Chapter 64 ~ Victory and Loss.

Maxine both relaxed and stiffened as she approached Theon, the effects of the ring making her smile naturally but her body becoming tense for no reason apparent to her. Maxine's mind had almost completely given in to the influencing spells on the ring and it would only take one more gesture from Theon for her to completely succumb and become his puppet. 

There was a part of her mind that fought against it, stronger when she left the company of the boy and paining her as it tried to combat the influence. Before Stefan had helped this part of her, seeming to increase the resistance. But now Stefan was invisible to her, constantly pushed out and alone. His loyalty to Maxine after all she had put him through, but a murmur in the back if her friends head predicted that pretty soon Stefan wouldn't have a friend to be loyal to. He was losing her.

Maxine approached Theon with the usual smile, him also putting in his false grin as he saw her and strode over. 

"Hey Theon." Her greeting came as he neared her. "Ready for putting your skills to the test?"

He laughed, running his fingers over his wand. They were accompanying each other to the duelling club, the first session Theon attended since his apparent fall out with Avery and and Ava and the first for Maxine after she had felt it best to avoid bullies, including the golden twins, and stopped going to them. They were meeting Stefan there - or rather Maxine had failed to mention Theon was going to with her and had simply said "See you there" to a silent Stefan. She simply presumed he had realised she was coming with Theon. The two had been hanging out with each other for most of the past week and were now regarding each other as close friends.

"I'm not sure about my skills but I would like to have a go." Theon's answer was as they began to walk in the direction of the great hall. "I'll only be duelling you, though."

Maxine laughed. "You won't get to choose." She said teasingly. "Besides, you need to fuel someone other than me. You know all my tactics."

"Well let's just hope I get someone easy. Stefan, perhaps?" Theon took a jab at Stefan, testing how Maxine would react and how far he could go as he watched her with sharp eyes.

But the spell wasn't that strong. "Stefan's an excellent dueller. You wouldn't have a chance against him." The statement should have been said in a loyal and warning tone, however, and instead Maxine's voice was misted as he mind became confused over the subject.

"Yeah, but you can beat him, surely?" Theon persisted. He couldn't resist it - the look on Maxine's face was most satisfying; hazed and slightly confused, not quite knowing what to think of Stefan whilst Theon was there and he was meant to be he old thing on her mind.

"I've never duelled with Stefan." She said in empty tones.

"Well that's because you're best friends, isn't it?" Theon said in edgy tones, smiling to himself as Maxine's expression intensified and her brow creased. She was a puppet in his hand and very fun to control.

"I-" She paused mid sentence, then displeased Theon as her face cleared and she spoke again. "Yes, he's my best friend."

Theon frowned, then retrieved his hurt face and pulled her attention onto him. "What am I, then?

"You're my friend." This time her answer had heart in it and she looked at him.  "Now come on, let's get to the Great Hall."

She quickened her pace, striding down the corridor and, Theon followed her, knowing that he had tested her enough. When she was with him and Stefan was mentioned her face always gained that look and when she was with Stefan was mentioned her expression became the same, instinct against magic. And she wasn't well, either. Two weeks after the collapse she had grown almost frail, her face pinched and pale when speaking and eyes to large. Even the teachers had noticed. But it didn't matter to Theon. The plan would soon be complete and he'd just waved goodbye to her, take his money and never think of her again.

There were calls as they crossed the entrance hall, the source of them being gossiping bullies and members of the Golden Club. Maxine ignored the, rolling her eyes more like her old self and heading for the great hall despite the spite behind them.

"The two pathetic friends - you two make a most suitable couple, did you know that?"

"Hey Lestrange - got tired of Burkhardt and picked up another loony to cry over?"

"Aww how sweet, you're going to the duelling club together. Prepare to get your arses kicked, losers."

Stefan was silent as Maxine and Theon approached him through the crowd in the great hall but he was nth angry and concerned as they approached him. His rage had been prepared by the callers, who had inadvertently informed him that Maxine was accompanied by Theon, as he had feared, but the look on Maxine's face also troubled him. He had been trying pull her away from Theon that past week but it had failed. The detestable boy had her in his grip and there was an unspoken battle going on between him and Stefan - not over Maxine, exactly - there was a hate between them which went further than her. And Maxine had put Stefan through too much....he still held loyalty to her but her treatment of him had hurt him almost too much over the past seven days. He always told himself that Theon was behind it, that he had done something to her, but sometimes he would doubt that and wonder if it was in fact Maxinea acting naturally. But he had the strength to put them aside and concentrate on keeping an eye on Theon.

"Looking forward to this session, Max?" He made his voice painfully light and struggled looking cheerful and glaring at Theon at the same time. 

"Mhm." Was her reply, eyes moving to scan the crowd. They still held the strange glint of emotion Stefan couldn't quite pin point, a look that made him suspect half the time, Maxine's mind was far away. "Me and Theon want to practice some of the new tactics we learnt."

"Right." Said Stefan, eyes moving back to the smirking boy at his friend's side, who gazed at him innocently as Stefan stared hard at him. "Hoping to duel anyone in particular?"

"Well, James, of course." Maxine answered with laugh. 

"Yeah, Brandon looks like he needs a good kick up the arse as well." Stefan observed, hoping their usual banter on who they planned to defeat this session would start up. However, Theon cut across Maxine before she could say a word in reply.

"No one else you've got on your mind?" He said snidely, looking at Stefan.

"Oh no. I usually deal with people I utterly dislike with logic and stealth. Combat is a last resort." Answered Stefan, voice hard as he answered, smiling at the still-smirking Theon.

"Yeah, Stefan's strategy certainly-" Maxine began, sparking hope in Stefan's heart, then paused, her face suddenly becoming perplexed, the kind of look you wear when you can't work out a particularly complicated maths problem. Sfan noted it with his own confusion, but it did confirm that something was going on with Maxine, something wasn't right. 

He didn't get a chance to comment, however, as Professor Silvers, climbing to the duelling platform, announced the beginning of the session a moment later: 

"Hello O.W.L. students. Welcome back to the duelling club!" The silver-haired young woman swept her eyes over the crowd of students as she smiled, though her eyes were wary as she did so. The return of Maxine and Stefan to the sessions meant there was a possibility that the session would not go as smoothly as usual. "Now, let's crack on - I'd like to see you put some of the duelling spells and tactics we revised last session to the test, so we'll start with a few duels and see if you actually listened to a word I said last week. Let's have..." Her eyes found two of the more docile individuals as they searched the crowd. "Rose Carter and Damian O'Hara."

The red headed Hufflepuff boy Fauna knew on a personal level and a grinning Rose made their way up onto the duelling platform, Rose spotting Stefan and Maxine as she went and catching Stefan's eye. She and him had become much closer in the last few weeks and she sympathised with him, but Rose still wasn't sure why he suspected Theon of actually doing something shady to affect Maxine's character. 

Stefan himself nodded to her stiffly as they made eye contact, but his own gaze soon moved to concentrate on the windows of the great hall, mind wandering as Rose and Damian's duel began. His face became still and he looked almost like a ghost, standing there in the crowd, face pale and pinched as he was left to his thoughts. But if anyone had noticed his eyes, they would have seen the intense concentration in there as Stefan determinedly set his mind upon the task of catching Theon out.

But, a few minutes into the session and a second duel beginning, a voice behind him stirred Stefan and pulled Him from his mind, causing him to turn with confusion as he heard it.

"Bugger off, Ava." Facing the other way now, the sight of Theon facing Ava directly, jaw clenched and expression seemingly genuine, seething as the girl laughed and spoke with such conviction that Stefan did not suspect a thing.

"A lovely greeting, Theon." Ava smirked before turning her head to survey Maxine, who was watching the scene with the same level of wariness as Stefan was. "I see you're still hanging around with stuck-up weirdo Lestrange, then?"

Stefan moved towards  the pair, but Maxine herself spoke before he could defend her. "Ava, I don't know if you've ever understood the words, but I'm going tot explain them to you now. Bugger Off means go away now because we don't need any of your shit. You go that?"

There is as, another snippet of the true Maxine. Stefan moved in swiftly but once again had no time to speak. "We'll come and go as we please, Lestrange." Avery spoke from beside his sister. "Besides, we're not just passing through. We have a challenge for you and the traitor here."

"What's going on?" The latest duel had been halted and Professor Silvers was making their way towards the commotion. Her eyes lit up with realisation as they rested upon the scene and her expression became wary. "Kindly do not talk whilst duels are going on. All four of you stop it and be quiet, I will not tolerate this sort of petty fighting."

"Professor, this is certianly not petty fighting. Why, my Sister and I were just going to challenge Hallow and Lestrange here to a duel." Avery answered, making Stefan's heart quake and gaze immediately fall upon Maxine, who immediately gained a determined look.

Silvers' eyes narrowed. "None of you may duel without my permission and none of you will. Now wait your turn and stop disrupting this session."

"This is a duelling club, Professor." Maxine's voice made Stefan jump as she spoke and he stared at her with disbelief. But she was wearing the obstinate look he knew only too well, and he realised she was determined to accept Avery's challenge. 

"It could be a formal, four person duel." He couldn't help but speak and actually drew her gaze onto him. Suddenly he realised that, much as Theon was the enemy now, defeating Avery and Ava together with Maxine would do him a lot of good.

"Enough." Silvers held her hands up to stop the debate, then found a solution that would hopefully appease the warring students. "Hallow, Bredowan, please make your way up to the duelling platform. For the third duel of the session." She said, nodding to Theon and Ava, both of whom exchanged glances as she spoke. "Now stay quiet and let us resume the session." Silvers turned and walked away, Maxine and Stefan silent once more. But her choice of the next duel opponents would prove not to be a wise one, foreboding already in the air as Theon and Ava turned to face each other from the so corresponding ends of the platform. Ava smirked as she bowed, obviously sure she would win. Theon, on the other hand, looked distinctly sweaty - although he wore a determined look, he was most definitely nervous. Stefan looked at Maxine and saw she had her eyes glued on the boy, and realised what the duel signified. He had been telling Maxine all along that Theon could not be trusted, that he was still loyal to Avery and Ava - and now time had come for Theon either to prove him right or prove him wrong. Stefan knew the outcome, but he also knew it wasn't going to work in his favour.

Wands raised, Theon and Ava began to duel.

"Titillando!" 

"Flipendo Duo!"

Ava sent a tickling charm towards Theon, obviously wanting to have fun in the duel and tease the boy, whereas Theon got straight to it, though Ava easily dodged his spell and he narrowly missed being hit by the jinx by casting a sheild charm just in time. Stefan saw Ava's smirk and watched as she took advantage of Theon's weakness and threw another jinx his way, which the boy narrowly dodged. Something about Theon's game, however, was not right - he'd been duelling with Maxine for over a month and claimed to have greatly improved - which he had - but not nearly as much as Stefan had expected. Maxine had been expressing her delight at how much Theon had come on, but by the looks of his duelling skills now, not much had changed and the progression had been slight. As the two continued to duel, Stefan glanced back at Maxine to see her watching intently, though he could see in her face that she was confused, and perhaps even surprised, by Theon's bad tactics and casting rate. Turning back, Stefan saw that in the second he had glanced at Maxine, Ava had driven Theon backwards to the point he was almost falling off the platform as he tried to retaliate. By the looks of it, there was only one way this duel was going to end - with Ava's victory.

Theon regained his footing slightly as he caught Ava off guard and sent a disarming charm her way, which she just managed to shield, giving him time to take step forward, but almost instantly Ava was back at it, turning to the boy fiercely and sending a disarming charm back at him. Once again Theon dodged it, though almost fell off the side of the platform, and once again Ava attacked him even more relentlessly, a white smile spreading across her finely chiselled face. The moment when Stefan knew it was going to end and that he was going to have the satisfaction of Theon being beaten came twenty seconds later, when Theon, right at the edge of the platform, failed to block a knock back jinx and suddenly flew back to on the hard floor of the great hall.

"Stop!" Called Professor Silvers warily, making her way towards where Theon, who was dazed but beginning to sit up, was lying. "The victor is Ava."

Stefan couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight of Theon lying on the floor in a sprawling position as he groaned pathetically, but his smile soon disappeared as he saw Maxine appear beside the boy, then look up to glare at Ava, who was standing on the platform smiling widely, pushing back her blonde hair and looking Maxine straight in the eye. A sense of foreboding began to swell as Stefan noticed Maxine begin to silently pull her wand from her pocket and Ava's pale brown eyes also observe it and her smile grow even wider. Pushing through the crowd, Stefan made his way over, eyes open in alarm as he saw Maxine open her mouth to speak. Luckily or unluckily for him, however, Ava got there first.

"And now, I will challenge Lestrange to a duel. Care to accept?" Proclaimed the grinning golden girl, beaming at Maxine, who glared back.

"You will be challenging no one, Ava - your duel is over. I choose who and who will not duel." Said Silvers coldly, moving to stand in front of the girl, expression firm.

"Professor Silvers, as much as I respect you, I think you have neglected to look at the arrangements of the duels in thus club set down by Headmistress." There was a murmur that ran through the crowd as Ava smiled upon the angry Professor. "It decrees that students may challenge other students to duels and that duels involving more than two people can take place. Lines seven and nine." Ava continued, producing a scroll and chucking it to Silvers, whose eyes were glittering dangerously. "Therefore myself and my twin here may in fact challenge Hallow and Lestrange to a duel - whether you like it or not." Avery appeared at Ava's side as she spoke. "This is a club run for students, after all."

"Thank you, but I am fully aware of the regulations, Miss Bredowan." Answered Silvers icily. "And it also states that I can exclude anyone I wish from any session." The Professor's voice hardened. "Mr Bredowan, please escort your sister out of the hall now."

Ava's smile switched off. "And what, exactly, have we done? I find is very unfair, Professor."

"I do not care if you find it unfair, Ava, I do not want you disrupting these sessions any longer. You are here to learn, not try and get back at fellow students. Out - now." Silvers pointed to the door, face unmoving.

"What - and you're not going to kick out Lestrange and Hallow for disrupting the session either?" Avery said snidely, scoffing as he glanced at Maxine, who was now standing beside Theon and looking as if she could explode at any minute.

Silvers paused and Ava leapt in. "Hey - how about not just expelling her from these sessions - what about expelling her from the whole school?" Ava's suggestion, bathed in malicious scorn as she looked around the hall incidentally, echoed around the empty hall as most of the students returned her unashamed gaze with stares of disbelief, Silvers herself one of them. Perhaps the staff would finally realise that the Golden Twins were a serious problem. "What?" Ava looked back with wide eyes as silence fell. But her voice only grew more spiteful. "Oh come on, we all know she's too out of control to be exposed to the public - she's caused enough trouble already. Let's just admit here. Maxine Lestrange is an ignorant, immature and frankly dangerous little-"

One second, Ava was pouring out her bitter, childish opinions on Maxine whilst the subject in question grew redder and Stefan moved to stand by her, knowing the plan was to attack Ava the very minute she stopped speaking and finally beat the Golden Twins together, the next minute a red flash of light shot towards Ava and cut her off in mid sentence as she managed to deflect it. All heads turned in an instant, including Stefan and Maxine's, to see Theon standing upright and regarding Ava and Avery with hatred and fury as he raised his wand. And then, before anyone could say anything, before Stefan had time to join Maxine by her side, Theon and Maxine were leaping towards the Golden Twins and the two blondes began to fire back. 

Ignoring Silvers' shouts, the four teenagers began to duel viciously, Maxine and Theon pushing their opponents back at once as Maxine put her fierce duelling skills into play. Stefan just stood there for a few seconds, watching Theon and Maxine work fluidly together, the image of Maxine and Him doing exactly the same thing coming into mind. It hurt, to see them like that. Very much. Nevertheless, Stefan snapped into gear a few seconds later, pulling out his wand and moving to join Maxine, getting there just in time to deflect a jinx meant for her. Watching her, however, he saw her expression grow irritated as she barely acknowledged him. And, as the three of them worked together and pushed back the golden twins satisfyingly among the chaos as Silvers attempted to stop them and the crowd tried to clear to get away from the duellers, she never stopped looking at him outside of the corner of her eye, the looks always irritated, annoyed - as if he was distracting her. Stefan noticed these intently, and not able to bear it any longer as the two of them get disjointed in their duelling despite handling it with ease, now in the entrance hall, he finally commented as Maxine hit Ava with a particularly disgusting pimple jinx.

"Good going, Max." He said, sending the same spell towards Avery, though he deflected it. 

"I can handle it, Stefan!" Suddenly she turned on him, the duel pausing. "Just go! I don't need you here!"

Stefan looked at her, face growing sober. He deflected a jinx sent by Avery with ease then let his arm flop to his side. "Right." He looked at her with hard, unforgiving eyes, then moved stiffly to walk away. Behind him, he heard Maxine attempt to say something, but then, drawn back to the duel, turned away, leaving him to walk down the corridor silently. For a few seconds, all Stefan seemed to hear was the sound of his footsteps on the hard stone floor, despite the noise created by the crowd of students following the duellers. And then, turning back to view the scene, he heard nothing. He simply saw the grins on Maxine and Theon's faces as they turned to each other and high fived as Avery and Ava both went down as a result of their stunners, then the slight smile the two exchanged as Theon looked at her with warmth and Maxine returned that feeling with a soft smile. He saw his loyalty drift away and hurt swell within him as he turned to go.

There was no place for him by Maxine's side anymore. And he would not try to make one there.