A Younger Generation of Keepers

Chapter 6: Winds of Change (Part 5)

Mia's pov

Poppy and I were taking a break from dancing, having a small talk about her Gran, when a drunk Garreth approached us.

"You're so pretty Mia" he said, letting out a slight hiccup.

"Sorry, sorry about that" Leander showed up and grabbed him by the shoulders "Things are under control now".

Garreth released himself from Leander and took a step forward, tripping over a used plastic cup left on the floor by a careless Slytherin. My reflexes were quick enough to catch him, but his face landed on my breasts, making the whole scene look extremely inappropriate.

"Mia? What's going on?" I heard Eric yelling, whilst coming towards us. His fists were clenched and his face was filled with wrath. Somehow, no words could come out of my mouth, and I found myself standing still and silent like an idiot.

"Sorry man, he's drunk, he won't cause you any more trouble" Leander intervened, calming the waters.

Eric gave me a betrayed look and left the party seemingly angry and I felt like following him and explaining what had happened would ease the tension that had falsely been created.

My brain could barely process what had just occurred.Why did Garreth say all those things? What's his plan? Did Cressida dump him?

I wandered the corridors, reaching the Viaduct Courtyard where I found Eric perched on the castle's battlement, gazing out over Black Lake. The moonlight's reflection on the calm lake made the view truly breath-taking.

"Hey" I let out in hushed tones, hoping he is not too mad at me.

"Hey" he replied in the same kind of volume.

"Are you alright?" I lightly touched his hand as I sat next to him.

"Yeah, all good" he lied "I just lost it when I saw him kissing your...breast"

"Is jumping into conclusions a common thing of yours?" I teased him with a smile "Of course he wasn't kissing my...breast, he simply tripped over something and I caught him" I explained.

"You know that sounds like an atrocious excuse" he laughed.

"I know, but it's the truth, I have no clue what was up with him, he was drunk"

"You're not still into-"

"No!"

Eric did not say anything, he simply leaned in and pulled me in for a kiss. Things got heated up quickly and I could not help but stop him from taking it further.

"Slow down" I whispered making Eric slightly distance himself from me.

"What's wrong?" he questioned.

"It's pretty chilly out here, plus let's not rush things" I whispered, as the wind whipped my hair back.

"Shall we head back inside?" he suggested.

"Lead the way!"

We stood up and made our walked back into the castle. The corridors were empty and we made it to the Hufflepuff Common Room, where something entirely unexpected took place. As we were walking down the stairs to my Common Room's entrance, we heard someone whispering.

"Shit! Someone's here!" I said quietly, using the Disillusionment spell to make me invisible.

"Is it a prefect?" Eric asked with a worrying face before hiding himself under the Disillusionment spell as well.

I stepped a little closer, till I could clearly hear what they were murmuring. Eric was following me but could not accurately see where I was due to the spell, thus he accidentally kicked me in the back with his knee.

"Ouch! Be careful" I complained and pushed him backwards.

"Sorry" he whispered.

Luckily, we remained undetected by the two people that were still talking.

That whiny voice is so annoying, yet familiar, who is it? It's got to be a Hufflepuff, otherwise why would they choose this specific location to discuss their future plan? Oh f- it's got to be...

"It's Adelaide Oakes" I informed Eric. "I don't know who she's talking to though"

"You can't back up now, we have to proceed with our next plan" Adelaide expressed with anger.

"I don't think I can do this again, last time I ended up in the Hospital Wing, drinking that awful healing juice that Nurse Blainey always brews, remember?"

The other person is clearly a guy.

"Who ended up in the Hospital wing lately?" I questioned Eric.

"Half the school's been there already, especially since the start of the Quidditch season" Eric replied.

"Admit it, Adelaide! George fell for our trick and broke up with Poppy, but guess what! He still doesn't want you" the guy's voice was so familiar, but somehow I was unable to recognise it.

"Shut up, he will! He just needs some time to heal from getting cheated on" Adelaide sounded delusional.

"Getting cheated on? Come on, it's just the two of us down here! We both know that nothing happened between Poppy and me"

Of course! How could I have been so ignorant? It's Andrew! And it seems like him and Adelaide came up with a plan to ruin George and Poppy's relationship. That monstrous bitch will pay for scheming against my friends!

"Someone's coming! Hide!" I dragged Eric, to the wall and stood still as we watched Andrew walk right past us.

"What was that all about?" Eric wondered.

"That two-faced snake! I hate her" I externalised my thoughts.

"Keep your voice down, will you? Adelaide might be just around the corner" he reminded me.

I kissed him goodbye and returned to our Common Room, silently making my way to my dormitory. Adelaide was nowhere to be found, which relieved me. About half an hour later, the dorm's door opened and Poppy entered, looking exhausted.

"Finally!" I screamed. Luckily, the rest of the girls had not returned yet, they were most likely still partying, so we did not have to worry about waking them up.

"What?" Poppy looked confused.

"I've been waiting for you! There's something I've got to tell you!" I stared at her with wide and bulging eyes.

"What is it? Should I be worried? Did Eric-"

"That's not about me, it's about you!" I cut her short before she could finish her absurd sentence.

"What happened?" Poppy sat next to me.

I started narrating to her what I had just heard, including every single detail of Adelaide's conversation with Andrew.

Poppy was left open-mouthed, shocked by Adelaide's malicious actions.

I mean, we all kind of knew that we could not trust her, but she really proved herself worthy enough of being considered an opponent.