Chapter 7: Death of a Student?
KABOOM!
Where Josh's small pile of gifts, an loud explosion rang out, blowing up everything around them. It let out a fiery explosion and a wave of a magical wave, knocking everyone down and destroying many things around the room, as some of the walls and ceiling cracked and broke apart, falling down. There were many screams and yells that rang out when the explosion was over. There was dust everywhere and a small fire where the explosion was. Josh stood up and helped Tracey to her feet, coughing from the dust. People were crying or screaming out for their friends, though Josh couldn't hear a lot as everything sounded muffled. He touched his ears that were warm and wet with blood. He looked around at only one person came to his mind. "Daphne!" Josh yelled in instinct as he ran over to the spot where he had last seen her. He stepped over frantic and shaken students, but it was too dusty. Josh pulled out his wand and waved it around and whipped it forward where all the dust was sucked up into his wand.
Now it was all clear and anyone could see anything now. His hearing began to clear up. Josh was horrified at what he was seeing. Many students that were closest to the explosion were knocked unconscious with some injuries with cuts, bruises, and broken bones. Some of the girls were screaming and others were crying, some over near the unconscious students who wouldn't wake up. Many students were hyperventilating, terrified, and confused. Large piles of stone and wood were everywhere as the magical explosion turned out to be actually powerful, cracking walls and knocking down parts of the ceiling. It was all chaotic. A lot of people were shouting for their friends, as if they couldn't find them.
"Luna!"
"Harry!"
"Justin!"
"Shawn!"
"Rina!"
"Daphne!" Josh shouted once more, looking around for his girlfriend.
"Josh!" Josh turned to Neville, who had bloody ears as well, run up to him. "What do we do!?" he asked Josh loudly. A few others turned and looked up to Josh for help. Why were they looking at him? Where's Harry? He looked around for him, but he couldn't see him. He noticed that most of the students had bloody ears, and then Josh came to a realization. Was this what it was going to be like soon? Was this what war would look like? This was a lot different than the adventures he had done so far. Many people frantic and terrified, injured and confused. They were all scared. A few more came up to Josh, who's heart was pounding. All he wtedan to do at the moment was to look for his girlfriend and make sure she was okay, but scared students were coming to him for help. Josh inhaled heavily and gripped his wand tightly.
Josh put his wand to his throat, "Sonorus. Alright, alright, everyone calm down!" he said in a loud booming voice. "We're all going to be okay! Stay calm, please! We're going to figure this all out and get everyone who's hurt or injured to the Hospital Wing." Josh ended the spell and turned to the others that were around him. It was Neville, Tracey, William, Ron, Lavender, and some of the other Gryffindors. "Okay, this is what we're going to do," Josh began, "Neville, William, start getting students to take the unconscious to the Hospital Wing, ASAP!" Neville and William nodded together and went to go as told. "Ron, I need you to go get Professor McGonagall and inform her what happened. Tracey you do the same with Snape, maybe he could help figure out what happened." Tracey and Ron nodded.
"I'll go with Ron," Lavender blurted out quickly. Tracey side glared towards her.
"I actually need you here," Josh replied. Lavender pouted as Tracey and Ron left, Tracey smiling to herself. "And make a list of all the students that were here and are accounted for." Lavender nodded and went to do as told. "The rest of you, find a student, take them to the Hospital Wing." The others nodded and split away, though Josh held onto Neville who looked at him questioningly. "I think someone is dead," he whispered to Neville who suddenly went wide-eyed.
"What makes you say that?" Neville whispered back to Josh who jerked his head. Josh and Neville walked over to where the explosion was.
Josh put out the fire and waved his wand to remove some of the dust. "I noticed this earlier," Josh commented, as he and Neville knelt down. "It looked strange, but I also read about something like this in a dark magic book." Right under that small pile of dust was black scorched stone. Neville looked at it, but he was confused.
"I don't understand," he said.
"Neville," Josh turned to his friend, "I know of a spell, a dark spell. If you use it on someone, they're disintegrated, and it leaves a mark."
"What kind of mark?" Neville asked.
Josh and Neville stood to their feet, not noticing two people behind them. "It's like shadow," said a low drawling voice. The two teens turned around to see Professor Snape and Tracey. Then everyone looked back down at the black scorched stone. "A shadow of a person." And it was the shape of a person. Sweet Merlin, please don't let it be, Daphne, Josh thought to himself. "Miss Davis, Mister Longbottom, if you two would go find some Aurors, please," Snape ordered. Tracey and Neville nodded, leaving to find some Aurors. "It seems you've made another enemy, Mr. Black."
Josh sighed to himself. "How do you know it wasn't meant for Harry," he said and then blurted out, "Harry!" He frantically looked around, just as the Aurors arrived and walked over to Snape. "Has anyone seen Harry! Harry Potter!" he shouted towards the remaining students. Everyone shook their head. Josh began to look around, when some debris was fall apart. Josh ran over to the debris and waved his wand. The debris flew off whomever it was covering and moved it to the side. His heart jumped when he found that it was Daphne and Hermione. He ran to her side as she and Daphne were slowly moving and waking up. Blood was pouring from Hermione's left arm, and part of the dress she was wearing was torn, covered in dirt. Daphne's clothes were torn as well, though she had a cut along her forehead, bloody lip, and a broken arm. "Daphne!" Josh cried. "Daphne, are you okay?"
"What happened?" Daphne groggily asked as Tracey tended to Hermione.
Josh slowly lifted Daphne up, brushing aside her hair, and wiping away some blood. "There was some kind of magical explosion," he informed Daphne and Hermione. "It just came out of nowhere. A lot of students are injured but I think most of them are already at the Hospital Wing."
"Harry?" Hermione mumbled. "Where's Harry?" Josh shrugged and shook his head, and tears began to well up in Hermione's eyes.
"Help!" someone shouted.
Josh snapped around to see that it was Parvati. She was by a pile of stone, on her knees, holding onto her right arm that seemed to be broken. Ron ran over to Parvati. "What is it?" he asked.
Parvati pointed down. "Someone is under here!" she cried. Ron glanced down and saw a hand sticking from under the pile of stone, there was a wand clutched in it. He knew at once who's wand it belonged to.
"Harry!" Ron growled and began to move the stones and debris, not thinking about using his magic as all he could think about was if he best friend okay and still alive. Dean, Ginny, and Seamus ran over to help him out as fast as they could and a minute later, the uncovered half of Harry's body, though his was also holding on to someone else. They continued to move the stones and debris to find out that he was holding onto Cho. Dean and Ginny pulled out Cho while Ron and Seamus pulled out Harry from the pile of debris. Snape ran over to the two students and waved his wand over them.
"They're still alive," he spoke, though the tone of his voice was different. "Get them to the infirmary, Now!" he barked. Ron and the others nodded and quickly picked up the two students and left to the Hospital Wing.
"What happened?" Hermione asked. "Did they find Harry?" she asked through her tears.
Tracey nodded. "Of course they did, sweetie," she answered, wiping the tears from Hermione. "He's alive and they're taking him to the Hospital Wing - "
"Which is where we're taking you," Josh interrupted as he picked up Daphne in his arms. She groaned in pain as Josh lifted her. Tracey who was more strong magically, decided to lift Hermione with magic. "Don't worry, it's going to be okay," he told Daphne and Hermione as the made their way towards the Hospital Wing.
Snape was looking over the scorched spot of an unknown student, he was soon joined by McGonagall, Sprout, and Flitwick. Other Aurors were around as well, waving their wands around and detecting to found out what happened. They were discussing about the incident.
"Do we have any clue at to which student this was?" Sprout worriedly asked.
"Not until Miss Brown is done taking account of everyone who was at the party," Snape answered.
"It's obvious that they wanted someone dead," Flitwick said as if it was obvious. "Need I remind you that there are a few students here with targets on their backs?"
"What I'm more worried about it who did this and that they infiltrated our school," McGonagall said.
"But we have the strongest spells, charms, and runes against letting that kind of thing happen," Sprout replied, but then gasped.
"Then it could only mean one thing," McGonagall said, crossing her arms.
"What's that?" Flitwick asked.
"That whoever did this was a student," Snape answered, turning to the other teachers looking stunned. "A very intelligent student," he added looking down at Flitwick.
"Surely, you don't think anyone from Ravenclaw house could have done this?" Flitwick said, looking insulted. Snape shrugged one shoulder though continued to stare at the short professor. "What about your Slytherins. Aren't they all cunning and clever enough for one of them to do something like this?"
"It's possible," Snape answered, and then turned to the others. "Where's the headmaster?"
"He had some urgent business to attend to," McGonagall informed with pursed lips.
"More urgent than this!" Sprout exclaimed. "A student has died, possibly by murder! Many of the students have been injured. What are we going to do? There year had barely begun and things are already getting dangerous."
"We can't do much at the moment," McGonagall said. "Let the Aurors handle this right now. This room will be sealed off for the rest of the year. Keep an eye on our students, make them feel safe, and keep them protected. I will send an owl to the Headmaster to inform him of this disastrous matter. As I do that, please check in on your injured students." The other Heads of Houses nodded and headed towards the Hospital Wing while McGonagall left to write a letter to Dumbledore, wondering where it was that he could have gone.
About twenty minutes later, the Hospital Wing was half full, filled with most of the people Josh knew well. His friends and others from the DA, and others he has helped along the way through his years of Hogwarts. At this moment, Josh was sitting next to the bed Daphne was laying peacefully on, asleep. He looked around. Hermione, Harry, Cho and a couple others seemed to have been injured the most as they were covered with debris or hit with it. All students who were attending did have their ears busted and bleeding as the explosion was extremely loud and magical to do so. Madam Pomfrey had an easy fix for that and was bustling around tending to her patients, and luckily nothing was too serious. Except for the person who was the closest to the explosion, Josh thought to himself.
Madam Pomfrey walked up to Josh, holding a liquid with a ear baster. "Here you go, Mr. Black," she said, using the baster to suck up some of the potion. "This will help your ears."
"Take care of the others first, Madam Pomfrey," Josh stated in a normal tone.
"Mister Black, you need this for your ears," Pomfrey said in a huff. "You don't want to get an infection, do you?"
Josh sighed, turning to the Nurse and took the baster and potion from her. "I can do it," he said, "You've taught me well enough. Please, help the others who are most injured." Madam Pomfrey hugged and walked away to help other students. Josh stood up, kissed Daphne's forehead and applied the potion to his ears. It was warm which then turned cold, and suddenly the pain his ears were filling, dissipated. He turned and went to help the other students who's ears were injured. Once he was done, he moved over to check on Harry, who was awake. Cho was sitting next to him, surprisingly unharmed except the bump on her head. It was all thanks to Harry shielding her with his body.
Always the hero, Potter, Josh thought. "Alright there, Potter?" He asked with a nod.
Harry nodded back. "Had the wind knocked out of me, bunch of bruises, and a large headache, but I'll be back on my feet in no time," he replied. "Who could have done this?"
Josh shrugged. "We don't know who," he answered, "Just that I may have been the target. Also there is something I should tell you." Harry furrowed his eyes and looked questioningly at Josh as he moved closer and saw next to the bed. "Someone has died," Josh informed in a whisper.
Harry's eyes widened. "Who was it?" he whispered fiercely.
"I don't know yet, but I'm waiting on Lavender to get done with her list of who was at the party and who's accounted for," Josh answered, and then looked around. "So far, most of the people we know seem okay, though some are injured."
"How's Hermione?" Harry asked, noticing her in a bed next to Daphne who as also fast sleep. He stared at her worryingly.
"She was pretty banged up," Josh revealed, "Though she will heal. We all will though no doubt this will keep us on edge." He turned to Harry. "I have a feeling this is only the beginning, Harry." Harry turned back to Josh when he heard his first name. "I have a gut feeling this isn't over. Someone in this school is trying to kill me, and maybe you too and it looks like they don't care who they hurt in the process." Harry nodded as they both looked around the Hospital Wing.
"This is what it looks like, isn't it," Harry said. Josh turned back to Harry. "War, and this is how it all starts. Small things that will lead up to even bigger things." Josh nodded and sighed heavily. He patted Harry's shoulder and went back over to Daphne's bed, and right when he reached it, the doors of the Hospital Wing opened and in barged a crowd of parents, making their way to their children.
"Joshua!"
Josh turned to see his pregnant mother running over to him. Next to her were Daphne's parents and Astoria, making their way over. Josh was pulled into a tight hug by his mum, tears in her eyes. "I'm glad you're okay," she cried, letting go of Josh.
"How could something like this happen?" Victor asked Josh as Aurora and Astoria were looking over Daphne.
"We don't know," Josh answered. "It came out of nowhere. It just happened. No one knows who even did it." Victor nodded and turned to his daughter, clenching his fists and feeling angry.
"Er...Josh..." Josh turned tot he voice to see it was Lavender who was looking a little worse for wear. She looked nervous and scared about something, on the verge of tears.
Josh walked over to her. "What is it?" he asked her. She opened her mouth but couldn't speak, instead handed her the list of people who were accounted for. Josh looked down the list and his heart dropped. Someone was missing and was accounted for. His body hadn't been found. Josh dropped to his knees, his breathing picking up, and his heart racing. How could he not notice!? Was it because the he got so wrapped up in helping everyone that he could have missed this person missing?
"Joshua!" Sandra cried as she knelt down to her son. "Josh, are you okay? What's wrong?" Josh couldn't answer as he was staring straight ahead. She looked up for her husband who had been looking over Harry. "Sirius!" she shouted. Sirius turned towards his name and saw Josh. He quickly ran over to his son.
"What happened?" He asked worriedly.
Victor noticed the list in Josh's hands. He took it and read it, sighing heavily. "Maybe this is why," he told Sirius as he handed him the list of students.
Sirius looked at the list. "Shite," he muttered, lowering the list.
"Sirius, what is it?" Sandra frantically asked.
"Draco is missing."
The next few days passed by almost normally though the magical bombing was still looming over everyone's minds. Word was out by the next day that a student had died and that it was speculated to be Draco Malfoy. He was the only missing from the party, and there was no way anything else that could have happened to him. He was at the party, people saw him there, but now he was gone. A dark shadow loomed over his new and old friends. The Slytherins seemed to blame Josh because they didn't know who else to blame as there was no culprit. So it happened at his party, which meant that it was his fault. The Headmaster had turned up for a bit to discuss with Aurors and others on what happened a few days ago, but he left once more, letting the Aurors handle it after adding some more magical protection. Students were watched closely though nothing seemed too out of the ordinary.
Halfway through October came their first trip of the term to Hogsmeade. The Professors hoped this would be good for the students to get their minds recharged and distracted from what had happened about a month ago. Hopefully the students would be able to get back on with their school life. Everyone who was allowed to go did seem in high spirits and was happy to go have some fun.
In the early morning of that day, four of the Gryffindors of the sixth year were woken up by the sound of yelping and screaming. "AAAAAAAAAARGH!" Neville jumped out of bed falling to the floor, Seamus and Dean sat up straight while Josh instinctively Jumped out of his bed, onto his feet, his wand at the ready. They were all shocked to see Ron dangling upside down in midair as though an invisible hook had hoisted him up by the ankle.
Harry jumped out his bed, where Josh noticed his potions book falling to the floor. "Sorry," Harry yelled as everyone began to laugh or chuckle. Josh relaxed, lowering his wand as Neville picked himself up off the ground. "Hang on - I'll let you down - " Harry turned around and grabbed his book from the floor, looking into it. He looked back up at Ron with a determined look and flicked his wand, not saying a word. There was a flash of light, and Ron fell in a heap onto his mattress. "Sorry," Harry apologized again, while Dean and Seamus roared with laughter.
"Tomorrow," Ron said in a muffled voice, "I'd rather you set the alarm clock."
Josh chuckled and since everyone was awake, they got out of bed and got dressed to get ready for their trip to Hogsmeade. Ron's shock had subsided and he had decided that Harry's new spell was highly amusing; so amusing in fact, that he lost no time in regaling Hermione with the story as they sat down for Breakfast.
"...and then there was another flash of light and I landed on the bed again," Ron grinned, helping himself to some sausages.
"I'm guessing that spell was nonverbal?" Josh wondered to Harry who nodded.
Hermione, however, had not smiled through that whole story at all. She looked more disapproving instead. "Was this spell, by chance, in that little potion book of yours?" she asked.
Harry frowned at her. "Always jumped to the worst conclusions, don't you?"
Hermione blushed. "Well, was it?"
The back of Harry's neck turned red as he rubbed it. "Well, em, yeah, it was, but so what?"
"So you just decided to try out an unknown spell, handwritten incantation and see what would happen?"
Josh sighed. He went on with his breakfast as Harry and Hermione continued to argue about the spell and the potions book on whether if it was safe or not. Moments later, Josh had met up with Daphne and Tracey, and were headed out the Great Oak Doors, following the Golden Trio. Filch was there checking permission slips and using the Secrecy Sensor to check the students over. Ron seemed annoyed by it. Josh noticed that Harry was handed a parchment by Ginny, and he seemed excited for a second.
The walk to Hogsmeade wasn't too enjoyable as it was actually pretty cold and windy. Josh didn't wear any gloves, which he now regrets, as they felt raw and numb. He kept trying to rub them together, but it barely helped. The road to the village was full of students bent double against the bitter wind. When they finally reached Hogsmeade, Josh and the others noticed how Zonko's joke shop had been boarded up. A couple of other shops were closed as well, though some of the other shops were still open, like Honeydukes where the six students entered the place with Ron and Tracey racing to get in first, laughing at one another.
"Thank Merlin," Josh gasped as he was inside the candy shop, rubbing his hands together.
"Josh, I can't believe you didn't wear any gloves," Daphne chided as she took her gloves off, placed them down and waved her wand over them, duplicating the gloves. She gave a pair to Josh who thanked her, kissed her cheek, and quickly put the gloves on.
Once the gloves were on, Josh felt a hard slap on his back, nearly knocking him forward into Daphne. "Joshua, m'boy!" Slughorn's booming voice rang out from behind him. Josh turned to face the potions Professor with a face smile. He was clutching a large bag of crystallized pineapple. He was grinning widely. "You are a clever and sneaky student may I say. A hard man to find to invite you to my little get togethers. Are you sure you're supposed to be in Gryffindor House?"
"Well, I've been busy with, you know, schoolwork and Quidditch," Josh retorted.
"Ah yes, you've got to study hard to have a good career and be ready for you first match," Slughorn spoke. "But we do have a special one tonight as it is a memorial dinner for our unfortunate classmate who was met with his dark and tragic demise." Josh clenched his teeth, feeling a sense of dread flood over him. Why did he have to mention that? He felt guilty enough as it is. "And it would be really great if you'd be there!" Josh nodded and forced a smile. "Of course, you'd be welcome to Miss Greengrass!"
Daphne smiled nicely. "Of course," she said. "We'll be there!" Slughorn nodded with a hefty laugh and then went on his way. Daphne grabbed onto Josh's hands. "Come on, let's pick out some chocolate." She tried to drag Josh, but he wouldn't budge. She turned back to her boyfriend. "What's wrong, Josh?"
"I need some fresh air," Josh replied, letting go of Daphne's hand. "I'll just be a minute," he told his girlfriend. "Pick out a couple of my favorites, will you?" Daphne nodded and watched as Josh walked out of Honeydukes and into the cold weather. She watched him with sadness, knowing how he must have felt. She turned when she heard her name and saw Tracey and Ron wrestling over some candy, laughing. Tracey was calling out to her for some help. Harry and Hermione were over to the side looking at some gummy type candy when they were interrupted by Cho Chang who seemed to appear out of nowhere. As she began to talk to Harry, moving in front of Hermione, Daphne moved over next to a sullen and annoyed looking Hermione.
"Are you alright?" Daphne asked, picking up a box of gummy nifflers and looking at them.
"Yes, I'm fine," Hermione answered mechanically, looking at her own box of candy.
"Are you really?" Daphne asked, looking right at Hermione, who looked back at her. Daphne then glanced behind her, towards Harry and Cho. Hermione didn't say anything, yet looked away. "Hermione, I know how you feel about him."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione retorted, placing back the candy and walking away to somewhere else.
"Oh, come off it, Granger," Daphne scoffed, following her friend. "I'm a woman and I know these things. You're head over heals with Gryffindor's golden treasure." Hermione blushed hard. "I see it, Tracey sees, and no doubt Chang sees it as well."
"Yeah, well, what can I do about it," Hermione said with a defeated sigh.
Daphne rolled her eyes. "Use that know-it-all brain of yours," She said. "You have to tell him how you feel."
"What if he doesn't feel the same way?" Hermione responded, "I could lose my best friend."
Daphne gave a sad smile and wrapped her arm around Hermione, hugging her. "Don't be so sure," she said, she then pointed over to Harry and Cho. Cho was laughing at something Harry said, though he looked confused and a tiny bit annoyed. "They're not going to last," Daphne added. Harry rolled his eyes, looking over to Hermione. He smiled widely towards her and waved. Hermione blushed and smiled, waving back towards Harry.
Josh exited the candy shop and entered the nearest side alley, leaning against the wall. His heart hurt, like it did before when Blaise died, though this time it felt a bit more worse. As if this time it was actually his fault. He clenched his fists and pounded on the wall. He had to find out who did this so he could make them pay. He would do whatever it took to find the one responsible and give him a slow death, or a quick one. Maybe the same kind of death Draco had to endure. Draco Malfoy will not have died in vain.
"Well look who it is!" said a familiar voice. Josh turned to see a handful of Slytherins which consisted of Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, and a couple of younger Slytherins. "It's Black! The one responsible for Draco's death!" Josh sighed in annoyance and tired to walk away through the Slytherins, though Nott stopped him by the shoulder. "Where do you think you're going?" He growled, pushing Josh back. "We have a bone to pick with you, Black!"
Josh looked up at the Slytherins, Nott, Crabbe, and the other younger Slytherins were glaring at him, except Goyle who was looking down at the snow filled ground. "I'm not in the mood, Nott," Josh replied. "Enough people have been put in the Hospital Wing already."
Nott chuckled. "I think they could do with one more," he said and then snapped his fingers. All of a sudden, the air from Josh's lungs had left him. Crabbe had come out and punched him intensely hard in the gut. Josh keeled over and fell to his knees, trying to gasp for air. Though what happened? Josh could have stopped that in an instant, but he didn't. He just let it happen. "You're probably wondering why we're doing this, aren't you?" He knew why they were doing this. "It's for Malfoy. He may have given up it's bad ways, but he was still a Slytherin and a good one! But you let him die that night, Black! You let him die!" Crabbe then punched Josh in the left side of his jaw, throwing Josh face first into the snow. "This is your fault," Nott cried, who suddenly had tears in his eyes. Goyle also had tears brimming his eyes. "Draco was our friend! And he trusted you! But you killed him, didn't you!" Crabbe kicked him in the stomach. He too had tears of anger in his eyes. "You deserve this, Black! This is your punishment! You will - "
"Stop!" A feminine voice yelled, as they pushed through the group of Slytherins. She ran over to Josh and started to help him up. "Stop this! This isn't helping anything!" she cried. Josh looked through his blurred vision, though he couldn't tell who it was. "It wasn't his fault and you know that! Someone else is responsible because Black was the one who was targeted, not Draco." The Slytherins all looked at one another as Goyle wiped his eyes. "Draco was just at the wrong place at the right time. You're angry and hurt! I get it, because I am too! But I know it wasn't Black's fault and I'm not going to take it out on him. He doesn't deserve it, and you damn well know that Draco wouldn't want this to happen either. They were good friends! No doubt Black is feeling the same way as us, maybe even worse. Hasn't he lost enough friends this year?!" No one said anything but avoided contact with the girl. "Now, why don't you all leave and go find something to distract yourselves with!" The small group of Slytherins mumbled and sighed, leaving the area.
Crabbe stayed for an extra moment. "Er...I'm sorry," he lamely apologized and then quickly left.
Josh was helped to his feet by the girl and once his vision cleared, he was surprised to see that it was Pansy Parkinson. "Parkinson," he said.
"You could have taken them in an instant," Pansy said, helping Josh stand straight and wiping the snow off of him. "Why didn't you?"
Josh shrugged. "Maybe I did deserve that."
Pansy sighed through her nose and pursed her lips, looking stern. "You did not," she retorted. "Draco's death wasn't your fault. Neither was Blaise's. We Slytherins all know that," she told Josh. "And no matter what you think, more than half of us aren't mad at you, but at the Dark Lord. You may not think of us much, but I like to think we have learned a lot. From Draco. He seemed happier when he became that better person, and some of us have decided to try and flip over the new leaf like he did. He told us that we'd feel a whole lot better if we did. We respected him and meant a lot to m...some of us," she finished, looking down and fiddling with her fingers. Tears began to form in her eyes. Josh had no idea about any of this or how Draco's personality change had impacted his own house.
"Thank you," Josh finally said after a few moments of silence. "And I will figure out who did this, give us all some kind of closure."
Pansy nodded, sniffed, and wiped away her tears. "Good," she said, "And I'm sure they deserve whatever it is you're going to do to them." She looked up into Josh's eyes. "Whatever." she repeated and then walked away. Josh sighed and leaned against the wall. This was not what he was expecting at all this school year. Not this at all.
Even though it was the first trip to Hogsmeade, not everyone decided to go. At this moment, Cormac was inside the Room of Requirement, staring at some kind of black cabinet. He stared at it as he sat down in a chair, looking pensive. He heard the door opened and then two whispering voices as they were arguing with one another.
"We're not going to get caught!" Elladora whispered fiercely as she and Inigo walked through the room towards Cormac. "Cormac sent a letter to the Professors saying the Barty went home because he didn't feel safe! No one knows that he died. They all believe Malfoy is dead!"
"But he's not!" Inigo growled.
"And do they don't need to know that!" Elladora growled. "Quit being a baby and man up Elphick! You're supposed to be a Slytherin, so act like it!" Inigo sighed in annoyance as the duo stopped next to Cormac.
"Is it done?" Cormac asked, staring straight at the cabinet.
"Yes, I gave away the mead, and hopefully it will make its way to Dumbledore," Elladora answered, looking quite pleased with herself.
Cormac gave a nod and looked up towards Inigo. "Don't worry," he said, "We covered our tracks. There's no way they could trace what happened back to us. No way to figure out how it even happened. As to what happened to Barty. It was all his fault that he died. He said that his calculations were right, but it turns out he was wrong. He died of his own accord and failed his task at hand. He disappointed me. You won't disappoint me will you, Inigo?"
Inigo shivered at the stare Cormac was giving him. It looked soulless and expressionless. "No, I won't," he gulped. "Everything is almost ready for trap. It should be ready for before we leave for Christmas break. A few of Black's friends will soon not be around anymore."
Cormac nodded and smirked. "Good, now get out of here," he ordered. Inigo nodded and left, though Elladora stay behind. "What?"
"I was wondering if you needed anything else, Cormac," she said in a pleasing tone.
Cormac sighed as he stared blankly towards her. "In the usual spot," he told her. "Two hours."
Elladora smiled widely and nodded. "I'll see you then!" She turned and left the Room of Requirement.
Once she was gone, Cormac stood to his feet and walked past the Black Cabinet, towards a door at the back of the room. He took off his cloak, pulled out his wand, and entered the pitch black room. "No one suspects a thing," he said into the room. Cormac lit up the room to reveal a beaten and blood Draco who was chained to the wall, squinting at the bright light. He was a mess with torn clothes, messy hair, his wrists and ankles were bloodied and bruised as well as other various parts of his body. Cormac walked over to the beaten man, kneeling next to Draco who tried to shuffle closer to the wall, terrified and broken. "Everyone thinks your dead, Draco. Which means I can just use you release all my stress and frustrations on. Like I've been doing." Cormac raised his wand and Draco flinched, though he glared. Cormac chuckled. "It seems I have yet to break through your mind. Oh, but I will no matter how good you are at Occlumency. You will tell me all the secrets of Potter and Black. And don't get your hopes up Malfoy. You're dead, and there's no one, And I mean no one, is looking for you."
Draco glared back at the older boy. He didn't believe that at all. He had a gut-feeling that his friends were going to find out the truth of what really happened. He knew for a fact that Josh was going to find him and who was behind this. He just had to hold on as long as he could and shield his mind, block out all the pain. He just had to wait it out and pray that they get to him on time. Draco watched as Cormac stood up and pointed his wand at him.
"Crucio!"