Moonlit Horizons – Chapter 29

http://www.geocities.com/halutirius/moonlithorizons

for spoilers on future chapters, art from the chapters and random thoughts… 

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on we go….. "going out with a shine, going out with a shine, come on baby…."

Why does everybody love Draezyc so much? She's a dark, dark character and you love the girl… weird.  But then if you've got to choose between Drae and Eddie, I can see that Drae'd get the vote.

***

"Harry!" Sirius stumbled up the steps to the castle, which was now being guarded by rank upon rank of ministry officials and hit wizards.  "My god, Harry! You're alright!"

Remus watched as Sirius pulled his godson into a bone crushing bear-hug.  He could vaguely see Harry make a face at Sirius' open display of affection.  Remus cringed as he suddenly remembered that Sirius couldn't be seen here out in the open.  There were a whole collection of hitwizards and ministry members and Sirius was making his presence known by bawling his eyes out in front of them.

"Er…." Remus tried to walk stealthily towards Harry and Sirius but was suddenly stopped by someone grabbing his robes and pulling him into a group hug that consisted of Ron, Ginny, Hermione and…

"Draco?"  muttered vaguely surprised.  It would take too much effort to actually look surprised right now.

Draco scowled, he looked about as happy to be here as Harry did every time he had a double potions class on a Friday afternoon.

"Would all those outside the building please congregate within the great hall, numbers must be counted and a speech will be given." Moody shouted above the crowd, his voice magically magnified.

~*~

"I think they shoot cause they want it."

"Perhaps, but I would have considered it more to do with getting back at Potter, don't you?"

Remus turned to see a dirty-faced Arthur Weasley talk to his eldest son, Bill.

"Lupin!" Arthur shook Remus' hand warmly, "Good to see you alive, is Harry….?"

"Harry is with Ron and Hermione in the hospital wing getting their wounds attended to.  I think Molly is with them, its nothing serious - a few scrapes..."

Sirius had another baseball cap pulled over his head, the visor shadowing his facial features enough for people close by not to recognise him.  The bruise on his jaw was turning purple, not helped by the tense clenched stance Sirius held it at.  There was no doubt in Remus' mind what his friend's thoughts dwelt upon.

Remus had hardly listened to any of Moody's speech, and returned gratefully to the homely warmth of the Gryffindor common room.

"REMUS!" Hermione leapt out of her seat and hugged him warmly the moment he had climbed through the portrait hole.  Remus blushed briefly, remembering something Sirius had once said about Hermione having a crush on him… Now wasn't the time to be thinking of such things.

"Are Harry and Ron still…"

"No." Hermione shook her head. "Harry went to find Snape in the Slytherin Dungeons with Ron… he wouldn't tell me why."

"They won't find him there."

Remus wheeled round to see a somewhat cleaner Draezyc Snape close the portrait behind her.

"This is Gryffindor! How did you….?" Remus almost shrieked

"Oh ask yourself that why don't you.  Coming from the Marauders who broke into the Slytherin common room every week to play endless pranks… Honestly, I got in here the exact same way as you got in ours… Bribery and corruption on a small scale.  House Elves are very easy to manipulate, don't you think?" Draezyc smiled slightly.

"Why? Where's Severus?"

"With your dear friend Sirius." Draezyc scowled momentarily.  "Sirius left just after you did before coming up here.  He met Sev coming into the castle.  It would be my bet that Sirius begged him to go find DuCruet… Especially after Alsop's Stone."

"Alsop's Stone?" Remus frowned. "What was that thing, it was caked in blood."

"You ever heard of the Mirror of Erised?"

"Vaguely… from Harry." Remus nodded.

"it shows you your desires." Hermione added.  "Harry found it in his first year."

"I believe so.  Well anyway, imagine the opposite of that, and you have Alsop's Stone, in a very basic form, its slightly more complicated than that.  It will entice you, offering you things with promises of love and happiness, and happy endings, but those are all false.  What is shown will never happen.  Ever.  To create that magical contract, the blood of the victim must be poured across the inscriptions… Which is why the stone was caked in DuCruet's blood."

"How do you know so much about it?" Remus asked

"I helped create it." Draezyc muttered, picking at her cuffs. "One of my better creations put to waste, and not even under my name.  As usual Tim took all the glory, whether he deserved it or not, and left me with nothing."  A bitter edge was evident in her voice.  "I should have known, I'd fallen into his traps before, thus I made the stone reflect his character, it makes promises, promises that can never be fulfilled in this lifetime.  It gives the ultimate temptation, but in the end, gives nothing in return.  The pain it can cause a person is at an amazing height.  It will love you, then leave you with nothing but the faint memory of what it has shown, endlessly teasing at you, gloating, making you regret ever looking into it for more.  For it can never provide."

"You… didn't you and Alsop…"

"Once.  A long time ago." Draezyc closed her eyes for a brief moment. "It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times.  He promised me everything, and gave me nothing in return for everything that I offered him.  And yet… and yet… it is something I will cherish forever, I can never forget, how happy I may be today, can never compare, and he knows it.  Revels in the luxury of knowing it."  She slammed her hand against the wall.  "We are not here to dig up past grievances."

"What do you think has happened to Edea, you think she is already… already dead?" Hermione asked quietly.

No no." Draezyc raised an eyebrow. "If he wanted to kill her, he wont have done it yet.  Voldemort has a prideful streak, he'll want this to be noticed."

"But the blood on the stone." Remus interrupted

"Was not enough to have drained her dry.  'Die sonne scheint mir aus den Augen'… He wants to poke a stab at the ministry, and more importantly, you lot in here."

"What can we do?"

"We shall have to be patient.  When he wants us to know, he will let us know.  If there is only one thing in which you trust, let that be it." Draezyc sat down in one of the chairs by the fire.  "I'd almost forgotten what a fire felt like."

"What was it like?" Hermione ventured, knowing full well that Sirius refused to talk of his stay in Azkaban to anyone but Harry.

"In reality, not all that bad.  The Dementors, they know who I am, they know my allegiance and left me alone, mostly.  They may have been employed by the ministry, but they are creatures of Darkness, and shall never change.  But they do their job… reminding me of faces long past, people I've left in ruin, dead faces laughing at you… coming back to haunt you as you sleep.  You learn to live on little sleep.   I can see how a prolonged stay would turn people mad.  Alle warten auf das Licht.  But it never comes." 

Remus stared down at Draezyc.  She looked just as sinister as she always had done.  It had a subtle tone that was brought out by the shadows of the flames.  It was difficult to associate the Draezyc sitting here with the Draeliana who he had gone to school with.  Who had been so besotted with Sirius Black, but had been thrown so far off course, yet had still kept that pride instilled inside her.  Buried deep down.

"Perhaps I should check on Anna." Remus muttered, staring out of the window at the darkening skies.

"She is helping madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing." Draezyc murmured without opening her eyes.  "You'd only be a distraction to her business."

"You're right." Remus mumbled, sitting down in a spare chair, "I'd be better off staying here."

Draezyc did not answer, and when Remus glanced across at her, he noticed her eyes were closed, she was sleeping.

~*~

"Just… One more medicated peaceful moment…"

"Tell me again… What's keeping me from killing you?"  Edea's eyes flashed angrily as the wind whipped at her hair.

"Oh... not much." Draezyc peered over the edge of the railing of the turret. "Just… … …this…"

She grabbed Edea forcefully by her shoulders and hurled her over the edge, but not before Edea had caught hold of Draezyc firmly enough to take them both over the edge.

Remus ran towards the two falling figures, they would hit the ground soon… Draezyc fell to the stone first, followed by Edea who had been cushioned by falling on her would-be assassin.  The snakeline dribbles of blood ran down the slope to the bank.  Edea had shakily risen, staring with unmasked contempt at Draezyc, who's glassy eyed and expressionless face became too unnerving for Remus to watch.

"I always wanted pale roses at my wedding…" Edea smiled sweetly up at Remus who was now staring at Edea in horror.  "We could hang her up from the pulpit and drape her in white… like an offering… but the devil will have taken her soul by then, it would be all dirty."

"Edea…" Remus shook his head slowly, taking steady steps backwards… "You've hit your head... you're not thinking straight…"

"it's not like I've killed someone, it's not like I drove a hateful spear into her side…" Edea pouted like a spoilt child "It's my job, to kill the bad wizards and witches… make sure they repent for their evil sins and hope they burn in hell for all the misgivings they caused."

"That's wrong Edea… she wasn't a bad witch… misguided maybe, not evil." Remus held onto Edea's arms, and shook her slightly, as if it would help put across the message.  "What has happened to you?"

"I need my wedding dress… Sirius will be waiting… we're going to be a family, just like Lily and James were… Snape will never have his family because he doesn't deserve one… I'll kill his son too… purge the world and leave it smelling like a daisy…"

"NOOO!"

Remus woke up with a start, gasping and gripping onto the sides of the armchair.  He looked around him, Draezyc was still snoozing in the chair opposite the fire, very much alive.  The common room was deserted, it must have been quite late in the evening.  Remus pondered whether he should take a trip up to the hospital wing to see if Anna was still helping Madam Pomfrey, he was too alert to sleep, and if he slept again, maybe.. maybe he would see worse things.

Remus had always been prone to having nightmares, ever since he was a small child and had been bitten by the wolf.  He had dreamt about killing people in his werewolf form, about the wolf returning to devour him, about the contempt of others… Then he had dreamt about Lily and James' death… Blaming himself, dreaming that Harry would grow up to kill him in revenge… And now… now it was worse, if he slept all the dreams would mingle into one…

Something had to be done. Remus couldn't stand staying still and letting events get worse. Something needed to be done, and fast.

TBC