I never saw myself as the type to be sent into a fit of rage by the words of another. But then again, I never had killers whispering vicious words into my ears while it felt like the world was slowly collapsing around me.
Everything was swiftly coming undone, myself included.
I stare into the relentless eyes of Cole Remington before I release the breath I was holding in. And with that, goes all the built-up energy, the rage that had been stored inside me beginning the moment I locked eyes with the Death Eater.
I don't speak, I only use my hands to shove him off of me, and the second I do, it's like a flood of energy has been released from my own two hands. My rage has broken the floodgates holding in all the power. He goes reeling backward into the air, crashing down on a table that has yet to be turned over like the others.
But that's not even the worst of it. Whatever energy I have just released seems to affect Malfoy as well as Ron and Harry who have just rushed into the room, seconds before. It's like shockwaves of my own terrifying power is sent out in every direction. Malfoy is thrown to the ground, hitting it hard. Ron and Harry are pitched into the wall behind them, and I stand at the center of it all, staring at my hands in horror as my chest heaves up and down.
I can hardly breathe. Hardly think. I try to wrap around what I have just done. Not only have I lost control on Cole, but it affected my friends too. I turn around, looking at the room in complete dismay. The tables and chairs that were surrounding me only seconds ago have been propelled to far ends of the room. I'm panicked, I'm terrified, I'm disgusted.
"Oh no. No, no, no. Oh God," I breathe out in one strangled breath.
I look right at Ron and Harry, they seem fine, unharmed, but they look at me in complete surprise, like they're suddenly afraid of me. I don't blame them. I'm afraid of myself. My heart then lurches as I look to Malfoy. He slowly brings himself to a standing position, looking at me all the same. Like he's startled, shaken by the turmoil I have just barely caused.
I hold onto that stare, I claw at it, grasp at that platinum gaze. Waiting for him to shout at me, to get mad, to tell me to control myself. But what is truly terrifying, is the fact that he says nothing. The fact that he just continues to stare at me in complete disbelief. Because Cole was right, I am hurting the people around me, I just did.
I want to say something, I want him to say something, I want Ron and Harry to speak. Anything to break this painful silence. But my words have been ripped right out of my throat and I'm not sure what to do.
"Emma!" Harry abruptly gasps out. I make the mistake of spinning right on my heel, turning towards him, just to be hit right in the chest seconds later by a burst of red light. I'm launched backward instantly, thrown to the ground as I land hard, crashing into the debris of chairs and tables.
What feels like the arm of a chair jabs right into my back, and I gasp out in pain. Everything aches as I slowly try to inhale. The first breath of air I take feels like a stab wound as I look right in front of me at Cole. He stands across the room, recovered from my explosion, blood running down his forehead and arm, as he vengefully clutches his wand. And it's pointed right at me.
"Ashwood!" Malfoy shouts, rushing to my side. Remington fires a spell at him, but he blocks it, jumping in front of me as he falls into a battle with Cole. He's protecting me.
Get up.
I try to move.
Get the hell up now.
I push myself up onto my elbows, slowly rising. Every part of me aches. My head's pounding, my back is throbbing. My vision is blurry as I sit up. A sharp, searing pain spikes at the back of my head. I wince in pain, letting out a small whimper as I force myself to a standing position.
I look around, utterly distraught. The first thing I notice is Ron and Harry, near the main doors of the ballroom as they are sucked into a nasty duel with Rookwood. He's powerful, to say the least. I can't imagine the power and experience he wields. After all, he is pretty much prehistorically old. Not to mention, he's furious. Just like Cole. Two pissed off death eaters, and I don't doubt their power for a second.
I turn back to Malfoy, who's still feuding with Remington, and things are slowly beginning to escalate all around me. I try to think. I rack my brain for ideas, but it feels impossible to remain clearheaded. My whole body is trying to ignore this throbbing pain. My head pounds. My hands shake. I look around beginning to panic as I realize I have no idea where my wand is.
I scan the ground, amidst the rubble of broken glass, chairs, table cloths, and food. So much fucking food. My eyes fall over the ebony wand and my heart leaps. Everyone is too preoccupied to pay attention to me as I dive for my wand.
I snatch it off the ground, gaining a death grip on the slender piece of wood. My mind is running in circles. "Back to save the day Ashwood? Or are you just going to try to kill everyone in the room again?" Cole sneers as he continues to duel Malfoy, impressively speaking while blocking every one of the spells plummeting towards him.
"Shut your damn mouth," I growl.
"Watch your anger levels darling, don't want another one of those nasty explosions," He laughs.
I want to strangle him. I want to watch him hurt, and the thought terrifies me. But I restrain myself, something I didn't do before. I take a deep breath. I tell myself his words don't matter, that I'm only letting him win by giving him his desired reaction.
And I will not let him win. Not anymore. Because now, he's outnumbered. I point my wand towards him. "Now, this is hardly a fair fight Ashwood," Cole says with a mocking frown, looking between Malfoy and me as we both have our wands pointed at him. "Haven't you heard Remington, life just isn't fair," I snark back. This time the confidence isn't fake. I'm mad. I'm tired. I just reunited with my Father and saw him for maybe five minutes. I am so beyond this stupid fight.
Before another word is said, Malfoy fires a spell at him, thinking it'll catch him off guard, but Remington immediately blocks it as he immediately hurls a hex in return. The act is unexpected, surprising Malfoy, slamming right into him as he is catapulted to the ground.
Damn. Everyone is just getting thrown around today.
Cole slowly, and triumphantly turns to me. "Looks like it's just the two of us now," He grins. "Lucky me," I drawl out. My dark hair falls in front of my face, and I look up at him with all the rage in the world, concentrated between my two eyes.
"Go ahead Ashwood," He begins, as he slowly starts to circle around me. "Make the first move," he smirks. I scan my surroundings. I strain my mind to find anything, any sort of idea at how I should go about this. What my first move should be.
I harden my eyes at him, before I act rapidly, "Confringo!" I shout. Orange flames burst from the tip of my wand, launching straight at Cole. He acts quickly, as expected, producing a shield from the fire. The flames hit the invisible shield, they roll over the top of the bubble-like formation before disappearing completely.
"Alright Ashwood, I see how it is," He sighs out, that same evil look never-fading once from the depths of his eyes.
And so it begins, what feels like an endless duel as the two of us throw spell after spell, blocking each one. Sometimes his spells are too strong for my weak shields and I stumble back several steps. We move around the room, dodging each burst of light.
I pay barely any mind to the fight going on in the corner. From the small glimpse I get, it looks to be just Harry and Rookwood. They're about 50 feet away at the opposite end of the room, and I can no longer see Ron. Concern weighs heavy on my chest, but I never lose focus. I stay alert, expecting each curse when Remington throws it at me. But that doesn't help my energy that quickly depletes. I'm no longer even trying to knock Cole down. At this point, I'm just trying to stay on my own feet.
Cole seems to notice that I'm growing more and more tired by the second. His wicked smirk only grows, if that's even possible. "You put up a good fight Ashwood," He chides. I raise a brow. I haven't lost yet... which must mean-
His most powerful blast yet comes speeding towards me at an alarming rate. I block it just in time. But when I look back to him, he has his wand pointed towards the ceiling. Before I even realize what he's doing, I take my chance.
Everything happens at what feels like the speed of light. He casts a spell at the chandelier directly above my head, right as I aim my last spell directly at him. I don't even have to look to know it hits him. I hear somebody cry out for me from my left with utmost panic in their voice, "Emma!"
Milliseconds later, I feel strong arms around my waist as I'm being tackled to the ground, several feet away from where I was just barely standing. His body shields mine as we land hard on the ground. My face is buried into his chest, and a deafening crash splits the air.
What sounds like a million glass plates breaking surrounds me, and I feel sudden sharp cuts on my right leg as the crystal chandelier shatters into a million pieces. I'm numb to the pain however because what truly captures my attention is Malfoy hovering right above me. He gasps out sharply in pain, however, when dozens of shards of glass slice right into his back, as he shelters me from the wreckage.
I stare into his wide eyes, as his arms threaten to give out. I push myself up as much as I can against him. I place one arm against his chest to support him from collapsing on top of me. He struggles to catch his breath but I know we don't have time to wait.
"Malfoy, Malfoy! You need to get up now," I urge. He slowly nods his head, but he doesn't quite comprehend my words. He's still recovering from the several shards of glass that are now sticking out of his back. I shove myself up, grabbing his arms as I push him back to a sitting position. I sit on my knees, one hand grasping the torn material of his white dress shirt. I bring my hands to either side of his face, forcing him to look at me.
"Draco, you need to get up. Don't give up yet," I beg, pleading for him to push himself just a little further. One of his hands weakly rises, grasping onto my arm. "I'm getting really sick of saving your arse, Ashwood," He says.
"There he is," I breathe out a breath of relief, a wide grin spreading to my face. "Now come on, we came here to win," I smirk maliciously. It's like life floods back into those gunmetal eyes, and he knows. He knows now more than ever, we did in fact come here to win. And that is what we plan on doing. He offers me a short, curt nod, but the infamous smirk I've come to know so well works it's way slyly onto his handsome face.
I stand, holding on tightly to his arm as I pull him to a standing position. He wobbles, his balance is uneasy. He takes one step forward and stumbles a tiny bit. I quickly move, my hands grasping onto his abdomen as I push him upwards.
I pull myself around, placing two sturdy hands on his strong chest. "Are you okay?" I ask in concern.
"Never better," he roughly coughs out. I silently pray that this ends soon. That we can get out of here for his sake. If this was any other situation, I'm sure I would be seriously questioning the desire to protect Malfoy's wellbeing, but now it was my turn.
It was my turn to save him for once.
I don't even bother to look at his back, knowing it will already look like a terrible bloody mess, instead, I just offer my support as he slowly regains his footing. "I'm okay, it's okay," He mutters. I slowly let go of him and he stands up straighter than before. His shoulders square and broad, and his wand tight in his hand.
I then whirl around, my eyes finding Cole immediately. He lays on the ground, his eyes wide and alert, but his body perfectly frozen. He was hit by a full-body binding curse, but I worry it might wear off at any given second. "Just give me a second," I tell Malfoy.
I stalk right towards Cole, and slowly crouch down next to him. His breathing increases immediately, and I can tell he's struggling. Attempting to break free from the curse, but it's no use. His wild eyes stare right at me, and it's moments like these where I understand why I was placed into Slytherin. A devilish grin unfolds itself across my face.
"You put up a good fight, Remington," I breathe out, using his own words against him as a weapon. I lightly push the hair out of his face, my smirk only growing. "But you will never win. If your goal is to control me, just know, I am everything you cannot control," I say so darkly, so cynically, it might scare me any other given day.
But today was different. Because today I caught only a glimpse of the power I wield. And I will use all of that power against the Death Eaters if it means they never lay a finger on the people I care about, ever again.
Although his entire body remains incredibly still, and his expression is neutral, his eyes are deep with pools of rage. I just smile. I smile as I rip his wand from his tight grasp. I smile as I throw it as far as I can, into the mess of the ballroom.
And I smile as I point my own wand at him. "Incaerous," I say, and immediately thick ropes appear, snaking around his body as they tighten around him.
"I'm sure I'll see you again soon," I quip.