UNKNOWN | D.M (UNRAVEL BOOK 4)

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"PROTEGO!" someone had exclaimed, falling into Aine's sight as she watches a figure interfere between her and Ginny, shielding the redhead and deflecting the dangerous spell that Aine had shot. A large translucent shield was formed and it repelled Aine's attack just in the nick of time before things got catastrophic.

Aine froze, huffing and finally feeling the exhaustion as the energy drained out of her like an open tap. When the blurry smoke cleared up, she saw Harry standing in front of Ginny, his wand pointed in her direction as he had defended the girl. Aine's heart stopped for a second, unable to fathom what she had just done. She drops her hand holding her wand to her side and lets out a shaky breath, relieved that Ginny was safe even though she was drenched in sweat, clearly worn out from their duel.

There was a momentary silence and Aine glanced around nervously and warily, watching her fellow peers gawk at her with an enigmatic look on their faces. Was it shock, awe or fear? Probably all of the above.

She gulps, blinking away from the staring eyes until she had caught her reflection in the mirror walls. For a split second, she could have sworn there was another person behind her in the mirage who had long silvery hair and a pair of lilac-coloured eyes. When Aine turned around to see who it was, the figure was nowhere to be seen, almost as if they had faded into thin air, leaving without a trace but a faint memory.

"Wow!" a small voice squeaked from the corner, then there was a gasp followed by a clap and they all turned to Nigel. The boy was beaming brightly at Aine and Ginny before his friends followed, applauding the great fight and breaking the foreboding tension earlier. 

Aine tucked her wand into her pocket, walking over to Ginny whose legs had given out into tiredness. Her friends had all gone back to their training after witnessing the show they had all watched. Only the twins, Luna, Neville, and Michael along with Hermione, Ron and Harry had remained, crowding over the two girls. Ginny sat on the ground, huffing and puffing as she inhales the air, taking in as much oxygen as she can to cool her lungs and calm her racing heart. Wiping her sweat with the back of her hand, she let out a chuckle, "That was bloody fun!"

"Gave us quite a bit of scare, Ai!" Fred attempts to lighten the mood that he had noticed gone sour. Even George was slightly taken aback by Aine's behaviour, noting her differences earlier. He slowly went to her and patted her back, hinting to her it was alright.

Harry met Aine's wavering golden pupils, her lips gaping slightly as they trembled before she quickly plastered on another expression to hide her thoughts. All he could wonder was what the hell had just happened. He looks over at his two friends, both sharing the same question in their minds. It felt as if they had seen this side of Aine before last year when she was duelling with Hermione and then again when she had a vision during the third task of the Triwizard tournament. Except it was somehow different though they couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. "Are you alright?" He asks Aine in a soft voice, careful to not startle her more than she already has been. He was still trying to process what had happened.

Aine nodded, meeting his worried gaze. "Yeah... I just— Got too fired up," she lies and Harry's expressions softened up. He could see through her uneasiness and how visibly shaken she was. "Thanks for protecting her, Harry. I went a little overboard, didn't I?" she cringes, guilt smothered all over her.

Harry smiled and tugged on her shoulders, reassuring her that it was fine since no one was really hurt. He made sure that they will have a talk about what had happened later when everyone was gone.

The raven-haired girl looks at Ginny apologetically, crouching down to have a look at her friend's face. With a bitter smile, she expresses her apology, "I'm sorry Gin, are you okay?" she asks in a timid voice, feeling a sense of shame at her actions. She could see Ginny's boyfriend, Michael literally glaring daggers in her direction, mentally cursing at her in his mind. Though Aine didn't pay any consideration to his opinions since she thought that she had deserved it, after what she had done.