With Hayley and Remus back to being blissfully happy together, the group's attention soon turned to their dreaded NEWTs revision. A whole week of Easter holidays stretched out before them and they could no longer kid themselves that they had all the time in the world in which to revise.
As the group lounged around in the common room flicking through their textbooks in a quest for knowledge, the sun outside tormented them with its blinding rays.
The sudden upturn in the weather was both a blessing and a curse as it meant that during their breaks the group could vacate outside with the rest of the school and relax with a chilled glass of pumpkin juice.
Kirsty, however, along with the other girls, had begun to notice that whenever they roamed around Hogwarts without the boys in tow Slytherin thugs seem to emerge in an instant.
Luckily for the girls, however, the Easter holidays meant that Hogwarts was practically swarming with students rushing here and there. So whatever evil they were plotting was thwarted by the presence of far too many witnesses.
All the same, the girls decided it would be a good idea to not venture anywhere alone. Strangely, such a ploy only served in multiplying the number of seventh year Slytherin boys, especially when Kirsty, Hayley, Emma and Lily all took a stroll together.
When Lily expressed these findings to James, the boys instantly took up the mantle of escorting the girls wherever they wished. Kirsty couldn't deny that she was pleased that Sirius was around her more frequently as a result. However, what was even better was that Debbie did not tag along thanks to the stress of revision. Although, his constant presence did make it harder for Kirsty to keep her promise to Debbie.
Rosier's fingers absentmindedly traced the intricate pattern on the thick cloth as he peered out from behind the tapestry, his gaze pinned on the group of seventh year Gryffindors descending the stairs.
Girlish giggles rang throughout the corridor, taunting Rosier, reminding him that they were still as unattainable as ever.
Their flowing knee-length skirts, donned in celebration of the weather’s summer hues, grazed the backs of their exposed knees as they walked. Desire pooled in Rosier’s stomach as they unknowingly flashed their bare flesh at him. The v-necks of their vest tops nested a little lower than usual casual attire in a bid to expose more skin to the sun. Rosier grew impatient and wished he could Vanish the strutting escorts from their sides.
Of course, the plan had been put in place to damage the Marauders on a level impenetrable by spells, but it was now more than that. It was a demonstration of power and homage to the fact that these four girls, who had grown up with Rosier’s knot of Slytherin acquaintances, were now women and beautiful women in their own right. Why should only those Gryffindor berks get to have their wicked way with them?
The sound of shuffling feet greeted Rosier’s ears and he turned to see Regulus, his accomplice on this particular reconnaissance mission, shift deeper into the tapestry’s shadow as the group of Gryffindors passed by them.
Perfume filled his nostrils as Emma walked passed and Rosier’s gaze lingered on her bare, pale legs as the group headed outdoors. “Don’t you just love summer?” he inquired of Regulus, a hungry sneer lighting his face.
“This is ridiculous,” Regulus announced in a furious whisper, “we’re never going to get them alone!”
“Have faith, Black,” commanded Rosier smoothly. “Girls are well renowned for their desire for girly chats. I’m sure they’ll slip off the shackles of their chaperones soon enough.”
Regulus nodded and fell silent. Rosier wondered if he was beginning to regret his desire to play a part in their plan. This, however, was mild, and Regulus would soon have to learn to deal out much harsher punishments.
Rosier had to admit that he was rather reluctant to partake in the climax of the plan. This reluctance, however, had nothing to do with guilt; he was simply going to miss spying on the girls day in, day out. After all, it offered some quite interesting results.
The most interesting of these was the dynamic relationship that had evolved between Kirsty and Debbie Swain. Though it had been obvious for a while to observers that there was no love lost between them, it was quite evident that battle had commenced between the two.
Many people within Hogwarts had noticed this, probably, Rosier mused, due to Sirius’ ever-growing fan base and the heightened desire for the Hufflepuff “ Gryffindor Quidditch match.
Over the past week, he had witnessed Kirsty place a repelling charm on Sirius and Debbie’s lips to great effect. The couple was prevented from smooching each other for the entire day. In retaliation, Debbie supposedly misaimed a spell during Charms class and Kirsty was forced to sit through the remainder of the lesson with bright green, algae looking hair cascading down her back.
It seemed that every day they sprung attacks on each other. The most recent being Debbie casting a tripping jinx on Kirsty as she came down the grand staircase and Kirsty causing all of Debbie’s full plates at meal times to spring up and hit her in the face.
Most people placed this animosity down to Quidditch rivalry between the two Seekers, but Rosier thought it was apparent that Sirius was at the centre of it all. Kirsty and Debbie were simply two lions scrapping over a piece of meat.
And if Rosier’s had to choose a side with which to place his allegiance, he was with Kirsty all the way. She was feistier than Debbie was by far.
Personally, he couldn’t wait for it all to come to a head in the Quidditch match in two week’s time. Until then, he had a plan to put into action.
Dragging Regulus with him, he ventured out into the grounds to continue to watch the girls’ every move.
Kirsty and Emma on Kirsty’s insistence had taken refuge in the library. Kirsty couldn’t take any more of the loved up couples so she had packed up her revision textbooks and dragged Emma off to the library.
As Emma lay with her head on top of her pile of textbooks, her mouth lolling open, Kirsty disrupted the silence by picking up one of the heaviest books and hitting herself in the forehead with it.
Emma jumped awake as Kirsty let out a groan of pain. She could already feel a bump trying to force it’s way through her skin.
“I doubt you’ll make it sink in that way,” observed Emma dryly.
“Well, if I create a large hole in my brain then it’ll act like a vortex and all knowledge will be sucked in,” joked Kirsty, rubbing her head.
Emma laughed, but just to be safe she grabbed the book out of Kirsty’s hand anyway. “Come on, it’s getting late and Madam Pince is getting tetchy.” This was indeed true. When Kirsty had so cruelly mashed the book into her skull the librarian had convulsed in shock.
Kirsty yawned, gathered her books and fell into step beside Emma as they exited the library.
“Do you ever think we might have been a little ambitious in our career choices?” Emma asked her. “Training to become a Healer and an Auror aren’t exactly the easiest things in the world.”
“Yeah, it does seem a bit out of our league now doesn’t it? Maybe we should have gone for a job that suited our potential,” mused Kirsty.
“What? Like washing dishes in The Three Broomsticks?” Emma asked, giggling madly.
“Sounds about right,” agreed Kirsty. “Or you could be a cleaner at St Mungos!” she quipped, into peels of laughter herself.
“Oi!” reprimanded Emma, rapping Kirsty hard on the head with a book once again.
“What? At least you’ll still get to work in the hospital!” Kirsty said, still emitting gurgles of laughter.
Their gales of mirth, however, were diminished when a cold, sneering voice announced, “Well, well, well. Look who’s out of their beds at this late hour.”
Kirsty and Emma stopped in their tracks to be met with the unwelcome sight of Rosier and Regulus ascending the staircase. It was Rosier who had addressed them.
Emma arched her eyebrows at the two boys. “We still have five minutes until curfew; we are seventh years, after all. What are you doing out so late?” she shot at them.
Whilst Emma riled them, Kirsty tried to shift the weight of her books to gain easy access to her wand, which she had stupidly stuffed inside her pocket.
“We’re Prefects, Bembridge,” replied Regulus, poking the badge on his chest. “It’s our job to seek out wrongdoers and punish them.” He sneered, with an ugly look that Rosier soon mirrored.
“Well, don’t worry, we’ll make it back to our common room before curfew as long as you two gits get out of our way!” exclaimed Kirsty, feeling braver now that she’d got a secure hold of her wand.
“Ah, but we’re not going to get out of your way are we, Reg?” said Rosier in a dangerously low voice.
“Well, that’s not strictly true is it, mate?” argued Regulus. “After all, they could always… persuade us.” His hungry gaze swept up and down Emma and Kirsty’s bodies, lingering on their curves.
Kirsty’s heart was now practically throwing itself against her rib cage, but her gaze remained steely. The last thing she wanted was for them to know that they were getting to her.
“Now, I wonder what you two could possibly do to persuade us?” Rosier mused; his eyes alight with lust and hatred. “In my experience there’s only one thing that Mudbloods and Blood Traitors are good for…” he trailed off and inched closer towards them, his body lithe and slithering.
“Wow! You two have really stepped up your training to become You-Know-Who’s boot lickers, haven’t you?” exclaimed Emma boldly.
Both Regulus and Rosier laughed - a cold laugh that strengthened the iciness in their stares.
“Not quite, Bembridge,” Regulus corrected her. “You see we’re acting on much more carnal desires.”
Kirsty’s heart, deciding that its escape through her chest was futile, now jumped into her throat. This had been why they’d been skulking around all week. She felt sick. She had never wanted to be back inside Gryffindor Tower so much in her whole life.
Hoping that Emma would follow her action, Kirsty whipped out her wand and aimed a spell at the two Slytherins to force them out of their way. Regulus, however, had been expecting this and his counter spell met hers in midair.
Emma’s spell had much more success. Rosier had an angry welt on the side of his face and Emma used his flinch of pain to dart passed him down the stairs. Kirsty took flight along the corridor, books clattering to the floor forgotten and prayed that Emma could handle herself.
Regulus’ pounding footsteps were behind her, giving chase. Abandoning the proverbial saying of fight or flight, Kirsty combined both as she aimed spells back over her shoulder. As she tried to slow Regulus with a Tripping Jinx, his unexpected use of Expelliarmus sent her beloved wand careering out of her grasp.
Speed was now her only friend and she ran faster than she had ever done in her life. For the first time she cursed Wizards’ reliance on effortless travel.
A broom cupboard lay ahead. Kirsty was saved. If she could get inside then surely Regulus would give up the hunt. Kirsty’s gazed so intensely at the narrow door that she was sure a hole would soon burn through it.
She was tiring and Regulus was gaining. She skidded to a halt in front of the door, ducked as Regulus sent a spell flying over her head and wriggled the doorknob. It was locked. Bile rose inside her throat. Shit. Regulus was feet behind her.
Surely, he wouldn’t really hurt her; surely, someone would hear her screams. She frantically turned the doorknob. “Alohomora! Alohomora!” she screeched. A line of white-hot fire shot through her index finger and the knob turned. In her childlike terror, her magic had acted of its own accord and come to her aid.
Kirsty wasted no time in wrenching open the door, but as she grabbed the doorknob and pulled the solid oak door resisted. Kirsty roared in frustration and was about to investigate when she felt heavy breathing on the back of her neck. The footsteps had stopped.
“This isn’t hide and seek, White,” mocked Regulus.
Fear made her breath catch in her throat and she turned her head a fraction. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she could see Regulus looming over her, his hand reached over her head, holding the door in place. Kirsty felt vulnerable with her back to him but at the same time she dreaded what would happen if she turned to face him.
She dropped her grip on the doorknob, angry at its betrayal, and made to lunge out from Regulus’ shadow, intent on running once more. Regulus, however, had anticipated her move. As she made to dive out of the way, his hand took the place of hers on the doorknob and he wrenched the door open with ferocious force.
It smacked Kirsty above the eye and she yelped in pain. She saw red as she blinked blood out of her eye. Defenceless in her dazed state, she found herself being pushed up against the rough stone wall of the castle that had always been her sanctuary.
Kirsty struggled as Regulus’ powerful hands pinned her arms over her head. She wriggled her upper body frantically and attempted to flail her legs but Regulus had already pinned them in place with his own. For how much slighter and shorter he was than his brother, there was no denying that Regulus was a powerful force to be reckoned with.
His breath tickled her face and Kirsty dared not look at him. She kept her eyes screwed shut, despite the fact that the blood flow from the cut above her eye seemed to have slowed. She could practically feel the bruise forming around her eye socket. If she blocked Regulus from sight then she could pretend that none of it was happening.
But Regulus even had to ruin her imagined safety by saying, “I knew you’d be feisty, White, but that was better than I could have hoped for.”
“Go to hell!” Kirsty managed to squeak, annoyed that she could not produce a more forceful tone.
Regulus laughed. It was a laugh so cold and foreboding that it sent a cold tingling spider webbing down her spine. “Is that the best retort you can muster? And you used to be so much better.” As he finished his sentence, Kirsty felt him lean closer.
Unable to refrain any longer, she opened her eyes. She was a Gryffindor and she wouldn’t give in to him without a fight.
“So is this how you Slytherins are passing your time now?” Kirsty asked, finding some of her usual courage and flippancy. “Preying on innocent girls? Couldn’t you have taken up chess or something?” She knew it probably wasn’t a good idea to goad Regulus in such a way, but it made her feel better. A fire in her belly would help her to get out of this.
Regulus let out a bark of laughter, and if it hadn’t of been laced with such vindictiveness Kirsty could have easily mistaken it for Sirius’ laugh. “Come off it, White! As if you’ve ever been innocent! You rile us just as much as we rile you.”
“So is that what this is? One final payback? To prove that you’re on top?” she ferreted for answers, determined to understand why she was being subjected to such treatment, when she had not so much as been near a Slytherin in months.
“As hard as this may be to believe, White,” began Regulus, relishing his power, “not everything is about you.” He paused and leant towards her so that he could whisper in her ear. “And I don’t think there’s any doubt that I’m the one that’ll be on top.” Kirsty shuddered at the poison in his voice. His eyes glinted maliciously as he withdrew once more, toying with her.
“How can you attacking me having nothing to do with me?” she asked, genuinely confused. Being attacked for doing nothing was much worse than being attacked for revenge.
“Think about it,” he commanded, his voice low.
“The Marauders?” asked Kirsty, her tone alive with incredulity. “You’ve stooped this low because of a schoolboy rivalry?”
“Well, my motives are a bit more personal than that,” replied Regulus stonily.
“Sirius?” Kirsty tried again.
Regulus leered. He was inching towards her again, and the look on his face was changing. It was as if he was possessed. Kirsty had had no dealings with evil but she suspected that it currently dwelled behind Regulus’ eyes. He brought his index finger up to caress her cheek. “Oh, I bet you wish it was my darling brother who stood here and not me. Truth is, we’re not that different. Surely, if you would give it up to him you can give it up to me…”
“You’re sick!” Kirsty spat at him, her skin prickling in protest to his unwanted touch.
“Come on, White. I promise to make it memorable,” his lips hovered above hers and his tone would have been that of gentle lover’s if it had not been laced with poison.
Kirsty struggled against his heavy body. She felt the pressure on her arms lift slightly, but before she could push this to her advantage, something pressed hard into her cheek. Regulus held his wand up to her face, now gripping her arms with one hand. Now, however, Kirsty didn’t need restraining. The wand held all the power Regulus needed.
Regulus laughed manically. “Now, White, don’t make me Imperio you. After all, with Imperio nobody can hear you scream!”
Before she could register the true horror of what he had said, Regulus had swooped down upon her.
His lips touched hers and a fission of fear shot through her body. He made no further move, they rested there much like a stranger does on a doorstep but he had not yet made for a full-blown invasion. Kirsty wondered if Regulus’ conscience had finally made an appearance. Was she about to be graced with a lucky escape?
She didn’t want to wait to find out. The touch of his lips made her skin crawl and his mouth prising hers open would take her far beyond the brink of recovery.
In one swift movement, Kirsty head butted him. As Regulus jerked backwards, his wand emitted sparks at the side of her cheek and she felt a sting as her skin turned raw. It hadn’t been a very powerful blow but it served to daze him for the time being. Kirsty took little time in basking in her relief that her lips once again belonged to her alone and aimed a swift kick to Regulus’ shin.
As he sank down to his haunches, cursing her from behind his clenched teeth, Kirsty darted forwards and wrestled his wand out of his hand. She didn’t know how she managed it but Regulus wasn’t happy about relinquishing his source of power.
He dived at Kirsty, knocking her to the floor. Now he was on top of her wrestling her to reclaim his wand. The wind had been knocked out of her, but in the scramble, Kirsty was thankfully able to stun her attacker.
Regulus collapsed on top of her and Kirsty took a moment to get her breath back before pushing his body from her.
She got up and leant back against the wall. She felt tears invading her eyes but she could not shred them, she was too exhausted and so many other emotions were fighting for dominance.
Kirsty started as footsteps once again pounded along the corridor. She gripped Regulus’ wand tightly, expected Rosier to have returned to finish her off. Emma! She inwardly cried for her friend and prayed to God that she had not come to any harm.
The footsteps slowed and Kirsty could hear the sound of something light being scraped across the floor. She considered making a run for it, but her legs were like jelly and no one could run on jelly.
“Kirst,” came Emma’s shaky voice.
Relief flooded through Kirsty and she couldn’t remember being so glad to see someone in her whole life.
“Are you okay?” Emma asked her tearfully as she approached.
Kirsty nodded meekly. “Are you?” she asked in return, finding it hard to speak.
“Oh yes. Rosier should have learnt from the last time that I am not a woman to be reckoned with. I hit him with Petrificus Totalus the moment he tried to jump me.”
Kirsty gave a shaky laugh and slumped a little further down the wall.
“I found your wand,” Emma announced, nearing her now. As soon as Emma stepped with the orb of light cast by the torchlight, she gasped. She gazed at Kirsty in horror; clearly the damage to Kirsty’s face was now visible to her.
“Oh, sweetheart!” cried Emma, running forward and throwing her arms around Kirsty. Kirsty had to fight hard to hold back her tears now; if she cried then it was as if Regulus had beaten her after all. “Oh my God, you’re shaking. Come here,” Emma soothed, removing her cloak and wrapping it around Kirsty’s shoulders.
Kirsty could not put into words how much Emma’s comfort meant to her at that moment.
“Come on, we have to get you back to the common room.”
“Em, we don’t have to tell them about this, do we?” Kirsty asked, her voice trembling uncontrollably.
“Just because you’re a Gryffindor doesn’t mean you have to be brave all of the time, you know,” Emma told her, her voice stern yet soothing at the same time.
So, with Emma’s arm around her shoulders Kirsty shuffled back to the Gryffindor common room, leaving Regulus’ motionless body sprawled conspicuously on the floor behind them.