A/N sorry for the slight delay guys, just finished writing it. This chapter has slightly less words than the previous ones but I hope it's still alright. I'd just like to congratulate every single person who read this story over the last two weeks. There has been 2305 views over the past few weeks, 721 on the Tuesday the last chapter was released which is hundreds more than I've had in a day before. Saying that, I'd like to thank the 396 people who read this story in the past two weeks! You're what keeps the story going. Also found it slightly funny that this was the biggest jump in views I've ever had and only one of you reviewed but that doesn't matter. Thank you JayBat for reviewing! All I'd like to say is please review if you have time and enjoy the following chapter.
Chapter 33 - Bird Song
Not too long later, Ginny came clattering back down the stone staircase and behind her emerged an exhausted looking girl in a fluffy, pale blue dressing gown and yellow slippers. Draco wrinkled his nose slightly in distaste, taking in her untidy mane of knotty, blonde curls. "Loony Lovegood?" Draco mouthed at Ginny with a dead expression. The youngest Weasley narrowed her eyes at him and smiled at Luna, who'd just sat herself down on one of the deep blue armchairs. Draco drew a sharp intake of breath and prepared to sacrifice his ears until he'd gotten the answer they were looking for. Anything to get Hermione back. "Hello Draco," Luna said brightly, contrasting to how tired she looked.
"Evening," Draco said dryly back.
"Draco, do you want to find Fawkes or not?!" Snapped Ginny so suddenly that Draco actually jumped. He glared mutinously back at her and took a seat opposite Luna. "Ginny has told me you're looking for Dumbledore's pet Phoenix, is that right?" Luna asked in her dreamy manner. Draco nodded. "And it's urgent?" She asked. He nodded again. "Do tell me if I'm mistaken, but aren't you dating Hermione? Where is she?" Luna probed. Draco clasped his hands tightly, locking his fingers together and wondering how she knew all of this. It was as though she could read him like a book. Blood pumped through his veins furiously. How many people could they risk telling?
After what seemed like an age later, Ginny looked at Draco, who nodded. "Yes, Hermione is dating Draco but she's been recently taken by the death eaters, presumably to get information. We can't go alone to get Hermione back obviously and we thought that Harry could help. Because he's Harry," Ginny explained, but Luna looked horrified.
"Hermione's been snatched? Oh the poor girl! She was a very good friend. Quite opinionated I must admit but, oh she never should've been snatched," Luna said in a sympathetic voice. Draco felt a rush of anger at how lightly the Ravenclaw appeared to be taking this. Noticing this, Ginny quickly said, "So we need you to help us, Luna, help us get her back."
"Hmm," the Ravenclaw hummed, "I thought the Order weren't in contact with Harry. How do you suppose on finding him?"
"He's left information on where he is with Fawkes," Ginny clarified quickly, taking in a deep breath. Draco took another intake of breath. How much were they trusting this girl with? The note was specifically for Ginny and Hermione. If Potter wanted Loony to know, he would've said.
"The phoenix?" Luna clarified. Both Ginny and Draco nodded. Draco stifled a yawn and watched mutinously as Luna pondered, painfully slowly.
Finally the blonde yawned, "Wild phoenix's tend to live out in either the mountains or the forest. Fawkes will most likely be soaring over the forbidden forest. Have you ever summoned a Phoenix before?"
"Harry has, in his second year," Ginny replied quickly.
"Hmm, well I'm not an expert on Phoenixes myself, although I do know a lot about nargles. You say Harry summoned one in his first year?" Luna asked dreamily.
"Second," Ginny clarified quickly and Luna nodded.
"Who cared if she knew about nargles?" Draco thought furiously, "What even are nargles?"
"Well, it's quite simple really isn't it," she carried on dreamily. Both Draco and Ginny looked at her, impatient and breath held. "You have to prove yourself worthy of it," she smiled. Draco took a further sharp intake of breath, furiously and stared at her.
"I don't think you quite get it, Lovegood. My girlfriend is most likely being tortured and we come to you to find our only chance of finding two idiots who Ginny thinks will be helpful, and you tell us to be worthy? What in Salazar's damn name is that supposed to mean huh? Answer that!" Draco demanded, spitting with rage. Ginny winced and looked towards the ceiling where the entire Ravenclaw house were sleeping.
"I am terribly sorry for you and poor Hermione too, Draco, truly I am. But if this is the path you are taking then I'm afraid I can't help you much. My dad may know some more about Phoenixes than I do but he's currently traveling in Sweden, searching for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. It's extremely rare. Now unless you're going to accio it from the midst of the forest or you want me to spend a few days researching it then you're going to have to prove yourselves to it," Luna said, in a somewhat final tone, "I'll come down with you if you wish."
"No, get some sleep Luna, we'll sort this out," Ginny smiled, turning to Draco. He was silently fuming in the chair he was perched on, clenching and unclenching his fists. Luna said goodnight in her friendly manner and skipped back up the stairs to bed. The other two turned to exit, hearts heavier than when they'd first come in.
As soon as they'd left and shut the door behind them, Draco swore loudly. "Well that was a bloody waste of time," he seethed furiously.
"There's no use getting worked up about it, we'll just have to -"
"Ginny it's been twelve hours at least since she was taken! Twelve! And we're no closer to breaking her out than we were when we found out!"
"I don't know who else will know how to find this bird. If only Dumbledore could just come back and tell us. If only he'd come back as a ghost," Ginny sighed.
"Yeah, pity he never left a painting," Draco said bitterly, words cutting through the air like a knife. They both shook their heads and made their way down the spiral staircase.
They were just debating where to go now when Draco walked headlong into something very hard. And the hard something moved. Draco sprang backwards as if he'd been electrified and his eyes slowly traveled up the large thing he'd hit. Ginny clamped her hand over her mouth and gasped. "Mr Malfoy," the oily voice of their old potions master spoke. In the tired and furious state they'd been in, they'd left the cloak in Hermione's bag.
Snape stood, tall and greasy haired in a long, sweeping black dressing gown, eyes narrowed and full of cold confusion. "Pro-Professor," Draco stuttered, more surprised than anything else. But Ginny, who wasn't to know that Snape was in the Order and thought that he was a cold blooded murder, looked up at her teacher in utter disgust and spat, "What the hell are you doing here? Murderer." Snape's complexion turned to a mixture between cold anger and regret as he stared down his hooked nose at the girl. Draco had frozen, eyes flitting between the two of them. Snape's cold, black eyes returned to Draco's and he opened his mouth to speak. "What are you doing roaming the corridors this late at night?" He asked coldly.
Draco narrowed his eyes and said coolly, "We were walking."
"Obviously," he said back.
"And we were just..."
"Go on," Snape spoke in his greasy voice.
"We were -" Draco began but was lost for words.
"Tell me, Draco. What are you doing wandering around the entrance to Ravenclaw tower in the dead of night with," he nodded at Ginny, "A Gryffindor whom I believed you were... enemies with?" Snape finished softly. Draco clicked his tongue. "I could of course go to the headmistress," Snape continued in his silky voice.
"No," Draco said in earnest. He glanced at Ginny before looking hard into his late professor's eyes and saying, very confidently, "We need your help."
Snape raised his eyebrows at that. Ginny looked aghast and began to say, "He's a murderer -!" But stopped when Draco kicked the side of her ankle angrily.
"He's not!" Draco said angrily.
"Of course he is!" Ginny said, face going a shade of angry red.
"He's -"
"He killed Dumbledore!"
"I was the one who disarmed Dumbledore that night! Do not bring him into this!"
"But -"
"He's helping me learn Occlumency to fight off the Dark Lord. He's on our side!" Draco snapped hotly. That shut Ginny up.
"Professor," Draco began, "You made a promise to my mother to help me did you not?" Snape bowed his head, "Well now we really need your help."
"Draco, you're not seeing Miss Weasley are you?" Snape asked in a deadly hiss.
"What?" Draco asked, looking at Ginny in a confused manner.
"In an... intimate sort of -"
"What?!" Ginny and Draco both said loud enough to attract some portraits' attention, aghast.
"Definitely not!" Draco retorted.
"Never! Ew!" Ginny said in a disgusted tone, pretending to vomit. Snape nodded. Then his face grew cold.
"Are you seeing Miss Granger?" He asked. Ginny's jaw dropped whereas Draco's hardened.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I am," Draco replied coolly back.
"Draco! After all I've told you!" Snape thundered quietly as to not wake the entire castle.
"Are you going to help us or not?!" Draco said furiously. They'd already waisted hours. Hermione could be suffering beyond sanity levels right now and he was having a chat with his mentor.
"I am not helping you when your putting yourself and her at risk!" Snape snarled, "Now I will be reporting the two of you to Professor McGonagall in the morning -"
"Don't, professor!" Draco said shortly, tapping his foot and looking nervously around.
"Excuse me?" Snape asked coldly, "I believe I am in charge here -"
"I don't know what's going on here but you are definitely NOT in charge!" Ginny retorted shrilly, "Draco we need to go!"
"Where might that be exactly?" Snape asked coolly.
"None of your concern!" Ginny snarled but Snape had bent down so that his forehead was very close to Ginny's and was scowling at her menacingly. She stepped away slightly so that she didn't have to smell his breath but Snape was already spitting, "Just because I am not employed her doesn't mean you have the right to show me no respect!" Ginny stood, breathing hard and scowled at the greasy haired man. "Now hurry off back to your dorms this instant!" Snape hissed angrily.
"No," Draco said firmly. Both heads turned to face him, Snape straightening up.
"Excuse me?" He asked.
"I said no! Hermione Granger, my girlfriend might I add, has been kidnapped by my aunt and your just standing in the middle of the staircase blocking our paths!" Draco hissed furiously. Snape's lips parted in surprised, giving him an almost human look about him and he looked between the two students, appearing to be thinking. "Will you help us?" Draco practically begged, staring hard at his former professor, head of house and mentor.
"Follow me," Snape said sternly and he led them down the flights of moving stairs, though the oak doors into the entrance hall and down the stone hallways into the dungeons. Cold air lapped at their bare ankles as they trapped deeper under the school until they were outside Snape's office, which he waved open with a swish of his wand.
He took a seat at his desk and conjured up two spares from midair, indicating his former students to sit. "What is it that you need?" Snape asked, noticing the pale, worried look in Draco's already pale complexion. Draco sighed in relief and glanced at Ginny's deadpan expression before replying.
"You can't tell anyone -"
"Can't tell - Draco has Professor McGonagall been informed?!" Snape demanded, shocked. He quickly flicked the door shut and Ginny flinched as the bolt slid into place. She glanced at Draco, praying he knew what he was doing.
"No she has not. And no one else will either. All adults do is stop us from doing what is right. We're looking for..." he was about to say 'Potter and Weasel' but restrained against it. What if he was questioned? "We're looking for Professor D-Dumbledore's Phoenix, Fawkes," he said. Snape looked at them, puzzled and almost bitterly.
"What are you talking about?" The greasy haired man spat the words out like poison.
"Look are you going to tell us how to get the bird or not?" Ginny said at last, frustrated and aggravated, "The only way we can find and rescue Hermione is with Fawkes and us wasting time with you is getting us nowhere! You're sacked, Snape. You don't get paid to be here, you have to be here. The ministry's corrupt and the Order is on its last tether. If you have the decency then you'd bloody well tell us how to find Fawkes! It's the least you could do."
Both Snape and Draco turned to stare at her. Ginny was breathing hard, red hair windswept from apparating and she carried a tired look on her. Snape sniffed stiffly and nodded. "Why do you want to find the bird?" He asked dryly.
"Lest you know the better," muttered Draco, raising his eyes to make eye contact with him, his pale head bowed slightly. Snape nodded and leant back in his chair, considering the pair of them. "Fawkes was Dumbledore's Phoenix. A loyal bird. With any luck he'll be flying around the Forbidden Forest. Summoning it with magic won't work. It needs to be shown loyalty. Go to the tree line and think of the bird and it should come. If, that is, it thinks you are loyal enough," he spoke in a tired, weary voice. "You have two days to return to the castle before I tell McGonagall so you better make whatever you do quick," Snape snapped. Draco and Ginny both nodded and scooted their chairs across the stone floor, got up and hurried out muttering "Thanks."
Once the door had closed, Draco sighed, "It was that easy?" Ginny looked at him and shrugged.
"We've still got to actually call the bird," she muttered, "We could just do it in the morning -"
Draco turned right around and stared at her as if she were insane. "I'm not wasting any more time and if that means not sleeping for a couple of days then so be it. We're finding that bloody bird, then we can find Potter and then we can do what ever happens next. I'm not leaving her!"
"Draco I know it's just -"
"If you're tired then go! Go up to Gryffindor tower and pretend everything's fine! Pretend that Potter's going to come and save the day when the Dark Lord attacks. Pretend that everyone you care about will be fine and that the world will be back to normal. Pretend what you like! I won't! I'm going!" And he stormed off, a damp patch forming under his eye. He had to do something. Anything. Ginny shook her head and ran after him.
"Alright! You win, but I'm going with you. She's my friend too," the small redheaded girl said firmly. Draco rolled his eyes and hurried up the passage out of the cold dungeons.
The trek down to the forest edge was not fun. The wind was blowing hard and the rush of cold air made them shiver convulsively. The grass was damp with dew making their shoes and socks wet and the ground beneath them was slippery and uneven. Once or twice Draco nearly lost his footing and slid slightly on the dew, but he always regained his balance. Even outside the castle they couldn't make much noise in fear of waking Hagrid or his boarhound, Fang. The quiet was eerie and caused the hairs to stand up in his neck as he edged closer to the forest. He was no fool, Draco knew exactly what lurked in those trees. He'd been in there before, in his first year with Potter, Hermione and the Longbottom kid. That was the first time he'd lain eyes upon the Dark Lord himself, at eleven years old. At the end of the year he'd found out that it was in fact his old teacher, professor Quirrell, and that the Dark Lord had used his body to get around the place. He shivered again. The forest loomed nearer and he slowed down a fraction. "Think about Hermione," he told himself furiously and with a higher determination reached the tree line.
Ginny was next to him, staring into the blackness ahead. "Now what?" He asked, befuddled. Through the leaves he saw the stars, tiny pinpricks in the sky and hoped that calling Fawkes wouldn't be too hard.
"We've got to be loyal," said Ginny, as though this were merely as simple as saying ABC. Draco looked at her, blankly.
"We've got to think of Fawkes," he said, remembering what Snape had told them. They both furiously thought 'Fawkes'. Nothing happened. "What does he look like?" Draco asked frustratedly.
"Um... he's, I think he's a deep sort of fiery colour, beautiful plumage, sings pleasantly..." Ginny trailed off.
"So just an ordinary Phoenix," Draco confirmed. Ginny nodded. Draco didn't know why this surprised him. He supposed that, being Dumbledore's bird, it might have looked a little more significant.
He thought of what he sincerely hoped was Fawkes, and imagined the bird singing. "Are you even doing anything?" Draco asked Ginny in an aggravated tone after awhile.
"Of course I am!" Ginny snapped. Draco went back to thinking.
"Come on Fawkes," he muttered absentmindedly, "We need you. Come on!" Ginny noticed his muttering and glanced, unnoticed by him, sideways at him. He looked tense and under pressure, the sort of look a normal teenager might have when put on the spot in front of an entire class. But they were not normal teenagers. They were witches and wizards born from wizarding families and they were in the middle of a war and were constantly facing the fate of life or death. At the age of sixteen, Ginny was attempting to rescue her best friend from the heart of Voldemort's hideout when most normal teenagers that age would be studying hard for their N.E.W.T.s the following year or, in the case of muggles, their A levels. Well, at least she knew she'd be getting an O in defence in the dark arts once this was over with.
"Please," Draco breathed under his breath, willing the bird to come, "My girlfriend has been taken I need you to help me! PLEASE!" Draco burst out, shouting the last word. He wrenched his eyes open which had been clamped shut and looked around wildly. But the bird didn't come. "Draco," Ginny whispered but Draco stumbled away, furious.
"No! Don't touch me! I should've just gone as soon as she was taken! You - THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Draco roared, tears brimming in his eyes.
"Draco going on your own would have been a suicide mission!" Ginny retorted.
"I don't care! I'd die for her any day! I'd do anything to keep her safe! Anything! I love her! Don't you understand?!" Draco cried through gritted teeth.
"I know," Ginny said quietly, "I -" but then she stopped. She looked around her, up and into the forest. Draco heard it too. Music was sounding somewhere above them, an ear piercing single note getting louder and louder and louder until it had reached such a pitch that both Ginny and Draco had to shield their ears. A burst of flames emitted from a point above one of the trees near them illuminating the bird within, soaring towards them. "Fawkes," Draco murmured, wiping his cheeks in a daze.
The beautiful bird landed before them on the ground and shook its plumage, ruffling its feathers which were still glowing gold. Draco edged forward towards the bird and raised out his arm, tentatively. The Phoenix fluttered up onto his arm and landed, cutting into his in a painful grip. It bowed his head and Draco looked at it, taking in its beauty. Ginny gazed from over his shoulder. Then he shook himself and peered at the bird. "Now what?" He asked Ginny.
"Um..." she began but faltered. Now what indeed?
"Do you know where Harry Potter is?" He asked the bird clearly. Ginny smirked slightly at Draco using her boyfriend's name. The Phoenix ruffled his feathers importantly and twitched its tail. Draco glanced nervously at Ginny. "Do you know where Harry and Ron are?" He asked again and this time the bird practically leapt up and fluttered its tail feathers. Draco started to lose his patience. "Wait!" Ginny said suddenly and Draco turned to look at her, "I think it wants us to grab hold."
"Don't be ridiculous - we're much too heavy for a -" but then he remembered that Fawkes wasn't an ordinary bird. He looked at Ginny and a grin crept onto his face. Finally, they were getting somewhere. He took hold of Ginny's wrist in his right hand, and the Phoenix's glowing tail feathers in the other. They were surprisingly warm. Instantly, he felt a lightness wash through him and before he knew it, his feet had left the ground.
A/N And they're off! Can't wait to read any reviews you write, as always. Hope you all have an amazing two weeks and see you in two Tuesdays time!