11. Chapter
Finding A Home
Emerald green eyes suddenly flew wide open.
She looked around frantically and one thing was sure: it was absolutely dark. She couldn't see anything, neither her hands, nor the ground, nor the other side of the room she was in. It was just plain dark.
Kiara gulped and her heartbeat raced up considerably. It was drumming like kettledrum in her ears. The air was thick and moist, as if she was in some kind of dungeon, where nobody had been for quite some time. Rustling could be heard and the tapping of small, quick feet on the hard ground. Hopefully those belonged to mice or rats, otherwise she didn't want to even think about what else could be running around in the darkness next to her.
A thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead and it slowly began to run down her flushed cheeks to her neck, where it then disappeared into the thick layers of her school robes. Coldness crept over her exposed legs and arms and caused chills to run down her spines. It was cold, cold like ice to be precisely, and her robes didn't seem to cover every part of her body. Slowly her fingers, arms and legs started to tremble.
Carefully she tried to move her legs and arms, only to be stopped by a sharp pain coming from her ankles and wrists. They were bound, firmly, by what seemed to be enchanted ropes. The more she tried to loosen them, the tighter they got. Finally Kiara gave up and let them be.
She leaned her head at the wall behind her and let her thoughts wander. Her situation was bad, fatal more likely. She had been kidnapped by a portkey disguised as a normal letter. After being knocked out by a sudden curse, which had hit her right in the chest, she had now awoken some unknown time later. Now she was bound by her ankles and wrists, she was gagged and her wand was missing. All in all, she was helpless.
Kiara let her thoughts wander and they began to circle around her precious people still at Hogwarts. Draco had witnessed her kidnapping, so he would try all in his might to find her. If she had learned one thing during their past weeks spent together, then that he was a damn possessive bastard.
He wouldn't allow anyone to touch her or to even speak to her without him knowing it. Normally it made her mad, but now it seemed to be her only hope. Draco wouldn't let anyone kidnap his wife-to-be. Heaven and earth would be moved to find her.
Thank God Anastasia was at Hogwarts. She knew how to cope with this kind of situation. She would tell him everything she knew about the train of thoughts the average kidnapper had and why and how they planned their attacks. With her help Draco should be able to figure out something really quickly.
But on the other hand Anastasia hadn't been quite herself during the last week. She was excited, couldn't sit still in her chair and sometimes she burst out into fits of carefree laugher and huge, content grins. Being in love let people do the strangest things. In Anastasia's case she felt free and alive for the first time in her life. She just hoped her Potions Master felt the same way and was going to return those feelings in the near future.
So Anastasia's mind was probably elsewhere.
Normally the thought of her friends would make her feel better. Hermione and Ron would do all in their might to track her and her captor down and to rescue her from his clutches. They often had done so, the were mostly the ones to find the important clues and then combine them in the right way.
Ron would want to chase down the bastard immediately once his identity was known, while Hermione would opt for telling a teacher, who she harboured respect for, everything they had found out. Their different opinions would cause them to argue until Ginny would shut them up.
She would yell at them for wasting important time. Then she would tell them to go rescue her, while she was going to tell everything to Headmaster Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall. They had done so quite some times and every time with success.
But this time it would be different. Her friends hated her very being and wouldn't even consider doing something to help her. Heck, they probably would be happy and content to know she was gone.
When her friends had been unable to help her, she had always been able to be sure that there was someone else out there, who was willing to risk his life to help her: the Headmaster.
He had been like a grandfather to her. Always caring, always interested in what she was going to tell him, always smiling and always offering comfort. Never had he raised his voice against her, never had he raised his hand to strike her, never had he told her to shut up in favour for someone else and never had he belittled her. He was what she had wished for as a loving and caring family member.
Had she been in trouble, had he always been the first to know and the first to come to her aid. But now, now things were different. Since Harriet's disappearance and Kiara's appearance at Hogwarts, the Headmaster's attitude and demeanour had changed drastically. He wasn't the caring and loving grandfather anymore. He had tried to strike and hex her in public, he had mistreated and abused her while the whole school was watching and he had tried to force into confessing something that just wasn't real anymore.
Would he now come to her aid? Probably not.
And then there was the Ministry. They had been in quite an uproar when Harriet Potter's disappearance had been announced and publicized. Surely the disappearance of another student would make quite some bad publicity. If one wanted to, he could cause quite some problems by stating the Ministry was a bunch of incompetent fouls and the Minister of Magic was unfit to fulfil his duty. So they should be more than motivated to find her.
But what if all this uproar was just because of Harriet Potter? Would they put the same effort and energy up to bring her back, or would they just forget about her existence as she was an unimportant being to them?
A single tear ran down her cheeks and mixed with the traces of sweat on her skin. She was alone. She didn't know where she was held captive and probably nobody else did, neither. She was alone in the darkness, gagged, bound and locked up.
Just five people out there might be missing her, Draco, Narcissa, Lucius, Anastasia and Severus. To the rest of the world she didn't matter. She was unimportant, a piece of trash nobody cared for. She would die here and nobody would ever find her again, she just knew it.
Silent sobs began to shake her body. More and more tears began to form in her eyes, slowly ran down her cheeks, left wet and salty traces on her face and wetted the hem of her robes. Her lips started to tremble and her fingers began to shake. Soon a light twitching shot through her body, which caused her to feel sore and left her feeling weak. Hadn't she been gagged, she would have cried out loud - a heartbreaking sound, full of misery and desperation. She was alone. Nobody cared for her.
She didn't know how much time had passed and she could have sworn that she had been alone during it. Nevertheless someone had to be watching, as she suddenly heard robes rustling.
"Ah, I see you are finally awake."
The sudden noise was unexpected and caused Kiara to flinch. The voice was unknown, cold and filled with so much hatred that it sent shivers down her spine. A maniac laughter followed the voice, which finally crept her out completely. It was a cruel, soulless laughter.
"You don't know how long you kept me waiting. To be honest, I don't even know why I waited for you to wake up. You are too unimportant to waste my precious time on you. I should have just killed you as soon as you arrived here."
Again she could hear the rustling of robes against skin and the ground. Then a shrieking sound filled the silence between her and her captor. A heavy, rusty door was opened, a person walked through it into the room she was currently occupying and then another shrieking sound filled the air, which indicated that the door had been closed again.
A low mutter could be heard and then the rustling of air. Whoever had entered, must have locked the door and warded it. Kiara tilted her head to one side and tried to listen more closely. The sound erupted from somewhere in front of her on the right side. A slight gust of wind had reached her face and caused her hair to tickle her nose. It carried a scent of moist soil and sweet smelling flowers. She must be somewhere in a forest.
"Perhaps I should start at the beginning, so you can understand why I did what I did. It is your fault, and once I have finished, you will understand why."
Another silent moment filled the room between them. Carefully, as not to make a suspicious sound, Kiara tried to move her body silently into the direction of the door. Perhaps, if she just got close enough, she could surprise him when he was about to leave and would be able to escape.
"For the last fifteen years our world finally was able to live and breathe freely again. The darkness had been overpowered and vanished. Many people started to feel hope arise in their hearts again. They were finally able to celebrate again, to praise and to live their lifes again. All thanks to a small, defenceless girl."
Kiara paused. The voice had changed. It wasn't as cold and uncaring anymore. When her captor told her about the happiness of the people around him, it changed into to smooth, scooting and warm. Hadn't she been gagged and bound by said voice, she would have been too intrigued by it to think clearly.
"This small girl was praised as the saviour of our beloved world. Wizards and witches all over the world began to praise her name and to hail everything that had to do with her. She wasn't even two years old yet and she already had the biggest and most fanatic fan club one could imagine.
So as not to spoil her pure and humble soul, she was sent to live with the only remaining living relatives of her. Those helped her develop a pure, innocent and modest character over the years during which she lived with them and to be honest, they did a marvellous job."
Kiara couldn't suppress a snort. Whoever her captor was, he really was an idiot. The Dursleys had helped her develop a pure, innocent and modest character? She would have laughed out loud, would she have been able to.
She was pure, because she didn't want to turn into such sinful and disgusting creatures like her relatives. She was innocent, because she had never had any chance to do something against it.
Dudley had scared all possible friends of her away and in the wizarding world she just was too suspicious to snog and shag every person who offered to. And her modest character was her self-defence.
She knew the Dursleys wouldn't give her anything, so why keep her hopes high? It was so much easier to live modest life and don't get disappointed than to have hopes and wishes only to see them to never be fulfilled. Yeah, so, the Dursleys' help her ass!
"When she arrived at Hogwarts nearly nine years later, everything seemed to develop perfectly. Young Harriet got sorted into Gryffindor and unintentionally became the perfect heiress to her parents actions. Soon she became friends with Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, two perfect little Gryffindors. He was the youngest heir of a well known, the light side supporting, pureblood family and she was a bright, studious, muggleborn witch.
It wasn't what I had had in mind for her, but soon it proved to even be better. With her friends she signalled her okay with muggleborns and the light side. So instead of breaking the three of them up, as I initially had planned to do, I clearly encouraged their sometimes stressful and slightly strained friendship."
Kiara's breath hitched. So the esteemed Headmaster had had to encourage her friends to keep on friendly and good trades with her? Didn't this mean that her friends had wanted to abandon her at some time during the last five years? And only thanks to the Headmaster's interfering with the lifes of the people around him had they kept at her side?
Silent tears began to run down her face. She had broken her friendship to the three of them a week ago, yet hearing of their betrayal still hurt deeply. Kiara tried to keep her tears at bay and silently etched forward to the door.
"Then my perfect plan went along, well, perfectly. Harriet began to feel the need to fight against the evil. She opposed the Dark Lord and one of his trusted followers in her first year, in her second year she opposed the memory of the younger Dark Lord and one of his favourite pet, a full grown Basilisk.
Then again, in her fourth year, Harriet did not only take part in the Triwizard Tournament, she was also able to oppose the Dark Lord and the majority of his followers again. In her fifth year, under the pressure of the Ministry of Magic, Harriet had to fight the Dark Lord and the most trusted of his followers again. Sadly this time it resulted in the untimely death of her beloved Godfather."
Kiara suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and chocked on a sob. Dumbledore, only Dumbledore knew of her Godfather's death. Her Godfather, Sirius, the only one who had ever cared for her and just for her being herself, had died because of her acting and being stupid. Never had she thought about the Dark Lord only using his ability to reach into her head to manipulate her into recklessly rushing into her own and her friends' misery. And then, then he had died. Because of her. Guilt and shame ate her away since then. So Dumbledore had had it all planned? That bastard...
"It all went perfect. When the Dark Lord returned last year, Harriet soon became the symbol of hope for our community. She associated with muggleborns, halfbloods and purebloods. She defended the rights of other magical beings and creatures and she took it as her responsibility and duty to rid our world of the evil. She was everything I ever hoped her to be one day, and still she was even better. Her very image and references in the newspapers gave the people hope and honestly she was the heroine our world needed so dearly."
Kiara still itched forward slowly to the warded door and nearly would have snorted. So that was what the esteemed Headmaster of Hogwarts thought of her former self: a soldier, a marionette, a symbol of hope. Never had he asked her whether she liked what he had told her to do. By God, she hated it. Every single time a person was kidnapped, tortured or killed the reporters would ask what she thought about this.
Well, what should she tell them? Ah, well, I don't really mind. I don't care if there are people dying and getting tortured. Hell, no! Of course she thought it was horrible what happened out there and what Voldemort was doing to the poor souls who had the misfortune to cross his paths. But this didn't necessary mean that she saw it as her duty to be the one to rid the world of the evil. Oh no, no she didn't.
"And then it happened. During the first week of the holydays I was informed of Harriet's absence at her relative's home, where she had been monitored for the last years. When we arrived at their home, there were no traces left of her, nothing that indicated there had once lived a young woman in this household.
She had disappeared and all traces of her magic and relations had, too. So I called for an emergency meeting and soon everybody agreed on one important fact. Nobody of the wizarding community shall be informed about her absence. We let an undercover agent of ours live at her relative's home to take her place, we informed her friends that she would be unable to respond to their letters and that they wouldn't be able to spend the holidays together."
He made a small pause. Suddenly Kiara felt uneasy. Dumbledore's voice had changed dramatically throughout the last minutes. At the beginning he had been cool, collected and calm, so collected that she hadn't been able to really identify his voice. But now, now his voice was forceful, shaking because of anger and so powerful.
It was dangerous.
Kiara gulped and suddenly wondered whether it had been the right thing to do not to inform the Headmaster of her change of identity. He wouldn't have been able to force her to continue with this farce, wouldn't he? So, there was this small ounce of possibility that everything would have ended better. That she would have not been kidnapped by him and that she now would have not had to fear for her life so dearly.
"We searched everywhere for her. For over six weeks all of my employees and agents had worked night and day to track her down, but to no avail. The end of holidays had arrived and we still didn't know where else to search for her or where she could be. She was still lost and soon we wouldn't be able to hide this fact anymore. And then there was the Welcoming Feast."
Suddenly she hit something hard and unmoving. Kiara etched forward carefully and could feel a wall of stones. Happiness floated through her body. She had managed it. There, mere inches away was the door which led to her freedom.
Surprisingly Dumbledore hadn't still figured out her train of thought. He still conversed amiably with the lonely and silent corner before him.
Should she be able to get to her feet, she might even manage to touch her amulet to the warded door. It had been an early engagement present from Narcissa. She had told her it was a family heirloom. It was charmed so it would nullify all kinds of charms and enchantments. Should she be able to do this, she really might escape.
"Everybody seemed to be nervous as their heroine Harriet wasn't there to attend the feast. Her place at Gryffindor table was clearly visibly empty to all of them. They newspapers didn't know of her absence but it was surely only a matter of time until they would invade the school to find out where she could be. I tried to be my usual self and acted as if nothing had happened. And then you came to the podium."
Kiara stopped in her tracks. She had nearly done it. Only a few centimetres were left until she would stand right up and would be able to break the wards on the door. If only Dumbledore would keep on talking.
"There you were, smiling lightly at the whole school in front of you as if you didn't know the effect you would have on them. You had long, dark hair and green eyes just like her. Of course, your facial features, your height, the shape and colour of your eyes, the colour of your hair and most importantly your voice were slightly different, but it didn't matter. For them you were Harriet Potter and that was all it mattered to them."
Kiara inwardly sighed and could hear how a chair was scratched over the floor. Robes were rustling loudly in the silence, then everything got quiet again. Kiara had stopped in her tracks, confusion clearly written over her face. She already knew those little facts, Severus had told her all about the Headmaster's meddling of the last fifteen years during her summer holidays at Malfoy Manor.
But why would Dumbledore tell this to her, Kiara, a new student at Hogwarts, and former resident of Russia? She just couldn't figure out where this was leading to and honestly it gave her the creeps.
"So a plan suddenly formed into my mind. It was perfect. With a little change and some minor convincing I would be able to safe us of all problems which would soon arise. You just looked so much like her that it was perfect, fate, if you want to go there."
A low and unhumorous laugh escaped his lips, which sent cold shivers down Kiara's spines.
"All could have been perfect. You looked so much like her that you could have easily been her. That was all I wanted you to do."
Kiara gulping as realized with growing fear that his voice became sharper, angrier and more eccentric. To be honest, he seemed to slowly become crazy. Had there been light, she was sure that she could have seen his eyes nearly pop out of their balls and a vein popping on the side of his head. Unfortunately, it was absolutely dark and so she was unable to confirm her suspicions, which only let them grow in the process.
"All I wanted you to do was to act like her. Change the colour of your eyes and your hair. But no, you had to ruin it before I was able to discuss it with you. In front of the whole school you accused me of molesting and mistreating you. You showed your scar-free forehead and proved that you truly weren't our missing heroine Harriet Potter.
But would it have been so bad? You could have had fame, money and glory, not to speak of the attention of all the boys and lot of girls. The Ministry would have accepted all of your job interests without even looking at them. Think about it. Would it have been so bad to act as her?"
Cold sweat poured down each and every pour of her body. She now understood where all this was leading to and why the Headmaster had kidnapped her at all. But honestly, it gave her the creeps. The idea itself was so absurd, so crazy and so life-threatening that she just couldn't believe that the Headmaster had even thought about.
She straightened her shoulders and silently turned to the door. She had to escape and it would have to be quickly, otherwise she didn't wish to even think about what the consequences might be.
"No, it wouldn't have been so bad and it won't be. You just look so much like her. Just one thing is missing. Not that this can't easily be arranged. Her trademark will finally make you completely her. I only have to shape a lightning bolt into your pretty little forehead and then nobody will ever be able to deny that you are truly Harriet Potter."
Suddenly she could hear loud rustling, as if someone was brushing with his hands over his robes. Then the rustling changed into searching movements. Moments later they stopped. The quiet noises of flesh brushing over metal could be heard clearly in the absolute silence. Her heartbeat increased dramatically, which sent sweat down each and every part of her body. If she didn't hurry up, she wouldn't come out of here unharmed.
Or maybe even alive.
"This little dagger will solve all of my problems. Hope and happiness will return to our community and the Death Eaters will stop to roam around so freely. It has to be done, there is no other way.", he declared.
Kiara gasped. That was it. She had to escape, now! If she didn't, there would be no way for her to ever live the life she had wished to. His voice had been so soft and soothing that it sent shivers over her body and caused her gut to clench painfully. The Headmaster was crazy, the pressure of their community had clearly caused him to go mad. He had lost it completely and there was no way in hell that she would be able to tell to which measures the old man would go just to ease his own problems.
Kiara turned around sharply and prepared herself to hop forward so her chest would touch the wooded door to nullify the wards placed on it. Just when she leaned forward, the once esteemed Headmaster of Hogwarts, spoke and made her jump.
"You will understand it. Once you are truly Harriet Potter, you will understand why it is so important to be her. This little cut will gain you so much more, my Harriet, so much more.", he whispered soothingly.
A gigantic wave of panic swept over her body. In a desperate attempt to escape the hell hole she was being held captive in, Kiara turned to the door and sprang. But just when she was reaching the floor and happiness washed over her, she immediately noticed something was wrong. A part of her robes seemed to have been caught somewhere at the floor.
With a muffled shriek, Kiara tried to prevent the inevitable and tried to lighten the impact that was about to come, but sadly she was unable to. With a blaring loud crash, Kiara collided with the hard, stone floor. Stars appeared in front of her eyes, her breath had been kicked out of her lungs thanks to the forth of the impact and several parts of her body began to hurt. She couldn't breath and even less was she able to move.
"You little bitch!", he screeched.
Suddenly the light went on. Blinded by the bright, sudden light and still being bound, Kiara lay still on the cold stone floor. Before she was able to react in any kind of way, Kiara helplessly heard the Headmaster approach her with angry strides. The billowing of his robes could be heard clearly in the absolute silence of the room.
She wanted to turn her face, to hide it away from the light and the evil that was coming, yet before she was even able to do so, a strong hand held her throat in a death grip. With a harsh movement the hand lifted her from the floor and then, without the slightest sign gentleness, was she pulled by her hair and her throat to the other side of the room, right into the corner where she once had been.
"You think you are clever, bitch, don't you think? You think you can easily run away from here and return home to your lovely friends and family? No! You are wrong! No force on earth will help you escape from here.
This place is protected, better protected than even Hogwarts, and you think you can just run away? You will become Harriet Potter and if it will be the last thing you or I are doing, but you will become her.", he roared-
Kiara blinked.
Her heart raced, sweat poured down each and every part of her body and she had started to tremble again. Fear, unbelievingly huge fear made it impossible for her to think, yet to even breathe. Carefully she opened her eyes and felt hot strands of tears running down her face. In front of her was the looming figure of Albus Dumbledore. His normally friendly face was screwed up in anger, rage and determination.
She had to gulp as she realized how near they were. His left had was firmly gripping huge amounts of her hair, while his right hand firmly gripped a long, silver dagger. Not even half a meter separated them and in her condition she wouldn't be able to hold up a fight.
The Headmaster steeled his grip on her and then harshly yanked her forward by a big strand of her hair, which exposed a rather great deal of her pale, soft neck in the process. Suddenly the Headmaster stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes grew wide. He was starring intently at her exposed, pale neck and it took Kiara a few moments to realize where he was starring at. There, clearly visible for the two of them was the now nearly black biting mark, which Draco had left there before she had been kidnapped.
"What is this?", he hissed.
His voice was sharp and biting. He yanked her head further to the side, then the Headmaster etched forward to examine the mark more carefully. Just moments later did he take in a sharp breath and stumbled backwards at the same moment. When she looked into his eyes, she could see anger, range and accusation flash through them clearly.
"That's a claiming mark!", he shouted in a mix of anger and surprise.
Kiara felt her heartbeat increase.
She didn't know why, but the Headmaster seemed to be greatly preoccupied be her claiming mark. She could see the confusion so clearly written on his face that she nearly thought it was her on mirrored in his. His right hand still firmly gripped the dagger, yet the left hand folded and unfolded quickly in her hair. He seemed to be thinking and he didn't seem to like where his thoughts were leading him to.
"A claiming mark. Only werewolves, vampires and veelas have claiming marks. But you can't be a werewolf. Last Saturday was full moon. Someone would have noticed if had you transformed. Furthermore, there would have been victims and students hurt.
And you can't be a vampire. You can eat normal food, walk in the sunshine, you have a reflected image and you have a heartbeat. Furthermore, like if you had been a werewolf, there would have been some students hurt or at least bitten.
So that means you have to veela.", he concluded.
The Headmaster stepped back and tilted his head to the side to have a better look at her, which caused Kiara to squirm uncomfortably under his intense gaze. She hated it when people stared at her. It made her feel strange, inadequate, exposed and in a strange way very naked to their eyes. Why couldn't he just look elsewhere? His cold, calculating eyes sent shivers down her body and made her want to just jump up and run away screaming loudly.
"Yes.", he suddenly murmured.
The Headmaster was now murmuring, too far gone in his thoughts.
"Yes, that's it. You are a veela. You have a charming personality, you can easily convince other people to approve of what you do, to think the same way you do or do what you want them to and to make them to do things they would have never done without your influence. You are good and easy manipulator.
Furthermore, there is this air of mystery around you. You seem to be exotic, not the average race of a veela. Your aura is much darker, mysterious and a lot more dangerous. But at the same time you can fool all those around you with playing the innocent, pure, little girl. And then there is your appearance."
His eyes suddenly roamed over her body, which caused her to squirm further. They started at her legs, then wandered over her hips to her abdomen and her chest to her beautiful face and then back to her chest. An approving smirk crossed his cold features and involuntarily caused Kiara to gag, when she realized where he was staring at. The old pervert was staring intently at her full, nice breasts and from the looks of it, he quite enjoyed what he was seeing.
"Yes.", he groused.
His voice was now content and his eyes never wandered from her upper body.
"You certainly have the looks which come with being a veela. To be honest, I am shocked that I never thought of it this way before. You are beautiful, your look is exquisite and very alluring. And you have this aura which just intensifies it. You certainly have potential and the ability to drive men wild with want and lust. Honestly, why didn't I consider it before? You certainly are a veela, a pureblooded veela nonetheless, if I'm not mistaken.", he pondered.
Suddenly the Headmaster frowned and took his gaze of her upper body. Kiara wasn't able to suppress it and sighed with relief.
To hear the Headmaster, an old man who could easily be her greatgreatgreat-grandfather speak this way about her and look at her with lust and want in his eyes was quite nauseating. If she ever came out of this situation alive and unharmed, she would have to wash her brain and memories several times to clean it of all those disturbing, nauseating and repulsive thoughts which the Headmaster's attitude had caused in her.
A sudden thought caused her to squirm again. No, Draco wouldn't like this, he wouldn't like this at all. And an enraged Draco was not a pleasant sight. Hopefully someone would be able to rescue her before the situation got out of hand. She surely wasn't able to do it alone and she didn't want to think, what might happen if nobody did.
"But it's bad that you are a veela, very bad. You have a claiming mark and that means you have already found your life mate. And I am sure as hell that you didn't have this mark at the welcome feast. No, you didn't. So that means that your mate is somewhere at Hogwarts. He knows of your existence and he already claimed you as his. And you let him claim you, and accepted the claim in the process. This is bad, very bad.", he whispered.
With surprising force the Headmaster thrust the helpless girl forcefully into the wall and caused her to slump down on it. Her body hurt like hell and now she wasn't even able to move the slightest inch. The impact with the wall had caused the breath in her lungs to leave her body, which left her weak and helpless.
In front of her she could more hear than see the Headmaster wander around in her cell agitatedly. His steps were strong and fast, something was on his mind and it troubled him a great deal. Kiara could only wish that whatever it was that it would help her in the end.
"That is bad, very bad. If you are a veela and your mate is at Hogwarts, then he certainly will notice your absence. But what is even worse is that he won't be fooled by my charade. He will immediately know that you are indeed not Harriet Potter. No, this won't do, this certainly won't do. He will notice and all of my work, all of my time and plans will be wasted.", he snarled.
Suddenly the Headmaster turned around sharply and continued.
"So I will have to make sure that your mate doesn't know. But who is your mate? Hell, there are hundreds of students at Hogwarts. How to find the right one?"
Happiness floated through Kiara's mind and body. Yes, there were hundreds of students. It wouldn't be very probable that the Headmaster figured it out. Draco would still have time to find her and he would accomplish this, of this she was sure.
"So I will have to guess. Probably your mate is a veela, too. So a lot of students can't be your mate. Some are too young, some are too weird and others just don't have the physical appearance to be a veela. Your mate would be of your age, your year even.
He would have to be a Slytherin. Living without ones mate is a very unpleasant experience, which he wouldn't be able to live through very long. You would have to spend great deals of time with him. Being mates would mean that you two act as best friends or even lovers in public.
So... ah!", he finally concluded.
The Headmaster's low chuckled caused Kiara to look at him sharply. When he saw her look at him, the Headmaster answered in a soft voice:
"Of course, how could I have been so stupid? There he was, right in front of my nose and yet I wasn't able to see him. I should have known at the beginning that something was wrong between you two.
Never once before has anyone made this request. It was right in front of my eyes, you two already even live together. Hah, how could I haven't noticed that Draco bloody Malfoy is your mate?"
Again he chuckled, which sent unpleasant shivers down her body what seemed to be the hundredth time during her stay. He was scary and it seemed as if he was slowly but surely loosing it.
"Well, this is bad. I can't corrupt him. The Malfoys have more money than anybody else in Britain and sadly they have more than enough of wealthy goods and important connections to bribe him with this. Also I can't just let young Mr. Malfoy disappear.
He is the only Malfoy heir and his disappearance would be severely investigated not to speak of severely punished. No, young Mr. Malfoy being your mate is good at all. Neither bribing nor killing him would work. So this only leads to one conclusion. I have to nullify your bond."
Kiara's eyes flew wide open. Hadn't she been gagged, she would have screamed. No, he couldn't! He just couldn't nullify their bond! It was unique, it was special and it was theirs. Their bond, her time and interactions with Draco were the best things which happened to her for a long time.
For the first time in her life she felt real, important, loved and she felt like she truly deserved all of the happiness she experienced. If he now took this away from her, she wouldn't be able to overcome this loss. With a state of panic she realised that this would truly break her, perhaps even kill her.
While Kiara worked to suppress her panic, the Headmaster was working on his rage. When Kiara finally had calmed down enough not to panic at the slightest motion, the Headmaster was still pacing up and down in her cell furiously. His head was beat red, his posture stiff and his hands firmly clenched around his wand. For a brief moment, Kiara was able to see the look on his face. What she saw, scared her deeply.
The Headmaster was clearly angry. No, that put it too mildly. He was enraged, even furious. Hate and cruel determination crossed through his facial features, while a brutal, unbelievingly strong new force and power suddenly seemed to radiate around him.
But what had scared her the most was the look in his eyes.
It was if someone had kindled a fire in them. They seemed to burn, literally and Kiara gulped as she finally realised that the Headmaster had now truly lost it. He had gone mad and there wasn't anything she could do to prevent what this madman was going to do to her.
"You, you! You destroy everything!", he screamed.
His voice was cold and sharp like steel. A strange tune was swinging with it and idly Kiara wondered whether this was the sound of madness.
"You and your idiotic mate! Why couldn't you just be a normal girl without friends and lover? But, no, you had to be veela, with a bloody mate and already claimed! Can't just once in my life everything turn out like I want it to?", he hollered.
Helplessly Kiara cowered in the corner. There was nothing she could do and it scared her deeply.
The Headmaster turned around to her, he breathed heavily and sweat poured down his madly screwed up face. His cold, madly blinking and burning eyes pierced into hers and Kiara found herself unable to look away or even move.
The Headmaster was still breathing heavily when he continued in a hoarse, rustling voice:
"I don't like what I have to do, I really don't. But there is no other way, no, no other way. I have to destroy your mark, it's the only thing which binds you to him. I don't like what I have to do. But I have to do it. It's for the benefit of our community, of our world. It's for the greater good."
Slowly, yet with steady steps the old Headmaster approached her. He seemed to be determined, deadly determined. His right hand still firmly gripped the long silver dagger, which blinked dangerously in the semidarkness. He would do what he had to and no force on earth could stop him from doing so.
In her corner, Kiara began to whimper. Her back was firmly pressed at the wall behind her, her body built a firm ball, as she was hugging her knees to her chest. Though she knew that everything she did would be useless. He would easily overpower her and rid her of the one good thing which had happened to her.
Tears ran down her face and left hot, salty traces of despair. She had found and gained happiness, just to loose it again so soon. Would Draco still love her even after the mark had been destroyed? Would he even look at her again?
A strong hand gripped her hair and harshly thrust it to the side. More tears felt freely to her chest, as her neck with the claiming mark on it was clearly exposed. Sobs wracked her fragile body when she saw the Headmaster she once had loved so dearly, look at her with cold determination and this scary fire in his eyes.
The sharp steel of the dagger shortly blinked once more, before he brought it down to her neck and he placed it neatly directly over the mark. Breathing frantically, Kiara looked up into the Headmaster's face. He was staring at her, directly into her eyes, before a creepy smirk screwed up his lips and then intensified.
With a sudden movement the Headmaster deepened the pressure on the dagger and firmly cut through the mark.
A pain worse than everything she had ever experienced before, erupted from her neck. Blood, so much blood floated down her neck and made her feel fuzzy. Blood, there was blood everywhere.
Hot tears immediately rushed into her eyes and caused her vision to become blurry. It burned, it burned so much, worse than every fire could and Kiara opened her mouth to scream when she felt her heart explode with pain, sadness and despair.
With an absent mind Kiara realized that the Headmaster looked startled.
Yet she didn't care.
She was screaming, screaming out all of the fear, anger, desperation, despair and pain she felt at the moment.
She didn't realize that she was screaming out loud. She didn't realize that her willpower had destroyed the charm to gag her and prevent her from screaming. She didn't realize that the Headmaster approached her again with the bloody dagger drawn. All she cared for was screaming out all she felt off her system.
The Headmaster approached her again and placed the dagger again over the now profusely bleeding mark. He prepared his cut, deepened the pressure on the skin, when-
Crash
With a mind-blowing sound, the door of her cell exploded. Huge waves and clouds of dust suddenly invaded the small room and made impossible to see through it.
Just moments after the explosion, shouts and screams could be heard and a wave of curses and charms crashed over them. Red and orange lightning flew through the room and hit the Headmaster straight into his chest.
People in black, dozens of them, suddenly invaded the small cell. Kiara could hear shouts, cursing and orders. She saw them rushing over to the Headmaster, binding and gagging him. She saw them look everywhere in the cell for eventual others who could have had helped him kidnap her. In the door she could see a large, black haired man and a fine, blond haired couple argue harshly with what seemed to be an Auror.
Suddenly she felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her. Kiara raised her wide open eyes and she saw a pitch of silver blond hair and sky blue eyes look at her. Suddenly all charms fell off her. Kiara didn't care who was watching them. She turned to Draco, wrapped her arms around him and freely cried and sobbed into his firm shoulders. She could feel Draco's hands stroke her back and hair comfortingly.
And finally Kiara collapsed into his reassuring arms.