I did something completely unintentional. As you well know there are three trios.
Harry, Ron, Hermione. Draco, Blaise and Theo. Ginny, Luna, and Neville.
Looking back with the punishments, one of those trios were all tortured on their backs. I didn't even notice I did it. It may seem minor or unimportant to you, but it just occurred to me.
Right on to business, these are the last flashbacks for a good while, after this we are back to present day, and things are going to seem like they are happening quickly, but trust me, they aren't.
I'm thinking that I want to have a scene in the Room of Requirement (ROR), where Ginny is surrounded by younger students and telling that it will be okay, and telling them stories of what Hogwarts should be like, and things that her brothers got up. She may even tell stories about the Boy Who Lived. I kind of really want to do that, since Ginny is a) a badass, but b) I think she can have a more motherly side to her as well.
I'm sorry that it's been about three weeks, but here you go. This chapter is mainly focused on Draco.
My wonderful beta : prattster666 :D all the love!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, and only the story line is mine.
Flashback
December 30th, 1997
Day 1
Theo owes me big time, Draco thought to himself as he and his Aunt approached the shimmering dome. The low clouds were obscuring the top of the dome from sight, and Draco was beginning to really doubt his plan. Not only did he not have any proper way to contact Blaise; something he was currently kicking himself for. He always had a plan. His situation was becoming more bleak and dire by the moment. All he saw was forest; Bellatrix explained that the majority of the secluded forest were dense patches of forest, one water source (it would be inhumane if we didn't give the beasts that at least). When Draco had asked exactly why this was here, Bella had shrugged and said that Theodus requested somewhere for his daughter to be punished and they had to find a place for the unwanted beasts. The Dark Lord was very gracious she saw with an almost dreamy expression.
Essentially he was going into this whole thing blind, with no concrete plan out of the blasted enclosure.
"You can leave now, Aunt Bella, thank you for bringing me," Draco smiled tightly, refraining from gritting his teeth over the fact that she had blindfolded him on the way here. Which only added to the list of reasons why this was a horrible, horrible plan. No idea where I am, how I'm getting out, if Gwen is even still alive, I know literally next to nothing. Great Draco. This was a brilliant fucking idea. Let's not tell Theo about his sister before we go into immense danger, and to our probably imminent death. Great idea. Never, ever tell Blaise that, he wouldn't let me hear the end of it. If we survive this, when we survive this, he'll never let it go. I can picture him now, kicking back Firewhisky with that damn, smug grin, feet up on the coffee table, arm across the back of the couch.
"You can get in, but you can't get out without the spell," Bellatrix drawled, examining one of her wild curls with interest.
"Which is?"
"I'll use it when your time is up," Bellatrix rolled her eyes.
"If I need out before then?" Draco sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.
Bellatrix was silent for a long time, silently scrutinizing him; arm raised as if to touch her cheek as she pondered about what he said. She narrowed her eyes briefly before speaking very slowly, enunciating each syllable with a venom only she could. "Eaque cum aperuero tutum transitum de hoc area."
"What does it me-"
"That is not important, you are wasting my time," Bellatrix hissed. "I expect you will have the Nott girl in your possession, dead or alive when I next see you." Bellatrix spun on her heel and apparated before he could get a word in edgewise.
Draco hesitated outside of the dome, daylight was fading fast, and he didn't want to enter at nightfall. He had to do this quickly. Think Draco. Think. Draco began to pace back and forth, contemplating a way for Blaise or Sirius to know where he was. He could send a patronus, but it wouldn't tell them where he was. "I wonder..." Draco shook his head at the absurdity of the idea. I can't accio Blaise...can I? I imagine it wouldn't be pleasant...wait, wait, wait, this could actually work. As insane as it sounds.
"Expecto Patronum," Draco summoned his patronus; quiet days with Ginny in the cottage, joking around with Blaise and Theo on the way to Hogsmeade in fifth year, nights in the Room of Requirement actually properly listening to Luna, rushed through his head until he latched onto his happiest moment. It was about her, it was always about her. He had felt so close to her a few days ago, and now he couldn't have felt farther. Then the falcon flew out of his wand and landed on his shoulder, turning its head to look at him. "Blaise, I'm going to do something insane. Probably stupid and a bit reckless. I'm going to accio you. So hop on a broom and go higher than any trees or things that would get in your way. Trust me. I have no idea where this stupid dome is. Disillusion yourself in case there are any prying eyes or muggles en route. Don't roll your eyes, you can curse me all you like. I'm running out of time. The Dark Lord has a way of knowing when something enters the dome, and I'm supposed to be inside. Just hop on your broom and fly as fast as you can. I think the spell should guide you in the right direction. Never summoned a person before though. Patronus should get to you in less than ten minutes. I'll wait until then to summon you. You better run." Draco waved his wand and his falcon flew away at lightning speed. Now we wait.
...
Blaise sat on the couch in the living room in the cottage, alone. Ginny was in her bedroom sleeping. Draco couldn't tell her goodbye in person, so instead he had written her a short letter, keeping it vague, but it got the point across. She had thrown something when she finished reading it, panting heavily with the parchment partially balled up in her fist. Pupils dilated, she looked like she was out for blood. In an eerily calm voice she had expressed her views on the situation, "if he doesn't die, I'm going to kill him."
She was hurt, he understood that. Draco and Red had a special relationship, it was similar yet vastly different from the one she had with him.
Blaise threw back the rest of what was in his glass. He never forgot anymore, but it took the edge off, it helped, it stopped him from seeing them sometimes. Frozen faces, bloody faces, eyes rolled back, mouths foaming, bodies torn apart. Though it was the ones that died by the killing curse that really got to him. Out of all the grisly and abhorrent things that he had seen during the war; they were what got to him. He found it almost laughable. It was their eyes, and often their faces were frozen with whatever expression they had in the moments before their death. Fear. It was always the fear that was permanently etched into their faces, the terror captured in their eyes.
Then Draco's patronus burst into the room and his best mate had never sounded more deranged. "Blaise, I'm going to do something insane. Probably stupid and a bit reckless. I'm going to accio you-"
"You're fucking kidding me," Blaise put his glass down, and ran out of the house as quickly as his feet would carry him. Draco's patronus followed, speaking the entire time.
"Don't roll your eyes, you can curse me all you like. I'm running out of time-"
"I am literally going to strangle you, fucking Malfoys with their..." Blaise cursed as he flung open the shed outside the house, grabbing Draco's Firebolt, swinging his leg over it, he finished his thought. "Stupid fucking ideas. How do you know if this will work?" Blaise yelled into the air, grabbing one of the hair ties Ginny had lent him, and quickly tying his hair back into a short ponytail. Just as Draco's voice continued to come out of his patronus, who was scratching at the ground and ruffling its feathers.
"Never summoned a person before though-"
"No normal person has, for fuck's sake, it's bloody mental-" Blaise got out before he began to feel an intense pull. His feet started dragging though the snow and he decided that he needed to get above the tree line before he being knocked off his broom and dragged across the forest ground.
Blaise managed to fly up high enough before the pull became too strong. Twenty-five minutes of flying at what felt like the speed of light later and he saw the blonde haired Slytherin pacing back and forth in front of the huge shimmery dome. Blaise swore he saw something big, sprint into one of the sections of forest on the far side. There was a ridge, and he was filled with dread as he looked upon the massive enclosure. If Gwen survived in here for this long, I have to remember to never get on her bad side. She was bad enough when we were younger, but now? Who knows what ten years of being locked in the basement will do to you? Without any real human contact. It must have killed Theo to know that she was so close yet still so far.
...
Draco watched Blaise drop the broom on the ground beside him and then hunch over, hands on his knees. It took a few moments but then Blaise stood up and shook his hair out, combing his dark waves back at the same time with his fingers.
"Finally, you're here," Draco sighed in relief. "I have to make this quick, here take this," Draco reached into his pocket and holding his hand out, palm out. Nestled in this middle was the fake galleon he used to talk to Hermione.
"Mate...are you sure?" Blaise asked, his anger fading at having being summoned the cottage.
"Yes, take it," Draco said firmly, picking up Blaise's hand, placing it inside and then closing it over the cool metal.
"What's the plan-"
"Don't got one-"
"You always have a plan-"
"I know!" Draco yelled, grabbing his head in frustration.
"Give me ten days and then if you can, then either you or Sirius come and check up every evening. Please. I can get out, but I'm going to need help getting her out, especially if we both get injured in there, I won't be able to apparate," Draco requested, Blaise nodded grimly and wordlessly pulled Draco in for a hug. At one point Blaise hated being touched by anyone, he always felt dirty since his Mother was the only one who had touched him when he was younger. Usually it was a pat on the head or she would pinch his cheeks on her way out of the door with her suitor of the evening. Blaise stood firmly in the belief that his Mother had killed his Father because it suited her, but he had never been able to prove it. Now he didn't mind it at all, as long as they were people he liked or cared about.
"Don't die, idiot."
"Don't plan on it," Draco smiled weakly, clapping Blaise on the shoulder and then turning away, he needed to get into the dome, now. As he passed through it, the surface rippled around him. Draco didn't look back once, but he knew that Blaise was watching him walking away, even after the shadows claimed him.
...
Flashback
December 31st, 1997
Day 2
Draco had not come across any beasts or harmful creatures during the night-time. As he walked tirelessly through the forest, glancing up every now and then to make sure nothing was above him. It was how he saw it. The shoddily put together wall of the what looked like an attempt of a tree house. There are little 'steps' going up to it as well. High ground. Smart.
Draco started to climb the poles that were jutting out of the tree trunk. They were just strong enough to support a person of his weight, but he saw that the ones closer to the ground were broken and splintered. Perhaps something bigger had tried to climb the tree.
He heaved himself onto the platform and fell onto his side, panting heavily. He threw a hand over his eyes to block out the sun that was filtering through the tree canopies. Now his exhaustion was catching up to him, now that he could relax-
A low growl made his breath catch in his throat. Shit.
Adrenaline started pumping through his system as he stood up and whirled around, seeing a pure black wolf with a deep scar that ran from its ribs to the top of its hind leg. The scar looked old and the fur thinned out a bit around it. He quickly pulled his wand out of his trouser pocket. He had opted for a plain dark grey t-shirt that Hermione had given him and plain black trousers, it was a lot easier to move in and he would stand out less at night.
The eyes made him pause. He knew those eyes, he looked at them practically every day, yet these ones were a bit more of a bluish grey. It had been ten years since he had seen those eyes. The only difference is that they used to sparkle with mirth and mischief, now they looked weary and guarded. The growl grew louder, it was low and guttural. Draco had no idea what to do, he could be horribly wrong about this. Fuck it. Slowly he straightened up, tucking his wand back into his pocket, hands raised in surrender. "Gwen?" The eyes cleared and seemed to flash with recognition, well at least the growling stopped.
Draco's eyes grew as wide as saucers when she began to shift. Soon a blue eyed, dark haired, fair skinned woman stood in front of him, a lot shorter than he remembered, she couldn't be taller than Red. She had a tattered dress on, and Draco remembered it. Except it used to be a pale blue, and there used to a ribbon under her bust, now the ribbon was gone, and it was a dinghy grey colour.
Gwen frowned, a hand to her throat as she rasped out in a scratchy voice, "That's the best that asshole's got? He sent Draco fucking Malfoy to kill me?" Her eyes narrowed in a deadly stare.
Lovely way to end it, no?
I really love how I've written Gwen, and I hope you do as well, she is a mixture of Theo and a bit of Sirius to me. Imagine Ginny and her interacting! Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I may, may be able to post another in the next couple of days since I have some free time.
Things to note. Time Travel? Piece of Cake hit 200 followers yesterday! Fall Through time is insanely close to 220, what is my life? Thank you all so, so much for reading my stories. Especially this one. It means practically everything. Well, a little bit of practically everything.
Love you guys,
Indieblue xx