▬▬▬▬ CHAPTER FIFTEEN ▬▬▬▬

This chapter is more exciting (for some readers) then intense, so congrats, you all have a break :)

MAYBE IT HADN'T BEEN A good idea to tell her dad of what transpired yesterday in the Underworld. Once she finished telling him about the events of the stolen sword and Persephone's failed attempts to get her into trouble, Regulus had been openly cursing the Queen of the Underworld.

"That vicious little bitch," he spat hatefully. "She's almost as bad as Hecate. First she tries to get you to do free labor, then she sends you on those pointlessly dangerous quests, and now this? That dreadful woman doesn't deserve the title as Queen!"

"Uh, dad, maybe you should lay low on the curses? I mean, we are in her domain, after all..." Esmerelda warned him timidly.

Regulus scoffed in reply before collapsing on his chair, arms crossed, and his face still set in a protective fury.

"She's trying to get you killed," he seethed.

She sighed, but didn't disagree. "I know... I just don't know why. My mom has a good relationship with all the deities in the Underworld, and I don't think I've ever personally insulted her before... Maybe she found out about how much I suck at herbology or something..."

He doubted that was it, but much to his annoyance, he couldn't think of anything else either. He hated not knowing things.

"But let's not talk about her right now!" Esmerelda beamed, and her perkiness was only another reminder of how different she was compared to everyone else in the Black family.

Esmerelda didn't look like a Black. Everyone in the wizarding world could tell who was apart of the Black family just by looking at them. All Blacks had sharp, regal features from the prominent jawlines to the cold, calculating eyes. They looked like royalty, like a family of powerful kings and queens.

His daughter did not look like a queen—she did not look like a Black. She had none of their features. She didn't have the prominent jawline or the cold eyes. Her features were softer and less angular. She was more of a delicate princess than a powerful queen like the other female members of the Black family.

And she most certainly did not behave like a Black should either. She was too loud, too excitable, too nice. Even worse was that she lacked any proper manners and she had zero understanding of how pureblood society worked.

A child like that would be a stain to the Black family. Hell, his mother would see her as a disappointment worse than Sirius, and that was saying something since according to her 'Sirius was the worst thing to ever happen to the Black family'.

But Regulus didn't see it that way. To him, she was the hope for the Black family. A second chance, a fresh face from all the dark history and wicked characters. Nothing good came from his family, until his daughter was born.

So maybe it was a good thing he was dead then. With him gone, Esmerelda and Sirius could finally make the Black family name synonymous with something good for once. His presence would just ruin things. He was still a Death Eater after all, the brand on his arm proved that.

"Dad?" The voice of his daughter brought him back to reality. He snapped his head back to her to see that she was giving him a puzzled look. "Um, you okay?"

"Sorry, I was thinking about some things," he replied smoothly, flashing her a smile. "So you were saying, dear?"

"My friend, Nico, really wants to meet you," she said excitedly. "He found out about you yesterday while we were looking for the sword, and don't worry, he hasn't told Sirius about you. Your secret's safe, dad. But anyways, he's out at Los Angeles right now, I think, but I'll introduce you two later when he comes back."

Nico di Angelo. The fellow who thought of that brilliant plan to have Percy Jackson take up the Curse of Achilles. Now that was a friend he could approve of. He sounded a lot better than those kleptomaniac brothers, that one supposed terrorist, and that awful boy who kidnapped her and caused her further trouble by stealing the sword of Hades.

While she was gushing on about Nico, Regulus caught something dark behind her, just standing outside of the bars. His face was hidden by the shadows but he had a good feeling he knew who it was.

"Is he the one hiding behind you right now?" He asked.

She blinked. Then whirled around and let out a gasp. "Nico! What are you doing just lurking there? Get in here!"

Nico stepped through the shadows and for some odd reason, he didn't look very happy about something.

"Essie." He said flatly.

She hummed in reply.

"I came over to your place to steal some of Sirius' food again," he began. "Care to explain why he was wailing about you getting asked out by thirty guys and you unknowingly saying yes to all them?"

She froze. As did Regulus. She sent him a nervous glance.

Regulus glared at her. "You did WHAT?"

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"You're taking this way too out of proportion," Esmerelda sighed into the house phone as she descended down the stairs of the penthouse. She had told Sirius that phone calls to her should be used as an emergency, but apparently they had different views of what an 'emergency' was. "For the millionth time, uncle, it's just a dance."

"Nothing good ever happens in dances, Esmerelda!" He cried out from the other end. "The last dance I attended ended in a murder! It could happen to you!"

"I'll try not to get murdered," she said in a dry tone.

"Or you can just not go," he suggested hopefully.

"Yeah no," she replied flatly. "My things are already ready and packed, sorry. Once our Christmas Eve celebration is over with, I'm Mist traveling myself back to Hogwarts to get ready for the dance."

"Essie!" He whined. "Please! I'm just trying to fulfill your father's wishes here! Regulus wouldn't want you to do this! He'd be furious!"

She winced, remembering just how furious her dad had been when he found out.

"Uncle," she rolled her eyes once she reached the bottom floor. She headed for the kitchen to grab herself a snack. "I can't just not go to the ball, I already accepted Cormac's proposal and everything. We'll just be attending the dance and all that. It's not like I'm gonna be dating him the next day."

A sad sniff could be heard on the other end of the line. "That's what you say now, but I know how boys like that work. They could be very persuasive if you know what I mean, and I don't want you falling for any of that—"

"—Oh my gods," she interrupted him before he could go any further. "Please stop talking. I'm hanging up now."

"Don't you dare, young lady!"

"You were basically implying that I'd do... that with him!" She blushed furiously as she finally reached the kitchen. "You're being ridiculous and—AAAAAHHHH!"

She dropped the phone the second she saw the figure going through the refrigerator. Ethan looked up from the Subway sandwich he was munching on and gave her a nod in greeting.

She scrambled down for the phone and pressed it against her ear, nearly deafening herself with Sirius' panicked cries. "What was that?! Was it a monster?! Are you alright?! Did it get into my closet?!"

"It was just a spider," she flat out lied to him, keeping her eyes plastered onto Ethan's amused one. "Gotta go now, Uncle, bye!"

She set the phone on the counter and continued to stare at him, purely dumbfounded. Was this some sort of dream? Was Ethan seriously standing in her kitchen, raiding her fridge and eating her uncle's uneaten Subway sandwich that he had been hoping to save for later?

"So that was your uncle?" He asked her casually, and that was when she knew this was no dream. This was really happening right now. "He sounds nice."

She blinked owlishly. "How.... how did you get up here?"

He quirked a brow. "Uh, I used the elevator? You should get new guards by the way. Your security's shit. Those guys at the ground floor just let me walk by them and everything."

"How do you know where I live?!" She demanded, feeling a little faint.

"Alabaster," he said, as if it should've been obvious.

"Oh," she blinked. Of course Alabaster would know where she lived and of course he'd give that very vital piece of information up to Ethan of all people. "Right. Why are you here then?"

"Well, um, I wanted to tell you that all of your siblings made it out alive after the Battle." He reassured her.

Her exterior softened. "Yeah, I know. I was in the Underworld and all.

A sheepish look came over his face at the mention of her... workplace. "And I also wanted check up on you..."

"Check up on me?"

"I was worried," he said, too flustered to even look at her from his admittance. "You know, with that whole sword of Hades fiasco yesterday. You mentioned something about Persephone punishing you and, well, I was scared I'd gotten you in a lot of trouble. I would've went back to the Underworld, but all the entrances were sealed off, so Alabaster gave me your address. I wasn't expecting you to be here—I honestly thought Persephone had you locked up or something—but then I heard your favorite song playing from the bathroom so yeah..."

She blushed. "Oh. Well, everything's okay now." She told him. "I'm not in any trouble. Not anymore at least. Persephone was trying to pin the blame on me, but Hades found out."

"Persephone seems like a bitch," he commented casually before taking another bite of Sirius' sandwich.

"And so does Kronos," she deadpanned. "And pretty much every Titan you've aligned yourself with. Bob didn't seem very friendly to you before he got his mind wiped, did he?"

He gave her a withering look. "I wouldn't call Kronos an asshole," he stated. "He's actually been very generous to me. Before he died, Luke must have given him a nice resume of my skills, and add to the fact that I was the one who brought him back, it was only natural I become his right-hand man. A lieutenant of his."

"Congrats," she said listlessly. "You must be real proud of yourself."

He frowned at her, as if she was the one acting in the wrong. But he had enough sense in him to change the subject. "I'm glad Persephone didn't punish you," he said earnestly, giving her a small smile.

Me too, she thought in agreement. That goddess had an irrational hatred for her. She watched as he took the last bite of the Subway sandwich and finally decided to speak up about it, "You know, that's my uncle's sandwich."

"Oh..." He said, glancing down at the empty wrapper. "Tell him I said 'thanks'."

She sighed. "Ethan..."

He at least had the decency to throw his trash away. "So Christmas is tomorrow," he began, readying himself a glass of water. "Got any plans? Lord Kronos is letting us have a small celebration later tonight."

She was flabbergasted by that information. She could hardly imagine Kronos as the type to party with the army, drinking eggnog and loudly singing Christmas carols. She wondered if he would participate in Secret Santa too or something.

"S-seriously?" She stammered.

"I told you the army's not that bad. Camp's just feeding you lies about us." He shook his head before gulping down all the water. She then proceeded to watch him clean the glass before setting it in the dishwasher for drying. He was being a really good guest so far (if you excluded the part where he broke into the house).

"Oh," she said in a small voice, now full-on imagining Kronos in Luke's body participating in an ugly sweater contest or something equally as stupefying. "Well, uh, my uncle is gonna be hosting a small party-slash-dinner tonight. Lou Ellen, Basil, the Stolls, and some Aphrodite kids are gonna be coming over."

"The Aphrodite kids?"

"He gets along well with them," the upper corner of her lips went up. Sirius was like a fun uncle to some of her demigod friends who had no families. It was absolutely heart warming to her. "And tomorrow night, there's gonna be a dance at my school. The Yule Ball."

"Oh," he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "A dance. That's cool. Was that what you were talking about with your uncle?"

She huffed at the mention of that conversation. "He was freaking out because of the guy I'll be going with. He thinks I shouldn't bother going, that I should spend that time 'studying' and whatnot. He's being real hypocritical about it. "

His jaw noticeably clenched at that. He released an amused snort, though it sounded very forced.

"He's got a point you know," he said to her. "School dances are always lame anyways."

"Not the one in Hogwarts," she defended. "It's a magical school after all. I'm pretty sure it'll be great."

"We're in the middle of a war and you've got enough time in your hands to go on a little date?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's a dance, not a date. I deserve a small moment of normalcy, Ethan. It's a helpful distraction from the fact that the people I care about have joined the wrong side."

His face hardened. "The wrong side? You call the people wanting to make the world a better place the 'wrong side'?"

"Your cause is good, but it's never going to happen, not with the people you've aligned yourselves with," she told him firmly. "The Titans couldn't care less about mortals, or demigods, or minor gods. You think the gods are bad, Ethan? Who do you think they got that from?"

"Alabaster was right," he muttered softly. "Camp has brainwashed you. They've molded you into their perfect little soldier for the Olympians to use and abuse."

She frowned. "I'm not the one who's been brainwashed here, Ethan."

He let out a harsh laugh. "You think it's me and everyone back at the Titan Army? Oh yeah, Essie, you're totally right. The Titans have brainwashed us into wanting justice and equality for everyone. That's sooo evil of them. Please tell me how to un-brainwash myself so I can go back to worshiping a bunch of killers and rapists."

Her patience had snapped.

"I can't believe how stupid you are!" She finally cried out.

"The only one being stupid here is you!" He roared back.

Her face turned beet red from an overwhelming mix of anger, frustration, and sadness.

"You—!" She took a deep breath and held her anger in. "Let's not fight. Please."

His exterior softened. "I'm sorry," he apologized immediately. "I didn't mean to... blow up on you. I shouldn't have done that." He felt like stabbing himself when he saw her eyes starting to water.

"I just don't want you to go," she told him. "Back to them, I mean. I don't trust the titans at all. It'll only get you killed, Ethan. Can't you just stay? Please?"

It was very hard for him not to cave in right then and there. He wondered, for a beat, if she was using her Charmspeak on him but he knew she would never go that far. Plus, he wasn't getting any of those 'fuzzy' feelings in his head, just an overwhelming amount of guilt.

"You know I can't," he said gently.

He couldn't stand the look in her eyes, so he walked forward and kissed her just as sweetly as the first time.

He pulled away all too soon, but it was as if something had come over him as he stared down at her. Unable to hold it in anymore, he tangled his fingers into her hair and smashed his lips against hers.

It was completely different from their previous kisses. This one was harsher and more desperate, and Ethan was less shy and more certain of himself. He had her pinned against the counter, his lips moving against hers.

"Ethan..." She murmured, before his lips pressed against hers once more. Her hand inched up to grab the front of his jacket, but she didn't push him away. Instead, she tried to pull him closer.

They were both red in the face from the breathlessness of their kiss by the time they pulled away. Esmerelda could feel herself burning up from her neck to the tips of her ears, and wished she could hide away in a hole for the rest of her life.

"I can't really blame you for thinking we're the bad guys," his murmured, his hand reaching up to stroke her cheek. "Luke was planning on putting you in danger at some point, so your feelings are understandable. But once we win, you'll see that we were right about those no-good gods. Just survive for me, okay?"

She squirmed out of his hold and scooted along the edge of the counter to create some distance between them, way too flustered to even respond to him.

He seemed pretty pleased with her reaction—the jerk—but thankfully didn't do anything else to worsen her state. Instead, he zipped up his jacket. "I'm sure I've overstayed my welcome, huh?"

Her face reddened even more if that was possible.

He chuckled in amusement and began to head out, her following him just to make sure he was really leaving and not—she didn't know—trying to hide somewhere else so he could surprise her at a later time.

He gave her a friendly wave as he opened the door.

"Merry Christmas. Oh and uh," he stopped at the doorway and gave her a wicked, victorious smirk. "Tell Cormac 'hi' for me." He closed the door just as her face fell into dumbfounded shock at the realization that he had actually overheard her phone conversation with Sirius.

"...I wonder if I still have that pamphlet Artemis gave me..." She muttered to herself, running a hand over her hair.

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"Your dress is gorgeous!" Hannah breathed out, staring at her in amazement. She was dressed in her own beautiful gown, a sleeveless yellow tulle dress that had beads shaped into a bunch of butterflies at the waistline. She must have gotten it from a magical store too, because the 'wings' of each butterfly would gently flap up and down.

"No way, Hannah, your dress is so much better than mine!" Esmerelda gawked at her from the vanity mirror she was using while doing her hair. Thanks to the hair-styling charm ("crinus muto"), she was able to finish it in a matter of seconds*.

She had it styled in a retro way because according to Silena, she reminded her the most of Gene Tierney, Brenda Marshall, and Vivien Leigh; the beautiful starlets from Hollywood's Golden Age**. Silena practically asserted that she had the perfect ingénue*** look that was popular during the classical era of entertainment and that she should enhance it since 'vintage suited her best'.

And so, she took Silena's advice and set her black hair in sophisticated waves. She was pretty much ready at this point. Her makeup was well done, her hair was perfect, her heels were on, and her dress was immaculate as ever.

All she had to do now was wait for her roommates to get ready. Hannah was done, and she was busy gushing over how excited she was to get to dance with some Ravenclaw dude, and how sweet he had been when he asked her out.

Meanwhile, Susan and Megan were still trying to get their hair and makeup done. Susan was giving off a lot of Gryffindor vibes with her golden and red gown, but that was understandable since she was going out with Dean Thomas who was from that house. Megan, who was going with a fellow Hufflepuff, was donning a deep maroon gown that glittered and twinkled whenever she moved.

"Your date sounds so sweet..." Esmerelda sighed wistfully, thinking about Ethan and how infuriating he was.

Hannah gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sure you'll have fun with Cormac." She and the other girls were very much aware of Esmerelda's little 'oopsie' moment where she stupidly accepted all thirty proposals from different boys since the girl herself couldn't stop wailing to them about it.

Esmerelda was about to ask 'who?' until she remembered she was talking about Cormac, the older Gryffindor whose proposal she had obliviously accepted.

"Oh, uh, right," she fumbled, scolding herself for thinking about Ethan right now of all people. She pushed the thought of his stupid face to the back of her head before glancing back at the remaining girls who were finally rising up from their vanities.

"All ready!" Susan beamed excitedly. "Let's get going, shall we?"

They went over to the entrance hall, which was packed with students of various houses and schools, all milling around and waiting for eight o'clock to strike, when the doors to the Great Hall would be thrown open. As the girls parted ways to find their respective dates, Esmerelda caught sight of Harry and Ron and stifled a laugh.

The two boys looked the least prepared out of everyone, like they had just thrown on their suits—or dress robes in this case. Harry's hair was long and unkempt and she had to fight the urge to go up there and comb that disaster down. Meanwhile, Ron was wearing the weirdest dress robes she had ever seen. They were so old-fashioned, which was saying a lot since everything about the wizarding world was old-fashioned, and it looked like he had tried to cut parts of the fabric since his sleeves and neck-area were all badly frayed.

Their dates, however, were a different story. They were each dating the Patil twins, who both looked wholly prepared for the Yule Ball. Parvati was dressed in a shocking pink dress and accessorized with golden bands around her arms while her Ravenclaw twin, Padma, was dressed in a similar thing but with bright turquoise.

"Poor girls," a voice said to her. She looked up and saw the grinning face of Cormac. He was, thankfully, dressed in something a little more modern, with his blonde hair softly slicked back and everything. He looked like he was getting ready for a photoshoot then a simple school dance.

She smiled up at him and was about to greet him until Ethan's annoying voice echoed in her ears. "Tell Cormac 'hi' for me."

Her face twitched, but she played it smooth before he could notice. "You look really handsome, Cormac," she complimented him truthfully.

"And you," he lifted up her hand to press a kiss to her knuckles. "Look beautiful as ever."

Her face didn't turn hot, nor did she let out a flattered or an embarrassed giggle by his charming action. Instead, she just felt awkward and out-of-place. She swallowed thickly before flashing him a sweet smile.

Suddenly a group of Slytherins came up the steps from their dungeon common room. As usual, Draco was at the very front. His dress robes were a black velvet with a high color, which only made him look like some sort of church worker. Clutching his arm was Pansy Parkinson—which wasn't much of a surprise either since she always saw her clinging onto him—who was dressed in very frilly robes of pale pink.

Crabbe and Goyle were there too, dateless and wearing green robes. They looked more like bodyguards for Draco and Pansy.

Once they arrived, the Durmstrang students entered through the oak doors with Professor Karkaroff. Viktor Krum was at the front, accompanied by a beautiful Hermione who was dressed in blue. Over their heads Esmerelda saw that an area of lawn right in front of the castle had been transformed into a sort of grotto full of fairy lights—meaning hundreds of actual living fairies were sitting in the rosebushes that had been conjured there, and fluttering over the statues of what seemed to be Santa Claus and his reindeer.

Then Professor McGonagall's voice called, "Champions over here, please!"

The champions and their dates filed forward. Esmerelda spotted a beaming Cedric striding forward, his arms hooked with Cho.

The rest of the students were finally allowed entry while the Champions had to stay outside for a bit. When Esmerelda walked into the Great Hall with Cormac, her jaw dropped in amazement.

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 with enough seats for about a dozen people.

The top table consisted of Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Bagman, Madame Maxime, and one of Ron's older brothers. Crouch wasn't anywhere in the room, which lifted up her moods even more.

"Take your seats, everyone!" Professor McGonagall ordered from where she stood. She was wearing her own dress robes of red tartan and to show her Christma spirit, had decorated her hat with a wreath of thistles.

Esmerelda spotted Étienne already at an empty table and quickly grabbed Cormac's arm. "Let's sit over there," she suggested, pointing at the brunette. "I already promised to sit with him. You don't... um, you don't mind, do you?"

He must have seen how hopeful she was because he was soon nodding his head and walking over to the table with her.

"Hey!" She greeted the French boy brightly.

"Hello," Étienne greeted them back as they settled in their seats. His green eyes darted over to Cormac and the upper corners of his lips twitched up into an amused grin, obviously still not over how Esmerelda blindly accepted his proposal.

"Étienne Rosier, correct?" Cormac seemed to know exactly who he was. "I'm Cormac McLaggen. My father works for the British Ministry but he's met your brother in several business trips. It's an honor to meet Maxence Rosier's younger brother."

They exchanged a formal handshake, Étienne's face dimming a little at the mention of Maxence.

"I didn't realize you two are such close friends," Cormac said carefully, his mind thinking politically. The daughter of a mass murderer Sirius Black and the illegitimate son of the Rosier head? He was probably thinking of how disastrous that would look.

"We only met a few months ago when Beauxbatons arrived," Esmerelda briefly explained as more of Cormac's friends came to sit at their table. Thankfully, he soon became distracted by them.

Just then, the doors opened again and in filed the Champions and their dates. To her dismay, they had their own table so Cedric and Cho couldn't sit with them.

She chatted with Étienne for a bit before finally picking up the menu. She struggled to read the fancy lettering before finally deciding on chicken parmesan.

When she said her order out loud, a perfectly made chicken parmesan had appeared over her glittering golden plate.

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.

A band of women went on stage. Esmerelda instantly recognized them as the Weird Sisters since Hannah had a poster of them plastered on the wall of their dorm. They were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn (Ron should've went to them for help with his robes, hah). They picked up their instruments just as the lanterns on all the other tables had gone out.

The Champions and their dates all rose to their feet, all except for Harry didn't seem to realize what was going on. He tripped over his dress robes as he stood up, and Esmerelda grimaced from a distance as they began to dance.

The Weird Sisters struck up a slow, mournful tune as they danced on the dance floor. Harry either hadn't practiced how to dance, or he had two left feet. He kept stumbling over his feet so much that Esmerelda could see some kids shooting his date pitying looks. She turned her attention over to Cedric and gave him and Cho an encouraging thumbs up.

After a while, the dance floor was slowly filling up as other students joined in.

Cormac grabbed her hand and she looked at him.

"Let's dance," he said, grinning.

Oh shit, she thought, but smiled back at him. "Sure!"

And so, she was yanked up to her feet and dragged to the dance floor. In the corner of her eyes, she saw Étienne mouth a 'good luck' to her.

You can do this, she told herself as they entered the dance floor. It's just a dance. Nothing to be nervous about. Cormac probably knows what he's doing, I can just let him lead.

Cormac definitely knew how to dance and she idly wondered if his parents had given him lessons or something. He took charge immediately, placing one hand around her waist and using the other to grasp hers tightly.

She kept her smile plastered on her face as she occasionally sent nervous glances at her feet to make sure she wouldn't accidentally step on his toes or something embarrassing like that. She tried to listen to what Cormac was trying to tell her, but all he ever talked about was himself and how he was planning on trying out for the Quidditch team next year and how his father had a high status in the Ministry that he was planning on following through.

"So you stay in the muggle side of New York, right? All the way back in the States?" Cormac finally shined the spotlight on her as they danced.

"Um, yes," she answered lamely. This sort of close proximity between them made her heart race except, unlike with Ethan, it was racing from how uncomfortable she felt with the lack of distance between them. She regretted not getting a poofier dress, since that would've given her the breathing space she needed away from him.

They talked a bit about herself, and she struggled to deflect his flirtations since she wasn't used to someone being so... forward with her.

It wasn't until she noticed where they were standing under did she finally realize his plan.

Above them was a mistletoe. She and Cormac had been dancing somewhere at the center of the floor, but he had purposely drew themselves closer to the side where all the mistletoe trees were.

Oh no, she thought with dread when he began to lean down. She pretended to cough and look down, his forehead softly hitting the top of her head.

He pulled away and blinked. "Um—"

"Sorry," she apologized sheepishly. "Just had to clear my throat."

He smiled, "Oh that's fine. I was wondering... have you noticed what's above us?"

She discreetly gulped and glanced up where the accursed mistletoe was. "Oh," she said weakly.

He smirked. "Best to follow tradition, you know."

He leaned down again and Esmerelda was literally seconds away from Mist traveling away to China or something until she was suddenly rescued.

Her reprieve came in the form of some clumsy Durmstrang student, who bumped into Cormac and spilled two full glasses of what looked to be butterbeer on him. The golden liquid soaked his robes and seeped into the whites of his shirt.

Cormac finally released her, jumping away. He looked down at himself before snapping his head up, his face positively enraged.

"Oh no...!" Esmerelda said, the horror in her voice sounding terribly fake but nobody seemed to notice it.

"Can you not watch where you're going?!" Cormac blew up. He then got into an argument with the foreign student and Esmerelda used this chance to sneak back to her table.

On the way there she spotted a sullen looking Ron and Harry, their dates nowhere to be found.

"Hey," she greeted them with a vindictive smile. "Having a great time?"

"No," Harry said miserably.

"Good," she said sweetly. "You deserve it for telling Steve what happened. So where are your dates?"

"They got tired of us and ran off to find someone else to dance with," Ron grumbled. "Did you know Hermione was going to be with Krum?"

"No, why?" She arched a brow. "If you're upset about it, then you should've asked her first. There were plenty of times where you could've done it."

"I wouldn't want to dance with her!" He denied hotly. "I just don't think she should be fraternizing with the enemy!"

The only one fraternizing with the enemy was her, but she didn't voice her opinion.

"Dude, you were literally fangirling over him just yesterday," she snickered. "I wouldn't have been surprised if you asked him to the Ball."

"She's got a point," Harry muttered in agreement. "Did you just come here to tease us?"

"Yeah," she admitted shamelessly. "And also to tell you guys that you need a haircut. I can't believe you two went to the Yule Ball looking like that..."

Ron self-consciously tugged at his ginger locks. "What's wrong with our hair?"

"Everything," she said honestly.

She exchanged a few more words with them, trying to encourage them to join all the joyous students but ultimately gave up.

Étienne was still at their table when she returned, and she wondered if he had just been sitting there the entire time and avoiding interaction. He seemed like the type anyways.

When she sat back down, she then noticed the disgruntled expression he wore.

"Hey!" She greeted him breathlessly, reaching out for her glass. She was surprised to see that it was still full since she was pretty sure she gulped it all down before heading to the dance floor, but right now she was too thirsty to care. The cups probably magically filled themselves anyways.

"Hey," he muttered. "How was the dance?"

"It was nice," she replied. "How was sitting?"

He grunted. "I wasn't sitting here the entire time. I stretched my legs a little bit. Talked to Bernadine. Called her a 'bitch'. Then I decided I had enough of socializing and went back to the table."

"Seems like you've had a riveting night," she joked. She could still hear Cormac's rising voice from where she sat. "My date kinda ditched me to start a fight or whatever. I don't really mind, I'm tired from dancing anyways. Have you seen Ced and Cho?"

He jutted his chin behind her and she craned her neck to see the aforementioned couple heading for them.

"Essie, you look gorgeous!" Cho complimented her.

"Thanks! So do you, and you guys looked so cute up there!" She exclaimed. "Trust me, you two were the best dancers out of everyone else."

"You and Cormac make a real good couple," Cho added, and she tried not to shrink at that.

"Oh... thank you..." She said with a pained smile.

"Where is he anyways?"

"He's currently trying to attack a Durmstrang student." She answered, glancing over to see both Professor McGonagall and Karkaroff at the scene, wearing very displeased faces. The two students were then forced out of the Great Hall.

As Esmerelda reached out to gulp down more of her drink, a wave of nausea suddenly hit her. She tried to ignore it as she focused on the conversation on hand, adding her own input or two but after about an hour, she could no longer take it.

"I'm going to head back," she said. "It's almost midnight anyways."

Cedric glanced at his watch. "Yeah you're right, we should probably retire."

Cho and Étienne nodded in agreement and stood. As Esmerelda rose to her feet, her vision started to turn yellowish and she became light-headed. She stumbled to the side and Étienne caught her arm.

"Are you alright?" He asked in concern, his eyes immediately trailing over the goosebumps on her arm and the cold sweat running down her pallid face.

"Uh, yeah," she lied. "Le-let's just go."

She managed to appear somewhat normal until they reached the entrance hall. The second she tried to take another step, she felt an awful pain in her stomach and finally keeled over with a groan.

"Essie!" She heard several shouts. Cho, Cedric, and Étienne were huddled around her, their voices sounding so far away.

"Back away, give her some space!" A voice barked. She cracked open her eyes and spotted Moody storming towards them. "What's going on here?"

"Essie just suddenly collapsed, Professor," Cedric said shakily. "She looks sick."

Esmerelda felt someone grab the side of her face and force her to look up. It was Moody, and he seemed to inspecting her for something.

"Probably just food poisoning," he grunted. "Let her rest up. I'll have Madam Pomfrey send up a healing potion for her."

But it didn't feel like food poisoning. Her skin felt like it was vibrating, her whole body felt too hot, yet she was shivering at the same time, her fingers were twitchy, and she could hardly breath right now.

"No," she managed to say, and her blurred vision left her unaware of Moody's glare. "N-no. Ced-Cedric..."

"Yes?" The boy said quickly.

She inhaled sharply and tried to stay awake. "Pomfrey. Ask for ambrosia. Now."

He nodded his head. "Got it,"

"Hold on—" Moody started to growl, but Cedric was already bolting away.

She watched him leave, black dots dancing in her vision as the pain in her stomach worsened. She curled in on herself and let out a despairing moan.

She felt someone shake her, followed by Cho's worried voice. "Essie, you have to stay awake...!"

She wasn't sure if she blacked out, but she suddenly she found herself sitting up against a wall with voices speaking over her. When she cracked her eyes out, Cedric was crouching before her with a familiar bag of ambrosia in his hands.

"—don't understand why she thinks muggle candy will work," she heard Moody grumble, but ignored him.

"Here," Cedric opened the baggie and pulled out one of the squares. He popped it into her mouth and she chewed quickly on it before swallowing it down.

The results were instantaneous. The color returned to her sweaty, pale face, the burning disappeared, and the pain in her stomach was gone. She hadn't expected it to work this fast. It usually took a while for poison to heal, like what had happened with Percy in their last quest together. Either the poison was just really weak... or Moody was right and she had just been afflicted with food poisoning.

She let out a breath of relief. "I'm okay now... Thanks for bringing this to me so quickly, Ced."

"Whoa," Étienne marveled at her quick recovery. Behind him, Moody can be seen seething. "What sort of muggle candies are these?" He had taken the bag from Cedric to admire them.

"Uh, the rare herbal kind," she lied. "You can't really get these from a store. They're made from my family and—wait—!"

To her absolute horror, Étienne had taken one of the ambrosia squares and ate them. She waited for him to spontaneously combust, but a second passed and he was still standing, chewing on the ambrosia with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Hmm!" He let out a pleased hum, not noticing her dumbfounded expression. "It tastes just like a profiterole! But it's kind of hot? Not spicy, but I feel like I'm burning up a little..."

Esmerelda let out a shaky laugh. Well, at least now she knew for certain that he was a demigod. He was just... a demigod who couldn't understand Ancient Greek.

Maybe he's defective? She wondered.

— author's note —

* There's a hair styling spell that styles and changes the color of the caster's hair. There's no proper name for it, but the incantation is "Crinus muto"

** The Golden Age of Hollywood was a high point for the film industry and took place in the late twenties to the early sixties

*** Ingénue is a type of character from a film, literature, or role in a theater. It's basically a girl/young woman who is endearingly innocent. They're typically beautiful, kind, gentle, sweet, virginal and often naïve, in mental or emotional danger or even physical danger. This type of character was really popular during the silent movie era and Hollywood's Golden Age.

Assassination attempt #1: Pushing her down the stairs (failed)

Assassination attempt #2: Killing Curse (failed)

Assassination attempt #3: Hexed letter (failed)

Assassination attempt #4: Imperius Curse (failed)

Assassination attempt #5: Dropping sharp icicles on her head (failed)

Assassination attempt #6: Poisoned drink (failed)

Assassination attempt #7: Releasing the dragons on her (failed)

Assassination attempt #8: Poison (failed)

Étienne: *is a confirmed demigod*

Essie: Yay! :D

Étienne: *can't speak Ancient Greek*

Essie: Oh no... he's defective :(

Here's the difference between Ethan and Cormac (as if you guys didn't already know lol):

Ethan to Essie:

Cormac to Essie:

BONUS:

Essie to Cormac:

Also if you're curious, here are the actresses that Silena mentioned:

Gene Tierney:

Brenda Marshall:

Vivien Leigh:

Also, because I refuse to give her any breaks, the Malfoy's New Years Eve party will be in the next chapter :) THE ENDING SCENE WILL BE INTENSE, SO PAY ATTENTION TO IT CUZ THERE'S IMPORTANT SHIT YOU GOTTA FOCUS ON AND THINK ABOUT!!!!