Ultraviolence

Chapter 39: Brutal

Song: Brutal - Olivia Rodrigo 

By the time he was on his feet, hugging Pansy and thanking Blaise, the others had already arrived. He didn't even have the chance to get to Luna and I still hadn't whispered my thanks. As soon as I tried to make my way towards her, a bright and red force knocked me off my feet. I was getting really fucking tired of that spell.

"Did you learn anything else in those meetings? Or just that one dumb trick?" I asked Hermione. "Umbridge really has nothing to worry about if-"

All of the dirty bones that were left to rot on the floor rushed toward me and began their attack. They latched on to the already aching skin the pieces of glass had cut. Pain like I've never felt before swallowed me whole. I was on the verge of slipping away, of completely passing out when I heard a shriek and the bones crashed loudly on the ground.

Hermione was on the floor, on the verge of tears, while Pansy and Blaise were keeping Harry busy who had already snapped out of his charm and was by far the most skilled of them all. Luna was gone and I thought that she had rushed to Neville's aid.

"I can't see! I can't see anything!" Hermione yelled to Dean and a red-haired boy who was holding her. It looked like the boy was panicking and, at the same time, equally as enraged.

In a blink of an eye, he grabbed the soaked collar of Draco's shirt and slammed him against a pile of gold and paintings. "Undo it! Undo it now or I'll tear your own eyes out and feed them to you," threatened the tallboy through clenched teeth.

"That's gruesome, Weasel," Draco spat on his face before smiling softly. "I love it."

While the boy wiped the blood off his nose and eyes with the sleeve of his robe, I sent a blast of light in his direction and Draco was free. But there was little to celebrate about because Harry had just managed to do the same. Blaise was left petrified on the ground and Pansy was desperately trying to fix him.

He came right after me, stronger than before, and though I successfully missed his first spark of light, when I tried to retaliate with the jet of red, with my own stunning spell, it bounced back at me.

"For fucks sake," I grunted. I had hit the ground. Once again.

"Legi-" Harry tried to shout, pointing his wand at my forehead when Draco seized him from behind and pinioned his arms to his sides. "Let go of me!" Harry struggled and kicked. A series of grunts and cussing and then the two were on the ground, each somehow struggling more than the other, both now tainted with Draco's blood. I kneeled and forced the wand out of Harry's hand. I tucked it under the white legwarmers I was wearing for safekeeping when I almost got hit by a spell shooting out of Ginny's wand. No longer charmed, it seems. By the looks of it no longer sorry, too.

"Just leave him alone and we'll go! I promise!" She yelled and I wanted so badly to trust her...but... I just couldn't.

But I was still forced into leaving him alone because he had managed to stand up and steal Draco's wand from him. The wood was now pressing into the side of Draco's bloody neck and Harry was behind him, threatening me.

"Touch him and I'll ruin you, do you fucking hear me?" I got closer, though not too close. A golden light issued from the wand, maybe it was keeping Draco still because nothing was moving, nothing but his eyes.

"Tell me why you told her! Why you told her to rat us out, how you manip-"

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" I shrieked and then wished I hadn't gotten so fired up. He saw it as a threat. My wand flew away and the one by my ankle soared right back into the hands of its owner.