Chapter 20 ~ Saviour.

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No one but Maxine, it seemed was out in he howling gale. After a minute in her dormitory she had spied at least ten members of the golden club, lead by Ava, stalking from the green houses to the castle, out of her high window. Seeing this as trouble, she had spared no time to think about what had just happened and had fled into the open air the golden girl had just left, making her way down to the outskirts of the forbidden forest.

She was shivering just then - the wind was freezing and she didn't have a cloak - but she didn't notice. Maxine was to busy trying to sort out the jumble of information in her head. It had all happened to fast, Avery's accusation, Stefan's interruption, and now her memory of it messed up and she was  beginning to doubt whether Stefan had ever looked anything but angry, whether that flickr of concern was for her and he did point his wand at Avery, or whether he did that simply by instant and the the anger and contempt was for her. Maxine cursed under her breath. Damn Avery. If he hadn't had her pinned against the wall then she may have been able to determine which one f them Stefan was directing the anger at.

She sighed. Remembering that look of anger upon Stefan's face, she could just picture him tearing the blutbad picture to shreds, or burning it on the fire with satisfaction. But was he now the villain or was he still some innocent, cowardly boy underneath? She had no idea.

Her mind seemed to have become so distorted, though, she didn't know right from wrong at that moment, couldn't think straight. It was what usually happened to her after a burst of her temper or a flood of emotion. And right now it was extremely tiring to think, and she simply wanted to clear her head of everything, to ride with the wind that raged past her as she retreated to the shelter of a few trees whilst the flat grass plain welcomed the gale with clearance. It was awful crossing the open straight down to the edges of the forest, so exposed and it had frozen Maxine's face, hands and ears,  and she was still shivering. Still, here in the trees it was better, and she lifted her head to let the softer wind that blew through the trees cool her hot cheeks. Closing her eyes, she almost felt it was actually possible to empty your head of thoughts.

"At peace, are we, Lestrange?"

Maxine opened her eyes in an instant and found herself face-to-face with a bulky Slytherin who she recognised off the Slytherin quidditch team. Looking at him in bewilderment, she scanned around for his possible companions, and to her dismay, found he was accompanied by seven other students - or should she say, members. For, pinned with pride of the chest of the Slytherin's robes, was a round, golden badge that clearly read "The Golden Club."

Maxine felt her heart sink. If they were going to duel her, she'd have no chance, and there was no hope for a teacher to come wandering by and break it apart. Anyway, as usual the golden club would hide it in some way and continue to look reasonable in the eyes of the Hogwarts staff, instead of the gang of bullies they usually were.

Maxine stared at the members around her, realising there were a few Ravenclaws in the fray who looked a little awkward, as well as a Gryffindoor fourth-year, who looked uneasy. But three were sneering Slytherins, not the ones who had welcomed her because of her high birth, but the ones who did Avery and Ava's bidding.

"Aren't you going to answer, Miss Lestrange?" The bulky Slytherin jeered. "Or do we have to teach you some manners?"

Maxine wrenched her arm from the boy where he held it and took a step back, reaching for her wand. "You piss off, Golden Gang, leave me alone and get back to your sickening commanders."

"Oh, but we're already here." Ava and Avery appeared from the trees behind her, both smiling arrogantly, both bright on the dark air. 

"What have I done now, then?" Asked Maxine, a second later realising that it was a pointless question.

"You violated my brother's property and you have attacked both of us. No one messes with the golden club." Ava told her with a hint of anger.

Maxine snorted. "I think you mean no one messes with the Golden Twins, not their little workers." She glanced around at the members of the golden club, some looking uneasy and awkward. "Do you think the Gryffindoors really want a part in this? Come on, Ava, you're kids, not effing gangsters."

Ava's eyes burned angrily, but it was Avery who spoke; "All I want, Miss Lestrange, is to teach you a lesson." He smiled. "I request a duel."

"With me?" Maxine queried with a smile back at him. "Bring it on."

The words 'pride comes before fall' were going round Maxine's head as she walked away from Avery up an imaginary platform. Hopefully he would fall, but with all his little servants around him, she would most likely pay if she felled the sneering teen. She could here the steady countdown ringing from the unconfident voice of the Gryffindoor member "5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - Let the duel begin."

Maxine was round in a flash, shielding herself and deflecting a curse of Avery's, but he kept on and shouted "Serpensortia". A large green snake slithered towards Maxine, but she knew what to do.

"Vipera Evanesca." The snake was engulfed by flames and burnt out, a replay of part of the duel with James, Maxine thought as she cast the spell. Seperntsrtia had always been a popular duelling spell, counting on the fact that the opponent of the caster may be scared of snakes. Maxine wast however, as she had demonstrated before and demonstrated now. But whilst she was doing this, Avery had fired a knockback jinx and Maxine flew backwards. Still grasping her wand, she shielded herself against a bat-bogey hex and managed to get up. 

"Expelliarmus!" Failed, as Avery deflected it, and the shield thing continued until Maxine, after firing plenty of hexes, jinxes and curses whilst trying to shield herself, suddenly managed to hit him with a tooth-growing hex.

After five seconds of shock, Avery's teeth were below his chin, and Maxine preparing to disarm him and win, when all of a sudden he jerked his head up, nodded to his recruits, and the air was suddenly full of red sparks and cries of "VERMILLIOUS!"

Maxine tired to see through a cloud of scarlet, but more shouts echoed and when the red finally dispersed, she was disarmed and facing the ten members of the golden club. 
She looked from her empty hand to the wand in Avery's and regarded them with intense anger, feeling her temper rise.

"A duel is a duel!" She shouted. "You have broken the rules!"

Ava smiled. "We never said who was facing who." 

Maxine looked at Avery, who's teeth were back to normal, advancing in the lead with his twin beside him and the golden followers behind him. "Avery just can't win a duel without your help, can he? Poor little-"

Maxine's words were cut off as she flew backwards, hitting the hard ground with a painful thump. She looked up at the gang with hatred, but this was her only defence. She knew where this was going, and there was no one around to help her - or more likely, to save her.

The next second her own teeth were growing extortionately, and the golden twins laughed before causing her eyebrows to grow past her eyes, so Maxine was blinded whilst they threw her back with another knockback jinx. She wanted to scream she was so angry, and she wished for her wand with all her heart. A cowards way of bullying, she thought, as bats erupted from her nose. Well, all bullys were cowards, weren't they? Except perhaps James. But had he ever been a bully?

Then all of a sudden, Maxine a cloud of bats, hair, teeth and boils under the arrogant eyes and sneering smiles of Ava and Avery, was saved. Her eyebrows were returned to normal with a counter-jinx, and the boils and teeth stopped, bats no longer flew in her face. But as she glanced around she could see no one, and it was definitely not her attackers...

Avery was yet again cursed with beaver's teeth, Ava's pretty face sprouted huge, white-headed spots, and the rest of their team were suffering from hexes and jinxes Maxine had never seen before; monkey ears, out-of-control saliva, an elephant's trunk. It was after these had been issued that her wand flew from Avery's hand, and she stumbled forward to catch it just as Avery opened his mouth to yell.

"You bi-"

And that was when Maxine realised who her saviour was.

For Avery had been deprived the obscenity he had wished to name her because of a truly powerful silencing charm, and there was only one person who could have done that with such ease. Maxine didn't know where he was, but her perilous question had been answered by this display. Running off up the slope and towards the castle, Maxine's body filled with a new energy and joy she had never known before.