Note: the Hufflepuff girl called Holly Addams is now called Mia Anderson because I was a bit of ditz and posted a story with the main character called Holly, and a supporting character with the last name Addams. (If you want to check it out, go ahead, heheh)

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chapter eight

"HUFFLEPUFF PRINCESS"

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     That Saturday, the Great Hall was filled with students sitting in one of three categories — supporting Gryffindor in red and gold, supporting Hufflepuff (the best house) in black and yellow, or neutral. A good amount of the Slytherins and Ravenclaws were in the final category, but Emilia figured that was because there had only been one Quidditch match before this one, so people were still feeling pride towards their own house's team.

     Normally, Emilia found that the hardcore Quidditch fans would obsess over their own team (which they were probably on) but the ones simply supporting their own house for the hell of it give up around January. Which made sense. Emilia still didn't find the appeal to zooming around on a stick with smaller sticks attached, but she didn't want to bash other people's joy.

     She did, though, find the appeal in representing her house in the colours. Ravenclaw, naturally, had the best of the best when it came to artists, but Hufflepuff was (a not-so-close) second. The arty folk in Hufflepuff tended to be the ones that she'd find in their bathrooms or their common room, sorting out other people's hair or nails or makeup.

     They were creative in the way that they helped. Like, there was one boy in the year above that was killer at figuring out how to cover spots. Emilia was jealous, truly. She was still relying on what Carmilla had mentioned to her, using brown sugar to exfoliate. And this muggle moisturiser, but again, Emilia wasn't sure if it was making any difference. She just believed Carmilla knew what she was on about.

     But, Emilia liked to think that she was reasonable at painting. And, painting bled into makeup, so Emilia was often handed the task of face-painting her fellow Hufflepuffs before the match.

     She set the little pan of face paint down on the Hufflepuff table in the hall, so she could quickly have a piece of toast. The croissants had already been scoffed, which had been lovely. She made a note to check by the kitchens later in the afternoon, or something. Quite honestly, Emilia would die if she didn't eat a croissant every single day.

     "Morning, Salvatore," said Sirius. He sat down next to her, and almost took half of the toast. Almost. She swatted his hand away before he could get to it. But, she frowned, and she sighed, and she handed it to him. "So, I see Gryffindor's going to win."

     "You wish!" she said. "Hufflepuff is so going to win."

     Sirius, who was unapologetically wearing the Gryffindor Quidditch uniform, was at the receiving end of many glares. Emilia saw the girls in her dorm room send him angered looks, and then looked at her disappointingly. She rolled her eyes. She couldn't care less about what they thought.

     "Oh, really?"

     "Um, yes?"

     "Now, you're charming, Em, but I don't believe you," said Sirius. Emilia raised an eyebrow. She also wanted to question the use of Em. Had he only called her Salvatore before? She wasn't too sure. Not that she was complaining. "I like the flowers you've got on your face, though."

     Emilia smiled. "Thanks," she said. "I could do them on you — the brush cleans itself straight after use, so it's perfectly fine to use—"

     Sirius looked offended. "But they're the Hufflepuff colours—?"

     "Yellow's close to gold, and the palette comes with the primary colours," said Emilia. "So, that's the red and the fake-gold sorted. You don't have to, I just thought—"

     "No!" he said. She frowned. He seemed a little too enthusiastic. "I'll have them done. I think they'll look great with my complexion."

     "Okay, lovely," said Emilia. "Unexpected, but nice. You need to walk around, though, and sit next to me, I'm not leaning over the table, it'll get all dodgy—"

     To her own surprise, Sirius cleared a small space on the table, and Emilia was about to repeat what she had just said. But, oh, no. No, instead of doing the normal thing, and walking around, she saw him step onto the bench, place one foot on the table, and then the other on the bench the other side. Her side.

     He jumped down and sat next to her, looking smug.

     "You're such a Gryffindor," said Emilia. Sirius grinned back at her. "Not a compliment, dear, I eat on this table. And you just stepped on it."

     "It was easier than walking around," he said. Emilia frowned. She felt disappointed in him. A part of her mind was also still wandering about Em, but she was trying to ignore that. Trying.

     Emilia finished her toast, and opened the face paint. "Don't move your head," she muttered. Hesitantly, she put her hand on his face to steady it. She didn't trust him on staying still. Especially considering he just walked over the table. "Or else."

     "Or else what?" he said.

     "Or else," said Emilia. "I'll get my godfather to kill you."

     "You know, I've never met your godfather, but I don't think he's going to kill me for moving my head," said Sirius. He narrowed his eyes. Emilia would've glared if she wasn't concentrating on painting one of the petals. And, admittedly, making sure he didn't notice what colour she was using to paint. "I'm guessing he's like the film version, but I don't think—"

     "Hang on," said Emilia. She paused her painting. "My godfather's in a film? A muggle one? Because, to be honest, I'm not sure if he likes muggles enough to be around them for that long? For them to make a film about him?"

     "You're not the only one with a godfather, sweetheart."

     Sweetheart? Emilia raised an eyebrow and paused her painting for a minute, before she shrugged it off. She was making a mountain out of a molehill. It was becoming a little obvious how much time she was spending with a Gryffindor. "Um, yeah, I got muddled up," said Emilia. "I'm aware godfathers are a common thing."

     "Don't worry about it," said Sirius. His gaze slowly moved down to the brush in her hand. "So, are you planning to use the Gryffindor colours?"

     Emilia froze. She looked at him, and she began to laugh. He already had one yellow flower sitting on his temple. "You noticed too quickly," she said. "Surprise!"

     Sirius shook his head. "You're evil," he said. Emilia grinned and tossed her hair over her shoulder. He looked at her for a minute, a small smile on his face. And, then, he sighed. "I guess I'll support Hufflepuff."

     "You say that like you have a say," said Emilia. She wore a smug smile as she moved her hand back onto his head to keep him still. She still felt weird doing that. A good weird, but, still, weird. It was pretty odd.

     It was also pretty odd that, for the first time in her life, she didn't care about the way her roommates were looking at her. It used to always hurt her, the way that they'd look at her critically, picking apart the way her hair sat on her shoulders or how crooked her teeth used to be (until she begged Aunt Donna to use a spell to fix them forever.)

     True, over the first month and a third of the school year, it had been getting to her still. But, slowly, she could feel it, the lack of care about their thoughts dissolving. Maybe it was because they hated the tattoo and made that very clear every time she had it visible. Maybe it was because they hated the hair colour and put their noses up every time they saw her brush her hair. Maybe it was because Emilia could finally comprehend what she's always tried to remind herself, that they weren't the nicest people in the world.

     She didn't know how it had taken so long for her to properly understand that they weren't nice to her and that she didn't need to listen to them. She was just grateful that, finally, she had realised it.

     To be honest, though, she knew that the change was being caused by two things. The first was what happened in the summer, when she was blamed for something she didn't do, and decided she didn't want to take her siblings' shit anymore. And, then, the second felt strange to think, but she couldn't help it. She was hanging around with a Gryffindor — the house known for caring about how they view themselves, the house known for being a little selfish.

     (Also, the courage thing, but, really, there were some traits most Gryffindors had that they didn't mention proudly. Being a little selfish was one of them. Or very selfish, in the case of some.)

     "Excited, then?" said Emilia. "To lose?"

     "I'm excited to see you lose," said Sirius.

     "In your dreams," she said. Emilia glanced over his shoulder, where her roommates quickly turned their heads and began to giggle amongst themselves. She bit on her lip. It was beginning to anger her how awful they were. "The girls from my dorm are staring. And potentially gossiping."

     "Hufflepuffs and their gossiping," said Sirius. "Terrible, it is."

     "You've been aware of it for, what? Three days?" said Emilia. She shook her head. In her peripheral vision, she could see them looking again. She made sure not to look at them. To not stoop to their level, to add fuel to the fire. "Honestly, though, don't be surprised if there's a rumour going around later about us."

     "Not the worst thing in the world," said Sirius. Emilia gave him an odd look. Her stomach felt strange and fluttery. "Well, I'd prefer dealing with that than, I dunno, being locked in Azkaban or something."

     "That's true," she nodded. "I'd be a wreck if I went there. Who would look after my rabbit? I'd go mad worrying about Ripper."

     "Who, ironically, is named after someone who should've gone to prison," said Sirius. She snorted. "You're taking his place, that's how you get in."

     "You know, I don't think my rabbit is capable of murder?" said Emilia. With the brush sitting between two fingers, she put her hands out. "Just throwing it out there. He's only just twenty centimetres tall."

     "A wand's smaller than that," said Sirius. "Does a lot of damage."

     "My rabbit isn't a weapon, though," said Emilia. "Wands are made to be weapons, if it's necessary. My rabbit was made to be a lovely fluffy creature that hops around and eats celery leaves."

     "And now, in two months, you'll find out he's an Animagus," said Sirius, "and he's actually on the run from the Aurors because he killed someone."

     Emilia gave him a look. "Surely, they'll know, because they have that register?"

     "Not every Animagus is on it," said Sirius. He wiggled his eyebrows at her. She narrowed her eyes. "I'd say there's some, maybe, in the school—"

     Her eyes widened. "You little fucker!"

     Sirius' eyebrows rose.

     "You—!" She stopped herself. She wasn't having this conversation now. She was, admittedly, in a great deal of surprise, but she was aware of how many people were around them. So, she kept quiet, even though she was dying to find out more.

     She finished the last of the flowers. "There you go," said Emilia. "Yellow flowers with black in the middle. I can't remember what they're called. But, they're the Hufflepuff colours, and why are you wearing the Hufflepuff colours? Because—!"

     "I was tricked," said Sirius. "Don't trust a pretty face, it never works out well in the end."

     Emilia raised an eyebrow. "I'll stop speaking to you, then," she said.

     Sirius smiled smugly, and she rolled her eyes. "Wait, hang on," he said. He cupped part of her jaw with one hand. Her eyes had widened. "Your flowers, the colour's patchy..."

     "You don't have to—"

     "No, I don't mind," he said. Emilia felt very aware that he was leaning closer to her than she had been doing with him. She didn't mind, don't get her wrong, but it was still disorientating. He muttered a spell, and she squinted. If it was patchy, then why—? "There you go. Red and gold."

     Emilia's jaw dropped for a second. "You bitch!"

     Sirius laughed. "Revenge, Salvatore!"

     Someone sat on the bench opposite. Emilia turned and saw James, who looked amused at the flowers. "Sorry for tearing you apart, Padfoot, but we've got to go," he said. "You're welcome, Emilia."

     "It's that easy for him to clear off?" said Emilia. "I would've tried that weeks ago."

     "You two aren't ganging up on me," said Sirius. Both grinned at him. "I didn't agree to this! My best friend and my—"

     "Your what?" said Emilia.

     James sniggered. "Right, let's leave Emilia in peace."

     "Before we beat her team," Sirius grumbled.

     Emilia said, "You wish!"

     The two boys walked off. Emilia packed up the face paint. She began to butter another slice of toast as one of her roommates walked towards her, loudly greeting her with, "Good morning, Princess!"

     Emilia sighed. "Yes?"

     "I was just wondering..." said Mia. "Why was a Gryffindor sitting here?"

     "Because we have the best toast," said Emilia. She wasn't lying. The Hufflepuff table tended to have the best breakfast food. And food in general. Although, Ravenclaw had the best coffee, during the rare occasions a pot of it floats around in the morning... "What's wrong with it?"

     "He's on the other team!" she said. "And your face — you're betraying us—!"

     "Honestly, Mia," said Emilia. "I don't give a shit."

     One of the other girls, Zoe, sat down next to Mia. The other two, Lottie and Claudia, sat on each side of Emilia. "Maybe you'll care about this," said Lottie. A folded-up Daily Prophet fell on top of her plate. And her toast.

RUPERT SALVATORE MISSING, PRESUMED DEAD

     "You're fucking kidding me."

     Lottie smiled.

     "He deserves it, what he did with Grindelwald—"

     "Oh, piss the fuck off!"

     Emilia stood up, taking the face paint and the newspaper with her. Claudia protested, but before she could properly say anything, Emilia's lot appeared.

     Carmilla rushed towards Emilia and put her arms around her. Softly and soothingly, Carmilla said, "C'mon, Em, let's get some fresh air..."

     Just before they left the hall, Emilia looked over her shoulder. Dinah and Melanie sank into the spaces between the four Hufflepuff girls, smirks on their faces and looking in for the kill.

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by the way, the way this story's going to work is that the two parts will act more like two very short stories, if that makes sense? the end of part one will have a bit of a finale kind-of feel but it won't be **the** finale. that's coming. and that's going to be good n i'm very excited.

i've known the end of this story ever since it was first planned but the middle bit's been changed a lot since. like, if you compare the current chapter summaries to the original ones, they're so different. there's also a vast improvement. there's also a parallel to mamma mia in the new n improved version? that shows it's better, let's be honest

i hope you enjoyed, and let me know what you thought! :)

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