Cast yourself (you are the spell)

Chapter 31

"I have a..." Alyssa trails off in deliberation, her free hand tapping contemplatively against her chin, "...proposal...of sorts, to make."

Hope waves her hand to signal her to continue, and Alyssa's eyes glimmer with something she can't place.

"I would loooove," she drags the word out, her magical nail polish sparkling like empty stars. "To offer an alliance between Ravenclaw and Slytherin, with the annual prank war descending on us as we speak and all that. I figure-"

"Who lost their mind and made you queen of Ravenclaw?" Maya interrupts, genuinely curious, and Alyssa only ignores her and goes on.

"We're smart, you're cunning. Need I say more?" She raises her eyebrows and shrugs her shoulders in a would-be cutesy move, but Hope only grows more suspicious. Ravenclaw never sides with Slytherin. No house ever had in the history of the school.

She seems to finish her speech and looks at each and every one of them intently, her gaze focusing on Hope, who stares at her blankly. When the Mikaelson heir does not waver in her own intensity for a long moment, Alyssa sighs heavily. "Fine. Take a moment to discuss, I guess."

Before she even finishes her sentence, the group begins to quickly turn towards each other and huddle up, almost comically, and Maya throws out her opinion first.

"She hurt Pedro! It's five against one; we should kick her ass where she stands!"

"No, don't be stupid. There's witnesses around."

"-Guys, she's literally right next to us-"

"Well, actually, the only real problem to doing that is Pince. If we can get rid of her, then-"

"Merlin, I am five seconds away from admitting you all into St. Mungo's-"

"-I say we drag her bony ass behind a bookshelf and do it there, Machado's right for a change..."

Hope feels a tap against her shoulder and turns around before she can respond to Penelope's statement. She rolls her eyes and gives Alyssa a dirty look.

"As much as you all pretending I can't hear you amuses me," Alyssa drawls, "I need an answer sooner rather than later. If it helps you make your decision more quickly, I also come bearing gifts."

The Ravenclaw slowly pulls out a platter of chocolates from behind her back. They're all packaged in neat, brown boxes with cute bow-ties, and Hope notices Ethan's eyes lingering on them for far too long.

"Tell me when you've decided." Alyssa then sets the chocolates out on their table and leaves. The group watches her until she's passed the library exit.

Hope snatches Ethan's arm before he can make a grab for one of the boxes. "Don't be stupid. They could be poisoned."

"They're not," Ethan tells her, looking disgruntled. "See? The boxes are all sealed and the label reads Honeydukes. They haven't been tampered with."

"That doesn't mean anything. She could have repaired any damage did she with a spell-"

Hope stops when she realizes that no one's listening to her. They're all just staring hungrily at the chocolate.

"Cheap bitch," Maya curses, ripping a box open. "She didn't get any with nuts."

Hope and Rose roll their eyes, the both of them still skeptical about eating any of the sweets. The rest of the group is far less caring-they've been craving chocolate since their last visit to Hogsmeade, which admittedly wasn't a very long time ago, but their candy stash has been depleted for quite a while.

To test it out, Maya forces Ethan to eat one first, and they all hold their breaths as they wait for something to happen. When nothing does, the rest of the group start eating away at the boxes, all except for Hope. She observes them carefully for any strange reactions before going back to her homework.