Love

Chapter 6 Pallor Nex

Last Time on Love:

The gang hangs out just like the old times, awaiting Christmas. Snape and McGonagall hook up! Ron and Lavender break up, a mysterious girl shows up at the Burrow in the storm, and Draco makes her feel less than welcome. But who is this newcomer?

The girl looked at Draco in shock. The boy spoke French! Even if he didn't seem too pleased with her presence.

"Parlez-vous francais?" She asked, looking at him for confirmation.

"Oui." He said grudgingly, still glaring at her with his arms folded across his chest. He wasn't in the mood for visitors. The girl glanced at the others, who were smiling at her welcomingly. Maybe it was best to speak with them.

"Et tous?" She inquired. They looked at her in confusion, which was answer enough. "Ok, you guys are English." Draco's eyebrows shot up at her American accent.

"Umm yeah, we're British. I'm Ginny Weasley, this is my brother Ron. These are our friends Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy." Ginny stepped forward, holding out a hand. The girl stared at it and took a step back.

"Wait a second- HARRY POTTER! The Weasley family, Draco Malfoy?" She asked in astonishment. Harry and Ginny shared a glance.

"Ehm yes, that's us. And you are?" Ginny pressed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Richelle. Richelle Montmassier. I'm American but I studied at Beauxbatons… Wow. I'm kind of in shock. I've heard about all of you guys in the tabloids so much that actually meeting you is like… wow." More glances were exchanged. People knew who they were?

"So you're a witch, obviously." Draco stated, still looking at Richelle rather menacingly. She blushed.

"Of course. It was stupid of me not to mention it. I was trying to Floo to my friend's house and ended up in the middle of a field a mile or so from here. I guess we're in Britain, right?" She glanced at their faces for confirmation. Draco opened his mouth, but before he could say something snarky, Harry pushed him rather roughly in the shoulder.

"Draco, go check on Hermione." Before turning to smile at Richelle.

"Don't mind him, he's a bit stand-offish at first, but he'll grow on you." He said apologetically. Ginny grabbed the girl's hand.

"You must be freezing. God, we've been so rude. The Floo system should be up in a while, but you can stay here until the storm peters out. Would you like some hot chocolate?" Before Richelle even had a chance to respond, Ginny had grabbed her by the hand and pulled her into the kitchen. Harry and Ron were left in the porch.

"Well she seems nice enough. Poor girl, that must've been rough on her, being lost. Hmm. Let's go see Hermione." Harry started to go into the living room, but noticed Ron was abnormally silent. He turned to find Ron, standing stock still as he stared after Richelle, his mouth slightly open. "Ron? RON!" Harry asked, giving him a light smack on the head.

"Aah! Geroff Harry!" Ron said, snapping to attention and following Harry. "Hey, she knew who I was. Isn't that cool? I wonder what she's read about me. Probably I get written about a lot. D'you think, Harry? She's kind of pretty, isn't she Harry? Isn't she?" Ron was jogging lightly, trying to get Harry's attention. Finally Harry stopped walking and looked at him.

"Yes Ron, she is pretty. But we have serious issues right now. We need to concentrate on getting Hermione better, because there is something seriously wrong with her." Ron sobered, and the two carried on into where Draco and Hermione were, on the couch beside the fire.

Hermione had stopped bleeding, and her scars had faded into the faintly glowing white lines once again. But she was still slowly weakening, and now she was plagued with a terrible headache.

Ginny and Richelle were in the kitchen, silent except for Ginny's occasional nervous twitter. She was making hot chocolate, already haven given Richelle a mug, but making more for everybody else.

"So… you guys are here for Christmas. And your parents are away?" Richelle asked. Ginny nodded.

"That's right."

"My parents would never leave me alone with my boyfriend." Richelle said, smiling. Ginny shrugged.

"Well, they know Hermione and Draco are getting married, so they just have to accept that, right?" She said casually.

"WHAT? I meant you and Harry! And I thought Hermione Granger was with Ronald Weasley… is she here as well?" Richelle sat forward eagerly. Ginny had turned bright red.

"Oh… is that what the tabloids say?" Ginny giggled timidly. "Hermione changed her last name to Richardson by the way. Ron and Hermione- that's absurd. Hermione is like our sister. Besides the fact that she's engaged to Draco."

"I thought Draco hated all of you, and was a Death Eater or something. And what about Harry, is he like a brother to you as well?"

"Draco used to be our "enemy" I suppose, but we were only children then. He certainly isn't a Death Eater; he's on the light side of course. And Harry… well Mum looks at him like a son, and he's definitely a brother to Ron. He's part of the family too." Ginny smiled distractedly at Richelle, pouring the hot chocolate into mugs.

"So what you're basically saying, although you're trying to hide it, is that you DEFINITELY do not consider him a brother… because that would be incestuous?" Richelle asked, seeing through the younger girl's speech and laughing. Ginny threw a dishcloth at her playfully, turning bright red and smiling embarrassedly. "And what about Ron, he doesn't have anyone special in his life?" Richelle continued, taking pity.

"Aha! I thought I saw you looking at him in the porch! He just finished with his poor girlfriend actually. I must warn you, he seems cute and harmless, but really he's a heartbreaker." Ginny shook a finger at Richelle, who simply raised an eyebrow. At that moment the voice of the boy they were discussing called out to them.

"OY! How long does it take to make a cup of hot chocolate? Or should I suspect you two of cooking something else up?" He said, laughing. Ginny and Richelle exchanged a mischievous glance before gathering up all the mugs and hurrying into the other room. After distributing the mugs, Ginny squeezed herself in next to Draco on the couch. Hermione was at the other end, cuddled into a huge comforter and stretched comfortably so that her feet were in Draco's lap. Harry was in a comfy chair by the fire and Ron was curled up in the mini-couch, which seated two. Richelle looked around nervously at the comfortable scene.

"Hi, I'm Richelle" She said politely, offering her hand to Hermione. Hermione struggled to get her arm out from underneath the comforter, and offered her hand to the girl. They shook, Richelle surprised by the weak grasp of the headstrong woman she had heard so much about.

"I'm Hermione."

"I know… I've heard lots about you." Richelle said, smiling. She looked around and, seeing no other place, sat nervously on the edge of the chair Ron was occupying. He scooted over a bit, flushing and muttered,

"Oh sorry, I can sit somewhere else." Richelle shook her head and indicated for him to stay. There was a moment of slight silence. The boys were looking at each other and Hermione, trying to decide what to say. Finally Hermione got fed up with the situation.

"Ok, Richelle. Here's the deal. You've come at a really odd time, and we're very happy to have you, but there are some important things we have to discuss. So do you mind if we just consult about a few things? Feel free to comment." Richelle nodded simply, liking the girl's straightforwardness. She could sense from her tired eyes that something of grave import was afoot. Hermione smiled appreciatively and then looked at Draco, raising her eyebrows as if to say 'Go ahead then.' He took a deep breath and looked into the fire as he spoke.

"Alright. Hermione, obviously, is very ill. She's had a lot of blood loss, and now she's got this terrible headache. She's been like this since she came back from Abhinatha. At first we thought it was just her attitude that had changed," Here he glanced at her, and she winced. He placed a comforting hand on her leg. "Anyway, as much as we all have eyes, she is wasting away before them."

"And this is not a physical ailment." Ginny said, shaking her head. "There is no illness that could make anyone as sick as you've been. You were so cold last night I thought you were done for, love." She said, looking at Hermione worriedly.

"Well what else could it be? Merlin, this is terrible. And that note… do you still have it?" Ron sat forward, his face red, but this time with anger. Hermione handed him the note. "'Come and be spared your destiny. Come and be powerful.' So obviously that whore Yamin has something to do with all this. If he hurts you anymore I will kill him and-"

"Ron, calm down." Harry interjected before Ron actually got on his broom and flew to Abhinatha. "We all feel the same about Yamin, Abhinatha, and Hermione."

"So he's put some kind of spell over me. Dark magic- it must be. But I know so many spells and I've never heard of one like this. It's like Avada Kevadra in slow motion!" Draco stood up abruptly, beginning to pace around the room.

"Don't say that Hermione, we don't know what it is."

"Draco, you have to accept that unless I go to Abhinatha or unless I find a cure, I know this is going to kill me! And I'm not going to Abhinatha, so don't even start with that again." The entire room was tense as they waited for Draco's reaction.

"You know I can't accept that Hermione. I'm going to marry you. We're going to have our whole lives together. And some Voldemort-wannabe is NOT going to take that away from me." He finally exploded.

"This isn't a game. You can't just go beat this guy up and that will be the end of it. It's not like my dad, or Voldemort either. Yamin is something different. Even Voldemort had something human in him; his weakness was his passion for revenge. But Yamin… I've been with him; I'm the only one in this room who has. And he is definitely not human, or weak." Hermione was starting to fade, and Ginny moved closer to her, letting her lean on her healthy body. There was a long silence. Draco and Hermione were staring at each other, the fight continuing in their eyes. Ron had buried his head in hands, and Ginny's eyes were filled with tears. Harry looked around him at all the faces of his friends, his family. Something had to be done. If only he knew what.

"I know what's wrong." Richelle's voice was unexpected and clear, and everyone's attention turned to her immediately. "I'm not sure, but what's happening to Hermione is almost exactly what happened to my mother. We never found out what it was until after… after she died." Her voice faltered, but she continued. "My grandfather Ronan was the one who figured it out- he had been away, he didn't know she was ill. He was heartbroken. She was his only child."

"Wait a second, Ronan? Ronan Dumbledore?" Hermione asked, her head snapping up. Richelle nodded at her.

"He's my grandfather. He hardly ever talks to us anymore though. He always blamed my father for what happened. My mother, Rachel, was only in her twenties when she moved to the States. She didn't know anyone there, and she fell in with a crowd of wizards who were practicing illegal dark magic. There was one man in particular that she was with a lot, but then there was some altercation, I believe over something he had done that my mother disapproved of, and she severed all her ties with him and his friends. After that she met my father, Philippe, who had recently arrived from France, and they fell in love and got married. But years later she ran into the man again, and they had some kind of private discussion. She stormed away from him and when she got home she was bleeding from a scar she had had since she was a child. After that she just got worse and worse. I was only 6 at the time."

"I'm so sorry." Harry said, speaking for the entire group. Richelle smiled wanly.

"Thanks."

"Do you mind me asking, what was the name of the man that your mother was involved with? The dark wizard?"

"Silas Abnath… That's why I thought of it… you guys were talking about some place called Abhinatha?" The group exchanged glances.

"We have to run a dark magic test on you Hermione." Draco was the first to speak. Ginny ran upstairs to get her parent's biggest spell book and before long they were all arranged around Hermione, who looked smaller than ever.

Ginny placed the book on the floor, flipping through it anxiously.

"Detection… Dark magic… here's one!" She handed the book up to Draco, who read over the words of the spell a few times before he muttered them under his breath, pointing his wand at Hermione with a flick of the wrist. All of a sudden the room was unbearably hot, and the air around Hermione was rapidly changing colours, and seemingly vibrating. All of a sudden the colours were slowing, until they settled into a shade of orange. Hermione looked sick, looking around her as she remembered the orange skies at Abhinatha that she had seen when she was with Yamin. Golden writing was beginning to uncurl above her head, and they all stared at it transfixed until the room went cold for a moment, and everything returned to normal. They looked into each other's pale faces and knew.

Pallor Nex.

Dumbledore was striding around his office purposefully as he transcribed letters to his enchanted quill, which was taking everything down hurriedly. There was a knock at the door, and Dumbledore held up a hand to stop the quill before opening the door.

"Come in Severus, Minerva, Hagrid." The three filed in grimly and sat down. Before Dumbledore had a chance to close the door, two more familiar faces appeared. Ronan and Aberford came in and stood on opposite sides of the room.

"How did you two get here through the storm?" Enquired Albus.

"We don't have time to explain, Albus, we think-" Aberford was cut off by an angry boom from Ronan.

"This Yamin man. He's going to attack again. And besides that, there's something fishy going on here. There are all these odd coincidences; I don't like it at all. Albus… I think that this dark army may be related to the cult that Rachel was involved in when she first went to America. They use the same attack plans and spells. They attacked on the exact date that those people attacked the ministry of the US, albeit unsuccessfully. And the anniversary of Rachel's death is in a week… you've contacted me about Hermione and their symptoms are so alike I can't help but-"

"Ronan, calm down. Here, have some tea. We have made the same connections you have. Currently Ms. Richardson is at the Burrow, but she will be returning here to prepare for the students the day after Christmas, along with Mr. Malfoy. Assuming she has the strength. What we must begin doing now is preparing for the war." Albus finished his spiel, turning and looking into the fire.

"Pallor Nex- This enchantment is very old. The name is Latin for Fading Death, or Pale Death. Only the powerful demon Abas Saevio can perform it. This demon was a plague upon the Ancient Romans. He was created when Zeus and Hera had an argument over Zeus' famed philandering, and he threw a lightening bolt, which contained all of his anger, to the earth. It struck a young Roman, Abas, who died. But in his death the demon was created, inhabiting his body. Saevio is made up of rage, and his purpose is destruction. Like Zeus, his weakness is women. He was very powerful when he first was created, and for centuries he inhabited wizard after wizard, using them to cause death everywhere he went. But after he lost a battle with a powerful wizard in the 3rd century, he grew weak and eventually disappeared from history. Neither Abas Saevio, nor this infamous spell which wreaks havoc on the women who deny him, has been recorded since the 5th century.

The spell is, as far as we know, incurable. It slowly kills the person it is cast on, by letting all their nutrients waste away, with pain in the form of aches all over their body, until they become a shadow of their former selves, and eventually die. It can also cause former wounds on their bodies to open up and bleed. The only way to save these female victims is for them to return to Saevio and beg for his forgiveness. Otherwise, after they die, their souls will be trapped in an amulet he wears, which increases his power." Ginny's voice was shaky as she finished reading from the Encyclopaedia of Spells, Curses and Charms.

The future looked very grim. The room was silent and pensive as the young adults were all lost in their own thoughts.

TBC