run the risk

                                      “i’m thinking violent thoughts at you constantly.”

Katya blinked at the masked figure, mind working even as her body stayed deep in the action, throwing up a protego. There was always the possibility of talking shit to manipulate people, but putting that aside... the other’s words suggested someone who saw her regularly, which would indicate a fellow student. It wasn’t like Katya didn’t know there were students involved—there was a reason the MA formed, after all—and given the setting and numbers of this chaos, it made sense there were students... but there was something different between being aware of something rationally and the sudden tightness in her chest at the inescapability of the realisation. Resolve replaced the tightness, and she dropped the protection charm, sending a stunning jinx at her opponent instead. “Hiding violent thoughts behind a mask?” she called, already in motion to try dodge any retaliatory hex if her opponent ducked from her spell. “Sounds about right—-I’d always heard you lot were cowards.” Part of her was wondering, suddenly, if there was a leak in the MA — someone who pretended to be their friend, their ally, who was hiding behind one of these masks, planning violence against their members — but she pushed that away. Now was hardly an appropriate time for a crisis of faith.

“I feel like that’s a bit of an exaggeration—-pointing out that Vera flying into a tree or narrowly avoiding a building would be an excellent distraction for an escapade isn’t really tempting, right? Just, you know, assessing the options. Also, I maintain that if the Whomping Willow wouldn’t get in trouble for knocking out Volant, nobody else should either.”

Katya was generally not one with much sympathy for self-pity, but she liked Scorpius, as well as respected him as her teammate, and, well, he wasn’t wrong. Besides, she automatically felt for someone who got screwed over by Gemma. It was the upshot of living with her — the more time you spend with a dangerous beast, the more you could understand how deep their teeth could cut their victims. “That’s a bit dramatic —- I mean, you’ll always have Quidditch,” she pointed out mildly—though Odilia was on the team, she supposed, which wasn’t ideal. She blew out a sigh, the huff of air pushing a strand of hair out of her face. “It does suck, Scor,” she said, more softly than her previous comment. “I’m sorry. You really haven’t had the best luck with girlfriends, huh?” Alice at least probably had cared about him—Katya was still unsure Gemma was capable of it—not that that might be particularly comforting anyway. And she was on the team too. Merlin. Scorpius really needed to date someone outside of Slytherin next time.

Later, Katya would think of who she was stepping in front of, who she was intervening in the attack of, but in the moment, all she could think about — all she could see — was the masked figure about to attack someone lying on the ground — trembling, moaning — and then she was there, casting a protego and jumping between them. Seeker at heart, all speed and instinct and tactics, and you jump straight in anyway — well, she’d always had Oliver’s mouthiness even as she’d had Viktor’s temperament, so she couldn’t be too surprised. Dropping the protego now that she was between them, she said, with a calmness she didn’t feel, “Attacking a defenceless girl? You should be ashamed of yourself,” even as she tensed for a retaliatory spell for her interruption.