Someday, I will own something of great value. This will not be Harry Potter, as J K Rowling already owns it.
Draco Stands Up
Draco and Lucius walked into Madam Malkin's, searching for the girls. They'd been looking for them for a good twenty minutes now, and this was the eighth store, third on Diagon Alley. "Ah, Narcissa, there you are!" Lucius said in a cheerful, friendly tone.
Narcissa jumped, fumbling a deep blue robe. "Oh, hello you two. Did you have fun shopping?"
"Yes, Mother. Is Ryua trying something on?"
She frowned. "No, didn't you meet her in Knockturn?"
"No, why didn't you go with her, dear?"
Even in a good mood, Lucius intimidated Narcissa. "Well... I just thought she might like some time to herself, a chance to shop around a bit without me getting impatient..."
Draco had started to tune out the conversation, the barest feelings of unease starting in his mind.
"...just twenty minutes ago, she's probably still shopping..." Narcissa answered her husband's question about time.
"Well, I'm sure she can take care of herself, and if not, there are very few down Knockturn who would dare touch a Malfoy now..."
"I think we ought to go check on her."
Lucius stopped talking, an incredulous look on his face that his favored son had dared interrupt him. "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about..."
Draco was starting to feel more and more worried, nearly panicky. "Father, I think there's something wrong..."
"Stop interrupting me, boy! Your sister is fine!" he snapped.
At the word fine, Draco felt a jolt of fear stab through him. "Damn it, Father, something's wrong! She's terrified! And hurt," and Draco, greatly daring with his sister in danger, leaned in close and whispered, "And you know very well she doesn't scare or hurt easily. There is something down Knockturn Alley that Ryua can't handle, and if you aren't going to do something about it, I'll go and probably get both of us killed instead!" And turning on his heel, he stalked out, jarring stride showing his worry and anger.
Narcissa looked up at Lucius, eyes steady, though her hands trembled. "Lucius, if there really is something wrong, Draco will know it. And he really is going to find her, and we'd better go help, or they will get in serious trouble."
Taken completely aback by both his son and wife talking back to him, for once in his life, Lucius followed her out the door after their son.
It was nothing new for Narcissa to go to others for help, and so alerted one of the low-ranking aurors patrolling Diagon Alley, like the muggle please-men. Lucius pulled ahead of them, trying to keep Draco's fast-vanishing head in sight as she filled him in on the scant details.
And when they got down by Borgin's and Burkes', they found Draco supporting Ryua, blood on her arms, robes torn, and face very pale. She swallowed when she saw the auror coming up next to her parents, and spoke in a flat, calm voice. "Sir, I have just been attacked, by a fellow student in my school. He had me disarmed, and manacled to the wall where he tried to force himself on me. When he wouldn't desist, I lost control and threw him across the alley. The impact killed him, though it wasn't my intention." Her speech done, Ryua sagged against Draco, shock setting in and refusing to let her joints carry her weight.
Looking very flustered because not only was this obviously his first week on the job, but he was hauled down Knockturn Alley, and called upon to be investigator for a possible murder, the poor auror tiptoed down the alley, wand held very much at the ready, and calling frantically for backup through his Ministry connection spell.
Ryua didn't know any of this. Draco had pulled her the little way down the street to their floo station, and took her home, leaving Father to sort out the little mess he'd created. For Draco knew who it must have been to even have the idea in his head to rape Ryua. Only Blaise would have even thought he could try it, and only he would have ever been dumb enough to go through with it. Even Crabbe or Goyle knew better than to try and do anything Ryua didn't like. "What an idiot. He should have realized that if you didn't kill him off the start, I'd be making life a living hell for him at school."
She looked up at him, and managed a smile. "Hmm, maybe. Where's father?"
"Probably halfway to the Ministry of Magic by now."
"Oh, good... put me down on this chair, will you? I have to rest before I can manage the stairs." Draco let her gently down, and she slumped forward over her knees, taking slow, painful breaths. Between blood loss and bruised or broken ribs, Ryua was feeling just a tad on the light-headed side. Of course, if Lucius was anywhere nearby, she would have walked under her own power straight upstairs, not showing a moment of weakness. As it was, it was a whole lot easier to have her brother's arm to help her.
He pulled her up, carefully avoiding her lower arm where the skin was bruised and torn. "... Ryua, I'm sorry about all those times I teased you about being betrothed... If I'd any notion he'd go this far..."
"Hah. Not your fault. And at least I don't have to worry about a marriage the moment I'm out of school. Of course," she said darkly, "That assumes that I actually go back to school..."
"Of course you will. The law's on your side on this one. And even if it wasn't, the one lovely thing about being in this family is that you can bribe the entire courtroom if need be."
Draco lay her gently down on her bed, and pulled out the first aid kit from its usual hiding place. She fell asleep, knowing that he'd have her in much better condition when she woke up, and also knowing she'd need every second of rest she could get for the mess that was sure to follow.
Ryua was right about snatching every bit of sleep she could. A kindly witch, dispatched by the Ministry, was escorted into her room by a still-pale Narcissa and Draco, who plainly wasn't trusting anyone alone with Ryua in her condition.
"Oh, good, you're awake. Now, dear, I'm here to see what damage was actually done to you, for legal reasons, you know. And to see if you need any treatment too."
I hate mediwitches. Ryua had never trusted them, mostly because she couldn't exactly go to a healer over punishment inflicted by her own father. But, she knew she didn't have a choice now, at least if she didn't want to be expelled and thrown in Azkaban for murder.
"Oh, sure, come in." Ryua pushed aside the light sheet gingerly, but found that Draco had already wrapped her wrists in soft, if clumsy, bandages.
"Hmm, looks like the wrists are the worst?"
"Yes... I cut down to the bone trying to pull out of the stone..." From the look on the witch's face, she didn't believe her. "Oh, for goodness' sake, look! I was not about to let him do that to me, not until I'd exhausted every single option I had!"
The woman drew back a little at her tone, but Ryua could tell that she immediately got a little more serious in her examination. Ryua showed her both wrists, and ankles, and submitted to a quick feel of her ribs, confirming three broken, and two more dislocated. It turned out that she had actually cracked the bone leading to her right pinky, trying to wrench her hand out. She wrote everything down in detail in a little notebook, and set a healing spell on the bones. "Now, why didn't you go to a hospital in the first place, dear?"
"Um..."
"You could have even gone to a muggle one, they deal with this sort of thing more often than you might think."
"Er..."
Luckily, Draco budged into the conversation before she had to scramble for an explanation she didn't want to give. "Excuse me, ma'am, Ryua wasn't up to making any decisions, she couldn't even walk on her own. I thought it best to get her out of Knockturn before any of Zabini's friends came along, and somewhere where she could sleep. And I know enough from lessons in quidditch practice to doctor up at least the cuts, I figured the rest of it could wait until things had settled down a bit."
"Hmm. Well, maybe you're right about that. It seems to have done her a little good to get out of everything, and if she'd stayed anywhere public, she'd have those idiot Ministry officials questioning her. Now, Ryua dear, I'm going to heal up those cuts for you before I go. I won't be able to do anything about scarring, though, you'll have them probably for the rest of your life, I'm afraid."
"That's fine. I could have come out much worse." What're another few scars... at least I'm still whole. Which was something else the witch had checked, after shooing Draco and Narcissa out. It had been close, but Ryua had exploded just before Zabini got inside. Inside... that's just a horrific thought... If Ryua had ever wanted a boyfriend before, she certainly didn't now. And the mediwitch poking around, even though she was healing, completely deadened any craving for human contact. All I have to do is get through the trial... then I can go back to school.
