XXXIII

It was Hether. She had appeared out of nowhere, and placed herself firmly between her and Veja. She did not look back at her, but instead stood, facing Veja.

The spell hurtled towards Hether, unforgiving and malicious, and she lifted her hand. The lightning seemed to draw from the sky and amass in her hand, forming a whip, which she threw back and sliced through Veja's spell as if it was bread.

Grega's eyes widened in wonder and astonishment. Again, she knew Hether was powerful, but not this powerful. Hether curled her whip back and lashed out at Veja, who pointed her wand at the whip flying at her. As soon as the whip touched the wand, the latter burst into flame and shattered, causing Veja to drop it and stumble back in surprise. Hether didn't relax, but stood on edge, as if she sensed the clash wasn't yet over.

She was right. Veja let out an annoyed cry and wrung her hands, as if shaking water off them. To everyone's surprise, the hands seemed to spark and then suddenly lit with black flames.

Grega grew more and more dumbfounded as they continued to fight. They were dueling, without protocols; without words; and now without wands. She had never seen anything like it, and it shook her to her core. Magic like this was dark and forbidden and not understood by anyone. Her mind blanked, and she realised no one knew anything.

There was school, and there was Hogwarts. People went to school to learn; people came to Hogwarts to be shrunk and tossed into a box of regulations. She realised it now, and it threatened to fry her brain at the edges. In their minds, the more words and motions they know, the more advanced they were. In reality, the more they allowed themselves to be suppressed by tons upon tons of spell books, the more they knew nothing. The greatest wizards and witches; the ones who became known as 'sorcerer' were the ones who broke free of the restraints and used the magic given to them, buried within their souls.

As she stood watching the chaos unfold, she wondered if she had any of that unrestrained magic, or if she was just a flake. Her mind returned to the now, and she realised that she was being held back in tight grips by Cho and Professor McGonagall. Her feet were kicking and flaying; she was trying to run into the battle ground – after all it was her that the two girls were fighting over.

A restraining dome had been cast over them, which grew smaller and smaller to the realisation of neither. A crowd had now gathered at the end of the hallway, although they were being pushed back by prefects and staff as fervently as they pushed forward to see more of what was going on.

She looked at their faces. Some were amazed, some were excited, but most were scared; hugging one another out of fear, crying, fleeing from the scene so they could remain trapped in their safe cocoon of pretense, holding others back from rushing forward. She stopped kicking and struggling, and sunk to her knees on the ground. She sighted Draco; he was near the front of the crowd, restrained by Blaise and Vincent, struggling to escape their hold and reach Hether, and probably end the madness. Grega though he could, if he tried, but his friends didn't know that.

She turned back to the fight. There was Dumbledore, and Snape, and Flitwick, holding up the dome, ready to hold the two girls once one let up. She dropped her head. They were both definitely, most definitely, getting expelled. She looked up at Cho. She wasn't saying anything, but her eyes were fixed on the two girls, fired up, as if she was screaming encouragements to Hether in her head. Her brows were furrowed in utmost concentration, and her gaze was unmoving. Then, in the dome, Veja stopped moving for the slightest fraction of a second, and Hether descended with her whip, and the fighting stopped.

To her left, Cho let out a sigh of relief and crumbled to the ground, suddenly exhausted. It was now Grega and McGonagall who caught her and held her stable. Grega turned to the fight scene. Veja was knelt on the ground before Hether, with lifted wrists which were bound tightly apart by Hether's whip; split into two for the sole purpose.

Both were breathing heavily, still angry, but thankful that it had ended. Hether gave a snort and dropped the whips, which shrunk into her wand. Grega's eyes widened. If she had been using the wand the whole time… Hether picked up the wand and blew on it, as if to dust it.

Dumbledore stepped forward and stood in her path. "You do realise that your actions will require your expulsion."

A gasp spread through the crowd. Hether turned back to where Veja was now being restrained with vines by Professor Sprout. Grega could not believe that she had been sorted into Hufflepuff. Slytherin seemed more befitting for someone like her with a heart as black.

"I can't afford that." Hether simply said and lifted her wand at Dumbledore, amidst screams from the crowd. He reached out with his wand, but she was quicker. "Obliviate."

White wisps curled out from the tip of Hether's wand, thick and long, and they wove about the crowd, curling around people and filtering through their heads, removing their memories.

Grega squeezed her eyes shut and wished them far, far away; she did not want to forget everything she had discovered and go back to the box she had been living in. Go away, her mind screamed, go away; far away, leave me alone.

Eventually she opened her eyes, and when she did, there were only six people left standing in the desolate hallway; the same six people that had been in the tower that day.

Draco was livid with anger and anxiety. He marched up to Hether and threw his arms around her, pulling her body close to hers as if he were afraid that she would disappear. He knew she was immortal but he had also seen her near death, at the hands of the same person knelt on the floor.

Hether didn't say anything but simply relaxed in his embrace, breathing in the smell of leather and jasmine that she had now become accustomed to.

Cho, on the other hand, was seething with new-found irritation, and marched up to the two of them, forcing them apart. "What's wrong with you?"

Hether narrowed her eyes and turned to Cho. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Why did you obliviate them?!"

"She can't be expelled, you brat." Draco pushed her back. "You would do the same thing- "

"HEY!"

Draco turned and scowled to see Blaise marching towards him with the same intensity. "Good riddance. What's he doing-" He was cut short by a swift uppercut from Blaise, and stumbled back, cradling his nose. "What is it with people and my nose?!! What the hell, Zabini?"

"Don't ever touch her." Blaise planted himself in front of Cho, who turned a deep red and looked away.

There was a small crunch as Draco's nose righted itself. Hether took his chin in her hand and turned his face this way and that. "You're fine; don't be such a baby. There are other issues at hand." She turned to where Veja still sat unmoving on the floor. "Get up." Hether said.

"I can't." she replied stubbornly.

"LIAR!" Grega walked up to her and bent to her level. "The whole school just saw you stand and fight! So, get up!"

"Well, the whole school doesn't remember any of that anymore now, do they?" Veja spat back. "Seeing as your friend here just wiped their memories blank!"

"Yeah, exactly what is going on here?" Blaise turned to Hether. "Because I seem to be the only one in the blue."

"Oh, no, we're all in the blue." Cho folded her arms across her chest and frowned at Hether.

"Cho, shut up and tell your boyfriend everything." Grega rolled her eyes.

"He's not my-

"She's not-

Draco snorted and Grega gave an even deeper eye roll before turning back to Veja. "But seriously, get up. Your act is done; we all know you can stand."

"Why should I explain myself to you?" Veja looked them in the eye. "After all, you'll all just go back to hating me tomorrow."

Cho groaned and took Blaise's sleeve, pulling him aside.

"Fair point." Hether shrugged and held out a hand to Veja. "Take my hand and I'll help you walk again."

"I don't trust you. You've never done anything to help me or stop the bullying. So why should I trust you?"

"I don't trust you either, seeing as you just tried to kill me. But here I am, and my hand is beginning to hurt, so just take it. We both know we're different from the rest."

Veja stared at the hand for a few seconds. If she took it, her life would definitely change. It was whether it was for worse or better that she did not know.

"Okay," She eventually said, and took it.

Hether grunted and pulled her up from the ground, supporting her under her arm. "You should have asked for help before you left the infirmary, you know." She said very loudly.

Veja turned her head to her in alarm and she raised a finger to her lips. "Walls have ears." She whispered and raised her voice once more. "Don't dally, Draco, open the door. Grega, be a darling and call the Matron on the phone inside. Blaise, come help me with her."

The six of them walked into the infirmary, and Draco turned to close the door behind them. He bent to retie his shoelaces and pursed his lips. Sure, there was no one in the hallway, but someone was listening. He had a feeling that perhaps, not everyone had been obliviated, but he couldn't tell if it was on purpose or by accident. He rose and dusted his hands, then closed the door behind him.