Entry for "Muggle Studies" at "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"
Guns - a highly lethal weapon invented by Muggles. In relation to the connotation assigned to guns, your assignment today is to write about character death. The only catch? Your character cannot have died in canon. So Cedric Diggory for example, is out. Your character also cannot be dead already, like James and Lily Potter. Minimum word count is 700.
Entry for the Hogwarts Fair 2014 – Charms Class. Word Prompt: Protection
Ouch... I can already see some people killing me for this... *ducks away*
This was really hard for me to write, but I hope you like it :)
The thick air, which was a forecasting a thunderstorm, was burning in her lungs as she broke through the undergrowth, ignoring how the sharp branches and it thorns left bleeding marks on her skin, ripping on her cloths. The sky above her was darkened by the pitch-black clouds hanging low and as she finally left the forest, the first thunder roared, making her close her fingers tighter around her wand. A look over her shoulder assured her that they had not reached her yet, but she knew that they were there. They were hunting her down, they were close and she thought that she could almost feel them breathing down her neck.
And then, she heard their yells over the next thunder.
The Snatchers.
Rolanda Hooch could have slapped herself in this moment for being so foolish to stop and listen into the air, she could have gained some lead in the main time! Mad-Eye and Filius, the two men who had mentored her in her life, would surely disapprove in their own ways if they could see her, she thought bitterly as her legs started to move again, carrying her onwards just as the rain started.
Heavy drops fell from the sky, soaked her jeans and her hair, rolling off her leather jacket and she felt like her hope was washed away as she heard them yell again, this time alarmingly closer. She turned her head, wanting to take a short glimpse on the situation behind her, but this was a big fault – her foot got caught on a root and Rolanda could feel how she was swept off her feet by her own momentum, sliding over the already slightly muddy ground for a few metres. The curse got stuck in her throat as she tried to get up but failed, falling back to the ground as her ankle refused to obey, a sharp pain twitching through it.
Panic started to rise inside of her and her eyes sprang from one side to the other, searching for a shelter, a place offering her at least a little bit of protection, but there was nothing in reach. Rolanda tried to crawl forwards, holding on to her wand, but she could already feel the vibrations of the men's steps at her palms. Rolling onto her back she clung to her wand as if her life depended from it, and maybe it did, but before she could react a Stunning Spell hit her in the shoulder and she sank into the darkness.
Mad-Eye Moody had always told her to watch her back, to be suspicious all the time, but she had failed. Being on the run for months had exhausted her a lot and that was the only reason why the Snatchers had been able to locate her. Because she had dropped her defences, her caution for one second due to her weariness.
She should have known that joining the Order of the Phoenix would only cause problems, but she had ignored the little voice in her head because she had felt like she needed to do something, that she needed to play her part in the resistance against Voldemort. Minerva had arranged a meeting with Kingsley Shacklebolt and Mad-Eye Moody and they had accepted her, marking a huge kink in her life.
From this point on, everything had changed.
She had had resigned from her position at Hogwarts, she had started to fulfil little missions, but after the fall of the Ministry of Magic she had been forced to go on the run because she had made herself suspicious – well, you could not expect to receive a nice smile and a wave from the Death Eaters if you smuggled muggle-born families over the Irish Sea to bring them into safety.
Rolanda's mind was racing as she slowly felt how the veil of unconsciousness raised, voices around her becoming more and more prominent, but she could not understand what they were talking about, at least not until she blinked a few times and regained her ability to focus.
"She is a order member, Madame Lestrange. Maybe she has some informations about the Potter boy!" A man's voice said and Rolanda chuckled inwardly about his naivety – he seriously believed anyone could know about the boy's current location! None of them even knew what he was up to, what he was doing out there, how could they possibly know where he was?
"I will question her and after I found out if she has useful informations, I will give you your deserved reward," an arrogant sounding woman replied and Rolanda stared at the polished wooden floor, fearing that she already knew how this interrogation would look like.
She released a groan of pain as someone kicked her in the stomach, forcing her to turn onto her back. Rolanda did not pay attention to the rich décor of the room she was in, the persons standing about two steps away from her were far more important. The woman who had spoken was grinning madly at the younger witch lying on the floor and Rolanda recognised her as Bellatrix Lestrange, but there, in the corner of her eye, was the other silhouette and she overstretched her head a little bit to be able to see him.
Severus Snape.
It felt like a cold hand had closed around her heart and she wanted to look away, but she could not take her eyes off him while the confusing feelings, the ones she had shoved away during the last months, boiled up again inside of her with full force.
Hate and something like friendship or whatever were battling with each other every time she thought about him because she was disgusted by his betrayal, by him murdering Dumbledore, but on the other hand, she could not forget the time they had spent together during the last years, building something like a connection between them. She felt a lot for him, he had treated her different from the other teachers, like he sometimes actually cared about her and her feelings and opinions and she had believed that there had been a something between them. A something that could not be defined, but still it was there and it had made her feel special.
"So, here we have Rolanda Hooch, the famous chaser... You look less glorious than I had imagined," Bellatrix snarled, ripping Rolanda from her thoughts and her gaze followed the witch as she stepped a little bit closer.
"You will waste your time with interrogating me. We have no idea where Potter is," Rolanda exclaimed bravely, holding eye contact to Bellatrix, swearing herself that she would not give in, that she would not show any sign of weakness to them.
"Well, if you say so, my dear. Then I don't think you will be useful in any way," the evil witch grinned cruelly and Rolanda knew that it was over. This was how her life would end and somehow she felt like she had not done enough. She had won trophies and awards, but that meant nothing when she thought about how empty her personal life had been after all. Never had she truly been in love and now that she realised that there was something close to that, it was to late.
Her gaze flickered back to Severus, who had been standing on his spot the whole time in silence, looking like a human stature, however their eyes met now. Gold hit black and at first she was hit by the hardness of his expression, but then he allowed her to see past his barriers and it was as if she could read his thoughts and he heard hers.
Save me, Severus!
You know I can't.
Will it hurt?
It will be over in a second. Just close your eyes.
I can't. I am to afraid, Severus!
I am sorry.
There is so much more I want to tell you...
I know. I know it all. Just look at me.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Bellatrix saying the incantation of the Killing Curse was so distant to Rolanda that she barely noticed it. Her eyes were fixed on Severus, holding on to him, letting him ease her fear and tears filled her eyes in the moment as the curse hit her body with its green light.
And just as the light left her golden eyes, letting them blankly stare into nothing, a single tear drop sprung from her eye and rolled onto her cheek.
Later, after Bellatrix had left, Severus knelt down next to Rolanda's dead body and did catch the little drop, filling it into a crystal vial before the memories could be gone forever, like Rolanda.