Wisdom and Victory {Fred Weasley}

Chapter 5

K, so...yeah :)

Victoria McGonagall felt like screaming as she tore from the castle whilst everyone was at dinner. There was a faint drizzle of rain in the air, dampening her skin in a thin coating. Or perhaps she was sweating? Victoria shook it off. McGonagalls didn't sweat.

The sky was a deep grey, and she could hear the squelch of the mud beneath her boots as she stormed across the lawns of Hogwarts, her chest heaving, her mind seething. How could her mother keep saying no? All she wanted to do was help! And this time all she'd wanted to do was help another student with his studies!

  Victoria flung open the door to the broomshed, inhaling the smell of damp wood, and picking out the best possible broom she could find. She selected an old beater's bat from the walls, before wrestling one of the bludgers from its box. She shouldn't be out here doing this, but as she mounted her broom and shot into the air, all she could think about was the wind rushing against her numb face and the feel of the rain in her hair.

The bludger came tearing towards her and she readied herself, aiming for the middle hoop on the far end of the pitch. SLAM. The bat collided heavily with it and away it went. She tore off after it.

"If you were my real mother, you'd understand why I want to help!"

Victoria shook her head, shaking the thoughts away. She had never seen You-Know-Who, but she imagined the bludger was his head nonetheless as it flew through the hoop. She hit it hard towards the other end of the pitch, a crack ricocheting through the grounds as the bat met with it.

"And what do you mean by that?"

"I know about Marlene McKinnon! She died in the last war - and you sit there and you tell me I can't fight like she did?"

The air beat Victoria's sodden face as she tore across the pitch once more, racing the bludger - designed for speed - on the rusty old school broom. She hadn't been bothered to go and fetch her own from her dorm. She was good enough to practice on this one.

"Do you think this has been easy for me?"

"Easy for you? My best friend died a few months ago, and you won't so much as try to help me avenge him! I've lost so much to You-Know-Who and you won't let me try to finish him!"

"HEY!" Victoria looked down to see Angelina Johnson on the field of the practice pitch, frantically waving her arms to get her attention. Victoria sighed and positioned herself to hit the bludger once more. The collision wasn't as forceful now, because she didn't want to send Angelina to the hospital wing, but the bludger went where she'd aimed it.

"I think you should go to dinner."

Victoria landed on the sodden ground, soaked through to the skin and panting for her breath. She trudged wearily over to the broomshed, where Angelina was wrestling the bludger into the box. "How...were you planning...on getting this back...by yourself?" Angelina asked her, closing the box with breathless satisfaction.

Victoria shrugged as she hung the bat up, producing a weak smile. "Race it to the ground?" she suggested.

Angelina laughed, and they locked the door before heading back to the castle. "I could really use you as a sub-" she began, crossing her arms.

"I've told you no," Victoria said quickly. "I-I needed that today. But it's not a commitment I can make."

Angelina nodded, looking disappointed. "You played well," she said as they reached the entrance hall.

"I know," said Victoria, drying the two of them off with a flick of her wand, before heading up to the library. It was time she searched the index again.

*****

Victoria stuffed her notes into her bag, one of the first in the tiny class to head out the door of the Arithmancy classroom. "Thank you," she called over her shoulder before hurrying down the corridor as fast as she could to the Great Hall for lunch. Anybody who saw her as she passed would assume she was just very hungry, but in actual fact she was looking for someone.

"Malfoy!" she called as she stepped through the almost empty Entrance Hall. He was just coming up from the dungeons, flanked by a crowd of other Slytherin fifth years. He frowned at her as she approached, looking nervous. It wasn't often that the prefect and daughter of Head of Gryffindor approached him, and naturally unsettled him. He ushered his friends inside.

"Can I help you?" he asked coolly, crossing his arms and quirking an eyebrow.

Victoria ignored his sneering tone. Now was not the time for arguments. "It's more how you can help You-Know-Who," Victoria said quietly.

Malfoy's eyes widened a little and he swallowed nervously, looking round. Nobody in their immediate vicinity was paying any attention. "So you believe the rumours then?" he asked.

"I can pass your parents information," Victoria said quickly, and if at all possible his usually narrow eyes widened more. "On Dumbledore, Potter, the Order...anything you need. Just get me in contact with them."

Malfoy heaved a breath, his eyes darting about, and looking slightly nervous. Evidently this had been a topic of great stress in his head. "And you think they want this information because...?"

Victoria shrugged, stepping back towards the Great Hall. "Alright," she said. "Let me know if you change your mind."

She waited until she was safely seated at the Gryffindor table and digging into a cheese sandwich before she allowed herself to heave a breath of relief. Merlin's beard, what was she getting into?

But no. She had to do this - she had no other choice. Harry's information had turned up nothing of use thus far, and with her still not being a part of the Order...

She set her jaw before rising and heading up to the library for the remainder of lunch. It was no use in panicking or backing down. She needed to right a wrong. She needed to avenge Cedric.