A Looping of the Scales ~ COMPLETED

Chapter 37 ~ Reviewing (The Finale)

Draco ducked behind a tree as he saw someone standing right at the edge of a clearing. He began creeping around the perimeter, staying to the trees. The person didn’t move. Finally, he got close enough to see it was Blaise, and he was turned to stone!

Draco emerged, studying him and shaking his head.

”Not good, Blaise,” he said, pointing his wand at him. “Finite Incantatum.”

The wizard returned to the flesh and was furious.

”That bitch Granger did that to me,” he hissed at Draco. “It was dirty Quidditch. She’s not going to get away with that!”

”How was it dirty Quidditch, Blaise? It looks to me as if she got the drop on you, just like she did me. It happens,” he said, a bit alarmed at the look in his housemate’s eyes.

”Nobody turns me to stone!” Blaise raged. “Nobody. Wait until I see her . . .”

Blaise streaked into the forest, Draco blinking after him. Blaise had a terrible temper and didn’t mind hexing anyone when their back was turned. Nor did he have a problem using painful, hurtful or even damaging hexes.

He’d have to try and talk to him before he found Granger.

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Harry and Ron were walking through a clearing when they heard Snape calling them. The only problem was they couldn’t tell where he was calling them from. His voice seemed to come from everywhere at once.

Ginny heard him calling, too, but from her vantage point she had some idea what direction it came from. Snape had used a spell that only affected Ron and Harry, who were in front of him. Ginny quietly ran toward the voice.

“Where are you, Snape? Get out here,” Ron cried, waving his wand about as he and Harry stood back to back, presenting a united front.

When Snape said, “I’m closer th—“ Harry quickly cast a Finite Incantatum spell and stopped the voice throwing, and as Snape finished the sentence, they both oriented on the area and fired.

”Reducto!” Ron cried, blasting a hole in a tree. He was right on the mark. A jewel dropped into his tube.

Snape dashed from behind the tree just as Harry cast the same spell at the next tree. Snape had to stop and wheel his arms to keep from being splintered along with the wood. Harry received another jewel.

Ron took aim at him but had to hit the dirt when Snape pointed his wand at a small boulder and snarled, “Waddiwasi!” causing it to fly toward Ron and Harry, who dodged it.

Snape smelled someone and whirled just as Ginny tried to hex him from behind. He blocked her spell and fired a Tarantallegra spell at her. Hermione wasn’t the only one who got to dance that night.

Dancing, Ginny shouted, “Locomotor Mortis!” and tried to lock Snape’s legs together, but she was dancing too hard to aim properly. The hex whizzed over Harry’s head.

”Hey!” he shouted, firing back at Ginny, who barely danced out of the way, then removed Snape’s spell from her legs.

Blaise heard the shout and ran toward it, his eyes narrowed. He hardly had any points and he planned to make up for it.

”Blaise! Wait!” Draco cried, chasing him.

Hermione heard Draco. Her beard was gone by now. She took off in that direction.

The opponents were now all converging on one area.

Snape was now in the clearing proper, and he was battling both Harry and Ron, hexes flying back and forth, all three blocking and returning fire. Snape was fast, and used his billowing robes much like a matador used his cape to draw the pointed horns of the bull away from his body.

Ginny joined in from the forest perimeter, using the trees for protection, aiming at Ron, Harry and Snape indiscriminately. She caught Ron with the Serpensortia spell, a huge python appearing and wrapping around the nearly naked wizard until he looked like he was encased by a thick, glistening green sausage casing, only his head sticking out.

Harry removed the snake, but was hit by Snape while distracted, the wizard casting a spell he’d created that locked a person’s tongue to the roof of his mouth.

Harry wouldn’t be able to say incantations. He could cast some wordless spells, but he’d used most of those already. Damn. All he could do was avoid and block now. Blocking didn’t require words, thank goodness, just intent.

Suddenly “Stupefy!” was shouted behind Ginny and she crumpled, knocked out. Blaise ran by her and into the clearing. He didn’t waste any time.

“Incendio Grande!” he screamed, shooting a huge fireball, large enough to engulf all three wizards as Draco looked on in horror for a moment, then cast the Aguamenti spell in an attempt to put it out. He might as well have tried to throw a thimble full of water on a house fire for all the good it did. The stream simply sizzled away, the fireball was so hot.

Snape ran to Harry, pushed him closer to Ron and pointed his wand at the approaching burning ball of flame.

”Protego!” he cried, crouching and closing his eyes as the protective shield formed over them, placing a barrier between them and the fire, sizzling heat washing over and around them, their hair and clothing fluttering in the aftermath as it crashed into the trees and exploded. But the trees didn’t catch fire. The ROR was keeping the arena relatively safe.

Blaise received two jewels for effort. He turned to Draco. “You tried to stop my spell!” he snarled at him, firing a blast which Draco blocked.

”You can’t use spells like that! You’ll kill someone!”

”They would have only been badly burned. Snape said we could use painful spells! I need points. All the points I can get right now! Where’s that bitch Granger?”

”Blaise, this is just a review,” Draco told him. “Calm down.”

”For you it’s a review, but for me—it’s war!” Blaise cried, turning and pointing his wand upward.

”Demonus Incendius!”

”Oh shit,” Draco hissed, running away as the fire demon formed, snarling down at Snape, Ron and Harry.

”What the fuck is that!” Ron cried, his blue eyes reflecting the blaze as the creature grew larger.

”It’s a fire demon. Blaise seems to have a fixation with flame,” Snape said as the demon gained more bulk. It looked a lot like the demon he banished but it seemed to be made of magma, with flame wrapped around its body.

“A fixation? He’s a gods damn pyromaniac!”

The wizards scattered as the demon thrust a palm at them while waving its arm in a semi-circle, sending a sweeping stream of fire in their direction. Harry fell flat to the ground and shot a stream of ice at it, and the thing recoiled, writhing in agony. He hadn’t shouted the spell, but desperation strengthened his intent and so, he was able to cast it despite not being able to speak.

Blaise tried to hex Harry to stop his offense, but had to duck Snape’s hex and drew back. Ron followed Harry’s suit, sending more ice at the fire demon. It was becoming sluggish and losing flame. Snape continued to keep Blaise busy while Harry and Ron took on the demon. They had switched to water now, the demon growing tinier and tinier until it disappeared, leaving only a tiny wisp of smoke.

Still, Blaise got three more jewels for casting the spell and engaging all three wizards. He was quickly making up for lost time. Ginny stirred as Hermione appeared just in time to see Blaise cut a swatch in the forest floor, sending dirt and stones raining down on the three wizards, attempting to blind them. Snape threw up his robes and dived to the side. Harry’s glasses protected his eyes but dirt got into his mouth. Poor Ron was blinded, letting out a cry and wiping at his eyes.

”Duro!” Blaise hissed, turning him to stone. He had been off-balance when hit by the spell and toppled to his back.

”Ron! Ginny shouted, running into the clearing, followed by Hermione. Everyone was oriented on Blaise, whose eyes were full of malice and hatred. He saw Hermione and snarled, then cast a smoke spell, filling the clearing with black, thick smoke.

”Where is he?” Ginny cried. She shouldn’t have because Blaise oriented on her immediately.

”Incarcerus Proprius!”

A metal chain erupted from his wand and bound Ginny tightly, her wand falling from her hand as she fell over unable to see.

”Don’t speak!” Snape yelled through the smoke, diving aside as he did so. A beam of light zipped through the area he had occupied.

But Hermione cast a powerful wind spell, blowing the smoke away, revealing everyone, then was hit by Blaise with the Divesto spell, which left her nude.

Hermione screamed, crouching to try and cover herself. Snape roared “Impedimenta!” as Blaise started to cast his worst spell yet at Hermione—a spell Snape knew the moment he heard the first syllables.

His spell.

”Sectumsempra—“ Blaise screamed, then he slowed, the slicing motion of his arm slowing to a crawl as Snape ran for Hermione and dove on her, taking her out of harm’s way. They rolled, and Snape quickly removed his robes and placed them over the witch. Harry was trying to take the Duro spell off of Ron, but still couldn’t speak, and Ginny was groaning in pain as the chains cut into her skin. Blaise was a nasty piece of work.

Draco leaned against a tree, his heart pounding as he heard the cries and blasts coming from the clearing. He felt as if he couldn’t breathe and the forest was closing in on him. His legs wouldn’t work.

Unable to help Ron, Harry ran over to Ginny, pulling at the chains, trying to loosen them. She looked up at him, her eyes glazed with pain and Harry pointed his wand at her, mentally commanding it to work for him with all his might. Suddenly, the chains disappeared, and Harry pulled her into his arms, her skin marked by the chains.

Snape and Hermione stood up, the wizard’s eyes narrowed murderously at Blaise. He’d tried to cut Hermione in half, without anything to protect her. He stalked over to Blaise, who was still under the Impedimenta spell and punched him in the face as hard as he could, several of his jewels disappearing as the wizard slowly toppled, blood slowly gushing from his nose.

”Severus! No! Let me! Release the spell!” Hermione said darkly, her brown eyes fixed on Blaise.

Angrily, Snape removed the spell, Blaise crashing to the ground. He held his wand on him.

“Get up and face Hermione,” Snape hissed at him. From his position with Ginny, Harry also held his wand on Blaise, not sure if he could hex him, but damn well ready to try. Both of Ginny’s shoulders were dislocated by the tight chains, so her arms were useless.

Blaise stood up, his brown eyes shifting from Snape to Harry as he wiped the blood from his nose and onto his robes. He then looked at Hermione, who took a defensive stance. The robes she wore dragged on the ground. They were too long for her.

”Reducto!” Blaise cried, aiming not for Hermione but the heavy tree limbs above her.

”Protego!” Hermione screamed, covering herself with a shield as the limbs crashed down on her. Blaise tried to hex her, but the charm held.

Snape watched with glittering eyes, fighting not to hex Blaise in the back, the dirty bastard. This was a review, not a true duel. Hermione quickly removed the shield and fired at Blaise, who had his wand ready to block.

It didn’t do him any good.

“Expulso!’ Hermione hissed, aiming at the ground in front of Blaise, which exploded, blasting him backwards, almost into Snape, who stepped aside as the wizard slammed into a tree. Hermione raced forward as fast as she could, holding up Snape’s robes. She held the tip of her wand against Blaise’s throat, her eyes narrowed.

A gong sounded, signaling the end of the review.

Harry’s tongue loosened and he cast an Episkey on Ginny’s shoulders, repairing them, then ran over to Ron and released him from Blaise’s stone curse. Ron stood up weakly, getting his bearings, still in his underwear.

”You’re lucky this is over, Blaise,” Hermione hissed at him, taking his wand then lowering her own. Blaise blinked at her, then painfully straightened.

”I was playing to win,” he said sullenly, wiping at his nose again and looking at Snape murderously.

”You hit me. You were penalized,” he said to the pale wizard.

”It was worth it,” he told him, then looked at Hermione. ”Looks like we’re going to have to have a private duel, Hermione. Clearly, you’ve won the review.”

Hermione sighed. The whole idea was to blast Severus on his arse at least once. But, these things were unpredictable. No one knew Blaise would be such a dark horse.

”You’ll get your wand back when we leave, Blaise,” Hermione said. Suddenly “Folliculus Deletrius” was yelled out and a hex flew by her, striking Blaise in the head.

All of his hair fell out.

”Arrrgh!” he cried, clutching his bald, brown head and feeling it all over.

”Oops,” Ginny said from the ground, her wand still pointed at him. “Is the review over?”

”You little—“ Blaise seethed.

”Watch it, Blaise,” Ron growled at him as he flicked his wand over his body and created a robe. Everyone looked at him.

”What?” he asked as they stared at his clothed body. Snape smirked.

”Ronald Weasley. You had the means to put on robes and didn’t do it?” Hermione said to him, frowning in distaste as Ron made a big production of fixing his robes.

”No. I was ‘in the moment,’” he replied. “It’s a lot easier to cast spells without robes getting in the way. The sleeves can be murder.”

Harry helped Ginny up and scowled at Blaise. This wasn’t over. He really tried to take them out. Suddenly, Ron looked around.

”Where’s Draco?” he asked.

”I don’t know. The last I saw of him he was trying to put out the fireball,” Snape said.

Draco emerged from the woods, looking pale and drawn. Not well at all. His entire demeanor was one of shame. He hadn’t made a good showing at all. Maybe deep down, he really was a coward.

“I—I didn’t do so well,” he said softly, looking down at the ground. “I panicked. Sorry.”

Everyone just looked at him. Ron was the first to speak.

”At least you didn’t fight on house lines,” he said. “That’s something, Draco.”

”Yeah. Well, I’m ready to leave.”

He walked back through the woods.

“Come on, let’s see the count,” Hermione said, looking up at Severus. “You lost a few points, I’m sure. You shouldn’t have punched Blaise.”

Snape shrugged.

”It was never about the points for me anyway. It was about the effectiveness of what I did cast. But, I have to admit, Hermione, you’re pretty good.”

Hermione swelled.

”Pretty good? What do you mean, ‘pretty good?’”

”Well, you have to admit you lost your head when you lost your clothes.”

”Ooh,” Hermione hissed as Snape strode by her and into the woods. They heard a little yell from Draco.

”What was that? It sounded like Draco! Come on!” Harry cried, starting to run, followed by Ginny, Ron and Blaise. They ran past Snape and Hermione, through the woods.

”Let’s keep up,” Hermione said, starting to run, too. Not wanting to be left behind, Snape joined her.

The forest thinned as they all approached the starting point, jogging almost neck and neck. They saw Draco, standing before the tubes with his back to them, looking up.

”Draco! We heard you yell. Are you all right?” Harry called to him.

Just as they reached the perimeter, everyone except for Hermione was flung backwards and sprouted a beard. Stunned, they all looked up at her as she stood by the tubes of jewels, hers filled almost to overflowing and easily outdistancing Snape’s tube. This was followed by Blaise’s tube and Ron, Harry’s and Ginny’s tubes were almost tied. Draco had only a couple of emeralds in his tube, clearly the loser.

Draco also sported a long white beard. He had been the first to cross the line.

Hermione shrugged and smiled as she removed the spell with her wand and looked down at her bearded friends

”Age line. Nineteen and over,” she said with a wicked grin before bolting out the door, hexes hitting the wall harmlessly behind her.

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A/N: I decided not to do the jewel count thing and just give a random idea based on what happened. I hope it was exciting, and sorry to disappoint everyone who wanted a Snape/Hermione stand off. But, we can still have it, just one on one. Thanks for reading.