On Trial
Fleamont wasn’t happy. He hadn’t been for a while. But at least, he was trying to get better. It had been a while since he felt like he could do better. But now, with almost two-months of sobriety, he felt like his life had some light back.
He was going back to his room after the Slug’s party. He had walked Ofelia down to her common room and after joking about kissing her like the last time, he finally headed back to his common room. He had a nice night-something that hadn’t happen in a while. A nice night that showed him that he could have fun without any drugs or alcohol at all.
And maybe he wasn’t happy yet, but he was trying.
He was too distracted thinking of Riddle and his friend. The rumours would fly around fast. He wouldn’t be surprised if the news of Ofelia and Aberforth would make the front-page next morning. He was so distracted he didn’t notice the vicious creature hanging in the dark.
“Hey, Potter” Ivy Parkinson purred from the corner.
Monty stopped walking to face the girl. “Parkinson.”
“Did you have fun tonight?” her smile was wide, showing him all her teeth.
“Yes, I did” he nodded. “It’s late, so...”
He tried to leave, but she grabbed his elbow.
“I haven’t seen you in a while.”
Potter was ashamed to admit that he had spent some time with the girl when he was at his lowest. She wasn’t evil, like Bella had made her sound, but she still was a bad influence. They had spent some evenings doing cocaine, not really talking. Of course, he couldn’t do that anymore. No, he didn’t want to do that anymore.
“I’ve been busy.”
“Getting boring.”
“Getting sober” he corrected her, “and you should do the same.”
“Don’t tell me what to do” she purred and took something from her coat pocket. “Don’t tell you don’t want some?”
She showed him the drug of his nightmares. His heart skipped a beat when he saw it. He hadn’t been face-to-face with it since his last nose-bleed. But it was different to be better when you weren’t around it. To be sober.
“Plese...” she opened it, getting it closer to his face, “you miss it. I won’t tell anybody.”
His pulse raised and the memories of the rush it brought him invaded his mind. It was easier to give in, to lose himself. But he couldn’t do that to his friends, to his family. He couldn’t do that to himself. He couldn’t lose himself. He didn’t want to die. He wasn’t going to die.
“No” he said and got her hand out of his face, making her drop the drug to the floor. “Get that out of my face!”
“You idiot!” she bent trying to grab what she could still save. “You’re going to pay for this!”
“Get out of here, before I call the caretaker.”
She whimpered and left.
Proud filled his chest when he realizes what he had done. Hope enlightened his eyes now, as he realized he was going to do right. He was going to do okay.
“That was really brave” a girl spoke behind him.
“Effy?”
“Hi...”
He hadn’t talked to the girl since she had rejected to dance with him. He didn’t get it. Why wouldn’t she dance with him if she liked him? Maybe Euphemia didn’t know how to dance. That was what Chuck had to offer. Or he could have listened to Ames, who said that maybe she had lost interest. Whatever it was, he had been so busy he didn’t have time to worry about what had been the reason.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was at the greenhouse” she explained and then looked at the trace of cocaine in the floor. “You did the right thing. You are so brave at saying no. It speaks of your strengths and-”
He didn’t let her finish, as he crashed his lips into hers. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe because he was happy for the first time in months. Maybe because he was so proud of himself and she had been there to witness it. Because she was saying all the right things at the right time. Maybe because he hadn’t kissed anyone in two months. Or simply because she was gorgeous and he had thought of her ever since she had shown interest in him at the beginning of the year.
She was shy, even surprised, about the kiss. But she closed her eyes and corresponded to him. He smiled in the middle of the kiss and carried his hands towards the cheeks of the girl to bring her closer. She put her hands over his and continued to kiss him without being capable of keeping the smile off her face. He walked backwards, still with his hands on her face, until his back touched the wall. Then, he let her face go and went down to her hips. Her hands travelled to his neck.
Monty gave a little squeeze to her hips and the he let go, resting the back of his head against the wall. They were both panting, Euphemia looking at him, Fleamont staring at the ceiling.
Finally, he looked back at her and grinned. “Sorry, you were saying?”
She threw her head back with laughter and then went back to kissing.
They kissed until the morning light came and forced them to part ways. Monty had to go and take the train back to London and Effy back to her dorm. But neither of them could forget the magical moment of that night.