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[color=cornflowerblue]“Demi, we need to talk.”[/color]

The voice of Luke Graves was the one Demetria was dreading hearing ever since she was first notified of the rumor going around. She’d secretly hoped that her brother had been too busy with practice, studying for his NEWTs and classes to have any time to listen to some rumors. But apparently the story must have been spreading like wildfire, because her brother -someone who couldn’t care less about any type of drama and gossip-, most probably knew about it… And seemed ready to be asking questions. Why else would he want to talk about her so urgently?

Demi, who had been about to go up to her room, nodded. [color=darkred]“Yeah, sure. Let’s go outside.”[/color] she agreed, effortlessly hiding her rising panic and nervousness as they exited the common room and stood a few steps away from the Fat Lady’s painting..She swore that ever since she’d gotten involved with Noel, this lying thing and hiding true feelings was coming naturally to her. Looks like her Slytherin Spice Bomb was being a bad influence in more ways than one.

Once outside, Luke stood firmly in front of his sister, crossing his arms in front of her chest while giving her a look that said he meant business. [color=cornflowerblue]“Okay, I’ll get straight to it. No bullshitting around.”[/color] he began, and Demi braced herself for the impact. [color=cornflowerblue]“There’s a rumor going around that you were seen sneaking around with Playboy Jameson. Is it true: yes or no.”[/color]

Yup, her suspicions had been right. 

Demi simply stared at her brother for a few seconds, not daring to say a thing. She thought fast, deciding to use the inside information Tatiana had provided a half-hour before on her favor. [color=darkred]“Didn’t they say it’s most likely Jana, Olivia or Lyanna?”[/color] the brunette answered in an innocent tone, opting to neither deny or admit the accusations.

Luke let out a long sigh, looking as if all this mess was exhausting him. [color=cornflowerblue]“See, I knew you would say this, because it’s actually the turn the story took thanks to me trying to let your sorry ass off the hook. But what if I told you that, before Gurgitch saw you guys, I’d seen the two of you before: holding hands and kissing while leaving in the direction of the Great Hall?”[/color]

Demi’s jaw dropped, unable to comprehend what Luke was saying. He had [i]what[/i]?! [color=darkred]“Wait, what?!”[/color] she cried out, eyes wide as saucers. She’d been certain that there had been nobody around the dungeons when she’d been with Noel… That had clearly [i]not[/i] been the case. Was this how easy it was for them to get caught? Were they really becoming this careless?

Luke nodded as if reading her thoughts. [color=cornflowerblue]“Yeah. I was waiting around for Professor Blackthorn to go to his office so I could ask him a few things about the NEWTs, and that was the [i]lovely[/i] sight I found myself witnessing.[/color]

This was it. She’d been caught and defeated. There was no way she would be able to get out of this one.

[color=darkred]“Okay, fine! It was me, okay?!”[/color] she admitted, looking up at her disappointed brother with embarrassed, pleading eyes. [color=darkred]“Just… Please don’t judge me, Luke. It’s all just a complicated mess.”[/color]

The young man rolled his eyes at her. [color=cornflowerblue]“Seriously, Demi, couldn’t you find a [i]normal[/i] way to rebel? Like, I don’t know, dyeing your hair some wild color, getting a pixie cut, or even a tattoo! Why choose to date good for nothing Slytherins?”[/color] he grumbled, clearly disapproving of his younger sister’s actions.

[color=darkred]“Noel and I aren’t dating!”[/color] she quickly interjected, then quickly fell silent when she realized what would be Luke’s next question. The answer to it was one the brunette did not want to have to give.

[color=cornflowerblue]“Then what exactly are you doing sneaking around with him, then?”[/color] Luke shot back -asking exactly what Demi was afraid he would-, but quickly raised his hands as if second-guessing himself about if he really wanted to hear the answer to that. [color=cornflowerblue]“You know what, don’t answer that. I don’t even wanna know.”[/color]

The girl closed the distance between her and her brother and wrapped her arms around him, trying to soften him up. [color=darkred]“Look, I know that you’re just doing your job as a big brother trying to protect me,”[/color] she began in a soft, coaxing tone. [color=darkred]“But I swear I’m not going to screw up again. Trust me: I know what I’m doing. I have control of the situation.”[/color] Okay, that last bit was a bit of a stretch -especially with this stupid rumor circulating. But whenever it died down (which Demi hoped was sooner rather than later), things would be completely on hers and Noel’s own terms again.

Luke shook his head and sighed again, knowing he had no choice but to believe his sister. [color=cornflowerblue]“Okay, fine. But you gotta be more careful, Dem. There’s eyes everywhere in this castle, and I don’t want you to get the wrong rep with this-”[/color] he suddenly trailed off, eyes moving from Demi and to the end of the hallway.

The sound of incoming footsteps could be heard echoing across the tower. At first, the pair of strangers walking towards them were too far away to be identified. The Graves siblings broke their embrace to face the newcomers, both with their arms crossed in front of each other and wearing matching quizzical expressions. But the pair were now close enough, the firelight illuminating their features just enough to be discerned. And when Demi realized who they were, she couldn’t stop the feeling of utter jealousy that overcame her features.