Avery laughed joyously as she snuck through the halls with Cedric, enjoying the early hours of her birthday. After breakfast later, she would spend the day with Alle, hopefully sitting by the lake, maybe even wading in the water if it wasn't too cold, and then she'd wrap the day up with Fred. She had been looking for this day for months, not only because it was her birthday, but because she hadn't properly spent time with her cousin in that long. She was really starting to miss her, despite going to the same school.
"Hey, wait, do you hear that?" Cedric asked, breaking the cheerful aura surrounding them.
The pair slowed to a stop and listened, hearing the sound of water running as well as the noises of students whispering, which confused them. Everyone was supposed to be asleep, so why would there be students out and about?
"Watch out, Potter's done it again," the familiar voice of Draco Malfoy drawled. "Another mudblood down; wonder who'll be next."
"Great," Cedric groaned. "Guess we should go check it out, huh?"
"I guess," Avery muttered, suddenly feeling ice uneasily crawl up the inside of her stomach. She didn't get a good feeling from what was going on just around that corner.
They started to approach the scene, Cedric leading the way with his long strides. Avery absentmindedly gnawed at her lip, too preoccupied with the premonition niggling at the base of her skull. What was it warning her of?
"Shit, Avery, wait," Cedric exclaimed, quickly reaching out to stop her from rounding the corner. "Let's just go back to the dorm, yeah? Aren't you tired? I'm tired."
"Wait, but what's going on? Who was petrified this time?" She strained to try and see even a glimpse of who everyone was gathered around. "Poor Harry is probably getting yelled at again."
"Trust me, I doubt that's what'll be going through your mind if you keep walking."
She frowned at her best friend and struggled even more to get free. What did he mean by that?
"What are you doing, idiot?" she snapped before sinking her teeth into his hand.
Avery ran through the crowd before Cedric could stop her again, only to freeze on her own when she saw who was lying petrified on the floor right by the feet of Harry Potter himself.
"N-no," she whispered, feeling a bit weak at the knees. "No, no, no, NO! ALLE!"
She dropped to the ground beside her beloved cousin and reached out to touch her cheek, recoiling when her fingers hit stone. Her breathing suddenly started picking up, and tears pricked at her eyes, threatening to flow out.
"No, not my Alle. ALLE WAKE UP! ALLE, PLEASE!" She started sobbing uncontrollably, hands going to cover her eyes as she helplessly screamed for her cousin.
"Avery, I'm so sorry," Harry whispered in agony.
At his words, her head snapped up, and she glared at him with more hatred than anyone had ever though she could harbor towards anyone, even George Weasley. He backed up as she slowly rose to her feet, approaching him like a lion would her prey.
"You, you, YOU DID THIS!" she screamed in face. "I TRUSTED YOU! I BELIEVED IN YOU WHEN NONE OF MY HOUSE DID, AND YOU GO AND DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS?" Fred barely managed to restrain her before she launched herself at the Chosen One. She thrashed in his grasp, looking like she was aiming to kill. "WHY HER? WHAT HAS SHE EVER DONE TO YOU? SHE'S MY COUSIN! SHE DIDN'T DESERVE THIS! She didn't deserve this, she didn't, she didn't, she didn't. My cousin, my cousin… my cousin," she started to whisper over and over again. "Alle, please don't leave me, not today, please."
Fred lost his grip on her as she slid down to lay gently on Alle's petrified body, filling the practically silent hall with her heart wrenching wails of agony. Even Draco Malfoy suddenly had nothing to say.
"Alle, please, come back."
Eventually Dumbledore came with the other House heads, and they all helped escort Avery, and her cousin, to Madame Pomfrey. Alle was placed on a bed beside the other petrified victims while Avery was given something to calm her down, the birthday girl finally drifting off into a dreamless sleep.
Avery woke up with a headache and looked around her in confusion. Why was she in the medical wing? Had she gotten hurt last night? Her eyes fell upon the row of petrified students across the room and saw a familiar bracelet wrapped around a familiar wrist that was held up as if holding a writing utensil. Of course, she thought. Even when petrified she was busy writing an essay. She carefully swung her legs off the bed and crept towards her cousin, barely managing to hold back tears. When she finally made it to Alle's side, she knelt down and slipped her small hand into Alle's frozen one.
"Oh, Alle," Avery whispered, "I'm so sorry this happened to you. I should've been there; I should've been there with you." She absent-mindedly rubbed her thumb over Alle's hand, thinking of how she could've prevented this if she had just been there. "Wait." A thought suddenly occurred to her. "All muggle-born prefects need to patrol with a pure-blood prefect. Who was your partner?" She wracked her brain for any recollection of Alle's partner, but she came up blank. "Veronica! Veronica would know!" She got up and moved to leave the medical wing, only hesitating when she looked back at her cousin. "I'll be right back; I promise. I won't leave you alone, not again."
Then she was sprinting through the halls, heading for the Great Hall. Wait, what time is it? Breakfast? Lunch? She didn't care. The only thing she cared about was finding the asshat who allowed for her cousin to be petrified. She was going to teach them a well-earned lesson, that's for sure.
"Veronica!" she called when she caught sight of the Ravenclaw in the Great Hall. "Veronica, I need your help!"
"Whoa, Avery, take it easy, yeah?" The older girl gently grabbed the Hufflepuff by her arms and looked at her worriedly. "Did Madame Pomfrey tell you that you could leave? Are you sure you should be walking around like this?"
"Who cares? I need your help, Veronica. It's important."
"What is it?" she asked, still trying to subtly lead Avery back to the medical wing.
"Who patrolled with Alle?"
Veronica blinked in surprise. If Avery was asking about that right now, it could only mean she was going to cause a scene."Avery, don't worry about that right now. Instead, we should be getting you back to Madame Pomfrey who can properly take care of you, okay?"
"I don't need to be taken care of!" Avery shouted. "I'm not the one petrified right now! So please, be a good friend and tell me who let Alle get petrified!"
"Look, Avery, I really don't think you're in the right mind to-"
"It was me."
Avery whirled around to see Nathaniel Malfoy standing in front of her, looking as indifferent as ever. I should've known it was a Malfoy, Avery chided herself. Who else would abandon someone who was in danger of being petrified.
"Of course. The Malfoy," she spat out in hatred. "You vile, disgusting, inconsiderate racist!" Her hands clenched at her sides, so tempted to sock him in the face, but then she remembered Snape's warning. Besides, Alle wouldn't like it if Avery got in trouble for fighting, especially if it was a Malfoy. They weren't worth the effort. "I hope you never forget this. I hope that you never forget how you caused my cousin to be petrified. I hope you never forget how you abandoned her, leaving her to be attacked all alone!
"I hate you," she whispered, her voice cracking as she finally started to get overwhelmed by her emotions. "I will never hate anyone more. Know that I will never forgive you for this. Never. Enjoy your life, Malfoy. Not all of us are as emotionless as you."
She angrily wiped away a few tears that managed to escape and stormed off, not wanting to see his face ever again. He could've gotten Alle killed, and then Avery would never be able to forgive herself. She was out, sneaking around and celebrating, while Alle was being petrified. She should've known better; she should've at least felt something. What good was her gift if she couldn't even use it to keep her family safe? She was useless, even more to blame than Malfoy himself. She should've known something was going to happen. She could've protected Alle, but it turns out her only gift is disappointing Alle.
Avery looked up at her professors, shaking her head in confusion. In her hand was a tube of lipstick, which they had apparently found in Alle's hand. Dumbledore and the House heads had asked if she recognized it when she finally returned to the medical wing.
"I'm sorry, Professor Dumbledore, but I'm afraid I'm not familiar with this at all." She handed the makeup back to Madame Pomfrey. "As far as I know, Alle never wore makeup. Are you sure this is what you found in her hand? Not a quill or anything?"
"This is most definitely what we found," Madame Pomfrey told her. "And you're sure you've never seen this before?"
"Pretty sure. I think I would remember seeing Alle with lipstick, mostly because, like I said before, she never wears it." She frowned deeply, trying to think of a time she ever saw it. "Why would she have that? I don't… I don't know."
"Alright, that's enough dear, don't worry about it too much." Madame Pomfrey turned to politely shoo the other Professors away. "She's been through a lot for one day, especially considering it's her birthday."
Avery's eyes shot wide open at hearing those words. It was her birthday? No, it couldn't be. Surely she would remember it being her birthday. Was it really February 21st? She shook her head. They had to be mistaken.
"Miss Lemaire, are you okay?" Madame Pomfrey asked, her voice sounding like it was a million miles underwater. The room started to sway before her. "Miss Lemaire!"