It was the last Friday of September and Darcey found herself hibernating indoors as it seemed to rain nearly every single day.
Not that she minded the peculiar weather. Darcey found the low roaring of the thunder and rhythmic pattering of raindrops upon the windowpanes to be quite soothing.
Ironically, the dungeons were the only part of the castle where it was impossible to see or hear the weather, being it underground.
Right now Darcey had a free period and used it wisely. Free period was a time to keep up with the vast amount of homework that came with being a N.E.W.T student. The lessons had become increasingly more demanding and for the first time ever she was now struggling to remain caught up on her schoolwork.
She needed to obtain an Outstanding in Charms, Transfiguration and History of Magic in order to even be considered for an internship with the famous Wand Maker, Garrick Ollivander after she graduated Hogwarts.
Darcey found Charms and Transfiguration to come naturally to her, but had struggled to get her Exceeds Expectations in History of Magic last year. The class was horribly boring and most of the tests consisted of memorizing dates of past goblin wars, something she took zero interest upon.
Darcey now sat in the middle of her cot, lost in a sea of textbooks and parchment. Her area of the dorm was currently in a state of disarray looking as if a herd of centaurs had passed through the room.
Unlike most of her peers, Darcey's favorite place to study was inside her dormitory. It was the only place she could almost always be alone, and she valued her solitude, especially when her brain was working in overdrive. She performed best by herself.
Suddenly a distraction came in the form of Pansy Parkinson barging into the room.
"That's a load of old bollocks!" The wide nosed, amber eyed girl shrieked, plopping herself down violently upon her cot with Tracey and Daphne at her heel. They all gathered around the distressed Slytherin.
"It's completely unfair! That wicked old hag has always had it out for him!" Pansy cried, grabbing her pillow and burying her face in it. She let out an enraged snarl.
"It'll be okay, you can always come to Hogsmede with us." Daphne offered kindly, patting Pansy's back in a consoling but clearly awkward gesture. It seemed all Slytherins shared one key quality, none of them being the nurturing sort, explaining why most Slytherin's performed poorly in Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, though Tracey wanted to become a Herbologist. Still, she wasn't nurturing at all and tended to the plants in a cold, logical manner, completely detached.
"I'm not going to be third wheel, Merlin, Daphne could you be anymore thick?" Pansy sneered casting the pretty blonde a look of loathing for even insisting such a ridiculous proposal.
Darcey ignored the lot, not taking her eyes off her schoolwork. She nibbled on the quill between her lips, unable to take in the words she was reading. Her dorm mates were talking too loudly for her to concentrate.
"What did he get a detention for anyway?" Tracy spoke up curiously.
Pansy lifted her face from her pillow with a hard look on her features. Something seemed off about her, troubled.
"He hasn't completed a single class assignment all month." Pansy muttered, looking down at the pillow she was now hugging against her.
"I'm worried about him." She whispered, so quietly Darcey almost thought she'd imagined it.
"He's been acting strange lately. Always disappearing, running off, hardly speaking to me. I don't even know where we stand anymore. He's pushing me away and I don't know what I've done to upset him…" Pansy's jaw trembled as she held back her sobs, refusing to cry in front of her friends. Darcey felt her mouth gape at the uncharacteristic vulnerability radiating from the bully. She looked so broken and fragile, Darcey had never once seen Pansy appear so human.
Parkinson's eyes suddenly shifted to Darcey as they caught each other's gazes. "What are you staring at?" Pansy demanded moodily.
Darcey remained silent, watching as the girl abruptly rose and stormed across the dormitory and into an adjacent washroom, slamming the door forcefully behind her and causing a nearby portrait to fall off the wall. Daphne moved quickly to grab it.
The portrait was that of a naked woman with long, wavy hair covering her breasts standing in a lush garden paradise. A long snake coiled itself up and around her curvy figure, its chin resting near the nape of her neck. Darcey had always found the painting to be quite beautiful.
As Daphne carefully hung the painting back up, the woman in the painting clutched the apple tree behind her to keep from toppling over while cursing at the girls. Darcey caught something like, 'Disrespectful brats.' And ' No appreciation for the arts.'
"Oi! Shut it! I set you right didn't I? Could have left you down there!" Daphne shouted back.
"You think she's alright?" The blonde whispered a moment later, coming to sit closer with her friends and silently pointing to the bathroom door.
"My guess is she's sobbing." Darcey stated bluntly, not bothering to keep her voice down, not caring if Parkinson heard her or not.
"Shh! Don't be cruel." Daphne scolded. "She seemed really distraught. Should I go check on her?" Daphne wondered, turning her attention to Tracey now, upset with Darcey's lack of empathy.
"I would let her sort it out for herself. She might hex us." Tracey frowned.
"Who was she on about anyway?" Darcey couldn't help but wonder, having a hunch who but wanting to confirm it.
"Draco Malfoy of course, didn't you know they were courting?" Tracey replied, still keeping her tone hushed. She came to sit next to her sister now, eager to fill her in on the juicy gossip.
"No, hadn't noticed." Darcey replied coolly, feigning disinterest and looking back down at her textbook. A pang of jealousy tore through her suddenly and she had to hide the new possessive emotion from surfacing in her tone. The jealousy she felt unnerved her, she didn't understand it and therefore she didn't like it. 'Since when do I care whom Malfoy snogs?' Darcey wondered incredibly, shocked by what she was feeling and loathing it. 'I hardly know him.'
"Well it seems they may no longer be an item, seeing as Draco's giving her the cold shoulder and all. Maybe he's afraid to break things off with her and is resorting to avoidance." Tracey theorized, leaning in closer to her sister. "Perhaps he's found a new play thing." Tracey winked.
Darcey narrowed her eyes at her sibling, not sure what she was getting at but deciding already that she didn't like the knowing look she gave her.
After Darcey didn't respond, still giving her sister a dumb struck, confused look. Tracey elaborated. "He's a handsome lad. Any girl would be happy to hear he's single."
"You fancy him?" Darcey asked bewildered.
"Of course, don't you?" Tracey raised a slender brow.
"NO! WHY WOULD YOU ASSUME SOMETHING SO RIDICULOUS?" Darcey blurted out, masking her nervous unease with outrage.
"A lot of girls fancy him." Tracey replied coolly with a light shrug, unfazed by her sister's outburst as she glanced down at her fingernails, picking at her cuticles.
"So, you have eyes just for Teddy then, eh?" Tracey mused a moment later with a haughty smirk, bringing up her sisters childhood crush.
"No, I don't fancy him either!" Darcey grumbled, collecting her things and shoving them haphazardly into her satchel.
"Where are you going?" Tracey asked, surprised by her sisters sudden move to leave.
"To the library, to be alone." Darcey answered firmly, no longer in the mood to gossip with her sister, feeling irritated at herself, confused and frustrated with her emotions. For some odd reason hearing that Draco and Pansy were still an item really dampened the Slytherin's mood.
"I'm telling you Hermione, they're both Death Eaters." Harry insisted for the hundredth time. To his dismay, his two friends did not seem nearly as convinced.
The trio were gathered at a secluded table in the library, hunched over and talking in hushed tones. Hermione glanced up from her Charms essay, casting Harry a concerned look. She was beginning to worry about him. He was becoming obsessed with this ridiculous theory that Draco Malfoy and Darcey Davis were Death Eaters.
It had been three weeks since Harry told Hermione and Ron of his sister. Ron had been bewildered, trying to recall a mental image of whom this Davis witch was, but couldn't ever recall seeing her. Although Ron had said the name sounded familiar. Hermione on the other hand had known exactly who Darcey Davis was and this hadn't surprised Harry at all, seeing as she had a keen talent for observation. Picking up what others seemed to overlooked. Of course she'd recall his sister.
"I don't know, Harry." Hermione frowned over at him from across the table, her tone taking on a pleading quality.
"Maybe Malfoy, but even that is highly unlikely. He's far too young. As for Darcey, she doesn't strike me as evil. She loaned me a quill once in third year..." Hermione reasoned.
"So, she lends you a quill three years ago and that makes her trustworthy?" Harry asked haughtily.
"Not trustworthy exactly." Hermione defended. "Just, I don't think she's like them." Hermione softly explained, keeping her voice low despite the 'Muffliato' Harry had placed around their table. It came as habit for the trio to whisper, always discussing Voldemort.
"Trust me Hermione, she's just like them. You should have seen the way she acted-" Harry was cut short by the topic of their conversation entering the library, her eyes found her brother's gaze as she walked over towards them.
Davis stopped in front of their table, crossing her arms over her chest and glancing around the room nervously before locking her gaze back on Harry's. Her blue eyes looked softly down upon him as she offered a sheepish smile and an awkward, 'Hey."
Harry's eyes couldn't help but widen in surprise, he had no idea what she was doing there. Hadn't she made it quite clear she wanted nothing to do with him?
"Hey." Harry parroted back after a small moment, closing his half opened mouth and recollecting himself, knowing he probably looked like a gaping idiot.
Darcey chanced a look at Hermione and Ron, looking uncomfortable under their scrutiny. Although Hermione had an indifferent face and appeared friendly, Ron had his eyes narrowed suspiciously at the Slytherin, his mouth forming a hard, thin line and his muscles in his neck stiffened at the sight of her.
"Can I talk with you?" She inquired quietly, looking back at Harry, not liking the way the Weasley boy was glaring at her.
"Sure." Harry shrugged though still thoroughly confused with her presence. He tried to will himself to hate her but he couldn't, not when she was acting so mouse-like and timid. She was nothing now like the arrogant, spoilt witch he had met on the first night.
Darcey pulled over a nearby chair to their table, setting her satchel down against her leg. She fumbled with her fingers looking for the right words to say. The trio watched her intently.
"I wanted to apologize for the way I acted when-" Darcey stopped; side glancing at Granger and Weasley, unsure of whether or not they knew the twins secret. "When I last saw you." She chose her words carefully, turning back to meet her brothers piercing emerald eyes behind a pair of round spectacles.
"They know who you are." Said Harry, noticing her apprehension.
"Right." Darcey mumbled, feeling slightly foolish. Of course he would tell his friends, they were inseparable.
"Well I'm sorry. I acted like a prat. It's not true what I said. I mean-" Darcey paused, unsure of how she wanted to go about this. "I didn't mean it when I said I wanted nothing to do with you. You're my brother… I was just afraid, you know? And in shock I suppose. It was a lot to take in all at once." Darcey sighed, running her fingers through her hair and diverting her gaze to the windowpane, watching as an eerie mist pressed against the glass.
"I don't want to get involved in this war if I can help it, but that doesn't mean I want nothing to do with you. I'd like to get to know you, Harry. I want to know more about our family. I found this yearbook with photos of our parents. It really hit me then, who I am. Although I have an adoptive family, there's always room for more. I want to get to know this part of myself. I know we have years of catching up to do and it's awkward, but maybe we can take baby steps. That's what they'd want right? For us to be friends…" Darcey managed with a small, sincere smile, looking hopefully at her brother.
Harry glanced over at his friends and Darcey followed his gaze hesitantly. Granger's eyes were a bit watery and she was smiling warmly at Harry. Ron looked much less affected, but still not as cold as before. He looked uneasy, not sure what to make of the situation.
"Thanks for the apology, it means a lot..." Harry paused, casting his twin a pained expression.
"I just think it might be too late. Maybe we're too different…" Harry explained slowly, as if that would help ease the blow.
'So he's rejecting me?' Darcey realized suddenly with a pang of anger lurching in her chest. She really hadn't anticipated this sort of reaction from Harry. Weren't Gryffindor's supposed to be nice and all for forgiveness and seeing the good in people?
"We're too different…?" Darcey parroted back flatly, still taking in the meaning of his words.
"I understand that you have a family and you don't want to get involved in the war, but I'm the Chosen One. I have to focus on defeating Lord Voldemort and I have a family also, my friends are my family." Said Harry, casting Ron and Hermione with a meaningful look.
"They're risking their lives for me every second they are with me and although I hate knowing that I'm putting them in danger, they've made the choice to stand by me." Harry stated proudly, not with arrogant pride, but with pure, loving admiration.
"After this is over with, we can try to get to know each other. I'll tell you everything I know about our mum and dad. I would love that, but for now… I think it's best if we continue on with our lives, do what we each have to do in order to get through this."
"Right." Darcey deadpanned, feeling an emptiness settling over her. Putting her cold mask in place, she closed off her heart. "See you around, Potter." She replied icily, abruptly standing from her seat and violently snatching up her satchel. She fled from the library, not sure of where she was headed to next. The emotions flooded her now that she was out of her brother's sight and alone. She felt the tears stinging at her eyes, begging for release. She locked her jaw in place, focusing straight ahead of her with blurry vision. 'Don't cry, don't cry, don't you dare cry.' She mentally scolded as the tears began sliding down her cheeks against her will. She quickly darted into the nearest bathroom, knowing she couldn't risk anyone seeing her like this. She'd be mortified. Slytherin's don't cry, at least not in public.
She threw her bag on the grimy, tiled floor, falling to the ground next to it. She leaned her head against the sink. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breathe in order to steady herself. She allowed the last of the tears to fall before swatting them away. She didn't sob, just allowed herself the release and that was enough, she began to feel better just letting herself cry.
"He-he what have we got here? A slimy snake sobbing on the floor like some creature of filth." A mocking female voice cooed, and for and moment she thought it might be Parkinson, but instead peered up at a gray, misty phantom hovering above her. 'Of course I would pick this bathroom.' Darcey mentally groaned.
"What's it like being dead, Myrtle? Specifically, dying in a pool of your own piss." Darcey sneered, in no mood to be tested.
The ghost of Moaning Myrtle glared down upon her before rushing forward and soaring straight through the Slytherin girl's body, causing an unpleasant jolt in Darcey's stomach similar to being knocked off a broomstick.
"You Slytherin's are foul, rotten rodents! You belong in the sewers with the rats!" Myrtle wailed, floating back to her place above the toilet stall she haunted.
"Sod off!" Darcey growled angrily, drawing her wand.
"Plan on hexing a ghost, Davis?" A familiar male voice chided, stepping out from the farthest toilet stall. Darcey was met with a head of sleek white-blond hair and piercing gray eyes. "I'd pay a few galleons to see how you'd manage that." Draco taunted, amusement tugging at his tone as his pale, chapped lips morphed into an arrogant smirk.
"Malfoy? What are you doing in here?" Darcey demanded, rising to her feet to greet the possible pervert hiding out in the girl's lavatory.
"Waiting for an unsuspecting girl to swing by, seems you will do." Draco's face darkened, the smirk slipping from his lips and all amusement vanishing from his stormy, gray eyes. Before Darcey could react his wand was pointed directly at her chest.
"Imperio" Draco hissed.
A pleasant, tingling sensation like that of a thousand goose bumps, settled over Darcey. She felt hot and flushed, but good. It felt really, really good, like a soft caress snaking its way over her skin. Her mind turned to mush, as all her worries and fears vanished. Nothing troubled her anymore. She felt suddenly calm and content.
Darcey stared blankly at the handsome boy in front of her. Her eyes glassy, as if she were intoxicated, and she was. The beautiful, wintry, gray of Draco's irises intoxicated her as he moved closer, eyeing her for a change in behavior, some small indication that the Unforgivable spell had been successfully cast.
Darcey smiled softly up at him. He stood a few inches above her. Lacking hesitation she extended her hand, brushing lightly against Draco's cheek, still grinning. "Soft... smooth..." She mumbled breathlessly. "You have such nice skin, Draco. Did you ever notice?" Darcey wondered, lips parted in fascination as she absorbed the attractive being in front of her.
Malfoy eyed her as if she had gone mad, but a satisfied smirk surfaced on his lips, pleased that the spell was indeed successful. He was worried it might not work properly on her. Snape had said that it was possible to resist the effects of the spell. Darcey seemed like a girl capable of resisting him.
"Darcey, I need you to do for me a favor." Draco began smoothly, laying his hand over the small, feminine hand still clutching his cheek and gently bringing it back down to the girl's side, where it hung loosely.
"Anything, Draco." The girl submitted breathlessly, her eyes peering up at him with eagerness, fully ready to do his bidding.
Something twitched in Draco's abdomen at the lusty quality of her words, although not intending to sound that way, Darcey's tone was so soft and airy that it came out sounding like a plea, begging him to do whatever he wanted with her. It churned something within Draco that he had to push aside, focusing on the mission instead of the effect Darcey's words had upon him.
"I want you to take this package, do not open it." Draco instructed, pulling out a brown paper parcel from his bag and placing it in her outstretched, eager hands.
"Go to Hogsmede with your friends, act normally. Go to the Three Broomsticks and order a drink. Go to the loo and wait, wait for however long it takes for another student to come into the bathroom. Make sure the girl is alone. Use the Imperius curse on the girl and order her to give this package to Professor Dumbledore. The girl cannot be a Slytherin and cannot be Granger or Weasley. Do this for me. Come find me when you've done this. I'll meet you here in this bathroom after my detention. If I'm not here, wait for me to come to you." Draco instructed clearly, taking care to be precise.
Darcey nodded her head up and down obediently, her large, sapphire orbs misty and clouded.
"Good girl." Draco whispered, stroking her cheek gently, she leaned into his touch letting a contented sigh escape her lips. "Anything for you, Draco." Darcey breathed, finding the boy dreamy.
The wind whipped violently, lashing out at the students as they descended the cobblestone path from Hogwarts to the tiny village of Hogsmede. Darcey pulled the gray knitted beanie she was wearing down over her ears and shoved her freezing cold hands into the pockets of her navy, wool pea coat. Blaise Zabini wrapped his arm around his date, Daphne Greengrass, pulling her closer to him for warmth. Tracy hid her face in her Slytherin house scarf, protecting her raw, chapped cheeks from the blistering wind. The four Slytherin's darted into the first cottage they came by, a small rustic tavern with a swaying wooden sign out front that read 'The Three Broomsticks.'
Darcey was the last one to enter, politely holding the door open for her friends while eyeing a rickety, wooden cart beside the door, pushed by a hunchbacked, old hag with waist length, frizzy, gray hair and an unsightly, green boil on her nose. "Amulet my pretty? Protection from creatures of the night." The raspy-voiced woman stepped closer, clutching Darcey by her boney shoulder and leading her away from the door and over towards the booth. Darcey looked blankly upon the leather necklaces with a raw, maroon gemstone the color of blood. The necklaces held a mysterious quality about them that Darcey found intriguing.
"I'd love one." Said Darcey finally, beaming at the hag and rummaging in her pea coat for a small sack of gold coins. Darcey offered the entire bag to the hag who eyed it greedily, exposing a crooked, rotten smile. "Wise choice indeed, you're a pretty, young lass and we must protect that smooth neck of yours from werewolves. Wouldn't want one to take a bite out of you!" The hag cackled, laughing wickedly but Darcey didn't seem the slightest bit affected, still smiling sweetly and waiting patiently for the hag to return her sack coins.
The hag plucked two galleons before handing the money back to student. "Thank you very much." Darcey beamed, slipping the amulet over her head and stuffing it beneath her many layers of shirts, the garnet gemstone cool against her skin.
Darcey decided that she was thirsty and headed into the tavern for a drink with her schoolmates. When she crossed over the threshold she was bombarded with a blast of hot air, radiating off the three fireplaces lit within the room. She found an empty chair at the bar, slipping in next to Tracey and a blonde Hufflepuff boy named Zacharias Smith who cast her a funny glance as she sat next to him.
"Hello." Darcey greeted the boy with a friendly smile. "Horrid weather we're having today. It's awfully foul." Darcey stated in a light, conversational tone, before catching the barmaid's attention and ordering a butterbeer.
"Yeah, the wind's killer today." The boy agreed, his tone warm but his eyes still narrowed slightly on the Slytherin in suspicion. Darcey wondered if this were the first time he ever had a girl from her house speak to him without flinging insults or hexes. Darcey decided then that her behavior was indeed a bit odd, and she had the overwhelming urge to appear ordinary today, so she decided not to talk anymore. Silently sipping her butterbeer, she peered around the tavern, taking interest in random people and objects, not questioning as to why she was in such a pleasant mood. She just rolled with it.
She was staring a the Hippogriff head hung above the fireplace to her right when she realized she had to use the bathroom and quietly slipped away from her friends unnoticed as they were gripped by whatever conversation they were having. Darcey hadn't been paying attention to what they were saying, zoning off into her own world.
After using the loo she moved to the sink and washed her hands, glancing up at her reflection, she took in how dull and faded her blue eyes look. They reminded her of the pale, misty eyes of the blind beggar she saw in London over the summer. Her own eyes held the same clouded quality.
Suddenly the wooden door to the bathroom swung open and Darcey's eyes locked in the mirror with a pair of brown ones. The girl, who Darcey faintly recognized as Gryffindor chaser and seventh year Katie Bell, darted into the first toilet stall to relieve herself.
Darcey moved to the corner of the lavitory, her hand silently drawing her wand from her pocket as she waited patiently for a few moments, staring at the closed stall door.
After what felt like a very slow minute, Katie Bell emerged with the flush of the toilet echoing through the small chamber. Her almond, brown eyes widened in surprise at the wand pointed directly at her chest and before the Gryffindor could reach for her own wand the words were already slipping from the Slytherin's lips. "Imperio." Darcey hissed.
Katie Bell's honey brown eyes now appeared murky, like the dark water of the Great Lake. The hand reaching for her coat pocket dangled limply at her side, having abandoned its previous mission.
"I need you to do me a favor, Katie." Darcey smiled wickedly, stepping forward and out from the shadows. "I need you to take this parcel directly to Albus Dumbledore. Do not do anything else. Head straight back to the castle and find the Headmaster." Darcey instructed, only half aware she was cursing the girl. The whole encounter felt surreal as if she had stepped outside of her body and was watching the entire show with indifference, not recognizing that it were herself whom she was watching.
"Go, now." Darcey commanded firmly, shoving the paper package into the girl's outstretched hands. The brunette nodded eagerly before leaving the chamber. Darcey decided she'd had enough of Hogsmede for one day and moved to head back up to the castles, having an overwhelming desire to seek out Draco Malfoy. She didn't question it, as she succumbed to her instincts, letting the warm, euphoric sensation coursing through her body guide her to the young Death Eater.
As she ascended the cobblestone pathway, a piercing scream jolted Darcey, causing her to sprint around the bend towards the source of the cry.
Katie Bell was hovering in the air, limbs outstretched and her long, dark hair whipping around her. Her ebony eyes were huge and her mouths hung open as she screamed bloody murder. The sight was supernatural.
Darcey fought against the pleasant sensation urging her to calm down, to relax, but as she stared up at the possessed girl she was broken from her spell, forcing the pleasant sensation aside and no longer succumbing to the pleasure.
Everything hit her at once, as if she were submerged in freezing cold water. The wind whipped at her, she was now aware of the brutal weather around her, the sleet piercing through the air and stinging against her skin. She was awakened, recalling her last memory of her encounter with Malfoy in the bathroom and then of her reflection in the tavern lavatory mirror. Her eyes, glassy and clouded like the crystal balls used in her Divination's class. Darcey was aware of being placed under the Imperius curse, but the memory was still foggy. She remembered those pale, blue eyes staring back at her in the mirror, and then cursing Katie Bell and giving her something, but she had no idea what. 'What was I giving her and who was she to give it to?' Darcey desperately tried to recall.
She was stirred from her revelation by another eerie shriek resounding from the cursed girl as she fell limp to the snowy earth. Darcey came a bit closer and to her horror recognized three of the four students huddled around the unconscious figure. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, the golden trio.
Before Darcey could run away, back towards the direction from which she came, Harry's green eyes locked on her wide, clear, blue ones. She approached them, peering over Hermione's shoulder and catching a glimpse of the ghostly pale and possibly dead student lying in the snow.
"We need to get help!" Harry shouted at the group, pulling his gaze away from his shocked sister's.
Darcey did not move, her feet feeling as if they were suddenly made of lead. She stared blankly with wide, fearful eyes at Katie Bell before her eyes wondered over to the brown, paper parcel ripped open and lying a few feet away. A triangular, aquamarine topaz necklace glimmered in the snow and Darcey found herself moving towards it, drawn to the dark magic radiating from it. She could hear the piece of jewelry whispering to her, hissing like a serpent.
A pair of huge, glove-like hands gripped onto her shoulders, guiding her away from the dark artifact. "Don't yer touch it!" Hagrid the half giant bellowed. "All of yer stay away from it!" Hagrid commanded, moving from Harry and Darcey, both hovered over the haunted necklace and picking up the unmoving Katie Bell, who looked tiny in his humongous arms.
Darcey followed Hagrid, the trio, and a Hufflepuff girl who said she was Katie's friend back up to the castle, darting in the opposite direction from them once they had all entered the Great Hall and sneaking off towards the dungeons.
Darcey hid herself in her dormitory, wrapped up in a cocoon of blankets and willing the warmth to re-enter her freezing, numb extremities.
She gripped tightly to her holly wand, not moving her gaze from the door, fully ready to curse the blonde Death Eater if he somehow managed to enter.
She was shaking and shivering. Her cheeks were flushed and chapped from the relentless, arctic wind. She felt empty apart from an overwhelming sense of terror. "What have I done?" Darcey whispered to herself in sheer horror. The memory of the possessed Gryffindor replaying over and over in her head, she was sure the image would haunt her forever.