Duel

He wasn't sure if this witch was really still just a student. He was lying on the floor, wondering what to do. The students were silent, too stunned by what had just happened.

He lost. He, a trained Auror, had lost to a less than fifteen-year-old witch.

As soon as he realized the situation he was in, he heard footsteps. Calm, unhurried steps. After a while, a dark-haired witch appeared in his field of vision. With her slender frame, dark brown hair falling down her back, and dark chocolate eyes, she looked like a harmless girl. It would be easy to underestimate her.

She bent over him. It looked like she did it every day. With eyes devoid of all emotion, she ran her wand across his throat. After a moment of silence, she asked in a whisper intended only for him. - "How does it feel Potter? How does it feel to lie at Snape's feet?"

She didn't give him time to answer. She held out her hand to him, then with a smile, loudly this time, said - "Thank you for a useful lesson. I managed to win but I know I wouldn't stand a chance against you if you used all your skills. In that case, the result would be completely different."

James Potter watched the witch with fear. Contrary to what she had just said, he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against her. He wouldn't stand a chance against her even if he had fully used his Auror training in the duel. It was clear to him that she hadn't shown everything she could do either.

He had to consult what he had just heard. She couldn't be Snape. Snape was dead. At least that's what they assumed after he disappeared.

xxx

For the rest of class, he tried to ignore the Durmstrang student. She was quiet, standing aside. Without embarrassment, instead of watching the lesson, she read a book about the theory of creating spells.

After a while, he noticed that he wasn't the only one staring at her. Not only his son, but also Lucius Malfoy's son cast longing glances at her. Potter felt remorse as he realized that perhaps, because of what he'd been like in the past, his son had missed out on anything with the first girl he'd taken an interest in.

xxx

He didn't even bother knocking on his door. He knew he wouldn't answer anyway. James Potter didn't know how the damned blonde had secured his office, but he seemed to know every time he was on the other side. As if he had the surveillance he'd seen in Muggle stores.

He entered the office and bluntly asked. - "Have you heard from Snape? Do you know what's going on with him?"

Only after asking the question did the former Gryffindor notice that their temporary History of Magic professor was busy. He was going through a pile of papers written in the second year. He was relaxed but after a while you could clearly see how his body tensed. He didn't seem to believe what he heard.

As he lifted his head and their eyes met, he saw pure fury in Malfoy's eyes. Barely contained rage.

"You know very well that all contact with him stopped after he went on vacation after your fifth year at Hogwarts. You've reached your goal. You got him out of the way and you married his friend. Why do you need him now? Are you bored and would like to find your old victim? Or is it something even worse?"

"Will you answer my question or not?" - James growled, annoyed that the former Slytherin had brought his shameful past to the surface.

"If you weren't so self-righteous, you might have noticed that I answered the damn question! What in the name of Salazar are you on about?"

Potter had rarely seen the man so nervous. If he was honest with himself, he'd have to admit that the last time he'd seen him like this was at the beginning of their sixth year. The day it turned out that Severus Snape had disappeared and not even a team of Aurors from the Ministry of Magic could find him.

"We had dueling classes today as part of the integration of kids who came to Triwizard Tournament. Classes were to begin with an exhibition duel with Lockheart. Dumbledore came up with it, not me. Anyway, one of the Durmstrang students came forward. After she beat me..."

"And that's where the split lip came from?" - The wizard was clearly amused.

"Are you going to let me finish or not?" - He swallowed, still couldn't believe what he heard. "She knelt over me and whispered two questions. How does it feel Potter? How does it feel to lie at Snape's feet?"

Lucius Malfoy stood up so abruptly that he knocked over the chair he was sitting in. - "Which girl is it?"

"Hermione Granger."

xxx

Another bunny was running around in my head. I had to free him so I could focus on my other work. Regards, Katie Krum