Chapter 14: Life and Death
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. He teetered dangerously on his heels and finally landed noiselessly on the floor.
"DRACO!" Ginny sobbed loudly. Her face was glimmering with tears and she felt as if she'd also been dealt the deadly blow from Blaise's knife. Her whole body ached with pain—pain for Draco and pain for herself.
Images flashed behind Ginny's closed eyelids. She remembered the first time she'd ever spoken to Draco Malfoy—that time in Flourish and Blotts. She remembered how he'd simply scoffed when she'd made it out of the Chamber of Secrets alive her first year at Hogwarts. She remembered how he used to guffaw and smirk and sneer, the way he'd cross his arms and arch an eyebrow and pull pranks on her fellow peers. She remembered his piercing gaze, one that wasn't easy to forget, and she also remembered the hollow look his cloudy gray eyes would hold after being beaten by Harry in Quidditch. She remembered the comical scene every Valentine's, Pansy Parkinson sending hoards of enchanted cupids Draco's way. She remembered his yells of anguish that first time she'd placed the Bat Bogey Hex on him and she remembered how he'd gripped her hard when he'd been working for Umbridge. Ginny remembered the feel of his smooth, delicate fingers around her waist then, the way he took care not to invade her personal space when he'd held her captive. And lastly she remembered how only hours ago he'd tied her hair back with an enchanted rubber band. His behavior had been indifferent then, but the gentleness of his movements had surprised her. It had been obvious to her then that his bully-like behavior had been a façade, the reason for the façade remaining unknown to her, but that instant, she knew he was a gentle creature.
Draco Malfoy had a heart and was a real—a normal human being.
But now Ginny opened her eyes and looked at the spot on the floor where the young man lay, encircled by his own blood. He was still alive, and he was motionless except for the occasional fluttering of his eyelids. His sweaty platinum hair lay damp and stuck to his forehead. He coughed again and more blood spewed out of his mouth.
Ginny gave another loud sob at this and tried to move her right arm to reach out to the dying boy.
Blaise quietly looked up at the wall and observed Ginny's movements. Then she walked over to Draco, knelt down on one knee and used two fingers to close Draco's eyes, and they stayed that way.
A new stream of tears began flowing down Ginny's face and she felt her hair suddenly fall against her cheeks.
Draco's enchanted rubber band had changed back into a pin. The spell had faded away.
She tried to stop herself from thinking it, but it couldn't be helped.
Draco Malfoy is dead, Ginny heard echoing in her head.
* * *
The bright emerald flames grew larger and began to reach out of the Gryffindor Tower fireplace toward Harry. Suddenly out of breath, the boy timidly crawled toward the hearth. "Sirius?" He whispered hoarsely. The image of his godfather within the flames grew ever clearer.
Harry scrambled to the fireplace now, ignoring the growing heat from the blazing fire. "Sirius!" He said in a steadier voice than before. "Oh, God! Sirius, is that really you?"
His godfather grinned and nodded his head.
The tears that spilled out of Harry's eyes just then were completely involuntary. He was tempted to throw himself into the fire, which had begun to lick the carpet around him, but he didn't know where Sirius was…but he didn't care now. Sirius was here and he could talk to Sirius. Here and now.
"Oh, Sirius! I knew you weren't finished! I swear I would've come after you back then in the Department of Mysteries, but you must understand, I just couldn't!"
The image of Sirius formed by the frolicking flames now lowered his head, his long, shaggy hair shading his eyes. He began to fade out of the fire and Harry realized this.
"No! Sirius, don't go! Please! There's so much I want to tell you! You've missed so much!"
Black shook his head and began turning away as he faded.
Harry didn't know how exactly he had contacted his godfather, but the fact was, he had, and it wasn't likely that he'd get another chance like this again.
His palms had formed blisters where they'd touched the spewed ashes from the fire. His cheeks were dry and itchy from the intense heat and he was sweaty. He found it odd how he felt so miserable yet so immensely happy all at once. But when he looked at the fading form of his godfather, he knew the sudden happiness he felt would immediately leave him the moment Sirius had disappeared from the hearth.
"Sirius!" Harry called desperately. "At least tell me where you are!"
Sirius Black turned his head slightly to look at Harry, and then looked away again, almost completely transparent.
"No!" Harry shook his head! "I won't lose you again, Sirius!"
Without thought, Harry shut his eyes tightly, grit his teeth, and lunged into the flames, ready to follow Sirius Black to the depths of the Earth—literally.
* * *
"Goodness!" Blaise made a face, staring at Draco Malfoy's motionless form. "Why did he want it to rain so much?"
Ginny gawked. "You heartless bitch!" She sobbed loudly. "You… you just killed him for no reason at all!"
"And you think I haven't done something like that before?" Blaise laughed.
Ginny mouthed wordlessly. How could she make this animal understand? "You killed one of your own! You two went to school together! You two—"
"His screaming was getting totally annoying," Blaise interrupted, rolling her eyes and now twirling a lock of hair between her thumb and index finger. "And plus, he isn't part of us anymore. He's been banished."
Ginny could only stare.
"What?" Blaise said in a mock-innocent tone. "It's not like you're going to miss him or something. I mean, you and yours aren't exactly buddy-buddy with him. So in reality, it's like he never existed at all… since no one's going to miss him and all." Blaise giggled.
"You're wrong, Blaise. Draco Malfoy did exist. He was one of the most tenderhearted people I'd ever known. Sure, he liked to play rotten tricks on my friends and me, but even if of all people you had died, he would probably be the only person who would pay any sort of tribute to your existence." Ginny said scathingly. "And it's not even like you'd deserve that."
Blaise had stopped giggling and now glared at the girl hanging on the wall.
"Very well," She finally said. Blaise snapped her fingers and the chains and shackles holding Ginny Weasley to the wall disappeared, causing her to unexpectedly fall to the floor. "Time to get rid of the evidence," Zabini said, eyeing Ginny with disgust.
Ginny Weasley looked up at her captor from her position on the floor. Both her knees and palms had minor abrasions from landing so hard on the rough floor of the room, but that was all as far as injuries were concerned. She longingly eyed Draco's cold form across the room as Blaise began walking toward her.
I can't go down like this, she thought frantically.
Blaise had reached Ginny now. "Get up," she ordered.
The youngest Weasley narrowed her eyes, ground her teeth, clenched her fists, and glared up at Zabini.
"Get up!" Blaise yelled.
At that moment, Ginny did get up, but when she did, she made a mad dash to where Draco was lying. Next to Draco's body was his wand, lying in the middle of a puddle of his blood. Ginny snatched it into her hands, splashing the red blood over her clothes and Draco's, and prepared to duel.
Straddle-legged to keep her balance, slightly angled so her wand hand was in front of her, and on her toes so she could move quickly if she needed to, Ginny glared at Blaise and looked as though she was smirking. "You'll have to kill me before you can take me."
Blaise growled. "Consider it done."
* * *
Harry had initially decided to keep his eyes and mouth closed when he'd jumped into the fire after his godfather, but right before he'd jumped into the tempting flames of the Gryffindor Tower hearth, he inhaled a lung-full of ashes and burning embers.
So now he was going who-knows-where with his supposedly dead godfather—coughing and hacking the whole way.
He had flung his arms over his face instinctively. Sparks from around him nicked his arms and caused him to flinch, but eventually he lowered his arms and gingerly opened his eyes when he realized this ride through the chimney was taking a bit longer than usual. Everything around him was spinning in a blur of colors—that was normal, but he felt as though he was standing still. As though time and space had stopped. And just before he began to panic, he heard voices.
"Harry!"
Was that Hermione?
"Bloody hell, Harry!"
Ron?
How could Hermione and Ron be anywhere near the grate?
And then it felt as though time had decided speed up to double-time after standing still for so long. Harry felt himself falling rapidly. He tried to look down to see where he might land, but he couldn't see the ground. The boy tried to grab hold of something—anything, but it's quite difficult to grab hold of open air. Then he felt something, or someone, firmly grab his left arm and he was being pulled upwards. He wasn't falling anymore, that was true, and being pulled overhead seemed better than falling at that particular moment, but it was still a very confusing situation.
An instant later, Harry was sprawled across a wooden floor in front of someone's fireplace and he heard anguished cries of pain from what sounded like Ron's voice. Harry got on his hands and knees and began coughing up all the ashes he'd swallowed during his journey through the grate. After he was sure of his breathing, Harry turned around and gaped at what he saw.
The room he was in had so much emerald green covering its walls that everything and everyone in the room was slightly tinted the same color. Everything in the room had at least some kind of serpent on it—even the people. If it wasn't already obvious whose home he was in, Harry found Lucius Malfoy and Tom Riddle standing off to the side of the fireplace. Also on the floor like him, he saw Hermione comforting Ron, who was hugging his left arm and maybe even…crying?
Harry stared. "Ron?"
"Hey," Ron gasped.
And then Harry gawked at Hermione. She seemed not to realize they were in some sort of Slytherin mansion! She grabbed Ron's right shoulder and whirled him around. "Staring at your hand isn't going to make it any better!" Hermione yelled. She looked so frustrated that even her hair had begun to frizz out, but she looked worried, too. "Give it here, let me have a look at it."
"Get away!" Ron moaned.
"Ron!" Hermione yelled, trying to get around his hunched over shoulders. "Ron, stop being a child—Ron!" Then Hermione half fell on top of Ron and was now sitting on his stomach. She was breathing heavily, but quickly recollected herself and grabbed Ron's left arm.
What Harry saw next made his stomach lurch. It looked as though Ron didn't have any skin on his left hand. His fingers, palm, and part of his wrist were smothered in his own blood. His best friend was gritting his teeth to try and suppress some of the pain, but Harry could see Ron's glimmering cheeks.
Harry mouthed wordlessly then croaked. "Ron, what happened?"
Then Hermione suddenly ran her fingers through her hair and whirled around. "The idiot stuck his arm into the fireplace to pull you out!" She glared at Ron. "You're lucky your whole arm isn't a bloody mess!" She whacked his right shoulder with her palm.
"We couldn't just leave him there if that's what you were thinking!" Ron rebutted rather bitterly.
Harry furrowed his brows. "The fireplace? But when did—how did you find me in the fireplace?"
Though no one had really been saying anything, any and all noises in the room were suddenly smothered. Even Ron had stifled his whimpers and with the exception of a slight intake of breath, Hermione's griping had ceased as well.
Lucius Malfoy smirked. "Ignorant boy. Meet your beloved Sirius Black."
Mr. Malfoy and Tom Riddle had been standing next to one another and when they moved apart, Harry saw the figure of his godfather between them.
"Sirius!" Harry gasped, running toward him.
"Harry, don't!" Hermione suddenly said in a distressed voice.
Don't? Harry thought. His godfather stood there before him in person! Why shouldn't he run up to him?
And before Harry's thoughts had finished forming, Sirius' form began to shrink and in no time at all, he had run into the short, stubby arms of Kreacher the house elf.
Harry shouted in alarm and jumped out of the house elf's arms. He was suddenly short of breath and he felt his chest tighten. He didn't know if he should cry or strangle Kreacher to death.
Alas, emotion overtook him. It always did. "YOU FILTHY PIECE OF SCUM!" Harry's heart was racing now and his breathing was unsteady and loud. He couldn't keep his eyes focused on just one place in the room, so his pupils danced about his eye-sockets. He'd broken out in a cold sweat and didn't know what to do with himself. His hands formed into fists and before he knew it, he found himself charging toward the old house elf.
Harry swung back his right arm and thrust it violently through the air, aiming for Kreacher's large, obtrusive nose, but without warning, Kreacher's sagging form simply disappeared a mere tenth of a second before Harry was about to make contact with his face. Instead, Harry punched the floor and blood from his knuckles stained the gray-marble floor.
"Good boy," Harry heard Lucius say.
Harry looked up and saw Kreacher was now standing next to Mr. Malfoy. Kreacher looked just as confused to be there as Harry was to see him there.
Tom Riddle shrugged. "That didn't really go according to plan."
"Ah, well," Lucius Malfoy added casually. "It was a mere bonus round."
Harry finally found his tongue again. "Bonus round? What are you talking about?" He hollered, utterly confused.
"You surely must be familiar with it all. It was just another attempt at your life, no big deal," Riddle mused.
"But this time we weren't really supposed to go after your life. We just got bored so we thought we'd try a little something. Alas, your precious Mr. Weasley believes he is as flammable as his hair," Malfoy looked over at Ron, "and his ears may be, so you live for yet another day."
"How nice." Riddle said, raising both his eyebrows.
Harry was annoyed now. For one, Riddle and Malfoy were taking turns speaking as Fred and George might and that always resulted in his getting dizzy and disconcerted.
Before anyone could say anything else, Lucius took his turn in speech. "We've no use for you now,"
"Not all of you," Riddle added thoughtfully.
"Oh, yes, I almost forgot," Lucius nodded. "If you'd be so kind then, Tom, please show our guests," his lips slowly curled upward, "to their rooms."
Though they knew their lives were safe for the moment, the trio also knew of the Malfoy methods of torture and punishment, so the news of being sent somewhere alone caused the three sets of eyes to widen with horror.
* * *
Ginny and Blaise simply stood where they were. It was a stare-down.
"Go on," Blaise nodded.
Ginny made a face.
"You start," Blaise clarified, pursing her lips together and lifting her eyebrows a bit too leisurely.
The enemy was asking her to attack first. That was a good thing, right?
Ginny quickly thought of all the spells fresh in her mind. Classes at Hogwarts had never taught any real harmful spells. Of course, she knew about the unforgivable curses, but seeing how she didn't know how to use them, they weren't an option and now wasn't really a good time to try one of them out for the first time. Though she hated Blaise now, Ginny did not wish to kill an actual human being…though Blaise was more of a heathen. But she simply couldn't kill someone—not on purpose, anyway. It wasn't right.
Ginny finally decided a simple stunning spell would do. She just needed Blaise out of the way so she could decide what to do afterward in peace.
The youngest Weasley narrowed her eyes and carefully took aim. Her wand arm swooped upward and swiftly came down to strike an invisible place in the air. "Petrificus totalus!"
Ginny waited to see Blaise hit the floor, or at least dodge the spell, but nothing happened. Her eyes widened with horror. She turned the wand around and looked into it as though peering into the barrel of a gun—stressful situations really do bring on stupid actions.
Blaise pulled a hand-fan out of the air and began to fan herself whilst suppressing a fake yawn. "Done yet?" She smiled.
Ginny tried to say something. She wasn't exactly sure what she was trying to say, but at the moment she felt if any words escaped from her lips, they'd be her last.
"What's wrong? Is that what you're wanting to say?" Blaise nodded at Ginny. "Here it is, then—simple and plain. Draco's dead. He doesn't exist in this world anymore and neither does his magic. Or the usefulness of his wand."
Ginny gasped and swallowed hard at the mentioning of Draco's name.
"But how about this?" Blaise tossed her wand in the air and just before it returned to her hand, it disappeared. "We'll settle this with a real fight. Winner take all."
Ginny finally found her voice. "As if there's anything left to take."
"Oh? Scared, Weasley?"
"Don't call me Weasley." Ginny growled. "Bring it on."
She stuffed Draco's wand in her back pocket and when she looked up, Blaise was already running at her. Ginny placed all her weight on her heels right before her offender jumped at her.
Both of Blaise's arms had made contact with Ginny's shoulders. Ginny was surprised and caught off-guard by Blaise's stealthy and flowing cat-like motions.
The girls were rolling on the floor now. The fall had knocked the breath out of Ginny, but this was a life or death situation—she could take it.
As they continued tumbling on the floor, kicking, punching, biting, and scratching one another, Blaise finally shifted her weight in the opposite way. Having a larger frame than Ginny's, she was able to gain control of Ginny's body and balance and Zabini now sat on Ginny's stomach. Ginny wiggled around and trying to find some sort of advantage in her position, but her right arm was pinned against the wall.
Ginny's eyes widened as she watched Blaise's fist come closer and closer to her face until it finally hit her, at which point she felt an explosion of pain on the left side of her head. Ginny cried out, but that was stifled with Zabini's next hit. Ginny coughed a bit and felt her tongue feel a mixture of blood and saliva along the walls of her mouth. Blaise had hit the right side of her bottom lip, and her teeth had cut into her lips. But she was ready for the next punch. Just as Blaise's hand came near the left side of her face again, Ginny turned her head so Blaise's arm hit the rough floor where her head used to be. She took this chance to use her available left hand to bury all five of her nails into the flesh of Blaise's face. As soon as her enemy shrieked, Ginny took the chance to slightly squirm out from underneath Blaise and with both hands free now, she clawed at Blaise's face until her whole body was out from under Blaise, at which point, using the wall for support, she kicked Blaise hard in the stomach.
Ginny scrambled back onto her feet. She had originally wanted to run at Blaise right then when she had the chance, but the blows to her head suddenly began to pulsate as soon as she'd gotten to her feet. She stood still for what seemed like only a couple of seconds when she was knocked off her feet once again. Ginny hit the wall and struggled to get up again, but Blaise kicked her in the stomach and the Weasley girl stayed down.
Blaise snapped her fingers and her wand materialized in her hand. "I don't think I'm liking how this fight is going." She was breathing hard. "See you in the after-life, fool." Blaise kicked Ginny's stomach again as she said fool.
Ginny was dizzy now and gasping for air. Try as she might, she could not find the strength to get up. She felt drained and cursed at herself for being so weak.
She had just started to catch her breath again, though she was actually breathing quite hard, when she heard Blaise's voice one more time.
"AVADA—!"
Author's Note: I suck, I know… yet another stupid cliffhanger! But at least I got another chapter up (finally!), right? So let's have a recap: Draco's dead, the trio are feeling dead and Ginny's about to be dead. *gets pummeled* And yall thought this was a Draco-fic… *runs away* >8D
Chapter 15: Duh, you'll find out what happens to everyone that's alive, dead, and halfway there! Oh yeah, Snape and friends shall be included in the next chapter, too!
Millions of thanks to Jonah, Kashew, the counter, Moogie, Spinn, and Grace for reviewing the last chapter! Much luff to you all!
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. He teetered dangerously on his heels and finally landed noiselessly on the floor.
"DRACO!" Ginny sobbed loudly. Her face was glimmering with tears and she felt as if she'd also been dealt the deadly blow from Blaise's knife. Her whole body ached with pain—pain for Draco and pain for herself.
Images flashed behind Ginny's closed eyelids. She remembered the first time she'd ever spoken to Draco Malfoy—that time in Flourish and Blotts. She remembered how he'd simply scoffed when she'd made it out of the Chamber of Secrets alive her first year at Hogwarts. She remembered how he used to guffaw and smirk and sneer, the way he'd cross his arms and arch an eyebrow and pull pranks on her fellow peers. She remembered his piercing gaze, one that wasn't easy to forget, and she also remembered the hollow look his cloudy gray eyes would hold after being beaten by Harry in Quidditch. She remembered the comical scene every Valentine's, Pansy Parkinson sending hoards of enchanted cupids Draco's way. She remembered his yells of anguish that first time she'd placed the Bat Bogey Hex on him and she remembered how he'd gripped her hard when he'd been working for Umbridge. Ginny remembered the feel of his smooth, delicate fingers around her waist then, the way he took care not to invade her personal space when he'd held her captive. And lastly she remembered how only hours ago he'd tied her hair back with an enchanted rubber band. His behavior had been indifferent then, but the gentleness of his movements had surprised her. It had been obvious to her then that his bully-like behavior had been a façade, the reason for the façade remaining unknown to her, but that instant, she knew he was a gentle creature.
Draco Malfoy had a heart and was a real—a normal human being.
But now Ginny opened her eyes and looked at the spot on the floor where the young man lay, encircled by his own blood. He was still alive, and he was motionless except for the occasional fluttering of his eyelids. His sweaty platinum hair lay damp and stuck to his forehead. He coughed again and more blood spewed out of his mouth.
Ginny gave another loud sob at this and tried to move her right arm to reach out to the dying boy.
Blaise quietly looked up at the wall and observed Ginny's movements. Then she walked over to Draco, knelt down on one knee and used two fingers to close Draco's eyes, and they stayed that way.
A new stream of tears began flowing down Ginny's face and she felt her hair suddenly fall against her cheeks.
Draco's enchanted rubber band had changed back into a pin. The spell had faded away.
She tried to stop herself from thinking it, but it couldn't be helped.
Draco Malfoy is dead, Ginny heard echoing in her head.
The bright emerald flames grew larger and began to reach out of the Gryffindor Tower fireplace toward Harry. Suddenly out of breath, the boy timidly crawled toward the hearth. "Sirius?" He whispered hoarsely. The image of his godfather within the flames grew ever clearer.
Harry scrambled to the fireplace now, ignoring the growing heat from the blazing fire. "Sirius!" He said in a steadier voice than before. "Oh, God! Sirius, is that really you?"
His godfather grinned and nodded his head.
The tears that spilled out of Harry's eyes just then were completely involuntary. He was tempted to throw himself into the fire, which had begun to lick the carpet around him, but he didn't know where Sirius was…but he didn't care now. Sirius was here and he could talk to Sirius. Here and now.
"Oh, Sirius! I knew you weren't finished! I swear I would've come after you back then in the Department of Mysteries, but you must understand, I just couldn't!"
The image of Sirius formed by the frolicking flames now lowered his head, his long, shaggy hair shading his eyes. He began to fade out of the fire and Harry realized this.
"No! Sirius, don't go! Please! There's so much I want to tell you! You've missed so much!"
Black shook his head and began turning away as he faded.
Harry didn't know how exactly he had contacted his godfather, but the fact was, he had, and it wasn't likely that he'd get another chance like this again.
His palms had formed blisters where they'd touched the spewed ashes from the fire. His cheeks were dry and itchy from the intense heat and he was sweaty. He found it odd how he felt so miserable yet so immensely happy all at once. But when he looked at the fading form of his godfather, he knew the sudden happiness he felt would immediately leave him the moment Sirius had disappeared from the hearth.
"Sirius!" Harry called desperately. "At least tell me where you are!"
Sirius Black turned his head slightly to look at Harry, and then looked away again, almost completely transparent.
"No!" Harry shook his head! "I won't lose you again, Sirius!"
Without thought, Harry shut his eyes tightly, grit his teeth, and lunged into the flames, ready to follow Sirius Black to the depths of the Earth—literally.
"Goodness!" Blaise made a face, staring at Draco Malfoy's motionless form. "Why did he want it to rain so much?"
Ginny gawked. "You heartless bitch!" She sobbed loudly. "You… you just killed him for no reason at all!"
"And you think I haven't done something like that before?" Blaise laughed.
Ginny mouthed wordlessly. How could she make this animal understand? "You killed one of your own! You two went to school together! You two—"
"His screaming was getting totally annoying," Blaise interrupted, rolling her eyes and now twirling a lock of hair between her thumb and index finger. "And plus, he isn't part of us anymore. He's been banished."
Ginny could only stare.
"What?" Blaise said in a mock-innocent tone. "It's not like you're going to miss him or something. I mean, you and yours aren't exactly buddy-buddy with him. So in reality, it's like he never existed at all… since no one's going to miss him and all." Blaise giggled.
"You're wrong, Blaise. Draco Malfoy did exist. He was one of the most tenderhearted people I'd ever known. Sure, he liked to play rotten tricks on my friends and me, but even if of all people you had died, he would probably be the only person who would pay any sort of tribute to your existence." Ginny said scathingly. "And it's not even like you'd deserve that."
Blaise had stopped giggling and now glared at the girl hanging on the wall.
"Very well," She finally said. Blaise snapped her fingers and the chains and shackles holding Ginny Weasley to the wall disappeared, causing her to unexpectedly fall to the floor. "Time to get rid of the evidence," Zabini said, eyeing Ginny with disgust.
Ginny Weasley looked up at her captor from her position on the floor. Both her knees and palms had minor abrasions from landing so hard on the rough floor of the room, but that was all as far as injuries were concerned. She longingly eyed Draco's cold form across the room as Blaise began walking toward her.
I can't go down like this, she thought frantically.
Blaise had reached Ginny now. "Get up," she ordered.
The youngest Weasley narrowed her eyes, ground her teeth, clenched her fists, and glared up at Zabini.
"Get up!" Blaise yelled.
At that moment, Ginny did get up, but when she did, she made a mad dash to where Draco was lying. Next to Draco's body was his wand, lying in the middle of a puddle of his blood. Ginny snatched it into her hands, splashing the red blood over her clothes and Draco's, and prepared to duel.
Straddle-legged to keep her balance, slightly angled so her wand hand was in front of her, and on her toes so she could move quickly if she needed to, Ginny glared at Blaise and looked as though she was smirking. "You'll have to kill me before you can take me."
Blaise growled. "Consider it done."
Harry had initially decided to keep his eyes and mouth closed when he'd jumped into the fire after his godfather, but right before he'd jumped into the tempting flames of the Gryffindor Tower hearth, he inhaled a lung-full of ashes and burning embers.
So now he was going who-knows-where with his supposedly dead godfather—coughing and hacking the whole way.
He had flung his arms over his face instinctively. Sparks from around him nicked his arms and caused him to flinch, but eventually he lowered his arms and gingerly opened his eyes when he realized this ride through the chimney was taking a bit longer than usual. Everything around him was spinning in a blur of colors—that was normal, but he felt as though he was standing still. As though time and space had stopped. And just before he began to panic, he heard voices.
"Harry!"
Was that Hermione?
"Bloody hell, Harry!"
Ron?
How could Hermione and Ron be anywhere near the grate?
And then it felt as though time had decided speed up to double-time after standing still for so long. Harry felt himself falling rapidly. He tried to look down to see where he might land, but he couldn't see the ground. The boy tried to grab hold of something—anything, but it's quite difficult to grab hold of open air. Then he felt something, or someone, firmly grab his left arm and he was being pulled upwards. He wasn't falling anymore, that was true, and being pulled overhead seemed better than falling at that particular moment, but it was still a very confusing situation.
An instant later, Harry was sprawled across a wooden floor in front of someone's fireplace and he heard anguished cries of pain from what sounded like Ron's voice. Harry got on his hands and knees and began coughing up all the ashes he'd swallowed during his journey through the grate. After he was sure of his breathing, Harry turned around and gaped at what he saw.
The room he was in had so much emerald green covering its walls that everything and everyone in the room was slightly tinted the same color. Everything in the room had at least some kind of serpent on it—even the people. If it wasn't already obvious whose home he was in, Harry found Lucius Malfoy and Tom Riddle standing off to the side of the fireplace. Also on the floor like him, he saw Hermione comforting Ron, who was hugging his left arm and maybe even…crying?
Harry stared. "Ron?"
"Hey," Ron gasped.
And then Harry gawked at Hermione. She seemed not to realize they were in some sort of Slytherin mansion! She grabbed Ron's right shoulder and whirled him around. "Staring at your hand isn't going to make it any better!" Hermione yelled. She looked so frustrated that even her hair had begun to frizz out, but she looked worried, too. "Give it here, let me have a look at it."
"Get away!" Ron moaned.
"Ron!" Hermione yelled, trying to get around his hunched over shoulders. "Ron, stop being a child—Ron!" Then Hermione half fell on top of Ron and was now sitting on his stomach. She was breathing heavily, but quickly recollected herself and grabbed Ron's left arm.
What Harry saw next made his stomach lurch. It looked as though Ron didn't have any skin on his left hand. His fingers, palm, and part of his wrist were smothered in his own blood. His best friend was gritting his teeth to try and suppress some of the pain, but Harry could see Ron's glimmering cheeks.
Harry mouthed wordlessly then croaked. "Ron, what happened?"
Then Hermione suddenly ran her fingers through her hair and whirled around. "The idiot stuck his arm into the fireplace to pull you out!" She glared at Ron. "You're lucky your whole arm isn't a bloody mess!" She whacked his right shoulder with her palm.
"We couldn't just leave him there if that's what you were thinking!" Ron rebutted rather bitterly.
Harry furrowed his brows. "The fireplace? But when did—how did you find me in the fireplace?"
Though no one had really been saying anything, any and all noises in the room were suddenly smothered. Even Ron had stifled his whimpers and with the exception of a slight intake of breath, Hermione's griping had ceased as well.
Lucius Malfoy smirked. "Ignorant boy. Meet your beloved Sirius Black."
Mr. Malfoy and Tom Riddle had been standing next to one another and when they moved apart, Harry saw the figure of his godfather between them.
"Sirius!" Harry gasped, running toward him.
"Harry, don't!" Hermione suddenly said in a distressed voice.
Don't? Harry thought. His godfather stood there before him in person! Why shouldn't he run up to him?
And before Harry's thoughts had finished forming, Sirius' form began to shrink and in no time at all, he had run into the short, stubby arms of Kreacher the house elf.
Harry shouted in alarm and jumped out of the house elf's arms. He was suddenly short of breath and he felt his chest tighten. He didn't know if he should cry or strangle Kreacher to death.
Alas, emotion overtook him. It always did. "YOU FILTHY PIECE OF SCUM!" Harry's heart was racing now and his breathing was unsteady and loud. He couldn't keep his eyes focused on just one place in the room, so his pupils danced about his eye-sockets. He'd broken out in a cold sweat and didn't know what to do with himself. His hands formed into fists and before he knew it, he found himself charging toward the old house elf.
Harry swung back his right arm and thrust it violently through the air, aiming for Kreacher's large, obtrusive nose, but without warning, Kreacher's sagging form simply disappeared a mere tenth of a second before Harry was about to make contact with his face. Instead, Harry punched the floor and blood from his knuckles stained the gray-marble floor.
"Good boy," Harry heard Lucius say.
Harry looked up and saw Kreacher was now standing next to Mr. Malfoy. Kreacher looked just as confused to be there as Harry was to see him there.
Tom Riddle shrugged. "That didn't really go according to plan."
"Ah, well," Lucius Malfoy added casually. "It was a mere bonus round."
Harry finally found his tongue again. "Bonus round? What are you talking about?" He hollered, utterly confused.
"You surely must be familiar with it all. It was just another attempt at your life, no big deal," Riddle mused.
"But this time we weren't really supposed to go after your life. We just got bored so we thought we'd try a little something. Alas, your precious Mr. Weasley believes he is as flammable as his hair," Malfoy looked over at Ron, "and his ears may be, so you live for yet another day."
"How nice." Riddle said, raising both his eyebrows.
Harry was annoyed now. For one, Riddle and Malfoy were taking turns speaking as Fred and George might and that always resulted in his getting dizzy and disconcerted.
Before anyone could say anything else, Lucius took his turn in speech. "We've no use for you now,"
"Not all of you," Riddle added thoughtfully.
"Oh, yes, I almost forgot," Lucius nodded. "If you'd be so kind then, Tom, please show our guests," his lips slowly curled upward, "to their rooms."
Though they knew their lives were safe for the moment, the trio also knew of the Malfoy methods of torture and punishment, so the news of being sent somewhere alone caused the three sets of eyes to widen with horror.
Ginny and Blaise simply stood where they were. It was a stare-down.
"Go on," Blaise nodded.
Ginny made a face.
"You start," Blaise clarified, pursing her lips together and lifting her eyebrows a bit too leisurely.
The enemy was asking her to attack first. That was a good thing, right?
Ginny quickly thought of all the spells fresh in her mind. Classes at Hogwarts had never taught any real harmful spells. Of course, she knew about the unforgivable curses, but seeing how she didn't know how to use them, they weren't an option and now wasn't really a good time to try one of them out for the first time. Though she hated Blaise now, Ginny did not wish to kill an actual human being…though Blaise was more of a heathen. But she simply couldn't kill someone—not on purpose, anyway. It wasn't right.
Ginny finally decided a simple stunning spell would do. She just needed Blaise out of the way so she could decide what to do afterward in peace.
The youngest Weasley narrowed her eyes and carefully took aim. Her wand arm swooped upward and swiftly came down to strike an invisible place in the air. "Petrificus totalus!"
Ginny waited to see Blaise hit the floor, or at least dodge the spell, but nothing happened. Her eyes widened with horror. She turned the wand around and looked into it as though peering into the barrel of a gun—stressful situations really do bring on stupid actions.
Blaise pulled a hand-fan out of the air and began to fan herself whilst suppressing a fake yawn. "Done yet?" She smiled.
Ginny tried to say something. She wasn't exactly sure what she was trying to say, but at the moment she felt if any words escaped from her lips, they'd be her last.
"What's wrong? Is that what you're wanting to say?" Blaise nodded at Ginny. "Here it is, then—simple and plain. Draco's dead. He doesn't exist in this world anymore and neither does his magic. Or the usefulness of his wand."
Ginny gasped and swallowed hard at the mentioning of Draco's name.
"But how about this?" Blaise tossed her wand in the air and just before it returned to her hand, it disappeared. "We'll settle this with a real fight. Winner take all."
Ginny finally found her voice. "As if there's anything left to take."
"Oh? Scared, Weasley?"
"Don't call me Weasley." Ginny growled. "Bring it on."
She stuffed Draco's wand in her back pocket and when she looked up, Blaise was already running at her. Ginny placed all her weight on her heels right before her offender jumped at her.
Both of Blaise's arms had made contact with Ginny's shoulders. Ginny was surprised and caught off-guard by Blaise's stealthy and flowing cat-like motions.
The girls were rolling on the floor now. The fall had knocked the breath out of Ginny, but this was a life or death situation—she could take it.
As they continued tumbling on the floor, kicking, punching, biting, and scratching one another, Blaise finally shifted her weight in the opposite way. Having a larger frame than Ginny's, she was able to gain control of Ginny's body and balance and Zabini now sat on Ginny's stomach. Ginny wiggled around and trying to find some sort of advantage in her position, but her right arm was pinned against the wall.
Ginny's eyes widened as she watched Blaise's fist come closer and closer to her face until it finally hit her, at which point she felt an explosion of pain on the left side of her head. Ginny cried out, but that was stifled with Zabini's next hit. Ginny coughed a bit and felt her tongue feel a mixture of blood and saliva along the walls of her mouth. Blaise had hit the right side of her bottom lip, and her teeth had cut into her lips. But she was ready for the next punch. Just as Blaise's hand came near the left side of her face again, Ginny turned her head so Blaise's arm hit the rough floor where her head used to be. She took this chance to use her available left hand to bury all five of her nails into the flesh of Blaise's face. As soon as her enemy shrieked, Ginny took the chance to slightly squirm out from underneath Blaise and with both hands free now, she clawed at Blaise's face until her whole body was out from under Blaise, at which point, using the wall for support, she kicked Blaise hard in the stomach.
Ginny scrambled back onto her feet. She had originally wanted to run at Blaise right then when she had the chance, but the blows to her head suddenly began to pulsate as soon as she'd gotten to her feet. She stood still for what seemed like only a couple of seconds when she was knocked off her feet once again. Ginny hit the wall and struggled to get up again, but Blaise kicked her in the stomach and the Weasley girl stayed down.
Blaise snapped her fingers and her wand materialized in her hand. "I don't think I'm liking how this fight is going." She was breathing hard. "See you in the after-life, fool." Blaise kicked Ginny's stomach again as she said fool.
Ginny was dizzy now and gasping for air. Try as she might, she could not find the strength to get up. She felt drained and cursed at herself for being so weak.
She had just started to catch her breath again, though she was actually breathing quite hard, when she heard Blaise's voice one more time.
"AVADA—!"
Author's Note: I suck, I know… yet another stupid cliffhanger! But at least I got another chapter up (finally!), right? So let's have a recap: Draco's dead, the trio are feeling dead and Ginny's about to be dead. *gets pummeled* And yall thought this was a Draco-fic… *runs away* >8D
Chapter 15: Duh, you'll find out what happens to everyone that's alive, dead, and halfway there! Oh yeah, Snape and friends shall be included in the next chapter, too!
Millions of thanks to Jonah, Kashew, the counter, Moogie, Spinn, and Grace for reviewing the last chapter! Much luff to you all!