Chapter Six
~Draco~
Cruel, harsh laughter echoed about the darkness as I struggled against the crushing weight in my chest. Pain seared its way through to my heart and I screamed, begging them to stop, trying to get away. It was no use, they had me tied down, I couldn't free my legs! Pain hit me again and I struggled against my bonds, screaming at them to stop again. Light flared to my right and I jerked away, awaiting the sting or burn or cut of another curse.
"Hey, hey wake up!" Someone was speaking, and I felt hands pulling at me.
"No, stop! No!" When would they leave me alone? When would they kill me and end this?
"Hey, it's alright. You're safe, you're safe." My legs were now free, and I calmed a little, realizing I'd been having a dream perhaps. I felt a cloth at my forehead and focused towards the light. Sea blue eyes watched me with worry. I remembered now, this was a muggle.
I launched myself away from her, letting out a groan of pain from the action. My head spun, but I needed to get away from her before she harmed me. She'd had that knife! No, she'd helped me to this bed. She'd taken my wet clothes and now I was hot, really hot. What had she done to me? The cool air pricked at my skin and I shivered, and then I couldn't stop.
"You've got a fever." Instantly her hands were at my shoulders. "Lie back, you're not well." Her voice was filled with concern, each word gentle. There was no malice. Perhaps she didn't mean me harm? I could hardly resist her steady pressure and fell back against the pillows. The room seemed to be spinning.
I think she left, I wasn't sure, but then she was at my side again holding a glass. "You need to drink this, it will help." I eyed the green liquid fearfully. What potion was this? "Its safe, see." As if reading my mind, she took the glass to her lips and downed a mouthful. I was thirsty... The glass was brought to my own lips and slowly I drank the liquid. It was lime flavoured and sweet, and I wanted more of it.
"Please, more." I rasped, shocked by my lack of voice. She obliged, getting up and refilling the glass from a frosted pitcher.
"Just drink slowly or you'll make yourself sick." I managed a nod, this time drinking the cooling liquid slower. After my third glass I felt a little better, but still I shook although my body burned. I tried pushing the blankets away, but that only made me shake harder.
"I put two dissolvable Panadol in your first drink, it will help with this fever." I didn't know what that was but nodded anyway. She took up a cloth again and wiped at my forehead. I watched her, trying to understand why she would help me when I'd done terrible things to her kind. One thing I did know on instinct, I was safe here with her.
"What's your name?" She eventually asked, eyes curious.
"Draco." I found my voice again. They widened in surprise. It was rather unique, even in the wizarding world. "Yours?"
"Ellie."
"Ellie." I repeated. She smiled and despite everything, her smile gave me hope that perhaps everything would be alright.
I must have fallen asleep, for I awoke freezing. The blankets were gone, and I struggled up, trying to find them. The coldness seeped like ice through my veins and I could barely move for how I shook. Aunt Bella had made me feel like this until I'd begged her to stop through chattering teeth. She would laugh manically and then burned me. Was she here? Was she doing this?
A female silhouette appeared in the doorway before me. It was her, would she burn me again? She advanced, and I wanted to hide but couldn't. My shaking bones were my shackles. "Please no, not again." I begged her, stomach roiling by what would come next. A hand reached out. "No, please don't burn me again, please." The hand retreated, and I heard a sharp intake of breath.
"Hey, it's alright." It wasn't Auntie Bella's voice, the woman was younger, her hair a gold halo where lamplight touched it. "Its just me, Ellie, remember?" Ellie, the muggle girl. I remembered now. I was safe. I was really safe. I tried to calm my breathing but could hardly take a deep breath for my shivering. She moved around the bed and suddenly blankets were surrounding me once more.
"Thank you." I chattered, and she smiled like she had last time.
"I made soup, would you like some to warm up?" I nodded, and she disappeared. Moments later she returned with a blue and white striped mug. I stared at it dubiously. Where was the spoon? Or the bowl for that matter?
"Its mostly pumpkin, couple carrots and some ginger and capsicum." She rattled off the ingredients, holding the mug out to me. I wrapped my shaking hands around it, realizing I was meant to drink it like a beverage. Deciding now probably wasn't the time to question table manners or the lack of cutlery, I took a small sip, followed by another.
It was good, really good. I drank slowly until it was gone, the warmth spreading through me. I was still cold, but the shaking had ceased to occasional shivers.
"How are you feeling?" She asked, taking the mug from my hands to set on a bedside table.
"Cold, I feel weak." She nodded.
"You need to keep resting. It's still quite early in the morning." I was bone weary, but sleep meant those haunting memories. I just wanted to forget everything. All the fear and pain and bloodshed. Sleep left me alone to those nightmares. She stood, making to leave.
"Don't go!" I called out before I could stop myself, panic trying to surface and smother. She paused, lips parted as if she would say something.
"I'm just grabbing something to read, I'll be back." She disappeared and was back in an instant. I sagged against the pillows in relief as she perched herself on the edge of the bed.
"What are you reading?" The book was quite large, not a novel as I'd expected.
"The Top Medical Journals from 1970-1997." Healing but for muggles, I realised. "More specifically, Toxicological Pathology." I knew half of what she said meant toxins, and path, was Latin derived from Greek for disease in simple terms. She flicked through the pages until she found the one she wished to read.
Closing my eyes, I tried to rest as she had suggested. All I could see was the manic face of Bellatrix Lestrange as she used me for target practice. No, she wasn't here. She couldn't find me. Could she? I opened my eyes, focusing on the muggle girl while she read in silence, pushing back a golden tress of hair which fell over her face every now and then.
"Would you read some out loud?" She looked away from her book, seeming to regard me a moment.
"It will probably bore you, but sure." A smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she focused on the page once more, this time reading aloud. It wasn't really what she read, it was her voice I wished to hear. I found I understood most of the muggle healing book she read, especially when she moved onto pharmacology in relation. I figured out it related to things like potions and poisons and safe levels in the body. She read on and her voice lulled me into finally closing my eyes, this time not seeing nightmares of only a couple days ago, only peaceful darkness.
Warm sunlight met my eyes when I next awoke. It must have been morning. I could hear a bird whistling nearby outside, a strange rhythmic whooshing sound a little further away, and music from somewhere in the muggle dwelling I'd found myself safe in last night.
Pushing myself up, I was glad the room didn't spin, and I was no longer shivering or cold for that matter. My body did ache as a whole, and there was a dull throbbing pain at my chest, and my arms felt uncomfortable. Pushing the blankets away, I assessed myself. There were crisp white bandages on my arms, and over my heart a strange healing dressing which covered where the dull pain was coming from. There were four smaller healing dressings, from my left shoulder down to my right hip bone.
The muggle girl had tried to heal me. I'd have to finish the job. Out of habit, I reached towards the bedside table, freezing when my memory caught up with the action. I didn't have a wand. Any wand. I couldn't heal myself. I couldn't defend myself, and if I wished to leave, I had no idea how.
Coldness swept over me. Without a wand I was without my magic, save for the very little I could do wandless. Without a wand, I was helpless. Helpless just like a muggle.
I pulled myself out of the bed, unsure what to do when I discovered I only wore underwear. The muggle girl had taken my clothes! I glanced around, not fond of the idea of using a pillowcase like some common house elf. A familiar shoulder bag caught my eye and on barely steady feet, I snatched it up. Surely mother had put clothing in it? Mother… my throat burned, tears threatening to spill. What had happened to my mother?
Swallowing, I fished around inside the bag, gladdened I knew wandless accio. My head hurt when I summoned a clean shirt and slacks, leaving me dizzy for some moments before I could stand to dress.
Once clothed, I stood at the doorway, unsure if it was safe to leave the room. The muggle girl hadn't harmed me, she just seemed helpful, nice. She'd tried to heal me. She'd assured I was safe. Taking a chance which set my heart pounding, I left the room and made my way down the wooden stairs; noting how airy and bright the muggle dwelling was. It was very clean. I'd always been told muggles were unkempt in the way they lived.
I followed the upbeat music, taking note of black and white framed photos which did not move upon the walls. One was the muggle girl sitting astride a tall, dark coloured horse in a pale field overlooking the sea. It was dated nineteen-ninety-six, two years ago.
So much had happened in the space of two years... It was strange to see a captured memory in this frame which depicted such freedom and peace when I had sold my soul to a madman who started a war.
Shaking myself, I continued until I stood in the entrance of a kitchen. The muggle girl was turned away from me, faintly singing along to the music playing from a small black, rectangular contraption that was attached by a black tether to the wall. The air was filled with the sweet scent of maple syrup and my mouth watered. The muggle girl's shoulders stiffened, and she turned, those sea blue eyes locking onto mine, widening in surprise.
"Hey, you're up." She mustered a friendly smile, but it masked uncertainty. I nodded, attention drawn to the whisk in her hand. "Do you like pancakes? I know, silly question, everyone likes pancakes." She grinned before her eyes dropped from mine, assessing my attire with confusion. "You found your clothes in the dryer, sorry I didn't put them out for you, I forgot." She hastily stifled a yawn, turning towards a large ceramic bowl. Dryer? I was unsure how to reply, and admittedly more than a little nervous.
"These won't take long, She began to vigorously whisk the ingredients which were already in the bowl, simultaneously turning a knob on her very strange and very small white oven?
"How are you feeling?" She asked, still turned away from me as she added butter into the frying pan now on the stove, swirling it about before pouring in some of the mixture and swirling the pan again. I'd never exactly watched anyone cook before, not even house elves.
"Hungry." I answered truthfully. It was the easier answer than explaining my fear and confusion and all the other mixed emotions. There was the dull pain in my chest and other injuries, not to mention the occasional stabbing sensation throughout my body from the after effects of too many hits of the cruciatus curse.
"I can fix hungry." She flashed me a smile and I decided I liked her smile. It was genuine, friendly and warm. Something I wasn't used to, but found I wanted to see more of. It was calming to know wherever I was, it was away from pain and despair. Away from war, and from him.
I glanced down at the horrible brand upon my arm and the breath left my lungs. It was faded, washed out. The cursed, dark magic had left it. He had left it. It could only mean one thing... I felt light with the waves of relief which washed over me. He was gone, surely for good? Which meant… it meant I was free...
"Let's sit you down." A soft voice broke through my revelations and hands took my arms, guiding me from the kitchen until I was sitting on a plush couch. I hadn't realised I was shaking until she grabbed my hands, stilling them in hers. "Its alright, your safe here." I nodded, still stunned.
"He's gone."
"Whose gone?" She gently asked, blue eyes holding mine.
"He's, the D...Dark Lord..."
"Does, he, have a name?" I shuddered, knowing the consequences of speaking it out loud.
"I can't say." I managed to whisper, lowering my gaze from those fierce eyes.
"Did he give you this?" Fingers traced hesitantly over my faded brand. I nodded, staring at it, unable to believe after everything, he was gone. Had Potter done it? It was said only Potter could destroy him. "Does it hurt?"
"No... not anymore." I realised aloud, more relief filling me. I'd been so used to the constant feel of the snake under my skin, that now I knew it was gone I felt as if I'd been realised from a terrible darkness.
"Do you remember last night?" She asked. I was unsure, what was real and what was nightmare? "It was hurting you, the um snake. It was writhing as if it were dying and the ink started bleeding from it until it stopped and looks like it does now."
"He really must be destroyed." I shook my head, coming to terms with her description and the faded mark upon my forearm. "Which means I really am free..."
"Yeah, you're free." The girl agreed, letting go of my hand. I learned back feeling giddy with relief. My hand landed on something bumpy beside me on the couch cushions and suddenly I was surrounded by the familiar screams and cries of war and despair. I leapt up, panicked, wheeling to where through a rectangle window, the battle had erupted from. No, no! There were people falling among rubble, flashes of light and loud cracks of what was surely apparition.
I'd been wrong, he wasn't dead, the war, the destruction still went on. It was never going to end. I stumbled back, around the furniture. I couldn't take any more of this. Why had I entertained safety? How could I be safe with a muggle? He'd kill her or worse, then he'd do the same to me for accepting her help. I was no better than a blood traitor, a turn cloak! We had to get out of here! There were more cracks of apparition and without a moment to lose, I grabbed her arm, hauling her towards the stairs. Wait, there was my broom! I grabbed it with my other hand. I couldn't wandlessly apparate, but perhaps we could escape by flight? Halfway up the stairs I realised she was speaking, pleading me to stop.
"No, no he'll kill me, he'll kill you!" I rushed out.
"Its okay, there's no one here, it was just the TV. You're safe."
"No, we have to go!" She tugged on my arm and I found I was still too weak, I couldn't fight her. "No, he's going to kill us!"
"Its alright, he's not here. There's no one here, just us. It's just us."
"No!" I tried to pull her up the remainder of the stairs, but she wouldn't budge. My foot slipped, and I landed heavily on a step. She let go, spinning to race back down the stairs. "Stop, please stop! They'll torture you!" I followed her, heart slamming against my ribs. I should have left her and ran, but I couldn't. She'd helped me, and I couldn't bear any more bloodshed. I didn't want to be the cause of another death.
I burst into the living area to silence. No more sounds of battle, the window only displaying darkness. I stared at it, confused. It wasn't a window. It was something else, entirely inside the dwelling. A Sears mirror? I didn't know. "Its okay, it was just the television, I've turned it off." Her hands were grasping my shaking ones again.
"But the fighting..."
"It wasn't real, just pretend. No ones going to hurt you. You're safe here." A choked sob clawed its way from my chest and I felt my knees buckling. Her grip slowing my fall.
"I thought, I thought..." I gasped in air, feeling panicky by what I was so sure was happening until she'd somehow vanished it away.
"Shh, just breathe, it's okay." Her hand stroked a soothing pattern between my shoulders and my ragged breaths began to lessen, to deepen. I clutched her other hand in mine, reluctant to let go. It was then my tears finally fell, as if the well I'd been pushing all my emotions down for the past couple years had broken. All my mistakes, all the horrors, the pain, the death and the constant fear.
Arms wrapped gently about me and I clung desperately to her, emotions stripping me bare, leaving me exhausted.
Reviews welcome.
ForsakenKalika - Thanks, think that means I better find Ellie some flaws!