Missy caught his eyes before he could dart them away again. For a half-second, she froze, pinned like a moth in that startled, reddish look on his face. And then—traitorously—her stomach twisted. Not in the gross, "ate too many treacle tarts" way, but in the kind of way that made her want ...

Missy’s quill froze halfway through a doodle in the margin of her notes as Scrivener went on. Her brows rose, and she leaned forward a little, the usual lazy tilt to her posture giving way to genuine intrigue. “Wait—so we’ve been drawing runes this whole time without even realizing it?” she muttered...

Missy listened closely, her fingers still brushing over the grain of the little wooden box as Adeline spoke. The way she tapped her chest made something click in Missy—art coming from the heart, not from knowing all the right strokes or having steady hands. That was something she could maybe try, ev...

Missy gave a soft huff of laughter, the kind that wasn’t so much loud as it was warm in her chest. Weeding themselves out —she supposed Kyle had a point. Still, her gaze lingered on him for a beat, her quill paused above her parchment, before she scribbled another half-sentence that trailed off when...

Missy watched Dev ramble through his thoughts like a train trying to change tracks mid-run, her arms still crossed and a barely-contained smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. “First of all,” she said dryly, “you do realize you’re talking to a Slytherin, right? I’m not about to talk you out of g...

Missy hated this. Not the dancing—not the way his hands were firm but careful on her hips, not the gentle pull that guided her in a slow spin that made her dress swish around her ankles. Not even the way he laughed, all warm and stupid and just shy of charming. No, what she hated was the fact that s...

Missy narrowed her eyes at him, feigning deep betrayal. “Wow. Wow, Kyle. I open up once—once!—and suddenly you’re questioning my trust levels?” she said with mock outrage, placing a hand over her heart like she’d been mortally wounded. “Next thing you’ll be saying is I was faking all those dramatic ...

Missy snorted, still gripping the Snitch between her fingers as she levelled out her broom. Dev was dangling beneath his, looking every bit the idiot she suspected he was when he first picked up a Beater’s bat. It was almost too perfect. “You think you might actually enjoy Quidditch?” she echoed, to...

Missy’s breath hitched—just barely—as the music shifted. Gone were the lively beats, the twirling, the exhilarating rush of movement. In its place, something softer. Slower. Intimate. She was still in his arms from the dip, her heartbeat thundering as Devereaux pulled her upright. The air around the...

Missy huffed a quiet laugh at the mention of crutch swings, shaking her head. “Good to know. I’ll keep that in mind next time I need someone taken out at the knees.” It was a joke, but there was something oddly comforting about the offer. She wasn’t used to people standing in her corner—especially n...

Missy let out a dramatic sigh as Devereaux took her hand, allowing herself to be dragged onto the dance floor. “You’re a menace, you know that? Just because I have the cardio for it doesn’t mean I want to waste it on dancing.” She shot him a smirk, though she made no real effort to resist. She tilte...

Missy had been having way too much fun watching Dev scramble to keep the Bludger at bay. At first, it had been hilarious—his startled yelp, the way he fumbled the bat, how the vibrations nearly rattled it right out of his hands. But to his credit, he’d adapted quickly. He wasn’t exactly graceful, bu...

Missy let out a small, appreciative breath as Adeline placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She hadn’t really expected warmth, but now that she had it, she felt a little less like she was fumbling through something too big for her hands to hold. At Adeline’s question about religion, she hesitated. “...

Missy scoffed, shaking her head as she drummed her fingers against the table. “Dev the Destroyer, ignorant of class and shame? Oh, say it isn’t so.” She placed a hand over her heart as if personally wounded. “Here I was, thinking you were the very model of decorum. What a crushing disappointment.” H...

Missy hovered in place, still absolutely glowing from the thrill of their Keeper drill. Her pulse was hammering, her whole body was alive with energy, and Dev? He had done way better than she expected. Most first-timers barely lasted two minutes in front of the hoops before getting completely discou...

She shifted in her seat, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. “Yeah,” she murmured. “It’s not fair. But I don’t think we’re supposed to just… accept it.” Her voice was quiet, thoughtful, but there was a stubborn edge to it. “I mean, we do have to live with whatever happens, sure. But I don’t ...

Missy stepped inside Enchanting Essentials with a quiet, tentative air, the chime of the door ringing in the stillness of the room. She scanned the space with wide eyes, trying to find something that would give her a sense of direction. The vibrant colours and enchanting aromas surrounded her, but h...

Bump!

Missy leaned back in her chair, thoroughly pleased that Devereaux had bounced back. The sulking look didn’t suit him—being ridiculous did. And ridiculous was exactly what he looked like now, cheeks bulging with dessert like some overfed gerbil. She licked the last trace of stolen trifle from her fin...

Missy felt alive. Every nerve in her body thrummed with excitement, her heart pounding as she streaked through the air, wind whipping against her face. Flying had always been where she felt the most herself, and now, for the first time in ages, she had someone flying alongside her—really flying. Dev...

Missy blinked, caught off guard by the shift in Devereaux’s expression. The usual glint of mischief in his eyes had dulled, his smirk wiped away entirely. It was rare to see him like this—quiet, almost sheepish. She wasn’t used to it, and truthfully, she wasn’t sure she liked it. Missy didn’t like t...

Missy glanced over her shoulder mid-flight, grinning as she saw Dev following after her. He wasn’t bad. A little slow, sure, but he handled his broom well enough. And more importantly—he liked flying. That was half the battle won already. She heard his whoop as he rolled through the air, and she let...

Missy had been pacing impatiently, hands on her hips, her Firebolt slung casually over her shoulder. She knew she’d given Devereaux a ridiculously short window to get changed and get his arse down here, but that was part of the test. If he wasn’t willing to commit, what was the point? She had just b...

Missy let out a laugh at Devereaux’s realization, shaking her head as she picked at the last bite of her pastry. “Oh, come on,” she scoffed, amusement flickering in her eyes. “Posh? Me? I think you’ve got the wrong idea, Devereaux. I was just… comfortable.” She leaned back slightly, swirling the dri...

Missy took a delicate sip of her drink which Devereaux had brought over thoughtfully, watching Devereaux with a knowing glint in her eye as he posed his question. Slowly, she set the glass down, exhaling in a way that suggested she was about to impart some great and terrible truth. “Sully myself wit...