Okay so this chapter was supposed to be where you meet voldemort!
however, I ended up typing 10 pages, so you'll see him next chapter! Wow, this story is really long you guys!
Anyways thanks to all of you guys for reading...and, enjoy the chapter ^_^
Our Time Is Running Out
Parchment 13: My Unlucky Father
Lixella woke one morning to something wonderful, silence. She was very happy to find out that, unlike her room at Cruxshade manor, this room had no birds outside of her window. This was nearly a blessing, since the birds caused her to lose a lot of sleep. However, she did not sleep much now a days. She only had nightmares, of wizards killing banshees. Needless to say, Lixella was quite sick of this. She climbed out of her bed, unaware of what time it was. She leaned over her trunk and took a few clothes out. She was just about to head out of the door, after getting ready, when she noticed something. Her bed was not made. She leaned over the covers, and began straightening them. Just as she did, there was a knock at the door.
"hey, do you have clothes on?" asked a familiar voice.
"Yes, Draco" Lixella scoffed.
He proceeded to enter the room, and waltz over to her. However, he paused abruptly when he noticed what she was doing.
"Why are you doing that?" he asked, referring to the bed making, "We have house elves for that"
"ugh" she said, rolling her eyes, "you know Draco, a bit of manual labor never killed anyone."
"But, you're a witch, why not just let something else make it for you?"
"Because, I messed up this bed, so I should make it pretty again!"
"That doesn't make any sense"
"It makes perfect sense"
"Why do that when you have magic?"
"Why do magic when you can just do it yourself?"
"Whatever" he rolled his eyes, "Look, you need to come downstairs. It's kind of urgent. My umm….my aunt is asking for you."
He looked around nervously, Lixella knew that this wouldn't be good. The two of them proceeded downstairs to a room that resembled a parlor. It was wide and tall, with large chairs, and a marble fireplace. However, the chairs had been cleared to the sides of the room. Again, she took this as another bad sign. At the end of the room stood Narcissa and a lady that Lixella took to be Draco's aunt. She was very much darker than her sister. Her hair was black, and wildly tumbled down her back. She wore a slim black dress, with terrible posture. She looked sincerely insane.
"Oh!" she started, her eyes getting wide, "is this her?"
She walked towards Lixella with a wonky sort of grace. "What's your name, Girl?" she asked, circling.
"Lixella Cruxshade, Ma'am" she said, conditionally curtsying.
"Don't call me ma'am….my name is Bellatrix!" she almost cackled. "Curtsying, eh? Very proper this one. A little lady, are you?"
"Umm…"
"oh well, whatever! You're the new meat! you know what that means?" she said, sinisterly walking around the room. Lixella shook her head. "It means that you need to be able to fight!" she came an inch away from Lixella's face. She could now see just how crazy Bellatrix's eyes were. "Well, are you going to pull your wand out? Or should I just shoot you?" With a single motion, Lixella had removed her wand from it's casing, and held it in a dueling stance. She was not going to lose her first fight with a death eater. Bellatrix practically hoped over to the other side of the room. Draco and Narcissa made sure to stay out of their way. Lixella kept her eyes on Bellatrix, she did not want to lose eye contact once. Her father had taught her how to duel, and he was brutal.
"Imper…." Bellatrix began to yell
"Stupify!" Lixella said hastily. A bolt of light shot from her wand, Bellatrix quickly defelcted. A sinister smile crept across her face.
"Quick girl…..but what about THIS!" she yelled and fire erupted everywhere.
"Aguamente" Lixella thought in a split second. They stood there for a good minute, shooting water and fire at each other. The flames died down, as did the wave of water. Lixella began breathing pretty heavy, she was nervous. It had been a while since she'd seriously fought someone.
"Goodness! This girl know how to party!" Bellatrix gasped, "can you read minds though? When your out there, you could have any spell shot at you!" Her eyes became nearly deranged. Lixella didn't need to read anyone's mind to see what was coming next. She stood at guard, as Bellatrix shot a thousand different spells at her, from different angles. Most of them were non-verbal spells. Lixella fought as if her life depended on it. Bellatrix became unhappy, an impatient.
"Legilimens!" she shouted, Lixella nearly fell to the floor. Before her eyes she saw her parents. They were sitting on a couch, holding her infant self. Then, she was leaving Malfoy manor as a child. Next, she stood in the forest with the banshees, making her promise.
"Naughty naughty" Belltatrix said, as she walked up behind her. Lixella forced Bellatrix out of her mind. They both stumbled back a bit.
"That's private!" she shouted. Petrificus totalus, she thought as she cast her wand at an unsuspecting Bellatrix. She froze instantly, and fell to the ground. There was a long pause, Lixella stood there, staring across the room. When Narcissa realized that her sister was paralyzed, she ran over and muttered a counter curse. Bellatrix stood up, and marched over to Lixella. She pointed her wand to Lixella, who readied herself. Just as she got close, she vanished. With a loud pop, she reappeared behind Lixella.
"Cru…" she began shouting.
"Expeliarmus!" Lixella shouted, as she whirled around. The wand flew out of Bellatrix's hand. The two of them paused, staring at each other. Lixella kept her wand at the ready, just in case. Then, bellatrix began clapping.
"Very good, little Lixl!" she said, applauding her slowly, "it seems that this one can put up quite a fight! Who taught you?"
"my…dad, did" she replied.
"Ah! William! Willy, will, will, willy, William…..good spell caster! Not very lucky though" she said, "pity, he was always just a second off when it mattered. He…trusted people too much" she picked up her wand, and walked towards Lixella. "He always, let his guard down…when it mattered most! Crucio!" a bolt of red light shot out of her wand, and hit Lixella right in the stomach. She fell to the ground, writhing in pain. It was as if someone had taken a knife, and was repeatedly stabbing it through her. She screamed out in pain, unsure if anyone could actually hear her.
"aunt Bellatrix!" Draco shouted
"Bella!" shouted Narcissa.
She continued to laugh maniacally, as if possessed. Lixella just squirmed on the floor, reaching for something to hold on to. She found nothing but barren hard wood floor pane.
"Stop it!" Draco yelled at the top of his lungs. He removed his wand, and pointed it towards her intimidatingly. Bellatrix stopped, and stared wide eyed at her nephew, who had his wand nearly at her neck.
Lixella stopped shouting, she couldn't move because of the pain. She just lay there, on the floor, tears pouring from her eyes. Her heart was pounding, nearly exploding, as she tried to catch her breath. The air entered her lungs in short raspy gasps.
"Bella, she's just a young girl!" her sister spat, "we shouldn't be using those on her!"
"humph" Bellatrix scoffed, "The dark lord wouldn't have held back…" she waltzed over to Lixella, who was still unable to get up. Draco followed her hastily, and put an arm around Lixella.
"He'll be very happy with you!" she said, beaming at Lixella with insanity. She then got up, and skipped out of the room, humming something. Draco put his arm around her, and tried to pull her to her feet. Lixella stumbled as she tried to stand, but failed. She crashed back to the ground.
"I can't…I don't think I can get up" she said, weakly.
"It's okay….I've got you" he said, "put your arms around me" she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he lifted up her legs, holding her up with both of his arms. She began breathing slowly, trying to calm her body down.
"I apologize for my sister" said Narcissa, summoning a couch from the wall, "she's a bit twisted."
Lixella clung tight to Draco, as he lowered her down onto the couch. "yeah…I got that" she said, nearly out of breath.
"you're still in shock….I'll go get something to help that" said Narcissa, and she headed out the door to find a tonic. Draco pulled a chair from against the wall, and sat next to her. He buried his face in his hands, sighing heavily. Lixella just sat on the couch, catching her breath.
"I failed" she said, after catching her breath, "if that had been a real battle, I would've died!"
" No, you did really good. Better than me, I got hit on like the 5th spell." he said, staring at the floor.
"But, if my dad had seen that…" she trailed off, "he would've….god, I dunno what he would've done!"
"beaten the living shit out of my aunt, that's what!" he said, "She didn't like him because he was better at dueling than her. My mother told me about them all the time."
"he would be so mad at me" she gulped, "for not blocking in time!" there was a reason that Lixella was amazing at defense against the dark arts. This was because her father would duel with her from age 6, if she lost, she faced the consequences, without question.
Narcissa came back with a bottle of nerve tonic and a house elf carrying a tray of tea behind her. She handed Lixella the tea cup, and put two drops of tonic in it. The tea turned bright red, and she drank it. In an instant, the potion spread through her body, relaxing her shocked nerves, and calming her down.
"Bellatrix says that he'll be coming here tonight" Narcissa stated, "you two should get prepared. Lixella, I'm not sure if Draco has told you, but the dark lord…"
"I know…" she said, staring at her cup, "he's been looking for me. Guess it's impossible to avoid him now." Her eyes shifted to Draco, who's face was still in his hands.
"She says he'll be here to test you" Narcissa put her cup down, and looked Lixella straight in the eyes, "If you aren't the person he is searching for, he will most likely kill you. I'm sorry, Lixella, I wish there was a way I could keep you out of all of this mess."
"Thank you Mrs. Malfoy" Lixella shifted her gaze to the corner, "but I think that this moment in time, was unavoidable. I'll have to face him sooner or later."
"It is you! Trust me" Draco said, lifting his head up, "there won't be any killing tonight. You're the one he's looking for."
Later that night, Lixella sat by the window, trying to savor her last moments of not being a death eater. She didn't know if it would happen tonight, but she was hoping it wouldn't. The moon was full that night, and she began thinking of sister Cordellia. There had to be a way to keep her promise to the banshees. She couldn't abandon them, to work for Voldemort.
The sound of people rushing in could suddenly be heard from downstairs. There were voices talking in hushed tones, and the shuffling of feet. This was it, Lixella had dressed in her black dress again, this might as well be her funeral. A knock sounded at her door, she knew it was Draco, so she just ushered him in.
"Ready?" he asked
"No….but I don't have a choice do I?" she said, scared.
They both walked downstairs to the dining room. Lixella prepared to face the dark lord himself, Voldemort.
To Voldemort! see you in chapter 14 ^_^
