It would have made quite a bit of sense for Henrietta to think through what she would say to him, how far she was willing to push him in order to make him crack or whether she just wanted to watch him squirm, but unfortunately she didn’t put that much effort into it. She needed to have a plan because this could quite easily backfire but she was arrogant enough to think that she could pull it off and get exactly what she wanted. She wanted control and she at least was clever enough to realize that wasn’t something Alex would willingly give up. She also continued to seriously consider the rumors about him hurting others in his quest to maintain control since she was a prime target for his wrath. The Slytherin would boast that he didn’t scare her but that simply wouldn’t be true. He was quite a bit larger than her and he was a year older and more experienced especially with dueling since he had two brothers. And apparently he wasn’t above resorting to Muggle violence which she was since it was weak and an entirely undignified way to duel but it was effective especially when he was so much larger. But she couldn’t think like that if she wanted to best him. If she was even slightly scared then he would sense it and he wouldn’t be scared of her. She needed him to fear her, not the other way around.

She had to assert herself so once he replied with his childish remarks, she stopped walking and folded her arms across her chest, unwilling to play by his rules.

“You don’t have to apologize to me,” she replied, her tone rather icy. “But you might want to think of something better for your dearest Stephanie. It’s Stephanie, isn’t it?” She paused, shaking her head, her green eyes narrowing.  “And I never said there was anything going on besides a bit of snogging but now you’ve got me wondering.” Her smile widened. “What was the dear eldest Holcombe doing with Sabrina Sorelli in a dark corner of a pub, I wonder? Perhaps your father could help me figure it out. I think he’d be a big help, don’t you?”

It might have been a bit soon to be pushing him so far but she had to make sure he understood her intentions otherwise he could just walk away and ignore her, leaving her with nothing more than some dirt on him rather than some gossip to blackmail him with.




They say the poisoned vine breeds a finer wine.