CHAPTER XIV
"Let's
begin feeding the sickness
How do I simplify
Dislocate, the
enemy's on the way
Show
me what it's like
to dream in
black and white
so I can leave this world tonight"
(BREAKING BENJAMIN "Unknown Solider")
Sometimes, when things are too good to be truth, time flies. And for the young couple, just when they were starting to enjoy their own private world, Hogwarts welcomed back the numerous hordes of students returning from their winter holidays.
It was a dull cloudy Monday morning; Ravenclaw's group of fifth years waited at the entrance hall to be scolded by the prefect into the forest for their Care of Magical Creatures class. The blond Slytherin hurried up the pace making sure everybody was there, he took his time to closely check on his beautiful wife, she looked radiant. Luna's amethyst blue eyes glittered once they caught sight of him. He smirked to her, ordering the group to follow him. Draco had an undeniable elegant style in the way we walked, the way he shook his head from time to time made his silk blond curls shine brighter with the sunrays. The sublime movement of his stylized body waving his robes was almost ethereal. He stopped at the sight of Hagrid's vast figure coming from the hill, crossing his arms he waited for the students to walk past by him.
"Today will be a long day without you by my side. I'm going to miss you". Luna stopped in front of him with a timid smile.
He grabbed her gently by the arm pulling her close to him. "I can do without you, in all but two ways: sleep without you by my side and wake without you by my side. I'm counting the minutes to meet you again tonight, at our dorm". He leaned closer and kissed her forehead with restrained passion, breathing her perfume.
She blushed and hurried to meet her classmates, he headed back towards his Herbology class. Draco slammed the greenhouse crystal doors behind him, professor Spout looked like she was about to say something regarding his tardiness.
"Prefect's duties…" He excused himself abruptly.
The class was gathered around the one large rectangle table: Slytherin to the left, Gryffindor to the right. He noticed that were many absents that morning and sneered when two of his longed permanent vacancies were not present: Harry Potter and Pansy Parkinson.
"He didn't say much, he left early today with Dumbledore…." Muttered a worried female voice in front of him, it was Hermione talking with Ron.
The blond Slytherin took sit besides Blaise who silently greeted his appearance slapping his back.
"You were right mate. Pansy is probably locked up at St Mungo's mental wing as we speak". He giggled with a cynical face.
"Peachy". Draco limited to reply as he took the knife from Blaise's hand and chopped the tuber in front of him with surgeon's accuracy. 'that's how a mandragora is cut, watch and learn". He instructed to his friend raising an eyebrow.
Moments after the end of the class, a thick, heavy mist materialized, seemingly out of nowhere. A freezing chill haunted Draco's body; he shrugged emptying the air on his lungs all of a sudden in the form of a steamy cloud. He looked round, the rest of the students looked at each other with puzzled faces.
"DEMENTORS…we've got to find Ginny!" Hermione and Ron shouted altogether, rushing towards the exit.
"Luna…" Draco chocked with the icing cold breeze. His mind was thinking fast, he took out his wand and rushed to the forest followed closely by Blaise.
He saw several fifth year students coming from the forest with paper white scared faces, no sign of Luna whatsoever. The yellings, the cryings, every sound got the volume turned down for all he could hear were Luna's heartbeats. Draco ran as fast as he could towards the place where she was supposed to be, guided by the sound that, to his desperation, was toning down. And then he saw with astonished eyes at Luna surrounded by Dementors, there were hundreds of them.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A blinding silvery light, wakened by Draco's desperate hell, came out from his wand.
The Patronus charm took the shape of an immensurable dragon: its devastating power erased at a stroke the endless files of Dementors. He rushed towards Luna and kneeled by her side.
"Luna, please wake up, please, please!" His blood shut eyes were filled with terror, holding her tight.
"Draco…." Her voice came out like a whisper. "…have you just said "please"?" She smirked, Malfoy's style.
"Yes, look what you've made me do!". He soothed her, kissing softly her cheeks.
"It's been always you, you're my guardian. You're my…dragon". Tears were starting to form out of the corner of her eyes.
"I was thinking of you, princess, I could made such Patronus because your love filled me whole". He wrapped his hands around her kissing her mouth with burning desire.
When the mist finally cleared from around him, the bodies of dozens of students lied as if they were sleeping, he realized then he also saved many. The attack of the Dementors would have been massive if it wasn't for Draco's crushing Patronus. Blaise approached him looking almost out of breath.
"I've never knew was possible to produce such Patronus mate, you've literally swept off hundreds of Dementors!" His shocked eyes looked like they were about to fall out from their sockets.
"Hello Draco…". A familiar venomous voice came out from behind. He turned round and caught sight of a Death Eater's hooded silhouette, taking off the mask, the figure unveiled its identity: it was Pansy.
"You little cunt! You were behind this?!" He snapped out rushing towards Pansy, holding his wand up high.
"Mate, what are you doing?" Blaise looked worried, he feared whenever Draco snapped out of his senses.
"Pending assignment! You, stay there and watch Luna!" Draco disarmed Pansy and she stumbled to the floor.
"What are you talking about?!" He asked with a shaken voice.
"The bitch's sacrifice!". Draco needed to act, it was now or never. "Suffer you filthy cow. CRUCIO!"
"Draco, watch out!" Blaise warned.
Like Pansy, another Death Eater was squelching on the floor, this one after the successful contra attack of the black haired young man but two more were coming from Blaise's back, the blond Slytherin aimed his wand towards the two targets placing himself in danger. Draco felt how his wand flew off his hand, a fourth Death Deater had disarmed him: it was Bellatrix Lestrange.
"How dare you ruin our party? You've betrayed the family! You're nothing but Malfoy's disgrace, you're Malfoy's mistake". She sentenced destroying his wand. "CRUCIO!" Bellatrix's evil laughter deformed her face.
"Wait!" Pansy interrupted. "Bella, that wasn't the deal. We would use Lovegood as bate to get Draco and take him with us".
"Stupid girl!" She pushed Pansy from her sight lowering the wand, releasing Draco from the curse.
He gained his breath, painfully lifting his body from the floor. Determined, he looked up and turned his head looking at Bellatrix. With Lucius' wand tightly held on his hand, Draco disarmed his attacker, she watched wide-eyed.
"You have a kind of sick desperation in your laugh, I simple hate it". The blond Slytherin threw an enraged stabbing stare at her as he cast the killing curse.
"I am Draco's smirking revenge". He rolled his eyes, looking at the gloomy surrounding and the lifeless body of his aunt besides him.
Pansy disappeared behind some strange black horse figures that were encircling the forest clearing. Draco looked confused, holding high the wand.
"Don't worry, they won't hurt us". Luna soothed as she walked slowly towards him.
"What the hell are those?!" Draco encircled her waist with one arm rubbing her cheek against his.
'they have been here always, they're called thestrals". She replied with a faint smile.
"So now I'll get to see the Nargles as well, right? Merlin! I'm officially loony now!" He cheered her up stroking her soft blond curls against his chin. But then he felt the weight of Luna's unconscious body slowly pulling him down.
"NO!" He wrapped his arms around her, stopping the fall.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Draco came out from Dumbledore's office with a fierce menace look, all students turned round to caught sight of him.
"How's Luna?" The tone in his voice faltered, his eyes looked reddish, filled with maddening desperation.
"She's still sound asleep; they're waiting for her to wake up". Blaise crossed his arms resting his back against the wall.
A depressing silence haunted the Hall, the scenario couldn't be worse, Draco thought, but he was wrong: a couple of fifth year Gryffindors started clapping, the rest followed as the animosity grew louder.
"Everybody lives, not everybody deserves to. Look around you, remember that you are mortals!" Draco shouted to the crowd, his thoughts galloped inside his mind. He was surrounded now by almost the entire student body.
"You don't know who I am because you call me many names: I'm Draco Malfoy, the shameless Slytherin, son of a Death Eater. I'm the one you love to hate. I'm a killer who just got away with murder because I happened to save your pathetic lives….by mistake!" The blond was angry, he didn't want to be considered hero.
"You're not a killer. That's why you're so good at it". A voice came from behind him; it was no other than Harry Potter. 'malfoy, I'm in debt with you for saving my friends".
Draco's piercing grey eyes narrowed: The Boy Who Lived was in debt with him? What an ingenious substitute for the chain and whip of the slave-driver. What a perfect device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility.
"I'm in debt with you, we all are". From behind Harry came out Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Neville and many others students from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw as well.
"Killing is a dirty job for you, Potter? Well, someone has to do it! Remember, I'm still your enemy". He paused, giving the rest of the students an evil look.
"Potter says he's in debt with me! Well, if he happens to survive the Dark Lord, I challenge him to a duel so I get the chance once and for all to wipe his pathetic existence from the face of the earth. He can't refuse for he owes me, you're all witnesses! And if you people continue to believe that your safety relies on the hands of others, you're doomed! Draco was consumed by his own hatred but he also lighted the awareness of those incredulous faces.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the restless silhouette of Madame Pomfey rushing towards the infirmary escorted by two people: they looked to be medi-wizards from St Mungo's. The blond violently pushed Harry away making his way following Pomfey's direction. He closed shut the doors behind him and saw the three figures examining his wife's fragile body.
"What's going on, what are you doing to her?" He demanded to know with a lamentable helpless tone of his voice.
"Her body just can't fight back any longer. She's got a month, probably two at most before she finally…leaves us". Madame Pomfey sobbed.
"What are you talking about?!" Draco had reached his boiling point, and finally snapped.
"We found her body stuffed with psilocybe mushrooms, she used them to ease the pain after what happened to her last year, during her confrontation with the Death Eaters at the Department of Mysteries. Despite this being a powerful medicine, it is no longer effective, her body is giving up". The old woman's voice was filled with solemn emptiness.
"This can't be happening". Draco's lungs shut down with premature ripening. He looked at his wife; her eyes were blinking back at him, struggling to keep them open.
"Luna, sweetheart, how could I been so blind?" He kissed her forehead with compassionate love.
"That day, when we were looking for Harry's prophesy, we got caught by the Death Eaters, they…tortured us….that's when I heard the voice of my mother, she said to me: Not everything is what it seems. Question authority, challenge reputation …" Luna's voice trailed off.
Her words stung like a frozen lash forcing Draco to hit bottom. He remembered his nightmare, now it all came into focus. The voice inside his head was Luna's mother and the maddening piercing pain he experienced was the same inflicted to Luna by the Death Eaters back at the Ministry of Magic.
"…doubt expertise. Let excitement overcome apprehension, give way to confidence to conquer fear, certainty might enlighten doubt, pride will overrule anger…it's all inside you. It's time to fight back. Luna, fight back and come back to me. I'm here waiting for you, always. I love you!" Draco was then forced to confront a truth he had been denying for so long. Why did he take so long to realize that he loved her just when he was so close to lose it all? Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.
"Princess, I've been a selfish fool. I love you to the point that it scares me the hell out to realize how much you mean to me. Nobody knows, nobody understands what I'm capable to do for you". His eyes were hurting him in a way he never felt before, silent tears rolled down from his cheeks, he was crying, he never cried.
"Thank you for showing me where I truly belonged, with you, as long as I could be by your side. I'm happy to know that place was once mine". Luna's voice was more like a whisper, she closed her tired eyes letting go a silent sigh.
"Sweetheart, you won't get rid of me that easy". He soothed her. "I promise that I'll do the impossible to save you".
The days ran through Draco's fingers like water in the desperate search for a cure to save the life of his young wife. Luna was at St Mungo's Hospital, the numerous potions and charms which were administrated to her were frankly useless. The countless numbers of medi-wizards did everything they could to cure the disease but it ran its violent course through her body, she was unable to even lift herself from the bed for more than a scant few seconds. Waking up Luna was quite easy, but keeping her awake was difficult. In her face the unmistakable profile of death was already starting to be drawn with horror.
"I'm the sinner and corrupted one. I should undergo all this sufferings and not you. Luna, my life is worth living only if I have you by my side…you're all I've got left".Loneliness struck him like a blow.
"Draco, there's this place in me where your finger prints still rest... your kisses still linger and your whispers softly echo. It's the place where a part of you will forever be a part of me…". She managed to say before she blacked out again.
"I'm Draco's broken heart". He sobbed caressing Luna's soft cheeks. He placed one hand on his heart and another over her chest performing a mirroring charm. The pain Luna was suffering was maddening. Revulsion, fear, pity and hatred welled up inside him. His mind grew increasingly cunning and ruthless. He heard someone coming as he wiped out the tears.
"You're a man in love, you've got the right to do so. Some think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go…when there are things beyond our reach. It's not up to you anymore; you've done everything you could". Blaise came from behind tapping gently his back.
"No more blind faith! Praying is useless! How can I possible believe and confide all my hopes into what's letting the life of my wife being trimmed at such young age?" In shock and fury, Draco let out a roar that tore through the walls like thunder. "I refuse to live without her! I would go through hell and back again it I have to. Fuck damnation, fuck redemption!" Blind unreasoning consumed Draco.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx