-Chapter Twenty One-
A shrill noise suddenly rang through the tiny room that Draco and Vic slumbered in, which they did no more.
"What the fuck is that?" cried Vic, his voice loud to override the shrilly noise. Draco groaned and was unable to block out the noise. He had a faint inkling of what it was and when he checked his watch, his theory was confirmed. They had an inbuilt magical alarm clock in their dorms, ready to wake them up at four in the morning.
"Alarm clock," replied Draco darkly and Vic groaned himself. Draco distinctly remembered Opal telling them that they were to be out of bed and in the mess at four thirty am on the dot. Anyone more than 59 seconds late would be subjected to the dreadful muggle ablutions. Opal said something about cleaning all the toilets with a toothbrush. Draco wondered if she had been a muggle in her other life.
Vic grumbled to himself whilst Draco lay on his bed for a while to think. Last night, Opal had given them a tour of HQ. There was the mess hall, various training halls and various dorms. There was the hospital and a morgue. A triple reinforced building was the head of the Auror directors and Generals, and Colonels, and all those dandy people who organise the war.
Draco's hand searched his pocket for his photo. Merlin; how he missed Ginny already. "Momento mori," muttered Draco under his breath, tapping the smooth film paper with his wand. The image of Ginny revealed itself slowly as the magic did its work. This was a wizarding photo that Colin had given Draco. Ginny was currently snoozing on the side of the photo, not smiling or waving. Draco's eyes stared at Ginny's familiar features appreciatively. Summer had dawned bright and sunny after a warming spring and Ginny had cracked open her summer wardrobe. He was losing himself in the simple picture of Ginny sleeping. The bare shoulders, soft cascading hair. Draco's reverie was broken when Vic jumped from the top bunk to the ground with a loud thunk.
Before Draco could do anything about the photo, Vic curiously leant his head in. "She's gorgeous," he commented, his mind appreciating what his eyes were transferring into it.
"She's mine," said Draco darkly, with a hint of a growl. Vic immediately backed off and put his hands up.
"It's okay, I know she is. I've got my own back at home, love her so much I'd die before I'd be unfaithful. Actually, I proposed to her. I'll show you her photo," said Vic in an easy tone, quelling Draco's fears. Also, Vic proposed to his girlfriend? Talk about coincidence. Vic returned with a photo himself. It was of a slim looking girl with straight black hair and wide eyes.
"She's gorgeous," mirrored Draco and Vic smiled.
"She's more than gorgeous. She's beautiful. She's mine. Funny, she used to hate me back at school. We went to a minor magic academy, that's why you don't know me. But yeah, when we first met, we absolutely hated each other. I'd tease her, she'd insult me, I'd get angry and I'd be crueler. We were only fourteen. This carried on for three years and then we had this fashion parade to raise money for something I don't remember. Suddenly, I saw her for who she was. Kind, witty, someone close to my heart. I think I stood there staring at her ages whilst she was walking on the cat walk with a pair of jeans and a tee shirt whilst her hair was gelled up in random spikes. Even when she finished her run I still stared at the spot she paused at. My mates thought I was stoned, but whatever. She wasn't wearing a bikini, she wasn't wearing anything kinky, just a plain tee shirt and jeans. Bang. I was gone. I spent the rest of my life chasing after her and well, I guess she suddenly realized she liked me back." At this point, Vic blushed. "I proposed to her before I left; my beautiful Sasha. Hah, they say better loved and lost than never loved before. She'll still have the memory of me…" trailed Vic, his voice getting softer and sadder.
He looked up to see Draco staring back at him very seriously. "Why do I trust you?" he asked almost suspiciously.
"I don't know," shrugged Vic he and tucking away his photo. "Normally I wouldn't have told anyone who I just met stuff like that.
Draco smiled in return. They were on the same page. "Let's go to breakfast," he said, getting up and getting ready. Vic smiled to himself in turn. Draco would tell him about the red headed girl in his picture at some point.
Soon Draco and Vic made an appearance at the breakfast table amidst many, many other Aurors. They layout was a lot like Hogwarts' except that there were more single tables rather than four large ones. They were deciding on a place to sit when Ron and Harry waved them over to a table. Vic's mouth opened slightly and he gave Draco a glance. Draco kept his composure and walked over to them, grateful that Vic didn't say anything.
"Did your room make a noise this morning?" asked Ron through a mouthful of bacon. Some things never change.
"Yeah. In-built alarm clock. Quite handy actually," chirped Vic who dug into his cereal which appeared on his bit of the table. Opal had told them the night before that if you wanted something specific for breakfast, you tap the table with your wand and say what you want. Ron had been delighted when he heard this, imagine all the food you could eat with the tap of the wand. However, the reality of war crushed him when Opal told them that they were rationing everyone. One meal; that was it. Magic could do a lot of things, but it wasn't as if you could conjure up food out of thin air. It had to come from somewhere, and that somewhere was out of the Ministry's pocket.
Suddenly, Vic and Ron got into a conversation which left Draco and Harry in silence. Harry looked like he wanted start a conversation, for he would take a breath and pause. No words ever came out and Draco preferred it that way. He had never really, really gotten over the fact Harry and Ginny went out. It still irked him and if he thought about it too much, his fists would start clenching. As was the same for Dean and Michael. However guilt would wrack Draco because he had a lot of partners back before Ginny. He used them because none of them meant anything to him. He felt even guiltier when Ginny understood and forgave him.
At five, Opal walked in briskly and yelled to the mess hall "battalion 270! In five minutes you are due in at hall number one!" Then with a swish of her black hair and twirl on the foot which swished her equally black robes, she exited the room with the majority of males focusing their eyes on her, wishing her robes were tighter.
When the time came, battalion 270 did proceed to hall one where there was a large white screen conjured up with Opal next to it. When everybody filed in and sat down on the cold, rocky benches, her eyes scrutinized everyone. Although the threat of war had died down after Harry Potter saved them all, some members of the Ministry were still suspicious of his rise in the future and trained specific people if an event ever occurred. Opal was one of these people.
Opal was five when her parents were killed Voldemort. Despite her young age, she never forgot the image of her parents being struck by the green curse in their attempt to save their only daughter and each other. Opal would have been the next to go but the Ministry intercepted. Voldemort was too smart to be caught by a few Aurors and made his escape from under their noses. Opal's heart was filled with rage and sadness.
She went into the ministry orphanage where she was raised by ratty old women who had nothing better to do with their lives other than boss orphan children around. Opal was lucky she made good friends otherwise she would have gone on a murdering rampage. Her weapon? A pair of underwear. When stretched, it was perfect for strangulation.
Opal was sneaky, pretty and intelligent and a lot of the time boys had big crushes on her, though they'd rather die than admit it. Imagine the cooties! The orphan warders noticed a murderous streak in her, despite her sweetness. By then, Opal Harper was ten and Harry Potter had been born. Then Voldemort was defeated. Still, the Ministry learnt of her quick thinking and hate for Voldemort. They took her in, trained her to fight and offered her a spot at Hogwarts. To her disgust, Opal was placed in Slytherin. After her original distaste, it drove her to be better, to work harder.
This description of Opal is rather violent, and she could be with her gracefulness but she was also righteous and would not murder just anyone on a whim.
Soon the world settled into life without the threat of Voldemort and Opal was feeling useless. She had graduated from Hogwarts with ferociously high marks and a few friends who matched strong personality. She was too focused, too uncaring of the boys in her teenage years to have a boyfriend, and her personality stuck like that for a long time. Opal was twenty-six with two employments at the Ministry. Magical law-enforcer and undercover Voldemort intelligence. Then she received news from the Ministry. Voldemort was alive. Her life had meaning again. Objective? Kill the fucker. Now she had her own battalion to do so.
Draco sat down on some stone, predicting his arse would go numb. Vic sat down beside him and gazed at the screen and his director curiously. A few more moments passed as the rest of the thousand men/women or so filed in. Draco was surprised that there were this many people. How did the Ministry train all of them? His eyes flicked back to Opal who had just turned her eyes to his. Their gaze held. Draco had never noticed how fierce her gaze was and was letting the coldness to flow out of his. No doubt the words "Lucius's son" was going through her mind. Opal then cocked her head slightly and her eyes continued sweeping.
"Everybody!" called Opal after a moment. "For a fortnight, I will be prepping you for battle. I will go over the land cover that the Death Eaters have, our predictions of their lair, strategies and general briefing." There were sighs and groans from the crowd as some of them were thirsty for action. Opal's dark eyes glinted dangerously. "Believe me, you'll need this briefing. Without it, more of you will die."
Chills ran down spines and Opal's eyes narrowed grimly at a particularly disruptive Auror. "Pay attention," she said to him icily which made everyone pay attention. She then conjured a large map onto the white screen and began talking.
Ginny gazed out the window to a retreating Pig with a sigh. Three months had passed since Draco left and she was slowly adjusting to him not being there. She had just written him a letter and sent it off with a non-surprisingly over-excited Pigwidgeon.
As Ron's cute little owl disappeared into the horizon as a speck of fluff, Ginny thought back to that day in the owlery when Draco first met the owl. A bittersweet smile crossed Ginny's lips. How she had been so blissfully happy. Draco was always around, Pig loved him, Ron gave them space. Now there were no kisses, no Ron and Pig would be away for a bit.
Ginny had organised the rest of Draco's belongings and put them away safely for storage. They would not be used for years. One thing that hurt Ginny a lot was the fear she would forget Draco altogether. She knew she loved him, she knew that because her heart would always do a funny little flip whenever she thought about him. Her mind was full of him. She could always feel herself physically melt and her heart race whenever his name was mentioned. But what if the years wore away her love? She knew it would never let it happen but the possibility was still there.
With all of Draco's things stored, Ginny only had photos, the crystal gifts, her necklace, ring and the never-ending ache in her heart to remind her of Draco. It was still enough to drive her nut-so. After three months she was so sick of feeling lonely. It was torture. Wishing he would be there to hold her. To talk to her. Every day dragged by pointlessly whilst Ginny memorized laws and precedence's. If she wasn't studying for law and trying to look composed around Stephen, she was passing parchment and serving tea in the courts.
Summer was starting to draw to a close as Ginny kept staring out of her window. The days were getting shorter and Ginny was glad. Another was ending and it brought her closer to seeing Draco again. With a sudden fit of nostalgia, Ginny shoved on her bikini and ran to the creek behind her house. There, there was the tree they first had sex under. It seemed so innocent but held so many memories. Hot angry tears prickled Ginny's eyes. She kicked off her shoes and dove into a deeper part of the creek.
'How the fuck am I going to manage five years?'
Draco,
I miss you. I am going mad without you. I still can't believe I let you go. I don't fuckin' care how clichéd this sounds, but I want to stab some part of my body so I can divert the pain that is in my heart.
I love you. I don't care if I've told you everyday we've been together or not, but I do. I love you and I miss you so much. I need to know that you're okay. Three months have passed and I haven't heard from you. I know mail takes a long time, I guess I'll manage until your next letter.
How are you? How is it? Tell me Draco, write anything. I'm desperately unhappy. Is the war horrible? The Daily Prophet keeps telling me of so many deaths. So, so many. I thank any gods or life-force that is keeping your name off the death list.
Law is fine. Painfully boring as usual. We're studying the precedence's of the pixie wars. The fucking pixie wars. I'm ready to bat bogey hex Stephen out of pure frustration. I'm sure you'd love that.
Molly has been over cooking. Too bad for her, all food has lost its taste. She says I'm losing weight. I know you don't like the idea of that. If you want me to start eating again, come home. Come home and bloody marry me.
How is my brother? I hope to god he hasn't opened his big mouth and said something stupid. Hermione would murder someone in his vengeance. If you see Ron, tell him I miss him and that I love him too.
I guess you should say hi to Harry for me too.
My heart is dying, being crushed within. Come back before its dead.
I love you madly, your scent is fading from my sheets. Your scent is leaving my room. Don't ever leave me completely.
With all my heart,
Ginny.
Draco's heart clenched painfully and his mind was in turmoil. Fucking Voldemort, fucking war. He re-read the letter and could picture Ginny saying it with her unhappy passion vividly. Her letter said three months but by the time it had reached Draco, five months had passed. Draco had to get his hands on some parchment and ink.
He was currently in a hammock in a field hospital. He had temporarily forgotten about Ginny as he endured a four month guerilla campaign in the Australian outback. Somehow, Voldemort had set up a base for his Death Eaters in bush land of the remote Pilbara of Western Australia. The Death Eaters planned to storm the small magical community of Australia, taking each of the six states one at a time.
However, Hermione from Auror intelligence had tipped off battalion 270 and 271 and off they mass-port keyed from England to the other side of the world. By then it was November and it was stinkin' hot, as it is in November in the southern hemisphere. Still, the red rocks, spindly ghost gums and endless spinifex held the danger of dark magic. Death Eaters teemed there with a number of two thousand or so. So the Auror officials' counteracted with two battalions.
A bloody battle ensued when the Death Eaters were hit by unexpected Aurors who were raging with anger and youth. The muggles of Western Australia were fed a bogus story of mass bushfires which weren't uncommon. Mass memory remodifications had to be initiated through television, radio, internet and telephone. People kept thinking the fires only lasted a week and that the local fire departments had kept them under control.
This was Draco's first battle and he was glad his wits held. Blood, guts, things that people should normally never see confronted Draco who killed and defended. The lone ghost gums and soaring mountain ranges were painted with red. The blood of evil and good washed together then being washed away when a tropical cyclone arrived from the Kimberly coast. It was a massive one, a category four which kept the two sides at bay for three days.
The cyclone blew itself out and the weary soldiers crept out from their shelters. With the help of Opal Harper, who of course was the Auror director of battalion 270 and Richard Sharp, Auror director of 271, worked with their Aurors directly to mercilessly round up the remaining Death Eaters to kill them off in hot blood. In cold blood, they were captured and sent back to England.
By then, 1,500 men and women were left from both battalions and 500 men and women remained of the Death Eaters. At this point, the intense, majorly hot blooded battle had been fought for four months without much rest from either sides.
Draco and Vic soon learnt each other's strength's and weaknesses and made a formidable pair. It was them who ignored their scorching sunburn and general discomfort and captured the rogue Death Eaters and sent them away.
One particular night before the battle in the Pilbara drew to an end, there were about three rogue Death Eaters left, hiding in a dried up creek. Opal acknowledged their mission and Draco, Vic, Ron and Harry went to find them, to rid Australia of the threat of Death Eater invasion completely.
Dusk slowly fell due to the lengthening days but they kept well in the shadows. They moved effortlessly, quietly, their wands drawn and their senses piqued. They ignored the prickling of spinifex and the red dirt grinding at their toes. The warm plains spread out in front of Draco like an empty yet somehow colourful void. Only when a mountain rose suddenly from the distance did it stop. A dried thicket of trees was on Draco's left and his grey-blue eyes caught a movement within them.
"Incendio," hissed Draco, his wand immediately aimed at the bone white trees and it was set aflame immediately. A silhouette of a burning, dying man was black against the roaring yellow flames. Draco didn't look back. There were still two of them out there. He sent a slight whisper of magic to Vic who recognized it as a signal that Draco was going to turn invisible. Draco then muttered the spell under his breath and he then became invisible.
Light was lessening, visibility was getting difficult but Vic, Ron and Harry saw the last two Death Eaters make their move. Immediately the Aurors pitted their skills against their fiends. Unfortunately for Ron, he had been knocked out by a ricochet of an Avada Kedavra. The tree that had been hit disintegrated as it absorbed most of the power. The ricochet was a lot like a powerful stunning spell.
Vic was winning his battle. His slim body and agility vexed the Death Eater to no end as their dueling was full of chasing each other around. The DE started to lose strength and Vic struck him with a quick body binding spell. The DE fell rigidly onto a spikier than usual patch of spinifex.
Meanwhile, Harry had a harder time with his DE. The DE seemed possessed and Harry saw glints of red in his eyes. The dueling was aggressive as Harry and the DE spat out spells as quickly as they could dodge. The DE's foot stamped on a patch of spinifex, waking a danger that was unavoidable. A deadly king brown (snake) reared its agile neck in anger to being stepped on. The closest moving thing was the DE's leg so it threw itself at it, sinking its fangs deep into the calf.
At that moment, the DE gave a little exhale of pain and that was all that was needed for Harry to use that to his advantage. "Expelliarmus!" he yelled and the DE's wand soared out of his hand and into Harry's. The magical length of wood was immediately snapped and thrown aside, dying sparks being emitted in its last attempt of magic.
The DE could feel the venom coursing threw his bloodstream at an alarming rate. It was no wonder, his body was tensed for battle and his heart was racing with adrenalin. It egged on the venom cruelly. The DE knew his time was short, and he had to do something that would honour his master. How about killing the brat who wouldn't die? He grabbed a branch off the ground and lunged at Harry who was unsuspecting. Then he held Harry to his chest and pushed the stick roughly onto his throat.
Harry couldn't breathe and he felt a bone snap in his neck. Luckily it wasn't something that would cause him to be paralyzed for his arms and legs were still thrashing about in futility. 'The bastard,' thought Harry angrily. 'He gets bitten by the poisonous snake and he drags me down with him. Figures.'
Harry's consciousness was fading but he did see a blonde haired man through his pain-ridden green eyes. Something that looked like an even bigger stick was raised in his hands before he was snared by the land of no consciousness.
Draco had removed the invisibility and brought the stick swinging down at a measured speed. Enough to knock the DE out but not to kill him. After a sickening crack, Draco hurried to revive Harry. However, just before he did so, a somewhat familiar face caught his attention.
The DE, he was Franko Harley. Anger flashed through Draco. The image of Harley forcing his lips onto Ginny all those years ago seared in Draco's mind. He couldn't let the snake venom rob Draco of his chance of sudden revenge. The stick acted as a stake right through Harley's heart and the four Aurors apparated back to camp. Vic supporting Ron, Draco helping Harry.
Draco sighed and scratched off some dried blood on his neck. The cool desert-like night was refreshing and welcomed after the blazing sun of the Australian outback. Right now, Draco had the tiniest of rests. Many battles were occurring elsewhere and soon battalion 270 would be called up again.
Vic snored in the hammock above Draco but he didn't notice. He was haunted by the smell of blood. Crimson, everywhere. It was unnerving. The red earth of the Pilbara was soaked in blood. The smell of death wafted in the air and Draco couldn't shake the urge to vomit.
Draco sighed and gazed out to the open plains of the quiet night and enjoyed the sound of nature for once. Crickets were chirping and somehow, a fresh breeze from the far-off coast managed to work its way to the field hospital. The hospital had no walls, but a defensive, hygienic barrier was magicked up.
The nearly-full moon shone its light clearly through the crystal clear sky. There was no city smoke here, nothing to block the ways of the stars. Draco gazed at them, though not really seeing them. He finally had some time to think about Ginny. A feeling of calm and a touch of happiness finally punctured Draco's hardened shell. The stars seemed to twinkle at Draco as he thought of Ginny and how she was holding up. He could picture her clearly, tapping her quill against her forehead in thoughtfulness as she decided whether to hex Stephen for his currently boring talks of pixie wars.
'Ginny'. Draco was immensely relieved that he hadn't forgotten her. He had been so caught up with the battle. His thoughts turned to her soft skin and sweet smelling hair. He yearned to run his hardened hands over the fragility of her. His lips tingled and anticipated her kiss which would not come. He was a million miles away.
Lying in my bed
I hear the clock tick and think of you
Turning in circles
Confusion is nothing new
The familiar ache gripped at Draco's chest and loneliness hit him like a bludger to the stomach.
Flash back to warm nights
Almost left behind
A suitcase of memories
Time after sometimes
You picture me
I'm walking too far ahead
You're calling to me
I can't hear what you've said
Ginny tossed and turned in her bed which was devoid of Draco. A familiar lump formed in her throat as time robbed the scent of Draco away from the bed they shared.
And you say, go slow
I've fallen behind
The second hand unwinds
Draco thought back to Ginny who would be alone in her room. A sudden notion gripped him. He could apparate back to England if he concentrated enough. Opal suddenly walked by though, and responsibility crushed that notion.
After your picture fades
And darkness has turned to grey
Watching through windows
I'm wondering if you're okay
If you're lost, you can look
And you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you
I'll be waiting
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you
I will be waiting
Time after time
A solitary tear fell…
Hey, I wrote a pretty dodgey war scene but that's all my stoopit brain can come up with right now.
Please review, I love those things, and I really appreciate it when you do.
Italics, apart from the obvious letter from Ginny are from the song Time After Time by Eva Cassidy.
Perhaps you will notice I have changed my story summary? The first one didn't exactly make too much sense. :P
Stay tuned, much luv,
Jessica/yourbeautifulnightmare.
P.S, here's another one of my apologies for typos. Please don't hurt me! –cower- I post these late at night. I reckon I could put groceries in the bags underneath my eyes!