Magic? || Years 1-5

Tainted Romance: Year 4

Eyes wide and lower lip trembling, Amisty moved the newspaper closer to herself.

It was Draco and her at the lake, when he had dropped her down next to him, her head on his shoulder, their hands clasped.

Tainted Romance

Harry Potter, Saviour of the Wizarding World, has made countless friendships with many other students during his four years at Hogwarts. One, in particular, being another orphan named Amisty River, a pretty girl with a foul temper and a tendency to speak without thinking. According to accounts from many Gryffindor students, such as Colin Creevey, it's very hard to find the two of them separated inside or out of the castle.

Imagine the horror when poor Harry discovers that his beloved friend has been in a forbidden relationship with none other than Slytherin pureblood Draco Malfoy, his rival. The blossoming romance between the two of them clear with sightings spanning from the teenagers embracing each other at the banks of the Great Lake to dancing in secret during the Triwizard Tournament Yule Ball. In fact, many letters have been exchanged between the two of them. (See below)

Amisty couldn't swallow as she kept reading. She could barely be relieved that there was no mention of her heritage. Her letter -- her private letters -- thrown around for everyone to see.

Clearly, this relationship seems to be as innocent as it could be, despite the two being former enemies.

"Amisty and Malfoy?" Says Lavender Brown, a Gryffindor in her year. "They've hated each other since first year, almost as badly as Harry hates Malfoy. You can't find them in the same room without insults -- or hexes -- being thrown around."

But this innocent connection has been tainted. Though Amisty thinks its been kept a secret, hidden and safe and perfect, it's far from that. Draco Malfoy, the charming and rather handsome Slytherin fourth year, has been fooling her since the beginning.

"Fancying her? Unlikely," Pansy Parkinson, Draco's true girlfriend, says. "He's talked to me about this. It's to get her walls down, get her to spill her secrets and then use them against her. She's just so starved for attention she hasn't realized it."

And then the words were too blurry for her to see them, and she realized she was crying.

"Oh, Amisty," Hermione whispered, and the raven-haired girl buried her face in her friend's shoulder.

"I'm such an idiot," She mumbled, her voice muffled and choked. "I don't know why I ever thought it was real. What was I thinking?"

"So Skeeter wasn't lying? This was real?" Ron snapped, the sound of paper crinkling reaching her ears. "She's been romping around with that git?"

"Ron!" Hermione snarled.

"I thought you hated him, Amisty, what happened?" Harry demanded, and she winced at the lack of the nickname.

"He's been helping her with her shifting," Hermione replied, eerily calm in the sea of anger.

"I-I'm sorry," Amisty forced out, rubbing her eyes in a desperate attempt to stem the flow of tears. "I really thought -- I don't know -- I'm so stupid!"

And she ran up to the dormitory, slamming and locking the door behind her, ignoring her friends shouting her name.

The bed shuddered as she threw herself down, groaning and creaking and she was certain she heard something crack. But that was the last thing on her mind.