Falling for the Enemy||Draco Malfoy Love Story Fanfiction

Chapter 52

Chapter 52: The arrest

"Lumos." She swept her wand light round the derelict room, casting white light over peeling walls and dusty, half-broken tables. Merielle hadn't mean to come in here. She was such a hypocrite, she realised. She had told the others not to break procedure, but here she was, doing that very thing.

Merielle had just been walking through Hogsmeade on high alert. Perhaps it had been her multiple detection spells, or her sharpened senses, but she noticed everything she hadn't before. Many of the shops had opened since Voldemort was gone. Honeydukes was open, Ollivander's was back, and even Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour was once again open. Merielle saw each crack in the pavement, each disturbed loose stone. Maybe that was how she noticed a piece of rock half-hidden beneath the edge of the pavement. Kneeling down, she had cast an array of spells before carefully pulling it out. There were scuff marks on it, as if someone had tried to hastily hide it.

It wasn't any piece of rock. Quite plain upon first look, just grey stone, but then she cast more spells on it, revealing more. There was a strange design on the back, and a few faint runes carved into it. Merielle, who had taken Ancient Runes, could only translate some of it. They were harder runes, and some of them even she had never seen before.

Mt ne r ack t 5. 7

The Mt was shorthand for 'meet' and she figured out that there should be an 'a' between the ne and the r. Meaning that it would be 'Meet near'. And the ack could refer to the Shrieking Shack. The t for 'at' and the last digits were the 1500 hour, either 07, or 17, or 27 etc. Either way, it was too late. It was currently... Merielle checked the time...16:10.

She cautiously went up to the Shrieking Shack. Merielle was relieved she wouldn't have to actually enter it. It said near. Looking around, she scanned the area for any hint of something suspicious. Then she cast a detecting spell. The area lit up with blue.

There it was.

Red. Pulsing red light, near the edge of the detection field. The hair prickling on her skin, she cautiously edged towards the red area. Half of her knew she shouldn't be doing this, that she was breaking procedure and that it was dangerous. But danger was in an Auror's job description. And this might be her only chance.

No heroics.

Oh, whatever. Merielle stopped, her heart hammering. Her hand trembled, clammy with sweat as she clutched her wand.

"Revelio." A white light beamed out. Then it stopped on the ground. Eyes widening, Merielle cast another few spells. One revealed the outline of a trapdoor on the ground. Kneeling down, she layered away the grass and dirt to reveal a rusted trapdoor in the ground. Taking a deep breath, she heaved it open, praying it wouldn't creak. It didn't.

A waft of stale and muddy air whooshed up to her, hitting her in the face. This was her last decision. Merielle hesitated. Then she remembered her promises, and her resolve hardened. She tucked her wand firmly into her back pocket. Taking a deep breath, Merielle eased herself down, her feet hitting a metal rung. Slowly, she began to climb down, descending into darkness.

A snake pit.

That was her first thought as, heart beating furiously, she descended down the rusted metal ladder, the metal cold against her fingers. The hole of sunlight above quickly diminished in size until it was no more than a speck of white against blackness. Then it too, vanished, and she was plunged into utter oblivion.

Merielle's foot hit air, and for a moment she panicked. Calming down, she gently lowered herself until her foot touched solid ground. Then she put her other foot down and, releasing her hands, breathed a sigh of relief.