One of the things Henri wanted most in life was to be respected by those she considered to be powerful…Not that she would include Alexander in that group but he was associated with such people like his father and strangely enough, even his middle brother who was a clever wizard who commanded respect. She supposed that at one time she held the blond, elder boy in high regard but since the incident that had ended with him having to repeat his seventh year, she had lost most of her respect for him. Powerful Wizards didn’t let such silly things happen or at least they didn’t get caught and that made him weak in her eyes. He was repeating a year which, even if it wasn’t for academic reasons, still made him seem slow. All the power he seemed to command during most of his years at Hogwarts had melted away since around this time last year. All that remained was the fear he’d instilled in her from their most recent encounter and the rumors of what he was capable of but even that was tainted since it had ended very badly for him. To her, Alex was weakened and now was the best time to pounce. She could ruin everything for him if she wanted and it would be perfect. She saw no downside to it…Which was probably foolish.

"You're playing with fire…What do you want?"

She didn’t falter when he stopped to turn and glare at her. Her smile remained intact. He was right. She loved the way he worded it. She was playing with fire and it thrilled her. This was the game she’d always wanted to play and now that she was in a place to gain such an advantage, she was able to engage. It was such a thrill.

"Were you following me? Pretty petty of you if you were. Don't you have anything bloody better to do?"

Henri laughed, shaking her head in disbelief as she rolled her eyes. “You wish,” she snorted, smiling devilishly. “I didn’t even have to look for you and there you were. Stupid as ever. The Three Broomsticks? Really? How thick are you that you thought you wouldn’t be seen? Who else do you think saw you because surely I couldn’t have been the only one since you were snogging her in full view of the entire pub!” She shifted her weight to one of her legs. “What do you think Stephanie would say if she heard about this? Or better yet, what do you think her parents would say?”




They say the poisoned vine breeds a finer wine.