Author's Note:
I just continue to ask that you leave reviews if you are interested in the story at all. Just tell me your thoughts on what's going on. Criticism is welcomed, and encouraged.
~ThaniMag
Chapter 8: Pandemonium
Ginny was suddenly struck with an epiphany as she sat working in her office. She needed to ask Natalie if she knew which book Zabini had stolen, and if she did, why he might have stolen that particular one.
A few minutes later, Ginny's head appeared, floating in the marble fireplace of the main sitting room at Malfoy manor. Natalie sat reclining on the coach, reading the Daily Prophet.
She looked up as Ginny's head appeared. "Why hello again, Ginevra. To what do I owe the pleasure of a second visit?"
"I beg your pardon for intruding again, Natalie."
"Not at all. What can I help you with?"
"I was wondering if you could pinpoint which book it was that Zabini stole from you?"
"Yes, of course. In fact I've already done just that. It's called The Founders: Before and After Hogwarts."
"Do you know any reason why they might want that particular book? Is there highly valued information in there or something?" Come to think of it, thought Ginny, all the other stolen books were also about the Founders or their history.
"No, I'm sorry. But Draco probably could."
"Okay. Thank you for your time, Natalie."
"Sure."
Ginny pulled back out of the fireplace, and into her office. Rising to her feet she went to her desk and hastily wrote a note to Draco, asking him to contact her as soon as possible. She then went over to where Harry's faithful old owl, Hedwig, sat on her perch, and tied the note to her leg. Going to the window, she slid it open, and watched as Hedwig soared into the distance, becoming a smaller and smaller dot on the horizon.
***
A knock sounded on the door. Lily rose and opened it, letting Hermione into the room. "Oh good, you're here too, Scorpius. It's time to head over to the fight club—we want to make sure we don't miss Albus."
Scorpius and Zoë stood up simultaneously. "Good, let's get going then," said Scorpius excitedly. It was roughly 4:00 P.M., and after hanging out in the girl's room, not doing much but talking for the last couple of hours, Scorpius was ready to head out.
Five minutes later, Scorpius, Draco, Zoë, Lily, Hermione, and Bill all stood in the lobby, ready to go.
They headed out single file, with Draco leading the way. No one felt much like talking. They arrived at the fight club about fifteen minutes later, though there was nothing really special to mark the spot, seeing as the door would only materialize if you had the password.
The wall of the fight club was relatively short, being only about twelve feet tall. Draco suggested they sit on the roof and wait. Giving each other helpful boosts when they were needed, one by one they each managed to scramble up.
The roof was flat and empty except for a large water tank. The roof was enclosed on all sides by a three foot wall, or ledge, to prevent people from just walking off by accident.
Draco paced the roof impatiently, waiting for the time to pass. Hermione sat on the ledge by herself, lost deep in thought, while Bill, Lily, Zoë, and Scorpius sat side by side, with their feet dangling over the edge.
The sun slowly moved down towards the horizon as they sat and waited for Albus to show up. Zoë turned and looked at Scorpius. The setting sun lit his blonde hair to a fiery-gold halo that circled his head. His face was thoughtful and he was deep in thought.
As he stared at the sun sinking towards the earth, he looked lonely, like Zoë felt. Zoë wondered if Scorpius could be the friend she ached so badly to have, but she was also scared she would get hurt if she opened up to someone.
Scorpius turned his head and looked at her. Zoë immediately blushed and looked away, realizing she had been staring at him.
The young wizard looked at her curiously. She seemed like she wanted a friend, yet she seemed to cut herself off from other people's attempts at friendship.
"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Zoë looked up in surprise as he spoke.
"I guess…"
"Why did you agree to come along with Red?" Scorpius indicated Lily.
"Albus is my second cousin—he's related to me, and Lily asked me to come."
"Oh come on, I know neither of those things are the reason you're here. Tell me the truth."
"I don't know what you're talking about." She pointedly looked away from him.
"Don't give me that junk. Come on, what's the real reason?"
"You just found out I existed earlier today. How can you say why I would or wouldn't do something?" Zoë fired at him in anger.
Scorpius was slightly taken aback, and a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry, you're right. I don't know you well enough. I guess it's just that what little I've gotten to know you today didn't seem to fit with those reasons."
Zoë's anger vanished like a candle suddenly going out. It was her turn to look slightly embarrassed. "You're right though, those weren't the real reasons I came."
Scorpius quickly jumped in, "wait, you don't have to tell me. It's none of my business."
"No," Zoë spoke hastily, "It's no big deal really, I'll tell you." She turned and looked at the sun that was now very close to the horizon. "The real reason I came is frighteningly close to Albus'. I wanted to get away from Hogwarts." Surprisingly enough, Scorpius did not seem to find this piece of information that enlightening.
"With all that you said earlier, I'm not really surprised that you would want to get away from Hogwarts."
Zoë continued on, "You already know that I'm not happy being a witch. I hate going to Hogwarts every year, but my parents always make me. When Lily asked for my help, I saw it as a chance to get away from Hogwarts for a day or two. I saw it as an escape from that horrible repetition of my every day life at school."
"Yeah, like I said before, it doesn't really surprise me that you'd want to get away. What I don't understand is why you don't like going to Hogwarts in the first place; why you don't like being a witch."
Zoë sighed, "Well, I grew up not knowing about the wizarding world. I was a Muggle, and I was perfectly happy being a Muggle. When I found out about wizards, well, honestly, I thought it was rather abnormal. No mere human should be able to do what we can do."
Scorpius shrugged, "but we aren't abnormal, we're just, different. As for no mere human being able to do what we can do, I've never been able to think of a solid answer for that. I just assume that we're given these abilities so we can choose to use them for evil, or for good."
"I've never really thought about it like that…but that isn't the only reason I'm not happy about being a witch. Before I found out I was a witch, I was home schooled. I was use to seeing my family all the time. Once I went to Hogwarts, I haven't been able to see them at all except for holidays. That's been the toughest thing on me."
"I'm sorry about that; there isn't much anyone can do about that problem."
The sun was more than halfway concealed by the horizon now, and the sky was slowly getting darker and darker.
"Aunt 'Mione?" Lily's voice broke the silence that had fallen.
"Yes Lily?" asked Hermione as she turned to face Lily, who had twisted so that she could look at Hermione.
"What's the plan once, and if, Albus shows up?"
"We convince him to come back to England."
"What if he won't be convinced?"
"I don't know then, I just don't know…"
The last bit of the sun suddenly vanished beneath the lip of the earth, leaving a darkened sky.
They waited in the renewed silence for another hour, the sky darkening further all the while. Suddenly, Bill spoke out in a low voice that was practically a whisper. "There he is."
Sure enough, walking down the road towards the fight club, and the wall where they sat, came Albus. His emerald eyes were alight with excitement, and a smile filled his features.
As he neared the alley wall, Hermione leapt from the top of the wall and landed lightly on her feet in front of Albus.
The smile instantly disappeared from Albus' face, and he took on a defensive stance. "What are you doing here Aunt 'Mione?" His voice was almost a growl in his throat.
"I've come to tell you to come back to England, Al."
He laughed bitterly. "Fat chance. Like I'm planning on going back anytime soon."
Zoë, Lily, Bill and Draco all landed lightly behind Hermione. Albus' eyes widened in surprise, and then narrowed as he calculated what to do. He quickly drew his wand out.
"Why are there so many of you?" He asked angrily.
"Because there are lots of people that care about you Al." Lily stepped forwards anxiously as she spoke. "Al, please, come back with us."
"Get back Lily!" Albus waved his wand threateningly.
Lily's eyes widened, hurt. She stopped where she was.
"How did you guys manage to find me?!"
Scorpius chose this moment to reveal himself. He leapt down and stepped forward, placing himself in front of the others. "With my help."
Albus eyes sparked. "After I let you go without hurting you! Blimey, you punk…"
"Potter, come back, let us show you what makes life worth living. You just need help, and we can help you."
"No one, least of all you, can help me!"
Albus strode forward angrily, throwing Scorpius, and then Lily, out of his way. He tapped the bricks in the wall, revealing the wooden door. He hastily muttered the password and the door swung inward.
He turned and looked angrily at them. "I won't come back, not now, and hopefully not ever. Don't any of you try to come after me again!" He slammed the door in their faces.
Outside, Scorpius pounded his fist angrily on the door. "Let us in right now! This is an emergency! Come on!" All his efforts were fruitless, and eventually he gave up.
"What are we going to do now?" asked Lily in despair.
"I don't know... Maybe we should have stopped him by force," said Hermione.
"No," Billy spoke up, "taking him back to England by force would have been no good. He'd just run away and escape again. The only way he'll go back and stay in England is if he decides to himself."
"There must be something we can do?" Lily was desperate.
"I don't know if there is." Hermione shook her head rather dolefully.
They turned and walked to the end of the street. Just as they turned on to the next street, they heard a loud explosion and a yell of pain that was abruptly cut off. They tore back around the corner just in time to see the end of a black robe whip through the doorway leading into the fight club.
Scorpius drew his wand and sprinted toward the fight club, with Lily hard on his heels. "Scorpius, wait! It's dangerous!" yelled Draco.
"Lily, come back!" Hermione half screamed.
Scorpius just kept running, but Lily hesitated and looked back, but then continued after Scorpius.
Hermione ran after Lily, followed by the rest of the group.
When they got to the entrance of the fight club they found Lily and Scorpius standing on the splintered remains of what had been the door. In front of them, lying on the floor of the narrow corridor was the large blonde man who had been the doorman. He was dead.
Zoe gasped in horror. Lily already had her hand over her mouth and was looking shook to the bone. Scorpius' jaw was clenched.
Draco made to grab for Scorpius' arm to hold him back, but Scorpius saw it coming and managed to jump further down the hall, avoiding his dad's attempts at restraining him.
"Scorpius, this is too dangerous for you, let me and Bill go in." Draco tried to reason with his son.
"No, sorry dad." Scorpius turned and started walking down the hall, slowly, to make as little noise as possible.
Draco came after him, followed by Bill, as Hermione tried to comfort Lily and Zoë.
Suddenly there was a large bang from further inside the fight club. There were screams, followed by more bangs.
Scorpius was almost knocked off his feet as some people came charging by, desperately trying to get out.
Scorpius, Draco and Bill fought against the wave of people and finally managed to get into the main room of the fight club.
As the two Malfoys and Bill broke out into the large room, they stared in amazement at what lay before them. Bodies surged left and right as tables overturned and explosions fired off all over the place. It was complete pandemonium.
***
After Albus had entered the fight club and left his family and the others standing outside, he had gone into the large room and found a seat. He had barely seated himself before he heard an explosion from the entrance to the room.
He turned, along with the rest of the people in the crowded room, to see a score of cloaked and hooded figures enter the room. They had stood in a semi-circle around the entrance with their backs facing it. Silence had fallen across the room. One of the figures had amplified his voice and yelled out: "Rasputin! We have finally tracked you down; we wish from you a magical object which you have possessed for many years. If you will not hand it over willingly, we will kill you and take it from your body!"
Albus had immediately looked around for who this Rasputin could be. A man had risen from his seat and leapt on top of a table. He was tall, probably about six feet and a half. He was a large man, not fat, just big all around, with heavy, thickset shoulders and muscular arms. His hair was dark and stood on end and went out in all directions. He had a large, thick black beard.
He wore a long dark trench coat, which was unbuttoned all the way, which was worn and patchy with many dark stains on it. Under the trench coat he wore plain black pants, but no shoes and no shirt, revealing rather massive feet, and leaving his muscular chest completely exposed.
A dark, mysterious aura seemed to emanate from him. The air around him seemed to shimmer with faint wisps of purple smoke. His eyes were a burning topaz that seemed to burn you to the core.
He had grinned manically. The grin, with the combination of his appearance, made him seem both terrifying and insane at the same time.
He had spoken out in a deep, gravelly voice, which boomed across the room with authority. "I don't know who you little men think you are, but there's no way I'm givin' anything at all to you."
Without bothering to reply, the dark figures had surged across the room towards Rasputin, firing off spells and curses which bounced around the room causing explosions. The crowded room had erupted into chaos. People charged left and right, screaming. Some headed for the exit; others pulled out their wands and immediately lunged toward the black figures, eager for a fight.
Albus threw himself to the floor, uttering an oath as a spell shot over his head. He pulled out his wand and looked around. He couldn't see much because of all the people running back and forth, but he managed to catch a glimpse of Draco, Scorpius and Bill by the entrance.
He turned his back on them and looked for Rasputin. He found him, laughing as he swung his wand back and forth, sending anyone who came near him, cloaked figure or not, flying up and away.
Albus leapt to the side as one such person came hurtling by and crashed into a table near him.
Albus watched as one of the cloaked figures managed to hit Rasputin with a spell. The large man went shooting backwards off the table and crashed into the wall so hard he actually broke into it, creating a silhouette of his body.
Rasputin looked somewhat surprised at this, though not exactly injured. He pulled himself out of the wall as the cloaked figure who'd sent him flying shot some more spells at him.
He was more careful this time and made sure to block the hexes. He then performed a transfiguration spell on two of the tables near him. One second they were mere tables, and the next they were large snarling wolves. They were almost as big as small horses, or ponies, with slick black fur and huge, sharp fangs.
The two wolves leapt high into the air, seeming to hang there for a seconds as they started to spin. They span faster and faster until they were whirling black tornadoes. One of the wolves plummeted toward the cloaked figure who had managed to hit Rasputin, the other one flew towards a cluster of five of the other cloaked men.
The man who had sent Rasputin into the wall sent the wolf that was spinning towards him flying to the side and into a table with a sweep of his wand. The spinning wolf ripped straight through the table and crashed into the floor. It stopped spinning but fell onto its side due to the blow it had taken to its head when it hit the floor.
Three of the five men dove to the side as the second wolf came spinning towards them, but the other two stood their ground and shot spells at the wolf. The spells were sent spinning away as they connected with the wolf. The men realized this and turned to run, but were too late. The wolf connected with both of them and tore their bodies to shreds with the mere speed of his spinning.
The wolf stopped spinning and landed on his feet as behind the two men he had torn through. He turned and launched himself after the remaining three men. This time he wasn't spinning, he was just chasing on all fours with his fangs ready to tear.
Rasputin was standing across from the man who had blasted him into the wall. They both stood with wands outstretched. "I deserve to see the face of the man I am dueling," growled Rasputin.
The man lifted his hands to his hood and threw it back, revealing his face. There stood Blaise Zabini.
"Any last words, pale face?" roared Rasputin.
"The only one of us who will be dying here is you!"
They both pulled their wands back and launched a spell zipping at their opponent's chest.
