Disclaimer: If I owned this, why would I be writing fanfiction?
Author Notes: Sorry about the wait, writer's block coupled with work does tend to keep one away from writing.
Death…Or Something Like It
Acceptance – Chapter Six
Her eyes widened slightly at the blond head standing in her hearth, a rough snort escaping her. She was on her feet within seconds, violently crimson curls falling loosely down her steel infused spine.
"What the hell are you doing in my home, Malfoy?" She spat.
"Trust me, it was not my choice." He returned with equal ire.
"Well go back to where you can from, because I don't want you here."
"If I could, I most definitely would. Sadly, I have been sent to retrieve you."
"I am not going back there. Not to a place where I am worshiped by the scum of the earth. I would rather be raped by someone I lo…" She cut off that train of thought, it careening and colliding against a tree with a sickening crash.
"What, you'd brutalized by someone you love and trust? Isn't it too late for you to say that? Hasn't that already happened to you?" Even to his ears it sounded cruelly vicious, too hurtful even by his standards.
The mild emotion within her hues fled, a wall falling abruptly to shield her from him. Her arms unconsciously crossed beneath her chest as her spine infused with steel. She did not answer him, trying her hardest to keep the acidic tears of self-depreciation and pain from sliding down her cheeks. Despite herself, she had trusted Malfoy enough to make her value his opinion of her, if only a little. Her fingers curled into her palms, the nails gently digging into the lined skin there. She sucked in a deep breath through her nose and leveled her gaze at him, the mussed curls falling around her cherub face giving off the false impression of a lost child, seeking asylum from the horrors of the world.
"Leave my home, Malfoy, before I do something I will not regret."
He shook his head and stepped closer to the coffee table that separated them. "I cannot return unless I have you with me."
"Then I guess you will never go back. It's your problem, find a different solution." Her words hung coldly in the air as a transformation over took him.
It was not a physical metamorphosis, such would be unlike the heir to such a prestigious, ancient family, but he felt something within him shift slightly at the expression she wore, cool indifference protecting and hiding the splintering pain she felt. She clutched a mask, so similar to the one he had to wear since early childhood, tightly against her soul to help ease the agony of her past. She tried to hard to keep herself from breaking any further, yet each day the uneven edges of her being frayed just a little more.
Each day she grew closer to giving up, each day the chance of his people returning to their former glory and prestige slipped a little further from their outstretched fingers. A brief flicker of emotion fluttered across his usually drawn face as he held his hands out to her in a gesture of supplication.
"Sorry." So quiet it was almost lost in the crackling of the fire.
"Excuse me?"
"I said I'm sorry! What, do you want me to get down on my knees and beg for forgiveness?"
A small sliver of the ice in her eyes melted, a tiny slip of sentiment creeping timidly forward. The grasp she had of her torso grew no looser, but less tense and terrified. "Apology accepted." She said clearly, now violet eyes tinted with sorrow. "I will accompany you back to your home."
A very slight smile tilted the corners of his mouth as he extended a hand to her.
She did not take the proffered digit, merely stepping around the low table and stopped at the side of the fireplace. "I do not know where we are destined. You must go first."
He blinked slowly before lowering his hand back to his side and threw a handful of powder into the flames. Upon saying the title of his home, he motioned for her to go in. Just because she had suddenly agreed to return with him did not mean that he trusted her to actually honor her word. She might be pureblood and the embodiment of the Goddess, she could still lie her way out of a situation. She threw him a withering glance at his obvious distrust that she would betray her own words, before disappearing into a rush of ash and embers.
The moment her knees slammed solid ground again, several pairs of hands grabbed her upper arms and hauled her onto her feet. A sickening feeling of revulsion swamped her, her vision tinged with bloody crimson. Her breathing quickened as her stomach began to roll and just as she was about to rip herself from their grasp, a commanding voice sounded behind her.
"Let her go." She never thought that she would consider Malfoy to be her savior.
Those cloying fingers untangled from her flesh and she jerked away, eyes glinting with primal fear. Little headway had been made in the years since her rape; most physical contact still terrified her. Her body fell against a firm chest and he steadied her quickly, before removing his digits from her. The nausea began to ease away as she breathed deeply and slowly pushed herself away from him, throwing a momentarily grateful look to him.
She turned to look at the breathless Vampyre Elders, unconsciously beginning to fiddle with the hems of her sleeves. All her former fire had sputtered out after her dream not more than an hour before and Malfoy scathing comment, despite his apology. That little part of her that screamed out for her to be strong had been beaten violently until it was nothing more than a shuddering, cowed mass huddled in the back of her mind.
"I understand what you all want of me, what you think I am destined to do. It is a lot for a single person to swallow, especially if you have gone through what I have. Please…If you want me to bring your race back to its former stature as your leader, give me time." Her tone broke, her brother's words taunting her nastily; she closed her eyes briefly before beginning to speak once more, tone belaying the strength of her soul, complete with its fraying edges and bleeding cracks. "There is but one thing I ask of you in return for the gift of my life."
"Anything, my Lady." An elder supplicated, face gleaming with her promise.
A momentary flicker of fire warmed her frozen hues. "Revenge on the ones who turned me from their world, broke me in order to save a rapist." It was a sad fact, but the Wizarding World still believed in the supremacy of the male gender.
While the situation of females had grown considerably in the past decades, the sad truth was that unless there was actual physical proof, a man would be believed over a woman in court. It did not help that the perpetrator was the Minister's son and the victim, while she was his only daughter, was said to have been mentally impaired ever since her run in with Voldemort in the Chamber of Secrets. She had been laughed out of the stone room when she brought her plea for justice against the wizards listening, despite the more than obvious bruises speckling her arms and neck.
Of course, those discolorations were all she had had time to show. She had not even been permitted to show the court the dark memories of that horrible night. They would not even listen to her. Her breathing caught in her throat as she clenched her hands into fists, not bothering to keep her mask from slamming across her face, using it to hide the inner battle against the desire to burst into heavy tears. Nobody believed her, not even her mother who had told her that she never thought that she was crazy. The lies of her own mother had only been another catalyst in her impending mental break down.
"Of course, my Lady, such an act would only be expected by your people. Those who have abandoned you will pay for what they have done; they will regret turning their backs on you and leaving you to fend for themselves."
"I would like to go lie down now." She said simply, mind reeling; was it really possible that all these creatures that did not know her, did not know of the travesty she brought down upon her family?
"I will escort you to your room." Malfoy offered her his arm and not to his surprise, she merely exited the large throne room, expecting him to follow after her.
Please excuse the length of this chapter, it is not meant to be much more than a filler chapter.
Review Responses:
Kaladelia Undomiel: Cliffhangers can be annoying, but they work well. Dumbledore, if you haven't noticed in the majority of my stories, is a wee bit of a bastard. Mh, I am not going to tell you the exact answer to that question, but you should be able to get it…Trust your instincts. It makes for a good story if there is angst in it; at least, angst is what I write best. Happy things don't turn out well, just corny and far too fluffy. This is a Draco/Ginny ship story and so that is a yes, they will eventually get together. This chapter should explain why people don't really believe Ginny, but everybody thinks she is insane, thanks to Voldemort. Because Ron does not seem to a person to do something so horrible and male supremacy is heavy in this version of the Wizarding World. I didn't let Ginny use her powers against those that hurt her, because then she would have lowered herself to their level. She is better than that and a tiny part of her knows that. The answer to your question about why Hermione does not believe Ginny will be explained, trust me, I completely have that avenue covered. Vampyre is pronounced with extra emphasis on 'pyre' and a heavier I sound in the y.
Tigoamy: Ron? I believe he should die too, but if he was killed off at this point, there wouldn't be any reason for the story! Oh I understand your little evil-bad evil-good thing. It totally makes sense m'dear. You, sweety, are truly deranged. Just another reason I adore you.
Dranius: Oh really? You don't sound terribly upset over it, should I be happy for you? I wouldn't want your life to have been ruined by such an event. I know…There is some interaction between the two of them in this chapter, I promise you that.
FunnyCatGirl: Ouch, grounded from the computer? How could you survive? Mine is pretty much attached to me (it's a laptop that is mandatory for my school to boot). I make you change your outlook on life? Mahaha, that makes me feel quite special…in a creepy sort of way.
Thank you all for your reviews, they mean a lot.
Your Lord and Master;
Foamy the Squirrel