Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, but I own the plot.
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER FOR CHAPTER NINE: The dollhouse idea originated from POKEMON: SEASON I where Sabrina the gym leader of Saffron trapped Ash, Misty, and Brock inside a doll-world thingy. Involving scary dolls are my idea, but the rest, unfortunately, belongs to whoever drew the cartoons/made up the story.
A/N: I didn't update as promised because I was really busy. Really sorry. I hope I made it up with this chapter, which is also the longest chapter so far, in order to take out the cliffhanger, since I believe you've had enough of them. =) I hope you won't fall asleep and ditch me somewhere in the middle… Enjoy!
WARNING: Since I wrote this like really quickly, there might be tons and tons of wrong words, typos, grammar mistakes, you name it. Tell me in reviews, and I'll fix them. Blame my brain and my annoying sibling
Bride of a Dragon
By: Katrina
Nasty Shocks For EveryoneDraco watched with pangs of remorse in his heart as the puzzled expression on Ginny's face faltered, to be replaced by a stricken expression. Her eyes grew round and fearful, and he saw her fingers curl around the handle of the coffee cup tightly as she digested the news with growing dread.
Now you've done it, Malfoy, Draco thought grimly to himself, as Ginny swallowed a few times. She's going to break down crying any second now, and then what?
But instead of crying, Ginny laughed. A weird sort of laugh, not the cute, bubbly laugh she usually had, nor the cold, sinister laugh he sometimes saw her doing; rather, a maniac and empty laugh that showed clearly that she was trying to disregard whatever he had just informed her of. Draco nearly backed away, seeing the resemblance between her and Colette in such a state.
"Um, Draco…you're overdoing the humor thing," Ginny said. "I know I said that you have a sense of humor, but this is going too far…dollhouse? Dolls? The idea!"
Draco was exasperated at this reaction. What on earth did she expect? Somehow, my wonderful fiancée decided to be nice and shipped us off to a place full of idiotic zombies…and plastic food. He hated to break the news to her, but he had to. "Look, Ginny, give me another reason why everyone is so wound up, and why the food is plastic, and why everything isn't the way it should."
Ginny was playing with her coffee nervously. "But…but there are so many other possibilities that make sense!"
"Name one."
Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but closed it immediately. Her brows were crinkled in efforts of trying to think, biting her lips as she mouthed to herself one propositions after another. Finally, she stopped toying with her coffee, and Draco knew that Ginny realized that as absurd as his suggestion might've been, it was more plausible than any of hers. "But…how?"
"I'm intrigued too," Draco said, still a little annoyed that Ginny had rejected his suggestion in the first place. He wasn't used to that. Hell, back in school, everyone took whatever he said as the absolute truth. Even Colette, scary and crazy as she was, took Draco's ideas most of the time. That was another thing about Ginny Weasley; she asks too many questions for her own good. He was about to add some other sardonic comments, but seeing Ginny's expectant look, he racked his brain for an answer. "I do know that there's this Japanese samurai wizard who trapped his opponent in a fake house or something. My father told my mother once…I think he fashioned a few dolls…and those dolls freaked his opponent out so much that when he was let out again, he was delirious-"
"There's a way out?" Ginny interrupted, hands clasped hopefully.
"Only if the person who got us in is willing," replied Draco.
"But…Colette…I can't imagine her fashioning some doll thing like this. She doesn't even look Oriental."
The last comment might've been another lame attempt at a joke, but neither cracked a smile. "And she doesn't look the kind to let us out either," Draco retorted.
"No…I can't imagine that she's…she's so powerful and all. Maybe someone helped her." Ginny shook her head. "I mean, I know she's crazy…she could've just shrunken us and placed us somewhere…that's possible …but some dark magical item? Moving dolls? Programmed routines? These require dark curses and spells…and…and she's just your French fiancée."
Draco was amused to note that she spoke the last word with a hint of bitterness. Is my little red weasel jealous? He wondered. But more important matters are at hand than this.
"Ginny, you don't know what she did to you."
"She…Stunned me?" Ginny said obviously, and sarcastically.
Draco sighed. "And afterwards?" he demanded. Ginny shook her head. "Well, you know what? She got this weird powder from that fireplace and put it in the tea-set, which was really some cauldron, and then made this scary smoke, or whatever it was. She forced you to smell it, and you disappeared. I'm supposing she transported you off to this place. I guess she did the same thing to me." Draco thought a bit more. "It probably shrank us too, that part you got right. And the secret chamber…and how she seemed so nice before so she could trick us into trusting her and going into the chamber…and an English speaking French house-elf…"
Ginny stared. "I can't believe it. You suggesting that she sent the Death Eaters after you…and me?"
Draco shrugged. "She certainly knows my name."
"Draco Augustus?" Ginny gave a sputter of disbelief. "No duh she knows her-"
"Malfoy."
It took a while for Ginny to register what that meant. "But…she's just some witch…she's not able to command the Death Eaters," protested Ginny weakly, but part of the truth had begun to dawn on her.
"Ginny, let me tell you this. Whoever came to my house? A person snuck in first and opened the door for them using a secret passage I don't know about, which is a specialty of Colette's parents or grandparents or I-don't-know what relatives. Ten Death Eaters attacked, so the person who snuck in is the eleventh."
"…who obviously know your mansion well," Ginny perceived.
"Precisely." Draco was surprised that everything seemed to fall in place once the mastermind was found. "And…they kept on referring to this mistress."
"Mistress?" Ginny repeated dumbly. "But Colette's…she's just Colette, isn't she?" She seemed desperate to hang onto that idea.
Draco hated to burst that bubble, but he shook his head. "I don't know." He sighed. "I don't know. Now I don't know what to think. All I know is that she definitely knows some horribly dark magic…of which we are victims of."
"But…but we'll get out of this doll-place, won't we?" Ginny's face was pale and worried. Clearly she needed his reassurance, the one thing Draco wasn't able to give at the current moment. "I mean, there's a way in…there's a way out." She sounded as if she couldn't quite convince even herself. "We won't be stuck here…no, of course we won't…nothing's going to happen…we aren't tiny…nobody's gonna hurt us…right? Tell me, Draco! Tell me that we're going to live…tell me that everything's going to be all right!"
"Ginny…I don't know…" He wished he could've bitten his tongue as soon as the words fell out. Ginny looked even worse than she had when he told her of their predicament, now that she understood to the full extent what kind of danger they might be, or already were, in.
"But…but I want to see Molly again…I want to see my family…my brother…my friends…" Tears were streaming down her face as Ginny choked the words out. She hugged herself as if to protect her from an unseen force. "Draco…I…I'm scared."
'Great, Draco. You've scared her, now what?' Draco groaned. Why couldn't he have said something sensible? Sheesh, wasn't there something as beautiful lies or something like that? But no, he just had to shatter all the poor girl's hopes. Damn. Now what? He cursed himself. Another lesson in life I need to learn. How to calm a damsel in distress. Well, he was no knight in shining armor, or those idiot Prince Charmings who ride on stupid white horses. So how exactly did Potter manage to calm down Granger all these years? "Don't cry," he said as if giving a command. And then he felt stupid. This was really going to stop Ginny from crying!
Draco sighed and tried to concentrate on the food and the dolls instead of Ginny, crying beside him. As much as he'd want to deny it, it hurt to see—fine, hear—Ginny being so miserable. He couldn't help but feeling that part of it was his fault, and that he wanted to soothe her. But it wasn't like him. He'd never tried to do that to anyone before. Not Pansy. Not Millicent…well, he supposed those could hardly be considered as girls. He gave himself a shake. Be a man; don't lose to Potter in the woman category too! After a moment's consideration, in which Draco weighed all the pros and cons in his head, he softly placed a hand on Ginny's shoulder and patted her.
Ginny looked up with her face soaked with tears, surprised at the gesture, as she looked down at the hand hesitantly. She smiled slightly, gratefully. Draco felt encouraged, so he put the whole arm around her shoulder, feeling as if it belonged there. Unknowingly, both Draco and Ginny had moved closer, and when Draco gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, Ginny leaned against his shoulder quite naturally, as if they'd done it hundreds of times before.
At least, that was the way it felt for Draco, because he liked the warmth of Ginny there. He gave Ginny something that wasn't quite a smile but was far from a smirk. "Feeling better? Don't drool over my robes," he said, hoping for a grin.
Ginny did grin, and it made her face look ever so much prettier. She put her arms around him, clinging to him, and then, before he knew it, Draco's arms were around her too and they were embracing tightly. He could tell that Ginny wasn't trying to seduce him, and he wasn't seeing her as another woman to shag. It was something a lot more than just that. He'd never wanted to kiss anyone so badly as he did then. He stared into her eyes, seeking consent, and the warm way her eyes stared back at him gave him all the consent he'd need.
Draco leaned over and kissed Ginny. First on the forehead, just a slight peck, but as he traced down, he felt her body relaxing in his arms, and when their lips finally touched, the sensation was indescribable. For a moment, they were lost in that feel they've never felt with anyone else.
He broke the kiss after a long moment, just enough to ask her, "Is this better than kissing Potter?"
Draco waited for the answer, feeling a bit apprehensive, for his lips were itching to go in contact with Ginny's, who seemed a bit surprised by the question. The blush on her cheeks made her look absolutely endearing. "I think this will answer your question," she said finally, pulling him back down so that he was tasting her lips again, and it wasn't long before both of them were lost in a world separate from Colette's cold chamber and the surreal doll world.
~*~
'Is this better than kissing Potter?'
Five years ago, Ginny would've stared at anyone who kissed her and answered immediately, "Hell no!" because after all, she kissed Harry only in her dreams, and kisses in dreams were always perfect. Unless you count the nightmares, but that was beside the point.
But for some reason, kissing Draco was even better than perfect. Yes, of course it was better than kissing some illusion in her dreams! This was real, a solid person enveloping her in his arms, kissing her with some passion that could only be called…love? Was Draco capable of that? For her, especially? Ginny shrugged in her mind. She didn't dare. All she wanted was to stay in his arms forever, kissing till her brain screams for oxygen…
Yet somehow, Colette must've programmed everything so that her fiancé and his supposed mistress could not enjoy themselves that way.
The air had suddenly grown cold. Frigid. With an ill-omened sense. Ginny saw the startled look in Draco's eyes as they broke a part a few inches. "What was that?" he asked hoarsely. "You felt it?"
Of course she did. A surge of coldness she couldn't describe. "Yes," she whispered.
She was aware of eyes on her. Instinctively, Ginny grabbed Draco's hands, afraid to look around. Draco, however, saw whoever those eyes belonged to, because his eyes were wide and shocked. "Oh…" Ginny was sure he was going to curse again, but the words died at his lips. His arms tightened around her, and he pulled her to him, so that all she could see was the silken garment he was wearing. "Don't look," he said, his heart thudding erratically fast.
"No! Let me see!" Ginny struggled a little, but Draco's arms were firm.
"Don't. Trust me, Ginny, you don't want to see it."
"I do!" Ginny tried to push him, but he was unyielding. "How would you know what I want? C'mon!" Maybe if both of us see the…the horror, it'll be better.
"No."
This can't be positive. Sighing, Ginny tried another tactic, and turned sideways slightly. It was a trick she used whenever she played hide-and-seek with her brothers back in her childhood. Cheating, sure, but seeing out of the corners of your eyes gave you undeniable advantages.
It turned out that Ginny didn't need to do that. It was all around her. The dolls. They were all standing up, as if magicked to, and instead of going about their usual routines, every single pair of their unblinking eyes were fixed on her and Draco. And this wasn't pleasant, considering the fact that they were…well, dead. Not even close to alive. She understood how Ron must've felt when that chess queen struck him unconscious in his first year. This was freaky, and that was the only word she could gauge to describe this feeling.
"Oh…" Ginny nearly cursed herself, and she held on to Draco even tighter.
"We're in for trouble," muttered Draco.
"Got your wand?" Ginny whispered back.
"Yes."
They let go just so that they could get their wands, but Ginny clutched Draco's free arm with her free hand, and eyes darting around fearfully, she held the wand up, waiting, although she wasn't sure what there was to wait for. They're just dolls…programmed to do a set routine…yet the creepy sinister feeling grew stronger and stronger. Ginny heard Draco swallowing thickly and her legs started to wobble.
'Programmed, my dear Virginia. If dolls can be programmed to read, they can be programmed…to kill.'
The man across from them on the table stood up. Ginny gave a cry and fell backwards, Draco barely catching her as she slammed into the chair. His eyes still fixed on them, he laid down the newspaper very carefully. Slowly. Deliberately. Oh, this is so not happening, Ginny thought desperately. Yes, any minute now…I'll wake up…and I'm…I'm going to be okay again…nothing had happened…everything had been a nightmare. Just a nightmare. I'll be sleeping next to Molly. She looked at Draco. I'll really laugh at what happened to me…especially falling for Draco. She closed her eyes. Wake up. NOW!
But of course, she didn't. The man leaned toward them. Ginny felt her heart literally stop as the man reached across to grab her hand. "No…" she whispered weakly, trembling and petrified with fear. The man's hand stretched closer. "No…"
"Stupefy!" Draco shouted, sending a jet of light that knocked the doll backwards.
Instead of falling with a clutter on the floor, the doll simply vanished. "Thanks," Ginny told Draco carefully, but he wasn't listening.
"Shit," he said.
It was a coarse Muggle word Mr. Weasley only uttered on the worst occasions. Ginny could only imagine what was happening now. It was even worse than before. The dolls, whether the customers or the clerks, and even ones from outside, were closing in on them from all four sides. They walked with slow, deliberate steps, robotic and menacing.
Do something! Her mind screamed at her. "Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!" Ginny started to shout, shooting Stunners everywhere. Although a few dolls were knocked down, thus vanished, more appeared, and more closed in on them. They were clearly taking their time, but the truth stood that the circle was getting tighter and tighter by the minute. Ginny tried to remember some other spells that might've helped, and came up with one. A spell Harry and Ron had taught her. Might as well. "Reducto!" she screamed, not knowing what to expect.
The impact of the spell ripped several dolls apart, littering the floor temporarily with their broken and wooden bodies before disintegrating. It worked better than the Stunning Spell, true, but nevertheless there were too many dolls for just two wands to take on. Ginny looked wildly at Draco, who was shouting incantations she'd never heard before as rows and rows of dolls fell back and burst into flames. Probably dark magic, but Ginny couldn't care less. All she could think of was that she needed to get out of alive, but in the deep recess of her mind, she knew that even if all the dolls were gone, they were still trapped in the doll-world. 'Forget about that! Let's just hope you can live to realize that!' a voice reminded her.
"Draco, got any better way?" Ginny shouted. She didn't know why she was shouting, but the whole place was too deathly quiet. The dolls don't seem to have much of an ability to talk.
"I'm thinking, Ginny!" he shouted back, clearly feeling the same thing. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "Ginny, set them on fire!"
Ginny stared at him in disbelief. "On fire?" she repeated dumbly. "But-"
"They're made of wood, aren't they?"
"Well yeah…" Except it sounds a bit inhumane, Ginny added silently.
"Exactly."
"But Draco, you prat! We will get scorched too!" Ginny snapped. "I personally am not in the mood to clean up the corpse of-"
"A scorched ferret?"
Ginny was taken by surprise at his response. His gray eyes seemed almost blue when they were full of mirth, and he gave her such a naughty smirk that without another word, she shouted, "Incendio!" at all the dolls within her range. Sometime between her and Draco screaming at each other, however, the café had shifted its form. The tables and chairs disappeared, to be replaced by different staircases. A second floor had appeared.
As the flames started to rise, the dolls fell down, but most of them had disappeared out of their own accord. "To the second floor!" Draco shouted, pulling Ginny along to the nearest staircase. "Rather convenient, eh?" he added when they were above the flames, watching. The fire would never burn its way up there, and even if it did, it would be easy to put it out from their place.
'Rather convenient'. The phrase shot through Ginny's mind. Now why would Colette provide an escape route? "Draco, isn't this a bit…too convenient?"
She didn't get to say anything else. There was the creaking sound of a door opening behind her. Ginny felt the coldness again, but it was much more than what she'd felt with the dolls. Her hands had gone clammy, and the soft whispering in her mind grew louder and louder.
'Dear Tom…'
"NO!" Ginny screamed. She knew what sort of creatures were behind her now. Dementors. "Draco!"
Draco was standing, stupefied, as he faced the advancing creatures. There weren't just a few of them; there must've been a whole band. Did all the dolls that died become dementors? Ginny wondered humorlessly, as she edged as close as she could to Draco.
"The kiss…" Draco whispered."
Ginny looked down. And looked around. They were trapped. Really trapped this time. Even more so than the dolls. And the dolls don't suck your souls out! she thought. Colette sure knows how to manipulate these things. Ginny was going to make sure that Colette pays dearly for this…if she could.
The air cooled sharply. Ginny closed her eyes. The echoes from her first year was back. She felt weak and powerless, but she still was able to keep a clear mind, something Draco didn't seem to be capable of. She didn't dare imagine what he's been through. The doll dementors must not be so powerful, she thought, but quickly took that back. One of them was right in front of Draco, and was lowering its hood.
The spell Harry did! Try to remember!
"Expecto…patro?" Ginny said doubtfully, pointing her wand at the dementor. Nothing happened.
'It's not going to work, little Virginia. You don't have one happy memory left…and besides, Harry never told you the incantation…'
Now Ginny wished she had listened when Harry talked about these things with Ron and Hermione. The dementor's mouth was descending upon Draco's. He looked petrified. "NO!" Ginny shouted, as a dementor grabbed her hand that was holding Draco's. "DON'T! DRACO!"
Her necklace started to gleam, and with a sudden spurt of adrenaline, Ginny ripped her hand from the dementor's and knocked herself upon Draco, the both of them crashing to the ground. Ginny was about to laugh at the thought that the dementor kissed thin air when she realized that they must've crashed harder than Ginny had calculated, because the balcony gave away and everything crashed onto the smoking first floor in a tangled heap of debris.
~*~
Draco could only hear Ginny's screams, but he could not respond. He knew that the dementor was about to administer its kiss, and as hard as he tried to move out of his petrified stupor, he couldn't. It was freezing, like all the winter days when his father tried to bring out the Death Eater in him, with his mother watching with amusement. And in the background, he also saw those scarlet eyes that plagued him ever since he saw Voldemort a few weeks after his second rising.
Just when he could smell the rancid breath of the dementor descending upon him, he felt Ginny throw her weight upon him, the impact knocking both of them to the ground. And then, just as he felt himself make contact with the cold floor, he heard a cracking sound and everything seemed to crash again. The next moments were blurs, till Draco found himself lying on top of some debris, with Ginny still staying on top of him after everything.
When his head had cleared enough, Draco managed to say, "What happened?"
Ginny seemed to be in more of a daze than he was. Her mouth was hanging open. "I really don't know," she said finally. "I don't know what came over me, but I just knocked you down, and apparently I knocked the whole second floor down as well."
Draco was at a loss for words. It seemed too surreal. Ginny rolled off of him and he glanced around apprehensively. No dementors were in sight. He wondered what happened to them. Do they vanish like the dolls too? He wondered. "Is it the necklace again?" he asked Ginny.
"I think so," she answered.
"It sure saved our necks quite a few times," Draco commented. And to think, Draco! She only has this necklace because you were being a jerk. "The dementors…you see them anywhere?" Ginny shook her head and stood up unsteadily, making her way carefully down from the wood and the cement and whatever Colette used to build her doll café. "Well, I think we should get out of here before…before more comes."
Ginny nodded immediately. "And wands out," she said. "I don't think Colette is going to leave it off here."
The café had become unrecognizable. Although the second floor and staircases disappeared, and the menacing dolls gone, Draco still got a creepy feeling as he headed toward the exit. He was afraid of what he might find. He took Ginny's hand and held onto it tightly. Ginny squeezed back.
The bright sunlight hurt his eyes, and Draco didn't realize how dark it had been in that café. The streets seemed to have shifted. They no longer resembled the streets he'd remembered when he and Ginny entered the café. The dolls formerly there had disappeared too. In fact, there was no street. They seemed to be in a Parisian park, with grass all around them, and a lake directly in front of them. Draco looked behind him, and wasn't surprised to find that the café itself had disappeared.
"What on earth?" Ginny muttered. "Just what does Colette want, anyway?"
"Beats me," Draco shrugged. "You think if we drown ourselves, we'll end up back in the chamber?"
"So what if we do? Won't we be miniature?" Ginny demanded.
Draco had to admit that Ginny had a good point. "Maybe if we get out of this place, we'll automatically become big again," he suggested. "It's better than being here and having to fight every single doll. One day, this necklace will run out of luck, and then what?"
Ginny bit her lips. "Right," she said slowly. "So tell me, Draco…your plan is?"
"We go in the lake, and drown."
She snorted. "I'll watch you do it first. Send me an owl when you make out of this place alive."
Draco didn't say anything else. To be honest with himself, he was scared out of his mind about this whole thing. The lake was just his idea of a sarcastic joke, but Ginny didn't seem to get it. "Fine," he said. "And your plan is?"
"Apparition."
Draco raised an eyebrow. "You need to know where you're going to, Ginny dear. And remember this thing with International Apparition? I think there is this thing with Dimensional Apparition as well."
Ginny threw up her hands. "Well, know what? Let's just enjoy ourselves here, shall we?"
Draco smirked. "Sounds good," he said, leaning over to kiss Ginny. She responded eagerly, as if that was what she'd wanted all along, and soon they fell together on the soft grass, kissing each other hungrily.
"You know, I would've never thought that I'd be doing this with you willingly," said Draco. "A Weasley!"
"And you know what? I still can't believe I'm kissing you." Ginny grinned. "But you know something? I might actually start to like you."
Is that a joke? But Draco saw the solemn look in her playful brown eyes. Ginny really meant it. The Malfoy charm never fails. Yet…the charm was supposed to work only one way, right? Women fell all over for him, not the other way around…yet still, Ginny was different. She gave him this feeling that was different from any other women's. She was…special. And it only left Draco to wonder why she had made him feel so good.
Am I really seduced by her?
Suddenly, Draco felt something warm glowing. He looked to see Ginny's necklace gleaming again. But this time, it seemed to be a lot more different. It was glowing all the colors in the spectrum in some sort of a pattern. The dragon pendant had started to rise, and started to enlarge. The wings that were folded on its back had stretched out, and the mouth opened to emit a jet of flames.
"Are you seeing this too?" Ginny gasped.
"The dragon coming to life? Then yes." Draco grabbed Ginny's hand. "What does that mean?"
The dragon turned to look at them. Its wings started to beat fast, showering them with golden sparks. The wind started to blow warmly. In the far distance, Draco thought he had seen more dementors and dolls coming, but there seemed to be an invisible barrier protecting him and Ginny. The dragon beat the wings faster and faster, till a golden tornado resulted, which sucked he and Ginny in.
Draco didn't feel scared, however. He held Ginny's hands tightly, as they whirled around. Everything was becoming dark, and then slowly, everything lit up. For the second or third time, Draco felt himself slamming into something, a solid stone wall that felt oddly familiar.
He looked up and saw ten Death Eaters, staring at him, surrounding a very bewildered Colette, who appeared to be in the middle of toasting someone.
~*~
I'm tired of wondering what has happened! Ginny thought, staring at her necklace, which had gone back to normal. She looked around, wondering why the place seemed to familiar, till her eyes fell on a pair of expensive high heels.
Colette.
Slowly, Ginny raised her eyes till the Death Eaters and Draco's angry fiancée came into view.
Both sides drew a sharp intake of breath.
Finally, it was Colette who decided to break the blissful silence. "I'd like to know how you two got out of the doll-world of mine."
Draco placed a steadying hand on Ginny's shoulder and faced Colette, speaking in the same deliberate tone. "I'd like to know what you're trying to accomplish by throwing us in there. I can tell you clearly that we don't appreciate it one bit."
"You aren't supposed to." Colette's eyes were icy. "You were supposed to be Kissed and mutilated before I retrieve your bodies."
Ginny gulped. "Why?" she asked. "What did I ever do to you, besides seducing your so-called fiancé? What did Draco do to you, except—"
"This has nothing to do with your seduction, although it might, I'm thinking." Colette lowered her glass of champagne and eyed her Death Eaters meaningfully. The fourth stone wall opened up, and the Death Eaters made their ways out swiftly. However, Colette had, sometime as they were talking, wrapped cords around Draco and Ginny, so that they couldn't seize this chance to escape. When the last Death Eater had gone, the stone wall sealed off again. "Now that we're alone, I'll ask you two one question, and if you answer, I'll explain everything."
Draco opened his mouth, but he closed it. "Fine," he grumbled. "Let's hear it."
"How did you get out of there?"
Draco and Ginny looked at each other, each wondering whether they should tell Colette the truth. Finally, Ginny, deciding that Colette probably wouldn't buy it anyway, said, "My necklace. The dragon became a real dragon and somehow got us out."
The response was one unforeseen by Draco and Ginny. Colette paled and her blue eyes narrowed at the chain around Ginny's neck. The veins on her forehead seemed to pop out, and her beautiful features twisted. Ginny glanced at Draco nervously. Colette seemed to resemble a livid veela, about to explode with anger. "Impossible!" she snarled. "You activated the necklace?"
"What?" Draco and Ginny cried together.
Colette smiled. "Let's make a deal," she said. "Activate that dragon again, and I'll let you go."
"You know, in movies, the villains only say that when they know that they're getting the upper part of the deal," Ginny said. "So, I guess the deal's off."
"But, we do have another deal. It's time for you to explain everything."
Colette gave the two a glare before she conjured up an armchair and plopped herself in it. And then, after a moment's silence, she said, "This necklace you're wearing is no ordinary necklace. It contains a powerful charm called the bride of a dragon, which is insuperable if you know how to manipulate it the right way." She flicked her wand and chains replaced the cords. "Don't bother trying."
"But…"
"Am I the one explaining or does that happen to be you?" She glared at Draco. "In ancient China, the First Emperor's favorite concubine was a witch, a powerfully dark one at that. She knows that the queen and the other concubines have started to suspect that already, and therefore she must find a way to protect herself. And a simple way to do that is to use the Love Potion so that the emperor would be madly in love with her. Well, it just so happens that the witch figured out a charm which uses the love and turns it into power. Raw, magical, power. The exact name and the incantation of the charm has been lost, so there is only one necklace like this, although I'm sure that at the time, she had made several. Yet, she needs to curb this power, so that nobody could accuse her of being a witch, and she didn't want to lose it, because this power protects her from everything else. It can even give her the power to gain the throne, to control the world, everything. And so, using nearly ten years of her life, she managed to seal the power of the charm into the necklace, and modified it so that the dragon pendant can become a real dragon at times to protect the wearer, usually the concocter of the charm, and named the charm bride of a dragon. At least, in Chinese, that's what it means.
"After the fall of that dynasty, her daughters and sons fought for the necklaces. Several were destroyed, but one made it out of the imperial court intact when a furious princess threw it into some river, and by magic, the necklace managed to cross the seas till it became lost and disappeared in a normal village. For years, nobody found the necklace, but people knew that it existed; or at least, believed in the legend of the necklace. When explorers came into the country, the wizards among them heard from the other magical folks, including one who wrote it down in a diary. That happens to be one of my ancestors. The diary was lost, but Grandfather had read about it in his mother's letters and diaries, and thus he managed to find the necklace."
Draco frowned. "So how did my father get it?"
"Let me finish," snapped Colette. "Grandfather tried to use this necklace, but he couldn't activate it, no matter what. He didn't want to keep it in his family line, and he didn't want others to get it. And therefore, he gave it to a faithful servant of his, Augustus Malfoy, who kept it in his family, saying that it was passed down to the eldest son. Who could've guessed that his eldest son, Lucius, happened to be such a traitor? He tried to activate it himself. He even named you 'Draco' in hopes that your name can do the job. How intelligent. But never mind. The grandson of Augustus had indeed managed to activate the necklace with a British whore, and with the two of you, I know I can curb the power of bride of a dragon. But it is time to reclaim the necklace. Virginia Weasley, hand it over!"
"My grandfather will never do such a thing!" Draco said. "You think he's stupid? And Father? He probably didn't even know your grandpa. Besides, they've both kicked the bucket—"
"How dare you insult my grandfather like this!" Colette shouted. "You don't know who he is."
"Yeah? Who is he? A male veela?"
Colette's eyes turned scarlet, and Ginny suddenly remembered where she'd seen that expression before. "Draco, say my name."
"I don't think you are Colette. You're just some freaky female Death Eater who's—"
"Say my name."
"Just say it," Ginny urged. She was curious.
"Fine. Colette Atort."
"My middle name?"
"Devinette."
Colette smiled. "Any idea what that means?"
Draco shrugged. "A female version of Devin?"
But Ginny knew already. Blue eyes turning into scarlet spheres…grinning at her as he rose from the diary…the same color and shape…the same evilness…the same feeling it always had given her, although she never knew why… "It means 'riddle'," she said quietly.
"Good." Colette nodded, pleased. "That's right. My Grandfather is none other than the Lord Voldemort himself."
She smirked at the baffled face of Draco, while fright on Ginny's.
"Oh, never figured out that Voldemort actually consists of three French words? And never realized that Voldemort became the devil as soon as he graduated? Grandfather graduated in the 1940s, and the first rising began around 1970. What did he do during the years in between? He went to France. He went to France to recruit the first of his Death Eaters, and it was there that he met my grandmother. She's a veela, and a dark witch, and for years they worked together. Together they built this mansion with all the chambers and passages, and added a lot of such things for secret French Death Eaters' meetings—that's why the Ministry never found Voldemort's other supporters. In fact, we have our headquarters in Beauxbatons, but nobody knew that."
"Then how did your mother?"
"Grandmother also charmed Grandfather into sleeping with her, thinking that he'd marry her, and that together they will rule the wizarding and Muggle world. Poor Grandmother…not realizing that my Grandfather's heart is made out of stone, unable to feel emotions, much less love; and certainly even if he can feel love, he would not share his power with anyone. He got her conceiving my mother, that was all, and left."
"But…Marie Antoinette…" Draco sputtered, desperate to prove his fiancée's heritage wrong, but Ginny realized the flaw in that.
"Oh c'mon. She's an Austrian princess. She isn't even French. And then, my grandmother had my mother. She didn't or couldn't name my mother Celine Riddle, because my mother was an illegal child and that she loved my grandfather so much that she didn't want to expose him, or so my mother says. Therefore, my mother became Celine Devinette."
"Rather witty of your grandmother," Ginny said.
"Yes. And of course, when Mother married my dad, who isn't worth mentioning, she brought the mansion along, and changed the name of the mansion to avoid suspicion, and also killed all of her old servants, because at that time, things in England were getting heated up. She brought all the dark objects of my grandma's, including my dear doll-house and the fireplace. Then, a week and a year before Harry Potter defeated my grandpa for the first time, I was born. When she died, I inherited the dark legacy of Voldemort's. I led the French Death Eaters secretly, helping my grandfather. When things began to fail, I sent all of my Death Eaters to England to help, while I devised escape routes and doubles for myself, so I was never caught." Ginny had to marvel at the woman's intelligence. "Oh yes, and trust me, I know who you are all along. I was, after all, the one who arranged your father's death."
Ginny looked at Draco nervously. He didn't seem affected, or because his Malfoy mask was on again. "And you kept me alive…?"
"I wanted you to give me the necklace once we marry. I attracted you with my money, and then, when I realized that you didn't have the necklace, I figured that some girl you slept with back in England did, since your mother died by the time I reached you. That's why I had that dinner party. So that British reporters could capture your pictures, and then that woman, whoever, would come. I was pleased to see that it worked. But I didn't expect Virginia here to actually make the dragon come alive, nor seduce you. Thus, I know that I had to kill her, and then use her body to unleash the power to resurrect Grandfather, and when I found that you fell in love with her…you have to go too." She shrugged. "One more person makes no big difference. All I need is the necklace."
"You won't succeed!" Ginny said, hoping she sounded confident enough. "We activated the dragon once…it will help us again. And this time, it will get us out of your sick old mansion and—"
"And suppose you can't? Do you even know how you did it the first time?" Colette asked scornfully. Ginny had to admit that she had a point there. "Come, I need no Death Eaters to help—besides, they're being tortured rather nicely outside at this moment—let's match the power of two tramps with the heiress of Slytherin."
~*~
With a wave of Colette's hand, the chains disappeared. Ginny immediately dashed for her wand and shouted the Stunning Spell at Colette, but she merely sidestepped the attack, and sent a Stunner right back at Ginny. Ginny barely missed it, but the impact as she fell to the side crashed her into the stone wall.
"Ginny!" Draco shouted.
Ginny crawled up slowly, rubbing her head. "I'm okay," she said bravely.
Colette just watched, arms crossed. She didn't even need to use a wand. And the smug look on her face…. Draco had a feeling that it was somewhat impossible to beat her without the aid of the dragon. "Ginny!" he said. "What did you do when the dragon came alive?"
"I don't know," Ginny said, frowning. "But…shouldn't we…um…attack Colette or something?"
Colette silently watched them, her beautiful eyes narrowed. "Well…" Draco wished that he remembered how to do the Killing Curse from his father, or at least one of the Unforgivables. Never mind Azkaban! He was not going back to that doll-world. Suddenly, he got an idea. "Yes, Ginny."
Ginny looked puzzled at his response, but she sent another Stunning Spell toward Colette, who deflected it. However, just as Ginny barely missed a second Stunner, and Colette was grinning triumphantly, Draco shouted, "Impedimenta!" at Colette.
It didn't even reach her.
"You can do better than this," Colette said, rolling her eyes. "I'll just wait till one of you actually gets a brain. Meanwhile, get ready to go back to the doll-world."
Ginny looked at Draco desperately. Tears were welling up in her eyes. "I don't know any more spells," she choked out. "I never learned any dark curses and the strongest spell I know that would work here is the Stunner…" She scrubbed her eyes quickly. "Maybe…we can Apparate out…with the help of the necklace."
Colette laughed. "It isn't gleaming, little Virginia. It won't work. Tell you what? I'll stop toying with you two if you'd hand over the necklace, and perhaps I'd think about keeping you two as servants or something…or as baits to lure Potter here…" Her beautiful face was starting to become ghastly as the Slytherin in her showed. Her tanned skin was turning white, and her chestnut hair had become dark, not to mention that her eyes were scarlet already.
Ginny stepped away, too scared for words. Draco wasn't about to show that he was scared too. He put his hand on Ginny's shoulder. "Let's not," he said coldly.
"Fine with me. I'm enjoying this game." Colette shrugged. "Go on, let's see what you've got—"
But Ginny wasn't listening. She was staring at her necklace in wonder. "Look, Draco!" she said excitedly. "It's gleaming again! Maybe it's going to become a real dragon soon!"
Colette looked alarmed, and she raised her hand, shouting "Stupefy!" Draco was quicker, and he pushed Ginny out of the way, while narrowly missing it himself. Protecting Ginny with his arms, he hissed, "Hurry up! Get it to work! We need that dragon now!"
Another Stunner narrowly missed them. The necklace did gleam brighter, but the dragon remained still.
"I don't know what to do!" cried Ginny.
Draco decided then to do something only Potter and Weasley would be dumb enough to do. He cast a temporary shield spell to deflect any curses Colette might throw for five minutes. "I'll protect you from any curses," he said hurriedly, "and you worry about getting the necklace to work."
Ginny's lower lip quivered. Suddenly, she threw her arms around him, sobbing onto his shoulder. "You know, I know what Hermione felt like when Harry told her to go back through the flames in their first year," she said.
Draco was embarrassed but pleased nonetheless. "Yeah, well, thought I'd get some recognition for once," he said.
"You know," Ginny said thoughtfully. "Whenever the necklace gleams, it seems to accomplish a wish of mine. Like, back in the hotel, I wished that we would get out of that place, and it helped us to Apparate into Moon Garden when it's off limits. And in that café, it helped me save you and made the dementors disappear."
"So…can you wish for the dragon?"
"Too late," Ginny said sheepishly. "I…wished for something else."
"What did you wish for?"
Draco soon came to the conclusion that some things are best left unanswered. Just as the shield disappeared, a bloodcurdling shriek from across the room came, startling even Colette, who suddenly fell forward, unconscious, on the ground.
"Ginny! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, HUGGING DRACO MALFOY?"
There, in front of the fourth stone wall, stood the Potters and Weasley, clad in their pajamas.
~*~
Ginny didn't expect her wish to come out that soon.
Or it would come in that way.
What she was thinking was that the trio would waltz in, Stun Colette, and get her out. I want my brother, Harry, and Hermione to save me was what she'd wished for, but she forgot one important thing, and that was Ron's tendency to be melodramatic.
As soon as everyone had recovered, Ron marched over to her and yanked her arm, nearly dragging her away from Draco. "Virginia Weasley! I want an explanation!"
"Ron," Hermione said. "I want a different explanation. How'd I get here? One minute I was in bed, and the next I was here, my wand conveniently in my hand."
"Me too." Harry nodded.
Ginny laughed nervously. "I wished."
Harry blinked. "You…wished?"
"Really long story," Draco cut in.
Ron dropped Ginny's arm and put his hand at Draco's neck. "I don't need your comments!" he said. "What kind filth are you, anyway? You knocked up my sister, and now you're…you're hugging her!"
"Such a crime!" snapped Draco.
"I'll show you what crimes are!" Ron shouted, rising his fist to connect with Draco's nose. Harry and Hermione tried to restrain him, but he shook them free. And Ginny supposed he would've broken Draco's nose, or at least gave him a heavy nosebleed, if she hadn't wished for something at that moment.
Cho appeared in her nightgown and knocked into Ron. "Ronald Weasley!" she said. "What are you doing here instead of at our house?"
Draco caught Ginny's eyes, and gave her a thumb-up, smirking.
"Cho!" Ron glared at Ginny. "Did you wish for that?"
Hermione groaned. "Can we stop fighting? Ginny, what's with this woman? She looks like Voldemort."
"That's the granddaughter," Ginny said.
"Also known as my fiancée," Draco added.
Ron made a move as if to hit him again, but this time, Harry, Hermione, and Cho succeeded in restraining him. "Ron, beat Malfoy up after we get out of this place," snapped Cho. "Let's get this woman taken care of first."
"And afterwards, let's go home."
Ginny was never so glad to hear such words. Even if it did mean that Draco would suffer a few bad blows.
A/N: All right, I agree, this whole chapter was long, boring, lame, and sucked like hell. I'm disgusted by my own writing. Sorry. Unleash your fruits…after I run away. I allow you to flame… *wipes tomato slime off forehead* I can't promise anything about the next chapter (I promise I'll make that better), but I'm hoping that I'll have time to update next week. If not, flame me…not too hard! *dashes into igloo* Now, all I need is a few reviews…*hopeful smile*
~Katrina
Thank you immensely:
Eternal Queen-*laughs guiltily* I promise, no more cliffies. Mlle Rogue-ooh, I work in Dobby's ways? Hmm, Katrina is very happy that Mlle Rogue like her hints and cliffhangers! =P tricklingdust-look on the bright side…they got to snog! eclipse-dreams-don't worry, they aren't trapped for too long. Magic Girl2-now you know…devinette means "riddle" in French, Riddle as in Voldemort's last name. Rainpuddle-I love your review! Maybe because it's all good stuff *embarrassed* but I'm really flattered you see so much in my Draco's character. Don't worry though…no more cliffies, at least not big ones. kirsty-hey thanks! Unfortunately, the dolls aren't entirely my idea…*sheepish* Hermione Alanna Granger-*whimpers* I know they got out in a lame way, but hey, they have to get out somehow! The necklace did help a bit. Baby-it's only for less than half the chapter that they're in the doll-world thingy. =) MelissaAdams-ooh thanks! I wish I could've updated sooner. CupNoodle-really? Thanks! Violet Princess-I hope you get lucky again! *wink* Butterflysky-it's not entirely starvation. Yes, Colette is a very bitchy bitch. Spanish fanfiction? Cool! I can't read any foreign language fanfiction unless it's my native language, and there aren't any. frananddragon-no problem! No more cliffies. Yeah, I didn't realize how freaky being trapped with dolls are till I got a nightmare after writing the chapter. Ironic, no? KristinaL.Mercado-I promise…no more cliffhangers! SeZzA-well, Colette is the granddaughter of a certain nasty person we all know! ;P Imagine-I hope this part is just as nice…not likely. Neni Potter-I don't think Colette planned on them having a quality time there, but they did. I didn't want to drag Molly into this, because she's too young, but she'll make her appearance in the next chapter. MidniteSunrise-in chapter six or seven, Colette went into the chamber (the one where the doll-world is) to summon the D.E.s. I mentioned the doll-world there…I think. Jocelyn Padoga-I didn't forget you! You forgot me! *pout* I'll try to go back to Hogwarts College soon. Missed you! Laura-I hurried as much as I could! Raclswt-thanks, and updates…I try to do weekly ones, but this week I couldn't. I'll try harder for the next chapter. Gabie-you got the kissing, and the beard…lol, I thought it would make more sense than Rowena's beard! Okay, that was a lame attempt at a joke, but hey, you never know, Slytherin might've gotten a beard! Anh D-ao-uh-oh…did I forget to email you? Sorry. And sorry again for the lame way they got out. London-you did tell me, but I love hearing about it every time. Thank you so much. TickleBoom76-oh, no worries, Colette will pay. Little Butterfly-I like the doll thing too, but I realized that whoever drew Pokemon got it first! =( Crystal Lily-they just…got out. *hides* Sorry, I'm sure you expected something a bit more… Tifa-I love your reviews just the same, and I would add you to my list, but I need your email address. Kim-thanks! I didn't plan the doll thingy either till chapter five. flame of ice-thanks…and freakiness is fun, don't you agree? FieryWildChild-thank you! Run out of wigs? Oh no…I promise I won't have any more cliffies for your (and your hair)'s sake! Anna Nana-tadah! Here you go! xangelcrisisx-you're right that it's good in some way…they got to snog without Colette the crazy…cough, person. Draco&Ginny fan-I wanted to make it to at least twenty chapters at first, you know, expanding on the doll thing, and fights and such, but I would never finish it before book five. So I combined and condensed till there are fifteen chapters. But they're pretty long ones. jane-valar-I proudly announce I got to chapter seven of the sense, and I have to say it's awesome. Okay, I'll say that in my future reviews ^^ and what is Twilight Zone? I am so in the stone age. KeeperOfTheMoon-don't worry…everything's fine now. Jaded*Secrets-that's okay if you forgot the Apparition thing. It probably doesn't exist anyway, but in my world…you know, to make everything harder. I usually dislike slash, but Harry/Draco sounds cool. Hmm…then Ginny and Hermione can…okay, I should stop here. SAKURAAnTOKYO-wow, thanks! PaintedDragon-I'm glad you like the story and I hope you don't take it as an offense if I write Colette a bit bitchily. *nervous* Nothing against your heritage. I based her on my meanie French teacher. iceheart-04-oh I'm sorry! The dolls didn't last long, you see! I got scared myself, actually. Dolls…esp. the ones in dollhouses…gosh, they star in so many horror stories. *shudders* libby-I never watched that one, but I'm sure I would be scared out of my pants if I did. I'm scared just thinking about it! Robyn Maddison-thanks for the grammar thing. I tend to be very bad at that. Valkyrie-Molly will grow up to be beautiful, I promise. I might add that in the epilogue. Quis-no problem, and thank you! PinkChubbyMonkey-actually…I didn't either till chapter five. =) goldenstar555-they do? Thanks! =D Cay-oh thanks! I feel kind of smug now. Bad, bad me! Melzfelz-oh thank you! meLisSa-all right, sorry if I missed you before. You might've been one of the addresses that didn't work at first. Princess Amelia-okay…okay…I'll! *nervously backing away* Sakura1287-hehehe she's trapped in it along with the Death Eaters, as you wanted. Enter the Red Age-chapter nine is one of my favorites too. Colette didn't kill Lucius, but she arranged it. I don't know if I'll write it in the chapter (I answer reviews before writing) and ooh, the plot twist-so glad nobody expected it! LOVE being unpredictable. I should stop sounding so conceited now. Cytheria-sorry I didn't get to email you! I was truly busy. I have no messengers either, and if I did my mom'd disable them. I'll email you soon. Staphyla-thank you! enoimreh-I wanted to write like mad, but I had to study. Stupid bio teachers! IndigoStar-aww thanks! ^^ Dashara-yes, she'll die…somehow. kitkatgalie-sure, I'll email you. Ezmerelda-I'll update sooner to try and save your fingernails! Gee, my jokes are getting lamer and lamer. Oh, of course I'll email you s long as you don't find it annoying. Andrea Devinette-Voldemort could've had some affairs…. It's so cool about your last name! Didn't mean to steal it, honest! *runs away from lawyers* mz-duCkiee-sorry bout the cliffie…can Colette pay the debt for me? Sokorra Lewis-I hope I explained everything. If not, you can leave it in a review or email me.
People I missed on review list: tell me or email me and I'll add you during the revision.
People I missed on mailing list: tell me in your reviews and put your email address.
Sorry in advance!
