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Chapter 5

Later that day, after another never-ending rainfall, Draco left his room to walk in the gardens. He was moving slowly, in the middle of the rose garden. The dark cloud on the horizon was closer and ready to hit the castle by sundown. His mind was spiralling, and he needed to breathe. He tried to take a deep breath without success, and he continued panting. He never had been good at calming his emotions. His hands were trembling at the feel of the cold sweat falling down his spine.

He needed some time alone to not worry Blaise. He did not need to worry Blaise about this. It was his problems if he was broken and a failure, and no one else needed to be dragged in the mess he was. He always has been a mess, but he was not so good at hiding it anymore. He had the impression to fight against the whole universe, all the time.

As he was pacing along the alleys of the rose garden, Lucy saw him from her apartments and went downstairs toward him. She was always dressed in her swordswoman outfit with a large red cloak. She walked slowly to him. She could almost feel the anxiety surrounding him.

"Hey, Draco, this garden is beautiful, isn't it?" she said softly.

He turned suddenly toward her, surprised to have company. His eyes were red. He was trying to hide his emotions.

"What?" he said with a hoarse voice.

"This garden. It's really beautiful, it helps me to clear my mind when I'm not feeling so well. Does it work for you?"

Draco stood still, staring at her stunned.

"I'm okay, I don't know what you're talking about," he said turning his back and walking away.

Lucy sighed.

"You are unbelievable," she groaned.

She followed him. He was walking toward the arbour at the entrance of the rose garden, he had fastened his pace. He did not really wanted to talk about it, he was better alone. No one needed to hear his weaknesses.

She caught up with him on the top of the stairs.

"Don't run away," she said.

Draco faced her.

"I'm not running away!" he growled.

"Yes, you are. Let people help you. Open up. It's not going to hurt you more than you are already hurting."

"I doubt that," he groaned with walking down the slippery stairs. Down there was another garden with large green trees and vine climbing onto the walls. In this one, there was not a marble pavement, but grass and wildflowers.

"It's supposed to reproduce the Narnian's meadows," said Lucy behind him.

"Do it looks like I care?"

He stopped and sat on a very low branch of one very large magnolia tree. Its pink flowers were blossoming. Lucy laid against the trunk, crossed her arms and stared at him. He looked up to the tree.

"Why is it blossoming in the summer?" he asked, surprised.

Lucy chuckled at his sudden interest.

"It's enchanted to blossom all along the year," she explained, "like many of the plants here in Cair Paravel. An old Narnian trick from what I've heard."

She was not so discreetly observing him. He looked disturbed and melancholic. And even more gloomy than usual.

"So," she said. "What is happening to you?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, stop playing, why were you crying in the rose garden?" she asked.

Draco sighed. He was not used to talk about himself. Lucy was really nice and kind, but she was like those people, the one he was not part of. She would not understand.

"Try me," Lucy said.

He looked up at her. Had he just spoken aloud? Shit. It was not good for him. He took a deep breath. Maybe, he could try. She would not judge him, even if she definitely would not understand.

"I'm not like you. I'm not brave," he said slowly under his breath.

"And? Why does it bother you?"

Something broke inside Draco. Maybe a barrier he had created himself. Everything was overwhelming him.

"I'm not like that, I never was. I have no idea how you can do it, how Potter can do it – even if in his case it's most likely recklessness – and even Hermione, your brother, and Blaise. They all are brave, they can just into the danger to save others like it was nothing. Like fear doesn't exist for them!"

He stopped talking and looked down again.

"It's not an absence of fears, I'm afraid, you know, it's how you deal with it. I became a Narnian knight like my brothers, even if Peter disliked it. Because I wanted to be fearless like them. But they are not fearless, they are able to control their fears to make it a strength. If you are afraid for a loved one, you will find a huge courage to protect them."

"I'm not like that, I get paralysed by fear," he mumbled.

"I saw you during the attack at the village the other day, you were fighting like everyone, you are a good fighter. Don't depreciate yourself."

He sighed heavily and ran his hand in his hair several times.

"You don't understand!" he groaned. "I'm not even sure I'll be able to defend Blaise if he was in danger, I know I would just freeze! I'm a coward! I don't deserve to be with him, I don't deserve him! I'm just a mess I don't want he to be dragged into!"

Lucy slowly shook her head.

"I believe Blaise already accepted to be dragged into your mess, or he would not be with you. He really seems to love you," she said gently. "It's not that you wouldn't be able to protect him. It's that you are afraid to not be able to do it, it's not the same thing."

He was reading to retort, but she stopped him by raising her hand.

"No," she said. "Listen to me, really. Draco, you are a great guy. You hide yourself, and Blaise might be the only one who really know you. I've noticed you were avoiding the other witches and wizards. Don't let your fears and poor self-esteem drive you away from people who are or could be your friends. If you were a coward, you wouldn't have come to Narnia in such condition."

Draco had a sad snort.

"I didn't come to help like Potter did, I'm not that good. I was in danger back in England. People didn't trust me, they thought that I was with the enemy. I just ran away," he confessed.

"Not everyone is as altruistic and selfless than Harry, but you are helping anyway. You could just have left or staid at Cair Paravel, and not put yourself in danger. But you did. So, Stop devalorising yourself."

She looked at him in the eyes. He was on the verge of crying once again.

"Bravery is about pretending. You pretend to be brave until you don't have to pretend anymore. Don't go around thinking my brothers are the bravest men in the world, they are just pretending most of the time, they are terrified at the idea of losing Narnia. But they have to pretend, so they do it. And so, can you."

They stopped talking for a moment. Drops of rainwater were falling from the flowers. It made a curious noise, almost like a melody.

"And Blaise loves you, or he wouldn't have come here with you," she added. "You should be talking to him right now, not to me. He is the one you should share your pain with. Don't hide yourself away, or he will believe you don't trust him."

Draco stared at her with surprise.

"Then why did you talk to me?" he asked.

"Because you needed to talk about it," Lucy answered. "Go see your boyfriend now."

Draco jumped from the branch to the ground.

"Thank you, Lucy."

As he was walking away, he could hear her saying "You're welcome." from behind. He let himself smiled a little. It had been a long time since he had not talk to anyone like this. He should do it more often. He was going back to his room, to Blaise. In the stairs, he met Luna who was going down, most likely to see Lucy.

Luna smiled at him but did not stop, she wanted to see Lucy and no one else. Draco rolled his eyes as they crossed path. She met her girlfriend under the magnolia with a large grin. Lucy kissed her cheek as they both sat on the low branch.

"You talked to Draco?" Luna asked.

Lucy nodded with a smile.

"Yes, he's okay, I think," she answered.

"He needs to stop hiding," smiled Luna.

Lucy chuckled.

"It's exactly what I said."

They both nodded with a large grin. Luna leaned toward Lucy gave her a very long kiss. Their relationship happened really fast. They saw it coming, like almost everyone who had seen them together after they met, and they were really happy to be able to have something so precious as love. Lucy had not seen any other human other than her siblings since a very long time, and Luna was so beautiful and honest. They were a good match. Luna had spent most of her time in Cair Paravel with Lucy and slept mostly in her apartments.

When the sun disappeared behind the ocean, all hell broke loose in the sky. The worst storm since at least a good decade hit the castle. Gigantic waves were reaching the lower balconies and terraces, flying foam was covering every gardens.

Everyone was hiding in their rooms, shutters closed. But they still could hear the terrible noise of the ocean. The rain was pouring from every direction, mostly horizontally. No one could be outside without being swept away by the violence of the elements.

The wind was a fury maybe worse than the others. The flags which had not been put away were torn into pieces and blown away by the violence of the wind. It was way past a little gale. The noise was freezing Harry's blood in his veins. He was staying with Edmund. None of them could sleep, so they kept each other company.

Walls of water was smashing against the foundations of the castle making it crumble. Thunder was rumbling, but it was almost inaudible in the middle of the rattle of the wind and the ocean.

When the night was slowly pushed away by the shy glow of the rising sun, the storm calmed down. The ocean was merely waving, the wind was nothing more than a light breeze. Every place outside were soaked in seawater and salt.

The dark clouds had been blown away by the wind at dawn and now it was almost as clear as a summer day.

After another day of royal duties and training, the decision was made to prepare a royal banquet in small committee on the great beach beneath Cair Paravel for the queens and kings and their guests of honour.

Marquees were installed above the seats and the tables, pageboy were preparing the torches, fires, and oil lamps for the sunset. Everything was ready, and the guests were arriving slowly by the tortuous stairs carved in the cliffs who had not been used for many decades – if not centuries.

The relationship between the four siblings was still tense. Or to be more precise, the relationships between Peter and the three others was tense. When Susan had learned about the fight her brothers had, she was upset. She had a discussion with Peter about it behind closed doors, but everyone heard the yelling and shouting.

They all sat around a horseshoe-shape table, facing the ocean. The diner started in a heavy silence after Peter's speech.

"I greet you all today at a feast in honour of Narnia and Aslan," he had said. "Despite the dark circumstances and the lack of progress we made so far in our quest to save and protect Narnia, our duty is to honour our guests who accepted to share our quest. No matter the cost, we will defend Narnia. We have to be brave; we have to be worthy of our duty, no failure can be accepted! To Narnia!"

And the others repeated "To Narnia!".

The only thing Edmund heard in his brother's speech was criticism. His dark mood was visible, he did not talk, did not smiled, did not even look at his brother – or at anyone. Hermione was trying to make a conversation with Peter, who was next to her. The only thing the man could talk about was the knights he selected for the missions. How brave they were, how skilled and tenacious, how intelligent, how trustworthy. And at each of his sentences, Edmund's aura was getting darker and darker. They had not talked since their fight the day before. And the odds of them talking again anytime soon was really low.

Harry was sitting next to Edmund, and he did not really talk. He tried to have a discussion with Edmund – with no success. He did not like to see him like this. He wanted to stand up and shake Peter a bit to force him to apologies. But he saw the glare Hermione sent him and he controlled himself. - He did not need to make an enemy of Peter. Not yet.

Lucy was doing her best to ignore her siblings to have a nice diner with her girlfriend, Draco and Blaise. They were on the other side of the table and had a calm and quiet conversation.

When the time for dessert came, Harry and Hermione had left the table to play with a ball they invoked. The sun was not far from the horizon line, throwing a large glimmer on the rolling sea, reflected on each crest, on each wave troughs, creating an ocean of golden glows. Torches had been set in the sand all around the banquet's tables and along the beach, waiting for the sunset. They were nonetheless already burning slowly.

Harry was throwing the ball at Hermione with a large laugh. She had the idea and he got along with it. He wanted distraction, and this was perfect. He had not played at any ball games since a very long time. But he was still fairly good at it. Behind him, at the dinner table, he could felt Edmund's eyes burning his back.

And Hermione was not bad either, even if she missed several catches up – which was related to Harry's failed shots according to her and he denied it a bit too much for it to be honest.

"Okay, okay, I might be a bit out of practice!" he laughed when she threw him the ball in the stomach when he accused her of missing a shot in bad faith.

He threw the ball back at her willingly a bit too far, and she had to step back to pick it up. When she was down, Harry suddenly felt the temperature dropping of a few degrees around them. Hermione was a dozen meters away from him. And just behind her, it appeared. He first heard the screams behind him, at the table. And then he saw it. A dark creature. Only one. It was just behind Hermione who had not yet seen it. It was reaching to touch her.

"Hermione!" he shouted. "Run! Don't look back!"

She dropped the ball and jumped to her feet. She knew everyone of Harry's tone, and this one was reserved to very worrying and dangerous situation. Only his voice made her hair stand on end. She was still too close to the creature, Harry could not cast a bombarda yet, or he would kill her as well. And it was following her. Fast. His blood was pounding in his veins. He had to do something quickly.

"Experliarmus!" he cast as strong as he could.

It was the only way. The only way to keep it away from Hermione. The creature was pushed away from them, but only of a few meters. It was strong. Hermione rushed next to Harry in a matter of second. He was still holding the spell, the second he will drop it, the creature would be on them. He was about to asked Hermione to cast a bombarda on the creature when it happened again.

A blue magnetic arc appeared from his wand, around the creature, like a firework. It cost him so much energy, so much magic to maintain the spell. He could felt a drop of sweat falling on his forehead. He heard Hermione gapped next to him.

"Holy Merlin's beard!" she muttered.

The arc was consuming too much energy.

"Mione!" he grunted. "Blew him up! Quickly!"

"We are too close!" she gasped.

"Do it!"

The young woman sighed and cast "Bombarda Maxima!"

The second the spell left Hermione's wand, Harry dropped his and threw himself on her, tackling her onto the ground as the creature exploded violently next to them. They should have been dead or at least badly injured if Luna had not cast a shielding spell around them.

Harry bumbled up and helped Hermione up as soon as the creature disappeared.

"That was close," he sighed.

"I shouldn't have listened to you," Hermione groaned. "You are going to get us killed one day, Harry."

He winced and shrugged his shoulders.

"Hopefully not," said dryly Edmund as he got closer to them. "Are you okay?"

They both nodded and Harry felt that Edmund was restricting himself from patting him again and he stopped a grin from invading his face. Instead, he patted his shoulder with a very small smile.

The rest of the Pevensies rushed to them.

"How on earth a dark creature can appear in Cair Paravel?!" barked Peter.

"And why?" added Susan with a frown.

It was the first time one of these creatures had appeared someplace else than at the borders.

"Their pattern is changing," said Blaise.

Everyone looked at him.

"Why now?" he continued. "Why appearing now? Is there something about this place, or the time of day? And why only one when at the borders they were in pack?"

They all shared a surprised stare. And Blaise added "We spent hours in the castle this past few days, we were vulnerable, why not attacking us back then?"

Draco's face lit up next to him.

"It's because they can't!" he whispered, and then he repeated out loud. "They can't attack in the castle, there are something about it. And it possible that only one appeared because it's difficult for them to get here, in this part of the kingdom."

Blaise looked at his boyfriend and winked at him with a discreet grin. Harry nodded vigorously.

"You are a genius, Malfoy!" exclaimed Harry.

Next to him Blaise whispered, 'He is my genius' and Hermione scowled at them.

"But why now?" asked again Edmund with a frown.

"They are attacking us," said Luna.

"We already knew that" snorted Peter, rolling his eyes at her. Lucy hit him in the ribs and told him to shut up. Luna smiled at her and continued speaking.

"They are attacking us, not you," she told Peter. "The witches and the wizards. We are their target. They know we are here to defeat them."

"And can you even know that?" snorted Peter.

That time, even Hermione and Harry scowled at Peter and Susan hit him behind the head.

"If we know, if the Oracle know, why wouldn't they?" said Susan with a sigh. "Please, Peter, stop being an ass for more than five seconds and listen to Luna, she had already helped us a lot."

They all started to walk back to the castle when Hermione called out to them.

"We aren't going to talk about it?" she shouted.

They all stopped and looked at her.

"A bloody magnetic arc appeared, and no one seems to care!" she squealed.

"It's not normal with magic?" asked Edmund surprised.

"It already happened last time," said Harry shrugging his shoulders.

Hermione sighed again.

"And you wonder why I went along in this trip," she muttered. "It's not normal, it's a reaction to the creature's nature and relation to magic! It's the key to this situation!"

"But what does it mean?" said Blaise. "It's just a magnetic arc, we saw plenty of this during the war."

"Exactly! We can understand this!" Hermione said. "It's why we are here!"

They had no answer to this so far, except Hermione's instinct. Harry trusted her. She always had good instinct when it comes to deduction. They had to go back to the castle, the sun was down, and the darkness looked even less appealing after this apparition.

The guards had been doubled around the castle and the harbour for the night. They all feared another attack, a stronger one. They went to sleep with a feeling of anxiety and terror. Cair Paravel was not so peaceful anymore. Everything was falling apart.


To be continued...