▬▬▬▬▬ CHAPTER EIGHT ▬▬▬▬▬

⚠️ WARNING ⚠️

No forbidden tango yet, but there's a makeout scene in the end... Also, guys, I have NO idea if I'm doing this right. Do make out scenes NEED a warning? I mean... I guess they're kinda sexual, but do you want me to put up warnings for these kinda things???

(Lololol, you can obviously tell that I've become desensitized to sexual content 😂)

ESMERELDA WAS BARELY ABLE TO keep still as she sat atop of her bed, her dorm room empty, and an Iris Message of Ethan floating before her.

"Tell me about that debating tournament thingy you went on in Albany! Did you win?" She asked excitedly.

"Of course I won," he snorted. "Everyone's arguments were honestly shit, they were so bad that I didn't even have any fun tearing them down. By the way, did you tell Nico about the tournament?"

She blinked at the accusing tone. "Yeah, why?"

"Wha—Essie, he was there!" He cried out.

That brought a smile to her face. "Really? That's great! He must have came to cheer you on."

"He brought a zombie in the building," he deadpanned. "The whole floor had to evacuate because of the dead body smell. The tournament was postponed until the next day and we had to stay in a cheap motel overnight. Your crazy-ass son broke into my room and ate all the refreshments in the fridge and I had to pay for it."

"...At least you won, though?"

"Can I please ground him," he begged her. "Come on, babe, please? How about we take him to that farm we were talking about? It'll be great character building for the little brat!"

"He's not a brat!"

"Demon spawn, then."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll think about it, okay? Now come on, tell me about something else!"

"The rest of the week's been shit too."

"But it's Monday."

"So?"

"Good point... What happened?"

"Does your school make you do volunteer hours as a requirement to graduate?" He asked her.

Her eyes widened. "No, but I know what you're talking about! You're way behind, aren't you?"

"I have about five hours so far," he grumbled. "But I need to have a hundred, so I decided to be a tutor. Guess who the school's making me tutor?"

Esmerelda tried not to smile. "Is it Percy Jackson?"

"Percy fucking Jackson!" He fumed. "I've never met someone so terrible at math before. He's been at school longer then I have, yet his grades are absolute shit! He can't even do fractions, Essie. Fucking fractions. And—gods—do you have any idea how many times I had to explain a single math problem to him?! I spent a whole hour trying to show him how to do the first question!"

"Well," she attempted to stifle her snickers. "At least you'll get those hundred volunteer hours soon."

"High school sucks," he muttered darkly.

"You literally just started high school. Besides, this is your senior year anyways, so you'll be done with it afterwards. Then you gotta tackle college..."

If it hadn't been for the falsified documents they (she, Ethan, the Stolls, Percy, and his stepdad, Paul) worked together to make, Ethan and the Stolls would've been staying in high school for a lot longer. It was a relief Ethan at least remembered most of his schooling from camp before he defected, but it was mostly thanks to the workbooks Paul gave him over the summer to help him somewhat catch up. The Stolls' were slightly better education-wise since they never left camp to join the army, but even they needed those miracle workbooks from Paul too.

"College..." He grimaced (which was an understandable reaction). "I was thinking of maybe attending two years of community college first. Then transferring to... I don't know yet. All I know is that I definitely want to attend Columbia Law School."

Columbia Law School... yeah she could certainly see Ethan flourishing there while also leaving a path of destruction and broken dreams in his wake.

"We have this stupid exam in the of the year that shows whether you're good enough for a specific profession," she sighed. "It's called O.W.L.s and it's been stressing me out."

He snorted. "Owls?"

"Yep." She sighed. "I don't really want to get a job here. And apparently colleges don't exist—"

"—Seriously?"

"—I know right? So I'm just gonna head over to college once I'm done with Hogwarts. I'll have to falsify my school records though... but after doing that with you and the Stolls, I think I got it covered."

For the next twenty minutes or so they spent the time rambling about their plans for the future (or in Ethan's case, complaining about it) until the topic of Esmerelda's ring came up.

"So I take it you like it," he mumbled, a faint flush on his cheeks after listening to her gush on about how beautiful the ring was and how much she loved him for getting it for her.

"I love it!" She beamed. "You really are the sweetest, you know?"

"Whatever," his face reddened some more before sobering up, realizing something. "Hey, is everything okay on your end?"

"H-huh?" She tried not to falter at that.

"I noticed that you look like shit," he said in his usual blunt manner. "No offense. But you haven't been sleeping well again, have you?"

"Who has these days?" She replied, and she had a great point.

"Right," he agreed. But something was really bugging him. His mind couldn't help but go back to all those horrible looks people had given her back when they were at Diagon Alley. "Any other issues with your school? Anyone bothering you?"

"Everything's fine in school, Ethan, you don't have to worry so much," Esmerelda laughed lightly, lying straight through her teeth. She hoped the smile she was giving him was enough to fool him.

Unfortunately, it wasn't. "You're lying to me, aren't you?" He said bluntly.

The window beside her cracked noticeably. Both teens jumped.

Ethan grew concerned, "Essie, was that—?"

"I didn't mean to do that!" She said quickly.

That only made him even more concerned. "I thought you only lost control in your dreams," he pointed out. The only time he had ever seen her lose control of her powers like that—aside from when she was having nightmares—was years ago when she found out her siblings defected to the Titan Army. That was the lowest he had seen her be...

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"Yes," she answered nervously.

"Really."

"Really," she was such a terrible liar. "I'm just really stressed out from my schoolwork. I told you, we've got that big exam coming up. O.W.L.s remember?"

He stared at her intensely with a steely look in his eye that said he wasn't being fooled by her pitiful attempts at lying.

"Babe," he began. "Has anyone ever told you how much of a shit liar you are?"

She deflated. "You weren't buying it at all?"

"No," he said honestly, but to make her feel better he added, "But you might be good enough to fool Percy."

"That doesn't make me feel better." Especially not after hearing him call Percy a 'moron' so many times.

He shrugged. "I tried. Now seriously, what the fuck is going on?"

Her eyes darted over to her bedside table, where the newest article from the Daily Prophet laid. It had just been released this morning and people were already reading them during breakfast. The second she heard the whispers and saw what was written, she had bolted out of the Great Hall in rush of tears and had been cooped up in her bedroom the entire day, not even going out to attend her classes or anything. The contents of the article were that terrible.

Her lips started to wobble when she caught a glimpse of the headline.

Ethan's noticed it immediately and grew alert.

"What's wrong?" He asked right away. 

"I-it's these newspapers," she finally started to admit, her eyes watering. "They—"

There was a knock on the door and she sucked in a breath.

"I have to go," she whispered, hastily swiping through the misty image before Ethan could say anything else. She hurriedly wiped her eyes off with her blanket.

"You can come in," she said nervously, wondering if it was one of her roommates. Usually they never felt the need to knock since it was their room too... 

The door opened, but it wasn't any of her roommates. Professor Sprout stepped into the room. There was still fresh dirt stains on her dress, as if she had just came here from a herbology lesson.

"I had a feeling you'd be here," the older murmured, sending the girl a small, comforting smile. "How are you feeling, dear?"

"Um," she swallowed thickly, hoping she wouldn't catch a glimpse of the article on her bedside. "Sorry I couldn't attend your class, Professor, I, uh, wasn't feeling well, but I'm better now."

Professor Sprout looked awkward. "Esmerelda," she started. "I know you were never really sick. I was there at the Great Hall, remember? When you, er..."

"...Oh..." She said in a small voice, feeling like she was five seconds away from another breakdown.

She must have been doing a terrible job of holding it in because Professor Sprout's face fell. "Oh Esmerelda," she rushed to her side. "Just let it out."

Esmerelda burst into tears for the second time that day and the windows of the dormitory shattered in response. Judging by the faint shrieks Professor Sprout could hear in the distance, Esmerelda might have magically broken more then just this room's windows.

She wrapped her arms around her while she sobbed, and as she rubbed the younger girl's back, her eyes were drawn to the bedside table where that dreaded news article laid.

ESMERELDA BLACK'S RISING BODY COUNT—FOR SHAME!
writted by Winifred Glascoe

As if the Black heiress couldn't get any more shameful with her behavior, it's been revealed that it isn't just muggles' hearts she has fun toying with, but the hearts of respectable young wizards as well. Cormac McLaggen, a dashing young student from Hogwarts, was one of Black's previous victims and today he is ready to open up about what it was like to be in a relationship with the youngest Black.

"She was my date to the Yule Ball," he began to tell me. "I asked her out, but I found out that at least twenty-nine other boys did too, way before me. She even said yes to all of them. I didn't find out until after the Ball. I was shocked."

"And what happened after that, Mr. McLaggen?" I asked.

"She pretty much led me on the entire time," he admitted. "I was a little uncomfortable, but I liked her a lot so I went with it. When I tried asking her out the next day, she rejected me and started acting as if I never existed. I confided to my friends about it and that was when they told me about the other twenty-nine guys."

With this in mind, Esmerelda Black may be the next coming 'Scarlet Woman' of Britain. When did she start to develop this behavior? Was it because of her lack of proper upbringing? Maybe a trait inherited from her father, Sirius Black, who was noted to be an infamous womanizer back in his Hogwarts days, often seen gallivanting with unfortunate girls or worse yet, the same sex.

What does this mean for her relationship with the mystery muggle boy? If only he were a wizard, he would be aware of his lover's illicit crimes. Unfortunately, until he is properly informed of her debauchery, he will have to remain clueless.

We hope one day that Esmerelda Black will get the straightening out she needs but for now, our hearts go out to her many victims.

"None of it is true," Esmerelda whimpered, struggling to breath through her sobs.

"I know," Professor Sprout said gently.

"I'm so stupid," she clenched her eyes shut, her feelings of shame and self-loathing increasing. "Should've—should've paid more attention, b-but I just didn't know...! A-a-and Cormac was lying! I nev—never led him on! He was—he was—!"

"Shhh," Professor Sprout hushed her, feeling the front of her dress get soaked with tears.

"I heard them," she whispered hoarsely. "They were whispering things about me... They called me a 'whore' and a 'slut'..."

Professor Sprout caught something green in the corner of her eyes. She pulled away slightly, her eyes widening when she realized everything in the room was glowing green. Plants, pictures, bags, and even bigger pieces of furniture like the beds and dressers began to rise from the floor, glowing a fierce green.

"Esmerelda," she began to say.

"I hate it here...!" Esmerelda cried as everything began to whirl around them like a slowly churning tornado. "The war, the nightmares, the kids, the school, everything! I want to go home! I can't stand it here anymore—"

"—Esmerelda!" Professor Sprout panicked. The tornado of objects were picking up the pace, whirling around them so fast that their hair began to whip around.

"No!" Esmerelda sobbed, shaking her head. "I want to go home, I want to go home!"

"Esmerelda, please—"

The girl let out a loud wail and destruction came forth.

Professor Sprout shrieked as everything was destroyed. Cracks appeared on every surface of the room, smaller objects threw themselves against the walls, while the bigger ones broke apart until they were tiny pieces of wood. Professor Sprout was terrified. She had never seen such a chaotic display of magic before.

Esmerelda was losing control.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Once Esmerelda got a hold of herself and realized what she had done, she quickly fixed the room up with the snap of her fingers. It would've impressed Professor Sprout had she not been so scared shitless. Professor Sprout, after making sure she was okay of course, naturally fled the room.

The next day was just as bad. People weren't just whispering or stealing glances at her anymore, they were talking about her out loud and shamelessly making eye contact with her while they giggled and sneered.

While walking at her side, Hermione jinxed one of the boys who were making kissy faces at her. They tap-danced away and slammed into a wall.

"Nice, Hermione!" Ron cheered her on.

"Their behavior is honestly disgusting," Hermione spat furiously, before shooting Esmerelda a sympathetic look. "This whole thing's just so awful, Essie, I'm really sorry. And the fact that a woman was the one who published that article about you...! She's just as bad as Rita Skeeter!"

Hermione knew exactly what Esmerelda was going through, which was why she was so fiercely protective over her right now. Rita Skeeter's embarrassing article about her and her 'relationship' with Harry and Viktor Krum had nearly ruined her reputation. The only reason it hadn't gotten as bad as Esmerelda's situation was that Hermione at least didn't have the misfortune of already being infamous throughout the wizarding world.

"Any word about McLaggen?" Harry sneered the name like it was a curse.

"I saw Professor McGonagall drag him out of the common room this morning by the ear," Ron said pleasantly. "It was great. I haven't seen him since though, he's probably still in trouble. Bet you he's gonna get expelled."

"I hope," Esmerelda murmured. "I don't want to see him here."

It was already bad enough that she had to deal with everyone else, but Cormac was different. He was the worst of them. The previous article about her pretending to be a muggle sympathizer was already bad, but what Cormac had done was fuel the fire.

Unfortunately, Cormac was also the son of a Ministry official. And then there was her. The wizards didn't know who she really was—what she really was or the things she had went through to keep people like them alive. She was nothing but a stain in their eyes, a liar, a whore.

And she was beginning to feel like a disgusting stain too when she walked into DADA class after parting ways with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

As she sat down beside Draco, she heard Pansy call out, "Hey, close your legs, Black!"

Esmerelda shrunk into her seat as a wave of laughter followed her call. Her table started to quiver slightly and she tensed up.

"Pansy!" Draco hissed angrily.

"Did she ensnare you too, Draco?" Theodore asked in mock concern.

The table started to vibrate again, and this time, it was flickering in a green glow.

No, she thought, pressing her arms over the top of her desk in hopes to keep it still. No, no, no. Stop!

The laughter finally died down when Professor Umbridge strolled to the front of the class, a pleased smile on her face.

"Forgive me for my tardiness, students," she flashed them with a smile. "I had just gotten back with a meeting about Mr. McLaggen."

"Is he being expelled, Professor?" Draco asked expectantly.

"Expelled?" Professor Umbridge let out a dainty little laugh. "Why, of course not. Why ever would we expel such an upstanding student?"

Upstanding?!

Esmerelda's nails dug into the wooden surface of her desk.

Draco stole a glance at Esmerelda, as if waiting for her to blow up, either violently or in tears. At this point, Esmerelda didn't even know what she would do.

"Professor..." The next person who spoke up was Hannah. "P-Professor, he left school grounds for that interview. He's not allowed to do that, and he spread lies about another student. That's, um, w-well that's bullying."

"Oh I wouldn't consider that bullying," Professor Umbridge simpered, looking straight at Esmerelda when she said the next words: "He did the right thing of exposing a nasty little liar."

Esmerelda couldn't hear anything else at that point aside from a high pitched ringing echoing in her ears. Then the whispers came, but they weren't from her classmates. They sounded far away, like an echo from underwater. They spoke in Italian, calling her foul names and spitting venom about the unborn baby in her stomach, and she could even see their disappointed, disgusted faces. Whispers of her past name spun around her head, "Maria, Maria, Maria,", but then they started intermingling with the whispers of "Esmerelda, Esmerelda, Esmerelda," and she began to grow dizzy from them.

And then, something in the classroom exploded.

Everyone shrieked and Esmerelda jumped in her seat, thinking she had accidentally killed someone.

But that wasn't it, because everyone was still alive and screaming. When she realized what had actually happened, she let out a sigh of relief.

While she was drowning in her thoughts, she had accidentally blew up Professor Umbridge's desk. The shockwave had sent Professor Umbridge flying off her feet and she was now sprawled at the middle of the aisle between the desks, face down. There was a bit of blood on the floor next to where her head laid. 

But judging by the groan and slight movements of her limbs, she was (unfortunately) still alive.

Students were either sitting at their desks and screaming their lungs out or scrambling around in panic. Draco was the former, having nearly thrown himself off the chair. Esmerelda surveyed the damage she had caused and bit her lip.

"Fuck," she quietly cursed, closing her eyes. Gods, why was she like this?

She fled the classroom and didn't come back. 

When lunch came, she realized she would have to go to potions the next hour and her stomach churned at whatever possible form of slut-shaming or victim-blaming Snape would throw at her.

Maybe I should just skip, she wondered as she rushed down the empty hallways. Umbridge's class was already more then I could handle, I don't wanna deal with him too—

Her thoughts were cut off when she was suddenly yanked around the corner, arms wrapped around her. She immediately jerked her head back and pried herself free, unpinning her brooch and slamming the blade against the wall, just inches away from the attacker's face.

She was met with Ethan's impressed smirk.

"Good reflexes," he complimented.

Her jaw dropped. "Ethan?!" She nearly shouted. "Wha—what are you doing here?! Wait... did you come here to kidnap me again?" She wouldn't mind it at this point. 

"Tempting," he said with a shrug. "But no. I came here 'cause you nearly gave me a heart attack in yesterday's IM."

"Oh," she said lamely, remembering that she had nearly burst to tears that day. But then she realized another thing. "Wait. It's Tuesday, did you... did you skip school just to see me?"

"Yeah." He answered it like it was nothing.

Her jaw dropped slightly. School was important to him as much as he hated it. He skipped a whole day just to see her? That was... so sweet of him! 

"So," he slowly pushed the blade of her labrys away from his face. "What's wrong? And don't lie to me, Essie, you're—no offense—really bad at it. Cute attempt though."

"Thanks," she grumbled, shifting her labrys back into her shiny accessory and pinning it onto her blouse. "And, um..."

"You said something about newspaper articles?" He said.

Esmerelda flinched, looking away from him. She kept thinking about the newspaper articles spreading lies about her and how almost everyone she knew kept believing them, it didn't help that her current memories kept intermingling with her memories of Maria and then there were the nightmares, her dwindling control and—

And it was like a dam had broke. She broke down into tears and told Ethan everything.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

After Esmerelda calmed down enough to Mist travel them out of Hogwarts grounds and into the Shrieking Shack (which she tidied up with the snap of her fingers), she promptly continued to tell Ethan everything else that had been happening to her aside from her worries about Étienne, since she still had that vow of silence and all.

Ethan listened attentively, his shirt soaked from her tears as she pressed her face against his front, her body on top of his as he laid over a couch in the middle of the living room. Occasionally, he would run a hand through her hair, pressing his lips against the crown of her head.

"Even my teacher believed it," she sniffled, her voice muffled by his shirt. "She's horrible, but I never thought she would... ugh, I'm so stupid...!"

"No you're not," he refuted calmly, but on the inside he wanted nothing more than to grab his sword and go hunt down every heartless person who dared to believe such horrible rumors about his girlfriend.

They were honestly so ridiculous too. Esmerelda, a liar? She couldn't tell a lie to save her life! And she sure as hell wasn't a 'fake muggle-sympathizer' or a whore.

She helps save the world, he thought through gritted teeth. And this is the thanks they give her?

He didn't even care that they were clueless about the Second Titan War. The fact still stood that a bunch of worthless grown ass adults were targeting a sixteen year old girl and trying to ruin her life. And people actually believed it, even the kids who she attended school with. Nobody once stopped to think, 'hey these guys are targeting a literal child, that's wrong'.

It was all so fucked up that it pissed him off.

"Yes I am," she said miserably, her voice wobbly from her sobbing. "I'm an idiot. And now they're talking about you too and they all called you s-stupid...!"

"I don't care about that," he really didn't. First of all, they didn't even know who he was and secondly, he couldn't care less about the opinions of some ignorant, heartless, dumbasses. 

But Esmerelda wasn't like him. She was softer, more inclined to let people's cruel words affect her until they wore her down and right now, he could see that it was working.

Esmerelda sniffled, her face still buried in his chest. "I'm losing control too," she whispered. "I've never... that's never happened to me."

He frowned worriedly. "Like what happened in our IM? With the cracked window?"

"I'm getting so stressed that it's getting worse," she admitted. "I thought it would only happen when I'm asleep, but now it's happening when I'm awake too. Professor Umbridge... sh-she said that she believed Cormac and I just—I... I blew up her desk and she got hurt."

"She deserved it," he said lowly, hugging her closer.

"I scared Professor Sprout too yesterday. Everyone's getting scared of me. Even my own uncle..."

"Not everyone is scared of you," he reminded her firmly. "I'm not scared of you, nor do I believe those lies. The same goes with everyone back at camp. Essie, you're losing control of your powers but it's okay. We went through a fucking war, of course you're not gonna leave it unscathed... You went through a lot of terrible shit and it's just finally taking a toll on you. This shithole is just making it worse."

Esmerelda inhaled shakily, wiping her eyes as she peered up at him. "I want to go home," she told him. "But I know Sirius is just gonna be disappointed in me. I promised everyone that I would stay at school... but everything hurts here...!"

"They'll regret it," he murmured darkly, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. The pained look on her face would forever be ingrained in his mind, as well as the anger coursing through him. "Everyone who hurt you... They're all gonna fucking regret it."

Esmerelda shouldn't have felt so comforted by his words. They were laced in anger, death, and the promise of annihilation after all, and she sure as hell shouldn't be falling more in love with him because of it. But she did so anyways because this was the sort of thing she would do for her own loved ones. She'd go to hell and back for them, but would any of them really do the same for her? She thought of her uncle, and while she knew he loved her, he wouldn't go as far as she would for her. His morals would hold him back. Everyone's morals would hold them back.

But not Ethan. He would go to great lengths for her sake, as equally as she would. He'd go above and beyond, just like her. And she knew that, which was why his words comforted her so much, why her heart beat so loudly as he held her against him.

The thought of someone being on the same wavelength as her felt amazing, because finally there was someone who loved her as much as she loved them*.

And with that blissful thought in mind, she allowed herself to fall asleep with Ethan peppering kisses on the top of her head and murmuring promises of destruction like a sweet lullaby.

For once, she actually slept well. No nightmares, no odd dreams. It was peaceful and just what she needed.

...Until she woke up several hours later and realized what time it was.

"Oh no, oh no, I missed dinner!" She fretted, scrambling off of Ethan and shaking him awake.

"Mmgh, what?" He groaned, turning his head away from her.

"It's 9:44!" She exclaimed. "Ethan, you have school tomorrow! Have you even finished all your homework before coming here?"

"I skipped today to come and see you," he mumbled sleepily.

She paused. Awww, that's so sweet! She couldn't help but think, but she knew how important grades were for him since he was trying to get such a prestigious job and everything.

"I have to go back to school," she told him sadly.

He sluggishly rose to his feet. "Right. I forgot about that..."

She hugged him tightly. "I'll miss you..."

He scoffed. "Please, you think this'll be the last you see of me until the year ends? Hell no, I'm coming back over the weekend."

She lit up. "You're coming back?!" She said excitedly.

He wrapped his arms around her and pecked her on the cheek.

"Yep," he grinned sadistically. "I want to see you again. And... see how things are going around here."

A bright smile crawled over her face, but then she realized something. "Wait, what if Nico comes over while you're gone?"

"Oh my gods," he rolled his eye. "He can take care of himself. Plus, he has the Stolls." They weren't exactly the greatest babysitters, but they'd have to do. At least the kid wouldn't be bored with them around.

"Okay," she smiled once more. "I'll still miss you though."

He hummed in agreement before pressing his lips against hers. For the first few seconds, it was sweet and pure, before he kissed her for a second time, then a third, and so forth. His hand moved over to the back of her head while the other stayed tightly wrapped around her waist to bring her even closer than before.

A deep, needy groan could be heard in the back of his throat. His tongue darted out and touched her lips, but Esmerelda let out a little squeak and jumped away, her face beet red.

He blinked dumbly, his breathing uneven and the hazy heat over his mind quickly fading away. "Wha—Essie?"

Esmerelda was covering her mouth, her face so red she looked like she might faint from a heat stroke. Ethan was genuinely worried he had broken her or something like that.

"A-ah, you—you just.... uh...?!" She couldn't even function well enough to form a coherent sentence.

Ethan couldn't help it, he laughed.

"Holy shit," he snickered. "I see you still got that 1940s mindset huh? Sorry, was that kiss too scandalous for you?"

"Not funny...!" She squeaked, thoroughly embarrassed. "You couldn't have given me a warning or something?!"

He snorted. "Dude, that'd totally ruin the mood. 'Hey, Essie, just a heads up, but I'm gonna shove my tongue down your throat'. That's a major turn off."

He had a point, but still! The most they had ever done was sleep together, cuddle, and kiss! Not... not that...! Even more embarrassing was that—now that she had calmed down—she actually didn't mind it... It caught her off guard mostly, but now she felt so stupid for ruining the moment...

I cockblocked myself, she realized, mentally facepalming.

At least Ethan was having fun with it, the jerk.

"Oh it's fine," he reassured her, seeing the misery all over her face. "I'll be back in a couple days and we can do whatever we want."

"Don't phrase it like that," she mumbled, her blush returning.

"I wasn't thinking anything dirty," he said 'innocently'.

"Your tongue says differently," she shot back.

He grinned boyishly before trapping her in his arms and giving her a more sweeter kiss. "I'll see you over the weekend, angel. In the meanwhile... enjoy the show."

She furrowed her brows. "Show?"

There was a wicked gleam in his eye as he pulled away. His smile was almost bloodthirsty. "You'll see what I mean."

They parted ways after that, with her rushing back to the castle and him leaving Hogsmeade. As she slinked through the hallways, she froze when she saw a groaning figure in the middle of a dark corridor.

This person was dressed in a familiar pink outfit, and she was hunched over, one arm grasping the wall to keep her steady. She sounded sick, like she could keel over at any moment.

Esmerelda stepped forward in concern. "Hey..." She called out. "Are you okay?"

The figure continued to groan, but weakly, she began to turn around.

Esmerelda let out a small shriek, stumbling back in horror. 

It was Professor Umbridge, but that wasn't what scared her most. Her skin was green. Like, literally green. She honestly looked like the lovechild of Fiona in her ogre form and Lord Farquaad from Shrek. There were angry looking pockmarks on her green face as well, like a more violent form of the chickenpox. All in all, she looked hundred times worse than usual (which Esmerelda hadn't even thought was possible). 

"P-Professor?!" She sputtered, stunned.

"Uuughh..."  Professor Umbridge uttered weakly.

"Esmerelda!" A panicked voice shouted. "Esmerelda, get away from her! Don't get any closer!"

She whirled around and saw Professor McGonagall rushing forward, her face white with fear. Esmerelda stepped away from the green professor, trying to walk over to Professor McGonagall instead, but she stopped and held out a hand.

"No!" The terrified teacher exclaimed quickly. "You can't come near me either. Just wait! Poppy! I found Dolores, she's over here! She's got it too!"

"Got what—?" Esmerelda tried to ask, but Madam Pomfrey hurried forward, dressed head to toe in protective gear she had never seen before, and grabbed Professor Umbridge by the arms. She then started to lead the sickly woman away.

"P-professor, what's going on?" Esmerelda asked fearfully.

Professor McGonagall kept her distance, but she could see the grim look on the elder woman's face. "Something horrible. Something I never even thought would ever happened..."

"What is it?"

"Dragon pox," Professor McGonagall said solemnly. "I don't even know how—it just happened so suddenly. Madam Pomfrey got one student with what he thought was a rash, but it turned out to be dragon pox of all things! That was when she went to the Great Hall where everyone was having dinner to alert the staff. Professor Trelawney made a scene—naturally—and now everyone knows and—and..." She sucked in a breath. "There's been an outbreak."

"Dragon pox?" Esmerelda repeated incredulously. She had heard of it before in one of her lessons a few years back. It was a contagious—and possibly fatal—disease that only occurred in witches and wizards. "How did it even come here?!"

"Cormac McLaggen was the one who came to the hospital wing first," Professor McGonagall said with a displeased expression. "Since he left school grounds to participate in that dreadful interview for the Daily Prophet, I can only imagine he got it from there and when he came back, unknowingly spread it around."

The younger girl went wide-eyed in realization. 

Holy shit, she thought. Ethan works quick.

"Oh," she said awkwardly, hoping she wasn't giving anything away. Professor McGonagall looked too troubled to notice anything amiss fortunately.

"Please tell me your kind can't contract dragon pox," Professor McGonagall nearly pleaded.

"I don't know... but we do have a stronger immune system compared to mortals. I don't even think I've ever seen a demigod with a cold or a fever that wasn't caused by overusing their powers or anything like that."

Her shoulders relaxed. "Well then, let's hope your immune system's strong enough to keep you unaffected by dragon pox—it's truly a nasty disease..."

"So what happens now?" She asked.

"Now? Now we find out who's sick and quarantine them," Professor McGonagall sighed heavily. "But there's already almost twenty infected students in the hospital wing and I wouldn't be surprised if more are coming. We'll have to contact St. Mungos at this rate, transfer the sick over to their care... Merlin, an outbreak in Hogwarts... as if things weren't already worse enough...! How could this even happen?!"

Esmerelda awkwardly looked away.

"Um," she cleared her throat. "So, uh, is it safe for me to go to my dorm, or...?"

"Yes, it should be fine," Professor McGonagall ran a hand through her hair in obvious distress. "But just in case, keep away from your roommates if you can."

Esmerelda nodded in response and quietly walked back to her dormitory. None of her roommates were there yet, which was concerning, but she changed into her pajamas and slipped into bed, mentally thanking Ethan for all he had done.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

The next few days were just as chaotic. The number of infected individuals, students and staff members, increased to the point where classes were temporarily shut down and everyone was practically confined into their dorms. 

Some of the victims were very familiar to Esmerelda. There was Cormac (the first student to get sick) then a bunch of his Gryffindor friends who he spread it to, then Pansy, Theodore, a whole bunch of Slytherins, Snape, Professor Umbridge, and many many more. 

Outside of school, was the Daily Prophet. Cormac got the dragon pox from the interviewer and article writer, Winifred Glascoe, the original person to be infected. But beforehand, Winifred ended up infected a shit ton of her coworkers from the Prophet like Rhysand Zaveri (the asshole who wrote that other article about her being a fake muggle-sympathizer), Theodore's cousin, and other authors who wrote slanderous articles about her. 

Esmerelda's legs swung off the edge of her bed, a pleased smile on her face as she read the latest Daily Prophet article, and this time, they were actually covering something other then her or Harry. 

NUMBER OF DEAD RISES!
written by the Daily Prophet

Today on September 17th, Wizarding Britain loses another life to the dreadful dragon pox. One of our senior writers, Winifred Glascoe, 62, has passed away at precisely 9:41 P.M. at St. Mungos. Mediwitches state that she died due to a combination of old age and the illness. She was surrounded by her daughter and grandchildren before she perished. 

Winifred Glascoe was the fifth of our esteemed writers who lost the fight against dragon pox. Three days ago, when the spread began, we lost Rhysand Zaveri, aged 37. Then Adolpha Nott (29), Ludwig Monroe (49), and Ruperta Gulliver (52). 

However, our news building isn't the only establishment that has been infected. Glascoe, during an interview, unknowingly gave it to young Cormac McLaggen, son of a Ministry official, who then spread it throughout Hogwarts whilst unaware. Over sixty students were transferred to St. Mungos overnight in order to retrieve proper treatment and McLaggen, the original spreader from the school, is currently under critical condition. According to his mother, she reported in tears that the infection has spread throughout most of his body, including his lungs, brain, and genitalia. It is unknown when or if he will recover. 

Dragon Pox has also reached the Ministry. Several ministry employees, including the Minister Cornelius Fudge, have been taken to St. Mungos. The mediwitches treating the Minister have stated that he seems to have a more severe case of dragon pox and will soon have to join Mr. McLaggen for more intensive care.

For more information about dragon pox, go to page 12.

For more information about the September 14 outbreak, go to page 3.

Her tormentors were either dead or suffering, and Esmerelda felt nothing but pure relief and joy. She knew she shouldn't, those reporters and the sick students were mostly just mean bullies—they weren't serial killers or anything—and they probably didn't even deserve to go through this, but she didn't care. 

They weren't hurting her anymore, and the attention was off of her too. Ever since the dragon pox spread, the harassment had stopped. Nobody was talking behind her back, making rude comments, or trying to cop a feel because they thought she was 'loose'. It had all stopped, and so quickly too. 

She let out a small giggle as she hugged the newspaper article close to her chest. Ethan truly was the best boyfriend ever. 

"What's that say?" Megan asked her, and she quickly plastered on a neutral expression. If her roommates found out that she was happy about what was happening, the rumors would spread again. 

"Oh," she feigned a sad look. "There's... been another death." 

Megan, Hannah, and Susan's eyes widened. 

"What?" Hanna sat up a little straighter from her bed. "Who is it? Don't tell me it's someone we know!" 

"It isn't," she assured. "Just another Daily Prophet reporter." 

"Oh," the blonde sighed in relief. 

Esmerelda folded up the newspaper. As she rose to her feet, the other girls looked at her in confusion. 

"Are you going out?" Susan asked. 

"Yeah. I finished my homework anyways," the remaining Professors were having the students do their homework and classwork in their dorms since everyone was still in quarantine. "I need to speak with a professor for a bit, and they know I'm coming. I'll be back... later." She lied. 

They exchanged half-hearted goodbyes. The second Esmerelda left and shut the door behind her, she Mist traveled directly to the living room of the newly cleaned Shrieking Shack. She immediately locked eyes with the figure lazily draped over the couch. 

"Ethan!" She exclaimed excitedly, throwing herself onto him. She shoved the newspaper at his face, grinning brightly. "Look!" 

He rose a brow and grabbed it. He kept one hand on her hip to hold her still on his lap as he sat up, his eye still scanning the contents of the article. It took him a while to get it since he had dyslexia and all, but once she saw the victorious smirk on his face, she knew he had finished reading it. 

"So they're dead, huh?" There was a wicked glint in his eye. "Serves those reporters right. And that other shitstain—Conrad or whatever—he's," he snorted it at this part. "He's got an infected dick?"

"Yep!"

"You know if he can get it removed 'cause of that?" He asked curiously. 

She shrugged. "Who knows. He's suffering and that's good enough for me." 

"Anyone else been bothering you?" His lips turned thin. 

She shook her head in reassurance. "No. Ever since the spread, people have been leaving me alone. They're all more concerned about the dragon pox. We even had to get quarantined, but I think it'll end soon. Nobody else has been getting sick and the teachers have been cleaning up the entire castle for days now." 

The relief in her voice caused his exterior to soften. 

"Are you happy?" He asked her. 

"Yes," she confirmed. 

"Good." And then he kissed her. Hard. 

Esmerelda let out a breathy giggle against his lips before kissing back with equal fervor, throwing her arms around his neck. Ethan tossed the newspaper off to the side, using both hands to clutch at her hips. 

His tongue darted out teasingly before he retracted it. "Angel," he groaned. "Angel, please." 

Esmerelda opened her mouth and he slipped his tongue in with her permission. Their tongues pressed together in a hot kiss and as they moved around, his hand traveled from her hip, to her cheek before snaking to the back of her head. 

When they parted ways, a string of saliva formed between them which Esmerelda broke apart when she covered her mouth, her face flushed and her breathing heavy. 

Ethan was equally as breathless, but less bashful about what they had done. In fact, he was very satisfied by it all. 

"Well," he said, one hand trailing daringly under her skirt. "I see you're not so shy about that anymore. Wanna have another go?" 

— author's note —

* "because finally there was someone who loved her as much as she loved them" BEFORE YOU GUYS TRY AND POINT IT OUT, yes, Essie knows there are other people who love her a lot. Except these people, in her opinion, probably wouldn't go so far for her sake. She would kill for her loved ones, but would her loved ones do the same for her? Her mortal relatives definitely wouldn't since their morals would hold them back. There's Nico, but she doesn't WANT him to kill for her. Murder is a terrible thing, she wouldn't want that on her son's conscience (btw, I'm talking about killing people, not monsters or other bad guys in the demigod world). In her eyes, Ethan's pretty much the only one who's 'on the same wavelength' as her. 

(I hope that makes sense to you guys, if you have any questions, feel free to ask!)

Not much info about dragon pox on the wiki, so I based most of it off of chickenpox. Complications of chickenpox include: 

* Bacterial infections of the skin and soft tissues in children, including Group A streptococcal infections

* Infection of the lungs (pneumonia)

* Infection or inflammation of the brain (encephalitis, cerebellar ataxia)

* Bleeding problems (hemorrhagic complications)

* Bloodstream infections (sepsis)

* Dehydration

(Also, it IS possible to get chickenpox in the genitalia. I had to look it up... but it was worth it cuz I got to write about Cormac suffering)

So yeah, the assholes who were being mean to Essie are having a fun time 😂 😂 😂

Essie when she accidentally cockblocks herself:

Hogwarts: An outbreak of the dragon pox in our school! How could this happen?! 😱 😱 😱

Essie, who knows damn well how it happened:

Essie when Ethan goes crazy and gets revenge on everyone who bullied her: 

(and uh... as you can see from that last scene and the previous meme, Essie gets a liiiiiiiiiittle turned on when Ethan goes into crazy mode 🥵)

(Also, I know you guys are disappointed because Ethan didn't go on a bloody massacre but........ just wait 🙂)