Animo slunk to the darkest corners of the corridor, keeping her head ducked low in hopes of avoiding any unwanted attention. Over the last few days, the snide comments that dogged at her heels had faded, albeit slowly. Walburga and Lucretia were certainly none too eager to let Animo forget about the loss of House points. Thus, she had made sure to steer away from the Slytherin common room, also evading Rabier Lestrange. It had resulted in less time with Tom, but Animo was rather relieved. Breaking the boy of his thirst for glory seemed increasingly impossible.
"Annie."
Freezing at the hissed voice, Animo whipped her head around, regretting her position by the vacant Herbology greenhouses. Outside of a few odd Hufflepuffs, none of the students enjoyed being around the plethora of plants. The sun was beginning to set below the craggy mountainside, leaving nothing but a scattering of shadows.
Suddenly, one of the glass doors swung open of its own according, crashing into the wall behind it with a bang. Animo jumped backwards, clutching her book tighter to her chest. "Peeves, if—"
"Merlin's bloody pants, Wallis," a heart-shaped face peered around an extremely large potted vine, the leaves waving eagerly of its own accord. "Get in here."
"Avril?" Animo didn't waste a second before diving into the greenhouse after her friend, making sure to cast the Muffilato charm behind her. Considering the Slytherin had been avoiding her for days, Animo doubted Avril wished to be eavesdropped upon.
"Smart," Avril worried her lip with the edge of her teeth as she reached over to stroke the plant, the leaves curling up in a delight that reminded Animo unnervingly of a cat. "Saw a pair of Gryffindors camping out here this morning. This is one of the more opportune places for snogging."
Swallowing, Animo set her book down gently, trying to mimic her casual tone. "That and the Prefect's bathroom." She wriggled her eyebrows. "If you're going to be a bit more daring."
"Please," Avril stuck out her tongue, her amber eyes lighting slightly with disgust. Still, the uneasiness was evident in her posture as she leaned against one of the side tables. "Abraxas brags about his 'conquests' there every other weekend."
A slight breeze crept through one of the propped windows, making both of the girls shiver. Animo lifted up her head, scanning the dark clouds through the glass. "It seems that it's going to snow. A blizzard, I reckon."
"Listen," Avril blurted, twisting a bit of hair, which today hung in a wave of braids down to her waist. "I'm sorry about avoiding you." She paused, rubbing the edge of her heel against the ceramic pot, which flashed a deep blue. "Damn. Needs water."
Watching in interest, Animo raised a brow as the girl bent down, waving her wand and muttering a quick "aguamenti!" Instantly, the spiky bush lifted from its hunched position, twirling with a sort of glee.
"Avril, have you been holding out on me?" Animo turned to give her friend a teasing grin. "Master herbologist in disguise?"
The edges of Avril's lips twitched, but her gaze remained serious while she ran her fingers over the bark, checking its texture. Or rather that's what Animo supposed she was. Plants had never been her forte.
"Rabier and I.." the girl's throat bobbed and she plucked a yellowing leaf protruding from a nearby asphodel bush. "We don't have a good history."
Settling down on the edge of one of the workbenches, Animo made sure to steer away from a rather unpleasant looking cactus. She waited in silence patiently. It seemed that Avril was like a tentative cat. Push her too far, and she would scurry away. And it wasn't as though Animo hadn't had years of practice of waiting.
"One night, my parents were hosting one of their typical pureblood parties," the words began to spill from Avril's lips, as if she were afraid that if she paused, she would no longer be able to keep going. "It was about a year ago. My mother had insisted I present myself in 'suitable' fashion," Avril's eyes narrowed in disgust. "And I wanted nothing more than to get away."
The girls glanced down, a mass of her braids cascading in front of her face. Animo reached over, sliding her hand over Avril's arm.
Avril shuddered. "Of course, the Lestranges were some of the first to be invited. My parents are constantly seeking their approval. If the Lestranges like you, then you are basically guaranteed to ascend in the throngs of society. Rabier asked me to dance that night." The Slytherin closed her eyes, tilting her face towards the weak remnants of sunlight filtering through the glass. "I couldn't refuse, not with my mother standing there with her death glare. Eventually, he led me away down our portrait hall and—"
A single tear slid down Avril's cheek and she wiped it away furiously with the back of her hand. Animo gave her arm a tentative squeeze, her stomach sinking as her suspicions were all but confirmed. "You don't have to—"
"No," Avril shook her head. "It's about time I said this to somebody." She wrapped her arms over her chest, leaning forward with short breaths. "Rabier came onto to me and.. and I tried to push him off. But he was too strong and—" tears were pouring down the girl's face now. "Afterwards, he said if I breathed a word, he would tell his family that I forced myself upon him and my parents would be disgraced." Her tone was hysterical at this point. "If that happened, they wouldn't blank twice before disowning me and I would have nowhere to go and—"
Animo rubbed the girl's back in what she hoped was a comforting motion. "You could always stay with me," she whispered, uncertain if she should interrupt Avril's tirade.
The girl's hands were so tightly clenched that her long fingernails were making imprints into her skin. "You don't understand. Without my family, I have NO life. I would be shunned from every pureblood establishment and everyone else hates my name. You see the Gryffindors here at school," Avril's lips tightened. "And the adults are much worse. I can't even look at my own skin anymore." The last bit came out nearly silent.
Shaking her head, Animo shifted to better scan Avril's expression. Whatever sunlight that had remained had now dissipated and they were encased in shadow. "What happened to you does not define who you are, Av. You couldn't—"
"Maybe I could have!" Avril buried her head in her hands. "I can't help but think if I had been stronger.. or wiser.. or had stood up to my parents in the first place."
"One of the hardest things I have had to learn," Animo tilted back her head, examining the vines above them, "is that we have very little control in this life. Only our choices, nothing more. You're young, Av, and scared, and in an extraordinarily difficult situation."
Avril blinked away the last of her tears, although the red veins in her eyes made her appear more vulnerable. "I wish I could just forget it ever happened."
Reaching over, Animo uncurled her fists gently, "I would too. The only bit I can offer you is to think about what you can do now. Not what you could have done." She ran her fingers along the top of the table, unflinching as the rough wood tugged at her skin. "There are many people in your position that I can imagine are too terrified to say anything." She paused. "And even if you do not want to go through reliving that, get yourself out of that world, Avril. They will only ever try to bury you."
There were several heartbeats of silence. Animo stared in front of her, unseeing as she contemplated her nest response.
"My father was a terrible man." A flash of a fist reared in front of her eyes. "An alcoholic, despite how much he claimed it was a 'mudblood' disease. He would have violent episodes at night and in the morning, often awake in a puddle of his own sick." Avril shuddered at the image, although Animo gave no reaction. A wave of memories suddenly assaulted her, eager to attack now that she had released them from their chains. "As we grew older, my brother did his best to protect me. Always getting in the way of my father's blunders and taking the brunt of his rage." Shivering, Animo tried to clench her hands together, feeling her fingers began to shake.
There was a pause before Avril craned her head, the pain in her eyes diminished at the distraction of Animo's story. "What happened?"
Animo managed a weak smile, though she was certain Avril could see through her forced posture. "My brother was a powerful wizard and with each year, he grew more and more furious with my father. It wasn't long before my brother overpowered my father. One morning I woke up and found my father at the bottom of the stairs. Blood everywhere, his head cracked open." She fiddled with the edge of her cloak. "My brother insisted that he must have fallen down on his way back from the pub, but I don't think I ever really believed him."
Brushing the ends of her braids through her fingers, Avril contemplated Animo's revelation with a furrowed brow. She didn't seem much surprised, but Animo figured that murder and patricide were fairly common amongst pureblooded families. "You speak of your brother in the past tense?"
"Yes," Animo didn't fight the coldness in her tone. "He's dead."
And it was sort of the truth. Whatever soul had remained in Gellert, he had destroyed.
Avril sensed that Animo was reluctant to say anymore and instead, she slid her fingers through Animo's in a comforting grasp. It was the first time the Slytherin had initiated any sort of contact and the move warmed the pain in Animo's chest. She tried not to think of the guilt that dogged her every thought, urging her to confront Gellert.
Shutting her eyes, Animo gave a slight shake of her head. She wasn't ready.
"You know," an idea sprang to mind as Animo recalled the emerald-eyed hero of the future. "Maybe it would help to learn to defend yourself? Properly."
Avril raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You mean like a dueling club?" The blunt Slytherin didn't bother to hide the derision in her tone.
"Something like that," Animo laced her fingers together as she lay back on the workbench, stretching her long legs. "The problem with my brother was that he was so focused on power, so determined to never be vulnerable again. But in that pursuit, he hardened himself against anything good."
The leaves on the asphodel bush twitched as a bitter gust crept through the cracks in the glass. Avril puffed out a gentle breath through her pursed lips. "Without hope, it's easy to be broken."