Medici the Magnificent meets Hogwarts. Maria Fiore, adopted friend and sister of the Medicis, must overcome her draw to the enigmatic Francesco Pazzi. Or give in.
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Francesco's forearm dug into the Deputy Headmaster's neck as he held her pinned against the wall. His eyes were dark, and rage seemed to ripple off of him in terrifying waves.
I thought I would never see him again. At least not at Hogwarts.
"Francesco!" I breathed.
His eyes flicked to me, and some of the rage dissolved, but not much. With a hard shove, he pushed off of Alecto. "I don't care what she did," he growled at her. "Torturing the students wasn't part of the plan."
Plan? What plan? I blinked wildly as I tried to make sense of what just happened, but I couldn't form a single coherent thought.
I hadn't quite made it all the way to my feet. On my next blink, a hand appeared before my face, and I took it without thinking. My eyes drug up a veined, strong hand to a tense arm disappearing beneath dark green sleeves. The arm transitioned to broad shoulders, and when my gaze finally landed upon golden-brown eyes full of both anger and fear, I stumbled away from him, reviled at myself for enjoying the strength and warmth of his hand for even a second.
"Snape will hear about this," Alecto spat hatefully at Francesco's back. No doubt the Dark Lord would hear about it too. Francesco was a known Death Eater, and his connection to Alecto further cemented the theory that the Carrows and Snape were also in the club.
Alecto turned to the gawkers and snapped, "What are you all looking at? Get to class!"
Students ran as fast as possible from the scene, and I used the moment to slip away before Francesco tried to detain me. Leaving him with Alecto, I bolted back to the classroom to collect my things, then hurried off to hide in case Alecto decided to continue where we left off later.
.✫ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.｡･ﾟ✫*.
In the days to come, I couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on. The Carrows continued to torment me, but they didn't touch me again. Alecto openly taunted me in class, but if I ignored it she eventually moved on without repercussions.
I naturally wondered what hand Francesco had in all of this. I didn't see him again after the incident in the hallway, but I felt like he could be lurking anywhere, leaving me on edge every waking minute of the day. I wasn't sure I would be able to control myself in an ambush from him. He left me so stunned and confused, and his unexpected arrival at Hogwarts had taken an emotional toll on me.
I couldn't eat or sleep properly. I walked like a zombie to every class, and my paranoia increased ten-fold in every situation. Nothing stressed me out more than not knowing what could happen but I had a very good idea that it would be awful. It was just a matter of how awful would it be this time.
On the way to Defense Against the Dark Arts, which was now just Dark Arts, I didn't bother looking for the bright side. Yes, this was a good way to see dark magic up close and gain experience, but I was too depressed to see that as a silver lining today.
Walking into Professor Amycus Carrow's classroom that day, I stopped short to see a lineup of first years standing against the wall. They clutched their bags and whipped nervous gazes about the room.
"What's going on?" I asked in a soft whisper as I slid into my seat behind Perry and Quincy.
The two boys turned around, but it was Perry who responded, "No clue. Carrow wants the first years for some kind of demonstration. Maybe it's to scare them."
I sighed. My Hufflepuff heart knew the kids would need someone to check on them after today's class, but I was too exhausted and felt mildly annoyed that it had to be today of all days.
Amycus Carrow strode in a moment later and barked at the class to quiet down. The first years jumped at his outburst, but I had grown used to his temperament after a few weeks. "We're learning about the unforgivable curses today," he announced. Perfect fuel for frightening young first years.
I was livid that the Carrow monsters were ruining Hogwarts for first years still so fresh to the magic and wonder of it. I knew full well what they were missing out on, and it angered me to no end.
"All of you, line up!" Professor Carrow ordered. He snapped his fingers at the first row of desks, instructing my classmates to form a line down the center aisle to the front of the classroom.
I didn't hurry to get in line knowing full well whatever we did today would be regrettable and torturous, but Carrow saw my unhurried state as a chance to strike.
"Fiore! Front and center. You can go first." His lips split like a rotten melon, revealing yellowed and crooked teeth in a smile that made my skin crawl.
As I headed to the front, my lips turning down in a deeper scowl, Carrow grabbed a first year girl by the collar, dragging her forward to stand before me. My brows angled down in confusion. "What is this?"
"I'm sure you're familiar with the unforgivable curses, Maria," he crooned as if I was a child incapable of following a basic conversation. The way he sneered at me, I knew he was referring to the death of Giuliano. It went unspoken that the Carrows were all too familiar with the Death Eaters and what went on with the Dark Lord's forces. Seeing Francesco interacting with Alecto Carrow had confirmed that theory.
My eyes flit from the first year girl currently holding back tears to Amycus Carrow. A sarcastic quip rose to my lips, but I held it at bay since I risked endangering the poor first year this time as well. Carrow had yet to release his grip on her collar, and I knew if I pushed him past his limit he could wind up doing something drastic to the nearest victim.
At my silent confusion, he continued. "Today we are learning about the Cruciartus Curse," he announced for the whole room to hear. "In my humble opinion, it's best practiced on a living target. You have to see what the curse can do for yourself."
All the blood drained my face.
"Wand at the ready, Maria. You know the spell."
My lips fell open, and my gaze whipped to Carrow. "You- You can't be- This isn't allowed!"
"I'm allowing it. In fact, I'm ordering it." When I balked, unable to react with anything other than astonishment, he snapped, "What's the problem? Penny Hable is just a mudblood. It would do her some good actually to experience this." He jerked the first year sharply, eliciting a mouse-like squeak of fright from the poor girl.
With my mouth still ajar, I turned a spiteful gaze on Amycus. "You're a monster," I breathed. "It doesn't matter what she is! She doesn't deserve this!"
His sneer turned down into a grimacing glare. "So you refuse?" His eyes flicked to the rest of the line behind me. "Are all of you too spineless?"
From the back, stuttering Quincy spoke up to say, "I- I won't do it, Professor."
Perry was quick to add, "Neither will I."
Amycus appraised the class, looking for anyone bold enough to meet his gaze. I half expected him to flick out his wand and perform the curse himself on one of us. Instead, after a few gut-wrenching seconds of painful silence, he bellowed, "Class dismissed! You can expect the same in every class to come until someone has the gall to do what every great wizard can do!"
Everyone's spirits sunk, but no one lingered to hear more. As I raced back to collect my bag, I thought hurriedly that the Order of the Phoenix needed to hear about this as soon as possible.
"Not you, Maria."
My stomach dropped to my toes and my hands trembled around the strap of my bag.
"You and I need to have a little chat," Amycus said lethally.
