Unhappy Endings

36: The Duel Itself

AN: I wrote this whole chapter and then lost it. So now there's this :( plus my hand has cramped up and slowed me down haha. If I write in word, it pastes in with a ton of spacing issues. I write it in Wattpad's writer and it constantly disappears. No winning here.

Malfoy and Harry eyed each other malevolently as they took their places onstage. Begrudgingly, they bowed to each other. Either way, this would work out well for Severus. If Draco won, his house would have won-- Always a good thing. If Harry won, then you would get to watch your sniveling cousin get his comeuppance.

"Scared, Potter?" Draco sneered. You hated how his voice sounded; like a mandrake being transplanted.

But Harry didn't back down. "You wish." They turned, walked ten paces, then whirled around, wands poised.

Gilderoy did the count off. "Wands at the ready! When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponent -- only to disarm. We don't want any accidents. One, two--"

"Rotten scamp." You shook your head as your cousin blasted his wand early. The other boy wasn't disheartened, and he quickly countered.

"Rictusempra!" A particular curse you were very familiar with hit Draco directly, eliciting a laugh that caused him to glare at you. Gilderoy did, to his credit, try to stop the whole thing.

"I said disarm only!"

But only Severus would be able to stop this. And he had no intentions.

"Serpensortia!" The potions professor was bemused. Of course his house would fight with snakes, that was the pride that came with being Slytherin. To Harry's obvious horror, the tip of Draco's wand exploded and a mamba slithered forth.

Severus however, didn't wish the boy dead, and did wish to impress you. So without much ado, he stepped forward. "Don't move, Potter. I'll get rid of it for you."

Gilderoy, of course, couldn't stand that and mucked it all up. "Allow me!" he flicked his wand. The snake flew into the air, hissed in rage, and slithered straight towards a boy from your class: Justin Finch-Fletchley. As students screamed, Harry, who was peculiarly calm, approached the snake. It rose, fangs exposed, poised to strike Justin.

Suddenly, Harry began to speak in the snake's language: Parseltongue. "Leave him!"

You quickly transformed your head into a snake to access the language as well. As the snake looked into Harry's eyes it was clear it would disobey. Then it turned for Justin.

Together you and Harry yelled, "LEAVE HIM!"

You continued to speak. "I will eat you if you move another scale." Harry looked at you in surprise. The snake hovered a moment more, then slumped to the floor. Harry blinked, as if coming out of a trance, and offered his hand to Justin.

Your poor student was terrified. Seeing a teacher with a snake head communicate to a snake was par for the course. Seeing a second-year casually speak to one? Horrifying. "What are you playing at?" Justin backed away slowly.

Seeing that the fun was over, Severus quickly took over and apparated the snake away. That was certainly enough drama, especially with the entire "heir" to Slytherin scare written on the wall adding to it.