Chapter 26:

It took a long time before Joanna could make up her mind. She then decided that going back to school was a much better option than staying at home. Hence, she wrote a reply to Professor Dippet, and a week later, she found herself boarding the Hogwarts Express.

As the train started to move, Joanna decided that she would just mind her own business and keep her head down for the rest of the year. By the time she had her mind set, the train was already in the country side, and the fresh scenery of greens reminded Joanna of the days where her life wasn’t full of curses and bad omens. Yet, she knew she could never run from them, as her days seemed to be marked with darkness. Wishing she never existed, Joanna resorted to closing her eyes and falling asleep.

Moments later, a knock came from the door, and just as she opened her eyes, she saw a blond headed boy in a prefects uniform.

“Malfoy?” Joanna asked in surprise.

“Hey. Yea, it’s me. I volunteered to make sure you got to Hogwarts safe,” Abraxas Malfoy replied.

“Wow, how kind of you,” Joanna said sarcastically.

“It was a good excuse to skip classes,” he immediately said.

“I bet. And since when were you a prefect?” Joanna straightened up and watched as he entered the compartment and took a seat across her.

“Tom put in a good word for me.”

“He probably needed you out of bed late at night, that’s why.”

“Yea, he does.”

“Such loyalty,” Joanna trailed off.

It was utter silence from then on as they both stared out the window, watching the blue sky turn orange and then to black. It would have been a very awkward moment, but somehow, Joanna knew what Abraxas was going through. She could see how torn he was, between staying loyal and doing what was right, and she knew he wanted to get out as much as she did. If Abraxas didn’t have such a prideful soul, Joanna could have seen them as good friends.

Joanna was about to break the silence with a question when Abraxas beat her to it.

“Why do you like Tom?”

“What?” Joanna replied, not at all expecting it.

“I know you’re not the first. There are many other girls. But Tom isn’t exactly nice. Yea, sure, he’s a sweet talker and he’s intelligent, but he’s sometimes rather mean.”

“Like you aren’t mean,” Joanna replied.

That immediately silenced Abraxas.

“I’m sorry. I don’t like Tom,” Joanna added.

“I read the letter you wrote him,” Abraxes said, so softly that he hoped his confession was not heard.

“What?!” Joanna stood up and pulled out her wand.

“I’m sorry! I was just curious, and I didn’t mean to.” Abraxes slid on his seat towards the exit.

“So, you know everything? Even what he’s doing?” Joanna asked as she eyed him carefully.

“I won’t tell anyone, I swear!”

For a brief moment, Joanna was hoping Abraxas might have told someone. But then she panicked, and she instinctively wanted to protect Tom.

“You swear on your mother’s life?” Joanna asked.

“Wow, you’re really going to protect him?” Abraxas slowly stood up.

Joanna narrowed her eyes at his sudden boldness.

“Maybe you don’t like him, maybe it’s something more.”

“What are you talking about?” Joanna straightened her wand at Abraxas, and Abraxas responded by casually folding his arms.

“Or maybe you’re just living up to your Hufflepuff trait of being loyal?”

“What are you talking about?!” Joanna asked again, confused at where he was going.

“Look, I know what Tom is doing, I’m helping him as well. I think he has a pretty good plan. AND, I’m not here for you.”

Abraxas pushed her wand away, and sat back down.

“I’m here because Tom suggested to Professor Dippet to give you an escort, but when he sent me, Tom asked me to run an errand for him.”

“What errand?”

“Ah, that is for me to know only.”

“Then why are you telling me this?”

“Because you’re not the only one who knows things.”

“So, you’re just bragging that Tom is using you?”

“When the reign of blood purity happens, my family would be on top. That is his promise to me.”

“I don’t care.” Joanna rolled her eyes and added, “Did he tell you to pull that trick on me as well?”

“No. I was just testing you. Tom said if I could tell where your loyalty stands, then I should tell you that he would be waiting for you at the tower tonight.”

“He wants to see me?”

“He thinks you’ve changed-“

“And can be useful to him, right?”

“I don’t know. He just wants to see you.”

Just then, the train stopped at the station and the horn was blown.

“The tower. Remember,” Abraxas said with a smirk, before he got up, and exited the compartment.

Joanna was left standing, with her wand in hand, wondering to herself if she should actually meet Tom. What was he up to? And why is he bothering to see her now? Joanna knew she only had a brief moment to decide.

To Be Continued…

(Vote or leave a comment below on whether Joanna should meet up with Tom, or ignore him!)

Advertisement

Chapter 25:

Joanna hesitated for a moment, as she looked at Annoria who was shaking her head and tugging at her hand to leave. But instead of heading out the front door, Joanna walked towards the back. Annoria quickly tried to stop her but Malfoy butted in before Annoria could say anything.

“What are you doing?” Malfoy said, as he hurried up to them.

“I’m giving your girlfriend the duel she wants,” Joanna replied.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Malfoy replied and said nothing else as he opened the back door for both Joanna and Annoria to exit.

The back alley was rather abandoned at that hour of the day. The sun was at its highest and it wasn’t the best time to be strolling down the streets.

“So, will here do?” Matilda asked, sounding very much like Rose at that moment.

“Where ever would do,” Joanna replied casually as she headed up to Matilda and gave a bow. Not even bothering to see if Matilda did the same, Joanna turned and placed herself 20 feet away across Matilda.

As Joanna went into her dueling stance, Matilda quickly asked, “Wait! Who’s your second?”

“I don’t need one,” Joanna repled, immediately waving her wand and throwing a spell at Matilda, who barely managed to block it.

“Hey! I wasn’t ready!” Matilda shouted.

“The duel started a while ago. Unless you don’t know the rules, you shouldn’t challenged anyone.” Joanna threw another spell, making Matilda stumble backwards. Her housemates immediately caught her before she fell over.

“I didn’t challenge you!” Matilda threw a spell in return, and Joanna blocked it off with a wave.

“Then you shouldn’t point wands when you don’t intend on using them,” Joanna replied as she sent 3 more spells. Sparks of red, blue and green flew towards Matilda and as she screamed, she ran behind her housemates, shoving them forward as she did.

Three of her housemates took the spells as they were caught off guard. One flew backwards, knocking over a few Slytherins like a bowling ball. Another had his legs tied together, and as much as he tried to balance himself, he joined the pile of his friends on the ground. The other girl screamed as boils started appearing on her hands and face.

When Matilda saw it all, she immediately demanded, “Where you trying to kill me?!”

“That is the common intention of a duel. No other rules were set, right?” Joanna replied as she walked towards Matilda.

“Joanna! What are you doing?” Annoria asked, with desperation in her voice. Then turning to Malfoy, which Annoria rarely did, she said, “Stop her!”

“Me? You gotta be kidding. Clearly, home school paid off,” Malfoy replied as he remained where he stood, by the back door of the Three Broomsticks.

“Joanna! Don’t!” Annoria shouted, as Joanna was closing in on Matilda.

Matilda’s housemates were already backing away, leaving Matilda to fend for herself.

“Guys! Help me!” Matilda commanded as she dared not to take her eyes off Joanna.

“If we did, we would be breaking the rules,” one of her friends replied.

Matilda then attempted to run, but Joanna managed to cast a leg locking spell before she could, and Matilda fell to the ground instead. She screamed in pain as she landed on her shoulder, and when she tried to prop herself up, Joanna flicked her wand and sent Matilda’s wand 10 feet away from her.

Immediately looking up at Joanna, Matilda stammered, “Ple-please. I’m, I’m sorry o.k?”

“Looks like we have a stammer,” Joanna said, and she could have sworn she heard a few of the Slytherins laugh. They probably never liked her at all.

“You know, when I was being tutored at home, I learnt a spell.” Joanna slowly squatted down beside Matilda. “This spell is not illegal yet, and most people use it in duels. It’s called, the Cruciatus curse. Have you heard of it?”

Joanna immediately felt like Rose, when she threatened to use the Cruciatus on her. But Joanna felt better than Rose, as Matilda deserved it. She was a gossipy, back-stabbing, nosy girl, who gained attention through the false rumours she spread all over school.

“Do you know what it does, Matilda?” Joanna asked as Matilda’s eyes widened.

“Joanna, don’t!” Annoria said, as she ran up to her and pulled Joanna to her feet.

“If you don’t stop your nonsense, Matilda, you will feel how it’s like being cruciated,” Joanna gave a final warning, and walked off.

As she headed past the exit of the Three Broomstick, Joanna saw Tom standing by the doorway. She didn’t know how long he had been standing there, but she decided she didn’t want to know.

After the duel, Joanna told Annoria she would be going home. She also apologized if she scared her, and justified her actions by saying she was only doing it to warn Matilda. But deep down inside, she wasn’t sorry at all, because it felt good.

That night, as Joanna was lying on her bed, an owl swooped into her room, through an open window. It landed at the foot of her bed, and with the little light that came from the moon, she noticed the seal on the letter. It was a letter from Hogwarts.

At that very moment, Joanna was afraid that the duel had reached the ears of Professor Dippet, and so she hurriedly took the letter from the owl and tore it open. But the first sentence immediately drowned her fears, as it stated that her father has informed the school that she can return to Hogwarts if she wishes to.

Why her father did not just inform her himself, she did not bother to dwell over. The question that really bothered her was whether she really wanted to go back, or remain home schooled.

To Be Continued…

(Vote or leave a comment below on whether Joanna should go back to Hogwarts or remain home schooled!)

Chapter 15:

Joanna pulled herself out of bed and hurried after Annoria. The pain in her thigh became more evidently present as she was forced to limp on one side.

As she made it out into the hallway, Annoria was no longer in sight.  A wave of panic washed over her as she imagined Professor Dippet reading the diary.

Quickly, she headed left, towards the headmaster’s office. She knew she was moving too slow as the pain in her thigh was increasing, but as she turned a corner, she spotted Annoria. She was relieved at sight, but it was a short lived one, as standing in front of Annoria, blocking her path, was Tom.

Joanna quickly dodge out of their view as she strained her ears to listen.

“You were the one that killed that girl!” Annoria said loudly, though unable to hide the fear in her voice.

“Well technically, the basilisk did,” Tom replied calmly. Too calmly perhaps.

“You sent it on her!”

“I sent it on a lot of people. I can send it on you too.” Joanna was sure Tom smirked as he said that.

“You wont be able to. This will be given to Professor Dippet before you can do anything horrid again.” Annoria laughed falsely, trying to cover up the quiver in her voice.

“The only horrid thing I plan on doing right now is to kill you.”

“And how are you going to cover up your tracks?”

“Some stupid, naive student like Hagrid shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

There was a short moment of silence before Tom spoke again, “Where did you find my diary anyway? I’m curious on how a girl like you could possibly break the enchantment on my book, let alone find it to begin with.”

“I found it-“

“Annoria!” Joanna had to cut her off as she limped into sight.

“Give the book back to Tom,” Joanna said, keeping eye contact on Annoria, and careful not to look at Tom.

“No.”

Joanna slowly headed towards her and whispered, “He WILL kill you.”

“And you’ll stand here and let him do it?” Annoria asked in disgust.

“No. Of course not. That’s why I’m asking you to give it back to him!”

“Aw, come on Joanna, she’s too stubborn, let me just finish her off,” Tom spoke without a hint of emotion.

Joanna finally turned to look at him, unsure if she should be shock at what he had just said. She knew he was capable of murder, and have the least amount of remorse, but she it didnt dawn on her that he was coldblooded.

“No, you can’t kill her, I wont let you. You’ll have to kill me first.” Joanna quickly stood in front of Annoria.

Un-mistakenly, she saw the expression on his face change. He didn’t want to kill her.

“Don’t be silly. Get out of the way,” Tom said in a different tone, unlike his previous.

“You can’t kill her Tom,” Joanna pleaded.

That was when she heard Annoria made a run for it and disappeared around the corridor behind Joanna.

“Great,” Tom muttered.

Joanna quickly grabbed a hold of Tom’s arm as he ran past her.

“Don’t. Let me,” Joanna said.

“What are you going to do? Talk her out of it?” Tom gave a soft chuckle.

“I’ll get the book back without having to hurt anyone,” Joanna answered and headed after Annoria.

Annoria had not gotten far as Joanna found her hidden in a broom closet, trying to catch her breath. Upon having the closet door open, Annoria tried to run for it, but as she shoved Joanna out of the way, Joanna fell and could not get up after as an electric like pain surged through her leg.

Annoria must have heard her fall as she came rushing to her side.

“I’m so sorry!” Annoria said, as she helped Joanna up.

Annoria was about to run off again, but Joanna held on to her hand tightly.

“Don’t! He won’t let you go! Just give it to me, and we can pretend this never happened!”

“Do you think he’ll still let me go after today? Even if I hand this back to him? I know all his secrets!”

“I’ll tell him not to hurt you!”

“He won’t listen to you. He’s crazy. He’s sick. He killed his own family! Do you know that?”

“Yes, I do.”

“What?! And you’re o.k with it? That’s why you’re helping him aren’t you?!” Annoria pulled herself free from Joanna’s grip.

“You don’t understand,” Joanna tried to explain, but she couldn’t find any reason to make Tom look any bit innocent.

“I understand enough.” Annoria took off.

Joanna thought briefly on what she was about to do, as she didn’t have much options. It was now or never.

To Be Continued…

(Leave a comment below or vote on what Joanna should do next!)