Chapter 10: The Fall

'Your training,' Snape began, stood at the front of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, 'is supposed to be very near completion. And yet, your education in the art of magical combat and defence has been… sporadic, at best. Erratic and often incompetent teachers have left you under-qualified for witches and wizards of your level. Now, books away. Wands out. And stand up.'

Snape gave a casual flick of the wand as the seventh-year NEWT students got to their feet, and the desks they were sat at whipped away to line up along the far wall, clearing a large space at the centre..

'Last lesson we went over the theory that you have covered, and though your attainment level is, for the most part, insufficient for seventh-years, there is a solid groundwork I can build upon. Today we are going to address your practical education and training. I need to see how much you know, how able you are, so I can address your inadequacies.' Everyone noted, silently, that Snape made no allowances for the possibility that there were no such inadequacies. But the Slytherins assembled were not foolish enough to say anything of the sort out loud, not when Snape was, by now, pacing in front of them like a jungle cat with his hands clasped behind his back. 'The best way to judge is to view you under tension. Thus I shall test you each against one another, and we shall... assess where to go from here.' Snape turned crisply to face them. 'The best of you first, then. Cole, Grey, up front.'

Tanith and Tobias exchanged glances, then stepped up. 'Sir?'

'Grey, your technical grasp of defensive and offensive magic alike is probably unparallelled amongst the students in Hogwarts, but Cole has you beaten on flexibility, instinct, reflexes, and raw power. A duel, standard wizarding regulations, and I wish to see a variety of spells used. Stretch your abilities to the limit so I may see what you are capable of.'

Another exchange of glances, and a moment of hesitation before Tobias straightened. 'Right, then. We have the space? Ten paces?'

The two moved to the centre, judged that they had enough distance, then faced each other. Tobias' salute was firm and crisp, but Tanith's was sharp; it was obvious she had little patience for the niceties of the test.

The ten paces were barely up - and some of the sharper-eyed students watching judged that they weren't at all - before Tanith whipped around, the waving of her wand curt and with the minimal motion necessary. 'Expelliarmus!'

Tobias only just turned in time to react, wand coming up in a more frantic and desperate gesture to block. 'Protego!' Though his wave had been sloppy, Tanith's spell had been born more of speed than strength, and so was deflected harmlessly. But almost as soon as he finished the protection spell his wand came down again, his voice clear and crisp. 'Torpeo!'

Tanith didn't bother with a protection spell. She hurled herself to one side, hitting the floor and rolling with the impact to come up on one knee. 'Stupefy!' This was deflected by Tobias more casually than her first had been, and the other students drew back as they realised the chance of collateral damage, with Tanith's dodging rather than protection, had just gone up.

Tobias didn't move at this point, wand raised defensively, eyes fixed on her as she rose to her feet. There were several long seconds of silence, neither of them moving, before Tanith's wand moved almost imperceptibly. 'Petrificus Totallus!'

Again, Tobias' wand came up with a protection spell to deflect it, and then seconds after Tanith threw another hex at him, this one equally artfully knocked aside. This continued for a few more spells, Tanith running through a variety of hexes in an effort to break through his shield, from the precise, piercing ones to the heavy-hitters, and each one was blocked with graceful ease.

There was another 'Stupefy!' then Tanith's eyes settled on the chair on the table behind Tobias. As the spell was deflected, she shifted her aim and snapped, 'Proeliatis!'

The flicker of Tobias' expression made it clear he knew exactly what she'd done without needing to look as the chair behind him unfolded. Arms and legs became literal arms and legs, the furniture turning humanoid at her transfiguration. Then it crouched down, ready to leap at the back of Tobias' head in a vicious tackle.

Although he had to know this, he didn't, as expected, react to it. Instead, his wand came back up, in an offensive stance this time, levelled at Tanith. 'Locomotor Mortis!' The leg-locker curse hit her the same time the chair gave out an inhuman squawk and lunged at him. Both of them went down, Tanith with a stiff thump to the floor, Tobias besieged by angry furniture.

Their reactions were also simultaneous, both struggling with unresponsive limbs or ones flailing in the face, before an 'Ennervate!' and an 'Aboleo!' The first lifted the hex on Tanith's legs, the second splintered the chair into dozens of pieces, moving no more.

Tanith was the first to her feet, bedraggled and angry by now, but Tobias stayed on the ground and reacted quicker than she did. 'Silencio!'

This time he had been fast enough, the magical energy punching through the half-hearted shield spell she'd barely managed to cast, and Tanith staggered back as it zeroed in on her throat.

There was a pause as the observing Slytherins unknowingly held their collective breath, even Tobias waiting to see if his spell had worked. Then Tanith pointed her wand at her throat, opened her mouth, and no sound came out at all.

The sigh of released tension was huge, and Tobias looked exhausted as he turned back to Professor Snape. 'Silenced and unable to remove it. That would be a win for me,' he said, his voice tired but with a broad grin on his face.

Snape nodded, and was about to speak when Tanith acted. For several long seconds she had been standing with her eyes half-closed, lips moving wordlessly, and then all of a sudden she stepped forward, wand outstretched, and a burst of energy erupted from the end of her wand.

This spell did hit Tobias, knocking him from his feet and to the floor, where he didn't move. Silence fell again as Tanith pointed her wand back at her throat, face screwed up with concentration, before eventually a small flash of light burst out the end.

Then she turned to Tobias and gave a short, but very audible and victorious laugh. 'How's that for a win, Grey? Stunned and...' She ambled over, footing light, voice whimsical, to pluck his wand from his hand. 'Disarmed.'

Snape, whose expression was unreadable, waved his wand lazily at Tobias. 'Ennervate.'

With a jerk, Tobias sat up. 'You cheated! You were Silenced and unable to remove it, and didn't take action in the duel for at least six seconds under such impediment - that designated you a non-combatant and thus made me the victor.' His normally perfect hair was rumpled as he staggered to his feet, ungraciously snatching back his wand as Tanith offered it back to him.

'So my first attempt at casting without vocals failed. The second one succeeded, and incapacitated you. And I had my voice back before the Stunning spell wore off. I could have cast Incarerous on you easily!'

'I could have done it to you while you were Silenced! I just didn't want to outright humiliate you when you were at my mercy!' Tobias rolled his eyes. 'Chivalry towards you. There's a mistake I should have remembered not to make again...'

'Enough!' Snape sounded more irritated than angered as he threw his hands into the air. 'You are both hitting very much on the crux of the matter: At what point is a fight over? I did instruct you to abide by the rules of a duel, and so from that perspective, strictly speaking, Grey was the victor.' But he continued before Tobias' smirk fully manifested. 'However, I am not teaching you how to fight a duel. I am preparing you for a possible war, I am preparing you for a dangerous world. And in those circumstances, enemies will not "play by the rules," something you should all bear in mind. Regardless.' He folded his arms across his chest. 'This was the sort of display I wanted. Five points to Slytherin, Mister Grey, for a duel well won.' Tanith rolled her eyes, though stopped when Snape's gaze turned to her, as implacable and unreadable as ever. 'And... yes. Five points also for Miss Cole, for the first non-verbal casting under stress I have seen from a student since taking this post. Continue to practice, and I am sure you may be able to do so swifter.'

Then his expression did harden, and Tanith abandoned any resemblance of looking pleased with herself as he glared. 'Your determination will serve you well in the field, perhaps indeed as an Auror, Cole, but do not disregard the rules and limitations I place upon the practicing of magic in this classroom. I do not make such decisions without reason, and I will not have my authority disregarded.'

This time, Tanith did look cowed. 'Yes, sir. Sorry, sir,' she mumbled as she and Tobias shuffled back to the crowd.

'More, then. Bletchley, Drake, to the front. Standard duelling rules, I want a clean display. Knowing how to win when limitations have been placed upon you can be as important as victory in an unregulated environment,' Snape commanded, and the two Slytherins began.

Over the noise of shouted incantation and fizzing magical energy, only the students at the back could hear the hissing argument now reigning between Tobias and Tanith. Gabriel was trapped between them, rubbing his temples.

'...can't believe you actually cheated...'

'...still beat you, didn't I?'

'That's not the point! It's a class exercise, everyone saw you, what did you gain?'

'The satisfaction of Stunning you when your back was turned?'

'Will you both shut up?' Doyle hissed as an interruption, still rubbing his brow. 'All I can hear is this high-pitched "eeeee" noise whenever Tanith's talking, and with Tobias it's just this dull buzzing and I've got one bitch of a headache!'

The two exchanged glances, before Tanith grabbed Gabriel by the shoulders, and forcibly swapped places with him. 'And you think you're so high-and-mighty, not finishing me off when I'm down?' she continued, hardly missing a beat.

'I did say it was meant to be a touch of courtesy, courtesy I suppose you don't really deserve - and have shown to not appreciate before.'

'And what's that supposed to mean?'

'...I've really got a headache.'

'It means that every time I'm nice to you, I get my head bitten off!'

'Like when?'

'Oh, about two years ago, that little thing called a Yule -'

'I think I'm going to be sick,' Gabriel interrupted. He wasn't - but he had been swaying, and the moment the announcement was made, he dropped like a stone. His shoulder bounced off Tanith's knee and his head landed Tobias' foot before he hit the ground, where he lay very, very still.

Everyone's immediate reaction was to do nothing but turn and stare at the fallen student, confused into inactivity. Except for Snape, who swept down through the ranks of the students and, with a whip of his wand, levitated Gabriel's prone body off the floor.

'Everyone back!' he snapped, jerking the masses into activity as they finally drew away and stared in horror at their fallen classmate. 'Does anyone know what's wrong with him?'

'He, uh… he…' Tobias just stammered as his gaze remained fixed on Gabriel, unable to get a sentence out until Tanith stepped in.

'He was complaining of a headache. But he's been complaining of one for weeks now, sir…'

'Weeks.' Snape looked unimpressed. 'And he hasn't been to Madam Pomfrey's?'

'He said he'd be fine, sir…' Tanith explained weakly.

'Yes, he certainly looks it,' the head of their House retorted. 'I can see your care for your classmate is excellent. Will somebody get him to the Hospital Wing? I still have a lesson to run.'

Nobody was surprised when Cal stepped forwards. 'I'll take him, sir,' he offered, waving a wand at Gabriel and muttering 'Mobilicorpus' under his breath, establishing his own magical hold without waiting for Snape's permission.

'Uh… I should go with…'

Snape cut Tobias off. 'I am sure Mister Brynmor is quite capable of transporting a student a few floors up, Mister Grey, and I would be loath for even more students to miss this lesson. Just make sure you come back promptly, Mister Brynmor.'

'Right you are, sir,' Cal replied, backing off towards the door, tugging the still-twitching shape of Gabriel behind him, and not sounding as if he had the slightest inclination to do as he'd just agreed.

Darkness ache. Nothing.

Then -

- firelight in her hair, across her face, every flaw and imperfection laid bare but he didn't care, couldn't care, and if he just leaned in -

Less a flash of vision, more a flash of an impression, swirling in his gut as much as before his eyes, all feeling and instinct that didn't feel his own. But just as he tried to focus on it, it danced away from his grasp. And changed.

- cold, alone, left - again, again, always left, so don't try, rebuild the walls, perfect the masks, let him go and see to yourself…

Then there was light, and Gabriel sat bolt upright to find himself in a bed in the well-illuminated Hospital Wing, a cold sweat across his forehead that did not match the warmth of the room.

Cal sat at the foot of the bed, wide-eyed. 'Gabe! How're you feeling?' He wrung his hands together as he watched him, poised like a hawk ready to take flight at the slightest provocation.

'…like I really need a drink. What happened?' Gabriel wiped his brow and blinked mugginess from his head as Cal moved to pour him water from the jug by the bed. 'All I remember is Tobias and Tanith bitching at each other, then it all went black.'

'They have that effect sometimes,' Cal said with forced cheer. 'And… yeah. You just keeled over in class. Brought you up here. You've been out about an hour… started muttering for last fifteen minutes.'

Gabriel frowned, the flashes murkier now he was awake, like trying to focus on dreams in the morning. 'Anything interesting?'

'Couldn't hear you. Sounded like one hell of a bad dream.' He tilted his head. 'Apart from thirsty, uh… how are you feeling? Still got that headache?'

There was a pause as Gabriel realised there was no headache that had been plaguing him for weeks. It was as if the collapse had release the pressure behind his eyes, and with the water down him he was beginning to feel like himself. 'Actually okay,' he admitted. 'A little groggy. What did Madam Pomfrey say was wrong with me?'

'I don't think even she knew. She said something about a build up of magical energies surrounding you. It can come from too much magic pouring through you, like if you've been casting too much for too long a period. She did say you needed to stop practicing charms after class, though, and work a bit more on theory instead if you were so desperate in your homework.'

'Must be it.' Gabriel forced a chuckle. 'I don't have to stay here, do I? Not long, anyway? It's Transfigurations this afternoon…'

'And you're oh-so-eager for that. She wants you to stick around until the end of the day, maybe overnight. It'll be fine, I'll tell McGonagall. The others should be up to see you at lunchtime, anyway.'

'Lunchtime? You skipped Defence?'

'What was I supposed to do, leave you? I can handle Snape. He's been happier with Tobias as his chew-toy lately anyway.' He patted Gabriel on the leg, smirking a too-broad smirk. 'Besides, you know me. Any chance to get out of lessons. You keeling over and frothing and all was just a handy excuse for me to wriggle out of the boredom. Though I'm not sure I blame you for passing out, what with those two in either ear…'

Gabriel snorted. 'You'd think they'd be over it by now. How come you didn't kill yourself, stuck with them on holiday?'

'It wasn't so bad. Tobias was more distracted by griping over O'Neal getting the Head Boy job, and Tanith had just had a row with her Dad so was preoccupied with that, and besides, the trip got cut short anyway…' Cal's voice trailed off.

'Oh, yes, the infamous camping trip where nobody tells me jack about what happened,' Gabriel replied bitterly. 'You know I'd have come along if I'd not had the family holiday. Seems like I missed out on some sort of excitement.'

Cal frowned at the floor. 'It wasn't very much at all.'

'It coincided with that damn incident of Death Eaters running around Derbyshire and the werewolves in the Peak District going absolutely mad. If it had all "passed you by" I'd have never heard the end of it about just how lucky you three were. Do we just not talk about things any more?'

'Did we ever?' Cal glanced back up, and sighed. 'We got split up, there was a Displacement Field and I tried to Apparate out before I realised it was up. Tobias and Tanith… well… they ran right into one of the Death Eaters who was behind the whole ritual that got the werewolves angry in the first place. Only got away with sheer luck and some Auror or someone coming to the rescue.'

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. 'Wow. I feel considerably out of the loop. Do you know who the Death Eater was?'

Cal grimaced, not meeting his friend's eye. 'Yeah. Not that they told me. Turned out that they ran into one Thanatos Brynmor.'

Gabriel let out a low whistle. 'Huh. That… that sucks. Not to mention being one hell of a coincidence.' He tilted his head. 'So what happened to you, then?'

'Me? Oh, I… I got Displaced fairly near the edge of the field, and almost on top of the Auror camp that was set up there. Told them where we'd been camping so they could send someone in to find them.' Cal gave a very firm shrug. 'That's all.'

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. 'You're an awful liar, Caldwyn.'

'Am I? Then it's just as well Madam Pomfrey's heading this way with a Sleeping Draught that's got your name of it, isn't it, and maybe you're right, maybe I should head back to Defence…'

Unfortunately for both of them, though, they were both right, and as Gabriel drifted off to sleep after not protesting the draught and Cal headed back off to class, he let his thoughts wander. To the flashes of before, trying to capture their feeling again, and to the wilds of Derbyshire, and somehow it felt that pieces to both puzzles lay in the same place.