The Nightblood Wand

               What were the odds? Just as she thinks of her ex boyfriend, he comes to talk to her.

“Hi Wells.”

“How are you doing?”

“Uh, fine. You?”

“Fine I guess.” Wells leant on the bar, his shoulder touching Clarke’s and making her uncomfortable. “Clarke, I just can’t stop thinking about you. You’ve got to take me back.”

               Clarke huffed loudly and turned to face him.

“Listen, Wells, I’ve told you I don’t have feelings for you anymore and it’s not going to change soon, why can’t you accept that?”

“We’ve been together for three years; you can’t just stop feeling anything for me.”

“I can. I think we just should have stayed friends from the beginning. I loved spending time with you but it was because you were my best friend and I didn’t want to see that, but it is what it is. We spent a great time together but regarding the couple-related stuff, it always felt wrong. We can’t be together Wells I’m sorry, and when you’ll see that for yourself, maybe we will be able to talk to each other again. And that’s all I wish.”

               The boy’s mouth was hanging open, no words coming out of it. When Clarke had broken up with him, it had been heartbreaking for both of them but mostly for him. He wouldn’t let her go for weeks until Raven just yelled at him to ‘move the fuck on’. He hadn’t spoken to her since then so she just thought that he was indeed moving on but apparently, she was wrong.

“I don’t think it felt wrong, I think it felt great actually. I can make you happy, Clarke, and that is because we were best friend before. I know you better than you know yourself.”

“Two firewhiskies, beautiful!” said the barman handing the glasses to Clarke.

               He quickly quit smiling when he received a dark look from Wells.

“Thank you” she took them and turned around.

“Clarke,” Wells grabbed the blonde’s forearm firmly, stopping her in her track and making liquid jump off the glasses, “listen to me.”

“Wells, you’re hurting me,” said Clarke while trying to get out of his grip “let me go.”

“I’m not letting you go this time.”

“Yes you are!”

               Wells went out of his trance and released the blonde as a tall brunette came dangerously close to him.

“You should get out!”

“Who the hell are you?” asked Wells taking a small step back.

“Someone who’s gonna kick your ass if you don’t do as she says.”

“Lexa!” The brunette didn’t move a bit, her intense gaze seemed to be digging a hole through Wells’ face. “Forget about it.”

               Wells eyes landed on the hickey that was now decorating Lexa’s neck.

“Are you with her?” he asked Clarke, his face hardening.

“No we’re no…”

“And what if we were? It’s not like you’re her boyfriend or something” Lexa said cutting the blonde.

               Clarke froze instantly. Wells Jaha seemed really pissed at the brunette but tried to calm his features.

“Clarke, please…” Wells attempted once again but was promptly stopped by Lexa’s hand closing on his sweater and pushing him a few feet back.

               Clarke put the glasses on the counter and quickly reached the brunette; taking her right hand in hers and beginning to rub her arm with her other hand.

“Guys stop” said Clarke. “Wells, you should go now.”

               Just about half of the bar was looking at them now, so Wells did a quick scan of his surroundings before turning around and walking out the door.

“W-what happened?” asked Octavia making her way towards them somehow.

“Nothing O. It was just Wells being Wells again, but we handled it, don’t worry.”

“Alright.”

               And just like that, Octavia went back on the dance floor and started to do those ridiculous moves again.

“What do you say, we go get some fresh air?” asked Clarke.

“Yeah.”

               The two of them took their glasses and headed outside. The air was a little cold but nothing they couldn’t handle. Lexa brought the glass to her mouth and drank a few sips. Clarke just leant on the wall next to her, looking at the night sky.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

               They stayed silent for the next few minutes until Lexa spoke up again.

“I have some trouble containing my anger.”

               Clarke turned to face the brunette, waiting for her to continue.

“I’ve actually worked on that a lot so it didn’t happen in a long time. I tend to scare people with that, so I’m sorry if…”

“Lex stop. Thank you for having my back.” It was Lexa’s turn to face Clarke now, her shoulder still leaning on the wall. “Plus, you don’t scare me.”

               Clarke’s gaze seemed to be glued to Lexa’s full lips once again. The blonde gave a quick glance at Lexa’s eyes and noticed they were aiming at her own lips. Theirs breathes quickened and the tension from earlier came back quickly.

“Well, we should probably go back inside and keep a look on your two goofy best friends” started Lexa, their gaze not waving.

“Yeah, probably.”

“Come on” she said clearing her throat.

               Lexa grabbed the blonde’s hand and led her towards their friends. They spent a few more minutes dancing and laughing before they decided to leave. Lexa passed Octavia’s arm over her shoulders because the girl was barely standing up, and Clarke just wrapped her arms around Raven’s. They made it to the castle in twice the time and decided to drop Raven at the Ravenclaw tower before heading to Gryffindor’s. Clarke kept on asking the girls to speak lower but they seemed to forget it every five minutes. If they didn’t get caught, it would be a miracle. And as soon as they turned the next corner, they bumped into a tall figure. Clarke went white for a moment, before she recognized the woman in front of her.

“God Anya, you can’t just appear in front of people without notice” whispered Clarke as her heart started to settle down.

“Oh I’m sorry; maybe you would have preferred that I wait for the entire castle to hear you?”

“Sorry, they’re completely drunk, we’ve been trying to tell them to shut up but they won’t listen.”

“Oh right, you are the two responsible ones. That’s why you smell this good.”

               Clarke worked hard on suppressing the silly grin building its way on her face.

“Please Anya? Help us” asked Lexa.

“Alright, I’m gonna bring Raven back to her dorm. You three go to yours quickly and silently.”

“Let’s go to my plaaace, baby” said Raven as she reached for Anya’s hand and stumbled on her.

“Oh god, what have I done to deserve this?”

               They split up and Lexa and Clarke made it to Gryffindor common room with an almost unconscious Octavia. They dropped her gently on the couch.

“We made it” said Clarke.

“Yes, good job” replied Lexa raising her hand for a high five which Clarke gave her.

“Well, good night then?”

“Good night.”

               Lexa moved slightly but before she could leave, Clarke got closer and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek. They both smiled and Clarke went to lift Octavia’s arm around her shoulders, walking them towards the stairs.

“Good night!” Lexa repeated and turned away with a big smile.

***

“Oh god, stop making all that noise.”

“O, I’m eating and my mouth is shut” replied Clarke.

“Yes, well stop using your tableware, I beg you.”

“Seriously?”

               Ocatvia and Raven were spread on the table of the great hall, their head in their arms. Clarke had a headache since she woke up but apparently it wasn’t as bad as her friends’ state. Bellamy didn’t stop making fun of them and Raven would have launched herself at him if she wasn’t afraid of throwing up every now and then.

“Hey guys!”

               Lexa came barging in and sat next to them, looking at Clarke with a tender smile. Raven slowly rose her head, analyzing the brunette who was being too loud for her liking.

“How come you seem perfectly fine?” she asked.

“I assume it’s because I didn’t drank like a drunkard.”

               Raven rolled her eyes before putting her head back inside her elbow.

“What about you? Are you a mess too?” asked Lexa turning to Clarke.

               The only answer from Octavia and Raven was a low growl.

“I’m… fine. Well better than these two” answered the blonde giggling.

“Where are the boys?” Lexa asked.

“In their room I guess.”

“So who are the drunkards now?” added Raven.

“Hello – everyone!”

               All the talking stopped resonating in the room as headmaster Jaha started talking. Nearly the whole school was here for breakfast. The sixth years exchanged worried glances. What if someone had discovered they were out of school last night? Plus, there were a few people missing this morning and it wasn’t a usual thing at Hogwarts for students to skip class.

“Professor Drablow has something to say, so I require your full attention.”

               Everybody relaxed their shoulders and back which earned a frown from Jaha. The defense against dark arts professor stood from his chair and joined Thelonious in the middle of the podium.

“Good morning. I’ll set up a dueling lesson this afternoon for all the sixth years so don’t take your usual schedule into account. I’ll meet you in the defense against dark arts classroom at 2 pm.” And with that, he returned to his seat.

“Great, just great” said Raven.

“Please, kill me now” said Octavia raising her hands in the air.

               Bellamy and Lexa laughed at their comments and Lexa stood up, grabbing a croissant.

“I have to go. See you later then” she said to Clarke.

“Yes, see you.”

               Lexa gave her one last smile and left.

‘How can this smile be so perfect? Stop it.’

***

The room was full of students chattering and fooling around, all gathered around a long platform and waiting for their teachers to show up. They were more or less sorted by houses; Gryffindor and Hufflepuff to one side and Slythyerin and Ravenclaw on the other.

Raven was staring at Clarke and Octavia in a battle of who would throw the other the most threatening expression. Clarke tempted a quick glance to Lexa and immediately felt a weird pang in her stomach when she spotted the brunette talking with a rather pretty Slytherin girl. She rolled her eyes to herself and resumed her conversation with her classmate.

Suddenly, the doors flew open and professor Drablow came in, followed closely by the other heads of each house.

“Hello everyone! In order to gain more experience regarding defense against dark arts, there is nothing better than a FRIENDLY competition.” The professor eyed nearly each student longingly for them to register the world friendly. “We will do six duels : a Gryffindor against a Hufflepuff, a Gryffindor against a Ravenclaw, a Gryffindor against a Slytherin, a Hufflepuff against a Ravenclaw, a Hufflepuff against a Slytherin and finally, and I assume you’ve all understood by now, a Slytherin against a Ravenclaw. Whenever a student wins, his house will earn 50 points. The house with the highest score will earn 100 more points. Your respective teachers will choose who represents his house in each duel, good students preferably, I don’t want to pass my weekend at the infirmary.” He paused, letting the giggling die down. “You’ll battle only until your opponent is disarmed, that will sign the end of the duel. If there is no question, then we shall begin. HUFFLEPUFF – SLYTHERIN.” There was an immediate silence as Mr. Drablow scanned the crowd. “Kevin Hardin” he yelled.

The Hufflepuff students cheered for their mate, encouraging him in earning points for his house. Professor Halter, head of Slytherin, took a step forward and did the same.

“Simon Larson!”

The two boys quickly settled on each side of the platform and moved into their fighting stance, raising their wand.

“One, two, three!” counted professor Drablow.

Flashes of several colors flew in the classroom during a few minutes until the boy from Hufflepuff casted his last spell, sending his opponent’s wand high in the air.

“50 points for Hufflepuff!”

The students applauded and shouted and their professor rapidly spoke to announce the next duel.

“GRYFFINDOR – RAVENCLAW! ”

Clarke quickly found Raven’s gaze once again, throwing her a devilish smile. Professors Kane and James stepped forward and called Jason Blenk and Ontari McCole respectively. The blonde raised her arms and mouthed to Raven ‘next time’ before bringing two fingers before her eyes and then directing them towards her friend. Next thing she saw, Ontari was casting her first spell and Jason didn’t even have the time to open his mouth that his wand flew directly in the girl’s hand.

“Well, that was quick” he said making the crowd laugh. “50 points for Ravenclaw. Let’s go for SLYTHERIN – RAVENCLAW!”

“Lexa Woods!”

Clarke stopped breathing and looked her way. She saw Lexa climbing on the stage, her face more stoic than ever, as her house chanted ‘Heda’. The blonde was ashamed to admit it, but a fresh wave of arousal came crashing in her core. And she cursed herself for it. The both of them had become close friends now but it was still new. Yet, the reactions of Clarke’s body whenever the brunette was implied seemed overwhelming.

“Luna Lake!”

Lexa’s features softened a little and a tiny smirk made its way to her lips as she watched one of her best friends join her on the stage.

“One, two, three!”

               The two of them started with a few nonverbal spells but they were quite at the same level so the exchange lasted a little.

“Stupefix!” shouted Luna.

               Lexa knew very well that her friend was the attacking kind of girl. So when the girl started her first verbal spell, she knew it was going to be a strong one and she had already pronounced her counter-spell before a white burst of light left Luna’s wand.

“Protego!”

               A translucent shield appeared in front of Lexa and the brunette didn’t even flinch as her friend’s spell crashed into it. As soon as the thin wall disappeared, she waved her hand in a quick motion.

“Expelliarmus!”

               The crowd gasped. So did Luna, her hand raised in the air, empty.

“50 points for Slytherin!”

The Slytherin students cheered again for their classmate. Lexa got down from the platform after shaking Luna’s hand and mouthing her ‘no hard feeling?!’. She joined her house and waited for the handshakes and friendly taps to stop before quickly glancing at a certain blonde because, well, she seemed to be irrevocably dragged to her lately. Their eyes connected and there was palpable tension between the two. The brunette felt like something was compressing her lungs and looking through her friend’s eyes, she thought recognizing the same expression. She heard Indra announce the next matches in a fuzzy and distant voice, so with a smile she absently diverted her gaze towards the podium, to regain her spirits.

What just happened?

               Lexa got herself lost in her mind as tons of fragments of light passed before her eyes. When she remembered the beginning of this year, she never thought she would become this close to the beautiful blonde she often bumped into at Hogwarts. Clarke was her friend now; she didn’t know if she should push her luck and tempt something with her, even if she was craving to. She didn’t even know if Clarke was into girls.

               As she looked into the void, she heard a boy whisper to his friend nearby.

“We’re against Gryffindor now.”

               Lexa raised her eyes once again to find Clarke still looking at her but with a smirk on her lips this time.

“Clarke Griffin please?” called professor Kane.

               Clarke’s eyes widened as Octavia pushed her towards the steps. Clarke had the reputation to be a pretty good student, if we gloss over her accidents in potion class, so her house acclaimed her loudly as she positioned herself on the platform.

“Cage Wallace!”

               Clarke couldn’t help the eye roll that made its way on her face as the pretentious cocky boy walked towards her. They both moved forward to salute each other.

“Good luck Griffin, you’ll need it” said Cage, an evil smirk on his face.

“We’ll see about that” she replied, mirroring his expression.

               They returned to their places, raised their wands and waited till the end of the countdown.

“Obscuro!” yelled Cage.

               Clarke, surprised, gave up every attempt at sending a spell without her vision, in case she’d hurt someone. Cage Wallace looked up and noticed several candles flying in the room.

“Oppugno!” he said.

               Clarke’s eyes widened even though she couldn’t see anything and her reaction was immediate.

“Depulso!”

               The burning candles went flying at the opposite of her and professor Drablow quickly waved his wand and the small flames died out.

“I said disarm!” he reminded.

“Incarcerous!” Cage continued, not listening at all at his professor instructions.

               Thick ropes went flying towards Clarke and the shock sent the blonde a few feet back. She banged her head on the ground with the fall and a little hiss left her mouth. Lexa took a step forward but she felt a hand on her forearm. She turned around and saw Carl Emerson, an evil grin on his face.

“You can’t do anything,” he said, “plus we’re winning.”

               The brunette ripped her arm from his hold and looked back up towards the platform with a frown of worry. Cage Wallace wasn’t the kind of guy to play by the rules.

“Finite!” Clarke stood up rapidly.

The ropes fell from around her waist and arms and her vision came back. She had a look of hate and revenge, which gave Lexa a little comfort.

“Petrificus totalus!” she added before Cage had the chance to say anything.

               The Slytherin boy went immediately still, his wand in his hand. Clarke took a few steps forward and stopped just before her opponent to regain her breath. She put her wand between her teeth and started redoing her tousled bun slowly. The crowd was laughing now at the clear humiliation from the blonde, even though there were obviously less noise in the Slytherin section.

“Wait, can you hold that for me? I suppose that means yes” she said as clearly as she could with her wand in her mouth.

She put her elastic around the boy’s thumb while gathering her hair. She took it back and finished her hair-work. She got closer to his ear and whispered.

“Sorry, I completely forgot to wish you good luck. My bad.”

               And with that she withdrew Cage’s wand from his hold.

“50 points for Gryffindor!”

               Her house cheered loudly once again as she went back down the platform. She joined her friends and Octavia welcomed her with a frown.

“Are you ok? This son of a bitch clearly didn’t want to just disarm you.”

“I guess so” she answered rubbing the back of her head, where a small bump had already formed.

               Clarke glanced at Lexa and tried to read the brunette expression. Lexa mouthed an ‘are you ok?’ which the blonde immediately decrypted so she didn’t wait to nod, offering a bright smile.

“I believe Hufflepuff is the winner with 3 matches won. 100 more points” the applause died down slowly. “You may leave.”

               Everyone started chattering again while the classroom became more and more empty. Octavia and Clarke waited in a corner for Jasper, Monty, Miller, Lexa and Luna to join them. They all exited the room and headed to the great hall for dinner.

“Professor Drablow should have stopped that match, Cage’s goal wasn’t to disarm you…” started Lexa.

“Hey stop!” interrupted Clarke taking the brunette’s hand while still walking. “I handled the situation.”

“Well, that’s not what I saw when you got your ass nailed on the floor.”

               The small group of friends turned around at the same time when they heard the familiar sassy voice.

“Cage, I won. So maybe you should leave it there and go cry it out in your room” replied Clarke raising her hands in the air.

               A look of fury passes in the Slytherin boy’s eyes while Clarke’s friends try to contain their giggles. He squeezed his hands, his knuckles becoming white.

“I could beat you any time” he said.

“Sure!”

“Ok. Let’s do a competition then.”

“You two are ridiculous” said Ontari McCole who was passing by.

“Why don’t you shut your mouth and matter your own business?!” replied Clarke, her nerves getting loose.

“Yes, back off” added Cage.

“Clarke let’s go” said Lexa pulling on the blonde’s hand gently.

               The blonde glanced at her quickly before Ontari spoke up again.

“I could take the both of you” said Ontari.

“Fine,” said Cage, “I’ll meet you two in the great hall tomorrow during dinner.”

“Works for me” said Clarke before resuming her walk, not waiting for her friends.

               Lexa looked at Octavia and Raven, and realized they were as bewildered as her. They urged the boys to follow them and ran after their friend.

“Clarke!” called Lexa.

“Yes?”

“You’re not considering this, are you?” asked Raven.

“I’m not” she replied seriously.

               Her friends’ shoulders relaxed a little. Cage Wallace meant trouble and Ontari McCole was a skilful pureblood, convinced she was above everyone.

“I’m doing it.”