Chapter 41 – Sectumsempra
Lizzie walked down to the Great Hall the following morning deep in thought. Hermione had checked out a book of Hogwarts artifacts after Lizzie explained the horcrux epiphany to see if anything stood out that he would have remotely been able to obtain.
"Lizzie..." she said nervously. "How does Dumbledore think you fit into this?"
"He didn't say... he did say he doesn't think anything alive can be a horcrux...but..." Lizzie said.
"But?" Hermione asked.
"Well, I thought over the summer that he created a vedmak with me when he killed my parents. But I don't think that's totally right. I was the one he tried to kill with malice. But part of me died and he latched onto it. I don't know if that constitutes a horcrux though, it's not it's full makeup. I think maybe the split he created when he killed Leah was finally satisfied by my exchange. But I didn't die, it rebounded. So, I'm not sure what that means. I'm inclined to believe that it would die with him if I can manage to do it. But honestly... I don't really know if Dumbledore even knows," Lizzie explained.
Hermione wrapped her hand around her mouth deep in thought but eyeballed Lizzie nervously.
"Does he know where to find them?" Ron asked. Lizzie shook her head.
"They could be anywhere," she said grimly.
Lizzie returned to reading her Potions book in preparation for a practical exam they were having that week. She noticed a spell in the margins 'sectumsempra' with a note scribbled underneath indicating it was for enemies. She'd never heard of it before.
Ginny walked in with Katie Bell a few moments later and tapped Lizzie on the shoulder to get her attention as Katie walked up to greet a group of her seventh-year friends. This was the first time anyone had seen her in months. Lizzie tucked the book in her bag and left her stuff with Hermione as she went over to greet Katie.
"Katie..." she said cautiously and gave her a warm hug. "How are you feeling?" She asked.
"I'm alright, Lizzie... been better... Dean can keep my spot, I don't think I'm up for quidditch to be honest," Katie said sadly. Lizzie nodded with an apologetic look in her eyes.
"I know you're going to ask, but I don't know who cursed me... I've been trying to remember but -" she started to say.
"Katie, you were cursed, and Ron was poisoned. I doubt it's a vendetta on the quidditch team, you weren't meant for those..." Lizzie said. "If you do remember anything, please let me know..."
Katie stared up over her shoulder at someone and Lizzie caught an image from her of Rosemerta and Malfoy again. Lizzie turned around and saw Malfoy staring at them with painfully obvious fear plastered across his face. Lizzie started after him impulsively and picked up pace to follow him. He rounded several corridors into a bathroom and Lizzie slipped in quietly. She peered around the corner at him hunched over the sink. He pulled off his cardigan and undid his tie, he was crying profusely and appeared to be unraveling completely. Despite his occlumency abilities, she was able to read intense fear and apprehension from him, he was in a complete panic, and it had something to do with Voldemort. For a moment she felt sorry for him. It was obvious to her that whatever he was asked to do had broken him or was impossible on purpose to punish Lucius. She thought she could try to appeal to this weakness and extract some information, and information from him about what the plan was. If she was lucky, she thought she could groom the ally or resource she thought she had created in part last year, but didn't count on it.
He looked up at the mirror and saw her standing several yards away behind the wall. He turned around abruptly and shot a jinx in her direction. Lizzie ducked behind the wall.
"Draco! Stop! I'm not going to do anything. What happened?" She pled.
"Get of here, Azalea!" He roared.
"He asked you to do something, didn't he? You cursed Katie, you gave Slughorn the poisoned wine, who are you after? Dumbledore?" She asked, and he shot a curse in her direction.
"Stop! Just stop! Let's talk," She yelled, holding her hands in front of her in surrender.
"I can tell you're conflicted. Let me help you. Whatever he wants you to do, we can help you," she said. His face contorted in pain and he clutched his knees for support while he shook his head.
"You need... to get out..." he growled.
When she moved toward him, he shot a curse at her that she blocked. He repeated the motion but she only relayed them, causing several pipes around them to burst but none hit him directly.
"Azalea! GET OUT!" He yelled in frustration. Lizzie shook her head, still hoping he would cave under his own weakness and divulge anything of value. He walked toward her aggressively and she backed into a stone wall. Her hesitation to curse him lingered.
"This is your fault," he hissed and slammed his hand against the stone just inches from her face and grabbed her face hard with the other.
"Draco, let me help you..." she said in a small voice, but he smacked her hard and she sunk halfway to the floor
"I don't think you heard me," he said with pure disdain and got down to eye level to grab her face again. "I said, this is YOUR FAULT," and he hit her hard down onto the wet floor.
"What's my fault?" She asked while she backed away from him on her hands. "What's my fault?"
He laughed a little but she couldn't tell if he was actually crying. "I've been staying away from you, Draco, if he's asked you to do something to make up for your father... it wasn't something easy, was it?" She asked, desperately trying to read him. "You don't have to go down this path..." she added when he wiped tears back with his arm. "He's made me do awful things too, Draco... I'm none to judge, just let me help!" She yelled.
"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" He screamed and hit her with a stinging jinx that caught her off guard.
"You think you know it all, don't you? The chosen one? That you'll prevail? You're WRONG! He will slaughter everyone to get his hands on you. He will stop at nothing and you don't stand a bloody fucking chance," he hissed just above her on the ground. She tried to stand up to back further away from him but he pushed her hard back into the stone floor.
"Right. There she is..." he stared into her eyes with her jaw locked in his hand. "Scared little girl, he told me all about you... tragic... never a day of peace is there?" He asked condescendingly.
"Get off me," she muttered, and narrowed her eyes at him, but he returned the demand with a hard backhand across the face.
"You belong to him, Azalea... You're stupid to think otherwise..." he said as his hot breath baked her ear.
She felt his hand on her hip and struggled violently when she realized what he was going to do. He looked feral and wrestled her down from getting away.
"Draco, please… stop," she said breathlessly. Lizzie summoned her wand with her wrist tight in his lock, but he snatched it harshly and threw it across the room. Her heart raced violently as she watched him climb into a relentless rage.
Lizzie pulled a hand free and pushed her nails into his face as she struggled to back away from him. He caught her leg and dragged her back toward him, "Draco, stop," she cried again but he hit her hard to silence.
"You know what they'll do to you, if I were you, I'd go drink the wine," he hissed in her ear. He let go of a hand briefly to undo the button on his trousers and she summoned her wand.
"Sectumsempra," she muttered and pointed it at his chest, he was launched backward immediately. Lizzie got up onto her elbows breathing heavily and shaking both from the cold water that had pooled the floors of the bathroom, and the terror of the assault. She hated him with severe intensity in this moment but stopped breathing entirely when she saw his body sprawled on the floor covered in large gashes and pools of blood. Lizzie stared back in horror as he gasped for breath but couldn't move. "No," she whispered, not wanting his blood on her hands even if it was in self-defense. She heard voices like an echo and footsteps approach as she tried to get up but only managed to partially fix her clothes.
Snape entered the bathroom and took a horrified look at Draco, then at Lizzie who trembled noticeably in her skin. He was enraged beyond anything she'd seen and knelt down next to Draco to seal the wounds. Lizzie started to get up, and wiped blood from her nose and lip. She winced at the pain from a very bruised cheekbone and cried silently into the side of her hand.
Snape summoned a stretcher and stood to get Draco to the hospital wing. Lizzie moved to shift her weight so she could get onto her feet when Snape shot her a disdainful stare that made her freeze.
"You move an inch, Azalea, and I won't show you a shred of mercy for this. I'll be back in a few moments," he hissed. Lizzie glared back at him but dared not move. Her clothes were soaked, she pulled her wet hair out of the braid he mangled in the struggle and sat up to examine the bruising. Part of her hoped Draco wouldn't make it, the other part sobbed thinking she might have killed him. He was too weak in her opinion to deserve to die, but that is the same thought she had about Pettigrew the first time she had the option.
Lizzie startled when Snape stormed back in. She was still breathing erratically and trembling in her skin. He caught the image of what Malfoy had just tried to do as she wiped away the blood still pooling slowly under her nose.
Snape knelt down in front of her and moved her chin to examine her face, she flinched at the touch and closed her eyes tight.
"Did he?" Snape asked sharply. Lizzie inhaled a sob but shook her head
"He... was going to..." she said just above a whisper. Snape examined her wrists and legs briefly but seemed utterly conflicted on what to do.
"Look at me," he demanded sharply.
"You followed him in here?" He asked. Lizzie nodded reluctantly.
"Where did you get your hands on dark curses, Azalea?" He asked. She looked down not knowing how to answer.
"I said look at me!" He yelled, she desperately tried to keep the book out of the forefront of her mind.
"Answer me!" He roared. Lizzie shrugged indignantly and he snatched her chin in a harsh grip.
"I don't recall," she said with a broken voice.
"Do you need Pomphrey?" He asked obligatorily. Lizzie shook her head.
"Go get your things, bring them to my office, now," he demanded.
He watched Lizzie get up and attempt to compose herself. With a wand gesture her clothes dried out and she shook her hair out. She rushed down to the Great Hall where Ron took one look at her and jumped up.
He pushed her out and around the corner out of sight. "Bloody hell, Lizzie, what happened?" He asked close to her face, she was still shaking. "I need my bag. I have to go to Snape's, let me borrow your Potions Book," she explained in a hurry.
Ron got her bag and handed it over to her. She took the Half Blood Prince's book and rushed upstairs to the Room of Requirement.
"I need a place to hide this book," she thought furiously and the doors appeared. She wandered through a mess of lost objects and furniture, like Hogwarts had its own hoarder's nest. She rounded a corner and placed the book next to a wooden box she swore said something to her. Then she covered it with tapestry rope and ran back out and down to Snape's office.
Lizzie stopped at the door and her hand trembled furiously as she made her decision to knock. He opened it before she did and stared back at her with anger glazed over his black eyes. He cocked his head for her to enter.
"On my desk," he said, and pointed to her messenger bag, and she set it down on top of the wooden surface. It dawned on her that she didn't remove the other articles and books from the restricted section.
"Why do you have these books?" Snape hissed, setting three down in front of her.
"I pulled them for meetings with Dumbledore," she said. Snape examined her face for lies but seemed satisfied.
"Old news articles?" He asked, examining them curiously.
"Same..." she said.
"Personal diary?" He asked, holding up her journal that he had already skimmed.
"More a dream journal, but also for meetings with Dumbledore..."
"Is this your Potions Book?" He said, examining it extra closely, almost like he suspected. Lizzie nodded but he narrowed his eyes at her while he flipped through it.
"Your situation is making this difficult for me to decide, Potter. I can't blame you for defending yourself... but the magic used is absolutely criminal. Where did you learn that spell?" He asked.
"I - don't know. I read it somewhere," she stammered.
"Read it somewhere? Now I know you're lying to me, try again," he demanded.
"Professor I don't know, I didn't know what it would do, I just panicked..." she rambled.
"Why wouldn't you use a spell you knew? Dueling champion and all that would not have been hard?" He asked.
"I wish I had, I'm truly sorry. I didn't - know, I just..." she said unevenly.
"Just what, Azalea?" He asked slowly with a condescending snarl.
"I just didn't want to be..." she said as her face contorted in a cry.
"Even I can't reprimand you for that. He's done it before though. You've killed nearly everyone who has... was that your goal?" He asked.
"No, I didn't intend to..." she said, exhaling a sob. Snape rubbed his face and frowned reproachfully.
"You... will show up here for detention every Saturday until the end of term, or until you admit to me where you learned that spell... you understand?" He asked. Lizzie opened her mouth to protest but he raised his hand at her in warning.
"Do you understand?" He asked as she buried her face protectively in her hands. She nodded into her hands and tried to even her breathing.
"Come here," he ordered, and pulled her arm toward a supply cabinet. He added a potion substance to a cloth and dabbed her lip with it, then handed it to her to continue the motion. He then added a cream like substance to her face that made her wince but quickly cut the pain.
"Drink this, sit, and calm down. You're still panicked," he said shortly, and handed her a remedy for anxiety.
"Will he be alright?" She asked with a hoarse voice.
"Yes, he will. I'll see to him when he recovers, but it will be a while," Snape said. Lizzie nodded with a mix of both resentment and relief.
She retreated back up to Gryffindor Tower with Tonks not long after but didn't want to talk to her or anyone else about what happened.