𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧

chapter 22

the holidays were quickly approaching hogwarts and it's witches and wizards students. horace slughorn, to celebrate, was holding a slug club christmas party.

talia wasn't apart of slug club, as she politely declined the offer thinking all of her time would already be consumed on tutoring with draco. nonetheless, slughorn still invited her to the party. she was a good student of his, and he was happy to have her there.

harry potter was slughorn's most welcomed guest, as he planned the date of the party around when harry would be able to arrive. talia got ready with hermione, both of them wearing pretty dresses (talia's a little shorter and tighter than hermione's, as hermione was always a bit more modest) and doing light makeup on each other.

luna lovegood was harry's date to the event. talia didn't bother asking draco, as she knew the answer would already be no. still, she was happy to go with hermione, even if hermione's date was technically cormac. hermione thought that would annoy ron the most.

when talia got to the party, her eyes were immediately drawn to the decor. the ceiling and walls had been draped with emerald, crimson and gold hangings, so that it looked as though they were all inside a vast tent. the room was bathed in the red light cast by an ornate golden lamp dangling from the center of the ceiling in which real fairies were fluttering, each a brilliant speck of light.

several elderly warlocks let out a haze of pipe smoke every now and then during conversation, and a number of house elves talked as they ducked by peooples knees, carrying platters of food. they looked almost like little roving tables.

talia looked up from the house elves and saw harry standing there. she was a bit nervous to talk to him, as she thought it was pretty ironic; the daughter of his enemy unknowingly right in front of her.

"hi, harry." tal greeted. harry smiled nervously, seeing talia's dress.

"talia. hi. you, um, you look nice." he complimented. talia chuckled.

"thank you." she said.

neville long bottom walked up to the two, holding a tray of drinks in his hand.

"drink?" he asked. harry looked over, and so did talia.

"neville." he said.

talia immedietly went to grab a drink from the tray, thinking they would be something along the lines of champagne or white wine. she was disappointed to find it was just sparkling cider.

"i didn't get into the slug club. it's okay, though. he's got belby handing out towels, in the loo." neville chuckled. harry did as well.

"oh. well, i'm fine, mate. thanks." he said. talia held up her glass.

"thanks, neville." she said.

talia was about to walk away and look for hermione when she felt someone tap her shoulder. when she turned around, she saw a handsome guy standing behind her, smiling. he had curly hair, tan skin, and looked a few years older than talia.

"hello. i'm william quince." william said, holding out his hand for talia to shake. she looked at it, then back at william and shook it.

"talia riddleson." tal said, thinking it would be best to keep her true last name a secret. william smiled.

"talia. what a beautiful name." he said.

even though the guy in front of talia was charming, she was curious as to why he was talking to her. so, her smile stayed but her eyebrows furrowed.

"im sorry, do i know you?" she asked. william chuckled.

"no. my apologies, of course not. i'm a slug club alumni. forgive me, i've never seen you around here before. and, based on your accent, you're not from here." he explained. talia nodded.

"i'm a new student..kind of. i'm from the states." she informed. william nodded, but very softly.

"well, then. i'm glad a girl as beautiful as you decided to join us this evening." he subtly complimented.

talia's smile faded a little bit, and she was about to walk away from the slightly cringey pickup line when she heard draco's voice.

"take your hands off me, you filthy squib!" draco said.

talia turned around and saw filch pulling draco into the room by the collar of his suit. everyone formed a circle around the two, wondering what was going on and what draco was in trouble for this time.

"what the hell are you doing?" talia asked filch, stepping in front of everyone and seeing the position malfoy was in. william followed closely behind talia, all filch did as a reply was give tal a dirty look.

"professor slughorn, sir. i just discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. he claims to have been invited to your party." filch said. draco made eye contact with talia, and saw her open her mouth. he knew she was going to say she invited him, but he didn't want her to feel embrassed later on.

"okay, okay! i was gatecrashing. happy?" draco asked, not letting talia speak. she was about to step forward again before snape stepped in front of her, giving her a warning look.

"i'll escort him out." snape commanded. draco looked up at him and harshly pulled away from filche's grasp.

"certainly...professor." he said, continuing to stare up at snape.

talia watched the encounter between the two carefully. and, it made her wonder; did snape know draco was a death eater? more importantly, was he apart of it?

draco gave one last look at talia before leaving the room with snape, everyone watching them leave. slughorn waved his hands and laughed.

"all right, everyone. carry on, carry on." he said.

talia looked at filch, who seemed embrassed snape had taken care of malfoy so quickly. she shook her head and decided to walk up to him.

"don't you have more important things to do than stalk students around?" she asked. before filch could reply, talia felt a hand tug at her and pull her away.

"you shouldn't stick up for that punk. it's crazy what those slytherins are up to these days. you've got to be careful with em'." william said to talia. she saw his face when she turned around and noticed he was being completely serious.

talia turned to look at him completely, her eyebrows furrowed and a frown on her lips.

"what did you just say?" she asked, making sure she heard right.

"they all live up to their name, that's for sure. you know, them being snakes and everything. what house are you in, by the way?" william went on.

at this point, tal had enough. first filch and now this william guy she didn't even know talking shit?

talia scoffed and took one last sip from her drink before dumping it on william's head, making him and a few people around them gasp. talia out the now empty glass onto a waiter's tray that was walking by, then left the room the same exit draco had.