Inferius

Chapter 17

"Do you think all the attacks are connected," Valentine asked, looking between the three.

"We're not sure. There have been rumors about the first attack being caused by students, so for now we are just saying the last two were connected," Harry answered and Hermione nodded in approval.

"The thing I don't understand is why is this person or group only attacking Hogwarts and nowhere else," Ginny added, biting her lip in confusion.

"There hasn't been any attacks anywhere else?" Valentine questioned, his eyebrows scrunching in confusion as he tried to figure out why.

I had to give him credit, he was a good actor. If I didn't know any better, I would believe him. There was no reason not to, he gave off a friendly vibe and was kind to the people around him.

"Yeah, there's been the occasional problem but nothing like what is happening here," Ginny added again, moving her hair out of her face.

Valentine nodded, looking passed them in thought. I bit my lip, wondering the same thing. Valentine never said why he was attacking Hogwarts and I decided to ask him about it later when we were alone. I couldn't ask now, not under the spell and control, but at night I was free.

I made a mental note to remember and looked around. The sun had set and the moon was taking its rightful spot in the sky.  It was a cloudless night and I smiled, seeing all the stars sparkle.

"It's getting late," I chirped, grabbing the attention of Valentine who was in deep thought, leaning back in his chair.

He looked over at me before looking outside, nodding, "it is. My! Does time fly when you spend it with good company," he laughed, stretching a bit.

Harry laughed and nodded, getting up with Ginny to go back to their room. Ginny stared at me for a second longer and I mouthed, "we'll talk tomorrow then."

Ginny smiled and leaned in, giving me a quick hug, "maybe we can hang out just the two of us?"

I nodded and wished them all a goodnight as Hermione got up to leave as well as find Ron. I watched their retreating figures disappear passed the Great Hall door and I felt an awkward silence fill the void between Valentine and I.

"Let's go," Valentine whispered, grabbing my arm and pulling me up beside him. He squeezed my arm tightly, knowing the spell was going to start wearing off. It wore off around the same time each night, but if he wasn't paying attention, the spell would make sure I was.

I sighed and cursed the spell for the millionth time this day. I winced under the pressure of his grasp and tried to pull away, but he kept a strong grasp on my arm.

I could feel the spell beginning to lose its power on me. The numbness of my body was slowly dissipating and I sighed in relief. Being numb all day was tiring, but as the spell began to leave I could feel everything. The pain in my arm grew and I bit my lip from crying out in pain.

"You are hurting me," I gritted through clenched teeth, placing my hand over his to try and relieve some of the pressure.

He sighed and loosened his grip on my arm, but kept quiet. I breathed, the pain in my arm now throbbing instead. We walked in silence to our room.

As we walked into the common room, Draco and Pansy were sitting on the couch laughing. My heart dropped and I dropped my gaze as Pansy looked over her shoulder to see who was there. The laughter stopped and I could hear Pansy whisper something to Draco. I gritted my teeth, wanting to go to Draco, but the spell still had most of the control over my mind.

"Goodnight," Valentine purred, pushing me softly into the bedroom and waving to Draco and Pansy. He loved adding salt to the wound and I crossed my arms.

Valentine quickly closed the door before turning to me.

"Lay down," he instructed and I rolled my eyes, making myself comfortable on my side of the bed.

"Your friends are all too trusting," he laughed, placing barriers around my side of the bed to make sure I didn't leave the room during the night.

I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arms around my pillow, watching the barrier enclose me in my own little world.

"Come on," Valentine laughed, laying beside me.

"Why aren't you attacking all over the place? Why only here?" I asked, ignoring his comments.

He placed his hands behind his head, laying beside me, "well, Cirrus Seble is part of the Ministry of Magic so they are under the impression that everything is fine here. The professors come to me with the scrolls to send to the Ministry and I send them."

I nodded, "so you send them fake scrolls that say everything is fine?"

He nodded, looking over at me.

"How does that even work? What happens when the Ministry comes to check up?"

"I'll already have this place under my entire control," Valentine smirked, winking at me before looking up at the ceiling.

I sighed, curling into a ball, trying to get comfortable.

"You won't need me after that," I finally whispered and he opened an eye to look at me quickly.

"I guess so but maybe you'll be in love with me by then so it won't matter," he chuckled.

"No chance."

"Worth a shot," he chuckled again, closing his eyes.

I closed my eyes, focusing on the darkness to try and fall asleep.

"I'll be planning my next attack tomorrow morning and afternoon so I was thinking, we can plan a fun date into town with everyone tomorrow evening?"

I opened my eyes, looking at him. His eyes were still closed and I bit my lip, "so I'm going to be alone for most of the day and you want to make it up to controlled me by going out on a date with everyone?"

He nodded and I shook my head, "why don't you go out with the friends and I'll stay here."

"Not happening."

I sighed and turned my back to him, "fine but I won't like it."

"You never like any of my plans."

"Yeah and that's not changing."

"We'll see," he chuckled.