The Serpent Trio

Part 3- Crossed Wands

Cressida POV

Sebastian tugged on my hand, pulling me forwards towards the transfiguration courtyard. A secret club and I was getting to join on my first day! Unsure as to whether my heart is racing from the prospect of more duels or the fact Sebastian is leading me by the hand. At that thought I fixated on the fact we were currently hand in hand, his hand was warm, larger than mine and a little rough. I wonder whether the roughness is from manual work or perhaps he's proficient on a broom and that accounts for it. His fingers flexed slightly, pulling my hand in tighter. And then he let go, my hand dropped to my side, cold and heavy.

I looked up away from Sebastian, we were inside a large clocktower, the anvil swinging back and forth above our heads. I gasped in awe of the space I was inhabiting, it was truly glorious. I looked to the side and began to blush. Sebastian was looking at me with a soft look on his face. As soon as our eyes made contact he cleared his throat.

"Right, well this is the clocktower, go talk with Lucan to join the crossed wands duelling club." He motioned me towards a small Gryffindor boy stood in the corner of the room. Sebastian then waved to a Ravenclaw girl sat on the floor and walked towards her. A pang of cold energy settled in my stomach. Come back. I shook my head, looking over  at Lucan. I walked up to him.

"Hello, Sebastian told me to talk with you about joining a club." I tried my best to focus on the young Gryffindor and not let my focus wander to watch Sebastian.

"If Sebastian vouches for you, then that's all I need to know." He flashed a smile at me. "I coordinate duels for Crossed Wands, a duelling club of sorts. It's invitation only, so you must have really impressed Sebastian."

"I'm flattered to hear that, Sebastian's not a bad duellist either." I felt a blush threatening my cheeks once more. I took a deep breath. 

"I imagine it must be quite something to see the 2 of you duel." Lucan replied, more interested in the magic aspect of the conversation.

"How does crossed wands work, exactly?" I asked, thankful of his ignorance to my flushed appearance.

"You show up, I match you with other duellists, and whoever is left standing wins." Lucan motioned around the empty space with his hands. "It's our way of determining the schools greatest duellists once and for all." Lucan grinned. "And to liven things up, the winner receives a prize." A buzz charged round the room, I became aware of all the other students gathered around me. "Interested?"

"Of course, duelling's an entertaining pastime." I smiled at the thought of besting Sebastian once more.

"I agree. Here at Crossed Wands you can duel with a partner if you like." Lucan looked past me and I turned to see Sebastian headed toward us. "This time I'll pair you up with Sebastian. But next time bring a partner or duel alone."

I shot a smile at Sebastian as he placed an arm around my shoulders. "So are you ready to step into the ring?" Lucan looked over to Sebastian.

"Always." He said, pulling me away by my shoulders. As we walked towards the other end of the clocktower I noticed the Ravenclaw girl was getting ready alongside Leander Prewett. Sebastian leant in and whispered "We have to beat Prewett, help me do that and you can have all the galleons up as prize money."

"Sounds personal." I whispered back. "But, what do you get out of it?"

"Aside from seeing Prewett in the dust?" He shot me a grin and winked, "I have a prize of my own in mind, but you have to agree to owing a favour."

"Fine, it's a deal." I turned from him to face off against our opponents. "This ought to be easy."

"We'll make you regret signing up!" The Ravenclaw barked across the ring at us. In an instant Leander threw his first spell directly at Sebastian and the duel began.