Man, y'all BLEW UP over Ezra as Lockhart and Spencer as Hermione. It was glorious! And I'm late once again, I know. I might have to keep alternating days like this, you guys, I'm really sorry :/ but I'm really happy with this chapter (it's one of my favorites), so hopefully that makes up for it?
Titanium Wolf: Indeed, Smackdown time is correct. And I'm glad you liked the costume choices! They seemed fitting :)
foreverawhileandbeautifulmess: Wow, well I LOVE this new pen name just as much as the old one. And I agree, Emily just cannot catch a break. Thanks again for your fabulous reviews!
TotalCowGirl: Thank you so much!
Spobyistruelove: I don't think I put any references that chapter, but there are most definitely references this chapter! Be on the look out ;)
Ava B: Spencer is SO Hermione, haha. And ShadowsOnTheMoon is the biggest Wrencer fan I've ever come across, so I can't wait for her to read that chapter! And man, if this story could reach 600 reviews, I'd be the happiest person alive. I'm counting on all of you to get me there, though!
Forever Courage: Glad I did a good job painting a picture for you! Thanks again, your reviews are lovely :)
Sarah: Aww, well now I wanna be able to see the drawing of Ezra as Lockhart! You can't just leave me hanging like that, haha. And indeed, OTPS DRESSED AS OTPS! OTP INCEPTION! And yes, this chapter will be a continuation of the Halloween ball, and most of it is Emily-centric, so I think you especially will enjoy it :) wow, a PLL/Hunger Games crossover? I'm sure it's amazing. You have been so amazing to me and encouraging to me throughout this story, so I only wish for the best for you as well :D PLEASSEE don't hold your breath, though, I don't want to be responsible for your death!
Sgdp1261: Yep, looks like Emily is fighting off the OTHER pixie in Hogwarts (the first one being Aria, haha. "Maybe for you, you're a PIXIE! I've gotten really good at this...") And it's a pretty fantastic picture, I must say, and now I just want that to happen! These are good ideas for the producers in a Christmas special for season 5, lol.
Bagilia: Caleb's entrance will make you SWOOON it will be so fantastic. And I can promise you right now that Wrenna will not be a thing in my story. Happy? ;) And I'm LOADED with good pet names like that. I'll unload them all in my next PM to you! And I was kidding! I'm an Ezria shipper, we're supposedly all banded together in an army of teenage fangirls who are bloodthirsty for anyone who tries to break those two up. All the shippers are bad in their own fabulous way, lol. EQUAL TO VANDERJESUS?! Literally, I can't think of a greater compliment. THANK YOU!
hufflepuffhaleb: No worries, you will get your dose of Haleb this chapter! Thank you for the Hufflepuff hugs. All the Slytherin hugs go out to you! They might not seem as comforting, but they are surprisingly warm and welcoming :)
Goldenheart11: Spoby has zero boundaries, hahaha. I'm sure Ron and Hugo are used to this, though. Their parents are on Chocolate Frog cards, after all! THEY'RE FAMOUS! And haha, no worries, totally understandable. There are plenty of people who ship Dramione! I'm pretty tolerant, but I LOVE Hermione and Ron together :) And I don't love torturing Toby! I just have to sometimes for the sake of the story!
PrettyWitchyVamp: I'm pretty neutral on Emily's love life as well. Either is fine for me! And I'm glad you liked the costumes! Aria basically is a cat, and a damn AWESOME cat at that! And that's the point: you should NEVER get the image of Ezra as Lockhart out of your head ever. It's worthy of staying there for all of eternity XD
Now for the chapter. Enjoy, and REVIEW! And PS: I do not own John Mayer or any of his songs. Just a little fun fact.
"Alright, Noel, hit me up," Hanna ordered as she sauntered up to Noel, who was dressed to the nines in an authentic werewolf costume. Noel disconnected his lips from Jenna's, who was dressed in a matching werewolf costume, to stare down Hanna.
"I'm a little busy, Marin?" he said, giving her the fisheye as he started to turn back to Jenna, but Hanna slapped him away.
"You should have expected demanding customers when you put up your little butterbeer business," Hanna snapped. "So hit me up."
"Gonna cost you," Noel said slimily.
"Do I look like I have money on me? I'm a house elf."
"No dough, no beer," Noel said simply as he turned back to Jenna, but he was slapped away again; this time by a different pair of hands.
Caleb dropped a few sickles in Noel's hand before enclosing his fingers around them. "Get the lady some beer, Kahn."
Noel pondered his options as he stared at Jenna, then at Hanna and Caleb, then back to Jenna, before huffing in annoyance and going to get the beer. Jenna stared after him for several seconds before finally stomping in his direction. Hanna turned to Caleb with a smile on her face as she wrapped her arms around him.
"My hero," she joked.
Caleb just shrugged. "How could I deprive my lady of some butterbeer?"
"Well, it's not really for me..." Hanna said sheepishly. "I was getting that for Spencer."
Caleb froze, before wrinkling his forehead thoughtfully. "Well then that bitch owes me 5 sickles," he muttered.
Hanna laughed before smacking him playfully on the shoulder. "Where'd you even get the money?"
"Umm, I take offense?" Caleb said in mock appall. "Just because my family treats me like an orphan does NOT mean that - "
"Caleb," Hanna interjected, in a tone that told him to give it up.
He just sighed. "Fine. I fixed up someone's wand in record time, so they paid me double."
Hanna smiled victoriously as she reached up to ruffle Caleb's hair. Caleb then whispered in her ear that he was just going to get her beer from Noel, and then parted ways from her. She couldn't help but notice that he kept stealing glances back at her as he continued walking. He was worried about her even more now that he knew some of the details of someone out to get her, but she didn't need that. She needed him to stay out of it; the last thing she needed was someone getting hurt for her.
Hanna just shook her head as she started to walk away, as though this was the appropriate way to shake all of the bad thoughts from her head. But as she turned in the other direction, she accidentally ran into someone. When she looked up to apologize, she let out a scream.
"Lucas," Hanna gasped. "Why do you look so... scary?"
Lucas's eyes dilated in confusion as he took his fake rotted teeth out of his mouth. "It's Halloween," he deadpanned. He was dressed as a zombie, with all black clothing, pale face makeup, and the occasional cuts and bruises scattered out along the parts of his skin that showed through his costume.
Hanna just blinked, disoriented. "Right," was all she could think to say.
Lucas stared at her, the smallest hint of disapproval in his beady black eyes. "Why are you with Caleb?"
"Umm... because he's my boyfriend?" Hanna said, a little irritated at Lucas's comment.
"Last time I checked, you two were fighting," Lucas pointed out. "What happened to that?"
"We made up," Hanna said as she crossed her arms uncomfortably. "We never broke up, Lucas."
"Well you should have!" Lucas snapped. Hanna took a full step back, now angry.
"How could you say that?" she snapped back. "I love him!"
Lucas just snorted as he tried to suppress, yet didn't try to suppress, a hard laugh. Hanna narrowed her eyes at him. "What's so funny?"
He just pretended to wipe an amused tear from his eye as Hanna resisted the urge to smack him. "You're lying to yourself."
"Lying?" Hanna echoed.
"If you love him as much as you say you do," Lucas said venomously, "you wouldn't be macking off with me in the common room!"
"Lucas," Hanna spat, "that was one small kiss and it came from you, not me!"
"I bet you haven't even told him about it!" Lucas accused.
"You're right, I haven't!" she said bluntly. "Know why? Because it didn't mean anything."
"Hanna, after that kiss, I thought we were gonna be together - "
"Well, we're not!" Hanna was shouting now, and was thankful that she couldn't be heard over the hum of conversation all around the room and the music playing over everyone (the Muggle Studies professor had arranged for them to play muggle tunes at the dance).
Hanna took a daring step toward Lucas. "Drop it," she said in a voice around an octave below her own. "It didn't mean anything. I like you as a friend, and I am with Caleb. The kiss meant nothing. Got it?"
She didn't even wait for his response. She just turned around and started walking away before he could even begin opening his mouth. But Lucas grabbed her arm. "Where are you going?"
"Away from you," she said as she snaked her arm out of Lucas's grasp and walked back to her friends, not even glancing behind her to see Lucas's face transform to one of snark and anger... to one of pure sadness.
Emily leaned against the wall, chugging the punch in her goblet and wishing more than ever that it was actually butterbeer. She was trying to avoid Maya, but also, as much as she hated it, trying to avoid Paige. If Paige caught on to how flustered Emily was, she would know something was up.
Emily just groaned as she slid down the wall and put her head up against her knees. Why did her love life always have to be so complicated?
"Emily?" a small voice in the background said. Emily looked up to see Aria hovering over her.
"Oh, hey," Emily muttered.
"Everything okay?" Aria asked worriedly as she sat down next to Emily, who just sighed in response.
"This was supposed to be a really fun night for me and Paige!" Emily said frustratedly. "Now suddenly Maya is here and is ruining everything! What could she possibly want from me?"
"Emily, Maya clearly just really likes you," Aria said comfortingly as she gave Emily's knee a calming rub. "She's upset because you're taken."
"Well, she needs to get over it," Emily muttered bitterly.
Suddenly, a slow instrumental played over the Great Hall, and John Mayer's vocals were heard as he started the opening verse to Daughters. Aria looked across the hall to see a less-than-stable Maya swaying to the music, her pixie costume slipping in all the wrong places, as she tried not to fall on her face. Emily didn't deserve Maya pining over her, and she didn't deserve the confusion and conflict that came with her being back. Maya had always been really nice every time she talked to the girls, but they all had a problem with her drug addiction. Back when Emily and Maya were dating, she would always leave Emily to snag some Felix Felicis, or smoke a joint; something of that nature. Emily had pretended she didn't mind because she clearly loved Maya so much, but Aria and the others could see that she did mind deep down. When she was with Paige, however, she didn't have that problem; Paige was always loving and sweet, and didn't leave Emily hanging. She loved Emily just as much as Emily loved her, which was something that wasn't necessarily there with Maya.
"Em," Aria finally said. "If I were you, I'd put Maya in her place."
"How?" Emily asked.
Aria pointed over to the dance floor, where Paige stood out among everyone as she looked to and fro, searching for the tall, tan brunette of her affections. "A slow song is playing, and the girl of your dreams wants to share it with you. So go dance with her while Maya is watching."
"Won't that just make things worse?"
"You won't know until you find out!" Aria said bravely.
"I don't know - "
"You'd be showing her that you're not going to let her get in the way of you having a good time," Aria reasoned. "Besides... you should take advantage of the fact that you can actually share a dance."
Emily processed these words as she looked over to Ezra, who was standing off to the side as he watched everyone else dance in time to the music, clearly wishing more than ever that he could have the one he loved in his arms as the song played on. Meanwhile, Emily actually had the opportunity, and she wasn't even taking it.
"Okay," Emily said as she stood up, not wanting to pass up a good opportunity while she still had it. "I'll do it."
"That's my girl!" Aria said proudly as she stared up at Emily. Emily lovingly flicked one of Aria's felt ears before walking off to the dance floor, while Aria just stared longingly after her.
All of her friends were on the dance floor now, dancing with their respective spouses, and she was alone. This had happened several times before, yet she could never seem to get used to the lonely feeling. She loved Ezra with all her heart, but she couldn't deny that the relationship had some drawbacks. And this was most definitely one of them.
She supposed she could just give him some sort of warning signal to join her in their secret hiding place, but she was afraid it would raise eyebrows. So instead, she promptly gritted her teeth and stayed in her spot on the ground.
"Montgomery," a deep voice said, and Aria looked up. Noel was looking down on her, smirking.
Aria sighed. "What do you want, Noel?" she said as she stood up from the ground.
He just gave her his notorious grin. "I want a dance," he said simply.
Aria just laughed in his face, but something in his features was completely serious. Aria stopped laughing. "Wait, you're serious right now?"
"Jenna's in the bathroom, and you don't look too happy here by yourself," he said with a shrug. "Why not?"
"But Noel - "
"Can't we just put the past behind us and enjoy right now?" he asked earnestly, holding out his hand for him to take.
Aria chewed on the inside of her cheek, falling back into her bad habit. She had forgotten how sweet and charming Noel could be; it was one of his winning features that made him such a catch among female students in her year, and it was part of what made her go out with him in the first place. She knew that if she said no, he'd be suspicious, so she finally gave up and took his extended hand.
He led her to the center of the dance floor, and Aria stole a glance behind her. Ezra was looking straight in her direction, shocked, and even a little hurt.
I'll explain later, she mouthed as she turned back to Noel and put her hands on his shoulders, trying to erase Ezra's broken expression from her mind as she tried to force John Mayer's soothing words into it. "I know a girl, she puts the color inside of my world..."
Emily started making her way over to Paige as a smile crept over her face. Her smile was reflected on Paige's own features, but that disappeared in merely a second. She was still looking straight at Emily when her face transformed, and Emily was confused by this, so she turned around.
"Heeyyyy, girl," Maya slurred as she stumbled up to Emily.
Oh my god, Emily thought frantically. This is not happening.
Emily turned around to Paige, whose lips were tightly pursed in unmistakable irritation. Shooting her an apologetic glance, Emily grabbed Maya by the arm and pulled her over to the side of the dance floor.
"Ooh, where are we going?" Maya asked as her eyes drooped. In a huff, Emily took Maya straight over to one of the benches, where she promptly sat her down on it.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Emily said interrogatively. "Why are you even here? Dance music isn't your thing, remember?"
"Good to see you actually care enough to remember a small detail about me," Maya snapped as she tried to cross her legs, but failed miserably.
"Maya, don't give me that crap."
"Oh I'm sorry," Maya said with unmistakable sarcasm. "Am I ruining your evening?"
"Now that you mention it, yes," Emily snapped. "You are. If you like me so much, why do you have to make me so miserable? Why can't you just let me be happy?"
"Ugh, you are so full of it, Emily!" Maya said frustratedly, and Emily could tell that this wasn't the alcohol talking; this was all Maya. "You think this is because I like you?"
"Why else would you be doing this?" Emily exclaimed over the music.
"Because you're just throwing me away like I'm a piece of garbage," Maya said angrily, her tongue clicking against her teeth with surprising accuracy for someone who could barely make her words out earlier. "And with a girl that you're not even right for!"
"You don't even know her," Emily croaked, shaking her head. "You don't know whether she's right for me or not."
"I know that back when we were dating, you had a giant bruise on your left shoulder for weeks when she threw you off of your broom in anger," Maya pointed out. "And now you're dating her?"
Maya had a point. Several years ago, Paige and Emily were actually competitive adversaries. Paige would constantly act out aggressively against Emily, but Emily had no idea at the time that she was acting out in frustration because of her love for Emily. Emily was already out of the closet, and Paige was jealous that she couldn't join her on the other side.
"There was a lot going on with her then," Emily said timidly.
"Well there's a lot going on with me right now," Maya said simply, "and you don't seem to care."
"Maya, I care about you alot!" Emily said. "I want us to be friends!"
"I can't be friends with someone that I want something more with!" Maya finally cried. "And I especially can't be friends with someone that I know wants something more with me, too!"
Emily froze. There was now complete silence between the two as John Mayer wailed some more over their heads. "Oh, you see that skin? It's the same she's been standing in..."
"Maya," Emily said calmly, "I don't want something more. I'm with Paige now."
"You're not you when you're with her," Maya said, or mumbled since her slur was returning. "You're only you when you're with me."
"Can you get more vain?!" Emily cried. "You have no right to say that. I'm perfectly happy with Paige. When you left this school, I had to find a way to move on. And now I finally have!"
"Do you hear yourself? You had to find a way to move on. You're not finished with me, and you know it."
Emily sighed. "Don't make a big deal out of this - "
"I'm not." Maya spat the words so hard that she nearly spit right in Emily's face. Emily could clearly smell the butterbeer on her breath. "You are. And I don't know why since you've clearly 'moved on' anyway."
"Because I need space!"
"Yeah, and I'm giving you space," Maya said. "You just don't want to believe that I am because every time you see me, you start some big conspiracy over it. I go to this school now, Emily, you're going to see me! And if it's that big of a deal for you, then clearly there is something between us."
"There's nothing between us!"
"Then look me in the eye," Maya said in a low, tight voice, "and tell me that you have no feelings for me."
More silence. Mayer went on to sing the next verse. "Boys, you can break, you'll find out how much they can take..."
Emily opened her mouth to say something, but she was rendered speechless. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to form the fateful words on her tongue.
"Everything okay, Em?" Paige asked, walking up to the girls. Emily bit her tongue. Great.
"Yeah, everything's fine," Emily said forcefully, hoping Paige didn't notice the way her voice was cracking. "Right Maya?"
"Peachy," Maya said in a voice that dripped sarcasm as she made her way to her feet. Without another word, she stood upright, clumsily straightened the pleats on her pixie costume, and stumbled away.
Emily shot to her feet, staring after Maya, her last words to Emily still ringing in her ear.
Look me in the eye and tell me that you have no feelings for me.
And Emily hadn't said a word.
"What was that about?" Paige asked gently. The anger in her features from earlier was gone. Now she was just genuinely concerned. For all she knew, Maya could be harassing her girlfriend!
"Nothing," Emily said, shrugging it off. "Just... hold me, okay?"
For a minute, Paige was stunned. But then her features softened, and she nodded her head as she wrapped her arms around Emily's shoulders, and Emily then rested her head on Paige's shoulders, and both simply swayed to the music, trying their very hardest to block out the world before them.
On behalf of every man
Looking out for every girl
You are the god and the weight of her world
So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too
Side Note: Alright, there are two references in this chapter: one from the show, and one from something completely different. Bonus points if you can guess the completely different one :) and I've always liked Emaria friendship, especially in the earlier seasons. They always gave each other relationship advice and i thought it was cute. We need more scenes with those two alone on the show! Alright truth time- Emaya or Paily? I personally can't decide; Paily is many levels of adorable in season 4, but Emaya will always hold a very special place in my heart. I mean, she was Emily's first girlfriend! I'm completely torn, what do you guys think? And Daughters. I don't know if this song could be connected to the context of the scene in any way- maybe how protective Paige is of Emily, much like a father to a daughter? Or maybe since John Mayer makes the distinction in his song how girls genetically analyze and process their relationships more than guys, that relates to the processing nature that possesses all lesbians (shout out again to AfterEllen). But I have also just always loved this song, and it seems like the perfect song to slow dance to. I slow danced to it at cotillion when I was in fifth grade with my crush of one year, and the song was too perfect XD So ANYWAY, hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and don't forget to review!
