11. Unexpected Savior
It was the same nightmare again, but this time, as the house burned, a hooded figure stood in front of the flames, back facing her. With a shouted "Mosmordre", a green glow shot out from his raised wand, coalescing in the black sky to form the shape of a skull. Mission accomplished, he turned and ran, and she chased after him, eager to strike him down with a curse, to do anything she could to avenge her parents.
He was fast, but fury fuelled her steps. A silent "Reducto" missed its mark barely and hit the ground beside him, splattering his robes with earth. He stopped in his tracks and spun around; the green of the Dark Mark and red of the flames swirled on the silver mask covering his face. With one hand, he pulled the mask off his face, wand held loosely in the other hand.
She froze as she saw his familiar face, his blonde hair, his steely gray eyes, the cruel smirk on his face.
He walked towards her slowly, each step deliberate, eyes as cold as death. She stumbled backwards, wand falling uselessly to the ground. "No," she whispered, then another louder "No", until finally she was shouting out the word in between sobs, as if it would shield her from him, as though it would change the face her eyes were transfixed upon. A loose tree root snagged her foot and she fell heavily. She scrambled backwards, sharp pebbles cutting into her palm, as he continued walking to her, wand pointed at her face.
"Goodbye, Lera," he said in an emotionless voice, before he uttered the words that would claim her life.
She barely heard the "Avada Kedavra", when a sickly green light burst forth from his wand, sizzling through the air towards her. She squeezed her eyes shut, and in seconds, inevitable and instantaneous death would reach her. She felt an impact on her chest, as heavy as a rock, knocking the air out of her lungs.
Her eyes shot open and she sat up, gasping for air. It took a while for her heart to stop racing, and a quiet "tempus" told her that it was already 4.53am in the morning. Slipping her feet into her fluffy bathroom slippers, she padded to the sink and splashed some cold water onto her face. It both calmed and woke her up, and she changed into her jogging shorts and shirt.
As she stepped out of the castle doors, she breathed in deeply, the cold and fresh air filling her lungs. It was quiet out here, and still dark. She felt at peace, watching the gentle moonlight cast a silver screen on the surface of the lake. She set off for a run. To hopefully clear her thoughts.
Her friends were right, Malfoy was a Death Eater already, if not in line to be one. He was as dark as she was light, and though it pained her so to let him go, she had to move on. She had to forget about the Malfoy she sat with in silent ease in the Astronomy Tower long before she knew who he was. She had to forget the Malfoy who offered her his book and his hand to help her up, who teased her and joked with her and made her laugh. The nice Malfoy had to be hidden forever in her mind, in her heart.
But perhaps, could she help him step out of the darkness and into the light? She entertained the thought for a while before she shook her head. It was far too late.
As difficult as it was, there was only one thing she could do. Forget.
She was glad that the next Astronomy lesson was in the classroom, where it was not just the two of them alone. She was relieved that she could very easily ignore Malfoy in guise of being attentive to what Professor Sinistra was teaching them.
But though she could pretend he was not there, she could feel his presence beside her. In the little brushes of their elbows as they copied down notes, in the steady breathing she could suddenly hear whenever Professor Sinistra paused, in the pieces of parchment that sometimes accidentally spilled over to her table before a hand would gather them, he was there. It was more awkward than it had ever been. He did not try to talk to her, it was as though he had accepted the fact that they could never be friends and was trying to move on as she was. When the bell rang, she was the first out of the class.
She could not sleep again. This time, it was because she had skipped dinner and her stomach now rumbled morosely. She sighed and got up. She would go to the kitchens, the house elves were always happy to welcome her.
As she tickled the pear which giggled (as well as a pear could giggle) and revealed the kitchen, she was greeted with a kitchen full of excited house elves. She was right, the house elves were absolutely delighted and her request for a cup of warm milk and some cookies turned into a full spread of scones, buttered toast, scrambled eggs and ham accompanied with a selection of coffees and teas. She soon emerged from the kitchen, filled to the seams. Every time she had stopped eating, the forlorn looks on the house elves' faces had encouraged her to force down yet another piece of pastry. She finally could not down anything else and had left the kitchen, waving goodbye to the house elves who clamored around her and told her excitedly to come back again if she needed anything.
She smiled. They were so adorable and helpful.
As she walked past a dark alcove, she frowned slightly and stopped. She thought she had heard a scuffling sound. However, a glance behind her showed nothing out of the ordinary. She was still alone. It must have been her imagination, she thought.
Suddenly, a hand clasped over her mouth, a strong arm snaked around her waist from behind. She screamed, but it was muffled by the hand. She kicked behind her with all the strength she could muster and was rewarded by a low groan of pain as she made contact with her attacker's shin. Her satisfaction was short-lived however, as she was slammed into the wall, her back making contact with the hard stone painfully. She cursed herself mentally when she tried to reach for her wand and found out that she had forgotten to bring it with her.
Rough lips descended onto her own and she shuddered in disgust. It did not really matter that she did not have her wand with her; though her attacker was considerably larger than her in size and much stronger, she had learned enough hand-to-hand combat to defend herself against him. That being said, she was furious at herself for not being aware of her surroundings, for letting herself be snuck up on. It was a failure that could have claimed her life in different circumstances. She prepared to slip out from under his arm and kick him where it hurt.
"Stupefy!" A shout, a flash of red, and her attacker was thrown away from her.
Confused, she cast a quick glance at him. It was Theodore Nott. She wanted to curse him within an inch of his life for what he had attempted to do but first things first, she had to find out who her unexpected savior was. She ran to where the spell had come from and caught a glimpse of billowing cloak and a flash of blonde hair as she rounded the corner. By the time she reached a junction, there was no one in sight. She could not confirm her suspicions, but she had a pretty good idea who it was. That blonde hair... it could hardly belong to anyone else.
Draco's POV
Draco lay in bed, eyes closed but still awake. He was thinking of her once again. He realised that she was all that occupied his thoughts these days. He knew that he should respect her wishes to sever ties with him, but that did not stop him from being reluctant to forget the times they had spent together.
Suddenly, there was some shuffling, someone getting out of bed, then the dormitory room door opened and a black figure slipped out. It was Nott. His curiosity piqued, he too got out of bed and slipped out of the door, following behind Nott, careful not to be caught. Nott walked down a few flights of stairs and along several corridors, unaware that he was being stalked. Suddenly he turned round a corner and when Draco ran up, he was faced with a junction and no clue as to where Nott had disappeared to. He decided to give up and turned back, only to be stopped by a sound of someone struggling. There was a muffled scream, then a groan of pain. He followed the noise and arrived at a scene that greatly shocked him.
Nott, that animal! He had Lera pressed against the wall as she struggled violently, one hand on her shoulder pushing her against the wall, the other on her face, roughly holding her still as he forced his lips onto hers. Rage rose up in him like a fiery monster.
"Stupefy!" He had whipped his wand out and cast the spell before fully realizing what he was doing.
Nott was thrown off her, flying across the corridor and crashing into the opposite wall from the power of the spell. He wanted to stay longer and curse him into oblivion but he couldn't. He could not let Lera know that it was him. He turned around and ran all the way back to the dungeons.