A/N:
Well, my little chickadees, it's been wonderful writing this story for you!
Unfortunately though, all things must come to an end, including this story. I'd
like to thank all of my readers and reviewers (especially Pinky, without your
persistent nagging (and I mean that in a good way!) this story would probably
still be floundering about at part 4.) Thank you to those who have Beta-read
for me, and thank you to my muse for finally whacking me on the head with
inspiration for this last part. I hope you've had as much fun reading this as I
have writing it! Now before I start sounding any more like an Oscar recipient
let's move on to…
"The Rod! Of course!" said Draco. He
pulled it out, then paused. "But
I've never been able to get the fire part to work…and I don't think shooting
water at you will help to get you out."
"Just try, Draco, I'm sure you can do it if you try hard enough."
With a look of determination on his
face, Draco planted his feet firmly onto the dungeon floor, and concentrated on
the Rod. Fire, I need fire to get her
out. He put all of his mental strength into it, but he only managed to give
himself a headache. He growled. "Work, you stupid thing work!"
"Alright, maybe you're trying too hard," Fae said.
Draco shook his head in frustration.
"How did you get it to work?"
"Well I didn't really. It just sort of
happened when we both touched it. I'd
recommend doing that but it might be a bit hard to control."
"Why can I do the rain part, and not
the fire part?" he grumbled to himself sullenly.
"How did you get the rain power to
work?" asked Fae curiously.
"Well I was just looking out my
window, and there was that rainstorm smell in the air, I just sort of
concentrated on the smell and voila, I had made rain."
"Did it take a lot of effort to do
it?"
"Well no, I did it almost without
thinking."
Fae raised an eyebrow. "And why should
making fire be different?"
"Well, they are opposites…it made sense to me that if rain were effortless,
fire would take lots of effort,"
replied Draco with an edge of defensiveness.
"Well, just try doing it the same way
you did the rain. You've got nothing to lose."
Hmm,
I did the rain by thinking of its smell, do I do fire by thinking of smoke?
Smoke was a smell he knew well. He liked to sit in front of the fires in the
Slytherin common room and just let his mind wander. The chimneys, having to go
from the dungeons to the roof, tended to get partially backed up, and so a
smoky scent permeated the common room. He called that smell up from his memory
and with it came the colors of the flames, the way they flowed like silk and
how they sent waves of warmth through the cold room. He was so intent on the
images of the fires that he didn't even notice the warming of the Rod in his
hand. Fire, I need a fire to melt those
bars. Someone gasped and he opened his eyes.
One of the bars of the cell had begun
to melt and the liquid iron to drip down its side like a candle. Draco stared
first at the bar, then at the Rod, then at Fae. "Congratulations," she said,
with a small, proud smile on her face.
"You did it."
"I did," he said with
quiet pride. He pointed the Rod back at the bar. Melt. A beam of white fire shot out at the bar and began to melt
it. When the bar was nearly completely melted he turned to the next and melted
it too. "There, that ought to be big enough for you to get through." He helped
Fae through, and as she got out, she stumbled on a twisted piece of the bar.
Draco caught her, and, blushing slightly, set her on her feet.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"It was nothing," he said, looking
down while he tried to get his face back to its normal paleness. "Now, I have
something to show you. Although I'd suggest we go to a place with fewer guards
first."
She looked around the room and chewed
on her lower lip slightly. "Before we do that," she said hesitantly, "there are
some people I think you should meet, or re-meet as the case may be. You can
come out now."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione got out from
under the cloak, and stood in a line facing Draco and Fae.
"You-you-what
are you doing here?" spluttered Draco;
he half raised the Rod.
A small, but strong hand clamped down
on his wrist. "Draco, if you're going to work with me, you're going to work
with them, no exceptions."
"But they-he-" he started.
"Draco, you want to give up the Dark
Arts, do you not? Well that means giving up the preconceived notions and
hatreds that go with them. We're going to work together or not at all."
"Wait! Who says I want to work with
Malfoy?" asked Ron indignantly. "And what's this about him giving up the Dark
Arts? He seems pretty damn happy with them from what I can see."
"Have you considered that you aren't
seeing everything?" asked Fae. "People aren't always what they appear on the
outside, Ron."
"He is!" replied Ron.
"See, they don't want to work together
either," said Draco sullenly.
"I'm willing to do it," said Harry
quietly.
"Oh shut up Potter, you goody two
shoes!" shot back Draco.
Suddenly they heard footsteps from the
stair well. "Make yourself presentable, girlie, the Dark Lord asks to receive
you," came the guards voice.
"Together," hissed Fae at Draco and
Ron.
Draco looked incredibly irritated.
"Oh, all right! Come on!" he whispered,
leading them around a corner and into a different section of the dungeon. They
made it around a corner and down a corridor before the guard had come in view
of the cell.
"What the-?" he said perplexedly.
Realization dawned upon him. "PRISONER ON THE LOOSE! PRISONER ON THE LOOSE!" he
yelled running back up the stairs.
"I would rather he hadn't discovered
that fact so quickly," muttered Draco under his breath. "Come on, its just a
little further," he said more loudly to the others.
"What's
'just a little further'?" asked Ron.
"Patience, Weasley, patience," said
Draco with an amused smile. He led them around a few more twisted of the
dungeon and they came to-
"A dead end? What are we doing here?"
asked Hermione
"Ah, but is it a dead end?" asked
Draco smugly. He lead them into the cell on the
left.
"Yes," said Ron testily.
"Wrong, Weasley," replied Draco, his
grin widening. He took out his wand and tapped twice on a brick, three bricks
up from the center of the wall. With a scraping and groaning noise, an archway
leading into black nothingness appeared in the wall. "I discovered this secret
passage a month or so ago. Lumos!"
And with that, he headed down what appeared to be a stairway.
"Lumos!"
said the others, following him. It was indeed a stairway; an old, molding,
dust-ridden, be-cobwebbed, obviously-not-recently-used stairway. They descended
in silence, but for the dripping of water from the ceiling. It must be an underground cavern, thought Harry as the light of his
wand caught on some stalactites and stalagmites, which reared from the ceiling and ground like teeth in some
enormous shark's mouth. Fae shivered from the cold.
"This way," said Draco quietly,
leading them up to what seemed to be a wall of the cave. Draco placed both of
his hands on the wall, muttering "Portus,"
and seeming to try and wrench the wall in two. Slowly, a tall doorway appeared
in the rock.
"You enjoy making doors in walls,
don't you Malfoy?" asked Ron.
"Indeed, I do, Weasley. Indeed, I do,"
he replied with pleasure. "Come." He led them into a room quite different from
the damp, dank gloom they had left. It was a large chamber hollowed out of the
rock, whether by water or man, it was unsure. There were torches encircling the
room, and their flames gave light and even a little warmth. It was much dryer
here, and Harry suspected this was because of enchantments on the stone.
Draco motioned at the ground. "Sit."
They all sat, and Draco stared into the distance for a time, figuring out how
to begin. At last he looked over at Fae. "You said I needed something I was
willing to fight for." She nodded. "Well,
this is who I'm fighting for." He took a picture out from his robes and passed
it around. It was of a young girl, three or four at
most, with hair the color of corn silk and eyes of azure blue. "Her name was
Jade. She was my younger sister."
"'Was'?" asked Fae sympathetically.
"Yes, was. She died less than a year
after that picture was taken." His voice cracked slightly. "She was a Squib.
It's not allowed to be a Malfoy and a Squib," he said with pain and bitterness.
"Oh, Draco…" said Fae, reaching an arm
around his shoulders, "I'm so sorry…"
"Well, I suppose it's better that she
didn't live and get corrupted, like me." He sighed. "But she's my reason for
fighting, and I'll fight to the death for her memory."
"How convenient," said a sinister,
vile voice from behind them. "Death is something you'll soon know better, boy."
"Voldemort," hissed Malfoy. They
rushed to their feet to find Voldemort and around a hundred of his minions
standing behind them.
"Yes, it is I," he said with slow
malice. He moved slowly towards Draco.
"Boy, why do you deny your destiny? You are a Malfoy, a link in a long chain of
faithful obedience to the line of Slytherin; you were destined to wield the Rod
at my side. You cannot deny your past, deny the blood that flows in your
veins." He was now no more than two yards from them.
"Yes, he can!" said Fae, coming up to
stand beside him. She took his hand. "A person is more than their family, and
destinies aren't always what they seem."
"Girl, I have had my fill of you. I
would have Potter die first, but I'll make an exception in your case." He
lifted his wand.
"Kradsi
ohweh taef edlli wreht egot eseh t'noi leht foe erht smrot seht foe nosrat seht
foe no'tra ehtani ojllah shca efoowt krad foe nilen othgil foe nileno," she
shouted pointing at him. A wind began to rise in the cavern.
"What was that?" asked Draco.
"The words on my medallion. A centaur
once told me to recite them in the time of greatest need; I figured that was
now. Hey!" The Rod tore itself from Draco's grasp and
began to glow silver-white and spin in the air between the five and Voldemort.
A humming noise filled the air, and gradually a ring of people in silver-white
robes and cloaks appeared floating in the air around them, chanting the words
of the medallion. Draco felt slightly light-headed. All of a sudden, beams of
light shot out from the chests of the five and Voldemort, and resolved into the
forms of animals. Voldemort's was a snake, a big, black Cobra. Fae's was a
unicorn. Harry, Ron, and Hermione's were all lions. And Draco's was-
"The green serpent, the symbol of the
house of Slytherin." Voldemort laughed darkly. "Do you believe me now, boy? Are
you willing to accept who you truly are? No? Perhaps I can aid you in your
final decision." He waved his wand and in the air between them appeared the jet
and sliver mirror.
"No, Draco, don't look!" yelled Fae,
but it was too late. His vision was locked on things the others could not see.
Draco felt as though his consciousness
had been cleaved in two. One part was being slowly entranced by the mirror; the
other was playing back his life.
Fae,
he and Fae were together, she smiled at him, and kissed him, "Join with
Voldemort," said a voice in his head, so similar to his own, "and this could be
yours." Fae-
He
was fifteen, standing by as his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, stole Colin Creevy's
camera and began to play keep away with it. He laughed with cold malice. Colin
began sobbing when it smashed into a wall. "My-my camera-"
Money,
he was rich! Rich beyond the dreams of any man, even his father. He had the
best of everything. "This too could be yours," whispered the voice-
Ten
years old. He was mercilessly pummeling some house elf while his voice
shrieked, "I do not want tap water, you stupid
slave-"
"He
was walking through Knockturn Alley, people were throwing themselves at his
feet, murmuring all nature of compliments, worshiping him as if her were a god.
"this too-"
"I
love you, Draco," said a small child's voice; a young girl hugged him and
kissed him on the cheek. He, almost as young as she, hugged her back and
whispered, "I love you too, Jade." Jade-
"Don't
believe him!" In his dual mind he couldn't tell whether it was Fae or his
memory of Jade that spoke, but he was released from the spell.
"NO! I'll never join you!" A piercing
cry rent the air. He looked to his spirit animal and saw gold feathers sprouting on it. With another
cry and a burst of golden light, the snakeskin was shed and from it rose a
golden bird of prey. It flew into the air and dove straight at the mirror,
shattering it into thousands of shards. A ring of white fire sprung up between
the chanters and the six. At this point Voldemort's minions wisely started to
take to their heels.
"And now," said Draco reaching out his
arm. The Rod stopped spinning and
glowing and flew into his hand. "This is for Jade." Burn. A jet of white fire leapt from the Rod and struck Voldemort
in the chest.
As he fell back he gasped, "If I go,
I'll take you with me, boy!" The Cobra reared back and attacked the golden
bird, pumping its deadly venom into its throat. The unicorn and lions rushed
in, dragged the Cobra off the
bird, and the unicorn gored it. The walls of the cavern started shaking; the last thing Draco saw were chunks
of rock falling from the ceiling.
* * *
Pain. Dull, throbbing pain. Draco
groaned and opened his eyes slowly. He was in a white room, in a bed, and in a
chair off to his right was-
"Fae?" he said. "Where-where are we?
"A Wizard's Hospital, a little North
of where the castle was."
"Was? The castle! Voldemort! What
happened?"
"Hush," she said, coming over and stroking the hair back from his
forehead. "You need to rest now."
"But Voldemort, where is he?"
"Voldemort is dead. You defeated him.
After he died the castle started collapsing, and you fainted. We barely managed
to get out in time."
"Were the Death Eaters all trapped?"
"No, I believe that when they realized
what had happened, they all Apparated out, and into safety. However they have
lost their leader and will now likely pose little threat to the world."
"Well spoken, Fae," said a voice on
Draco's left. There were Professor Dumbledore, Harry Ron and Hermione.
"Fae, Professor, why did all of this
happen?"
"That's a difficult question, Draco, but maybe Fae can answer it
by explaining what was learned after the castle collapsed," said the Professor,
nodding to Fae."
"Well after the castle collapsed one
of those people in the silver-white robes Apparated beside us. She told us her
name was Mathilde and that she was a member of one of the two clans that first
created the Rod, the d'Orages and d'Astres. She said that she, in fact, helped
create it three thousand years ago. She explained that the Rod's full powers
could only be unleashed by descendants from each clan. We later looked through
your family tree and discovered that your great-great-great grandfather married
Adrianne d'Orage. My medallion was created by my ancestor Thomas d'Astre,
because of a prophecy that one day two descendants of the creators of the Rod
would defeat a great evil with the protection of those of their blood. The
chanters were the creators of the Rod and their first descendants."
"What about the animals?" asked Draco.
"They were a part of the 'full power'
of the Rod."
"So the Rod makes fire, water, and,
spirit animals?" asked Harry.
"I suppose so," said Fae.
Draco sat on the bed, staring at his
lap and puzzling in bewilderment of all of these new developments. "So," he
finally said, "what happens now?"
"I'm not sure. Since I know my name
now, I think I should go look for any family I may have, but I don't want to
leave you all." She gazed around the room.
"I-I don't want you to leave yet either,"
said Draco blushing slightly.
"I have an idea!" said Dumbledore
triumphantly. "Professor Sinistra is about to retire, how are you at
Astronomy?"
"I love it!" said Fae happily.
"Why don't you come and teach for me
at Hogwarts? You can stay here during the school year and during holidays you
can look for family."
"Sounds wonderful!" she turned to
Draco. "What are you going to do?"
"I've got a job at the Ministry, but
whether or not I'll keep it without my father's bribery is questionable."
Dumbledore cleared his throat, "These
two have been through a very trying experience; I think perhaps we should leave
them alone to talk."
"Hey! We've been through a trying
experience too!" said Ron.
"Ron," said Hermione exasperatedly.
She whispered something to him.
A look of realization glowed in his
eyes. "Oh," he said and led the way out of the room.
Fae smiled at Draco. "Well, promise me
that, while you're busy sorting you life out, you'll visit me often."
Draco blushed even deeper. "Of course
I will. I…like you, Fae."
She smiled into her lap. "I like you
too, Draco." She leaned over and
kissed him. She blushed. "And, um, now I think you should probably get some
rest." And she hurriedly went out of the room.
Draco leaned back on the pillows his
hands behind his head. He smiled up at the ceiling, and thought about how
incredible it was that a person could change themselves and their life.
The End
::sob::
Well, that's it, chickadees. The finale of the story. Hey, there had to be one
chapter that didn't end in a cliffhanger! Anyone notice that the Cavern scene
mirrored Harry's dream sequence in Chapter 1? No? Ah, well it actually wasn't
intentional, just a happy coincidence of my muse. Want to know what Fae's
medallion said? Read it backwards. You're too lazy to read it backwards? Fine,
fine, I'll write it out for you:
One line of light, one line of dark,
two of each shall join at heart. One of the starts one of the storms three of
the lion. These will defeat he who is Dark.
Now, since it's el fin and all, would it really be THAT much trouble to review?
