Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, but my OC's are mine.


Chapter Eighteen

Her throat got dry and ran raw as her end of the screaming match bounced off the common room walls with so much force it was a good thing nobody else was present. She threw her arms into the air, finding that her anger fell on deaf ears with eyes of disinterest, but also, mutual resentment. Her eyes narrowed when he stopped trying to reason with her, taking in large gulps of air to even her breathing.

When Ira arrived at the library that morning, she had the intention of looking up some things on Divination, since Trelawney advised her it'd be wise to have more of a textbook insight on the thing taking over Ira's mind. She searched tirelessly for the right texts, so much so that she ended up taking a seat at one of the tables in the library with a large stack of books ready for her to attack.

Then, something else peaked her interest as she flipped through a text about Divination and its rare relation to the Dark Arts. It was very brief in its contents, but it made Ira think about the Dark Arts, and how intriguing it was to learn such things in Defense. Moody made comments every so often about how gifted Ira seemed to be when it came to the art. Although they made her scoff, it did make her realize who she was and the family she came from. Soares' were dark—it was in the family blood. She shivered and shut the book, placing it neatly on the stack and rose from her seat to search for something more interesting.

Theo mentioned a pureblood text about all the families dating back to centuries before. If it was even existent outside of the Sacred Twenty-Nine, Ira would find it in the restricted section.

The roped-off area was in the back of the library. Ira hardly ventured there unless she needed something with a teacher's approval. She fingered the rope as if deciding to enter or not. Her interest remained, and she crouched below the rope and walked through the aisles of books.

Trespassing would be the least of Ira's worries.

Her feet stopped, and her breathing hitched when she heard something out-of-place within the walls of the library. She peaked around a bookshelf and her heart stopped, her blood running ice cold.

Draco Malfoy was snogging Sally-Anne Perks. There—in the library and looking quite smitten with each other. Ira gaped and felt a flash of something quiver inside her stomach. Fury? Disappointment? It was a mix of both, but with confusion displayed across her glaring features.

Thankfully, the two were too busy in each other's arms to hear Ira stomp away with a growl making its way up her throat. She should've intervened and demanded an explanation. Sally was her best friend and Draco was their enemy—not just Ira's.

She abandoned her books, the library, and ran down to the dungeons to collect herself.

The common room was empty when she entered. Most of her housemates were off doing other things that day. Which was good, because Ira needed peace and quiet to think about what she just witnessed.

She rubbed her eyes and tried getting the image out of her head. But it stayed there no matter how many times she tried thinking of something positive and innocent.

Pacing, Ira tried to breath in and out, calming the racing heart in her ribcage. She wanted to scream, to hex something, to turn something into a goose—anything to make her feel better. The Quidditch pitch was out of commission for the rest of the year, so there went that idea of doing a few laps on her broom.

She needed to talk to someone before she blew up—or literally blew up the common room.

The entrance to the common room opened and closed, and someone eased their way inside.

Ira turned and froze. Draco stood there with a vibrant green apple in his hand, taking a juicy bite from it and looking as if nothing was out of place. But he was snogging her best friend behind everyone's backs—causing Ira more pain than ever.

"Soares, shouldn't you be studying or doing something equally boring?" Malfoy asked innocently, walking towards the fireplace.

Her fist clutched at her side. She wished to have the guts to punch him, to feel his cheekbone crush under her knuckle. Although she was a rather small and dainty thing, she bet she could make him hiss in pain. The thought made her smirk, but it disappeared when she remembered why she was angry in the first place.

And that's how they started screaming at each other. It started with questions, and it ended with insults. Now, Ira heaved in more air, feeling herself go faint at the yelling she'd produced.

"What are you playing at, Malfoy?" she asked hotly.

He snickered. "What makes you think I'm playing at anything, Soares?"

"You're Draco Malfoy. You're always up to something," Ira said. "You don't honestly think I believe you actually like Sally, do you?"

He winced. "That's a little harsh, don't you think?"

"She's my best friend—one of them—and if you think I'm going to let her make this incredibly disastrous decision—"

"You're not her sentry, Soares. She has free will to pick and choose who she wants to be with."

"Which changes on a whim," Ira pointed out. "Whatever happened to Fredrik, hm?"

"That foolish dolt never had a chance. I always make them back off one way or another."

"You're disgusting."

"Sally doesn't think so."

"I'm sure Sally doesn't know what she's thinking right now. What did you do? Give her a bloody love potion?"

Draco shook his head. "Is it so hard to believe that maybe girls actually like me?"

"Yes."

He rolled his eyes. "What does it matter if I'm courting Sally? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous, Soares." His gray eyes twinkled.

"Jealous? You're mad! I'm concerned because I know how you are, who you are, and what you do. You're not a good person, Malfoy. Sally's clearly blinded by…something." Her back straightened. "I care about her."

"If you cared about her, you'd respect her choices."

Ira's fists clenched again. "Her choice is you! You're foul and a disgrace! You bullied the two of us for years!"

"And I've changed," he said calmly.

"Changed?" Ira scoffed. "What about starting a rumor that I shagged Theo? Or does your nonexistent brain not remember that?"

"It was merely a bet that we made under the influence of alcohol, and we were all in on it, it wasn't just me," he clarified. "Quit getting your knickers in a twist, Soares. Nobody even remembers, and nobody believes anyone would come close to touching you like that."

Ira gawked at him. "You—You—"

He stepped towards her, and she tried moving away, to only fall into the sofa. He leaned over her, and her heart hammered in her chest.

"Let's be honest, Soares, nobody actually likes you if it's not your friends or Saint Potter." He said the last part with a sneer. "Not even Theo can stand the sight of you."

"Liar," she said, moving her face so it was threateningly close to his. "You're a liar."

He chuckled, and his breath blew onto her face, smelling like apples and mint. It was tantalizing.

"You want to bet, Soares?" he asked, reaching up to move a curl out of her face. "You see, I am not the liar. You are."

She blinked. "Me?"

Malfoy smiled knowingly but said nothing. Their faces remained near each other, and his eyes roamed her face, taking in each freckle like a constellation, roaming the smoke of her eyes that hid so many secrets, and finally landed on her full lips puckered in interest to know more.

Someone entered, and whatever scene they started ended when a voice grabbed Draco's attention.

"Draco." It was Blaise. His eyes moved between the two curiously.

"Yes, Blaise?"

He coughed. "Uh, lunch? Everyone's already upstairs and wanted me to fetch you."

Draco nodded and refrained from shooting Ira another look before he followed Blaise outside.

When they were gone, a single tear spilled onto Ira's pale cheek.


In the days that followed, Ira tried keeping her mouth shut where Sally and Draco's relationship was concerned. Neither of the two spoke of it, and it seemed that Ira was the only one who knew about what went on in a lone alcove in the restricted section. Lily didn't notice, and neither did any of Draco's mates. Or perhaps they did know and didn't care. Ira wished she could feel that way, but the anger continued to fester within her.

Meals were awkward. Ira hardly mentioned anything if it didn't relate to their studies. She didn't want to slip up and say something out of line because she knew how Sally would react. From what it seemed, Sally and Draco weren't technically dating. He mentioned the word 'courting' during his argument with Ira, but that had to be the furthest thing from the truth considering how private their so-called relationship was. It must've been a big secret since Ira picked up on how they rarely made eye contact with each other when other people were present.

Ira sighed, reaching over to pour herself more pumpkin juice when someone slid in across from her.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in ages," Neils remarked with a chuckle. "You must live in that library."

Ira groaned. The memory of her best friend's tongue down Draco's throat flashed in her head.

"Or not?" he said curiously, quirking a thickly groomed eyebrow.

"I do other things than spend time in the library, you know," Ira said a bit too defensively. "I'm not that boring."

"Of course not. It's just I don't see you do much else."

"You really suck at compliments."

He frowned. "I didn't mean to offend you."

"Yet, you're doing exactly that."

Sally cut in. "Ira here is just playing hard to get. She does it with everyone."

Ira gave her a look. "Everyone? You make it sound like I'm some common slag who has guys pining over the very mere thought of being with me." She shook her head. "Which isn't the case, Neils, I assure you."

Sally elbowed her in the ribs, earning a wince in return. "You know that's not true," she muttered for only Ira's ears to hear.

Ira hissed, "Then please, enlighten me on all these boys you think have eyes for me."

"We'd be sitting here all day."

"I'm sure you'd have better things to do than sit here with me all day going over a list of males who are taken with me," Ira said bitterly.

Sally nodded. "You're right. It'd be completely useless because the only person you're ever going to like is Harry Potter."

Neils must've heard, because he leaned in closer with wide eyes. "Harry Potter?"

"Yes," Sally said, waving a hand towards Ira. "Ira is quite smitten with the Harry Potter. They're best friends and very well could be together if she made up her mind."

Neils leaned back. "Oh, I didn't realize—"

"Nothing is happening with Harry!" Ira said quickly. "Nothing is happening with anybody."

Neils nodded mutely.

Ira turned to address Sally more closely. "Why did you do that?"

"You can't keep going back and forth between blushing around Neils and leading him on to doing the same thing with Potter. I'm only helping you."

Ira could feel the jab that was on the tip of her tongue, the one thing that she knew would make her friendship with Sally crash down around them. But she hesitated, thought over her words, and simply smiled to keep up appearances.

"Thank you, Sally. You're right."

Sally flipped her hair and smiled coyly. "I always am."

Lily shook her head from Sally's other side. "Not really."

"Well, I like to think so."

Something rattled from the other end of the table, and Ira moved her eyes to the curious tin that her housemates passed along. For a moment, Ira thought they were Hermione's S.P.E.W badges, but that wouldn't make sense since Slytherin's turned a blind eye to house-elf welfare. When the tin made it to her, Ira looked inside to see dozens of badges that said SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY—THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION. She glared at it and passed it along to Sally, who gladly took one for herself.

"Like them, Soares?" Malfoy asked, now standing behind Neils with a smirk.

Ira shrugged. "They're quite ugly, actually. You couldn't have thought of something catchier?"

He fought back a growl and clicked his pin. The words disappeared and, in its place, said POTTER STINKS in bold letters.

"How's that for catchier?"

"Still quite ugly. A different font would've suited it, or some color," she said with a tilt of her head. "Still making weak blows, I see."

Sally cooed. "I think they're brilliant."

Draco smiled then and moved along.

It took a lot of willpower to restrain herself, but Ira ended up not questioning Sally's longing look when Draco walked away. Lily noticed, however, and with wide eyes asked what Sally's 'dopey' face was about. The blonde-haired girl quickly lied and continued with lunch talking about different things that didn't pertain to a certain bleach-blonde ferret.

However, when the bell signaled them to their next period, Sally couldn't resist.

"Isn't Draco creative?" Sally asked, touching her pin after leaving the Great Hall. "We need more promotion for our chosen champion."

The three girls followed their class downstairs to the dungeons for Double Potions with the Gryffindors. Ira didn't speak. The sound of Draco's given name coming out of Sally's mouth made her own twist into a scowl. Don't say anything, don't say anything, she repeated in her thoughts.

Lily's eyes widened once more.

Sally chose to change the subject instead of discussing Lily's curious look. "Double Potions. Are you guys ready to make our antidotes?"

Not really. There was a good chance Snape would choose to poison Ira if given the opportunity. That's why she checked over her recipe a good fifteen times before finding confidence in it. If Snape ended up not choosing her, Harry would most likely be his other victim.

Speaking of the Chosen One, he stood nearby with Hermione, his eyes glued to the badge pinned above Draco's heart. The Slytherin's condescending drawl began when he noticed Harry staring.

"Like them, Potter? And this isn't all they do—look!" He clicked his badge—as did the rest of his friends—and they all howled with laughter.

"Oh, very funny," Hermione said sarcastically from Harry's side, "really witty."

Ron wasn't with them. He leaned against the wall with Dean and Seamus, not laughing but not defending them either. Ira frowned at his aloofness.

"Want one, Granger?" Draco asked with a badge outstretched towards her. "I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood sliming it up."

And just like that, Ira's hands clenched, and her fingernails dug into her palms, and she didn't realize what she was doing until she came to Harry's side. She knew things would get ugly fast.

Harry brandished his wand into the air, pointing it at Malfoy menacingly.

"Harry!" Hermione yelled.

Ira tried grabbing Harry's wand arm and lowering it, but he dodged her reach.

"Harry, stop it! You're going to get in trouble."

"Yeah, why don't you listen to your whiny girlfriend, Potter? Moody isn't here to save you now—and I'd hate for this to get messy," he smirked darkly, knowing full well he didn't care how messy it was going to get.

Harry growled. "Insult them again—I dare you!"

Draco chuckled and watched Harry's wand while grabbing his own from his pocket. They acted in sync, causing most of the crowd to jump back at the suddenness.

"Furnunculus!" Harry yelled.

"Densaugeo!" Malfoy screamed.

The spells didn't meet each other. Instead, they ricocheted off into different directions. Malfoy's hit Hermione, while Harry's hit Theo—both straight in the face.

Hermione clutched her mouth as Ron ran forward to aide her. Ira followed, trying to see the damage by removing Hermione's hands from her face.

Ira gaped at Hermione's longer teeth. Though they were already big to begin with, they now grew at an alarmingly fast pace, making her look more like a walrus with each passing second. The girl whimpered when she touched them.

"And what is all this noise about?" a deadly voice asked.

Ira whipped her head around to glare at Snape, who stared down that large nose of his. He was looking at Malfoy, warranting an explanation.

"Potter attacked me, sir—"

"We attacked each other at the same time!" Harry shouted.

"—and he hit Theo—look—"

Ira glanced at her old friend, finding large boils taking up most of the area on his face.

"Hospital wing, Nott," Snape instructed calmly.

"Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron said. "Look!"

Now, everyone stared at Hermione. All the Slytherin girls laughed except for Ira.

"I see no difference," Snape said coldly.

Hermione cried and ran up to the Hospital Wing at once.

Ron and Harry started jumping down Snape's throat. Ira would've done the same, except she knew if she started screaming at him it'd only get her in trouble. Oh, but she sure would love screaming in Snape's face like they were.

Unable to figure out what exactly they were saying, and looking as though he didn't care, Snape berated the boys with detentions and fifty points from Gryffindor each. Then, he locked eyes with Ira, who glared at him the whole time.

"And detention for you, Soares."

Ira's arms flew into the air. "For what?"

"Glaring."

Her face would remain in a permeant sulk throughout the class. It didn't help that when she took her seat in the back next to Harry that he would leave soon after for Triwizard Tournament dealings.

Sitting alone for the remainder of class, Ira got to work on her poison antidote. Harry wouldn't be around for the lesson, so she ultimately had to deal with being Snape's chosen victim. She never understood her professor's hatred for her. Maybe it was because her father was a git—or so she heard—in his school years, although he would've been a few years ahead of Snape when he arrived at Hogwarts.

Still, it didn't make any sense since Lucius was on decent terms with Professor Snape, and Sigrid and Lucius were best mates. Shouldn't Sigrid at least like Snape for Lucius' sake?

Ira's thoughts were interrupted when she smelled something odd coming from her cauldron. She instantly dropped her stirring stick and watched dark smoke billow into the air. Coughing heavily, she glanced down at her recipe to figure out what went wrong.

"Need some help there, Soares?"

Ira glared at Draco, who walked by with an armful of ingredients. "You can help me by not being an annoyance."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Wait," she said, holding up a hand.

She blushed as she realized for the first time ever, she'd be asking for help from Draco Malfoy—of all people! Potions was one of the things Ira was good at, and now she had to ask the best Potions maker in class for help. It was embarrassing, and she was almost too prideful to ask.

"Can you help me?" Ira asked in a quiet voice, almost too quiet for anyone to hear.

Everyone was too busy wrangling their potions into shape, so her question would've went unnoticed anyway.

Setting down his materials, he leaned over to grab her parchment, almost brushing his arm with hers. She stepped more to the side to get out of his way, as if his touch were toxic.

He smirked without looking at her. After a quick observation, he set to work chopping up different ingredients from his own arrangement and stirred them into the cauldron.

"What are you doing?" Ira asked defensively, moving so she hovered over his shoulder.

Well, tried to. He was a head taller than her and blocked most of her view.

"Malfoy, I asked for help, not to make the potion for me," Ira hissed.

"I know what you said, Soares," he said, waving her off.

Finally, the smoke diminished, and a purple-colored potion filled the cauldron. It still bubbled and looked as though it needed more stirring, but Draco stepped back for Ira to admire his work. He remained smug.

Ira rolled her eyes and snatched the stirring rod from his hand.

"Not even a 'thank you'?" Draco chuckled.

"Let's not speak of this again," Ira said in a short voice, trying to ignore his body behind her.

He reached back over to grab his things, making sure to touch her arm in the process.

"You're being really hypocritical right now," Ira pointed out.

Malfoy played dumb. "How so?"

Ira's grip on the stirring rod tightened. She could very easily whack him over the head with it, hopeful to bring on a concussion or something equally hurtful. She moved her face to look at him, then stopped when she realized how close he'd gotten while grabbing his things.

Ira sucked in a breath. "Just…leave. I've got this from here." Her grip weakened, and she went back to stirring her cauldron.

Malfoy didn't stick around. He gathered his things and went back to his table.

Looking to her right, she saw Ron watching her with a shake of his head. Then, his cauldron exploded.


The common room was silent when Ira entered. A regular student would stick around to eat in the Great Hall, but she quickly lost her appetite after seeing Sally walk in with lip gloss smeared around her lips and Draco looking too smug for words when he entered a few minutes after her. It seemed best to find something else for Ira to occupy her time with than speaking about Sally's new hobby lately.

Ira considered sitting with Harry to take her mind off things before going down to the dungeons. He sat alone on one end of the Gryffindor table, but with the other students around, it made it hard to take a seat next to him. He also appeared too annoyed to eat or speak to anyone. It would be better for her to just leave him alone for the night, even though she itched to hear how the rest of his day went.

Sighing, Ira took a seat in front of the fireplace, watching as the flames lit up the dark common room. A ball of fur bounced into her lap and snuggled up almost instantly.

Ira raked a hand through Lady's fur. "You wouldn't betray me, would you?"

Lady mewled, moving her head deeper into Ira's neatly trimmed fingernails.

"I mean, if you were my human best friend, would you fancy the enemy whose made our lives miserable for the past three years? Or perhaps, the enemy whose made my life miserable for fourteen years?"

Lady blinked.

"Right. I forgot. You love Draco Malfoy," Ira grumbled. "I don't see why. He's annoying, rude, vile, a snob, and so on and so forth."

Her mind flashed, and she could picture the imbecile in her head—from the way his eyes glittered under the light to how his captivating scent took up her space when he was nearby. She could still feel his arm grazing hers during Potions that day, and how it took every ounce of her being not to glance up and meet the hue of his eyes that matched hers so perfectly. Her breathing would shallow, and she'd watch his eyes roam her face, taking in every detail about her. He did that often when they argued. It gave him more opportunity to openly stare at her without Ira taking notice. But she did anyway.

You see, I am not the liar. You are. His voice came alive inside her head, and she sucked in a breath. She could never piece together what he meant after their exchange. What could she possibly be lying about?

If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous, Soares. The accusation sent Ira even further into a tizzy. He knew better than to assume something like that. He knew she absolutely revolted him. Even thinking about that made a disgusting sound come from Ira's mouth.

Ira continued petting Lady until someone walked into the common room. Looking up, she saw Sally watching her a few feet away.

"Hey," Ira greeted. "Why aren't you at dinner?"

"I could ask you the same thing, but I'm pretty sure I already know why," she said while taking a seat.

Oh, great. Ira knew what was coming. She prepared herself for what would come next.

"You know," was all she said.

Ira stared. "Know what?"

"Don't act like you don't know, because I know you know."

"Huh?"

Sally pouted. "Don't make me say it. I don't want to say it."

"Well, if you fancy Draco Malfoy and want to continue snogging him, I'm sure you're going to have to tell us eventually," Ira said hastily.

"Are you mad?" Sally winced.

Mad was an understatement. Completely livid seemed better.

"No."

"No?" Sally looked taken aback. "You're not mad?"

"No, I'm—" Ira stopped. "I'm unable to have this conversation right now."

"Why not?"

Ira's patience chipped away. "Sally, if you're looking for a bloody approval, just know you're not getting one. Of all the things you could've done, all the people you could've chosen, you chose the enemy. It doesn't make any sense. I don't get it. After what he's done to us, you decide you're going to—what—fall for him? I didn't think you would stoop so low as to have Parkinson standards."

So much for keeping the peace. Ira sat back as realization dawned on her, watching as a mixture of emotions contorted onto Sally's pretty features.

"I didn't want this to change anything," Sally said. "I didn't want our relationship to get in the way of our friendship."

Ira's mouth opened. "Relationship? What kind of relationship is hooking up in the restricted section and just snogging?"

Sally gritted her teeth. "You wouldn't know. You've never had a boyfriend."

"Is that what he is now? Your boyfriend?"

"Well, not really—"

"And why's that?"

"We haven't talked about it…"

"If you guys were in a real 'relationship', wouldn't you two at least communicate these things? Wouldn't you want to have him on your arm in public instead of keeping things so lock-and-key? It seems to me that Malfoy is only wanting one thing from you, Sally, and I'm trying to be a good friend and make you realize how wrong this seems."

Sally crossed her arms and stayed silent for a long moment. "We're keeping things private because we know how everyone would react. We'll tell people when we're ready, when things are more…official."

Ira had to keep her voice leveled when she spoke next. "So be it. Do as you please, Sally."

"I don't want you to be mad at me," she said again.

"You're asking an awful lot."

But as Ira watched her friend frown, she realized how selfish she was being. She wanted to see Sally happy, and if being with Draco would do that, then she'd allow it. For now.

Ira bit her lip. "I don't like the idea of it, but if it's what makes you happy, then go for it. Don't let me rain on your happiness, Sally. I don't want this to turn into another Theo-Daphne situation." I've already lost one friend.

"Are you sure? If it upsets you—"

Ira held up a hand. "Don't finish that. I'm sorry for how I acted. It doesn't matter to me who you're with, as long as they keep you happy."

Sally started beaming, running to Ira and hugging her so tightly Ira thought she'd burst. Lady hissed and jumped from Ira's lap at the sudden intrusion.

"This is good! This is great! Maybe once we're more public with our relationship, you and Draco can get to know each other better and hopefully put all that hatred behind you."

Now, Sally was asking for too much.

Instead of responding, Ira smiled thinly and watched Sally shiver with excitement.

"I just have to tell Lily now that I've told you!" Sally said, moving towards the door. "Wish me luck!"

Ira smiled more forcefully as Sally exited, unable to utter a word.

She'd let Sally have her moment of excitement. Ira didn't want to bring her own friend down because of who she liked. Although she said she'd put up with it for her sake, Ira still couldn't put together the bitterness still present in her body. It would take time getting used to seeing Sally and Draco together like that. She wasn't ready for it.

And as students started entering the common room for the night, Ira realized that it wasn't bitterness in her body that kept her from being okay with Sally's courtship. It was another feeling entirely, one that she pushed to the darkest parts of her mind, where it would remain for only her thoughts to know.


Writer's Note: Sorry for the shortness of this chapter! I've been sick lately and super busy to the point that I didn't have enough time to write much. Plus, this chapter was hard to write for some reason. I couldn't piece it together for the life of me. It is more of a filler chapter, I guess, until things start ramping up in the next chapters. Anyway, I want to give a shout out to all of you readers and reviewers! It makes me so happy to see some of you enjoying the story. It definitely keeps me doing what I love, which is writing.

See you next chapter! xx