The carriage rattled, startling the three passengers

A/N: Whatever you do recognize is JK Rowling's. Whatever you do not recognize is mine.

The Second Realm

Chapter Six: Endings and Beginnings

The carriage rattled, startling the three passengers. Julian was finishing a letter he had started to Ron, out of boredom, which covered two pieces of parchment, front and back. Draco assumed that Julian had brought Weasley up to date on his life and hoped that Julian had not mentioned him. Draco did not want to give Julian the satisfaction of knowing that he hated people writing about him. Pansy was in the middle of a long nap, but was awakened by the carriage shaking.

"Julian, who are you writing to?" Pansy asked softly, resting her head on Julian's shoulder. Draco looked out the window in disgust.

"Er, my cousin," Julian replied, closing the letter and stuffing it into his pocket. "Sadly, we don't have a dragonfly or an owl to carry it to him." Pansy sighed.

"Dragonflies are very hard to catch," she replied simply. Julian nodded.

"I take your word for it," he said, taking her hand in his own. The carriage shook again, more violently this time. Draco saw that the rocs were getting tired, flapping their wings less and less. Unfortunately, this action was making them plummet.

"Oh shit!" Draco shouted. "We're descending rapidly!"

"Draco, watch your mouth!" Pansy screamed.

"Fine thing to say when we're plummeting to our deaths!" Draco retorted. Julian looked even more panicked when he looked out the window and saw the ground coming closer and closer to them.

"We're going down. This is the end!" Julian shouted despairingly. The carriage hit the ground, jarring Pansy, Julian, and Draco, sending them bumping against the sides of it. After the sudden impact, the carriage stopped moving and the three adolescents fell to the floor. Draco felt badly bruised and the pain in his chest told him he must have bruised a rib or some other body part. He got to his feet and noticed that his two companions were conscious, luckily, but were lying on the floor.

"Julian, Pansy, get up," Draco said sharply. They did so, slowly. Draco climbed out of the battered carriage quickly and inspected where they were. Ten thousand soldiers, Imbricians, Draco noticed, stood fully clad in armor with their weapons grasped tightly in their hands. On the other side of the large field, thousands of ugly, hairy Traskin trolls grunted incoherently as they swung their arms. The Imbrix general lifted his sword into the clear blue sky.

"Necate hostes!" he bellowed.

"Unga centrifin!" the Traskin general screamed. Both the Imbricians and the Traskin trolls started running towards the center of the field, ready to kill. Draco realized with a jolt that he and his friends were caught in the middle, about to meet their unexpected fate. Closer and closer the two armies rushed, screaming curses and pointing their weapons at their enemy. Draco gripped the Moonshadow scepter quickly. Stupid people, Draco thought. They are fighting for something that they do not even have. But I do. They should stop... He continued to grip the scepter. Do not fight. Stop... The armies were coming closer and Draco could see their faces clearly now...Don't fight. He could see the yellow eyes of the trolls now and the blue eyes of the Imbrician soldiers...It would not be too long before a spear would kill him or a club...GO AWAY! The last thought he practically screamed in his mind. Power coursed him and went through the scepter, making the moonstone dazzle with the sun. Jets of lights of red, blue, green, purple, and white shot out of the scepter and burst into the many soldiers of each army. They shrieked and fell to the ground in shock.

Soon everyone, except Draco, was on his or her knees in a hazy state of consciousness. It was about the same type of haziness that Julian and Pansy were under when Draco controlled them. He tried thinking of commands. Stand up, he thought, and everyone got to his feet. The quickness of his or her response delighted him, but commanding everyone was steadily draining his energy. Raise your right hands, Draco commanded them. Everyone lifted his or her right hands, but Draco was losing control...The scepter suddenly lost its brightness. Draco could feel the energy leaving him quickly and so he let his arms drop limp to his side. Slowly awakening from their hazy dream, the trolls and the soldiers rubbed their eyes and returned to a natural state of consciousness. It was then that Draco realized he was in deep trouble.

"What happened?" one soldier said, looking around fervently.

"Who did that?" another one glanced at his neighbor. "Someone controlled us. I felt it."

"Impossible, Blik," the first soldier said. "There's only one curse that does that..."

"I know, I know, Dinx, but it wasn't that," Blik whispered. "But I don't remember--"

"I do," Dinx interrupted. "Before I went all hazy, I saw jets of light come out of his stick." Dinx pointed at Draco angrily. Every Imbrician soldier turned toward the Slytherin. Draco swallowed to get the knot out of his throat.

"What are you looking at me for?" Draco tried to ask coolly, but his voice was cracking.

"You -despicable, foul maggot- controlled us with Dark magic!" Blik screamed. "He's evil! Get him!" Two strong hands gripped Draco's shoulders so tightly that he was sure he would lose all circulation in his arms.

"You insufferable gits, let me go!" Draco yelled furiously.

"NO!" the soldiers chorused. Pansy took this moment to appear in the middle of the men.

"Let go of him!" Pansy shrieked. "He's good, I swear! Stop this insanity!"

"And who's gonna make us, little girl?" one burly soldier growled. "You? I think not."

"Oh yes I am," Pansy said. "The world needs more strong women. Let Draco go!" With that said, she slapped the burly man across the cheek quickly. The man stumbled. When he had regained his balance, he unsheathed his sword.

"You stupid wench," the soldier snarled and his nostrils flared. "Stupid, stupid, stupid." He thrust his sword forward and stabbed Pansy in the abdomen. Pansy gasped and fell to the ground. Blood was spurting out of her stomach at a quickening pace and the normal peach color of her face was fading to a dull gray. It would not be long before she would die. Julian pushed through the crowd and stood over the dying girl.

"Oh no, Pansy," Julian said.

"What?" Pansy said crossly, despite the fact that she was mortally wounded. "Don't stare at me; I hate staring."

"Pansy, you're bleeding," Julian said, kneeling beside her. His hand was shaking as he gently touched her wound, getting blood on his fingertips.

"I know that," Pansy was breathing short breaths very quickly. "But…tell me one…thing," she managed to choke. Julian leaned in closer in order to hear her, with his face pale and his eyes widened in anxiety.

"What?"

"Does my hair look all right?" Pansy whispered. If the situation had not been so drastic, Draco might have laughed at her vanity. Pansy's eyes rolled back in her head and she stopped moving entirely. She was gone. Julian let a large, shuddering breath escape his lips and stood quietly. He looked Draco firmly in the eye with no trace of tears on his cheeks, but Draco noticed his breathing was very shallow.

"Draco, she's gone," Julian said quietly.

"I noticed," Draco said dryly, but it was no time for humor. They were about to be killed by the look of things. The burly soldier looked down at them, his brow dotted with beads of perspiration.

"And as for you flea-bitten rags, I think I'll kill you as well," he growled. Draco sighed. His presumptions had been correct. The soldier lifted his blood-covered sword and was about to thrust it into Draco's chest when someone yelled.

"STOP!" the voice yelled loudly. It was none other than Alexander and Katie Woolington! Draco's jaw dropped in total astonishment. Why were they here, of all places? Julian turned around and noticed his friends.

"Alexander? Katie?" Julian gasped. As Alexander and Katie ran over to Julian, Draco decided that it was now or never to act. He gathered up the remainders of his strength and grasped the Moonshadow scepter tightly. The burly soldier, Blik, and Dinx noticed his actions, however, and immediately crowded around him.

"You're not controlling us with that thing again," Blik said.

"No, you won't," Dinx added. Draco was strongly reminded of his minions Crabbe and Goyle by the way those two talked: low, dull, and raspy.

"Yes, I am," Draco said indignantly and closed his eyes. Be peaceful, be peaceful… Draco thought. He was struck by an idea that would go against everything he had been taught and the Dark Lord would get his just desserts. Go to Voldemort, he thought. Go to the Dark Lord. Instantly, every soldier and troll turned as one to the south, including Blik, Dinx, and the other soldier. When they started to walk, Draco began to grin. For a long time, he could not stop. Eventually, the armies disappeared into the horizon and continued into the unknown. Draco breathed "Yes!" through his teeth. He had done it. His power had been strong enough to control two armies. Who knew what else he could do? As of right then, Draco felt complete bliss for the first time. He turned to face his friends, all of whom were talking quietly.

"Oh, Julian, how did you ever survive?" Katie was saying. "I can't believe you were put in a vat, going to be boiled to death." She shivered. "That's awful."

"Yeah, I know," Julian said. "But we escaped, which is the good thing. By the way, how did you manage to come here?"

"We asked around and learned that Imbrix was going to war," Alexander replied. "So we followed the army a little while after they had left and ended up here."

"Oh," Julian nodded.

"I think it's best that we leave now," Draco interrupted their conversation.

"How can we do that?" Julian asked. "There's no way we can. At least, I can't see any way to get home."

"There is a way to go home," a voice muttered. Draco turned around to see Saffron Callide and Colin Moc'ri standing before him. Who knows how they got there too?

"What would that be?" Alexander wondered. Saffron smiled mischievously.

"In order to go back to your world, you must summon the Portal," Saffron said.

"And how do you do that?" Julian asked.

"Chant the words that summon it, of course," Saffron said, smirking. "Here, I'll do it for you." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Veni, porta, spectamus per te. Laudamus te!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco scoffed.

"It's Latin for Come, gate, we watch for you. We praise you," Alexander said. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Brilliant. Whoever made this spell was absolutely brilliant," Draco said sarcastically. His words were lost on his friends, however, because just then the air in front of them swirled and faded into black. It looked as though the sky had a large black rip. Julian's jaw dropped. Saffron pushed Katie, Alexander, and Draco near the Portal.

"Go ahead, it will take you back to your world," Saffron said.

"But where?" Julian asked. Saffron shook her head sadly.

"I don't know, Julian. Good bye," Saffron said and pushed Katie into the Portal. Alexander soon followed her leaping anxiously into it. Draco made some resistance against Saffron, but he too was thrown into the Portal. He flailed his arms, falling….

Draco crumpled to the hard ground. When he managed to get up, he noticed there were many people around him in cloaks, running around and talking busily. It was Diagon Alley. He was back in his world!

"Thank you!" he called to the sky, raising his arms in relieved delight. People around him stared at him, but Draco did not care for once. He was home. Imbrix was not the sort of land he wanted to stay in all his life, since the fairies there were cruel and prejudiced (not to mention smelly). Draco could not wait to go back to Malfoy Manor, with its many rooms, house elves, his large bedroom, and many Dark magic books. Now all he had to do was to contact his father.

"Draco! Draco!" Draco turned and saw Julian rush up towards him.

"How did we land in the same place?" Draco asked curiously. Julian shrugged.

"I don't know," he said. "Coincidence, I suppose."

"That is odd," Draco said, wrinkling his forehead thoughtfully.

"Julian! What on earth are you doing here?" a feminine voice asked in surprise. Mrs. Weasley was standing in front of the two boys with a very surprised look on her face. Next to her were Ginny, Fred, George, and (Draco scowled) Ron.

"And why are you with Malfoy?" Ron asked, frowning at the sight at Draco. Draco gave his coldest glare to the red-haired boy.

"It's a long story, but basically, I was transported here," Julian said.

"Your parents are frantic with worry," Mrs. Weasley said. "You've been missing for quite a while." Julian hung his head.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"How long have we been missing?" Draco asked. Mrs. Weasley seemed not to notice him as she clucked and fussed over Julian. "How long have we been missing?" he tried again.

"Two weeks," Mrs. Weasley said instantly, but the look she gave him was not filled with warmth and love that she had given Julian. That, perhaps, was because he was related and Draco was not.

"Two weeks?" Julian said incredulously. "So now it's in the middle of the summer?" Ron and Ginny nodded at the same time while Fred and George neared Julian, gave him pats on the back, and rumpled his hair.

"It's been a while, little cousin," Fred said, grinning.

"What have you been up to?" George asked. "Anything interesting?" Julian considered.

"Well, I did get thrown into a pot of boiling water," he said.

"You did? Ouch," Fred said, cringing.

"Awful," George agreed. While the Weasleys and Julian were talking, Draco was looking desperately for his father. Then a thought occurred to him: why would his father be in a place that he despised? Lucius Malfoy and Diagon Alley did not mix. He had about given up hope of finding his father when he heard a soft noise behind him. Draco turned around and saw his father standing on the wet pavement.

"There you are, Draco," Lucius said quietly and coldly. Draco's insides curled and withered into strands. He knew his father was extremely angry with him by the way that Lucius's cheek muscle was twitching.

"Hello, Father," Draco said as cheerfully as he could. Julian heard Draco saying this and immediately turned around, looking at both Draco and Lucius.

"You will come with me to the Manor," Lucius commanded. Draco opened his mouth to speak.

"Not yet, Father," Draco said nervously, grabbing the edges of his sleeves, "but in a minute."

"Why do you want to stay?" Lucius snapped. "I cannot wait here all day, Draco."

"Don't worry, Father," Draco said coolly. Lucius appeared shocked at Draco's unemotional statement. Draco looked at Julian then and smiled.

"Draco," Lucius warned. Draco smiled at his father, nearly giving the elder man a cardiac arrest. 'Draco has never been so friendly until now. I do not like it,' Lucius thought.

"Father," Draco said, looking seriously at his father now, "I'd like you to meet my friend Julian Earlingston."

"Ah yes, the distinguished mister Earlingston," Lucius's voice was dripping in sarcasm. "You're the one who wanted to stay at Malfoy Manor?"

"Yes, sir," Julian said. "Or, if not, Draco can stay at my house."

"You may stay at the Manor for as long as you wish," Lucius said elegantly. Draco gaped at his father. Never, ever before had Lucius agreed to anything that Draco wanted to do.

"Thank you, Father," Draco murmured. Julian grinned widely.

"I'm being very generous," Lucius said. "Be grateful."

"Yes, Father," Draco replied. "I'm very grateful." He turned and strolled to the Malfoy carriage with Julian. After Lucius sat down and the carriage door closed, Draco noticed that there was a sinister smile on his father's face.

Ending Author's Note: That's the end! (Or is it?) Please read and review! :o)

*Elfin Queen*