They Didn't Know We Were Seeds
"Clara saw Great Uncle Demitri talking alone to Ollivander before her defense class," Sage informs Severus as they sit down to lunch.
This causes Severus pause. "You've recruited her to keep an eye on Demitri, have you?" It's a surprise, especially since Sage has gone out of his way to ignore her at the behest of his mother and brother since she pubically began dating Fenwick. The boy shrugs as his ears turn pink, unwilling to say anything more. Severus sighs. He supposes it's best not to press; Sage has taken a brave step towards independent-thinking by choosing to go against the Montagues' wishes of no contact by bringing Clara into their little group of watchers.
Serving himself a helping of Toad in the hole, Severus asks, "Did she overhear anything?"
Sage shakes his head. "No," he answers. "But I figure it's helpful knowing he's talked to her privately, don't you think so?"
"Yes, it is," he agrees. "Though, the best I can do is make sure Scabior keeps his guard up at this point."
His brother nods. "Maybe he'll talk to her again and Clara will have a chance to overhear."
Severus pokes at his lunch and scowls. "Maybe." Although he doubts it.
-o-O-o-
Later that afternoon while holding an impromptu tutoring session with Scabior (springing it on the boy is the easiest way to exclude Wong right now) in one of Hogwarts courtyards, Ollivander steps into their line of vision. Her daughter took far more after her husband than her, but in that moment, Severus almost mistakes her for Luna Lovegood. Ollivander has her hair put up, her wand holding it in place, and butterbeer cap earrings dangle from the nonexistent lobes of her ears. She doesn't look nearly as dreamy as her daughter did, however.
"Preparing for our duel?" she asks Scabior with a kind smile.
Scabior, who's let his wand drop to his side at her appearance, gives a jerky nod. "Yeah," answers he, a note of suspicion in his tone.
She dips her chin, unbothered. "It's very clever of you to train with someone older than you," she tells him. "I wish I could be so lucky."
Severus narrows his eyes at Ollivander, but there's no hint of deceit about her. Her gaze is steady, her posture relaxed and words calm, if said a bit slowly. She's choosing her words carefully, Severus realizes, as not to spook Scabior or give him reason to distrust her any more than he undoubtedly does thanks to her surprise appearance.
The second-year glances at Severus. "Severus offered to train with me," says Scabior.
Her gaze moves over to him. "Trying to assure Slytherin will win the competition even if you can't, are you?"
Severus nods mutely. It's as good a reason as any to go with.
She smiles wider. "That's nice of you," Ollivander replies. He thinks he sees something a little less affable ghost across her stormy eyes, but Severus can't be sure. It might just be the moving of clouds in the sky above them.
"Is there something we can help you with?" Severus asks after a beat of silence.
Ollivander's shoulders tense a little. "Professor Prince requested I stay after defense to have a little chat with him yesterday." Her face darkens as she explains, "Imagine my surprise when it wasn't about the hex I'm creating and discussed with him previously."
Scabior's eyes go wide. "Did 'e show you a spell to use to defeat me in our duel?"
The seventh-year nods. "Yes," replies Ollivander. "It was very demeaning." An angry little flush coloring her cheeks she hisses, "I'm more than capable of figuring out how to win on my own, after all."
"I'm sorry," Severus blurts, suddenly feeling terribly guilty and ashamed. If he hadn't told his grandfather he'd pay for Severus's own loss before Scabior's duel with Crouch…
Ollivander's gaze snaps to him. "It's not your fault," she says, unknowing of just how wrong she is. Tucking a loose strand of feathery blonde hair behind her ear, she explains, "Anyway, I just came to tell you to be careful. I'm not going to use that spell on you, Scabior. That's not right." She frowns. "But it seems our professor is trying to fix the duel and I want you to know in case he attempts to take matters into his own hands when I won't do it for him."
"Thank you," murmurs the second-year, eyes big and alight with surprise.
Severus can't help but feel the same shock. Such forthright integrity is far rarer than it should be – especially in the lives of people like him and Scabior.
She smiles at the both of them, a sad droop to her eyes. "None of that now," she tells them. "I'm just doing the right thing." Her voice takes a hard edge. "I'm sure you would do the same if you were in my place."
That's a lie. Ollivander knows they wouldn't have. She's trying to both shame them for who they are and challenge them to be better than they are. It's effective – with Scabior, at least. The boy's jaw hardens and he says, "Sure."
The tension that's been building in Ollivander's slim frame suddenly releases from her like an arrow from a bow. "Good," replies the seventh-year. She waves at them. "I'll see you Saturday."
"Bye!" returns Scabior.
They fall quiet, watching together as Ollivander disappears to back whence she came. When she's gone, Scabior looks at Severus. "I like 'er."
Severus snorts and shoves the boy's shoulder in what he hopes comes off as a playful way. "I hope not as much as you like winning duels."
To his satisfaction and relief, Scabior laughs.
-o-O-o-
When the day of the final duel comes, there's a bet going on. It was started a few days earlier by the Marauders (what a surprise) and far more people have their money on Ollivander than they do Scabior. Which is probably the correct choice, Severus must admit, but he wants to balk on the boy's behalf. He may be lacking a few years experience and genius, but he's not some dunderhead with dumb luck either.
Scabior deserves more consideration than he's getting. The boy has worked hard. He has true skill and knowledge now and even if he doesn't win today, he's not going to go down easy. 'They'll all see today, I suppose,' thinks Severus as Scabior steps onto the dueling platform.
Ollivander joins him a moment later. Once there, she smiles at Scabior. Who, through, his overlong fringe, grins back. Her brows furrow a moment. She then goes up to him and offers a ribbon to tie back his hair. Scabior takes it after a brief hesitation. Bringing his hair back, he fumbles with tying the ribbon around his ponytail. Ollivander says something, then Scabior is turned around, and the seventh-year's circling the ribbon around his hair and tying it off for him.
When done, she says something else, which brightens Scabior right up. He replies in what appears to be in-kind as Ollivander's smile broadens. A few seconds later, Demitri steps up on the platform and comes to stand between them. He shoos both back to their respective ends of the platform and gives his now familiar spiel.
Severus glares at him. The old man, when he briefly looks at Severus, hardens his own gaze.
"Even if Scabior doesn't win, he's going to put up one Hell of a fight," muses Sirius beside him.
He glances at his friend. "You bet against him in your dumb little pool."
The other shrugs. "I'd be betting on Ollivander if it was you up there," he replies. "She's older and knows more."
"Hmph," is all Severus feels he needs to utter.
Sirius glances at him out of the corner of his eyes and then rolls them. "So touchy," he needles.
Severus bristles in spite of himself. It takes biting his tongue to stop himself from retorting childishly "am not!".
"Hush you two!" hisses Lily. "They're about to start!"
They fall quiet and watch.
Ollivander and Scabior are now alone on the platform. Their gazes are locked together, each waiting for the other to make the first move. After a few more seconds, Scabior feigns left and casts a hex at Ollivander. The seventh-year throws up a shielding charm and holds it in place as Scabior sends off another hex, and then a curse.
Finally, Ollivander appears to have come up with some sort of plan as she lets the charm drop and narrowly misses getting struck in the face with a cutting curse. Her fingers flit to her newly chopped hair and she frowns. Severus wonders what she'll do now. A surprising number of girls and women are quite attached to their hair and get nasty if anyone messes with it.
Cut hairs flopping behind her ear, Ollivander dodges yet another enchantment Scabior casts at her and ducks and rolls forward. She shoots a Leg-Locker Curse at Scabior that he isn't quite quick enough to get out of the way of in time. The boy scowls as he hops out of striking distance of the seventh-year's next spell. He spends the next several minutes all but throwing himself out of the way of brightly colored streams of light. He visibly begins to tire, shoulders heaving up and down with exhaustion.
Severus thinks its the start of the end of the duel. However, Scabior proves him wrong when he hunkers down on his stomach and pulls the ribbon from his hair. Moving faster than he has ever before he transfigures it into a long wood plank and throws it to the platform between him and Ollivander. It only causes the seventh-year to pause for a moment, however, before she's back to casting hexes and jinxes at Scabior.
This time, Scabior holds up a shielding charm for a time instead of rolling and diving out of the way of the spells. A few minutes later when Ollivander begins to advance on him, moving closer to the plank of wood, Scabior drops the charm and shoves off to the right while shooting an enchantment in the direction of Ollivander's feet. The seventh-year jumps back just in time to avoid going up in flames like the plank of wood that was at her feet. The flames quickly take over the entire piece of wood, creating a wall of fire that hampers Severus's view of Scabior – and Ollivander's as well.
'Clever,' Severus thinks. The platform itself has been spelled to be resistant to flames, but Scabior has found a way around that by using the hair-ribbon Ollivander lent him at the start of the duel.
For her part, she frowns and uses an Aguamenti spell to put it out. When the flames are all but gone and it's now a wall of smoke instead between her and Scabior, the boy makes an appearance. He leaps through the smoke, legs no longer stuck together, and sends off a round of spells at Ollivander. The seventh-year blocks most of them, but ends up falling to the ground when she doesn't manage to perry a freezing charm in time.
Instead of immediately taking her wand from her, Scabior kicks the smoldering plank away first – stopping any chance of her hair or robe catching fire – and then takes his wand physically from her fingers by carefully prying them apart one-by-one. When finished, he raises it in the air for all of Hogwarts to see. The applause is not immediate, so great is everyone's shock, but after a moment, it does come. Loudly.
Scabior grins and, using his own wand, undoes the freezing charm on Ollivander as Demitri makes his way onto the platform. Severus's grandfather's face is fixed in an expression of sufferance with bright, furious eyes. Who he's more angry with is anyone's guess, Severus thinks. With Scabior for having the audacity to beat someone five years his senior, at Ollivander for not using whatever enchantment it is he shared with her to secure her win, or Severus for showing him as he promised.
Ollivander now sitting up, blinks a few times and then takes back her wand from Scabior when he hands it to her. Scabior must have said something, as she smiles at him and shakes her head. Using the second-year's offered hand to get back up at her feet, she then places it on his shoulder and leaves it there as Demitri comes to their sides and quiets the crowds to announce with barely hidden vitriol Scabior as the champion of the dueling tournament.
The students holler their excitement and joy. Though, there are a few cries of dissent and some mutterings starting here and there about the possibility of Scabior being a cheat because he's thirteen and Ollivander's eighteen, but it dies away quickly enough when the seventh-year draws Scabior close into a protective, half-embrace and tells the boy, but loudly enough for all to hear, "Thank you, Scabior for the duel. It was a magnificent lesson in creativity. I am glad I lost fairly today, rather than won wrongfully."
She smiles airily, but her eyes are dark and deadly as any ocean storm when they come to rest on Severus's grandfather. The old man goes taut where he stands just steps away from the children. He does not say anything, however, as Ollivander guides herself and Scabior off the platform and to her waiting friends, who Severus know are asking without even having to hear them:
"What does that mean?"
Severus's gaze moves from the two, to his grandfather, whose face is white and hard as he stalks off the stage. Severus then looks to the rest of Hogwarts staff, who are talking amongst themselves now, watching Demitri as he pushes his way through the gaping, inquiring students and out of the Great Hall. He considers what might happen now. Ollivander's let the kneazle out of the bag. She's going to elaborate for her friends on her veiled remark and then it's going to spread to the rest of Ravenclaw, then Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Gryffindor. The professors will hear too. They will look judgingly on his grandfather and perhaps ask questions of their own.
In conclusion, it does not take a genius to see the old man will not be coming back to teach a second year at Hogwarts. Someone so unscrupulous can't be trusted to teach children, after all. What kind of lessons would they learn from Demitri if not bad ones? Severus tries to feel regret, sadness, sympathy, but he can't. All he feels is satisfaction. His grandfather has paid.
And there we are! Scabior is champion :) Demitri's been taken down by the "curse" and won't be coming back to Hogwarts again next year. Thoughts as a whole on this chapter? How did you enjoy the duel? Getting to know Luna's mother a little more?
Thank you for reading guys, I appreciate it!