Slytherin Tales: The Divine Seven

Chapter 16: The Duel

"Alright, thank you Val. I'll meet you in the Common Room half an hour before so we can go together," I agreed, giving a small smile. He nodded, his blue green eyes very intense.

The rest of the day seemed to pass by somewhat slowly. I was itching to get to the duel tonight, so finally once dinner had concluded and most people went to bed, I waited for Genesis to leave before I quickly snuck out into the main area. Val was already there.

"You ready?" He asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I replied, putting my dark golden hair up into a ponytail.

We left the Common Room, the mood between us very solemn. We made our way through the castle, careful to avoid the prefects and teachers patrolling. At one point, we heard a howl. I shuddered with fear and anticipation, so Val grabbed my hand and held it the rest of the way to the tower. Once we finally got there, we climbed to the top and looking around, I saw we were the first there. This gave me the chance to look around. The tower was the tallest of the castle, giving it the best view of the grounds. It overlooked the Black Lake, Unkle's Hut, and the Forbidden Forest. I'd never known until then how beautiful Hogwarts truy was at night. As we looked out over the school and countryside, we heard someone clear their throats from behind us.

"Good evening Leon," I said sarcastically, turning around to face him. In the dimly lit tower, I saw he'd brought Theodore. All Leon did in response was snort. Val and Theodore walked forward to negotiate and agree upon rules.

"Theo."

"Val." The tension couldn't be higher.

"So, what're the rules?" Val asked seriously.

"Standard rules: bow first, ten paces from back to back, then turn and fire. I'll be doing the countdown."

"Fine by me."

"It's not too late to back out. I know you cowardly Slytherins would prefer some underhanded means of retribution, but us Gryffindors do things with more honor around here," Theodore smirked as he said this, his dark brown eyes in slits. He looked almost cat-like, or like a mischievous imp.

"Honor?! How many times did Leon make her cry? How many times did you all pick on us for no reason other than because we're Slytherins?! We're doing this so shut up." I'd never seen Val so emotional. I think he has a soft spot for his friends, and it warmed my heart a little knowing he cared about me. He turned and walked back to me. "Good luck, you can do this," he said in passing to me, grabbing my shoulder for a moment. I nodded and stepped forward. Leon did the same, his brown eyes full of determination. We bowed and turned around to stand back to back.

"One." We took a pace forward. This is it.

"Two." Another pace forward. This is my moment.

"Three." A third step. I'm not going to let him act this way anymore.

"Four. Five. Six." Three more steps. I will end it, here and now.

"Seven. Eight." Another two steps. All he put me through this past year, all he put them through this past year, I will make him feel how I felt!

"Nine." The ninth step. Just one more.

"Ten!" I turned to face Leon.

"FURNU-"

"LEVICORPUS!" I yelled, firing off a spell as fast as I could. Leon was now dangling in the air by his ankles. I was about to fire another spell when suddenly we were interrupted. "FLIP-"

"Stop! Stop it now! What is going on here?!" Professor Spinster appeared. I released my hold on the spell and dropped Leon, who I could tell was seething at both me and the fact that our duel had been stopped.

"Professor I... we..." I began, but I just couldn't find the words, especially after I saw who was with her. Next to her stood Jason with his arms crossed. I looked at Leon and he looked startled, a look of betrayal on his face. In an instant I figured it out. Leon must have told Jason, and in return Jason must have turned us in. He made eye contact with me, a look of disappointment on his face. Now we've done it, I thought gravely to myself.

"All four of you, come with me, NOW!" She commanded, her blue eyes looking very cross with us. We followed after her in silence all the way to her office, Leon and I had our heads hung low. Once in her office, she chewed each of us out about being out of bed after hours, having a duel, and jinxing each other. We listened in embarrassed silence the whole time. Fifty points were taken from each of us, so a hundred in total from both Slytherin and Gryffindor. We were punished with detention as well. Since it was so close to the end of school, we'd be having detention immediately the next day, which was too bad as it meant I wouldn't be enjoying Saturday night celebrations with my friends. Afterwards, Professor Spinster led Leon and Theodore to their Common Rooms while Jason led Val and I to ours. He didn't speak the whole way there. I watched the back of his head, his dark brown hair moving ever so slightly as we walked. He was holding my wrist tightly to the point where it almost hurt. Finally when we got to the stone wall in the dungeon, he let go of me and I worked up the nerve to speak.

"I'm sorry, Jason," I said. He didn't say anything for a moment, then he sighed as he rubbed his eyes in a show of exasperation.

"Leon told me about challenging you, and I was hoping you wouldn't take the bait. It's not worth it anymore. But that's not why I'm upset." I tilted my head in confusion. "You used a jinx that could've gone so wrong. What if it backfired and Leon was pitched off the Astronomy Tower? What would you have done then? I just thought you'd be smarter than that," he said, bumping into my shoulder as he left. I broke down crying after a moment of realization. Val led me inside the Common Room and comforted me with a hug. What if I had accidentally killed Leon? I didn't think of that before. It was so stupid of me to use that spell! I was going to go further with it too. I'm so sorry Leon. I'm sorry.