Malfoy's Moon

fear and love

"Well, well, my sweet," Greyback hisses, yellowed fangs bared. "It was quite a sight to see you running like that."

"Silence, Greyback," Yaxley orders, drawing out his wand. 

"Hawkings, isn't it?" Bellatrix leers, her wild, thick curls of black hair framing her face. "Astra Hawkings."

"You were the girl who'd been ordered to kill the Malfoy boy, were you not?" Rowle says, whistling through his teeth. 

"Ah yes," Bellatrix says. "We've heard all about that. But, it turns out you did not complete your mission. Was it scary, dreary? Thinking about murdering someone?" At this, she gives a little pout that if anything, made her features look more inhumane rather than alluring. "Perhaps, you were too afraid and that's why you gave it up, is that so?"

The very walls seem to be closing in on her and her back hits the railing.

"But we saw you at the dance, didn't we? Didn't we see you dancing with the Draco Malfoy?" Bellatrix says with a cackle. "And so we thought, perhaps you'd grown to... care for the boy?"

"It was for love," Yaxley says, watching Astra carefully. 

"Love, fear, all the same thing." Bellatrix says, dismissing the notion with a wave of her hand. "It matters not. Unfortunately for you, my dear, you've already ruined quite a few of our plans, haven't you? I'm sure you've already heard about Draco's task. It was supposed to be completed today, but alas, where is he?"

Astra's been silent this entire time, hardly understanding what they've been saying. 

"Where is he, Hawkings?" Bellatrix says, softly. "Where is Draco?" 

She lets out a choking breath. It almost feels as though there were a hand clutching at her throat, tightening. She shakes her head very slightly. 

Bellatrix's eyes darken. "Well then, we'd have to dispose of you. Pleasure as it was meeting you but we can't have you tainting the young boy's mind now, can we?" Her fingers tighten around her wand. 

Her head is stunningly clear, it's almost painful. It feels the same way she would when taking a huge gasp of fresh air, one that's too vast, it almost dizzies her. Her lungs are aching for more and yet, she feels more lightheaded than before. 

She turns her head, looking down behind her for several seconds. Then she slowly turns, facing the Death Eaters. 

Bellatrix's wand arm straightens. "Goodbye, Hawkings."

She can't help but release a small smile. Clutching the metallic railing hard, she lifts her feet, dips backwards, and falls. 

There's a scream, a high-pitched scream that reverberates in her ear drums. 

Whether hers or Bellatrix's, she could not tell. 

Harsh streams of drafts blow past her as her stomach drops below her feet, to some unreachable place as she closes her eyes. Feeling the wind force her eyelids to open. 

There are showers of light, raining down around her. A flash of green light hits the bottom seam of her dress, burning it right through. 

She wonders if she should be thinking; if she should be concerned when she would stop falling. But she doesn't think about any of that. 

She thinks about him. 

For a moment, she dips into unconsciousness and then back again, fighting to keep herself aware; aware of the wind roaring past her, the screams and the light. 

There's another shout, one that's deeper and comes from below her. There's no anger or annoyance in this like the others; no this one is pure fear and desperation. Terrified. 

Fingers - cold, ringed - wrap around her wrist, swinging her to a stop. She looks up and sees him. 

On a broomstick.

She reaches her other arm up, trying to find something to hold on to let her swing onto the broomstick. She can hear him shouting, uttering instructions, but she can hardly hear him. She's barely holding on to him and the flashes of light are still pouring around them. 

Her other arm reaches for his shirt - hoping to find something to hold on to - and the buttons rip open, leaving her more unbalanced than ever. Another flare of green light rushes past, scorching part of his shirt and she hears him let out a grunt of pain. 

"Don't - don't let go - " he mutters just as she manages to catch a hold of his arm and swing her leg over the broomstick. 

Instinct grappling her insides, she wraps her arms around his waist - his shirt in near shreds - and he dips the broomstick down into a deadly dive, narrowly avoiding streams of light. 

"Hold on - are you okay?"

"Yes - just go..." her voice comes out small and she takes all her strength to whip out her wand. Pointing it behind her with numb, shaking fingers, she utters curses and watches as red spouts out towards the Astronomy Tower. 

Draco turns the broomstick downwards and they get a split second warning before crashing to the ground, the broomstick hurling them off. 

She barely registers where she is as he hurriedly stands and leans over her, taking a firm hold of her waist. 

"I'm fine - " she says, putting a hand on his shoulder as he lifts her to standing position. 

As though the moon stole the sun from the sky, a wave of darkness rushes past them suffocatingly. In the sky, there's a revolving gruesome image of the Dark Mark - a giant skull with a serpentine tongue flicking out of its mouth.

She turns towards Draco and sees the green reflected in his eyes. Groaning in pain, he clutches his arm, doubling over.

"Are you okay?" She says, enveloping his waist with her arm.

"My mother - we need to go, we need to get her."

"We will, Draco - "

"Now, Astra, we need to get her now."

"Okay, okay!" She holds out her hand.

He doesn't take it at first; instead he holds her face, searching deep into her eyes, burning into her gaze. 

"Draco - we don't have time," she says loudly. 

Glass shatters from inside the castle, fire ripping open from the windows and searing through. There are more screams, more shouts, and more flashes of green light. 

He releases her face and takes her hand. Then, they turn and twist into the pressing darkness, that last image of the green Dark Mark etched into their vision. 

a/n: i know i used the same song for the previous chapter but it was too fitting not to use it for this one too haha - you could also listen to "can you feel my heart" by bring me the horizon

only one more chapter left!

hope you enjoyed this chapter, this was fun to write :)) thoughts?

update jan 15:

hey everyone, it might take me a while to post the next chapter because i'm busy with school and finals coming up, but thank you for being patient! and thank you for all the kind words i love you all!