Charlotte debated on hiding behind the wall for another moment until she realized she had been caught. Hestia already had her wand out, although it was strewn across her chest, she still had the advantage if push came to shove. Charlotte stuck her hand in her right pocket, wrapping her fingers tightly around her wand without pulling it out, before she stepped from behind the wall. “I really don’t want any trouble Hestia, truly…” she paused for a moment, considering how she would word everything. “It isn’t as though we’re completely on opposite sides anymore. If your going to hex me, go ahead and get it over with but just know that I miss her too.”
Hestia rolled her eyes “we are on completely different sides, she’s where she is because she wanted to dabble with blood traitors” she hissed taking a step forward “so you have no right to talk about my sister.” Her words were dark and ominous as she stalked forward “and I promise if she dies because of you…I will not hesitate to hunt you down and have you suffer the same fate” her brows furrowed as she shoved her wand back into her cloak.
Since school had begun, Charlotte had made it a point to keep to herself. Last year, all making friends had done was get her into trouble, and keeping her old ones wasn’t the route to go since Flora had been her only friend, and now she was missing. After studying for hours in the Slytherin common room, she figured it was best to take a walk. Her commons wasn’t exactly the friendliest place to be at the moment for a so-called ‘blood traitor’. She took a sigh of relief as she stepped out of the eerie and dim lit commons into the stuffy dungeons. It was just relieving to be alone. Wandering up stairs and through various hallways, she found herself near the passageway to the kitchens. Not many students knew how to access them, but thanks to a friendly house elf in year 3, Charlotte did. She sauntered into the kitchens and sweet talked an elf into giving her a few pumpkin pasties. She left with her thanks and had just exited the door when she realized it was not past curfew. Not wanting to be caught by Filch, she rushed down the hall, but stopped at the next corridor when she heard footsteps. Hestitantly, she looked around the corner and saw someone she recognized.
Hestia made her way through the halls halfheartedly she didn’t want to do anything anymore knowing that her sister was being held captive by Voldemort. Her eyes narrowed as she continued walking down the dark empty corridor with her wand gripped tightly in her hand. Even though she wasn’t herself that just made her 10 times more deadlier. She was heading to the Room of Hidden Things when she heard movement just around the corner. “Fucking Prefects” she hissed under her breath aiming her wand straight ahead. Hestia continued forward wit her wand at the ready expecting anything and everything. She seen someone peak from around the corner recognizing instantly who it was “get out here…” she said blatantly crossing her arms tightly over her chest.
With a sheepish look on her face, Daphne grabbed Hestia’s hand and stood, almost surprised that she hadn’t been cursed on the spot. Her eyes flickered around before settling on the thin girl in front of her, and she sighed internally.
“Er, thanks. It’s…nice to see you?” She added, unsure of how to make conversation with such a girl. Last year, she had caused hell for Daphne, and she was pretty sure she still had a few scars her her…”initiation.” She didn’t smile, but kept her face calm as to not upset Hestia; that was often the last thing anyone did. She honestly didn’t know what she was going to do at this point, here she was standing in front of the last person she wanted to see.
Hestia rolled her eyes dropping the girls hand as she stood “you don’t have to ask, I already know you’re not being sincere…” she huffed straightening her robes. Bending down she picked up her bag and books shifting them over her shoulder before turning on her heels back down the hall. “Are you coming or are you going to stand there for the rest of the day like a completely daft fool?” she groaned walking forward, giving the death glare to a few students who dared to cross her path.
The summer had taken far too long for Daphne Greengrass. To put it simply, she was happier than she felt she should be to be back at the castle, nervous aches making their way through her stomach and chest. In the months that she had been gone from school, her hair had grown long and straight, and her already lean form had grown tighter around the shoulderblades and wrists; she looked tired. On the train, she had kept to herself, distancing herself from the other Slytherins and “junior” Death Eaters as well as any friends she might have retained from the previous grading period, opting to sit by herself and curl up with a book of Transfigurations that she had read at least ten times. The familiar spells made the long ride easier, despite the nausea that came from being placed into public again. Her father’s mansion was at least quiet enough when he wasn’t acting a fool, though he was best at that, and the mere thought of him made her curl tighter into her sitting position, groaning internally. This summer had been hard for her family.
Currently, she was walking quietly towards the Great Hall, watching as students swarmed around each other, greeting and screeching and laughing and waving wands, as if they had been apart lifetimes rather than a few long weeks. It made her smile, but she still felt wary, and her eyes flickered round and round as she took her steps, on the lookout for a very specific figure: Hestia. She didn’t want to see that dangerous, rather insane bitch just yet, though she knew the day would come, simply because she had been recruited to save her father’s life last year. The things she did to survive were horrid, truly as awful as the people on the opposite side made them to be, but they didn’t have to do them. Daphne worked for herself as much as possible, but she wasn’t out to harm others for the sake of it. That was sport, and it was against the Greengrass code to participate in sport; at least, the sport of bodily harm. Manipulation, however, was key to winning the game, though not in the case of Hestia Carrow. That was a major problem. What, exactly, was one to do when there was a crazy, heavily powered lunatic running rampant throughout the school?
So deep in her musings, her eyes had drifted towards the floor, the stones far more comforting than the faces of people she could possibly have to hurt to get ahead. Pawns in this game were many and rather ordinary, and it was nearly sickening to think about how sick this game was truly becoming. Voldemort was back, and no one, not even students, were safe. In a shift of motion, Daphne felt her steps stop suddenly, and the air rushed out of her lungs - she had run right into someone! Falling backwards, she squinched her eyes shut tights, hoping that whoever it was wasn’t an undesirable person. She didn’t care if she hit the ground, she just didn’t want any conflict so soon. “I-I apologize.” She said quietly as she pitched towards the stones, her arms automatically reaching out to break her fall.
Hestia made her way through the halls watching carefully as each student parted the way for her like she was the black plague, just how she liked it. Plus the students shouldn’t be so afraid of her not this year. There was another who would be the direct line of danger and she couldn’t wait to aid him on his way to greatness. Continuing forward Hestia paid little attention to the path in front of her mainly because she was to preoccupied with other things, more important things. Within the next few seconds she felt herself falling backwards towards the ground.
“What the fuck!” she yelled as her ass collided with the cold stone floor “who in this dull heap of a school would hit…” Hestia’s eyes fought to find the girl who sat a few inches in front of her, with her eyes slammed shut. “Greengrass! Greengrass?! Get up…” she huffed annoyingly, standing from the ground she held her hand out to the girl in front of her. “Go on and take it! I’m not going to stand here all fucking day…” she growled raising a brow.
Pansy could feel the tears welling up in her eyes again. Not Draco too. Why did everyone she loved have to be affected by this? It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair. She let out yet another sigh, silently vowing to herself that she would do whatever she could to keep Draco, Harry and Hermione safe… even if two of the three hated her guts.She watched as Hestia blew the fountain to bits, eyes widened with horror. As she walked away, Pansy stayed rooted to her spot, blinking back tears. Finally, without a word, she followed Hestia.
Hestia quickly looked over at Pansy she couldn’t help that she looked exactly like her sister. She could feel her hurt and anguish, but knew that there was no time to have such feelings especially if you’re trying to keep people alive. “Your humanity is getting in the way, Pansy” the name felt weird on her tongue like she wasn’t welcome to be on the inside just yet, since the girl gave her no reason to trust her. “Once you get rid of it you’ll be able to focus that much harder and less people will die…” she spoke nonchalantly because it was the truth. “When your humanity clouds your judgement there is no turning back especially when dealing with the Dark Lord and all of his plans” she warned stopping in her tracks.
“Rid your humanity…” she whispered “it’s as simple as that…”
Closing her eyes, Pansy sighed again. “He was recruited…” She whispered to herself, low enough so Hestia couldn’t hear. Of course he was. She knew it was bound to happen. She just hated the thought of her best friend being involved. It was too dangerous.“I don’t want him to get hurt…” She looked up at Hestia again, almost pleading with her. “He won’t get hurt, will he?”
She hated this. This whole bloody situation. She hated that everyone that she cared about was in direct danger, and no matter what she did, she seemed to make it worse.
“Recruited? He was chosen.” Hestia then stood up to full height keeping her eyes locked on Pansy’s. “You’re going to make sure that he’s going to accept my help he needs me if he wants to complete the task and obviously he’s not strong enough to complete the task at hand, but I know I am…” grabbing her wand from her pocket she spun around facing the fountain. BOMBARDA! She screamed out of pure frustration her wand fixed at the delicate structure towering before them. Everything was moving so quickly in the next second the fountain was now rubble, water now pooled around their ankles, and anger now pumped through her veins.
“He will not fail. I’ll make sure of that.” Hestia took a deep breath before walking away from the scene. “Are you coming or not?”
Pansy’s eyebrows raised in horror when she heard Hestia’s response. Malfoy? What was in store for him? She narrowed her eyes, thinking about the possibilities. What if accepting Hestia’s help meant he would be harmed in any way? She certainly wouldn’t be involved in that. She stood up defensively as Hestia walked towards the fountain. “What exactly does Draco need your help with?” She asked tentatively, her eyes narrowed. “And… I don’t have any Gryffindor friends… not anymore.” She added, sadly.
“He already knows…” she smiled looking over her shoulder meeting Pansy’s eyes “don’t be so caught off guard, you knew it was bound to happen.” Hestia then bent down gently sweeping her fingertips along the cool flowing water watching as they splashed against the sides. “I just need him to accept my help” she hissed low enough for only the two of them to hear “and if he fails…” in one swift movement she slammed her fist against the calm surface disrupting their peaceful current. Hestia once again looked upwards catching Pansy’s gaze once again “we’re all dead…”
Pansy breathed a quiet sigh of relief. As long as Harry remained safe and untouched, she didn’t care what she had to do. She swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat, relaxing slightly. She turned to look Hestia in the eye for the first time. God, the girl terrified her. She just had this look of pure evil. It made Pansy shiver slightly.“Just tell me what you need from me this year.” She said softly, looking away from her again. She hated that she had to do the Death Eater’s bidding. She wished she could just turn back time and never agree to their so-called “protection” in the first place. But it was too late for that. And there was no way out.
A smile formed on her lips as she took in the sweet smell of intimidation “all I need you to do is get Malfoy to accept my help, I can’t have him fucking things up this early in the game!” Hestia took a deep breath trying to calm herself before she really lost control.
“If you do that for me I promise you that Potter won’t be touched. If you don’t… lets just say it’ll be better if you do” pressing her lips in a fine line she stood up instantly walking over to the fountain not sure if she could trust the girl just yet. “Now, what are your plans for your Gryffindor friends?” whipping around she stared at the girl slowly raising a brow “I hope you don’t plan on befriending them again, that would be rather unfortunate…”
Surrounded by hundreds of students, talking and laughing excitedly, Pansy sat quietly at the Slytherin table, not saying a word to anyone. She pushed the mashed potatoes around on her plate with her fork, not wanting to eat. She couldn’t stop herself from stealing glances over at the Gryffindor table, watching Harry who seemed to be as miserable as she was. God, she hated herself so much for doing that to him.
She looked over at Draco, who also didn’t seem to be in the best of spirits, and gave him a weak smile, before putting her fork down and standing up.
“I’m going to use the restroom.” She announced, although she doubted that anyone would care.
She left the Great Hall quickly, debating where she should go. She just needed to be alone. She finally decided on the courtyard.. she could use the fresh air. Once outside, she sat down on a stone bench by the fountain. She let her head fall into her hands, and began to cry.
Hestia Carrow made her way from the Room of Hidden Things to check on a very important piece of this years plans when she seen Parkinson moving hastily across the courtyard finding her way to a bench tucked away in the farthest corner beyond the fountain. She couldn’t resist, she needed to make sure that her pawn had the right state of mind.
“Now now things couldn’t be going that bad already I mean the games have only just begun” Hestia continued with her snide remarks running her fingertips along the cold stone bench. Another year at this bloody school, but if it was the Dark Lords wish that she continued for the rest of her years and aid Draco with his tasks then so be it. “What? Having boy troubles already? Like I told you last year, love is pathetic! Did you really expect that Scarhead Potter would drop everything for you? You are one of us Parkinson! Get used to it and from what I hear they don’t want anything to do with the both of you anyways” she smiled devilishly knowing that she only spoke the truth.
