An Unbreakable Vow ~ Harry Potter

x - in which moody shows them dark magic

"Does anyone know one of the unforgivable curses?" Professor Moody asked. They were all sitting in the D.A.D.A. classroom.

Valerie looked around, nervous. She raised her hand, but Ron had beat her to it. "Imperio," he said hesitantly. "My dad mentioned something about that."

"...would have trouble with that...the Ministry..."

Valerie couldn't hear anything anymore. She remembered everything. She raised a shaking hand to her neck and felt for her necklace. It was still there...

She felt like she was suffocating. Images of a man standing in front of a crib... pointing a wand...

She abruptly sat up and pushed her chair in. It made a horrible scraping sound as it moved across the floor. Every head in the class turned to look at her."May I please use the lavatory?" she asked quickly.

Professor Moody's expression looked suspicious, his magical eye squinting at her. "You may," he finally said slowly, waving his hand towards the door.

Valerie grasped her necklace with one hand and blinked her eyes to try to hold back the tears. It had been embarrassing, the scene she had made. "Why did stupid Moody have to bring up the unforgivable curses?" she cried aloud. Her footsteps echoed on the hard floor. She started walking even faster, and faster. She locked herself in a stall and tried to calm herself down...

"I can't believe he showed us the unforgivable curses!" said Ron, enthusiastically prancing down the hallways beside Valerie and Harry. Hermione had rushed off to the library, muttering something about "research".

"We probably weren't supposed to see them," Valerie shuddered, clutching her books tighter across her chest. Ron and Harry didn't seem to notice. After she had "gone to the lavatory" she had composed herself enough to come back. She had tried to ignore Harry's looks, his eyes darting back and forth over her face, which bore telltale signs of red eyes.

"But they were awesome! That Avada Kedavra curse was crazy, too. I didn't know You-Know-Who tried to use it on Harry," Ron continued, his hand gestures became more livid as he got more and more excited.

Harry threw a concerned look over at Valerie, who turned her head away from him. He sighed and kept walking alongside Ron, not daring to ask Valerie about what had happened.

Ron opened the giant doors to the school grounds and inhaled a breath of fresh air. The autumn fragrance smelled like crisp leaves and cinnamon. The trees were turning orange and red, the leaves falling gently down onto the stone walkways. Students walked to and fro. Some sat down on the fences, some were working on schoolwork and talking by the tables.

Harry crossed behind Ron and stiffly put an arm around Valerie's shoulders, steering her away from the now-confused Ron. Valerie almost laughed at the disgusted expression on his face. She glanced behind her to see Hermione walking briskly towards Ron with a stack of books weighing down her arms. "...No...studying...!"

Harry nudged her and continued walking her to a little corner by the clock tower. It was very quiet here. No students, teachers, or... anyone, really. He sat her down on a little stone bench with just enough room for two people to squeeze onto. She was conscious of how close he was to her. "What did you bring me here for?"

"You were bothered today," he stated, sliding his arm off her shoulders.

Valerie brushed it quickly away, trying to scoot back as far from him as was possible on the bench. "Is that all?" she scoffed, trying to keep her voice indifferent.

He looked a bit hurt, but he nodded. "Yeah. That's it. You looked really upset. Did I say something? Did something..."

"No!" she said quickly, putting her hands in front of her. "No. You didn't say anything wrong! It wasn't that. I'm just not ready...to tell you about it, I mean," she said the last part really quietly.