Chapter 27: The Storm
Draco drew back, and saw the shock in Lily's eyes. And who could blame her; he was shocked himself. "Oh," she managed, touching her lips whe he'd just kissed her. She pulled back a bit more, and it was a good thing too.
"Well, doesn't this look cozy?" they heard. With a start, they both looked to the side and saw James, with Sirius not far behind him.
"It's not what I'm sure a dirty minded person like you is thinking..." Draco said.
"Oh, I don't think you can be sure what Jim here is thinking. His mind dwells at the very bottom of a deep sewer," Sirius joked as he put his hand over James' shoulder. The bespecatcled young man, who was slightly shorter than Sirius Black, gave his best chum a shove.
"If that's true, it's only because of your nasty influence. I was an innocent child until I prowled these halls with this miscreant," he explained to Draco, who seemed to calm down somewhat. If it started going around the school that he was kissing Lily Evans in the halls, both Drucilla and Severus would be fighting over who gets to cut his balls off first. That was the last thing he needed now.
"And you do indeed seem to do a bit of prowling. I came over here, hoping to find you. Lily here was telling me that Severus has my wand," Draco clarified. Lily silently scurried off like a mouse who just found her way out of the trap. Both he and James watched her go for a few seconds, and Draco found that his head was aching. Actually, that wasn't accurate, it was really pounding. "I have enough trouble without worrying about you assholes."
"I'm aware of what happened last night," James said simply. Draco's eyes flew open, and his head swirled. "You had some sort of run-in with Voldemort. Judging from the way Lily found you, it's not likely that you joined him."
"Join him? The only one looking to join him was Lestrange. And his whore sister," Draco growled. Sirius and James remained silent as he tried to get a grip on himself.
"What did they want with you? Did you accidentally run into them?" James asked.
"You could say that. But since he had me, he decided to ask me about the Order of the Phoenix," Draco answered in a whisper. "I had to give him your names. I wanted to let you know."
James simply nodded. "He knows I will never join his group, and he knows of Sirius' allegience to the Order as well. I appreciate that you felt you needed to tell us of the danger, but we're already quite well aware of it."
"What about Lupin?" Draco asked.
Sirius surprised Draco with a knowing smile. "Voldemort wouldn't touch Lupin with a ten foot broomstick."
"Sirius! Voldemort would like to destroy anyone who stands in his way. That includes Lupin!" James retorted, but there was something in his voice that Draco, despite his headache, was able to hear. It was almost as if the statement was for Draco's benefit, rather than Sirius'. What else were they hiding?
"Is El Strange gone with Voldemort?" Sirius asked. Draco nodded absently. "I wonder why Rachel Lestrange killed herself," Sirius thought aloud, much to Draco's discomfort.
"The matter is under investigation by the Ministry, as well as Professor Dumbledore. But Lily told me, just now, that the Lestranges believe that she had something to do with Rachel's death. She's scared to death that the Ministry will believe them."
"Why? Because she's Muggle-born? That just kills me, that they could be such bigoted assholes!" James raged.
"Potter," Draco said dismissively, "no one except an idiot would take the raving of two bereaved parents against the word of reason."
"Don't be so sure of that," James warned him. "There are very few people like Lily in this school. There are lots of people that don't want 'her kind' here at all, including your good buddy Severus Snape! If those people could find an excuse to throw her out of Hogwarts and out of the wizarding world, they'll use it."
"Well, I know that when I attended Hogwarts in my time, there were plenty of Muggle-borns in school," Draco countered. "So, 'those people' didn't have quite the influence that you say they do."
Sirius considered this for a second, and then said, "Well, I wager that the Hogwarts of your time must have been rather crowded, with Muggle-borns in high numbers, as well as pure blooded, and half-blooded..."
"Actually, no." They both looked surprised when Draco continued. "It appears that although Voldemort says he hates Muggles, it's wizards and witches that die under his wand." His eyes lingered a bit longer on James than he had meant them to. "Go and tell your Order that." Draco turned away from them and stalked off, hoping he'd have enough strength to get his wand away from Severus.
Severus had just recieved a sponge bath from Madame Pomfrey, which had embarrassed him to no end, despite her reassurances that she'd done it quite a few times while he was off in La La land. He now sat up in his bed with a look a pure misery on his face when Draco strode into the Hospital Wing. "You alright there, Sev?" he asked when he saw Severus' dour look. "You look like you need some air."
"I'd like some air alright, but not now. I'd rather see that you finally got some of Madame Pomfrey's attentions, if for no other reason than she'll stop picking on me," Severus complained.
"Well, I do have a headache..." Draco admitted.
"Bad?" Severus asked.
Draco would have nodded, but it would make his head spin too much, so he just answered, "I'll live." That was when he fell off balance when he made too sharp a turn, and caught onto Severus' headboard to keep himself from falling down. No, Draco thought, I'm not spending another night in this Hospital Wing, I won't! His stomach made a terrible lurch from the dizziness, and he had the unpleasnt feeling that his breakfast, eaten hours ago, was going to come back and haunt him. He barely heard Severus screaming for Madame Pomfrey.
"Mr. Snape, what is it?" The question was not asked by Madame Pomfrey, but by Professor Dumbledore. He saw Draco's condition, and made a grab for him. Panicked, Draco spun away from Dumbledore's grasp. He saw Severus' night robe hanging nearby, and saw the wand that Lily had returned earlier poking out of the pocket. Draco grit his teeth, dashed to the robe and fished his wand out of the pocket, then pointed it at Dumbledore.
"Draco! What are you doing?" Severus yelled. He tried to get out of bed, but thanks to his exertions earlier with Andromeda, he was too tired to lift himself out of the bed in time. "You can't use that wand!"
"It's my wand, and it's my life! Stay away from me!" Draco screamed, then dashed out quickly, before Dumbledore could get to the door.
"No, Severus, you stay in that bed, or Madame Pomfrey will have my head!" Dumbledore ordered him when Severus tried to lift himself out of bed. "I must get him before he runs off; if I'm not mistaken, Draco is in terrible danger."
"When isn't he?" Severus snapped, standing up at last. "And he's got that wand!"
"Stay there! I'll bring him back, Severus."
Draco pushed through the great oaken doors of the school, and plowed down the stairs with his wand tight in his grip. The pain in his hand and arm from holding it was extraordinary, but he ignored it. After all, this wand had given him even worse pain than this. All he could think about was escape. The wind had picked up considerably, and the sky was dark. He looked up, and saw the storm clouds gathering over him.
To his left, he saw Hagrid's hut, and decided to go right instead. He didn't want to meet up with Hagrid of all people. His heart was racing wildly as he ran, but he ignored that as well. Lightning cut through the dark sky, and a few fat raindrops began to fall. Though it wan't really a good idea to seek shelter in the Forbidden Forest, Draco thought irrationally that it would be better to get struck by lightning than to get caught.
He stumbled into the forest, and slipped on some old leaves that covered the path. He fell backwards, hitting his head, which did nothing to help his headache at all. He turned over and vomited. "Damn," he said aloud, and his throat burned from it. He was now so weak that he didn't care if he slept right there, in the rain, in the mud. So, that was what he did.
A few hours passed. Draco picked his heavy head up with effort, and he propped himself on his elbows. He crawled around with his wand still in hand, but he couldn't see very well. It was quite dark out now. Some more lightning streaked over the treetops, and Draco stayed close to the ground, hoping to avoid it somehow. He had to get out of the forest; this was no proper shelter from a lightning storm. He glanced around him from his veiwpoint on his belly, and when the lightning flashed again, something caught his eye, under a bush. He thought he saw a person's head.
Spooked, he backed away. He watched the head. It made no movement. It's hair was soaked, pasted to it's skull, and the small bit of light from the lightning gave no clue as to who it could be, only that the hair was short. Curious, Draco neared the head again. He peered into the bush, hoping to see the person's face. Crackling lightning broke the darkness again, and Draco cried out.
It was Lestrange. He was covered with blood down the front of his body. His clothing was shredded, and his eyes and mouth were wide open in horror. Draco could see the source of the blood; Lestrange's throat had been torn open. "Nooo!!!" Draco screamed as he violently shook the cadaver. "You can't be dead, you fucking bastard! I was supposed to kill you!" With his rage, Draco waved his wand and bellowed "Crucio!" But nothing happened. "Crucio, Crucio, Crucio!" Draco pounded on the body with his fists, the butt of his wand, anything to try and give Lestrange the kind of pain he deserved for what he had done to him. "Crucio, Crucio!" Draco repeated until he broke down in frustration and misery. It was useless trying to hurt a dead body; Lestrange was now beyond pain. Unlike Draco, whose hand burned from holding the defiled wand.
He stood up. Draco came to a realization in that moment. He had indeed altered the course of history. Lestrange is dead. Whoever his victims had been would not suffer the torture that he had. He would never go to Azkaban now... Suddenly, he began to laugh, wildly, hysterically, maniacally. The one thing he had feared would happen, has happened, and he had nothing to do with it. The bastard had been attacked by a werewolf!
Maybe it was the same werewolf that had attacked him at Hogwarts. Draco suddenly grew very quiet. He listened to the rain falling around him, and he heard through it footsteps behind him. He whirled around and saw the silhouette of another student, slipping in the mud to get away. Draco persued this person until he could get close enough to see Remus Lupin flailing about on the ground, trying to rise from the mud.
"Lupin! What the hell are you doing here?" Draco demanded. Lupin's eyes widened in fright; after all, Draco was covered with mud and blood, and his white-blond hair was pasted to his head. The only thing that seemed clean on Draco were his gray eyes, and they seemed to glow in the darkness.
"I didn't mean to do it. I swear, I... I couldn't help myself!" Lupin blathered. Draco was silent, at first wondering what the hell he could be talking about. He turned to look back in the direction of Lestange's body, and then, the pieces began to fall into place. The werewolf bite on Lestrange, and Lupin coming here. His own nearly-fatal run-in with a werewolf, after being locked up in a classroom with Lupin...
Without a second thought, Draco did the same thing he did the night before; his power flowed, not with his wand, but through mere thought. Lupin stopped struggling to get away, and instead grasped his head and screamed. To Draco, it was nothing. It was like smashing a grape. He barely heard the screams from Lupin before he collapsed again, his head splitting in pain.
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