Unmask My Deception

Ebony kissed back, purely out of instinct, feeling a tingle slide down the length of her body, an urge to wrap her arms around him and lean in closer. Reality shocked her and she pulled back, slapping him across the face.

A cheeky grin appeared. “You- you unbelievable prat! Stay away from me! She fumed, snatching her wand up and storming back to the compartment.

Raleigh was engaged in a rather intense game of exploding snap when Ebony slammed the compartment door shut on Harry. Blaise and Hermione were both reading, and Draco was nowhere in sight. She leapt to her feet in surprise. “What the bloody hell happened? And why is your face red?!” Her sister’s face was never a shade lighter than the perfect pink.

“It is what happens when I run around dueling,” Ebony answered with a forced calm as she sat, composing her face as their mother had taught her. Raleigh narrowed her eyes, knowing that Ebony was hiding something, but let it drop as Harry sauntered in.

“You look pretty cheery for someone who just got his ass handed to him by a girl, mate,” Ron remarked.

“I wouldn't say I lost entirely,” Harry gave Ebony a very smug look.

“He did.” Ebony looked pointedly out the window.

“If that's losing, I think I'll purposely throw down duels with you from now on.”

“What's he talking about?” asked Raleigh.

“I hit him with a Cheering Charm. He's as good as drunk,” Ebony lied smoothly as the train slowed to a stop. Ebony stroked a thestral’s wing gently before boarding the two-passenger carriage with her sister. “I know that face, Leigh- you're fit to burst.”

“You have three seconds to tell me what happened between you and Harry before I ask him myself!” Raleigh shot out in one breath.

“Can we switch Houses? I abhor him. And I jinxed him.”

Raleigh narrowed her eyes. “JUST jinxed him, Natalia?”

“SH!” Ebony glanced out of the carriage, but nothing could be seen through the fog. Muffliato! “Fine. He kissed me, damn it.”

Raleigh’s jaw dropped as she stared in disbelief.

“I hate him more than ever. That stupid stuck-up little git thinks he can do whatever he wants! I am going to switch Houses the moment we arrive.”

Raleigh narrowed her eyes. “There's still something else I'm missing here...”

“The very second we arrive. He can't possibly refuse me- I get better grades than Granger,” Ebony continued on, ignoring her sister.

Raleigh rolled her eyes. “How many times have you asked about this? 546? I really don't think his answer is gonna change.”

“Then I'll ask Snape,” Ebony decided. “He could concoct a potion to make Dumbledore say yes.” Her sister shuddered involuntarily. She loathed Snape as much as Harry did.

“You're overreacting, Ebony.”

“Raleigh! He cannot get away with this!”

“He kissed you, not raped you! And from the way he was grinning, I don’t think you were quite that innocent.”

“It's practically the same thing. The nerve...I'll have you know I hated every millisecond of it.”

“And I'll have you know that I can tell when you're lying, so give it up.”

Ebony pressed her lips together. “My preference for dark haired Quidditch players got in the way- but I do hate him, and it was completely unacceptable to take those kinds of liberties when he knows full well that I hate him!”

The carriage pulled to a halt in front of the castle. Raleigh hopped out and smirked at her sister over her shoulder. “Keep tellin' yourself that, kiddo.”

“Believe me, it would be like you kissing Crabbe.” Ebony kept pace easily with her sister, despite her 3-inch heels.

“What Crabbe and I have is special! You said you'd never tease me!” Raleigh mocked sarcastically to annoy her sister, brows drawing together in confusion as Ebony smirked.

“I knew it!” A large figure lumbered after them. “I lubb you, Rally!” Raleigh spun around just in time to have Crabbe wrap his arms around her and spin her around in circles, planting a sloppy kiss onto her face. Ebony was holding a hand over her mouth to keep from bursting out laughing.

“Is there something you're not telling us!?” exclaimed Ron as he stared in shock. Hermione’s jaw dropped.

“Raleigh?!” Crabbe was spinning her so quickly out of joy that even a Quidditch player would become dizzy.

“Get..off...of...me!” Raleigh struggled to pry herself out of Crabbe's grip.

“Huh?” Crabbe let go.

Oh shit...

Raleigh hurtled through the air, thrown back from the momentum of the spin, and slammed into Draco, landing squarely on top of him in the grass. She stared down into Draco's eyes. Draco's gorgeous, ice blue, sparkling eyes...then forced those ridiculous notions away.

Draco scowled, pushed her off without further damaging her, then went to take his anger out on Crabbe. Hermione walked over and yanked the girl to her feet, who was staring after Draco with an unusually dazed expression on her face. Ebony was trying not to have an apoplectic fit from holding in her laughter.

“Er...darling,” she managed to choke out, “Careful what you wish for.” Regaining her senses, Raleigh seriously contemplated jinxing her sister. Who, of course, had failed to mention that Crabbe has been madly crushing on her since first year. “You said it!”

Raleigh began to chase after Ebony, only to be seized bodily by a very excited Crabbe. Harry shoved Crabbe off of Raleigh. “What s going on here?!”

“Ooh, jealous boyfriend,” Ebony mocked, a very Draco-like smirk playing on her lips

“I can wipe that look off your face... It worked last time, didn't it?”

Knowing that disaster would come if the prat of a Seeker laid his hands on her, which would absolutely never happen again, she shot back smoothly, “You're delusional,” and walked off quickly, using Draco and Blaise as very efficient buffers until she reached the Great Hall. Ebony sat at the end of the Griffindor table with her back to Draco, beside Cormac McLaggen.

Meanwhile, Raleigh sat at the Slytherin table, sending Hermione, Ron, and Harry rude gestures as they laughed at Crabbe trying to get handsy with her. Seeing that also, Ebony covered her mouth to stop from bursting out laughing. Her sister stuck her tongue out at her, then squealed in shock as Crabbe took that as an invitation to lunge and kiss her. Barely glancing at the teachers’ table, Ebony discreetly charmed a condom to land squarely between the pair.

As Raleigh wrestled Crabbe off her lap, she gestured at Harry, and made kissy faces at Ebony while wiggling her eyebrows. She only received a smirk in reply as Crabbe continued to believe Raleigh to be the one to conjure the latex. As soon as the meal ended, Raleigh all but sprinted from the table, leaving Crabbe to try and figure out how to unwrap the condom. Her counterpart moved quickly to Draco's side to follow him into the Slytherin common room after her.

Ron sighed, resigning himself to Hermione’s lectures about his prefect duties as his entertainment ran out of the hall. “OI! You lot! Midgets!”

“Ron!” Hermione admonished.

“Well they are, they're so titchy!”

“You still can’t call them midgets,” she shook her head. “First years, this way!”

ϟ ϟ ϟ

Raleigh dropped down onto the couch in the Slytherin common room, leaving room for Ebony to join her and motioned her over. Ebony sat neatly, having a corset on after all, and turned her most innocuous look to her elder sister, the picture of innocence. Raleigh smirked just as the door swung open to the common room.

“If you could just help me open it...” Crabbe grumbled.

Raleigh stood up and sauntered over to Goyle, whispering something into his ear. Goyle's eyes widened and a goofy grin appeared on his face. Snatching the condom out of Crabbe's hand, he stumbled over to Ebony, knocking her onto her back as he attempted to kiss her. Definitely not a runner in her corset, she sent him flying back with a powerful spell, knocking him unconscious. She threw her sister a dirty look and walks out with perfect, prissy posture, containing her dread of going back to her common room where Potter would be. I can make myself invisible... She mused.

ϟ ϟ ϟ

Harry was sprawled across the couch, one arm over his face, smiling to himself as he recalled the softness of Ebony's lips on his.

“Harry? Harry!” Ron waved his hand in front of Harry's face. Harry jumped spastically, not having heard Ron approach. “Ah, er…” Just then, Ebony entered the room, Harry motioned desperately for Ron to leave the common room while trying to look cool and relaxed. Ron was confused for a moment, but got it and left.

Ebony had decided against the disillusionment charm, having nothing to hide and too much pride. Harry’s eyes followed Ebony as she walked in, waiting for her to look at him. She didn’t.

“Ebony, don't pretend like you don't know I'm here.” She did exactly that.

Frustrated at being ignored, Harry got to his feet. “Ebony…” She withheld a smirk. “Natalia!”

She walked straight past him to the girls dormitories, containing her annoyance at his use of her given name. Realizing that she wouldn’t stop, he grabbed her wrist, spun her around and pinned her to the wall.

I am not wearing a corset tomorrow, she thought with annoyance. I need to be able to run, propriety be damned. “What, Potter?”

“Ignoring me won't change what happened on the train.”

“Nothing happened on the train,” she stared coolly at him, seemingly unfazed.

“So you kissing me back was ‘nothing’? The way you moved just a little bit closer to me was ‘nothing’? He stared intently into her eyes, challenging her to deny his accusations.

Ebony closed her eyes briefly, composing herself before staring him dead in the eye. His eyes seemed to have the passion of fire, yet hers were cold as ice. “Yes.”

Harry pressed himself closer, tilting his head down so his lips brushed against her ear. “You can't lie about your feelings forever.”

Ebony shivered slightly. “Watch me,” she answered in a resolute tone as she pushed him away. He reluctantly stepped back, watching her disappear up the stairs as he calls after her.

“I'll get you to admit to those feelings soon enough, Ebony!”

“I don't have feelings!” She called back down before disappearing.