Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
This one is a sequel to/continuation of chapter 22: Pain.
Chapter 31: Catch
Theodore Nott stifled a yawn as he stalked down a corridor. Given the trouble they had been having with "Dumbledore's Army" Amycus Carrow had commissioned some of the Slytherins to patrol the corridors at night. It wasn't the kind of request you could refuse.
As Theo passed a dungeon where he knew students who had gotten detentions were sometimes chained up, he heard a small noise. It could have just been whatever unfortunate student happened to be imprisoned there, but Theodore figured if he were to do this "patrol" thing properly he ought to check.
He entered the dark room and held his wand aloft, muttering "Lumos. Neville Longbottom froze as the light hit him. Beside him stood a small girl who was rubbing at her wrists. Clearly Longbottom had just unchained her from the wall.
Longbottom moved to stand protectively in front of the girl, but not before Theodore recognized her, with a twist in his stomach, as the little second year he had been made to practice the Cruciatus Curse on earlier that day. Apparently one round of torture hadn't been deemed enough punishment for whatever she had done to get detention. Theo wondered if that was because of his rather lackluster results.
Longbottom glared at Theo, a far cry from the plump, cowardly kid the Slytherins had spent years mocking. "I suppose this is the part where you call the Carrows and brag about how you caught me red-handed," he snapped, not a trace of fear in his voice.
"Shouldn't have been stupid enough to get yourself caught, should you have?" Theodore jeered back automatically, but his eyes fell again on the little girl hidden behind the seventh-year. Hadn't he done enough to this girl already?
"Just get out of here, both of you," he jerked his head toward the door.
Neville's eyes first widened in shock, then quickly narrowed in suspicion, "What's the catch? Are your cronies out there waiting to ambush us?"
Theodore rolled his eyes impatiently, "You may have grown a spine, Longbottom, but you still don't have any brains. What would be the point of that? I've already, as you put it, caught you red-handed. Now go, before I change my mind."
Neville stared at him for a second longer, clearly not knowing what to make of this, then took the hand of the girl behind him, "Come on, I'll take you somewhere safe."
As Neville hurried her from the room, the little girl glanced back at Theodore, "Th-thank you."
Theodore gave her a tight smile. His stomach was already clenching at the thought of what would happen if anyone discovered what he had just done, but at the same time, a flash of defiant joy flared briefly in his chest.
As always, I would love it if you reviewed and let me know what you thought. Random side note about "Pain" that fits here as well as anywhere, originally I was going to have Theodore feign sickness to get out of class, but then it occurred to me, as it does to Theo in the chapter that if he did that the kid would only get tortured by someone else who wanted to do it and it would be worse. Also, on another note, I've now completed the prompts for the month of January! Yay! One month down, eleven to go.