And the Bloodstone
Draco had never been happier to be back at school. The week at home had dragged on so long he had not even paid attention to his beautiful home! Even after almost fifteen years of living at the Malfoy Mansion, he never tired of traveling around the house. He always seemed to find something new and interesting.
Then again, if he wanted interesting, Hogwarts certainly was intriguing!
Crabbe and Goyle weren't in the room when Draco arrived. Instead, he saw Peeves sitting on his bed. The colorfully-dressed poltergeist smiled widely when he saw Draco. Promptly, he zipped off, ruffling the blankets, as he flew over to Draco's head. He began ruffling the boy's silvery blond hair.
"It is the veela boy!" Peeves exclaimed. "Pretty, pretty, veela boy!" He ignored Draco's hand, swatting at Peeves's faces, which always seemed just out of the way. "The muddy-cruddy-Bloody Baron's not in the tower now, Peeves can have all the fun he wants!" He yanked a few strands of hair from Draco's head before blinking out.
The area on his scalp from which Peeves had pulled the hair out from throbbed with pain, but Draco struggled to ignore it. The first thing he had to do: visit Professor Snape and inquire about his detention.
Traveling down the halls of Hogwarts, Draco took in everything. He missed being here, even though he was gone for only a week. At least here he could be himself, whoever that was, for at home he had to put up a front for his father's friends.
He rapped a few times on Snape's door and waited a minute or so. No answer.He tried again.
"Professor Snape?"
Someone walked up from behind, and said in a flat tone, "He's not here."
Draco jumped up and whirled around. Peering at him with a vindictive loathing came from none other than Lisha Luralby. "Ah... I see. What are you doing by his office, then?"
"None of your business," she said nastily. "I'd be very careful with myself if I were you, Malfoy. Remember, detention is being held in the Forbidden Forest. I may accidentally feed you to a giant spider to save my own neck."
"Good. So when you're attacked by it I won't feel so bad when I run off laughing." He stuck his nose in the air and pompously strutted off. Every time he was near that girl, all the things he felt for her dissipated. When he saw her from a distance, he couldn't help but sigh. As soon as he was out of earshot, he breathed out heavily.
"Difficult week back at home, Mister Malfoy?" Professor Blodsucan blocked his way. "I hope most of it was spent researching for your vampire essay due tomorrow? I'd hate to see my on of my best students fall behind to slack off for only one week."
"Hardly, sir. I spent a lot of time looking stuff up, but I couldn't find a lot of the information I really needed. I hope you don't mind, I did as much as I could." This was the only way he could think of to suck up to the teacher.
"No trouble at all. I didn't expect everyone to find everything individually. A real lesson on vampires is yet to come. You won't find a book titled How to Kill a Vampire on a bookstore shelf." He added, nonchalantly, "The only way to kill a vampire is with the unicorn's blood that would heal a normal person." Blodsucan paused, and scanned Draco's face. "I can see by the look on your face that I wasn't who you were waiting for. That's all right."
"I was just looking for-"
"Professor Snape is currently in the Gryffindor tower, I believe. He went to visit Professor McGonagall to speak about your detention. She was... busy tending to an accident your friend Neville Longbottom had caused. Awfully funny situation from what I heard. Accidentally turned one of the student's hair green while attempting to transfigure a napkin into a completed homework assignment."Blodsucan chuckled, but Draco felt he was doing it to be more convincing. The situation wasn't that funny. It reminded Draco of when Lisha had used the Herba Charm on his hand.
"Ah, how did you know I... never mind. Thank you,
Professor Blodsucan." Draco rushed down the hall. Something
about the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher frightened him
still. Then again, Draco Malfoy wasn't the fearless Slytherin
pureblooded he played himself out to be in front of others. Just
as easily as Lucius Malfoy could standing before the Ministry of
Magic after he had been accused of using on of the Unforgivable
Curses, or misusing magic in some form, Draco could easily put up
a calm, yet tough and believable façade. This was one of the
most valuable lessons he had learned from his father.
Rushing down the never-ending corridor with these thoughts on his
mind, it was simply a matter of time before he ran headfirst into
an unsuspecting student.
After crying out in surprise, Draco muttered to himself, "Why all the sudden appearances of Hogwarts members all around me?"
"Well, Malfoy, if you had conceivably paid attention to where you were headed, you wouldn't have to worry about these spontaneous materialization of wizards left and right, would you now?"
"You know," said another voice, similar to the first, "it isn't healthy for a teenage boy to be talking to himself. I think Saint Mungo's was looking for a fair-haired patient who escaped, oh... four years ago? Admitted for talking to himself, I think."
"Nah," said the other. "I think he was admitted by his parents. They've got enough money to board you there, don't they?"
"Unlike you, Weasleys," Draco sneered. Fred and George stood over Draco, who still lay sprawled on the floor, with their usual mischievous grins. "Your parents would probably have to sell their house and use Potter's full Gringotts account to pay off debts before they can even afford to rent a decent room at the Leaky Cauldron."
"That hurts," said the Weasley in the sweater with the F knitted on the front. Apparently, Fred. "Well, Malfoy, don't worry. We won't take it to heart. Besides, we've got information against you, so don't try anything you'll regret."
"Uh-huh," snickered George. "Surprised you mentioned Harry in front of us in the first place, Malfoy."
Draco's pale face blanched even worse. He had completely forgotten about his conversation with Harry before he left for home. With a mumbled apology and quickly gathering himself up, Draco rushed down the hall.
Thump. "Oh, who is it now-" Draco stopped short. Just above eye-level stood the Deputy Headmistress herself, eyes piercing with intensity through her half-moon glasses.
"Is there a problem, Mister Malfoy?"
"No," Draco answered quickly. "No problem, Professor. I was just looking for Professor Snape."
"Tomorrow, Malfoy." Professor McGonagall removed her glasses and wiped them with the sleeve of her long robe. "Three hours after your last class, to give you time for homework. You will report to Hagrid's cabin immediately, if you know what's good for you. It gets dark early this time of year, and I'd hate to have to send you into the woods alone."
Draco grimaced. The thought sent a shiver down his spine. The last time he was in the Forbidden Forest wasn't a pleasant gala, and he had been right on time that occasion.
"Besides that," she continued, "you will be suspended from the Slytherin-Ravenclaw Quidditch match next Wednesday. That is, if you think you'll be able to control your anger this time." Her eyes narrowed.
"Yes ma'am."
"Very good. Return to your dormitory, it's almost time for lights-out. You've missed dinner, unfortunately, but I presume you ate on the train? Good." She continued walking down the hall past Draco, the steady "click-click" of her heels growing increasingly louder as she walked away. Draco figured this was just a trick being played by the castle. (It did have a tendency to do that.)
Draco saw Professor Snape the next morning during Potions for the first time since school let out for vacation. He seemed a bit different, a little more skittish than before. When a hole melted through Neville's cauldron (which it had done once bimonthly) with a loud sucking noise, Snape jumped a few feet. Besides the fact Snape would remain stationary if a werewolf were howling in his face, he didn't bother to scold the shivering Neville, much less take points from Gryffindor.
Lisha seemed different as well. Dark circles surrounded her eyes, and Draco noticed she could barely hold a crystal beaker steady. Her edge certainly hadn't wavered.
"What are you staring at, Malfoy?"
"Space, but your oversized head kept getting in the way," he sneered. He hadn't even thought about what he had said, it just flowed so easily, he didn't even bother pondering it.
Lisha stifled a laugh. She poured a blue, wispy substance (which was more gas than liquid) into her cauldron, when the glass container slipped from her shaky fingers. It broke into hundreds of tiny shards on the desktop, but the blue stuff didn't spread. Snape jumped at the noise. When he found the source of the commotion, he rushed over to Lisha. In a hushed tone, he asked her quickly if she was all right. She didn't reply.
"Come see me after your last class today, before you head over to the cabin for your detention. I have... something that may interest you." He nodded, confirming his own statement.
Lisha's eyes widened as she drew in her breath quickly. "Did you finally convince-"
"Back to work, Luralby," he ordered in a nasty, loud tone. He whipped his robes behind him and stalked back to the front of the room.
"Well," Draco said flatly, his eyes still on his cauldron, "he didn't seem to happy to see you this time."
"This time?" Draco could see past the confused look pasted on Lisha's face. "What do you mean?"
"Don't play stupid, Lisha, even I know you are smarter than that." It was the first time he had called her strictly by first name. The idea didn't seem to bother Lisha at all, though Draco was a bit disturbed.
"I have no idea what you are talking about," she said firmly.
Without thinking, Draco blurted out, "I followed you."
The girl's eyes widened a bit, but the expression on her face changed not a bit. "Where did you follow me to?"
"Snape's office. A while ago. I wanted to see what was up, so I borrowed something from Potter and went after you. And I don't regret it, I don't feel sorry and I'm not going to tell you I wasn't thinking."
"Well, you've figured me out," Lisha said softly.
"Damn right I did. Don't get me too angry in the future, Luralby, because I've got something against you. And if you do, I'll head straight to Dumbledore and McGonagall, you'll be expelled and Snape'll be fired. How do you like that?"
"You're going to have an innocent man fired because you hate me?"
No. "Yes. You're no better than a veela. You're a Lolita, and if you do anything to irk me further, I'll let everyone in the school know."
Lisha looked away. Until then, her gaze was firmly planted on Draco's face. He didn't realize until she moved her eyes. "You're awful, Draco. I have never done anything to you. Think back to the first time I stepped foot on the train in almost three years. All I wanted was to be accepted again, like I was when I was a normal first year. I tried to be civil." She shrugged, watching Snape dismiss the class. Draco stood up as she continued. "Just remember this. You can't tell anyone anything about Severus and me if you have an accident in the woods this afternoon."
At least it was a Wednesday. He didn't have to see Hagrid more than he needed to. He headed off to Herbology with Crabbe and Goyle close behind him. Just like the good old days. Goyle had been hanging around Lisha less and less in the past few weeks. Draco was unsure about their friendship while he was home for the vacation, but he had no interest in it.
The end of the day came much quicker than Draco had hoped for. He certainly wasn't looking forward to playing in the Forbidden Forest. What was wrong now? Last time, unicorns were found dead left and right. Maybe that giant spider Draco overheard Ron crying about two years ago was on a rampage. Draco didn't doubt that Lisha would abandon him to such an awful creature, and the thought did not sit well in the pit of his stomach.
Making sure his wand was in easy grabbing distance just in case he came across some dangerous creature, Draco began heading towards Hagrid's cabin. He was a few minutes early, but it would be less awkward if he didn't wait to see Lisha coming.
Hagrid stood at least twice as tall as a normal man, and about three times as wide. Draco figured he must have been part giant, for no normal wizard was that large. Even Fang, Hagrid's oversized dog, looked small compared to him. The dog growled as Draco approached, and the fur on his necked bristled.
Just be pleasant, Draco told himself. Smile, yes like that. Good boy, Dracs. "Hello, Hagrid."
Hagrid looked surprised at Malfoy's courteous greeting, but nodded a hello and smiled a bit behind his bushy beard. "Ready fer yer task t'night?"
"What do we have to do?"
"Ah... Hold on I'll tell ye. Lisha!" he called. "Yer friend is here!"
Lisha peaked out from behind the door of Hagrid's cabin. Her face had more color in it than during Potions, and she appeared more lighthearted than before. That is, before she saw Draco. "Are we ready to go?"
"Yup," Hagrid answered. "Now, Professor McGonagall says I ain't allowed to help ye, I gotta stay here. I told 'er she's crazy, but she's stickin' to her guns. Didn' say nothin' about lettin' you have Fang, though." Draco winced when the dog turned his head towards him and licked his muzzle.
"But what are we doing?""Hold on, Malfoy, I'm gettin' there. Anyway, we've been havin' another stream of unicorn massacres." Hagrid shook his head. "Awful git that must be doin' it. I have a feelin' though it's fer a different purpose. The killin's a bit diff'ernt. Fang'll protect you for the most part, but you gotta be prepared." He handed the leash to Lisha. "Good luck. I'll be waitin' out here. Red sparks if yer in trouble, green if ye've found somethin'. We're lookin' fer injured animals, now. I'll come after ye for both. And good luck," he repeated.
Hagrid watched the two as they entered the forest very carefully. Him being so wary frightened Draco. Don't run away this time, Draco told himself. Just don't run away...
"Watch for that," Lisha whispered.
Draco looked down. He narrowly missed stepping in an oversized hole, which seemed to have been freshly dug.
"What do you suppose that's for?" Draco saw Lisha entangling her fingers in Fang's leash.
"To catch unicorns," Draco suggested sarcastically.
"Might be. Or us," she added.
"Why would anyone want to catch us?"
"We're on to them. I have a feeling I know who we're dealing with." Lisha's voice was softer than it had ever been.
"Who?"
Before she could answer, a horrible scream echoed throughout the forest. It sounded as if someone was being tortured beyond humanity. Draco cringed; it was awful and heart piercing, a sound he could never forget.
"Unicorn," Lisha whispered. "Their swan song is so pitiful. It's meant to put an everlasting guilt in their murderer's heart. But if the thing killing the unicorn is what I think it is, there won't be any effect."
"What do you think it is?" Draco inched closer to Lisha and Fang, clutching his wand. Fang began to growl loudly. He pushed his side against Draco, as if he were attempting to hide himself.
"Look behind you!" Lisha shouted. The way she said it was so familiar, Draco hesitated before turning.
For a moment, Draco didn't realize what he was looking at. It appeared to be a hole in the air; he couldn't see behind it, but he could see to the left and right, top and bottom. There was simply nothing there.
Then it took a definite form. Whatever it was, it was awful. At first, he thought it was the giant spider, but even in the dark, he could clearly distinguish four legs, two arms coming out from its chest and a head. It had two eyes much too large for its face, both of which were simply black pools with horizontal pupils, like those of goats. There were two antler protruding from its visible skull, and a jaw without skin that hung as if it had disjointed itself, similar to a snake when it was eating something too large for its mouth. The creature had a thin form. Its ribs stuck out of its sides.
"What is that?" Draco asked nervously, down on his knees and holding a petrified Fang around the neck. "A demonic reindeer?"
"Somewhere along those lines," Lisha answered, reaching for her wand. "It's a demon summoned by someone out to do something they would never do themselves. Like-"
"Like killing unicorns," Draco finished.
"Precisely. They aren't affected. They don't have emotions or their own will. They just obey."
The demon reared its head back and bellowed. Fang bolted, dropping Draco to the floor. Lisha raised her right arm in the air, red sparks sputtering towards the sky from her wand. Her eyes wide, she turned to Draco. "Run!"
Adrenaline pumping harder than it ever had before in his life, Draco felt as if he could sprint three miles before feeling any pain in his calves. Fear consumed his entire being, and escaping that fear was his main priority. He refused to turn around and see if the demon was following them.
"Get in the tree," Lisha ordered. "Climb the tree!"
Draco obeyed, still not thinking. He tried to resist turning, but he couldn't. He saw Lisha scrambling up the same tree he was in, much faster, then he saw the demon. It was at the base of the tree, barking.
"My leg," Draco yelped. He had scraped it along a thorn jutting from the bark and had caught on to his robe. He yanked, but it wouldn't come undone. The demon below sprang up, its arms on the tree, and grabbed Draco's robes in its mouth. He kicked his leg furiously until it came loose. The demon howled loudly.
"Draco!" Lisha yelled, and climbed down to his level. In a calm voice, she said softly, "Draco, listen to me. On the count of three, we're going to jump out of the tree. No matter what happens, you keep running."
"Why is this thing after us?" Draco clung to the tree for dear life.
"It's not after you," she replied in a shaking voice. "Tell me you'll keep going, that you won't turn back."
"Turn back and face that thing? Don't worry. No use in telling me twice." His expression was serious for a moment, and then he smiled warily. "Are you ready?"
She grinned. "Nope. One... Two... Three!"
Before he was able to think, Draco was hurtling towards the ground below quicker than Viktor Krum on a Firebolt. The impact with which he hit the ground was painful, especially because he landed on the injured leg, but he tried to remain numb to it. Run, he thought, and without thinking was headed back to Hagrid's cabin. He turned his head quickly, hair whipping against his face to see if Lisha was right behind him. She wasn't, neither was the stupid demonic reindeer.
Draco stopped short. "Lisha?" No response. He didn't expect one, but at the sound of a shrill voice of a young girl scream, he cried, "Lisha!" As fast as his feet could carry him, ignoring the throbbing pain in his left leg, he sprinted back in the direction he had come from
Lisha was backed up against a large tree, hidden as far back as she could in the roots which rose approximately six feet in the air. The demon was bellowing and sticking his clawed forearms towards her, its four feet scratching the ground as if it were going to attack. Of course, there was no doubt it would.
Lisha's eyes were planted intensely hard on the devil, but when she heard Draco's footsteps, they flickered towards him, gratefully, though she yelled at him to get back.
It's not after you, he remembered her saying. She could have said us, he thought. But she didn't. Does that mean it's after her? Watching the beast tearing at the roots of the tree towards Lisha, completely ignoring the clearly-visible Draco was enough to verify his apprehensions. Why her?
I'm sorry I lied, the strange voice said in Draco's mind. Why, he thought. Who is this?
Lisha's scream pierced Draco's ears with such intensity he covered his ears. It was inhuman in a sense, so shrill with a slight trill. Hearing her, though, brought him to realization: the mysterious voice during the Quidditch match which warned him about Harry Potter's technique was indeed the same voice which filled his head with an apology. It was the same voice which had preached hatred towards Draco all year. The same voice which, multiple times, had gotten him in trouble... The same voice he had fallen in love with.
Lost temporarily in his own thoughts, Draco's attention to Lisha had averted from the tree she was backed against, something which proved dangerous. Lisha still stood with her back to the tree, but the demon had disappeared. Without thinking, he rushed over to Lisha and grabbed both of her shoulders tightly.
"Are you all right?" he asked quickly, shaking her slightly.
Lisha's eyes were wide with horror. "Why did you come back? Malfoy, you're in danger! You must get out of here." When she saw there was no persuading him, she sighed. "Please, Draco. I don't want to see you hurt; I can handle it. I promise."
A strange feeling swept over Draco, one which convinced him that, if he didn't leave now, Lisha would be in more danger than if he were here protecting her. Reluctantly, he began to walk away, eyes on the ground.
The demon reappeared. Faster than Draco's mind was able to comprehend, he was being held seven feet from the ground in the arms of the treacherous beast. The demon's hot, sour breath brushed his cheeks as it let out a horrifying roar. Everything that was happening tonight seemed much too unbelievable and repetitive. Mortal peril, epiphany of life, mortal peril, a burst of feeling, mortal peril....
The pompous, self-centered character inside Draco was shouting, Do you have any idea who you are dealing with? I am a Malfoy! The rational Draco, which had only manifested this year, gave the unsolicited response, What are you saying? You're about to die, do something! Point and shoot, it worked against Davies! Draco groped for his wand, He was slowly losing breath, as the gnarled hands of the demon closed ever-so-deliberately around his neck. Gasping, he rummaged through his pocket with the hand he wasn't using to evade attack, closed his fingers around the thin wand, and....
Fell. Breathing deeply to make up for the air he had lost, Draco looked up to see the demon clawing at its eyes. I thought it couldn't feel, he said to himself. What happened? He remembered hearing a soft voice, muffled by the blood pounding in his ears as life began to slip away from Draco.
"Lux Sancti!" It was Lisha, and she lowered her wand, and hurried over to Draco. She had used a Charm he read about vaguely in his second year at Hogwarts, but he could not recall much about it. Whatever it was, worked, but not for very long.
"Draco, you can't stay here!" She grabbed him by the collar of his robes and pulled him to his feet. "Get back to the cabin!"
"I'm not going to leave you!" was his answer.
"Don't you know what that thing is?" Lisha didn't wait for his response. "Why are you doing this?"
Without thinking, Draco blurted, "Because I care about you!"
"You're an idiot, Malfoy." She let go of his collar, disgusted with his blatant exposure of feeling, but her deep brown eyes seemed ever-so-slightly brighter.
The demon was back on its feet, saliva dripping down its jaw line as it lumbered towards them. There is no way we're going to escape that thing. Draco stood bravely in front of Lisha, and she watched horrified over his shoulder. He thought he heard a faint barking noise in the distance, but paid it no heed. No way in hell. He turned around and faced Lisha.
I'm sorry, he mouthed, and wrapped his arms tightly around her. She stiffened, then settled for a moment. She did not return the embrace. The noise of the demon's blundering footsteps were getting closer and closer until...
Lisha cried out in desperation and shoved Draco away as hard as she could. It was not intentional, but Draco was pushed headfirst into the trunk of a wide tree, and the world shadowed over with a thick blanket of darkness as he slowly lost consciousness, the barking in the distance getting louder until he heard no sound at all.
