5:55 PM

Vienna Pascal arrived in the Entrance Hall at precisely five to six. She looked up at the clock and gave herself exactly five minutes before she would storm out of this place fuming in anger. He better not be late, Vienna smirked coldly to herself, because she really meant it when she said she will toss his Potions textbook into a pile of Hippogriff dung if he so much as decides to play the tardy game.

Standing by the grand staircase leading up to the First Floor, Vienna looked absolutely meticulous in a black wrap-dress and pointed heels. She was always presentable, but for him, she decided to be more so than usual. She would be damned if she gave off the impression of a miserable and pathetic ex-girlfriend. Vienna had her pride, if anything.

The very thought of him left a bitter taste in her mouth. She threw his Potions textbook down on the floor, perfectly indifferent as the spine cracked open in a messy heap. Vienna sighed. Abusing his possessions did not make her feel any better, not even a teeny tiny bit. A shame, really.

Truth be told, it was fun while it lasted. He was so different from everyone else she knew and Vienna liked that. Then one day out of the blue, he decided to break up with her, and not exactly in the nicest of ways. To uphold her reputation, Vienna simply pretended that he had beaten her to it. Denial wasn’t the right word, but it was the first word that came to mind. She bit down on her lips at the very memory of it.  The despicable prick.

Clearly, you’re not over him. A nagging voice in her head chided. Vienna drowned out the thought immediately. She wasn’t moopy over him, she was just angry. Would she go out of her way to make his life miserable? Absolutely. She would be lying if she said revenge does not offer her gratification.

Speaking of which, Vienna looked up again at the clock, he had exactly two minutes left.

5:59 P.M.

I'll be there. Oh yes. And if she so dares throw my book in dung, well, the whole school will see my revenge. These thoughts ran through Zoey McAdams mind as he walked slowly ascending the stairs from the dungeons. He took his time, as he didn't feel the need to rush, even though it was his potions book. Which was his most prized possession. Vienna knew it, and the fact that he'd let her borrow it showed stupidity on his part.

So help him, he would hit her, a girl, if she hurt it. As he got to the top of the staircase, he saw her leaning against the grand staircase. She looked livid. But he was on time. However, his book was on the ground, spine slightly tattered, and pages slightly torn. His eyes grew wide, pupils dilating at an alarming pace. Quickly he drew his wand, and shouted, "Accio book!" His book flew into his hands and he clasped it to his chest.

He was approximately twenty feet from his ex-girlfriend. He stared her in the eyes, looking as though she were the guardian to the underworld. "My book doesn't fall on the floor. EVER." He cringed at her, anger pulsing through his veins. "Do it again, Vampire, and I'll make sure those children you snack on will be all locked away from your bloodthirsty saliva."

With one minute to go, Vienna saw him emerge from the dungeons. Right, she mused, he would show up at the last possible moment. But at least he showed up on time, Vienna supposed. Ha. So he did take her ultimatum seriously. A smug smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She clasped her hands together and turned to face him.

He offered her no greeting and only glanced at her briefly. His eyes shifted to the tattered potions book on the floor and grew very wide. Vienna felt a little insulted. He always had the worst priorities.

“Accio book!"

It flew off the floor and into his hands. Quickly, he clasped it to his chest like one would a long-lost baby. Vienna was not amused. She flashed him a nauseatingly sweet smile and simpered, “Well, good evening to you too, dear.”

At lease she had the decency to acknowledge his presence.

"My book doesn't fall on the floor. EVER. Do it again, Vampire, and I'll make sure those children you snack on will be all locked away from your bloodthirsty saliva."

Vienna felt very tempted to roll her eyes at him, but then, that would be sinking to his maturity level, which extended no higher than two inches above the ground. She placed her hands on her hips and retorted sarcastically, “I’m sure the future generation will applaud your bravery.”

As for the book, surely Zoey didn’t think she returned it out of the kindness in her heart. If he went goo-goo over the cracked spine and the tattered pages now, she would hate to see what he would do when he finds out about the missing section from Amortentia to Veritaserum. A good fifty pages, all sitting ash by now in the Common Room fireplace, she smirked gleefully. If she played her cards right, maybe she could coax a reaction out of him now. A girlish yelp would be absolutely delightful.

“By the way,” Vienna continued, “with regard to that little threat you made earlier, well, I don’t know how to put this, but unless you want to be known as that creepy guy who keeps girl’s undergarments for Merlin-knows-what reason, I would suggest you return them to their rightful owner and refrain from blackmailing me again. It’s not an attractive fetish and I’m sure you don’t want little old me to be your last fling at Hogwarts.”

“Oh and Darling,” She emphasized the word with all the malice she could muster, “Look on page one-thirty-eight.” Vienna pointed prettily at the book, “I left you a little surprise.” She blew him a kiss before turning to walk away.

There was no page one-thirty-eight.

Glaring at her wasn't enough to suffice for the horror she committed, no, for the horror that she was. He didn't even know why he ever dated her. Besides, girls like her, sucking lives from children while they dream of lollipops and tricycles, shouldn't even be allowed out of their cages.

“By the way, . . . not an attractive fetish and I’m sure you don’t want little old me to be your last fling at Hogwarts.”

Tucking his book under his arm, he gave her a swift clap of the hands. "Right, and destroying people's property really makes a girl beautiful." His sarcasm was livid, as well as his anger. He wanted her buried, far away, where no one could hear her scream as she tried to escape. His thoughts of what to do to her were verging on the Dark Lord's territory, and he really wanted to just cast the curse to end her, but he knew better. He'd hold back, as much as he wanted to kill, he'd hold back.

"Look on page one-thirty-eight.”

His eyes grew to size of owls. Quickly pulling his book out again, he flipped through it, noticing a good fifty pages missing as well as the missing page one-thirty-eight. As quick as he was to retrieve his book via wand, he drew it again, aiming it at Vienna and shouting loudly, "STUPEFY!" He watched as the red light jolted towards her, aiming straight for the spot where her heart should be.

It was worth it. It was totally worth it. A smug smile tugged at Vienna’s red lips as she watched Zoey flip through the butchered book. Good gracious, if only she could rip out fifty pages from every single one of his books. Oh yes, and maybe burn his wardrobe while she was at it too. In fact, she would be doing him a huge favour seeing how dreadful his taste in fashion was.

As she languished in amusement, Zoey whipped out his wand. Vienna’s smile faded away. Her already pale complexion blanched a few more shades. She stared at him in alarm, unable to move or speak. Surely he wouldn’t dare—

“STUPEFY!"

Vienna made a mad dash for the ground and hoped for the best. A bottle of ink spilt out of her bag and crashed onto the marble floor, the lid popped open and spluttered unholy black droplets all over and around her. Vienna stretched out her arms to break the fall but only succeeded in making a mess of the situation. The wet goo felt like cyanide to her skin. She bit down on her teeth and clenched her fists, cursing inwardly at herself and at him

This was so…so…undignified…and…absolutely unacceptable.

The spell missed her head by a few measly inches. It did, however, take out a good chunk of wood from the stair banister. Vienna glared at Zoey and pushed herself off the ground, not caring that she was drenched in ink. Revenge took priority over cleanliness. She picked up the now half-empty ink bottle and held it in her left hand, with her right she whipped out her wand and aimed it at his face.

“An underhanded surprise attack on an unarmed girl?” Vienna hissed, her voice was dripped in acid, “That is low, even for you.”

He was really asking for it.  She threw the ink bottle towards him hopefully to distract his attention before shouting out her own spell.

“Levicorpus!”

Nothing said revenge like hanging a person upside down and socking a nasty punch to his nose.

He watched as his spell hit the stairs instead of the foe. Boy, Greyfriar was going to be one unhappy camper after seeing his beautiful castle being cursed to rubble. But he did succeed in making a mess out Vienna, as she dropped ink, fell, and then tumbled around in the black, messy goo. Smiling, and crossed his arms, book in one hand and wand in the other.

“That is low, even for you.”

Scowling, he sighed. "I'm not the one who hit the floor. Now that's low." He smiled, but then realized she was going to retaliate. As the ink bottle flew towards him, he quickly shouted another curse aimed at the bottle, shattering it in mid-air and watching the ink and glass rain down on both of them. He now had black spots on his clothes and face, but he wasn't near as bad as Vienna.

“Levicorpus!”

Quickly knowing how he would end up, he shielded himself with his book, letting the beautiful, yet destroyed Potions manuel take the hit of the spell. As it glided up, he skidded away to the right, ducking behind a suit of armor. What next, what next? Have to think of. . . I got it! Making a mad dash from his armor, Zoey jumped sideways through the air, wand aimed at Vienna, and shouted, "Conjunctivitis!" The spell was to somewhat blind the individual, this way, she wouldn't know where to look.

Vienna scowled as Zoey obliterated the ink bottle midair. More ink droplets rained down upon her along with miniscule shards of broken glass. Her only consolation was that he didn’t escape unscathed either. He then proceeded to blocking off her spell with the Potions manual. It glided up into the air while he scurried away. Angrily, she flung the poor book towards a pool of liquid black goo. It can sit there and rot for all she cared.

“Hiding behind things as always, huh?” Vienna taunted.

She was about to blast another spell his way when he ducked behind a suit of armour. Vienna was beyond insulted by this déjà vu. First, Fauna had tried it on her during their duel last week. And now, him too? She should’ve known better than to expect a fellow Slytherin to fight with decency.

“Good gracious!” Vienna let out a shrill laugh, “I must say it’s a bit steep for you to talk to me about low, of all things, you pathetic coward!”

Vienna stood her ground and raised her wand. There was no way he could stand there forever and she was right. After a brief moment, Zoey dashed out sideways and aimed his wand towards her.

“Conjunctivitis!”

Vienna was more than prepared. She easily deflected his spell with a Shield Charm and made an attempt to disarm him.

“Expelliarmus!”

She would be damned if she lost to an insipid git like him.