Chapter 13 - Death Awaits

Days had passed and the quartet had still not found any information that was useful to them. Classes had started for the rest of school and during free times, Professors would turn up in the Library for private study lessons for En Lucem. But the teachers had grately underestimated their intellect. Ron, who when in Gryffindor had trouble writing a foot long essay about Qudditch, could now write a four foot essay on just the properties of Hellebore. Andy and Alerion sat in on the lessons with the intention of taking the exam at the end of the year with the rest of the year, even without many lessons, their skills were of an eighth year, which was the same level as Hermione, Draco and Orion. If they had wanted they could have taken the tests now and passed with a hundred and ten percent, but they agreed to wait till they found out what the Tuck brothers and Dumbledore was keeping from them.

Draco dragged himself out of bed, aware that Hermione was still sleeping and creeped out of his bedroom. It was around noon, which was fine because they only had one lesson today last period. Andy and Ron were having a debate over some movie that was flickering over the screen. Two short men with hairy feet were wrestling with a half-naked house-elf looking creature over a small golden ring. He rolled his eyes at the Tv.

"What you watching?" Draco said over the sound of the scrambling men on rocks.

The two men carried on arguing over who was the best character, he repeated his question, this time louder and from right in front of them.

"The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Right now we are on The Two Towers, which is the second one." Andy answered, not looking away from Ron.

In their dispute they had both turned towards each other, the film playing forgotten by the pair.

"Never watched it. I was going to go and make some french toast for breakfast, you want any?" Draco replied.

This time Ron acknowledged the statement, "You should watch it, sure most of the stuff is wrong, for instance elves are the size of men in this film, but it's still amazing. Did you seriously ask me if I wanted food?"

"Sure maybe I'll watch later. I was just being polite the question was for Andy's benefit to be honest." Draco winked at Ron.

A low threatening growl could be heard coming from Andy over the surround sound system.

"Fuck, sorry," Andy said visibly angry at himself, "Sorry."

He rushed out of the room, the door slamming behind him.

"What was that about?"

Ron looked shaken as he replied, "I don't know."

Shaking his head, Draco pulled Ron with him towards the kitchen and started pulling plates, glasses and pans out of cupboards manually. He quickly mixed eggs together and began dipping slices of bread into it and placing it into various frying pans. The aroma filtered through the room, awakening the youngest Weasley from his shock.

"Why aren't you using magic?" He said.

Draco's back stiffened, "Because when Lucius was out on Deatheater business, my mum and I cooked in the kitchen without magic. She was proud of her skill in the kitchen, yet she couldn't show it often otherwise she would bring 'shame' on to the Malfoy household for being in the 'dirtiest part of the house'."

"That's nice of you," Ron said softly, "It's nice that you continue to do something in her memory. Also it's a massive 'fuck you' to Lucius."

Relaxing, Draco started to smile. He placed six whole slices on to a plate in front of the red-headed boy and poured seven glasses of OJ. Ron charmed them to hover in front of them as he held his mountain of food in one hand and a half eaten piece of toast in the other. Draco led the way cradling the rest of the breakfast in his arms.

They placed the food on the coffee table and paused the film. Ron sat on the floor and started devouring the toast on his plate. Draco silently charmed a small shield around the rest of the food and went to wake up Hermione and his brother.

He knocked on Orion's door and was surprised to see it open just as his fist left the hard wooden front.

"Breakfast, coffee table." Draco announced slowly to his barely awake twin of all purposes.

Orion grunted some kind of reply and slipped past towards the heavenly smell.

Though amused at his brother's actions, Draco buried his laughter and moved on to the next door. He quietly pushed open the door and saw that Hermione was indeed still asleep. He walked over to her side and knelt on the bed beside her.

"Hey sleepy, it's time for breakfast." He whispered into her ear.

She sighed and stretched, her hand resting on his knee, before stilling, her breathing returning to the slow pattern he had become accustom to when she was sleeping.

Draco slid his fingertips over her cheek bone as he said, "Hermione wake up darlin' or Ron will eat your share."

Her breathing quickened a fraction as she began to stir. Again, she stretched but this time her hand came awfully close to Draco's crown jewels. He froze but waited for her to wake fully. Hermione sat up, pulling her hands back as she flushed a vibrant red and refused to look at him.

"Sorry." She said mortified.

Draco chuckled and kissed her cheek, "The breakfast is on the coffee table."

She jumped up and pulled Draco behind her.

Ron was grumbling and Orion was glaring in their direction, Alerion and Sophia had emerged from where ever they had slept.

"What?" Draco asked confused.

"You said breakfast was on the coffee table, what use is that if I can't get to it?" His brother retaliated.

"What..OH..." Draco uncharmed the breakfast, "You're lucky I shielded it, you know that Ron would have eaten it all if I hadn't."

Orion grunted some sort of reply.

The gathered all grabbed a couple of slices each aware that the plate would have been empty before they had finished half of the first piece.

Alerion looked around the room, "Where is my brother?"

Ron and Draco looked at each other, "We don't know, he basically ran out of the room after growling."

He looked puzzled, "What did he growl at?"

"Again we don't know. Sorry."

The room was silent as they ate the rest of the breakfast, leaving some for Andy for when he returned.

The door opened and a battered Tuck brother stumbled into the room.

"What the hell happened to you?" Alerion asked rushing to his twin's side.

Andy shrugged off his brother's help, "I went for a walk," he spat, "Got attacked by ten Slytherins led by Pansy, may have killed her, don't care. I obliviated them because they saw what I am. Continued my walk in the forest to clear my head. Fought with a werewolf, as a human and won, though he isn't dead."

He walked straight past them not meeting any of their eyes and went into the bathroom.

"Fuck, there is something really wrong with him." Ron stated as he sunk into the chair, pushing an uneaten slice of toast on to the table, closing his eyes.

Alerion slid to the floor and placed his head in his hands, "Yeah and he wont tell me what."

Sophia spoke up, "You have to get ready for Hagrid's lesson, it's in fifteen minutes."

Hermione jumped up and ran to her room to change. Ron sighed, got up and walking out of the Common Room. Draco and his half-brother followed suit and returned to their rooms to get into their uniforms. When they came out again, Andy was still in the bathroom, Alerion was in the same place on the floor but had his chin resting on his knees and Sophia had disappeared.

Upon seeing them, Alerion rose from his position and walked towards the door, gesturing them to follow.

Hagrid's lessons were never the most interesting but Hermione tried to look interested in Care of Magical Creatures even though she felt like falling asleep. Her three friends weren't helping either.

"Today we shall be learning about Angels. Yes, I am sure you know what they are, but do you actually know what they can do," Hagrid said enthusiastically, regardless of the sleepy atmosphere in the clearing, "Angels are always beautiful, haven't met one who ain't. Male angels are born and female angels are made. That's just the way it is. Male angels can create female angels by transferring blood from the male to the human woman..."

Draco's head touched Hermione shoulder, as he fell asleep, Orion was leaning against Draco on his other side, with his eyes flickering as he fought to stay awake. Ron was steadily snoring, lying on the damp forest floor. Alerion was creating a chain out of the flowers in the grass meadow, clearly bored.

"Angels can have many powers, but normally they just have enhanced magical abilities. Sometimes there are brothers born who can almost share powers, for instant if one of the brothers were in intense pain and they touched, they both would be able to share the pain...," Hermione jolted awake almost making her two friends fall to the floor, she kicked Ron hard as she hissed at them to pay attention, "...Brothers aren't always born from the same parents, but in the angelic circles they can still be considered twins, if the bond is strong enough. Normally the brothers are opposites of each other, like one has a defensive power and the other, you would never want to fight against. But if one of the brothers has given up, the other would feel their pain, which would weaken them both and they would become easy targets.

Angles can mate for life, like a soul mate, and if the mate is attacked the angel would stop at nothing to kill the attacker, I fear for the idiot who decides it would be good idea to harm an angels mate as they are far more volatile than Veelas. Angels have the legal power to kill for their mate and won't be persecuted for it, just like Veelas, as they are so closely linked to their other half and it is their instinct, they are often savage in the way they handle the dangers to their mate, there have been a few reports that show their sadistic side that only comes out when their mate is threatened. The ministry does not want me to tell you of this but Dumbledore and I both feel that it would be beneficial to you all to know that even weakest of angels could easily rip you limb from limb for their mate and not blink an eye. If their mate was killed the angel would seek revenge, carrying the heartbreak with them, and once they had inflicted the pain they deemed necessary often being violent and torturous, they would die of a broken heart. So don't mess with them unless you want to die.

Angels look like normal humans except beautiful. They require a catalyst to start the gradual transformation into an adult angel. First their magical abilities will become magnified, then their senses will be enhanced and lastly the speed, strength and wings will grow. They will have the ability to cloak their wings but this will come after the agonising pain of having them grown but we shall come to that later on..."

Hagrid dismissed his class and left with Fang.

The group stayed sat in the meadow as they went over the new information.

"My god...If we had just waited for a week then we wouldn't have had to look everywhere for this...Man...This is weird." Draco mumbled disjointedly.

"That explains just about everything." Orion said scratching his head.

"You are literally a whole other species." Ron stated softly.

"Shit. I need to talk to Hagrid about something. If I am right I will tell you but it's about Andy." Draco jumped up and ran in direction the half-giant had gone.

Ron dragged Orion and Hermione away in search of food.

Draco found Hagrid talking to a centaur. It heard him coming and it dipped his head down to Draco before trotting off into the forest.

"I have never seen a centaur bow to anyone." Hagrid grumbled and started to walk again.

He looked confused, "So what does that mean?"

"That you have friends in high places. I gather that you didn't just follow me to get bowed at, so what d'you want?"

Draco was quiet for a second as he gathered his thoughts, "It's about today's lesson. I'm interested about the mate part. Can the mate be male?"

"Never heard of it but I suppose it could."

"And if the Angel felt that their claim on said mate was in jeprody, say another person was flirting with the mate, would they get aggressive and growl?"

Hagrid stopped walking, "The Angel would get aggressive and in the worst case they would attack. If they felt that their mate returned the feelings of the intruder they would back off and die of a broken heart. Why are you so interested?"

"Can't tell you now, will do though. Got to go." Draco rushed out as he began running towards the castle.

He made it to his house in record time, breathing heavily Draco made his way to their private Common Room.

Everyone except for Hermione and Sophia were in the room. Andy was sat on his own on the floor by the bathroom door. Orion was crouched by his bedroom door in mid conversation with Alerion who was sat near his feet. Ron was sat to Draco's right as he came through the door.

Draco quickly thought of a plan that would prove his theory.

He sat a meter away from Andy but kept both him and Ron in his sights. Draco gazed at Ron and focused on the love he felt for Narcissa before shaking his head. It was the wrong kind of love, maternal not romantic. Again he rested his gaze on the red-headed boy but this time Draco rifled through his feelings and was only slightly shocked when he realised how much he loved Hermione. He focused on that and pushed the emotion to the front of his mind, aware that Andy's power means that he would feel it. Draco only hoped that it would seem to be towards Ron instead.

A growl came from his right. It seemed that his plan was working. Draco felt a fist coming towards his head, he jumped up but allowed it to hit him. The force behind it made him fly into the wall behind him. Andy wrapped a hand around Draco's throat and squeezed slightly, the growl steadily getting louder. Draco cut off his emotions and worked on calming down his friend.

"I know what we are and I know what you're feeling. I'm sorry but I needed it confirmed, so that I can help you. I don't love Ron like that, I love Hermione." He whispered around the hand squashing his neck.

After a while Andy's grip relaxed and Alerion was pulling him off of Draco.

"Are you alright Draco?" Andy's brother asked, holding Andy with his arms locked behind his back.

"I am fine. Get off your brother, I need to talk to him."

Alerion frowned, "I don't think that's wise."

Draco growled at him until he let go and pulled Andy out of the room. Together they made their way to a secluded part of the castle.

"Ron's your mate isn't he?"

Andy knodded, bringing his knees up to his chin and wrapping his arms around his legs.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Draco asked softly.

"What can I do about it? He doesn't like me like that. In the history of our kind there has never been a gay couple, I don't even know if I can blood him. I have always been a freak; I've got different colour eyes; I can kill people without a care in the world; I can't trust my own brother because of my own mind; and I have the shortest fuse known to mankind." His voice took on a cold tone.

"How'd you know that Ron doesn't love you? Just because there hasn't been an Angellic male couple, doesn't mean there can't be and because you tend to only change your mate there would be no record of a bloke being changed. You aren't a freak and I love your eyes, they give you character. There are many people I wouldn't care if they died by my hand, even if you did kill your foster parents, it does not mean you are a cold-blooded killer. I don't trust a lot of people, trust has to be gained and if he keeps on doing stuff like holding you down today when you had calmed it's going to take longer and I don't blame you. I'd say my brother has a shortest fuse, you've just got to practise your restraint. I'll help you if you want."

Andy smiled slightly, the corners of his mouth lifting, "Thank you, I trust you, don't blow it. And I'm sorry for attacking you."

Draco grinned, "It's cool, I've had worse."

He helped his head of house off the floor and started to walk back to their Common Room, discussing his plan to help Andy's sanity.

Draco was the first through the door and saw Ron waiting for them, he stepped forward and was about to address Andy when Draco wrapped a hand around his wrist and pulled his to follow. He pushed his love for Hermione out again and wasn't surprised when Andy growled. Draco looked back and raised an eyebrow at him. Andy smiled back sheepishly as he cut off the rumble. Alerion and Orion looked between them confused.

"Don't worry." They said together.

Draco chuckled and dragged Ron into his room. Draco flung himself at his bed and sighed.

"How'd you feel about Andy?" He said quietly.

The red-headed boy blushed slightly before composing himself, "He's a nice guy."

Draco growled quietly but loud enough to startle the boy who was still stood by his door.

"And now the truth?"

"Why do you want to know?" Ron asked.

"Because if you feel how I think you feel then this could have all been avoided."

"Are you saying it's my fault that you were strangled by him?" He said confussed.

Chuckling Draco answered, "God no. That was my fault. No one blames you for anything, least of all Andy. To sort everything out, I need to know how you feel about him, do you love him?"

"How was it your fault, you weren't doing anything? I don't know how I feel about him. I think I could love him or rather I am close to loving him. I have never loved a guy before and I don't know what to do."

Draco knodded his understanding, "I will tell you all about it one day. You have to talk to Andy about how you feel."

Ron shook his head, "I can't tell him, he doesn't feel the same way. I couldn't bare it if he laughed in my face."

"Andy feels the same way I can guarantee you that."

"How do you know?" He asked suspicious.

Draco wrestled with whether or not he should tell him the truth but decided that it would help the situation more if Ron knew everything.

"He is your mate."

The boy by his door looked shocked for a second before grinning.

"Really?" Ron asked.

"Yeah."

Ron flung open the door, ran towards his mate and kissed him.

Draco smiled as Andy wrapped his arms around Ron's waist pulling him closer. Orion and Alerion stood open-mouthed watching them. Draco got off his bed, stood by the door and cleared his throat to get their attention.

"No staring, that is rude." He said.

They turned to him clearly confused, Alerion opened his mouth to ask a question but no sound came out.

Draco shrugged in nonchalance, "They are mates, I'm surprised you hadn't figured it out. By the way Alerion you are going to have to apologise to Andy for holding him back, he was protecting the claim he has on his mate. I provoked him into proving my theory. If I hadn't your brother would have still been sulking about a previous misunderstanding."

The Tuck brother smiled and pulled him into a hug.

"Where are Hermione and Sophia?" Draco asked.

"They went to the library to look up more info on us, Hermione wouldn't let anyone else go with, which is why we are all here like Lemmings." Orion answered, only slightly annoyed that he wasn't allowed to join the research party into his own dynamics.

Draco laughed before going to sit on the sofa, he pressed the 'Play' button on the remote and the movie started again. The rest joined him. Ron and Andy snuggled into the end of the couch together, smiling softly at each other. Orion and Alerion sat on the floor by Draco's feet and settled in to watch The Lord Of The Rings : The Two Towers.

Shortly after it had finished Sophia walked into the room frowning.

"Has Hermione come back yet?"

They shook their heads in answer, now on full alert. Draco stood up and began pacing.

"Weren't you with her?"

She shuddered under his gaze, "I was at first then I got a note saying I had to meet Dumbledore, so I left. I was gone an hour. When I came back, Madam Pince said that she had gone back to the house and checked out the books. So I came straight here."

"She must have gone to the loo or something." Ron said steadily.

But it did nothing to eliviate Draco's fears.

Foreign pain surged through his body, the epicenter being his back as if he had been slammed hard into a wall. He gasped as the pain increased, engulfing his entire body and mind. Draco let out a tiny wail of agony as he collapsed to the floor, before he bit on his lip to keep any sound coming out. His eyes welled with tears as his body felt like it was being ripped apart. A guttural moan left his mouth as he bit through his lip. He was aware that there were people around him, fussing over him, trying to figure out what was wrong with him but the torment rendered any acknowledgement from him impossible. Draco closed his eyes and tried to focus on making the pain go away but the moment he closed his eyes he saw images behind them. He could see who was creating the pain, but it doesn't make sense why he could feel it. He opened his eyes again and screamed as the torture reached a peak. The pain lessen gradually, until he could sit up. This act caused a jolt of pain to run through his spine. After ten minutes Draco tried to stand but wobbled as his legs shook. Andy propped him up against the wall and looked into his eyes.

"Shit, look at the colour of his eyes." He said shocked.

Worry coursed through all of those present as they looked into his dulling grey eyes.

Orion was visibly shaking, "I didn't feel it. What's happening to him?"

"Don't know why you can't feel it, don't know why I didn't see it." Alerion rushed out, fear clear in his eyes.

Sophia was crying at the pain she could see in each of their eyes.

The door slammed open and Hermione appeared in the room. A sob escaped her as she ran to her room, dropping a great pile of books on the floor as she made her way there.

Draco struggled against his captives and began snarling at those in front of him. They backed away slowly looking at the floor as they realised they were dealing with something else. He struggled to stay upright but when he saw the blood splatters on the books, Draco collapsed and began to crawl to her door.

He twisted the handle but it wouldn't budge.

Breathlessly he said, "Darlin' please open the door. Please it's me, Draco."

He slumped against the door as the emotional pain flared waiting for a sign of life on the other side.

Orion, Andy and Ron began looking through the books that Hermione had brought in search for the answers to their questions, aware that the blood was Hermione's.

A couple hours later and she still hadn't opened her door for the boy. Draco was still leaning against the door but was curled in on himself. Quiet sobs could be heard from both of them, which reassured the rest of the house that Hermione was still alive but worried them about Draco's mental state.

Andy gasped as he read through a passage and pushed it away from himself. Ron grabbed his hand and also read the page.

"My god, he's dying."

Orion growled at Ron and was returned with a snarl from Andy.

"Draco's eyes are dulling and there is only one explanation for that. He is dying of heartbreak." Andy cried.

"That doesn't make sense. Hermione loves him. That's what we were talking about, that's why she didn't want anyone else to come. She loves him with all her heart." Sophia said softly, tears running down her cheeks.

"Why was she bleeding? I bet that whatever happened to her has everything to do with why she has rejected Draco." Ron stated clearly.

They were quiet for a moment as they tried to figure out what could cause that.

Sophia gasped and shook her head, "Pick Draco out of the door way, I need to speak to her."

They did as she asked and were distraught that he didn't fight against them.

"'Mione babe, please can I come in?"

The door clicked and she went in.

A wail of despair left Draco as the rejection hit him again.

Sophia pushed the door shut again and sat on the side of the bed and started running her fingers through Hermione's hair.

The quivering girl was buried under her duvet, blood matted into her hair and bruises on her cheeks. Tears poured from puffy eyes that peaked over the top of her duvet.

"Who did this to you?" Sophia asked brushing her fingertips over the purple marks.

Hermione closed her eyes and shuddered, she opened her mouth to answer but nothing but a sob came out.

"Sssh." Sophia murmured into her hair as she cradled her head in her lap.

When her sobbing ceased Hermione whispered, "Harry Potter."

The Auror froze but continued to stroke her hair.

"What did he do to you?" She said softly.

Hermione began crying, gasping for air as she sobbed. She pulled a hand out from under the covers and placed her fingertips on Sophia's temple. A tiny clip of Hermione's whole memory of the event invaded her and Sophia could not escape it. It was gone as quickly as it came.

Sophia gasped as if she had resurfaced from drowning.

"My god. You need Draco here, he can help you."

"No," She screamed, "I can't, he needs a clean break, so that he can find someone better, someone who isn't broken or used."

Sophia finally understood, "Draco's dying. You haven't read the books enough to know that an Angel has only one mate and when they are rejected by that mate they die of heartbreak. He loves you so much that it's killing him to know that you are in pain and there is nothing he can do about it."

Hermione's sobs increased as she realise what she had done. Sophia stroked her hair until her crying had ceased and was surprised to find that the tiny looking girl in her arms had fallen asleep. She slipped out of the bed and out of the room.

Draco appeared to be passed out on the floor, a bruise on the side of his face. Dumbledore, Snape, McGonangal and Pomfrey were crouched beside him. Andy's knuckles were red as he rubbed them with the palm of the other hand. The nurse shook her head a tear in her eye as she gazed at his unconcious form.

"He doesn't have long to live if he continues like this. There is a constant pain in his mind and body, as well as the heartbreak and worry for Miss Granger. A couple of days, a week at best. I'm sorry." She said getting up and rushing out of the room trying to hide the tears that were falling.

Orion growled, the inanimate objects around the room quaked as the room filled with energy. Sophia placed her hands on either side of his face and attempted to calm him down. At last resort she placed a kiss on his cheek and wrapped her arms around his neck. The energy dissipated and Orion crumpled into her shoulder crying.

"Does anyone know why this happened?" Dumbledore asked, as he fought away the tears.

"I do," Sophia said slowly, "Hermione thinks that she is not worthy of him. She thinks that she has been dirtied and spoiled."

Andy looked up from the floor confused, "Why would she think...Oh God, please tell me I'm wrong, anything but that."

His worst fears were confirmed by Sophia sobbing into Orion's chest.

"No. No. No. No," He choked, "I can't stay here, too many emotions, too many bad."

Andy went to leave but was flattened to the floor by Ron. They cried into each other, Ron trying his hardest to pour all of his love into his mate to calm him down.

A muffled scream came from Hermione's room, followed by another, this time louder. Sophia ran to open the door but found it locked, she banged on the door hard hoping it would wake the screaming girl.

Draco sat up with a gasp, he clutched his cheek in pain and grimaced as he heard his girl scream. He made his way over to the door. The gathered could see by Draco's gait that his body was giving up, his hair had lost its shine, his skin had paled and his tight clothes appeared baggy; all in the space of a couple of hours.

Eventually he made it to the door and twisted the knob, nodding at her Sphinx guardian. The door clicked open and he slipped inside.

A.N. - I hope you like this one