The Deeper you Dig, The Darker it Gets

65.

Song of the Chapter: Let's Kill Tonight by Panic! At the Disco

Draco's POV

     One of the hardest things to do while drunk is think fast. Not only are my legs on the verge of collapsing but my mind is spinning in five different directions.

                  "What are you waiting for?!" Fletcher shouts."Get them!"

      With wide eyes, I stare at the dozens of Dementors charging towards us from across the room. I take the first decent thought that comes to mind and quickly grab Malory's hand. She realizes what I'm doing and latches onto Aary and Blaise.

      But when I try to apparate out of the Casino, nothing happens. No matter how hard I focus on it, we stay in the same exact spot in the middle of the room.

           Malory gives me a terrified look. "There's an Anti-Apparition Charm around the place."

                        "That's a thing?!" Aary asks, frantically.

                      "Yes, it's a fucking thing." I growl at her.

        Blaise lets go of Aary's hand and pulls his wand from his back pocket. "I hate to interrupt your little argument, but we've got company."

       When I turn around for a second time, the Dementors are three times closer than before. And all of the people around us are blocking the ways out.

     In the corner of my eye I spot a small opening between a large group of witches. Instantly, I pull out my wand and signal for Mal to do the same. Once she's ready, I grab her hand and start running.

                       "We just have to get outside!" I holler behind me.

      Malory nods while tucking the locket into her dress. I face the direction I'm heading in and start pushing myself to run faster. My legs get caught in the constant cycle of motion, almost like I can't remember what standing still feels like at all.

      All of the muscles in my body ache but I crave the pain. The adrenaline building in me as the four of us run for our lives out of the Casino is something I can't explain. I know what we're doing is bad, but man does it feel good.

                   "Drac, don't go that way!" Blaise shouts. "That's a dead end!"

                I scoff. "I think I would remember if it was a dead end!"

               "Maybe you should listen to him..." Malory mutters.

      I ignore her and continue straight ahead. We start to lose the Dementors and I get more confident, but then I see the wall ending the corridor in front of me.

      Immediately I come to a complete stop, causing Malory and the others to slam into my back.

                         "What the fuck?!" Aary huffs.

       I turn around with a guilty smile. "Okay, so maybe it is a dead end."

     Blaise shoots me a glare with his arms crossed and I rub the back of my head while chuckling nervously. Glancing over his shoulder I see that the Dementors haven't stopped yet, and they're the closest they've been.

         "Okay, we need a new plan." I say while swallowing the knot in my throat.

     Malory bounces her leg up and down and bites the inside of her lip. I see the gears in her head spinning as she tries to think of something that'll work. When she holds her wand up I sigh in relief, but a spell doesn't come out of her mouth.

                   "What are you doing?!" I snap.

       She exhales aggressively. "I can't cast a Patronus Charm, there's no way."

                       "Well don't look at me." I raise my hands.

      Blood starts to slowly fall from her lip as she continues to bite down on it with fear. The Dementors inch their way closer to us and I start to see their mouths opening wide.

                        "Fucking think of something!" Aary shrieks.

     "We did think of something," I hiss. "I just don't know if it's possible."

Blaise's POV

            "I can't cast a Patronus Charm, there's no way."

      A Patronus Charm, Professor Snape made us write a paper about this. Well, we wrote multiple papers over Dementors and Patronus' but one of them specifically I remember in detail.

          "For your assignment this week, I want three hundred words on what memory you think would be able to cast your Patronus."

          The happiest memory, that's how to cast it.

                 "Fucking think of something!" Aary shouts at Draco.

      It's one of the hardest charms to cast because the memory has to be powerful, it can't be something silly like winning the Quidditch cup in year five. That's why my paper was written about something else.

      Draco turns to Aary with a filthy expression on his face. "We did think of something, I just don't know if it's possible."

      Looking back up towards the Dementors, I see that they're only feet away from us now. Aary has already started to shield herself, even though we all know that wouldn't do anything against them.

      Without any hesitation I raise my wand and position myself in front of the others. I see confusion grow on their faces.

                          "Z, we have to think of something else!" Aary begs.

       I ignore her words and continue focusing on the hooded figures in front of me. When I'm calm enough, I close my eyes and start imagining the words I wrote in that essay.

       The words in my head turn into a memory and I see Aary standing in front of me with a big smile on her face. Gently, she kisses my cheek while whispering the words,

                      "I love you too."

     When I open my eyes again, I see that the Dementors are being blocked by a large ball of blue lighting coming from my wand. They try to fight past it but it's too strong.

     Still in shock, I turn to Aary. With wide eyes and a huge smile she starts laughing and cheering happily.

             "Blaise, you fucking did it!" Draco hollers while throwing his fists in the air.

      I try to contain my excitement while still focusing on the charm but eventually, the Dementors disappear and we're left in the corridor alone.

                "That was fucking insane!" Aary says as she jumps into my arms.

      I place a big kiss on her lips and see her cheeks turn bright red. Once I set her back down on the ground and see what's coming down the hall, I realize we're not completely done yet.

                             "Let's go!" Malory shouts from ahead.

      Aary takes my hand in hers and we follow directly behind the other two. With the rest of the guards still chasing us we manage to reach the exit of the Casino just in time.

    When we're all close enough, Malory grabs a hold of our arms and apparates us back to Grimmuald.

                                            "Did we really just do that?" Aary giggles.

                 Malory pulls the necklace out from under her dress and dangles it in the air playfully while wearing a smile.