Saturday, 6 April, 05:25 GMT, present day
The mustiness infiltrated his nostrils as he walked down the dark stairwell. He adjusted his grip on his mother's wand as he hit the bottom of the stairs. He canted his head as he saw the brunette dressed in her blue hospital scrubs backtracking. Her bare feet slid slowly across the dirty floor of the locked cell.
He waved the wand uttering the unlocking spell, Alohamora. The barred door unlocked and the door swung open. He stepped into the light of the cell.
He watched as her breath hitched. And then was taken aback as she ran to him and threw her arms around him.
He shoved her violently to the floor. He uttered the stunning spell, Stupefy. She was lifted off her feet and was flung backward into the back wall of the cell.
He yanked her up by her shirtfront and hoisted her up off the ground with his left hand while aiming his wand at her chest. She looked straight into his eyes. They seemed cold and empty.
"Phil, it's me, Drew," she said, whimpering.
"I don't think we've been properly introduced," he sneered. "My name is Kourtney Schield."
o-o-o
Phillip bolted upright in his bed and turned the switch on his lamp. His chest was covered in sweat. His breathing was erratic as he tried to recall the nightmare. He had had the same dream every night for the past week.
He looked at his wristwatch, 5:30 am. There was no way he would get any more sleep. 'To the weight room,' he thought to himself.
o-o-o
Saturday, 6 April, 13:25 GMT, present day
The twin Malfoy brothers arrived after Phillip and the Longbottom-Malfoy clan had finished their lunch meal almost fifteen minutes ago. The menfolk gathered in the backyard to drink their adult beverages.
Draco nodded at Phillip, "So, what are your plans for tomorrow, Phil?"
"Uh, well, Aston and his dad invited me over for Easter lunch," Phillip said before taking a sip from his bottle. The three Malfoys nodded. "You guys having Easter brunch at the Manor?"
"Yeah," Hans said, "the usual. The whole family gathers. The men hide the Easter eggs while the womenfolk distract the young ones."
They all laughed. "Well, it will be a first Easter for all of the infants," Phil noted.
The brothers looked at each other for a moment. "Um, yeah," Draco said.
Phillip looked down at his beer before looking up, "Drew's not stuck working, is she?"
The brothers glanced at each other again. Heath answered, "Nah, she's coming."
"Well," Phillip said, taking a sip, choosing his words, "Tell everybody I said, 'Happy Easter.'"
The three nodded. There was an awkward pause before Hans cleared his throat, "So, Phil, you still have your Mum's wand, yeah?"
Phillip raised his eyebrows and then shrugged, "Yeah, it's in a box, gathering dust on the mantle at Dad's, right where your father left it last May. Why?"
"Well, why don't you bring it with you next week," Hans said before tanking the last of his bottle. His brothers gave him a side way's glance.
Phillip snorted, then raised an eyebrow at Hans. "Seriously?"
"Yeah," Hans nodded. "You might as well put it to good use, right?"
"Aren't there laws against that?" Phillip asked.
The brothers looked at each other and shrugged. Hans began, "There are laws against underage Wizardry. I think you're well past the age requirement."
They all laughed. Draco waved his wand and four more beer bottles were made ready.
"We have a Hogwarts professor," Hans said as he pointed at Heath who rolled his eyes. "I'll be the Ministry Law Enforcement official and we have a mediwizard. What could go wrong?"
Phillip laughed, "You're nutters."
"What's the worse that could happen?" Draco asked. They all laughed again.
"Alright, then," Phillip said, raising his beer bottle. "Wand training next week."
The three Malfoys cheered as they clinked their bottlenecks together. They all took their last sip before grabbing new bottles.
"We're like totally drunk off our asses right now, aren't we?" Phillip said.
"Yeah, probably," Hans said snorting. They all drank their beers in quiet for a few minutes.
"Alright, Phillip?" Heath asked as he stood up to stretch.
"Hmm," Phillip said as he looked up, shaking himself out of his daze. He raised his bottle. "Yeah, I'm good."
Draco nodded at him before drinking from his beer. "You look tired, man," Junior said.
"Uh, yeah," Phillip said. "You know, rehab is a bitch.
"I haven't been sleeping well the past week," Phillip said, shrugging.
Both Hans and Heath nodded. Draco canted his head for a moment, "You should get into an ice bath when you get home from treatment."
Phillip nodded, "Yeah, I think I'll try that."
"You sure you're alright, Phil?" Draco asked sensing the older man was keeping something to himself.
"Yeah, just tired is all," Phil said, not wanting to tell them about his nightmares. He'll leave that for another day. He gulped the rest of his beer. The Malfoys nodded as they, too, downed the rest of theirs.
o-o-o
Sunday, 7 April, 12:05 GMT, present day
The infants were fast asleep after their busy morning egg hunt with the rest of the older Granger-Malfoy grandchildren. The older ones sat at the children's table comparing their Easter egg hunt hauls as they finished eating their brunch while the adults conversed at the grown-up table.
"Alright, Drew?" Heath asked after taking a sip of his wine.
"Yes, I'm good, thanks," Drew said as she took a sip of her iced tea.
"It was a lovely day today, wasn't it?" Draco, Jr. asked. Everyone nodded in agreement. He raised his glass, "Happy Easter!"
"Cheers," everyone raised their glass as well before taking a sip.
"Which reminds me, Phillip says, 'Happy Easter,'" Junior said.
Drew paused mid-sip as she looked up. She blew out a breath.
"Um, yeah," Hans began, "So, we told him to bring his wand with him on Saturday."
"Wait, what?" Drew said as she sat up.
"Yeah," Heath said as he took a sip, "Hans suggested we train him."
"This can't be legal, can it, Dad?" Drew spoke up.
The boys started to laugh. Her father shrugged and smiled. "Uh, I don't think there are any laws on the books against it."
"How does this not sound like it's going to end badly?" Drew asked looking at her brothers and her parents.
"He's a big boy, Drew," Hans said shrugging. "We think he can handle himself."
"Don't worry, we're not gonna hurt him," Junior said, putting his arm around her shoulders.
"Much," Heath added smiling.
Drew rolled her eyes. Everybody began to laugh. And like that time that Phillip had found out about what she could do, she felt a veil of anxiousness drape over her.
o-o-o
Saturday, 27 April, 13:45 GMT, present day
"I have to hand it to you, Phil," Draco said as he handed Phil an opened bottle of Heineken. "You're a gamer."
Phil looked up at the platinum blonde mediwizard as Hans agreed, "Junior's right. We didn't think you'd make it past that first week."
"Remember when you almost set your whole shirt on fire trying to levitate the pile of leaves," Heath said as everyone started to laugh.
"Yeah, good times," Phil said laughing.
"Yeah, you're like my Timex," Junior said as he took a gulp of beer. "You take a licking and keep on ticking."
"Right," Hans said, "You bounced right back up even after Stupefy and Levicorpus."
"Not to mention the full body-bind spell," Heath nodded. "No hard feelings?"
Phil laughed, "None taken. I figured you guys were just trying to get back at me after what I did to Drew."
There was a slight pause as the Malfoy brothers looked at each other. "Touché," Draco said as he raised his bottle. Phillip smiled.
"Hey, so next week we should work on defensive spells," Hans said.
The Malfoy boys nodded. Draco canted his head at Phillip who stifled a yawn.
"Rehab still bothering you?" Draco nodded at Phillip.
Phillip let out a snort. He shrugged, "Haven't been sleeping well.
"I've been having nightmares about that night for the past month or so," Phillip said, finally deciding to share what had been bothering him.
"Nightmares?" Heath said.
"The same one, actually," Phillip said as he looked down at his bottle, "Always starts the same way, too."
o-o-o
He yanked her up by her shirtfront and hoisted her up off the ground with his left hand while aiming his wand at her chest. She looked straight into his eyes. They seemed cold and empty.
"Phil, it's me, Drew," she said, whimpering.
"I don't think we've been properly introduced," he sneered. "My name is Kourtney Schield."
Drew was suddenly caught off guard. The tall basketball player shoved his right knee into her midsection. She doubled over, coughing up blood. He turned on her again, kicking her in her side.
He watched her attempt to vault towards the cell door in hopes of escaping. He waved his wand again, casting Levicorpus. She was hoisted up by her leg, dangling upside down. With a flick of his wrist, she was thrown violently into the back wall once again, chest first. She crumpled to the floor.
"Seriously, half-breed," he said as he picked her up by her ponytail. He fisted her shirtfront as he held her against the wall. "Did you really think you could have escaped so easily?"
"Please snap out of this, Phil," she cried as she looked directly into his dark blue eyes.
"My grandfather spins a different tale," he began. "My real father was Kellen Tanner, my mother, Roxanne Schield."
Drew's eyes widened in shock. He watched her gulp.
"They were killed nearly thirty years ago," he gritted his teeth, tightening his grip on her shirt, hoisting her off her feet. "By your parents."
Drew shook her head. She gripped at his forearm and wrist. She looked into his eyes, pleading.
"Quite a family secret, don't you agree?" he sneered as he threw her to the ground. She rolled onto her back. "I'll let you in on another secret, Granger.
"The Schield family has a gift. We are able to drain one's strength by overpowering him … or her. Scores of our enemies have surrendered over the course of history due to this. This gift is more prevalent in the male line," he said, towering over her as she looked up at him.
"I'll tell you what Grandfather has shared about you," he said as he paced around her. "You have a gift yourself. You have the ability to heal."
She looked at him. She took a painful breath.
"Soon, you'll lose that. I'll avenge my family by hurting yours," he said as he pointed the wand at her. "Grandfather gave me some pointers with this. Did you know this was my mother's?"
He stroked her cheek with the tip of the twelve-inch oak wand. She flinched. "He tasked me to torture you, without using the torture curse," he smirked at her. "I think that would be doable, don't you? And possibly more satisfying."
They both took deep breaths as they locked eyes. He aimed the tip of his wand at her again.
His tone was measured, "You'll die a painful death, unable to heal yourself. You have no power. My revenge is almost complete; your family will learn what it is like to lose one of its own."
He placed the wand into his back pocket. He pulled her up by her shirtfront and dragged her to the brick wall behind them. He shoved her roughly against it. She gasped, trying to catch her breath. They locked eyes again for a moment. He shut his eyes and concentrated. A Muggle 9-millimeter handgun flew through the air and landed in his palm.
"Or I can facilitate matters," he said matter-of-factly, as he cocked the hammer and aimed it at her chest.
She just looked at him. She gulped. Her eyes fluttered as tears slowly streamed down the sides of her face.
"Do you have any last words, half-breed, before I end this," he said icily as he closed the distance between them, placing the muzzle of the handgun against her forehead. She whimpered as she looked up at him.
o-o-o
Saturday, 27 April, 13:55 GMT, present day
"I wake up with a jolt, covered in sweat," Phillip said as he looked at the brothers.
"Whoa," Heath blew out a breath, "that's heavy."
"Well," Hans shrugged, "I read your statement. That's more or less how it went down."
"In the nightmare, I'm ruthless," Phil said as he took a strained breath.
"You have to learn to forgive yourself, Phil," Draco said looking at him. "The nightmares are just a manifestation of your guilt."
Phillip looked at him and laughed. "You're a psychologist now? They teach you that in mediwizard school?"
"Yeah, it's Psychology 101," Draco said as he nodded at him.
They all started to laugh. It took them a while to settle down.
"Your dad said it took him a while to get over his nightmares as well," Phillip said as he looked at his beer bottle for a moment. Then he looked the boys in the eyes.
"Draco's right, Phil," Heath said. "You've gotta forgive yourself. Healing can't happen until you do."
"You haven't talked to Drew, lately, have you?" Hans asked.
"She hasn't returned my voicemails or texts in a while," Phillip shrugged. "I don't blame her."
"Maybe that's why the nightmares have been so prevalent," Draco said. He put his arm around the athlete's shoulders. "You're frustrated."
"Okay, thanks for the therapy session," Phillip said before gulping down the rest of his beer.
"Hey, she'll come around eventually, Phil," Heath said as he pulled four more beers from the refrigerator. He handed the bottles out.
Everyone clinked their bottlenecks against each other's bottle. Draco squeezed Phillip's shoulder in comfort. Phil nodded at him before taking a sip of his beer as he thought about their sister.