Heather pov
"Bombarda!"
Cascading threw me was pain, pain which shook me to my core. It burned like fire yet was as chilling as ice. It was an inferno of agony but I delighted in the knowledge of what it would bring. The DA will lose faith ever so quickly; Ron might even get expelled or at the very least severely punished. This was one thing no teacher could let stroll by not even Snape. I gasped clutching my stomach as the pain increased further. 'Bombarda' was the perfect example of showing how light magic can be just as effective as dark when it comes to pain. Typical, stupid even that I'm thinking such thoughts even in agony. I have never been one for sense.
"Ron you fool!" I heard Hermione scream. Somehow I knew she was not worried for my sake but for the repercussions this would come to present. "She'll never forgive you!" They have now completely lost any hope of regaining their little light weapon.
"The backstabbing traitor deserved it!" Ron spat.
"Does she deserve to die?" A willowy voice seemed to ask, it was female. I didn't recognise it but somehow I knew the owner of the voice was a kind hearted soul. "Any one normal would die if that spell was directed to them, lucky for you Ron that she's not normal. If she was you would be going to Azkaban for this." Despite the relaxed tone of voice I sensed anger coursing through the girl like larva but imprisoned within her.
"I wouldn't." Ron sneered. "Dumbledore would stop any charges."
"You are wrong." The girl spoke with such conviction I knew she would be a dangerous opponent. I wouldn't desire to be on her bad side.
Bombarda- the curse that acted like a bomb
Bombarda- the spell which was now ripping through my body
Bombarda- the spell which shall change perceptions
Amy of echoes shall not fall but only rise as right now Ron made the greatest mistake he could have. While the DA will be loyal and stubborn no one can deny the proof of what is happening to me right now. Right now I do not care for pain. In many ways I am ever so curious as to what shall happen right now. Shall I die? Shall I heal? Shall I be spared? Everything seemed to slow down. I sensed panic burn through the thoughts of those around me.
Like a puppet whose strings had been cut I sank to the floor. I fought an edge to cackle in bitterness. Yet again I survived. Everything seems so disorientated… Blurs of red ebbed through my vision as I looked upon the stone floor. Slowly I reached down to touch the sticky red substance…then I realised it was blood. Somehow the image of my own blood seeping across the floor never really sank in my mind. Everything seemed so dreamlike in quality it was scary. Every single dreg of life seemed to have been sapped from me.
Bella's pov
My eyes widened; Weasley had dared to use that curse? Eva's skin seemed cracked almost, blood seeped out….yet somehow she'd survived. How? No one normal could even attempt to survive such a curse, but right now this did not matter to Tom… Pain burned in his face, anger radiated from him. This time Ronald Weasley was going to pay for this. He was not going to be able to get through this one without any punishment. If Tom's face was anything to go by then Weasley might be dead before dawn. Yes Tom has never killed before, admittedly the basilisk was unleashed and by accident Myrtle was killed, but for Eva Tom would do anything.
"Do you know what you've done?" I hissed.
"What?" Ronald Weasley sneered. "Why should I care if she's injured? At least a light spell like that wouldn't kill her like any of your dark spells!"
"You idiot! If she was normal then she wouldn't be severely injured she'd be dead." My eyes narrowed. Right now it would be better if I was the one to take Weasley down a peg or two. If Tom was the one to then I dread to think what would happen. "You could have killed her! She could have died! Right now you could have a dead girl on your hands. You could have a dead girl on your hands Weasley!"
"If she can survive the killing curse as a baby then surely she can survive a simple Bombarda." Weasley scoffed.
"Why is no one sending for a teacher or at least the matron?" I hissed. "She's dying, losing blood. Somebody get her!"
"Why don't you?" Weasley sneered.
"I'm not leaving you alone with her; I don't trust you not to kill her!" I spat. "Right now Tom is in no fit state to go. Another reason I refuse to go is that I do not want to risk you angering him at the moment." I watched Tom. Shock rushed through me; red…his eyes were red. He was kneeling beside Eva, it was clear he was worried. "You say he becomes a dark lord, well right now he has never been closer to it. You've just hurt one of the few people he cares about."
"He doesn't care about her. He's using her!" Granger hissed.
"I know Tom, he's my friend. Look at him! He's never looked so broken Granger! You say the light are caring and preach love, if they did then Weasley wouldn't have practically killed her. Heather is right; you're nothing but Hypocrites anymore. In my time the light was so far more than this. The light was pure, forgiving…but here you are now having just almost reduced her to death." Anger burned threw me, but I knew right now it was better to keep controlled. "Now will somebody fetch help?" I hissed.
"There is no use asking those idiots." Draco spat. "They have no mercy and most certainly don't care for her."
"I resent that Malfoy." I jerked my head around to find the source of that willowy voice. "I've already sent for the Matron and professor Umbridge. You shouldn't worry Tom Marvolo Riddle, she won't die. The only thing which could kill her has not happened yet, and even then it wouldn't be her body but mind." It was a Ravenclaw with long elegant hair the colour of moonlight.
"How do you know?" Tom demanded.
"I'm a seer." She smirked. "I know you hold no faith in divination but I speak the truth, I am no fraud unlike the current divination professor. Originally she had been gifted with the site however she lost it because of the current headmaster." She smiled softly.
"What's your name?" Tom hissed, still sounding full of hatred and distrust.
"Luna Lovegood. Like before she'll survive, she's had worse injuries Tom Marvolo Riddle." Luna smiled softly. "She'll recover and she'll be fine. Beware of trickery for it will soon come into play. She'll recover, she's had worse…far worse in the past with the muggles. Believe me when I say she has lived through far worse injuries, some of which she has not wanted to survive because of the pain. When she's with you she has never felt so happy, so complete. She wouldn't ever want to die when she's beside you."
"What do you mean by that Lovegood?" Tom spat.
An airy laugh trickled through the air. "She's told you before, only not the you right here. In the chamber of secrets she had revealed it to you, but she would never reveal it to you willingly. Her past is something she does not desire to dwell upon Tom Marvolo Riddle, but be warned her past shall catch up with her and when it does it shall be down to you." Anger flooded through me; she was no better than the others! Tom would never do anything to hurt Eva.
"How dare you say Tom would ever hurt her!" I spat. "Tom would never hurt her like she would never hurt him! They understand each other like no one else could ever understand. If Heather is hiding her past then she is doing so with reason and Tom would never make her relive it in anyway. There are aspects of Tom's life that he does not ever desire to relive ether, and neither would force the other to speak of such pain."
"I never said he would force her to speak of such pain…but his actions shall bring it up. It shall break her and she'll fall further than ever before." Lovegood warned.
"See even the lunatic agrees with us. He's only using her!" Weasley sneered.
"Don't insult Luna Ron!" Ginny Weasley defended the blond girl. "Don't insult Heather ether!"
"She was gullible for falling for him!" Ron hissed.
"You are no better than them! You could have killed her and right now she could be dying! What is wrong with you? Does no one know any healing spells? Surely some of you must know some! Yet here you are standing around waiting for teachers and fighting. You say that you care about her yet no one is doing anything to help her. Surely someone can help her! Luna you yourself know a lot about healing yet you're not doing anything. Yes you had common sense to send for Umbridge and the matron yet not to try and heal her yourself! Why is no one helping her?" The fiery redhead exclaimed.
"Why are you defending her?" Draco asked.
"Don't look so surprised because I actually care for her! I may not know any healing spells someone must know some! According to Neville you wanted to be a healer but right now it's all talk. Why aren't you helping her?" Ginny pointed to me this time.
"It's too severe to do any good." I replied. "While if it was minor I could help but this is far more than minor. While she's alive right now she might not stay alive for long. The minor healing I know wouldn't do any good and it might only make it worse." I was slightly surprised she was so commanding yet what she said made so much sense. She made more sense than most people, similar to the qualities Tom and Eva possessed.
"What about you Luna?" Ginny demanded dismissing me slightly. "You know quite depth healing so why do you do nothing to help her? You know yourself what it's like to be picked on so why are you not trying to help her? She is changing everything for the better, she's being revolutionary right now like you said. You don't help her now why?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"That is easy Ginny. Watch her carefully." Lovegood smirked. "Tom Marvolo Riddle has already noticed hence why he has stopped paying attention to the rest of us. She'll survive, she's surviving now. She's healing quicker than she normally would despite the fact the pain caused by healing is also great. This time she wants to survive hence why she's so quick this time."
"Again what do you mean by this time?" Tom demanded snapping slightly.
"What do you mean by that Luna?" Ginny asked.
"It's up to Eva Rosa to tell you herself." Luna replied mysteriously. "She won't tell you though, any of you, because she does not want anyone to know. Eventually she'll have no choice but to tell you but that shall not be to the moment the veil is unearthed." How did she know about Tom's name for Heather? Only the Army of Echoes know and no one else. It is a closely kept secret. If the light had found out about it then it would only give them more reason to call her evil. They would think she was turning into the next dark lady.
"What do you mean by Eva Rosa?" Ronald Weasley hissed.
"It is the name history shall speak of her as." Luna smirked again.
"You still haven't explained why you aren't healing her." Neville stepped forward, my eyes widened slightly at the venom in his voice. "Why are you just leaving her to bleed to her death? If I had the power to help her then I would but you don't do a thing." He spat.
"Her magic is healing her. Empaths tend to be self-healers and the healers of others. I'm guessing that is why she's healing right now. I'm guessing that's why she isn't dead right now. According to many Empaths are difficult to kill using any other method but the killing curse, I'd thought it was a myth but now I think it isn't. Can't you see? Her cuts are healing, slowly but surely. Her blood no longer spills from her veins." I jumped slightly; it was Tom.
"Tom are you sure?" I asked tentatively.
"I'm not imagining it Bella." Tom hissed. "Look for yourself if you think I'm going insane. I assure you; I'm perfectly sane Bella."
"I'm not saying you are!" I denied.
"Yes you are." Tom countered. "Believe me when I say this, just watch her yourself. Just look!"
"Mr Riddle step away from your victim." I whirled around to glare at Dumbledore. Seems like the teachers have finely arrived…too late in my opinion. It was almost as if he had delayed them in hope Heather was dead already. "You shall be expelled for this I assure you as well as scaring the students."
"He has done nothing!" To my surprise it was Ginny Weasley. "It was my brother! He cast the Bombarda curse at her. Check their wands if you do not believe me. The last spell my brother used was Bombarda and it was not Riddle. Do not condemn my friend's boyfriend when she right now cannot defend him. Why would Riddle attack his own girlfriend?" Her eyes seemed to glow with fury. Shock seemed to burn through me. Was she continuing to defend him against Dumbledore despite the fact that he most certainly wasn't Heather?
"Why do you defend him?" I asked softly.
"I defend Tom because if I didn't Heather would never forgive me…not when I was the reason she got close to him. I was the reason she gave him a chance." She shrugged.
"What?" I blinked.
"She didn't want to get close to her parents killer in the beginning, she might not have if I hadn't of told her to give him a chance." Ginny Weasley shrugged. "I have nothing against Riddle even though if not for Heather he would have killed me in second year. She got bitten by a basilisk trying to save me, she almost died trying to save my life. If not for the phoenix that saved her she would be dead." Ginny Weasley answered. She'd been bitten by a basilisk?
"I see no reason why I should check Riddle's wand when it is clear he is guilty and not Ronald. I do not understand why you desire to incriminate your brother." The Headmaster looked at her 'disappointed'.
"Actually you'll find it is only fair that you do test the wands." I breathed in relief; Umbridge had finally arrived.
"I do not see why it is necessary." The headmaster insisted.
"It is only fair. It would be most unfair if indeed Miss Weasley was correct and Tom got punished for something Mr Weasley had done. One of your students is severely injured yet you do nothing to help her right now, not even send for a healer. That is most alarming especially since Miss Lovegood had said herself the injury was severe. Madam Pompfrey would already be here if you hadn't said that her current patient needed more attention." Umbridge smirked triumphantly.
"Right now we need to make sure that this doesn't go unpunished." Dumbledore insisted.
"You'll find right now that your student needs a healer. Mr Longbottom please quickly gets Madam Pompfrey and tell her Miss Potter needs immediate care and attention." Umbridge smirked. "Mr Riddle please move away from Miss Potter so Madam Pompfrey shall be able to help heal her. While I understand you do not want to leave her side but it would be easier for her to be healed if you leave her." She smiled sympathetically.
"Yes Professor." Tom murmured though I knew he didn't want to leave Eva. I saw pain inside his eyes.
"You can see Mr Riddle is greatly upset and worried for Miss Potter, it is not the face of someone who would cast a bombarda curse at his girlfriend. You can clearly see Mr Weasley is not the least bit concerned about Miss Potter. That in itself speaks for itself. That is another reason why we should check their wands or use veretersirum." Umbridge smirked triumphantly. "Seeing that Mr Weasley's sister actually says Mr Weasley did it rather than Mr Riddle that is more reason to use veretersirum. Mr Riddle would you be willing to use veretersirum?"
"Yes Professor Umbridge." Tom nodded, I smirked. Perfect… If Tom was willing then it showed that he had nothing to hard.
"This shows that Mr Riddle has nothing to hide Dumbledore. All the more reason to actually check their wands. I will not have innocents expelled for something that they didn't do. It is unjust and unfair not to defend a person who could be innocent." Inside I was cheering; Umbridge certainly knew how to fight a battle. This battle was going to be won! Hopefully if she won the Dumbledore would lose power and respect. Once he did then everything could be made fairer.
"While this is true Professor Umbridge and I agree with you Mr Weasley is a model student and we have no reason to suspect it was him." I mentally scoffed.
"There is reason for we have had an eye witness who says that it was him." Umbridge smirked. "With all due respect headmaster we will need to report this to the ministry. If something like this can happen then Hogwarts can hardly be considered safe...after all the welfare of the pupils is what is most important. Disregard their welfare and more incidences such as this will occur. I'm sure the ministry will agree with me."
A.N. Sorry it's taken so long! I hope it's worth the wait! I really struggled to write this chapter.