A/N: Written for the Draco's Den FB group's Half-Blood Prince competition in 2020. This is round 2 which was the Skele-Gro Potion. I was given the choice to include at least two of the following: Marcus Flint, Tracey Davis, and Flora Carrow. Many thanks to my beta, LumosLyra, for her attention to detail. Thank you!
If you liked this (or hated it) let me know about it in a review! I made a manip for this, you can find it on my Tumblr at crochetawayhpff, search for Dracos Den.
Summary: Flora Carrow's resolve is ironclad. She's going to need it to get through Hogwarts this year.
Pairing: Gen - Flora Carrow & Marcus Flint
Rating: T
Warnings: Torture, Cruciatus Curse
Resolve
"Again!" Alecto Carrow shouted spittle flying from her mouth as Flora tried not to flinch away from her aunt. The longer Alecto made her torture people, the more insane her aunt seemed to become. It fed into Flora's theory that too much dark magic would drive anyone to madness—even just directing someone else casting a dark spell seemed to affect her aunt.
Flora hardened her heart. Gritting her teeth, she gathered her will and pointed her wand at Marcus again. Dear, sweet Marcus who had only come to Hogwarts to deliver a message. Alecto did not believe in leaving the messenger unharmed.
"Cruicio," Flora invoked with as much conviction as she could muster, imagining that it was Alecto under her wand and not Marcus. Marcus, who had always done his best to look out for her and Hestia. Marcus, who was so bloody gorgeous that her crush flourished despite knowing he would never see her as anything more than a kid sister. Marcus, who wanted nothing to do with this stupid war, but hadn't made it out of Britain in time to avoid getting swept up in it.
Marcus, whose father was part of the Dark Lord's inner circle. Marcus, who had come to her sobbing over the summer when the brand was fresh, raw, and red on his arm. She had healed him then, giving him the cache of healing potions she had brewed late at night to take to school with her this year Flora knew her sadistic aunt and uncle would make the school year worse than the previous years, but she hadn't anticipated they would have made it quite this hellish.
It was just after Christmas and half the school's population had seemingly disappeared. Flora was certain they were still lurking about Hogwarts, but they stopped attending classes. Nearly all of the Gryffindors and half of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were absent. It angered Alecto and Amycus to the point that they tortured students from all houses for the smallest infraction.
Marcus's arms spasmed, cracking against the floor—broken, she was certain, but his arms saved his head from bouncing off of the stone. She hoped she had enough healing potions in her bag, knowing Alecto would just leave him in the corridor for someone else to clean up.
Flora's entire body clenched as she willed herself to drown out the loathing she held for her aunt, it wouldn't do for Alecto to see the hatred burning in Flora's eyes. She took a few deep breaths to calm the shaking in her hands, unsure if it was due to anger, fear, or some heady combination of the two.
"Good, very good," Alecto cooed, setting a heavy hand on Flora's shoulder. "That'll teach this poor excuse for a wizard to bring such news to me." Alecto turned away and Flora kept still as she listened to her aunt walk away, until she could no longer hear the swish of heavy skirts or the strike of her boots on the stone.
Kneeling at Marcus's side, she assessed his condition as quickly as possible. His breathing was heavy and he appeared to have lost consciousness. Checking his pulse, she found it thready and weak and an involuntary moan worked its way out of her throat. She would never be able to forgive herself if she killed him. His arms were definitely broken, but a quick examination of his head told her that he hadn't sustained any skull fractures, and she was thankful as that level of trauma was above her meager healing skills.
"Oh, Marcus," she murmured as she dug through her school bag for the perpetual stash of healing potions. "I'm so sorry. I should have refused her, stood up to her, something. I should have been stronger for you."
Her hands shook as she lined the potions up next to Marcus's unconscious body, and took a deep breath to steady herself.
She continued to castigate herself as she began administering potions. First, she needed to stabilize him long enough to get him to the Slytherin dormitory. With his broken bones, he would need to rest overnight, and absolutely no magical transportation was recommended while Skele-Gro was still in his system.
She wished that she could go to Madam Pomfrey for help, but that was out of the question. The hospital wing was monitored and Alecto would be furious if she found out Flora was helping Marcus after torturing him. She cast a diagnostic charm that she only understood a bit of, noting that his blood pressure was adequate and the healing potions had strengthened his heart rate. She thought he was stable enough to move.
Once she was safely back to her dormitory and Marcus was lying on her bed, looking entirely too large for it, she finally let go of all of the emotions she had bottled up inside over the last few hours. Her fear, anger, and frustration all came to a head and she found herself huddled next to her bed, her face pressed to her knees as she cried, trying to keep as quiet as possible. Marcus was still unconscious, but she didn't want to alert anyone else who may not be in class to what was going on. Her roommates would cover for her, but the last thing she needed was Amycus, Alecto, or worst of all Snape, finding out that she was harboring Marcus.
It took several long minutes for her to calm down. She practiced deep breathing and willed her hands would stop shaking, so she could administer the necessary potions. You still have work to do. Get through it. One step at a time.
Skele-Gro, first. Blood-Replenishing next, and finally Dreamless Sleep. It was a mantra in her head as she willed herself to move.
~Fin~