invisible string! → ron weasley ✓

xiv. the midnight encounter

It was just after the second class of term when those troubles caught up with her. Kates was (as always) the last to leave, for she would spend just another minute staring out through the telescope before departing for the night. She was in high spirits as she began on the trek back to the Gryffindor common room, but that didn't last long. As she made her second turn, she was surprised to see another student standing up ahead. At first she expected it to be Ron—he was always on prefect duty Wednesday nights and she had ran into him a few times—but she quickly came to realize that wasn't the case.

It was Carrow, and he was waiting for her.

Before she could even think, her wand was in her hand and she was performing a wordless shield charm. Moments later, as they both stood there staring at each other, she realized that she had in fact been reacting to seeing him draw his own wand. Even thought she had left the moment unscathed physically, she was rattled and didn't bother hiding it.

"What did I just deflect?" she asked quietly, and had it not been the dead of night he probably wouldn't have even heard her. Her eyes were wide, she could feel it, and her wand hand was nearly shaking. She was strong, yes, but that didn't mean she was fearless. Truthfully, she hadn't taken Carrow that seriously until recently. Now she could say she was genuinely scared of him, especially after what he had just done (or rather, attempted to do).

"One of the curses I spent the holiday practicing," he said in the most casual tone. He lowered his wand and took a step forward, but Kates adjusted her grip on her wand, straightening her posture. Her eyes were narrowed now, and he stopped in his tracks, raising his hands as a show of good faith. She still didn't lower her wand. "It's similar to the body bind curse we learn as first-years, except instead of paralyzing, it restrains. The victim can still talk." A shiver went down Kates' spine; she knew what that curse was surely used for.

"And you tried to use it on me?"

"Only because you won't talk to me any other way," he said with a shrug. "That's all I want to do, Katherine. Just talk." He took another cautious step forward, but didn't chance going beyond. Kates scoffed.

"And you want to do it in the middle of the night when no one's around? You're insulting my intelligence."

"Your friends," he spat the words out like poison, "are notorious for getting in the way. I thought we'd have some privacy here, like this." He gestured to the corridor surrounding them. "I saw your aunt Bellatrix a few times over the holiday as she was teaching me some things—"

"And suddenly it all makes sense." He paused, then continued as if she hadn't said anything.

"And she mentioned how delighted she was to hear of our future betrothal. She said she'd love to spend some time with you herself, get to know you." Now her hand was shaking. Not terribly, but enough to make her adjust her grip again.

"Neither of those things are going to happen, ever. You don't seem to understand that."

"It's you who doesn't understand." He took another step, having realized that she wouldn't fire upon him unless he did something with his wand. He now stood less than a foot away from the tip of her wand, and continued to speak in an eerily casual tone. "You're headstrong, and confident, and your reflexes are quite impressive. But we're better." He smiled in a way that did nothing to ease her nerves, and he took one more step forward, stepping past her wand to stand directly in front of her. She lowered her wand, but couldn't bring herself to step back and away from him. Instead she glared up at him—or tried to, anyway, but she wasn't sure if she could properly hide the fear that was coursing through her. "I'm better. Continue to live in your little delusion, but come summer, you belong to me." He reached up and rested his hand on her cheek, and the movement lit a fire under her arse. In the split second it took her to plan, however, another voice boomed through the corridor from behind him.