An Emerald Ring
Chapter twenty-two: Randmoses
A sharp burning pain seared across Draco's chest.Ah, so I'm not dead… he thought cynically to himself, and because of the intensity of the burning, he whished for a moment he was. He didn't know what was causing this impossibly hot pain, and did not wish to open his eyes and find out. By the cool pressure on his back, he assumed he was leaning up against a wall. He could not quite decipher what the strange things on his wrists were, or why his arms were level with his head. He decided to peak out for a moment, and suddenly found the answers to all his silent questions. He was leaning up against a black stonewall, shackles were bolted to the wall, and the huge silver chains smelled of hexes and magic. His wrists were in the shackles, cutting off the circulation in his hands. As for the burning sensation, he looked down. The shirt that had been crisp, white and new this morning, was not torn open, and dripping in crimson blood. The blood came from deep gashes, sliced across his chest. Also, someone enveloped in shadows was apparently casting a stinging charm on him…probably just for the fun of it…Draco didn't care much. He was still too dazed to realise how much pain he was in.
"HA!" The person in the shadows screamed in triumph. " He's awake!"
"Yes…" Draco mumbled, "He's awake…and with a bloody splitting headache…" for now, he had just come back enough to realise his head was pounding…he suddenly wished Pansy was there.
"Aww, poor baby got a booboo?" The woman in the shadows snickered. Draco was slowly coming back, and with his newly found consciousness, he was noticing little things. Like how the person's voice was feminine…and also, how badly he wished he were dead…shit, did he ever hurt.
The woman stepped out of the shadows. After one glance at her pretty face, and Draco realised how much more pain he was in for. It was Brea Opperand. She he asked him out more than once, each time rejected and humiliated. Draco seemed to recall that she and Glacier Williamton were now an item.
"Shit." He said quietly, and watched as she stalked towards him. Her playful tone suddenly vanished, and she growled at Draco.
"Shit is right you filthy little-"
"Brea, Brea, now, don't go say something you might regret," Another voice came from the shadows, this one deep, and masculine. Draco watched in horror as Williamton followed his girlfriend out. "Remember, you kiss me with that mouth." He snaked his arm around her and kissed her neck delicately. She smirked, her pretty face twisting evilly.
"Oh Glacier, can I play with him some more?" She begged. And Williamton smirked.
"Okay, but don't be to rough, the Dark Lord will want his turn too."
Wonderful, Draco though, just how I wanted my life to end…but his thoughts soon left him, and were replaced by incredible pain, as the word Crucio escaped Brea's lips.
Zoe Raced as fast as she could down the halls, trying to keep Luna from falling limply off her back. She ran to the entrance to Dumbledor's office, and started guessing candy names. None worked. She listed off every sweet she had tasted in her life, but to no avail. She growled in frustration, and tried to think of what to do now.
"Dungeons." Luna whispered. Zoe was really worried about her. Her eyes were glazed over, and she kept knowing things she couldn't possibly know. Even before, when Luna had her dreams, she was not this good. Zoe was just scared that she was going to lose her in the river of time. The ground seemed to fly under her feet; she didn't even notice Luna's extra weight, weighing her down. She ran as if she had wings of her feet, and slid to a stop in front of her potions classroom. She tried the doorknob, but it was locked. So she ripped out her wand and screamed the strongest pressure charm she could think of. The door practically exploded, splinters of wood raining down on the stone floor. Snape looked up from his desk furiously, his eyes glaring, but, as his eyes strayed to Luna, the fury vanished. Luna was secretly the only student he had that wasn't in Slytherin that the man actually liked.
"Miss Macramé, what in hells name is going on?" He snarled, gesturing to his door now reduced to slivers the size of toothpicks. Zoe marched determinedly up to his desk, and laid the cemi-conciouse Luna down, over his work papers. Completely ignoring the fact that the ink was still wet, and all his hard work would be smudged and smeared. She looked up at Snape, and held her head high, her heart pounding, and making her brave.
"That son of a-" Zoe was cut off by the suddenly look Snape gave her. It was a look that basically said 'expulsion.' So, she cut the swearing out of her little speech.
"Draco Malfoy's father is after Ginevra Weasely. I sent said students to hide, because Luna here, " she gestured towards her best friend, worry creeping into her heart as she did so, " Can sometimes tell the future. She had a vision that lit up the sky, and Ginny was dead. They are going to kill her to get that ridiculous ring from her. Professor! Help us here!" She practically screamed, stamping her foot like a child. She was getting near hysterics. If Ginny died, she would personally rip the rat that killed her, limb from limb.
Snape had never cared much for the little Weasely girl, sure she was a good student, but wasn't almost every body in his class? But if Draco was trying to protect her, he would probably be murdered too…or at least tortured. Snape loved that boy like that father he never had…he didn't show it of course, but if Draco was in trouble. He was going to make haste to get him OUT of trouble. He nodded at Zoe.
"You come with me." He ordered Zoe, "Blaise!" He called, and a moment later, Blaise stepped out from a door Zoe hadn't noticed before, followed by Pansy. Zoe didn't know when Pansy had shown up, nor did she care. She just wanted to get Ginny back.
"Blaise, take care of Miss Lovegood here. Maybe a trip to Madam Pomfrey will be in order." He said, looking at her as she moaned, ' The world is dark. The flowers are choking…' Though a cruel child would laugh at such ridiculous words, tt was probibly the least funny thing Snape had ever seen. Zoe examined Blaise's face, she was always a good judge of character…as much as she hated to admit it, she could tell Malfoy had turned over a new leaf for sure. It was just how he was around Ginny, the love in his eyes was genuine, no one could fake that…but Blaise, she didn't know if she wanted to believe what she was seeing. He was looking at the withering Luna as if her pain was causing him pain. His eyes were filled with hurt worry, and Zoe realised how ironic it was. First Ginny with Malfoy, then Harry with Pansy, now Blaise with Luna! Every one was hooking up with Slytherins! Had the world gone completely mad? Snape grabbed her hand and started to drag her and Pansy away.
"Wait, uh, maybe I should stay here." Zoe said, not liking the way Blaise brushed Luna's damp hair, moist with cold sweat, away from her eyes. Snape just pulled harder.
"Come on! We have no time for this nonsense!" He snarled, Dragging her by her hand.
Ginny's heart was pounding, she was bloody terrified. She wished with all her heart that Draco would come save her…then she remembered what he had looked like before they took him away from her. Bleeding, unconscious…alone. She realised she would probably have to be the one doing the saving. She looked around the cell. There was a patch of straw in the corner for her to sleep on, and a metal pale hung on the wall, no doubt for her to do her business in. She noticed the cell across from her didn't even have a bucket…instead it had a drain, in the middle of the floor. Completely grossed out by this , she turned away to examine the rust old lock. They had taken her wand away, as well as Celestria. She just hopped her Kitten hadn't been sliced 'N' diced. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair until she found the cheap flower hairpin she had clipped in that morning so her hair didn't fall out of its ponytail. She searched her pockets for a pen cap, but to no avail. She sighed again. It looked like she was going to have to bust her only hairpin. She broke the little aluminium pin in two and set to work on the grimy lock, suddenly grateful that she had Fred and George for brothers. She picked and worked on the lock for what seemed lick forever, it was a very trickey lock, and she had been zapped by the hexes placed on it so many times that the skin on her fingertips had peeled off, and they were now red and raw. Finally, there was a resounding 'click' and the cell door swung open. She stood up slowly, and tried to get the worst of the grime off her pants. Glad now that she wore soft-soled shoes, she padded out of the dungeons, and up a flight of stairs…she looked around, and realised she was in another dungeons. How many dungeons did one family need? She was glad she wasn't rich…she wouldn't be able to sleep with a creepy thing like this in her house.
She was looking for another staircase when she heard voices. She crept closer to the door that stood ajar, and peeked in. There was three shackles bolted to the walls, and there were no windows. The boy that Draco had hid from on the train was leaning against one wall. Williamton, she thought his name was. A pretty girl was crouching infront of something, she wand alight. Ginny could smell burnt flesh. She shifted slightly to see what the girl was burning…
'Draco,' she felt her anger boil over. His head was tilted back, and he stared at the ceiling, obviously trying to ignor the pain. Beads of sweat tarnished his perfect brow, and his was nearly quivering. His shirt was ripped open and bloody…in fact, his blood was all over, dripping from his hair, sliding down his cheeks, staining his pants. He was in shackles, and the sharp edges of the mettle were cutting shallow slits in his wrists. Ginny couldn't take it any more, when his cried out in pain. She spun and kicked the door open so forcefully that she heard the wood splinter as it his the wall. She practically flew into the room , attacking the girl that was hurting her Draco. She would rip that bitch, tear her limb from limb. Watch as she screamed in pain of the ground…she body chucked the girl into the ground. Then she rained as many punches and kicks down on the whore, before she flet her body go ridged for a moment, and all the strength escape her body. She collapsed to the ground, unable to move. She didn't recognise the hex. It was not like 'petrificus totalus,' where one's body goes rigid, she was limp, she could barely keep here eyes open. And by the look on Draco's face, she knew she was in trouble. She felt a sharp pain in her side, and moved her eyeballs up, to look at the furious, Glacier Williamton. Her heart skipped a beat. Yes, she was in trouble now. Williamton grabbed her wrists, and dragged her across the filthy, grimy floor to the nearest set of shackles. She clapped her wrists into them, then struck her hard across the face. Her strength was coming back, and witch it, was her ability to use her voice. She cried out in pain, as she flet his hand painfully collide with her cheek bone. She prayed he hadn't broken anything when she looked at Draco. He was looking at her helplessly, and if she didn't know any better, she would say his eyes were filled with tears. She tried to smile at him, but it hurt to much, so she whispered, trying to refrain from moving her mouth,
'I'm sorry.' By the sudden jerk of his chains, and the way he thrashed violently, stretching towards her, she knew he had heard her. Suddenly, a door opened, and the whole room went cold. Tears staining her cheeks and mixing with her blood, Ginny turned to see who had entered. Her heart stopped for a moment, and her blood froze when she saw the two red eye, with slits for pupils, staring at her hungrily.
It was Lord Voldemort.
Harry looked up from his book when someone came crashing through the fireplace. It was Pansy and Zoe. He jumped up in surprise and examined them both, his eyes confused.
"What-"
"No time Harry." Pansy said hurridly. "Get Ron, and Arthur Weasely. Tell Mr. Weasely to alert the aurors, you Weasel, and Granger need to come now. Ginny's life depends on it!" Pansy said, shaking his shoulders. Harry was floored. What the hell?
"Don't just stand there!" Zoe screamed at him. "GO!" And he ran up the stairs to do as they said.
Luna was lost in the river of time now. There was no doubt about that. She didn't even have the choice which way she was going any more. SO many pictured flew by that she knew she would go insane if she tried to see every one. Every once in a while, she would manage to grab onto the edge and haul herself out a little. In these times, the images faded, and she could see Blaise, looking down at her, worry written in each feature. She knew his entire future now. Every possibility. She knew what would become of them if she didn't go insane here…she knew what would happen to him if Voldemort got his hands on Ginny's ring…she new everything now…and she hated it. She had just fallen away from one of these moments, when the current of time suddenly stopped, and a beautiful woman glided towards her. She had honey blond hair and sharp, intelligent eyes…Luna knew that this was Narcissia Malfoy.
"Luna." She called. And Luna turned to her.
"How do we get out?" Luna asked. Narcissia smiled.
"I could push you out…but then your friend, Ginny would die…as well as my son. Luna, if your push me out, I will be able to protect them until the Harry Potter comes to vanquish the Dark Lord…If you push me out, I will come back for you, and I will then push you out, so you will never be lost here again…but then I shall die…for if I return, my body will wither, and I will be no more. Please Luna. Set me free."
Luna understood. This woman did not want to live anymore. She didn't have the energy, or the drive. She was sick of being alive…being lost all the time, so before she died, she wanted to save her one and only son, from her own husband. Luna nodded. She swam over to Narcissia, and pushed her over the ledge, onto sweet sanity.
"Don't forget me." She whispered.
A/N Well, I really kind of like this chapter. All of you should know, I am so extatic to get all of your wonderful reviews! But there are so many readers now, that I don't have the time to shout out to all of you. If you give me a particularly interesting review, and I feel the need to answer it, I will aknoledge you, like notdapunkprincess, who is the newest reader to this story.I love that there are so many of you that I can hardly keep up! You guys make me see the light, when all else seems dark! Thanks for always being there!
Ashen
