Babbling Beverage: potion that causes the drinker to babble nonsense.

Regina Mills took pride on her punctuality. In fact, she hadn't, not a one single time, been late in her life. It was also something she demanded from her students, especially from those of her house, Ravenclaw. If there was one thing that Professor Mills was known for, it was taking points away for coming late to potions class; in fact, it was best to not show up at all than it was to show up late.

When she felt the presence of someone sitting next to her after Headmaster McGonagall already started the welcoming speech, Regina couldn't help but to feel irritated.

"Bloody capes," she heard the person mutter and fidget in the seat.

"Would you please stop?" Regina snapped and then looked at the person sitting next to her. It was a woman, her blonde curly hair looked half dried and her face was free of make-up. If that last part was done on purpose or not, Regina did not know, but she knew that the blonde was definitely running late for their first dinner.

Even though she looked extremely familiar, Regina couldn't say from where. But it definitely felt that they had met a lifetime ago.

"I'm sorry," the blonde smiled at her, "It's just... I haven't worn a cape in like... twelve years..."

Why the blonde thought Regina would care about that tidbit was beyond her comprehension. She decided to ignore the blonde and return her attention back to the Headmaster's speech.

"And last but not least, please give a warm welcome to Miss Emma Swan, who will be taking over Madam Hooch's responsibilities," Mcgonagall said to the crowd.

The blonde next to Regina raised her hand and waved to the crowd of students as they happily cheered for her.

Then it dawned on her from where Regina knew the blonde. They attended Hogwarts in their youth around the same time. Emma Swan was three years younger than Regina, which meant that their paths seldomly crossed.

In fact, it wasn't until Regina was in her 7th and last year, that she came across for the first time, face to face with the great Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, Emma Swan.

Her cheeks blushed as she remembered their first encounter.

It was a rainy autumn night and Regina decided to grab a muggle romantic novel, which she borrowed from one of her roommates, and head to the Prefects' bathrooms. It was well past the student's curfew, but being Head Girl had its benefits.

She really deserved a nice bath. It had been a particularly long day. Earlier that day, there was a quidditch game and as the Head Girl, Regina was expected to attend the game and help the professors maintain order, which was always a hard task when it was a Gryffindor vs Slytherin match.

The game had ended with a score of 190 to 50. It was Gryffindor's first game and first victory of the year. And a couple of hooligans had decided to make Regina's job a lot harder by starting a duel afterwards.

She thought she would be alone since all students should be in their dorms already and she was definitely surprised to find a very naked Emma Swan, with not only one nude girl, but two, having a post-game party.

"Regina... I swear, this is not what it looks like," Lily Page, a fifth year Ravenclaw, exclaimed as soon as she noticed a shocked Regina in the bathroom. "We were... um... showering..." she tried to make up an excuse as she climbed out of the swimming pool-like tub and wrapped her body in a towel.

"I'm sure you were, Miss Page," Regina arched an eyebrow and looked at the other two girls in the bathroom, "And while I do not care about your ... showering... It is past bedtime and I will have to report the three of you."

"Please don't," the other girl, also a Ravenclaw, much to Regina's dismay, asked as she mimicked Lily's actions, "If my father finds out that I've been sent to detention, he'll be furious."

"You should have thought about the consequences of your acts, Miss French," she replied. She felt bad for the girl but she took her responsibilities very seriously.

"C'mon, Regina," Emma Swan spoke up, climbing out of the tub with a lot of grace and walked towards Regina. She hadn't bothered to dry herself with a towel nor cover herself. "We were just having some fun. I'm sure you can relate to that," she added, placing a hand over Regina's shoulder.

"No, I cannot relate, Miss Swan. Rules are meant to be followed. That's how I ended up with the privilege of being Head Girl," Regina replied and calmly removed Emma's hand from her shoulder, "If this was your attempt to get away with no consequences, I'll let you know I can't be bought. And on top of that, you've managed to get most of my clothing wet and you damaged my book."

Emma chuckled, "You just said I got you wet."

"Did you get hit by a bludger or are you an idiot by nature?"

"Maybe I am," Emma said, still painfully too close to Regina and naked, "But you like it."

Regina rolled her eyes and went off to find the professor who was doing the night rounds.

One would think that Emma Swan grew to resent Regina after that, but it was quite the opposite. Emma has made her mission to be wherever Regina was. Always causing trouble. Always trying to catch Regina's attention.

Marian would tease Regina about it, tell her to give Emma a chance. It was not as if Regina hadn't consider it, Emma was one of the few people who challenged her, who made her feel something. Plus, she was smart and good looking too, but she was too childish and that was definitely a turn off.

Thankfully, she just had to endure seeing Emma Swan for a few more months before graduating. Then she will never have to think about the blonde again.

"So, um... From Head Girl to Head of Ravenclaw...?" Emma Swan's voice brought her to the present, because, of course Emma Swan remembered her.

"Yes."

Emma smiled before asking another question, "And you teach here?"

"Obviously," Regina answered, because to be the head of a house, you also needed to be a teacher and everyone knew that, "Is there a reason behind this nonsensical small talk, Miss Swan?"

"Merlin!" Emma exclaimed, "I apologize for trying to make this dinner a little bit more pleasant."

"It was a pleasant dinner, until you arrived late and insisted on talking to me," she answered.

Emma Swan remained silent for the rest of the night. She broke the silence when she muttered a 'Good night' before leaving the Great Hall. Somehow, it didn't feel like a victory.

Notes: I read Harry Potter a long time ago, so don't hold it against me if there are inaccuracies. I'm trying to do best (and reading a lot of Harry Potter Wiki), plus my beta is lovely and she's helping me out with the details.

Beta-ed by the one and only cyr1988