide up her waist, underneath her shirt, as George grabbed the hem of her skirt. Then the three halted. The doorknob began to turn…

Snape entered, his black cloak billowing in his wake, to find the students exactly where he had left them. He stared down his crooked nose, trying to find something out of order that he could take points off for, but alas, he found nothing, and returned to grading papers.