87 87) Unresolved flames

Alice's gaze were fixed on Severus accusingly. She finally spoke in the silence of the locker room. "You did this on purpose." Her voice was a mix of frustration and curiosity as she pinned the blame on him.

Severus met her stare with a calm expression. He knew what she wanted to hear. Not that he was responsible for it.

"No, Alice." He finally spoke. "The teams were entirely chosen by Professor Moody and Harry Potter."

Her blue eyes narrowed slightly, as she pressed further, "You can't convince me that it's just a coincidence, Severus."

Severus maintained his composure. What more did she was wanted to hear? "Believe what you will, but Moody's decisions are beyond my control."

Alice sighed. The argument was futile now. "I don't buy it," she finally muttered.

Severus smirked. Moving closer to her, he trapped her figure between him and the wall.

"Then don't question my integrity. I don't resort to such D-grade tactics." He leaned in, his voice softening, "Trust me, if I wanted to, I could have just pulled you into a broom closet and kissed you until you agreed with me again."

Alice's entire body turned into a jelly-like state, the familiar sensation of goosebumps tingling through her. As Severus spoke, her cheeks flushed automatically, the physical response to his presence unmistakable. The unspoken tension between them lingered, a silent acknowledgment of emotions that went beyond mere words.

Severus pressed on, a smirk playing on his lips. "You still remember my kisses, don't you? How you trembled in my hands, how your body reacted to mine. I could make you cum alone with my touches and fingers remember. The soiled panties, my hands there." Severus said before finally pulling away from her. He was honestly enjoying the squirming she was doing beneath him. There was a perverse pleasure in doing that.

He had to stop himself. He still liked Alice. If things continued, he could practically fuck her here before the duel. The things were of past now.

"You were the one who messed us up." She took a deep breath, fighting to regain control. Weeks had passed since she felt the rush of adrenaline from their shared history, and the emotions resurfacing were both a struggle and a reminder of what once was. He was right. He used to play with her body practically.

After moments of tense silence, Severus finally broke the silence, "We could still fix this. Come to me." He finally whispered.

Alice finally spoke, her voice laced with courage. The same courage which had made her leave. "I can't be a whore for you."

Her words held a raw honesty, drawing a line in the sand despite the emotional turbulence between them. She won't like to be called a whore by the society.

"You will be my wife, not my whore." His words were a promise. A future which he had envisioned some time before.

"I can't do it. Not now." Closing her eyes, she made the decision to stand firm. The prospect of a polygamous marriage was a line she couldn't cross at the moment. Her honesty marked the limits of what she could accept. She won't accept it.

Suddenly they heard footsteps approaching. Instantly, Severus and Alice masked their faces, their private exchange concealed from the eyes of anyone.

Moody entered the room with a frown. His eyes ever vigilant roamed around before he finally asked, "What's your game plan?"

Severus was swift to respond. He immediately decided to state, "We'll employ the duel shift plan. I'll take the offensive, and Alice will focus on shielding."

Moody nodded approvingly, "Good strategy. Execute it well, and you might surprise even me. Fortescue give everything to your Shields. Prince, I don't think I need you to explain on what to do." He spoke looking at them.

He immediate left the room and Severus and Alice were left alone again.

Alice muttered with a hint of confidence, "We are going to win anyway." She had to acknowledge Severus's formidable power, he was nearly force that seemed almost unbeatable. She was sure that he was going to make them win.

Severus chuckled playfully hearing her words. "I'm glad you're so confident in me." He spoke playfully as he left the room, leaving Alice alone with her thoughts.

_________________________________________________

Laena walked over to Severus. He didn't seem much happy after coming out of the locker rooms. Her Slytherin robes hung tightly to her body and a confident smile was on her face.

"Hello, Severus," she said, sitting down next to him. "Are you ready for the duel?"

Severus looked up at her with his dark eyes. His eyes searching before they softened slightly. Something which never failed to allure Laena.

"I suppose so," he said, in a low voice. His eyes went to the Durmstrang duo who were fighting the Beauxbatons duo.

Laena leaned closer to him and lowered her voice. She didn't fear anyone nowadays. It was common knowledge that they were friends. Besides she was still keeping her personal space, even if it was little.

"Listen, Severus, I know you're not thrilled about your partner, but you have to make the best of it. We're Slytherins, after all. We have to show them what we're made of."

Severus snorted. "And what are we made of, Laena? Cunning and ambition?"

Laena shrugged. "It doesn't matter what we're made of, Severus. The point is, you need to win your duel. That's the only thing that matters right now."

Severus clenched his jaw. He knew she was right, but he hated to admit it. He hated to admit that he cared about anything other than winning. He was going to win. It was for sure. However a fight had many factors. He shouldn't get his head full of crap and overconfidence now.

He glanced at Alice, she was nervously twirling her wand in her hand. She looked like she was about to faint with nervousness. He wondered how he could possibly win with her as his partner. She was a capable witch. However the fact remained. In a duelling match, surrounded by audience. He couldn't trust her to murk things up. She had a stage fear inside her. She didn't know about it. But it wasn't hard to guess.

He turned back to Laena. "And what about you?" he asked. "Do you care about anything other than winning?"

Laena smiled wickedly. "Of course I do, Severus. I care about you."

Severus raised his eyebrow at her words. Was this blatant flirting with her? He felt a surge of anger, disgust and a strange perverse pleasure. He had no interest in Laena, or any other girl for that matter. Well maybe it was a lie. He had interest in Laena. She was beautiful but that was it. He didn't proceed on advances with her. He was already contracted to marry, as part of his deal with the Zabinis, the Dark Lord.

"If you're flirting, then I hate to tell you that I am already contracted to marry," he said with a frown. His eyes were stern as he looked at her to convey his seriousness.

Laena gasped. She knew he had a girlfriend. However she didn't know that he was contracted to marry someone. She had held out hopes of asking him out, but she had been playing it slow.

"Who?" she asked, in a whisper. She wanted to know.

Severus smirked. "Later Laena. I will tell you everything on the day of Yule Ball." Severus replied. The world was going to have a blast when they will hear about his polygamous marriage with the girls.

"Do you like her?" Laena asked curiously. She wanted to know who Severus was going to marry. Was it his girlfriend or someone else whom he was contracted to? She suspected that it was the latter part. Afterall if it was his girlfriend, the gossip of Hogwarts would have caught it by now.

Severus glared at her. He didn't want to talk about his personal life with her, not at the moment. He di

"Not more about this Laena, not here. It isn't necessary that I like her at the moment," he replied with a frown evasively. "I'm trying my best to maintain the situation. Also, let me focus on the duel."

Laena frowned. She sensed that Severus was hiding something. Something dark and dangerous. Something that could ruin his future.

Laena understood his demand to keep it hidden at the moment. She knew that he would tell her about it later. She couldn't barge into his life to know stuffs. Besides, he had said that he would explain later. She couldn't impose.

She decided to drop the subject and focus on the duel. She looked at the stage. It was time.

"Hey. Look, Dumbledore is announcing the teams. C'mon let's hear the competition." Laena said excitedly as people all around the Quidditch stadium perked up.

Dumbledore was standing in the centre of the Quidditch pitch, where a large arena had been set up for the duelling competition. Dumbledore stood on a podium, holding a scroll in his hand. He smiled enthusiastically and waved his wand toward the students of every school. With a spell, amplifying his voice. He immediately started to announce.

"Welcome, welcome, to the Triwizard duelling competition!" he announced. "I hope you are all excited and ready to show your skills and sportsmanship. The rules are simple: each duel will last for ten minutes, or until one of the teams is disarmed, stunned, or knocked out. The winning team will advance to the next round, until we have a champion. The champion will receive a trophy, a certificate, and a special prize from our sponsors, the Ministry of Magic and Gringotts Bank. Though there's time for that."

The students cheered and clapped, some more enthusiastically than others. Dumbledore was more excited with the amount of appreciation to his words. Without wasting his words and time, he continued.

"Before we begin, let me introduce you to our judges. They are Professor Flitwick, Professor Jansen, Grandmaster Nicholas Flamel, and Madame Maxime. They will be watching the duels closely and awarding points for style, technique, and creativity. They will also be ensuring that no one uses any illegal or dangerous spells. So, please, be fair and respectful to your opponents and the judges."

Dumbledore paused and unrolled the scroll. He cleared his throat and read out the names of the teams slowly.

"The teams that will compete in the first round are:

- Lukas Meier and Pieter van der Berg from Durmstrang

- Dmitri Sokolov and Jonas Schneide from Durmstrang

- Hendrik Jansen and Sophia Müller from Durmstrang

- Anouk van Dijk and Ivan Petrov from Durmstrang

- Antoine Dubois and Hugo Lefevre from Beauxbatons

- Mathieu Moreau and Lucas Laurent from Beauxbatons

- Olivier Rousseau and Amélie Dupont from Beauxbatons

- Camille Leroux and Apolline Boucher from Beauxbatons

- James Potter and Sirius Black from Hogwarts

- Frank Longbottom and Amelia Bones from Hogwarts

- Rodrick Davies and Dennis Crawford from Hogwarts

- Severus Prince and Alice Fortescue from Hogwarts"

Dumbledore looked at the students and smiled. Taking a long pause, he slowly elaborated on. "The duels will be as follows:

- The first duel will be between (Lukas Meier and Pieter van der Berg) from Durmstrang and (James Potter and Sirius Black) from Hogwarts.

- The second duel will be between (Camille Leroux and Apolline Boucher) from Beauxbatons and (Frank Longbottom and Amelia Bones) from Hogwarts.

- The third duel will be between (Hendrik Jansen and Sophia Müller) from Durmstrang and (Rodrick Davies and Dennis Crawford) from Hogwarts.

- The fourth duel will be between (Mathieu Moreau and Lucas Laurent) from Beauxbatons and (Severus Prince and Alice Fortescue) from Hogwarts.

- The fifth duel will be between (Antoine Dubois and Hugo Lefevre) from Beauxbatons and (Anouk van Dijk and Ivan Petrov) from Durmstrang.

- The sixth duel will be between (Olivier Rousseau and Amélie Dupont) from Beauxbatons and (Dmitri Sokolov and Jonas Schneider) from Durmstrang."

Dumbledore looked at the students and smiled. "Please, make your way to the arena when your name is called. And may the best team win. Let the competition begin!"

The crowd cheered and clapped excitedly for each name pronounced by Dumbledore. Each school students cheered excitedly for the name spoken of their students.