Another houses competition story! This one is about Draco, and his choice to curse Katie Bell. This could be a slight canonical deviation, but in this fic Draco chooses Katie as his target.
House: Slytherin, Class: Charms, Category: Drabble, Prompt: Katie Bell, WC: 988
Warnings: panic attacks, curses, mentions of murder plots
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It had taken weeks to choose the right target. He'd been watching the crowds of students at Hogwarts, his task having long since turned into a puzzle; he was trying to figure out the placement and nature of those puzzle pieces.
So, who would deliver his grim gift to Dumbledore? It was a hard decision. She made it easier though. The way she breezed through school, popular but undetected. Unassuming in a way that most school Quidditch players were. Plain. Perfect.
Katie Bell would do just fine.
Draco was under enough pressure as it was, thinking through the intricate chess moves that would hopefully lead to the death of his headmaster. With his godfather – and almost every adult he knew – breathing down his neck, a fuck up was inevitable. He was just hoping to Merlin that this was not the moment in which he would screw things up.
He scratched at the place on his arm where the dark mark had been burned into his skin.
"Bastards," he muttered darkly.
The Dark Lord was like a shadow in his mind, clawing at him. And his task… That was more prevalent in his thoughts than ever. It taunted him.
Snape was behaving oddly, too. Draco thought he wanted the glory of killing the headmaster and gaining the Dark Lord's trust, but now he wasn't so sure. His godfather had offered so many opportunities for murder that it seemed as though the man hated Dumbledore more than he knew.
He had tried several ways so far, and this was just the next in his line of moves. Dumbledore was a tricky fucker who was protected by many pawns. His little army of protectors.
Including her.
He had never spoken to her directly, aside from a few mean-mannered comments on the Quidditch pitch, or along moving staircases. He had never really had a reason to talk to her. He needed to create one, or to force an interaction on her.
Katie Bell was one of those students who had a lot of friends, but there was one girl in particular who seemed to be permanently glued to her side.
If she was given the opportunity, Draco was sure that this Leanne could cause a lot of problems for him. But he almost didn't care what happened as long as his task was complete. The Dark Lord could save him from Azkaban, and Snape could save him from petty detentions.
He spent a few weeks just observing. Planning. Watching her movements, and trying to assess whether she would be a malleable subject to the imperious curse. She was strong, yes, but there was a hesitation there. She was insecure, like all other teens, and that could make her more susceptible to the curse.
He also spent time examining the cursed necklace in the dark corners of his dorm when none of the other boys were there.
He needed to be wary, especially as Potter had taken on an increased interest in his movements.
(Gasping from nightmares in the dead of night, waking up in a cold sweat, wishing he were dead.)
Something that was especially fortuitous about Katie Bell is that she planned to deliver Dumbledore a gift for the Christmas holidays.
It was the perfect cover.
Suddenly and swiftly, Hogsmeade day had arrived.
Draco was out of breath, and he was out of fucking time. He had been in Hogsmeade for hours, waiting with bated breath, enduring panic attacks, disguising himself in order to go into the bathroom where Katie Bell would go.
(He knew this; he had been watching and noted her weak bladder. It disgusted him that he had gone to such lengths.)
The world was threatening to crumble down on him, but it was far too late to think of such things - she was entering the bathroom, and the illusion was slipping from his body.
"I'll be back in a minute," Katie Bell called to her friend. She hadn't seen him yet, but turned to the bathroom mirrors. She twisted her hair back behind her ears, tipped her nose down, seeming to look at her own eyelids, dark and purple as they were. As she turned towards the cubicle, she spotted him, waiting there in the shadows.
"Draco?"
Katie Bell's surprised question pierced his mind. Fuck.
"Silencio," he murmured quickly, trying to force his mind to think quicker. The girl was staring at him in utter bewilderment. What were the reasons he could give? He shouldn't give any, should he? He should just do the job, get it over with, and get out. "I'm sorry," he said under his breath, and cast the curse.
Green light streamed from his wand as the imperious took over. Katie Bell didn't have time to respond or think; her eyes went misty and unclear. She was under his control.
He stared at her. He needed to make sure that the curse had worked. "Tell me something embarrassing."
Katie did not pause. "I hit myself with a broom the first time I tried to ride one at Hogwarts."
He could have laughed. Time was running out. "I need you to do something for me, Katie. Take this." He gingerly pulled out the parcel from his back, careful not to brush the packaging aside. "You must deliver it to Albus Dumbledore."
She stared at him for a moment, half understanding. And for that moment, he was afraid. But then she nodded and disappeared from the room, as if she had apparated from his sight.
Terror was splitting him in half, but he was so close to victory.
He covered himself in the illusion again and prayed to Merlin that Katie Bell would be his saviour. It was either that or she would prove to be his chopping block and deliver him straight to the Dark Lord on a grim platter.
Draco slipped out of the pub just as her screams tore through the sky.
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Thanks for reading!
