The duel by the lake.

We walked silently down from the runes to the inlet of the lake.

Luella, Petunia, Sophie and Illusion-Zofka were all there, waiting for us.

"Luella." I said through clenched teeth.

"Mudblood."

I clenched my fists, but said nothing. I didn't want to give Luella the upper hand over me.
"That was below the belt, Luella." Tash said, jumping to my defence.
The rest of us looked at her and she shut up.

Luella and I stepped away from our groups and we stood facing eachother.
"I know you think that you're above me, Luella, just because you're one of those rotten purebloods. But you just think about this: You're alone. Those cronies of yours won't stick up for you. Not even my sister will. They're only your "friends" because they're scared of you. Should you be attacked by an evil entity right now, they wouldn't jump to your side, they'd run. You're alone in your life." I said with my voice barely an audible whisper, but Luella heard every word.

Without doing or saying anything more, I turned and walked back to my friends.
"Come on guys, let's leave her alone with her thoughts." I said as we started to walk back up the hill.
"Couldn't you have had a duel or a fist fight or something? That was boring!" Sam complained to me.
"That was one battle Sam, it's by no means the end of the war." Laurie said, philosophically.

Luella watched the retreating figures of the Roamers.
She clenched her fists and snarled.
"This isn't over!" she roared at us.

We turned around and looked at her. Her face was contorted with rage and pure hate.
She drew her wand and held it out infront of her.

"Sectumsempra!" she yelled as the curse flew from her wand and hit Laurie, missing me.
Laurie fell to the ground and writhed in pain as the cuts appeared all over her face.

"How dare you do that!" Tash screamed, drawing her own wand. She advanced towards Luella, her eyes blazing with anger.
"Stupefy!"
The red light of the spell burst forth from Tash's wand, but Luella was too quick for her.
"Reflecto!" Luella screamed, reflecting the curse back at Tash.
Tash didn't have any time to react. This spell was all new to her. She had never read about the Reflecto charm.
Before she could react, her spell hit her full in the chest. She was sent flying through the air, and landed, sprawled on the ground next to Laurie.

Zofka and Petunia had already run away from the duel, and Stan, Chicken and Titch had sprinted off, in chase of the clones, to stop them from getting a teacher.
The only people left were Sophie and Luella, versus me and Sam.

"We're going to end this right here, right now!" Sam yelled at Luella and Sophie as she drew her wand.
"Avius!" she cried as her wand performed the magic of her signature spell. A swarm of small birds burst from her wand and went flying at Sophie and Luella.
Sophie received the full blow of the spell, as Luella had already acted too fast, by ducking down behind a tree.

"Expelliarmus!" Luella cast the spell, directing it at Sam.
Sam went flying through the air and collided with a tree, knocking her unconscious too.
"We will end this, Luella." I said, my voice full of danger.

We walked towards eachother, and circled, each waiting for the other to attack.
"Do your worst," Luella snarled at me.
"Don't tempt me."

We fell silent, still performing our dance of anger, hate and danger.
Luella broke the silence and raised her wand and started the incantation softly. "Avad----"
Before she could finish, I cast the full body bind curse on her and she fell to the ground with a dull thud.
"This is where we end this war." I bent down close to her and whispered in her ear, "I know that there's some good in there, somewhere. You just need to find it."

Without another word, I went over to my friends' unconscious bodies, and took them back to the castle and to the hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey was furious that four girls should be so badly harmed by magic, by other students, nonetheless.
She made me tell her the whole story, from beginning to end. I told her of how Luella hated us, and how she attacked us down by the lake.
Madam Pomfrey was spitting mad at the end of the story.
"I'm ashamed of you. I thought you knew better than to duel. The headmistress will be told of this immediately."
"But, she attacked us. She was the one who initiated combat!" I said in protest.
"You should've just left her, and not retaliated. Now, return to your dormitory. Your friends will not be leaving the infirmary for at least a week. The same will most likely go for Luella and your sister."

Madam Pomfrey sent some helpers down to the inlet to collect Luella and Sophie, and took them back to the hospital wing.