Chapter 12

Penelope started to drill Natalie in the Great Hall at breakfast the day after her date with Fred. "Where did you go, what did you, was it what you thought it would be?"

The blonde girl put her head in her hands. "Geez, Penelope. You're giving me a bloody headache." She looked up and saw Penelope and Marcus exchanging glances. "What?"

Marcus scowled. "I just owe Penelope, 10 galleons is all. I never thought you would actually date on of the Weasels. The Flint family should have some better judgement in the love department."

She frowned and squinted her silver eyes at her cousin. "Is there anything wrong with it that you would like to bring up to me?" Natalie filled each word with icy venom and reached for her wand ready to hex her cousin if necessary if he said something vile.

"Woah there!" His eyes widened as he saw her reach for her wand. He knew as well as her that she could easily take him in a duel. "I was just joking you know! Just don't let your feelings get in the way with Quidditch. That's all I care about."

Natalie rolled her pale eyes. Of course, that was all Marcus had to say. The Slytherin team was thinking non-stop of Quidditch ever since the match where Potter passed out on his broom making Slytherin seem like the house to win the cup this year. "I'll try my best, Marcus. I know it's hard for you to think about, since I'm a girl and all, but I am able to control my emotions."

Penelope and Natalie gathered their books and headed off to their classes. The two Slytherin girls were getting glowing comments and reports on all of the work that they were handing in from their Professors. Their grades were so similar that who would get top in their house for grades would fall completely on the OWL exams. This made Natalie nervous, but she wouldn't let her friend see that. Something that was difficult about being a Slytherin is that sometimes you closest friends were your friends and enemies at the same time. Penelope was her drive and her competition all wrapped in one.

When they got to Defense Against the Dark Arts, George whistled as the girls walked in. "How was your little adventure, Nat?" He wiggled his red eyebrows and Lee began to laugh next to him.

Fred smacked the back of both of their heads and blushed. "Sorry about that, I told them not to bring it up."

"Did you honestly expect George and Lee to listen to you?" Natalie raised one eyebrow and she sank into her chair and laid her books down across the table. "I don't mind. I wouldn't have made it this long in the friend group if I didn't have thick skin."

Lee batted his thick eyelashes playfully. "Aren't you going to tell us if you think he's a good kisser or not? Just between us girls?" He playfully shoved Penelope and Natalie's shoulder. Penelope looked at where he touched her with disgust.

"My lips are sealed, Jordan." The Slytherin girl turned around and ignored the gawking Gryffindors behind her.

George and Lee dropped the subject but made disappointed comments about how they felt left out of the loop. As Natalie was preparing her notes for the day, a paper crane fluttered onto her desk. She turned around to see Fred smile and give her a quick wink. Penelope giggled next to her as Natalie's face flushed. "Oh, shove off, P."

She opened the letter to see a note from Fred that was very simple. It had a huge smiley face with heart eyes that was charmed to blow a heart to the reader. It read in a messy scrawl, "I know you're busy with studying for OWLs. I promise not to pull any stunts, well, I'll try not to at least. Library tonight? I just want to spend time with you. -F"

She put the note into her bag, wanting to keep it as a memory. Natalie turned around and gave him a thumbs up as Professor Lupin began lecture to tell him that she would meet him at the library. The lesson was incredibly complex, they were learning about dark hexes and the counterattack for them. Natalie felt like her hand was on fire as Lupin was talking very fast to prepare them for their OWLs at the end of term.

Natalie was thankful when he dismissed them, and she was able to rub the side of her hand. It was starting to redden with the pressure that had been placed on it throughout the lecture. Hopefully Fred was being serious about actually letting her study in the library. She would need to with all of the complex lessons that were being thrown at them.

Once again, she found herself eyeing Penelope. The dark haired Slytherin had it all too easy when it came to studying. Marcus, Adrian, and Natalie were her only friends so when they were distracted with Quidditch or their other friends, she had unlimited studying time. Natalie had to outdo her this year if it was the last thing she did. Penelope couldn't be Prefect at top of Slytherin house. It wouldn't be fair. She also thought about her father. Whenever Natalie did not get top marks or missed it by one person, her father would cluck in disappointment. "Flint's don't come in second. Remember that. You always want to side yourself with a winner or become the winner in your story. No matter what you have to do to get to the top you do it."

Of course, whenever he made those comments, her mother would swoop in and say how proud she was of her baby girl getting such good grades. Her father's words still echoed into her head. She had to be the winner in her story. Glancing at the adorable red head behind her made her sad wondering if he would help her get to the top or prevent her from reaching her goals.