Chapter 33: My Girl

February, Seventh Year

"Incendio!"

The chair burst into flames.

"Oppugno!"

It shifted suddenly, flying across the room towards me, but before it could get near enough I shouted again.

"Reducto!"

It was blasted to pieces, splinters tearing all around the room but none of them getting through my shield charm. When the last block of wood rolled to a halt across the floor, I released the spell and let out a sigh of relief. If that had gone wrong I'd have ended up in the Hospital Wing, but I had to know for sure that I was up to scratch to reassure myself. I'd read everything I could about these tests and I knew I had to have both defensive and offensive spells ready to show off. But I was ready. I'd been practicing for weeks, and I was ready.

It would have been great if Brittany could have helped me practice, at least this last time when it was so close, but she was off with Artie again. The only good thing I had to say about that was that now he was fighting Rory for Sugar, at least neither of them were actively trying to flirt with Brittany. He was still keeping her away from me though. The fact that Brittany refused to properly answer my questions made it worse. She'd eventually told me it was just a surprise and I'd have to wait and see. That made me feel a little better, but didn't completely ease my anxiety. I knew she didn't want me to take these tests, but it still wasn't nice completely lacking her support while I was practicing.

A quick wave of my wand sent the splinters and dust into the waiting bin at the side of the room and I picked up my bag, making sure to close the door behind me as I left. I didn't want any of the teachers realising I'd destroyed a chair while training. Detention would not be a good way to celebrate my success. I set off down the stairs, across the Entrance Hall and through corridors until I reached Professor Sylvester's office.

"Decided to be early for once, then?" she commented dryly, not bothering to get up. "Well go on. If you can't work out floo for yourself you haven't got a hope of passing today." She gestured to the pot of floo powder on her desk and I took a scoop, throwing it into the fireplace. The flames immediately turned a deep green and grew massively so they were flickering right in front of my eyes.

"Ministry of Magic!" I said loudly, tightening my hand around the strap of my bag and stepping straight into the flames. I was spinning fast, keeping my arms close to my sides. The moment I felt it start to slow I stepped forward, stumbling a little when my foot slipped on the polished wooden floor.

"Name and business?"

I blinked blearily, stepping further away from the fireplace to find a bored-looking woman sitting in a kiosk labelled Visitors' Floo staring down at me. Beyond her the rest of the atrium was buzzing with activity, and I could hear the giant fountain even though it was right down the other side of the hall.

"Uh, Santana Lopez. Hit witch tests."

I half-expected to get some sort of glance of recognition considering my surname, but the woman didn't even blink. She tapped a badge with her wand and passed it over the counter to me.

"Wand?"

I pulled it out of my pocket and passed it over, dropping it straight into the libra used to test it. I'd visited the Ministry enough times before to be used to this at least, even if I was normally with my mother. It was more unnerving that I'd been expecting, being here alone.

"Dragon heartstring, hawthorn, twelve inches?" she asked, still sounding as bored as before as she stared at the readings from the libra. I nodded, and a moment later received my wand back. "Take the lift to Level Two, you're in Testing Room D."

I stepped past her kiosk to walk a short distance down the hall to the nearest lift, squeezing in between two older men carrying stacks of paperwork. One of them peered down at me and smiled, and I realised with some surprise that it was Quinn's dad.

"Hello, Santana. Come to take your hit witch tests?"

"How'd you know about that?" I asked as the lift started moving. I hadn't really told too many people in case it went wrong - I'd only mentioned it to Quinn yesterday, and she didn't exactly owl home frequently.

"Your grandmother told me, of course. Don't worry, she's had words with your tester, they won't throw anything too nasty at you," he said with a wink.

I nodded, forcing a smile, but I was starting to feel a bit sick. What if the tester resented me for having my relatives interfere? Didn't abuela realise I wanted to do this on my own, not with her help? And what if I failed anyway, even after she'd spoken to them? No, it would be okay. I'd practiced loads.

"This is you," Mr. Fabray prompted, and I realised with a jolt that the doors were open on Level Two. "Good luck! I'll find out from Alma or Carlotta how you got on!"

"Thanks," I muttered, stepping out.

I walked slowly down the corridor, following the signs for the testing rooms until finally I was in front of one door with an ornately carved metal 'D' stuck to it. I took a deep breath, then raised my hand to rap firmly. The door swung open almost straight away, and suddenly my nerves were replaced with shock at the sight of a tall, dark-haired man grinning down at me.

"Santana! Come in, come in."

"I… Jason?" I murmured as I walked through the doorway. I hadn't seen him at all since he'd left Hogwarts two years ago. I didn't even know he was working at the Ministry. I turned my head, looking for anyone else, but it was just him and a few mannequins at the other end of the room. "You're testing me?"

"Yep!" he replied cheerily, turning around once the door was closed to grin at me some more. "Great job with the Slytherin team by the way, you've done me proud."

I nodded, managing to smile back as I dropped my bag on one of the tables and fished out the paperwork. I passed it to him but he didn't even glance at it, just smiled at me.

"Let's get started with the interesting stuff, yeah? How's your patronus?"

I nodded straight away, my confidence returning a little as I picked my wand out of my pocket and turning away from him to summon my chosen memory. It had been easy, really, once I'd thought of the right moment. Brittany's words, Brittany's kisses, on the lawn that night I'd told her I loved her. How she'd whispered back to me between tears.

I love you too.

Warmth ran through me as I focused on her. The words repeated in my head over and over, and I couldn't help but smile as I raised my wand.

"Expecto patronum!"

A shimmering leopard leapt from the end of my wand, snarling silently as it began to stalk around the room. The silvery edges were crisp and it almost looked like a real leopard in the room with us rather than a patronus. My eyes flicked over to Jason, who looked somewhat impressed, and suddenly I was filled with my earlier confidence once more. This was going to be just fine. It was just showing off to Jason like I always used to, trying to one-up him. And I was going to do everything I could to prove to him that I was worthy of becoming a hit witch and do my family proud. By the time this test was over, they'd be begging to take me on.

I raced down the hallway, knocking into people and not bothering to apologise. Adrenaline was still rushing through me, and there was only one person I wanted to share my victory with. I just had to hope she would be proud of what I'd managed to do and not just upset that I was one step closer to being a hit witch. But where was she?

My hands were shaking so much with excitement I almost got the barrel tapping combination wrong, but finally I was inside the Hufflepuff common room and peering about. She wasn't there, so I walked straight across the room and through into the corridor leading to the dorms. Except her dorm was completely empty. I checked the bathroom, but she wasn't even in there. I frowned, heading back out again and quickly locating Sugar curled up with Rory on one of the sofas, Róisín and Lord Tubbington playing at their feet.

"Hey, where's Brittany?" I asked, staring down at her and ignoring Rory. I'd been hoping he'd lose to Artie in their battle of affections for Sugar, just so Artie was out of the way more.

"Oh, she came in really upset earlier," Sugar said. "Artie was looking after her, they're in his dorm. I don't know why she was-"

I stopped listening, turning around to march to the opposite side of the room. I'd never been in the Hufflepuff boys' dorms before, but it was easy enough to work out which was which - they had exactly the same layout as the girls'. My happiness at passing the tests was rapidly dissipating as I stood outside the seventh year dorm, dreading what I might find inside. It was over between them. I knew that. I knew she loved me. So why was she in his dorm? Hadn't I been paying her enough attention? Had I been concentrating too much on practicing for the tests that I didn't notice something was wrong?

I lifted my hand and pushed the door open, stopping after only taking one step inside at the sight of Brittany curled up in Artie's arms. He saw me immediately and froze, but it was the sound of Brittany crying that stopped me grabbing my wand and hexing him away from her. I walked briskly across the room towards them and he pulled back looking nervous, but I didn't care about him. How could he think I cared about him, when Brittany was crying?

"Brittany, what is it? What happened?" I whispered, reaching out for her and glad that Artie relinquished his hold of her immediately.

She blinked, jerking a bit under my touch until she met my eyes, but then she was burying her head against my shoulder, her fingers reaching out to clutch at my robes, mumbling something. I moved my head closer to hear.

"M'sorry…"

"What are you sorry for?" I asked, stroking her hair gently and settling down on the bed next to her. I glared at Artie over her shoulder and he climbed to his feet.

"Uh, I'll be in the common room if you want me, Britt."

Was he crazy? Why would she want him when I was here? She was shifting in my arms though, wiping at her face and sniffing as she looked up at him.

"Thanks, Artie. For everything."

I dismissed him anyway the moment the door swung shut behind him, turning back to Brittany. The tears were still fresh on her face and a few continued to leak from her eyes even as she tried to wipe them all away. I shifted my own hands up to grasp hers gently, leaning in to rest our foreheads together.

"What is it? Tell me."

"I…" She broke off again, pulling one hand from mine to try and stem the fresh tears. I wrapped that arm around her back instead, holding her close to me. "I wasn't good enough!"

"What do you mean? Who said that?" I asked as softly as I could, even though inside I was ready to pounce on whoever it was who'd made Brittany cry.

"Th-the tester. I… I wanted to do it with you. So then you could do what you wanted and I could look after you still. In hit witch training," she explained with another sniffle, and suddenly everything clicked in my head. "It's w-why I was with Artie, he was helping, b-but I failed anyway! I couldn't do a patronus!"

"You should've told me," I whispered, using our conjoined hands to cradle her face on one side. I'd been bitching at her in my head for spending time with Artie, when it was all just meant to be for me. I felt terrible. "I'd have helped."

"It was m-meant to be a surprise!" she moaned, starting to cry again with her head tilting down to rest against my shoulder.

"It's okay," I said, hugging her tightly to me. "It'll be okay. You've still got the quidditch, you're going to make an amazing quidditch player. And I haven't even got the job yet, remember? I might not even get in, it's only the first tests."

As she continued to cry in my arms I started to wonder if it was really such a good idea to go ahead with this, when it was already upsetting Brittany so much. But what else was I supposed to do that my parents would approve of? And what would abuela say if I dropped out now? I couldn't. I'd started this path, I had to take it as far as I could.

2 weeks later

The music was so loud it was hard to hear anything else, and the wall I was leaning on was vibrating slightly with the beat. It was dark, and there were people everywhere, but I was only focused on Brittany. She was lost in the music, and I'd have said she was completely unaware of her surroundings if it wasn't for the occasional sly glance in my direction and extra shake of her hips; her way of inviting me over. I didn't move though. I was feeling way too warm just watching her dance like that - dancing with her I wouldn't be able to control myself, and I wouldn't even have alcohol to fall back on as an excuse this time. Someone knocked against me and I turned to yell at them, but stopped when I just found Puck holding out a drink. He grinned like he knew what I was thinking.

"Come on Santana, have a bit of liquid courage," he called, pushing the glass into my hand.

I lifted it to my nose - it smelt like firewhiskey mixed with something else, maybe pumpkin juice? I took a dubious sip, and found it was actually quite a nice combination.

"So when are you gonna stop these idiots leering over your girl?" he asked loudly.

I almost hit him, but then I realised no one else would be able to hear anyway unless they were right next to me. My eyes flicked across to Brittany again and found Puck was right - half the Gryffindor quidditch team was staring at her, and the sight made my stomach turn. Sam really needed to get better control over those guys. They had a terrible reputation. Weren't Gryffindors meant to be the brave, noble ones?

"They can look," I replied, a little more harshly than I intended. It wasn't nice watching them eye her like a piece of meat, despite what I was saying. "I'm the only one who gets to touch."

"If you say so. Just a matter of time till one of them tries that, though. If she was mine, I wouldn't let them get close enough to even try," he said, his eyebrows dancing a little.

I glared up at him. "Well it's different for us, isn't it?"

"If you say so. Oh, there's the first attempt."

My head twisted rapidly to see Brittany dancing easily away from the outstretched hand of one of the chasers. Her eyes were on me again, asking me to come over.

"You're really going to ignore her looking at you like that? She's begging you to come over and save her."

"What are you trying to do, Puck?" I snapped again, glancing at him once but finding it difficult to keep my gaze away from Brittany now I was aware of all those guys around her.

"It's just I hear guys talking sometimes, about you, and her. They come to me, and I'm always having to lie. There's only four months left at Hogwarts, how bad would it really be if everyone knew?"

I turned to stare at him, expecting to find the expression he always wore when he was telling a joke, but he looked completely serious. I heard a shout and spun back around to find Brittany. She wasn't smiling anymore. She was glaring at the short Gryffindor beater - Josh, was his name? - who was rolling his eyes as he spoke. She tried to turn away, but he caught hold of her elbow and pulled her back. I pushed my drink at Puck, glad he caught hold of it since I didn't really want to spill it down him, but he wasn't my concern. That bastard thought he could push around Brittany?

I shoved my way through the crowd, working my way through to Brittany surprisingly easily and quickly wrapping an arm around her waist, glaring up at Josh.

"Got a problem?" I demanded, fingers pressing tightly into her side. I could feel her relaxing a little in my hold.

"Yeah, I do actually. What the fuck's her problem? It's a fucking dance, not a goddamn proposal."

"Well she doesn't want to dance, so back off."

He was already rolling his eyes and turning back to Brittany.

"Come on, Pierce, it's not like you've ever been fussy before about who you shag. You're single, I'm single, what's the big deal?" he argued, one hand reaching out again.

She jerked back and I grabbed his arm, nails digging in as I shoved it back towards him.

"She's not single," I snapped, before I had time to think properly about my words.

Brittany tensed a little beside me, and Josh raised his eyes, stepping closer to me instead. His eyes dropped and I felt suddenly uncomfortable. Brittany's fingers rested gently at the top of my shoulder blade, and I tried to focus on that rather than the feel of his eyes on me. My arm dropped from around her waist so I could stand better between them.

"Well what about you then, salsa? You've been turning away guys for months, you must be desperate by now," he said.

I slapped his hand away when he reached out but it just made him grin wider, and that infuriated me more. Couldn't he see? Couldn't he work out that neither of us would ever look his way?

"I'm doing just fine, asshole," I growled, but he edged even closer like it was an invitation.

Brittany was pressing harder against my back now, her fingers curled around my shoulders and whispering in my ear, trying to keep me calm. I didn't understand why. Would anyone really be upset if I punched him now? I could hear her breathing, though. Beneath her panicked words she was breathing fast. She was scared.

"You're lying. What's the matter, is the mighty Santana Lopez scared? I swear I'll go easy on you. The first time, anyway. What about you, huh blondie?"

"You're not going anywhere near her!" I yelled, almost slipping out of Brittany's hold as I tried to step forward. Her hands tightened just in time.

"Don't think you really get a say in that though, do you Lopez?" he taunted, and I had to slap his hand away again when it danced out towards me. Why wouldn't he fucking leave us alone?

"Wanna bet?" I challenged, only to regret it when he leered closer. I could feel her face right next to mine, muttering that she just wanted to leave and he wasn't worth it. I caught sight of Puck out of the corner of my eye, watching us intently. His words came back to me.

How bad would it really be if everyone knew?

I spun around, slipping out of her hold on my shoulders. I stood on tiptoes, lifted one hand to the side of her face, and kissed her.

She gasped into my mouth but I didn't let up, pressing my lips harder against hers until she was kissing back. Her nails were digging into the skin on my arm and I squeezed her lightly around the waist, keeping my other hand resting on her cheek as I kissed her. I didn't want it to end. As soon as it ended, I'd have to deal with what I'd just done. But wrapped up in Brittany, I didn't have to think about it. I kissed her and kissed her, embracing the feel of her lips on mine.

She pulled back too soon. I reluctantly opened my eyes to see her grinning down at me. I hadn't seen her look so happy since Christmas, when I'd told her about mamá, and for a moment I felt happy. But then her gaze flicked past me and I remembered Josh. I remembered everyone else around. I could feel them watching. They wouldn't look away. What were they hoping for, some sort of show?

Josh's voice sounded snidely from behind me. "I can work with that."

The same anger from before suddenly rose up and expanded into fury and I spun again, lifting both hands to shove him backwards.

"She's mine, okay? She's my girl and you don't get to fucking touch her, alright? Don't fucking come near us! And you!" I twisted to scowl at the other Gryffindor boys I knew had been watching the whole time. "All of you! Get it into your tiny brains, it's not gonna happen. She's mine, and I'm hers, and we're not interested in any of you so just stop!"

I was breathing hard, but no one said a word. No one. The music was still on, but no one was paying attention to it. Everyone was still. Everyone was looking at me. Looking at us. Now it felt like I couldn't breathe at all. What had I done? Something knocked my wrist and I jerked away, but then I felt a hand take mine and I turned back to find Brittany smiling at me again. That was it. That was what I had to focus on. This was for her. Everything was for her. She tugged and my feet moved. The crowd parted for us, and I could hear the whispers start with my first step. Josh was yelling something after us but I couldn't make out what. I kept my eyes trained on Brittany. A hand fell on my shoulder and I jumped, but it was only Puck, winking at me and saying something about it taking me long enough. I couldn't answer him. I couldn't believe what I'd just done.

We were in a different room now - the room with the trapdoor. No one there could have heard, but it felt like they were still looking. Looking, judging. I couldn't do anything except follow Brittany.

We were in the tunnel before I realised, and the lack of people helped me breathe again. I pulled on her hand after about a minute and she stopped, turning so that I could see that wonderful smile of hers again. It wasn't enough, though. I couldn't stop thinking of how they'd looked at me. Not just me, though, it was us. She was going to suffer too.

I stumbled to the side of the tunnel, resting my back on the wall and not caring about getting my dress dirty. I squeezed my eyes shut, but immediately had to open them again to find Brittany. She was approaching, her beaming expression shifting to one of more concern. I kept watching her as she got closer and closer, until her face was only centimetres away from mine.

"I love you."

The words calmed me more than anything else could have and I reached out desperately to pull her into me, hugging her tightly.

"What are they gonna do?" I whispered into her hair, clinging onto her as tight as I could without hurting her, my shoulders shaking a little as I tried to calm myself.

"We'll be okay. I have you, and you have me," she replied simply, her soft hands resting on my upper back, trying to still my trembling. She shifted, her lips moving to plant soft kisses on my neck. I melted a little more in her hold as the kisses travelled up to the side of my face, then my ear. "Thank you," she whispered, so quietly I barely heard her.

I let my eyes drift shut as she continued to kiss me. Her lips pressed softly to every part of my face, soothing me further. When she found my lips I kissed her back slowly, my hands running up and down her sides. Her hands started wandering too as her kisses became more insistent. I was breathing fast again but for a different reason, my hold on her tightening. Her teeth grazed my bottom lip and I let out a tiny whimper.

She'd pull back occasionally to whisper more thanks and praise for my "bravery", but as the minutes passed those intermissions became less frequent. She was pressing me hard against the wall and I could feel fingers shimmying underneath my dress and up the inside of my leg, inviting goosebumps to follow. I gasped when she made contact and panicked suddenly when I remembered where we were, trying to pull back, but it was impossible when she was so close. There was no space between us and I was backed up against the wall. But she sensed my reaction, and her mouth pulled back to pepper fresh kisses along my cheekbone.

"What is it, sweetie?" she murmured against my skin. Her hand had retreated back down my thigh a little, but her hips were still moving against mine in time with the distant bass and for a moment I considered dropping all my worries and just diving straight back in. But the beat of the music reminded me again that we weren't alone.

"Not here," I muttered. I realised my fingers were tracing the line of her zipper and dropped my hand to grab hers. I shifted to the side with some difficulty until I was away from the wall and started down the tunnel again, pulling her after me and turning so I was walking backwards, but facing her. She was grinning again and took two wide strides to catch up with me, then leaned in so her lips were brushing my ear as she whispered.

"I promise it'll be okay, Santana."

She was right. It was okay.

Well, it wasn't great.

When we appeared in the Slytherin common room together the next morning I was tempted to just leave immediately, with how much people were staring. They weren't even bothering to keep their whispers down as we passed. I tried to act like it was fine, but when Berry started congratulating me in the dorm while Niamh was watching, the only thing I could think to do was hex her. Brittany wasn't very happy about that, but she didn't say anything except the counter-spell.

Breakfast was worse. I didn't want to go. I wanted to sneak into the elf kitchens.

"Santana, you can't avoid meals for the rest of your time at Hogwarts," Brittany said as we stood in one of the lesser-known passages that led to the Great Hall.

"Watch me."

She sighed, turning to cup my face with both hands.

"It'll be okay, I told you. I'm gonna be with you the whole time. If I can't be a hit witch with you, I can at least pretend to be one here. I'll hex anyone who insults you," she said firmly.

"But Britt, you don't like hexing people."

"I'll just stop them speaking or something. Turn their robes pink."

I laughed quietly at that, glancing further down the corridor in the direction of the Great Hall. She was right. I'd have to face it eventually.

"Alright," I murmured.

Her face lit up and she pulled me by the hand back into the casual pace we'd been taking before I tried to turn around and run. I watched our hands as they swung slightly back and forth, debating with myself. They knew. Everyone knew. There was no way gossip like that had stayed contained. Every person in the Great Hall would look at me differently. Would the professors have heard? How would they react?

The Entrance Hall wasn't very busy, but people still looked when we emerged from the side. They looked, and saw us holding hands, and I didn't know what to do. Brittany turned back around, sending me a gentle smile. She squeezed my hand a little, one eyebrow lifting, and I nodded quickly. I couldn't hide it now. I just had to deal with the consequences. She turned a little more so no one else could see her face, and mouthed to me. I love you.

I glanced at the giant double doors. I could hear the swell of noise coming from inside. I looked back at her. She was gazing at me with such confidence, such pride – such love – that I couldn't deny her this. As nervous as I was to face everyone, she was worth it. She was worth everything.

I nodded again, smiled at her, then turned and walked straight into the Great Hall.