I'm sorry this ch is so short, and has been so long in coming, things have been very distracting lately, leaving me little or no time to write.
Someone asked how many chs are left, I have no idea, as many as I can think of. I have plans for a sequel, and possibly a prequel, which keeps distracting me, but I'm going to finish this one before I put any of it to paper.
Anyway, a special dedication in this ch, Charlotte, a friend of my fab beta WychFire. Hope you like it!
You know, I can't be bothered to do a previously on... if you can't remember guess you'll just have to go read it all again!! But Draco was hurt, poor babes, at the end of the last ch, if you really need a refresher!!
Chapter 10
Water gasped, tears threatening to spill down her face. She stumbled further into the room, approaching the bed with trepidation. Draco lowered his eyes and turned his head slowly away from her.
"Draco," she stammered. "I'm so sorry, oh God, I'm sorry."
Draco looked at her once more and opened his mouth to speak when she spoke again. "I didn't know, I didn't feel anything, I should have felt it, why didn't I know, why didn't I help you..." her voice trailed off when she saw Draco looking at her with a very inappropriate amused look on his face.
"It's ok, it's not your fault. But we need to leave; now, Voldemort told me he cast a spell over this house, it...I don't know...it stopped me from crying out, and clouded everyone's judgment. It meant that my mother didn't notice you leaving with my father, but you didn't realise it would raise suspicions."
Water thought, Draco was right, the feeling of slowness, of lack of concentration, had started before the frost. Voldemort. She growled, deep in her throat as she moved towards the window. Draco watched warily as his teacher began to pace like a caged animal. Suddenly she stopped. Turning to look him in the eye she had a grim gaze that filled him with irrational fear.
"He will pay with his blood for what he has done. I promise you that."
Draco nodded in reply. Water started out of the room. "Wait." She twisted round. Draco gulped. "Don't tell anyone. Please."
Her eyes filled with sympathy at the desperate plea and she silently nodded before rushing out of the room.
She swept down the corridor, her thoughts dark and stormed back into her room, not sparing a glance at Lucius, still unconscious on the bed. Seating herself on the huge chair, she closed her eyes and concentrated on her brother. Within moments his image appeared in her mind's eye, looking worried.
"Are you ok?" his voice gently whispered over her mind like a ghost. Struggling to maintain her composure she let him know, without words. Almost instantly the air before her rippled and swirled, before it condensed into a solid form. Air stepped forward, a frown marring his handsome face. He reached down and softly raised her chin with his hand. His frown deepened as he tried to reach the source of his sister's distress. She was not forthcoming with information as she battled with internal demons. Air stood patiently, his arms folded across his broad chest. After a couple of minutes Water looked at him finally.
"Can you go through this room, remove any traces that I've been here, then erase Lucius' memory of the past...," she paused, thinking. "12 hours to be on the safe side. Remove any thought of Draco being here over Christmas, then wait for me."
"Wait, sis, what's going on? Why are you leaving? What happened to getting some info?"
Water looked grim. "I got all the info I'll get out of him and there's been developments. It's not safe here for Draco; we need to get him back to Hogwarts. Now."
Air nodded. "How do you want me to affect his mind?" he asked as he gestured at the sleeping Lucius.
"Make him forget, but don't permanently erase the memory. He'll remember it again when he sees me again; better make him forget our meeting at Hogwarts too. I'll take Narcissa and Voldemort."
Air grabbed her arm. "Voldemort's here?"
Water shuddered. "Yeah, he's a creep. And he's dangerous, Air, more than we thought."
"What, to us?" Air scoffed. His amused face fell at his sister's grim expression.
"I'll explain it later." With that she left the room, leaving her brother to deal with Lucius.
Sorting out Voldemort and Narcissa took mere moments, a simple matter of reaching into their minds and hiding the memories. She shuddered as she felt Voldemort's mind touch hers. They, however, didn't notice a thing. After that was dealt with she mentally transported herself back to Draco's room, the air still thick with evil. Draco was standing outside his door already, his bags packed. Seconds after Water materialised Air joined them both, Water's bag slung over his shoulder.
They arrived back at Hogwarts shortly after, using a complex array of spells that left Draco's head spinning. They appeared outside Dumbledore's office, at the moment the door swung open, the head master standing there, looking grim. He ushered them into the room, before sitting Draco down on the lush velvet chair before his desk. Air glanced at Draco, sympathy clearly showing in his eyes before whispering to his sister.
"I'll head back to our rooms and wake up the other two. There's nothing I can do here, we'll talk to you when you're done."
Water nodded as Air quietly left, closing the door behind him. Draco was shaking slightly, no surprise after his ordeal. Dumbledore sat in his seat, looking very old.
"I am so sorry Mr Malfoy. Believe me when I say I never thought you would be in so much danger."
Water growled. "I was beaten by a simple mortal's spell, it should never have happened."
Dumbledore sighed. "Calm your self, you had no idea you would be confronted with any resistance. There was no indication that Lucius or Voldemort suspected you to be any more than another witch. This incident, while tragically unfortunate, was due to no fault of yours."
Water scowled, her anger still clearly showing on her face, Dumbledore's steely gaze never leaving hers. Both jumped slightly when Draco spoke.
"I don't want anyone to know."
Dumbledore looked across at the young Slytherin. After a moment he nodded. "Very well, after you've been looked over by Madam Pomfrey, which you shall be mister Malfoy," his voice rose slightly over Draco's panicked, indignant look. "I can provide you with rooms away from the other students. Water here should stay in Sunnydale for the next couple of days and you can both show your selves again, the day after tomorrow when you were due to return. No one will suspect anything did not go as planned. However, Draco, Professor Snape will be informed of your return, but not of the details behind it, I will ask him not to pressure you with questions."
Dumbledore paused, sadness clouding his eyes. "Draco, it is not my place to instruct you as to who you should and shouldn't tell of your ordeal..." he paused again as if considering "but I would, however, ask that when you are ready, you try to tell someone who cares about you, someone who means something to you." Water thought she saw a slight twinkle in the old wizards' eye as he continued "It would sadden me greatly to think that this event could put an end to a budding relationship before it even had a chance to begin."
Draco lowered his eyes, blinking away the welling tears. After a moment he nodded, before looking up, trying to smile at his head master and teacher. Dumbledore smiled a small, tight smile back. Rising, he gestured for Draco to follow him, glancing at Water, who nodded, before leaving the room. She walked slowly down the corridor, her thoughts jumbled. Before long she reached her and the other elementals' rooms and, tired, pushed open the door to be greeted by worried looks from the other three of her kind.
Someone asked how many chs are left, I have no idea, as many as I can think of. I have plans for a sequel, and possibly a prequel, which keeps distracting me, but I'm going to finish this one before I put any of it to paper.
Anyway, a special dedication in this ch, Charlotte, a friend of my fab beta WychFire. Hope you like it!
You know, I can't be bothered to do a previously on... if you can't remember guess you'll just have to go read it all again!! But Draco was hurt, poor babes, at the end of the last ch, if you really need a refresher!!
Chapter 10
Water gasped, tears threatening to spill down her face. She stumbled further into the room, approaching the bed with trepidation. Draco lowered his eyes and turned his head slowly away from her.
"Draco," she stammered. "I'm so sorry, oh God, I'm sorry."
Draco looked at her once more and opened his mouth to speak when she spoke again. "I didn't know, I didn't feel anything, I should have felt it, why didn't I know, why didn't I help you..." her voice trailed off when she saw Draco looking at her with a very inappropriate amused look on his face.
"It's ok, it's not your fault. But we need to leave; now, Voldemort told me he cast a spell over this house, it...I don't know...it stopped me from crying out, and clouded everyone's judgment. It meant that my mother didn't notice you leaving with my father, but you didn't realise it would raise suspicions."
Water thought, Draco was right, the feeling of slowness, of lack of concentration, had started before the frost. Voldemort. She growled, deep in her throat as she moved towards the window. Draco watched warily as his teacher began to pace like a caged animal. Suddenly she stopped. Turning to look him in the eye she had a grim gaze that filled him with irrational fear.
"He will pay with his blood for what he has done. I promise you that."
Draco nodded in reply. Water started out of the room. "Wait." She twisted round. Draco gulped. "Don't tell anyone. Please."
Her eyes filled with sympathy at the desperate plea and she silently nodded before rushing out of the room.
She swept down the corridor, her thoughts dark and stormed back into her room, not sparing a glance at Lucius, still unconscious on the bed. Seating herself on the huge chair, she closed her eyes and concentrated on her brother. Within moments his image appeared in her mind's eye, looking worried.
"Are you ok?" his voice gently whispered over her mind like a ghost. Struggling to maintain her composure she let him know, without words. Almost instantly the air before her rippled and swirled, before it condensed into a solid form. Air stepped forward, a frown marring his handsome face. He reached down and softly raised her chin with his hand. His frown deepened as he tried to reach the source of his sister's distress. She was not forthcoming with information as she battled with internal demons. Air stood patiently, his arms folded across his broad chest. After a couple of minutes Water looked at him finally.
"Can you go through this room, remove any traces that I've been here, then erase Lucius' memory of the past...," she paused, thinking. "12 hours to be on the safe side. Remove any thought of Draco being here over Christmas, then wait for me."
"Wait, sis, what's going on? Why are you leaving? What happened to getting some info?"
Water looked grim. "I got all the info I'll get out of him and there's been developments. It's not safe here for Draco; we need to get him back to Hogwarts. Now."
Air nodded. "How do you want me to affect his mind?" he asked as he gestured at the sleeping Lucius.
"Make him forget, but don't permanently erase the memory. He'll remember it again when he sees me again; better make him forget our meeting at Hogwarts too. I'll take Narcissa and Voldemort."
Air grabbed her arm. "Voldemort's here?"
Water shuddered. "Yeah, he's a creep. And he's dangerous, Air, more than we thought."
"What, to us?" Air scoffed. His amused face fell at his sister's grim expression.
"I'll explain it later." With that she left the room, leaving her brother to deal with Lucius.
Sorting out Voldemort and Narcissa took mere moments, a simple matter of reaching into their minds and hiding the memories. She shuddered as she felt Voldemort's mind touch hers. They, however, didn't notice a thing. After that was dealt with she mentally transported herself back to Draco's room, the air still thick with evil. Draco was standing outside his door already, his bags packed. Seconds after Water materialised Air joined them both, Water's bag slung over his shoulder.
They arrived back at Hogwarts shortly after, using a complex array of spells that left Draco's head spinning. They appeared outside Dumbledore's office, at the moment the door swung open, the head master standing there, looking grim. He ushered them into the room, before sitting Draco down on the lush velvet chair before his desk. Air glanced at Draco, sympathy clearly showing in his eyes before whispering to his sister.
"I'll head back to our rooms and wake up the other two. There's nothing I can do here, we'll talk to you when you're done."
Water nodded as Air quietly left, closing the door behind him. Draco was shaking slightly, no surprise after his ordeal. Dumbledore sat in his seat, looking very old.
"I am so sorry Mr Malfoy. Believe me when I say I never thought you would be in so much danger."
Water growled. "I was beaten by a simple mortal's spell, it should never have happened."
Dumbledore sighed. "Calm your self, you had no idea you would be confronted with any resistance. There was no indication that Lucius or Voldemort suspected you to be any more than another witch. This incident, while tragically unfortunate, was due to no fault of yours."
Water scowled, her anger still clearly showing on her face, Dumbledore's steely gaze never leaving hers. Both jumped slightly when Draco spoke.
"I don't want anyone to know."
Dumbledore looked across at the young Slytherin. After a moment he nodded. "Very well, after you've been looked over by Madam Pomfrey, which you shall be mister Malfoy," his voice rose slightly over Draco's panicked, indignant look. "I can provide you with rooms away from the other students. Water here should stay in Sunnydale for the next couple of days and you can both show your selves again, the day after tomorrow when you were due to return. No one will suspect anything did not go as planned. However, Draco, Professor Snape will be informed of your return, but not of the details behind it, I will ask him not to pressure you with questions."
Dumbledore paused, sadness clouding his eyes. "Draco, it is not my place to instruct you as to who you should and shouldn't tell of your ordeal..." he paused again as if considering "but I would, however, ask that when you are ready, you try to tell someone who cares about you, someone who means something to you." Water thought she saw a slight twinkle in the old wizards' eye as he continued "It would sadden me greatly to think that this event could put an end to a budding relationship before it even had a chance to begin."
Draco lowered his eyes, blinking away the welling tears. After a moment he nodded, before looking up, trying to smile at his head master and teacher. Dumbledore smiled a small, tight smile back. Rising, he gestured for Draco to follow him, glancing at Water, who nodded, before leaving the room. She walked slowly down the corridor, her thoughts jumbled. Before long she reached her and the other elementals' rooms and, tired, pushed open the door to be greeted by worried looks from the other three of her kind.