Proudly standing in front of the class now, Amycus Carrow's eyes scanned the room, a sick smile on his face. He nodded to himself as his gaze flew over the many familiar faces.
I wondered if it was a coincidence they had Slytherin and Gryffindor seventh years take this class together; all the people Harry was closest to in one room.
Out of all of them, I've only spoken to Neville a few times, but I knew Harry was just as good with Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas.
Lingering on the thought just for a second longer, I was certain it wasn't a coincidence.
As he stalked back and forth in front of the board, ultimately walking around the desk to lean against it and face us, he cracked a wide smile, yellow teeth showing and almost beginning to laugh out loud.
"Gotta admit," He said in his hearty accent. "'Been looking forward to this one for days. Now, I won't pretend this will be fun for you, but it sure as hell will be for me."
His voice was as scrubby as ever, raspy in the most unpleasant way.
"You and your little Harry Potter fan club," He snarled, eyes lingering on the Gryffindor students. "Where is he now? Left you here all alone; running away like the coward he is."
I involuntarily felt my hands ball into fists at the words, trying my best to stay calm. Though, all I really wanted to do was scratch his eyes out. One at a time, so the pain would linger a while longer.
But, I knew when the right moment was. And right now, all he wanted was for someone to lose their temper so he could make an example out of them. And I was conscious enough to realise that.
Not everyone was though.
"That is, until we murder him, of course."
I squeezed my eyes shut, my knuckles turning white with how hard I squeezed my own hands into fists now. Trying to take a deep breath and calm down, I swallowed my anger.
Enough of it to keep me in my seat, at least.
Unfortunately, Neville didn't have as much willpower, so only moments after, I heard a chair forcefully dragging along the wooden floor as he got up quickly.
Like mine, his hands were balled into fists. His taller figure jerking towards Amycus, though one of his friends held him back before he was able to take an actual step towards the death eater.
"You're the coward!" He spat, his brows furrowed slightly, and a hint of confusion at his own displayed bravery.
Blinded by their bloody Gryffindor bravery; the lot of them.
As expected, Carrow's smile only grew wider at the boy's action, almost like he anticipated one of them to do exactly that. He nodded, stepped a few steps away from the desk he was leaning on.
"Neville Longbottom." His name rolled off his tongue threateningly slow, his wand in his hand lifting to point it right at him.
To my surprise, Neville didn't flinch at the motion. Instead, he stood his ground, the previously displayed confusion in his face long gone. And for a moment, I almost admired him for it.
That was until a single word out of Amycus' mouth changed the whole atmosphere from a bad one into a much, much worse one.
"Crucio," He hissed, though the words rolled off his tongue almost playfully. He was enjoying this. Every single second of pain he caused was complete, and absolute pleasure for that man.
Neville fell to his knees immediately, his body twisting and contorting, trying to escape the pain.
The pain I knew all too well you couldn't escape from.
He groaned and cried out, the noises gut-wrenching as he continued to bent out of shape on the floor in pure agony. Not a single plea or apology came out of his mouth, though.
Much to Carrow's dismay.
At once, the room fell quiet as he turned on his heels, stalking back behind the desk, his wand lowering. He sighed, shaking his head at Neville, who still on the floor trying to realise what had happened.
Relief was written all over his face as the pain finally stopped, and he scrambled up off the floor to sit back in his chair.
"Now that was the perfect introduction to our first topic. The Cruciatus Curse," Amycus nodded, eyes scanning the room. He seemed pleased with the number of terrified expressions plastered on most student's faces and carried on. "Thank you, Longbottom."
My eyes darted over to Wren first. Just like I was, she was trying her best not to look like the events fazed her much. She was glaring right at the man, not daring to look away for even a second.
But, if you looked closely, her bottom lip was trembling just slightly, her posture tense and stiff. She was very much fazed by it, and I admired her for how little of that showed on the outside.
My gaze went on to travel over to my right, across the aisle and onto Draco. He was looking at me, too. Though, I couldn't tell a single thing from his posture or the look on his face.
It was cold, portraying not a single emotion. He did exactly what Wren did; just with much better execution, and with his eyes not daring to lift off of me, instead of Carrow.
I held his eye contact; an odd sense of security and comfort coming with it.
Though, that was cut as soon as Carrow opened his mouth again. "I believe some person in particular here has some experience with it," He said, almost sounding delighted if his voice wouldn't have been as unpleasant.
At that, my eyes diverted off of Draco, my head turning to look towards the front of the classroom.
He didn't have to be talking about me, I told myself; hoping and praying he wasn't.
He could've been talking about anyone else in this classroom, I kept repeating to myself, convincing myself of the truth the words held. At the end of the day, it was to no avail.
"And not just on the receiving end..." His eyes darted over to Neville before landing on me for the first time today. "But also with the execution of it, if I'm not mistaken."
I swallowed thickly, wishing I could tear my eyes away from his, but knowing it would only signal weakness in a moment I couldn't show it. So, instead, I watched him lazily, following Wren's lead and pretended his words didn't faze me in the slightest.
"Care to give us a demonstration, Potter?"
I couldn't help but feel my breath hitch at the mention of my name. I saw both Wren and Draco tense up at it, too, before their eyes almost simultaneously fell on me.
I heard gasps and low whispers roam the room; the rather quiet noise suddenly sounding so loud in my ears.
I reminded myself to keep my cool; to not bother what everyone else was saying. That was detrimental to make it through this year when it came to both staff and students alike.
And even though my breath was heavy, all I did was raise my eyebrows lazily as almost every single pair of eyes was on me.
Hands behind his back, a smug smirk on his lips, he walked through the rows of students, up the aisle before he came to a halt right in front of mine and Wren's desk.
"How about it?" He urged, mockingly extending his hand back to the front of the class.
I took another deep breath, hoping it would calm me down. I knew I'd regret my words later on, but I didn't think I'd regret them merely a minute after.
"I think I'll pass," I shrugged, turning my head to look upfront like he wasn't stood right next to me.
He scoffed, visibly irritated.
"You think you'll-" He interrupted himself with another scoff. "you'll pass?" He repeated, making it seem like he didn't quite hear what I said.
"Yes, I think I'll-"
His hand forcefully colliding with my cheek interrupted me. A painful hiss erupting from my throat, though I didn't dare lift my hand to feel my cheek and soothe the pain.
Once again, he would've gained too much satisfaction from that simple act alone. So, all I did was turn my head, sit up straight and look right ahead of me.
As if nothing he did fazed me, I reminded myself.
"They should've stuffed that smart mouth of yours when they still had the chance!" He roared, his ego, as well as his pride, clearly hurt by my reaction before he stalked back to the front of the class.
This would be a long ninety minutes.
A/N: why do we keep getting hit
My heart is breaking because Draco won't be able to comfort us for that hit because he's supposed to hate us ugh anyways
Also, I kinda feel like making Neville a more prominent part of this story?? Seeing as he was very out there and against the carrows and their methods !! How do we feel about that?