September 5, 1994 ~
Garnet finally had Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Moody. She wasn't sure what to expect, but the Twins and Lee Jordan all claimed his first class was amazing.
She walked in and took her seat beside Adrian.
"So you got to go the World Cup?" He asked her, smiling. They hadn't gotten a chance to catch up yet.
"Yeah, the game was great. The after party was not." She shrugged.
He looked at her quizzically. "After Party?"
Garnet rolled her eyes, "The Death Eater attack?"
"Oh, oh right." He nodded. "You got out alright?"
"Yeah, just a scratch on my shoulder, but I'm fine." She pulled out her parchment and quill as Professor Moody made his way to the front.
Flint sat at the desk on the other side of Garnet. Garnet looked at him, she was guarded when it came to Marcus, with good reasoning. Nothing good ever came from being around Flint.
"So you are Sixth Year Slytherin." Moody started, "I'm sure most of you have at least heard of the Unforgivable Curses."
Garnet did not like where this was going. She zoned out and stared at her parchment. The Unforgivable Curses were well known in scary stories when she was younger. She had had nightmares for months after some of the stories.
"Miss Prince?" Moody called on her, and now everyone's eyes were on her. "Did you hear me?"
Garnet looked up at Moody, who was staring at her expectantly.
"I'm sorry sir, can you repeat the question?" she bit her lip.
"We've named the Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, can you tell me the name of the last curse?" He looked at her with his one eye, while the other one spun around.
Of course Garnet knew what the curses were. Most kids knew of them. They were what scary stories were made of.
"The Killing Curse, sir, the one that Harry Potter was struck with." she replied.
"Ah yes, Mr. Potter," he went began a longwinded speech about how Harry was the only know person to ever survive.
Garnet hated talk of death.
And then Moody brought out a jar of Spiders.
Garnet watched as he used the Imperius Curse and made one jump around, do tricks, almost drown itself, it made her sick to her stomach.
Then he used the Cruciatus Curse. You could practically feel the poor spider screaming in pain.
Then he did it, he uttered Avada Kedavra and the spider died.
Garnet let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.
"Now..." Moody looked at the class. "The Killing Curse and the Cruciatus Curse, there's not stopping them, but the Imperius Curse, you can learn to fight back if you're mentally strong enough." he said, "Can I have a volunteer?"
No one raised their hand.
"No volunteers?" Moody huffed.
Suddenly, Garnet heard something in the back of her mind. "Just do it, what's the worst that could happen? Get up and walk to the front of the class."
This startled Garnet, but she didn't argue, she got up and walked towards Professor Moody.
"Garnet?!" Adrian tried to grab her hand and stop her, but it was too late.
The rest of the class gasped.
"Get up on the table." Her mind told her.
"No...no no" she fought mentally with herself. But try hard as she could, she couldn't stop herself from stepping onto the chair and stepping up onto the table. Garnets stomach was churning. She didn't know what was going on.
"Now jump! You can fly!"
"I've lost my mind." she argued with herself. She fought against her own body. She could feel her muscles bunching to try to jump.
"No no no!" she told herself. "Don't be stupid!" she turned and looked at Adrian who had a look of horror on his face. Flint had a smug look on his face, enjoying the show. Moody, watched intently.
"Fly! You can do it!" she heard again.
"No! Knock it off!" she didn't realize she said it out loud.
"Excellent Miss Prince!" Moody clapped his hands, quite impressed. This startled Garnet, and she lost her balance and fell off the table to the floor. She tried to catch herself, but it did not work.
Adrian and Moody were beside her in a flash.
Garnet looked up at the ceiling, her muscles had relaxed, no longer trying to move against her will. However now she had a horrible pain shooting up her right leg. She groaned and rolled onto her side, flattening her skirt down.
"Miss Prince, are you alright?" Moody stood over her, looking a little afraid he had gone too far.
She shook her head "I landed wrong on my ankle." she said as she sat up.
"Ah, we will get that looked at," he said, then gave a look that Garnet could only hope was a smile, "But you managed to fight against the Imperius Curse."
If looks could kill, Moody would have been dead. Adrian helped Garnet up. She gasped in pain when she tried to put pressure on her foot.
"Mr. Pucey, please escort Miss Prince to Madame Pomfrey." Moody straightened himself up. "The rest of you, I think we can dismiss a few minutes early today."
Garnet and Adrian stopped at their desks to gather their things. Garnet sat and stuffed her things in her bag.
"Loved the show, Prince," Flint winked at her. "Now all of the Sixth Year Slytherin have seen your black knickers. My but won't your Weasel be jealous."
Garnet's face went beet red. Adrian stood between them, "Shut it, Flint." he growled.
He put his arm around Garnet's waist and helped her limp her way out of the room.
Even having been dismissed early, it felt like it took forever to get even halfway to the Hospital Wing. Harry, Ron and Hermione spotted them in the corridor.
"Oh my word, Garnet, what happened?" Hermione frowned.
Harry took her bag off her shoulder to help her out, "Here, lean on me too, we can move a little faster that way." he offered.
Garnet didn't refuse, she was beginning to get tired.
"I'm guessing George hasn't seen the state of you, has he?" Ron grimaced.
Adrian shook his head, "Haven't run into him yet, actually."
"Guys, can we walk and talk at the same time, I would like to get to the Hospital Wing sometime today, please." Garnet groaned.
She heard George before she saw him.
"Garnet!" he and Fred ran up behind the group slowly making their way to through the now crowded corridor. "What the bloody hell happened?" he asked Adrian.
"Moody and the Imperius Curse..." was all Adrian muttered.
"What?!" Fred and George said at the same time.
"He asked for a volunteer, but no one offered. Next thing I know Garnet stood and walked to the front of the class and got on a table." Adrian said. "She fought off the curse, but he startled her and she fell off the table."
Garnet felt very unsteady and accidentally put her right foot down, and immediately regretted it. She cried out in pain.
"Bloody hell," George gave his brother his bag and ran around in front of Adrian, Harry and Garnet, "I'll get her there."
"George, you don't have to." She protested, but he already swept her up off her feet and into his arms. "Georgie, put me down, I'm too heavy for this." Garnet whispered.
"Nonsense," he kissed her temple, "I've got you."
Students they passed in the hall were staring and whispering.
"Georgie," she hid her face in his neck.
"What's wrong, love? We're almost there." he said.
She shook her head.
George walked into the Infirmary and Madame Pomfrey rushed over to them.
"My dear girl, what happened?" she hovered as George sat Garnet on the closest bed.
"I fell...and landed funny on my ankle. It hurts to put pressure on it." Garnet said. "My shoe and sock feel so tight right now." She moved to take them off, but Pomfrey stopped her.
"They may be the only thing from keeping the swelling at bay, just wait a moment." Madame Pomfrey rushed to the back.
"Wonderful..." Garnet laid back on the bed. "First I'm subjected to the Imperius Curse, then I fall off the table, then everyone in class sees my knickers, now I have a twisted ankle."
"Whoa, what?" George sat down beside her on the bed.
Garnet's face turned bright red again. "Flint made a crude comment. Apparently when I fell my skirt flew up a bit and everyone saw."
George chuckled a bit. "I wouldn't worry about it, love." he smiled at her. "They'll forget soon enough."
"Still..." she sat up and wiped a tear from her cheek. "It was embarrassing."
George leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "So what color are they?" he waggled his eyebrows at her, earning him the laugh he was going for and a smack on the arm.
Garnet shook her head, then leaned in, "They're black."
George grinned wickedly.
Madame Pomfrey came back out with an ankle wrap. She looked at Garnet apologetically. "Normally I'd give you something for the pain, and then something to keep the swelling down, but two of the ingredients I use are completely out." She frowned, "I will have to speak with Professor Snape to get more." she pulled out her wand and showed Garnet the wrap. "I'm going to use the Glacius charm just enough to make your ankle cold to get your knee high and shoe off quickly and wrap it with this. The cold will keep it from swelling for those few minutes there's no pressure. The pain should be minimal while your ankle is cold, but I'll lend you some crutches to keep weight off your ankle."
"How long will I need to use those?" Garnet's face fell.
"As long as you're in pain. I'd recommend at least two weeks, then we can test your ankle after that." Madame Pomfrey explained. "Now... do you mind if Mr. Weasley assists me?"
George smirked but didn't make eye contact with Garnet.
"No... that's fine." Garnet blushed a little.
Madame Pomfrey nodded, "Mr. Weasley, if you would come to this side of the bed please."
George got up and walked around the bed, and Madame Pomfrey proceeded to tell him what exactly she needed from him.
"Are you ready, Miss Prince?" she looked to Garnet, who was already bracing herself against the cold she knew was coming.
Garnet nodded, laid back and closed her eyes tight.
"Glacius!" Pomfrey said. Garnet gasped as her leg, from her foot clear up to her knee felt like it was frozen solid. Pomfrey nodded to George, who gently placed his hands on Garnets knee and lifted it enough for Madame Pomfrey to work.
If there was any pain, Garnet didn't feel it, all of her attention was focused on George's hands on her. She could feel her cheeks getting warm when she felt her skirt slide up a tad.
"Alright, I'm going to wrap it, are you in any pain, Miss Prince?" Madame Pomfrey asked.
George looked down at her and smiled.
"No, just getting cold." Garnet couldn't look George in the eyes.
Madame Pomfrey nodded then wrapped her ankle as quickly as she could.
"Finite Incantatem!" She finally called, reversing the freezing spell on Garnet's leg.
Garnet shivered as the last chill left her body.
"Accio crutches!" Garnet looked up as a pair of crutches came to Madame Pomfrey. The woman saw the look on her face, but reasoned with her, "It could be worse, my dear."
Garnet nodded, and took the crutches. It took her a couple minutes to get use to them, but once she did, she was fine. She turned to George.
"Do we have any time left of lunch?" She hoped. She was getting rather hungry.
"Unfortunately, no, but I think you're going to Transfiguration, and I'm heading to Charms down the corridor, so I will walk you, and maybe I can sneak up something from the kitchen quick." George offered.
Madame Pomfrey looked Garnet over. "Whenever you can, set your ankle up, keep your weight off of it. You may take the wrap off at night before bed, as long as you keep it elevated while you sleep. Then back on in the morning. Come back here if you have any trouble with it." She instructed her.
"Yes Madame Pomfrey, thank you." Garnet moved to grab her sock and shoe, but George had already grabbed it from the bed.
"I got this, you pay attention to using those crutches." He smiled at her.
They made their way out of the Hospital Wing and towards the Great Hall. They reached the bottom of the stairs leading to the corridor with both their classes in it, and Garnet groaned.
"Take your time, love," George encouraged her.
Garnet brought the crutches up and pushed herself up. She did that about four more times before George stepped in.
"Alright, I give, hop on my back." he got down in front of her.
"Are you serious?" she looked around looking for others to see them.
"I am, do you want to get to class or not?" George chuckled.
Garnet caved. She held the crutches in front of George while he held on to her under her knees, keeping her from sliding off his back. He got them both up the steps in moments.
"There's got to be an easier way that doesn't have the potential to injure your back." Garnet smoothed her skirt after he set her down.
George shook his head, "Come on, let's get you to class."
Word had spread quickly about the Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
Word had spread even quicker about Garnet's injury.
Garnet was quite relieved that there had been no word spread about the color of her knickers.
