THE MIDNIGHT DUEL
THE MIDNIGHT DUEL
Hyacinth had never believed she would meet a boy she hated more than Dudley, but thatwas before she met Draco Malfoy.
"Being hated more than the asshole cousin, ouch that's gotta hurt," Sirius teases Draco, knowing that he was in the same boat, he was hated more than Bellatrix, which had never ceased to make him laugh like a madman, it didn't help people's perceptions of him being crazy.
It didn't really matter anyway. He was crazy, and he never tried to hide it.
Remus just shook his head, knowing what he was thinking of, Sirius was his own brand of crazy that went hand in hand with James' crazy.
Still, first-year Gryffindors only had Potions with the Slytherins, so they didn't have to put up with Malfoy much. Or at least they didn't until they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room that made them all groan. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday—and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.
"Its both good and bad with Slytherins and Gryffindors being paired up for flying lessons, they either use the hatred to try and one up the other houses, or it can take a turn for the worse and end with someone injured." Remus lectures in his 'teaching mode.
"I remember our first flying lesson. It was the rat that got injured, Pettigrew lost control of his broom," Sirius recalls, animosity coating his words at the name.
Fred and George share pale looks of realisation "I think i'm going to throw up," George says weakly.
"Why?" Will asks concerned, ever the efficient healer.
"Its likely to come up at some point if their reactions prove anything." Fred explains. While Hyacinth nods in agreement.
This answer was soon to annoy many of the room's participants.
"Typical," deadpanned Hyacinth. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."
"There was no way she was going to make fun of herself on the broom," Sirius chuckles, attitude pulling a 180 from the clear disgust to an airy chuckle.
"Sirius, you would think you inherited your mothers bipolar issues rather than just the black family madness," Remus teases.
Sirius gasps, majorly offended at Remus' words. "How could you say that to me, Moony? I thought we had something special, I thought you were bae, but it turns out you're just bro," Sirius tears up dramatically.
Remus lets out an equally dramatic gasp, humoring Sirius and his dramatics. It had been years since he was able to do so after all.
She had been looking forward to learning to fly, this was a way to undermine the Dursleys 'disagreements about freakish behaviour' without them being there to punish her for doing so.
"Yes!" Percy cheers, the same way he had when his mother had 'gained the ability to sculpt' and 'sculpted' a lifelike 'sculpture' of Gabe and sold it to the highest bidder.
Sirius smirks at his goddaughters rebelliousness, while the Dursleys would never find out, it was still an act of rebellion, she was going against their 'teachings'.
"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself," said Ron reasonably, not understanding that she was being sarcastic. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."
Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. He complained loudly about firstyears, never getting on the House Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters.
"I don't doubt that if Cissa heard those stories, that you would be grounded for a while," Sirius teases Draco with a dangerous look in his eyes. Draco gains a scared look, unaware if Sirius would actually tell his mother, but he didn't wanna risk it.
Lord Black was a vindictive man. They all had been, some just hid it better.
He wasn't the only one, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick. Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang glider on Charlie's old broom. Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly. Ron had already had a big argument with Dean Thomas, who shared their dormitory, about football.
"Football is a good game," Remus says, earning nods from the demigods that had played it or had enjoyed watching it.
Sirius agreed, he'd taken up playing it with James and Remus, mainly to spite his mother, then had grown to enjoy playing it as a cool down or build up to quidditch during the summers at the Potters.
Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly. Hyacinth had caught Ron prodding Dean's poster of West Ham football team, trying to make the players move, when Dean had brought the poster down into the common room.
"The world doesn't revolve around the magical world Ron," Bill sighs. His littlest brother was such a pain sometimes.
Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Privately, Hyacinth felt she'd had good reason, because Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground, not that the poor boy could help it of course.
"Awwe, the little flower has an interest in that Neville boy," Aphrodite coos, knowing that it's a sibling bond being curated slowly, but wanted to throw fuel onto the fire that is her uncle's child's jealousy.
Percy grips his chair's handles before calming down, not wanting to blow anything in here up, should there be pipes. After taking a calming breath, Percy sunk into the chair, deciding to ignore the tight burning in his chest so he could keep an eye on the interactions between Hyacinth and Neville.
He seems like a nice boy and would likely be a good friend for Hyacinth, besides, he can't let his feelings get in the way of Hyacinth's happiness.
Hermione Granger was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was. This was something you couldn't learn by heart out of a book—not that she hadn't tried. At breakfast on Thursday she bored them all stupid with flying tips she'dgotten out of a library book called Quidditch Through the Ages.
"For hating flying, Lily read that book multiple times," Remus laughs.
"For hating flying, you sure did make an entertaining commentator," Sirius fires back with a loopy smile resembling too much of the dog in him for comfort.
Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later, but everybody else was very pleased when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the mail. It had begun to get on her nerves, Hyacinth loved reading as much as the next person, but she hadn't been sprouting facts that no one had asked for at the slightest thing she'd seen.
"Exactly, just because you read a lot doesn't mean you know everything, the books could be wrong. There is always the case of right information but wrong timing as well," Sirius 'lectures', imitating Remus.
"You know what they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery, so thank you Sirius." Remus snarks with a wolfish grin.
Hyacinth hadn't had a single letter since Hagrid's note, something that Malfoy had been quick to notice, of course. Malfoy's eagle owl was always bringing him packages of sweets from home, which he opened gloatingly at the Slytherin table, as though it was something to be proud of, as though not having parents was a failure and mistakeon the orphans' part.
"I'm sorry, okay!" Draco cries out in embarrassment as most people in the room turn to him. "I was a dick child! Sure its only three years ago, but i've changed!"
Before turning away from him, they give him a warning glare. Draco turns away himself but ends up looking at Sirius and he knew. He just knew his mother was going to hear about his actions.
A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke.
"It's a Remembrall!" he explained. "Gran knows I forget things—this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red—oh..." His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, "...you've forgotten something..."
"Its a shame it doesn't tell you what you've forgotten," Remus muses.
"Its a shame it doesn't tell you what you've forgotten," Hyacinth notes in thought, eyes focused on the balls intricate designs and colourful mist it contained.
"You had the same thoughts as an 11 year old," Sirius teases Remus, earning an eye roll from Bill and an elbow in the gut from Remus.
Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand.
"I promise I will get better, probably not in this book, maybe the end of the next one," Draco groans at having to defend himself every time.
Ron jumped to his feet. He was half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash.
"We marauders helped her with strengthening that ability," Sirius says proudly.
"Don't be proud you dumbass! You gave her headaches and was pranking everybody," Remus berrates.
"You were with us though moony," Sirius pouts.
"And?" Was Remus's only response.
Those around chuckle at their interaction, finding it amusing.
"What's going on?"
"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."
Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table.
"Just looking," he said, and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.
"Bitch," Clarrisse coughs out much to the amusement of most. Draco just flushes, knowing he is going to be severely embarrassed even once he's redeemed himself.
Hyacinth just sighs, already exhausted about this boy's behaviour, "Couldn't have been a worse liar if I'd tried." She muttered
At three-thirty that afternoon, Hyacinth, Ron, and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.
The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Hyacinth had heard Fred and George Weasley complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.
"Isn't that unsafe?" One of the newer half bloods asked.
"Meh, broken bones are an easy fix," Sirius shrugs. "Magic can easily fix what was broken, but it evens itself out by creating magic based diseases that are incurable, for what they've tried in the magic world."
Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, grey hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.
"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."
Hyacinth couldn't help but subtly admire this woman's no nonsense attitude, looking down at the 'broom' she was told to use. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles making Hyacinth second guess whether they were truly safe to use.
"NO! Please Hya!" Sirius dramatically begs. "Don't pull a moony on us!"
Remus sighs and explains "I was decent on a broom but refused to play quidditch."
"DECENT?! Moony, you were amazing!" Sirius shouts madly
"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"
"UP!" everyone shouted.
Hyacinth's broom jumped into her hand at once, but it was one of the few that did.
"Like an excited puppy, might want to douse it in calming drought, wouldn't want it to act like Lockhart's wand," The Weasley twins snicker, before looking at the others aside from Draco "Second year/ book?" was all the response that was given.
Hermione Granger's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, thought Hyacinth, the idea certainly had its merits; there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground.
"If you really didn't want to leave the ground, then you wouldn't be able to, magic relies mainly on our wants." Remus begins to lecture, once a teacher, always a teacher.
Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Hyacinth and Ron were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years, it took up all her polite mask to not laugh her ass off at the look of embarrassment that overtook his features that he promptly tried to cover.
Draco bursts out in laughter with the others when it showed his face "I deserved that," he giggled, wiping away a tear of laughter from his eyes.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle—three—two—"
But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.
"Of course, frighten the already scared child," Hera drawls unimpressed.
"I'll be surprised if he does decide to, if he can of course," Hestia adds on, worried for the child.
"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle—twelve feet—twenty feet. Hyacinth saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and—
WHAM—a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay facedown on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight.
"While they have quick fixes, they are also painful injuries," Sirius shudders, he know this himself, he hadn't always been able to get away from the bludgers scott free while playing quidditch in his youth.
Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his.
"Broken wrist," Hyacinth heard her mutter. "Come on, boy—it's all right, up you get."
She turned to the rest of the class.
"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."
"That's not going to work," Anyone who has been around children for any amount of time groan, even the children.
"Especially not with Gryffindor and Slytherin, I bet ya one of them is going to pose a bet or something to the other house," Sirius adds from his own experiences.
Hyacinth reinforced her decision that she was not going to even touch the broom after this, and why hadn't the teacher used magic to help him? Or even cushion his fall?
"Who are you and what happened to my goddaughter that caused havoc in the front room when I got her her first broom at 10 months." Sirius playfully mourns.
"Oh pads," Remus began, sounding sympathetic, before a sinister grin took over his face and he said, "Long gone, she's no longer a mini you, she's a mini me," He playfully challenges.
Sirius then gasped in offense, and everyone else was looking amuse.
Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.
No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.
"Did you see his face, the great lump?"
They don't say a word, but the room send pointed looks at Draco. He just accepts them, knowing no amount of self-defense will change their minds until it's shown.
Hyacinth felt her annoyance at them grow. It was a boon that she hadn't been placed in slytherin. She he likely would have put them in the hospital wing for all the shit they were spewing.
"As you should," Many campers, having faced their own form of racism, cheered.
Percy cheered the loudest, what did you expect?
The other Slytherins joined in.
"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.
"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."
"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."
The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.
Draco groans at his past actions, he really was an incorrigible little shit, he was thankful to Hyacinth for introducing common sense into him at the end of second year.
"Give that here, Malfoy," said Hyacinth tiredly. Everyone stopped talking to watch.
Malfoy smiled nastily.
"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find—how about—up a tree?"
"Me and George would have better luck finding it up in the tree then Neville would," Fred muses, him and George had a habit of going into the woods.
"Give it here," Hyacinth repeated again, this time a little louder, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter!"
With extreme reluctance, Hyacinth grasped the broom.
"Woohoo!" Many cheered, the others were disappointed at her disregarding what her teacher had told her.
"No!" shouted Hermione Granger. "Madam Hooch told us not to move—you'll get us all into trouble."
Hyacinth inwardly rolled her eyes.
"Oop, here comes the speech we heard about," George teasingly says, with a smirk.
"Granger, I mean this in the nicest possible way, my actions have nothing to do with you, you are not my mother as she is six feet under along with my father, now would you please quiet down." Hyacinth says, her polite mask still in place, however much it was straining
"Oh-" Sirius and Remus stare, shocked at her words.
"Six feet under along with her dad!" Charlie chokes in disbelief.
Percy snorts in laughter, Annabeth sighs, and Grover bleets in exasperation.
She mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up she soared; air rushed through her hair, causing annoyance to soar through her, her hair was hard enough to manage without the wind knotting it up further.
Her robes whipping out behind her—and in a rush of fierce joy she realised she'd found something she could do without being taught—this was easy, this was wonderful. She pulled her broomstick up a little to take it even higher, and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron.
She turned her broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy looked stunned.
"That's my goddaughter!" Sirius cheers, clinging onto Remus.
Percy looks worried for Hyacinth being in the sky, it was Zeus' domain after all. Even a child of Zeus feared the skies.
"Give it here," Hyacinth called, making it clear that she doesn't want to ask again.
"Oh, yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried.
Hyacinth knew, somehow, what to do. She leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot toward Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Hyacinth made a sharp about-face and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping.
"As natural on a broom as Percy is with a sword," Annabeth acknowledges with a grin.
Percy just puffs up his chest like a proud peacock, Sally looks at him amused and cheekily kisses his forehead.
"I got her her very first broom, and I was so proud," Sirius says, wiping a stray tear.
"Before or after Lily beat you up for giving her child a broom at 6 months old?" Remus snarks.
"Hey!"
"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Hyacinth snarked with an amused glint in her eyes.
The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy.
"Pussy!" Clarrisse coughs out, rubbing her throat, "Man, I really should have gotten some cough sweets for my throat," She muses with a smirk.
"Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back toward the ground.
Hyacinth couldn't help but roll her eyes at the stupidity of this white ass ferret.
"Oooh!~" The Weasleys' chorus.
"White ass ferret!" Sirius wheezes "Really cousin, you really ought to catch up with your etiquette lessons," was said, pointedly at Draco.
She saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. She leaned forward and pointed her broom handle down—next second she was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball—wind whistled in her ears, mingled with the screams of people watching—she stretched out her hand—a foot from the ground she caught it, just in time to pull her broom straight, and she toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in her fist.
"Fuck yeah!!!!" Majority of the room erupted into cheers, the parental ones were worried about whether she was alright.
"HYACINTH POTTER!"
Percy winces, having been on the end of that many times, none of them having good results.
Her heart sank faster than She'd just dived. Professor McGonagall was running toward them. She got to her feet, subtly trembling, Professor McGonagall was one of the teachers she'd highly respected, butshe couldn't help but compare her to when the Dursleys would shout 'girl' or 'freak' to her when they were angry.
"Trauma response," Remus mutters with Sirius turning away, having dealt with his trauma responses from his own upbringing, still dealing with some of them to this day.
It was a subconscious response she hadn't even known she was doing, along with how her frame shook, her words became stuck in her throat.
"Never—in all my time at Hogwarts—"
Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "—how dare you—might have broken your neck—"
"Your terrifying her Minnie, now is not the time to rant, she's shaking." Sirius says softly, it was painful witnessing his god daughter having learned to act this way that its a subconscious response.
"And never in your time at hogwarts? What about us?" Remus says " We did plenty of shit like this,"
"It wasn't her fault, Professor—"
"Be quiet, Miss Patil—"
"But Malfoy—"
"That's enough, Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now."
"Let them explain! And you wondered why the students hadn't gone to you when they needed to!" Remus raged, having dealt with McGonagall rant about the students not coming to her with their issues.
"This! This is why!" Remus ended his rant with a huff of clear annoyance.
Hyacinth caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's triumphant faces as she left, walking numbly in Professor McGonagall's wake as she strode toward the castle. She was going to be expelled, or punished like at the Dursleys, she just knew it. She wanted to say something to defend herself, but there seemed to be something wrong with her voice. Professor McGonagall was sweeping along without even looking at her.
"She must be scared real good," Sirius mutters, Hyacinth's response to fear was eerily similar to Regulus' when their mother was pissed.
She had to jog to keep up, fighting against every instinct she had, to not tear up, her throat clogged with unspoken fear. Now she'd done it. She hadn't even lasted two weeks. She'd be packing her bags in ten minutes. What would the Dursleys say when she turned up on the doorstep once more?
"Why isn't she saying anything? Silent anger is always the scariest, and while silent anger can be a deterrent to future similar actions, other times it doesn't or causes the child to go into a panic attack." Annabeth informs.
"If you go through abuse, you dont have the wits to inform others." Hyacinth answers while having a sad expression on her face.
(A/N: I know I wrote that but I am not sure how abuse works as I wasn't in one sooo ...so sorry if this might offend you.)
Percy clenches his fists, he feels helpless with his soulmate going through clear emotional distress without anyone helping her through it, and with him not being able to help.
Up the front steps, up the marble staircase inside, and still Professor McGonagall didn't say a word to her, the silence was slowly getting to her. She wrenched open doors and marched along corridors with Hyacinth following terrified behind her. Maybe she was taking her to Dumbledore.
"McGonagall! You've seen abused and terrified students before! She is displaying everything on the metaphorical tick sheet!" Remus shouts annoyed. This was the daughter of his dead best friend going through emotional distress that he'd seen before in abuse victims.
Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside.
"Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"
The half bloods pale at that "Wasn't physical punishment made illegal?" they whisper horrified.
"Wood is the last name for Oliver Wood, the captain of Gryffindor's quidditch team." Fred said, trying to calm them down.
Wood? Thought Hyacinth quietly, trying to choke down any fear she had, but it wasn't working; was Wood a cane she was going to use on her?
"Look at her, she has trauma," Sirius tries to joke lightly while pointing in the direction of Hyacinth, but the unshed tears in his eyes betray how much he knew how Hyacinth was feeling.
While Sirius says that, he is holding Hyacinth in a hug to comfort her.
But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth-year boy who came out of Flitwick's class looking confused.
The room relaxed significantly at the realisation that 'Wood' was a teen boy, and not the actual thing.
"Follow me, you two," said Professor McGonagall, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Hyacinth.
"In here."
Professor McGonagall pointed them into a classroom that was empty except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard.
"Out, Peeves!" she barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out cursing. Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind him and turned to face the two students.
"Now that is one way to deal with Peeves," Sirius weakly chuckles.
"Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood—I've found you a Seeker."
The room is filled with questioning looks and murmurs, none of them knowing what a seeker was in this context.
Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight.
"Are you serious, Professor?"
"Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply. "The girl's a natural. I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?"
"Not explaining anything to a clearly terrified child is kinda low there McGonagall," Remus snidely remarks.
Hyacinth nodded, she was confused as to what was happening, but the fear that had been so overpowering began to ebb away. She didn't have a clue what was going on, but She didn't seem to be being expelled, and some of the feeling started coming back to her legs, throat, while clogged up started to calm.
"It's no wonder Hyacinth appears to hold little to no regard for anything Professor McGonagall says," Draco says with a look of consideration on his face.
"I mean, she is clearly frightened, like, severely frightened and all Proffesor McGonagall had done, was ignore it." he continued.
"She caught that thing in her hand after a fifty-foot dive," Professor McGonagall told Wood. "Didn't even scratch herself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it."
Charlie let out an over dramatic gasp at McGonagall's words.
"She's right of course, but it still hurts," Charlie lightens the mood.
Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had come true at once.
"Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?" he asked excitedly.
"Wood's captain of the Gryffindor team," Professor McGonagall explained.
"That's doesn't explain quidditch to her McGonagall," Remus says sighing in annoyance.
"She's just the build for a Seeker, too," said Wood, now walking around Hyacinth and staring at her,
"Not the best thing to say to her," Thalia and most girls in the room winced. From their own experiences 10-11 was when they began to actually look at themselves.
she began to feel slightly self-conscious, she was skinny and bony, it was uncomfortable to see herself in the mirror everyday, and here this guy was, saying she had the perfect build for something and practically inspecting the everything about herself that she detested.
"As I said"
"Light—speedy—we'll have to get her a decent broom, Professor—a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say."
"I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks..."
"What happened to us?! Losing to snape!" Remus, Sirius, Bill and Charlie shout in unison, appalled.
Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Hyacinth.
"I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you."
".... I'm not even going to say anything more," Remus says, disappointed at McGonagall's words and actions.
Then she suddenly smiled.
"Your father would have been proud," she said. "He was an excellent Quidditch player himself."
"As much as I hate to say it, sorry James, but she doesn't remember her dad!" Sirius yells.
Hyacinth then just chuckles.
Hyacinth couldn't get her throat to clear well enough to say that she didn't want to play Quidditch, in fact, didn't want to even touch another broom. She had just been terrified about something that stemmed from being on a broom, and another one of her classmates had broken a wrist while on a broom.
Sirius sighs disappointed, but understands her thoughts. "Prongslette, if you don't want to do something, you shouldn't have to do it,"
"You're joking."
It was dinnertime. Hyacinth had just finished telling Ron what had happened when she'd left the grounds with Professor McGonagall. Ron had a piece of steak and kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgotten all about it.
Many pull a face at his lack of table manners. "Despite being a pureblood, he seems to not hold any dignity, who eats like that even when at home,"
"Mum practically babied him," Fred responds.
"Not practically, she did, Ron never really had to mind his manners, no matter how disgusting it was when he'd eat," George continued.
"Seeker?" he said. "But first years never—you must be the youngest House player in about—"
"—a century," said Hyacinth dryly, placing some pie into her mouth. She hadn't felt particularly hungry after the 'excitement' of the afternoon, but forced herself to eat. "Wood told me."
"Poor Hyacinth, we hadn't known that she didn't want to play," George grimaces as well as Draco.
Ron was so amazed, so impressed, he just sat and gaped at Hyacinth, she'd gotten used to it at this point, however couldn't help but have the need to disappear for a few hours on the weekend to recharge enough energy to keep her polite mask up every week.
"Is it really that exhausting for her?" Draco asks himself, in all honesty, he thought that she relished in the attention on her.
"I start training next week," said Hyacinth, inwardly dreading having to be near a broom. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret."
Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, spotted Hyacinth, and hurried over.
"Well done," said George in a low voice. "Wood told us. We're on the team too—Beaters."
"You two are a pair of human bludgers yourselves, fighting fire with fire I see," Sirius jokes with a chuckle.
"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch Cup for sure this year," said Fred. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Hyacinth, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."
"Of course she's good, she's the daughter of James, and my Goddaughter," Sirius snorts in pride.
"Imagine that though, a fifth year student, skipping," Percy laughed lightly at this, Annabeth just snorts.
"Do I need to remind you of that one time-" Percy cuts her off.
"Nope!" With his face flushed.
"Anyway, we've got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school."
"Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you."
"First week huh, it took us the second week to find it," Remus hums in thought.
Fred and George just grin proudly.
Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.
"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"
"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Hyacinth coolly, distaste coating her words with her polite mask still in place. There was ofcourse nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl.
"You really were all bark and no bite weren't you," George chortles while ruffling Draco's hair, only to get his hand swatted away.
"I'd take you on anytime on my own," said Malfoy. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only—no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"
"Of course she has," said Ron, wheeling around. "I'm her second, who's yours?"
"He did not..." All the wizards say, horrified at Ron's behaviour.
"What's a wizarding duel?" Annabeth asks curiously.
"It's basically a formal fight with magic, and you have to participate in it once you agree, lest you want to lose your magic or suffer from some other affliction to your magic. Most of the time, if not done right, it could lead to death." Sirius explains.
"And he accepted for her?!" Percy exclaims in shock.
"I never thought Ron would be that daft to accept a wizard's duel for someone," Bill mutters in disbelief.
Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up.
"Crabbe," he said. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked."
"Your not going to turn up are you, you're getting them out past curfew to get them in trouble," Remus realises.
When Malfoy had gone, Ron and Hyacinth looked at each other.
"What is a wizards duel?" said Hyacinth. "And what do you mean, you're my second?"
"It just makes it worse that she doesn't know what he accepted," Percy sneers, who in their right mind does this.
"Well, a second's there to take over if you die," said Ron casually, getting started at last on his cold pie. Catching the look on Hyacinth's face, he added quickly, "But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway."
"She didn't accept Ron! You did!" Charlie shouts.
"And you decided to accept?"Hyacinth asked with a steely gaze, "Accept on my behalf? In something that has killed multiplewizards and witches?"
Sally and Hera grin "Don't let it go, make him regret answering for you,"
"Yes?" Ron says, uncaring of the tone Hyacinth had used, as though it was normal to accept dangerous duels for someone else without their explicit agreement.
"You need to put a leash on your little brother," Sirius says firmly, a steel glint in his eyes making it clear why people had called him merciless.
"Excuse me."
They both looked up. It was Hermione Granger.
"Why is it always her," Nico groans from his place in his fathers arms, ignoring the sharp look he was given by Will.
"Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" said Ron.
Hermione ignored him and spoke to Hyacinth.
"I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying—"
"Bet you could," Ron muttered.
George deadpans at his brother's attitude.
"—and you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."
"Was she trying to guilt Hyacinth by using the point system?" Fred snorts, " Me and George lost tons of points in out first year,"
Hyacinth just shrugged her shoulders.
"Miss Granger, I've already informed you of the fact that you're not my mother, you have no control over me whatsoever. You have continuously butted in places where your input was not needed. I appreciate your dedication to Gryffindor, I would however, advise you to keep to your own business," Hyacinth tells Hermione, keeping her words and tone polite but sharp.
Percy and Sirius cheer loudest in the room, Hera, Sally and Remus have proud smiles on their faces at Hyacinth.
"Good-bye," said Ron.
The rest of the day had continued with Ron giving Hyacinth 'advice' for the duel such as 'dodge because he couldn't remember the shielding spell'.
"Worst advice, it's a 'Wizards' duel, you have to use magic," Bill says disappointed.
It wasn't as though Hyacinth was going to go to the duel, she hadn't agreed herself or given any form or sign of agreement, therefore she had no obligation to be there.
"She shouldn't have to, but the duel was agreed to, she could lose her magic or have it drained," Sirius and Remus worry, Hecate just has a small smile on her face enjoying how her champion has people that care for her like this.
She highly doubted that the ferret would even show up, it would be something she would have done as well, however much more subtly.
"Ha! Get caught out!" Sirius cackles at his cousin.
Draco just puts his head in his hands, knowing that he could have done it smoother if he wasn't so daft at the time.
Granger hadn't come up to the dormitory they'd shared with Lavender Brown and Parvarti Patil, Hyacinth hadn't rolled her eyes, but it was close. With how obsessed with books the girl was, many were surprised she was in Gryffindor, but then she did something so daft as this.
"Not all of us are brat!" Charlie pouts childishly only to look around at his fellow gryffindors, Bill was a curse breaker and he was a dragon tamer, two dangerous as hell jobs, Sirius and Remus were marauders, Fred and George were- well enough said. He sweatdropped in realisation.
" Okay, maybe we are, but so what,"
Hyacinth wasn't going to go right into a trap, however, she wasn't going to stop Ronald or Grangerfrom going, if they were stupid enough not to realise it was a trap, or not smart enough to not get caught then it was their fault.
"If you're not smart enough to not fall for a trap, at least be smart enough to not get caught," Athena remarks only to get a surprised side eye from her fellow deities.
"What?"
This could also be a part of subtle revenge against Ronald and Hermione. Ron for accepting the dangerous duel in the first place with no inclination to how she would feel about having her life on the line, and Hermione for constantly worming her way into Hyacinth's issues and life.
"Petty," Clarrisse says with a grin of appreciation.
"Thanks" Hyacinth answers with a smile.
--------------------◇♡◇-------------------
"Half-past eleven," Ron muttered at last, "She's probably already left."
Ron thought as there was no sign of Hyacinth, not thinking that she wouldn't show.
"Honestly Ron," Charlie grits his teeth in annoyance at his little brother.
"I can't believe you're going to do this, Hyacinth."
A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger, wearing a pink bathrobe and a frown.
"You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"
"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped, "Percy—he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."
"And where is Hyacinth?" Hermione questioned forcefully.
"Not participating in this snooze fest," Sirius sniffs hautilly.
"She's probably already there," Ron responded, annoyed.
He pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole.
Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose.
"Don't insult the poor goose like that," Grover says with a cheeky glare.
--------------------◇♡◇-------------------
Hyacinth kept to the shadows as the portrait opened, she'd had a small nap while waiting.
"Glad to know she has her priorities in check," Clovis chuckles, loving sleep and the dreams that follow. After all, he is a child of Hypnos
They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs.
It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville looked as if he'd never speak again.
"When did Neville tag along?" Many question in their confusion.
She was right about it being a trap then, of course she was right, it stunk so clearly of deception and playing on the anger, Hyacinth couldn't help but admire the ingenuity of it. It was a shame that she hadn't fallen for it.
"Of course it didn't affect you, you got brought up repressing yourself," Draco snorts, most purebloods having the same upbringing to ensure that they were the perfect heirs for their families.
"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."
Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back again.
"You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"
"The floor?" Ron suggested. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."
"Heads? As in multiple? Don't tell me that the 'dog' they are talking about is one I'm thinking of," Hades practically growls.
Dog? Heads? Hyacinth began to think, the only dog she knew that had multiple heads would be the Cerberus from Greek mythology, it couldn't be though. It was either that, or a two headed dog, but that's scientifically created. She sighed, she'd find out from Ron tomorrow.
"Ugh, that guy, Vladimir Demikhov, I dealt with him personally," Hades smirks. He usually dealt personally with those who harmed dogs.
"No, not the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."
She stood up, glaring at them.
"I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed—or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."
"Does she really think that being expelled is worse than being killed?" The half bloods look in shock, all of them had been expelled at least once in their lives and faced death on the daily. Death was the worse of the two evils.
Hyacinth couldn't help but marvel at this girl's attitude, she was naive to believe that being expelled was worse than dying.
Ron stared after her, his mouth open.
"No, I don't mind," he said. "You'd think I dragged her along, wouldn't you?"
"Poor Neville, having to deal with those two," Luna says airly, pity clear in her tone.
Hyacinth shook her head, following Hermione up the stairs to their dormitory. Hermione was standing in front of the dormitory door with her arms crossed.
"Hyacinth. Why weren't you at the duel?" She forcefully questioned.
"Is this girl being serious?" Remus questions before stopping horrified, realising what he said.
"She's not sirius, I am," Sirius jokes, Remus just made it so easy.
Hyacinth couldn't help but let a questioning look overtake her features, " You lectured me when it was talked of, and I hadn't accepted, Ron did." Hyacinth explained politely.
"I would have lost my temper with Hermione by now," Charlie admits in awe of Hyacinth being able to keep polite.
Hera and Hecate have proud smiles on their faces.
"But you made me believe that you were going. Do you know how many rules I broke today! How many hard earned points I could have lost! I even ended up on the fourth floor and got into the room that Dumbledore himself told us not to go in! And for good reason! There was a cerberus in there!" Hermione ranted angrily.
"It's your own fault, she didn't tell you to go, did she?" Draco snorts at Hermione's ridiculousness.
"Granger, it's not my fault you were blinded by your own sense of superiority and control issues that you try to act like my mother." Hyacinth responded dryly "Now if you don't mind, I would like to go sleep now,"
"You go!" Apollo cheers with a bright grin, clutching into his sister's arm. Artemis had a grin on her face at Hyacinths actions, when people look at Apollo in confusion he says
"What? Can I not be happy that a snooty self important girl is being put into her place? And by one of my past lovers' namesakes at that?"
Hyacinth walked past Hermione and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, her internal clock set to wake her up at 5, as usual.
"She has grown so much," A male voice sobs from nowhere.
"Oh hush James, stop blubbering like a baby," A female voice retorts, clearly amused.
"But Lily-flower, My little girl is so grown!" 'James' continues to sob.
"James? Lily?" Sirius lets out softly in recognition of the voices, tears already coming to his eyes.
"Mom? Dad?" Hyacinth says in curiosity.
"Hey pads and moony," James and Lily greet with gentle smiles.
James and Lily then went to Hyacinth and hugged her.