Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story with the exception of Aysel...
Author Notes: I have utterly no clue what happened...I was doing a rudimentary check of my stories when I found that The Grape Vine and Travesty of my Life had the exact same fifth chapter that was meant for Travesty of my Life. Now, I might just be going insane, but somebody please correct me if I am wrong. Here is the proper chapter five...
The Grape Vine
Chapter the Fifth
My time at Hogwarts continued to drag onwards, me making my customary trips to comfort dying souls in their last, fleeting seconds of life but the entirety of it all remained extremely dull. For, I had lost my desire to be human when I had held my only child in my arms as she slowly passed on, killed at her father's hands.
My heart hardened when I remembered the grief stricken expression in my beloved girl's eyes as she looked up at me, trying so hard to comprehend what was happening to her. She had just barely begun to taste the ambrosia of life when it was brutally stripped from her.
I shivered instinctively as trudged through knee deep snow towards the feeble paddocks where Care of Magical Creatures took place. In truth, I was not cold and would not grow chill even if I took a lovely little swim naked in the half frozen lake, but to keep up the appearance that I was mortal I had to bundle up.
It was almost the festival of love and carnal lust that the humans named Valentines Day and I was steeling myself for the expanses displays of public affection, something I internally wished to take a part in but forbidden to.
A little sigh escaped from me and a small puff of heavy air was suspended before my face before I walked through it, tiny tendrils breaking free and dispersing. My heart was growing heavier and on a primal level I knew my task was approaching, what I had been brought to do would take place soon.
I drew to a halt once I had reached the young mortals, eyes remaining proudly up as I looked at what animals were caged in. My heart dropped: unicorns. The creatures had always rejected me for the taking of lives was something that disgusted their pristine purity, never did the arrogant, gorgeous beings pause to look past the thick layer of darkness around me to the light I held in my heart.
For a moment my lids slid closed and I swallowed past the lump in my throat. Suddenly I just wanted to flee back to the castle and sit in front of the fire for the rest of the day. A hand descended onto my shoulder and my head flipped around, a curtain of bluish black hair swinging after me. A pair of mercurial hues looked down into mine and my breathing ceased for a moment as I took in the awe inspiring divinity before me.
His face was perfectly sculpted through years of careful breeding and his flesh just as pale as my own deathly pallor. Golden hair fell in straight locks around his chin, several delicate strands resting over his eyes and giving him the appearance of an innocent child.
The shoulders of his black silk robes were snug enough to fall around him in a way that revealed the white shirt beneath that clung to the muscles of his chest and stomach. My eyes lifted once more to meet with his and were swept away in the maelstrom of silver that tugged at the few loose bits of my heart left attached.
This was stronger than anything I had ever felt around Nicholas. He seemed just as enthralled with my own appearance as the hard steel in his hues melted and uncontrollable shiver gripped my spine. How was it possible that a mortal could be so amazingly beautiful?
Surely only the Creator could be so faultless…He cleared his throat and his eyes hardened, walls springing up around them but not before I could store the image of them unguarded in my mind.
"Draco Malfoy…" He whispered, voice tremulous as if he was unnerved.
"Lilia Grey, I remember your fath…" I trailed off as I realized that it might not be the best thing to mention the boy's father whom I had recently escorted out of the World of the Living.
"Who do you remember?"
"No one, never mind it is not important."
"Actually…"
My normally expressionless face tipped upwards, lips pulling at the corners into a soft smile and my eyes warming up. He drew in a half heard gasp as my features changed from suffering soul screaming for aid to tender being offering love and comfort to the needy.
His hand came up from his side and gently cupped my cheek, his thumb just touching my lower lip. The air around us seemed to warm up as the world outside of our private sphere dropped away, leaving me to revel in the feelings.
Those pools of liquid mist began to pull me in and we were leaning towards each other when a throat cleared some feet away. Harshly, real life tumbled around us and I blinked slowly as I tried to gain my bearings. I turned my head slightly and saw an impossible tall man looking at us uncomfortably.
"The lesson will star' now…" And he began to retell the children myths and fantastical stories about the unicorns in the pens; he was done within moments and clapped his massive palms together, the sharp sound ringing through the clearing. "Righ' I reckon it' be best if tha girls were ta come f'rst."
Slowly the woman, girls really, stepped forward, I with them, and watched the horse like creatures. Several were able to touch them and when it was my tern to try and touch the impossible soft fur, I threw a glance up at the giant. "I don't think…"
" Miss. Grey it's yer turn." His tone left no room for argument.
The look in my eyes must have terrified him for the dark skin around his beard paled and he began to shake faintly. I took a step forward and reached a hand out to the female as I prepared for the horrified whiny soon to come at my impure state.
To my surprise, the creature shuffled forward and nickered against my hand, not disgust rolling off of her in choking waves. The moment my fingers touched her silky muzzle her lovely white fur around her nostrils began to darken, taking on an ebony hue.
The unicorn did not seem alarmed and merely nuzzled closer to me, as if she was trying to get as close to me as she could. The colour change of her pelt spread over her head and as it was rippling down her neck and back, the teacher, Hagrid I believe, suddenly spoke.
"Right, lessons are over fer tha day." He barked quickly, motion for everyone to pick up there things.
I began to pull away from the mare but a soft shriek escaped her as the contact between us diminished and a faint wave of pain encompassed me until I set my hand on her neck. My eyes grew wide once she was completely consumed by the dark colour and massive lumps began to appear on her back.
The flesh peeled away from the bumps and I watched in horror as silvery fluid streamed down her coat as leathery wings began to grow. Utter silence surrounded the paddock and when the unicorn fell onto her side, I instinctively dropped to my knees and gently set her head in my lap, cooing to her.
A soft sigh escaped her muzzle as the wings ceased their sudden growth, looking extremely similar to those of a full grown dragon, except smaller. I gently ran my fingers through the long hair of her mane, surprised to find a minor presence hovering in the back of my mind.
'What are you doing in here'" I thought.
'My Lady, thou hast arrived.' A faintly female voice, yet it sounded unlike that of any human.
'Yes I have, but might thou know of what has happened?'
'Companionship is something thou hast continually craved and I will fill part of that void within thou.'
'You have enslaved yourself into an eternity of darkness…'
'Twas the task I was born to accomplish, Lady.'
I smiled absently and leaned down, softly brushing my lips against the top of her head. 'Thank you; what did your dam name you, cherished one?'
'Aysel, if it pleases thou Lady.'
'Sleep now, Aysel, for I know you must be weakened by your transformation. I will not stray far from you while you dream.'
'I am grateful, Lady.' She said and her darkened lids slide over her deep azure eyes as she slipped into slumber.
I sighed softly and gently set her head onto the soft earth, rising to my feet. I spun around and stiffened when I found Hagrid, Draco, and three people I noticed were Gryffindors by the crimson on their robes watching me.
"What?" I snapped, not appreciating the way they were staring at me.
"How did you…"
"What did you do?"
"Why didn't it hurt you?"
"Are you all right?"
Four voices chorused and I let out a growl, uncanny protectiveness over the sleeping unicorn gripping my tightly. "Silence, you will awaken her." My voice rung with power and instinctive fear lit in all of their eyes, except the golden hair Slytherin. "I will tell you nothing, so do not ask me." I looked at Hagrid. "The uni…pega…Aysel is no longer under your or Albus's jurisdiction. Any who touch, harm, or bother her will deal directly with me, understand?"
The man nodded quickly and I threw a warm glance down at the obsidian creature before waving my hand over her body. In times like this it was extremely helpful being such a powerful being as I was; it aided me in protecting those I cared about. A small burst of golden sparks emerged from me and settled over the once unicorn, disappearing once they touched her.
"How did you do that?" Squawked a bushy haired girl, one of the Gryffindors, watching me with jaded eyes.
I merely shrugged and began to stride back to the castle, wanting to be free of their accusing gazes. I had not been walking long when I felt a now familiar hand catch my arm. I met the eyes of the last remaining Malfoy and merely nodded.
"Yes?" I just wanted to be alone…
"Interesting display back there, what are you?"
"A magic wielder, just like yourself."
"No wizard or witch, not even the most powerful, could perform such a complex and strength draining protection spell like that without looking severely exhausted and they would have do it with a wand. You just wiggled your fingers, you can't be human."
"You are extremely nosy. My personal life is just that, personal. Now excuse me, I am going to go take a nap."
"But it's not even lunchtime yet."
"So? I really do not care if I miss a few classes. It is not as if they are important."
He was clearly surprised by my 'Leave me the hell alone, I don't give a damn' tone because his back straightened slightly. "Then let me walk you back to your rooms. Yes, I know you do not stay in the dormitories. The school is not safe for solitary Slytherins."
For a moment I let my eyes drift up to him a frisson of warmth fluttering in my stomach and drifted through my limbs. A smile unconsciously found its way onto my face and we walked into the school, my soul feeling lighter than it had since the night my child died.
At one point during the short walk, his cool hand had slipped into mine. I was surprised to say the least, this display of affection something one such as me was unused to. When Nicholas had been courting me there had been no outward displays of tenderness; he used respect around me, but nothing more.
Unconsciously I moved closer to him as we entered the monolithic structure of the school so our shoulders were just touching and I was blissfully unawares of what was going on around us. For a moment I believed that I was mortal and never held the dying to my breast, soothing them in their last moments of life.
A shiver ran through me as that feeble fancy disappeared when my heart constricted tightly and I quickly separated from him.
"What is it?" He asked softly, genuinely concerned.
"I have to go." I replied quickly.
"Did I do something?"
"No! I just…need to leave."
As he was opening his mouth to speak, I forced a smile onto my face and ran towards the nearest staircase. I heard him call to me as I disappeared around a corner, but I could not stop and stay with him. I leaned heavily against a wall as I came to a skidding halt, dropping my head into my hands.
I could not believe what I was doing, falling for a human? Eventually his life would be ended and the pain would be too much for me to handle. It would not be fair for him to love someone his entire life, never have her age past seventeen, then pass away and find the very same woman collecting his soul.
Nicholas had not been very appreciative of it, even if his thickheaded demeanor kept him from realizing who he married. The tugging at my heart grew stronger and she, however unwillingly, gave into the constant pulling. When my eyes opened again the fetid stench of decaying flesh assaulted my nose and instinctively I pressed a hand against my nose to halt the reek.
I had appeared in a gloomy stone room and it was eerily quiet. I took a step forward, straw crunching beneath my feet, when a half sob reached my ears. My pupils dilated and split, light flooding my retinas as the scenery became clear.
Several women of assorted ages were manacled to the walls, filth streaking their bodies, mixing seamlessly with trickles of blood. A certain girl with matted, once blond hair began to cry harder as she watched me glassily. I stepped towards her and she made an animal noise of terror, pressing her cheek against the stone behind her in a feeble attempt to hide.
"Child," I whispered softly as, "why do you fear me? I was there when you were born, I was there for your life, and now I am here with you in your final moments. Hold no terror in your heart, you are free."
It was in that moment that there was a very quiet noise of air being displaced and I felt a warm bulk materialize beside me. Upon turning slightly I saw darkness of pelt and heavily veined wings.
'Aysel, what bringest thou here?'
'The Horse of Death should be with Death when her duty calls, no?'
I half smiled and brushed a hand against the silky strands of her mane before retuning my attention to the quivering human. Her eyes, dulled by continual torture, were heavily lidded.
"The pain and humiliation…it hurts too much."
"You are safe now, rest for eternity." I slipped an arm around her tiny waist and brushed my free fingers
against the biting iron around her wrists.
She fell limply against me and murmured softly to her as she cried out from the sudden movement. I did not alert her that her body had remained chained to the wall, but her spirit had fallen free. She was dead. Aysel lowed herself onto the ground and I mounted up, gently settling the girl before me.
Her face, so lined with grime and gore, lost its careworn lines and took on the innocence that had been stolen from her. I brushed my hand against her forehead and she gave a little sigh, her wavering form disintegrating into a cloud of nothingness. It was my turn to sigh and I leaned forward, burying my face into Aysel's neck.
'Such is the life of Death. I watch so many pass into the next realm, but it is denied to me for eternity.'
She gave a comforting noise in the back of her throat. With a little shake of her tail and flex of her wings, she stepped into the air and we walked through a rip in the fabric of time.
I hope you all enjoyed the proper chapter five...
Your Lord and Master;
Foamy the Squirrel