Anything that rings a bell belongs to JK Rowling

Trigger warning: mentions of sexual assault

Chapter Thirteen: Dancing with the Devil

Harry was being completely ridiculous. He didn't know why this was so hard. He couldn't believe his reaction when Diggory had fallen on her. It took his all not to punch him for being an idiot. This shocked him more because he didn't have a tendency for violence. So, he stood there, breathing in and out, trying to calm down. But that was normal. They were friends right, especially after last night.

He never spoke so freely with anybody else except Ron and Hermione. Well actually no, he told all his secrets to Ron and Hermione, but not all his feelings… he needed to stop acting like a total arse. He needed to stop mistaking her friendly banter for anything more. He definitely needed to stop staring at her. He was staring at her so hard earlier on that when Cho called out to say hi, he splashed water all down his front from whipping his head around to make sure Ky didn't catch him staring.

They went to the next salesman. Ky was buying everything in sight, claiming she had to get this for this person and that for that person. She was hustling a man for some Montrose Magpie figurine, the omnioculars he got for her around her neck. Well, he had gotten one for Ron and Hermione as well so that can't be misconstrued for anything.

An hour later they were sat in the Top Box, waiting for the match to start.

"All I'm saying is, do they wear underwear? I'm sure she won't mind if we ask her. Is it really that personal of a question?" Ky was seated in between Hermione and Harry. "I mean if they're not allowed clothes does that mean they're going commando under their…"

"Ky that's just about the most personal AND rude question you could ask anybody. It's horrible enough the poor thing isn't allowed clothes!"

"Oh Mi, sweet innocent Mi…if you think that's the most personal question anybody has ever asked, these next few years are going to be a multitude of surprises for you now aren't they." She turned to Harry, "Now you seem to have an in with her, you should-"

"I am not asking a house elf we just met if she wears underwear." Harry shook his head at Ky. For once she looked the crazy that she was. She had on a huge green Dancing Shamrock hat and a Bulgarian scarf and a flag that looked like it had three legs trying to kick each other painted on her cheek.

"You're right." Harry looked at her amazed, he must have heard wrong. "You just met her. You should go make friends and then ask her. Can we get closer maybe-"

"We are not accosting that house elf, and you look ridiculous by the way. Can't you just pick a team, what on earth is on your face? Everybody was staring at you on our way up here."

"Of course, they were Mr Potter. In jealousy. I mean this hat has shamrocks that dance, this scarf, yes, this scarf has a lion…. a lion that roars. Roars! And this happens to be the flag of the Isle of Mann. And that's in the middle of the Irish Sea. So technically it's relevant. Now who looks ridiculous?"

"You, it's still-" Harry heard his name and stopped mid-sentence, turning around, suddenly face to face with Cornelius Fudge. The Minister shook his hand and patted his back, and was trying to explain to the man next to him who Harry was, with great difficulty. "– need Barty Crouch for this sort of thing. Ah I see his house elf is saving him a seat…good j-"

Harry zoned out, supervising Ky who also turned and looked at the house elf, making sure she doesn't ask her anything inappropriate.

"- here's Lucius" That got his attention. And Ron and Hermione's. Ky was still staring at the elf. Harry stared at her whilst the minister and Lucius Malfoy spoke.

"Good lord Arthur. What did you have to sell to get seats in the top box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much."

Lucius Malfoy said this softly so that Fudge didn't hear but it seemed Ky did, she snapped around quickly staring at him in a way Harry never saw her do so before. Her 'care-free' nature seemed to disappear at that statement and her hackles seemed to be raised. Harry touched her hand when she opened her mouth, and slightly shook his head. He may be just as angry, but this wasn't the place nor the time. It seemed she couldn't help herself though when he looked directly at Hermione, curling his lip at her.

"Paedophile!" There goes Ky, screaming out random insults. Lucius Malfoy's head snapped to her, and he took in her face, his brows furrowed slightly.

"I'm sorry? I must have heard wrong, it sounded like you said-"

"Peter File. She said Peter File. She was talking about a-"Hermione was muttering, trying to cover up the situation. Lucius Malfoy didn't even bother to look in her direction. Most of the box was now staring at Ky.

Fudge's face was squished in confusion, "And who might this little spitfire be?"

Ky stood, with surprising air and grace, her back straight.

"Ky Thornton." She held her hand out to the minister and he shook it in turn, his face still trying to place her.

"Now where have I heard that name-"

"Albus Dumbledore's granddaughter." Lucius Malfoy said, not being able to even mask the venom in his voice.

"Oh, my my! Well, hello! Pleasure! I am the minister for magic, Cornelius Fudge. Albus has been doing a good job of hiding you away hasn't he? Don't blame him. What with all the press. This is the Malfoys, Miss Thornton. They're very-"

"It's fine Mr Fudge, I know what they are." She smiled forcibly up at Lucius Malfoy who was barely containing his disgust.

Harry was confused, he was sure they never spoke about the Malfoys to Ky. Maybe Hermione did.

Then she did the strangest thing.

Ky turned and walked straight to Draco Malfoy with the most beatific smile Harry ever saw grace her face. She stuck out her hand, with a coy blush, "Ky Thornton."

Malfoy looked just as startled as they did but his inbred etiquette caught up with him and he shook her hand, "Draco Malfoy. Pleasure."

She then turned around and walked back to them. As she crossed over Harry, her head bent down, he saw an uncharacteristic look across her face. It was pure anger, and he noticed her hands shaking.

Harry put his hand on hers briefly when she sat down, and her head snapped up. The look disappeared, and she gave him a shaky smile.

Hermione then spoke, "Ky, what was that about? And you don't know them Ky. He's not the type of person that you just go and-"

"The only thing Mi… is that I do know them." She stated cryptically, "The important question we should be asking is, which one of us is going to go and ask that elf-"

"Godric not this again." They all turned away from her. Well, the others did, Harry turned away, but he made frequent glances in her direction.

He scanned the box and caught a silver eyed stare so inflexible also observing the marvel that was Ky Thornton.

Harry made a point to move closer to Ky, and into Malfoy's eye-line, a fierce protectiveness flaring up in him. He smirked when he glanced back at his annoyed face at Harry's disruption to his view, trying to focus on the quidditch match and not the fact that Ky's shoulder and thigh were now brushing persistently against his own.

-x-x-x-

"Shit!" Ky clutched her face, that was her third scratch and she was afraid by the time they got out of this mess she'd have no face left.

She couldn't believe she lost them! She was so sure she heard someone call her name and in a multitude of shoves she found herself alone in a crowded forest, in a sea of strangers.

Ky ran towards the centre, thinking that's where they'd go to get away from those men in masks, or more importantly to get Mi away from them.

Thinking of Mi reminded her of what she saw in the mind of that sick pest Lucius Malfoy. She's only managed to slip into someone's thoughts once before, but when Malfoy's eyes landed on Mi a memory was brought to the forefront of his mind… a fantasy about a muggle he may have known…or hopefully it was just his imagination…

The woman's face burned into Ky's very soul, her golden-brown eyes and flowing brown hair darkened by blood that surrounded her like a halo. Her pale skin aglow, her naked, marred body lying on the floor in an odd angle. Three men in black cloaks stood in front of her, a younger Lucius Malfoy being one of them…adjusting his collar…smoothing out wrinkles…wiping his lips.

Sobbing in the corner was a man…Ky couldn't see his face but he was being held back by another man in a black cloak, his hand lying limply at his side sporting a large skull tattoo.

If that was the thought association Malfoy had when he saw Mi, a muggle-born…and now muggles being tortured…

Ky's pace quickened, desperately searching for them but comforting herself with the thought that Harry and Ron would never leave Mi's side.

She had to be okay.

"Fuck!" Ky clutched her knee, who put that stump there! Crap. It was bleeding.

"Seems we have a lost little lamb. I knew it would payoff to leave those weak sods. Floating muggles…where's the fun in that." Ky snapped around, she had just entered an empty clearing and there was a masked man behind her. She straightened up, the pain from her knee vanishing. Her intuition was screaming 'run', and this time she listened. "Hmmm, where the fuck do we think we're going, lambie?"

Ky's head seared with a blast of pain as it made contact with a low hanging tree branch, not at all prepared for a physical attack. Before she could recover, she was grabbed by the shoulders and spun around as large hands found its way around her neck. Dark eyes glared at her through the mask, freezing her in place. The searing pain was fading into just a dull thudding reverberating in her ears, her senses becoming less and less aware of the hands around her throat.

Shit…she just needed her wand. She tried grabbing it from her fondina, but all the blood was draining from her hand as it tried to get oxygen to the organs that mattered. She couldn't even move an inch.

Suddenly the constriction around her neck loosened and she took in breath in gulps and pants, but then she felt ice cold hands on her tummy.

No, no, no, please no.

She felt a sharp pain at her abdomen, and spindly fingers drift to her ribs, crawling its way up to her chest.

The blurry masked face got wider…closer…. And then the steel mask was at her lips.

And that was it.

Breaking point.

Ky fell to the ground as her magic flung the man away and he hit a tree across the clearing. She looked at the shiny mask, at the black eyes and grabbed her wand but something in the air caught both their attention and suddenly an eery light shone in the darkness, and with a resounding crack, the man disappeared, leaving Ky looking up at the somewhat familiar grotesque skull with a protruding snake like tongue, floating in the dark sky.

The feeling of recognition disappeared as her head snapped up at the breaking of a twig, and grey met grey.

-x-x-x-

Ky held Mi tightly. Reassurance floated through her, she clutched her closer, thinking of the scarlet haloed broken angel in Malfoy's mind and thanked the heavens that she was just being paranoid. Malfoy wouldn't attack Mi…that must have happened at another time…an era long over. If that image was even real.

The cloaked figures from tonight were just fooling around…except one.

"Ky, where the hell were you!" She let go of Mi and looked at Harry, his face pale and hands shaking. He was breathing heavily, she didn't hear him ever take such a tone before.

"What Harry means to say is, we were really worried about you. We realised we lost you and we tried going back but we couldn't find you." Mi let go of her, a concerned look on her face, "Godric Ky, what happened to your face." She started inspecting her scrapes and Ky just laughed softy.

"A few branches ran into me."

"Ran into your leg too?" Ron came over and was staring at her knee. It seemed she scraped it quite badly on that stump and perhaps broke something on impact. He threw her arm around his neck, "Honestly Ky, are you trying to show up Harry. What with the detentions and the injuries…" She sighed as the pressure was relieved from her leg, she had been stubbornly using it when she left him.

Ky looked up and found Harry staring at her, a calculating look on his face but Mr Weasley's voice calling out to them from the tent dragged his attention away.

Bill took one look at the lot of them and rushed over, a bloodied bed sheet that he was holding to his injured arm abandoned on the kitchen table. He looked at Ky's face, but his eyes quickly dropped to her leg, Charlie hot on his heels. They both kneeled down to inspect the wound, hiking up her pants and staring at the ugly bruise over her knee. The blood was dried up and most of it were just superficial scrapes really, but she practically had to drag herself to Harry, Mi and Ron when they spotted them.

"Fractured knee cap. See quite a lot of them on the job. Running from dragons. Fell down?"

She looked at Charlie's concerned face and forced a smile through the mounting pain. Seemed her reservoir of adrenaline was disappearing, and her perception of pain was taking its place.

"Ran into a stump." She smiled but she felt something wet on her cheek and she could slap herself. She was being such a girl, crying over a little scrape.

It's not like anything even happened. Just a little bit of pain, nothing she can't handle.

"I don't even know how you're still walking with that leg. Here," Charlie picked her up in one swift movement bridal style, and Ky ducked her head into his chest, embarrassed at her tears. "I'm taking her to the mediwizard camp."

"Ok, I'll come with." Mi walked to the flap and thankfully Charlie stopped her.

"It's ok Hermione, I've got this. I'll wait whilst they see to her, and I'll call you once they're done." Mi gave him a doubtful look, "I promise. You just rest, you kids had a rough night." And she felt them float out of the tent.

"It's ok to cry Ky. Doesn't make you less of anything. I guess it comes from having brothers, feel like you have to 'man up'. Ginny does that. But it's ok, everybody cries. Everybody hurts."

He was right. Everybody hurts, but she wasn't crying because of the physical hurt.

She was being such a dumb girl and she wanted to pull her hair out of her head.

Ky shivered in disgust as she remembered the ghost of the man's fingers on her ribs. Fuck, it's not like he touched her anywhere that mattered or anything.

She was ok. She protected herself. She didn't let anything happen.

She was ok.

She was fine.

She was alright.

Fuck why was she still crying?

Fuck. Ky lay on the magical stretcher, why didn't they think of conjuring one before. She closed her eyes and let the Healer look at her leg. Not flinching as he touched the bruise, rendered immobilised by the image that burned in her head.

Scarlet halo on dark hair, grey eyes…tan skin. No that couldn't happen, that was the past.

They were safe.

She was safe.

-x-x-x-

"Ky?" She heard Mi's groggy voice in the tent.

"Yeah, it's me Mi, couldn't spend another second in that tuna smelling tent. High tailed it, sorry for disrupting your sleep."

"How's your leg feel…I visited once Charlie said I could, but you were out for the count. The healer said you were lucky that the fracture was non-displaced, but the collagen filling potion takes a day to heal but you should-"

"Keep off my feet as much as I can. Yeah, I know," She lay the infernal crutch down and crawled into bed. "You know how kindly I take to rules. So, what was that in the sky?"

Ky listened as Mi spoke, taking it all in. Well, it made sense that Voldemort had supporters that went by a certain name. And of course he had a sign, that's like the first thing megalomaniacs dream up. She could just see the little fucker doodling it in his Charms book, with little hearts around it. He probably dotted his I's with the dark mark.

"I guess Winky can use underwear now, no need to go commando anymore."

"KY! I cannot believe-"

"Chill Mi…joke. It's screwed up, I never liked that Crouch. And not just because he looks like he cuts his hair one strand at a time. Didn't manage to get a look at the guy that sent it up?"

"No. Mr Weasley said he's definitely a death eater though because he knew the spell-"

"Ky? Mione" They looked at the flap of the tent and two heads were sticking in. One all smiles and the other looking decidedly grumpy.

"Why are you boys up! Ron! Harry! Its 3-"

"Shhh don't complete that sentence Mi. 3….21?"

"27."Harry's eyes softened a bit. "Well Ron, we checked, she's alive. Now can we get back to sleep?"

Ron on the other hand walked into the tent and sat at the edge of Ky's bed. "You ok?"

"Nothing a little potion won't fix." Ron was giving her a deep look; it seems that he wasn't as tactless as everyone made him out to be. He gently picked her feet up and put it on his lap and got more comfortable on the bed. Harry walked in and sat at the end of Mi's bed. Ron propped his head up on his hand, "So Mione told you about Wonky Winky!"

"Ronald-"

"I've heard, and about Batty Barty too?"

"Must have heard about Loony Ludo pitching up before all of that."

"And the Megalomaniacs mark in the sky."

"Stop please, before I kill myself." Harry said dramatically and lay back on Mi's bed.

He must be tired; melodrama wasn't his usual thing. Ky started laughing and he looked at her, "Well, what would happen if you tried to kill yourself. I mean if Voldey tried and the curse backfired, if you try and the curse backfires and then of course it realises it's you and it backfires again…it'll be an infinite loop. Please, none of us want to see that."

Ron laughed, "Girl's got a point."

"No, she doesn't. Firstly, I am not immortal; the curse backfired because of my mother's protection when she died to save my life."

They fell silent for a moment. "Way to make it awkward Potter."

"I was not trying to make it awkward; I was just pointing out that-"

"We were just complimenting you on your immortality. Some people." Ky looked at Ron whose blue eyes twinkled amused at her, "hear hear" he responded in agreement.

"Oh no Harry, there's two of them. What should we do?" Mi looked at Harry with a mocking exasperated look on her face.

"I'm sure there's a cliff around here somewhere. Ky would make it nice and easy and just trip over a stump and fall down, it's Ron we have to worry about." Harry's emerald eyes twinkled at her.

"That's easy. Grab a piece of steak and throw it over the edge." Mi laughed at her own joke. Ron and Ky looked at each other and simultaneously flung pillows at them. Harry dodged his but Mi somehow got both in the mug.

"So much for injured." Harry said adjusting his glasses.

"My leg's hurt, nothing wrong with my arm."

"You sure? Because you missed me by like a foot."

"Good dodging skills are nothing to be proud of, coward." She smirked at him, and he returned it.

"I like to call it flexibility."

"Like a ballerina. Come on Potter, give us a twirl." Harry glared at her, and Mi and Ron laughed out loud.

"Can we go before we wake your sister?"

"Too late for that, I was awake ever since Ky barged in"

They looked to the third bed. A tousle of red hair emerged from the white sheets.

"Harry run! Come on!" Ron grabbed a confused Harry and made a beeline for the exit.

"Turn a person's hair into worms just once when they wake you up and suddenly you get labelled as 'not a morning' person." Ginny sighed and turned, snuggling into her blanket.

Ky looked at Mi and she smiled. She cuddled into her blanket, and started drifting to sleep, all images of broken angels forgotten.

A/N: I hope it's not too confusing moving from something quite heavy to something lighter, this is the sort of chaotic energy Ky subscribes too and hopefully the flow of the chapter isn't too confusing - thank you for reading and as always, feedback is appreciated.