Disclaimer: It ain't mine.
Thanks to Rea, my lone beta reader because I'm a moron. Jess, if you see this, email me ASAP!
Hello my darling readers; that is, if that you still are readers. It's me, Ren, the worst author in the entire world. In all honesty, I'm utterly unsurprised if you assumed I would not be continuing this story – considering the fact that I haven't updated it since October the 12, 2003. Basically, I suck incredibly hard author ass. Anyway, here's chapter four, an utterly boring chapter that has undergone absolutely no revision for almost a month and half now. I keep waiting for more artistic feeling to strike me, and since January 19, nothing has come to add to this chapter. So basically, you've been waiting unnecessarily for quite some time.
Chapter Four
We know what we are, but we know not what we may be.
--Shakespeare, Hamlet
The room was filled with many important looking pieces of equipment, official looking documents and photographs, complicated looking instruments and other whatnots all meant to aid someone in the location of others. Despite this, Calynn Markova was not doing what she was supposed to be doing.
Instead, she was immersed in last week's Witch Weekly, discovering the benefits of the latest in magical contraceptives.
Not that anyone could really blame her, as four days of staring at a blank map would be tedious to anybody.
Therefore, when a spot on the map of Wales and western England to her right began to glow green, she didn't notice for quite some time.
Her chin rested upon her right hand while her left hand idly turned pages and occasionally rubbed her tired eyes. She'd just turned around in her swivel chair, about to sift through her private drawer for a nail file, when Patricia Parkinson stopped in for a chat. Patricia did, in fact, posses the pug nose that characterized her family (a long term result of long term inbreeding, Calynn's brother said), though it was not nearly so pronounced on her young face as it was on her older sister, Pansy's.
Patricia's hair was a golden blonde, but it was suggested rather pointedly in quietly relayed gossip that it shimmered so only with the aid of magical enhancements. Calynn knew this was true, as she'd grown up with Patricia and was quite certain it was actually a rather dull dishwater blonde. Calynn reached up and stroked her own hair for a short moment, smirking a bit as she relished the fact that her own golden blonde hair was golden of its own accord.
Patricia's eyes narrowed, and, leaning over Calynn's shoulder a bit, she said, "Oh, I thought you'd be reading that article! When I read it last week, my first thought was to show it to you… You know, Cal, you can never be too careful," Patricia murmured, sending a smug glance Calynn's way. "Especially when your lifestyle is as… wild… as your own!"
Calynn felt her eyes narrow and forced a smile to her lips. "How… considerate of you, Patricia." She ran a hand through her hair again.
The two women stood in tense silence for a moment, until Patricia asked suddenly, "What's that glowing there?" The previously mentioned map had, of course, been enchanted with a spell locator, similar to the one used by the blasted Ministry. The code, scratched out on a piece of parchment spell-o-taped to the upper right hand corner of the map, revealed that "Green = Lt. D. Malfoy".
Calynn whirled around and sucked in her breath. She tapped her wand to the spot, which was in a forest quite a bit to the south of them, and murmured, "Appareo." Slowly, words began spelling themselves out in the air above the map, starting with a simple lighting spell. She relaxed slightly, but she still wasn't sure… Would Draco be stupid enough to begin to use magic? He was well into Wales, but over forty-five miles from the nearest friendly camp.
Next came several conjuring spells… A tent? Malfoy wanted a bloody tent, after doing quite all right without one for the past several days?
Last came a cooling spell that healers used to reduce swelling.
What the hell? Calynn wondered. Was the Alliance brat injured? Calynn hesitated a moment before turning to Patricia. "Excuse me a moment, I have to go find Piergallini."
Leaving a startled Patricia staring after her, Calynn swept out of the room, her robes flying out behind her as she walked at a brisk pace down the dark hallway. It was very late (or very early, depending on how you looked at it) and Calynn was sure that even Piergallini would be asleep at this hour. She reached his room in record time and rapped sharply on the door. After a moment of hearing nothing, she knocked again, harder this time.
Finally, a few moments later, a sleepy Piergallini arrived at the door, his short dark hair spiked up from running his fingers through it. "Dammit Cal, what the hell is it?"
"Malfoy… Malfoy's wand signature came up on the map, not five minutes ago."
"Well what the hell are you telling me for?" he asked sleepily, glancing at his watch.
Calynn faltered a bit, unsure of how to reply. "What do you mean?"
"Didn't anyone tell you? O'Rourke got home 'bout four days ago. He 'n Malfoy are in charge of the Weasley assignment. Go tell him about it and let me go back to sleep."
The blood began draining out of Calynn's face. "O'Rourke… Brian's here?" She whispered slowly, attempting to compose herself. She noticed Piergallini's appraising eyes and blushed slightly. Her attitude went from shocked to brusque: "Well why the hell didn't you tell me when he got home?" she demanded incredulously.
"Dunno. Forgot. He's in the officer's corridor. Now go away."
With that, Piergallini shut the door in her face, leaving her standing in the deserted hallway by herself. She began walking again, not as quickly as before, back the way she'd come. She walked up an ancient, twisting stone staircase, automatically skipping the loose step. "Need to tell someone to fix that," she muttered to herself, not really having any intention of doing so.
Her pace slowed even more when she reached another deserted corridor – the officer's chambers. These rooms were slightly more luxurious than those inhabited by the regular troops, though not very significantly so. She had no idea where O'Rourke would be shacked up this time; he hadn't been here since before she'd gotten out of Durmstrang three years ago. Instead of being stationed permanently here at Dinas Bran, like her brother Mattoloch was, O'Rourke spent his time moving from fort to fort, castle to castle. He'd been in the south of Wales at Dryslwyn last she'd heard, but that had been months ago. How was it possible that she, who knew so much about O'Rourke's simplest movements under normal circumstances, had neglected to know that he had been under the same roof as her for four days? How had she not known?
Calynn came to a complete stop at the start of the officer's corridor, deciding her best bet was to go to her brother's room and ask him where O'Rourke was. She walked briskly down to her brother's room, fumbling in her robes for her lipstick as she went. She stopped outside her brother's door and knocked once, and upon hearing nothing, began to turn the creaky handle.
The door was old and the hinges squeaked. Calynn saw her brother, features barely discernable, sit up in bed, his wand out and in position fast as lightning. He hissed, "Who the hell is there?"
Calynn opened her mouth to reply when a shape – she'd thought it was blankets, honestly – next to her brother shifted and a very feminine voice muttered groggily, "What is it, Matt?"
Calynn felt the blood rushing to her face and covered her freshly lipstick-ed mouth with a clammy hand. "Oh dear god," she moaned, squeezing her eyes shut and feeling as if her whole body was blushing.
"Cal, is that you?" her brother asked, leaning back against the pillows and throwing an arm about the shape – the shape whose voice sounded suspiciously like Patricia's older sister, Pansy's. Calynn wrinkled her nose in distaste – surely her brother could do better than that.
"Yes… yes, Matt, it's me," she muttered finally, getting back on track. "I just need to know… Where is O'Rourke's room? Draco's wand's just come up and Piergallini told me that O'Rourke was back…"
The female (who was definitely Pansy Parkinson) snuggled into Matt's chest. "He's right next door on the… left. I think. Just do him a favor and knock first before you go in there."
"Thank you very much," Calynn hesitated. "But I did knock. It's not my fault you're bloody deaf."
"Good night Calynn."
"Good night, dear Mattoloch."
"Too late," he muttered.
"Oh shut up," she sneered, shutting the door with a snap.
When she was back in the hall, she glanced about, making sure she was alone. Calynn leaned against an ancient tapestry depicting the second major goblin rebellion, led of course by Cynric the Ugly. She smoothed her hair and her robes, wishing she'd bothered to put her best ones on this morning. She took a deep breath, knowing it was a lost cause, and knocked on O'Rourke's door.
She tapped her foot impatiently for a second, and stopped immediately when she heard a quiet, "Hang on a minute."
Her hands flew back up to her hair and she tried again to repair any late night damage, knowing as she did it, that it was in vain.
Suddenly, the door flew open, and a groggy eyed O'Rourke looked down at her. He wore loose fitting blue pajama pants, and the white T-shirt he had on made him look even more appealing than he usually did. A lock of dark hair fell into his eyes, and he brushed it out of his handsome face before he squinted at her a moment, asking wearily, "Can I help you?"
Calynn's heart sank. He didn't remember her after all. "Well, um, actually, I was assigned to watching for, erm, wand signatures. And it, uh, Lieutenant Malfoy's just showed up on the map--"
O'Rourke became instantly awake. "Malfoy? Where was it on the map? What spell was it?"
"Well, it was in Wales… in the south east, where we're not very heavily fortified. I was a bit surprised to see that he'd used magic, but--"
"What spell was it?" he asked again, his voice harsh.
"Uhh… the first was a simple lighting spell, but then he started conjuring things, and then… oh, then there was a healing spell."
At that, O'Rourke narrowed his eyes suddenly, contemplative. "What healing spell?"
"It was a cooling spell, to reduce swelling," Calynn said quietly, biting her lower lip softly.
He stared at her a moment longer before snapping, "Wait here."
O'Rourke emerged a few moments later pulling one of his standard issue black robes over his head. "Well come on now, you've wasted far too much time already." He grabbed her upper arm, dragging her down the hallway so she had to run to keep up.
When they finally reached the room where Calynn had been stationed, O'Rourke sent a quick look at the map before saying, "If I don't come back in a few minutes, I'm there," he said, jabbing the still glowing green spot on the map.
Calynn hesitated a moment, rocking back and forth on her heels slightly. When she saw him begin preparing for the apparition, she muttered, "I could go with you."
"No, you can't."
Calynn gasped indignantly, her hands on her hips. "And why not?"
O'Rourke rolled his eyes. "Because, Calynn, you are way too young and if I let you go, your brother would hex me, that's why. Not to mention that this could be dangerous; Aurors could have taken over the site and used Draco's wand…"
"I'm nearly twenty-one years old, Brian!" She stopped suddenly, and looked at him. "You remembered me," she said quietly, looking up at him with a slight smile playing at her lips.
He looked at her queerly. "Why wouldn't I have? You always were stubborn as bloody hell. But you still can't come."
"I'm stubborn?" She gasped indignantly. "But Brian, you could wind up needing my help! I'm really quite good at throwing curses, and if Malfoy's hurt, I know lots of healing spells…"
Brian stared at her a minute, seeming to be weighing his options. "Dammit," he said resignedly. "Can you apparate?" Hhe asked finally.
"Yes, of course."
"Can you find the coordinates?"
She looked down at the map and nodded.
"Do you have your wand?"
She nodded again.
"Do you swear to god you won't tell your brother about this?"
"We're in a hurry, O'Rourke."
"All right… go, I'll be after you in a few seconds."
Calynn smirked arrogantly at him for a moment, but her face slid into a grin as she disappeared. He stared at the place she'd been standing for a moment, slightly startled at how dazzling her smile had become, and with a shake of his head, disappeared as well.
-*-
Ginny had straddled the broom again when she heard the sounds of two people apparating. She turned, barely daring to hope that they were Aurors, and felt her heart drop into her stomach when she realized it was the same dark haired man from the night Malfoy had kidnapped her, and a blonde young woman she'd never seen before.
"Bloody fucking figures," she muttered, pushing off the ground anyway.
She was not at all surprised when she heard a sharp cry of "Stupefy!" echo through the trees. She was even less surprised when she felt the spell hit her and she fell off the broom, landing with a thud on the wet leaves.
"Accio Nimbus!"
The man caught it as it sailed through the air, and then walked across the clearing to hoist her up out of the mud. "Why do I feel like I've been in this situation before?" he muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes at her. "Miss Weasley. How are you? Let's go see what you've been up to…" He bound her wrists in front of her and shackled her ankles, and then he reached into the left pocket of her robes and plucked Malfoy's wand from it before releasing the stupefication. He shone his wand light about the clearing for a moment, and upon seeing nothing, he asked, "You didn't kill him, did you?"
"No, as a matter of fact, I didn't!" Ginny snapped, feeling yet another new sore spot as she hastily tried to scramble out of his arms, an attempt that left her, yet again, on her bottom on the muddy ground. She looked up at O'Rourke and glared at him before sneering, "Though I ruddy well could have left him to die if I'd been an evil person, like him… or you, come to think of it!"
He shook his head at her and reached down again to give her a hand. Ginny ignored him and tried (unsuccessfully) to stand on her own. Finally, O'Rourke bent and hefted her up, his rather large hands grasping underneath her armpits with a bit too much force, in Ginny's opinion.
"Where is he, Weasley?" O'Rourke inquired, almost conversationally.
"In the tent, obviously," she replied, gesturing in the direction opposite that he'd looked earlier. The blonde raised her lit wand, seeming startled when she saw the impromptu tent erected a few yards away.
"He's injured, then?" O'Rourke asked, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Yes of course."
"It's not bloody, is it?" O'Rourke muttered with a sidelong glance at the blonde.
Ginny noticed the girl stiffen as she spoke her first words of the night. "I think I can handle it, Brian," she murmured, her Welsh accent obvious even though she spoke softly. Despite her innocent demeanor, her eyes were narrowed at O'Rourke, and she looked at him as though daring him to tell her she couldn't enter the tent.
"Cal, your brother would skin me alive-"
"It's really not bad," Ginny cut in, her eyebrows drawn together as she looked from one to the other as if at a tennis match. "Just a broken arm that went untreated for far too long. He has a fever, but it broke a few minutes ago."
O'Rourke glanced at the girl again. Her back stiffened and she crossed her arms, glaring at him. "All right, all right, fine."
Ginny led the way to the tent, hobbling a bit due to the blasted leg shackles. "See, look. He's all in once piece, thanks to me, I might add."
"Let me see his arm."
Ginny did, trying to kneel. The shackles made it impossible, so she sank down onto her knees instead. "Look… the joint was pushed out of the socket and then it's broken a bit further down. Rather nasty injury, couldn't have been much fun letting it fester for a few days."
"How did it happen?"
She paused, thinking. "I believe he fell out of a tree, but as I wasn't present at the site of the injury, I couldn't very well tell you for certain. But that would seem right, see the angle of the break there?"
O'Rourke looked at it, seeing nothing that made it look any different from any other broken arm. "Um, yes, of course…"
Weasley looked up at him, her mouth twisted in a bitter smile. She glanced at the blonde girl, but Ginny was obviously asking the question of O'Rourke. "Who's this?"
The blonde girl glowered, tossing her hair and narrowing her eyes. "My name is Calynn Markova," she said icily. She turned to O'Rourke, "What are we to do now, then?"
He hesitated a moment, glancing from Malfoy's still sleeping form to Ginny. Finally, he looked at Calynn. "You are going back to the castle, and taking Malfoy with you. I'll complete the journey with the absolutely lovely," – he smirked – "Miss Weasley."
Ginny gasped indignantly. "What is with you people? It's my fault that I'm dirty? I've been a hostage in the wilderness for god knows how long! If you want me to be clean, show me a bathroom, dammit."
Calynn frowned at this, but ignored Ginny and said, "I haven't mastered double apparition yet."
"Well no, that would take far too long anyway." Seeing the confused look on Calynn's face, he muttered, "We'll work on it later. Wake Draco up, Weasley," he said, looking at Ginny then, "and he'll have to manage it himself."
-*-
Draco had always despised smelling salts. His mother had used them frequently, typically when there were guests at the manor, enjoying herself immensely while she put on a great show of succumbing to the vapors at the reception of some bad news or the sight of blood. The thought made him want to smile, for if a gory injury had ever made his mother sick, it hadn't been at any time he'd known her. Draco missed his mother a great deal. She remained at Malfoy Manor while he moved through Wales and the middle of England, and his father traveled through Scandinavia searching for the pockets of rebellion that lingered there. Draco hadn't seen her since last Christmas.
Though he knew it was ridiculous, he still opened his eyes expecting to see his mother when he became aware of the smelling salts. There was a slight smile on his face when his eyes opened, but it quickly disappeared as he realized who was leaning over him.
It was, of course, Ginny-bloody-Weasley, her brows furrowed slightly as she drew her hand away from his nose. His eyes followed her as she recapped the small bottle of salts, and then said, "Yes, see, he's coming to now. I told you this would work."
It was only then that Draco realized that she wasn't alone, and someone else held the wand that cast light into his eyes – Brian? Draco looked at him, trying to clear his head. He opened his mouth to protest his invalid state: "Came to, Weasley. Trying to kill me, were you? Leaving me here to die?"
Weasley stared at him a moment, as if she couldn't decide how to respond. Then suddenly, her eyes narrowed furiously. "Yes! Yes, that was exactly what I was trying to do. I was flying away on your broom with your wand when these two showed up!" She stood then, wiping her hands on her filthy robes. "He's yours," she said, glaring at O'Rourke. "I'll do no more for him."
Draco glanced quickly at O'Rourke, expecting him to argue with her. Instead, he said nothing to Weasley and spoke to Draco. "Do you think you can manage to apparate to the castle now?"
Sending an uneasy glance at Weasley's turned back, he muttered, "Yes… yes of course."
"Calynn will help you whenever you're ready."
Startled, Draco looked up and saw the blonde girl staring at him for the first time. She gave him a small smile, which he returned slowly. "Markova… Calynn Markova. I haven't seen you in years," he said slowly, his voice trailing off. Calynn Markova… she'd certainly gotten pretty over the years, what with her golden hair and deep dimples. She was curvy and almost… buxom, to use a horribly outdated word. Assuredly more attractive than the skinny and short boy-like figure of Ginny Weasley, Draco thought suddenly, sending a glare at her back.
"Are you ready?" Calynn asked him.
"Oh… yeah," Draco murmured, sitting up slowly, fighting the wave of nausea that struck him. It was only when he reached up with his left hand to rub the back of his neck did he notice his bound elbow and splintered arm. He frowned, sending another glance at Weasley's back as she began packing the tent. She seemed to feel his eyes on her, and she turned around, her face utterly expressionless, as if she dared him to speak to her.
He turned from her back to Calynn, and said, "Let's go."
Author's Note once more: Thank you's next chapter! I love you all, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :) I do apologize for the shortness of it, however. Hopefully, chapter five will be up in less than five months, but after that catastrophe, I'm not making any promises ^_^
If you would like to be notified when I update, leave your email address in your review or email me at gac_tera@hotmail.com and let me know.
Until next time my lovelies --