mickume/harry_potter_tiny · Datasets at Hugging Face

text stringlengths 12 10.4k
A screamed echoed not far away from them. A familiar voice Draco instantly recognized as he looked around in hopes to catch another lead. Blaise Zabini was emptying his lungs somewhere near them.
"Stay put", he commanded as turned on his heel. Of course, she didn’t listen to that and went straight behind him.
There was a fight. They first saw Pansy whose wand was held high pointing to Hermione. They both didn’t cast a spell but rather just stood there waiting for the other to land the first blow.
They turned to catch them with their eyes, then quickly returned to their stance. A crash that was waiting to happen because dueling in class was one thing and what was happening now – another.
"What’s going on?", Astoria gasped.
Draco on the other hand did not ask questions. He took his wand with a swift movement of his fingers and pushed between the girls to see for himself. Two grey eyes shot each with a commanding look and they stood down, lowering his wand as he passed because Draco Malfoy wasn’t like the other students. He was dangerous and they knew, they suspected.
"Just let it go!", Harry screamed.
Blaise was on the ground, his face bloody. There were two black wands left carelessly on the snow, one almost snapped in two. Ron Weasley was landing one punch after the other, his fiery red hair fell everywhere and curses surrounded him.
"Incarcarous", Draco’s voice echoed and then a quieter curse but with a lot more hatred. "Fucking Weasley".
Ropes tied around Ron’s body and held him back. The strength from the spell left him in the snow as he let out a grow of pain. This was a curse that needed to be broken down as fast as possible. The ropes tied around the victim’s limbs and like snakes twisted until they got to the neck. Malfoy knew that as his eyes instantly flashed at Herminie Granger who surely out of all the idiots here knew the spell and knew what slow death it brought.
This created a domino effect that Astoria witnessed happen in seconds. Hermione gasped and turned to remove the curse from Ron before it strangles him. That shifted her attention off Pansy who took this chance and instantly immobilized her.
The witch’s body felt unconscious next to Pansy’s black heels and she smirked at Ron to thank him. That made him furious and he roared, pushing Harry behind to restore his grip on Blaise. They exchanged a few punches as Draco shot a curse towards Harry, but he dodged it.
"Expelliarmus", Harry shouted and got him.
They all stopped under the sound of a vile laughter. Theo stood above Hermione who slowly recovered from Pansy’s curse. A wand was pressing in her neck. He was so quick Astoria didn’t even remember catching him with her eyes.
"Have you ever seen someone under the Cruciatus curse?", he hummed. "Really seen it, how it prolongates and the pain just vibrating in each muscle? Have you seen that?"
This is why the Cruciatus Curse was so horrible. Because it was the perfect torture – quick and the most effective. If the victim was brave, lasted longer, took the pain – then the pain sunk into his mind until it broke it down. Astoria knew, this was better than her technique as it was truly sadistic.
Theo made it painful to watch. His long fingers ran through the curls in her hair, gripping them and releasing them, making Hermione turn her head and gasp from his touch.
"Don’t you touch her!", Ron roared, but Harry grabbed his hand, pulling him back.
"Let’s end this, there is no point in it", Harry announced, looking around for support but met none.
"Is she your girlfriend, Weasley?", Theo kept pushing, a hand slipping on Hermione’s neck as he caressed her with the tips of his fingers and her body shivered from the sensation, "Must be horrid. First your sister, and now your girl".
And that just did it for Ron. He pushed through Harry, stealing the wand from his own friend’s hand. Draco prepared to face him and manage to reach his wand but Ron wasn’t aiming at him. The realization came too late.
A red curse flew next to Astoria’s face. She was swift in her movements thanks to all the training she had to endure with Nicola. He made her body memorize pain so well that she could dodge anything out of instinct.
However, he still got her by surprise when he pulled her in his grip and pressed a wand to her neck.
"Whatever you do to Hermione I will do to her".
"Her’, the way he said it made it seem like an offence. Like how they called him by his family’s name as if it was an insult. And was being herself supposed to be an insult? Astoria blinked in surprise. She wouldn’t believe he would actually hurt her.
"Weasley", Draco breathed slowly, "I’m going to kill you".
"Ron, she’s my friend", Harry shouted behind him.
"No, she’s not", he spat back, "She’s with them, Harry! Open your eyes! She’s a Slytherin, her family are dark wizards. How could she be your friend?"
Fear made her legs shake. Her eyes searched for his and insisted to meet. Harry looked afraid as well and they stared like that for what felt like forever. Like seeing each other again. Without her being distant and pretending she wasn’t still that afraid little girl that felt alone. And he had to be brave for her. Once more.
"I said she’s my friend", Harry insisted and turned to face Ron with another’s wand.
"I’m sorry about Ginny", Blaise said suddenly which seemed to make it worse as Ron pushed his wand to her neck and forced a painful gasp out of her.
"Don’t you even say her name!"
"I swear to you I’ve done nothing to offend her or hurt her, hell, she’d kill me herself if I even tried", a quick smirk showed on his face as love slipped out of his grasp, "It was her choice, you have to understand – "
"Ron", Astoria whispered, and it startled him.
"Keep quiet", he shrug it off and held her tightly. Her eyes wondered to the grey in Draco’s who held his wand ready to kill the redhaired boy any second now. Rage held him so tight he didn’t even notice her.
"It’s true", she continued in a snake-like hiss, "They were all dark wizards".
All heads rose up to look at her. Theo laughed with excitement as his wand pushed in Hermione so hard she screamed.
"Crucio", he roared but the spell did not reach Hermione.
In the glimpse of a second Pansy pushed his hand up and the curse ricocheted on her. Her knees fell deep in the snow and a horrible scream filled the air. Hermione did not hesitate to pull away as she gasped in fear to find Pansy twitching in pain from the curse.
"No, no, no, no", Theo fell on his knees and quickly tried to fix what he’d done, "Now, why’d you do that?"
That pushed Ron and an electrifying pain ran through her spine. It wasn’t Crucio, Ron just didn’t have it in him. In fact, she could feel a tremble next to her, the sweat, the hesitant movements of his body, the way he swallowed his words – all only out of fear.
"Get away from her!", Ron screamed yet it sounded desperate like a plea.
The feeling was oddly familiar. A warm touch suddenly reached her. Her eyes opened with fear but she couldn’t focus. A woman held her face in the palms of her hands. A soft touch. She tried to tell her something, but Astoria found herself so afraid she missed it. Shook her head, blinked again and again as if to replay it but everything happened to fast or she moved too slow.
The sweat pushing on her face, the tremble in her fingers as she clenched to the woman and she responded with the same erratic movements, both refusing to let go.
Ron pulled her back. Astoria gasped, staring with horror to see Draco pushing away Harry from him. He was saying something, but the words didn’t reach her. There it was that annoying feeling of moving too slow while the world spinned faster than ever. He looked angry; he looked like he would kill for her.
Another push. She watched as her legs dragged on the snow, leaving traces behind. Ron held her with just his arm, pointing his wand now towards Malfoy. It was like the incident in the forest. A boy held her down like that. Gregory, the name still in her mind.
Instinct moved her. Her hand gripped around his leg and lightning danced through him. Ron screamed but she didn’t let go even though he pulled away to free her. Her body twisted around him like a snake, her hands running through him while electricity burned him from the inside and refusing to let him go, to spare him.
There was an unforgivable rush inside of her. Something that forced her to act like this, to hurt back when she is hurt and to make it worse. Hermione screamed something at her and then a red light flew her way, a curse. No words reached Astoria.
She wasn’t like them. Moody, or Crouch, was right. It was an advantage. How are you going to fight someone who doesn’t move like you, who has a completely different approach in dueling? You just can’t. No wand but two hands. And Astoria caught Hermione’s curse with the tip of her fingers while still holding down Ron Weasley.
"They were all dark wizards, what did you think I am!?", she screamed but it wasn’t meant for anyone.
Words flew around her, but she couldn’t hear them. There was a strong sensation that had her under complete control, like a trance. Harry and Draco were fighting, pushing into each other. Pansy was emptying her lungs towards her, she looked scared. And so did Blaise and Theo.
"My sweet boy", a voice reached her and Astoria shook as if she burned herself. Ron fell in her knees, and she twisted suddenly losing orientation.
A hand reached to her. She took it but it wasn’t soft like the woman’s. It twisted her but she refused to follow and as her head spinned with her body, she suddenly froze, facing a wand. Harry was at the end of it gasping for air and staring into her. He looked scared and so did she. Just like the last time they dueled, again on different sides.
Another wand passed next to her ear and Draco rested his hand on her shoulder, facing Potter with a daring look. His dark figure touring over her. He was behind her, a hand slipped around her waist, holding hew down, to protect her and to prevent her from moving around.
"Harry", Astoria finally said looking confused, "I’m your friend".
"Are you?", he shouted.
"I am", and the answer came immediately out of her lips, no hesitation, no tremble.
"What did you do to him?", Harry turned as he saw Ron panting on the ground.
There was blood dripping form the redhaired boy’s mouth. Internal bleeding, Astoria realised with horror and regret came over her.
"Don’t apologize!", Draco hissed, "He attacked you first and got what he asked for".
They exchanged a few hateful glances with Harry but both lowered their wands and moved away. The tension was fading. They dragged away Ron and Hermione turned to give Astoria a cold look of horror.
"We were right about you!"
Her fingers twitched as she stretched them out before hiding them in fists. Lightning was pushing, begging to come out. The rest stared at her but stayed silent. There it was again, that horrible look of fear, of judgement. How many times had she seen it, heard the words that naturally followed. Sometimes people were smart enough not to utter them, but it made no difference.
Someone like this shouldn’t live –
There was a curse on her existence that reached everyone that got closed. Just when Astoria looked at her peers as friends, they looked at her back with fear.
"What did you do to him?", Blaise barked through his teeth, blood still dripping from his nose, "That was my girlfriend’s brother, you bitch!"
"You fucking watch it", Draco hissed as he instantly faced him with his wand.
"What did you do?", Theo repeated with no anger in his tone, and he rather sounded intrigued. He came closer. Pansy stopped him and their eyes met. Pansy had seen it, her secret and she knew what she was.
"I panicked", Astoria gasped.
"That’s a lie", Theo said firmly. They were circling her like wolves, "I’ve never seen someone move like that. You met the Mudblood’s attack and tortured her boyfriend at the same time".
"And you didn’t seem to stop", Blaise added, still furious.
"You know, when we went to deal with those boys from Drumstrang they told us you’re terrifying and we laughed at them for it", Theo said slowly, pushing even deeper. "One boy couldn’t speak right. Babbling nonsense in fear, but he looked mental, swear, he looked wrong."
Astoria met his glare. His consuming hazel eyes shined almost yellow with determination. That was the look of a killer. A completely different side of him.
"We were wrong to underestimate you", Blaise finished the sentence for him and pointed his wand towards her.
"You were", Astoria said coldly and stared at him.
Two fingers traced her face and a click sound echoed. It was dead silent as they watched her remove her eyepatch and face them with two eyes. One brown. One red. Like Voldemort. Every wizard in the magical world knew this was a sign of dark magic and it was something you had to earn, had to give something away from you, from your human soul – all to achieve this.
"What did you do?", Blaise gasped, "How is this – "
Her fingers stretched out and she pointed at them, her body in a stance as if she would shift in a second and take one down. They froze in horror, all wands pointing to her and Draco. But no lighting came, no spells, nothing.
"I know you lie and you gossip and you think you know my family but you don’t", she cut him of and looked at Theo to show him her true self like he was doing now, their fingers scratching on their wands, "If you tell someone I will do to you what I did to that boy in the forest".
And he swallowed. Because he remembered how Gregory screamed nonsense at them. Somehow – wrong. His mind, somehow, wrong.
"I will break you from the inside."
"Let’s go back to Hogwarts", Draco said slowly as his arm grabbed hers. Hand in hand. And he pushed her to walk forward. His wand still in his fingers as he stared them down each.
They had potion’s class with Snape. It was unpleasant for everyone. For the first time Astoria realized with relief that the highlight of today’s gossip was Blaise Zabini. Apparently, he had something for Ginny Weasley since the Yule Ball, kind of like Draco had with Astoria. Only Ginny wasn’t an hair to some ancient bloodline that Slytherins worshiped. She was a Weasley, a very pretty girl and – Harry Potter’s crush. At least for what Astoria gathered from rumors and watching him during breakfast and the way he spilled his drink each time he spoke to her.
The one who was taking it the worst, of course, was her brother. Ron Weasley looked completely broken and red with fury. Literally red with flames on his face that started from the tips of his ears and spread across his cheeks almost everywhere. That made him scary, Astoria observed, because it darkened his eyes and brought depth into his already sculpted face. Moreover, the boy was almost a giant and a lot more muscular built than most boys in school.
Not scary enough however to scare Zabini away, who stood proudly next to Draco Malfoy. Both looked bored, leaning back to a table while watching Pansy brew the potion and do the hard work. They were talking about something, but it was unclear to guess the topic of that discussion judging by their expressions.
"A fallen brother", Theo said with a bored sight, handing her a feather from a Hippogriff.
"What?", Astoria gasped, "I didn’t quite catch that?"
"Zabini", he whispered and eyed the tall boy behind them, "I saw you staring at him."
"Yeah – " she replied, trying to figure out what was happening and why were they discussing this. "I guess I still think about what happened."
Because Theo Nott threatened her and looked at her as if he’d wrap her in a red ribbon and give her to Voldemort for the pleasure to be the one to Avada her after. And the next day they all pretended nothing happened. It was astonishing, the gaslighting almost made her believe it didn’t happen, only it did.
"Yeah, he looks ugly with the black eye. Don’t you think?"
"I guess", she twisted her fingers, growing nervous. "I hope that was all of it."
"What a strange thing is fate. We always imagined you’d be the traitor among us, but it was Blaise all along", Theo said and then quickly grinned with satisfaction, watching her react to his words just like he visioned it. "You understand, surely. Considering how close you were with Potter."
"Yes, but that – ", Astoria took a sharp breath, ready to give the same lie she used to give when the subject was brought up.
"But you still call him your friend", he finished her words and then remained silent on purpose, waiting for Astoria to swallow back her words and only when the silence stretched between them long enough to torture her, he continued – "It’s like you’re two people in one".
Astoria turned to him, the way she did when she was feeling like that other person he meant. Two wolves stared into each other, each familiar with the taste of blood and aware of it. Theo Nott wasn’t that much taller than her, he was the shortest among the boys which somehow made it seem like there wasn’t much of a distance between them when he leaned towards her. His eyes landed on her eyepatch that hid her red eye. He didn’t even try to hide it.
"Odd way to put it", Astoria sighted and turned to add honey into the potion, scooping it out of the jar with a spoon.
"You blush and act nervous, but it’s an act, right? Has to be – ", he said and reached for something pink in a jar at the table in front, crossing arms with her. "You didn’t seem nervous when you tortured that weasel."
"You think I enjoy it?", Astoria snapped.
"Yes, I think you do", Theo smirked, "Nothing wrong with it, I enjoy it as well. It was great to watch that mudblood shiver and whimper, very erotic. Was practically asking for it, you know?".

A screamed echoed not far away from them. A familiar voice Draco instantly recognized as he looked around in hopes to catch another lead. Blaise Zabini was emptying his lungs somewhere near them.

"Stay put", he commanded as turned on his heel. Of course, she didn’t listen to that and went straight behind him.

There was a fight. They first saw Pansy whose wand was held high pointing to Hermione. They both didn’t cast a spell but rather just stood there waiting for the other to land the first blow.

They turned to catch them with their eyes, then quickly returned to their stance. A crash that was waiting to happen because dueling in class was one thing and what was happening now – another.

"What’s going on?", Astoria gasped.

Draco on the other hand did not ask questions. He took his wand with a swift movement of his fingers and pushed between the girls to see for himself. Two grey eyes shot each with a commanding look and they stood down, lowering his wand as he passed because Draco Malfoy wasn’t like the other students. He was dangerous and they knew, they suspected.

"Just let it go!", Harry screamed.

Blaise was on the ground, his face bloody. There were two black wands left carelessly on the snow, one almost snapped in two. Ron Weasley was landing one punch after the other, his fiery red hair fell everywhere and curses surrounded him.

"Incarcarous", Draco’s voice echoed and then a quieter curse but with a lot more hatred. "Fucking Weasley".

Ropes tied around Ron’s body and held him back. The strength from the spell left him in the snow as he let out a grow of pain. This was a curse that needed to be broken down as fast as possible. The ropes tied around the victim’s limbs and like snakes twisted until they got to the neck. Malfoy knew that as his eyes instantly flashed at Herminie Granger who surely out of all the idiots here knew the spell and knew what slow death it brought.

This created a domino effect that Astoria witnessed happen in seconds. Hermione gasped and turned to remove the curse from Ron before it strangles him. That shifted her attention off Pansy who took this chance and instantly immobilized her.

The witch’s body felt unconscious next to Pansy’s black heels and she smirked at Ron to thank him. That made him furious and he roared, pushing Harry behind to restore his grip on Blaise. They exchanged a few punches as Draco shot a curse towards Harry, but he dodged it.

"Expelliarmus", Harry shouted and got him.

They all stopped under the sound of a vile laughter. Theo stood above Hermione who slowly recovered from Pansy’s curse. A wand was pressing in her neck. He was so quick Astoria didn’t even remember catching him with her eyes.

"Have you ever seen someone under the Cruciatus curse?", he hummed. "Really seen it, how it prolongates and the pain just vibrating in each muscle? Have you seen that?"

This is why the Cruciatus Curse was so horrible. Because it was the perfect torture – quick and the most effective. If the victim was brave, lasted longer, took the pain – then the pain sunk into his mind until it broke it down. Astoria knew, this was better than her technique as it was truly sadistic.

Theo made it painful to watch. His long fingers ran through the curls in her hair, gripping them and releasing them, making Hermione turn her head and gasp from his touch.

"Don’t you touch her!", Ron roared, but Harry grabbed his hand, pulling him back.

"Let’s end this, there is no point in it", Harry announced, looking around for support but met none.

"Is she your girlfriend, Weasley?", Theo kept pushing, a hand slipping on Hermione’s neck as he caressed her with the tips of his fingers and her body shivered from the sensation, "Must be horrid. First your sister, and now your girl".

And that just did it for Ron. He pushed through Harry, stealing the wand from his own friend’s hand. Draco prepared to face him and manage to reach his wand but Ron wasn’t aiming at him. The realization came too late.

A red curse flew next to Astoria’s face. She was swift in her movements thanks to all the training she had to endure with Nicola. He made her body memorize pain so well that she could dodge anything out of instinct.

However, he still got her by surprise when he pulled her in his grip and pressed a wand to her neck.

"Whatever you do to Hermione I will do to her".

"Her’, the way he said it made it seem like an offence. Like how they called him by his family’s name as if it was an insult. And was being herself supposed to be an insult? Astoria blinked in surprise. She wouldn’t believe he would actually hurt her.

"Weasley", Draco breathed slowly, "I’m going to kill you".

"Ron, she’s my friend", Harry shouted behind him.

"No, she’s not", he spat back, "She’s with them, Harry! Open your eyes! She’s a Slytherin, her family are dark wizards. How could she be your friend?"

Fear made her legs shake. Her eyes searched for his and insisted to meet. Harry looked afraid as well and they stared like that for what felt like forever. Like seeing each other again. Without her being distant and pretending she wasn’t still that afraid little girl that felt alone. And he had to be brave for her. Once more.

"I said she’s my friend", Harry insisted and turned to face Ron with another’s wand.

"I’m sorry about Ginny", Blaise said suddenly which seemed to make it worse as Ron pushed his wand to her neck and forced a painful gasp out of her.

"Don’t you even say her name!"

"I swear to you I’ve done nothing to offend her or hurt her, hell, she’d kill me herself if I even tried", a quick smirk showed on his face as love slipped out of his grasp, "It was her choice, you have to understand – "

"Ron", Astoria whispered, and it startled him.

"Keep quiet", he shrug it off and held her tightly. Her eyes wondered to the grey in Draco’s who held his wand ready to kill the redhaired boy any second now. Rage held him so tight he didn’t even notice her.

"It’s true", she continued in a snake-like hiss, "They were all dark wizards".

All heads rose up to look at her. Theo laughed with excitement as his wand pushed in Hermione so hard she screamed.

"Crucio", he roared but the spell did not reach Hermione.

In the glimpse of a second Pansy pushed his hand up and the curse ricocheted on her. Her knees fell deep in the snow and a horrible scream filled the air. Hermione did not hesitate to pull away as she gasped in fear to find Pansy twitching in pain from the curse.

"No, no, no, no", Theo fell on his knees and quickly tried to fix what he’d done, "Now, why’d you do that?"

That pushed Ron and an electrifying pain ran through her spine. It wasn’t Crucio, Ron just didn’t have it in him. In fact, she could feel a tremble next to her, the sweat, the hesitant movements of his body, the way he swallowed his words – all only out of fear.

"Get away from her!", Ron screamed yet it sounded desperate like a plea.

The feeling was oddly familiar. A warm touch suddenly reached her. Her eyes opened with fear but she couldn’t focus. A woman held her face in the palms of her hands. A soft touch. She tried to tell her something, but Astoria found herself so afraid she missed it. Shook her head, blinked again and again as if to replay it but everything happened to fast or she moved too slow.

The sweat pushing on her face, the tremble in her fingers as she clenched to the woman and she responded with the same erratic movements, both refusing to let go.

Ron pulled her back. Astoria gasped, staring with horror to see Draco pushing away Harry from him. He was saying something, but the words didn’t reach her. There it was that annoying feeling of moving too slow while the world spinned faster than ever. He looked angry; he looked like he would kill for her.

Another push. She watched as her legs dragged on the snow, leaving traces behind. Ron held her with just his arm, pointing his wand now towards Malfoy. It was like the incident in the forest. A boy held her down like that. Gregory, the name still in her mind.

Instinct moved her. Her hand gripped around his leg and lightning danced through him. Ron screamed but she didn’t let go even though he pulled away to free her. Her body twisted around him like a snake, her hands running through him while electricity burned him from the inside and refusing to let him go, to spare him.

There was an unforgivable rush inside of her. Something that forced her to act like this, to hurt back when she is hurt and to make it worse. Hermione screamed something at her and then a red light flew her way, a curse. No words reached Astoria.

She wasn’t like them. Moody, or Crouch, was right. It was an advantage. How are you going to fight someone who doesn’t move like you, who has a completely different approach in dueling? You just can’t. No wand but two hands. And Astoria caught Hermione’s curse with the tip of her fingers while still holding down Ron Weasley.

"They were all dark wizards, what did you think I am!?", she screamed but it wasn’t meant for anyone.

Words flew around her, but she couldn’t hear them. There was a strong sensation that had her under complete control, like a trance. Harry and Draco were fighting, pushing into each other. Pansy was emptying her lungs towards her, she looked scared. And so did Blaise and Theo.

"My sweet boy", a voice reached her and Astoria shook as if she burned herself. Ron fell in her knees, and she twisted suddenly losing orientation.

A hand reached to her. She took it but it wasn’t soft like the woman’s. It twisted her but she refused to follow and as her head spinned with her body, she suddenly froze, facing a wand. Harry was at the end of it gasping for air and staring into her. He looked scared and so did she. Just like the last time they dueled, again on different sides.

Another wand passed next to her ear and Draco rested his hand on her shoulder, facing Potter with a daring look. His dark figure touring over her. He was behind her, a hand slipped around her waist, holding hew down, to protect her and to prevent her from moving around.

"Harry", Astoria finally said looking confused, "I’m your friend".

"Are you?", he shouted.

"I am", and the answer came immediately out of her lips, no hesitation, no tremble.

"What did you do to him?", Harry turned as he saw Ron panting on the ground.

There was blood dripping form the redhaired boy’s mouth. Internal bleeding, Astoria realised with horror and regret came over her.

"Don’t apologize!", Draco hissed, "He attacked you first and got what he asked for".

They exchanged a few hateful glances with Harry but both lowered their wands and moved away. The tension was fading. They dragged away Ron and Hermione turned to give Astoria a cold look of horror.

"We were right about you!"

Her fingers twitched as she stretched them out before hiding them in fists. Lightning was pushing, begging to come out. The rest stared at her but stayed silent. There it was again, that horrible look of fear, of judgement. How many times had she seen it, heard the words that naturally followed. Sometimes people were smart enough not to utter them, but it made no difference.

Someone like this shouldn’t live –

There was a curse on her existence that reached everyone that got closed. Just when Astoria looked at her peers as friends, they looked at her back with fear.

"What did you do to him?", Blaise barked through his teeth, blood still dripping from his nose, "That was my girlfriend’s brother, you bitch!"

"You fucking watch it", Draco hissed as he instantly faced him with his wand.

"What did you do?", Theo repeated with no anger in his tone, and he rather sounded intrigued. He came closer. Pansy stopped him and their eyes met. Pansy had seen it, her secret and she knew what she was.

"I panicked", Astoria gasped.

"That’s a lie", Theo said firmly. They were circling her like wolves, "I’ve never seen someone move like that. You met the Mudblood’s attack and tortured her boyfriend at the same time".

"And you didn’t seem to stop", Blaise added, still furious.

"You know, when we went to deal with those boys from Drumstrang they told us you’re terrifying and we laughed at them for it", Theo said slowly, pushing even deeper. "One boy couldn’t speak right. Babbling nonsense in fear, but he looked mental, swear, he looked wrong."

Astoria met his glare. His consuming hazel eyes shined almost yellow with determination. That was the look of a killer. A completely different side of him.

"We were wrong to underestimate you", Blaise finished the sentence for him and pointed his wand towards her.

"You were", Astoria said coldly and stared at him.

Two fingers traced her face and a click sound echoed. It was dead silent as they watched her remove her eyepatch and face them with two eyes. One brown. One red. Like Voldemort. Every wizard in the magical world knew this was a sign of dark magic and it was something you had to earn, had to give something away from you, from your human soul – all to achieve this.

"What did you do?", Blaise gasped, "How is this – "

Her fingers stretched out and she pointed at them, her body in a stance as if she would shift in a second and take one down. They froze in horror, all wands pointing to her and Draco. But no lighting came, no spells, nothing.

"I know you lie and you gossip and you think you know my family but you don’t", she cut him of and looked at Theo to show him her true self like he was doing now, their fingers scratching on their wands, "If you tell someone I will do to you what I did to that boy in the forest".

And he swallowed. Because he remembered how Gregory screamed nonsense at them. Somehow – wrong. His mind, somehow, wrong.

"I will break you from the inside."

"Let’s go back to Hogwarts", Draco said slowly as his arm grabbed hers. Hand in hand. And he pushed her to walk forward. His wand still in his fingers as he stared them down each.

They had potion’s class with Snape. It was unpleasant for everyone. For the first time Astoria realized with relief that the highlight of today’s gossip was Blaise Zabini. Apparently, he had something for Ginny Weasley since the Yule Ball, kind of like Draco had with Astoria. Only Ginny wasn’t an hair to some ancient bloodline that Slytherins worshiped. She was a Weasley, a very pretty girl and – Harry Potter’s crush. At least for what Astoria gathered from rumors and watching him during breakfast and the way he spilled his drink each time he spoke to her.

The one who was taking it the worst, of course, was her brother. Ron Weasley looked completely broken and red with fury. Literally red with flames on his face that started from the tips of his ears and spread across his cheeks almost everywhere. That made him scary, Astoria observed, because it darkened his eyes and brought depth into his already sculpted face. Moreover, the boy was almost a giant and a lot more muscular built than most boys in school.

Not scary enough however to scare Zabini away, who stood proudly next to Draco Malfoy. Both looked bored, leaning back to a table while watching Pansy brew the potion and do the hard work. They were talking about something, but it was unclear to guess the topic of that discussion judging by their expressions.

"A fallen brother", Theo said with a bored sight, handing her a feather from a Hippogriff.

"What?", Astoria gasped, "I didn’t quite catch that?"

"Zabini", he whispered and eyed the tall boy behind them, "I saw you staring at him."

"Yeah – " she replied, trying to figure out what was happening and why were they discussing this. "I guess I still think about what happened."

Because Theo Nott threatened her and looked at her as if he’d wrap her in a red ribbon and give her to Voldemort for the pleasure to be the one to Avada her after. And the next day they all pretended nothing happened. It was astonishing, the gaslighting almost made her believe it didn’t happen, only it did.

"Yeah, he looks ugly with the black eye. Don’t you think?"

"I guess", she twisted her fingers, growing nervous. "I hope that was all of it."

"What a strange thing is fate. We always imagined you’d be the traitor among us, but it was Blaise all along", Theo said and then quickly grinned with satisfaction, watching her react to his words just like he visioned it. "You understand, surely. Considering how close you were with Potter."

"Yes, but that – ", Astoria took a sharp breath, ready to give the same lie she used to give when the subject was brought up.

"But you still call him your friend", he finished her words and then remained silent on purpose, waiting for Astoria to swallow back her words and only when the silence stretched between them long enough to torture her, he continued – "It’s like you’re two people in one".

Astoria turned to him, the way she did when she was feeling like that other person he meant. Two wolves stared into each other, each familiar with the taste of blood and aware of it. Theo Nott wasn’t that much taller than her, he was the shortest among the boys which somehow made it seem like there wasn’t much of a distance between them when he leaned towards her. His eyes landed on her eyepatch that hid her red eye. He didn’t even try to hide it.

"Odd way to put it", Astoria sighted and turned to add honey into the potion, scooping it out of the jar with a spoon.

"You blush and act nervous, but it’s an act, right? Has to be – ", he said and reached for something pink in a jar at the table in front, crossing arms with her. "You didn’t seem nervous when you tortured that weasel."

"You think I enjoy it?", Astoria snapped.

"Yes, I think you do", Theo smirked, "Nothing wrong with it, I enjoy it as well. It was great to watch that mudblood shiver and whimper, very erotic. Was practically asking for it, you know?".