Chapter 33: Revelations
“Draco, you can’t just run out there and expect to have any control over the situation!” Darien called after him, running to catch up with his older cousin. “If they have control over her, there will be nothing you can do, she’s got too much power over you!”
“Damn it, Darien, what do you want me to do? She’s bloody well out there, and we don’t know who has her or what they intend to do with her! Do you just want me to stand around and lament about how impossible the situation is?” an enraged Draco exploded, stopping abruptly as he turned to face his cousin, and the others who were trailing behind after them. An awkward silence fell over the group.
“Do you even know where they might be?” Harry asked.
“Potter, despite all your fabulous Auror training, you can still be as dense as ever. There’s only one place they could be,” Draco scoffed.
“And where is that?” Ron demanded.
“The maze,” Darien said softly, realization showing in his eyes. Draco nodded solemnly before he began to move again.
“As much as we all want to make sure the girls are all right, there is a bigger picture that we also need to think about, Malfoy. If they get their hand on the unicorns, there’s no telling what kind of spells they’ll be able to do!” Harry called.
“Then the less you keep talking, the more time we have to make sure that doesn’t happen!” Darien sneered, following closely after Draco.
“This doesn’t really seem to be a very Slytherin way of going about things, now does it? I would have expected endless scheming and plotting before charging in,” Ron said, uneasily.
“What makes you think he hasn’t been scheming and plotting this whole time?” Vincent asked with a pointed look and a characteristically Malfoy raised eyebrow.
* * * * *
His grip on her slackened, and he smiled; a twisted, evil smile, full of malevolence and disdain. Hermione, frozen still with shock, simply stared up at him, her mouth hanging open as she grappled for words. Her mind was quickly running through all the possibilities, searching for a reason why he was standing in front of her, when by all accounts, he should be long since dead and buried.
“You died,” she whispered again, full of questions, but with a slight hint of hope in her eyes. His cold, cruel laugh killed it before it could develop any further.
“You thought I died. You assumed I died. If you had bothered to check, you would have discovered the truth,” his voice, which had changed so much, now deep and chilling. Hermione shivered involuntarily. He released his grip on her, and she stumbled backwards, her legs shaking terribly.
“Where have you been this whole time? Why didn’t you come back? Let us know you were still alive?” she demanded suddenly, regaining her steps as she followed behind him as he strode towards Ginny. He turned around, and shot her a cold look from underneath the hood. He turned back to Ginny, still standing perfectly still and staring blankly ahead of her. He pulled the rough wand out of her wands carefully, taking it and handing it to the woman beside him.
With a start, Hermione realized where she’d seen her before – she was Draco’s cousin, Danika. She felt a swell of anger sweep through her – the Malfoys had trapped them. Again! Fooled, and lead to believe that these Malfoys were different, when really they were all the same.
“It’s time for you,” he said to Ginny, who tilted her head slightly to look up at him, her eyes glassy and blank, then nodded slowly.
“What are you doing?” Hermione demanded, taking a step forward, arm reaching out towards Ginny. Danika grabbed her, pushing her back away from them, as they moved slowly towards the herd of unicorns, all huddled together, fidgeting nervously.
“We need to protect them, Ginny. You remember how to do that? They all want to hurt them, and you don’t want that to happen, do you? Make sure no one gets past the line, Ginny. Make sure no one gets past the line,” he said, his voice deceptively soft and comforting, raising his wand and casting a glowing circle around the area where they stood. Ginny again nodded, her eyes still vacant.
Danika pushed Hermione out past the line, just as a brilliant flash of red light illuminated the area. Gasping at the sudden brightness, Hermione fell backwards as she felt a shockwave of power sweep through her, taking her feet right out from underneath her. She watched in horror as she saw Ginny, through the blinding light, standing in the center of the circle, her hand extended and eyes closed – obviously concentrating on maintaining the spell. Jumping to her feet with a groan, and ignoring the sudden stabbing pain in her wrist, Hermione tentatively stepped forward with her hand outstretched, edging carefully towards the boundary of the circle.
She yelped in pain, yanking back her hand, as it came in contact with an invisible barrier that sparked when she made contact. She saw the evil glint in his eyes as he stared back at her, triumphant that she couldn’t get through. His plan was working. Hermione’s quick mind was sorting through the different possibilities as to what his full intentions were – other than just keeping people away from the unicorns. She watched, her mind quickly analyzing the situation, when she saw a glint of silver in his hand, and his body turning slowly towards the huddled group of creatures at the far end of the circle.
“NO!” Hermione screamed, as he took an ominous step forward. “Ginny, snap out of it! He’s going to hurt the unicorns! You have to stop him!”
Ginny’s eyes opened, but she stayed frozen in position, maintaining the spell, her vacant eyes staring straight ahead of her.
* * * *
Harry and Ron were trudging through the snow behind the Malfoys, heading deeper into the woods beside the manor, unaware of which direction they were heading. Just when a frustrated Ron was about to demand to know where exactly they were going, a violent tremor shook the ground, knocking him off balance, and the sky seemed to light up with a strange red light. As he caught himself against a tree before actually falling to the ground, he heard cry of pain and a few muttered curses up ahead. With a glance at Harry, they both ran forward, until they caught up with the three other men.
Draco was bracing himself against a tree, his face extremely pale and his lips pursed against the pain. He gasped a few times; as he felt a violent tremor of pain rip through his body, but he managed to force it back enough to regain his composure.
“What’s wrong with him?” Ron demanded of the grave-looking faces of the other two Malfoys.
“The spells and charms around the sanctuary have been torn down,” Vincent explained.
“Why is it affecting him?” Harry asked, gesturing towards Draco who was almost doubled over in pain again.
“B-because it’s my land, my responsibility and my spells,” Draco spat out, through his painful gasping.
“Your land? I thought it was your uncle’s?” Ron asked. Vincent shook his head.
“The property, as well as the burden of our responsibility gets passed to the eldest male. Lucius was my older brother, and when he died, it became Draco’s. We’ve been living here for many years, though, when Lucius decided to build his estates in Britain, and we’ve been helping Draco with his responsibility ever since it became his, but ultimately, it’s all connected to him,” he explained gravely, helping his nephew to his feet. Draco stood, looking at his conspirators.
“Well, what are we all standing around here for?” he barked suddenly. “We’re almost there.”
Before anyone could protest his comments or the foolishness of charging into an unknown situation, he had turned on his heel and was headed again, towards the center of the maze, where the red light was emanating from. No one commented about the slight painful stagger to his stride as they followed in silence.
* * * *
A simultaneous gasp of horror swept through the three Malfoy men as they broke through the tree line and stepped into the clearing. The once green and luscious field was now frozen and covered in snow, the protective magic that had kept it in a constant state of summer having been decimated. The center of eternal life that Draco had always known had been destroyed. His eyes scanned the area, a cold rage beginning to run through his body.
“Harry!” a tearful voice called out. In a flash of blond, he saw Gabrielle dashing across the clearing from behind the large oak by the now-frozen pond. Draco was relieved to see his cousin, but was concerned that she was alone. Where were the others? He tried not to roll his eyes as the hero Potter stepped forward, sweeping his fiancée into his arms as she started sobbing into his shoulder.
“Gabby, it’s okay, it’s all going to be okay,” Harry said, his knees going weak with relief. If anything had happened to her, after their last conversation…he never would have forgiven himself. Pulling away suddenly, her eyes red and her face streaked with tears, Gabrielle turned to her father and cousin.
“Danika…it’s Danika helping him,” she said in anguish. She watched as the information swept through them; her father and Darien both recoiling from the news. Draco’s face remained frozen, impassive.
“Where’s Hermione and Ginny?” Harry asked gently.
“They have Ginny behind the barrier spell – I’m pretty sure she’s the one that’s casting it, and Hermione’s up there, trying to find a way to break through and stop them,” Gabrielle said. Draco made to move forward, when Vincent held him back.
“Hold on, Draco. If she’s the one powering the spell, there’s nothing you can do, especially against a barrier charm. You’d have to be on the other side to break it,” Vincent said, meeting his nephew’s dark and dangerous eyes. Draco stared back at his uncle, before shaking off his grip, and stepping out into the field.
* * * *
Hermione stood, helpless, as she watched him move closer to the herd, the long knife in his hand glinting the red light.
“’Mione!” she heard a familiar voice call out. She turned, with a great sigh of relief, Harry, Ron, Draco and his cousin and uncle running towards her. Before she could even say anything, Ron had swept her up into a quick but fierce hug, before releasing her almost immediately.
“What do you think you’re on about, just disappearing without a word to anyone?” he demanded angrily.
“Ron, focus please!” she responded, gesturing towards the barrier. Draco reached forward, testing the limits of the barrier. Hermione reached out, slapping his hand back.
“Trust me, you don’t want to do that,” she warned.
“I need to get through there,” he said, looking around as if searching for a crack in the spell that he would be able to sneak in through. His eyes caught sight of Ginny for the first time, and he felt his stomach give a painful lurch as his brain absorbed the sight of her; stiff, frozen and blank. Almost as if she wasn’t really there.
“What’s wrong with Ginny?” Ron was asking Hermione.
“I don’t know. I think she’s under some kind of spell. It couldn’t be the Imperius Curse, we all learned to throw that off years ago in the DA. It’s something much stronger. What do you think, Harry?”
“Did you see what was left on the wall in the library after the explosion?” he asked her, his green eyes clouded in thought.
“No, we were Portkeyed away, I didn’t see any explosion.”
“You’re talking about the Slytherin symbol. You think this has something to do with Ginny and her being the Heir of Slytherin?” Ron asked.
“I believe so. She’s completely under someone’s control, and I don’t know how we’ll be able to get through to her. She’s completely his,” Vincent said gravely.
Draco wasn’t paying any attention to the conversation around him. He was too busy staring at the disturbing sight of Ginny staring blankly back at him. He could feel her magic in the spell creating the barrier between them, and could feel his own power surge as it recognized hers.
“I need to get on the other side,” he said, interrupting the discussion of theories and possible explanations.
“Are you mad, Malfoy? You can’t break the spell, not from this side. All of us together couldn’t!” Hermione protested. Draco, with a distant smile upon his face, turned to his companions as he reached his hand out, through the line of the barrier. A collective gasp swept through the group as they watched his fingertips breach the barrier, eliciting a series of red sparks around him as the spell tried to block him.
“You’re all forgotten one thing. This land belongs to me. This responsibility is mine. And so is she,” he said, before he took a step through the barrier.
* * * *
Pain wracked through his body as the spell pushed hard against him, trying to expel him from the circle. He forced himself forward, taking slow and painful steps as he edged his way forward, closer to Ginny. The closer he got, the more the power was pushing against him.
He grew weaker and weaker the closer he got, but he continued to move forward, until, gasping and desperately weak, he was close enough to reach her. He grabbed her hands, and immediately felt the crackle of energy spark between them, surging forward in strength.
The pressure was immediately eased, and he felt his strength return. Ginny’s fingers felt slack in his hands, but the energy was there. With his renewed power, he tightened his grip on her hands, and felt a dull throb begin to pound through his brain. He felt a surge of joy sweep through is body as he recognized the rhythmic beat. As the power crackled, fully charged, between their hands, he concentrated on her faint heartbeat that he could feel inside of himself, and pulled her hands to his chest, placing them over his heart. She belonged to him, the reaction of their magic proved it. No one could control her while she was still his.
Her brown eyes were staring up at him, still glassy and blank. He touched his hand to her cheek, staring down at her, concentrating on the growing strength of her heartbeat. He felt the power within him surge forward, recovered from the strain of entering the barrier, and he released it.
The heartbeat throbbing in his head started to pound almost painfully, but he held on. She blinked; once, twice. The brown eyes seemed to clear, and her hands on his chest relaxed. A look of confusion came over her face. He smiled.
“Welcome back,” he whispered, pulling her to him in a quick and possessive movement and wrapping his arms protectively around her, more relieved than he was willing to admit that the stiff and robotic essence was gone.
“What’s going on?” she mumbled into his chest, weak and vulnerable, grateful for his strength helping to keep her on her feet.
“It’s a long story,” he said with an ironic smile, as he gazed down at her now-clear and vibrant brown eyes, brushing a stray hair out of her face. He spotted movement out of the corner of his eyes, and swung around – only to see a tall figure standing before him, wand poised and ready to attack. He pulled Ginny behind him, stepping in front of her. She elbowed him out of her way, moving to stand beside him.
“Don’t make a single move,” the cold and icy voice ordered. He felt Ginny’s hand in his go slack, as she gasped; a sound of utter shock.
“Neville?”
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