351. Direct Confrontation

"Mag, come with me. I have finally made the fighter broom." Emma came excitedly into his dorm room, shocking a lot of other boys. But it was now an open secret that both were into each other, so no one said anything, in fact, some said good morning.

Magnus was sleeping in his bed when all of a sudden something heavy jumped over his body. Without opening his eyes he cursed Chad, "Chad, you have grown fat again. No food for the week."

"Meow..." Chad made sad noises from a distance, feeling wronged.

*Pat*

Emma lightly tapped on his face, "It's me, Magnus. Get up and check out my broom. I have finished making the first working prototypes."

Ragnar just returned from the bathroom and saw Emma trying to wake him up, so he came to help, "Wait, I know how to wake him up."

*Cough* He cleared his throat before shouting in a female voice, "OH MY GOD! Somebody help, I just lost one billion galleons, whoever helps me find can keep a hundred million."

Magnus' eyes shot open, his blue irises shining bright, but his shoulders fell immediately, "Argh... it was a dream. *Yawn* What happened, Emma?"

"Check out my broom." Emma excitedly repeated.

He nodded and slowly got up, wore his clothes, and cast a spell on his teeth and mouth. "Let's go. Rag, you can also come. Where is Severus?"

"He said he's going to the library to research making more spells." Ragnar shrugged and followed.

...

It was morning, they arrived outside Hagrid's hut, as this was a place rarely visited. Hagrid was also somewhere inside the forest at that time so they were free to do it.

There was something on the ground, it was covered under a cloth. Emma sure had prepared for the reveal. She coughed and stood in front of her invention proudly. "Behold my greatest creation, one that took me years to make, and sacrifice of so many nights' sleep. I have named this broom, "Infinity Dragon 1". With its magic engine, it can go from 0 to 100 in 2 seconds, then to 400 in 4 seconds and its top speed is 600. It can shoot magic bullets which are made of the magic of the wizard sitting on it. Its aerodynamic design can minimise drag. The special paint smoothens it further.

"The headlights in front of it will ensure night raids on low altitudes go successfully. There is also a storage compartment for first aid and not to forget, the soft leather seats for a comfortable and deadly ride."

*WOOSH*

She took the cloth off and the creation was for all to see. It didn't look like a broom but a miniature jet. Magnus and Ragnar whistled after seeing this. There were two of them.

"So, want to test drive?" She asked them.

Ragnar, although didn't like flying much, had started to love it ever since he turned into his Animagus. "I would love to."

Magnus also went to one broom. But, after sitting, he looked at Emma, "Hmm, I could use the technician's help and tell me about the features. Why don't you join me, Emma?"

Her jaw fell, she was not expecting this. But Ragnar's teasing words brought her back to reality, "You are drooling, Emma."

She checked her mouth and saw nothing, responding to Ragnar with a glare. But then she walked to Magnus, "I will gladly help."

Magnus allowed her to sit in front of him, like in the old days on horses. Her back was pressed on Magnus' chest as he held the handle of the broom, squeezing her in between.

She was blushing madly and stuttering, "Umm... you know how to fly... I-If you have some questions, ask me."

He chuckled softly and took off. Ragnar was behind him as well. "Let's see how fast it can go with two people."

*WOOSH*

Magnus went full speed over the deeper sections of the forbidden forest. Wind pressing on the two's faces. But, they didn't complain, as the beauty of the forest from the sky was overwhelming.

Ragnar also flew close to him and spoke, "Get a room, you two. See you later," he sped up to max and zoomed past.

Magnus and Emma looked at each other's faces for a split second, then shrugged. "Let's surprise the Centaur tribe."

And like this, they spent, their entire day flying over the forest. In the middle, they even saw Hagrid. The big man asked for a ride as well, so, Ragnar ended up being pressed between Hagrid's fat belly and the handle of the broom.

"Get a room, you two." Magnus taunted Ragnar, while Hagrid didn't understand what he meant and innocently replied, "Why, Magnus? I got meself a fine small cottage."

Ragnar hated making fun of Magnus now.

...

19th December had come, it was the day to celebrate Christmas Party, organised and funded by Magnus. This time, not many outsiders were invited, except the Ministry folks. Everyone there loved Magnus' parties.

People were allowed to wear party clothes. Even Dumbledore does not object to Magnus' such adventures, as he too understands now the meaning of such gathering. Slytherin house was the biggest example of this, after all. Dumbledore wanted the entire school to live in peace and harmony.

The time was set for the evening, the party would go on from 8 PM to 12 PM. Though kids from 1st to 3rd year will have to go to bed at 10. The reason was to give the older ones some space, especially the couples.

There were all kinds of drinks, even butterbeer was there, as he had buttered up the pub owner at Hogsmeade for this. There was food, all kinds of pizzas for Emma to go crazy over, all kinds of chickens for Ragnar to fatten himself on. For himself, well, pancakes didn't go well with a party sadly, so he stuck to normal people's food.

Magnus was wearing a nice black coloured suit with a black shirt, while Emma was wearing a lighter shade of black gown with a shirt-like top and an overcoat. She didn't like revealing her body too much and it was also cold. Not everyone had an internal heater like Magnus. Ragnar was wearing a black suit as well, but with a red shirt, while Snape had the same but with a dark green shirt. The four were totally rocking in terms of looks.

"My man, you look good. Pretty sure Lily will be eying you. But you must not look at her." Ragnar said to his buddy. Both of them were single, with no romantic interests.

Severus' situation was understandable, while Ragnar had a different argument altogether. He had said that "I will chase the girl who makes my little Ragnar stand up like a flagpole in one glance," And until now, he hasn't been able to find one.

So, both of them just sat at the side and ate like pigs. Emma and Magnus were there too, eating Pizza. Many girls had come to ask Magnus for a dance but he rejected them politely. While many boys had come for Emma and she had rudely rejected them.

"You should be softer on people, Emma. We don't want people to really call you my Bellatrix." Magnus joked.

She scoffed and ate her cheesy chicken pizza, "Huh, let them say whatever they want. I am far superior from that brainwashed broodmare."

Magnus chuckled, "Your words sure are gonna cut many hearts deep."

Slowly, the time passed, the Great hall became emptier, with only 4th years and uppers being there. Even most of the teachers had left, including Dumbledore and McGonagall. Slughorn was there as in charge, but the man was drunk and dancing stupidly with a sober Flitwick. Other than that, most couples were there, dancing to romantic music.

Gryffindor four, all except Peter, were able to find dates as well and danced. Peter ended up going to bed soon after, unable to see his friends enjoying it, jealousy was getting heavy on his conscience.

"Sev, let's go and dance. You sure got long hair, you can pass for my date tonight," Ragnar stood up suddenly.

The four were slightly drunk on Butterbear and had a shade of red on their faces. Shocking them, Severus stood up and grabbed Ragnar's shoulder, "No, my friend. You are my date, my bitch tonight."

Scaredly, Ragnar took a few steps back, "Wow wow... easy there, Sev. We got to have some brotherly distance between us. The last thing I want is you hallucinating and seeing me as Lily and kissing me,"

As the two left, Magnus looked at Emma, "You want to dance with me, Emma?"

She let out a frustrated sigh, "FINALLY, I thought you would never ask and I'd have to make do with eating pizza. LET'S GO!"

He laughed and held her hand, walking to the dance floor. Initially, they danced stiffly, as they had no idea where to put their hands. Emma grunted and forced his hands onto her waist, "I will not melt at your touch, Magnus. Hold me from here, look at the seniors, this is how you dance." She taught him, as she put her arms around his neck.

Magnus looked into her sparkling grey eyes, a blush on her cheeks was clear. He smiled softly and relaxed, and with that, their movement became fluid. All around them were couples, the dimly lit dance floor and the soft slow music enhanced the experience. The only absurdity there was the bickering duo of Ragnar and Severus as they tried to learn how to dance while cursing each other. But none of that was audible to Magnus and Emma as they drowned into each other's intoxicating eyes.

"Gah... it's getting hot in here, even when it's bloody cold. For Merlin's sake, how is your body radiating so much heat?" Emma complained, breathing out loud.

"Then get rid of your coat, I shall do the same with my coat." He suggested. And with a flick of their wands, they got rid of them. They went dancing once again, but Emma still found herself feeling warm in her body. She realised that it was not Magnus' doing, it was her own heart that was beating too fast.

She had never been this close to Magnus. The boy she had been in love with since 1st year, the boy whom she saw as a usual snobbish rich brat, the one for whom she was ready to fight a Dark Lord and even die, she finally found her feelings being somewhat reciprocated.

Yet, she always felt there was a wall between them, one raised by Magnus. And no matter what she did, she could not get past that wall. However, today, being so close, she felt that wall had thinned down, but it was human nature to be greedy and she couldn't help but hope for more... that there can be something real and open between them.

But she was scared of pushing too hard and making Magnus distance himself. There were a thousand words she wanted to say to him, but that fear made her keep them in her heart. It frustrated her to no end, she often felt like screaming.

She tried her best, always trying to impress him, to be better in magic, in her speciality. Yet... the frustration was only increasing. The fear was only increasing. Sometimes, she'd think about directly confronting him, feeling that it'd be better to be directly rejected than to live in false infuriating hope. However, that courage would go away the moment she would see him, feeling her friendship was too precious to be destroyed for something so dumb.

They kept on dancing, looking into each other's eyes, soon enough, their movement became like a computer programing on repeat, while the music went on and a thousand things ran in their minds. An hour passed, and Emma's eyes twitched, seemingly in agony. Then slowly, without any reaction or expression on her face, two teardrops slid down her eyes.

Magnus panicked, "W-What happened, Emma? Are you okay?"

She snuffled and nodded, holding her tears back, "C-Can we talk outside, somewhere quiet?"

He nodded and followed her, at the same time he signalled Ragnar and Severus, who were still dancing, but away from each other now and looked more like monkeys. The two responded immediately.

"Sev, let's go. We gotta make sure no hoe and WAP boy disturbs them." Ragnar said in a commanding voice.

Severus had questions, "I still don't understand what that word means."

"It means Weak Ass Pepe boy." Ragnar finally revealed.

Severus stopped in his tracks and glared daggers at Ragnar, "You have been calling me this the entire time?"

Ragnar smiled and patted Severus' back, "Come on, you can't deny it. You indeed were a weak ass pepe boy."

"That... was an apology?" Severus questioned angrily. As they bickered, they also made sure nobody went behind Magnus.

...

3rd floor, on a balcony. It was 11 in the night, there were clouds in the sky and the wind was especially chilly. But neither of them were worried about it. Emma stopped there and turned to face him.

Magnus stood close to her, "What happened, why are you upset?"

"I... I want a direct answer today. This bullshit is agonising my mind and hurting my heart." She blurted in the most shivering and stuttering voice possible. It clearly took all her courage.

Magnus stayed quiet for a minute, he sighed and faced down with closed eyes, thinking about the situation. ~Here it comes.~ he thought, knowing all too well, he could not walk out of this situation today.

[A/N: A bit of romantic drama, they are teenagers with grown-up brains after all, so forgive them. But don't worry, I won't leave this on some unfinished note. This will reach a conclusion in the next chapter.

I have also drawn a new art for the next chapter.]

[You can see the fighter broom and Magnus and Emma's clothes on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]

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Special thanks to *DougErNuts* *Oluwatimileyin Olayemi* *BirdRant* *Franklin Walley* *Brennan Tubbs*