PAZ AND ASTORIA carefully began their walk to the seventh floor corridor in search for the Room of Requirement. It was the first D.A. meeting Astoria would be attending. Although she was more than excited, Paz was extremely nervous, especially due to the fact that she hadn't told anyone about this yet.
Paz stopped them in the middle of the hall, turning to face the wall. She closed her eyes, thinking of the room. Astoria watched in amazement as it appeared right in front of them.
"Oh wow.." she says dreamily, Paz dragging her inside quickly.
The chattering inside slowly stops, all eyes focusing now on Paz and Astoria. Neville steps forward quickly, his eyes stuck upon Astoria.
"I've got a new recruit," Paz says, slightly laughing while doing so. In the corner of her eye she can see Ginny glaring at Astoria.
"You never told us," Ginny states, arms crossed over her chest.
"Well, I wasn't too sure if everyone would be-"
"It's alright, Paz. Hello Astoria, welcome to the D.A. I'm sure Paz told you everything that we're about already?" Neville asks, Astoria nodding her head yes. "Alright then, let's get started everyone."
Ginny shot Paz a questionable look before following Luna and Neville. Paz led Astoria towards a small group, instructing her to join them for right now while she speaks to Neville.
Paz walks over to Neville. "What're we doing today?"
"I was thinking some basic stupefy, just dueling in general. I suppose we could break everyone off into partners."
Paz, Ginny and Luna agree with Neville and disperse from their small group, heading over to the others and informing them what to do. Paz paired up with Astoria, as no one else seemed to want to.
After nearly half an hour of dueling and going over basic spells, Terry Boot enters the Room of Requirement, looking beaten up and out of breath.
"What's wrong Terry?" Luna questions, all eyes now on him.
"It's Michael, Michael Corner, he let free a first year who was chained up in detention, he's been getting tortured all day. The Carrows just left his cell but I need help getting in."
Without another word, Neville, Paz, Ginny and Luna followed him out of the room, soon breaking into a run. They head down all of the steps and run through the corridors, at this point not bothering to check if any professors were coming up or following them.
As they pass the Slytherin house, Paz notices just up ahead, near the dungeons, three all to familiar faces.
"Which one?" Neville questions, Terry pointing to the second door down.
"Aberto!" Paz exclaims, the door flying open to reveal Michael Corner in an even worse state than Ginny was.
The five run inside and fall beside him. Paz looks towards the door, noticing the faces she had recognized were now peering inside the room, horror written across their faces. Paz turned her attention back to Michael, who was bleeding at a rapid pace.
"We need blood replenishing potions, a wide-eye potion, can someone fix his broken nose as well?" Ginny demands, Luna pushing past everyone and fixing Michael's nose with a quick 'Episkey'.
Paz plunges her hand into her bag, fishing around for her potions that she now keeps on her at all times. She pulls out a bunch, laying them down on the ground for Luna and Terry to use on Michael.
Pansy, Theo and Blaise watch from the doorway, Paz doing her best to not give as much as a glance their way. The group continued to tend to Michael, Luna finally getting the blood to stop spilling from all his wounds after ten minutes. Once he was somewhat stable, Neville and Terry hoisted him up and began up to the Room of Requirement.
Paz led the way, pushing past the three seventh year Slytherin's. Ginny sent them a glare.
"Is he alright Paz?" Pansy questions, the three of them following close behind Paz.
"Does he look alright?" Paz questions.
"I'm pretty good with healing spells, I could help out," Blaise offers. Paz shakes her head no, pushing past others in the hallway and beginning up stairs.
"The Slytherin common room is right here, why don't you take him in there?" Pansy asks, Paz now ignoring them.
"We're trying to help you, you don't have to act tough in front of us Paz." Theo states.
Before Paz could speak up, Ginny does. "Will you three shut up and leave her alone? Are you still not getting the message that she doesn't want to speak with you right now?"
"Shut up weasel." Pansy sneers. The others continue up to the Room of Requirement as Ginny and Paz stop to face the three Slytherin's.
"Excuse me?" Paz says, pulling out her wand from her robes. Pansy takes a step back.
"Paz, put your wand down," Blaise says calmly, though Paz ignores him.
"You of all people should know not to make fun of my friends in front of me, Pansy." Paz spits out, looking at Pansy in disgust. Pansy looks as if she's hurt and disappointed, almost as if she was about to cry.
"You're really going to talk to your sister like that?" Theo questions, Paz sending him a dirty look.
"If she's going to speak to my bestfriend disrespectfully, absolutely."
Theo also wore a look of disappointment, though more in himself almost. Theo wished nothing more than to be standing next to Paz, being with her, fighting next to her, not against her.
Before anyone could continue to speak, a loud voice was heard booming from down the corridor.
"You!" Alecto Carrow shouted. Pansy, Theo and Blaise moved as she pushed them out of the way, pointing at Ginny and Paz. "Oh, I've been waiting to get the two of you."
"Excuse me?" Paz says, looking towards Ginny in confusion. "What have we done, exactly?"
Alecto laughs, sending a shiver down both the girls' spines. "That Corner boy is gone, isn't he?"
Ginny and Paz stay silent.
"Oh yes, how wonderful this is!" Alecto shouted gleefully, then grabbing a hold of Paz and Ginny and heading back down the stairs, pushing Pansy, Theo and Blaise out of the way once again. They watch as Alecto drags the two down towards the dungeons.
"What did they do?" Blaises asks in a confused manor.
Pansy sighs, turning towards the Slytherin house as the boys follow.
"Too much."
----------
Paz and Ginny lost track of the hours they were stuck, chained to the wall in the dungeons. Ginny's entire body was numb while Paz kept dozing off, her vision a constant blur. Alecto had left the room a while ago, though, they expected she would be back soon.
They both felt too weak to speak. Their wands were across the room, though no matter how hard Ginny tried, summoning spells wouldn't work. The two were trapped, Paz practically knocked unconscious.
Ginny looked up as she heard the door open, Alecto walking back into the room with an evil, haunting smile on her face.
"I do hope you girls have been learning a very valuable lesson," Alecto laughs, now standing in front of them.
"You don't scare us," Ginny mumbles. Alecto scowls, walking up to Ginny and harshly grabbing her face.
"Not yet, I suppose."
Alecto backed up and aimed her wand towards Paz, who now had her eyes fully closed, Ginny guessing she finally gave in and went fully unconscious.
"She's unconscious, don't do anything to her." Ginny stated, glaring at Alecto.
"Hmm, this should finish her off then. Sectumsempra."
Ginny screamed in horror as she watched Paz get hit by the spell, blood beginning to pour from newly cut wounds. Her screams and cries intensified as Alecto began to hit her with the Cruciatus curse, until she no longer felt anything, eventually falling limp in her chains.
----------
Paz didn't remember much from her time in the dungeons, all she could remember was seeing dark, crimson blood, lots of it, and it was all hers. From then, she remembers light, and a pair of dark eyes to follow it.
She slowly began to come to, lifting her hand up to her face to rub her eyes. Her entire body felt numb. As she began to lower her arm, she was quick to notice a large cut across it. It looked as if someone tried to heal it, but failed horribly.
Looking around, she realized she was no longer in the dungeon, but in Theo and Blaise's room. She was in Theo's bed, while Ginny, who was still asleep, was in Blaise's. She hadn't a clue how she got there, nor how long she had been there. All she did know was that she wanted to leave as quickly as she possibly could.
Paz attempted to sit up, though, she immediately felt sharp pains come from her stomach while doing so. She fell back into her first position, pushing back the covers and lifting up her shirt, noticing a huge gash going down her stomach. Like the one on her arm, someone had tried to heal it, though failed. It was slightly bleeding towards the end of it. She sighed, tilting her head back and staring up at the ceiling, before turning her attention to the doorway, where she heard voices approaching.
Theo and Blaise soon opened the door, stepping into the room. Theo nearly immediately noticed Paz was awake, running over to her side and taking a seat on his bed.
"You're awake!" He exclaimed happily, Paz giving him a confused look. Theo told Blaise to inform Pansy that she was finally awake.
"Why are you saying it like that?" Paz asks, hoping she was only knocked out for a few hours at most.
"Paz.." Theo begins, carefully taking her hand in his, "You and Ginny have been here for nearly a week."
Paz's eyes went wide with terror. She let out a quiet gasp, regretting it as she did so, feeling nearly every cut on her body shifting as she did.
"You got us out?"
Theo sighs, "Sort of. I knew which dungeon Alecto threw you in, so I would watch every time she went in and out. Eventually your perfect little friends came by to save you, but you and Ginny were really bad. Ginny was hardly breathing and you were drenched in your own blood."
Theo took a moment to steady his voice before continuing.
"There was no way they were going to get you guys back to the Gryffindor house, so I told them to bring you guys in here. They've been visiting everyday, I think they'll be here in an hour or so actually.."
Paz was left speechless. She was surprised that Theo had let Ginny stay in his room, but she could hardly believe that he voluntarily let in her friends to visit her, her friends that were certainly not Slytherin's.
She sent him a small smile, squeezing his hand with whatever strength she had left inside of her.
"Thank you, Theo."
Theo smiles back down at her, moving his free hand to push some strands of hair out of her face. Even with dried up blood scattered across her face and clothes and the tiredness in her eyes, Theo looked at her as if she was the most beautiful girl in the world.
"Anything for you, my golden girl."
Paz smiles, then turning her attention towards the door as Pansy runs in, pushing Theo out of the way. Tears found their way down her cheeks, staring at her little sister who, a few days ago, was thought to be dead.
She let out a soft sob before speaking.
"You're going to give me a heart attack one day, Paz." She joked, squeezing her hand tightly and wishing she never had to let go.
"I wouldn't be a good sister if I didn't." Paz softly laughs.
She spoke in a hushed voice to her three friends who she hadn't spent more than fifteen minutes with in the past month. It felt nice, though, she knew it wouldn't last. Once she gained her strength back and was able to leave, things would go back to normal.
Neville and Luna came to visit, both ecstatic to see Paz finally awake. They spoke for a while before the two of them had to leave for the D.A. meeting, though, they didn't tell that to Blaise, Pansy or Theo, who sat in the corner speaking to each other and avoiding Neville and Luna.
Astoria had stopped by later in the night upon hearing that Paz was finally awake, informing her that she was feeding her Pgymy Puff, Nott, for her while she wasn't in the room. Paz thanked her with a chuckle before she left as well.
Paz kept stealing glances towards Ginny, who was still asleep on Blaise's bed.
She felt safe in here, as none of the other boys who shared a dorm with Theo and Blaise returned this school year. That, and, she felt safe when she was around Theo in general. Once tearing her eyes away from Ginny, who looked very peaceful while sleeping, she looked towards Theo, who was still speaking in a hushed voice to Blaise and Pansy.
Paz loves the way Theo's hair is getting slightly too long for his liking, causing it to fall in his face and create a messy sort of look. She loves the way his eyebrows furrowed together when trying to concentrate on something important, and how he taps his fingers on his legs while he is sitting, that being a tell that he has something to say.
The only thing Paz would ever change about Theo was where he stood in the war. She wondered to herself how someone with a heart like his could ever agree with things Voldemort had to say, his beliefs in general. Then again, Blaise and Pansy were the same. They were blinded by him, she thought, blinded by the lies he spread. She still sees the good in them, she knows she can win them over, she just hoped she could before it was too late.
Paz hadn't noticed she had zoned out, Theo snapping his fingers in front of her face to gain her attention.
"Paz?"
"Oh- sorry, yes?"
Theo chuckles. "Pansy just headed out for the night, do you need anything before Blaise and I go to bed?"
"Hmm," Paz hums, "No, I'm alright."
"Alright, goodnight then." He smiles, heading over to an empty bed across the room.
"Goodnight Paz!" Blaise chimes in from the bed next to Ginny's.
"Goodnight boy's," Paz begins, pulling the covers over her slowly, trying not to disrupt her wounds, "Thanks for everything."
"Anything for our girl, of course." Blaise says.
Theo blows out the last bit of the candles, the room falling into darkness.
Paz attempts to sleep, though is extremely uncomfortable. Every time she tries to move in a different position she feels new jolts of pain in different parts of her body. At one point, a large, unbearable pain overcame her whole body when she tried to move her left leg, causing her to yell out a loud-
"Fuck!"
Blaise stayed fast asleep, snoring quite loudly, though Theo sat up in his bed and faced Paz.
"What's wrong?" He got up, walking over towards her and pulling up a chair beside the bed.
"Oh, nothing." She states quickly. "You don't have to sit here with me, I'm alright."
Theo laughed. "If you were alright I don't think you would be shouting 'fuck' in that tone."
Paz rolls her eyes, though immediately locking them back with Theo's. The comfortable silence lingered for a few seconds.
"Thank you, again. It was very kind of you to help my friends." Paz mumbles, Theo leaning closer so he could fully hear what she was saying.
"Like I said, anything for my golden girl." He smiles, placing his forehead on hers, slowly rubbing his thumb over a large scar on her cheek.
She places her hand on top of his, closing her eyes. "We're going to be okay, Theo," she began, trying her best not to let her emotions overcome her, "Everything will be alright, and we'll be okay."
"I know." Theo mumbles, before closing the small gap between them, softly placing his lips on hers. It was a short, sweet kiss, and the feeling of Theo's lips on her own lingered on Paz's lips as he pulled away, smiling to her. "Now, go to sleep. I'll be here."
aww theo and paz 0.o
gia