Cursed (D.M)

eight

   Silence scattered through the whole room. Nobody could move, almost as if everyone was frozen. There was only the tranquil sound of Harry reluctantly dragging his feet towards Dumbledore. His eyes were darting desperately around the room as if he was hoping for any sign of sympathy on someone's face.

But his hopes deceived him.

We were all scrutinising how he had to take the spotlight again. How he couldn't handle any other individual taking away his attention from being the "boy who lived". Nobody provided him with more filthy looks than the Slytherins.

The moment Harry trudged into the room to join the other champions, the Hall immediately broke out into inquisitive muttering. It didn't stop until we were dismissed to go to our dorms.

This time, I didn't head to the Astronomy Tower. Instead I went along with the others to the common room. I instantly regretted it however. Who else should be sitting on one of the sleek, leather sofas but Astoria along with Daphne and Pansy by her side. Offering her the attention she seeked on a silver platter.

At this point, I was so disgruntled and fed up with Pansy that I couldn't care less whether we made up or not. The last thing I'd ever want is a toxic, jealous best friend so if she wanted to be that petty, then so be it.

"Rose! What the hell is wrong with you?" I recognised the whingey voice straight away. So I turned around and crossed my arms.

"What?" I said calmly.

"You know what! How dare you do that to Astoria!" yelled Daphne.

I snorted, "How dare YOU speak to me like that! She got what she deserved. And if you hadn't noticed, I really couldn't give two shits about her or you and Pansy"

"Yes because the only person you care about is yourself!" mocked Pansy.

"Yeah, you're right Pansy. Because the only person I can rely on is myself. You're so fake. What happened to being my best friend? All this for me TALKING to someone else."

"I wanted to drop you ages ago" Pansy stood up.
Heat was rising through my body now. I needed to calm down but I couldn't and when I get mad. I cant stop.

"You know what, Pansy? You need to get a grip of yourself and get your facts straight. I just love how much I can affect you without even trying. Just get a life instead of obsessing over mine"

Pansy gave me the coldest look. But mine was colder.

"And what would you know? It's not my fault you go and whine in your diary every night. How you have literal anger issues. I know so many people who think I'm better than you in every inch of worth" she spat.

"Honestly, Pansy. You're still trying to stay relevant after all this. It's embarrassing for you. The bar is so high, you'll never be able to reach it so dream on"

Every single Slytherin had scrambled down the stairs from their dorms and were now intensely listening due to the volume at which Pansy and I were yelling.

Then she did the thing I never would have expected. She walked over to me. With her pug face inches from mine, drew her hand up and slapped me hard across the cheek. Everyone gasped. That was the final straw- I couldn't control my anger anymore. I hated her.

It felt like something was possessing me. A cruel,  violent beast was growing inside me. It was growing and growing and before I knew it it overtook my whole surface area.

I wasn't in control anymore. The beast burned my insides and I could feel the scorning heat rocketing through my taut body.

No matter how much I tried to constraint and twist and turn my mind into calming down, Pansy pushed it further and further. Every attempt I made to put out the fire, it grew stronger. Whatever was trapped inside me was about escape.

My soul was entwined with something far worse than I could have ever imagined.

My mind went blurry, everything was blurry. The heat was overtaking my face and my palms were pulsating. Beads of sweat started to descend down my face.

In my efforts to evade the eruption and terminate the beast from taking helm of me, I felt my teeth sink into the facet of my tongue.

I clenched my fists so my nails embedded into the flesh that was my hands- creating indents that lightly bled.

I rose my hand to her face and punched her as hard as I could so she was thrown on the floor.

Pansy stood back up a few minutes later, slightly off balance, a bloody slit now through her eyebrow. The anger controlled me and I was obliging. She had pushed me too far.

We didn't stop writhing at each other until a pair of strong, cold hands latched onto my shoulders and dragged me away. I was still prying and fighting to get out of their grasp.

My hands were throbbing and were sticky with red blood.

I was in a dark room. There were a few candles lit however that created a variety of shadows that danced along the stone walls. The room was freezing and damp. I could hear running water in the distance and smell the cold.

I took one deep breath and the weight disappeared. The burden slowly disintegrated and the beast decreased its size to its original state. I was relieved to be out of the congested common room. Who knows what I was capable of.

I was alone with Draco. My hands were bandaged and he was running a rag under the cold tap.

"Draco. I'm sorry you had to see me like that" I murmured.

"It's hard isn't it? Controlling the anger." I stared at him. "You think I don't understand. But I do, you just need to learn to control it." He stared back at me. His eyes piercing mine.

"You have it too? Can you control it?" I asked.

"No. But nobody has made me that angry in a long time"

"Well, maybe we can help each other?" I asked hopefully.

"What? No. I- I don't need your help. I can figure it out on my own" he dropped eye contact.

"Draco. You don't have to act tough all the time. We all have our weaknesses"

"I DON'T HAVE A WEAKNESS" he yelled. He wasn't angry though. He was worried, I could tell. His natural aura of coldness renovating to glacial.

I tried to say something but I didn't know what. I didn't want to say the wrong thing so I didn't say anything. I opened my mouth but no words tumbled from my tongue.

"Why does everyone assume I'm weak?" his voice had a slight tremble in it.

"I don't think your weak, Draco. I just want to help as well as I need help"

"I'm not just this pathetic weak link that needs moral support you know. Stop acting like I'm actually worth helping. I don't need you or anyone. Just leave me alone"

With that, he threw down the rag, grabbed his cloak and stormed out. I regretted it. I knew he was sensitive but I still mentioned the word "weakness" I should have known better. It all happened so fast I wasn't thinking straight.

This was all Pansys fault.