Unmask My Deception

Ebony awoke three days later. Upon realizing where she was, she rose forcefully out of bed. Satisfied that her want was in place, she smoothed down her hair and stepped into her heels. Madam Pomfrey bustled in. "Oh dear, don't get up! Where are you going?"

"I'm going to kill Harry Potter."

There was no trace of sarcasm in her voice. "You most certainly are not!"

As it turned out, Harry really was the worst potion maker, because everyone else from the class was long gone.

“Yes I am. I'm going to curse him so badly that Voldemort himself is going to feel it!” She was far too angry to remember her Pureblood mannerisms now.

The nurse clutched at her heart in fear and horror as the young witch stormed out. "Point me!" she glowered at her wand, and followed its directions to track down Potter, who was undoubtedly accompanied by her sister and his posse.

Harry, Raleigh, and Ron were warming up on the Quidditch pitch to prepare for tryouts later that week. Hermione sat in the stands watching. Well, glancing up from her book every so often to see what happened. During one of those rare moments, she looked up to see Ebony.

More irritable that she couldn't reveal her flying abilities to the public, as well as being unable to lose it and scream, Ebony clenched and unclenched her fist, one of her nails drawing blood from her palm. She knew fairly well what Potter did wrong with the potion, which was everything, and realized now that she would have to help him through the entire year, at her own expense.

Raleigh noticed Hermione signaling to her, and glanced down to see her sister glowering up at the three of them.

"You better watch out, Harry. Ebony looks pretty pissed..."

Raleigh seemed to have said something of an understatement. If looks could kill... then Harr would be covered in blood, with too many cuts and abrasions to possibly count, most likely beheaded…and perhaps his body trampled by blast-ended shrewts.

At the sight of Ebony, despite the hundred-odd feet separating them, his stomach still backflipped. Then even more so as he noticed her expression was a thousand times more furious than usual. Didn't Raleigh mention once that anger was somehow linked to sexual tension... “So I take it she's not happy about the potions experiment?”

Ron laughed, clutching onto his broom as Raleigh rolled her eyes. “Ex…per…i..ment...” He chortled, shaking the broom and barely clinging onto it. “Mate, you didn't even try?”

“Would it have made any difference?” Ron clapped him on the back, laughing. “Good luck, mate!” He soared off to a safer place.

"Maybe you shouldn't mention the word 'experiment' to Ebony any time soon..." Raleigh eyed her younger sister, who hadn't even been that angry when Raleigh dyed her hair pink and replaced her favorite dress at the time, with a really big rat...

"Don't worry about it, Rawls," Harry used his nickname for her. "I know just the way to diffuse her anger."

Raleigh snickered. I highly doubt that, but I don't think I'm going to warn you... "Right, well, good luck with that..."

“Harry fucking Potter, you have TWO SECONDS before I drag you down here with ropes and chains- with spikes on every link.” Ebony’s voice low and deadly, but rang out quite clearly across the field. Just as a precaution, Raleigh edged away from Harry- all two hundred feet down to where Hermione and Ron were safely tucked away. Harry descended a little ways away from Ebony. “Don't tell me you didn't have fun!"

”Carpe Retractum!”

Raleigh looked to Ron. “Blimey, he's just asking for the killing curse, isn't he?” A long rope dragged him bodily over to Ebony, who didn't seem any less enraged than before. They all heard her shout, "SILENCIO!"

"Not that I know her very well, but I have a feeling death won't come so easily to him,” Hermione muttered warily.

Raleigh turns to Ron. "If we watch, does that count as assistance to murder?"

“Absolutely not. C’mon Mione.”

“What? No- I want no part in this!”

Raleigh hopped off her broom and began to jog closer to Harry and Ebony. “Hurry! We need to get good seats!”

Harry's scream of shock is silent, and he wriggles at the rope yanks him across the grass towards Ebony. He was now seriously regretting his smart-ass comment. Ebony left Harry to die by being pecked to death by fat round, yellow canaries and bat bogies attacking his legs and feet. A woodpecker with a none-too-dull beak seemed under the impression that Harry was a short piece of wood.

"Blimey, I hope she and Ginny never try that hex together,” Ron stared at his best friend being attacked by angry birds, with no idea what the counter-curses were.

Raleigh stared at harry, amused. "Hmm, I haven't seen THAT form of torture before! Gotta say, I like the style!"

"Oh Harry," Hermione sighed. She hadn't learned how to vanish yet, so she slowly sent the canaries away one by one.

Harry glared angrily at Raleigh and Ron as they stood off to the side, cracking jokes and laughing with one another- at his expense. Hermione began a rather long counter-curse to rid Harry of the very viscious Bat-Bogies.

"This should teach you to pay attention in class," Hermione scolded the immobile and invisibly gagged Harry. "You would know how to get rid of them. She walked off, leaving him in his very restrictive and uncomfortable bonds.

"I say we leave em there, Ron," Raleigh tapped her chin. "Maybe it'll teach him not to be such a smart ass!"

Ron's eyes darted between Harry and Raleigh. Finally, he said "Sorry mate but I honestly don't know the spell to untie you."

"I'm pretty sure I can get it done, but I'm not sure I want to at the moment..." Raleigh chimed in.

Harry made a noise that, if he were ungagged, would sound like "Raleigh, I swear-"

"Oh calm down, Potter, I'm getting it!"

She said the wrong spell, and the rope began to swing violently, thrashing Harry around not unlike a dying fish being struck by lightning.