Hello all! This is a companion piece (and second piece of fiction ever written!) to my other project Kismet, (which features a Fem!Harry, so if that is not your cup of tea keep reading at your own risk) though it can be read on its own. This image just kind of popped into my head a few weeks ago and I finally wrote it all out! It is taking place in Harriet's sixth year, the now infamous Sectumsempra scene in Chapter twenty-four. For the ease of the reader I have included a portion of the chapter, pages 488- 489. Everything in italics is owned by the wonderfully talented J.K. Rowling, as is the title 'Crimson Flowers'.
I am simply borrowing these characters for my own amusement.
As always please read and review!
Malfoy Wheeled round, drawing his wand. Instinctively Harriet pulled out her own. Malfoy's hex missed Harriet by inches, shattering the lamp on the wall beside her; Harriet threw herself sideways, thought Levicorpus and flicked her wand but Malfoy blocked the jinx and raised his wand for another-
"No! No! Stop it!" squealed Moaning Myrtle, her voice echoing loudly around the tiled room. "Stop! STOP!"
There was a loud bang and the bin behind Harriet exploded; she attempted a Leg-Locker Curse that backfired off the wall behind Malfoy's ear and smashed the cistern beneath Moaning Myrtle, who screamed loudly; water poured everywhere and Harriet slipped over as Malfoy, his face contorted, cried, "Cruci-"
"SECTUMSEMPRA!" bellowed Harriet from the floor, waving her wand wildly.
Blood spurted from Malfoy's face and chest as though he had been slashed with an invisible sword. He staggered backwards and collapsed on to the waterlogged floor with a great splash, his wand falling from his limp right hand.
Time seemed to slow down for Harriet as blood began to pool in crimson flowers on the wet tiles; the witch half crawled, half slid, to the side of the fallen wizard, panicked sounds falling from her open mouth.
"No, no, no, no….I didn't, I never meant for this…," the witch gasped as she placed pressure with her hands on the largest of the gashes, "Help, HELP! Oh God...somebody...PLEASE!" Harriet's voice rang out in a sob. The roar of sloshing water and Moaning Myrtle's hysterical screaming filled Harriet's ears as they crashed over her like a wave. Malfoy's chest rose and fell in short shallow breaths, his grey eyes however, glazed and unseeing, caught the witches attention. Grey eyes that bore a striking similarity to another wizard.
The corpse of Cedric Diggory materialized in Malfoy's place. His bloodless face turned to her direction and his grey mouth opened to scream, "MURDER! MURDER IN THE BATHROOM!"
At this, Harriet Potter fell apart.
She had done it again. She had murdered another student and this time it had been by her own hand. Guilt and horror curled around her heart like a vice; she wasn't like her father, as Snape had always said, she was Voldemort. Perhaps her possession from the previous year had left more of a trace than even Dumbledore could predict. How many more would she hurt so carelessly? How many more spells had she learned that could produce such devastating results?
A loud crash behind the witch momentarily alerted Harriet's short-circuiting brain to the presence of another individual, a professor she hoped belatedly.
888
Severus surveyed the scene before him, his expression a mixture of shock and cold fury. He closed his eyes and forced himself to focus and act. Two students, both covered in blood and water, lay on the tiled floor. One appeared immobile and unconscious, the other sat crumpled and shaking like a leaf; neither took notice of his arrival. The wizard silenced the screeching ghost with a swipe of his wand causing her to disappear down one of the few intact toilets; blessed silence returned to the room.
"Shite," the professor hissed, striding over to the pair as quickly as the slippery tile would allow. Potter and Malfoy, his mind supplied as he attempted to locate the source of the blood. Draco.
The wounds were deep; only one curse, his own, to the Potion Master's knowledge, could have caused such damage, a troubling fact that would require further investigation. Severus began the counter curse, waving his wand in concentric circles over the gashes while reciting the song-like incantation. The wizard breathed a sigh of relief as the wounds began to knit together and the flow of blood slowed. Severus repeated the spell three more times to ensure that each wound had closed. The boy was unconscious still, a fact that did not bode well, though it would make transport to the hospital wing much easier. Severus stole a glance at the shivering waif on the floor; the Potter girl had not stirred once since his arrival.
"Potter, you will wait here for my return," the wizard's silky baritone carried no room for argument; it carried a crackle of tension like the calm before a thunderstorm. Severus did not wait for an indication that he had been heard, Malfoy did not have the time.
888
A torrent of emotions and thoughts coursed through Harriet's head as Snape levitated Malfoy's body out of the destroyed lavatory. Had she even been able to process the concept of disobeying her professor's order she would have still remained; the livid snarl on the man's face an indicator of what lay ahead for her. Her inner voice continued to rage, 'How could you be so stupid?! How could you use a spell with no indication as to its effects? Snape was so right, you ARE arrogant and imbecilic, as though consequences do not exist for the likes of you? There will always be blood on your hands if you continue to act this way...'
"No…" Harriet's voice cracked with the force of it and echoed around the water and bloodsoaked room. The witch glanced down at her hands, blood had stained her palms and fingernails when she had attempted to stem the blood flow from a gash on Malfoy's chest, now they served as a bitter reminder for what she had done.
888
Severus returned to the lavatory to find that Potter had remained exactly where he had left her, though now she appeared more aware of her surroundings. Her emerald eyes, shimmered with unshed tears, were red rimmed behind broken glasses and focused on her bloodied hands.
"Potter," he said quietly as he made his way across the tiled floor. She slowly met his chipped flint gaze, flinching at the fury and suspicion within them. "Where did you learn such a spell? I was unaware that our resident 'hero' had such a penchant for dark magic…"
The witch was mute for a moment, anguish clearly written all over her face, an expression Lily had held many times while in Severus' presence. The wizard mentally shook the image out of his mind and grit his teeth; this was Potter's spawn he was dealing with, he had to remember that.
"Potter! Where. Did you learn. That. Spell?" he ground out, as his patience wore thin.
"I found it…" the girl whispered; after another agonizing moment she broke his gaze, "in a...a library book…".
Severus' eyes narrowed, "You're lying".
The girl flinched again at this, igniting a small spark of triumph within the wizard. Without warning, he cast a silent Legilimens and tore through the witches mind. She would be left with a migraine due to his lack of grace but Potter had tried his patience and left him with little choice. An image of his old worn out copy of Advanced Potion-Making swam to the surface; it was exactly what he had feared. Potter had somehow managed to get ahold of his textbook and memorized spells of his own creation.
A small voice echoed just out of earshot; Potter's idiotic inner dialogue no doubt, Severus thought with a smirk. As he was about to exit the girl's mind a portion of the words filtered through,
'There will always be blood on your hands if you continue to act this way...'
Severus retreated from Potter's mind as though burned. What on earth could that mean? The wizard schooled his features into a mask of cool indifference so as not to let on that either piece of information truly bothered him as personally as they had.
"Your bookbag. Is it in your possession?" Severus asked quietly. The girl nodded morosely, pointing to the door where it had fallen. The wizard wordlessly summoned his book and opened the front cover to confirm what he already knew.
"You will report to detention with me this Saturday at ten in the morning to discuss your punishment for this incident. Rest assured, attempted m-…...an attack of this nature will not be tolerated. Even by the 'Chosen One'".
The girl nodded and began to stand, clearly still in shock. Severus regarded her critically before sighing heavily and turning to leave.
"Go to your dormitory Potter. Try to remember that many have blood on their hands...Mister Malfoy will live. He is the least of your worries for the time being".
With that, the professor swept out of the lavatory, leaving the witch to pack up the rest of her belongings.
888
Harriet lamented the loss of her textbook even though it had surprised her with a terrible and violent dark side; she had lost a friend, the Half-Blood Prince.
Snape's parting words had given her pause, were they meant to be comforting? If so, did she even appreciate something like that coming from him?
Thanks for reading everyone! Please let me know what you think. I'm sure there is a lot that can be improved or changed. Though it is supposed to be a One Shot I might add one more chapter just to deal with the emotional fallout of this incident, let me know if you think I should!