Chapter 13: Loneliness and Confusion
Alone. Again.
Harry had opened his eyes to discover the entire Gryffindor boys' room empty. Perhaps he had slept in again?
No.
He remembered being transported back to the boys' room with Ron and Hermione, yet the two he'd come with were no where to be seen.
Perhaps they're sitting in the common room. They probably didn't want to wake me.
Harry tried to run a comb through his hair and when that battle proved fruitless once again, he stepped out of the dormitory and into the common room. Uncle Vernon's old socks didn't help keep out the biting cold of the floor beneath his feet.
He ambled down the semicircle steps and when he'd made it to the bottom, he crossed his arms over his chest and surveyed the common room. The fire was jigging, throwing spooky shadows all over the otherwise empty room.
Suddenly, Harry heard a sound. He looked towards the oversized loveseat facing the fireplace. Maybe Ron and Hermione were sitting there. He slowly made his way there and when he peered over the cushions, to his dismay, his spirit dropped and he could've kicked himself then for having had such false hope.
The loveseat was empty.
And he was alone. Again.
* * *
"Could you please do me a favor and die quicker so all the good air isn't wasted on you?"
Snape was bitter. But why wouldn't he be? He had been shrunken and placed inside a tiny bottle atop a desk in his own Potions classroom. The garlicky scent of the room was driving him insane. But it was nothing compared to the miniature blubbering half-giant sitting at the other end of the overturned bottle.
"But it's so sad!" Hagrid wailed.
"My brain established that a while ago, Rubeus, so please shut your mouth!" Snape yelled the last part.
Hagrid used his oversized fingers to erase any signs of tears from his face. "But little Ginny—" Hagrid began saying before he burst into tears once again. Snape rolled his eyes.
Though the noises made from outside the bottle were barely audible, they'd watched everything that had happened. Snape had even stared—eyes and mouth wide open, when Draco snogged a transforming Blaise Zabini. And of course, they'd figured out by now that Snape's old crowd was completely evil and formulating yet another plan to resurrect You-Know-Who. So predictable, Snape had thought to himself when that epiphany settled in.
And even though he wasn't showing it like Hagrid, Snape was very worried about Draco and Ginny's well being. Being shackled to the wall wasn't anything too great—especially in Malfoy Manor. Snape could still remember when he used to visit Malfoy Manor as an honored guest and would spot the occasional sets of shackles on the walls—occupied by decaying bones. The memories still made him shudder and the Dark Mark on his arm burn.
Snape suddenly sat down. He'd begun sweating a while back. It was because he was nervous, or because Hagrid was using up too much air. He thought now. Ginny Weasley had regained consciousness just a minute ago, so she was still weak from the Cruciatus Curse she'd received. And Draco… Snape could tell he wasn't giving his best. He should be more rowdy and obnoxious, Snape thought to himself. Ultimately, neither child was behaving normally, not that he expected them to in a situation like this.
"OH GINNY!!!" Hagrid suddenly wailed.
"What is it?" Snape asked finally.
"She… she…"
Snape turned his head, slightly jutting his ear out, encouraging Hagrid to say whatever it was he was trying to say.
"She might love Draco Malfoy!" He finally yelled out as he went into another fit of wailing and sobbing.
Snape screwed up his face. "You… retard!" Snape finally said, unable to find another word to fit the occasion. "Who cares? Get off that fat ass of yours and help me push this bottle. We might be able to roll this off the table and get out."
Hagrid recomposed himself enough to reply back to Snape's suggestion. "It's a long fall, Professor. We'll be lucky to make it to the bottom uninjured."
Snape bit his bottom lip, half upset that his plan wasn't going to work and half upset that it was Rubeus Hagrid that had made him realize that such a stupid flaw existed within his plan.
And suddenly, Hagrid said, "Why can't we just go out through here?"
Snape turned to discover Hagrid had quite effortlessly pushed the cork off the opening of the bottle. He could only stare as Hagrid gave him the biggest grin he could manage, and being a half-giant, that was pretty big.
* * *
"Barton, you really don't need to go through all this trouble for me," Dumbledore said. "By the way, could you scratch my nose? It's been itching for a while."
At the moment, Dumbledore sat in a chair in the center of his office whilst Barty Crouch walked in circles around him. Of course Crouch wasn't walking in circles like an idiot—he was tying the old headmaster to the chair with a length of rope.
"That's where you're wrong, professor," Barty snarled, ignoring the headmaster's request. "After all the times you overlooked me, all the times you laughed behind my back, all the times you let all the bigger and older kids pick on me, all the times you made sure Professor Trelawney sat next to me, all the times you didn't give me a chance—"
"I never did any of those things," Dumbledore interrupted, tilting his head.
This comment made Crouch freeze in his tracks. He suddenly began breathing very hard. His fists clenched the rope between his fingers and without warning, he threw the rope down onto the floor, stomping his foot on it as he did so.
"YOU DID DO THOSE THINGS!" He yelled.
"Er… no, I really must insist in saying that I did not," Dumbledore said, still a bit unsure of what Crouch was trying to do.
"Heh, you just don't know what to say! You thought I was dead!" Barty said, a mad look swirling in his eyes. "But remember this, Dumbledore! You can never rid yourself of Barty Crouch!" He huffed a bit as he continued tying the headmaster to the chair.
And suddenly, Dumbledore wiggled his ears. He could sense Severus Snape and Rubeus Hagrid within the premises. Their auras had come without warning and Dumbledore knew instantly they were in the Manor as well.
At the moment, Crouch was still muttering about how sorry Dumbledore would be for whatever it was that the headmaster had done. Dumbledore interrupted him. "I'm terribly sorry, Barton, but I need to cut our conversation short. Something's suddenly come up, but a rain check sounds good to me, eh?" With that, the old man winked and vanished, a faint pop being the only proof of his ever being in the room, and even that sound was gone within an instant.
Crouch's mouth hung open for a minute or two and when the fact that the headmaster had tricked him again sunk in, he was fuming.
* * *
"W-w-weas—Ginny, is that you?" A startled Draco demanded.
Ginny had just woken up after the Cruciatus curse and even though being shackled to a wall kept her straight up, she felt wobbly and dizzy nonetheless. She focused her eyes on Draco's lanky form sprawled against the wall opposite her in the same fashion as her body. After closer inspection of Draco, she furrowed her brows. Why did he look so nervous and uptight?
"Are you there?" Draco called out, this time a little less timidly.
"I can't exactly go anywhere," Ginny trailed off.
"You're Ginny Weasley?"
"Er… yes…" Ginny said as she raised her eyebrows.
"Do you know who I am?" Draco continued with the interrogation.
"Yea—" Ginny had begun to answer.
However, she was cut off by Draco's moan, which had soon mutated into a groan and then a despaired yell.
"Draco?" Ginny cried out as loud as she could. "Draco! What's wrong, Draco!"
"AAAAAAAARRRGH!" He roared. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'DO I NOT BLEED?'"
"Draco! I didn't ask you anything!" Ginny shouted. "Snap out of it, Draco! C'mon! Malfoy!"
Draco suddenly went deathly still and right before Ginny was sure he'd been frozen, Draco blinked and hysterically looked around the room. "Where am I?" He asked desperately, eyeing his shackles and bands as if for the first time. "Why am I here?" His eyes dodged from spot to spot about the room until his gaze finally rested on Ginny.
With a sudden intake of breath, he said in a trembling voice, "You did this to me."
Ginny's mouth fell open accompanied with an outcry of denial. "I didn't do this to you! You've been there since I woke up! If anything, you did this to me!"
"Lies. They're all lies. I mustn't be deceived. Let me go now, I say! Where's Rain?"
"What?"
"Don't play innocent with me. I demand to know where Rain is!"
He's gone insane, Ginny thought to herself. Had Blaise used the Cruciatus curse on Draco too? She remembered that Neville's parents were in a special wing at the insane asylum after Voldemort applied the Cruciatus curse on them so many times.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!" Draco screamed at the top of his lungs. He arched his back now and it looked as though the metal band around his neck was choking him, but his body seemed to take no notice. He continued screaming for Rain and Ginny looked on in horror.
And in the middle of all this screaming, Blaise Zabini silently walked into the room.
* * *
Harry now sat by himself in the deserted Gryffindor common room. Shadows from the fire licked his face and though he was the only thing in the room the fire could light up, the features of his countenance were anything but bright.
It had been a couple hours since he'd discovered Ron and Hermione had left him alone. The reason why they left him had been plaguing him for the past two hours. He remembered that wherever he went, his two best friends would always accompany him. He remembered his adventures, the most dangerous ones consequentially occurring at the ends of his Hogwarts terms and how his buddies would always come through for him. Hermione and Ron. Ron and Hermione. They were his light, his strength—they were everything to him, really. And now they'd left him by choice.
Though he didn't know all the facts, this simple fact had taken his heart and begun squeezing it. He was hurting far worse than he'd ever hurt before. This felt worse than when his scar burned, or when Voldemort had applied the Cruciatus curse on him or when he discovered a friend might've murdered his parents. If someone were to peel all his skin off and apply rubbing alcohol to his open wounds and then apply the Cruciatus curse on him and then chop him up, feed him to wild dogs, make the dogs regurgitate all his pieces and glue him back together and repeat the process ten billion times—that wouldn't feel as bad as he felt now. But at least it would take his mind off the present matter.
He acted like a normal teenager when he went to his classes and met other people, but in reality, he knew it, and so did Hermione and Ron—he was nothing without his friends.
And now he sat in front of the fire. He didn't know what time it was, but he was glad no one else was in the common room. He had been wearing the same clothes for about two days now. He wore an emerald green T-shirt and swamp green cargo pants with black tennis shoes. He remembered how Ron used to hate the green combination but Hermione used to comment on how the combination complimented his eyes. He heaved an anguished sigh and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a tiny object, wrapped in crinkled paper and tied with worn string.
He'd gone through rough patches before and he remembered that there was always only one person that could make him better. One person that would always pick up his pieces and put him back together. One person who'd always have a shoulder for him to cry on and one person that would always lead him correctly.
Harry carefully unwrapped the package, an activity he found himself doing quite often now, and in his hands lay a mirror. He knew that only two of this mirror existed. He owned one of them and the other was owned by—
"Sirius," Harry whispered. A teardrop promptly rolled down his cheek and dropped onto the mirror's surface. The mirror swallowed the tear, but nothing else happened—Harry was still staring at his own reflection.
Harry gripped the mirror hard, trying to silently rid himself of his anger, frustration, and confusion. Not being able to hold it in anymore, he grabbed the bottle of Floo powder on the table next to him and hurtled it into the fire.
"SIRIUS!" He bellowed as the orange flames turned into large emerald flames. "AAAAAAAAAARGH! SIRIUS, WHERE ARE YOU?" He screamed as loudly as he possibly could. Out of breath, he inhaled and exhaled in the silence of his surroundings. "Why did you have to leave me, too?" He whimpered.
And the fire suddenly flickered.
Harry choked on air and held his breath. The flames had caught the carpet, but within the depths of the monstrous emerald flames, he saw him…
"Sirius?" Harry finally breathed, bewildered.
The figure in the flames looked around for a second as if he was confused as to where he was and when he finally looked at Harry's surprised face, he scratched his head and smirked.
Harry shivered and began feeling slightly dizzy and light-headed, but he had to stay upright. Before him—right in front of him was his godfather—Sirius! It was his Sirius Black!
* * *
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!" Draco continued screaming for the mistress from his dreams. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIII—"
"Shut up!" Blaise finally yelled, making her presence known. And Draco did.
Both Draco and Ginny turned to look at Blaise. The crazed look in Draco's eyes still remained.
"Mmm… I believe the transformation is nearly complete." Blaise smiled.
"Trans— you mean he's going to become a full vampire?" Ginny asked aghast.
"Well, duh! You've been hanging around for a while, Weasley," Blaise laughed at her pun. "You really haven't figured out what we're doing?"
"You're reviving You-Know-Who—"
"Voldemort?" Blaise suggested.
Ginny shuddered noticably at the mention of His name, but nodded. "Yes, you're reviving him."
"Wow, you're smart. Just about ever infant in England knows that's what we do! For Slytherin's sake, some mad scheme related to us is published in the Prophet every other day!"
Ginny was about to say something, but she heard a weird noise. She looked across from her and Draco was breathing heavy, raspy breaths. His head was pointed down toward the ground, his long strands of platinum curtaining his face away from view. And suddenly, Draco's head flicked up and he looked straight at Ginny. This caused Ginny to do a mixed gasp and scream. What was wrong with him?
Draco's eyes were bloodshot and his teeth were fangs now. He was foaming at the mouth and his pale skin was changing into a sick shade of poison green. From the corner of her eye, Ginny noticed that his fingernails were long claws now and seconds later, he had pulled himself free of the shackles!
"Draco!" Ginny screamed instinctively.
And Draco turned to look at her. He stared hungrily at her for a few seconds before arching his back and roaring as though something was paining him inside. "RAAAAAAAAAAIN!!" He began again. And this time, he slowly walked towards Ginny.
"HE'S ALMOST A VAMPIRE NOW!" Blaise shouted to Ginny over the racket Draco was causing. "THIS PART SURE IS ANNOYING THOUGH, HUH?" She grinned.
Ginny stared flabbergasted at Blaise. Her mouth had literally fallen open.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAII—" Draco began screaming again when—
"Bloody damn hell! Stifle yourself!" And with that, Blaise took aim and shot her wand straight at Draco. During the wand's airtime, it slowly converted itself into a knife and instantly, Ginny realized where it was headed to.
"DRACO!!!!!!!!" Ginny screamed. She futiley tugged at the chains in hopes of being able to do something to save Draco, but then—
BAM.
The knife had made contact with Draco's chest and it had flown through the air with such velocity that the knife had come out on the other side of Draco and was finally stopped by the wall on the other side of the room. On contact, Draco's eyes flew open. He coughed up blood and began to stagger…
Author's Note: That was anything but a blunt ending to a chapter, eh? *smiles and gets pummeled for the stupid joke* But yeah, yet another cliffhanger! Short chapter, too. But uh… nothing else to say. Sorry, I'm kinda not in a good mood at the moment (hence my desire to write), so yeah, I don't have anything interesting to say.
Chapter 14: We'll find out what happens to Draco/Ginny now and what happens with Harry and Sirius. Some shady stuff from chapter 12 will also be cleared up. And we'll probably find out other stuff that I decide to stick in the next chapter between now and when I release it. :3
Thanks to Lily Among the Thorns-89, Maureen, Eiko, Jonah, Kashew, da-drama-queen, and grace for reviewing! Much love!
Alone. Again.
Harry had opened his eyes to discover the entire Gryffindor boys' room empty. Perhaps he had slept in again?
No.
He remembered being transported back to the boys' room with Ron and Hermione, yet the two he'd come with were no where to be seen.
Perhaps they're sitting in the common room. They probably didn't want to wake me.
Harry tried to run a comb through his hair and when that battle proved fruitless once again, he stepped out of the dormitory and into the common room. Uncle Vernon's old socks didn't help keep out the biting cold of the floor beneath his feet.
He ambled down the semicircle steps and when he'd made it to the bottom, he crossed his arms over his chest and surveyed the common room. The fire was jigging, throwing spooky shadows all over the otherwise empty room.
Suddenly, Harry heard a sound. He looked towards the oversized loveseat facing the fireplace. Maybe Ron and Hermione were sitting there. He slowly made his way there and when he peered over the cushions, to his dismay, his spirit dropped and he could've kicked himself then for having had such false hope.
The loveseat was empty.
And he was alone. Again.
"Could you please do me a favor and die quicker so all the good air isn't wasted on you?"
Snape was bitter. But why wouldn't he be? He had been shrunken and placed inside a tiny bottle atop a desk in his own Potions classroom. The garlicky scent of the room was driving him insane. But it was nothing compared to the miniature blubbering half-giant sitting at the other end of the overturned bottle.
"But it's so sad!" Hagrid wailed.
"My brain established that a while ago, Rubeus, so please shut your mouth!" Snape yelled the last part.
Hagrid used his oversized fingers to erase any signs of tears from his face. "But little Ginny—" Hagrid began saying before he burst into tears once again. Snape rolled his eyes.
Though the noises made from outside the bottle were barely audible, they'd watched everything that had happened. Snape had even stared—eyes and mouth wide open, when Draco snogged a transforming Blaise Zabini. And of course, they'd figured out by now that Snape's old crowd was completely evil and formulating yet another plan to resurrect You-Know-Who. So predictable, Snape had thought to himself when that epiphany settled in.
And even though he wasn't showing it like Hagrid, Snape was very worried about Draco and Ginny's well being. Being shackled to the wall wasn't anything too great—especially in Malfoy Manor. Snape could still remember when he used to visit Malfoy Manor as an honored guest and would spot the occasional sets of shackles on the walls—occupied by decaying bones. The memories still made him shudder and the Dark Mark on his arm burn.
Snape suddenly sat down. He'd begun sweating a while back. It was because he was nervous, or because Hagrid was using up too much air. He thought now. Ginny Weasley had regained consciousness just a minute ago, so she was still weak from the Cruciatus Curse she'd received. And Draco… Snape could tell he wasn't giving his best. He should be more rowdy and obnoxious, Snape thought to himself. Ultimately, neither child was behaving normally, not that he expected them to in a situation like this.
"OH GINNY!!!" Hagrid suddenly wailed.
"What is it?" Snape asked finally.
"She… she…"
Snape turned his head, slightly jutting his ear out, encouraging Hagrid to say whatever it was he was trying to say.
"She might love Draco Malfoy!" He finally yelled out as he went into another fit of wailing and sobbing.
Snape screwed up his face. "You… retard!" Snape finally said, unable to find another word to fit the occasion. "Who cares? Get off that fat ass of yours and help me push this bottle. We might be able to roll this off the table and get out."
Hagrid recomposed himself enough to reply back to Snape's suggestion. "It's a long fall, Professor. We'll be lucky to make it to the bottom uninjured."
Snape bit his bottom lip, half upset that his plan wasn't going to work and half upset that it was Rubeus Hagrid that had made him realize that such a stupid flaw existed within his plan.
And suddenly, Hagrid said, "Why can't we just go out through here?"
Snape turned to discover Hagrid had quite effortlessly pushed the cork off the opening of the bottle. He could only stare as Hagrid gave him the biggest grin he could manage, and being a half-giant, that was pretty big.
"Barton, you really don't need to go through all this trouble for me," Dumbledore said. "By the way, could you scratch my nose? It's been itching for a while."
At the moment, Dumbledore sat in a chair in the center of his office whilst Barty Crouch walked in circles around him. Of course Crouch wasn't walking in circles like an idiot—he was tying the old headmaster to the chair with a length of rope.
"That's where you're wrong, professor," Barty snarled, ignoring the headmaster's request. "After all the times you overlooked me, all the times you laughed behind my back, all the times you let all the bigger and older kids pick on me, all the times you made sure Professor Trelawney sat next to me, all the times you didn't give me a chance—"
"I never did any of those things," Dumbledore interrupted, tilting his head.
This comment made Crouch freeze in his tracks. He suddenly began breathing very hard. His fists clenched the rope between his fingers and without warning, he threw the rope down onto the floor, stomping his foot on it as he did so.
"YOU DID DO THOSE THINGS!" He yelled.
"Er… no, I really must insist in saying that I did not," Dumbledore said, still a bit unsure of what Crouch was trying to do.
"Heh, you just don't know what to say! You thought I was dead!" Barty said, a mad look swirling in his eyes. "But remember this, Dumbledore! You can never rid yourself of Barty Crouch!" He huffed a bit as he continued tying the headmaster to the chair.
And suddenly, Dumbledore wiggled his ears. He could sense Severus Snape and Rubeus Hagrid within the premises. Their auras had come without warning and Dumbledore knew instantly they were in the Manor as well.
At the moment, Crouch was still muttering about how sorry Dumbledore would be for whatever it was that the headmaster had done. Dumbledore interrupted him. "I'm terribly sorry, Barton, but I need to cut our conversation short. Something's suddenly come up, but a rain check sounds good to me, eh?" With that, the old man winked and vanished, a faint pop being the only proof of his ever being in the room, and even that sound was gone within an instant.
Crouch's mouth hung open for a minute or two and when the fact that the headmaster had tricked him again sunk in, he was fuming.
"W-w-weas—Ginny, is that you?" A startled Draco demanded.
Ginny had just woken up after the Cruciatus curse and even though being shackled to a wall kept her straight up, she felt wobbly and dizzy nonetheless. She focused her eyes on Draco's lanky form sprawled against the wall opposite her in the same fashion as her body. After closer inspection of Draco, she furrowed her brows. Why did he look so nervous and uptight?
"Are you there?" Draco called out, this time a little less timidly.
"I can't exactly go anywhere," Ginny trailed off.
"You're Ginny Weasley?"
"Er… yes…" Ginny said as she raised her eyebrows.
"Do you know who I am?" Draco continued with the interrogation.
"Yea—" Ginny had begun to answer.
However, she was cut off by Draco's moan, which had soon mutated into a groan and then a despaired yell.
"Draco?" Ginny cried out as loud as she could. "Draco! What's wrong, Draco!"
"AAAAAAAARRRGH!" He roared. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'DO I NOT BLEED?'"
"Draco! I didn't ask you anything!" Ginny shouted. "Snap out of it, Draco! C'mon! Malfoy!"
Draco suddenly went deathly still and right before Ginny was sure he'd been frozen, Draco blinked and hysterically looked around the room. "Where am I?" He asked desperately, eyeing his shackles and bands as if for the first time. "Why am I here?" His eyes dodged from spot to spot about the room until his gaze finally rested on Ginny.
With a sudden intake of breath, he said in a trembling voice, "You did this to me."
Ginny's mouth fell open accompanied with an outcry of denial. "I didn't do this to you! You've been there since I woke up! If anything, you did this to me!"
"Lies. They're all lies. I mustn't be deceived. Let me go now, I say! Where's Rain?"
"What?"
"Don't play innocent with me. I demand to know where Rain is!"
He's gone insane, Ginny thought to herself. Had Blaise used the Cruciatus curse on Draco too? She remembered that Neville's parents were in a special wing at the insane asylum after Voldemort applied the Cruciatus curse on them so many times.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!" Draco screamed at the top of his lungs. He arched his back now and it looked as though the metal band around his neck was choking him, but his body seemed to take no notice. He continued screaming for Rain and Ginny looked on in horror.
And in the middle of all this screaming, Blaise Zabini silently walked into the room.
Harry now sat by himself in the deserted Gryffindor common room. Shadows from the fire licked his face and though he was the only thing in the room the fire could light up, the features of his countenance were anything but bright.
It had been a couple hours since he'd discovered Ron and Hermione had left him alone. The reason why they left him had been plaguing him for the past two hours. He remembered that wherever he went, his two best friends would always accompany him. He remembered his adventures, the most dangerous ones consequentially occurring at the ends of his Hogwarts terms and how his buddies would always come through for him. Hermione and Ron. Ron and Hermione. They were his light, his strength—they were everything to him, really. And now they'd left him by choice.
Though he didn't know all the facts, this simple fact had taken his heart and begun squeezing it. He was hurting far worse than he'd ever hurt before. This felt worse than when his scar burned, or when Voldemort had applied the Cruciatus curse on him or when he discovered a friend might've murdered his parents. If someone were to peel all his skin off and apply rubbing alcohol to his open wounds and then apply the Cruciatus curse on him and then chop him up, feed him to wild dogs, make the dogs regurgitate all his pieces and glue him back together and repeat the process ten billion times—that wouldn't feel as bad as he felt now. But at least it would take his mind off the present matter.
He acted like a normal teenager when he went to his classes and met other people, but in reality, he knew it, and so did Hermione and Ron—he was nothing without his friends.
And now he sat in front of the fire. He didn't know what time it was, but he was glad no one else was in the common room. He had been wearing the same clothes for about two days now. He wore an emerald green T-shirt and swamp green cargo pants with black tennis shoes. He remembered how Ron used to hate the green combination but Hermione used to comment on how the combination complimented his eyes. He heaved an anguished sigh and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a tiny object, wrapped in crinkled paper and tied with worn string.
He'd gone through rough patches before and he remembered that there was always only one person that could make him better. One person that would always pick up his pieces and put him back together. One person who'd always have a shoulder for him to cry on and one person that would always lead him correctly.
Harry carefully unwrapped the package, an activity he found himself doing quite often now, and in his hands lay a mirror. He knew that only two of this mirror existed. He owned one of them and the other was owned by—
"Sirius," Harry whispered. A teardrop promptly rolled down his cheek and dropped onto the mirror's surface. The mirror swallowed the tear, but nothing else happened—Harry was still staring at his own reflection.
Harry gripped the mirror hard, trying to silently rid himself of his anger, frustration, and confusion. Not being able to hold it in anymore, he grabbed the bottle of Floo powder on the table next to him and hurtled it into the fire.
"SIRIUS!" He bellowed as the orange flames turned into large emerald flames. "AAAAAAAAAARGH! SIRIUS, WHERE ARE YOU?" He screamed as loudly as he possibly could. Out of breath, he inhaled and exhaled in the silence of his surroundings. "Why did you have to leave me, too?" He whimpered.
And the fire suddenly flickered.
Harry choked on air and held his breath. The flames had caught the carpet, but within the depths of the monstrous emerald flames, he saw him…
"Sirius?" Harry finally breathed, bewildered.
The figure in the flames looked around for a second as if he was confused as to where he was and when he finally looked at Harry's surprised face, he scratched his head and smirked.
Harry shivered and began feeling slightly dizzy and light-headed, but he had to stay upright. Before him—right in front of him was his godfather—Sirius! It was his Sirius Black!
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!" Draco continued screaming for the mistress from his dreams. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIII—"
"Shut up!" Blaise finally yelled, making her presence known. And Draco did.
Both Draco and Ginny turned to look at Blaise. The crazed look in Draco's eyes still remained.
"Mmm… I believe the transformation is nearly complete." Blaise smiled.
"Trans— you mean he's going to become a full vampire?" Ginny asked aghast.
"Well, duh! You've been hanging around for a while, Weasley," Blaise laughed at her pun. "You really haven't figured out what we're doing?"
"You're reviving You-Know-Who—"
"Voldemort?" Blaise suggested.
Ginny shuddered noticably at the mention of His name, but nodded. "Yes, you're reviving him."
"Wow, you're smart. Just about ever infant in England knows that's what we do! For Slytherin's sake, some mad scheme related to us is published in the Prophet every other day!"
Ginny was about to say something, but she heard a weird noise. She looked across from her and Draco was breathing heavy, raspy breaths. His head was pointed down toward the ground, his long strands of platinum curtaining his face away from view. And suddenly, Draco's head flicked up and he looked straight at Ginny. This caused Ginny to do a mixed gasp and scream. What was wrong with him?
Draco's eyes were bloodshot and his teeth were fangs now. He was foaming at the mouth and his pale skin was changing into a sick shade of poison green. From the corner of her eye, Ginny noticed that his fingernails were long claws now and seconds later, he had pulled himself free of the shackles!
"Draco!" Ginny screamed instinctively.
And Draco turned to look at her. He stared hungrily at her for a few seconds before arching his back and roaring as though something was paining him inside. "RAAAAAAAAAAIN!!" He began again. And this time, he slowly walked towards Ginny.
"HE'S ALMOST A VAMPIRE NOW!" Blaise shouted to Ginny over the racket Draco was causing. "THIS PART SURE IS ANNOYING THOUGH, HUH?" She grinned.
Ginny stared flabbergasted at Blaise. Her mouth had literally fallen open.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAII—" Draco began screaming again when—
"Bloody damn hell! Stifle yourself!" And with that, Blaise took aim and shot her wand straight at Draco. During the wand's airtime, it slowly converted itself into a knife and instantly, Ginny realized where it was headed to.
"DRACO!!!!!!!!" Ginny screamed. She futiley tugged at the chains in hopes of being able to do something to save Draco, but then—
BAM.
The knife had made contact with Draco's chest and it had flown through the air with such velocity that the knife had come out on the other side of Draco and was finally stopped by the wall on the other side of the room. On contact, Draco's eyes flew open. He coughed up blood and began to stagger…
Author's Note: That was anything but a blunt ending to a chapter, eh? *smiles and gets pummeled for the stupid joke* But yeah, yet another cliffhanger! Short chapter, too. But uh… nothing else to say. Sorry, I'm kinda not in a good mood at the moment (hence my desire to write), so yeah, I don't have anything interesting to say.
Chapter 14: We'll find out what happens to Draco/Ginny now and what happens with Harry and Sirius. Some shady stuff from chapter 12 will also be cleared up. And we'll probably find out other stuff that I decide to stick in the next chapter between now and when I release it. :3
Thanks to Lily Among the Thorns-89, Maureen, Eiko, Jonah, Kashew, da-drama-queen, and grace for reviewing! Much love!