Catalyst || Vivian, Rodolphus, & Theo

[VIVIAN HOPE BLACKWELL]

Vivian walked to class, bored.

She hated lessons, hated sitting in a room for hours on end, hated being forced to try and decipher the words on the board and in text books that never seemed to stay put for her, hated being called stupid when she couldn't. Rather than admit to weakness, Vivian simply scorned any attempt to educate her, claiming it was all 'boring'. Which, as it happens, was the absolute truth.

Getting bored just thinking about the lessons ahead, Vivian was on auto-pilot, not really paying attention to where she was going. Ever since Rodolphus Lestrange had cornered her in the hidden corridor she usually took by means of a short-cut, she had been avoiding the little passages and secluded walkways where the incident might repeat itself. Or at least, she had been trying to. She often forgot to bother, and this was one of those times.

Vivian slipped behind the tapestry and into the deserted passage. She should have tried to remember, but either way, it would be fine. It was far too much of a coincidence that Lestrange would just happen to be walking through the same passage at the same time, again.

And it was too much of a coincidence. Which is why it wasn't one; Rodolphus Lestrange had been walking unseen some paces behind Vivian, saw her entering the secret passage, and followed, an evil looking smirk on his face.

Vivian walked with one hand holding her bag on her shoulder, unaware that she wasn't alone, until she heard him speak.

"Vivian,"

She stopped in her tracks, and turned to see him standing there, towering over her, grinning that same, stupid smirk. Usually Vivian would have walked right on and ignored him, but she remembered all too well what Rodolphus had done to Theo on the Quidditch pitch. Maybe he'd give her an excuse to hex him, and then she'd get some small kind of pay back.

"What do you want?" she asked, coldly, her gaze on him.

"You."

The way he said it made her cold.

Moving quicker than Lestrange had anticipated, Vivian whipped out her wand and performed a stinging hex. It hit the back of Lestrange's hand, the nearest bit of exposed skin to her, and he pulled it back instinctively, sucking in a breath as his hand turned an angry red.

Vivian hadn't thought about how Rodolphus might react, which was a huge oversight on her part, she now realised. They were alone, and if it came down to a duel he would win. She wouldn't stand a chance against him. Theo was the one who was good at all of that kind of stuff. Vivian could produce powerful spells when angered, anything to do with fire being her speciality, but they were unfocused, and she lacked necessary skill to win in a duel. Especially against Lestrange.

But he didn't go for his wand. He went, instead, for her. Rodolphus grabbed at her wrist with his stinging hand, pulling her wand arm up and gripping hard. Vivian tried to take a step back and found cold stone wall behind her. Fear gripped her, sudden and unexpected. Vivian didn't get scared. But this trapped feeling, being at Rodolphus Lestrange's mercy... it hit too close to home.

Rodolphus kept his eyes trained on hers, and what Vivian saw there unsettled her deeply. He saw her fear, she saw the realisation on his face... and then the smirk. He shoved her backwards and she gripped her wand tightly, but then his wand was in his hand- when had he gotten it out? She hadn't seen- and he flicked it once, twice. Chords shot out and slammed into her wrists, first the wrist of her wand hand, causing her to drop her wand in shock, and then the other. The chords seemed to melt into the wall behind her, holding her arms up, the backs of her hands pressed hard against the stone.

Vivian's first reaction was blind panic. Fear gripped her, familiar yet forgotten, pushed away, but coming back all too strongly now. She wanted to fight, she really did, but instead she froze. Her breathing was heavy and uneven, but she fought to keep it quiet. She pressed back into the wall, as though trying to get away from him. As though she thought if she was quiet and still he'd forget about her. She looked away, her eyes on the floor, staring, frozen.

She didn't know what he was going to do, and that was what scared her. Every thought made her want to move to stop him, and every thought reminded her that she couldn't.

Vivian felt her shirt, already un-tucked, being pushed upwards. She stopped breathing. Fingers brushed against her stomach, lightly, almost gentle, tracing her bellybutton slowly.

Vivian stayed frozen. It wasn't happening, this isn't happening... and then it wasn't. The hand was gone, and when she dared to look up, so was Lestrange.

She started to breath again, harsh gasps that told of her fear, but mercifully there was no one around. The panic set in again as she tugged at her wrists. She couldn't get loose, and he could come back, or someone else could come by... the feeling of helplessness drove anything but the thought of getting free from her mind. She tugged and pulled, thrashing against the wall as her efforts proved fruitless, bruising her wrists in her brutal attempts. She stared down at her wand, trying to summon it, but it was useless. She had never managed to do wandless magic, not once, and she was too frantic to think straight.

Vivian reached, and managed to get her mouth to her wrist. She bit with sharp little teeth, all the while still tugging and pulling, rubbing her wrists raw and even tearing at her own skin as she bit through the chord. And finally, it broke. She pulled her hand free, and reached for her wand. She had to stretch hard, and for a moment it seemed like she wouldn't reach, but just when she thought her shoulder might pop out if she stretched much further her scrabbling fingers closed around the thin piece of wood.

"Diffindo!" she said, slightly hysterically, slashing at the chord on her other wrist and cutting the edge of her hand in the process. But she didn't care. Both hands now free, she leant against the wall, breathing hard. The panic subsided, and the fear faded, but she was shaken to her core. She couldn't quite believe he had done that, that he... he could have... she couldn't even think it. And why had he done it? To terrify her? Well, he had succeeded.

Stricken, shaken and confused, Vivian hurried out of the passage way, forgetting all about her bag, lying on the floor. She forgot all about her lesson. Instead she headed back to the Slytherin common room, where she knew Theo would be, clutching tightly at her wand.

When Vivian entered the cavernous room, she barely even paused. She didn't look around to find Theo. She didn't look at anyone... she couldn't look at anyone. She couldn't bear to meet anyone's gaze. Instead she walked straight to the stairs to the boy’s dormitories, and climbed the stairs to Theo's dorm. It was empty. Theo would have seen her, she knew, and he'd follow. Vivian stood with her back to the door and realised her hands were shaking slightly. She clenched them into fists to stop it, noticing for the first time the pain from the cut in her hand, from her bruised, raw and torn wrists.