Chapter Text
Dolly Wardwell knew that she was born with very little patience. Her parents had told her that even as a toddler, she would roll her eyes at long winded conversations and could not possibly sit through a Quidditch match on the radio for more than ten minutes- and she liked the sport. Her mum even said Dolly couldn’t wait to be born, and came out before her mother had even had time to push. Dolly simply did not feel the need to pretend to enjoy things in life when there were actual things in life that she enjoyed.
Dolly Wardwell’s patience did not get any thicker by the time she turned seventeen. She had next to no patience at all, in fact, as she watched that little shit named Draco Malfoy pick on a shy and cowering Gryffindor boy.
The three bullies made their way through the grounds, heading toward the Greenhouse. Neville, Dolly thought, that was the boy’s name. He was clutching his textbooks to his chest, trying his hardest to push through the two big buffoons that constantly flanked Malfoy’s side and acted as his personal security.
Dolly sat atop one of the stone pillars beside the bench where her friends were sitting. She thumbed the page of her textbook, peering over the top to where Malfoy had slammed his hand down on one of Neville’s books and sent it toppling to the ground. Dolly’s jaw tensed as Neville’s eyes averted to the ground, not even bothering to look around for help.
Dolly had very little patience, especially for assholes. Pushing herself off of the pillar, she landed roughly on her feet on the ground below. Her friends, Lia, Ashton, and Violet turned at the sound of her landing. Dolly barely noticed them, and she surely didn’t notice their faces fall when their gazes drifted from their friend to Draco Malfoy bullying a defenseless fifth year.
“Where’s mummy and daddy, Longbottom?” Draco laughed, trying to kick the book away from Neville as he bent to retrieve it. Neville was faster though, he snatched it back into his arms and tried to push through Crabbe and Goyle again. It was no use. “Do they often confuse you with the janitor? Not all there are they?”
Dolly had had enough. Gritting her teeth, she stormed forward and reached for the back of Malfoy’s robes. He hadn’t seen her coming, so she had leverage in her grasp. Balling her fist, Dolly pulled Malfoy backward, away from Neville. Draco lost his footing as he yelped in surprise. It was a cowardly cry, Dolly thought as she kept him upright. His eyes turned to hers with a fury.
“Unhand me!” He shouted. Dolly wondered if Malfoy had erroneously convinced himself that he was untouchable, with demands like that. “I don’t need Hufflepuff hands dirtying up my robes!”
“Nice,” Dolly snorted, rolling her eyes. She kept her grip on Malfoy tight, her eyes skimming the now-growing crowd to see that she had been successful. Crabbe and Goyle had left Neville alone to focus on her, and they were flanking fast. With her free hand, Dolly slipped her wand into her grasp and pressed it to Draco’s throat. “Now, what we aren’t going to is come any closer. What were your names again, Brainless Boy and Dickless Doug?”
The crowd around her laughed, she could hear Violet’s mighty cackle above them all. Crabbe and Goyle faltered, Goyle’s cheeks grew slightly rosy at the insult, but they were looking at Malfoy for further instruction. Unfortunately, Malfoy was a little tied up with a wand to his throat and a very impatient blonde deciding if a hex came from it or not.
“I see you’ve got a thing for public humiliation, Mr. Malfoy,” Dolly said loudly, ensuring the whole courtyard could hear her. Draco pulled back against her hold, but Dolly had a firm grip and she wasn’t letting him budge. “Why don’t we see how you like it, hm?”
“You’ve proved your point,” Draco muttered with a grunt. He hung from her grip quite pathetically, but wouldn’t look up to meet her eyes.
Dolly ignored him. Surely, she hadn’t. If he was already embarrassed, he was in for a rude awakening because what he had done to Neville had been abundantly worse and Dolly fully intended on feeding Draco a spoonful of his own medicine. It hadn’t been the first time that she had watched him be a cruel, miserable git, but she was hoping it would be the last.
“Longbottom,” she called outward, and Neville, who was frozen in place gaped up at her. He was caught between running for cover and helping the girl who had saved him. “I heard Draco mention your parents, is that right?”
“Ye-yes,” Neville said, and though Dolly wasn’t sure about the history of his parents, Neville’s tone had told her that he didn’t want to talk about it. Feeling instantly regretful for bringing it up with such a large audience, Dolly made a mental not to leave it alone.
“Grand,” she said, hoping Neville would scurry away now. He didn’t have to be a part of this, she only needed Draco. Her grip tightened and she pulled her fist backward, forcing Malfoy to look up in her direction. For such a tall boy, she was surely manhandling him as though she were the larger party. “Let’s talk about parents then, shall we Malfoy?”
Fred, George, and Lee were leaning against one of the stone walls across the corridor. They had been heading toward the Quidditch pitch when they caught wind of a tall girl with honey-coloured hair assaulting Draco Malfoy as though he weighed next to nothing.
“How are your parents, Malfoy?” she asked, and Draco sneered up at her like a toddler throwing a tantrum. “Or are they still under that pesky Imperius Curse that forced them to follow the dark lord? Did daddy wash the blood off of his hands before or after that curse was magically lifted all of those years ago?”
Fred, George, and Lee all slowly turned to look at each other, eyes wide and mouths agape. This girl had balls, big ones, and by the way Draco’s face immediately turned to the shade of a tomato, he hadn’t been expecting a wrath as big as the one she had unleashed.
“You better watch your mouth,” Draco warned, struggling against her grip again. He tried to push her off, but Dolly pressed her wand tighter to his throat.
“Or what?” she asked, craning her neck to meet him eye-to-eye. “You’ll run to daddy? Oh, well I’m sure he’d love to hear what a man you’ve been throughout this exchange.”
Draco’s nose scrunched up in disgust, his hatred seethed from his breath like poison. “Do you even have a father? Robes like that suggest you can’t afford much, single mother household, I presume? Is that where all of this feminist shit is coming from- standing up to a man-.”
“-Oh!” Dolly cried out, a laugh exploding from her throat. She sucked in a breath as the laughed echoed itself. “A man you say! Where? Behind you? In your robes, sucking your dick? Because I don’t see one.”
The laughter in the courtyard exploded. Dolly couldn’t lie, it fueled her fight. There was nothing she loved more than a bit of confrontation but an audience always made it that much more addicting, especially if they were rooting in her favour.
“I’d like you to apologize to Neville, Draco. Do that and i’ll unhand you and your lavish, hideous robes.”
Draco looked at her like she was mad, and to be fair- so did the rest of the courtyard. Fred, whose eyes hadn’t left the blonde girl in a hot minute, could not stop grinning in absolute bewilderment as she continued. Nothing phased her, not any insult that Draco threw at her, or the wands aimed at her head by Crabbe and Goyle. She was unstoppable. A force.
Draco, foolishly, spit at Dolly’s shoe.
Fred stiffened, and George looked at him sideways- as though he wanted to place a bet on what would happen next, but they didn’t get the time. Dolly, who took a quick second to glance at her shoe and take in what had happened, slowly turned to stare Draco in the face again.
“Wrong answer,” she snapped. Quickly, faster than Crabbe and Goyle could move, Dolly lifted her grip from Draco’s sweater to the back of his head. She dug her fingers into the silver locks and gripped it hard, lifting up her knee just as quickly as she thrust his head downward.
A sickening crack echoed through the courtyard as Draco’s nose connected with Dolly’s leg. A gasp sounded as Draco cried out in pain, and Dolly relented- letting him go. He fell to the ground in a heap of limbs, crying out as he clutched his face in pain, rolling from side to side.
Crabbe and Goyle, who were suddenly nervous, chose to lower their wands and rush to him instead of continuing their fight with Dolly. It was probably the smartest move, to be fair, Dolly hadn’t yet pocketed her wand.
Dolly raised her hand, stopping them in their tracks, and leaned down so that she was nearer to Malfoy’s ear.
“My apologies, Mr. Malfoy,” she said, her voice heeding more of a warning than any hint of apology. “I must have been under the Imperius Curse.”
Straightening out, Dolly flattened her cheap dress robes down at the breast. She slid her wand back into the pocket of her robes and turned, back toward her friends, who were smiling at her with a wicked sense of admiration. Dolly met their eyes, a grin tugging at the corner of her lips. She swiped her textbook off of the pillar and nodded to them.
“I’ll be in the dorms. It’s a little crowded out here.”
Without asking, the three girls stood to follow her. Ashton wrapped her hands tightly around Dolly’s arm, leaning into her as she giggled and relayed all of the best parts of that confrontation back to Dolly as though she hadn’t been there. The group of girls pushed through the crowd that had formed, heading back inside of the castle as though that incident hadn’t been one of thousands.
They passed a group of three boys, all of whom slowly turned with impressed stares to watch them go. Fred’s eyes followed the blonde until she disappeared, she looked familiar but he had never really known her, though he was quite certain that she was in his year and always sat near the back. He saw her now, all of her, and at this very moment in time, in his seventh year of school- he vowed that he would know her before the end of the year.
That, or he’d get a broken nose trying.