Truculent
- Overly aggressive; behaving in a threatening manner; unpleasant
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"Ah Miss Ilves. You know what to do," The sing-song voice of the Pink Puff sounded as Lynnea entered the pink office after dinner.
The nap she had in the Ravenclaw common room had helped a little but the sixth years had been trying to work out exactly how the moving staircases worked. It had of course ended in a discussion that had woken her up earlier than she had hoped.
She slouched down in the chair and picked up the quill, with a sigh she put it to the piece of parchment, starting to write.
The pain was already starting in her hand, opening up the old cuts. Maybe she should not have slept, then she might have been too tired to properly feel it.
Her hand felt much more sensitive than it had done the other days, perhaps that was after getting properly healed last night.
It was more than just lucky Morgan had been the one to find her, he had apparently been on his way to the kitchens when he found her.
The blood started running again but this time it did not heal over, the cuts kept bleeding. As she stopped scribbling Umbridge looked up from her own work.
"Keep writing." The woman smiled at her and Lynnea put the quill to the paper and the pain began again.
She was not sure whether it had been more painful to write when the wound healed halfway or now that she just kept cutting into her skin deeper and deeper.
One thing was for sure, with her exhaustion it was more painful and it was like a haze was starting to lay itself over her eyes.
Umbridge rose from her place behind the large desk and grabbed Lynnea's hand to examine the cuts on her hand.
"I think this will do for tonight. I'll see you after classes on Monday."
It was easier to walk after the detention, the adrenaline from the cuts had seemed to give her some energy for now. Her mind, on the other hand, was groggier than ever, and of course, this was the time the eagle knocker on the Ravenclaw common room decided to ask a stupid riddle.
"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" The eagle asked and it even looked amused at its own question.
"You shouldn't shove either up your ass, now let me in," Lynnea mumbled and the doors opened while the eagle mumbled something about being rude.
The noise from the common room was overwhelming, someone must have put a silencing charm on the door.
Glen, Monica and Jules had all brought out their instruments and were eagerly playing a nice energetic rock song.
She said hello to a couple of the people there all while trying to sneak her way to the dormitories but there seemed to continuously be people that wanted to speak with her.
"So, you're really with Weaslebee?" He asked from behind her, she had noticed he was there, of course, but Lynnea had simply hoped he was too busy flirting to notice she was there.
"What do you want, Montague?" She looked into his warm brown eyes while a shiver ran down her spine from the look in them.
"Oh honey, don't say my name like you haven't been screaming it while I fucked you," He chuckled, very amused by his own little 'joke' apparently.
"I'm not in the mood for you right now, so kindly fuck off." She gave a sarcastic smile while her eyes searched for someone that would understand but Sarah, who had pulled her aside earlier, was already gone.
"You know angry sex is some of the best." Montague grabbed her arm and held her put while she tried wiggling out of it.
"Please, just leave me alone," She tried. The anger was bubbling up inside of her but she really did not want it to. Lynnea was so exhausted and wanted nothing more than to just sleep.
"Is he the reason why you're so boring? Used to be more of a spark in you." She could not stop the flares inside of her even though her whole body was sore. His fingers pressing into the muscles on her arm did not help one bit.
"No one has to know, I can find my way to your dorm... whether you like it or not." It was getting too much for her, she drew her wand and before she had even thought of a spell it fired one off by itself.
Montague flew back, ramming into the stone wall. The music stopped, everyone was looking at her now while Owen made his way to her Roger walked to Montague.
"It's alright everyone, just a Slytherin," Roger laughed nervously and the music started back up again soon after.
"We've already kicked the guy out once," Roger sighed, he was definitely done with Montague.
"Wouldn't think him smart enough to solve a riddle," Owen huffed.
Lynnea's mind was elsewhere though, what Montague had said scared her. Would he really try and get into her dorm?
"What a great end to a week," Lynnea mumbled before making her way to the exit.
"Where're you going?" Owen had followed her.
"I don't want to sleep alone," She muttered before bracing herself on a bookshelf, her vision was really starting to get blurry but at least the cuts had stopped bleeding.
"Right, well, I'm not letting you walk out of here in this state," He said before swinging one of her arms around his shoulders and walking her towards the boys' dormitories.
"You'll sleep in my bed," He whispered and when they made it to the stairs he fully picked her up and carried her up the stairs.
"I can get Fred for you if you want me to?" Lynnea nodded against his chest and soon after she was laid down in a bed.
Owen pulled the covers over her and lit a candle on his bedside table before leaving.
"Owen?" Her voice stopped him halfway through and he looked back at her.
"I don't want to be alone," She said with a mouse-like voice that was so unlike her, it was vulnerable not a trace of confidence in it.
"I'll just tell someone to get Fred and then I'll be right back." He was smiling but his eyebrows were furrowed, creating a deep trench between his eyes and then he shut the door.
Lynnea pulled the pillow into her grasp as her sobs began. Everything pilling up along with her tired and hurt body had become too overwhelming for the 17-year-old and she was still trying with all her might to push everything away, to never think about it ever again.
It did not take long before she heard the door open and felt the weight in the bed of someone beside her.
"Owen's getting Fred, he'll be here soon," Morgan said before he put an arm around her and pulled her into a sort of hug while she still had her back to him.
Lynnea was so tired, not just from the lack of sleep but from everything. It was like she felt herself fall again, the haze coming back to shield her from everything crumbling around her, all the while she tried to keep it away.
She was not going to fall back into it as she had after Cedric.
By saying his name, even if it had just been her mind she let out a loud sob. It all truly was coming back now, she felt the pain so deeply in her heart as if a knife was being pressed through it only an inch at a time.
She heard the door swing open and his panting breath mixed with her weeps. As soon as he was on the bed she knew who it was, the familiar smell of him already telling her to calm down.
"Lynnie, it's alright. I'm here," Fred mumbled against her hair.
Lynnea buried her head in his chest desperately grasping his shirt in her hands, wordlessly begging for him to keep her grounded, to make sure that she did not drift away again.
Soon, she started weakly hitting his chest, why could everything not just go back to how it was? Like it was before the third task when she was joking around with Cedric and Fred before everything went to shit.
"Lynn it's okay," Fred tried, holding onto her wrists to keep her from hitting his chest.
He noticed something else though, the now bleeding cuts had opened up after she had clenched her fists so hard.
"Lynn, what's this?" She could hear the fear in his voice as he spoke, but it simply made her cry harder, why did that bastard of a woman have to be at Hogwarts.
"Umbridge's detention," Morgan said from the other side of her when he noticed what Fred was looking at.
"You said she just made you do lines." Fred's voice was filled with desperation and Lynnea could feel his body tensing up under her already.
"With a blood quill," Morgan muttered.
"I'm going to kill her," His voice was wrathful like it could barely restrain his anger.
"I'm never going to let her hurt you again," Fred muttered, pressing the girl he loved into his embrace with all his strength. He would never let anyone hurt her.
"Morgan, you can leave," Fred tiredly said after Lynnea had already fallen asleep against his body. Morgan was still laying on his back on the other side of the bed slowly caressing her back comfortingly.
"I'm not leaving her," He muttered, causing Fred to frown.
"Why?" Lynnea had spent almost every moment with Morgan this week and he hated to think it but it worried him.
"She's my friend."
"I'm her boyfriend." Fred could feel himself getting angry already.
"I'm staying," Morgan mumbled before turning his back to the couple and trying to get some sleep himself.
Lynnea's eyes slowly fluttered open, her body was tangled with Fred's and still tightly pressed into his. Gently she released herself from his arm that was draped over her.
Morgan was standing next to one of the open windows, looking out across the fields and out over the great lake.
Swinging her legs out of the bed she silently walked over to him, he looked tired.
"The reason why he liked swimming so much was that he loved the view of the forest and the castle from out on the lake." Morgan did not sound sad for once while speaking of Cedric.
"He always loved being outside," She smiled but the lump was already in her throat again.
"Remember when we went to that clearing in the forest after curfew?" She asked while Morgan put an arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer.
"Yeah," He chuckled out but it was just as throaty as always when this subject came up.
"I stared at the stars while he just loved the way the treetops looked against the clear night sky." A sob left her but no tears came, it was more like a reminder of the pain but by the sound of it Morgan pulled her closer to his side.
"I loved him," He said as they heard the door shut behind them, bringing both of them out of their moment. Lynnea looked to the bed but already knew that Fred would be gone.
"Hello, Miss Ilves."
"Sir," Lynnea said before making her way to the cauldron. All of the necessary ingredients were sitting on the table, ready to be used.
"We will be starting with the potion and then moving onto... other things later," Snape said while Lynnea was already pouring the precise amount of water into the cauldron.
She pushed every thought of Cedric, Umbridge, students, her uncle and the Order completely away to focus. For the first time in days she had gotten a proper amount of sleep and although she did not feel any less exhausted her brain was not in a daze.
Snape sat behind the desk, most likely reviewing essays and only looking up once in a while.
Lynnea was carefully putting the amount of flobberworm mucus into the potion that she had found to be the most optimal. Only leaving the potion to compare what she was doing to the notes she had brought.
After about an hour Lynnea stepped away from the potion, in her mind, it was brewed to perfection. It had the exact colour it should. Professor Snape in turn stood up and examined the potion that had now been taken off of the fire.
"Very good, now for the memories," Snape instructed while holding a vial towards her.
"Eh, well how do I do it?" Lynnea asked, her whole body formed into a large question mark. She had never actually extracted one of her own memories before.
"Think of the memory, fill yourself up with it and then concentrate it to your wand," Snape impatiently said, he had definitely expected her to already know how to.
Just like when she was about to produce a Patronus Lynnea let herself fill up with memories of her family, of Alex, of Fred, of Cedric but at that moment it was like it cracked slightly for her and sadness ran over her like a bulldozer, a tear already escaping her eye.
"We just need a single memory, Miss Ilves" Snape's voice brought her back.
"Right," She mumbled and instead tried to think of the night at the Yule Ball where she had finally kissed Fred.
A smile was already playing on her lips and it was like she was back there. Letting the sensation fill her up she then tried concentrating it to her temple where her wand was pressed.
"Now pull it out," Snape instructed and she began pulling her wand away, a slight stinging sensation began.
It felt almost like a small papercut, but sure enough, when she opened her eyes a white almost hairlike string flowing through the hair was attached to the tip.
She propped the memory into the small vial Snape was holding and he put a cap on it before putting it on the table. The potion needed more time to cool before they would be able to try and incorporate a memory into it.
"Now then, while waiting we might as well begin with some Occlumency," Snape said before fixing the cuffs on his shirt and drawing his wand.
"You might want to sit for this, Miss Ilves." Lynnea drew out a chair and Snape walked in front of her.
"Ready?"
"No countdown, just do it," She replied and he flicked his wand.
She was in her old room, the one back in Denmark. Further down the road she could hear the other children playing, she should go join them! She passed her mirror and then seemed to remember what she was doing, right, clearing her mind.
It was like she apparated and suddenly she was at kings cross, Jonas was next to her and so was her parents. Something caught her eyes in the corner, the terrifyingly familiar brown-haired and blue-eyed boy.
She turned her head back but was now looking into a tree in the courtyard.
"Right?" Cedric asked beside her and her blood froze. He was right beside her. In the courtyard, they always sat in. Morgan, Cleo and Roger were in front of her all laughing without a care in the world.
It had been so long since any of them had laughed like that.
"Come on, don't tease the poor girl," Morgan chuckled while sending her a smile and Cedric nudged her shoulder.
He was there, so close to her. The smile on his face that she missed so dearly, his warm laughter as Roger told a stupid joke.
Lynnea could not do anything else than look at him, transfixed on how he looked right now, burning the sight into her memory as to never forget it. The warm glint in his eyes as he looked at her and then she was sucked back out, Snape was in front of her instead.
"You need to try and shut me out, Miss Ilves," Snape said while shaking his head disapprovingly.
"Sorry," She said and felt a tear hitting her hand, then another one. Lynnea quickly wiped them away with the sleeve of her shirt.
Snape's eyes moved to her again, an eyebrow raised but she firmly nodded, she needed to do this.
With a sigh, the man raised his wand and she was sucked back in. Like a pool, she fell back into the warm blue eyes of Cedric. Reluctantly she closed her eyes, thinking of the firework-like strings she would see whenever she closed her eyes.
Nothing, nothing, nothing, the word surged through her head. Clarity was next; clarity, clarity, clarity and it was like her feet hit the ground again.
Lynnea opened her eyes and saw Professor Snape in front of her with his crooked impressed smile on his face.
"Peculiar," He mumbled before going back behind his desk and writing something on a piece of parchment.
"What is?" Lynnea asked in confusion, had she done something wrong or right?
"Interesting." Snape just looked at her again, what an annoying git.
"I will need to speak with Dumbeldore before we can continue with Occlumency. Meanwhile, we can incorporate the memories and advance with Legilimency."
Snape moved back over to the table that was still lathered in bottle's of salamander blood and crumbles of lionfish spines.
"Continue then as you please," Snape instructed, moving back a little while gesturing to the vial with her memory.
Lynnea stood up from her chair, still very confused but she once again pushed it away and focused instead on the potion.
She turned it a bit in her hand, was there a smart way to do this? But she could not remember reading about anyone ever trying something like this.
Firstly she poured about ⅔ of the liquids into two other cauldrons, it would be a waste to use all of it at once. Taking the lid off of the vial she started pouring it into the room temperature mixture and stirring it around.
At first, the memory was simply swirling around in the potion without anything really happening to it but then it started to slowly dissolve.
With the same speed she stirred the potion in a clockwise motion, Snape leaned in as well to get a closer to look.
Lynnea kept stirring for longer than she probably should have, it was clear after 20 minutes that the rest of the memory would most likely not dissolve. It was quite inefficient for her to stand there and stir without doing anything else.
Drawing her wand she charmed the spoon to keep stirring while she turned to one of the other cauldrons with the potion in it.
Lynnea lit the fire again with her wand and put the second cauldron on top of it, maybe memories were like butter, they needed heat to melt.
While the second cauldron was heating up Lynnea drew another memory out of her head, once again the memory of the Yule ball was what came to mind.
She drew her wand away from her temple and with it came the memory, for storage she put it into the empty vial. The potion was barely even boiling yet.
The other potion did not look any better, the memory still lumpy and only halfway dissolved. Lynnea could hear Snape chuckling as he looked down at the lumpy potion and the flares began in Lynnea.
"What was wrong with the Occlumency?" Lynnea decided to ask.
"It was... Different." Snape tried to let the subject go again but it just made her want to press it even further.
"What was?"
"Another day, Miss Ilves," Snape sternly said, informing her to let the subject go right away.
The potion was soon back to simmering and with Snape supervising it beside her she poured the memory into the cauldron, still stirring it at the same time.
The memory looked to be dissolving much quicker and more smoothly, no lumps were in it at the moment.
Five minutes went by and then it was almost completely dissolved. Red steam was starting to rise from the cauldron while the colour of the potion itself was changing into a dark ocean blue.
"Good thinking," Snape muttered underneath his breath, it was almost inaudible.
Now all there was to do was test how well it worked. Small electric sparks seemed to erupt from her stomach and stun the rest of her body, this was it. She was about to test whether it would work or not.
The sparks transformed, something between fear and anticipation filling her up.
"Are you ready then, Miss Ilves?" Snape asked, he seemed almost excited as well.
With the cauldron still warm and bubbling, she poured half of it into a glass bottle but let the rest sit in the cauldron.
Lynnea nodded to Snape who moved into his office, coming back with a container filled to the brim with big fat yellow beetles.
With a set of curved forceps, he grabbed one of the beetles, motioning for her to do what she thought was right.
She moved over to him and grabbed the forceps from him, making sure to not drop the small creature. First, she checked that the potion was not too hot, no steam was coming from it anymore.
Lynnea fully submerged the beetle in the liquid and put it into a glass container that Snape had sat down beside her. After putting the forceps down she started messing with the skin around her nails, anxiously biting at it and ripping it off, her eyes wide and all of her movements still tense from anticipation.
Snape sent her another questioning look while she kept her eye on the beetle. It was fine at the moment, happily crawling around and exploring the new place it found itself in.
Her eyes darted between it and Snape, what if it did not work? Of course, it would not, it was too soon for that. This would hopefully be the first step in the right direction.
She looked at the beetle one last time before nodding to professor Snape who in turn lifted his wand again.
"Avada Kedavra," The man beside her whispered.
At first, the beetle seemed fine, the green light wrapping itself around it but in the next second the beetle was lifeless in the container. Dead as a doornail, on its back with its legs curved inwards.
"Well, that was to be expected," Snape said while emptying the container with the dead beetle into the trash can.
"Indeed..." Lynnea mused before going back to her potions.
For a second it had seemed to work, she knew the base of the potion itself would not be the deciding factor. Therefore, it had to be the memory.
Either it was the memory not being strong enough to fight off the killing curse or the way it had been integrated into the potion had been ineffective.
The integration could, of course, use some work but overall it seemed to have been somewhat effective from the way the spell had wrapped itself around the beetle at first, even if only for a few seconds.
"Let us move onto Legilimens, Miss Ilves." Snape brought her out of her train of thought.
"What? That was only one try!" Maybe if she let the beetle soak in the potion for more time it would be more effective.
"Your ideas are sharp but bold, this is more important," Snape snarled and Lynnea felt the anger ignite in her. Sure, they had been here a couple of hours, but was he really going to only give her one try?
"Get out of my head," She sneered back at him, how bothersome. Of course, right as she started getting somewhere Snape wanted her to stop.
"Dumbledore thought it important that you learn it," Snape snarled back again.
"We'll see about that," Lynnea said as she raised her wand.
"Legilimens."