Chapter 3: The Unforgivable Curses
Holly followed some other Gryffindors to the dorm and entered behind them keeping to herself, "Holly!" Mallory said happily seeing her enter. She noticed her saddened expression, "What's wrong?"
She looked at her younger sister, "Protect your heart. Careful who you let in."
This made her confused, "I do not understand."
She let out a small sigh, loving how innocent and pure she still remained to the world."You will one day…I am going to bed. Have a goodnight I will see you in the morning." Mallory nodded as Holly passed her and went over to Hermione who was sitting by the fire with Ron and Harry, "Which room is ours?" she asked her with sadness lingering in her voice.
Hermione looked up from her book, "First door on the left. Just follow the stairs," she observed the expression and tone of voice, "He is not worth the tears."
She looked out at the rainy sky, "He is not the person I met over the summer. He was…kind."
Ron laughed overhearing them, "Malfoy kind? Yeah right. He does not have a kind piece in his body."
"You do not know him, Ronald!" Holly held back tears, "Excuse me. I am…" she turned away and quickly headed for the stairs to go to the girls' dormitory.
"She will learn who he truly is," Ron said as they watched her leave.
Mallory approached them, "But he was kind to her at the World Cup. Suddenly we are here and he treats her very unkindly."
The trio before her was in shock, "Malfoy treated someone kindly? You must be mistaken, Mal," Harry told her.
She shook her head, "No, I am not he is very recognizable."
The Golden trio looked at one another confused unable to believe that Draco could ever show anyone actual kindness.
The next morning while everyone was still asleep Holly awoke before anyone else and made her way to the Great Hall, she was not looking where she was going when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her down a side corridor, "Hey!" she snapped then saw Draco, "What do you want?" her tone remaining harsh as she snatched her arm out of his grasp.
"I do not want us parting on bad terms."
She rolled her eyes stepping back from him, "Too late for that. You made your choice."
He shook his head and then looked into her emerald eyes, "Holly…you do not understand. I just do not have the choice."
She looked back into his grey eyes then darted her eyes away looking back towards the entry into the Great Hall before turning her gaze back at him, "Everyone has a choice, Draco. It is up to you whether or not you choose to make your own decisions or not."
He let out a deep sigh, he was unsure how to make her see the truth in his words, "You make it sound easy."
She avoided any direct eye contact with him, "That is because it is easy. You just are choosing to accept the idea that it is not easy. If you would just accept that we can be friends no matter then I would gladly be your friend, but you have chosen to believe that due to us being in separate houses we can no longer be friends. You are fine being friends with Peri but she is in your house so it makes everything alright."
"Hol…" he started to speak.
"I am done with this conversation, Draco. I wish you the best, but I am done," she walked away with him following behind her.
"Holly, please," he pleaded as she ignored him, but clearly upset and annoyed as she entered the Great Hall. She continued ignoring him and went to the Gryffindor table, Hermione was already at the table reading as Draco came into the Great Hall behind her and then proceeded to the Slytherin table sitting himself across from Peri.
Hermione looked up from her book and then sighed sympathetically, "Holly…let him go. He is not worth these tears I told you this already; he is not a kind person and you are. You deserve someone who would give you the world."
She sniffed wiping the tears that rolled down her cheeks, "He was a completely different person at the game. Now…I do not know this man."
"When you met him, he just assumed you were a pureblood and your family is well off. He knows the truth now and he cannot accept you into his life."
"Peri is not a pureblood though."
She shrugged, "She is the rare acceptation since she is Slytherin."
Holly gave a slight nod as Hermione handed her a handkerchief, "It is still raining this morning," she tried to change the subject.
Hermione looked up at the dark clouds on the magical ceiling, "I think it is supposed to go on all week…" she spoke as she noticed George and Lee enter without Fred. She watched them confused, "That is odd…"
Holly still drying her eyes looked over her shoulder at the two boys heading toward their table, "What is odd?" she asked looking back at Hermione.
"They do not have Fred with them…they always have him with them."
She looked at George who took a seat next to her, "George?" she asked once he was settled in his seat.
He began filling his plate not even looking in her direction, "Yes?"
"Where is your brother?"
Both boys let out a chuckle, "With your sister."
"What?" she went ghost white when he said that, "Cassie specifically told us growing up not to become like her…not that Peri was a mistake. She would never…"
George laughed again, "Not that…although give them some time they might become that way minus the children though," he paused to take a bite, "Perhaps the act of trying without actually trying though."
The boys at the table all laughed just as Fred and Hallie entered The Great Hall, they were dripping wet laughing together as they walked in. He kissed her head then they slowly separated from one another their hands slipping from the others before going to their respected tables. Fred sat across from George and next to Hermione at the table dripping wet getting the table all wet, "Fred! You are getting the table soaked!" Hermione scolded him wiping off what she could onto the floor.
He grabbed a goblet of juice, "Sorry Hermione," he said not really caring too much as he took a sip. He looked over at the Ravenclaw table as Hallie talked excitedly with the girls at her table. "She is perfect," he had very much been stung by a lovebug.
George and Lee laughed, "You two are going to be that new annoying couple aren't you?"
Fred took his gaze away from his girlfriend to his brother and friend, "Yes. I adore everything about that girl…" he looked back up catching the gaze of Draco who was staring daggers basically into the back of Holly's head, "I think a young Malfoy might feel the same way about a young Gryffindor."
The entire table turned to look over at where Draco sat with the house, he instantly looked away pretending to be in a conversation with Peri and his friends. Peri was confused by his sudden joining of the conversation, "What are you doing?" she questioned.
"Joining the conversation."
She gave him a confused look then shook his head and returned her conversation with Theo and Blaise. Pansy refused to speak to her and gave up trying to flirt with Draco since he was clearly not paying any attention to her, she would have tried to flirt with Theo or Blaise if Draco was showing her no attention but now their attention was fully on Peri. Like every other guy at Hogwarts they were attracted to Hallie and Peri, they were new which gave the guys even more interest in them. They also made the girls equally jealous like it was making Pansy feel in this moment.
The majority of the week remained uneventful except for the gossip from other years mentioning that Mad-Eye was teaching the Unforgivable Curses to the students, as well as showing the actions to them. Thursday afternoon, Holly made her way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. There inside the classroom stood at the front by the chalkboard was Mad-Eye, "Ms. Holly Porter."
She proceeded down the row to sit near the front, this was never her favorite class at Ilvermorny but she did always do quite well. She was much more talented at charms and transfiguration, her twin on the other hand had a talent for astronomy and divination. Holly found divination to be a pointless class, but she was there to encourage her sister as she struggled in her classes. Holly received the brains while Hallie remained nearly clueless about anything educational unless it was something creative like music or art.
She placed her bag filled with books on the first desk, "Yes, sir."
"Will your sister be joining us?"
"I would think so. This is a fourth-year, Defense Against the Dark Arts class."
Mad-Eye turned to face her, "I saw her heading towards the Black Lake with Mr. Weasley."
She shrugged, "That is a concern with my guardians. She is not good at Defense Against the Dark Arts anyway."
"Peri King is though."
She nodded, "Yes…she is more skilled at potions, but yes she is."
The rest of the class filed into the room taking their seats, "Put away your books. You will not be needing those," he informed the class as they placed The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection back in their bags. He grabbed his register and began calling out their names, he reached Hallie's name but with no response, he marked her absence. "Attendance will be part of your grade. If you do not attend you better be in the infirmary not skipping class to pleasure yourself," his eyes fell onto Holly, "Inform your sister of this."
"Yes, sir."
"I received a letter from Professor Lupin, who informed me that he had covered dark creatures quite thoroughly. Before he chose to return to France to be closer to his godchildren."
Hermione, who was seated next to Holly looked over her shoulder slightly towards Ron and Harry directly behind them. She had a confused expression on her face, Holly assumed the boys had the same expression. She also managed to catch the whispers of Harry and Ron, "Remus has godchildren. He never mentioned…perhaps I should ask Sirius."
"Maybe," Ron agreed, "He would know."
Hermione shook her head, "That is his personal business. If he wanted to share he would have shared, Professor Moody simply is sharing though why he left…although we know the real reason."
Mad-Eye's magical eye spun towards the quad, "Mr. Weasley!" he barked.
"Sir?"
"Name an unforgivable curse."
Ron glanced over at Harry then back at the Mad-Eye, "Er…my dad told me about one once…the Imperius curse?"
"Ah, yes," Mad-Eye praised him, "Your father would know that one for sure. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time."
Mad-Eye moved to a set of three black spiders, reaching into the jar and pulling out one. "Imperio," he muttered and pointed at the creature. This caused the spider to leap from his hand dangling by the fine thread of silk, swinging backward and forward as though it were part of a trapeze act. The classroom laughed at its performance. "Think this is funny," he growled at the students, "How would you like it if I did it to you?"
Holly remained unlaughing staring at the spider, her face pale as a sheet. Mad-Eye's magical eye noticed her pain, slipping the spider with a plop back into the jar. "Anyone knows any others?"
Hermione's hand shot into the air, but to much surprise, Neville's did as well. The final two curses are what had Holly mentally traumatized. She learned from her search of the autopsy and death reports done upon her parents. Her parents were tortured by the cruciatus curse as the death eaters hoped they would reveal Lily and James' location, but when they refused they killed them. Right in front of Remus, she learned this through the records. The records were supposed to be sealed but she used her guardians' Ministry identification numbers to gain access to the records. If caught she could be sent to Azkaban. She regained thoughts just as Mad-Eye was performing the Cruciatus Curse.
Draco who sat across the aisle from her watched her not the spider. This pained him deeply to watch her in pain. He knew those around him, especially the ones outside his house were being affected mentally and emotionally by this. His eyes darted over to Neville with pain on his face, he knew his aunt had been the one to use this particular curse on his parents. His father would speak proudly of this, Draco just played along with the act when in reality he did feel awful for the way those of his placement in society treated others this way. His eyes left Neville returning to Holly, as Mad-Eye got the final spider from the jar. He approached her desk allowing the spider to gently walk off his hand onto her desk, she watched the spider. No emotion was shown on her face. Her face remained blank.
"Ms. Porter."
Her emerald eyes looked up through her lashes to her professor, "Sir?"
"What is the final curse?"
She sucked in a deep breath looking at the spider walking slowly around her desk, "The Killing Curse." Her voice shook as she spoke, the words barely understandable.
Mad-Eye scooped up the spider moving around to Harry, "The Killing Curse. The most unforgivable curse." He placed the spider in front of Harry, "Avada Kedavra," he roared leaving the lifeless spider on Harry and Ron's desk.
Holly remained turned away her eyes closed to prevent her from seeing the blinding green light. She stifled a cry, Draco watching her. He wanted to rush to her side but knew he could not.
"There is no blocking the curse. The is no counter-curse. Only one person has survived it. And he is sitting right in this room," he glanced down at Harry before him. Holly drifted off into a safe place, a better place.
When class was dismissed, she quickly left to make her way to The Great Hall with dinner to begin not long after the ending of the class. She sniffled as she walked, but was caught off guard when a hand grabbed her once more pulling her away from any eyes. This time she was pulled into a classroom, she now saw the person pulling her. She knew though who it had to be, despite her anger with him she was glad it was him. Her eyes looked at him, "Draco…" her voice shaky with tears filling her eyes.
He pulled her into a hug, smelling her hair. It smelled of vanilla…almost like a cupcake. "I am here, Holly. I am here for you."
She cried into his chest, "That is how they died. They were tortured and killed by death eaters…"
He kissed her head, "I know it is hard. You are safe now."
Draco was unsure how long they would remain safe, he knew The Dark Lord was to return within the year. His father had been discussing the return and the attack at the World Cup.
The two remained in their hug for quite some time till she pulled away, "We have dinner." She slipped away from him leaving the room and making her way to the Gryffindor table.
Draco entered after her, taking his own seat with Peri joining him shortly after. "How was class?" she asked just as the food magically appeared before them.
"Just as you mentioned. The horror has given to the students, your sister…the brunette. Did not attend."
"Hallie? I know she does not like school but she has attended every other class…oh gosh she learned what was being taught. I will speak to my stepfather, he is head of the Education Department at the Ministry."
Draco nodded as they began their meals in silence. When the dinner ended, she made her way to her stepfather and mother who were eating with the other professors. They were both furious in appearance over what Draco could tell, Peri returning to Draco as her stepfather went to McGonagall and Dumbledore informing them what he had just discovered. The three then brought Mad-Eye to another room. "He will take care of this. It will never happen again. I should have spoken sooner, especially knowing how this would affect my sisters."
Draco glanced across the hall at Holly leaving with Hermione and Ginny, "I am pleased to hear we will not experience that again. Even the first year Slytherins are scared and we grew up learning these as young children."
Peri nodded following his line of vision, "She will be alright. She is stronger than Hallie. Thankfully Hallie has Fred for comfort."
He agreed with her with a slight nod as they left the hall going to their common room.