Hey guys! Finally, in this chapter Draco shows up again. It's not much, but he's there. I don't want to give too much away, so I'm just going to let you read ;)
In case you were wondering; Elsa took the Apparition course with the others, but she didn't take the test. She could apparate if she wanted, but she's too scared to splinch.
Oh, before I forget; the first Oneshot is up. It's about Blaise (who just entered Hogwarts at their 4th year in my story) trying to find out who our beloved Draco is crushing on^^
Warnings: Language mostly.
Disclaimer: I don't own HP or Frozen
Enjoy!
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It had been a hard decision. I really didn't want to leave Anna and Kristoff alone with Jack, but my sister had assured me they'd be fine. They had distracted him long enough for me to get to Buckbeak and leave.
The Ministry was taken over by Death Eaters, so flooing was not an option. I had thought about it at first, but it was likely they monitored the floo connection. And of course I couldn't just step out of Malfoy Manor's fireplace, which could be swarming with Death Eaters. It was a risk in general, but it was not my life I was risking, so I just had to be careful.
I also thought about trying to apparate, but that would have made too much of a noise, and I still wasn't sure if I could do it on my own without losing several limbs.
At Hogwarts, also taken over by Voldemort's people, it was Easter Holidays. It was only an assumption, but I hoped Draco had indeed gone home for the holidays.
Buckbeak seemed to know where he was flying, which I was grateful for. I've only apparated to the manor with Lucius and Narcissa before and wouldn't know how to get there anyhow else. It was already getting dark when we reached a piece of forest that looked familiar. Yes, we were close.
I made the hippogriff land in the middle of the woods. There were enough trees to shield him at least a little, and with night approaching it was harder to see him anyways.
I still had quite a distance to walk, but I didn't mind. It gave me time to actually think about what I wanted to tell Draco.
Hey, sorry I'm endangering your life here, but guess what? My father, Spirit of Winter, showed up and has a sick obsession with me. But oh, I could only be imagining things too. Still I'm scared as hell for no apparent reason.
It was the truth, but it sounded unbelievable, even in my head. There wouldn't even be anything Draco could do to help me, and it wasn't like he hadn't enough problems on his own plate. I just wanted to see him. To see for myself he was still alive and fine.
I bit my lip when I reached the manor. I was staying at a distance of course, not daring to move any closer in case there were Death Eaters lurking around. It was already dark now, so I had better chances at hiding, but Voldemort's people had the same advantage.
I formed a small butterfly of ice, sending it to one of the manor's windows as soon as it moved its wings. Someone was there, as there was light shining through it. If Draco was there, I hoped he'd notice the message. If not... I'd just have to leave disappointed. It was too risky to try a bolder approach.
A long while nothing happened. I thought about risking to send another butterfly, when the front door opened. I was at the right side of the house, but the sound was definitely a door being opened. I hid further behind the tree and pulled the hood of my cloak deeper in my face as a figure stepped out, using Lumos to see in the dark. There were no other figures, so I took the risk and sent another butterfly in the direction of the light. Finally the figure rounded the corner and my heart fluttered when I recognized my boyfriend. Aside from visible exhaustion he seemed unharmed.
Carefully I pulled the hood of my cloak back and stepped a little closer. First he was startled, then he rushed towards me after Noxing the light. It was dark, safe for the pale moonlight, when his body met mine in a crushing embrace. Only when he pulled away enough to kiss me I felt we were both shaking with relief. Way too soon he pulled away and grabbed my shoulders, staring in my eyes. His' seemed to glow in the moonlight; I was captivated by them.
"What the hell are you doing here?! You know he's after you!" he was talking quietly, more of a hiss than actual talking, but the urgency was clear.
"Draco, I... I..." Did I really want to tell him about Jack? To add to his worries?
"If it's about your friends, forget it. I managed to convince them not to kill Luna, but I'm not letting you go in there-"
"What?!" The exclamation was a little louder than intended, but there was no movement coming from the mansion yet. "Luna is in there?!" I continued in a whisper, more hearing than seeing Draco sigh.
"So you didn't know... Her father was disobeying, so they wanted to kill her as a punishment. I persuaded them she would be of more use for us when she was our prisoner." he explained quickly. "And an hour ago Greyback found Potter and the other two. I bought us some time when I said I couldn't identify his deformed face, but Bellatrix is torturing Granger for hours now. It won't be long till she either dies or Bellatrix has had enough. And the charm on Potter will wear off too... You have to leave. They will call Him soon, and I don't want him to get you too..."
That was way too much information. Hermione was tortured, and all of them were imprisoned, only able to wait for their death?! He sighed again, trying to calm down himself.
"If you're not here for them, what are you doing here?" The gravity of the whole war caught up with me again and suddenly I felt stupid for running to Draco for something so pointless as my creepy father problems. I shook my head, forcing a small smile.
"I... I just wanted to see you. To make sure you're okay. I'm really sorry for endangering you like that..." He gave me a desperate look before hugging me tight again.
"No, no it's okay, sweetheart. I'm glad to see you..." I knew he was right, I should hurry up and leave now, but I needed to enjoy this small piece of heaven a little longer.
"Draco?" I felt my boyfriend freeze for a second before he pressed a quick kiss to my forehead and turned around, wand drawn.
Lucius Malfoy, looking more disheveled than I've ever seen him before, stood just a few steps away from us. His Lumos threw bizarre shadows on his face, making him look like death. There was a small slump in his posture when he saw me, but he stood his ground.
"You found her. Good work. Bring her inside. Bellatrix wants to call the Dark Lord now."
I half expected Draco to do as his father told him. Disobedience could kill him and his family, after all. But the younger Malfoy didn't move. He stood straighter, glaring at his father as his free arm reached behind to shield me.
"Draco..." It almost sounded like Lucius was pleading. He didn't want to have to hurt his only son. I carefully put a hand on Draco's arm.
"It's okay... I'll be fine. It's not worth it." I told him, meaning it. Why should he risk his life when I couldn't die anyways?
Draco's cold hand grabbed mine blindly, squeezing it so much it almost hurt. His eyes never left his father's, not daring to risk an unexpected attack from him.
"You are worth it. Immortality or not. I'm not letting him hurt you."
Lucius expression was indefinable. As if he was having an inner fight.
"Draconis, you know what He does to traitors. You'd have to run and hide forever if you don't want to be killed..."
I frowned at the strange wording, noting the emphasis on 'run' and the slight flicker of his eyes. Draco realized it too, almost gasping in disbelief. He didn't waste any time and knocked his father out with a non-verbal spell.
"We have to get behind the wards and apparate!" he told me hastily, already dragging me along further from the mansion. I didn't want to leave my friends or Buckbeak behind, but Draco just sacrificed his freedom for me, and staying back would be his death. So I hurried along, until we heard voices. Draco stopped, holding his breath, listening to the voices.
"Fuck..." In the moonlight I didn't see his whole face, but he was deathly pale and scared. "Greyback. We're screwed..." Fenrir Greyback was a werewolf. One of the scariest and cruelest out there. And he was said to be fast. I judged the distance to get behind the wards to apparate, but it was too far away. The werewolf would be on our tracks in milliseconds.
Draco pulled me along again, determined to reach the wards, but I already knew we wouldn't make it when I heard trampling coming closer. Making a quick decision I ripped my hand from his and pinned him to a nearby tree with ice.
"Elsa, what the-"
"You're going to pay for what you did to my friends, you little git!" I declared loudly, pulling my wand out of my sleeve and pointing it at him just as the werewolves caught up with us. I let the ice creep higher until it covered my boyfriend's mouth.
I spun around and fired some spells in their direction, backing away slowly as not to endanger Draco. Those beasts were really fast. I abandoned my wand for the time being and used my powers to send icy shards in their direction, managing to hurt them at least a little. They didn't back off, despite their injuries. It was impossible to keep up with their fast running around me, and I couldn't just send shards in every direction without hurting Draco, so it was only a matter of time when I was tackled to the ground by one of the wolves.
The tallest of them, Greyback himself, let out a low growl, making his ugly smirk appearing even creepier.
"Easy, easy. He will want her unharmed." I glared at the gigantic man as I was pulled to my feet, arms held firmly behind my back. He stepped closer, and I could see Draco fuss against the ice, desperate to get free. But I couldn't let him. He'd blow the cover I created for him. He'd still have a chance to not be killed for being a traitor.
"Don't you even dare freezing us, princess. Your friends are our prisoners and I have nothing against taking a little bite out of them." I clenched my fists, eyes narrowing at the werewolf. Of course he'd use my friends as blackmail.
A large rough hand tilted my head up as Greyback sniffed.
"What a shame. She smells delicious. Maybe... when the boss is done with her, we get to have a taste." He licked his lips with a creepy smirk, earning laughs from his pack and a shudder from me.
Draco's struggles got more frantic, which didn't go unnoticed by Greyback.
"Isn't it funny?! His favorite little servants taken out by a little girl." Draco's silver eyes glared daggers at the werewolf. "Tch, whatever. Go unfreeze him or your friends will pay. I think I'll start with the mudblood; she had this delicious smell too."
I was tempted to scream at him to make him shut up, but biting my tongue prevented me from doing it. I kept telling myself I had to keep my head straight. I was not fighting for my own sake.
"I need my hands." I bit out a little harsher than necessary.
"Fine, but no tricks or..."
"I get it." I snapped involuntarily, my nerves getting the better of me. I didn't actually need to touch the ice to thaw it, but Greyback didn't need to know that. I used those few seconds to stare intently into Draco's eyes, pleading him silently to play along. I couldn't lose him too. Not like this. There was defiance in his eyes, but when he was free he moved my arms behind my back and began pushing me to the mansion, his face an angry grimace.
"Move, stupid freak. And you shut the fuck up and get my father inside!" He snapped the last part at the snickering werewolves, who roared in laughter but scrambled as Greyback followed us inside.
The manor was dark, safe for one room that was brightly lit. I vaguely remembered it as a sitting or drawing room.
Draco's grip on my wrists was tight, but not tight enough to hurt, and his thumb caressed my fingers sneakily.
"Damn it Lucius, what took you so- OH! Draco! What do we have here?!" Bellatrix Lestrange's delighted shriek was a horrible sound. I blocked it out as best as I could as I took in the situation in the room.
Hermione was laying on the ground, barely conscious and looking deathly pale. A goblin from Gringott's was just pushed into the room by a hunched man with a horrible smell, and Narcissa Malfoy sat in an armchair, just getting up when we entered the room.
"What a precious little thing you are!" The awful woman pinched my cheek so hard it hurt, but I didn't give her the satisfaction to make a sound. "Where have you been hiding, hm? Should've known we'd get you in the end. The Dark Lord always gets what he wants." She looked at Draco with a grin. "Good work, Draco!"
"Hey, that bitch would've escaped if it wasn't for me stopping her. Princess had Lucius knocked out and him frozen to a tree when we caught her. Good thing the little beast's too worried about her friends to try to use her precious powers." I didn't even need to see his face to know he was grinning creepily again. Bellatrix' grin didn't falter.
"Nobody asked for your opinion, werewolf." I heard Greyback sneer, and shortly after there were footsteps coming closer, Lucius entered the room, looking slightly disoriented. Narcissa walked up to him to guide him to the armchair, looking concerned, while Bellatrix merrily turned to grin down at the goblin.
"Must be our lucky day. The Lord will be so pleased with us!" she said to no one in particular before kicking the goblin and telling him to examine the sword on the ground. She wanted to know if it was a copy.
The goblin took his time, when there was a Pop! coming from down below.
"Wormtail, go look what they're doing!" Narcissa ordered, and as the smelly man named Wormtail walked off, the werewolves left too. Despite the danger and tension in the room I felt myself relax when they vanished.
"Don't get any ideas, Missy. I'll have that little mudblood dead before you can form a single snowflake." I just glared at Bellatrix as she grinned at me, seeming to be euphoric with her luck today.
Draco's hands shook a little, and judging Lucius' and Narcissa's faces they were exchanging glances. Why did I come here? I should've just stayed in Arendelle...
I wanted to look at Draco, tell him it would be fine, but right now it was impossible.
"This is definitely a copy..." the goblin stated after a few minutes, and my heartbeat sped up when Bellatrix kicked him again and bared her arm, touching the tattoo there with her wand.
At the same time, Harry and Ron crashed through the door. In a flash, the crazy witch was disarmed. My friends looked surprised to see me for a short second, but then they concentrated on the fight at hand. Curses were fired, I lost track of who hexed who, until suddenly there was Bellatrix' shrill voice again.
"Nuh-uh. I wouldn't do that, or the mudblood is dead!" She held unconscious Hermione up, a long knife at her throat. It forced Harry and Ron to stop as I gasped. Draco squeezed my wrists, and I closed my eyes briefly before stomping on his foot, making him let go of me and curse, exaggerating of course. Using the surprised few milliseconds I sent an ice shard Bellatrix' way, making her let go of Hermione to jump aside, and suddenly everything went too fast to comprehend.
There was another loud Pop!, the chandelier fell down, creating darkness and chaos for a few seconds, I was pushed into someone, another Pop! and some jerking and suddenly I felt the pull of an Apparition.
"Elsa! What the hell were you doing there?! How did they catch you?!" Harry shouted at me as soon as we stood on solid ground again. Well, it was sand, but it was more solid than the feeling of apparating. I needed a few moments to steady myself and orientate before I looked at him.
"Those werewolves popped up and threatened to kill you if I wouldn't come with them. I didn't have any other choice!" I yelled back, feeling frustrated, still not fully understanding what happened.
"Guys, cut it out! Hermione and Griphook are hurt." Ron's voice was urgent. He held Hermione in his arms bridal style, the goblin lying next to them. They were covered in cuts, probably from the chandelier. Harry walked over and picked up Griphook.
"Let's get them inside..." I followed them towards a cottage by the beach. A houself, the same one I met in second year... Dobby, I believe, was running next to Harry, and an old man, Ollivander, was walking next to Ron.
"Did I do good, Harry Potter?"
"You were fantastic, Dobby." Harry praised the elf who was happily running ahead then to the cottage.
"Where are we?" I asked, taking in the surroundings. Harry took a deep breath and shook his head.
"The cottage belongs to Bill and Fleur. We can hide here."
"What about Luna...?" I haven't forgotten about her, and was actually worrying she was still imprisoned at Malfoy Manor. Before Harry could give an answer, Luna showed up from the inside of the cottage. When she saw me, there was a relieved smile on her face, probably matching mine. I hugged her, glad she was doing okay.
Ron and Harry brought Hermione and Griphook inside. Fleur appeared and minutes later she and Luna were patching up the two injured ones while Bill showed Ollivander a room to lay down and Harry, Ron and I sat in the kitchen.
"Did you mention his name?" Harry asked after a while of silence. I looked at him with a frown.
"Whose? Vo-" Ron's hand clamped over my mouth.
"Yes, that name. Whenever someone says it, that person can be tracked down immediately."
"So did you say it?" I looked from Ron to Harry and back. It would be so easy to lie now. They gave me the perfect excuse. But I didn't want to lie anymore... on the other hand, I had no idea whether Draco was okay or not. Feeling helpless, I just nodded.
"I didn't know it would guide them to me."
"We didn't know it either. But that's how they found us too. It was good Hermione knew that deforming spell... Malfoy would've told on us immediately." I looked down at the cup of tea Bill had prepared with a frown on my face. Draco... he must've used the chaos in the dark and pushed me towards Harry, so he would take me with him. To safety.
"Don't you think he recognized you anyways? I mean, with Ron and Hermione right by your side?"
Ron's made a face, but Harry's expression turned thoughtful before he shrugged.
"I don't know. Probably... But why would he help us willingly? He's the reason Death Eaters took over Hogwarts, and he wanted to kill Dumbledore. He took our wands before and tried to throw a curse at me when I grabbed our wands. And Bellatrix' and his." Harry laid four wands on the table. One of them belonged to Draco. So he was practically defenseless now. The knowledge made my stomach sink. The information that Draco had indeed tried to kill Dumbledore formed a lump in my chest.
"But maybe he doesn't want Vo- Him to win? I don't know guys, but even if he belongs to them, I don't think he really wants to belong there, do you get what I mean?" Ron and Harry shared a look, making me sigh. How should I explain without saying too much? "To me it seems like he's been forced into this. Disobedience would probably kill him and his whole family. Wouldn't you do the same if it was your parents' life at stake?" I directed the last part at Ron, as he probably could understand best.
"I still don't trust him..." Ron said and shook his head after a few seconds.
"Nobody said you have to. I just don't think he's completely evil, and I think he wants this war to end just as bad as we all do." I told them, meeting their eyes. They didn't reply, but at least it gave them something to think about if it ever came to a situation.
Fleur and Luna interrupted the silence, telling us Hermione and Griphook needed rest, but would be fine soon. Bill joined us seconds later, informing us Ollivander was sleeping now.
It was time for story-telling. At least from Harry and Ron. They told us about what happened after Fleur and Bill's wedding last summer when they had to leave. They've been searching for horcruxes the past months. Apparently Voldemort split his soul into a few parts and hid them in valuable objects, that needed to be found and destroyed before he could be killed for real. The diary in our second year had been a horcrux, and the three Gryffindors had stolen a locket from Umbridge at the Ministry. Slytherin's locket, also a horcrux, already destroyed. There were still a few more, and Harry said it was likely they were caged in some objects from Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw.
I had asked them about Dumbledore's death, inwardly wanting to be assured Draco wasn't the one killing the former headmaster, so I also got that story from Harry. They've been chasing a horcrux, but it was a trap that left Dumbledore weak. They got back to Hogwarts, where the Dark Mark was appearing over the Astronomy Tower. They've heard someone approaching, so Dumbledore had stunned Harry and hid him under his invisibility cloak just as Draco appeared and disarmed the older man.
He had intended to kill him, and Dumbledore had known it was him all along, but had shown mercy because he believed he was a good guy on the inside.
"You don't want to become a murderer..." Dumbledore had said, and that actually had Draco sink his wand and crying, until Snape and other Death Eaters showed up. My boyfriend couldn't get himself to kill him, so Snape did it for him.
It was a relief to know Draco didn't actually kill him, even though he was responsible for his death in a way. It was sad, but at least I knew he didn't have a choice.
While the others sat in the living room, talking about past months' happenings, I remembered something and went to find Fleur in the kitchen.
"Fleur? Can you tell me what this means?" I asked, pulling out the yearbook page with the scribbling and showing it to her. The quarter-veela blinked a second before handing me the page.
"DeFoncières? That's our wizarding bank in Paris. Not as big as Gringott's, but just as safe. Where did you get this?" I rubbed my forehead in thought. Why would it be written there?
"Madame Maxime sent it to me..." I told her, making her frown.
"Why would-"
"It's a long story." I cut her off, feeling more exhausted than in a long while. "How do I get to that bank?" I asked instead of explaining. Maybe Isabelle had a vault there... it was worth checking it out before going back to Arendelle.
The french woman sighed and looked out of the window towards the dark ocean.
"I can take you there if you want. You're going to need a translator anyways, or they won't even talk to you." I blinked at the offer, nodding before my brain could catch up.
"That would be nice... thank you." Fleur nodded absentmindedly.
"It must be important if Maxime took the time to send it to you. She is very busy with protecting Beauxbatons from attacks."
"The Death Eaters are in France too?" I asked, eyes wide. How many of them were there?
"Not as many as in London, but yes. They seem to concentrate on Wizarding schools. DeFoncières should be relatively safe... We can leave right in the morning, after we all got some rest." I nodded again, lost in thought. This was even bigger than I thought...
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The next morning it was a hassle persuading Ron and Harry to let me go with Fleur. I wouldn't let any of their arguments count, playing my powers and immortality card to shut them up. In the end it was my decision anyways, so at 9am Fleur and I stood in front of a nice medium sized building. It was pure white marble with golden parts here and there, and there were also goblins, just like at Gringott's. Only these ones looked even more stuck-up with their golden robes and silver wigs.
"What vault am I asking for?" Fleur whispered to me as we made our way to the head desk.
"Isabelle Flocon." She raised an eyebrow at me, but didn't say anything. When the goblin at the desk looked down at us, Fleur talked to him in french, to which the goblin replied after narrowing his eyes.
"He says the vault has been emptied twenty years ago. It's gone." I frowned at that.
"What about Elisa-Marie Flocon?" The goblin perked up a little at the name and when Fleur asked the answer was positive. She nodded at me and soon we followed the goblin downwards to the vaults.
I was really excited. There was a vault with my name. What could be in there?
It didn't take us long to get there. It was a simple small room. On some shelves in the wall were approximately a few hundred Galleons, enough to live from them for a few years, and some small bottles. I walked up to it, examining it. In surprise I almost let it fall to the ground. It was a memory! She left me some memories!
I looked around for anything else, a letter maybe, but there was nothing. My heart thumped as I picked up the bottles and carefully put them in my bag. I decided to leave the money for now, as I didn't think I'd need it. Satisfied I left the vault and followed the others upstairs.
"Did you get what you wanted?" Fleur asked as we left the bank.
"Yes. Thank you so much Fleur..." She gave me a small smile before we apparated back to their cottage. "No wait, can you apparate me to Arendelle? I need to go home."
"A... Arendelle? Where is that?" I blinked, suppressing a sigh. How was she supposed to know? She couldn't apparate there if she didn't know the place. I needed Lupin. Or Moody. But I didn't know if I could contact them, and I certainly wouldn't try to apparate myself. The course had been hard, and I was too scared to accidentally splinch or lose the memories during the apparition if I tried it myself.
"Never mind..." I smiled at her weakly before we stepped into the cottage. Maybe it was for the better if I took a look at the memories here, where Jack wouldn't disturb me. Good thing I brought Draco's Pensieve with me.
Harry and Ron were relieved we came back safely, asking what I got.
"I'll tell you as soon as I took a look at them." I promised. At the moment this was the most important thing on my list, everything else just had to wait.
I excitedly locked myself into one of the bedrooms and set the Pensieve on the desk there. My hands shook a little as I opened the first bottle and put the white substance in the bowl. I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart before I dove into the memory...
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Woohoo, here we go. A lot of things happened in this chapter and it was – thank god – longer than the previous ones.
I know Gringott's is said to be the only Wizarding bank, but this is my Story, so these are my rules^^
Next chapter we see Isabelle's memories and we'll see if Elsa stays with Harry or goes back to Arendelle!
See ya then!
Xoxo, B.
