A Subtle Obsession
By: Twisted Mister
Chapter 5:
Carwyn had been dreaming about his first visit to Hogsmeade, it felt so real almost like he was reliving it again. As he slowly regained consciousness from his nightmare, he felt a hot breath on his face. Soft words seemed to come from the other end of a long tunnel. "I'll make this up to you, I promise." The voice sounded strangely familiar, he opened his eyes. Someone was staring at him, inches away from his face. He froze in fear as the figure darted back nervously, his blurred vision focused and standing there with a look of shock on his face was Dirk.
"Dirk?" Carwyn said sleepily. A sheering pain shot through him like a bolt of lightning. He let out a loud cry gripping his blankets tightly. Dirk looked at him with worry etched on every line of his face. "Please Dirk get me a potion. I can't stand the pain it hurts too much." Carwyn grunted out as he motioned beside him. Dirk walked swiftly over to his bed stand and looked at the various potions sitting a top it. When he found the right one he opened it eyeing him carefully. Dirk grabbed his face gently and dipped its contents into his mouth. Gulping down the bitter liquid all the pain Carwyn felt subsided immediately, he looked up at his friend and said. "Thanks Dirk, why did you come and visit me so late?"
Several emotions flickered across Dirk's face. "I w-was worried about you Quig- Carwyn." Dirk's face flushed red. "Well I really appreciate it Dirk, it's not like you to sneak out at night. Have you been hanging around with Sirius and James?" He gave him a little grin. "Maybe." Dirk continued in a voice unlike his own. "You know they were the ones that saved you after you got attacked." Carwyn felt something drop in the pit of his stomach. They were the ones that recused him? Speechless, his heart filled with gratitude for the boys that saved him.
"That was really nice of them." Dirk said breaking the silence. "Yeah they were brilliant. I'm going to thank them the first chance I get." He said blinking away the tears welling up in the corner of his eyes. Looking anxious again Dirk blurted out. "W-who attacked you Cc-Carwyn." his voice shaking heavily as he spoke. Carwyn felt as if he was doused in ice water at this question. 'I can't tell him... or anyone for that matter, if I did she would kill me. Even if she doesn't then I'm sure one of the pureblood families would...They'd place a hit on me or something for getting her expelled... I'll have to tell everyone that I didn't see who it was.' He looked at Dirk who was shaking madly avoiding his gaze. "I-I didn't see the person that attacked me. They had their face covered, I don't even know if it was a boy or a girl." Carwyn lied. Dirk looked up at him with disbelief written all over his face.
Carwyn felt anger flare up from within him. "What? Do you seriously think I would lie about who attacked me? I want to see whoever did it brought to justice more than anybody." Dirk shook his head and said. "No I don't think you are lying, we all thought you would have saw who did it. I'm just glad you are okay." He said consolingly reaching out to pat Carwyn on the back. "Alright mate I'm fine. The cuts are a bit painful but they will heal in time. So whats been going on with you?" Dirk shrugged and told him about the incident with Peeves and the suit of armor. Carwyn laughed at his retelling of the bizarre story. "You know I remember one day when ole Peeves swooped down on Bellatrix and dumped an inkwell on top of her head! You should have seen it, she chased him through the castle screaming and firing jinxes at him." At this Dirk's face went red as he bent over in silent laughter.
Carwyn was about to say something else but he paused... Dirk's hair was a shade darker and it started growing rapidly. "Hey Dirk what is up with your hair?" Dirk grabbed at his locks panic stricken and quickly turned on his heal and said. "Gotta go, see you." Taking off through the curtains, a few moments later he heard the doors to the hospital wing open and close. "How weird, I'll have to ask him about that later." He thought scratching his head. Laying down, he deciding to get some sleep, maybe the nurse would let him out tomorrow.
Bellatrix was running back to the dungeons as fast as she could, she had darted behind a tapestry when Flich passed her wheezing with his cat Mrs Norris. Her robes felt uncomfortably tight after she had transformed back into her usual state. 'I was so stupid. He saw me changing, I should have been watching the clock.' Bellatrix was relieved as she finally reached the portrait hole. "Wormwood." saying as it slid open.
Crawling through she tiptoed towards her dorms. "Funny finding you out this late Bella, where have you been?" Bellatrix saw her sister sitting by the fire in her nightgown with an amused smirk on her face. Feeling her face flush red with embarrassment she choked on her words. "Oh hey Cissy….I went on a little nighttime stroll that's all." Narcissa grinned playfully at her sister. "I can see that Bella, what are you wearing?" Bellatrix looked down and noticed she was still wearing the tight, uncomfortable, Griffindor robes. "Oh this, um this is nothing." Tapping the robes with her wand they magically expanded and turned back to emerald green. "Trying to tease Quigley? You may have to try harder than that to get into his good books." Cissy smiled as her sister scowled. "I wasn't trying to tease him, I just wanted to go see how he was doing." Narcissa's eyes lit up, she pulled her sister down into the seat next to her. "Tell me what happened Bella please." Bellatrix let out a long sigh and began her story.
She told her about potions class, conveniently leaving out the love potion. Narcissa's had gasped and asked questions at all the right places when she had described the encounter with Quigley in the hospital wing and her narrow escape. "Wow, Bella he didn't even know it was you, did he?" She asked gaping. "Well no, but I started to transform back and he noticed it!" Bellatrix said giggling. "Just admit it Bella you like him." Feeling her face turning pink. "How many times do I have to tell you Cissy I don't like him. After what I did I just wanted to check up on him, to see if he was okay." Cissy rolled her eyes at her. "Sure Bella whatever you say." She got up and strolled over to the staircase. "Goodnight Bella, try not to sneak out to see your boyfriend again."
The next few days passed very slowly for Carwyn. He had to take various potions every hour and all he had to do was sleep or sit in his bed bored out of his mind. Madam Pompfrey hadn't allowed him any visits because according to her he was in "critical condition". The only person that got to see him was Professor Dumbledore. Carwyn was in awe at first he had never spoken to the headmaster before, but he warmed up to the ancient wizard quite easily.
The headmaster's presence relaxed him as they chatted causally about things, until he started asking him about the attack. "Mr Quigley I know it may be difficult, but can you please describe to me what happened on the night you was attacked." Carwyn knew Dumbledore would ask him about it, after all that was what he was here for. "Yes sir, I was heading to the bathroom after dinner. That's when I was hit from behind by a hex, My head collided really hard with the floor and my vision went blurry. I saw a hooded figure running towards me with their wand out, I couldn't even tell if it was a boy or a girl. Whoever it was kept cutting me over and over, I screamed for them to stop but they didn't listen. I begged them professor….Then I went unconscious and didn't wake up until late last night." The professor listened to his story without interrupting, giving him a look of pity.
Carwyn felt really bad about lying to Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster had treated him so kindly and he knew that being dishonest wasn't a good way to return the favor. The professor looked at him for a moment with those piercing blue eyes and said. "Very well Mr Quigley, thank you for telling me your story. I will do all that I can to find the perpetrator and bring them to justice, rest well my boy." Swallowing the lump in his throat Carwyn nodded.
He was finally going to be let out today Monday morning, he was so excited to get back to his classes and see his friends. Before he left the ward the nurse pulled him to the side. "Quigley take it easy for the next few days, make sure to apply that paste I gave you on your scars daily. Eventually most of them will go away, whenever you feel pain drink your potions, come back to me whenever you run out. Most importantly stay safe dear." He smiled and said. "Yes ma'am." Finally free he ran down the marble staircase to the great hall.
Quigley steeled himself for a second and walked past the double doors into the great hall. Many students turned to look at him as he strode inside. Keeping a causal expression was difficult, people stared at him and whispered to each other when he passed. His fellow Slytherin's were cold as usual, staring daggers at him and commenting loudly saying his face looked uglier than before. That's when he saw her, he felt something like dread wash over him as he pasted. She didn't turn towards him, her eyes were fixed on the table un-moving.
He sat down in his usual spot and began to eat breakfast, that's when he noticed Lily and Dirk waving enthusiastically at him from across the hall, Carwyn smiled and waved back. It lifted his spirits, at least a few people wanted to see him. After breakfast he put on his rucksack and headed straight for transfiguration, he could hardly wait. He was among the first people to arrive in the classroom, he greeted Professor McGonagall who beamed at him. "Mr Quigley it is good to finally see you in my classroom this year. I hope you had a good recovery in the hospital wing." Quigley nodded. "Yes professor I did, most of my wounds are healed, I'm glad to be shut of that place it was so boring." She gave him a soft look. "I am relieved to hear your injuries weren't too serious."
That's when James, Remus, and Sirius entered the room the trio chatting animatedly. Carwyn approached slowly, he owed them his thanks at the very least. Noticing him their conversation stopped at once and an awkward silence stretched for a uncomfortably long time. "Hey guys I just wanted to say thank you for saving me, I would have died if you didn't. thanks I owe you one big time." Carwyn said scratching his head nervously, he had never been good at these sort of thing.
The trio looked at each other and James cracked a smile. "Hey it's no problem mate, when we saw you down that hallway we thought you were dead. All of us were relieved when we knew you was going to pull through." James looked at Sirius and started laughing. "But you should have seen Lily she went mental like a wild hippogriff after she found out what happened to you." James did an impression of Lily. "You idiots left me a bloody letter!" His face went red as all of them burst out laughing, he laughed so hard his side hurt.
Students started to pour in and Quigley took a seat, Sirius sat down beside him. "I said that I would be your partner for the year." He was speechless never had someone wanted to be his partner, he was always the last pick for everything. "That's fine Sirius thanks." Sirius cleared his throat and asked. "Hey Carwyn um this may be a bit personal but who attacked you?" He was taken aback. 'Was this the reason why he wanted to be my partner, too extract information out of me?' Carwyn looked away. "I don't remember who did it. I hit my head hard on the floor and the attacker was hooded, I didn't see their face."
Sirius looked at him cooly leaning back in his chair. "Mate I've told a lot of lies in my life, big and small. Let me say that you aren't that great at it. You know who did it, you are just too afraid to say who." It was like a red hot flame had been suddenly stoked to life inside him, he slammed his fist on the table and got within a few inches of Sirius's face. "I told you that I don't know who it was and so mind your own business Black." Sirius flinched, he had never seen Quigley so angry before much less speak. People turned their heads to see what was going on, he looked away from them and stared angrily at the door.
Bellatrix made her way to class a few minutes before the bell rang. She had purposely spent a long time in the bathrooms, so she didn't have to go in too early. Wanting to put off what was likely to be a very tense and awkward encounter with Quigley. She kept her eyes on the ground as she made her way to the table Rudolphus was sitting at. "Good Morning Bellatrix... its lovely day today isn't it?" She frowned avoiding his gaze. "Good morning, yes it is." Professor McGonagall stood up and began her lesson. Today they were learning how to how to change the color of their hair, everyone was given a mirror and were instructed to change the color of their eyebrows.
Bellatrix tried over and over again but she couldn't manage it. Every now and then Bellatrix would glance at Quigley in her reflection seeing his face deep in concentration, she quit when she saw Rudolphus staring at her creepily. Quigley was the only person in class that was able to successfully cast the spell, he changed his eyebrows to violet, maroon, bright green and back again. He was teaching her cousin Sirius how to do it when the bell rang. "Everyone practice tonight for a fresh attempt tomorrow." McGonagall said aloud as everyone packed up their things.
Bellatrix packed her things quickly, ignoring Rudolphus's farewell. Her heart beating rapidly as she tried not to shake. 'No it can't be this soon. What will I say to him? Tell him I'm sorry… no I'm too much of a coward.' Taking in steadying breaths she walked slowly to Defense Against the Dark Arts, feeling like she was walking to the gallows.
Carwyn strode briskly down the hall to DADA, today had gone pretty well so far. In transfiguration him and Sirius had a bit of a row, but he soon got over it and they both practiced together. He couldn't wait to talk to Lily and Dirk, maybe he would catch them after class and they could go outside to enjoy the last of the summer weather.
Quigley entered the classroom with a crowd of Hufflepuffs, looking around curiously he wondered who was teaching this year. Spotting a gray haired man in dark robes he walked over and introduced himself. "Welcome Mr Quigley, My name is Professor White I hope you are ready to learn defense, you have missed a couple lessons but your partner will fill you in no doubt ." "Partner sir?" Carwyn asked questioning. "Yes Miss Black is your partner Quigley." He pointed to Bellatrix sitting alone in the back of the class, her eyes looking anywhere but at him. "Please take a seat class will start soon."
Rage, hatred, and disgust flowed through him in waves as he approached her table. 'Really out of all the people in this class I get paired up with her.' He let his bag slam on the table as he sat stiffly in the chair beside her, moving as far away as he could. The silence between them was so thick you could have cut it with a knife.
After a few minutes Professor White stood up and began the lesson, while he was explaining how non-verbal spells worked. Carwyn heard Bellatrix rummaging through her bag. 'Why hasn't she said anything to me yet? By now I would have been called a mudblood at least twice, she's acting like she can't even see me. Like I'm wearing an invisibility cloak or something." Out of the corner of his eye he saw her lay a few pieces of parchment on the desk. He noticed her small loopy handwriting and assumed that they were her notes.
As the professor lectured on his attention kept drifting back to her. She was fidgeting, something Carwyn never saw her do. He also heard her making little noises as if she was trying to say something but it wouldn't come out. "Today will be your first practical lesson of the year, you will be practicing the shield charm with your partner. One person will attempt to hex, while the other blocks. From this moment onward you are to preform spells non-verbally. Now everyone stand up." Carwyn stood up his mind racing. 'There is no way I am ever going to let this bitch hurt me again, I think I'll do the hexing today." He thought furiously as all the tables flew to the side of the room, stacking themselves up neatly.
"I'll make my way around the classroom to instruct pairs individually, begin." That's when Carwyn looked at her directly for the first time, she gazed back at him. Bellatrix was biting her lip nervously, the fierce look in his eyes seemed to scare her. Quigley raised his wand at her slowly in response she did the same, her arm shaking slightly.
The pairs started "dueling" most people were purple faced trying to produce some amount of magic. Bellatrix seemed to understand without a word spoken between them that she was the one meant to be defending. He toyed with her, making quick movements with his wand like he was about to strike. She flinched every time he did anticipating a blow any second.
A disturbing thought came to the surface of Quigley's mind clear as crystal. He felt her sitting on top of him, and saw the manacle grin on her face. Raising her wand and bringing it down upon him. 'Diffindo!' The incantation echoed through his mind as he slashed his wand through the air like a knife. A few feet away he saw her gasp in pain, as a cut opened up on her right shoulder. She put a hand over it to stop the blood flowing, looking up at him. There wasn't a trace of anger or hatred in her eyes, Quigley couldn't tell what emotion it was. "We are just getting started." Looking at her with pure hatred etched on his face.
Carwyn casted the cutting spell over and over again, all of the pain she had inflicted on him over the years, all of the anger he felt towards her exploded out of him in a fury of blows. She didn't even try to defend herself, cuts opened up all over her body, rivulets of blood pouring out of them. The pain was too much for Bellatrix she fell to her hands and knees, doing everything she could to not sob. "I yield!" She cried out covering her arms over her head.
He approached her kneeling form wand in hand. "Fight back!" screaming at the top of his lungs. "Mr Quigley stop! She yields, I can promise you that you'll be sorry if you continue." Feeling a firm hand on his upper arm he looked up, everyone had stopped and they were watching him with wide eyes. Deafening silence filled the room. "Fine." Quigley spat out, yanking his arm free from the professors grip, storming out of the classroom.
Professor White called after him, but soon his attention shifted to the wounded girl laying on the floor. "Come here Miss Black, lets go to the hospital wing." He picked her up in his arms and made for the door.
Quigley was sitting in the owlery, his amber owl Freya perched on his leg hooting softly as he stroked her head. "I shouldn't have done it Freya, I just lost control. What she did to me was cruel, but no one deserves that….. not even her." He bowed his head in shame, feeling like a monster. Freya nipped at his ear affectionately. "She didn't even fight back, that's so unlike her usually she would jump at the chance to hurt me. But something was different today, it was almost like she felt bad or something." Freya hooted softly. "I need to apologize to her, that was cruel what I did, I shouldn't have sunk to her level." Carwyn sat with Freya throughout his lunch period. He didn't want to hear the whispers, more so he felt too ashamed to see Bellatrix.
He was in the potions lab with the Griffindors for the last class of the day. Bellatrix hadn't showed up, Carwyn was worried that he had seriously injured her. When he arrived in the dungeons, Lily came running up to him, she paid the Slytherin's no mind as they scowled at her. "Carwyn! It's so good to see you, how are you feeling? I hope you aren't hurting too much." Carwyn scratched the back of his head smiling.
"I'm doing well, a bit sore but that's about it. So what did I miss in potions." Lily's eyes lit up. "Oh, nothing much. In our first class we had a competition on who could brew the best potion and I won!" She pulled a small bottle from her robes filled with golden liquid. "What is that?" He asked interested. "Felix Felicis, a potion that gives you luck." "Oh cool, I knew you would win it Lily you are the best potion maker I've ever seen...apart from Severus." Lily shot a glare in Snape's direction and said. "Thanks, hey I told Professor Slughorn that I wanted to be your partner this year if that's okay with you." Quigley felt his face burn with heat. "Sure Lily that would be fine."
All in all Carwyn had his best experience in potions to date. He wasn't that great in potions honestly but Lily brought out the best in him. She had him cutting up the ingredients giving him tips while watching the cauldron. Lily had so much patience, she gently corrected him when he was about to do something wrong. Professor Slughorn never bothered to explain things properly, he assuming his students knew how to do everything. But Lily had even showed him how to cut things up neatly and how to hold his knife more comfortably. He was embarrassed about not even knowing how to do the basics but Lily said. "It's alright. How could I expect you to do everything right when were never shown how to in the first place?" Their potion that day got top marks, a grade Carwyn had never received in the subject. He waved goodbye to Lily and went to the great hall for supper.
It felt so painful, Bellatrix was in the hospital wing getting treatment from the school nurse. "Okay dear this might sting." Madam Pompfrey poured essence of ditany over her numerous cuts. She dung her nails into her palms as the torn flesh burned from the liquid. "There you are, count your lucky stars there won't be any scarring. You didn't get cut too deep thankfully." She was relieved to hear that, but the look of hatred on Quigley's face as he hexed her would definitely stay with her. "Madam Pompfrey can I go now please?" The nurse eyed her seriously. "Fine, but I think that you should stay here for at least tonight. You may need a potion for pain." Bellatrix stood up and shook her head. "No I'm okay really, thank you though." She got up walked out of the ward.
Bellatrix was supposed to be in potions class, but didn't feel like going so she made her way back to the common room. No one was there, the injuries she received had drained her of energy. She fell asleep immediately laying down in her bed.
'Where is she?' Carwyn thought as he made his way to the library after supper. 'My god I hope I didn't hurt her too bad.' He sat down at his usual table in a secluded area of the library, pulling out his DADA homework deciding to do the work he missed while in the hospital wing. But he couldn't focus, images of Bellatrix cowering on the floor covered in blood kept haunting him. He left the library a few hours later feeling guilty.
It was late around eleven o'clock when he had returned to the common room, everyone had gone down to bed for an early night. He sat down in an armchair restless. 'I'm not tired at all, I need something to do. I'll go mad if I sit here any longer.' An idea lit up like a light bulb in his head. There was a small little pier on the black lake he used to like going to, often he would take stones with him and skip them across the water. But he had never been there at night, tonight was different though. He desperately needed somewhere to clear his head and think about what he did. So he got up and made his way out of the common room.
Bellatrix woke up wiping the sleep from her eyes, feeling well rested from her nap. Opening the curtains looking around the darkened room, she noticed that everyone was asleep. Still in her bed clothes she put on her slippers and tiptoed across the dorm to the staircase. She planned on going up to the common room to sit by the fire, but she saw someone was still there. It was Quigley! She saw him sitting down by himself. With half a mind to go back down the dorms, she hesitated when he got up strode over to the portrait hole and left. Where was he going to at this time of night?
Yes she could have sat by the fire like she had originally planned, but something in the back of her mind told her to follow him. Wasting no time she ran across the room and climbed through just as Quigley did a few moments ago. Stepping out into the dark dungeons Bellatrix stopped and listened for his footsteps. She heard them growing fainter, it sounded like he was headed up into the castle. Keeping her pace steady she ascended the flight of stairs up to the entrance hall. Hearing the great oak doors creak and then close she knew he was going out to the grounds.
Approaching the large doors she pulled out her wand and muttered. "Silencio." The doors glided open soundlessly as she went out into the night. A cool breeze blew across the grounds causing her to shiver slightly, she looked up and saw the full moon shining brightly over the black waters of the lake. From a distance she watched his silhouette move across the grounds, towards the lake pier. Going from tree to tree Bellatrix slowly made her way closer towards him.
Bellatrix deliberated going back up to the castle, what if he saw her? Honestly she wanted to speak to him. It was like an invisible hand had pushed her, she crept up to the pier silently. Quigley was so close, he was sitting down gazing at the lake. A board creaked loudly as she stepped on it, cursing herself as Quigley turned to look at her.
His mouth fell open in shock as their eyes met, too shocked to say anything. Quigley broke the silence. "Black?" He turned his body around still sitting. "What are you doing here?" Bellatrix felt her cheeks burn as her brain struggled to produce an answer. "Well I… I could ask you the same thing." Quigley frowned and looked down at his knees. "I dunno, I just wanted to get away from it all. Like that's any of your concern." Bellatrix felt the anger rising in her chest. "You must be feeling so sad... Why don't you go running to your mudblood girlfriend Quigley? I'm sure she will listen to you." She said scoffing. Quigley stood up glaring at her. "She isn't my girlfriend leave her, out of it. If you've come here to get revenge for what happened today.. go ahead and do it." Carwyn said crossing his arms.
She felt taken aback. 'He thinks that I'm here for revenge?' "I'm not here for revenge mudblood, I was just curious about your little nighttime stroll." Bellatrix said her voice dripping with sarcasm. Quigley looked at her for a long moment his eyes full of pain. "I'm sorry." He said in a barley audible whisper. "What did you say?" Bellatrix said. "I said that I'm sorry….I shouldn't have hurt you today. I feel really guilty about it…..Even though you attacked me, it wasn't the right thing to do. I hope I didn't hurt you too much." Quigley turned away from her after his apology.
Her heart clenched as she felt tears welling up in her eyes. It took her a long time to respond, feeling a lump tightening in her throat. "That's not very Slytherin of you...Slytherin's don't apologize." She said after awhile not knowing what to say. "Well I'm not most Slytherin's am I? That's been apparent since day one." Bellatrix felt her legs moving without her control closer to him. "Of course you aren't, if you were.." "We wouldn't hate each other." Quigley finished the sentence for her. Bellatrix could feel her heart pounding wildly against her ribcage. "I-i don't know maybe not." She was at a complete loss for words. "Why do we hate each other Bellatrix? I look back at the years and realize how stupid it all is. Both of us have played this game for so long it's ridiculous."
She had wanted to tell him right then that she didn't hate him, that she wanted to be his friend but she didn't have the guts. "It's because your a mudblood, purebloods and mudbloods don't mix." Bellatrix said trying to rationalize it to herself. Quigley spun around suddenly and grabbed her by the shoulders roughly, looking straight into her eyes fiercely. "Do you know what it feels like to be called a mudblood? Its like being sliced by a razor. You don't get used to it, the more people say it the deeper it cuts, after awhile you start to bleed out" Bellatrix had never thought about how Quigley felt when he was called a mudblood. It was natural, that's what her parents always called them so to her it was a word like any other.
"Sorry, I didn't know that it offended you so much." Whispering meekly trying to avoid his intense glare. She heard something rattle in Quigley's throat, as he burst out laughing, absolutely howling with laughter. Feeling embarrassed Bellatrix said. "What's so funny Quigley I like jokes." Giving him a frown. "I never thought I would hear you apologize to me as long as I lived! I guess tonight is full of surprises." Bent over from laughter, wiping the tears from his eyes he grinned up at her. She couldn't help but smile back."I think we have spent enough time out here tonight, lets go back inside." Quigley said walking past her. "Alright." She replied catching up to him, feeling butterflies flutter in her stomach.
When they reached the end of the pier Quigley held out an arm to stop her and motioned for silence. It sounded like something was approaching them fast. "Get out your wand." She pulled out her wand. "Lumos." They both said simultaneously. The sounds grew louder and louder until a dark shape came into view. Its glowing yellow eyes shone like two white hot coals through the darkness as it approached. Terror filled her as she finally realized what it was.
Quigley gasped in horror and said . "Its a Werewolf...run!"
I worked pretty hard on this chapter, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Feel free to share any opinions or criticisms and make sure to follow to get updates. See you soon.