When a Winged Girl Meets a Magic Boy

Chapter 14

I stopped short running. "Iggy's…gone?" I asked.

"Max!" Fang shouted, pulling me back into reality.

I gasped and took off running again. "What about the others?" I asked.

"Everyone else is here," Angel replied, "Iggy was hanging out with Parvati between periods, and the Erasers came and took him!"

"Damn it!" I shouted, "The Eraser attack was just a distraction so we wouldn't notice them taking Iggy! How could I be so stupid?" I glanced over my shoulder and saw the jet taking off behind me and Harry running toward us. I skidded in the dirt and turned.

"Max, what are you doing?" Fang shouted.

"Maybe if I go fast enough, I can catch him!" I cried. I took a jump into the air and was just about to pour on the speed when I felt something drag me down. That something pinned me to the ground despite my desperate attempt to get away.

"LET ME GO!" I demanded.

"No."

The voice made me stop moving and look up. Fang was holding me down. I looked up at him and snapped, "They're getting away!"

"They want you to follow them," he said in an even voice, "They want you to go after them so they can get you, too."

"I know that," I said quietly, "But I have to try." Even as I said that, I didn't struggle. What use would it be? Fang had me pinned to the ground. I looked away from his eyes, my heart breaking. "Poor Iggy…" I said quietly.

Fang moved, and for a second I thought he was letting me go. I prepared myself to dash off, but he simply shifted himself so he could hug me. I buried my head in his shoulder and squinted my eyes shut tight so I wouldn't cry.

"You understand, don't you?" Fang asked.

I nodded into his shoulder. I knew that they just wanted me to follow. I just wish it wasn't true. I wished I was strong enough to not only break free from Fang's grasp, but also to get to the School and break Iggy out on my own. I knew I was neither. And that pissed me off.

I sat in Fang's arms for the longest time, just thinking. Eventually, I looked up and saw the black sky. "We should get back," I mumbled. It was late and I was tired.

"Alright," I think I heard him reply. But I'm not sure, because that was when I fell asleep…

FANG POV

Max finally calmed down and we sat for hours in the cool air. Just as I was about to mention that it was getting late and we should leave, I heard Max say very quietly, "We should get back."

"Alright," I smiled. I let go of her and she fell over. She was asleep. I chuckled to myself and lifted her from the grass. I carried her to the castle in silence.

I looked down at her face and wished I had a free hand to brush the hair from her eyes. It looked light brown in the dim moonlight, but almost blue from the moon reflecting off the lake.

I got to the castle and used my foot to open the door. It was a very long way to the dorms, but I had no other choice but to take her there. I went up the first two flights of stairs undisturbed with the exception of a few ghosts. It was the third flight of stairs where I came into some trouble.

It was a blonde guy, tall and lanky, with two equally tall but much more muscular and – let's face it – fat than the smaller boy, although he seemed to be the leader. They stopped in my way.

"Is she dead?" the blonde boy asked, his voice sounding more hopeful than it should.

"No," I answered, ice dripping from just that one word, "She's sleeping. You should try it. The bags under your eyes are reaching vampire quality."

"Concerned with beauty," the boy said, "Are you gay or something?"

"I really would've thought you'd be beyond gay jokes," I countered.

"You don't know me," the boy snapped.

"I don't want to know you," I snapped back, "If you'll move, Max isn't exactly lightweight." I took a step forward, but one of the back guys shoved me back. I stumbled and regained balance. I glared at the boy. "Who are you?"

"Draco Malfoy," the boy said, "I don't like your girlfriend."

"Not my girlfriend," I snapped. There was a touch of longing in my tone. How the hell did that get there?

Malfoy put up his hands in mock apology. "Sorry," Malfoy said, "And who are you?"

"Name's Fang."

"You a freak like her?" Malfoy asked. He began to pace me, but the two taller boys kept me from passing.

"I'm not any more of a freak than you."

"Touche," Malfoy said.

It was quiet for a while. I glared at him as he came around to meet my eyes again. "If you're done," I said, "I need to get Max to the dorm room." I again tried to push past him, but was stopped. I took a deep breath.

"Not so fast," Malfoy said, "I was just getting to know you. So, why was Max here first?"

"None of your business," I snapped.

A fist came flying at me from the right, but I ducked before it made contact. The other thug came at me from the left and tackled me. With Max in my arms, I couldn't do a thing, so he tackled me and pulled Max away from me. The other big guy held me down. I used my foot to kick Max's shin and she shook awake…

MAX POV

I was walking down a pier. I had this truly fantastic dress on. It was red sundress, very simple, but yet very pretty. My hair was curled slightly and not messy at all. I walked to the edge of the pier and leaned on the fence surrounding it. I stared out at the sea, closed my eyes, and breathed in the smell of the salt. I smiled. Everything was perfect.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked over to see who it was. It was Fang. He had on blue jean cut-offs and an orange tank-top. His black hair laid in a perfect mess atop his head. He placed his arm around my waist and I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"You look…so beautiful," Fang noted.

I smiled, looked up at him, and kissed his cheek softly.

"You wanna go for a ride?" he asked.

"In what?" I laughed.

"Look."

I looked out at the ocean and there, at the end of the dock, was a little boat. Not fancy, but perfect. I nodded. He took my hand and led me to the end, where we got into the boat. Fang, with his newly harnessed boat-driving skills, got it going and then came back to me.

"Max, I need to tell you something," he said, just whispering.

I whispered, too, "What?"

We leaned in close, and just as Fang was about to tell me whatever it was he needed to say, the boat lurched. A giant sea monster came out of the water and pointed its three eyes at us. It knocked the boat several times, then used its long tentacle (and it had six of them) to take me out of the boat.

"FANG!" I screamed.

"Max!" Fang shouted back.

The monster shook me about, then slammed me into the side of the boat. For some reason, I only felt the pain of it in my shin…

I blinked awake and looked around me groggily. Someone had the nape of my shirt and was holding me. It took me a second to orientate myself. Damn this comfortable living and my being able to sleep in! That was why I couldn't just wake up quickly like I used to be able to!

I looked into two blue eyes. At first I thought it was Angel. But Angel's hair was longer. And she wasn't as tall.

Then I recognized him.

"Malfoy," I growled.

"You know him?" I heard Fang say. I gasped and saw Fang, also being held by the back of his shirt.

"Unfortunately," I didn't glance his way. My entire attention was directed at Malfoy, "Still terrorizing the school, Malfoy? Can't get enough recognition with your magic, so you have to pick on innocent bystanders?"

"But you're not so innocent, are you?" he asked, "I was waiting for you to wake up. You're a deep sleeper. You slept all the way through an argument."

"Fang can hold his own," I snapped.

"Yeah, but can you?" he asked, "Let her go, Doyle. I want to see if you can take both Crabbe and Doyle." He pointed his wand at Fang and my heart jumped ten feet in the air. What would they do to him?! But he simply said a mess of words and Fang's arms snapped to his sides, unable to move at all.

Doyle came over to me and was just about to throw his first punch when Malfoy said, "Stop!" He came over to me and withdrew a roll of duct tape from his robes, "Almost forgot."

"What's that, Malfoy?" Crabbe asked.

"Muggle invention," Malfoy said, "They use it to stick things together. They call it duct tape. Lift your arms." I did so. He wrapped the tape across my chest and around my back several times, making it unable for me to fly. It sucked, but I couldn't get down because of it. I had to win.

"OK. Go," Malfoy said.

Doyle threw his punch, but I ducked before he was able to do anything at all. I swung my legs around his ankles and he crashed to the floor. I smiled. They were very muscular, but they were also fatty and large and I could use that against them.

The other idiot – Crabbe – came at me from the other side while Doyle was getting up. Crabbe threw himself at me, sumo style, but I rolled to the side and he landed on Doyle, full force. Crabbe rolled over and I jumped on top of him. I punched him so hard, his neck was cracking back and forth. That gave me both a new joy and a sick feeling in my stomach. It reminded me of when I'd killed Ari for the first time.

I lost my attention for one second and Crabbe threw me off of him. I flew down the stairs to the landing below. I jumped to my feet and sprinted the rest of the way down the stairs. "What a baby!" I heard Malfoy scream up above, "See that, Fang? Your girlfriend is just a wuss." Then I heard someone say, "Oof!" and Malfoy laugh. FANG! I thought, but the thugs were behind me and I couldn't turn back.

I took a chance to glance behind me. Crabbe and Doyle were two flights up. I jumped over the banister and held on, invisible to anyone who didn't look hard enough. I waited. I heard a scream come from above, but it wasn't in pain or sadness. It was an angry scream. Soon after, I heard another scream. This one was from pain, but it sounded much too high pitch to be Fang's. I brought my attention back to my own situation when I heard footsteps on the flight above my head.

Crabbe and Doyle came around the corner. They ran down the stairs, past me, and kept on going. They would probably go all the way to the bottom, maybe further, before they realized I was nowhere nearby.

I waited a little longer until the running footsteps died away, then crawled back over the railing and began racing up the stairs. I got up two floors and saw Malfoy on the ground with Fang knelt over him, thoroughly kicking his ass.

I giggled and ran up to meet him.

He glanced up when I was three feet away and said, "I'm almost done." He stood and gave one more swift kick in Malfoy's side and together we ran up to the Gryffindor common room. We got inside, then collapsed on the couches, laughing.

After our laughing fit, we composed ourselves and I said, "Oh, how can I be this happy when Iggy is in hell?"

Fang stopped abruptly. At first I thought he would say something like, "Now, why would you bring that up now?" But instead, he sighed and said, "I know. It's…surreal. Not having him here."

"What should we do?"

Fang was quiet a long time. Finally he mumbled so quietly I almost didn't hear him, "I don't want to sit here and pretend like nothing's happened. It has. And I know if we were anywhere but here, we'd be halfway to the School by now."

I nodded, unable to say anything. It didn't seem like I needed to. I laid my head back on the couch's pillow and within minutes I was asleep again…

xXxXxXx

Sorry it's been so freakin long since I last updated. But I finally sat down and wrote out a little outline for this story, so (hopefully) I'll be updating more often. Yeah, I know I say that every time, but FINALLY there is an end in sight! I'm predicting possibly nine more chapters? I don't know. We'll see.

-I don't go a day without you passing through my thoughts a million times.-

-Scratch that. I don't go a day without you dominating my thoughts a million times.-

-Love you. Miss you. Wanna kiss you.-

-Alyson May Who is Hopelessly in Love…-