Long before she was sorted into the Gryffindor house, Kefira Walsh was known as the "little lion" in her family. The youngest of the four Walsh girls, Kefira wasn't supposed to survive long after birth, but as she celebrates her eleventh birthday, t...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Try and get some sleep, Nevs." Kefira told the boy. "It's not going to do yourself any good to deprive yourself of sleep."
Neville frowned. "Every time I close my eyes, all I can see is..." His voice trailed off as he shook his head.
Kefira placed her hands on his shoulders. "Try to think of something else, Neville. Anything else that's happy. "
"Like what?" He looked up to her for the answer.
Kefira bit the inside of her lower lip as she tried to think of all sorts of things that he could think of to ease his mind.
"You can read the book I made you. Those stories always seem to cheer you up." She said and suddenly, Neville's eyes lit up in agreement. She wasn't wrong, no matter how many times Neville had read the handmade book to himself, he always enjoyed reading the stories as much as he did the first time.
"Y-yeah,' He nodded his head. 'That sounds like a good idea. That's what I'll do."
There was still a hint of nerves on his face as he began walking towards the stairs of the boy's dorm.
"Neville?" Kefira called after him, bringing him to a full stop. He turned around to face her.
"Yeah?"
He watched as she walked over to him and stopped only inches before where he stood. He held his breath for a few seconds before she leaned in and kissed him gently on the cheek. It wasn't a quick peck, but a kiss that lingered for a few seconds before she pulled.
"You were incredibly brave today." She said softly. "I hope you sleep well. Good night, Neville."
She offered him a small smile before heading over to the stairs that led to the girl's dorm and disappeared. Neville lifted his hand up to his cheek, turning a bright red but wearing a smile on his face, the entire time he headed up the stairs.
Kefira entered the dorm room to find Lavender asleep and Parvati in the showers. She wasn't even sure where Faye was, as she really didn't see much of the girl throughout the year. It was sad to think that the girl who had been her best friend their first year had sort of drifted off down her own path. Kefira would have liked to believe that every friend she made would be her friend forever, but she soon learned that it wasn't the case.
Sitting on the edge of her bed, she found that Hermione was still awake on her bed, sorting through a box of things.
"What are you doing over there?" Kefira asked the girl curiously.
Hermione looked up and a sudden smile appeared on the girl's lips making Kefira nervous. She suddenly picked up something in her hand and walked over to the girl.
It was that evening that Kefira would learn all about the S.P.E.W. club that Hermione was promoting.
The concept of the club sounded like a good idea, but it also confused Kefira, because whenever she saw one of the house elves moving about in the kitchen and working, they seemed so happy and content. It didn't seem like they were as upset or tortured as Hermione it out to be. But it was far too late for Kefira to be putting up any effort to argue.
Instead, she decided to give the girl a listen and when Hermione asked for two sickles in exchange for a pin, Kefirea reached into her trunk and pulled out some money for the girl.
"Here you go."
Hermione thanked her profusely and said that she would let her know when the first official meeting for all group members of S.P.E.W. would be able to attend. She agreed to go with notice, before resting back on her bed with a yawn.
She didn't even have enough strength to pick herself up from the bed, to head to the shower. She kicked off her shoes and just rested back with a tired yawn as she closed her eyes.
Defense Against the Dark Arts had worked a number on all the students that day, but it wasn't going to get any better either.
Neville didn't want to return to the classroom after the fiasco with the three Unforgivable Curses and Kefira definitely agreed that she wanted nothing to do with it either. But they really had no choice but to attend the class for the sake of passing. He couldn't believe the class could get much worse after witnessing the question, but he was about to see just how it could.
Luckily, he had Kefira at his side along with his dear friends, he just hoped that would be enough to get through the next class with Professor Moody.
Shock raced through the students as Professor Moody announced that he was going to place the Imperius Curse on the students in the class, so they could actually learn what it felt like and see if they could fight it. Kefira was in no mood to become some man's puppet and to be under his every order.
As the man cleared away the desks to create a clear spot in the classroom, Hermione piped up with her argument against the lesson.
"But - but you said it's illegal, Professor, you said - to use it against another human was -"
Professor Moody dismissed her, claiming that Dumbledore wanted them to learn what the curse felt like and then offered it they wanted it to only learn it through textbook, they were free to go. Kefira immediately turned to Neville with a look, her eyes pleading him to leave the class. He had been traumatized enough, she didn't want him to feel any worse.
But Neville stood his ground and refused to leave the class.
One bye one, the students would be called up to be placed under the Imperius Curse.
Kefira wasn't nervous, she was angry. She didn't want to be placed under the curse, she wanted to know how to defend herself against it.
Dean was one of the first, hopping around the classroom three times while singing the national anthem...badly.
Lavender channeled her spirit animal and became scurried around the class like a squirrel.
But when Neville went to walk up, Kefira grabbed him by the robes, he gently removed her hands and walked up.
Like the spider in the unforgivable curse lesson, Neville was made to perform all sorts of gymnastic moves that Kefira wasn't sure he was capable of doing on his own. None of them had been able to fight off the curse, only feeling relief when Professor Moody relieved them of the spell.
Kefira was one of the last ones of the class to go up, but as Professor Moody raised his wand to her, her wand was already raised and directed at him. He raised a questioning brow at the girl.
"Going to attack me first, are you?" Professor Moody questioned.
"It's all about who's quicker, isn't it?" She narrowed her eyes at him. The professor seemed confused by her for a second, before she lowered her wand, slightly and grabbed her belongings.
"Good day, Professor."
A/N: The beautiful fan art was made by Cendriia , she makes incredible pieces! I love each and every one!
