Archie decided that today would be the day he would ask his long time friend to the ball. He hadn't seen anyone making an attempt, and figured she wouldn't give them the time of day anyway. Usually, he would have literally jumped her right after the announcement, but Harry had advised him to give her some space and ask her in about a week, without making an ass of himself. Harry wasn't one to give advice on such things, but he did say that it would be infinitely less annoying of him if he did it this way.
Archie had finally caught up to her after a Potions class only to receive the shock of his young life.
There was Stephanie, her arms wrapped around seventh year Slytherin Quidditch captain Marcus Flint. The very same Slytherin who Harry had so eloquently stated 'must have been hit in the face with a large wooden plank…several times', had his tongue down Stephanie's throat.
Pulling back from the kiss, Stephanie smirked in his direction with oddly vacant eyes, motioning for Flint to take a look. Flint turned around from his leaning position against the wall and mirrored Stephanie's smirk when he spotted Archie standing not ten meters from them with an expression mixed between shocked and devastated.
Archie felt his eyes stinging something fierce and prayed to whatever gods were watching down on him that what he was seeing wasn't true. It had to be a prank, one that Harry cruelly set up as a payback for hiding his underwear from him that one day; but no matter how much he wished for it, he knew Harry would never do such a thing. When Archie levelled his eyes on Stephanie's, shocked to feel a single tear escaping, he noticed her expression flicker between several different emotions ever so subtlety and quickly before the vacant look in her eyes returned. Flint sneered at him and led her away by the elbow, leaving Archie alone in the corridor to his thoughts.
If Harry was surprised that Archie had randomly barged into their dorm room, fists swinging, interrupting his private studying session, with red eyes and tear stains marring his cheeks, he didn't show it.
"You told me to wait!" he hollered, swinging once again at Harry, who was trying to piece together what the hell happened from his friend's random pieces of information.
"You told me to wait and I did!" he screamed again "imagine my surprise when I see Flintwith his tongue down Stephanie'sthroat,in the middle of a corridor, in plain sight" he shrieked at the end, continuing his wild swings at Harry, missing every time, as Harry dodged around his friend carefully.
Finally, realising what must have happened – much to his disgust – Harry whipped out his wand and with a backhanded thrust, sent a body-binding hex at Archie.
"Harry, let me go so I can kick the shit out of you!" Archie hollered, trying and failing to break out of the bindings.
"Odd, wouldn't you say" Harry began, completely ignoring Archie "that Stephanie, someone who has rejected much better looking guys in the past, on several occasion might I add" he added, looking at Archie pointedly "has randomly hooked up with, in my opinion, either the ugliest guy in the school, or the best looking troll. Not only that, but Stephanie, someone who shies away from public displays of…well…anything, is seen snogging said troll in the middle of a corridor?" Archie seemed to be calming down slightly, as he stop resisting the body bind and begun listening to reason "then there's the fact that if you, her best friend, ever even entertained thethought of licking her face, especially in public, she would not only rip out your tongue, be should would make you lick your own balls with it once she did so, then proceed to shove it up your ass" both boys winced at the, admittedly, disgusting mental picture, however true it was.
Archie calmed down, though tears were still randomly falling from his eyes "What are you trying to say Harry? That I was hallucinating? That I didn't see what I saw? Because I assure you, I did…" he said, dropping on Harry's chair by his desk, much to said boy's chagrin, and putting his head in his hands – he did look rather defeated in such a position though.
"Did you notice anything else that you can tell me, anything at all that seemed a little off…?" Harry prompted as he lay down on his bed, in a thinking pose.
There was a tense silence between the two, with only the sounds of laughter and chatter filtering from the common room downstairs ever so slightly disturbing it.
"She had this really vacant look in her eyes" Archie said, the usual jovial tone to his voice completely vanishing and leaving behind a completely hollow imitation of what it used to be.
Harry narrowed his eyes dangerously at the ceiling "Anything else?" he asked, his temper getting the best of him if what he assumed to be the case was true.
"Well" Archie began, unsure of himself "there is one other thing, but I'm not sure if it means anything…" he began "when I looked at her, right in the eye, for an explanation…she didn't give one, but her face…like…twisted?" he tried to explain "it's like she was constipated for a second before that blank look came across her face again…I dunno, it just seemed really weird, Flint noticed it too, because he dragged her away real quick after it…"
Suddenly, Archie got the feeling that the temperature in the room dropped several degrees. Harry sat up from his lying position on the bed, his head bowed forward as the light reflected off his lenses, completely blocking his eyes from view and giving him a sinister look.
"Archades" he began, his voice sending shivers down Archie's spine "we need to find her immediately, it sounds like she was put under a very poorImperio curse" he said gravely. The second the words left Harry's mouth, Archie's blood ran cold, flashes of his dying mother flying through his mind's eye before a white hot rage consumed him.
"I'll kill him" he said, and Harry believed him too. There was no emotion in his claim, just a deadly calm that someone used when stating a fact. Archie rushed over to his trunk and pulled out four vials, each filled with a different substance, differentiating in colour (one of which, he noticed, looked just like water). Pocketing the vials, Archie looked to Harry and walked straight out the door towards his target.
Harry sighed quietly the second he left, cursing whichever god was watching over him for ruining his perfectly good evening before following his friend out the door, his wand clutched in his trembling hand. He had known something like this was going to happen, he had suspected it, yet done nothing! Someone was going to pay dearly for this…
Archie slammed open the doors of the great hall, hoping Stephanie was with the troll faced bastard at dinner or else he probably wouldn't be able to find her any time soon. Luckily for the two Ravenclaw fourth years, and unluckily for Flint, he was seated casually surrounded by his friends with Stephanie to his right, snuggled closely by his side.
Flint spotted Archie storming in his direction and sent another smirk at him, by now, they had the attention of everyone in the hall.
"Evening Montague" he said, a grin on his face, which quickly faded when Archie reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial with a smoky, black substance on the inside before throwing it at the feet of the Slytherin Quidditch captain and his friends. Harry, from his point hidden in the shadows, saw a large cloud of smoke rise up from the broken vial, cloaking those within with a black mist that no one could see through. Gasps of shock came from most of the students and teachers who had been watching while Dumbledore rose from his seat and pulled out his wand.
Acting quickly, Harry struck from the shadows, plucking Marcus Flint from his seat, amidst more gasps, and pointing his wand to his temple in a threatening way.
"Headmaster, unless you want this inbred swine's puny brain scattered across the great hall, you will stand down" his voice, deadly serious, called out to the aged wizard who looked to Harry with no small amount of shock. Who would have thought the usually apathetic, academic genius would pull such a stunt. Harry eyes Flitwick out of the corner of his eyes with a betrayed and disgusted look on his face, but he had no time to worry about what his head of house thought of him in such a situation.
"Mister Potter, unhand Mister Flint right this instant and you may not be expelled" Dumbledore's voice called out to the fourteen year old seriously, but Harry didn't relent. Archie burst out of the smoke cloud with a thankful not to his friend, placing a paralysed Stephanie who had a murderous look in her eyes by the wall which they had placed their backs to.
"Dear Marcus will come to no harm if you make no moves and he is innocent, you may punish us afterwards accordingly if what we think to be the case here be untrue" Harry called back.
"Tilt his head back and open his mouth" Archie instructed, as Harry nodded.
Seeing Flint resisted Harry's iron like grip, Harry leaned in and whispered in a deadly tone "Open your mouth Marcus, before I slam your head through that brick wall and truly see how resistant a troll's skin can be" he hissed. Looking franticly to the headmaster, who was steadily trying to flank the two Ravenclaws, while Snape went from the opposite direction, Flint desperately tried to yell for help, but he knew if he opened his mouth, the crazy looking Ravenclaw before him would drug him with some obscure potion – the boy's skills with a cauldron were no secret to anyone.
Harry, growling in frustration, pinched his nose so that he would eventually have no choice but to open his mouth, which he expectantly did, whereby Archie placed three drops of the clear substance on the ugly seventh year boy's tongue.
"Veritaserum?" Harry asked, with an impressed tone. Archie allowed a brief smirk to cross his features before glaring at Flint, whose eyes had become dilated, signifying that the effects have taken hold.
Casting a quick Sonorous charm on the Slytherin, so his testimony could be heard, Archie asked the question loud enough for all to hear.
"What is your name?" the question caught Dumbledore and Snape off guard, who stopped in their tracks when the realized they had only used a truth serum on the Slytherin, controlled Ministry substance or not, three drops would not harm him.
"Marcus Octavius Flint" he answered, as if he were in a trance. Harry quickly angled Flint in a way to use him as a shield from some of his friends who had tried to discreetly get behind them.
"Do you support 'You-know-who' and his beliefs?" the question was a surprise to some, but not the smarter students and professors in the room, it would prove if the potions was truly working for no one would willingly admit to that with a room full of witnesses under truth serum.
"Yes" he answered, though he visibly struggled with the answer, as if he was trying to fight the effects of the truth serum. Harry cast a meaningful look to Dumbledore who raised a hand towards Snape, the both of them stopping and allowing them to ask their questions.
"Did you place the Imperius curse on Stephanie Zabini to force her…" Archie's voice broke at this "to force her to become your girlfriend?"
There were gasps of shock throughout the great hall as a result of the question; Dumbledore had visibly paled at the implications. Flint was sweating hard, trying with all his might to resist the effects of the potion, but it was no use.
"Y-yes" he ground out, amidst more cried of shock.
"Why?" he asked, a simpler question.
"She refused to be my date for the upcoming ball" he answered, without as much struggle; he seemed to be resigned to his fate.
"How long has she been under the effects of your Imperious curse?"
"Three days" during the questioning, more gasps were heard with every answer. Snape was surprised to see Harry giving him his best death glare, lesser men would have peed their pants at the sight.
"Did you ever…" Archie's voice broke as tears streaked down his face "did you ever force yourself on her, did you ever rape her?" his shoulders were shaking, as he tried to suppress his grief.
"No" he answered "I was waiting for the night of the ball to do that" dead silence met his proclamation until…
"BASTARD!" Archie yelled, slugging him in the face with all his might before whipping out his wand.
"Arvada Ked…" Harry fired a quick stunner into Flint's back to knock him out before tacking his friend to the ground.
"Harry get off me!" he yelled "you heard what he was going to do! I'll kill him!" he raged, as Harry pinned his arms to the ground and Dumbledore rushed to the downed Flint and bound him with some ropes.
"Stephanie needs you to not be a fucking idiot for once in your life" Harry whispered harshly in his friend's ear, which promptly stopped his struggling. Harry got off the grief stricken boy who immediately rushed over to his lifelong friend and picked her up bridal style, ignoring the hate filled glare she was sending at him for harming her 'boyfriend'.
The silence in the hall was finally broken when Dumbledore spoke up, levitating Flint before him "Mister Potter, Mister Montague, Severus, Filius, will you please follow me to my office, bring young Miss Zabini with you" he ordered, as the ones mentioned followed. Archie sent a quick nod to Blaise who looked to be shell shocked.
Dumbledore had the still bound Stephanie sitting in the headmaster's chair in his office while softly chanting something under his breath, trying to break Flint's Imperius curse. Thanking the stars that the one placed on her was rather weak; it didn't take long for the effects to fade.
She blinked rapidly as the curse was lifted before looking around the people in the room, then, in a quiet voice; she looked to Archie in desperation "It wasn't a dream?"
Archie looked to Harry, as if asking what he should say. The boy shrugged as Archie looked back to her and shook his head curtly. Tears welled up in her eyes, though she tried with all her might to hold them back. It was no use, however, as the floodgates were already open and she launched herself into Archie's arms, crying hysterically, and apologizing over and over.
"Shh, it's not your fault, I'm not mad at you" he assured her while rubbing circles around her back, the whole time, glaring angrily at the stupefied Slytherin head of house. Looking to Harry, Archie lead Stephanie to him "take her for a second, I need to speak with the headmaster" he instructed.
Harry just looked at him incredulously, then at the crying girl who still had her head buried in his chest "This is very expensive Acromantula silk" Harry tried to point out, but it was no use as the, still extremely angry boy, practically shoved her into his arms. Harry pet her back awkwardly as Archie turned on Snape, and quicker then anyone could follow, he clocked his hero right in his hooked nose.
"You bastard!" he yelled, as Dumbledore moved to restrain him "you're telling me you couldn't tell one of your snakes was under a shitty imperious curse?!" he raged, as Dumbledore held him still, allowing the Potions Master time to recover, his nose was now bleeding freely "I only told Harry a brief description of what I saw from her and he figured it out! You're telling me, you, who practically creams over the concept of the dark arts, couldn't fucking spot a shitty placed Imperius curse?!"
"Mister Montague, please calm down, Professor Snape has been very busy lately working with Professor Sprout and preparing some mature Mandrakes for the Mandrake Draught" he reasoned as Archie shrugged out of the headmaster's strong grip.
As Harry watched on, he got a good look of the extremely weird office that was guarded by a stone gargoyle on their way up. The office was mainly clattered with random trinkets and pieces of parchment, littering the place, with a golden perch placed by the desk – what the perch was for, Harry could only assume. He had heard the headmaster had a phoenix, but wasn't sure if that was true…
"How can Stephanie ever feel safe again in her own house when some random piece of shit can walk up to her and Imperius her into going to afuckingdance with them?!" he raged, not caring in the slightest that he was swearing.
"Watch your language Archie" Flitwick warned, and promptly squeaked in fright when the brown haired boy levelled a killer glare on him.
"We're going," he told Harry coldly "I swear, if Flint isn't in Azkaban by morning, I'll kill him myself" he threatened, before taking Stephanie from Harry again and leaving the office through the only exit.
The silence in the air was almost tangible as the four remaining people in the room eyes each other, not counting the unconscious Slytherin on the ground.
"You do know the Zabinis will pull Stephanie out of the school and press charges, do you not?" he suddenly broke the silence. Dumbledore nodded tiredly while Snape's usually scowl deepened. Harry eyed his Charm's professor once, who sent him an apologetic look before he too turned to leave, leaving the professors to argue amongst themselves.
Archie watched with sadness and Harry dispassionately as Stephanie boarded the Hogwarts express back to King's Cross station. The very next day after the incident with Flint, an infuriated Bianca and Antonio Floo'd to Hogwarts and had 'words' with the headmaster. Flint, being of age, was sentenced to lifetime in Azkaban for attempted rape and use of an Unforgivable while the Zabinis immediately pulled Stephanie out of Hogwarts. Apparently Antonio had connections with the board of Beauxbatons Academy for Magic in France, who easily accepted the girl at their school. Stephanie may not have excelled in any subject like Harry and Archie, but she consistently ranked in the top five for every one of her subjects, which was quite impressive for a non-Ravenclaw. With scores like she had, Beauxbatons welcomed her with open arms, stating that her scores at Hogwarts were more then adequate to allow a transfer, even if it was a mid year one.
The news, quite obviously, was met with mixed reactions from Archie. He was happy that he wouldn't have to worry about her safety again, since the French based school was an all girls academy, but also depressed that he would be spending even less time with her (with his job on the summer, he hardly saw her as it was during that time).
"Look at it this way" Harry interrupted the silence as the two stood as Hogsmeade station, watching the train leave into the horizon "at least you won't have any competition for her affections" he said, with a smirk, which caused Archie's mood to brighten slightly.
"Unless she meets someone during the summer" Harry reminded the boy, enjoying how he could so easily bring up his hopes, only to crush them again – it was a cruel game he enjoyed playing.
"Don't even joke about that mate" he said, grinning weakly as Harry shrugged.
"She could become a lesbian?" he offered helpfully, dodging instinctively, expecting some form of retaliation from Archie, however, all he was met with was a dazed teen.
"That's so hot" he mumbled under his breath. Harry sighed with annoyance, kicking his friend behind the knee, causing him to buckle under his own weight and stumble onto the ground.
"Hey, dick!" he yelled indignantly while Harry skipped around him and towards the carriages taking them back to Hogwarts. Archie would be alright, he hoped.