15th December 1997
Blaise Zabini just did not have the time to stay at one place anymore. Between dodging the Carrows, the other students, discreetly protecting Tracey, maintaining his Voldemort sympathiser outlook and working as an undercover DA person was taking a toll on him. He sighed tiredly as he entered the common, looking forward to a few hours of sleep before his nightly duties.
He was almost on his way to his dormitories when something caught his eye. The common room was empty apart from Crabbe and unfortunately Tracey who was frozen on her seat. Crabbe was bent over her and was whispering something in her ear.
"What are you doing?" Blaise asked Crabbe who jumped.
"Ah, Blaise! Nothing, I was just reminding Tracey that she should be friendlier. The mudblood has been ignoring direct orders from me lately."
"Really Crabbe?" Blaise said with a sneer, "You are… ah, "ordering mudbloods around?" Are we calling it that these days?"
Crabbe flushed a deep red. "Anyway" Blaise said flicking his hand dismissively, "If you want to let filth like that touch you, it is not one of my problems is it? Just don't do it so publicly, the sight makes me sick."
Crabbe gave Blaise a glare before stomping out of the common room.
"Are you okay?" He asked Tracey.
"And why do you care?" She snapped, "You might want to walk away Zabini, the filth I carry might be contagious."
"Don't be ridiculous." Blaise snapped, flustered at her response.
"Of course, now I am ridiculous."
"You know you should be thanking me. I saved you from whatever bullshit Crabbe was upto."
"Oh yes! You are my knight in shining armour riding a white horse. How can I ever forget?" She replied sarcastically.
"What is your problem Davis? I was trying to help you, the least you could do is be civil."
"Well, then don't!" She shrieked, tears sparkling in her blue eyes. "You weren't there when I really needed help. No one was. I picked up my pieces; I can take care of myself!" She ran out to her dormitory leaving a fuming Blaise behind.
Dear Sir,
I hope you and yours are doing well. I know these times are not the best times to trouble you or put our lives at risk by contacting you. But I am in quite a predicament that I believe none other than you would understand. I believe I am in the same position as you were when you met my mother. An acquaintance of mine has been subject to similar horrors, not once but several times. I have tried reaching out to her but all my advances have been spurned. It is like a horrible, mismatched dance where I take half a step forward and she takes several steps backwards.
I know I will never understand her pain and hurt but I refuse to let her become what my mother has become. She is too young, she has her whole life ahead of her and I loathe the idea that she thinks it is all over for her. I don't know how to help her through the trauma she is facing. I have tried explaining it to her that I am trying to look out for her. But she insisted that she is used to being alone and taking care of herself.
How do I let her know that she is not alone? That I am by her side through it all that I can help if only she would let me in. You were able to reach out to my mother, you were there to support her when she chose to let me live. You were there to support during those rare moment when she regretted her decision of letting me stay. You have saved my life more than once. I can't even begin to thank you for all that you have done for me. I wish to do the same for another young innocent soul who doesn't deserve so much of pain.
I will be waiting eagerly for your reply.
Sincerely
Blaise Zabini
Blaise walked into the hospital wing, with the letter in his pocket.
"Hey Tori, Where is Ginny?" He asked Astoria.
"In the forbidden forest with Hagrid. Didn't you hear?"
"Didn't I hear what?"
"She tried to break in to Professor Snape's office and steal a sword from there. Neville and Luna were helping her. Snape caught them. He has punished them with working with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest till the end of the term."
"Did she tell you why she needed to steal this sword?"
Astoria shook her head, "Although Terry thinks it has something to do with helping Potter. Apparently, Potter killed a Basilisk with that sword."
Blaise snorted, "So, what were they hoping that Potter would stick the sword in the Dark Lord and be done with it?"
"I don't know. But the sword must mean something if it was so heavily protected."
"So, do they know where Potter is?" Blaise asked curiously.
"I don't think so. Ginny wouldn't have stayed put had she known where he was."
"Then how were they planning to give him that sword?"
Astoria shrugged.
"Stupid Gryffindor act first, think later attitude. The whole lot would get themselves killed if they continue doing this. They were lucky, the Carrows didn't catch them."
"Yeah." Astoria replied checking on the student in front of her.
It was in the wee hours of the morning that Ginny, Luna and Neville returned to the castle to find Blaise pacing in the entrance hall.
"Oh thank Merlin!" Blaise said as he saw them enter, "I was getting worried about you."
"Why?" Neville asked alarmed, "Is everything alright?"
"Just the usual." Blaise said airily, "But I heard about your attempt at breaking into Snape's office and I was worried that maybe the rumour mill had got it wrong about the punishment. I mean Snape can't be kind enough to let you go to Hagrid instead of the Carrows."
"Yeah. It is kind of surprising. But he did send us to Hagrid." Neville said nodding.
"I almost want to believe that he is just old Professor Snape; not Death Eater Extraordinaire and Dumbledore's murderer." Ginny said tiredly.
"All that is gold does not glitter." Luna sang softly.
"What?" Blaise asked distractedly.
"It's a muggle saying. A muggle fantasy writer wrote it." Luna said repeating the line again. "It simply means that we cannot judge someone by how they choose to brand themselves. I believe Professor Snape is much more complex than just being good or bad."
"I am too tired to argue with that. I will see you later Luna. Bye. You too, Blaise." Ginny muttered shuffling towards the Gryffindor tower with Neville in tow as Luna trudged towards the Ravenclaw Tower.
"Wait!" Blaise called and all three of them turned to him.
"Luna, I will escort you back." He said quickly, "Ginny, I need some help."
He handed over the letter to Ginny.
"Please make sure that this reaches Remus Lupin." He said, "I believe you will meet him for Christmas?"
"I think so. I am not sure though. His wife is-"
"-Is pregnant, I know." Blaise finished the sentence, "News of this particular child has travelled fast in the pureblood circles. But if you can make sure that this message reaches him, I will be forever indebted to you."
"I will try." Ginny promised before pocketing the letter and going back to the tower with Neville.
Blaise escorted Luna back, his mind still on the letter and Remus Lupin.
"He will reply back." Luna said as they reached the Ravenclaw tower.
"Hmmm?" Blaise asked distractedly.
"Professor Lupin." Luna said, "He has always been nice and understanding. He will write back if you need him to."
"I know. I hope I am able to become a tenth of the person that he is." Blaise said honestly.
"He will be proud of the person you have become now." Luna said smiling brightly at him, "Bye Blaise. You should get some sleep too."
Blaise watched her trail up the steps to the door before turning around and hurrying through the corridors. As his head hit his pillow, Blaise could only see Tracey's tear stained face and hear a voice telling him that he was a long way from making Lupin proud.
18th December 1997
Blaise fidgeted on his seat, watching Astoria fume from the corner of his eyes. Daphne had insisted that they all sit together. The four of them were now sharing their compartment with a withdrawn Draco Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle were thankfully sitting somewhere else.
Blaise's thoughts were still on his letter to Remus Lupin and Tracey when the train came to a stop.
"Why are we stopping now?" Daphne asked fearfully.
Before any of them could answer shouts were heard in the corridor. Blaise leapt out of his seat and opened the compartment door before Theo or Draco could stop him.
Outside was complete chaos, there were shouts and screams all over. MacMillan was stubbornly standing over the door, pushing his housemates in. Death Eaters, along with Fenrir Greyback were prowling the corridor.
There was a loud bang somewhere and everyone went quiet.
"That's much better." Mulciber said, his voice ringing through the train. "We are not here to harm anyone, the dark Lord holds magical blood in high esteem."
"Too right he does." Neville shouted from somewhere, Blaise clutched the side of the compartment door as Neville's screams filled the now silent coach.
"As I was saying." Mulciber continued after a minute, "We are not here to harm anyone. We are only looking for: Stacy Grey, Stacy Davies and Luna Lovegood. We would ask them to come forward on their own to avoid unnecessary bloodshed."
"You can't take students off the train." Someone exclaimed, "They have been in school all year. They did nothing."
"And who do you think you are to tell us what we can and can't do?" Avery snarled, "We know that these students have been troublemakers all over, blood traitors and half bloods are as bad as mudbloods." He spat angrily.
"But they have done nothing wrong!" The voice continued stubbornly.
"Crucio." Avery said lazily, Screams filled the coach again. "Question us again and Greyback would be having you for dinner."
Theodore gripped Blaise's shoulder his expression neutral. "My father is on the train with them." He whispered his eyes betraying his horror for a split second. He stepped out in the corridor before anyone could stop him.
The entire coach watched as he walked self assuredly towards the three death eaters and one werewolf. He stopped a short distance away from them, giving an almost bored look to Michael Corner who was being helped up from the floor by Terry Boot.
Theodore nodded respectfully towards the Death Eaters and sneered at the werewolf before looking into the green eyes of his father who had been silent all this while, but was watching everyone intently.
"Ah! Young Master Nott." Avery said with a smile, "I hope you had a good term."
"It was a pleasant enough term. Thank you for asking." Theodore replied not breaking eye contact with his father. Finally, Septimus Nott gave a slight nod to his son before looking at the students again.
"Are you here to enjoy the show young Nott?" Mulciber asked.
"I was just wondering what the ruckus was all about." Theodore said carelessly, "I am sure these idiots should have died by now for defying you had it not been against the Dark Lord's wishes."
"Perceptive as your father." Avery commented.
"We are here to pick these children up as a warning to their parents. They have been giving us a bit of trouble lately."
Theodore smirked. "You might find Davies and Lovegood here but Grey is a half-blood." He said, "You won't find her here. And please make sure that you keep the screaming to a minimum, I was trying to read something interesting. Also, if you must Greyback, at least ensure that no blood is spilled, I am rather fond of the shoes I am wearing, I don't want to spoil them."
He nodded respectfully at his father before returning to his carriage. He could hear a scuffle behind him. This time it was his father who used the Cruciatus curse silently, Neville Longbottom's screams ripped Theodore's heart.
"I am here. You can stop torturing him now." Luna said and for the first time she sounded anything but dreamy.
"This is bad." Blaise whispered as Theo entered the compartment. Theo nodded before sending a full body bind at Astoria who was struggling against Daphne. Daphne glared at Theo but said nothing, as she settled next to Astoria. Silent tears ran down Astoria's eyes as Luna and Stacy were taken out of the train.
As soon as the train started moving again, Theodore lifted the spell from Astoria who ran out of the compartment.
"I am sorry, Daph." Theodore sighed, "You know I had to do something before she could get herself killed."
Daphne nodded but continued to stare ruefully at the door.
Astoria ran to Ginny's compartment, she was about to open the door when Goyle came lumbering in with Nicolas Avery.
"Ah! Greengrass." Avery said, "What are you doing here?" He asked eyeing Astoria's hand frozen on the handle of the door of the compartment.
Astoria's breath hitched, she tried to school her expressions to look disinterested but she was unable to force some words out of her mouth.
"She is here to make sure that Lovegood was indeed taken." Draco Malfoy said from behind her, making her jump.
"So, the mute son of the great Lucius Malfoy, has a voice now?" Avery asked with a smirk.
Draco shrugged, "Believe what you want Avery, he still chose me for the mark. I don't see any on your arm." He said smoothly, "You might want to think twice about saying things to me. Now as I was saying, Greengrass here was only making sure that Lovegood indeed has been captured, so why don't you go trouble someone else. I will escort her back to our compartment."
Astoria didn't know if she should be thankful to Malfoy or resent him, but her instincts told her to do exactly what Malfoy was asking her to do. She slid the door of the compartment open and looked around.
Ginny's eyes were bloodshot, Neville's hands were shaking uncontrollably, a side effect of being under a strong Cruciatus curse for more than half a minute. Michael Corner was out cold and Terry Boot was wiping a wet cloth on his face, tipping a green coloured liquid in his mouth. Astoria recognized that liquid as a healing potion, Theodore was an expert at whipping them up. Hannah Abbott was tipping a bright blur liquid in Neville's mouth to ease the muscle strain of the curse. Theodore Nott had apparently been successful at supplying them with the necessary potions as he talked to his father and other Death Eater. Ernie was sitting in a corner, staring out the window, his eyes wide. None of them noticed Astoria till Draco coughed rather loudly.
Everyone jumped and Ginny turned around her eyes trained on her.
"Is it true?" Astoria asked quietly, hoping that Ginny would play along.
"What do you care, Greengrass?" Ginny said thickly, "She was your dorm mate and you didn't care about her, what's it to you now?"
"Just answer the question, Weasley." Astoria said, knowing that the three boys outside the compartment were watching her every move.
"Yes. They took her for what her father has been publishing." Astoria nodded and was about to shut the compartment door when Draco discreetly poked her back.
The inmates of the compartment were watching her with narrowed eyes. Astoria took a deep breath and looked directly into Ginny Weasley's eyes.
"Serves him right for writing such horrible things about the Dark Lord. They had it coming." She said with as much conviction as she could muster, her eyes pleading with Ginny to understand her predicament.
Ginny threw a crushed ball of paper at Astoria, which was deftly caught by Draco. "Careful, Weasley." He said menacingly, "We do not want to send what's left of you to your family now, do we?"
Astoria snatched the ball of paper from Draco's hands and slammed the door shut.
"I don't need you to fight my battles, Malfoy." She hissed angrily, "You don't have to go threaten people for my sake."
"I love the fact that you have some fire in you, Greengrass." Nicolas said appreciatively. "You would make a fitting wife. I will ask father and see what could be done about it."
Before Astoria could open her mouth to protest, Avery had walked off with Goyle in tow.
"That arrogant idiot!" Astoria said angrily.
Draco cleared his throat pointedly. "Shall we?" He asked nodding towards their compartment.
Astoria said nothing but started walking, she turned at the door and Draco almost ran into her.
"Thank you." She said quietly. Draco nodded and the two entered the compartment together.
Astoria took her seat and smoothed the ball of paper out.
We understand, we really do. Everyone is at risk here. Before you came along each and every one of us had a long chat about this. We knew we could be kidnapped or killed for defying him and his followers. Our families had also impressed upon us that returning to school could mean that we would be used as baits to control them. Luna, Davies and Grey are not the only ones nor are they the first. Some of the people who were kidnapped were returned to their homes, albeit a little shaken up once their parents complied. Let's hope that the same comes true for Luna and the others and that we see them soon enough.
Please don't blame yourself. All of you have done enough and we would understand if you wish to discontinue. And thank Dorie for helping us today.
Take care and be safe.
Astoria sighed the note was obscure enough. She looked up and saw Draco Malfoy watching her intently. He raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged, "Stupid Charms notes." She muttered before looking out of the window.
Had Astoria observed Draco like Theodore Not was observing him, she would have seen a small smile on his lips and a faint spark in his eyes, as he looked out the window. Maybe, Theo mused, there was hope for the Malfoy brat after all.
AN: Another chapter and it has been divided into two so many parts because I wanted to cover as much ground as I could. The war is coming home soon. I hope you like it. Please read and review and if you like this story or me please don't forget to favourite/follow either the story or me.
Waiting for your reviews.
Happy Reading
Much love
The fishes