Daisy Potter and the Fallen Angel (Book 7, Harry Potter ff)

Chapter 19 - Magic is Might

The gift we all received for Christmas the next morning was each other's company, as obviously no one was getting any physical presents this year. We all had breakfast together, then spent the morning huddled in the drawing room beside the large tree Sirius and Emily had brought in to decorate the week before, warming our hands around mugs of hot chocolate.

I snuggled into Fred and George as I squeezed myself in between them, and the twins slung their arms around my shoulders, drawing me in closer. Even though it really wasn't the warmest in that big room, I felt my body heat up as the two hot boys casually leaned against me.

"Listen, Softpaw, don't fret." Terry was saying, gesturing with his mug, and I eyed it cautiously as the dark liquid within came dangerously close to sloshing out. "Honestly. You have your Grace, if you practised you could be just as, if not more, powerful than with your wand."

"Yeah, okay, but it refuses to help me lately." I said. "It just won't come out. I tried to use it against the snake -"

"Yeah, but that's because you're cautious of it." Terry said impatiently. "You're always so careful with it lately, in case you hurt anyone - what's with that, anyway, you need to get over it if you're going to have any chance of defeating him."

I knew who Terry was referring to without needing to hear his name. I sighed.

"Amy was killed because Riddle wanted my Grace..." I murmured. "I guess... subconsciously... my body wants to avoid using it to avoid anyone else I love getting hurt."

"Well, that's stupid." Terry said, and I snorted.

"He's right." Sirius leaned over, his mug half full of Firewhiskey instead of hot chocolate. "You really do need to learn to get over that, sweetheart, because it wasn't your fault that your friend died, and you have to defend yourself."

"If you can't use your abilities, and Riddle has your wand, you're powerless against him." Emily said quietly. "Trust me, Daisy. My mother has had experience in this, back when they were involved he'd take her wand so she'd have no way to defend herself when he was angry with her..."

Emily trailed off, and I gaped at her. "What? He abu-"

"No, no." Emily laughed nervously, her fingers shifting around her mug. "He wouldn't torture her or anything when she didn't have her wand, he liked the challenge. No, he'd use her wandless-ness to control her. Make sure she couldn't leave the house without him and his wand, make sure she couldn't do the things she usually could, make him the only one in the relationship able to do certain things... and if he ever scared her and she ran off, he'd always be able to bring her back..."

Emily looked haunted; Sirius laid a comforting hand on her thigh, and I felt the urge to do the same.

"Anyway," Emily shook herself out of her daze, giving another nervous laugh, "I never experienced any of this personally, guys, don't worry. I didn't grow up with him. Everything I know about him I learned from my mum and my grandparents."

"Does he know you're his kid?" Ron asked, awed.

The brunette smiled wryly, and it was then that I noticed the similarities to Riddle in her features. Her hair was the exact same shade and softness, their noses were identical, and that smile... that smile was the same one I received when I was sent to Riddle's quarters for misbehaving in class.

"Yeah, he knows."

"How come he's trying to get Softpaw pregnant so much, then?" Fred spoke up, the indignation in his voice barely present but still there. "I mean, I know it's because she's an angel and he wants to father a half-angel kid to corrupt, but surely he could've just corrupted you when you were younger and then made you steal Softpaw's powers?"