Delphini ran back towards the mansion as if a pair of hounds were hot on her heels.
Meanwhile, Grace crossed her arms and gave him a stare to which Harry returned. "What?"
"Seems I can't have you leaving my side even for a minute without you getting into trouble."
Harry returned his Wand to its resting place, trying his best not to pout, as he muttered a sulky, "She started it…"
A smile curled onto her lips, "I have no doubt, it isn't as though you try and put yourself into hazardous situations after all."
"Maybe if the so-called adults actually did their jobs and didn't just ignore the dangers I wouldn't have to." He snapped back, earning a slight wince from the woman.
"Fair enough. So, how are you enjoying the festivities?"
His jaw practically dropped, "Are you kidding me!? Oh yes, I love hanging out with rich arseholes who spent the better part of the evening demeaning me and treating me as though I were a slab of meat to be weighed and judged for my value in a butcher's shop."
Harry Potter was more than a little surprised when the woman rolled her eyes at his statement, an incredibly Muggle gesture that he was quite sure Voldemort would have gagged at. "Please, it hasn't been that bad."
"Bellatrix literally asked someone what they thought my parents would barter me for!"
The response was a dismissive wave, and although it did anger the boy it also sent a jolt of something else through his body. It was… fun, the banter between the two of them, something he would have never even considered before the evening.
Or maybe it was before the summer? Before Christmas? When had she made that slight incision into the shield he kept up between them?
Despite keeping her at a distance, despite his insistence of her guilt concerning the Philosopher Stone, there was something going on between them. At first, he had brushed it off as enjoying her class, he didn't have great luck with Defense professors after all, but it had evolved into something more.
Was she his favorite teacher? Maybe, but there was clear bias considering she was also his Head of House. Now there was something more, something beyond the professionalism that should have been the end of their connection.
"Why are you doing this?" He had meant it to come out strong and demanding, forceful and powerful. Instead, his words were a whisper in the wind, and there was a vulnerability in his tone that he hated the instant he recognized it.
He didn't want to be weak, especially around her.
For her part, Riddle's eyes immediately went to his own, and as much as he wanted to, he couldn't ignore the softness that appeared within them. Instead, he argued against it. "What are you getting out of this? You must be getting something right? No one ever helps out of the goodness of their heart."
Harry knew it wasn't true, knew he had friends who proved this wrong time and time again, but he had to reject the notion that Grace Riddle would do such a thing.
Because she had to be evil, he needed her to be evil. If she wasn't, if Voldemort didn't exist, if there were no evil plots, no Dark Lords then he wouldn't need to save the day.
Then what would anyone need him for?
Grace took a step towards him, and he took one away from her in response. Another step followed the same pattern, but her legs were longer, and it was awkward for him to retreat while keeping her in sight. The woman had closed the distance between them just as he had backed into one of the gaudy statues that decorated the grounds. She was close, too close, and he swore he could feel her breath ghosting over his skin.
"You fascinate me."
He couldn't help the gasp that escaped his lips. The way she was looking at him, the way she slid even closer to his body, the heat emanating off her own, the emotion in her voice.
No one had ever talked to him like that before, looked at him in such a manner.
"Your strength, your vulnerability, the way you hold yourself back but look as if you are ready to start carving a way through those who taunt you. It's your skill, so incredibly talented but with so much humility." She was nearly pressed up against him and he deep down he was glad it was dark enough other would not see the position they were in. "I want to see how far you will go in this world, to see what you can accomplish with everything stacked against you, to see what you can achieve."
She pulled back, teasing smile that he had never seen on her before covering her face.
"Of course, there is also the game we have going."
"G-game?"
Her smile seemed all-knowing, "Yes, the reason you accepted my offer in the first place. You want to prove I'm guilty, to find some sort of evidence that reveals all my secrets. You think I'm evil and are so frantic to prove it that you will even accept my tutoring just to be closer to me."
Harry stared back, not wanting to confirm anything with either his expressions or his body language. "If you think that's true then why are you doing this?"
"Because it gives me the chance to prove you wrong. It's a game now, you want to convince everyone of your theories, I want to convince you that you're wrong. What is more Slytherin then that?" She turned and began making her way back towards the mansion, "Don't spend the rest of the evening out here though. Who knows what they keep for pets or guards."
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