Dark Revelations

You eyed Gemma warily. She wasn’t the Perfect Prefect anymore. Your rose-tinted glasses were well and truly shattered and now you saw her for who she truly was… the Poison Prefect.

“So… it was your plan… but they helped you,” you reiterated, “What do you have over them that they’d agree to help you poison a third year?” Because with Gemma being the planner, Lysandra being the distraction, and Evanora being the executioner… it was clear that all three of the fifth year girls were involved in this conspiracy.

“Evanora’s my second cousin on my mother’s side,” Gemma revealed. “You know how that works, don’t you? My mother and her father are cousins… and their fathers were brothers. Although, her grandfather was the older brother so she’s from the main branch while my grandfather’s line became the cadet branch. The main branch is responsible for keeping the line pure while the cadet branch forges new alliances. We knew each other from before Hogwarts and she and Sandra have been listening to me grouse about the state of the Slytherin Quidditch team for three and a half years. They were more than happy to lend a hand to change it.”

“And what part did you play in this poisonous plot?” you inquired. “Did you take the Hellebore from the greenhouse?”

“No, that was Sandra,” Gemma answered. “She also made it into Syrup of Hellebore. No one ever called her a Potions prodigy like you or Penny Haywood but she gets by. She passed the poison off to Nora so she could make the switch. A normal Switching Spell simultaneously switches the appearance of two objects. But that’s full transfiguration. The first step toward doing that is swapping the position of two identical objects. It’s fairly simple. While Sandra was causing her commotion, I blocked for Nora to ensure no one saw her with her wand out, and she cast the spell.” She paused for a beat, “I never touched the Hellebore at any point.”

“Why not?” you inquired.

“Well, after you were cleared, we expected that most people would assume the culprit was whoever jinxed Potter’s broom during the Quidditch match. A mysterious repeat offender.” They were counting on people going with the simple solution. “But, in the worst case scenario where we were caught, I was the only one who would’ve gone to Azkaban. Lysandra Yaxley and Evanora Rowle are both main branch members of Sacred pureblood families. That affords them certain protections that would’ve kept them out of prison. Protections I don’t have, so my job was to run damage control, and ensure that their victim didn’t actually die. That way any charges that might’ve come their way would’ve been minor.”

She reached into her robes and tossed you a pouch. With your Keeper reflexes, you easily caught it and instantly recognised the familiar weight and round shape inside it. But you still peeked inside to see a familiar stone.

“You’re not the only one who can get your hands on a bezoar,” she pointed out. “They come standard in most advanced potion-making kits. As a responsible prefect in charge of minding Slytherin first years who are prominent members of Sacred pureblood families… it’s strongly encouraged that I have access to a bezoar in the case of an emergency. So since I was going to be the one to save Bletchley… I needed my hands to be clean when the professors arrived to investigate the incident. I was sitting the closest to the third years. I’m surprised you didn’t notice me. You stomped on my sandwich when you ran down the table. If you hadn’t intervened… I would have… so Bletchley was never going to die.”

“You still put a fellow Slytherin in the Hospital Wing!” you accused her.

“And he’s going to be fine,” she replied. “Madam Pomfrey’s dealt with way worse. He’ll be back in class by Monday and it’ll be like it never happened. The fact that you were publicly cleared means he’ll have no idea who poisoned him. The threat of a faceless assassin that can get him at any time will discourage him from looking too far into it. I didn’t get involved because I saw you come pelting down the table and figured you had a bezoar too, so I stepped back and let you be the hero. I thought that would shift some of the suspicion away from you. Obviously, I didn’t count on McGonagall calling you out in front of everyone.”

As someone who stared **** in the face, in the form an enormous barking three-headed Hellhound, you felt like Gemma overlooking the long-term mental effects the near **** experience might have on Bletchley. But... you did feel a small sense of relief in knowing that it wasn’t an incident of _attempted ****, _but a conspiracy by the fifth year Slytherin girls to get Bletchley out of the way for the weekend. A conspiracy you unknowingly threw yourself into the middle of.

“I didn’t want to make Starting Keeper this way!” you complained as you slipped the bezoar pouch into your pocket. Gemma was the reason you were down a bezoar and this bezoar was meant to save Bletchley so you felt no guilt in pocketing it.

“Did you think Flint was going to miraculously change his mind?” Gemma countered. She showed no sign that she cared about you swiping her bezoar. “He’s as stubborn as a troll. And dumb as one too. This year his complaints were that you’re too young, too small, and don’t have a proper broom. Next year it would’ve been that Bletchley has more high pressure match experience than you. That consistently doing better in practice doesn’t mean you’ll perform better in an actual match. Tell me I’m wrong. Do you really trust Flint to give you a fair shot?”

She had a point. You attended every practice since the winter term began and routinely proved that you were a better Keeper than Bletchley. Flint had every opportunity to change his mind and move you onto the starting lineup. You knew how **** he was to win. If he was going to change his mind and take a chance on you… he would’ve done it already.

It wasn’t your Keeper skills that finally got Flint’s approval. It was the fact that he thought you were savage enough to have Bletchley poisoned so you could take his spot. And then he was actually disappointed to learn it wasn’t you.

Gemma still had more to say on the matter, “The Hogwarts record books aren’t going to show the dubious circumstances that got you off the bench and into the match. They’ll only show the final score, how many saves you made, and how many penalty shots you blocked. You know how mad people are for Quidditch. If you put on a good showing… no one will care about Bletchley’s short stint in the Hospital Wing… all they’ll care about is how the debuting first year Keeper Marvolo Gaunt helped last place Slytherin turn their season around and slither up the rankings with a monumental win over first place Ravenclaw. Back in the common room you mentioned wanting to prove yourself with your talent and ingenuity and create a new legacy for yourself. I’ve removed an obstacle that was standing in your way of beginning to do that.”

“But at what cost?” you demanded. “I got publicly accused of poisoning a housemate! With my family’s dark reputation… those kinds of allegations tend to stick! I already have four Gryffindors who think I’m the Dark Lord reincarnate! I don’t need public scandals like the one you caused adding fuel to their speculative fire!”

“There were always going to people who suspected you,” Gemma admitted, “You’re a Slytherin. Even if Flint picked you to be Keeper from the start... people would still think you cheated to get the spot. The people who always assume the worst of you are always going to assume the worst. That was expected. What I didn’t expect was for McGonagall to call you out in front of everyone. That wasn’t part of the plan. And I did my best to publicly defend you when things went sideways. The fact that you were completely innocent is likely what got Snape on your side. You may have been publicly accused… but you were also publicly cleared. Now you know what you need to do to stop those rumors, don’t you?”

“What’s that?” you asked.

“PROVE you deserve to be there!” she exclaimed. “On Saturday you’re going to have Artemis flailing around uselessly on the other side of the pitch. All you have to do is NOT be completely incompetent and you’ll automatically look better by comparison. But I know you. In a house meant for ambitious students… you set yourself apart from your yearmates as the MOST ambitious. You won’t settle for an easy victory. Artemis is easy. Davies and Stretton are rookies. If you can handle Pucey and Warrington you can handle them. That’s not a challenge. You want to be the best. And to do that you need to beat the best. When you’re out on that pitch… you’ll be looking to test your mettle against one of the best Chasers in Hogwarts… Jessica Mateo. And if you manage to beat her… NO ONE will deny that you deserve to be out there.”

You remembered all the time you spent studying your Omniocular recordings of Mateo performing her signature corkscrew maneuver. A part of you had been relieved that you weren’t going to be **** to defend against that tricky maneuver while you were still a rookie… but an even bigger part of you was disappointed you wouldn’t get the opportunity to try for another year. Now your fortune changed and you REALLY WERE going to be facing Jessica Mateo in the match on Saturday.

“Do you really think I can do that?” you quietly asked the fifth year who you usually went to for Quidditch advice.

“I know that I’ve put you in the best possible position to pull it off,” she replied. “Do you think you’re the only one I tipped off about Parkin’s early bird pitch booking? I made sure Flint found out early on and reminded him how lucky he was to have two extra players to help his team train. Instead of going to one practice a week like you did last term… you’ve been to every practice. You’re as prepared to face Ravenclaw as Bletchley would’ve been.”

The fact that she tipped you off about Flint back at the Return Feast in January meant she had this plan in the works for a while. Plus, she already had her broom with her when she came back from break. You wondered when she brought in her co-conspirators. Did they know the whole time? Or did she only ask for their help when it came time to remove Bletchley?

She continued, “And now you’ve got a broom coming that will give you the extra boost you need to not just block but catch the Quaffle when she tosses it in her corkscrew. I’d suggest devoting a significant portion of tomorrow night’s practice to defending against that maneuver. That’s Mateo’s signature move. It’s not a matter of IF she’ll use it… it’s how many times.”

Gemma stepped closer and placed her hand on your shoulder. You tensed at the contact. Previously, you would’ve relished in it. But now that you knew what she was truly capable of… things had changed and found yourself wary of one of the people in Hogwarts that you used to trust the most.

“I’ve given you the golden opportunity that no one ever gave me,” Gemma resolved. “So you’d best make the most of it.”

You still needed to know what the Poison Prefect’s game was. If she was the king chessmaster manipulating things from the back row… then that made Lysandra a rook and Evanora a bishop. But what role did that leave you? A pawn, a knight, or a queen?

“And what exactly do you want in return?” you asked. “Slytherins don’t help people out of the goodness of their hearts. There’s always an ulterior motive. What’s yours? Is this REALLY just about putting me in a position to shutout Tammy Apples?”

“No, that’s an amusing and convenient side benefit,” she answered. “Like I told you at the last Quidditch match. There’s nothing more humiliating to a Chaser than being shutout. And being shutout by a first year in front of the whole school is a humiliation that she’ll never live down.”

“If that’s only a side benefit, what’s the real reason?” you inquired.

“Let’s answer your question with a hypothetical question,” Gemma proposed. “Now that you’ve got your foot in the door… say you become a mainstay of the Slytherin Quidditch team and with your cunning, ambition, and work ethic… combined with your position as Snape’s favorite… you’re eventually made the Captain. You’d naturally have to hold tryouts to fill the vacant spots in your lineup. Specifically an open Chaser spot once Flint and Pucey are gone. What would Captain Gaunt do if a plucky, wide-eyed second year girl with dreams of playing professional Quidditch showed up at tryouts? Would you let her tryout?”

“Of course,” you easily agreed. “I hate to see wasted potential.”

“And if the girl proved she had potential? If she showed that she was the best of the lot… would you give her the open Chaser spot?”

“I wouldn’t give her anything,” you stated, “If the girl proved she was the best of the lot then she would’ve earned that spot. In fact, even if she wasn’t the best of the lot - if she was in the top four - Captain Gaunt would bring her on the team as a reserve. I’ve seen how useful it is to have a spare Keeper and Seeker during practice. I imagine it would also be useful to have a team of Reserve Chasers to practice maneuvers against. Regularly attending practice would help all the reserves improve and realise their potential. I could also test out different configurations to see which of them work best together. And having six Chasers to choose from instead of three means I could switch around my Chaser line going into each match. That ambiguity and unpredictability would make us harder to scout and prepare for.”

Gemma beamed at you and seemed exceptionally pleased with your answer. A day ago, that would’ve meant the world to you. TEN MINUTES AGO, it would’ve meant the world to you. But now you were aware of just how manipulative and underhanded she could be and so you found yourself on guard.

“That’s why I did it,” the Poison Prefect stated. “I couldn’t do anything about the previous Captain when he refused to let me tryout as a second year. I can’t do anything now about the current Captain who also refuses to let girls tryout. But I CAN ensure that a future Captain isn’t a total moron and actually has a mind for strategy that goes beyond beating the other team into submission. I am SICK of seeing moronic meatheads like Selwyn and Flint running the Slytherin team under the mentality that SIZE makes the best Quidditch players. Parkin, Mateo, Johnson, Macavoy and even Tammy prove how WRONG that is. And Gwenog Jones and Erika Rath both showed everyone that you don’t have to be a large lad to be STRONG. Slytherin is the ONLY house team without any girls on it. I REFUSE to let that continue. With you on the team and eventually taking up the Captain’s badge the cycle of brainless meatheads will finally be broken. That’s why I did it. Long game. I’m giving you this opportunity now so that you’ll give other talented Slytherin witches their fair shot in the future.”

A part of you really appreciated her faith in you and was flattered that she was trusting her hopes for the future of the Slytherin Quidditch team with you. You might’ve been a pawn in her plan… but in this case… you were a pawn that she was looking to get across the board so you could eventually become a more powerful piece like a knight or a queen.

Another part of you recognised this bitter and jealous side of Gemma that she briefly showed back at the last Quiddtich match. That had been the first crack in the pristine visage of the Perfect Prefect. But now you saw how deep that resentment truly went.

You still thought Gemma’s grudge against Tamsin Applebee was misplaced. It wasn’t her fault that Gemma wasn’t allowed to tryout for the Slytherin Quidditch team. But you admitted that you didn’t know the full story. That was likely only the inciting incident that sparked the hostilities. You’d seen firsthand how a rivalry could escalate from how far you’d fallen out with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley since the train ride in September.

Gemma Farley was previously one of your favorite people. But you didn’t like what this bitterness and jealousy was doing to her. She had a fellow Slytherin poisoned because she thought it would make things better for Slytherin girls in the future. But hurting someone else so others could succeed wasn’t a healthy way to go about things. She seemed more like the Poisoned Prefect than the Poison Prefect. And you desperately wanted to brew her an antidote before the poison could completely consume her.

“I… appreciate… what you did for me,” you stated, “I don’t like the way you did it… but recognise the golden opportunity you’ve given me and will do my absolute best to make it count. But don’t you EVER do something like this again. Especially if I’m involved.”

“I won’t need to do it again,” she replied. “I watched you last term. You know how to make the most of an opportunity that you’ve been given. While other first years are slacking off and taking things for granted… you’re working hard and forging ahead to prove that you deserve to be here. I won’t be disappointed again by betting on you.”

“Disappointed again…” you repeated as you took a step back and surveyed her warily, “Let me ask you something… I’m still trying to understand how things got to this point. What would mean more to you… seeing Tamsin Applebee publicly humiliated by a first year… or actually getting to play on the Slytherin Quidditch team?”

“Playing on the team,” she answered immediately. “I’ve wanted to play Quidditch since I was four. Long before I met her. But seeing her out there getting to live her new dream while the one I had since childhood was cruelly crushed is what pisses me off the most. If I was on the team I wouldn’t have to rely on a first year to embarrass her. I could do it myself.”

“And what position do you play?” you asked. You were pretty sure the plucky wide-eyed second year aspiring Chaser from Gemma’s hypothetical scenario was actually Gemma three and half years ago but you still wanted confirmation.

“Chaser,” Gemma answered. “I want to be able to fly. Not be stuck in front of the hoops the whole match.” Not a Keeper. Good enough for you.

“You’re older than me so you look toward the future and build long term goals,” you mused aloud, “Like you mentioned earlier, that three year age gap means more now than it will in seven years. You’re more mature than I am so you play the long game. I like to think I’m more mature than most of my peers, but I still live in the present. I try my best to make calculated moves… but I’m also prone to making impulsive decisions and sometimes I’m left scrambling to deal with the consequences.” Your ill-fated and poorly conceived treasure hunting expedition in the Forbidden Corridor came to mind. “But the point is, I don’t pin all my hopes on something eventually working out in the future. If I want something to happen badly enough… then my first impulse is to see what I have to do to make it happen.”

“You’re at least in a position where you can do that,” she countered. “You’re the last male heir of a Sacred pureblood family. Not only that, you’re the descendant of one of the Hogwarts founders. The Ministry has already shown that they’re willing to make special exceptions for you. I don’t have a family legacy to open doors for me. I’ve long since come to terms with the fact that no one’s going to hand me anything. If I want something in this world… I have to take it for myself.”

“Then going off that…” you said, “Tamsin Applebee isn’t keeping you from playing Quidditch. Before it was Selwyn… now it’s Flint… if he’s the one standing in your way… why didn’t you go after him instead of Bletchley?”

“Multiple reasons,” Gemma replied. “Flint’s the heir to a Sacred pureblood family. The incident would have drawn a lot more scrutiny if he was the victim. The same protections that would keep Yaxley and Rowle out of Azkaban would be working against us as people put more effort into exposing the culprit. And while Bletchley might be cowed by the threat of a faceless assassin… Flint would take an attack that kept him from playing Quidditch personally and would actively seek ****. Also, you don’t have any Reserve Chasers. If Flint goes down… there’s no one to replace him. Removing Bletchley and replacing him with you makes the team stronger. Getting rid of Flint weakens it because… as much as I hate it… he’s currently your team’s greatest offensive weapon. And he’s building a team around himself that supports his playstyle. He’s also the Captain and that means he’s the only one who can change the roster and draft new players.”

“I didn’t necessarily mean poison Flint,” you amended. “I meant, why not try to convince him to let you play?”

“You know how stubborn he is,” Gemma said, “He’d sooner lose every match to teams composed of both boys and girls… then admit he’s wrong by only having boys on his team. You’d have better luck teaching a troll to tapdance.”

You idly remembered that strange tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy attempting to teach trolls ballet outside that mysteriously appearing bunker and made a mental note to look into that once the big Quidditch match was over.

“I think he could be reasoned with,” you argued.

“Not on this,” she insisted. “You’ve known him for five months. I’ve known him for five years.”

“Do you know what he said to me after I swore to him that I wasn’t the one who poisoned Bletchley?” you asked. “‘Too bad… Anyone underhanded enough to have someone poisoned so they could make the starting lineup is someone I want on my side. ‘Cause if that’s what they do to a teammate that’s in their way… I wanna see what they do to the other teams.’”

“Do you know how fast he’d take that back once he learned it was me?” she fired back.

That last ‘me’ struck a chord. “Does he have something personally against you?” A personal grudge might complicate things.

“Only the fact that I’ve got tits and a vag,” the fifth year girl answered.

You weren’t sure what Flint’s problem was on that front. You’d been enthralled by those large, soft mounds on Gemma’s chest since she first pressed them into the back of your head in her dorm room. Having Gemma on the Slytherin Quidditch team would mean having access to her flying talent, her keen mind for Quidditch strategy, and an extra pair of Quaffles. Having a smart, talented, and pretty girl on the team seemed like an all-around BENEFIT from where you were looking.

“I think… I could convince him to change his mind,” you stated. “I can be very persuasive when the need calls for it.”

You didn’t think that Gemma should be rewarded for what she did to Bletchley. But one way to cure her poison would be to bring her back to a happier time when her dream was still alive.

This is where you promoted yourself from pawn to knight. Queens, rooks, and bishops were the most powerful pieces on a chessboard… but their moves were straightforward and fairly easy to predict if you were looking at the right angle. A knight’s value came in its unusual movement pattern which made them more versatile and harder to anticipate. You had a special, unorthodox move you could pull that would change things now in the present as opposed to banking on things to eventually work out in the future.

Gemma eyed you skeptically, “If you could pull off a miracle like that… then why’d it take Bletchley being poisoned to get you off the bench? Why didn’t you persuade Flint to make you Starting Keeper?”

“Because I had my shot,” you replied. “The Captain made a decision… I didn’t like it… but I still accepted it. I made the team as a reserve so that was at least a starting point. I resolved to spend the year improving my skills on a base level so when I showed up with my Nimbus Two Thousand in September… I’d be a **** to be reckoned with and I’d prove to EVERYONE that I’m the best Keeper Slytherin could ever hope to have. That’s as far ahead as I can go playing the long game.” You paused for a beat, “You, on the other hand, never got a fair shot. And I’m willing to help rectify that… for a price.”

She shook her head with mild amusement, “Should’ve known.”

“Slytherin,” you reminded her with a cheeky grin.

“And what exactly do you want for this impossible miracle?” she inquired.

You tapped your chin thoughtfully, “Well… you said you’d snog me if I shutout Tamsin Applebee. But you also said that playing for the team means more to you than seeing Applebee humiliated by a first year. There’s a chance I could be dating someone in May… but I’m single now. I think I’d like an advance on that snogging lesson.”

She actually laughed, “You cheeky little shit! Fine. If you can pull that off and get me on the team… I’ll gladly teach you how to snog.”

“You’ve got it backwards,” you countered. “After what you pulled today… I don’t trust you like I used to… so I want my payment up front.”

Her sapphire eyes went wide in surprise, “You want me to snog you now?”

You nodded. The ‘bounty’ the Poisoned Prefect placed on Tamsin Applebee’s head was one of the last things she had over you. If you did get her on the team… then she wouldn’t need to give you an incentive to take down her rival. She could do it herself. It made sense to get your snog now before she had a chance to revoke her other offer.

Gemma admitted that nothing was ever going to happen between you while you were still at Hogwarts. And her long game relationship didn’t have the same appeal that it did fifteen minutes ago. That’s why you needed to focus on the present. You still wanted your snog, so you resolved to get it, then move on and distance yourself from her so you objectively reassess your feelings for Gemma Farley now that you knew what kind of person she truly was. In the meantime, you could focus your romantic attention on someone who wasn’t trying to string you along and manipulate you and hopefully impress them with your acquired snogging skills.

“And I’m just supposed to trust that you can do what you claim?” the jaded prefect pressed you.

“Yes,” you answered simply. “You bet on me to save the Slytherin Quidditch team… and I haven’t played a match yet. That’s what you need to do now. It might not happen overnight… but I’ll work on persuading Flint and I’ll eventually change his mind. You’ll get your shot to join the team. And if you’re as good as you say you are… you’ll get the opportunity to face Tamsin Applebee on the Quidditch pitch yourself. It might be a longshot… but the way I hear it, longshot bets are the ones that yield the biggest payoff. Is your dream truly dead? Or are you willing to take a leap of faith in the hopes that it can be resurrected?”

She stepped closer until she was less than a foot away and cupped your face. She made the most of her height advantage - which was down to two inches at this point - and stared down into your eyes searching and probing for any sign that you were insincere. “If you’re scamming me… I am going to be furious.”

“I’m not,” you reassured her.

“You’re not going to put Flint under the Imperius Curse, are you?” she warily inquired.

“If I can’t cast an incomplete Switching Spell… what makes you think I can cast one of the three Unforgivable Curses?” you retorted.

“That’s the only thing I can think of that would change Flint’s mind,” she admitted.

“Well, I’m not going to do that,” you insisted. “I’m going to give you the same opportunity that you gave me. Only… I’m telling you in advance so you’re not caught unawares… and my method won’t see anyone come to harm. That’s how it should be done.”

Gemma’s lips quirked in a brief smirk at your impetuousness then they closed the distance between you and met yours. SHE ACTUALLY KISSED YOU!! The contact was brief, however, because her sapphire eyes narrowed in irritation and she quickly pulled away.

“Alright, first tip…” she announced, apparently, she was taking the request for a snogging lesson seriously. “When you snog someone… or kiss them in general… you want to close your eyes. Seeing someone staring at you from that close can often be unnerving to new kissers. It’s also a show of trust. And yes, I know trusting a Slytherin is tricky… but if you’re going to snog then you should be at a point where you trust them enough not to hex you while your eyes are closed.”

Your previous level of trust with Gemma had been shaken… but you trusted her to act in her own self interest. She wouldn’t do anything to you. She needed you alive if she wanted to make it onto the Quidditch team.

“Second tip,” she added, “Learn the Breath Freshening Charm.” You let out an embarrassed squeak and hastily clamped a hand over your mouth. She gave you an apologetic smile. “I’m not saying your breath is bad. But if you’re going to be kissing on a regular basis… you’ll want to start practicing the best possible oral hygiene. A girl doesn’t want to taste a boy’s last meal when she snogs him. Most girls will be too embarrassed to say something to you if your breath is bad… but they’ll definitely appreciate you taking the extra steps to ensure that your mouth smells and tastes good. You can find the charm in the Standard Book of Spells. I’ll do it for you this time… open your mouth…”

You obliged and carefully eyed her wand and studied the wand movement up close as she waved it at your open mouth… it seemed like she was tracing an open lip-shaped oval then she said the incantation and a burst of spearmint washed through your mouth.

“There you go,” she resolved. “That’s one of those fluid spells that you can tweak by focusing on whatever flavor you like. You usually can’t go wrong with something minty since it reminds most people of toothpaste. But you could also try something more exotic and that would help make the kissing experience more memorable.” She paused for a beat while you absorbed the new information, “Ready to try it for real now?”

You nodded and closed your eyes. Her lips met yours. And this time they stayed there.

It was happening! It was actually happening! Gemma Farley was kissing you!

And yes, Farley was far, FAR from perfect… but she was still the same pretty witch who encouraged and supported you through your first five months at Hogwarts.

Despite everything… she was still your first major crush. And you were finally getting the chance to snog her! An opportunity that you were going to utilise to the fullest… much like the opportunity she presented you to play Starting Keeper. You kissed back and gently matched the pressure she put into the kiss.

She pulled away again after several seconds, “Okay, third tip… when you start a snog your goal is to be soft… but also passionate. You want to make your partner feel wanted. You convey how much you want them through the amount of pressure you apply. You don’t want to scare them by going too hard all at once. Start soft and escalate. If the girl’s your regular snogging partner then you can start harder. But by then you should be aware of what she likes and try to cater your kissing toward that.”

You took a deep breath and steeled your nerves once again heeded the prefect’s advice as you initiated and brought your lips to hers. You went softly but insistently as you attempted to communicate how pleased you were at this dream come true. It definitely wasn’t the way you dreamt or expected… but that was rarely the case when dreams became reality.

Another few seconds in, Gemma let out a pleased hum then started pressing back against you and then began kissing harder as she upped intensity. You attempted to match her and then remembered what she said about putting passion into it and pushed even harder. Not hard enough to be uncomfortable or harsh but it definitely turned the kiss into a proper snog. You saw what she meant by the bit about escalating intensity.

Eventually, Gemma pulled away again and gave you an affectionate pat on the cheek.

“Very good,” she said, “Responding to your partner is important and you were able to find a comfortable level of pressure at different intensities. Next tip: tongue. Use it when you’re ready to make the kiss more intimate. I’ll show you what to do… but remember that when you’re just starting out… you want to keep it light and playful.”

You connected again with a soft pressure and you felt her lips slowly part against yours and did your best to copy her. Her tongue slipped through the opening and flitted across yours. You knew it was coming but still gave a jolt at the unusual sensation.

She paused and waited a couple seconds for you to recover from your jolt of surprise then her tongue came again and danced across yours. You remembered ‘light and playful’ and prepared to retaliate when she came for a third time. And when it did, you flicked your tongue up to meet the underside of hers. You felt the corners of her mouth quirk up against yours but this time her tongue remained in your mouth and lightly massaged the top of yours with a series of soft passes. You decided to treat it like a game and did your best to make your own nimble tongue dance around herself.

“You catch on quick,” she praised you when she pulled away again. Further than before, so you opened her eyes and saw that hers were open too. “But now… I’m going to give one final tip that will take you from a good kisser… to a spectacular kisser.”

“What’s that?” you asked curiously.

“You’re a Parselmouith… use Parseltongue,” she instructed with an eager glint in her eyes, “Considering you’re currently the only one alive here in the United Kingdom… it all but guarantees that snogging you will be a unique and memorable experience.”

You’d been speaking Parseltongue since you were seven. You started off requiring a snake to hiss at and, after ruling out the infestation of angry and territorial snakes guarding a secret treasure beneath your floorboards whom informed you vividly and repeatedly that they would kill you in order to protect it, you turned your search to the forest outside your shack and managed to find four especially vocal scaly, slithering specimens with which you could sometimes speak snake. Now, you were able to switch from English to Parseltongue at will so, when you drew back together with Gemma and slipped your tongue into her mouth once she parted her lips in invitation, you switched to Parseltongue and hissed the word §KissSSss§ while intentionally drawing out the long ‘ssSSss’ at the end.

Your efforts proved fruitful as your tongue made contact with Gemma’s and caused her to let out a muffled gasp against your mouth. You froze and cracked your eyes open to see if she was okay. Her eyes were wide open in shock, but then gave you a flash of reassurance before she patted you on the cheek and nodded against you, which was all the encouragement you needed to keep going. You went back to it and let out another drawn out hiss of Parseltongue as you massaged her tongue with yours.

“Uh!” Gemma let out a muffled grunt against you and pulled you against her. Her Quaffles provided some pleasant cushioning as you were squashed against her chest. That meant she liked it, right? So you gave another hiss of Parseltongue and stroked her tongue with yours, which elicited another gasp and caused her to shake against you.

Eventually, she tore her mouth away from yours and gasped for breath, “We need to… stop… This is supposed to be a lesson… keep doing that… I might eventually start humping your leg.”

Gemma stepped back and made a point to brush her skirt down.

“Well, you’ve been educated,” she resolved. “I carried out my part of the deal. You’d better live up to your end and work whatever kind of a magic you have that’ll get me on the team.”

“I’ll start working on Flint at tomorrow’s practice,” you assured her. Then paused for a beat as you shifted back to the topic of your snogging skills. If the snogging lesson was over... you wanted to get your final marks. “So… that was good then?”

“Like I said… from good to spectacular,” she stated, “Full marks! With that special technique… you’re going to be really popular with the girls.”

You beamed. You finally got that snog from Gemma Farley! And on top of that, snogging was something that you had a special talent for.

But then your blood ran cold as a pair of familiar voices rang into the Owlery.

“Gigi, if you’re just gonna snog the boy… we’re gonna go.”

“Unless… you’re willing to let us have a turn snogging the Parselmouth…”

You whirled around to see Evanora Rowle and Lysandra Yaxley at the Owlery entrance. Unlike you and Gemma, they were both wearing winter cloaks over their robes and uniform.

Gemma placed her hand on your shoulder, “You didn’t think I was going to come clean without someone to stand guard and ensure the conversation remained private… did you?”

You could feel the tension in the room rise around you at the appearance of the other two fifth years.

Dealing with the Poisoned Prefect version of Gemma Farley was bad enough… but now you were caught between the three fifth year co-conspirators who had worked together to poison one of your Quidditch teammates. And while Gemma insisted that the plan was for your benefit… you felt tense when you realised that you were isolated from the castle and alone with three older, scarier, and much more insidious Slytherins.

And what was that bit Yaxley said about wanting to snog you?