I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does. The only payment I receive are reviews.
A/N: WARNING! If blood, guts, and gore bother you, then you may not want to continue reading. There are also several character deaths in this chapter. Rated "M" for a very good reason.
Chapter 2
"Yep, idiots! I keep trying to tell these idiots that this is something best left to the experts, but do they listen to me? NO! Now, here we are, a merry band of idiots marching to our doom! Why am I here again? Oh, that's right, my idiot husband had an idiot idea and brought all his idiot entourage with him to support said idiot idea, and I'm here to keep my idiot sister from getting killed! Idiots!" she thought acidly. However, instead of despair, her preeminent emotion was anger. She decided to vent some of that anger at her favorite target.
"Wonderful place you picked for a little stroll, Malfoy" she snidely but quietly said to him. "Did it ever cross your tiny little mind that if the dragon sees us, there's no place safe to hide or to run to? Or are you just going to cow the dragon into submission when you inform it of your superior pureblood breeding? It's too bad that Lucius isn't alive. You could say to it, 'Wait till my father hears about this' and the dragon will curl up in fear hoping to avoid the wrath of Malfoy" she finished with a smirk on her face. He whirled around to face her with a pink tinge on his pasty features. Oh, he was mad, all right.
"YOU LEAVE MY FATHER OUT OF THIS! HE WAS A GREAT MAN! HE WAS...ooof...!" his breath left him explosively and he doubled over as Daphne sunk her fist into his solar plexus.
"Keep your voice down, you brainless twat!" she hissed in anger. "Did it so easily slip your mind that we're in the territory of a freaking DRAGON? Your loud mouth is going to bring it down on our heads! Act so stupid again, and I'll just go back home and leave you here to die!" She looked into the eyes of everyone else there. "And the same goes for the rest of you! Don't do anything stupid that will get us all killed!" After receiving nods all around, she crossed her arms as Malfoy shakily got to his feet. "Well, Malfoy, DID you actually have a plan? If so, it MIGHT be a good idea to tell the rest of us BEFORE we blindly walk into a dragon's lair!"
Malfoy took a couple of deep breaths, rubbing his sore abdomen and glaring at Daphne who frostily stared back. Frustrated that he didn't get one over on her..again..he sighed as he laid out his 'plan'.
"My source says that the dragon has only been seen at night, meaning it's more than likely sleeping right now. We can cast disillusionment and scent masking charms on us before we go into the cave. That way if the dragon is awake, it can't see us or smell us. When we find it, we spread out and we all fire the killing curse at it simultaneously. We have six wands with us here right now, that should be more than enough to kill a dragon." Malfoy stated as he smirked at Daphne and looked around at everyone else. What he was expecting were nods of approval, instead he got looks of horror and confusion.
"You want me to use an Unforgivable...?"
"I don't know if I can do that..."
"Would that work on a dragon...?"
"I don't know, I just don't know..."
"Are you sure that would work...?"
All these questions and more were sent Malfoy's way in quick succession while Daphne's smirk grew even wider. She let it go on for a few more moments before she held up a hand to stop everyone before it reached a level where the shouting started.
"Malfoy, it seems you've put a little thought into this, but did you ask if everyone CAN cast the killing curse?" She raised her eyebrow at him while he looked sheepish. "Didn't think so." She looked at her sister. "Stori, do you think you could cast the killing curse?"
"I don't think I could, Daph. I don't want to go to Azkaban!" she whined.
"You get sent to Azkaban if you cast it at another wizard, you silly bint!" Malfoy scoffed at her.
"Call my sister a bint again, Malfoy, and I'll toss you into that cave without the protection of charms! Got it?" Daphne growled at him with narrowed eyes. Properly cowed, Malfoy just looked away. Turning her attention back to her sister, she tried another tack. "Stori, if you can't use an Unforgivable, you could aim for its head and use a blasting charm. You can cast that properly, right?" Astoria looked ashamed of herself, but nodded her head. Daphne looked around at everyone else. "That goes for all of you as well. If you can't get the killing curse to work for you, go with blasting curses and keep firing until it goes down. Try aiming for the mouth or eyes, that's where it could do the most damage." She received nods from Astoria, Parkinson, Crabbe, and Goyle but Malfoy was apoplectic.
"You can't do that! Those curses would damage it too much! Six hits of the killing curse would take it down with no damage to its hide! Why can't you all just do what I say?..*crack*..OWW!" Malfoy was starting to shout the last part, until Daphne backhanded him across the right cheek. He stood there glaring impotently at her and rubbing his reddening cheek while she was shaking in suppressed rage.
"One more time, Malfoy! Open your trap and start yelling like that just one more time and I'll make good on my previous threat of throwing you into the cave and setting off a firework charm inside to wake the dragon! Think, you moron! Not everyone can cast the killing curse upon demand! I know I can do it and I know you can as well, but Astoria doesn't think she can do it which leaves her with nothing to cast at the dragon. Can you do it, Parkinson?" She looked at the pug-faced girl who shrugged in reply. "I take that as a maybe. Can Goyle and Crabbe do it?" Looking at the two gorillas, one nodded while the other shrugged. "That's another yes and another maybe, in case you didn't guess. Now, let's add that up. We have three definite curses, two maybe's, and one definitely not. Now, I'm pretty sure that three killing curses is not enough to take down a dragon. Hell, I don't think we could even manage it with six! Whatever we fire at it will probably not kill it instantly and it will be pissed! So, we'll have a pissed-off, wounded dragon thrashing about in an enclosed space with six people standing around it. I, for one, do NOT want my sister to go in there without a means of defending herself! If that means the precious hide of your dragon is going to be a bit ruined, you're just going to have to take the lower price and deal with it!" Daphne's entire diatribe was delivered in a low, hissing tone, the threat and message in her words quite clear. She would do whatever it took to protect her sister. Her little speech had another effect on everyone there. Draco Malfoy might be the Lord of the Malfoys, but everyone now knew who wore the pants in the family, and it definitely wasn't him.
Once everyone cast the disillusionment and scent masking charms on themselves, Malfoy walked in front of the group as they entered the cave. Casting a dim lumos so they could see inside, they saw that a short tunnel led to a massively large cavern. Once inside the cavern, they extinguished their lighting charms because they weren't needed, several holes in the roof allowed enough light in to see by. The light also enabled them to see their goal, as the dragon was sleeping in the middle of the cavern floor.
Daphne didn't recognize the species of this dragon, but it was a magnificent specimen! Its hide was a glossy, dark midnight blue that looked like it faded to a lighter blue on its undersides. She couldn't really tell as it was sleeping on its belly. She estimated that the dragon was between ten and fifteen meters in length. As she looked at its sleeping form, she was having doubts about whether or not they could pull this off. However, seeing that Malfoy was giving hand signals and spreading everyone out, it was too late to back out now.
Everyone but her was looking toward Malfoy for their cue to begin, but Daphne was still looking at the dragon. It still had its eyes closed, but alarms went off in her head when she could see the muscles of its legs tightening under its skin. She dove behind some large boulders for cover, but her shout of warning came much too late.
"MALFOY, DON'T SHOOT...!"
"NOW! AVADA KEDAVRA!"
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
"REDUCTO!"
"CONFRINGO!"
Everything went to hell in a handbasket in an instant. Five curses were aimed at a dragon lying still on the cavern floor, but as soon as the incantations were uttered and the spells were leaving their wands, the dragon sprung away in a blur of motion and disappeared. Five destructive spells shattered rocks and created a decent sized crater where the dragon formerly lay, but it was nowhere to be seen. Malfoy spun in place, his wand aiming at every flickering shadow.
"WHERE DID IT GO? DID ANYONE SEE WHERE IT WENT?" his shout echoing around the cavern.
"Draco, did we kill it?" 'That must be Parkinson' Daphne thought to herself. 'Obviously, there's not a dragon carcass in the middle of the floor so you definitely DIDN'T kill it, you silly cow! Now the question is, WHERE is it? It's awake now, aware of our presence, and more than likely highly pissed off! Now, to repeat Malfoy's question, where did it...?' Her thoughts were interrupted by an alarmed cry from Crabbe. She looked to where the shout came from and was shocked to see him glowing blue and floating ten feet off the floor with nothing supporting him. He was also screaming in a panic and pounding at something around his midsection.
"LET ME GO! LET ME GO! DRACO, GREG, IT'S GOT ME! HELP ME! HELP MEEEAAAAAAAGGGHH...!" Everyone looked on in horror as Crabbe's upper torso was twisted rapidly in the opposite direction from his lower torso until with a sickening, wet, tearing sound his body was ripped in half. Both halves were thrown violently in opposite directions from each other, shredding his guts apart and spraying blood and viscera everywhere. Both halves bounced on the cavern floor and rolled to a stop thirty feet apart from each other, painting the cavern floor red with blood and other body parts between each half.
Everyone seemed to react differently to witnessing the gory death of Vincent Crabbe. Malfoy stood there in shock, his wand nearly falling from his numb fingers. Parkinson sank to her knees, eyes darting at every shadow and gibbering in terror. Astoria was also on her knees, seemingly puking up every meal she ever ate in her life. Daphne retreated behind her occulmency barriers in order to keep a cool head, but was beginning to despair at what was beginning to look like a hopeless situation. However, Goyle had the most extreme reaction of all. With a scream of rage, he started firing curses in every direction while everyone who was conscious of his actions dove for cover.
"REDUCTO!" "WHERE ARE YOU?"
"CONFRINGO!" "COME OUT OF HIDING AND FACE ME, YOU FILTHY CREATURE!"
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" "HE WAS MY BEST FRIEND!"
"I'LL KILL YOU!" "BOMBAR!...glgkkk..."
Just as with Crabbe, all eyes were on Goyle while he was firing curses, so no one missed the blue glow surrounding him and the strangled sound he made at the same time. His wand clattered to the floor as he stood drunkenly, his eyes wide and unseeing. Then, to everyone's mounting horror, a line of red started from the top of his head and went all the way down to his crotch. Goyle stood like that for only a moment before his body split in half lengthwise, his left half falling to his left while his right side pitched forward to land on the ground with a meaty thump.
Parkinson wasn't screaming anymore, her wide eyes were locked on Goyle's remains while she chewed the tips of her fingers bloody. Daphne decided that right now was the time to leave, but Astoria bolted for the exit before she rose from her protected position. Her sister almost made it to the entrance tunnel until a small, white bolt of lightning came out of nowhere and lanced out at her. When it contacted her, it spread out to cover her entire body and all her muscles locked up, causing her to fall. Daphne could see her muscles twitching and her chest rising and falling so was relieved to know that she was still alive, but she wasn't responding to anything so she must be unconscious. She would have to figure out a way to get the both of them out of this cavern, but first she had to make it past the dragon. Her musings were interrupted by Malfoy's superiority complex trying to reassert itself.
"COME OUT AND SHOW YOURSELF, COWARD! AFRAID TO FACE A REAL WIZARD? I AM LORD DRACO MALFOY OF HOUSE MALFOY AND I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU! REVEAL YOURSELF AND I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT A REAL WIZARD CAN DO!" he shouted as if the dragon could understand him, and Daphne had the sinking feeling that it could. Malfoy's little speech sounded impressive, but Daphne knew that it was all bluster. She could see his hand shaking as he held his wand in a white-knuckled death grip, his eyes darting fearfully to and fro around the cavern.
After a few more seconds of what seemed like a standoff, the air shimmered and the dragon appeared out of thin air fifteen feet in front of Malfoy. Daphne's first assessment of the dragon was definitely spot on, it was magnificent! Dark, midnight blue scales covered the back, sides, and legs while the belly was a lighter blue. It stood twelve feet high at the shoulder, and another five feet higher if its head was raised. It had a single set of horns set in the skull just above and behind the slit-pupiled green eyes and were swept forward. What the most shocking feature of the dragon was the fact that it didn't have wings, it had tentacles! Twelve long, snake-like tentacles, six on each side of its spine, sprouted from its back in the place where wings would normally go. The dragon stood perfectly still, keeping its gaze locked on the wizard in front of it while the tentacles waved around as if they were wafted by a gentle breeze. To Daphne, the stoic tranquility that the dragon displayed was even more terrifying than if it were roaring and breathing fire. Malfoy had best be very, very careful if he wanted to live. Unfortunately for him, that didn't seem to be the case as he immediately started firing spells at the now visible dragon.
"BOMBARDA!" A tentacle flicked out and met the spell in midair, swatting it into the cavern wall where the spell detonated. The rest of the dragon remained still. Malfoy swallowed hard and tried again.
"CONFRINGO!" Another tentacle lashed out to meet the spell to swat it away as well, where it also exploded on one of the walls. Still, the dragon remained exactly where it was, staring directly at Malfoy with glowing green eyes. Daphne could see that Malfoy was getting really scared now, but he didn't give up.
"AV-AVADA KEDAVRA!" Malfoy aimed his spell at the dragon's head, hoping to take it down. It looked like he would succeed, because none of the tentacles reacted to the spell. Just before the spell impacted the dragon's head, it opened its blue, glowing mouth and swallowed the spell! Malfoy and Daphne stared at the dragon, expecting it to fall. When the dragon remained standing and licked its chops while staring at Malfoy, that was too much for the pureblood Lord who panicked and ran for the exit.
Daphne couldn't believe that Malfoy would just turn tail and run, oh wait, yes she could, he had always been an ineffective coward. However, before she could further ruminate on these thoughts, she felt a pressure change in the cavern's air as if something large was moving around quickly. She looked up and saw that the dragon was flying! With wings! 'WHAT? Where did those wings come from? It had tentacles earlier!' she thought with confusion.
Tracking the dragon's flight path, she could see that it was trying to prevent Malfoy's escape by blocking the exit. Folding its wings, it dropped to the cavern floor and landing with an earth-shaking impact. Malfoy didn't see it approaching as all his attention was focused on getting out, so he ran right into the dragon's leg. Bouncing off the leg and falling on his ass, he tried scrambling backward to get away from the dragon that was staring balefully at him. Daphne and Malfoy were shocked again by the dragon when its wings instantly transformed back into tentacles. Their shock turned to horror when four tentacles shot out and wrapped around Malfoy's extremities, one on each wrist and one on each ankle. When Malfoy was hauled into the air and spread-eagled in front of the dragon's face, he totally lost it and started screaming in terror.
"AAAAAA! NOOOO! DON'T KILL ME! PLEASE, I'LL DO ANYTHING! I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT! TAKE THE OTHERS, JUST LET ME GO!" Malfoy continued to struggle and scream, but the tentacles held him firm. Daphne heard his rant and was incensed. 'Why, you little shit! You'll abandon the rest of us here just to save your skinny arse! It doesn't look like you're getting away, so I hope that whatever the dragon does to you is painful!' she thought ruefully.
The dragon let Malfoy cry and scream for a little while longer as it continued to stare at him. When Malfoy's cries seemed to taper off, the dragon slowly brought two of its tentacles in front of Malfoy's face in order to get his attention. The last three feet of each tentacle flattened out, hardened, sharpened, and turned a silver color so that they looked like long blades! The dragon clanged them together to show that they were now indeed swords! Malfoy was breathing hard but was quiet while the dragon was showing him this, but his eyes widened in terror when the dragon rested the edge of one of the swords in the middle of his right thigh. He started screaming and thrashing anew when he realized just what the dragon intended to do.
"NOOO! STOP! PLEASE, NOT THAT! DON'T TAKE MY LEG! PLEASE, NOOOOOOOO!" Malfoy screamed even louder when the dragon raised the sword slowly above the outstretched leg. Just before it came sweeping down, the dragon set the blade on fire cutting off Malfoy's leg and cauterizing the stump at the same time.
"AAAAHHH! AAAAAAHHH! AAARRRGHHH! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! YOU'RE A DEAD BEAST! I'LL KILL YOU! AAAAHHHH!" The dragon let Malfoy scream for a bit while it stood there watching. When the screams quieted down to wracking sobs, the dragon waved the severed leg in front of Malfoy's face. When it was sure it had his attention, it tilted its head back, opened its mouth, and suspended the leg above it. Malfoy started screaming again when he realized what the dragon was about to do.
"NO! STOP! DON'T EAT MY LEG! PLEASE, DON'T! NOOOOO!" he screamed again as the dragon released the hold it had on the leg and let it drop into its open maw. It crunched down on the leg a few times before swallowing. It then licked its bloodstained chops while staring Malfoy in the eye and laid the edge of the unlit sword against his other thigh. The screaming began again when Malfoy figured out just what fate the dragon had in store for him.
After losing his left leg in the same manner as the right, shortly followed by his right arm, Draco Malfoy was now a mutilated, broken, sobbing, wreck of a wizard. His voice was pretty much gone, having nearly shredded his vocal chords from all the screaming he had done while the dragon was dismembering and eating him a piece at a time. He was still suspended by his remaining arm, his head down, while moaning and sobbing quietly. The dragon shook him to get his attention which caused Malfoy to moan louder in pain. He raised his head to meet the green eyes of the dragon whose head was mere inches in front of his own.
"What?" he croaked out painfully. "What more do you want from me, you filthy beast? You have taken everything from me, I have nothing left to give!"
Daphne was looking on dispassionately, still hoping for a chance to get her and her sister out of this mess. Unfortunately, the dragon was still directly in front of the only exit, so she had to wait for the right opportunity. Listening to Malfoy's statement, she shook her head at how stupid her 'husband' could be. "You haven't given everything you have yet, you moron!" she thought to herself. "You still have one more thing left to give. I think that's why the dragon got your attention, so you could know what's coming! Goodbye, Draco Malfoy, it's been hell knowing you."
Malfoy was lifted higher so that he was ten feet above the dragon's head. The dragon tilted its head up and when it had Malfoy's full attention, it slowly opened its mouth wide. Malfoy's eyes nearly popped out of his skull when he realized just what the dragon was going to do, but he didn't scream. His last word came out as a whimper.
"Mummy."
The dragon released the hold its tentacle had on Malfoy's wrist and what was left of the Malfoy Lord dropped straight into the dragon's glowing blue maw. It left its mouth open and swallowed a few times and then closed its mouth. When the dragon turned around, Daphne could see something still moving in its throat as it was forced its way down to its stomach. She was slightly sickened by the thought that Malfoy was still alive when the dragon swallowed him.
"Urgh, that was bad, being eaten alive! The least the dragon could have done was chomp down on him to end his life before swallowing him! I hated the arsehole, but no one deserves a fate like that!" she thought disgustedly. She ducked down behind the rock when the dragon's gaze swept closer to her position. Even though the disillusionment and scent masking charms she cast on herself were still active, she realized that somehow the dragon was still able to see them. When she heard the dragon moving further into the cavern, she risked a peek around the rock to see that the dragon was no longer in front of the exit! Moving quickly to where Astoria was laying on the ground and keeping watch on the dragon, she almost made it before she was tackled from the side and fell to the ground.
"YOU'RE LEAVING?" Parkinson screamed in her face and had a death grip on her arm. "DON'T LEAVE ME HERE! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME HERE! YOU CAN'T! IT WILL KILL US ALL!" Daphne tried getting free, but Parkinson had terror-induced, adrenaline-fueled strength and couldn't break her grip.
"PARKINSON, LET ME GO, YOU STUPID COW!" Daphne tried pounding on the girl's arms, but she just wouldn't let go.
"NO! YOU'RE GOING TO LEAVE ME HERE! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME, I WON'T LET..."
"STUPEFY!" Her stunning spell, which normally would have just knocked the girl out, was now fueled and enhanced by her anger. The dark red light slammed into the ugly girl's chest and blasting her body fifteen feet away from her. Scrambling to her feet, she glanced quickly to where Parkinson lay to see that she was breathing and unconscious. Unfortunately, their struggle captured the dragon's attention, whose green eyes were now locked on her own. She only had one word for her predicament.
"Bugger."
White lightning.
Blackness.
A/N: I got this one out fairly quickly because I wrote part of it during the previous chapter. However, I have not one word of chapter 3 written yet, so that one may take some time. As always, thanks for reading and leave a review to let me know what you think.
