Amazons VS Marauders

Chapter 4: The Hippogriff

  Wincing in her high heels, Holland was walking towards her closet, looking for her leather jacket. She was getting ready for the party with her friends, Courtney Davidoff and Blair Stewart. Holland had other roommates, but she didn't like them. Even if she had to play the bitch role, to not be suspected as an Amazon, Holland wasn't insulting people in their back. Courtney and Blair were the same about that too, so she was getting along with them, and not with the others.

Holland was one of the least-liked Slytherin in school. She knew it, but she wasn't letting it get into her head. She wasn't the girl that everyone thought she was, and it was her who wanted people to think she was a bitch, and that was all it took to make her happy. Well, she thought she was, but she wasn't sure. Holland had friends she could always hang with, she had a boyfriend, she had lots of money, a family, she was in great health, but yet, she wasn't sure about her happiness. She couldn't spend time with her best friends in the world, she couldn't be herself at school and at home. It would be hard for anyone.

"Holland, is Malcolm bringing you to the party?", Blair asked, putting some mascara on her already long lashes for the third time.

Malcolm Pucey was Holland's boyfriend. They were together for about four months. People were surprised when they learned she was in a relationship; she had the reputation of a bad girl, a party girl, a girl who was shagging with differents men after parties, when she was drinking too much.

"Yes. He'll be waiting in the Common Room at 8:30", she answered.

"You're going early to the party!", Courtney exclaimed.

"Well, the earlier you start to drink, the earlier you have some fun", she winked at her friends.

They laughed clearly, not going any further with the questions. Actually, Holland was going early for another reason: the prank. When Sofia told Holland about her idea to prank Sirius, she immediately jumped on the occasion. She was excited to show the first prank of the Hippogriff for their last year. And Sirius Black was the perfect victim. He would do anything that a pretty girl would ask him to do.

"Do you know if Regulus Black is going? I wouldn't mind to leave the party with him", Blair announced.

Blair Stewart was a pretty girl. She had long, silk, black hair, slanting, black eyes. She had a round face, she was really, really tall and she had graceful hands. Blair was a nice girl, but since she was in Slytherin, everyone thought she was a bitch. Just like Holland and Courtney. But Holland was doing it on purpose.

Courtney had brown hair, but she dyed them in platinum blonde. She was curvy and had more weight than the two other girls, but it was fine with her. She liked her body, she was comfortable with it and she was gorgeous. Courtney had big, brown eyes, and she had an incredible sense of humor. She didn't care about what the others were thinking, and Holland liked her for it.

Once her outfit was complete, Holland stepped in front of the mirror. She was dressed in a s -which was fitting her small waist- with high, black heels. Her hair were pinned to one side of her head, falling in big waves on the other. Holland looked stunning.

Courtney was dressed in a blue dress, and Blair had skinny pants on, with a short t-shirt and a leather jacket. They weren't ready yet, but they agreed to go to the party around 9:00 pm, while Holland was going earlier.

After a last glance, Holland took a deep breath, picked her small bag and left her room. Once she was in the Common Room, she smiled when she saw her boyfriend, Malcolm. He was a tall guy, with black hair, an hard face and dark eyes. Holland liked him, but she wasn't sure about her feelings. He could be fun, nice, and everything, but most of the time, he was hard, mean, arrogant, sexist and aggressive. He was nice with Holland, but it wasn't enough for her. She was seriously considering to break up with him soon or later.

"Hey", she greeted him.

"Hey. You look gorgeous," he said in his hear, kissing her neck.

With an embarassed laugh, Holland pulled away. She wasn't shy with him or anything, but making out in front of the first years in the Common Room wasn't her plan.

"Shall we go?", she finally asked.

He sighed but nodded, and they left the cold Common Room without an other word.

***

The Room of Requirements was full of people, dancing, sweating, drinking, smoking, kissing. Briefly, partying. The music was roaring in the speekers, the lights changing colors, the bar offering alcohol to the students. It was an usual party for Hogwarts.

After she told Malcolm she had to use the restrooms, Holland prepared the potion she agreed to use with the other Amazons on Black. By the time she was finished, it was already 9 o'clock. When she got back to the party, her eyes drifted on the differents people in the room. She locked her eyes for a couple seconds with Theresa (dressed in a ), who quickly sent her a nod, with a smile.

Holland's corner's of her mouth twitched for a second before she continued to look in the room, looking for the young men. She noticed Blair, dancing with Regulus, Elizabeth, drinking with the Prewett twins, Lily Evans, standing in a corner, looking rather disgusted, since James Potter was with her. With a smirk, Holland finally saw him. He was doing a mistake; Sirius was flirting again with Sofia, clearly drunk, and it was clear in her Sofia's face she wanted him far, far away. That was the time for a good act, in Holland's opinion.

So, putting her best drunk face on, she stumbled towards them, looking rather wasted. Then, she collided with Sofia, who, rather shocked, turned towards her.

"Didn- Didn- Didn't mean to hit you!", Holland spluttered, acting.

"Oh, it's alright!", Sofia yelled over the music, taking subtly the bottle of Firewhisky Holland had in her hand.

Holland knew that Sofia understood that the potion was in it, so she stumbled back on the dance floor. Elizabeth sent her a questionning look, and Holland winked, to tell her mission was accomplished.

She stared at Sofia. The Phoenix motionned the bar to Sirius and together, they went over there. Sofia was there before him, so she quickly put the Firewhisky bottle on it, beside an other one. Then, when Sirius joined her, he picked the two bottles and gave one of them to Sofia. Luckily, he kept the right one, and smirking, Holland left to join Malcolm.

"Where have you been?", he asked rather rudely.

"I had a surprise when I came to the restrooms! So I had to get down to my dormitory, get some 'things' and go back to the restrooms, and then I came back! You know how much it sucks to be a girl?"

He smirked.

"Well, I wouldn't know... Want to tell me everything in a more private place?", Malcolm announced, putting his hand on her butt.

Holland frowned and slapped his arm.

"No thank you", she snapped, walking away, swinging her hips.

"Holland!", he roared, but when he noticed she wasn't going back to him, he gave up and picked a bottle of Butterbeer.

Holland wasn't in the mood to drink, that night. She wanted to stay sober, to see Sirius's declaration, and to remember it. The young girl stared at him and began the countdown. He would make a fool of himself in 3, 2, 1...

"Sono- Sonorus!", he casted, pretty drunk. "Everyone, I want to tell you something", he stated drunkily.

The music was still on, but everyone was listening. Holland glanced at the other Marauders face, and giggled. Pettigrew and Lupin were a little bit drunk, and they were cheering. Potter, who looked disappointed, broken, was frowning at him, unsure, completely sober. Holland frowned at that. It wasn't Potter's kind, to not get drunk in a party. He looked so desesperate... She wanted to go there, ask him what was going on and to comfort him. But she had to keep the bitch role, and even if she was going out of her role, why would he tell her?

"O- Okay. I wanted to share my love with all of you tonight. I- Since I've been here, I only have eyes for him."

Everyone in the room started to whisper, and someone whistled. Holland was really, really closed to explode in laughter.

"His black hair are as black as a raven. His eyes, his tenebrous eyes are everything for me. He wears the colors of Slytherin with such a big charm, I can not take my eyes off him."

Some people were laughing, now. Sirius had such a dreamy look on his eyes, full of true love for...

"So, here and now, I'm asking if Severus Snape wants to be my boyfriend for ever, so we can go to heaven together, eat some pancakes with pumpkin juice, take long walks together, our hands entwined, so tight we won't be able to feel 'em... I promise I will never let your hand slip out of mine, Severus. I've always loved you and I always will."

By then, everybody in the room was laughing, except James Potter. Holland was crying with laughter. She might or might not have slipped a love philter in the Firewhiskey bottle... And might add an hair of Severus Snape in it... Which caused Sirius Black to babble in front of everyone his deep love for him... She might did this.

Luckily for him, Severus Snape wasn't there. He had never assisted to a party before, and everybody knew he wouldn't be part of it. But it was still quite a show: Sirius Black, declaring seriously his love...

Holland became serious for a few seconds again, and quickly casted the 'Hippogriff spell'. A few seconds after, the black shape of the Hippogriff appeared behind him, dedicating the prank to the Amazons. Everyone became silent, and then began to applause for the prank. That was quite Holland's moment of the night.

***

Holland was walking, alone, to go back to her dormitory. It wasn't late yet, but she wanted to get some sleep. She stayed sober the whole time, she danced, subtly high-fived the other Amazons, created a little catfight -just like the whole school loves- with Theresa, so Holland was completely exhausted. Courtney and Blair were completely wasted, so she decided to leave alone, since she was still angry against Malcolm.

All of a sudden, she got hit by something, or someone, an got smashed against the wall. Holland's head hit the wall really badly, and she had to blink a couple times before her vision came back to normal. She finally recognised the hard face of her boyfriend.

"Malcolm? What are you doing?", Holland asked, suddenly dizzy from the hit.

"I'm taking what's mine", he grumbled, his breath smelling hard alcohol.

"Malcolm?", Holland shrieked, when he put his hand on her thight. A little bit higher than what's appropriate "MALCOLM' LET GO OF ME! NOW!"

But the young boy was too deeply influenced by his pulsions. He roughly put an hand on her mouth, the other hand going up under her dress. Malcolm buried his head in Holland's neck, kissing it, marking a spot on it.

Holland was completely horrified. She couldn't move, for a moment. She was feeling nauseous, and her head was hurting like hell. Finally, she decided it was the time to do something: she wasn't Holland Cordero for nothing.

The young girl, with all the the strenght she could find, bit her agressor's hand. He took off his hand promptly and he stopped to kiss her neck. Malcolm glared at her, swearing under his breath.

"HELP! PLEASE HELP!!", Holland cried.

They were close to the Room of Requirements, but with the music, there was chance that no one hear her. And she couldn't send a message to the other girls with her ring, since she was pretty busy, trying to escape.

With his injured hand, Malcolm slammed the wall right beside her hand. Holland wondered if he tried to hit her, but the alcohol wasn't letting him aim correctly.

"Malcolm, please, stop it", Holland announced clearly, beginning to cry.

He didn't listen, his hands still going higher and higher under her skirt.

"MALCOLM STOOOOP!", she yelled, desesperate.

Holland wasn't sure about what happened next. When she was about to give up, something odd happened. Malcolm was being pulled away by a strong figure. Holland started to cough and to breath again, falling on her knees.

Holland didn't look at what happened next. She was too busy to gain back her breath, blinking hard. She put an hand on the back of her head, where it was hurting the most. She felt something sticky and warm on it. She was quite afraid to look at her hand, but it was quite important, so after a small count of three, she gazed at her hand. Without any surprise, it was covered in blood. Feeling even more dizzy than before, she wiped her hand on her dress.

She didn't even heard the loud thump of a body, falling on the ground. She was still preoccupied by her head, but when a solid hand touched her shoulder, she froze. Terrified, her head popped up immediately, her green eyes fixed on the person. But when she recognized who it was, she immediately relaxed.

"Are you alright, Cordero?", James Potter asked, visibly worried.

"Yes, I am", she answered, still shaking.

Her eyes drifted to the motionless body of her boyfriend. The only thing she could feel was relief.

"What did you do to him?", she said, swallowing.

"I only casted a sleeping spell, and I hit him once or twice", he stated. "You need to go tell a teacher."

"No, it's alright"

"No, it's not. You need to tell Dumbledore"

"I can't", Holland said.

"Why?"

"Because I'll have to tell that we were partying up there. And all the students are going to be punished", she explained.

"So what? Cordero, he could have raped you. He would have. And if you don't tell a teacher, he might try again on someone else, or on you again", James explained.

"I don't know...", she trailed.

He sighed, but held his hand for her. She stared at it for a while and finally took it.

"Thanks, Potter", Holland said, rubbing her forehead.

"It's nothing. Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yes, I am, Potter, I swear"

"You don't look like it", he snapped stubbornly.

"You neither", she answered.

"We're not talking about me, we're talking about you"

Holland raised her eyebrows. He wasn't going to give up, that was sure.

"Okay, what about a deal: I tell you honestly how I feel, and you tell me honestly why James Potter didn't drink one single drop of alcohol. And that I might consider to speak to Dumbledore about this. Deal?"

Potter thought about it for a few moments. Holland clearly knew what was his dilemma: can I trust Holland Cordero, a true Slytherin that no one liked? But he finally nodded, agreeing.

"Okay. I know a place, follow me."

***

"What can we do for you, Master Potter?", an house elve with a pig nose asked to James.

"I want two hot chocolates, with an apple pie. With plates and forks, please", he ordered.

"Anything you want, master Potter", the elf squeeked, his nose still stuck to the ground.

Holland was still too shocked by what just happened to react. It was quite a funny scene, watching the twenty house elves calling the prat 'Master Potter', all making a reverence. But she wasn't in a laughing mood.

James gently led her towards two small couches with a small table in the middle. They both sat on a couch each and no one dared to speak until the elves came back with his order.

"So... How are you?", James finally asked, looking rather uncomfortable.

"Like someone who almost got raped by someone she trusted", she answered thrutfully, sipping in her hot chocolate.

"Which means?"

Holland flashed him a 'duh' look.

"I feel amazing, what do you think?"

"Yeah, you're right... Sorry, it was a silly question."

"No it's okay... I'm sorry for the snapping, I just don't know how to react after what happened", Holland mumbled.

James frowned at her, surprised.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm just surprised that you're being so nice with me, and that you just apologized", he announced thrutfully, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Holland didn't know what to say after that. After everything, she didn't want to play a role... She just wanted to be herself. She was so tired of always being someone she wasn't in real life.

"I know, I don't look like this usually. I'm always acting like a bitch, mean, and everything, but I am only to defend myself. And I have no reasons to defend myself with you, you just saved me from him", she half-lied.

James nodded, still looking rather confused.

"So, why are you so glum?", Holland finally asked.

James grumbled.

"It's nothing"

"No, it's not. We had an agreemant, so you tell me. Please? It'll change my ideas, and maybe I could help you?"

James frowned even more.

"Holland Cordero is offering to help me?"

"Now, you shut up about that, or my offer is done"

"Okay, fine. It's Evans", he sighed, putting an hand on his forehead.

"Lily Evans? The red head in our year?"

"The one and only. She still won't go out with me"

"Why?", Holland demanded.

"If only I knew! Everytime I see her, she's more gorgeous than the last time I saw her, so I ask her out. But she always says no."

Holland had started to giggle by then.

"What?", he asked roughly.

"You don't think that's harassment? Asking her out every single time she's in your sight?"

James shrugged.

"No, I don't think so"

"Okay... And how do you ask her? You're not asking her like 'Hey, Evans, your ass is looking good today, wanna let me grab it?'", Holland joked.

"No, I'm not! I'm saying 'Hey Evans, wanna go on a date with me?' And then she sighs, explain that even if I was the last men on Earth, she wouldn't go on a date with me, calling me a toerag or a prat, in the processus"

"Ouch", Holland said with compassion.

"Yeah, I know. It's painful"

Holland, for the first time since she's in Hogwarts, felt pity towards James Potter. Usually, she dislikes him, because he's kind off a sexist, an arrogant prat and a bully. But seeing him like that, broken because of a girl... It was sad.

"Maybe you should call her by her first name, to begin with. Girls don't like when they are called by their last name. Then, you shouldn't ask her everytime you see her, in my opinion. And once in a while, you compliment her on her brain, on her talents, on her grades, on her achievements, on everything except her boobs, ass, legs, whatever, because she's way more than that. That should be a good start. I don't know her enough to tell more advices, but it should already help you", Holland announced.

James frowned even more. His eyebrows were so furrowed together, it was making a line on his forehead.

"That would work?"

"I don't know, but it's more likely than your other method. I swear, I'm a girl, and if someone would ask me three times a day, I would punch him in the face and I would complain to a teacher. Seriously, Potter, it's scary for the girls..."

"Maybe, but I love her so much. When I'm near her, I just, I don't know, I loose the control, and I'm succombing to my firt pulsion, which is to ask her out", he explained.

Holland nodded. She could recognize love when she was seeing it, and it was clear that James Potter was in love with Lily Evans.

After some talk and convincing, James finally succeeded: Holland was going to see Professor Dumbledore, to tell him about what happened.

"I think we should go", Holland announced.

"Yeah, we should. But, thanks, Holland. I needed to talk about it, and I couldn't to the other Marauders. I'm already driving them crazy with this", he smiled.

"You're welcome, it was the least I could do after what you did for me", she smiled, getting up. "But, Potter, if I don't talk to you in school, don't be surprised, or mad. We live in different worlds, you know. I'm a Slytherin, you're a Gryffindor. You're really nice and we get along, but we can't tell anybody about that. Your friends would judge you, and my friends would judge me, you understand?"

"Yeah, I do. Even if I don't want to admit it, you're completely right."

Holland smiled.

"Good luck with Evans, James", she grinned.

As she grinned, her head was so painful she couldn't think about anything else at that moment. She put her hand on her wound, and noticed it was still bleeding. She also felt something drip from her nose...

"Thanks. Good luck with Professor Dumbledore, Holland", he smiled, glancing at her.

James, who had a huge smile on his face, wore a worried expression only seconds after.

"Holland, are you okay? Your nose is bleeding, and you're looking rather pale..."

Before Holland collapsed, she only saw one thing. It was James' worried face, saying her name over and over again.