Chapter 9 : Enemies
"Focus Kaiser, the Dark Lord wouldn't be as forgiving as I am," Snape growled at her as they faced each other in the Room of Requirement and he forced his way into her mind. Her face glowed in a bright shade of pink as Snape manage to peek at some of her most private moments; the worst of them was the kiss she shared with Malfoy. He had given her an arrogant smirk, a contemptuous curl of his lip, and blood rushed into her face.
But that was enough; she had to stop being so weak, stop flaunting her emotions. She was so good at masking, at hiding, at suppressing, and now it was the time to use it. She focused on a wall, a white brick wall, high and solid, her mind was a wall. She convinced herself she did not care for anyone, she did not feel any emotion, she was the wall; blank and impenetrable. "Better." He said behind greeted teeth, still trying to pry into her head, but she was ready and she kept him out.
His mental attack ceased as suddenly as it started and she let out a tired sigh; this was exhausting. "Being a talented Occlumens is not just about clearing your mind from thoughts and emotions, since it's rather obvious you're hiding something," Snape lectured her, pacing around the room, "It's about only suppressing what you don't wish others to see and thus lead them to believe you are not using Occlumency at all."
"This is how you mislead the Dark Lord…" Alexa said in a mere whisper.
Snape pressed his lips together in satisfaction, "Indeed. Now let's return to practice duels. My work revealed itself to be not as fruitless as I assumed, judging by your last encounter."
"It was sheer luck." Alexa uttered, still unsure of how she survived it.
"Well," Snape curled his lips in an unpleasant way, "Look at Potter, sheer luck had gotten him through sixteen years."
Alexa let out a bark of laughter at Snape comment; there was rarely something as amusing as Snape's sarcastic, hostile daggers he threw at potter. Alexa was on guard; she knew she had a certain difficulty with attacking first, though she did act so in the moment of truth. Thoughts from that night had hunted her frequently; that corrupting sense of power she felt, the murderous satisfaction, scared her more than the Death Eaters. She knew, that deep down, she could turn out to be just like them, if not worst.
Snape used her hesitation, and waved his wand wordlessly, she barely managed to block it, whatever it was. Dueling Snape was like a game of chess, more than anything else; she had to plan every move and yet hide her plans from his prying mind, while taking fast decisions. She had never beaten him, but her success was measure by how long she had lasted against him.
Alexa learned from Snape, and adding her natural cunningness, became a dangerous person to battle. She rolled to the side to avoid his attack and aimed her wand to the ceiling, dropping the beautiful, craftily made Chandelier, upon his head. Snape narrowly managed to escape the attack, immediately firing a purple ray at her direction. Alexa's instincts became faster, her senses sharpened and her defense was pure reflex but it was not enough this time. His next hex caught her, hitting her right in the chest, and throwing her backwards; she choked, desperately trying to breath. It felt like her lungs had disappeared.
Snape walked to her slowly, letting her panic for a little while, before whipping his wand and removing his iron grip on her respiratory; she inhaled deeply with great relief. "You're an astute fighter, Kaiser, but it's not enough," he let his words linger in the air while she collected herself, getting to her feet. "You should learn more offensive charms. Unfortunately, I've taught you everything Dumbledore approves me to teach you. From now on, you will have to learn by yourself."
Alexa looked at him anxiously. "However, I can recommend you on a few books; the ones I started with. I'm sure you'll find your way from there." He added with a bitter smile.
"Thank you, Professor." Alexa said gratefully, as Snape pulled out a quill from nowhere, summoned a desk and began to write down a list of books for her to read. She glanced at it; of course Dumbledore would not approve of it, they were all about dark magic. "So this is the end of our lessons?" she asked sadly.
His expression was sour, and he looked away from her. "The lessons will continue in one condition; I want you to come prepared for every one of them. Surprise me with something new you've learned, challenge me." He demanded, looking as severe as ever.
"Yes, Professor." Alexa said with a grin she could not hide, excited.
"We are finished for today." Snape said emotionlessly, unable to stand the happiness that beamed from Alexa, or maybe, unable to keep his indifference.
She dragged herself through the empty corridors; Hogwarts was unnervingly quiet at this late hour. She had never been so tired in her life, and she fought her disobedient eyelids, that slowly began to shut. She had gone down the stairways of the fifth floor, encouraging herself that soon enough she would reach her soft, welcoming bed and collapse to a most needed sleep. No shower even.
Her senses were dull and her reactions painfully slow and when a hand reached to her from a hidden alcove, she was too late to respond. Her scream was muted and her wand was snatched from her left pocket, where she usually held it; two strong hands held her in place and she could do nothing about it. When her eyes got accustomed to the darkness she saw two figures, masked, and after seeing the corridor was clear they dragged her to a nearby classroom. The door was magically locked behind them; she began to panic.
"Not so dangerous without your wand, right Kaiser?" one of the man spoke, his voice was familiar but heavily distorted by the mask.
Alexa glared at him, pretending to be calm, though she was beyond terrified. How did they get inside the castle? She did not respond to the degrading comment and a large hand slapped her across the face, hard, throwing her from her feet into the floor. She growled in pain and returned to her feet, preparing for the next hit.
"Still feisty. Well, we have all night to break you down." The other man said, and Alexa shivered at the horrible thought. A right punch was approaching her fast and she somehow managed to block it, but the following left hook surprised her; the pain was blinding. This time she did not return to her feet so quickly, and while she tried to gather herself on the floor, the two men laughed cruelly before kicking her ribcage, again and again.
Blood trickled from her nose and her lip, entering her mouth and leaving a salty taste; like the taste of humiliation was not enough. "You can make it easier, Kaiser," one of them spoke, "If you beg."
"I'll choose the slow death." She barked, her aching body was now shaking from fury and frustration, more than from the pain.
"Fine." He said, seemingly happy about her resistance, "Hold her still," he commanded his partner, and a second later she was brought to her feet, locked in an iron grip. She knew where this was going. She knew she could not avoid it. How foolish was she when she decided to oppose the Dark Lord so bluntly? Did she really think a sixteen year old girl can pull off this stunt?
She mentally rebuked herself for breaking so easily, her parents would be ashamed of her, no doubt. She watched with torn eyes as the man in front of her got dangerously close to her, and his hand was tracing her jaw line, and slowly lowering down her neck and the sides of her body. Her robe was striped from her, leaving her in her white blouse, shaking at what was to come. At least I would not die a virgin, a morbid thought crossed her mind. The man had brought his body even closer to her, grinding against her, and trying to tear off her shirt. That was it.
She mustered every drop of power she had and kneeled him hard in his groins, then threw her head forcefully backwards, hitting the other man's chin and struggling her way out of his grip. She made a few steps towards the door when she heard one of them scream "Crucio!"
Pain beyond pain. She collapsed to the floor, shrinking into a little miserable ball, hugging her knees to her chest. She could not help but scream at the top of her lungs, but she ran out of air soon enough. She felt daggers stab every inch of her body, she felt her insides burn, she felt her brain melting. She was drooling, saliva mixed with blood, staining her clean white blouse, her teeth were clenched together so tightly she could have broken them. But she did not beg.
The pain ceased abruptly when three other voiced yelled, "Expelliarmus", "Stupefy," and "Impedanta" simultaneously. Alexa could not believe the pain ended, a faded echo still tortured her body, making her quiver. She heard a girly gasp and two gentle hands wrapped around her bringing her to sit.
"Do I even have to see you after I die?" Alexa joked in a miserable voice, earning an amused chuckle from Wesley and Potter. Granger, who held her, looked extremely serious.
Her vision was blurry but she saw Weasley kick one of the masked men, with great pleasure, and then used his foot to move away the mask. "Isn't that surprising." He said in bliss, "Crabbe and Goyle."
"Oh, the humiliation." Alexa muttered, closing her eyes tightly. "Could you please hand me back my wand, I'm trying to muster the remains of my shattered dignity."
Potter found it in one of Goyle's pockets, and threw it to her. "What did they do to you, Kaiser?" he sounded almost as severe as Snape did.
"Some spanking, attempt at rape, and the Grand Finale – a little taste of the Cruciatus pain." Alexa counted dryly.
"That explains the horrid scream we have heard." Granger said, with a shiver. "And it seems like more than just spanking, Alexa. Let's get you to the infirmary, and Harry and Ron will kindly escort Crabbe and Goyle to Dumbledore's office."
"No," Alexa stated. "I'm not going to the infirmary, you're not taking them to Dumbledore. If we go through the accepted channels, Malfoy's fortune will buy them out in no time." she remarked, and Potter nodded bitterly. "I am going to give them humiliation they would never forget, and nor any other student in Hogwarts, and you are more than welcomed to join me." She suggested in with an evil smirk.
"I'm in." Weasley said in a cheerful voice.
"Me too." Potter grinned.
Everybody was looking at Granger, waiting for her answer. After a long silence she gave in to peer pressure. "Oh, Fine!" she finally said in annoyance.
Alexa pointed her wand to her face and said, "Episkey," healing some of the bruises in her face. She could imagine how horrible she looked even afterwards.
"So what did you have in mind for those two?" Potter inquired with a curious smile.
"Please take the two gentlemen with us," Alexa instructed them, "And followed me.
They chatted as they wandered across the deserted corridors of Hogwarts, as if nothing too serious happened minutes ago; the idea of such incidents becoming casual saddened her. "So how exactly did you find me?" Alexa asked, eyebrow raised.
"We receive a weird letter in Breakfast, asking us to keep an eye on you. So we follow you using the Marauder's Ma-" Weasley was brutally elbowed by Potter, shutting him up.
Alexa smirked. "Was it a school owl that brought you the letter?"
They all nodded. "Clever." Alexa remarked, appreciating the well planned scheme.
"You do realize this is all Malfoy's doing, right?" Potter asked her in a serious tone, "Crabbe and Goyle could never plan an ambush on their own."
Alexa laughed at his blindness. "Potter, who do you think sent you this letter?"
He shrugged, "Who could possibly know about their plan?" she asked another question, directing him towards the answer, "And know that your heroism will surely lead you to aid me?"
"Malfoy." Granger said reluctantly. "But why?"
Before Alexa could answer Potter interfered, "He's a scum, he won't help anyone. It could be any Slytherin; Blaise is quite fond of you, I noticed."
"Well," Alexa said coldly, "We will agree to disagree on that one."
Alexa halted their progress, and looked around her with great satisfactory. Her revenge was going to be sweet.
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