A Woman Of Ice

XCVI- A Cry For Help

Three Days Ago

Draco Malfoy awoke, not at all ready to face the day. Ever since Diana Black had left him, and Hogwarts, to be with both Luke and that odd stranger he'd only met once through his father, Greyhill, he had hardly slept at all every night, and constantly woke up with a hateful sense of dread toward even the mere idea of continuing to live for another day. The pain, guilt, and simple lacking in his life was too much emotion, adult and mature emotion, for him to handle at the moment. Nevertheless, Draco quickly and efficiently rose from his bed in order to keep up appearances, which was an important reaction in the Malfoy family. Although, nothing that he ever did seemed like enough to his father. Then Draco realized; he had woken up in an unfamiliar place that was not his own home. His bed had now disappeared. Where could I possibly be? he thought. It was a meadow; just an ordinary meadow in the springtime. It wasn't necessarily beautiful, or anything special, but it was just nice and simple, two things that Draco Malfoy seemed to miss most in his life.
  "Hello, son."

Draco was startled, then turned to see his mother, Narcissa Malfoy, but not her at the same time.
  "You're.... you can't be my mother," he said firmly.

His mother was a cold and uncaring woman with slight frown lines, pale Malfoy blonde hair, and unrelentingly cold blue eyes. This woman looked somewhat younger, much more kindhearted, and she had soft and warm brown hair, and lighter blue eyes as well. Yet, she somehow was still obviously Narcissa Malfoy, even if she lacked almost all of her signature characteristics.
  "Come now, Draco, you and I both know that your response is just your mind's natural defense toward the truth. Now come, let us walk.... before.... well, never you mind."

  Draco somehow clearly saw the reason in her words, and let all of his inhibitions go for the time being.
  "Before what? Mother, that doesn't sound so good at all. If something bad is happening, I would definitely prefer to be aware of it," he explained.
  The woman nodded slowly, glancing up nervously at the blue sky. "All that I could tell you right now is that dark forces are at work, both in the outside world and the Underworld.... and then, somehow, even places like here. But you're safe, sweetheart.... as long as you obey me."
  He sighed. "Alright, I suppose I must trust you. But tell me.... is this all even real? Or is it just something that my mind has created?" he asked curiously.
  Narcissa smiled lovingly and also almost pitifully. "Draco, the world and the universe are both far more magical and complex than you are able to comprehend at the moment. Believe me when I say that just because your mind has formulated something that that somehow discredits the reality of it."
  "But.... no more being cryptic, Mother. Does any of this have any actual importance to what's happening, you know, out there? Where I'm from," he explained.
  The kind and patient Narcissa smiled a bit, exhaustedly. "That would be both a yes and a no, dear. You see, what happens in here is not happening out there, at least, not where you came from. Although, of course, it is a possible future. But what you see here may or may not help you out there," she explained further. "Just.... don't put too much store by it. Trust me, it will bring you nothing but misery."
  "Alright. Now, come on, what've you to show me?"
  "Yes, that. Now, just before I take you there.... promise me.... promise me, Draco, that you will stay by my side the entire time. You've no idea the type of things that lurk about places like this, just waiting for an outsider to stray," she said ominously.
  Draco Malfoy nodded. "Yes. Of course, now, we need to go."

And sure enough, the next thing he knew, he was in a different place, his mother by his side. It seemed like a flat, a very nice one. And there was Diana Black, laying in a bed, with someone else. She looked a bit older, and more tired and sad, even if her sleep was more peaceful. She was laying beside that guy he'd only met once, Luke Castellan. He hated Luke.
  "What exactly is the point of this?" Draco asked impatiently.
  "Just watch and wait," Narcissa said, much more tolerably than her son.