Authors note 1. Hello guys, and sorry for the late update! I wrote up a chapter before but seeing as it was more of a... intimate one-shot than a fight. And when I say one shot, I mean a very interesting one, not just two lines of story and then right to it. I decided to switch places on the two chapters and rewrite this one which was the reason for the delay. The second chapter, which only needs some editing, will be part 2, so don't worry, you will have your part of... Christmas cuddles? I would also like to know what you guys enjoy most about the fic. Is it the hints and revealing parts? Is it the fighting scenes? The battle of words and manipulation schenes? The intimacy? Any other things? I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas! You can write a pm or a review of what you like so I know in the future. Now on to the chapter!
Chapter 51, part 1. Harry vs Jakob and a childhood friend?
Stepping out from the hospital wing, Jakob motioned for Vanity to follow him, not stopping on his way to the grand staircase.
Noticing that he didn't wait for her to catch up, Abby quickened her steps to keep up with the furious teenager beside her.
"What happened in there, lord Quade? Do you need me to gather the members?"
Her king didn't even seem to notice her existence before they exited the corridor leading to the grand staircase. The two Slytherins stepped onto one of the magical steps that would move them up to the seventh floor. Vanity glanced at her king, who seemed agitated that the stairs seemed to take their time which made her secretly wish that she knew the spell to quicken the process.
Jakob turned to his second most trusted member while tapping his finger on the bannister, making small stone shards break off. Noticing that Vanity wasn't speaking and was still worried, he sighed and put a hand on her shoulder to show that she shouldn't be afraid of him.
"The Rockwood kid won't be punished for this. He told me something that made me quite displeased with a certain Gryffindor golden hero."
Vanity gave him a questioning look. When Jake didn't explain further, she turned her gaze towards the next stop and appeared to comprehend where they were heading.
"Are two Slytherins going against the Whole of Gryffindor house?"
Her king shook his head and stepped off the staircase to the platform leading to the Gryffindors floor.
When Abby moved to step off to the platform and follow the teenager, she halted in her movement as he raised his hand, giving her a slight shake of his head.
"You don't need to. This is a private matter and hasn't anything to do with me being the king. You should leave. This will probably get messy."
Sensing that it was an order rather than a suggestion, the seventh year gave him a slight nod and stayed while her king turned around and continued forward.
When he had disappeared from view, Vanity turned and hurried down the steps to the next platform, waiting impatiently for the next set of stairs to arrive.
"I need to find miss Parkinson. He will get himself killed if he goes through with this."
Approaching the end of the corridor, Jakob stopped in front of the portrait of the fat lady and gave her a charming smile while flicking out his wand, which shot out from within his robe arm. She glanced down at his tightly grasped weapon and then back to meet his charming smile with a baffled expression.
"And what on earth do you think you are doing? Never in my years as the Gryffindor guardian have I witnessed someone trying to break inside with such audacity. Do you even have a password?"
Jakob's smile faltered when the fat lady spoke. He didn't have time for this. He needed to get Potter out and make the arrogant shit realise that he wasn't as special as he presumed. That he wasn't at the top of the food chain. That place belonged to him. Even if Dumbledore looked the other way for his golden boy, Jakob would not let this one slide.
"I don't have a password. I only need you to Talk with a special someone. Can you let Potter know that I'm here?"
The fat lady scoffed and glared suspiciously at the creepy Slytherin boy. She would always protect the Gryffindor students and doubted that the teenager had good intentions towards Potter.
"I most certainly can not, boy of the Slytherin house. Now run along. I need to train my vocals. Good day." She made it very clear that the conversation was now over and continued to make a false high-pitched racket that made Jakob grimace as her scream almost injured his eardrums.
Giving the fat lady a final glare, Jakob slashed his wand, making a fiery whip lash the portrait frame. The whip didn't do any harm, but Jake doubted the protective charm would hold forever. She stopped what only she would call singing and stared in shock at the boy, who shrugged in response, giving her an innocent smile.
"You are going to give me what I want, or I'll continue lashing this piece of the shit frame until the only thing that remains is the student's memory of you. The tone had been so gentle and the expression on his face so sincere that the lady wondered for a second if she had hallucinated the flaming whip.
"You dare to attack a house portrait? The headmaster will be sure to hear about this! What is your name?"
Jakob slashed his wand again, dispatching another flame bigger than the last. He continued his lashing, ignoring the cries for help until he noticed that the portrait frame had begun to scorch. The fat lady followed his eyes and raised her hands pleadingly to stop when he prepared for a new attack as he again raised his wand.
"Alright! Alright, I will let the Potter child know that a hideous boy is waiting outside. Just... Just give me a Second."
Giving the fat lady an appreciated nod, Jakob calmed down and raised a hand to move the hair that had fallen out of place. The fat lady rose from her chair and held her dress while hurrying further back into the painting, disappearing from view. Almost instantly, the portrait door swung open, revealing a confused Ivy.
"Jakob? What are you doing here, and why did you make the fat lady cry like a baby?"
Sighing annoyedly and deciding that he would burn the painting to the ground when he had the chance, the Quade lord didn't answer the redhead's question. He instead asked one of his own.
"I was actually looking for your brother. Is he home by any chance? I only need a quick word."
Stepping out from the portrait, Ivy closed the door behind her, approaching the boy who didn't seem to be in such a joyful mode.
"He is probably in the courtyard. Harry, Ron and Hermione were going there to play some exploding snap when they had finished some homework. I was actually on my way there right now. Why are you looking for him, and what happened?"
"Nothing, just gonna have a friendly little chat with him, that's all." Answered the Slytherin king and began his walk towards his new destination. Ivy, who knew it was an obvious lie, followed him into the grand staircase.
"What are you planning to do? Are you going to start a fight after what happened in the Great hall?"
Jakob tried his best to ignore the Gryffindor girl, looking around to see students from different houses glancing their way and whispering to one another on other moving stairs. Sighing, Jake knew that if she continued to talk to him like this, the rumour mill would come up with something impressive before he went to bed tonight.
"Don't talk to me in public, Miss Potter. Just do yourself a favour and return back to your common room."
As he was about to decent the steps, Ivy stopped and grabbed his shoulder to turn him around. She looked stern and worried when she noticed that glint in his eye that he always showed before he did something reckless.
"It wasn't my brother who started the fight in the great hall. He just defended himself. They all did. You need to stop and think before you act on this, lord Quade, please."
He gave her hand a glanced and used his own to remove it.
"You call cursing a first-year Slytherin with a bone-breaking curse for defending oneself? Are you so manipulated by your brother's fame that you can't-"
"Wait, what? Harry wouldn't curse someone. Especially not a first year."
Getting off the staircase, Jakob continued forward with a confused Ivy beside him, wanting him to continue his explanation. Turning a corner, the two passed a group of Hufflepuffs that were sitting on a long stone bench and laughing about something. When the yellow and black-robed teens noticed Ivy talking loudly to the Quade guy, the group stopped whatever they were doing to stare at the strange situation.
"So you weren't there? "Questioned Jakob giving the Hufflepuffs a murderous glare, making the group of fourth years turn their heads and pretend like everything else in the hallway was much more interesting.
"Eh... No, I was Busy with other stuff." Noticing his raised eyebrow, Ivy looked away, a bit embarrassed. "I have other things to do than run around and look for you."
They continued in silence for a few seconds before Jakob spotted his target. Giving a malicious grin, he stopped to scan the surrounding. This would be perfect.
Harry was lying on a beach in the middle of the courtyard with Hermione sitting beside his head, reading a book. Ron was sitting on the thawed ground with Dean Thomas, playing exploding snap. Jakob turned back to the redheaded girl, who was looking very worried now. He didn't want her to see this and, even less, having her be forced to choose a side and participate.
"Ivy, I'm going to say this once. Turn around and walk away." the Potter girl gave her group of friends a nervous glance before looking back at the boy who meant so much to her. Jakob was strong, but Harry had been taught by both Sirius and her father, not to mention Dumbledore. Harry would also have Hermione and the other two less useful boys as backup.
"If Harry did what you say he did, he needs to know that I won't condone his actions. But please, Jake. Don't do this. We can go and talk with Dumbledore."
The boy sighed. Her pleadings weren't helping right now. Harry had been a thorn for years, and it was time for him and his little group to know their places.
"He will be punished for what he did. Walk away."
Turning towards his enemies, Jakob flicked out his wand and began his approach. Ivy, who didn't know what to do initially, got an idea and hoped she would make it in time before it would have a chance to escalate and turn ugly.
"Don't you find this spell interesting? Here look." Harry, trying to enjoy the brief sunny weather, opened his eyes to focus his eyes on what his girlfriend wanted him to see. The spell was made to liberate house elves without their owner's consent but needed the approval of said house elf.
She had been on a quest after the Quade manor situation and kept insisting to Harry that liberating the oppressed was the right thing to do. The pureblooded boy knew that Jakob had not been in the wrong with his house elf or Ella, a bit unethically with the girl but not wrong. He hated the Quade lord for the countless hours he had been forced to listen to his girlfriend's speeches about human rights and house elves' rights.
It had even come to the point that Ron had wanted to speak up against her beliefs. On more than one occasion, Harry had needed to hush and remind Ron who was to blame for his girlfriend's change of character.
In the end, Harry found that the best strategy to endure Hermione's new phase was to simply nod and agree with everything she said. God, he hoped that this was just a phase. Suppose she actually planned to liberate the house elves. In that case, she might just turn the whole wizarding world against herself and, in the process, might just turn them again Harry and his family as well.
That was also why he had snapped when that first-year Slytherin boy had started the fight in the great hall. He had reminded him so much about the guy who had both taken his sister's heart and reason and turned his girlfriend into some sort of extreme activist. It had gone so fast, and the curse had just slipped out. Ron, being the usual best friend, had ensured that the boy wouldn't tell anyone, even if the way he did it made Harry slightly ill. Sometimes Ron could act worse than a Slytherin, but he guessed that Ron was the equivalent of Sirius to his father. Snapping out of his musings, he gave his girlfriend a smile and nodded, forcing himself to choke a sigh.
"Yeh, That spell could be useful in the given situation." beaming at her boyfriend's positive response, Hermione took a closer look. She needed to remember it if she somehow found herself in a situation where she could use it.
"Harry fucking Potter!" Hearing the rude announcement, the four Gryffindors were interrupted in their different activities. They turned their attention to the person's voice, which sounded cheerful and with a slight hint of hostility. Harry stood with his friends and drew his wand as he noticed Quade having his already in his hand as he approached.
"The boy who lived, the golden boy and the curser of first years. It has a nice ring to it, wouldn't you agree?"
The Potter teen scowled at his enemy and glimpsed that his friends also had drawn theirs. Everyone was getting ready to fight the Slytherin if he tried something.
"What do you want, you bloody snake?" sneered Ron and raised his wand towards Jakob. Before he could even finish the movement, Jakob flicked his wand, sending a disarming charm that struck Weasley's hand. The boy's wand was torn out from the redhead's grip and made a wooshing sound as it rotated quickly in the air, looking almost like a brown circle before Jake Caught it in mid-air. He gave the Weasley boy a patronising smile.
"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Weasley. I have underestimated you twice and paid the price. This time I won't make the same mistake." Ron, who looked as shocked as the rest of the group, took a step towards the Slytherin, who gripped the wand with both hands as if to snap it in half.
"Give it back, Quade or I will-"
"Do what? Threaten me, so I don't tell the world what your master has done? Take one step further, and I will snap your..." Glancing at the old piece of wood, the Slytherin king looked back at the furious redhead with an amused questionable smile.
"Is this a wand? Are you sure it even has a core? It looks just like an old twig to me." Clearing his throat, Jakob tried to sound stern, but the redness on Weasleys face made it very difficult not to chuckle.
"Now, Everyone will lower their wands and place them on the ground. Nice and easy, alright?" Ron gave Harry a pleading look, and with a sigh, Harry motioned for the rest to do what the Slytherin said.
"Very good." praised Jakob in a calm voice, like they were children. Eyeing the wands as they slowly were put down on the ground. Giving Harry his charming smile Jakob continued with his demands.
"Now, you will tell me exactly why you saw fit to send a bone-breaking curse at one of my first years."
"He didn't do it. The brat is obviously lying. Growled Ron before Harry had a chance to speak. Hermione, who hadn't been in the great hall when the fight had broken out, looked to Harry questioningly.
"What is he talking about, Harry?"
The boy who lived looked at his girlfriend and then at the students who had begun gathering around further away.
"Nothing, it's what Ron says. He just wants to make me look bad."
Granger nodded and glared at her ex-friend while taking a step closer to Harry, showing her support.
"Lie to me again and face the consequences, Potter." threatened Jakob, his amused smile gone and giving him a don't you fucking dare stare. Harry glanced at his girlfriend and Ron, who was trying to kill Quade with his glare. Knowing that lying about this wasn't right, the Gryffindor felt like he was too far down the rabbit hole now. He had no choice but to keep to his story.
"I... I didn't curse anyone." Said Harry again with a hesitant tone. Jakob didn't break eye contact for a few seconds and tensed his jaw in anger before growling in a low voice.
"So be it. the hard way it is then." With a twist of his wrists, Jakob snapped Ron's wand in half. He quickly aimed his own with a maleficent smirk towards the charging redhead who had tears in his eyes and Roaring with the pain from losing his most trusted tool.
"Ron, stop! He will-"
"Undis." Harry watched as a powerful jet of steaming water burst out from Slytherin's wand and struck his best friend in the face. Ron's charge took an abrupt end as the water's force made him fall onto his back, raise his hands, and scream while covering his third degreed burned face.
"I have learned that little curse just for your face, you little shit," hissed Jakob feeling some relief in seeing the Weasley boy twisting and turning in his horrible pain. The scream continued until a ret jet collided with the redhead, making him pass out. Jakob looked up, annoyed at Harry, who had spared his friend from the ongoing pain.
Jake also noted that Harry, Dean and Hermione had picked up their wands from the ground and raised them towards him again.
"Take one step closer, or try something else, and I will make sure that you are sent to the hospital wing. Lay down your wand, now," Harry's voice had changed, sounding more like one with authority. Jakob raised an eyebrow at the newfound courage from the Gryffindors.
"Why should I? Because you, the famous boy who lived, the light factions golden boy, ordered me to? You have repeatedly stepped over the line, but I will see that you are punished properly this time."
Jakob turned his eyes from the hateful stare Harry was giving him and looked at Hermione.
"Miss Granger. Didn't you promise me something in our first year? Why are you breaking it by aiming your wand at me?"
Hermione flinched back as the comment forced memories to pop up in her mind of when Jakob had been there for her when no one else had. She knew what she had promised him. She would always be at his side to help him and never betray the boy who had given her hope and friendship. He had even rushed to her aid more than once during the three years they had known each other. Shaking her head to clear the pictures of his smile, Granger met his eyes with a clear show of defiance.
"You can't honestly expect me to support you when I've seen what you really are? You are not the boy I thought you would be. You are what's wrong with the wizarding world, and had I known it before, I would never have come to you for help."
Potter knew what she was talking about. He gave his girlfriend a questioning glance. Had it been so easy for her to throw Quade aside after all the things they had been through? He would have jumped in happiness when he saw the betrayed glare Jakob was giving her if it weren't that Harry actually felt Jakob had been in the right. He hadn't done anything towards his girlfriend that made her betray him like that.
Hermione saw the uncertainty in her boyfriend's expression as she briefly met his eyes.
"He is trying to get into our heads, Harry, don't let him win." Yeh. That must have been it thought Harry. Giving his wonderful girlfriend a nod, they turned back to the Slytherin teenager, who had closed his eyes and sighed defeatedly. Opening them again, Harry and Hermione took a step back. They prepared themself for the incoming attack when they noticed that the betrayal in the Slytherin's eyes had changed to rage.
"Then you have chosen your side, traitor." said the Slytherin king in a firm but with almost a sad note to it and flicked his wand. Harry and Hermione were prepared, but Dean had been momentarily paralysed by the tone in his opponent's voice. Three different spells burst out. The blue hit Dean in the stomach, making him fall down on his back and scream in fear as he began hallucinating his worst nightmares. At the same time, Hermione sidestepped the yellow hex, and Harry brought up a shield letting the red charm slam into it.
"Stupify!" Shouted the two Gryffindors at the same time. Their wands glowed red for a split second as they timed the two stunners perfectly, and Jakob looked nearly impressed as the two jets of red lights soared towards him. Turning to his side almost lazily, the two spells flew past him and slammed into the wall.
Twirling his wand, Jakob shot a spell chain of red, blue and white towards Hermione, who had to duck, raise a shield, and even throw herself to the side to evade the third one.
Seeing the Slytherin targeting his girlfriend, Harry took the opportunity and pointed his wand towards the snow under the grinning Slytherin, who waiting for his next move curiously.
"Tempestas Nivis!"
The white powder, like snow, swirled up like a tornado and began enveloping its target. The Potter heir prayed that this would work and the fight would end. He knew that Jakob was strong and had heard what his father and mother had talked about behind closed doors when they thought they were alone.
"Finite!" slashing his wand upwards, the freezing ball-like shield fell lifeless to the ground, and Jake took a step forward, crunching the ice that had begun to form on his shoes. His smile halted as the dark-skinned boy kept up his scream of horror.
"Stupify." A red jet struck Dean in the chest, and the Gryffindors finally lay silent on the ground.
"Come on now, Harry. We all know you can do better than that? Show me what you truly are capable of, or your girlfriend suffers the consequences." The two boys looked at Hermione, one with worry and one with a grin. The girl had just got back up on one knee after injuring her foot after her jump. She was breathing heavily, not used to the adrenaline rush and fast movements she had been forced to do after Jakobs quick attacks.
"Levicorpus." twirling his wand, the Slytherin king lifted Miss Granger before she could even think about jumping away again. She screamed in surprise and dropped her wand, which fell into the snow-covered ground below.
"Harry!" The boy who lived stared hopelessly at his girlfriend hanging upside down and tried to help her, but she was just out of reach.
"Finite! Let her down, you monster!" screamed Harry, trying to jump and grab her hand while Jakob channelled the spell with an amused smile.
Students from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor had started to gather around to observe the situation. The Slytherin teen had just brought down two of the four members of the golden group and Dean Thomas. Fearing they would end up like either of the three Gryffindors, no one dared to interrupt the fight.
"So sad. The boy who lived can't even save his little sweetheart from the big bad Slytherin. What should I do next? Send her straight into a wall like That Finnigan? Would you even trouble yourself with visiting her if she ended up at St mungo's, or would you rather leave her to rot like you did him?"
Harry turned with his wand and aimed at the Slytherin, who didn't seem the slightest threatened as he kept his channelling spell on Granger.
"Is this why you attack us? Seamus knew what he was walking into. It wasn't my fault that he-"
"It was your fault!" Shouted Jakob back, interrupting Harry's made-up explanation. Taking a breath, lord Quade calmed himself before continuing.
"you are just an attention and fame-seeking bastard. You can tell yourself and everyone else that it wasn't, but I know the truth. He didn't want to. You forced him, and then you threw him away like garbage."
Jakob glared at the golden boy, who, for a moment, feared that Jakob would do what he had suggested to Hermione. Pictures of that night when he had said the exact same things to Dumbledore popped up, but he had been told by the headmaster and his parents that he wasn't to blame for this and that Seamus would be alright. When the boy sent him a letter a few months ago, Harry realised his mistake but hadn't dared to talk to anyone about it. Not even Ron.
"I want the school to see who you really are. You cursed one of my first years, and even if Dumbledore decides yet again to let his golden boy off the hook, I will have justice." Jabbing his wand forward like thrusting a knife, Jakob sent a hex that disintegrated Hermione's winter robes.
"Don't fall for it, Harry. He only wants to-"
"You are still speaking, traitor? Maybe I should make your skirt and shirt disappear next?"
Harry's eyes widened, and the glint of rage Jakob had tried to conjure forth was beginning to show in his eyes. There you are, now show everyone that you are as much a monster as me.
Jakob sent a knockback jinx at Hermione before ducking when Harry unleashed a spell chain Much faster than the Slytherin teen had thought was possible by a third year, except for himself, of course.
The first jinx flew passed his head, and he raised a hasty shield to block the two hexes. Granger flew back and knocked her head on the snowy ground, passing out before feeling any pain. Harry turned around and witnessed his girlfriend lying still on the ground, and fear gripped his heart. Potter momentarily forgot that he was in the middle of a fight and took a step towards her.
"Are you dumb? Don't turn your eyes away." Snapping back and hearing an unknown incantation, Harry turned back quickly. A fire bolt rushed towards the red and gold-robed boy, who, by instinct, curved his upper body to the left, feeling the heat as it passed by his face.
Watching, baffled at the damage Quade had done, Harry turned his eyes to see all his friends on the ground. They hadn't even stood a chance. He thought Ron and Hermione would at least be somewhat stronger after his private training. Still, they had both been incapacitated by Jake in mere moments. Feeling every negative emotion in his body, Harry's hands began to slightly shake as he looked at the grinning face of the Slytherin.
"They were weak, but I never imagen that they would fall like flies. If they keep this up, you will have to watch them die someday. You know that, right?" Jakob saw that he had tipped the boy over the edge by the last comment and took one glance around to be sure that everyone was watching. This was it.
Letting out a roar, Harry sent spell after spell towards the Slytherin, who sidestepped and dodged the best he could. Harry wasn't as weak as his friends and proved it by sending a cutting hex that graced Jakob's cheek. Raising his hand, he touched the wound and looked surprised as he confirmed that the Potter heir had drawn blood.
"So you aren't useless. I can see that your father and Black have trained you well." He points his wand at the snowy ground.
"Let's see if you are better than your friends, such disappointments."
Breaking away and Raising a stone slab, Jakob slashed his wand towards the Gryffindor, making it fly with an incredible speed towards its intended target. Harry was prepared and aimed his wand at the large piece of rock and dirt.
"Bombarda!" the rock exploded, but instead of flying everywhere, Jakob stopped the debris mid-air. Posing with his left hand like he was holding an imaginary ball and slashed again. Hundreds of small chunks of rocks flew towards Harry, who had to jump out of the way in surprise. A stone embedded itself in Harry's left shoulder, resulting in a pained scream as he lay on the ground. With a shaky hand. He went inside the wound and picked out the stone, making an involuntary grunt as the bloody stone was taken out and dropped on the snow.
"tsk tsk tsk. Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps you are useless just as your friends." grinned Jakob as he walked forwards and continued to taunt the boy, who slowly rose up again.
He stopped a few meters in front of Harry now, wearing a condescending smile as he gestured to his downed companions.
"You can't even protect your friends. Or are you so afraid to let the world see who you are that you sacrifice everyone that cares for you to show that perfect little boy? Pathetic." turning around, the Slytherin began walking back. There had gathered a lot of students now. Even some Slytherins stood with approving smiles as he started heading back. He hadn't gotten the darkest curses out of him, but enough to make everyone see that the Potter brat wasn't playing by the lights rulebook.
"You fucking bastard!" Smiling victorious, Jakob turned and put up a shield simultaneously as he heard the student gasp. A red sickly coloured curse slammed into it and made it shimmer. Jumping to the side, the Quade lord laughed as the future leader of the light shot another yellow curse towards him. Harry yelled with everything he got as he slashed his wand, sending different sickly-coloured jets towards his moving target.
Harry just wanted to wipe that grin off his face. He wanted Quade to hurt. He wanted him to never have existed. Jakob sidestepped and tried his best to avoid the jets of light bombarding him, but Harry was strong and very fast. When one curse almost hit his left arm, Jake stopped and realised he couldn't avoid the spells forever.
Putting more of his magical reserves into his shield, he let two curses and one curse slam into it, making it vibrate violently. Looking alarmed at the power his opponent had suddenly obtained, the Slytherin king Pulled back his wand and jabbed it forward.
"radix Oriuntur." roots burst out from the snow and tried to grab the raging Gryffindor, who rolled away from their area of effect like it was nothing and continued on his rampage.
Putting even more magic into his shield, Jakob let every curse crash into it. He needed to tire out the boy's rage and magic. The Slytherin teenager had got what he wanted. Still, if he matched Harry's curses with his own, the other students might turn their attention to him instead and forget how their savour looked like right now.
Having more magic reserves than even a young Tom riddle, he grinned at the boy who tried desperately to break his last defence. Noticing Harry breathing heavier and his curses slowing down, Jakob noted that the Gryffindor had started to tire. But shooting curses didn't cost as much magic as powering a shield to take both the magic and the kinetic energy from them.
Still keeping up his smirk towards the Gryffindor, Jakob felt a foreboding feeling starting to build up inside him as he noticed that his shield had begun to drastically weaken. He needed Harry to put the final nail in the coffin quickly.
"You will never be able to save them if you are this weak Potter. Maybe I will go after you sister when I'm done with you."
Hearing that, the lights hero's eyes widened in shock for a moment. Jakob also looked confused at his impulsive declaration and wondered if he might have crossed a line there.
Harry pulled all his magic into the last spell, and with a final roar, the boy who lived hurled it towards Jakob, who frowned, staring at it fascinated. The magical bolt was glowing in different colours, almost like a rainbow, and had been nonverbal. This wasn't a spell. This was raw magic with one single purpose.
Steeling himself, Jakob pulled the rest of his magic into his shield and defensively raised his hands. He could have sidestepped it but letting his curiosity take the better part of him, he allowed the bolt to connect with his shield. For a second, it seemed like the magic was imploding, but then it grew exponentially, forcing its way inside the bubble and exploding.
Gasps and shouts of fear filled the courtyard as the student who had observed the explosion watched with wide eyes at the smoke that would soon reveal what had happened to the Slytherin boy. There hadn't been a thumping sound of someone falling, no scream of pain, nothing.
Feeling a shiver of dread for what he just had done, Harry stared at the spot where Jakob had stood like the rest. Had he just killed lord Quade? He hadn't even known that he could do that, and now that the rage had disappeared, Harry took a worrying step forward. When the smoke cleared up, he halted as he saw Jakob emerging and stepping out from the small crater and into the clear white snow, wearing his usual smirk towards the Gryffindor.
Harry breathed a sigh of both relief and hopelessness. Would nothing hurt him? is he so powerful that even the vanquisher of lord Voldemort won't stand a chance?
The hopelessness, however, switched to confusion as the Gryffindor saw Jakob's smirk slip as a look of pain took over. Harry's eyes widened as he looked at the one his sister cared so deeply for. His robes were torn, and blood dripped rapidly, almost like small streams, from both his hands.
Jakob hastily raised a hand to his chest, closing his eyes at the unimaginable pain. His torn shirt was reddening, and cuts and wounds began to make themselves visible on the boy's face. What the fuck is happenings?
Jakob fell on his knees, had to stabilise himself on his hands and arms, and started coughing up blood. All the while, more cuts and wounds formed and healed everywhere on his body.
"Someone help him!"
"Potter is killing him!"
"Someone stop him! He is still hurting him!" Students around began shouting and pointing worriedly at the boy who had started to colour the snow around him red. When a sixth-year Ravenclaw had collected enough courage and was about to run over to help the Slytherin who kept coughing blood, he suddenly halted as he heard a cold, loud voice.
"Move!" the crowd of students dispersed as Vanity, together with Parkinson, Malfoy and Nott, rushed into the middle of the courtyard and placed themself in between their king and Harry. Abby, Draco and Theo drew their wands at Harry, who took a step back and raised his arms to his chest.
Pansy hadn't even paid Potter any attention. She rushed directly over to Jakob and got on her knees as well, making her skirt and black tights wet and cold by the mix of snow and blood, but she didn't care. Putting her hands on his body and trying to understand why her roommate wasn't healing properly.
Instead, his cuts and the wound seemed to get worse, and the blood kept pouring away from his body and melting the snow around the two.
"What the hell did you do to him!" cried the black-haired fringed girl turning her disdainful teary eyes towards the stunned Gryffindor, who couldn't believe the state Jakob was in. It looked so horrible, and the way he coughed. How could he even breathe while so much blood was coming up from his lungs?
Harry couldn't tear his gaze away from sight. He couldn't even respond. Another voice was heard, and some relief washed over his frozen mind.
"Return to your commons room!" Dumbledore entered the courtyard together with McGonagall, Black, Snape and Lilly Potter.
While Snape grabbed and dragged back the distraught Slytherin girl, signalling for Malfoy to take care of her, Dumbledore began waving his wand at the boy, trying to figure out what exactly was causing this effect.
McGonagall rushed over to the other fallen Gryffindors to assert their injuries. Black tried to disperse the still-growing cluster of onlookers, and Lilly rushed over to her traumatised son.
"Harry, what did you do? What spell did you hit him with?" Lilly tried to get some answers from her son, but Harry couldn't give any answers. He could only look on as Dumbledore glanced, alarmed at his potion master, who tried his best to mend the cuts and wounds that appeared on the boy's body, but for every wound Severus knitted back together, another took its place.
"Why is he getting worse? What's happening to him?" cried Pansy as Jakob stood on all four, having lost almost half his blood and would have been dead by now if it weren't for the healing shard in his body. Instead, it only continued on with the magic fighting the fragment in a never-ending battle.
Snape gave Dumbledore a frustrated glance as he couldn't determine what was happening to the teen. The headmaster, in turn, surveyed the onlookers who were being shooed away by Sirius. Waving his elder wand, a silver-white dome covered the three from sight.
The older wizard began chanting in an ancient language while waving his wand over Jakob, who began twitching as small white lights hovered a few centimetres over his body. Dumbledore's eye briefly turned white, almost glowing, as the chanting continued for a while more. Snape looked very confused, not knowing what the old man was doing. After what seemed like forever to the worried Potion master, Dumbledore blinked, and his eyes returned to normal.
" We need to move him to St Mungos. This raw magic is only created for one reason, to kill the boy. It won't stop until it has completed its task, but something is healing Jakob from the inside. Neither won't give in to the other." Waving his wand again, the dome disappeared, and the headmaster stood to look over at Harry.
Snape had put a hand on the boy's back, showing openly, for the first time, worry and sympathy for a student. He had to retract his hand when he felt the damp Slytherin robe and noticed that his touch brought pain to the young Quade lord. Severus turned his hand to see the blood covering his palm and tried to think of something that could bring the Slytherin king some relief. Not even the dark lord knew of this type of torment.
The headmaster was listening in on his muggle studies professor, who was still trying her best to get her son to speak but to no avail. He knew that look. Harry had gone into a type of shock that only one that had seen the horrors of war could and wouldn't give any answer. Even if the boy weren't in shock, Albus doubted that the Potter heir would know what he had truly done.
" Dumbledore." hearing Snape's alarmed voice, the leader of the light quickly turned and looked down to see that Jakob was now on his back in the potion master's lap, unconscious.
" His mind is shutting down because of the distress. We need to hurry." Said Snape warningly and tried to move his black hair away, bloodying his forehead in the process by the end of his black robe that had taken a red shade.
Dumbledore went down on his knees and motioned for Snape to hand over the boy. When the black-robed man wasn't in contact with his student anymore, a small pop could be heard as the two had disapparated away.
A blood-soaked snape slowly got up, pushing one hand on his knee to get the extra push he needed as he felt that his robe had become much heavier.
Surveying the area, Snape noted that Black had successfully dispersed the students, leaving only Pansy, Vanity, Malfoy, and Nott left. They all looked at their head of house for answers, but Snape dismissed their stares.
Weasley, Granger and Thomas, who had just returned to normal, tried to tell their own head of house that it had been the snake who had started the fight. McGonagall attempted to control the three students as she knew that this wasn't neither the time nor the place to shout out those accusations.
Harry had been escorted away by his mother after Jakob had been taken away, and rage filled the Slytherin's head of house as he glared at the three remaining Gryffindors.
But instead of acting on it, he turned to his own students and began ushering them away from the courtyard. The two heads of houses locked eyes briefly, and McGonagall gave her long-time college a grateful nod.
"It wasn't his fault, professor. Jakob started it and forced Harry's hands. He only defended himself. You must believe us!" tried Hermione again when her first attempt had been ignored. This time the brown-haired girl shut up when McGonagall turned and gave her a hard glare.
" Miss Granger, you disappoint me. Do you understand the gravity of the situation? Lord Quade might be dead right now, for all we know. " Granger halted in her words, and so did the other three as they stared, shocked at their head of house.
" No… no, he wouldn't do that. Harry wouldn't do something like that," said Ron, with a tone that showed very clearly that he was in denial.
McGonagall pointed at a large pool of blood on the ground where Jakob had once been.
" Mr Weasley, no one should have survived losing that large amount of blood. It's a miracle if he even does. We will not know until the headmaster returns if heir Potter and the three of you will be charged with manslaughter, so I suggest that you three lower your voices."
Granger stared at the blood and then back at the professor with wide watery eyes. She had been so focused on hating the boy that she hadn't realised what was actually happening.
The three Gryffindors paled after that announcement, not really knowing how to react.
Pansy was led by an equally pale Draco and tried her best to keep calm. She had never seen her roommate in such a state before. Somehow the stone shard didn't operate properly, something that she had never believed would happen. What if Jakobs rushed decision-making had finally done what she feared? Something that wasn't fixable this time.
Noticing Ivy standing on the other side of the corridor in shock, Pansy took a final breath to calm her nerves and released herself from the Malfoy heirs arms.
" I feel sick. I need to go to the bathroom."
" We will accompany you miss-"
" It's fine, professor. I will return shortly." Draco was about to say something when Snape's eyes glanced over to Ivy, and a sorrow-filled understanding made him raise his hand to silence the blonde.
" She will return shortly." Pansy nodded and watched the Slytherin group with their head of house continue on and going around the corner.
Turning around, she hurried over to her secret redheaded friend.
Ivy, who hadn't noticed her at first, turned her head slowly towards Pansy but held her gaze at the spot she had been staring at.
" I… why is there so much blood, Pansy? Where is Jakob?"
The Slytherin girl looked at her questioningly. Had her Gryffindor friend not seen what had happened, or had her brain done something to keep the horrible memory out?
" You didn't see what happened? What your brother did to him?"
Ivy shook her head, still unable to tear her gaze away from the red spot in the courtyard.
" Jake heard that Harry had cursed a first year and was so angry. He told me to not interfere. I think he didn't want me to pick a side and… I didn't know what to do, so I ran to get the headmaster. When I returned, I only saw my mother guiding Harry away and heard McGonagall tell Hermione that Harry had tried to kill him. Where is he?"
Pansy looked around, making sure that no one was there. She grabbed Ivy's hand and sat down on the bench beside her.
" Jakob always does this. He thinks he is better than everyone else and puts himself in situations that almost kills him. Harry cursed him with something, something that was trying to injure his body. Dumbledore had to apparate to St Mungo's with him after he fell unconscious. There was so much blood, Ivy. I've never seen him this injured before."
The two girls sat on the bench and silently cried while holding each other's hands. Trying to comfort one another.
" Do you think he will be okay?" asked Ivy with the last little fragment of hope in her voice.
Pansy nodded firmly.
" Yeh. He always finds a way to return back. Don't worry about it."
Ivy laughed and cried simultaneously at Pansy's attempt to sound like it wasn't a big deal. The two girls looked up as they heard voices in the distance, and Pansy stood with Ivy, concluding that the voices became louder as the footsteps approached.
Still holding the Gryffindor's hand, she hurried in the opposite direction and turned the corner. Ivy silently pulled Pansy, who was searching for someplace to hide and opened a door, revealing an abandoned classroom.
The two girls walked inside and locked it. Flicking her wand, Pansy moved a chair beside another, and they sat down. Ivy's eyes lowered to look at her left hand, which was intertwined with Pansy's right one, not noticing that the Slytherin had followed her gaze. The two girls looked up and met eyes again, giggling briefly over the fact that they had thought the same thing when hearing the voices. For a short moment, the giggles made the two escape reality.
" I really hate being in the middle of all this." Whispered the redhead as she moved her chair closer, adjusted her hold on pansy's hand, and leaned her head on the Slytherin's shoulder. Pansy leaned over Ivy's, and the two stared at the door in front of them. Hoping that Jakob would open up and tell them that this was all just a prank.
"You know. Sometimes I really hate that we aren't in the same house." Continued the redhead in a whisper.
Pansy still held her gaze at the door but felt her vision get watery. She couldn't get emotional now. Ivy needed her to be calm. She needed to be calm.
" We would only fight for his affection if we were. Don't you remember When we shared a room when we were in the founder's time?" the two girls chuckled between the sniffs, feeling that the comfort they brought each other was working. When the Slytherin girl became quiet again, she glanced down at the two hands holding hands.
" I hate it too."
St Mungo's Hospital. 14.56 (02:56 PM)
Dumbledore was seated in the waiting room. His mind where swimming with questions. How could Jakob have possibly survived this? The Slytherin boy had been put in a temporary coma to protect his mind from the pain, but the healers had just as much knowledge as the old headmaster. His body was still trying to heal the wounds that only reappeared, and When Albus had tried to pass on his information, the healers had told him to wait outside and not disturb them.
Sighing, Dumbledore looked to see someone passing him by. The woman held a large bouquet of roses that had covered everything except for the black hair as she walked with decisive steps further down into the corridor. The whole picture looked comical, bringing a small smile to the headmaster's otherwise frustrated and tired face. He looked around the room to see the people waiting for either aid or news about their loved ones that had been admitted.
Two boys looking similar in some ways, possibly brothers? They sat beside each other and happily talked while their father nodded, trying his best not to let the two boys see his worry.
Sighing, Albus glanced at the two boys. Why couldn't Harry and Jakob just get along? He had hoped it would change after Jakob visited the Potter manor, but things only seemed to worsen. Granger had been problematic since her first day entering Hogwarts but was now too close to Harry to be removed from the picture.
The Weasley boy was also a problem, and it seemed like Molly and Arthur hadn't been clear enough to let Ron know that he would have to get along with the Quade boy. Shaking his head at the stupidity of the youngest Weasley child, Dumbledore stood and walked over to pour some coffee.
They could aid each other in their prophecies. Harry's prophecy was challenging enough, but the Jakobs were on another level. Albus frowned as he stopped pouring the coffee, looking like he was trying to remember if he had turned off the oven before he left home.
"What was the prophecy again?" grabbing the paper cup, the headmaster returned to his seat again.
Was there a possibility old age had gotten the best of his mind?
Thinking about Harry's prophecy, he remembered it clear as day, but when he returned to Jakobs, his mind oddly enough went blank. Warming his old hands on the paper mug, the headmaster closed his eyes and disappeared for a moment into his mind, trying to find the reason. Had he been obliviated? No, it couldn't be it. Had someone put on some sort of Fidelius on the prophecy? No. There wasn't a spell that could do that. Opening his eyes again, he stared at the black smoking liquid.
He had heard Trelawney talk about this in one of her classes when he had visited. Whispering, he recited what the woman had said.
" There are only two reasons a prophecy can be forgotten by everyone who knows it. One was if it had changed somehow, or two, if the one it was referring to had met another end. If the person it referred to had..." standing up hastily, Dumbledore felt fear gripping his heart as he looked over to the corridor where Jakob's door was.
St Mungo's Hospital. 14.56 (02:56 PM)
Walking inside the hospital, she hurried her steps towards the information desk.
"Welcome to St Mungo's hospital. If you are injured, you will need to fill out the form on the right. If you are visiting, please state your name and relationship to the admitted one," said the receptionist in a monotone voice, not even bothering to look at the person on the other side while pointing the finger at a paper stack with forms.
" I need to know where Jakob Quade is held." the tone and urgency in her voice made the light-browned middle-aged woman look up suspiciously.
" I will need your name and who-"
" Imperio."
The receptionist's eyes glanced over, and she looked almost like she was daydreaming.
" Tell me where I can find Jakob Quade."
The receptionist nodded, opened up a drawer and began looking through some documents, not registering the drumming of the woman's impatient fingers on her desk.
" He is in room 21 on the fourth floor." answered the monotone-voiced receptionist and looked up, only to see that the woman had already left.
She continued forwards towards the elevator. She pressed the button multiple times before the doors slowly opened, and stepped inside. Looking beside her, a small old man holding an enormous bouquet of roses met her eyes and gave her a warm smile.
"No need to be worried, my dear. The healers here are the finest in all the country. The one you are visiting is in good hands." Chuckling, she pressed the button with the number four on it.
"Am I that obvious? Nice flowers. I forgot to bring something."
The old man laughed warmly at the comment.
"When I visited Daisy yesterday, I had also forgotten to bring her something, so now I'm making up for it. They are quite heavy, though. He had to jump to adjust the grip on the bouquet, and she smiled as she waited for the elevator doors to open.
When they did, she stepped out, and her smile disappeared as she was forced to stop in her track. Dumbledore was sitting on a bench and staring into nothingness. Bella hadn't said anything about the meddling old man being here when she had contacted her. Only informed about the situation and that he needed her aid. How would she be able to cross the hallway now?
Turning back, she saw that the elevator was just about to close.
" Accio bouquet." the flowers were ripped from the old man's grip and flew into her hands. It took a few seconds for him to realise what had just happened, and when he did, it was already too late as the doors had closed.
Using the roses as cover, she crossed the hallway, eluding the headmaster's eyes and continued down the hall.
" 18. 19. 20." standing in front of door 21, she glanced over at Dumbledore, who had risen to grab himself a cup of coffee. She grasped the door nob, twisted it and walked inside.
Stepping inside, she frowned as she witnessed three healers trying their best to help the boy, who still bled but was at least unconscious. If he had seen the incompetence of the supposed healers, Jakob would surely have been very annoyed. Closing the door and putting down the roses beside the wall next to it, she aimed her wand, made a circular motion, and raised it up in the air.
" Somnum Pulveris." she held her breath as gold dust sprayed out into the room, making the three healers yawn once before dropping like dolls on the floor. Flicking her wands sideways, the healers were pushed into one of the closets, and with a final wave, the door closed.
" You always find yourself in these situations." She sighed and approached the boy with cuts and wounds appearing and disappearing on his body.
"What trouble have you put yourself into now, Jakob."
St Mungo's Hospital. 14.56 (02:56 PM)
Jakob opened his eyes and sighed in relief. There was no pain, No coughing, and No blood that made it hard for him to breathe anymore. Touching his body to see that it was still there, he looked down and frowned. He wasn't wearing his torn clothes anymore. He wore his normal black robes with his family crest embroidered on the left side of his chest.
Turning his head to observe the left side of the room, the Quade lord concluded that he was lying in his king-sized bed inside his room, and he sat up with a confused frown on his face. He rubbed his eyes and turned, so his legs were outside the bed, preparing to stand.
" This is weird. Am I dead?"
Before he could let his feet touch the floor, a raspy, high-pitched, nightmarish voice answered his question.
" You are not dead. If you were, you wouldn't be here with me."
The voice that may have once belonged to a child made him feel a shiver go down his spine. He slowly turned, and his eyes widened in fear to see a shadow, a horrifying girl sitting on the other side of his bed, staring at him and tilting her head sideways.
The wide toothy smile reached her empty eyesockets, and Jakob stood and backed away with both hands raised in alarm and defence.
" Aw. Do I look scary to you? You haven't been scared of me before when I share my power with you. You shouldn't be scared of your own shadow Jakob. I've been with you since the day we both were born."
Jakob frowned at the statement of the living nightmare sitting on his bed.
" Don't tell me you are..." he trailed off as he approached the child-like creature, and she did the same, crawling on all fours with her head raised to stare at him, looking like a bizarre spider.
Sitting down on the bedside, Jakob raised his hand again and slowly reached to touch her cheek. Before he could close the distance, she leaned her cheek towards his open palm. Feeling a cold pleasant sensation as the shadowy thing leaned in and closed its empty eyes in enjoyment.
"Feeling your physical hands are pleasant, but your soul touching me is pure bliss."
Jakob wanted to pull his hand back but didn't dare anger the nightmarish creature and watched the child raise her claw-like hands to hold his wrist in place while nuzzling into his hand.
" You are my darkness, aren't you?" The low-voiced question sounded more like a statement as he looked fascinatingly at the shadow. The creepy child made out of darkness stopped her movement and opened her empty eyes, smiling so widely that it looked unnatural, horrible. Still holding his wrist close to her cheek, she said in that high-pitched raspy voice.
" What gave me away?"
Authors Note 2.
I will try to get the next chapter out before Christmas, but as I'm not a kid anymore(sadly), there is a lot of work to do. So if I don't get it out before then, I wish you all a happy holiday and a merry Christmas! I won't wish you a happy new year until the next chapter, at least;)
Cheers!