~Day One~
Your POV
"No, Y/N. Concentrate!" Mark says firmly for the fifth time today.
"I can't do it!" I whined like a little child.
"Yes, you can. You just have to believe in yourself." His harsh tone drops to a more gentle one. "Again," he raises the stick he holds in his hand and I begin to jog on the balls of my feet in the small space around me. "Stupefy!" He pretends to cast with the stick and I dodge out of the way. "Expelliarmus!" I roll across the floor to avoid his cast. "Confringo!" He casts low to the floor and I jump up off the ground. "Good, Y/N. You're getting there."
"Really-"
"Avada Kedavra." Mark unexpectedly casts with his pretend wand which catches me off-guard. "Oh look at that, you're dead again." Mark says sarcastically.
"That's not fair! You didn't give me-"
"Stay alert at all times, Y/N." He points the stick in my face as though he was telling off a naughty schoolchild. "Let's go again."
"No, I need a break." I say, moving to the side and taking a swig from a water bottle. Beads of sweat dripped from my forehead and the back of my neck felt sticky. We must have been training for at least a couple of hours without a break.
"Fine but don't be too long. Remember, this is all for your own good. If you can't cast like Seán and I, then you can at least learn to dodge curses and basic combat. Right, Seán?" Mark turns his attention towards my husband who had just returned with firewood for tonight's fire.
"Right." Seán responds as he places the wood on the ground. "It just ensures that you're not left completely vulnerable."
"It's just a bit hard when you're the unfittest woman on this earth." I retort.
"It will take time but if you keep at it, you'll get there." Mark encouraged me. "Oh, by the way," he walks over to his tattered rucksack, "have these." He hands me a few items of clothing; a white, short sleeved shirt, a pair of brown trousers and some black shoes. Wasn't quite what I was used to but it will do. "Wearing these instead of that dress might make things a little easier. They should fit."
"Thank you." I say appreciatively. "Where did you get them?"
"I 'borrowed' them from the town nearby."
"Mark!"
"What? They obviously didn't need them if they just left them lying around."
"But still."
"But still nothing. Go and get changed."
"It wouldn't hurt to say please and thank you every once in a while." I mumbled. I walked into the corner of the cave and turned around to see Seán and Mark still looking at me. "Excuse me?" I cleared my throat.
"What?"
"A bit of privacy is appreciated." Mark turns his back but Seán doesn't oblige. "You too."
"What? It's nothing I haven't seen before." He smirks. I don't say anything, just give him a look with my eyes as though to say, 'do as you're told'. Reluctantly, he eventually turns his back.
I discard my dress, feeling very paranoid about the two pairs of eyes which could be staring at me. I slip on the trousers, pull the shirt on over my head and take off my sandals and replace them with the black shoes. Overall, it wasn't a bad fit. The shirt sleeves were perhaps a couple of inches too long and the shoes weren't that much bigger either. I tie my hair up into a high ponytail and remove my bracelet but leaving my engagement ring, wedding ring and the gold and ruby necklace.
I emerge from out of the corner to see Seán and Mark's backs still turned. I coughed a little to get their attention and they simultaneously turned around. Seán's jaw dropped.
"Woah." He says, looking impressed. "That's... different." I raise an eyebrow. "I like different."
"Me too." I nod in agreement. "Thanks, Mark." I say, turning towards the muscular man with his arms folded over his chest. "Even if they were stolen."
"I like to see it as borrowed without certainty of return." Mark replied.
"Stolen."
———
~Day Two~
Right. Left. Jump. Dodge. I say in my head as I perform each action, avoiding each of Mark's pretend curses. I was improving. My reflexes were getting faster and I didn't seem as distracted.
"Brilliant, Y/N!" Mark seemed genuinely impressed for once which made me smile. "Crucio!" I quickly dodged out of the way and continued to jog in the small space around me, ready to swerve around more fake spells. "Ready to perform some combat abilities tomorrow?"
I stopped jogging and wiped the sweat from my brow. "Hell yes."
———
~Day Three~
"The important thing to note in these kind of scenarios is to not be afraid. You need to fully believe in yourself if you want to perform some of these self-defence moves." Mark explains.
"Okay." I nod my head in acknowledgement to what he was saying.
"First thing I want you to do is to attack me." He ushered me towards him.
"What?"
"Attack me. Punch me in the face."
"No, I'm not going to-"
"What's the most important thing?" Mark asked, waiting for me to reply.
"To not be afraid."
"Exactly. If it helps, just picture me as Seán when he really pisses you off."
"Hey!" Seán looks up from the book of Mark's he was reading, sounding offended. I look over and laugh, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Okay?"
"Alright." I uncross my arms and take a step forward. I lightly punch Mark's arm.
"Oh, c'mon, Y/N. What was that?"
"I don't want to hurt you!"
"Who gives a shit? I've got more scars and bruises on my body than you can count from these past three years. One more punch isn't going to make a difference. C'mon, go again." Mark stands, ready for the impact of my fist.
"I'm sorry in advance." I say as I draw back my fist and swing it forward as hard as I can but before it could come into contact with Mark's jaw, he grabbed my forearm and twisted it behind me. I let out a small gasp at the sudden move. Seán stood up opening his mouth to object but Mark cut him off.
"A simple and harmless self-defence trick." Mark reassured him. Mark released me and I sighed out. "This is the kind of thing I will be teaching you, Y/N."
"Just... give me some warning next time." I say rubbing my forearm where Mark had restrained me.
"Would any of those bastards out there give you some warning?" Mark asks as he points towards the mouth of the cave.
"No-"
"Exactly. Shall we begin?"
"We shall."
———
~Day Four~
"Seán!" Mark calls out of the cave to Seán who was outside, picking berries off a bush, presumably for dinner later.
"Yeah?" He calls back, turning his attention towards the cave.
"Come in here, will you? We need you."
"Sure, I'll be there in a minute." Mark re-entered the cave and gave me a nod. I nodded back just as Seán entered. "What's going on then?"
"I was wondering if you could help me?" I asked him.
"Sure, as long as I'm not your target practise." Seán chuckled to himself. I looked at him and gave him a sheepish smile. Seán's smile dropped. "You've got to be kidding."
"I won't hurt you, I promise." I held my hands out in surrender.
"Do I look like a dummy to you? Why can't Mark help?"
"I've already tried with Mark and he says that it's good to practise with different people because everyone's reaction times are different." I glance over at Mark who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Seán also looked over and Mark nodded. Reluctantly, Seán shrugged and rolled his eyes is defeat. "Thank you!" I pecked him on the cheek. "Now, try and attack me or something."
"Wha- no!"
"You don't actually have to attack me, just come towards me like you're going to." I clarified.
"Oh... right." Seán says. He hesitates and raises his fist but then drops it again.
"Go on." I encourage him. He raises his fist once more and slowly swings forward. I catch it in my hand and twist his arm behind his back, just like Mark did to me. "See? Wasn't so bad was it?"
"Ow."
———
~Day Five~
Mark grabbed my throat and before he could do anything else, I lifted one arm up, turned my body to the left and struck downwards with my arm. He lost his grip from my throat and I trapped his arm. Suddenly, he broke free and lifted me over his shoulder but before he could pin me to the ground, I kicked his groin and his grip released again. I blocked each strike he threw to my face and on the last punch, I restrained his arm behind his back. Mark kicked my knee, making my legs buckle slightly. I regained my posture and he lifted me up off the ground. Wrapping my legs around his waist, I shoved him to the ground. He landed on his back with a harsh thud and I raised my fist mid-air, ready to strike.
I looked at Mark dead in the eye and he began to chuckle. I joined in and got off of him, offering my hand to pull him back up. We were both out of breath from the fighting practise. Behind me, I heard a light round of applause. Seán was clapping and shouting the occasional "woo!". I mockingly curtseyed and blew a kiss to Seán.
"Well?" I turn towards Mark. "How did I do?"
"Excellently!" Mark praised me. "I didn't hurt you did I?"
"Not at all." I replied with a smile. "Did I hurt you?"
"No." Mark shook his head and coughed, trying to regain his breath back.
"That was amazing!" Seán stands up and throws Mark and I a bottle of water each. "Fuckin' scary but amazing!"
I laughed a little. "I'm having the time of my life learning all this."
"Good to hear," Mark replies, "and it's all beneficial at the end of the day."
"Indeed it is." I point my water bottle at him. "Anyway," I clap my hands together. I had gotten my breath back and Mark didn't seem to be breathing heavily anymore either. "What now?"
As Mark continued to practise with me and teach more tricks, I suddenly had an epiphany. I don't know why I didn't think of this before.
"Mark?" I ask as he sorts my posture out for a new self-defence trick.
"Yeah?"
"How do you know all this?"
He paused before sighing and continuing to correct my posture; lifting an elbow here, twisting a hip there. "Being out here for three years alone... you know, you need to be prepared. I read a lot and most of the stuff I'm teaching you has come from books but also..." He trailed off and I looked at him but he looked away.
"Also what?" I ask as drop my posture and turn my body to face him.
"It's stupid." He shook his head.
"There's no such thing." I assured him. "Even if it is, I won't judge."
"Well... I guess after Tom's passing, I didn't feel safe." He shrugged. "I learnt all this in hope that if I ever was attacked, I'd know how to get out of it. I just wish Tom knew all this, then maybe he'd still be alive."
"Oh, Mark." I placed a hand on his shoulder. "He'd be proud of you, for being able to stand up for yourself and for teaching a random Muggle to defend herself."
He smiled a little and nodded. "Anyway," he cleared his throat, "that's enough of that, back to business."
Whilst practising and performing with Mark, Seán watched my every move, looking very impressed and proud which made my heart flutter a little. He and Mark offered jokes every now and then- usually teasing me- but it made me happy that Mark was warming up to the both of us. It felt like we've been friends with him for ages when really, we only met a week ago.
I felt transformed. Gone from a woman in a dress who cooks and cleans to a wanted Muggle in trousers who's learning combat. I liked this feeling. I finally felt... powerful.