Chapter Seventeen
He flipped another page in the shriveled old book he was reading when his eye caught something…a glimmer in the window. He moved around the table he was standing at and went to face the glass, peering intently at it. There were no lights on, inside the dwelling or outside. Nothing should be glimmering in the window. He knew he was immune to a reflection, therefore eliminating him, so what could it be?
He closed his eyes and concentrated, opening them a moment later, looking at the glass with gold eyes. And at what he saw, even he had to stagger back for a moment. There, in the window, was the other boy, looking straight back at him, his eyes dark.
--
The reflection just stared at him; almost as if it knew exactly what he was up to. But that wasn't possible. He had been informed, by a reliable source, that this boy was close to dead. Not even a person of his power could Reflect under those circumstances. He stepped back and shook his head, hoping the reflection would just disappear. But no, it remained, and a small smirk appeared across its smooth face. The window flew open.
He stumbled back, his face in total shock as he fell to the ground. This was not possible. He had to be dreaming.
"You aren't dreaming." The boy in the window was not just a reflection. He was solid. And he was climbing through the window.
"This isn't possible. You can't be here!" he said from the ground.
"And yet I am here. We had a deal Mathias. You broke your end of the bargain. Tell me why he isn't dead."
"I don't know! I don't know! It was a Blood Bond! Nothing, nothing should have been able to break it. I've been researching it night and day, ever since I was notified that the Killing Curse failed. I have no answers for you yet – at least, none that make sense…" Mathias said, scrambling to his books.
"What does that mean? None that make sense? Tell me what you know or I will end your pathetic excuse of a life right now."
Mathias looked at the boy before him and frowned. He would not allow this child to speak to him in this manner. He was the Paladinius after all. He held more power in his hands than this child would ever know, the only one to ever rival him was the other boy, and he was no – well almost – out of the picture.
"Silence boy!" Mathias rumbled. "You should know better than to speak to me this way. You know very well what I am capable of. I will not tolerate insolence!" The boy was thrown into the wall behind him, shattering the empty frame that hung there. "No I understand you are upset. I understand you are frustrated. But the fact that this has happened has nothing to do with me. Why don't you go ask the ones you made the deal with?" Mathias hissed.
"You know very well I am incapable of that. It is draining whatever little power I have left to even get here. The four of us made a pact Mathias. They can't just be broken. He was supposed to die, and I was supposed to be reborn! One of them needs to eliminated!" the boy screamed.
"Ah. Well, I hate to tell you this, but there is another."
"What? What do you mean, the girl?"
"So you know. Yes, the girl. Apparently, she developed naturally. She thinks there are only two, him and herself."
"Fools, all of them. I still don't understand how he didn't see that the Blood Bond affected all of us, and not just him. He thinks he's alone. The idiot. And what about the other one?"
"His powers are there. But they are dormant. He has no idea of the power that lies within him, which is better for you I suppose."
"If I eliminate the witch, will my powers be restored?"
"That is what I do not know. That, and why he survived. The only thing I can think of is true love, but that is ridiculous because they barely know each other, but it's the only reasoning we have for someone surviving that curse."
"I can't stay this way forever Mathias. I'm barely a shadow of the wizard I was before. He doesn't deserve that power, none of them do. It was supposed to be mine!"
"Don't be a child. You made that Blood Bond knowing full-well that it did not necessarily mean you would get what you wanted, or that you would even survive."
"You call this surviving? My body lies broken and useless in a hospital bed, just as it has for years. That bond drained my powers, destroyed my spirit and this is all that is left. The one thing I had was the insurance that if one of them died, I would be restored. That was all I had. And now, they still live, and you tell me there is another. Who knows what her powers are like, how powerful she really is? I've Sensed a greatness in her beyond anything I've ever felt. And if that is any reflection on what her powers are going to be like when they fully develop than I stand no chance against the both of them. My only hope is to get rid of him."
"And risk exposing yourself again. He may not know of the power that lies within him, but he is powerful enough without it. He will surely kill you this time around, even without the Sortiarmus inside him."
"Not if I am able to drain his powers first."
"You mean, do to him what he did to you?" Mathias frowned. Surely, in this broken form, he was unable to perform magic.
"Yes. That stupid bastard got lucky. But I will be restored. With you on my side, I can drain enough of his power to reform myself and then finish him off. With him out of the way, I can try and defeat the other two, and take their power for myself."
"You can try, boy, but there is no guarantee in this line of work. He stumbled onto the Nigrescent, and yes, it was luck that allowed it to work. But intentionally invoking that kind of magic – no good can come of it. It will destroy you yourself in the process."
"Not with you to help me. You are the Paladinius! You hold the key to powers beyond imagination. You can control it!"
"Yes, I am the Paladinius. But with that comes the responsibility to protect that power. To prevent it from becoming corrupt. It is not for my own personal use! And to taint that purity with the Nigrescent… it would destroy everything."
"You did it once before! When you helped us with the Blood Bond. You were the Keeper! You used the magic then!"
"Yes, that is true. But it was a dire situation and many lives were at stake. I did not condone putting that weight on the shoulders of such young children. And look what has come of it! You, in somnolence for eleven years! The others… well one is close to death in a similar situation as you, and the other is doing hardly better. Even then, I did not taint the magic with Nigrescence, and I do not intend to do it now! I am sorry. But you made the deal, and now you must pay the price. I will keep looking for another way, but this is how it must be. You knew the risks when you made the Bond. Do not blame me for your suffering. No away with you!" Mathias waved his hand and the boy began to fade, all the while screaming, in disappointment and agony.
--
Draco was pacing. He had been pacing for what seemed like hours. He had been pacing a lot over the last few weeks, and he did not know why. He couldn't sit still, he couldn't sleep, and dark circles had formed under his usually sparkling icy eyes – icy eyes that had been gold for days now. He had missed all his classes; he refused to be seen by any of his housemates. He was confused. His power was supposed to be gone. That had been the deal, and he knew very well that nothing could break a Blood Bond.
Draco kept replaying the scene over and over in his head. The anger and hatred he had felt right before he had pulled out his wand and muttered two words, two little words that he had sword he would never use again. The tattoo on his forearm itched at the thought of what he had been through. But no, he wasn't reliving that past. He was thinking about what had happened what seemed like a few hours before, and couldn't make sense of it.
He had grown up with Blaise. From childhood, a competition was always there between them, and about everything. He never liked Blaise, never saw him as a friend, but he didn't hate him. Blaise pushed him to be better, to be more powerful, without even knowing it. It was just Draco's need to be better than him, and that had always been there. He respected Blaise's power, even though, all along, Draco knew Blaise was more powerful than him. And even with that knowledge there had never been a time when Draco had truly felt the urge to – to – kill him.
This is what confused Draco. Because, even though they disliked each other, there was a respect there, and after Draco had made the Bond, something in him had changed. He had given up the power that had been so amplified in Blaise, and he didn't regret it. Only Blaise understood the sacrifice, and their relationship had changed, a connection of sorts had been made. They tolerated each other, and only they knew that what everyone assumed to be a great friendship was just a cover for an even greater secret, a burden both of them had to bear.
And that was when it hit him. The thought of what had happened after the Bond had been made, the awful pain Draco had gone through, the secrets he held, and the things he had confided in Blaise finally sparked an idea in Draco's mind. What if what had happened had finally come back to haunt him?
Draco knew of only one person that would be capable of sparking that kind of hate and anger inside someone else. Only one person who had a personal vendetta against Blaise and himself; only one person who had the power to make him mutter those words without Draco even realizing it. The single person who the Bond had betrayed and destroyed.
But it was impossible. That person had been lying in a comatose for eleven years.
--
"Hermione?" A flourish of red hair poked around the Hospital Wing door.
Hermione looked up. She smiled as the petite redhead made her way tentatively into the ward, but her eyes were tired.
"Hi Ginny," she said.
"Hi." Ginny didn't even know what to say. She hadn't seen her friend for the better part of two weeks. Hermione seemed so distant from everybody recently.
Hermione laughed. "Ginny, I won't bite. Sit down."
Ginny smiled timidly. "I know. I'm sorry. It's just, I haven't seen you in a while, and I just – I didn't know what to say."
"I understand."
Ginny pulled up a chair next to Hermione's faithful position next to Blaise's bed.
"How – How is he?" she asked hesitantly.
Hermione looked at her with sad eyes. "The same. His breathing is better, but other than that –," her breath hitched, "no change."
"I'm so sorry you're going through this Hermione. I wish there was something I could do…" Ginny said sadly, putting her hand on Hermione's arm.
"You're doing it Gin. Just you being here, not letting me sit on my own, it made a world of difference, and I thank you for that. I just wish Harry and Ron could do that same for me, you know? I feel like, it's the one time I really need them and they can't support me. And that's not fair, after everything we've been through together, and how much I've supported the both of them…I just wish they could…I don't even know…"
Hermione trailed off, and Ginny watched her friend, sadness welling up inside her. Hermione was right. This was no way for her two best friends to behave. And Ginny intended to do something about it. But first, she turned to Hermione.
"How are you, Hermione?" she asked quietly.
Hermione looked at her. "What?"
"I feel like people keep asking how Blaise is. No one has taken the time to see if you're okay."
Hermione tilted her head, rubbing her thumb along Blaise's hand, which had been almost glued to hers for days. "Me? I have no idea how I am. I'm…miserable. I'm tired, I'm scared, I'm hurt…I'm…I'm cracking Ginny. I can't handle this. He needs to wake up!" Hermione said. She was getting worked up.
"I know sweetie…"
"No! No, you don't know! You have no idea what this feels like! He has to wake up! He has to!" Hermione sobbed. Her voice was raised and she shook uncontrollably. Ginny stood up.
"Hermione, calm down!"
"No! No, I wont! I'm sick and tired of just sitting here, not able to do anything about this. He needs to wake up. He has to wake up!"
And with that, a surge of power rippled down Hermione's arm and through her fingers, which were still clasped around Blaise's hand. She didn't even notice had it not been for the sizzling noise that came from the contact. Her eyes swirled blue and Ginny backed away. She wasn't sure what was going on, but Hermione was scaring her.
"Hermione please. Calm down," she whispered.
But Hermione didn't hear her, because at that very moment, Blaise Zabini had opened his eyes.
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this was a quick update lol. Hopefully this chapter lived up, and answered some questions.
Let me know what you think!!
Rini08: was that soon enough?? Lol. Hope you enjoy this one.