"So what's all this about you sneaking a Hufflepuff into the Slytherin dungeons, hmm?" Blaise grinned between them both. "Malfoys' breaking all the rules for--"

"Shut up, Blaise," Draco snapped, removing his arms from Amora. "Now shut the bloody door before someone walks past and sees Amora in here."

Theo rolled his eyes and shut the door, moving to sit on the bed next to Draco's with Blaise. Amora assumed it belonged to one of them. Pansy stood against one of the wooden four posters, her arms folded against her chest. Amora sent the Slytherin girl a small smile which Pansy nodded to in return.

"If you must know, I'm having to hide Amora in here," Draco seethed, spiking all of their interests. "Holloway slipped her Veritaserum."

"What?" Theo and Blaise both jumped at the same time, Pansy's frown deepening.

"Holloway? As in your best mate?" Pansy snapped at Amora.

Amora nodded timidly. "He was trying to get me to tell him where I've been going and who I've been meeting up with."

It took a couple of minutes to explain everything, and then a little longer for Amora to convince them that hexing Leon wasn't worth it and that she would deal with him herself.

Amora, truthfully, didn't mind Draco's friends, other than Crabbe and Goyle, of course. Although, since they'd hurt her after the Yule Ball, Draco didn't seem to hang around with them as much anymore.

"If I were you, I would have hexed him into next week, Buckley," Pansy huffed, "I do hope you don't plan on acting like besties with him after this?"

Amora hesitated. "Well, I suppose we'll have to remain civil, being housemates and all--"

"No way!" Pansy cried, outraged. "Who gives a shit if you're housemates? Buckley, if he's going to go to the extremes of slipping you Veritaserum, then you need to go to the extremes of cutting him out of your life."

For once, Draco didn't seem agitated by Pansy's presence. Instead, he nodded, giving a pointed look to Amora as if to tell her that Pansy knew what she was talking about.

As far as Amora was concerned, the friendship between Draco and Pansy was a strange one. Pansy buttered up to him for the sake of her parents, and Draco didn't like it. Whether or not Draco knew she was gay, Amora didn't know, but either way, she thought perhaps they were so similar that they often clashed.

"But..." Amora chewed her bottom lip. "I-- he's been my best friend since the first year--"

"Not anymore," Theo cut her off.

Amora felt like her heart was breaking. She knew all it would take was one person to tell her that maybe he deserved another chance and she would end up giving it to Leon, but none of the Slytherins seemed to deem him worthy enough of one. She swallowed harshly.

"He did it to himself, Amora," Blaise reminded her. "Stick up for yourself. You showed us full well that you could stick up for others when you tossed that water over Goyle's head at the Yule Ball--"

"Or when you attacked me in the second year for calling Granger a Mud--" Draco cut himself off when Amora glared at him. "A mean name."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Point is, Buckley, now it's your turn to stick up for yourself."

More hours passed. Amora enjoyed sitting in the Slytherin boys' dormitory, glued to Draco's side as she watched him interact with his friends. She kept mostly silent, not wanting to open her mouth too much with the Veritaserum flooding her veins, but she managed to laugh and joke around in all of the appropriate places. It was different from hanging out with the Hufflepuffs, but not necessarily in a bad way. She really liked Pansy, Blaise, and Theo. And it was nice not to hide her relationship with Draco in front of people.

"What time is it?" She asked when a comfortable silence settled over the group.

Blaise checked the watch around his wrist. "It's three in the afternoon."

"What's it been?" Theo furrowed his brows. "Nearly six hours now?"

Amora nodded eagerly. "Somebody ask me something I can lie about."

Pansy shifted some of her black bob behind her ear. "Buckley, what school do you go to?"

"Beauxbatons," Amora lied, everybody's eyes widening in surprise when the words escaped her lips. "Oh my gosh!"

In her excitement, she jumped to her knees on Draco's bed and squeezed him into a tight hug. Draco had barely any time to react before she'd bounded up and flung her arms around Blaise and Theo, squeezing them too and then Pansy, who stood frozen with her arms pinned to her side, eyes wide.

Amora grinned, teeth and all, bouncing on her heels. "I owe you guys everything," she said sincerely, "Thank you all, honestly."

"It's fine, Amora," Theo shrugged.

"No, I'm being serious. If any of you need anything in the future then I'll be more than happy to help in any way that I can," she promised them all.

"Same goes for you, Amora," Draco said, "I meant it when I called you our honorary Slytherin. We've got your back now, like one of our own."

Amora's heart swelled in her chest, especially when the others seemed to nod in agreement. She knew that things between her and Leon would never be the same again, yet she couldn't help feeling like she'd come out of this mess with new friends too.

D.M + A.B

"Amora!"

She glanced up from her space beside Cedric as she entered the Hufflepuff common room, glad to find it was Kathy running towards her and not Leon. The curly-haired girl flung her arms around Amora and tugged her into a squeezing hug. Amora held her back.

"I am so sorry," Kathy panicked as she pulled away. "I had no idea that Leon had been planning to do this! He came asking for you this morning, and he admitted what he had done. He was completely freaking out, he's so sorry--"

"You don't need to hear this, Amora," Cedric grumbled, pushing Amora gently away with Kathy. "I don't care if that boy gets down on his knees and sobs for your forgiveness, Amora, you're going to tell him to leave you alone unless he wants Professor Dumbledore involved."

Amora swallowed nervously, nodding weakly in agreement to the small plan her cousin had come up for her once he'd come to find her outside the Slytherin common room where he'd awkwardly thanked Draco and then tugged her away.

Her heart pounded when her eyes landed on a familiar mop of brown hair, her breath nearly caught in her throat. It was much easier said than done to just leave her friend of nearly five years, but as soon as Amora got a glimpse of his panicked face, all she felt was pure anger and resentment. He rushed towards her.

"Amora! Amora, I am so--"

Amora shoved Leon by the chest, watching as he stumbled back. She clenched her jaw. "Don't even bother with the apologies, Leon. You're not sorry for putting Veritaserum in my breakfast, you're only sorry that you got caught before asking me the question you've been dying to ask me."

Leon stared at her, his brown eyes filling with tears. "Amora--" His voice cracked.

"I told you not to bother," Amora spat, "Don't talk to me ever again, Leon. I hate you. And that's the truth."

...

i did not plan on the goblet of fire being over forty chapters but it looks like that's the way its gonna go whoops

i am so excited to develop amora's friendship with blaise, theo, and pansy!!