The autumn air grew colder with each passing day, hinting at the impending long weekend. Empusa, her golden hair a bright streak against the muted Hogwarts stone, found herself unusually restless. The previous day's escapade in the Chamber of Secrets, while thrilling, had left her with a gnawing curiosity about Echo and his enigmatic mermaid princess. She told herself it was just to understand her rival, but a deeper, more personal desire simmered beneath.
The next morning, the day before the Thanksgiving break, Empusa decided she wouldn't just wonder; she would see for herself. She shadowed Echo, a graceful, almost invisible presence, her Beauxbatons uniform a muted blue in the early light. Her heart hammered with a strange mix of apprehension and excitement as he made his way through the castle, then out onto the grounds. She watched as he carefully clutched a rather large, orange-and-yellow striped bucket, and a faint, sweet aroma of vanilla and sugar drifted towards her. Candy corn. Echo made his way to the shore of the Black Lake, the crisp air biting at his exposed skin. He scanned the shimmering surface, then knelt by the water's edge. Empusa, concealed behind a cluster of gnarled trees, watched with bated breath.
Suddenly, a ripple disturbed the lake's calm surface, and a head emerged, followed by graceful shoulders. Skate, Echo's mermaid girlfriend, her silver-green tail shimmering beneath the water, smiled brightly at him. Her vibrant moonlight hair, adorned with intricate shell ornaments, framed an ethereal face.
"Echo!" she called, her voice a melodious chime that carried across the water.
"Skate!" Echo replied, his face lighting up. He reached out a hand, and she took it, her skin cool against his. They talked, their voices low and companionable, punctuated by soft laughter. Echo's green hair flickered with a contented, happy blue.
Then, with a flourish, Echo presented her with the bucket of candy corn. Skate's eyes, the color of the deepest ocean, widened with delight. She took the bucket and, to Empusa's utter astonishment, tipped it back, downing all the contents in one go. A few stray kernels clung to her lips, and Echo burst into laughter, a rich, booming sound that echoed across the lake.
Skate giggled, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, then leaned in. Echo met her halfway, and their lips met in a tender, lingering kiss.
A sharp, almost physical spear of jealousy pierced Empusa's chest. She clutched the rough bark of the tree, her nails digging into the wood. Her beautiful features contorted in a silent snarl. It was true, then. This... this mermaid was Echo's "Skate."
Finally, Echo pulled away, a soft, loving smile on his face. He said his goodbyes, promising to return soon, and then turned, heading back towards the castle. Empusa waited until he was completely out of sight, her gaze fixed on the mermaid still lingering in the water.
With a deep breath, Empusa emerged from her hiding spot, striding purposefully towards the water's edge. "You!" she called, her voice sharp, a faint, almost imperceptible shimmer of anger radiating from her.
Skate turned, her serene expression replaced by mild surprise. "Can I help you?" she asked, her voice still melodious, but with an underlying coolness.
"You are the fabled Skate, are you not?" Empusa demanded, crossing her arms.
Skate's brow arched delicately. "I am. And you are Empusa, I presume. Echo has mentioned you."
Empusa bristled at the casual familiarity. "Yes, I am Empusa. And I demand to know what Echo sees in you! He is far too good for you, a mere... a mere fish!" The insult felt childish even to her, but the jealousy fueled her words.
Skate's eyes narrowed, a glint of something powerful entering their depths. She pushed herself slightly higher out of the water, revealing more of her shimmering, scaled tail. "Do you truly believe you are better for my man, Empusa?" she asked, her voice losing its softness, becoming a low, resonant murmur that vibrated through the air.
"How could I not?" Empusa retorted, her own anger flaring. "I am a Veela! I am beautiful, enchanting, and I can turn into a dragon! I am from Beauxbatons, a school of elegance and refinement! What are you? A creature smelly of the lake!"
Skate laughed, a sound that was no longer melodious but sharp, almost biting. "You want to know what Echo sees in me, and not in you?" She leaned forward, her gaze piercing. "I am loyal, Empusa. I have been with Echo through his darkest times, and I will be with him through his brightest. I understand his chaos, I embrace his darkness, and I cherish his light. I do not demand explanations for his quirks, nor do I judge him for his unique ways. I do not try to change him, nor do I try to make him conform to what I believe he should be."
She continued, her voice growing stronger, a powerful current of conviction flowing through her words. "I do not play games with his emotions, nor do I allow others to do so. I do not question his choices or his affections. I trust him implicitly. And I, unlike some, do not scheme or spy on him because I cannot fathom his depths. I accept him, fully and completely, for the magnificent, chaotic, beautiful wizard he is. And I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that he loves me, not for my beauty, nor for any power I possess, but for who I am."
Skate paused, her eyes glinting with triumphant scorn. "And you, Empusa? You, who have just admitted to spying on him, who question his choices, who bebelieveerself superior? You think you are better for him? You, who have already revealed your self-centeredness and lack of understanding for the very man you claim to want?"
Empusa stood frozen, her face a mask of furious indignation, her golden hair practically sparking with uncontrolled rage. Every word Skate uttered was a direct hit, each truth a burning ember in her pride. Her carefully constructed image of superiority crumbled, replaced by a raw, seething fury. She had no retort, no clever comeback, only the burning sting of the mermaid's scathing, undeniable truth.
"Do you truly think a fleeting infatuation, built on stolen glances and a few shared moments, can compete with a bond forged over years, through trials and triumphs?" Skate continued, her voice now a melodic challenge, laced with ancient power. "Echo and I are all but married, Empusa. Not in human papers or ceremonies, perhaps, but by a sacred pact stone we made to one another, beneath the very waters of this lake, witnessed by the oldest magic. His heart has never wavered, not once, not for a single second. My own mother, the Queen of the Merfolk of the Black Lake, has already given her blessing for him to marry me, to join our royal line."
She gestured with a graceful hand towards the castle. "You and your school will leave at the end of this farce of a competition. You will return to your own world, and Echo will forget you as easily as a wave recedes from the shore. But when he graduates in his seventh year, he will wed me, and he will become royalty, a prince, and then king among my people. He will have a true love, a family that cherishes him, and a future intertwined with ancient power. What do you have to offer, Empusa, that could possibly compare to that?"
Empusa's composure was shattered. Her golden hair flared around her face, her eyes blazing with raw, untamed fury. With a guttural shriek, her body contorted, feathers and scales erupting from her skin, tearing at her Beauxbatons uniform. Powerful, leathery dragon wings burst from her back, hands elongating into taloned claws, her face sharpening into a harpy-like visage. "You dare mock me, creature of the depths?!" she shrieked, fireballs already coalescing in her clawed hands, shimmering with dangerous power. "I will show you what I have to offer! Inferno!"
Skate, however, was equally unfazed. Her beautiful face hardened, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. With a swift, fluid motion, she plunged her hand into the water beside her and, with a powerful pull, brought forth a magnificent trident, its prongs glinting wickedly in the sunlight. "Do not think to threaten a princess, land-dweller!" she hissed, a sound that carried the cold, sharp edge of ancient ocean currents. "You will find my wrath far more enduring than your fleeting flames!"
Just as Empusa launched her first volley of fire, and Skate poised her trident to strike, a familiar voice, laced with exasperation, cut through the tense air.
"What in Merlin's name is going on here?!"
Echo stood at the edge of the clearing, his expression a mixture of confusion and profound bewilderment. He had returned, having remembered he'd forgotten to tell Skate about his new basilisk lenses, only to find his girlfriend and Empusa, both in their most formidable forms, poised on the brink of an all-out magical and mighty brawl. His blue hair cycled through frantic shades of red and purple.
He quickly stepped between them, holding up his hands, completely oblivious to the danger he was in. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Everyone, calm down!" he pleaded, looking from Empusa's blazing eyes to Skate's fierce gaze. "What is the matter? How did this even happen?!"
Neither girl answered him. Empusa, still in her harpy form, glared daggers at Skate, her chest heaving, the fireballs in her hands slowly dissipating. Skate, her trident still gripped tightly, returned the venomous stare, her lips curled in a silent snarl. The air crackled with their unspoken animosity. Finally, with a frustrated shriek, Empusa launched herself into the air, her powerful wings beating furiously as she soared away, a rapidly shrinking speck against the sky. Skate, with a final, disdainful look at Echo, plunged back into the dark waters of the Black Lake, disappearing beneath the surface without a ripple.
Echo stood alone, his hands still raised in a gesture of peace, his hair a disheveled, confused blue. He looked from the empty sky where Empusa had vanished to the now-still surface of the lake, his brow furrowed in utter bewilderment. "What just happened?" he muttered to himself, more confused than ever by the abrupt and violent departure of both girls.