30
Draco POV
Sitting on the edge of my bed, I stared at my hand. I could see the ridges in my thumb clearly; they were outlined by a large red stain that extended from my thumb print to the palm of my hand. Sarah hadn't been lying, her blood wasn't brown; it was definitely red. Thinking about her made my heart clench. I'd promised her that I wouldn't do it. What was I thinking? It'd been a promise I knew I couldn't keep. If I didn't have to worry about my family I would've joined her in a heartbeat. But it wasn't just about me- it never had been. Desperate for a way out, for friendship, I'd pushed those thoughts aside and selfishly made her trust me. Eyes tightening, I continued to stare at the blood, remembering how she'd been trembling, how her hot blood had come forth from her skin, staining mine. Was she recovered yet? Would she ever recover? Would she even read my letter?
Restless, I got up and paced around and around my room, holding my stained hand by the wrist to force myself to look at the blood. Right before I'd let the Death Eaters in, I'd sat in our chair, writing the letter without a clue why. I didn't know that I'd have a chance to give it to her, I didn't know if I'd ever see her again. Despite that, I'd poured in my heart, my thoughts, the truth, into that letter. My main intention after writing it was to leave it in the room. It was clear betrayal against the Dark Lord, but I found that I didn't care. Angry at the world for the position I was in, I'd tucked it into my jacket pocket and let them in, only thinking about who I'd be hurting the whole time. When I'd had Dumbledore cornered, I couldn't focus on him, and there was no way I could kill him. And then she'd appeared, following Bellatrix meekly. At first I thought she was there under her own steam- until I'd seen her eyes, then, I couldn't look away if I'd wanted to. They had turned a terrible, unnatural coal black; lifeless and blank. The longer I'd look, searching all the more frantically for the spark of life that was usually there, the longer I was denied. Horrible comprehension had hit me then- she was possessed, like she'd mentioned briefly about her summer. Fear had exploded in my stomach-she wasn't supposed to be there! Only increasing my horror, I watched as she had walked forward in a stiff, jerky fashion, as if somewhere inside she was fighting back. Bellatrix had told her to kill Dumbledore in my stead, and it looked as if she was going to do it. But then I'd noticed her face tightening, and Bellatrix beside me shaking. My heart had leapt into my throat when she'd turned fluidly, raising her shaking arm fully to cast a shield charm. As quickly as she'd gained freedom, Bellatrix stole it away.
Fleeing the castle, Snape's hand clenched tight around my collar, I glanced as often as I could at Sarah, at those terrible dark eyes, but no trace of her was left. Dreadful thoughts swarmed through my head as I watched her. I could easily envision her in front of the Dark Lord, kissing his robes, becoming the thing she hated the most. My expectation that the Order would pursue us fell through, and that's when I thought for sure that Sarah would be forced to come with us. Instead, Bellatrix had stopped on the grounds for revenge. Standing next to Snape as he looked at the castle, looking for opposition, I heard the worst sound in the world- Sarah screaming. Bellatrix was sadistic, and Sarah had done her wrong, the torture could last for hours. To make matters worse, when Potter confronted Snape, he pushed me towards Bellatrix, towards Sarah. As I'd hovered over her, barely even realizing that Bellatrix was pushing back her left sleeve, her eyes met mine. I'd never seen her so angry, so accusing. Her gaze went through every part of me; it made me burn with shame. The fiery look vanished as her eyes squeezed shut; Bellatrix had found the mark. Before I could object, Bellatrix pointed her wand at it. The effect was instantaneous. The shrieks from Sarah were worse than any I'd heard before, even the ones I'd heard echoing through my house as the Dark Lord punished his followers. The mark was traveling up her arm by an unseen force with an agonizingly slow pace. Sick to the core, Bellatrix started to instruct me on how to ruin Sarah forever, enlarging the skull to the size on my forearm. I couldn't watch the mark, I could only see Sarah, writhing, arching and trembling. The terrible pain she was feeling was my fault. "Now, for the final touch." Bellatrix had said, raising her wand to complete the image. Before I could stop myself, I objected, then told the truth; that Sarah was Muggleborn.
I'd only meant to help Sarah, but I had the opposite effect. Bellatrix started slashing with her wand, deep cuts appearing everywhere she touched, screaming incoherently in anger. I felt my eyes widen in shock as she raised her wand, ready to kill her- "Bellatrix!" Snape had called sharply, pulling her away as Order members started to swarm out of the doors. He yanked her away, into the forest. With that tiny moment, I'd touched her face, wiped away blood, hating myself to a point where I'd rather stay and be sent to Azkaban for it. "I'm sorry," I'd whispered, sticking the letter in her pocket, panicking when I saw how much blood she was losing. Unable to stay, I'd left, like the coward I was, passing Potter, who was on the ground, Immobilized and panting from his efforts to get up. Abruptly stopping my pacing, I turned on my heel and went into the bathroom, reaching for the faucet. As water flowed down the drain, I looked at my hand, willing myself to wash her blood away, to let her go on her own path, to keep myself from selfishly trying to have her save me again. "I'm sorry," I whispered again, to myself, and put my hand into the water, watching as the last trace of her went down the drain.
Harry POV
As Sarah left, Tonks, Lupin and Sirius immediately launched into a heated discussion about her, about how she'd need protecting, about how someone needed to talk to her. They threw around the words 'mentally distressed' and 'psychologically scarred'. It made me sick, thinking about how I'd seen her walking forward, so disembodied, to kill Dumbledore. It was chilling to think about the consequences if Sarah hadn't been able to fight her off. The more I thought about Dumbledore and Sarah, the angrier I became at him. He'd told her everything about how this year was going to end and then made her keep it a secret. All year we'd watched her suffer, fighting with what she wanted to tell us and the iron promises she'd been forced to make. It all went back to Bellatrix and the end of last year. Everything that hurt Sarah came from her, from Death Eaters. Most importantly, it came from Voldemort. If I'd been scared before to face Voldemort, I wasn't now. The reasons were pilling up for me to destroy him for good, reasons that made me burn with anger, with sadness, with determination.
"I'll go talk to her," I heard myself say, and I turned and left without another word, trying not to think about how sad and scary the future was going to be. Dumbledore's funeral would be tomorrow. I'd have to leave Ginny for good. It was up to me now to hunt down Horcruxes, a 17 year old wizard of average strength with only his friends to help him. We'd be hunted until the very end, and our chances for success were so slim. Without thinking about much of it, I headed for the girls' staircase, and to my surprise, it let me go up. I knocked before going in, just in case. Sarah was sitting on the edge of her bed, turning a potion bottle around in her hand. "Hey," I said quietly, and she looked up, cracked a ghostly smile, then looked down at the bottle once more.
"I was expecting someone else." She said quietly, and I resisted the urge to wince at the sound of her voice. It was still raw and broken.
"I'll leave, if you want someone else." I offered, and she shook her head, smiling bitterly, but patted the bed next to her. I went over and sat next to her. Up close, Sarah looked even worse. The gash on her cheek drew the eye to the growing bags under her eyes- she hadn't rested yet after being tortured and possessed. Her skin was white again, like last year. The only thing about her that seemed normal was the braid that snaked down to her waist, like a hornet's stinger. With a jolt, I remembered how she'd sounded on the grounds when Bellatrix was enhancing the mark- it was like she'd been in the same pain I'd felt with Voldemort in the graveyard, something I hadn't been able to convey to anyone. If she had been hurt that badly, I knew that it would take her awhile to talk about it.
"I want to apologize for this year. You were right the whole time and I kept putting you down." She interrupted my thoughts, but I was already shaking my head.
"I tell you every time that the blame is mine, but you never listen." I said forcefully. Sarah stopped spinning the bottle, and I saw that it was the Sleeping Potion she was supposed to take.
"Third time's the charm, huh?" She said and chuckled weakly. Deciding to do away with the pretense of me just visiting, I got right to the point.
"Sarah, you know what my future entails. I want your help, but I also want to keep you safe; you can't deny that you're in danger now." I tacked on, seeing her eyes flash, clearly ready to shout at me if I gave her a 'you can't come with because you're too fragile' speech. "You and I both know that the only way you'll be safe is if you stay with Hermione, Ron and I. The Order, on the other hand, doesn't think that's wise." I said, and she put her forearms on her knees, winced, and then moved her arms off, balancing her elbows on her knees instead. Fixing her eyes on the opposite wall, Sarah didn't say anything for a minute.
"Dumbledore wanted me to stay with you, so I will. If the Order thinks I can't do it, I'll prove them wrong." She said, her voice sure and stronger than it had been just seconds before. Clapping a hand on her shoulder, I stood up.
"You should take that," I said after another pause, nodding to the potion in her hands. Sarah ran her fingers over the cork, but didn't open it. "Sarah, you can tell me anything whenever. You know that, right?" I said, not taking my eyes off her. She smiled sadly again to the vial and yanked out the stopper with a vicious motion. Sensing her sudden discomfort, I left silently, holding the door a second longer on my way out to see her take the potion like a shot, face falling into misery. I didn't see Sarah until the next day when Ron and I met her and Hermione in the Common Room before Dumbledore's funeral. Compared to the day before, Sarah had changed drastically. Her face was a blank, white slate; an emotionless mask. Unsure of how to make her feel better or even talk to her, the group of us was very quiet. During the funeral, all I could think about was Dumbledore and the immense task he'd left me. It was only after the funeral was over did I realize that Sarah had left, for she was just returning to the crowd when the funeral ended. I didn't ask, and she didn't tell. Instead, we walked out to a private spot on the grounds.
"So what now?" Hermione whispered at last as we sank down under a beech tree on the shores of the lake.
"I hunt down the Horcruxes," I responded almost instantly, keeping my eyes on the horizon. "I'm not coming back to Hogwarts next year," I added, seeing Hermione and Ron's confusion.
"Then I guess we're coming with you, mate." Ron said, and I looked quickly at the two of them.
"Yes, Harry, you know you can't do this alone. You need us. All of us." Hermione said, her voice gaining strength, seeing me getting ready to object.
"Besides, you can't stay at Privet Drive forever." Sarah added softly, running her fingers through the soft grass.
"Mum will want you over during the summer, at least." Ron threw more support on the pile. "For Bill and Fleur's wedding." He elaborated, seeing my confusion.
"Can't miss that," I said finally, unsure of what to say otherwise.
"Where will you go, Hermione?" Ron asked, and Hermione's eyes quickly looked down.
"I'll go home for awhile, but then I'll have to go to the Burrow. I'll have to modify my parent's memories- to keep them safe." She said, her voice brittle.
"Oh," Sarah said suddenly, sitting up straight against the tree. "I'll have to do the same thing." She said, her voice getting harder with each word.
"Is that really necessary?" I asked, aghast. The sacrifices my friends would have to make to help me were huge, something I hadn't thought about until now.
"I'm afraid so. We can always remove the charm after the war is over." Sarah continued for Hermione, who seemed unable to speak.
"And where will you go?" Hermione asked Sarah finally after swallowing a few times, trying not to cry. Ron put an arm around Hermione and gave her a tiny squeeze.
"That's the question, isn't it?" Sarah muttered, ripping out a handful of grass as she spoke. "I'll be tracked down, I'm sure, so probably under the Order's protection." She said it casually, lightly, as if we were discussing this in the Three Broomsticks over butter beers.
"Well, your trace is gone, so you're pretty much set, eh?" Ron asked, and she nodded absentmindedly, arranging the grass in a neat pile. We sat there, under the beech tree until all the crowds were gone and a peaceful spirit fell over the grounds. It felt odd, like the calm before the storm, as if we were set up for something huge that wasn't here yet…
A/N: There you have it, the end of Part II of Sarah Wimkil's Story! Don't worry, Part III will be up soon, called 'Shot in the Dark', and will take Sarah's story to its completion. Thanks to everyone who has kept reading this far- Part III is for every single one of you. :)
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