♫ tool

- freddie dredd

"you are such a fucking lame talking all that stupid shit..."

✧

When Priscilla walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom the next day, all the desks and chairs were pushed to the side of the room, and she already knew what that meant. 

Duel practice.

"Sup, Moody?" Priscilla said passively, tossing her bag and robe on the ground by the door.

"Ms. Roberts," Moody responded, preoccupied with something under his desk. He rounded his desk after a moment and stepped into the middle of the room, his glass eye flickering around observantly. "Alright now, wand at the ready. If you feel inclined to use it, that is."

"I'll try this time," she responded. She whipped her wand out of her sleeve, cracked her neck on each side, and settled into her preferred dueling stance.

Their practice began moments later.

✧

"Again," he instructed.

Priscilla was panting now, exhausted from their dueling. They've been at it for about an hour now. "I told you, Professor, I don't know how to trigger it. This is fucking pointless."

"Is that so? Have you ever thought about why you lost the Weasley boy?" he sent a spell flying her way, which she blocked.

"What?!"

"He's scared of you," he said simply, sending another fire her way, which she blocked again. "He's scared of your power, how he and his family will never amount to it," he fired again, and she blocked again.

This time, she shot a spell back in his direction. She looked at him with disbelief. "That's not true."

"Is that so?" Moody said, attacking again. Instead of casting a block, Priscilla just leaned to the side, letting the spell fly past her shoulder and hit the wall behind her.

PLEASE picture it like this scene from Arcane. Same energy

Using her hand this time and abandoning her wand, she channeled her energy and cast a spell directly at him. "Fred would never think that," she insisted.

Moody blocked and positioned to advance again. "You should align yourself with those who would better appreciate your gift, Ms. Roberts," he fired again, and Priscilla dodged again without lifting her hand.

"You're wrong, Professor," she snapped. Priscilla's movements became more desperate as she fired spells left and right at the professor, stepping closer slowly. "My friends would never turn on me for anything."

"Your precious friends at Ilvermorny did, what makes these fools so different?" Moody shouted.

Priscilla had reached a boiling point. It didn't even occur to her to wonder how he knew that, she was too enraged. She felt the power surge within her like the night of the Yule Ball and in the waters of the Black Lake as she shouted "Expelliarmus!" 

She caught Moody's wand in her hand as her energy surged throughout the room. She saw her professor's eyes widen and a devilish grin grow on his face from where he sat on the ground, likely pushed back from the force of her spell. For a moment she thought she saw him lick his lips.

Then she began to see flashes of green and red fly across her vision. 

A cemetery.

Hedges the size of skyscrapers.

Screaming.

A laugh that would haunt her dreams for nights to come.

A figure in a cape with flowing silver hair.

"My boy! That's my son!"

"Roberts, don't faint now," Moody's voice broke through the visions. "Such power, such brilliance..."

Sweat was forming on her brow as she struggled to righten herself. The room was spinning. Moody grabbed her arm and helped her stay on her feet.

"What, I-"

"How do you feel?"

"Dizzy," Priscilla choked out. She broke free from his grasp and ran out of the classroom.

When she barged through the door, she looked around the hall frantically as her vision began to blur at the edges. She wasn't going down without a fight, the only way to stay awake was to keep moving. She staggered down the hallway clutching her head until she saw someone come into her sight.

It was Cedric. He dropped his bags and ran towards her in an instant. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her hair out of her face. "How did I know this was going to happen? Hold on, Priscilla, it'll be okay."

What Priscilla didn't notice was that Fred and Pansy had rounded the corner on the opposite side of the hallway and were now watching the event unfold.

"Pathetic, isn't it? Roberts and Diggory," Pansy mused with a smirk.

Fred didn't respond, he continued to watch the two silently.

"It's okay Priscilla, I know a spell for this," Cedric reassured. She nodded, making her head spin. He fumbled for his wand in his pocket and pointed it against her head, not breaking eye contact. "Sana Remedium," he whispered.

Moody watched from the crack in the door as a soothing yellow light came from Cedric's wand and wrapped around Cilla's head like a ribbon.

Her vision cleared almost immediately. She straightened her back and took a deep breath as the light faded. Cedric healed her.

"How did you do that?" she asked, astonished.

He let go and smiled at her as he stepped back. "Diggory family secret, I guess."

She chuckled and punched his shoulder lightly. "I could've used that shit about a million times by now, Ceddie! Prepared to have me on speed-dial, you've been holding out on me!"

"The heir of Hufflepuff..." Moody whispered to himself before closing the door to his classroom silently.

"Should've left her to drop, she's a worthless mudblood after all," Pansy laughed from the end of the hall.

Priscilla whipped her head around to face the girl, her smile now wiped from her face. She was shocked to see Fred standing with Pansy, but tried not to let it show. "Fuck off, Pansy," she spat.

"You and Diggory, then?" Fred asked, making Priscilla's heart fall.

"No," Cedric insisted, "just helping."

"Very likely, we see how cozy you two are," Pansy quipped.

"Stay out of this, Pansy. It's none of your business," Cedric snapped, clenching his fist.

Fred nodded and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "You don't have to hide it, it makes bloody perfect sense. You and Cedric. You were always close, having sleepovers during Christmas and that."

Priscilla had had enough of this conversation. She was sick of seeing Pansy glued to Fred like a leach. She was sick of Pansy and Draco trying to make her life miserable. She was sick of living without Fred. She was fucking fed up with all of it. 

She was upset with Fred when she heard what he said at the Lake. In fact, upset doesn't even begin to cover it. She was angry beyond belief with him especially because she was getting ready to open up to him about her feelings for him.

It never occurred to her how easily everything crumbled. Cedric and Nitara, her and Fred, all of her friends at Hogwarts treating her like a wounded puppy... At first, she thought she lost everything. Her Ilvermorny past caught up to her, just as Moody had said. She began to remember every friend that left her, every door her parents closed, and how alone she was in the world.

But there was something about Hogwarts that made her not want to give up so easily.

Determined, she marched up to Fred. She grabbed his face in her hands, pulled him down to her height, and kissed him hard on the lips. He didn't hold her back, his eyes never closed from the shock of it, and when she let go, she looked at him intensely.

"It's always been you, jackass."

She turned on her heel and began to walk away, Cedric immediately matching her pace. He was smiling at his friend's impulsive behavior, shaking his head in disbelief. 

"Priscilla," Fred called. Pansy was long gone by now, embarrassed that her plan had failed. "I'm sorry," he called after her.

She turned around this time, unlike that day at the Black Lake when she kept walking. "I know," she said, and continued to walk away with Cedric.

This is the Star Wars scene I'm referencing.

"Has he seen Star Wars? Does he understand what you just said? You just told him you loved him, that was so cool!" Cedric whispered beside her, geeking out.

"He'll understand soon enough," Priscilla smiled back.

Fred watched the two turn the corner. For the first time in weeks, a grin grew on his face.

Of course he's seen Star Wars. As Priscilla's boyfriend, he was contractually obligated to. 

She loved him. And she finally said it... in her own way. But it was enough for him not to give up on her.