All the Wrong Choices

On Christmas night the Yule Bell was held from eight until midnight. The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang joined us in a celebratory feast (celebratory, indeed – all three of them had managed to survive the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament) followed by the formal dance. It was my first dance of any sort, save for the occasional ball or two I would attend with my parents, so I was excited to say the least.

I wore an emerald green dress that clung to each curve and contour of my body and fell all the way to the ground. It was covered in silver embellishments – Slytherin's house colors. I'd spent hours in Hogsmeade the weekend before trying to find the perfect dress for the occasion, enlisting in the help of Ophelia and Ivy.

I danced the night away with Gøran, which wasn't hard to do as some brave soul had managed to spike the punch. However handsome and charming Gøran was, though, he was a God awful dancer. My feet had started to blister from the amount of times he had stepped all over them.

Regardless of how much time I spent with Gøran, I couldn't stop thinking about Tom. He was here somewhere, alone, only in attendance because it was a Prefect duty (to ensure no one was doing anything bad such as spiking the punch – something Tom obviously didn't care for). He stood against a wall, a drink in his hand and a subtle smirk on his face whenever he would catch me looking at him. I didn't feel bad about it – Gøran had been equally as distant the entire night.

“Do you want another drink?” Gøran asked, breaking the hour long silence we'd shared between us. Eager to stop dancing (if you would call it that) I nodded, perhaps a little too eagerly, even though I'd already had more than enough to drink. If it meant no more dancing with him, I was game. “I'll be back shortly.”

We broke apart and I sat down at an empty table, pulling my silver heels off and trying to rub my feet in secrecy. After twenty minutes I began to wonder what had happened to Gøran. Maybe he passed out drunk somewhere. Ophelia, Orion, Myrtle, Corvus, Martha, and Ivy were all off dancing with their own dates. Rubeus had been asked to the Ball by this quite adorable dwarf from Beauxbatons named Lucille and they seemed to be having the time of their lives – however odd they looked together. I decided to grab my own cup of spiked punch and sat back down at my table.

“Were you stood up?” I heard from behind me. I turned to face Tom. There wasn't a single wrinkle in his black suit. He wore a velvet, dark green tie underneath his jacket and shining black shoes. As bothersome as he was, I had to admit, he was handsome. And that wasn't the alcohol talking.

“You ask that as if you haven't been watching my date and me all night.” I shot back, a little louder than intended. Tom glanced around in surprise, hoping no one had heard my comment, and probably bit back a remark about how incessantly annoying or rude I was.

“The boy has two left feet. Watching the two of you dancing was like watching a terrible Floo accident. Painful to watch, but hard to look away from. I can only imagine how bad your feel must feel.” Tom spoke. I nodded and kept my eyes on the floor. After a moment Tom cleared his throat and spoke again. “Would you like to dance with someone who actually knows how to?”

My laugh came out in the form of snorts. “You? Know how to dance? Right.”

Tom grabbed my hand and pulled me up from his chair. I looked at him in surprise as he led me out onto the dance floor, trying not to drunkenly stumble over myself. “I'm not taking no from you anymore, Longwood. Now, your technique was so-so,” Tom spoke over the music, “But I could tell you weren't really into it.” Tom pulled me against him, so close that we didn't have even a speck of space in between us. I felt myself growing more and more nervous with each movement. Tom smirked, noticing this, and placed his left hand on the small of my back.

I eventually grew less tense and even allowed myself to rest my head on his chest as we danced slowly. I hadn't realized just how amazing he smelled before – his natural scent of sandalwood and wildfire smoke lured me in, almost giving me the spins. Where had I smelt that before?

I felt him pull away from me slightly, just enough to lift my head up with two fingers and lower his lips down onto mine. I hadn't even realized how much I'd wanted it until it happened. I opened my eyes slightly to see if anyone else was watching, remembering this – this couldn't actually be happening. What did he have up his sleeve?

Tom pulled away from me and smiled, taking his hands off of my hips and cupping my face with them. I watched him weakly. “We should get out of here.” I nodded in agreement. “You say you have to use the restroom. I will leave two minutes after to avoid looking suspicious. Meet me at the humpback witch statue.”

I did as Tom told me, much to his surprise, and made my way to the humpback witch statue. I forgot the way and ended up taking a massive detour, however – I guess I should have let him show me around the school, after all. I rounded a corner and that was when I saw them: Gøran and Myrtle. Myrtle was up against the wall with her dress hiked up her legs. Gøran was in between her legs, kissing her forcibly.

“Gøran?” I asked quietly. Gøran and Myrtle both looked at me. “What are you doing with Myrtle? I–I thought…” I was in so much shock that I didn't hear footsteps rounding the corner and stopping abruptly behind me.

“It's not like you were ever going to put out, Nora.” Gøran sighed.

“A guy has needs, Longwood. Sometimes he needs an older, more mature woman to satisfy them.” Myrtle added with a shrug. Months of friendship and she wasn't the least bit apologetic. She knew I felt something for Gøran – he had been here for nearly three months, everyone in the school knew that.

“Sorry, Nora.” Gøran winked at me.

I turned around and was shocked to see Tom standing to closely to me, his eyes dark. I put my hand on his tense arm and attempted to turn us both the opposite way. “Come on, Tom. You were right – these people are no good for me.”

I shook my head and turned my back to them, attempting to retreat to the direction Tom had come from. His arm snaked around my waist and he pulled me back, forcing me to face them as I tried to lash away.

“You aren't just going to walk away, are you, Nora?” Tom asked, whispering over my shoulder. “You aren't just going to let them get away with what they've done to you, are you?” I turned to look at Tom.

“It's not worth it, they–”

“They betrayed you.” I looked up at Tom, shaking my head as he looked back down at me. After realizing I wouldn't cave Tom huffed and pulled me away from the two lovebirds that were in their own little world. He led me in the direction he had come from, his head low as he murmured, “Pity.”

Without thinking I pulled my wand out of the garter on my thigh, turned around and yelled, “Crucio!” Gøran fell to the ground, flailing and squirming around in pain. Myrtle let out a screech and took off in the opposite direction. “Incarcerous!”

I watched as Myrtle was thrown against the wall and bounded by ropes. She watched me wide-eyed, tears streaming down her face. “What are you doing? You freak!” I whipped my wand around in all different directions, watching as gashes appeared all over both of their bodies.

“Silencio.” Tom muttered from behind me. I turned to look back at him, fire in my eyes. He put his hands up in defense and took a few steps back from me. “My apologies. They were quite loud. Carry on, please.”

I turned to look back at Myrtle and Gøran, ceasing all movements with my wand.

“Vulnera Sanentur,” I spoke quietly, watching as the wounds on their bodies slowly disappeared. I bound Gøran on the wall next to Myrtle before looking between the two of them. They watched me wide-eyed, breathing erratic and still bloodied.

“Obliviate.” I murmured, erasing any trace of what happened from their memories.

I paced back and forth in the Slytherin common room. Tom sat calmly on the couch, watching me with a small amazement. The other students were still in the Great Hall, enjoying the ball. Gøran and Myrtle were presumably still bound on the wall, dumbfounded in the corridor.

“Tom, this isn't something to be proud of, nor is it something to encourage.” I was rambling like a madwoman. “I almost killed them. Myrtle, my friend. And Gøran. Why didn't you try to stop me?”

“First off,” Tom stood up from the couch and took my hands in his, “Stop pacing around like a bloody nutjob. That won't solve anything and you're starting to give me anxiety. To answer your question,” Tom breathed, hesitating for a moment before shrugging, “I wanted to see how far you would go.”

I completely ignored him as my mind continued to race. “I don't know what came over me. I'm a complete looney. Completely bat shit.” Tom rolled his eyes at my words, clearly trying to hold back laughter. This wasn't a laughing matter.

“You are a lot of things, Nora Longwood, but you are not a looney.” Tom sat me down on the couch and took a seat next to me. “When I first met you at your aunt's inn, I knew you were something great. Merlin, you practically threw Avery around like a rag doll on your first day here. I don't think even I would do that.”

“I'm evil.” The realization made a lump crawl into my throat.

“There is no good and evil, Nora. There is only power and those too weak to seek it.” Tom spoke coolly, his words unshaken. I watched his every move, wondering if I could actually trust him. He leaned into me and placed his lips on mine once more – this time his kiss was less sweet and more fiery and passionate, more desirable. He pulled me onto his lap, not breaking the kiss, and kept it going for a good minute.

“You should get some sleep,” Tom suggested when he finally broke the kiss, “Don't worry too much about them. You didn't kill anyone.”

“I think I would have, had you not interrupted.”

“Goodnight, Nora.” I nodded and stood up, bidding Tom a goodnight and walking to the girls' dormitory. Something about Tom was very persuasive – if he said there was nothing to worry about, then I believed him.