Decree No.29 (O.C) Fred Weasley/ Draco Malfoy

The Curse

Hermione gave an ear piercing scream and kicked out in pain, causing all the male members of the order to try and rush to her defence. None succeeded, not even Ron who attempted to sweep the leg of his Death Eater. Jessica glanced over at Pansy, who though previously expressed a hatred of Hermione, was looking rather in despair. She thought maybe Pansy was now feeling guilt that she had ever done that to a person herself. Her eyes connected with Jessica and she mouthed "do it to me, it's okay." She had never looked so sure. She probably felt like she deserved it.

"Fine!" Jessica shouted, making Voldemort turn his attention from Hermione to her, "I'll do it."

Theo finally dragged his head up, surprised. However, it wasn't a sad surprise. It looked like both Theo and Pansy shared guilt that they felt they needed to repay. Voldemort stepped aside, gesturing for her to put her money where her mouth is.

Jessica raised her wand, tried to look as heartbroken as she could, and went to curse Pansy. She had planned to use her spell for fake cuts, which she had learned non-verbally so nothing would've been given away. No matter how much Pansy thought she deserved pain, Jessica knew that deep down she didn't.

"Not with your wand," Voldemort advised, "use the necklace."

Jessica paused. She had not learned how to control the necklace yet. If she used it she could do real damage, without knowing anyway of stopping it.  She stole a look at Hermione, who was whimpering and slouched over on the floor, then looked back at Pansy, who just nodded her head. She was telling her to do it.

Jessica adjusted her clothes, making sure the necklace wasn't caught on anything, and closed her eyes. She focused really hard on her thoughts to try and make something happen that would show Voldemort she was doing something without hurting Pansy. She felt it glow, a cooling sensation covering her chest. It was working. She was powerful, surely she'd be able to make sure Pansy wasn't hurt...right?

Except...she had never really controlled it before. Only for visions. Out of everything she learned this year, she hadn't managed to learn how the necklace worked. This could very easily go wrong. She could be responsible for making someone else endure the same pain she was trying to save her friends from. She would almost be just as bad as him.

The glow diminished, and along with it the cooling sensation. She couldn't bring herself to risk Pansy's wellbeing. She just couldn't. Then, the sudden rush of dread poured over her, as she realized Voldemort had seen her fail. There was going to be consequences. She looked down at Harry, who gave her an encouraging nod. He knew how she felt.

"A coward...," said Voldemort. It was almost as if he was reveling in it. "...just like your father. He was scared of his power too. Didn't choose the right side."

"I won't use it," Jessica stood up to him bravely, "I'm not like you. I will never go with you or help you."

He did not look pleased with her decision, but his head quickly turned and he forgot about it within a moments thought. "Well I gave you a chance," he said, "just hand it over to me and this will all be over. You can go back to your muggle life."

Even if she could trust him she wouldn't have wanted to do so. It would be appealing, to go back to normal life, and a school where a teacher couldn't make students torture each other. But she was in too deep in now. She had made friends here, found herself here, she had fallen in love here.

She was home.

"Go to hell," she retorted, "you'll never get your hands on this, If you try and force it off me it will blow your wrinkly no-nose head off."

She could hear George try to suppress a chuckle.

"Who said anything about taking it from you," Voldemort taunted, "you're going to hand it over."