𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗜𝗜 ━━ 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗗𝗗𝗟𝗘
082. oeil pour oeil

      "𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗗𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘, 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗚𝗘𝗧?" 𝗝𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗣𝗢𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗜𝗡𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗗 when he found Scarlet messing about with various potions in the potions cabinet. 

      Her hair was pulled into a lazy, messy bun, twisted around her black wand. He noticed the toxic air practically brought tears, eyeliner smudged around the corner of her eyes. Smoke billowed from everywhere and it alerted James significantly, his face twisted into confusion and he allowed the door to remain open for the nasty air to exit. Her tie was coming off with her top buttons were undone due to the warmth in the door. Safe to say, James has never seen the girl so out of place.

"Clearly seeking to be alone as I carry out my tasks," she replied, shooting him a sarcastic smile. "you're making that very difficult."

"I strongly agree, I was always told I prove to be a great deal of distraction." He grinned leaning against the door with a large grin on his face. The air started to clear out.

"Potter, get your giant head out of your fat arse, will you?" Scarlet shot back. "I am doing my presentation on the power of potions in a war — hence I wish to be left alone as I work on this."

A beat of silence passed, and James questioned with furrowed brows, "How would you know I have a fat arse—?"

"Potter," she hissed. "Shove off."

"I don't suppose potions bring power when fighting a war," James wondered, shutting the door behind him as he moved in, leaning against a desk lazily. 

"You would be surprised," she chuckled, swirling her goblet of liquid in concentration. "Just wait 'till my presentation — anything can be turned into power if you work on it well enough."

"I meant power in general would not be the best source," Potter shared his unwanted opinion. "I suppose it's more about qualities."

"Power is a quality." She bluntly replied. Flitwick has asked everybody to prepare a presentation on important traits and rare, smart actions to use during a battle for their next Charms lesson.

"Loyalty is the best trait one can possess," James waved a finger in her face and she shot him a deadly glare, tilting her head slightly and boring her gaze at him in a way that caused him to put his hand down and the grin to drop.

"Cunningness is the best trait," said the girl. "In a battlefield, do you want to be the one with no survival instincts and allow yourself to trust anybody or do you want to be the one to find a loophole into an easier way to win by yourself?"

"Well, when you put it like that, the second one," defeated James as he scratched his neck awkwardly. "Except, I stand by my hypothesis, you cannot overpower loyalty, a loyal team is what will get you to victory.

      SCARLET PUT UP THE PRESENTATION SLIDE AND SHOT a charming smile around the room. The board read in bold, large letters:

'LOYALTY BRINGS DEATH'

      Her eyes fell straight on James first and his reaction was laughable. If changing the topic of the presentation she has been working on for two weeks results in that look on Potter's face, she would do it a million times over. He looked offended. James leaned back onto his chair, arms folded over his chest as he flexed his biceps and raised a perfect brow.

"Loyalty," the word rolled off her tongue in a taunting tone. "A force of good or evil?" Her eyes fell upon Potter again. From the corner of her eyes, she could see a furrowed-brow Sirius turning around to follow her eye-line and look at James, and he turned back again with an arched brow and a glint of jealousy hung in his eyes. Why is she looking at James like that? He scoffed under his breath with that thought.

      "Loyalty to a person rather than principles can lead to unethical, unhealthy consequences. Loyalty can blind a person from reasonable perspectives and logical options. Loyalty to an individual who is exploitative and self-serving can be detrimental to a person's life. In matters of life or death..." she continued speaking in an attractive way her mother does—somehow catching the attention of everybody in the room as though they were all under a spell.

      "Loyalty to one person is disloyalty to everything else."

      It was a peculiar experience—somewhere along the way of her speech, she was not just proving James wrong anymore but also reminding everybody to trust no one. Everybody listened to her as though she put the class under a wretched charm, hypnotising them into following her influences. Even Flitwick was impressed.

Flitwick stood up abruptly the moment the presentation came to an end and clapped loudly, a gesture for everybody else to clap along. Well, everybody except James. "Miss Bridget, I must say I am quite impressed."

"You mentioned professors mustn't comment!" James threw his arms up, interrupting.

"Excuse Potter, Professor, he had been exceptionally jealous of my talent recently," Scarlet faked a pitiful frown, nodding at Flitwick solemnly.

"I'll admit this was too impressive not to comment on," Flitwick answered Potter, "Besides, as the head of Ravenclaw, your appreciation for intelligence over loyalty has certainly gained you my approval. Your excellence resembles your mother's thoroughly, I am very pleased, Miss Bridget."

"Why thank you, Professor Flitwick," she smiled politely, and made her way over to her seat, shooting another smirk at a grumpy-looking James.

Snape had done his presentation about ethics and morals when fighting a war, Lily did hers on team-building and social interactions and Evan had done his presentation on — LOVE???

"What the fuck is he on about?" Scarlet furrowed her brows, arms crossed over her chest as she stared straight ahead at the blonde boy waffling about romance.

Everest leaned sideways, "He just said that the hope to reunite with your lovers is the biggest motivation to win a war," confusion lingered in her tone, "is he high?"

"He doesn't have any loved ones," wickedly, she whispered. "He's a lone-wolf."

      As she said the words, Remus turned around quickly, shooting her a deadpan look. Way to make it obvious, dumbass. She shrugged with wide eyes and Remus turned around with a roll of his eyes.

      After the lesson, Scarlet walked past Sirius which made the black-haired boy roll his eyes, watching the blonde move to Potter and stopping him in the middle of the way.

"Potter, look—"

James shrugged, a nonchalant expression on his face. "You proved me wrong. Congratulations—no need to rub it in my face."

"I wasn't going to,"

James bit the insides of his cheeks, his jaw clenched lightly as his eyes wandered to his friends who waited patiently a few meters away—Sirius with a crossed look on his face, "I like to think some traits are unambiguously good—compassion, honesty, loyalty. But I think you were right in some sense, 'the force of nature tends to take those traits and twist them into deep flaws'." He quoted her exactly word-for-word, indicating he was listening carefully despite looking annoyed.

"I didn't say nature, I said a person. It's always the people you trust the most that dismantle your beliefs on... well, loyalty," she shrugged, now her tone was serious and it worried James. "It's best to be careful rather than be loyal and sorry in the end."

James stared ahead for a few seconds before chuckling deeply, "You have a way with words. You've put Gryffindors to shame today, Bridget."

Scarlet grinned lightly, "Eh... I've been doing that since I was eleven—"

"Alright, alright, enough chit-chat," another arm was locked with hers, and she turned to see Sirius pulling her away, "I'll see you later, Prongs."

"Don't you worry, Padfoot, we were having a civilised conversation, were we not, Bridget?" James' eyes trailed off to the blonde who shrugged mindlessly.

"Very civilised." Sirius' unreasonable jealousy made Scarlet wink at Potter, and she felt her boyfriend's grip tighten around her arm which only made her smirk wider. Before she knew it, he was pulling her away from the eyes of the crowd and into an empty corridor.

The two turned around carefully, making sure nobody was around to have their eyes on them. Suddenly, Sirius dipped her and smashed his lips against hers, catching her by surprise.

After a long, blissful, single kiss, he pulled away, pushed her against a wall, and leaned down to kiss her neck. "You're mine, Blondie." He mumbled against her neck.

"I'm not going anywhere, Sirius," she let out a breathy chuckle. The anticipation of fearing someone might walk in on the two making out was intense. As Sirius pulled his face away from her neck, she held his structured cheeks in her icy palms. "I'll always be here. Always yours."

      He brushed his lips with hers again. If he could have her in his arms forever, he would.

"You're beautiful," whispered Sirius between the kiss in a mumble, "you're so fuckin' beautiful."

      On the other hand, it turns out... James Potter was not planning on allowing that humiliation to slide away. He was going to get back at her.

      IN HINDSIGHT, IT WAS NOT A BIG DEAL. All Potter did to get back at her was turn her warm green tea cold. Ice cold. It was Scarlet who took it a step further than simply using magic to raise the temperature of her beverage again.

"Oh, you're so dead, Potter." Scarlet spoke in an eerily calm whisper, and James could somehow make out the exact words she mouthed. 

      She got up from her seat, hand gripping the cup holding her ice-cold green tea. The blonde caught the attention of the Slytherins who watched her walk off, and when their heads followed the direction she walked over to, everybody else started to watch in curiosity. The girl in deep green walked over to the table full of crimson, and without thinking once more about her upcoming actions, she splashed her tea right into James Potter's face. A chorus of immature gasps followed, and Lily who sat next to her boyfriend spat out her own drink at the suddenness of the event.

"Game on, Bridget." Potter ran a hand over his face, trying to get rid of excess tea dripping off his face. Scarlet did not know what he meant by that — well, she did find out within a second. James stood up abruptly, took a fistful of mashed potatoes in his hand (a scene that made Scarlet grimace), and shoved his palm all over Scarlet's robes, emitting a gasp from her and the rest of the table. 

      Sirius took his goblet of gravy, tugged at the back of Potter's shirt collar, and poured it down onto his back whilst he yelled in shock. Lily, in defense of James, threw a broccoli in Sirius' hair. This initiated a giant food fight among the Gryffindors. Like a chain of encouragement, the incident got passed down around the entirety of the Great Hall.

      The professors were screaming to put an end to this event. Sirius was soon under the table, hands over his head as he tried to protect his hair. Marlene and Everest took the fight the most seriously as they stood up on the tables and shouted inspiring words for the students to continue, guiding the first years to join, too.

      Then, an enormous gush of wind knocked the breath out of everybody's lungs, and the Hall came to an overwhelming silence compared to the chaos that took place a few moments ago. All eyes trained on Dumbledore who held out his wand quietly. 

Professor McGonagall rushed forward with a furious look on her face, "Who started this?"

      Silence.

"I asked... which one of you started this absolute chaos?" She sternly questioned, eyes roaming over the expanse of the Gryffindors. "This is the worst event I've come across in all my years of teachings — WHICH ONE OF YOU STARTED THIS?"

      James and Scarlet stood next to each other with an innocent look on their faces. 

      Hogwarts did not house snitches. Gryffindors were loyal to their chaser James Potter and Slytherins would rather die than risk telling off Scarlet Bridget. Ravenclaws possessed enough intelligence to never butt their noses in others' business. However —

"IT WAS JAMES POTTER AND SCARLET BRIDGET!" A Hufflepuff third-year yelled out over the dead silence, and even after the words were revealed, everybody else did not dare to speak and instead stared at Scarlet in shock. The glare she shot towards the yellow and black table would be engraved in their brains for the rest of their miserable lives. 

      This is why she hated Hufflepuffs. Cunning little gits pretending to be genuine and kind when they are truly a menace to society behind the rose-tinted windows. If Scarlet was sorted into Hufflepuff, she would leave Hogwarts within a second. 

      McGonagall turned to the two in absolute shock, not because it was peculiar for James to start something so unusual, but because she could not believe Scarlet would be part of something like this. 

"Potter, Bridget," she raised her chin sternly, and the look on her face was terrifying. "Detention. Detentions for the rest of your life." 

      She walked away with Scarlet's jaw hung open, however, James crossed his arms over his chest with a proud grin on his face — copper glasses practically glistening in satisfaction. Being the center of attention has been his life-long goal, and his heart was making leaps the moment everybody started to stare at them.

"Did she— she did not actually mean I'll be stuck in detention for the rest of the year, right?" Scarlet turned to her side, staring at the taller boy's grinning expression in absolute horror.

When he realised she was speaking to him, his smile dropped and he waved a dismissive hand. "Of course not, Minnie likes to exaggerate." 

      "I'LL CATCH UP WITH YOU LATER," Scarlet told Everest who did not mind much, and walked off into the Common Room with Dorcas. The blonde went ahead and tried to find the Ghost of Slytherin who would be hiding in some sneaky corners of Hogwarts.

Scarlet remembered to approach Bloody Baron with a lot of patience—knowing he could be quite aggravating. "I was hoping I could speak to you! Will you just wait!"

      He side-eyed her, and then his faded figure flew over her head only to settle behind her. She turned around swiftly to face him, only for him to float away and stand behind her. That patience was wearing thin.

"Will you just—" she tried meeting his haunting eyes, twirling around swiftly and maintaining eye contact with the figure. "Can you just stop and listen?"

After a while of chasing him around and having to turn and twirl, her head felt lighter and she felt dizzy. "Just settle down before I chop your head off and leave you to die."

"Can't do, Bridget, I'm already dead—did I ever tell you the story behind it—"

"The entire of England knows of it, and now that I finally have your attention, I need you to answer some questions." Scarlet folded her arms, leaning against the brick wall to steady herself—the world around her still spinning from all the twirling. "Last year, you said that history repeats itself when you saw me with Sirius."

"Ah, that awful Gryffindor boy," Baron dwelled mysteriously.

"What was it about? I want to know." She folded her arms, cold eyes staring right ahead. Bloody Baron shook his head slowly and spoke in an awfully slow tone.

"It's not usual for a Slytherin to be so impatient for answers," Bloody Baron said, "Rather a Ravenclaw quality, Bridget."

"Impatient? I've been chasing you around for half an hour," she snapped back hurriedly. "Answer me now or I'll have your head on Dumbledore's platter tomorrow morning."

"No need for violent resorts," he grimaced at the idea, and then paused before starting, "The truth is, every story you know of, there are sides buried so deep, the truth never sees the light of the day." Bloody Baron mused, creating suspense. "I'm talking about Bridget and Ares, you know, the start of your bloodline."

Her brows pinched together. "Tell me about it, about Bridget."

"Ah, Bridget," Baron pretended to wonder, eyes roaming around the hallway dreamily. "Wonderful lady, she was. Compassionate, powerful... vengeful." His eyes shot to hers as he said the last word.

"I know that, I know she sought revenge." Scarlet told him.

"None of us truly knows the momentum of it, Miss Bridget, the extent," Baron mysteriously neared her, enjoying the worthwhile story-telling. "She was hurt. And she was going to sell her youth away to hurt them right back—in every way possible."

      "Perhaps, it took her far too long to realise no matter how much she hurt them, those cuts were never going to be equal," tension hung thickly in the air, and Scarlet looked away from his burning gaze. "She roamed these very halls all those years ago—and like every other teenager, she fell in love. Fell in love with a Gryffindor. He went by the name Ares."

"They moved to France soon after, did they not?" The blonde asked. 

"Ares took her away from the dread after she returned home from the capture but her heart remained in that atrocious darkness—crawling for revenge," a harsh tone spoke. "She was on a one-way broom-ride to the hell of madness. A good husband, good children—yet she could not forget those Muggles that tried to burn her alive." He continued as his face fell;

      "And Ares... poor, poor Ares."

      "He told her to stay out of it. She would keep on doing it. He would tell her to stay out of it again. She would do it even more," he spoke in a hushed whisper, a sense of terror hung in the air. Scarlet's chest felt constricted, "eventually, neither of them found happiness yet Ares never blamed her."

"Blame her for what?" Asked the girl, pressing quickly. "What happened to them?"

"Bridget spent her life trying to bring justice to the Wizarding Community, trying to bring peace but she never really could bring peace to her own family. She became increasingly intense and poor Ares did everything he could to bring her back. She was a lost cause."

      Scarlet looked down in a solemn manner, the books never described their story as sorrowful, it lacked honesty.

Ghost of Slytherin continued. "Her own recklessness drove her to death."

"And Ares? What did he do after her death?"

"Ares did not linger long after that—death caught up to him soon enough. Even in the few years that he lived, he was a lifeless face. A faded soul that could be mistaken for nothing as he walked past," Bloody Baron's eyes travelled down in a mocking, sad manner. "He was a bright, hopeful and determined boy and Bridget took everything from him. She crushed his hope, ruined his dream and yet he loved her with all his heart. He never let her go."

      Bloody Baron side-eyed her again and squinted, his bloody robes visible under the twinkling starlight.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Hissed the girl.

"I was hoping the Gryffindor boy would come to ask me these questions," the Bloody Baron answered truthfully. He spoke intensely, raising a brow and a wistful wisdom dripping from his tone. "As long as he has you in his life, he shall never find solace, Miss Bridget."

"I–I don't understand. How does Bridget's life story relate to me?" asked the Slytherin. "I want nothing but good for Sirius—I would give up on all sorts of revenge for him."

"Would you really, Bridget?" He looked as though he received a nostalgic glimpse of the ancestor they were speaking about, a flash of familiarity shooting through his dark eyes. The way he said the last word—her name—confirmed her thoughts.

Scarlet fell silent. Would she? Sirius wished to give up on his rebellious tactics for her. If it came down to choosing revenge against the Dark Lord for everything he did and being with Sirius, she would choose Sirius. She would always choose Sirius. Over anything.

Scarlet let out a humourless chuckle, "I'm not going to become insane. I'm trying to be better what whatever you people think I'm fated for—"

"You and Bridget were more alike than you'd like to think," the ghost told her, cutting right in. "Her stubbornness, her captivity for revenge, and her undying affinity to immortal power brought her tragic end and she did it merely because she thought it was worth more than love."

"What if... what if she didn't find love worthless, what if she found herself worthless and revenge was the only way to make a name for herself?" Asked the girl with a childish huff. "For the love of Salazar, she was just a young girl!"

"Always with the correct questions," his compliment was accompanied by an irritated roll of eyes. "She did make a name for herself, did she not? We all know her now—but what about the life she gave away?" His words hit the girl right in the chest, an agony shooting through her veins.

      What about the life you're leaving behind, Voldemort once asked her, and she confidently told him it does not matter to her. However, of course, it mattered to her. Her entire conversation with Voldemort was based on a pure lie. In the end, she was just a girl who anticipated a peaceful, enjoyable life like any other.

The ghost continued on, "After migrating to France, she tried. Bridget tried really hard to distract her heart from all those terrible hunters—her efforts remained futile. Even though Ares loved her with every beat of his heart, her assumption that she was made to bring justice, never destined for love led her to catastrophe. Her belief that nobody could truly love her was her fatal flaw."

      "Do not make the same mistakes, Bridget."

"I'm trying not to." She responded honestly. Scarlet heard him say the next words very carefully, shooting her a sly look and whispering under his breath.

"Certain history—such as the tragedy of your bloodline, Bridget—it is always bound to repeat itself," Bloody Baron told her as he started to float away, his figure becoming smaller from her eyesight. "And no matter how hard you try, there is no escape."

"Your encouragement is enlightening, thank you," Scarlet stumbled away with a roll of her eyes, not meeting his eyes.

He turned around for one last time. "Oeil pour oeil, that motto was her fatal flaw. Get rid of it."

      Get rid of it, surely, getting rid of a motto that was engraved in her skin with black ink would be easy. Getting rid of the motto that was passed down for centuries through the noble line of Bridgets would be even easier.

      Just before going to sleep, she threatened her own mind to never be sarcastic with her.

𝑪𝑨𝑹𝑨 𝑺𝑷𝑬𝑨𝑲𝑺

as u can tell, the potions cabinet
and hospital wing are my fav areas
to set a scene in