Song:
Who Are you Really? (Mikky Ekko)
"You are a stranger here, why have you come?"
It was much to everyone's surprise when the duelling match became much more interesting to the Hogwarts and Durmstrang students than the original reason of the visit. Even though Quidditch was a fun game, it wasn't as open to everyone as a duelling match where anyone could participate. Soon, everyone was waiting for the four final champions of Hogwarts and Durmstrang to be determined. According to the numbers, and by numbers we mean the bets, the following people were thought to prevail.
From Hogwarts, the final quartet would comprise Regulus Black, James Potter and Sirius Black, Hestia Jones and Nixie Brooks. Yes, technically those were five people, but everyone was willing to bet James Potter and Sirius Black would get conjoined to the hip in order to make sure they weren't separated. They were all great duellers, with the exception of Nixie Brooks who just oozed repressed anger and hence relied more to that than actual heightened abilities. On the other hand, everyone knew Hestia Jones had a mean wand and the ability to remain cool-headed at everything.
From Durmstrang, most people bet on Gruev, the Bekirov twins and Leo Roi. The first boy abhorred his first name, instead opting for his last name, as if it was any better. He was cruel and had no personal constraint in using the harshest of curses, which he had mastered from early on. Reyna and Nadia Bekirov were allowed to use their fire runes, a skill that ran in the family legacy as deep as blood ran in their veins. The difference between them was that Nadia could burn you to the ground and she'd feel no remorse, while Reyna could cry over a dead ant. Leo Roi had no special skills, other than being the only person that activated Remus Lupin's jealousy mode to 100%. He hadn't even bothered to cover the hickey creeping over the collar of his shirt, casually sending winks Callisto's way without bothering to look at the enraged Gryffindor.
"Jealous?"
Lily asked, a chuckle being heard as Marlene closed her book shut and pushed it away. Remus averted his gaze from the boy sitting a few tables away. If looks could kill, Leo Roi would be lying in a puddle of blood now and Remus Lupin would be heading to Azkaban. He hadn't exactly planned to look as hostile, but it was hard to when he remembered his chat with Callisto the previous night.
"Of what? Him?" Remus scoffed, looking at the redhead. "Of course not."
"You deserve it." Marlene simply said, shrugging. "The girl took a crucio for you and now you have the audacity to be smug? And here I thought you were cool."
"Nobody forced her to jump in front of it."
Merlin, I'm an absolute asshole...
Lily seemed to feel the same way because he was hit with a folded newspaper straight on the head.
"I don't know who you are and what you have done with Remus Lupin, but bring him back!"
"Why is everyone only calling me out, huh?" Remus asked, frowning. "She used me too, you know. And, she slept with that guy right after me. Could I be more fucking replacable?"
"With that attitude, I'd replace you too." Marlene dryly responded, rolling her eyes. Marlene and Callisto seemed to have an alliance of some sort, because they wouldn't hesitate to hold back to defend each other. They weren't as close as the others, but you'd have to be mad to insult one of the two in the other's presence. When asked about it, Marlene had said something about blonde solidarity.
"It's not the same, Remus, and you know it." Lily scolded. "She didn't sleep with you that night because of the bet, or she wouldn't have kept it a secret. Plus, I'm pretty sure they stopped the bet around her wedding, which means that everything she has done for you after that was because she cares for you." She paused for a moment. "And that's if we're being very rough, because I know for a fact that Callisto liked you even before that. She was just too clueless to understand it."
"What she said." Marlene pointed out with an approving nod. "Oh, and don't get us started on a little detail called 'confessing to both Black and me that she's in love with you while drunk'."
"Yes, she did fuck up with the bet, but she's made up for it countless of times." Lily finished. "And I have a feeling we don't even know half of it."
"I can't be with her." Remus stubbornly muttered, shaking his head. "And let's not forget that she slept with that Roi guy."
"Probably to forget you." Marlene responded, both turning to look at her curiously. "What? As if you two have never done it."
"We haven't?"
"Oh." Marlene murmured, smiling awkwardly. "Not that I would know or something..."
"Marls."
"Ugh fine!" Marlene huffed, slapping her hands on the desk, the pink color of her nails contrasting the dark brown surface. "She might have slept with him because she wants to forget you, Remus. Get you out of her system, in a way. Like I did while I was dating Ellise, or like James when he was fooling around with that French girl two summers ago. Even Sirius has done it."
"What? With who?"
"Oh, you know..." Marlene started vaguely, waving her hand around. "Her."
"Who?"
"Who?" Marlene responded, blinking innocently. "Anyway, point is, she's probably trying to get over you, because you're not giving her the time of the day. And can you blame her? If I were her I would have married your mom just to spite you."
"I'd do it even if I didn't want to spite you." Lily snorted, making Remus' eyes narrow. "I'm a Hope lover first and a human second, sweetheart. You better get used to it."
"Everyone loves yours and James' mom, mate."
"Leave my mom alone..." Remus grumpily mumbled, his nose scrunched up in disgust. "Please."
"See, he's so polite?!" Marlene exclaimed, slapping the desk again. "The most polite dick I've ever met!"
"I thought you were a lesbian." A voice said behind them, James joining them on the table. Lily immediately gave him a kiss on the cheek, a smug smile on his lips as he tried to play it cool by leaning back on his chair.
"Don't piss yourself now, Potter." Marlene cooed, smirking slyly. "And yes, but we were discussing dear old Lupin over here."
"Nothing I haven't told him before." James sighed, running a hand through his hair. "So, how about you join us for the duelling match? Peter said no, but don't feel pressured to say no too."
James pushed the paper over to him, his eyes scanning over the names of the contestants. Leo's name was written in neat cursive, a small dot after the I of his last name. Remus had never been so annoyed by a simple dot before in his entire life, to the point where he immediately put his name right under his.
"This is going to be great, Moony."
~ ~ ~
It had been decided that the best place to hold the duelling match would be in the Great Hall. Callisto didn't really understand why they all had to cram in the tight space, where if one person sneezed they'd all land in the hospital wing, but she went nonetheless, taking her place next to Narcissa. The blonde had bitten her nails down to their base from stress as pair after pair finished duelling, blood always splattering on the wooden tables. The battles between the Durmstrang students were always the most brutal ones, the roughest one ending with a boy getting hit to the head with a curse and immediately falling unconscious. It wasn't going well for him, that much was obvious from the way Madame Pomfrey rushed over to him.
"Who's that guy?" Narcissa asked, pointing at a tall, bulky boy standing up on the table. His hair was shaved close to his head, his blue eyes cold and dangerous, as if he was challenging the bystanders to actually come up on the table and face him.
"The guy I poisoned." Callisto calmly replied, anger flashing in her eyes. Like a vulture feeding on emotion, his eyes locked with hers and he smirked, making the blood in her head boil.
"Andrian Gruev from Concinne and Callisto Claire from Slytherin."
Callisto just stared at McGonagall, confusion written all over her face. She was certain that she hadn't put her name down. Why in the hell would she ever put her name down? It was a running joke that they were all pacifists, but that wasn't entirely sarcastic.
"Professor, I didn't sign my name." Callisto stated, feeling everyone's eyes on her.
What a great time to be difficult.
"It's here, Miss Claire." The woman answered, pointing at her list. "See?"
"Oh come on, Callisto." Adrian Gruev said, the mocking tone in his voice tipping her off. He had obviously planned this somehow, and he was revelling in the fact that he would hurt her in front of everyone. "Just for the old time's sake."
Public humiliation, like she had done to him. An eye for an eye.
Her eyes narrowed, "Sure."
Her legs trembled slightly as she got on the table, the voices of the students cheering swarming in her ears. There was no point in trying to find a strategy, not when Adrian could see past every organized move. She had joked a long time ago that Adrian Gruev could only lose to a mad man, because the logic behind his duelling could only be matched with someone carrying the same insanity as him. Now, she really wished she was off the rockers. There was no backup plan to fall on. She couldn't use any of her potions without raising too much suspicion. The hand cream trick had worked on Leo only because he didn't think much of the gesture. Not even vanity could justify applying hand cream in the middle of the duel.
The bench creaked softly as she stepped on it, before her boot came in contact with the table top. She looked over at her opponent, noticing how he had gotten even scarier over the year, if that was even possible. There were no remnants of the poison on him to encourage her, other than the sick glint in his eyes.
"In your positions." Minerva stated, her voice a bit unsure. The two opponents raised their wands, eyes focused on each other. "Start!"
"CRUCIO!"
Sounds of protest immediately rose at the sound of the unforgivable curse, most of the Hogwarts students shocked to see the boy aim his wand at the girl so easily, as if it was a natural response. Callisto had expected the curse would come and she ducked to the side, the red light getting constrained by the invisible protective walls around the table.
"Lacero!" She murmured, aiming her wand at his knees. He immediately deflected the curse with a shield, red flashes thrown one after the other. Callisto didn't even have time to register what spell it was anymore, panic raising in her chest.
"You've gotten soft, Claire!" He shouted, his eyes filled with rage. "Not so brave behind your tricks and potions, huh?"
"I wasn't the only one vomiting blood, Gruev."
"You bitch!" He hissed. "Confringo!"
"Reducto!"
It was quite obvious in Remus' eyes that Callisto was in deep shit, from the way her jaw remained clenched to the point where it was a miracle she hadn't dislocated it. Gruev didn't hold back, every curse being uttered with immense hatred that made his head feel heavy.
There was a purple light as both curses clashed, the table shaking slightly at the impact. Neither directed their wand away, Callisto's eyebrows knitting together in concentration as she tightened her grip around her wand and moved closer to him. The energy was cackling around them, making goosebumps run down her exposed arms as the handle of her wand started to burn slightly. She was vaguely aware of the table shaking even more, but she pushed even further, her legs trembling slightly. The wand on her hand seemed to be getting heavier by the second, as the purple light increased, specs of light flying to random directions randomly.
There was a moment of deafening silence as everything went still and all sounds got drowned as if someone had pressed a button. And then, the only thing Callisto had time to register was the wind getting knocked out of her lungs as the light burst, pushing both teenagers to opposite sides with incredible force.
Callisto stayed on the ground, her blonde hair sprawled around her as she tried to catch her breath. She managed to turn to the side, clutching her ribs in a failed attempt to stop the piercing pain from spreading all over her body. Slowly, she managed to get on her knees, her legs wobbling at the weight, when it dawned on her that there was no giant clock counting the thirty seconds for her victory.
The last thing she heard was her name being shouted as a sharp pain erupted on her back and everything went black.
~ ~ ~
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
I wish you all a great 2022, full of happiness and love.