Chapter Ten
To say Draco was blindsided by Edward's confession would have been an understatement. Draco was rendered utterly speechless. His mind was spinning with thoughts.
Edward's vampire eyes were fixed on Draco in an unnerving sort of way. A few moments of silence lapsed between the two before Alice appeared out of seemingly no-where.
"We need to keep going." Edward said almost like nothing had happened and stood up.
"Wait." Draco finally responded.
Edward looked to the blond with anticipation.
"You are a selfish prick!" Draco yelled at the vampire before storming away in the opposite direction to where the car had been parked.
Edward followed the wizard and quickly caught up to him.
"Draco, I'm sorry. I know I've been selfish but we really have to keep going. We're all in danger and if we don't get to the museum in time, we're all going to die."
Draco stopped and looked to the vampire, "Ok," he conceded, "But I'm still pissed at you."
The two walked back to the car; Edward speeding ahead to open the door for Draco and Draco resenting the action. Alice was already in the driver's seat and once Draco had clipped his belt into place she pulled out onto the road and continued at vampire speed towards the museum.
The car was filled with dreadful silence and all Draco had to keep him company was Edward's confession cycling through his head, 'I love you, Draco Malfoy.'
No one any had ever said those words to Draco before, not his father, not his mother. Draco wasn't sure he even knew the meaning behind the word love.
Edward was probably expecting some kind of response from Draco other than insulting him but Draco didn't have a response to give. He didn't know if he loved Edward, or anybody for that matter. Hi didn't even know Edward well enough to call him a friend.
Draco had the sudden urge to talk to Jacob about this. Jacob was his closest friend and he sure would have something to say. In fact Draco could probably imagine the response the wolf boy would give him.
"Ew, that's disgusting Draco. He's dead."
Draco smiled at the thought.
"ETA one hour." Alice said, distracting Draco from his thoughts, "Let's go over the plan one last time."
後で
When they arrived at the museum the sun was just starting to set. The two vampires and the wizard made their way to the entrance of the small building. Alice was to wait outside whilst Edward and Draco were to find and acquire the magical item.
Just as the two stepped into the lobby Edward whispered to Draco, "Alice has just had a vision. The Vulturi know we're here. We have twenty minutes until they arrive."
The man at the desk spoke out to the two, "We close in twenty minutes." He said.
"That's fine." Edward replied easily, "We just need a quick look."
"It's this way." Draco said. He had felt the pull of the magic as soon as they had stepped through the door. It didn't take Draco long to find it. It was a staff, as tall as Draco was, it had been escribed with elegant depictions of North American nature and it gave of a deep purple aura.
"The staff." Draco told Edward, pointing to the item on display behind the glass.
"Ok." Edward replied and the two headed back to the entrance.
"That was quick." The man at the desk said as the two passed.
"Just needed to check a date for a history paper." Edward lied casually.
As soon as they were outside the three rushed back to the car. Alice ran round to the driver's seat and Edward opened the door for Draco to get into the back.
"I'll be back in a second." The vampire said, leaving the door open and vanishing. True to his word Edward appeared a moment later, staff in hand shortly followed by the loud shrill of an alarm from the museum.
Edward slipped into the back seat next to Draco, somehow elegantly fitting in the six food staff in as well, and Alice speed of.
As she turned onto the main road Alice said, "We have ten minutes. They have this area surrounded and they've made a barrier in the road."
Panic was starting to settle in. Draco tried his best to centre himself and then let his hand's wrap around the staff. He felt the magic burn through his veins. It was different to the magic he was used to; wilder and less controllable.
Draco ran through the curses to bring down the vampires in his mind a few times and just as he felt the magic start to settle in his limbs Alice brought the car to a screeching halt.
"This is it" she said ominously and got out of the car.
Draco too was about to open his own door when Edward asked him to wait. Draco turned towards the teenage vampire and was meet with icy lips pressed gently against his own warm chapped human lips.
Draco pulled away and Edward apologised, "Sorry," he said, "I couldn't go without at least a kiss."
Draco had never kissed before and he surly didn't want to die without the experience. He leaned back into Edward and their lips pressed together again.
Draco wasn't familiar with how to proceed but when Edwards's lips opened and his tongue began move across Draco's upper lip the wizard pated his own lips and his tongue met with Edwards.
Edward tasted the way he smelt, irresistible. And the way their tongues met sent sparks throughout Draco's body not unlike the way magic did.
The two broke apart and, Edward smiling and his amber eyes bright.
"I just didn't want to die without trying that at least once." Draco said by way of explanation and proceeded to get out of the car, the staff being much more of a hindrance to him that it was for Edward.
Draco looked about himself. Edward and Alice were standing a few meters in front of the car. To either side of them woodland stretched out for who knew how far. In the distance figures were slowly advancing, the vampires no doubt, at an unnecessarily slow speed.
Edward and Alice were talking, not to each other, but in what seemed to be, at least to Draco, as a one sided conversation. Draco realised that they must be talking to the advancing line of vampires, the distance no obstacle for their vampire hearing.
Edward turned to Draco and gave him a pointed look and Draco began to erect a ward that encircled himself, the car and the two vampires. As soon as he was complete he went to stand next to Edward.
Suddenly the line of vampires vanished and appeared again only a few meters ahead of the three. The unnatural action made Draco start and a shot of adrenalin filled his blood stream causing his heart to speed.
A few sniggers came from the line of vampires, perhaps thirty or so, in front of him.
Draco feels a cool hand wrap around his own and he looked down to see Edward's slender fingers entwined with his own, "I won't let anything harm you." the vampire said and Draco looked up to find his sincere eyes looking at him.
Edward gave a nod and Draco nodded back.
Edward turned back to the vampires, Aro stood at the front.
"We have broken no law." Edward began.
"Then why do you run?" Aro replied.
"Alice saw you coming for us, for my family. We ran for survival."
"That mortal that stands beside you. He knows what we are. You allowing this is against the law is it not?"
"He knew of our existence before we met." Edward argued.
"His kind always do." Aro spat.
"His kind?" Edward asked.
"Oh, don't play me the fool Edward Cullen. I saw you three disappear into thin air. You exposed us to a wizard. The one creature capable of destroying our kind. And worse than that, you are cavorting with it, letting it control you. You and your family must be destroyed for your own good. Even you my dear Alice." The last sentence was said with sadness.
Alice shot obscenity back at the vampire king but Aro merely laughed.
"We did not know what he was." Edward tried to defend his family, "Not even Carlisle had heard of wizards being real."
"I'm sorry Edward, but ignorance of a law does not defend the breaking of it.
Aro looked to one of the larger vampires in the group, "Bring me their heads?" he ordered.
Draco felt Edward tense beside him ready to fight. "Don't move." The blond warned him.
Draco moved to stand in front of the two vampires, "I won't let you hurt my friends." Draco said in a voice that sounded a lot braver than he felt.
Aro laughed. A high pitched sound that rattled Draco's bones. "What do you call a wizard without a wand?" he asked and waited for no reply, "Lunch."
The large vampire began to advance on Draco slowly. "I may not have a wand, but I'm still a wizard and I'm not defenceless." And then as quickly as he could manage Draco brought the staff into the air and holding it with both hands called, "tomare!" in a loud voice and brought the staff to the ground.
A wave of power, undoubtedly one only Draco could see, came from the staff and stuck the advancing vampire. The beastly creature froze as if he had turned to ice.
Draco quickly brought the staff around so that it was pointing directly at the creature and sent a curse, which as it hit the vampire in the chest shattered it into hundreds of fragments that spilt over onto the asphalt.
And with a final shout of "Moero!" the vampire fragments burst into flame and the vampire was reduced to ash all in a few seconds.
Through the flames Draco could see the disbelief on Aro's face which was quickly replaced by anger.
"Leave now and promise to never harm the Cullen family and you will live." Draco called over the roaring of the flames.
"Attack." Aro shrieked in response.
The first two vampires to hit the wards felt the shock of a lighting blot and were through back into the crowd of on-coming vampires. Draco was quick to fire the curse at each of them turning them into fragments, each of which caught fire as they fell to the already burning tarmac.
This caused the advancing line of vampires to stop in their tracks. As soon as those first two vampires hit the wards they had dissolved with the energy it took to stop the creatures but the other vampires were not aware of this so remain a cautions distance away from Draco.
Draco repeated his words from before, "Leave now and promise to never harm the Cullen family and I will let live." Draco said one again, this time not just aiming his words at Aro.
There was movement in the line of vampires as someone Draco recognized slipped to the front. Jane.
Draco brought the staff up to point as the tiny vampire but he was too late. "Pain." She said and Draco could feel every nerve in his body fire as if his skin was being peeled off. Draco drooped the staff in his agony and fell to the floor.
"No!" Edward's voice sounded distant in Draco's ears and then as suddenly as it had come the pain was gone.
Edward was the one on the floor now writhing in pain. Draco reached his arm out groping for the staff and as soon as his fingers touched the ancient wood he felt the strength of the magic in his veins once again. The blond shot to his feet in a moment, pointed the staff as the demon girl and cursed. "tokero." The red eyed vampire froze instantly into a statue of ice.
"Edward, now!" he called to the bronze haired vampire on the floor.
Edward was on his feet before Draco could see him move and one swift punch to Jane's torso saw here splinter and spill to the floor like shards of glass which joined the fire.
Jane was out but the jig was up. Edward has surpasses the walls where the ward had once been and now there was nothing between Draco and an army of vampires.
The raw magic of the staff was already starting to have its toll on Draco. The plan was to scare of the Vampires with the first few shots. Such raw power wasn't sustainable and Draco wouldn't even last a few more minutes. But as the vampire line advanced once again Draco wasn't about to just give up.
"Tokero! Tomare!" the wizard screamed, truing the vampires advancing on him into statues. Edward and Alice smashing them to pieces and feeding them to the raging fire all around them.
But there were too many and soon the staff was ripped from Draco's grip and a hand closed around his throat.
Draco closed his eyes in defeat.
After all the effort he went to, to escape the magical world, to escape the Dark Lord, how ironic, he thought, that he should die by the hands of a creature of dark magic.
Draco gave into his fate, in the knowledge that this time he wasn't a coward, that he didn't run away and that he had done everything in his power to try to save his friends and his family.
But the hand never tightened its grip. Instead the terrible screeching of tearing vampire flesh filled Draco's ears and he felt his feet meet the ground. The wizard opened his eyes to the sight of a giant red wolf shaking the remains of vampire flesh from its jowls and saw then turn to black smoke as they hit the ever growing fire.
"Jacob." Draco whispered and the wolf's sensitive ears twitched before its large face turned to look at Draco, but only for a second before he dived after an advancing vampire. The Quileute wolves had come.
The wolves made a quick job of the remaining vampires and the battle was soon won.
Draco felt a rush of relief pass over him like a tension he had been holding since he had fled the wizarding world, without realising, had left him.
Once the fighting had stopped Draco noticed that not only had the wolves come in their defence but also the rest of the Cullen family and a number of golden eyed vampires Draco had not met before.
Edward was by the Wizard's side before Draco could blink. "Are you alright?" He asked, his lips moving slightly too fast.
"I'm fine." Draco said truthfully.
"Your neck," Edward extended his hand but didn't quite touch the skin, "it has been injured."
At its mention, Draco did begin to feel a little ache in the muscles of his neck but he stuck to his claim, "I'm fine." He repeated.
"Drey." A familiar and desired for voice broke Draco from his exchange with the concerned vampire.
The wizard turned to find Jacob advancing on him, he had a cloth wrapped around his waist, perhaps given to him my one of the many vampires around, and was soon enveloped in a warm hug, the staff pressing uncomfortably into his side and his feet lifted from the ground.
Jacob placed his friend back on the ground gently and stepped back.
"You came." The blond stated a little ineloquently.
"Of course I came. When your blood sucker friends showed up in Jacksonville I was a bit sceptical at first but Bella persuaded me to hear them out. And when they explained the situation I couldn't just leave you to become vampire lunch."
Draco felt ineffably grateful to his friend in a way he could not have ever imagined. No one had ever put their lives at risk for a Malfoy before, especially not Draco, but now here were a group of vampires and shapeshifting wolves all fighting for him.
"Thank you." were the only words Draco could find to replied, despite their inadequacy.
"Anytime, blondie."
Despite his previous claims, as the rush of adrenaline began to fade, Draco started to find himself relying on the staff for support more and more.
"I'm sorry to break up this reunion," Edwards's voice broke into the conversation, it seemed a little harsher than normal, "But the fight isn't over. Aro managed to escape during the battle and he will be back with a much stronger force next time. We need to come up with a plan."
"I have a plan." Jacob turned to the vampire, his friend face melting into something vicious and animalistic, "How about I rip your head off."
A growl came deep from Edward's throat.
"Were all on the same team here." Carlisle seemed to step out of nowhere, somehow separating the two teenagers without touching them.
Carlisle had everyone's attention in a way that Draco had only ever seen Professor Dumbledore command before.
"Staying here could prove to be dangerous." Carlisle turned to his son, "Edward you take Draco. We'll meet up on mutual ground and discuss what happens next."
Everyone seemed to follow Carlisle's orders without question, although Jacob needed a nod of encouragement from his friend.
Edward began to guide Draco back to the car but before the vampire could open the passenger seat for him Alice appeared, "Let me take that." She was referring to the staff, "I can keep it safe for you."
Draco didn't really understand why it wouldn't be safe in Draco's hands but he was not going to argue with a being that could predict the future and so handed her the staff.
Edward had soon shuffled Draco into the car and they were on the road. The pair feel into silence and Draco realised that this may not have been the best idea after all. He still had no response for Edward, despite having kissed him just before the battle. He had barely enough time to sort through his thoughts and feelings with the abrupt proposal and all the madness of the day. Draco could hardly even believe that Edward had only confessed his feelings a few hours ago.
Despite Draco's fretting Edward did not try and encourage an answer to his love confession. Maybe Edward was taking the kiss as a response. Draco though he should probably clarify that it was not.
Soon the woodland on either side of them began to fade away. First a few houses dotted here and there and eventually turning into city streets.
Edward suddenly pulled off to the side and stopped the car. The odd pair got out of the car and Draco followed Edward silently to a nearby building.
Draco wasn't paying much attention but when he stepped through the fount door and into the lobby it would have been hard to notice that it wasn't a restaurant.
"Table for two." The vampire said to a waitress who had approached, the first thing he had said in over an hour.
Draco followed the young woman to a table in the corner of the room politely and smiled as she passed him a menu but as soon as she was out of ear shot he shot Edward a glare.
"What are we doing," the blond demanded.
"You need to eat. It's been a long time since lunch and you have been through quite an ordeal."
"What about the others. Discussing the plan."
"Don't worry we'll catch up with them later. You'll be no good to anyone passed out with hunger.
Draco's stomach growled then, luckily for Edward as it forced Draco to concede the argument.
The waitress was soon back and Draco ordered water and the first thing on the menu for himself and Edward ordered the same, although Draco was pretty sure that he wasn't going to eat it.
"You were amazing today." Edward suddenly slipped out as the two were waiting on their order. "You saved me and my family and I own you more that I can ever repay."
Draco had no words to reply so just sat in dumfounded silence.
"I wish you'd tell me what you're thinking. It's frustrating not being able to read your thoughts."
For some reason this was all the trigger Draco needed to let an avalanche of thoughts unleash. "You said, you said that you loved me just a few hours ago. But that's crazy because not only did you use to date my cousin but you're a vampire. And even worse than that, is that no one has ever told me that they love me before and I don't really know if I know what love is to be able to respond. And know I kissed you. But that wasn't a response, to the confession I mean. I don't know why I did it. I guess I just thought were all going to die."
Draco's ramblings stopped as quickly as they came. It was very unlick Draco to let all his thoughts and emotions out so plainly but perhaps the day had had more of a toll on him that he thought or was willing to admit.
"Don't worry Draco," Edward said with a small grin on his perfect face, "I don't expect an answer from you so soon. I'm immortal after all. I have all the time in the world."