New story Yay! The product of a boring science lesson ;D Thanks once again to Nightsand for editing for me, her input is amazingly helpful.
Disclaimer - Everybody knows what happens here I say I don't own Harry Potter and then cry a little, because I'm not that awesome.
Once upon a time, there lived a fair young lady, whose hair was as pale as snow and her eyes glowed with the colour of the sky. She was known throughout the land as the most beautiful woman that you could ever have the luck of meeting. She lived in the mountains, all alone in a valley that was said to rival the king's castles in beauty. Tall spires reach to the sky, rope passageways sling from one to another, swaying in the breeze. Many brave and handsome men had travelled to her valley in search of her affection. None ever returned the same, if at all. When a suitor returns from the mountain he remains distant from his fellow humans. They never speak of what happened whilst they were away and none survives more than a few days after their return to civilisation. Over the years the people of the surrounding towns and villages saw more and more brave knights go their thoughtless way. Rumours began to spread that there was in fact no beauty living in the mountains, but a beast that lures men to their untimely deaths.
One dark night when the villagers drew their curtains against the lurking unknown, someone new came to call. Only one place in the town was lit. The tavern opened its doors to all those that lived alone in the woods for food, a drink or just the safety and warmth of humanity. Whispers flew around the room, that morning another man had died. Everyone present had seen their share of death, often at the hands of the unknown mistress of the mountain. They'd all seen it before but every time they would gather anew to worry away at the topic.
"They say that it poisons those who try to slay it..."
"I heard that it's really a siren..."
Did you hear? Another one died the other day, down in Georgshire."
Suddenly the door swung open. Silence fell over the bar as all eyes turned to the entrance. A tall man stood there his face shrouded in the shadow of his dark cloak. The man paused on the threshold and pushed back the hood. Hair as black as ravens feathers fell around his pale face. He was slim and would have looked delicate but for the air of power and command that surrounded him. The villagers hurried to make way for him as he walked towards the bar. He told them that he was called Falco and that he intended to travel to the mountains to find and rescue the lady of myth. Men and women warned him against his quest telling him that to travel to that mountain was suicide. He would not listen. Falco left the very next morning. The people of the village watched him leave from their windows.
"There goes another good man to his death," sighed the baker.
The tanner's wife agreed, for how could this man who had not the bearing of the knights succeed where they had failed.
He doesn't even have a horse! They thought, for their mysterious visitor left on foot.
He continued that way until he was safely away from the prying eyes of the villagers. As soon as they could no longer see him he reached into his cloak and removed a broom. Falco smiled as he ran his hand along the smooth length of wood. He knew that if the villagers were to see him now they would think him mad but he didn't mind, they were only muggles after all, and if they knew what he truly was they would not call him a man.
The wizard shot into the sky. For many nights and days he flew. Through scorching heat and freezing rain he kept flying, his eyes set on the distant peak that marked his goal.
One day after an early start before dawn the air in front of him became a stone wall. He swerved away but his side hit the rocks and his broom was knocked from under him. Falco reached out and caught hold of a vine, it ripped away from the wall before it stuck and yanked him to a sudden stop.
"Accio broom," he muttered. His broom, which had fallen to the ground, sped to his hand. He remounted and descended to the ground.
Once his feet were again on solid ground he looked back up at the stone wall that now rose far above his head. Falco was sure that if he were to try and fly over it he would meet an invisible ward. Falco glared up at the stones and slung his broom over his shoulder. His glare turned to a grin.
"Okay princess, you'd like me to stay out?" His grin widened as the wind tore at his clothes. "Fine I'll walk."
The wizard strode confidently under the arch that was the only break in the wall.
Far away in her tower a woman with white blond hair and blue eyes, broke her trance. She looked out across her valley to where her first line of defences stood. A small smile flickered across her face as she remembered the look on his face after he'd fallen down her wall. She drifted around her room preparing everything that she'd need for a fight.
Falco climbed over the edge of the cliff he'd just scaled. He pushed himself to his feet and shot a glare at the tower he could see in the distance. His clothes were getting dirty and dirty clothes are not something that a person of his breeding tolerates. Late that day Falco reached the base of the first tower. There was light coming from the windows that broke the stone wall far above his head. Falco walked around the towers walls. There was no door, just a tangle of Devils Snare that wound its way around the base of the tower. A quick check told him that all the towers were the same; no doors only messes of Devils Snare. He frowned at the plant and with a sigh walked into its embrace. The vines tightened on his body. Falco struggled not to fight against it as it pulled him backwards. Slowly more and more vines blocked his view of the sky.
After many moments he was pushed out of the plant into a dim room. It was lit only by torches set in alcoves in the wall. Stairs rose from one wall of the circular room up and around to the roof and beyond. There was nothing else in the room. Falco drew his wand and started up the stairs. Each room he passed was as empty as the last. Finally he came to the end of the stairs. He had emerged in a room almost identical to the last, except this one had five doors that led to rope bridges. He walked to the middle one and looked out. There were five more towers.
The one in which he stood was one of five forming a circle around the tallest and most magnificent of them all. Between the towers swung a mess of rope bridges. Each tower had one connecting it to all the others. The result was a web of fragile walkways.
Falco stepped onto the middle bridge, which led to the tallest tower. Its windows glowed brighter against the twilight sky than all the others put together. The bridge dipped and swayed under him as he made his way. With each step that Falco took the air grew colder until he was shivering under his heavy wool cloak. He wondered how any of the Muggle knights had managed to make it even this far. He suspected that whoever guarded the tower was making it extra hard for him because he knew magic, mostly because he would never accept the thought that a Muggle could do better than him.
When he finally stepped into the tower, its sudden warmth left Falco gasping, outside he'd been nearly a wizard Popsicle now the warmth was like little pins in his skin. He scanned the room for any danger but all that was there was an intricate gold ladder that stood under a trapdoor in the centre of the room.
He stepped closer and noticed that one side of the ladder was braided in thorns and the other in flowers at full bloom. He placed his hands on the rungs where the thorns tangled with the roses and once more began to climb.
He lifted the trapdoor that blocked his way. Light spilled through, blinding him for a few seconds. Beyond the trapdoor lay a chamber of light and warmth. Shelves along one wall held all sorts of potion ingredients and different cauldrons. Near another, books were stacked on top of each other until they reached the ceiling. In the last section stood a bed with flowing curtains that rippled like mist in some unseen draft. Fit for a princess, Falco thought. Beside the bed was a tall window. And silhouetted against the setting sun was what he's travelled all this way to find.
The woman at the window turned at the sound of his footsteps.
"You've travelled a long way Malfoy."
Falco Malfoy smirked as he watched the silhouette of Lamia Black.
"I hope it'll be worth all that effort."
Lamia stepped away from the window. Falco caught his breath as she moved into the light. Her hair fell to her waist in a snowy waterfall. Her eyes were the same as he remembered. She was wearing a dress that was such a dark burgundy it was almost black, it fitted smoothly around her torso until her waist where it fell to the floor in a smooth puddle. Falco couldn't help but stare, Lamia had grown into herself in the years since he'd seen her. Back then she'd been a slightly awkward child of eleven now she was a graceful and beautiful young woman.
"I hope you understand I'm trapped here" Lamia was trying hard to remain calm. It had been easy with the muggle knights to watch as their memories were stolen in front of her; already she knew it would not be that way this time. She had made herself ready, she'd gathered everything she could that might help get Falco out alive and with his memory intact. Then he smiled, it was just a slight lift of his lips but it made her heart lurch, he'd smiled so rarely when she knew him and even less often had it seemed genuine as it did now.
"I never doubted that you were." Lamia paused, if he knew she was trapped then why would he come here?
"Are you mad? You come all this way to tell me that you know I'm stuck."
"No I came to get you out."
Lamia Black turned sharply back to the window, her skirts swirled around her like a disturbed pond.
"You're a fool Malfoy." She was gripping the sill like it was her hold on life. She stiffened as he came to stand beside her. "Even if you could break me out, what if I didn't want to go? What if I was happy here? What then?" Her voice shook slightly as she asked.
"Then I would leave. If you truly didn't want to come then I would leave without you."
They stood in silence. Falco watched the sun setting as Lamia watched him. He'd changed since they were children. She'd known that already, her magic had let her watch him from the moment he'd crossed the border to her valley. He was taller than her, so her eyes were only level with his chin. His face had grown up, the slight roundness that had been there before was gone. His face was angular but somehow still elegant. His eyes were as grey as she remembered. He was slim but the wiry muscles of a Quidditch still wound their way around his body. He hadn't just changed physically though, he was more determined than he had been when they were young and now he seemed to have purpose.
He spun to face her; there was a slightly frantic look in his eyes.
"You're not happy are you!?" She didn't answer, "You do want to leave... Don't you?"
She looked away from him and out the window, "I wish I could." She whispered
"Good." He joined her, watching as the sky turned from purple to blue. "That's good as long as you want to leave we'll find a way out."
She shook her head. "You don't understand. Watch there."
She pointed to the bridges. They were beginning to glow. The bridges that went around they centre tower were lighting up as though they were on fire. They cast strange distorted shadows on the ground. Falco watched and before long all that was visible was the fiery lines against the dark.
Lamia was watching him closely. Her eyes searching for any change in his expression but there was nothing beyond mild confusion.
"You still don't see do you."
She turned away and walked to the centre of the room. Falco watched her go noting the grace with which she moved and the pride in the set of her shoulders. Even after years of imprisonment she still walked like a pureblood. She removed her wand from her sleeve and murmured a spell. The stone above her head shuddered and began to descend towards her. Falco rushed forward fearing that she would be crushed, but she stood calmly where she was. Within a few seconds she was standing at the foot of a tightly winding set of stairs. She smiled over her shoulder at his surprised expression and began to climb.
"Follow me." He did as he was told. She led him to a room without walls. The view of the surrounding landscape was interrupted only here and there by pillars that held up the roof. He turned in a circle taking in the mountains and the night sky.
"Now look," Falco was confused but turned his attention to the bridges and gaped. He saw now what he hadn't been able to out of the small window - a pentagram of fire. He strode around, looking at it from every angle but no matter which way he faced it was the same. Each bridge was a burning line joining with the others to form a giant pentagram. It was enclosed by the bridges around the edges. None of the bridges that joined the middle tower were burning. Falco cursed his inability to see the pattern before now. They were trapped in the centre of a burning field of magic. He cursed softly. All through this Lamia stood and watched him silently. Falco stopped his pacing and looked out over the valley silently.
"Don't worry Lam, we'll get out, it might just take a little longer than I expected." He turned back to her, he looked so determined that for second Lamia almost believed they would make it no matter what.
"Why?"
"Why what?" He looked stunned.
"Why did you come for me?"
Understanding spread across his face. "Because I couldn't accept that you were gone," he spoke quietly. "You had always been there, at parties, on Christmas, my birthday, you were always there. And then you weren't. Everyone seemed to let you go without a fight; I know now that they didn't, but when you're twelve and your best friend's disappeared it seems that way. Eventually everyone moved on but I couldn't do that." His eyes were glued to hers. "Throughout school I kept reading about anything that could help me find you. I studied harder than anyone ever expected to, of course I still got into nearly as much trouble as they thought I would. But you were always there, a ghost hovering over my shoulder, urging me to try harder, to find the answers so that one day I'd be able to bring you back to everyone. To have you back a real living breathing person, not the ghost that had been there so long. My one wish was for you to stand by my side and we'd face the world together, just like we always had before. Maybe it was a stupid dream, but I never let it go.
Her eyes were wide as she stared into his. Falco felt his face heating slightly but he held her gaze; Malfoy's do not back down.
He stepped closer to her and took her hand, it felt like a block of ice. He pulled her back towards the stairs. He could feel her eyes on the back of his head. He tried to ignore it but he could feel his heart speeding up. Falco stepped back into the warmth and let go of Lamia's hand.
"I thought that you had all forgotten me." She spoke quietly but Falco stopped abruptly halfway across the room. "In the first few months I kept waiting for someone to come and rescue me. No one ever did though."
"I..." Falco didn't know what to say.
"Don't worry," Lamia smiled weakly, "It wasn't that bad I had plenty of books and all the resources I could ever wish for, the only thing that was really bad was when the muggle knights would come. I don't really know how it works but they turn up then they'll just collapse, sometime they die right there, other times they'll get up and stare at me. Then they just turn around and leave." She glanced out the window, as if searching for all the lost knights. "Anyway I stopped waiting years ago, but I would like to know how you found me."
"I just kept moving, I've travelled all over the place listening for anything that would lead me to you." He was still watching her warily, "I tracked down every lead and until now nothing really solid had come up."
"Thank you." They smiled at each other.
The rest of their evening was spent eating, talking and looking in the small library for anything that might hold information that might help them.
The lights were burning low and they'd been flicking through the books and manuscripts for hours when Lamia began to yawn. Falco looked up from his books; she was covering her mouth delicately with one hand.
"You should sleep."
She nodded "What about you?"
"I'll stay a while."Lamia yawned and drifted off towards the bed. She conjured a screen and disappeared behind it to get changed. She'd changed so much but was still so familiar. The light fell further and Falco turned to see Lamia lying on the bed. She'd doused the lights around her but moonlight drifted through the open window. The light curtains floated around her; her hair was spread around her head. She looked like a fairytale princess now, awake she had been vibrant and alive, now she was like a princess trapped in her sleep waiting for a hero to rescue her. He watched her chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm. All through the last seven years he'd been set on being that prince. It had become an obsession; to find the one thing that everyone thought was truly lost, but now that he had found her he wasn't quite sure what to do.
Get her out of here, that's what you do. He turned his attention back to the books. His eyes were starting to ache and he found himself staring at one page for five minutes without taking any of it in. He sighed, rubbed his eyes and looked again.
Pentagrams can trap a being within it; its power is usually used on malicious spirits. The being that is trapped cannot break the pentagrams power, but outsiders can move freely through it. The design can only be broken by one outside its power.
Falco blinked, that was just what he needed to know. If he damaged the image of the pentagram then Lamia would be free. But ho could he do that? He hurried to the window and looked out on the burning lines. He guessed that magic would not damage them as they burned with their own. An idea came to him.
"Lam, Lamia wake up." He shook her lightly.
Lamia opened her eyes, and blinked in surprise, the prince out of her dream was standing over her. His black hair was falling around his face his grey eyes were looking into hers. His face, lit by the moonlight was excited and tender. She knew that if there was anyone else in the room that the emotion would be gone in a flash replaced by a mask as cool and smooth as glass. I must still be dreaming she thought.
"Lamia, do you have any weapons in here?" No, not dreaming.
"Ah... yes. There's a sword... somewhere, I'll show you." His hands were still on her shoulders, they were large and warm and messing with her brain.
"Good," he moved away. She'd looked so beautiful and peaceful as she'd woken up. He couldn't help think of what would happen if they got out of here. Would everything go back to how it was before? Or would there be a chance for something new? Falco tried to suppress the flare of hope and longing that rose inside him at the thought. First they had to make it out alive.
Lamia was digging through the contents of a heavily laden shelf. With a triumphant yell she retrieved the sword. She handed it to Falco.
"Perfect" he said softly. The sword had a long sharp blade, the cross guard was wound around with a snake. The base of the hilt was a large, green stone. "Let's go he turned and strode to the trapdoor.
"What are we doing exactly?" Lamia asked, Falco grinned.
"The pentagram isn't designed to trap me, and it only had power over you as long as it's whole. So we go out there I chop down one of the bridges and then we make our escape."
He grinned wider and pulled up the trapdoor, Lamia stared at him in amazement. Could it really be that simple?
Falco started down the ladder. Lamia went to follow him. A searing pain tore up her right arm, she screamed and jerked backwards. She lay on the floor clutching her hand to her chest. Then Falco was there prising her fingers open. There was an ugly red burn across her hand. He stared at it dumbly for a few seconds before whipping out his wand to apply cooling and healing charms. He pulled her into his arms and rocked her gently.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I should have thought, of course it won't let you out of the tower."
"It's okay, just break it, break it then we'll know if I'm free and if I am this won't matter at all."
She pulled away and looked into his eyes, her calm gaze soothed his nerves. He nodded slightly, leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to her forehead. Then he was gone.
Lamia looked out the window to the dark sky and silently prayed that everything would go to plan.
Falco stepped out into the chilly air, the cold this time was natural but there was still a predawn chill in the air. It was still dark outside but he knew it wouldn't be long till dawn.
He looked back to the tower, the windows were almost as black as the surrounding sky. He turned back to his work, promising himself that he'd save Lamia no matter what else happened he had to save her. He kept walking to the closest bridge. They'd been so close when they were kids. He'd found out since that their parents had meant to marry them, but then it had been too late. Now they were looking for some other eligible pureblood girl for him. Falco sighed as he remembered all warm summers when they would practice magic on the lawns of the Malfoy manor or winter storms when Lamia would read and he'd pester her to do something interesting. It had been terrible when she'd first been gone. He'd look around to tell her something only to remember she wasn't there. At some point he'd realised that where ever she went she took a piece of him with her. You can't love someone that much when you're eleven only to forget when they're taken from you.
Falco shook himself out of his reverie and examined the burning rope and wood in front of him. It was a narrow bridge, he lifted the sword and brought it down. It severed the bridge, for a second it seemed that it broke the magic too. The fire rushed away from the broken section. But then it all came flooding back. Falco watched, frozen with horror as it poured out of the break and into the sky. He dropped to the wood as it raced over his head. He felt the heat singeing the hair on the arm that he'd thrown over his head.
Then he was running, running back to the tower. He saw the flame enter through the window. Seconds later all the walls burst outwards. Glowing bricks and burning wood fell around him but he kept running. He realised that getting to the ladder would be impossible. He whipped his broom out of the pocket with an undetectable extension charm and jumped off the bridge.
He fell for only a second then he was flying straight for the top of the tower where the flames still blazed. A small gap appeared in the wall of fire just big enough for Falco to speed through.
The scene beyond nearly stopped his heart. Lamia was on the ground but she wasn't dead. Not yet. Somehow she had managed o shield herself. Her eyes met his and she lowered her wand. The fire rushed in but Falco got there first. He pulled her onto the broom behind him then shot into the sky. The flames followed, Falco heard them roaring just behind them. He veered back towards the gap he'd made in the pentagram. He pulled his wand.
"Reparo!"
Light shot from his wand. It hit the bridge just as they flew over it. Ropes snapped back into position and planks repaired themselves. The fire hit an invisible wall. It spread to either side it roared into the sky then vanished, the walls and bridges started to crumbling. They fell into themselves and soon were nothing but rubble.
Lamina watched all this over her shoulder as Falco kept flying as fast and far as he could. Lamia squeezed his waist. "You can stop now."
He shuddered and nearly crashed into the side of the next mountain. As soon as he was off the broom he whipped around and held Lamia at arm's length.
"Are you hurt?"
She smiled "I'm fine"
"What about your hand?"
She showed him, he took it in his and ran his fingers across his palm. It still looked red but the healing charms had done their work and it now looked a few days old.
He met her eyes. "You were magnificent," The hand that wasn't holding her hand reached up and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Absolutely magnificent."
And he kissed her. Light exploded around them. His arms held her close in a silent promise that he'd never let her go.
As the rising sun spread warmth and golden light over the mountains Falco Malfoy and Lamia Black began a new life, together. A life where no one would stand between them and their love would last forever. And they lived happily ever after.
So I hope you all enjoyed that. Please review :)
Next science lesson=crackfic!