𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 - 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲 (𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟏)

25 - Skilled in Combat

"We should get Harry and Ron, maybe they can help us," Hermione suggested. "Great idea," I said. We walked back to the common room to see Harry and Ron on the couch. "Come on suckers, we got a room to find," Hermione said cheerfully, picking the boys up off the couch. "You did not word that right," I joked. "What room?" Harry questioned.

"Room of requirement, let's go," we dragged them out the door. "Where do we even start?" Ginny questioned as we walked through the halls. "This is going to take weeks," Ron complained. "Maybe Dumbledore suggested it because my mother used it to train. Maybe there's information in her journal," we sat down on a nearby windowsill.

I flipped through pages as the others discussed location possibilities. "Hey, I found something," I said, pointing towards the page. "The room of requirement is across from the courtyard," I immediately knew what my mother meant. "Let's go," I began swiftly walking. "Caroline, the court yard is in the other direction," Harry pointed. "Follow me," I commanded. They followed swiftly behind me. After twisting and turning through the halls, we came upon the secret courtyard. "Woah," Ginny whispered. I took out my wand, pointing at the wall across from it. "Revelio," an iron door slowly appeared out of thin air.

We walked in slowly, revealing a room furnished with gear for combat. "This is incredible," Hermione gushed. There were targets, test dummies, medical equipment; it was perfect. "What should we try first?" Ginny asked. "A bow and arrow would be sick," Ron said, pointing towards the targets. "I prefer the sword, but I'll give it a try," I focused. My mother had taught me in combat when I was four. She'd been training me since I was a child; I didn't know why until now. She'd taught me in archery, but it wasn't my personal favorite. I preferred the sword fighting. "Ready?" Hermione asked. "Yep, which spell you doing?" "I'll do stupefy again, it seemed to work well last time," "alright, hit me," I held my stance, preparing for the blow.

"Stupefy," she commanded, as I absorbed the energy. I shut my eyes twisting the energy into a bow and arrow. "Take the shot," Hermione yelled. I raised the bow to my face, placing the arrow inside. I shot at the target, the arrow scraping my cheek, hitting the bullseye. "Nice one," Harry smiled. I sat down out of breath. The only issue with my magic is that the more powerful things I created, the more it would drain me. "Thanks, is there by any chance a bottle of water in here?" I asked from the floor.

"Got it," Harry found a bottle of water and rolled it towards me. "Emendo," I uttered, sealing my hands. "Thanks," I picked up the water, chugging it. "Your cheek is bleeding," Ginny said, wiping the blood off with a tissue. "It's alright," I laid down, collecting myself. I knew I'd have to practice every day to boost how much magic I could take before experiencing fatigue.

"All done for the day I presume," Hermione said, wiping my cheek and hands down with an alcohol wipe. I winced. "It's time for dinner, we should go," Ron said. "Why, so you can bloody eat?" Ginny snorted. I giggled. "Let's go, Ron needs his chicken wings," I replied. "Would you all just piss off," he responded, clearly annoyed. Harry nudged his arm. "Loosen up mate," he smiled. We walked to the great hall. sitting down at the Gryffindor table. I was taking a plate of roast beef and vegetables when Draco walked over to me.

"Caroli- are you alright?" he stopped his sentence, rubbing his hand on my cheek. "Oh, I'm fine," I said tiredly. "Are you sure, that looks painful," his eyes filled with worry. "I'm okay, I promise," I smiled, grabbing his hand. "Don't you have dinner to eat?" I eyed at him, brushing his hair with my hand. "Right," he smiled, walking back to his table. "Why is he so nice to you, I don't get it," Harry snarfed. "It's cute," Ginny said. "It's bloody disgusting," Ron sneered. "Not as disgusting with the amount of chicken wings you're eating," Ginny fired back. "Stop with the bloody chicken jokes," Ron yelled. I rolled my eyes.

After eating, we headed back to the common room. "What other things should you try?" Ginny asked, plopping down on the couch next to me. "I think I should master sword fighting first. Just get good at one thing instead of trying a ton of things," I said, a fizzing whizbee in my mouth. "Smart," Hermione added.

"We're going to need statues that are enchanted to fight," I said, writing down a list of ideas in a notepad. "I know McGonagall has a spell for that, we can ask her if she can help. Dumbledore gave us permission, and she did teach your mother," Ginny added. "Good idea, I'll ask her tomorrow during transfiguration," I laid down, holding my mother's book to my chest.

"Should we let Draco come to help?" Harry suggested. "I think it would help him get to like you guys a bit more, maybe he wouldn't be as mean. Plus I could show off my combat skills," I said. "Alright, we'll ask him tomorrow," Ginny added. We walked up to our dormitories, after saying goodnight to the boys. "What exactly are you expecting from training?" Ginny asked. "skill, stamina," I said, hopping into the shower, shutting the bathroom door.

"Draco's gonna be babying the entire time if you get hurt, you sure he should come?" Ginny yelled. "I think it's a good idea," I yelled back. I hopped out, wrapping myself in a towel. "He's gonna start crying if you even get scratched," she muttered as I dried myself off, putting on my pajamas. "It's cute when he's worried," I smiled, tying my hair in braids.

"You and that boy," Ginny shook her head. "Goodnight," Hermione said suddenly. "What, sick of the boy talk?" Ginny laughed. "Very," Hermione snuggled into her bed with Crookshanks. Lorelei sat quietly on my bed.

"Goodnight." I smiled.