A/N Yet another chapter... my goodness, usually people have no time during finals, I have all the time in the world!!! Anyhow, I realize I'm writing this really fast, the ideas can't stay in my head forever. I'm just so glad my computer's up and running again! BREE wanted to be acknowledged (again) so low and behold BREE is my friend (now acknowledged) LOL.
Disclaimer Mine... it's all mine!!! Just kidding, all I can say is I wish. Nothing is all mine.
Long after the horseman had galloped off, Draco stared after him, oblivious to the accusing stares he was receiving from Chris, Rosie, Billy and even Maggie. He just watched the wind slowly die down and Hermione's scream died down and eventually faded into the trees. She was gone and it was because of him. He laughed.
"What's wrong with you?" Rosie demanded stepping back nervously.
Billy slapped Draco across the face. "Get a grip, will you?"
Draco slapped him back, his laugh becoming louder than before. He turned to Chris with tears leaking down from the corners of his eyes. "Chris... they're both gone... ha ha ha... now I can honestly... hahaha... say I know... cows can feel..."
He trailed off, falling to the ground and beating at it with his fists. Chris gulped uncertainly, then he two began to laugh.
"What's wrong with you two?" Rosie demanded, now fully backing away from them.
"Nothing! That's just it Rosie!! I've never felt better!" Chris cried out, twirling in a circle before grabbing Rosie's hands and dancing around the tree.
"Hey!" Billy grabbed Rosie defensively and glared at Chris. "Back off, you fruitcake."
"Fruitcake!" Draco yelled. "Where'd you here that rubbish?"
"Alex used to say it." Rosie answered, tears forming. She looked up at Chris, "Chris... this isn't you. You're not happy and you know it. Draco's not happy either... he's talking about cows for crying out loud!"
"No, no... not true. I did mention cows... but it wasn't intentional... I meant to say I know how he feels." Draco butted in.
"But cows do sound a lot better Draco. You know how they eat fields..." Chris admitted.
"I've seen a cow before..."
"Really? So have I... they're really amazing animals, don't you think? I mean they've got what, 4 stomachs?"
"Hem, Hem." Rosie said, ending their discussion immediately. She turned to Chris and said softly, "You may think you're happy... You may want to say you're happy, but you're not Chris. I can tell. Your smile may reach your lips but it doesn't reach your eyes. Think about it... didn't you feel happier with Alex on the way to the airport? Remember that?"
"Yes actually... yes I do." Chris said, suddenly serious. His smile faded and his eyes turned glazed as he remembered the feel of Alex's fingers in his hair as she retied his bandana. The way she smiled at him as they sped down Main Street during their "get away". "I was... much happier than. Compared to that, this is unbearable sadness."
"See?" Rosie pointed out. Then she turned to Draco, now utterly silent as he sat in the dirt staring up at her like a child who knew he had done something wrong and was about to be punished. She knelt beside him. "Do you remember Draco? Do you remember how important Hermione was to you that day at the tennis courts, how you denied you liked her yet you wanted to give her something special?"
"Yeah... I remember that. So what? Hermione's gone and she was nothing special. Just another girl to me." Draco answered, suddenly angry and cold-hearted.
Rosie raised an eyebrow at him. "Draco, you know that's not true!"
"It's true if I want it to be!" Draco yelled, jumping to his feet and stomping off in the direction they had already came from.
"Draco, you're going the wrong way!" Billy yelled.
"So what? I t doesn't matter which way I go anymore! I give up on this whole thing, I'm going home!" he called over his shoulder, waving a hand good-bye at them.
"Great! This is just perfect!" Rosie cried to no one in particular. "I'm stuck in the woods in some foreign country with no food, no protection, I'm next to the devil tree, and all these creatures that want to hurt me! What's wrong with this picture? WHY ME?"
And so the three muggles sat down in the clearing, as far from the tree as possible. They sat huddled together, mourning over their predicament. Though none of them were going to give up the plan to search for Alex, none of them had much hope.
Alex sat on the bare floor looking about her with wary eyes. Sadly she ran her fingers through her pretty long hair, wondering what on earth she was going to do. Blaise had left an hour ago saying he'd be right back. At first she believed this would be the perfect chance to escape because he didn't seem to be preparing to lock her in. All hope was abandoned however when he put the heavy iron shckles around her ancles.
Now she rubbed her ankles, attempting to ease the pain of the iron rubbing against her skin. She looked toward the small window and felt her muscles tense. She had to get to the window. She had to see the world... the real, normal world.
Shakily, she got to her feet and inched her way towards it so her chains would not trip her. When she reached it, she grabbed the bars for support to take some of the weight of her poor feet (she was sure her ankles were bleeding now).
Shaking her hair out of her eyes she peered out into the trees. 'I must be in a forrest somewhere.' She thought. She looked directly down and gasped as she recognized the five figures in front of her prison. There were six if you included the tiny black cat sitting nearest to her. There was also another figure, swiftly approaching through the trees.
She pounded as best she could on the window, trying to get her friends attention, but they couldn't hear her. 'I must be too high up.' She thought sadly. She picked up a nearby paper weight from Blaise's writing desk and through it against the window as hard as she could. Only there was no shatter. It bounced back as if made of foam but when it neiled Alex in the stomach it was just as hard as ever.
Bent over, gasping for breath, Alex attempted to stand again. She grimaced as pain shot through her stomach. "That's going to leave a mark." she whispered. Lately with no one else around, she had gotten to talking to herself more frequently then usual.
She looked back out the window and gasped as Hermione was carried away by the new comer. Then there seemed to be an argument as Draco ran off into the woods somewhere, no doubt giving up. Alex was just about to turn away when she saw Draco come face to face with someone else. Her eyes narrowed as she realize they were talking.
"What are you doing?" came a drunk voice behind her. There standing in the doorway was a very intoxicated Blaise. He looked from Alex to the window, to the paper weight by her feet. His eyes turned cold. "You weren't trying to escape were you?"
"E-escape? No of course not, why would I do that?" For once she was telling the truth. She began to try flattery again, "Why should I bother, I know you're too cunning for me. You'd catch me in a heartbeat."
"You're right about that, but I don't believe you." He answered shortly, walking over to her. He stood right in front of her, his foul breath making her nose itch. "You were trying to escape don't you dare lie to me!"
"I wasn't, really-" she protested.
With an angry roar he grabbed her by her hair and pulled. She arched her back to ease the pain but couldn't prevent the cry from falling from her open mouth. Tears stung her eyes again but she kept them closed. Blaise's hold softened and he began playing with her hair.
"You have such pretty long hair..." He whispered. "It would be awful if something were to happen to it..."
Alex didn't like the sounds of this. Sure enough, Blaise paralyzed her and approached with a pair of scissors. She tried to close her eyes but found she couldn't. The spell was too powerful. So while he attacked her hair she stood like a statue, staring straight ahead as curtain after curtain of dark hair fell to the floor near her feet.
Finally, he finished and removed the curse. She sank to the floor sobbing. In a moment of blinded sadness, she attempted to gather up her fallen hair but Blaise had already vanished it to the wastebasket.
"We don't want you crying over lost hair, do we?" Blaise asked sweetly. "Consider this a lesson. Never lie to me and never try to escape. Be thankful I like you so much muggle, it could have been worse."
Alex ignored him, having no desire to be thankful. She crawled to a croner of the room and wept, running her fingers over what was left of her hair. The longest strands were in the front and they only reached her ears. She screamed in anger, glaring at Blaise's back.
Rosie heard a noise that made her jump. She hopped to her feet as the dreaful scream peirced the night. "Oh my god, did you guys hear that?"
"How could we not?" Billy asked softly, gazing at the tree. "It came from there."
"A tree can't scream, that's impossible." Chris argued.
"Chris, we just travelled all over the place with two of the characters from Harry Potter... anythings possible." Rosie insisted.
"When you're right, you're right." Chris said simply. He stood up and walked around the tree. Maggie quickly followed him. "One problem, there's no opening to the tree."
Maggie quickly jumped up and latched on to a branch with her teeth. With a small growl, she pulled down. Chris, taking a hint, helped her. Almost immediately, a small hole appeared in the trunk near the roots.
"Looks like we got a feild trip." Billy said.
"Do you think they'll give us a tour?" Rosie added with a small smile.
Chris said nothing. Alex had to be here... she just had to be. This was where their adventure would end. The question was, would they live to have another one?
A/N And into the tree they shall go! Sound good? I dunno, I think it'll be cool but then again, I'm weird. No bloody heads like in Sleepy Hollow starring Johnny Depp, I promised. That's just too cruel for my taste. About the whole hair thing, that's always been tied to true torture for me, losing all my hair. I don't know why but it seems really evil and underhanded. My hair shall grow on and on!