It was the next day, the morning of our first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. The younger Gryffindors, Harry, Ron, and Hermione among them, had blisters all over their hands from the blast ended skrewts they'd been working with in Hagrid's class. Harry, I could tell, was still stressed from not hearing from Sirius yet. That and the fact that the stupid divination teacher was still predicting his demise after only one day back.
"Have some pancakes, Harry. You look peaky." I said sitting next to him. He gave me a half hearted smile as he put a couple of the fluffy cakes onto his plate.
"I can't wait. Class with Mad-Eye is going to be wicked." Said Fred who was sitting merrily on my other side.
"You lot have him today? We haven't got him 'til Thursday!" complained Ron.
"Ah well, tough dung, little brother." Laughed George.
"The man is genius. Did you see how he turned that sod Malfoy into a ferret yesterday?" exclaimed Lee.
"That was brilliant." Agreed George.
"Well, we better get a move on if we want good seats." I said as the four of us stood up and left for class. Fred and I shared a desk in the middle of the class, George and Lee behind us, while Patty managed to pry Vicky away from her boyfriend and sit in front of us. More Gryffindors and Slytherins started filing in. A couple of Slytherin boys sat to the left of me and Fred, muttering and gesturing to us. I could sense Fred' suspicious gaze on the two boys.
"Ignore them." I said simply as I held his hand.
"Oi, Potter! If you're willing to hold hands with the bloodtraitor over there than I reckon you'd be willing to do a lot more with one of us, eh?" said one of the boys. He had discomfortingly dark eyes and dull brown hair.
"Knock it off, Pucey, before I knock you off." Growled Fred.
"What are you going to do about it, Weasley?" challenged Pucey.
"You should be more frightened by what I'll do to you, you pathetic sack of dragon dung." I said venomously to the boy.
"Ooh Potter likes to play." Said the boy next to Pucey.
"I'll do more than that if you even look in our direction." I said turning back to Fred.
"Ignore them, huh? Quite the double standard you've got there." Joked Fred.
"I know bile when I see it." I said giving him a smirk.
"Just forget them." Said Vicky kindly.
"Yeah, there's not much stock in what Slytherins say." Added Patty. A moment later the front office door opened with a bang as Professor Moody hobbled into the classroom.
"Good morning class. My name is Alastor Moody," he said writing his name down on the chalk board, "You may call me Professor or Professor Moody. You can all put your textbooks away. You won't be needing them for a few lessons."
Fred exchanged excited looks with Lee and George before turning back to face the front. This was surely going to be an interesting class. For the first hour he talked a lot about counter jinxes and spells, evasive maneuvers, and what it was like to be in the midst of real danger. Then things took a drastic turn.
"Now, can anyone tell me what an Unforgiveable Curse is?" the room went silent, "No? How about you, Miss..?"
"Frobisher, Sir. Victoria Frobisher." Said Vicky timidly.
"Can you, Miss Frobisher, tell us what an Unforgiveable Curse is and why it is so named?"
"An Unforgiveable Curse is just that, sir. It's a curse that the Ministry does not pardon. The use of any one of them is worthy of sending someone straight to Azkaban." Said Vicky with a strained voice. Moody smirked.
"Someone's been doing the reading. Ten points to Gryffindor," he said before looking around the class, "Can anyone name one of the three Unforgiveable Curses? You there?" he pointed at George.
"George Weasley, Professor. My dad mentioned the Imperius Curse." Replied George evenly.
"Weasley, eh? Yeah your dad helped me get out of a tight spot a few days ago. He'd know all about that one," he turned back to the class, "The Imperius Curse is a curse that takes away a person's free will. In other words the caster is in complete control of the person they cast the spell on."
He pulled a large spider out of a jar and placed it in his hand, pointing his wand at it. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. One thing was to discuss these curses, another was to perform them in front of a room full of students.
"Imperio!" he yelled at the spider. He began to bend it to his will. As he made it skid around the room, dance, and summersault everyone in the class laughed. Everyone but me. Fred felt me stiffen beside him.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"This isn't right. Everyone laughing at these spells. People die by them." I said quietly. Suddenly Moody turned it around by asking if he should drown the spider or throw it out the window for his next trick. The room grew quiet.
"Years ago, loads of innocent people were sent to Azkaban, while many of the guilty walked all because of the Imperius Curse. Now, if you were accused of acting under the Dark Lord, and you respond that you only did it because you were under the Imperius Curse, who's to say you aren't telling the truth? How do we sort out the liars?" asked Moody as he took another spider out of the jar, "Anyone know another one?"
"The Cruciatus Curse." Said an eager Slytherin.
"Crucio!" I sat still and quiet, watching as he tortured the second spider. The poor creature was screeching as the class looked on horrified. Moody lifted the spell and looked around at the stunned faces, "The Cruciatus Curse is literally torture. Every inch of skin, every drop of blood in your body feels like it's on fire. Like the Imperius Curse, it can be overthrown, but it takes a highly skilled witch or wizard to do so. Most can't see through the pain, let alone form a comprehensive thought." Moody stuck his hand into the jar and pulled out the last spider. I knew what was coming next. This wasn't a curse one overthrew. The next curse was one that people fell to.
"I need to get out of here." I said anxiously to Fred in a hushed voice.
"Are you feeling ill?" he asked looking concerned.
"I don't want to see the green light again." I said biting my lip.
"You," Moody said pointing at me, "Miss..?"
"Catherine Potter." I said becoming still. An odd smirk grew on his face.
"You'd know all about this next one, Miss Potter." He said as he limped down the first couple of rows to stand in front of my desk. "Can you give us the name of the next curse?"
"I reckon I can. Seeing as how I was on the other side of the closet door as it was being used on my own father." I said looking up at him. I felt Fred tense beside me as all eyes were on me and Moody. He was testing me. As much as I didn't want to see that green light again, I would not be weak. I would get through this, back straight, just like my dad.
"Well then, Miss Potter?" asked Moody.
"The killing curse." I finished, eyes and voice not wavering.
"Avada Kedavra!" my hand flew to Fred's as Moody shouted the spell. The green light that had illuminated my closet shot out of Moody's wand, hitting the spider and making it still. I turned my head away trying very hard to steady myself. Moody limped back up to his desk, putting the spider back in the jar, "The killing curse is an absolute resignation of humanity. To take the life of another means forfeiting part of yours in the process. It is a curse that has only been survived by one person, and his sister is sitting in this room."
I could feel eyes on me from all over the room, including Patty and Vicky's sympathetic looks. Fred, I was thankful, kept his head down, rubbing the back of my hand in the meantime.
"Don't bring your books to the next lesson. On Thursday we'll commence learning how to fight off the curses. Class dismissed." Said Moody before taking a swig from his flask. Fred pulled me from the room as quickly as he could, not stopping until we made it to the common room. I knew he knew what I needed. He shouted the password at the Fat Lady rather hurriedly and marched us on up to his dormitory. It was empty, thank goodness. We sat on his bed as he took me into a loving embrace. I began to cry and unwind in Fred's arms, letting go of all the stress I had felt through the long lesson.
"I know, love. I know. Let it out." He said as he rubbed my back. I didn't know how long we'd been there. All I knew was that we were done with classes for the day, and all I wanted to do was rest safely in Fred's arms away from the light that haunted me. He laid us back, kissing my forehead and saying sweet nothings so as to take my mind off of the light. The horrible green light. I looked up at him, caressing his face, and smiling as he wiped away a few stray tears.
"Thank you." I said softly.
"It's what I'm here for." He smiled.
"What is?" I asked
"To make sure you're happy, sane, and as loved as can be." He said with a grin that lit up his chocolate eyes. I smiled, kissing him passionately as we lay back on the bed.
"Do you want to take a nap until dinner?" I asked kissing his nose as he brought his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him.
"Hmm, I've got a beautiful girl giving me all kinds of affection and wanting to stay in my bed for the next three hours. Of course my first thought is sleep."