Chapter Eighteen
The Hogwarts staff, demonstrating a continued desire to impress the visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, seemed determined to show the castle at its best this Christmas. When the decorations went up, Stella noticed that they were the most stunning she had yet seen inside the school.
Everlasting icicles had been attached to the banisters of the marble staircase; the usual twelve Christmas trees in the Great Hall were bedecked with everything from luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls, and the suits of armor had all been bewitched to sing carols whenever anyone passed them. It was quite something to hear "O Come, All Ye Faithful" sung by an empty helmet that only knew half the words. Several times, Filch the caretaker had to extract Peeves from inside the armor, where he had taken to hiding, filling in the gaps in the songs with lyrics of his own invention, all of which were very rude.
Stella spent the first three days of break doing her homework in the library with Hermione, Blaise and Theo. Harry and Ron were there as well, but Stella didn't think they were doing homework to be honest. Theo and Hermione were sharing a potions book across from Stella, causing her and Blaise to exchange amused smirks before going back to their own homework. Fred and George had had a great success with their Canary Creams, and for the first couple of days of the holidays, people kept bursting into feather all over the place.
Snow was falling thickly upon the castle and its grounds now. The pale blue Beauxbatons carriage looked like a large, chilly, frosted pumpkin next to the iced gingerbread house that was Hagrid's cabin, while the Durmstrang ship's portholes were glazed with ice, the rigging white with frost. The house-elves down in the kitchen were outdoing themselves with a series of rich, warming stews and savory puddings, and only Fleur Delacour seemed to be able to find anything to complain about.
"It is too 'eavy, all zis 'Ogwarts food," they heard her saying grumpily as they left the Great Hall behind her one evening. "I will not fit into my dress robes!"
"Oooh, there's a tragedy," Hermione snapped as Fleur went out into the entrance hall. "She really thinks a lot of herself, that one, doesn't she?"
Stella woke early on the day of Christmas, stretching her arms above her head and letting out a groan as her back popped loudly. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes before looking to the end of the bed and finding presents waiting for her. Stella pulled the boxes up one by one, opening them as she went. She herself had mail ordered gifts for everyone and really hoped everyone liked what they got. Stella smiled at the new quills she'd received from Percy before finding trick treats from the twins with a note to use them as she wished.
It was when she reached a box that was very obviously from her mum that she teared up a bit. Inside the box was the first Weasley sweater that Stella had received since starting at Hogwarts. She pulled it over her head immediately, smelling the yarn that smelt like home, a few tears rolling down her face in the process.
After pulling on a pair of jeans and brown boots, brushing out her hair and tossing it into a messy bun, Stella walked to breakfast with her dorm mates. Pansy seemed as if she were trying not to sneer at Stella's sweater before catching sight of Blaise and Theo, who were also wearing sweaters much like Stella's. Stella smiled when she saw them though, taking the spot between the two and making her plate.
She dragged the two and Tracy up to the Gryffindor common room, forcing them into the warmth that awaited them and smirking as they all sat around the others. The Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione didn't even bat an eye as the four joined them, while the other Gryffindors looked a bit uneasy at first. Blaise and Ginny flirted, something Stella didn't know Ginny knew how to do, much to the dislike of her brothers, but they said nothing once they caught sight of Stella's threatening glare on them.
Harry and Stella split off from the group at lunchtime, both dressing warmly as they met Snape at the front entrance and followed him into Hogsmeade to head to the home that Sirius and Remus occupied for lunch.
"See how much easier that is when you don't sneak out?" Snape asked as they entered the house.
"Less fun," Stella wrinkled her nose before smiling and hugging Sirius and then Remus.
The five spent the afternoon in the house, eating a small lunch and exchanging a few gifts in the process. Snape looked surprised when he received a gift from Stella and one from Remus but said nothing, passing Stella a gift without making eye contact with her, causing her to roll her eyes as she opened it, finding an empty photobook.
"For your scrapbooking," he sniffed, Stella having made the joke to him at some point, before opening his gift from her and finding cookies, fudge, and a journal with his name engraved in it, cauldrons pressed into the leather. "Oh."
"Do you like it?" Stella asked.
"It is… acceptable," he answered and Stella beamed.
"Emotionally constipated," Remus coughed. "Ooh. Sorry. Had a little something in my throat."
"Fur ball?" Snape asked and Stella had to look away completely to keep from laughing.
Snape led Stella and Harry back up to the caste at four and Stella went straight to the dungeons to get ready. Stella smiled at her dorm mates before taking a quick shower. She dried her hair with her wand before she sat on the bathroom counter with the door open, doing her makeup close to the mirror so she could see what she was doing up close. After doing a rather natural look on her makeup, a bit of glitter added to her lids so they popped, Stella hoped down, smiling at Tracy and Lily, who had ended up on either side of her on the counter as they did their own makeup.
Stella pulled her long, straight, black hair back, braiding it before creating a bun out of it. She added silver flower pins in for decoration before pulling her dress box out and setting it on her bed. She'd received jewelry from Sirius earlier that day and she'd decided to wear it the moment she'd seen it. She put on the silver chain necklace with an aquamarine heart on the end of it, along with the matching earrings.
Stella opened her dress box, smiling as she pulled out the light blue dress and laid it out on the bed. Tracy and Lily came out of the bathroom and Daphne, Pansy, and Milicent went in to finish up. Stella put on the dress then, smiling as the dress fell down her body, ruffles fluttering a bit in the process.
"Oh, Stella," Tracy breathed. "You look beautiful."
"So do you," Stella smiled, finding Tracy in red. "Ron's not going to know what hit him."
Once they were all ready, the six girls headed down to the common room, finding the fourth year boys waiting on them. Draco held his arm out for Pansy, who was in a pale pink, frilly thing of a dress that Stella didn't think suited her at all. Pansy had admitted that her mother had picked it, looking rather annoyed in the process. Stella and Daphne had cut a few of the ruffles off with their wands to try and calm the dress a bit but there was only so much they could do. Theo and Blaise looked rather handsome in their black and white dress robes, causing Stella to smile brightly at them. Both boys saw her and smiled right back.
"Gorgeous," Blaise told her.
"You look beautiful, Stella," Theo told her.
"The two of you look so handsome," Stella told them, patting their cheeks and causing them both to grumble a complaint.
"Shall we?" Blaise asked, offering Stella his arm.
"We shall," she smiled as she took it.
Theo offered his arm as well and Stella smirked as she walked out of the common room with both boys on her arm. They walked into the Entrance Hall and all looked around, Tracy coming up beside them as well as she looked for Ron.
"There's Potter and Weasley," Theo pointed out.
"And I see Ginny," Blaise smiled.
"See ya," Stella smirked, leaving the two boys and grabbing Tracy's hand. "Come on."
Ron smiled when he saw them and slapped Harry's shoulder, pointing in their direction. Harry looked over and his jaw dropped when he saw Stella before he began smiling so widely that Stella thought his cheeks must hurt from the effort.
"Hi," Tracy greeted Ron.
"You look great," Ron told her. "I got you this."
Ron pulled a corsage from his pocket and slipped it onto Tracy's wrist.
"I know it's not much," he told her. "I saw the flowers the other day and thought of you though."
"I love it," Tracy smiled.
"Should we go inside?" he asked her. "Leave these two to it?"
"Sure," Tracy nodded and the two left Harry and Stella standing together.
"I didn't get you flowers," Harry admitted.
"I don't need any," Stella insisted.
"I got you something else," he interrupted, putting his hand in his pocket and pulling it back out. "I almost panicked when I saw what Sirius had gotten you until I saw that it didn't include a bracelet."
Stella gasped at the diamond bracelet in Harry's hand. It was decorated with infinity symbols in between each diamond. She smiled brightly at Harry and he looked relieved.
"You like it?" he asked, just to be sure.
"I love it," she assured him.
He put the bracelet on her wrist, smiling as he took her hand in his before something caught his eye behind her. Stella turned quickly, finding Hermione coming down the stairs towards Theo. Her hair was sleek and shiny from the products Stella had sent to her and she was wearing a floaty, periwinkle-blue dress. She was smiling nervously as she approached Theo, who had been rendered speechless at the sight of her.
"Champions! Over here!" McGonagall called but Stella and Harry didn't move, watching Hermione as she stood a step above Theo, neither speaking as Theo tried to find words. "Potter? Black? Oh!"
"She's beautiful," Stella smiled to McGonagall, seeing the soft smile on the strict teachers face as she caught sight of Hermione.
Once everyone else was settled in the Hall, Professor McGonagall told the champions and their partners to get in line in pairs and to follow her. They did so, and everyone in the Great Hall applauded as they entered and started walking up toward a large round table at the top of the Hall, where the judges were sitting.
The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people.
When the champions and their partners reached the table, Percy drew out the empty chair beside him, staring pointedly at Harry. Harry took the hint and sat down next to Percy, who was wearing brand-new, navy-blue dress robes and an expression of such smugness that Stella thought it ought to be fined.
"I've been promoted," Percy told them before they could ask. "I'm now Mr. Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him."
"Why didn't he come?" Harry asked.
"I'm afraid to say Mr. Crouch isn't well, not well at all. Hasn't been right since the World Cup. Hardly surprising — overwork. He's not as young as he was — though still quite brilliant, of course, the mind remains as great as it ever was. But the World Cup was a fiasco for the whole Ministry, and then, Mr. Crouch suffered a huge personal shock with the misbehavior of that house-elf of his, Blinky, or whatever she was called. Naturally, he dismissed her immediately afterward, but — well, as I say, he's getting on, he needs looking after, and I think he's found a definite drop in his home comforts since she left. And then we had the tournament to arrange, and the aftermath of the Cup to deal with — that revolting Skeeter woman buzzing around — no, poor man, he's having a well-earned, quiet Christmas. I'm just glad he knew he had someone he could rely upon to take his place."
There was no food as of yet on the glittering golden plates, but small menus were lying in front of each of them. Harry picked his up uncertainly and looked around, causing Stella to do the same — there were no waiters. Dumbledore, however, looked carefully down at his own menu, then said very clearly to his plate, "Pork chops!" And pork chops appeared. Getting the idea, the rest of the table placed their orders with their plates too.
"Mincemeat tarts," Stella stated and five bite sized, fruit filled tarts covered in powdered sugar appeared on her plate. "Ahh."
"I think you're supposed to eat dinner first," Harry smirked at her.
"Can't hear you over how good these smell," Stella joked before picking one up and popping it into her mouth, moaning at the taste.
"Can't be that good," Harry joked and Stella picked another one up, holding her hand under it as she fed it to Harry, whose eyes widened once he'd taken a bite from it. "Alright, fine. You win."
"Never doubt me," Stella told him, finishing the bite.
"I'm actually not sure what I want," he admitted.
"Want me to pick something for you?" Stella asked, passing him another tart. "I'll get us both something different so if you don't like yours, you can steal mine?"
"What if I like mine but want to try yours?" Harry asked.
"We can split it," Stella smirked.
"Deal," Harry nodded, stealing the last tart from Stella and causing her mouth to open in shock before they both laughed.
"Alright. Beef wellington, brussels sprouts, and roasted potatoes for me. Turkey, roasted parsnips, and bubble and squeak for you," Stella stated and the meals appeared in front of each of them.
"What was that last bit?" Harry asked.
"Potato cakes," Stella told him. "Just eat it."
Harry held his hands up in surrender before picking up his fork. He and Stella shared their dinners, both liking everything on their plates, except that Harry didn't like the brussels sprouts. Harry ordered his dessert after that; Scottish shortbread topped with pears, which Stella stole a bite of quickly as payback.
When all the food had been consumed, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then, with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and some bagpipes were set upon it.
The Weird Sisters now trooped up onto the stage to wildly enthusiastic applause; they were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn. They picked up their instruments and the champions stood, Stella taking Harry's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. The Weird Sisters struck up a slow, mournful tune as they walked onto the dance floor, almost all of Hogwarts watching them.
Stella rather enjoyed how Harry kept his eyes on her, a smile on his face as he spun her around. He lifted her into the air, spinning her before bringing her back down and continuing to lead her through the waltz. Others began to join soon after. Blaise led Ginny to the dance floor and Theo followed with Hermione, the two couples dancing much like how Harry and Stella were, though Blaise and Ginny seemed to be joking back and forth in the process, whereas Theo and Hermione moved together quietly, eyes locked on one another.
Dumbledore was waltzing with Madame Maxime. Neville was watching his feet as he danced with Luna. Mad-Eye Moody was doing an extremely ungainly two-step with Professor Sinistra, who was nervously avoiding his wooden leg.
"Nice socks, Potter," Moody growled as he passed, his magical eye staring through Harry's robes.
"Oh, yeah. Dobby the house-elf knitted them for me," Harry grinned.
"You're still wearing those?" Stella laughed, having seen the socks earlier.
"They're comfortable," Harry shrugged, smiling at her.
The final, quavering note from the bagpipe played and everyone applauded before a faster song began.
"I don't think we can waltz to this one," Harry commented, looking around as everyone around them began dancing.
"I think this one is more of a 'feel the music' type things," Stella laughed as Crabbe and Goyle flailed about. "We can't be worse than them."
Harry just pulled Stella close, dancing slowly with her and ignoring how everyone else was dancing. Stella felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach at the action and a slight blush going across her cheeks. Harry stared down at her for a long moment before slowly moving his head closer to hers.
'He's going to kiss me,' Stella thought to herself.
When he was less than an inch from her, however, Fred and George appeared, interrupting the moment.
"Sister!" they yelled together and Harry and Stella jumped apart.
"It's time," George smiled.
"Snape's gone out to check the grounds," Fred added.
"Coast is mostly clear," George nodded.
"Alright," Stella smirked before looking to Harry. "Stay away from the cream puffs and the red punch."
"You got it," Harry laughed. "I'll go find the others."
"I'll come find you in a bit," Stella promised.
Stella was dragged away by Fred and George. Fred and George kept a lookout as Stella walked pass the punch table, getting a cup of red punch as she poured a confidence potion in before moving along, rejoining her brothers with two butterbeers in hand for them. They clinked their cups together and separated, spreading out to hang spelled mistletoe at random. She found Harry soon after, giving him a smile before realizing he was sitting with Ron, Tracy, Ginny, Blaise, Hermione, Theo, and… Percy, for some reason?
Percy smiled brightly when he saw Stella.
"There you are," he said. "I was wondering where you'd gone."
"Well, I'm here now," Stella said, rolling her eyes when Percy didn't move so she could sit. She sat in Harry's lap instead. "What did I miss?"
"Well…" Percy went to start.
"I mean Yule Ball wise," she clarified.
"Cedric told me to take a bath with my egg," Harry offered.
"Hufflepuffs are weird," Stella shook her head, noticing how unhappy Percy looked with where Stella had sat but ignoring it. "Did he say why?"
"No. Just told me to use the prefect's bathroom and gave me the password," Harry shrugged and he and Stella shared amused looks at the idea of someone giving them a password when they had the map.
"How helpful," she stated.
"Want to dance?" Harry asked before hearing shouting.
"Yup," Stella nodded, standing and dragging Harry to the dance floor.
Turns out that confidence potions caused people to be a bit reckless with their actions. Who knew? Certainly not Stella if asked. Ron and Tracy ended up stuck under some mistletoe, unable to move from under it until they kissed, causing Fred to wolf whistle in the distance. The Weird Sister's stopped playing at midnight and everyone began heading out. Harry walked Stella all the way to the steps leading to her dorm room before kissing her head and wishing her a good night. She fell onto her bed, smiling like a loon.
The entire castle slept in the next day. Well, everyone except Stella. Stella used the map to sneak around the castle, putting up more spelled mistletoe in inconvenient places. Everyone had figured it out at the ball and a few couples had been made while others had broken up just a few hours ago.
Stella also set alarms on a few abandoned classrooms while she was at it so that the next people who tried entering the room would face a rather loud surprise. She got back to the dungeon, placing a mistletoe above the potions classroom door and praying Snape didn't get caught in it before heading back to the common room.
Stella helped Harry get his homework completed in the next few days before break ended before she sent him off with the map and his egg. Theo and Hermione seemed to have actually become official after he'd asked her to the ball, much to Stella's delight except for when she caught sight of Fred staring over longingly. She'd have to talk to him soon, make sure he was alright. Harry came running into the Slytherin common room two hours later with wet hair and his egg.
"He shouldn't be in here," Theo whispered to Stella, but she was already up and moving, eyes watching the Slytherins as they eyed him.
"I've got it," he told her, a bit breathless.
"Let's go find Hermione and Ron then. Come on," she told him before her voice dropped. "Away from all the Death Eater's children, please."
Harry's eyes widened a fraction and he nodded, leaving with Stella quickly. Blaise and Theo watched, making sure no one followed the two as they went. Harry passed Stella the bit of parchment with the riddle from the egg on it.
"Come seek us where our voices sound, We cannot sing above the ground, And while you're searching ponder this: We've taken what you'll sorely miss. An hour long you'll have to look, And to recover what we took, But past an hour — the prospect's black. Too late, it's gone, it won't come back," Stella read. "Alright, so I'm guessing since you had to hold it under water, it means the merpeople in the lake. They want you all to jump into the lake in February? You'll freeze!"
"Warming charm," Harry told her.
"Warming charms only stick for so long," Stella stated. "Certainly not for the hour that they're giving you to retrieve whatever it is they steal."
"I'm keeping my cloak on me and I was hoping you could put my Firebolt with yours?" Harry asked. "They're the only things I own that I actually care about."
"Yeah, of course," Stella nodded. "I'll take it with me after we talk to Ron and Hermione. Do you even know how to swim?"
"No," Harry shook his head.
"Another problem," she sighed. "Okay. How big is the bath in the prefects loo?"
"Huge."
"Is it deep enough for you to learn to swim in?"
"Maybe?"
"Take Ron with you and he'll teach you," Stella told him.
"Stella, I don't think knowing how to swim is the biggest problem. I can't hold my breath for a minute, let alone a whole hour."
"We can look for potions and charms," Stella told him calmly. "We'll figure it out. I'll ask Da and Uncle Moony."
Stella immediately began fiddling with her ring, asking if either of them knew a way that Harry could breathe under water for an hour. Remus suggested the bubblehead charm just as Harry and Stella made it to the Gryffindor common room.
"Go tell them. Uncle Moony gave me an idea. I'm going to the library and I'll be back once I find it," Stella told him.
"Okay," Harry nodded, going inside as Stella took off running.
She didn't know why she was in a hurry for it but it felt important. The sooner Harry learned the charm, the better. She'd also looked for longer lasting heating charms while she was there. She ignored Filch as she ran past him and he yelled not to run in the hallways. Snape frowned and followed after her, hoping that wherever she was going in such a hurry didn't mean she was running away from or towards trouble. He found her in the library with no less than ten books surrounding her, flipping through pages as quickly as possible.
"What are you looking for?" he asked, causing Stella to jump.
"You scared me, sir," she breathed, hand on her chest.
"Yes well I get frightened when I see you running through the halls as you were. Figured something was about to blow up and you were leaving the scene of the crime," he deadpanned.
"That's fair, sir. Not today though. Maybe Monday," she smirked. "I'm looking for the Bubblehead charm and a better heating charm."
"I see Mister Potter figured out his egg, then?" Snape asked.
"Yes, sir," she nodded, hands going to her hips.
"Hmm," Snape hummed before looking around the library. "Well, as you are not a champion, I can tell you that you'll find the Bubblehead charm in one of your older brothers charms books, the twin brothers, I mean. And a heating charm that will last for longer than thirty minutes can be found in the same book."
Stella kissed Snape's check and took off running again.
"You're the best sir!" she shouted, flying pass the angry librarian, Pince, as she left the library.
The books floated back into place and Snape let a smile slip passed before schooling his features and promising Pince he would handle the overexcited student for her. Stella ran back up the steps, hands on her knees once she reached the Fat Lady.
"Why, I never!" she yelled.
"Fairy- fairy lights," Stella breathed up, standing straight and putting her hands on her head. "I need to do more cardio."
The portrait swung open, the Fat Lady not even arguing anymore that Stella was a Slytherin every time she showed up. Stella walked into the common room and went straight up the stairs towards Fred and George's room, ignoring Ron as he called after her. Stella knocked and waited, Lee opening the door and staring at her in confusion before letting her in.
"I need a charms book," she told the twins.
"Sure," Fred nodded, pulling his out and tossing it to her.
"Thanks!" she yelled, running back out of the room and down to the other three. "Alright. The charms should both be in here."
"How do you know?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Asked Snape where I could find the spells and he said that, since I'm not a champion, he could tell me that both charms that I'm looking for are in the sixth year charms books. Aaaaaand here's the warming charm. Oh, just add 'Maxima' to the end of it. Simple enough. Where's the Bubblehead… Bubblehead, bubble… Here we are!" Stella smiled brightly, placing the book on the table so all four of them could look at it.
"That seems a bit difficult," Hermione commented.
"Well, it is a sixth year spell," Stella stated, stealing a bit of parchment and a quill from Hermione to copy the spell and wand movements down. "We can keep looking for other options while practicing this one, just in case."
"What else is in the lake?" Harry asked.
"Merpeople, Grindylows, thanks Uncle Moony for that information last year, the giant squid… I'd hate to mention it but there is a Shrake floating around down there as well but he stays in a rotation so as long as you stay away from a certain area, you'll be fine."
"I'm sorry, a what?" Harry asked in confusion.
"How do you know that?" Hermione asked curiously.
"We can see into the lake in our common room," Stella shrugged before looking to Harry. "A Shrake is a magical species of fish. It's covered in sharp spines and has a long mouth full of sharp teeth that can survive in fresh and salt water. They're typically only found in the Atlantic, but someone mail ordered a baby one twenty-odd years ago and it's been in the lake ever since."
"I've never heard of it," Hermione sniffed, looking as if she didn't believe Stella.
"Just because you haven't heard of it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist," Stella told her. "You should sit down with Luna Lovegood and talk to her every once in a while. She might actually teach you something when it comes to magical creatures."
"Well, I—" Hermione went to argue but Stella was looking at Harry again.
"Point is, I can tell you where not to go to stay away from it because it will just tear you apart if you go into its territory. I have half a mind to warn the other champions as well, honestly. No one needs to die in this tournament."
Stella did exactly that on Monday. She found Diggory, telling him about the creature and where not to go, watching as horror filled his features at the news. Delacour was flouncing around a bit, looking for her Ravenclaw boyfriend when Stella got to her.
"You figured out the egg, right?" Stella asked.
"What business is it of yours?" Delacour's eyes narrowed.
"Because I want to warn you of something but it's going to give away part of the egg if you haven't figured it out yet. I still have to find Krum and tell him as well so do you have the egg figured out or not?"
"I do…" Dalcour seemed a bit uneasy as she answered.
"Okay. Wonderful. Warming charms, by the way. There's a section of the lake…"
Stella told Delacour about the creature and where not to go, ready to take off looking for Krum.
"I'll tell him," Delacour promised. "Thank you."
"Thanks," Stella nodded before running off, already cutting it close to the bell for potions.
"Nice of you to join us, Miss Black," Snape's voice greeted as Stella got to the hall. "Mind telling me how this got above the potions door?"
"How what got where?" Stella asked, confused and still a bit out of breath before looking over to find Crabbe and Goyle stuck under the mistletoe, causing her to burst out in breathless laughter.
"This isn't funny, Black," Goyle was fuming.
"Oh, you're right. It's hilarious," Stella laughed before sobering when she caught Snape's eye. "No clue how it got there, sir. I just know what it is and find the situation hilarious. They might want to get a move on though. The longer they're stuck there, the longer they'll have to kiss."
"Get on with it," Snape sighed to the two boys. "We'll look away."
Stella did not want to see the two boys have to snog so she turned away immediately. After about forty seconds, the two breathed sighs of relief and everyone turned to find them standing as far apart as possible, the mistletoe gone.
"It's been happening all over the school, sir," Stella told him honestly. "No one knows who did it."
She liked this bending the truth thing she'd been doing. It was rather fun as Stella heard a classroom door go off and saw two Hufflepuffs running away from the area. It was when she saw Hermione and Fred get stuck under the mistletoe that she felt a bit bad for it. They were both blushing furiously, wide eyes on Stella as she was the only other person around.
"I'll go," she told them, giving them some privacy and deciding to watch her back, hoping Fred would thank her rather than prank her back.
Ron taught Harry how to swim and Stella and Hermione worked on the charm, both figuring it out in about a day and smiling as they raced to teach it to Harry, who was having a tutor session with Sirius and Remus, who was reviewing the Grindylows with Harry.
"We've got it!" Stella yelled as she ran in with Hermione. "We got the charm down."
"Oh, thank Merlin," Harry breathed in relief.
The next half hour was spent with Stella glaring as Hermione explained the charm with so much complexity that even she couldn't keep up. And she knew the spell! Harry looked at her with wide, pleading eyes.
"Hermione!" Stella yelled, getting the other girl to quiet and look to Stella, annoyance on her face. "You're making it too complicated."
"It's a complicated spell!" Hermione defended.
"Yes, but you're making it worse. May I?"
"Fine," Hermione threw her hands up in annoyance, leaning back in her chair and watching.
"Alright so the wand movement is rather complex," Stella told Harry. "Follow along with your wand."
Stella had Harry practice the movement for ten minutes until he had it perfect every time.
"Good," she smiled. "The incantation is 'Spiritus Bulla.' Spirit-us bull-a."
Harry practiced sounding the spell out for a few minutes before Stella nodded and they combined the incantation with the wand movements. Harry, who was more inclined to magic than Stella or Hermione were, got the spell in an hour. Hermione looked rather put out but Stella just felt proud as Harry showed off his bubble to Sirius and Remus, as if they hadn't been watching the entire time. Stella popped the bubble with her wand with a finite, giving Harry a smirk in the process.
Fred did thank Stella but that did not stop him from trying to get back at her. Harry's next tutoring session, Snape joined for, claiming he wanted to see Harry's progress as a third party. Stella thought he and Uncle Moony just wanted to flirt with one another again. It may have sounded like they were actually being rude and making underhand comments back and forth, but to a Slytherin, it was flirting. Especially for a Slytherin like Snape.
They all went to leave the room at the end of the session and Snape and Remus ended up leaving first before freezing in the doorway.
"I'd like to get to dinner," Stella told them, looking confused.
"Black," Snape seethed, glaring at Stella so much that she took a physical step back. "Why is it always the mistletoe?"
"I didn't put any up this time!" Stella defended before peeking out of the doorway and seeing the mistletoe. "Besides! That's white! Mine's blue!"
"Detention," he told her.
"But—"
"For the others," he told her, glare still on her.
"Yes, sir," she sighed, leaning back and looking up and down the hall.
She caught a glimpse of two red heads ducking behind a tapestry and knew that the prank must have been for her and let out a groan.
"This one is my fault, sir. I didn't hang it but I accidentally got someone else with it and they decided to return the favor. Sorry, sir."
"When I get my hands on those twins," Snape growled.
"I'd hate to remind you of this sir but the longer you stand there, the longer you have to kiss."
"Detention Saturday."
"Yupp."
"Can the three of you go back into the classroom?" Remus asked.
"And miss this lovely moment?" Sirius smirked, arms crossing over his chest. "This might be the only time Snivellus ever gets kissed. I wouldn't miss that. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity!"
Stella's eyes widened as she stared at Remus and he sighed, doing his best to not look at Stella and deal with her judgmental stare. No wonder the two had broken up if Remus had chosen to keep Snape a secret. Stella would be pissed as well. She looked to Snape, who was glaring at Sirius now, sneer on his face.
"Don't. Call. Me. That," Snape spat out.
"Hit a nerve, Snivellus?" Sirius asked and Stella elbowed Sirius in the stomach, causing him to gasp and bend over slightly. "Rude."
"She gets it from you," Snape stated.
"Hey!" Stella yelled, offended, but Snape wasn't done.
"Both of you are horrid. You're whole family is full of rude, distasteful, pathetic, bullying, useless—"
Remus grabbed Snape's face, kissing him passionately. Stella looked away immediately, not actually wanting to see her Uncle and favorite teacher snogging in the middle of the hall. Harry looked away as well, face bright red. Sirius stared in shock though, mouth open wide. The kiss must have softened at some point though because Sirius's look of shock turned to confusion. Stella glanced back, finding the two holding one another gently, rocking back and forth as they kissed. Stella grabbed Harry's hand and snuck past the couple, not wanting to be there once they realized that they didn't actually need to kiss anymore, the mistletoe long gone now.
"You've got to work on your aim," Stella told the twins when they reached the tapestry and the four climbed the hidden staircase.
"I don't think they mind," Fred commented, looking confused.
Stella said nothing, still not giving away their secret. Stella headed to detention instead of Hogsmeade the next weekend, falling into her seat with a sigh and pulling out her potions book. Snape said nothing, just continued grading essays as she worked quietly. In truth, Stella had been avoiding the man. He seemed to find a way to insult her every other year and, had Remus not kissed him right then, Stella was sure he would have said something so hateful that Stella would have cried. She'd already almost done as after she'd fled the scene but Harry and the twins had unknowingly distracted her.
The hour was almost up and Snape had set down his red quill, watching Stella. She could feel his eyes on her but she kept working diligently, almost done writing all of her notes for next week's potions. Her hand was cramping a bit and she was beyond tired, but Stella had finally gotten caught up in her classes again. She was working on getting ahead now, already having done so for Charms and Runes. Potions and Transfiguration were next.
"Black," Snape tried but Stella kept her head ducked over her book, hair blocking her face as a wayward tear escaped her, splashing onto the book. "Stella…"
Stella's quill stopped moving but she stayed completely still.
"I am sorry," he told her, voice soft. "I was angry at being stuck and I was angry at hearing that name again. I seem to keep taking my anger out on you and that is unacceptable. I am sorry."
"It's fine, sir," Stella said, voice small. "I know you were just upset in the moment."
"That does not excuse my actions. I am an adult and you are a child. I should be able to control my anger and not take it out on you. I'm sorry."
Stella wiped her face quickly, making it seem like she was just pushing her hair out of her face as she lifted her head, a smile appearing on her face.
"It's alright, sir. I forgive you."
And she did.