Prompt: Training Duels
"Potter and…" the Professor Dawlish called, "Evans."
The pairing was met with startled gasps and the immediate whispers of gossips all around. It was no secret they'd never gotten along well; but after the confrontation at the lake last year they were all eager to see what would happen in the Evans/Potter rivalry next.
Lily flexed her shoulders and shed her outer robes. She stepped up to the edge of the dueling circle and looked across at her opponent. Potter, who had previously been peacocking and trading jabs with his friends, had gone stock-still and pale– and utterly silent. He stepped into the dueling circle as if facing his execution, looking uncharacteristically nervous. She wondered if he would ask Professor Dawlish to assign him a different dueling partner.
She, on the other hand, was elated at their partnering. Since their argument by the lake last year, she'd been simmering in her anger– and it was begging for release. He'd done his best to avoid her this year, and they'd made it almost a month into school exchanging no more than general pleasantries– speaking to one another only when strictly necessary. But she'd spent all summer avoiding Sev's attempts at reconciliation; and with every attempt, she was reminded of the catalyst of deterioration of their friendship in the first place: Potter. Mar called it misplaced anger, but Lily called it retribution. How many students had Potter picked on "just because he could"? By her calculations, it was about time he had a taste of his own medicine.
"Wands at the ready!" Professor Dawlish called, "Remember: it is a practice duel. You are trying to disarm your opponent only." She and Potter stepped into the center of the dueling ring, bowing slightly before retreating the requisite steps away before the start of the duel. "Duel!" Dawlish announced, and she spun on her heel– sending a stinging jinx at Potter.
He deflected it, but didn't retaliate. She cast a body-bind hex his way, but again he only deflected it. Potter matched her step for step as she paced the perimeter of the dueling ring, but didn't offer any return fire. Lily narrowed her eyes at him. From what she'd seen before in class, Potter was proactive in his duels. He came at his opponent strong– deflecting and casting hexes and jinxes with speed and precision. Lying in wait wasn't his style.
Lily cast another stinging jinx, followed by a stunner– both of which he simply deflected. She could feel her already heightened temper rising. Why wouldn't the git fight back? His face already looked defeated, and she hadn't even touched him yet. What was his angle? She fired off spells one after another: stupefy, reducto, expelliarmus, baubillious– the last one firing a bolt of lightning from the end of her wand– which he only deflected. "Fight back! You pompous git!" she yelled at him, enraged at his apparent apathy, and firing off another series of stunners and jinxes. He deflected them all, simply renewing his shield charm.
"Disarm only, Miss Evans!" Professor Dawlish called, but Lily wasn't listening. A dull roaring filled her ears, as she prepared for her next attack.
"Difindo!" she cast, making a sweeping motion through the air with her wand. A red slash glowed against his shield charm before fading. "Difindo!" she cast again. And again. And again– red glowing slashes against his shield charm. She cast spell after spell, until she finally felt it: his shield cham collapsed under the force of her attack. Quickly, before he had time to cast another, she cast: "Levicorpus!"
Like Sev had that day down by the lake last year, Potter was yanked off his feet into the air– hanging there by his ankle. "Doesn't feel so good, does it Potter?" she taunted, guiding her wand to swing him around the room. "You are a foul git who picks on those weaker than you just because you can, but you're no better than the rest of us! You–" but she her tenuous control on her anger snapped– and for the first time since she was eleven, her magic acted of its own accord, flinging him across the room. His body slammed into the stone wall, and he slumped to the ground.
Her wand was ripped from her hand and flew to the waiting palm of their professor. "EVANS!" roared Dawlish, before rushing to his fallen student. Black and Lupin were already at Potter's side, helping him to sit up and checking for injury. Lily knew she should apologize. Say something. Anything. Anything was better than standing there gaping like a fish while the rest of the class looked at her in horror.
"I– I–" she stammered, "I didn't mean to…" but it came out no louder than a whisper. She glanced around the circle to her peers for help. Surely someone knew she hadn't intended to throw Potter against the wall. It was an accident! The Hufflepuff nearest her took another step back from her, cowering, as if he was afraid she'd unleash her anger on him next.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," Lily whispered, taking in Potter's dazed expression and the bruise already forming on his jaw. The walls felt like they were closing in on her. The defense classroom suddenly became a tomb. Without another word, Lily turned on her heel and fled.