NATALIA [Draco Malfoy Fanfiction]

Thirty-Five | The Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw

I was staring at my reflection, trying to figure out what it was that didn't feel quite right.

Sure, we had the same eyes, the same lips, and the same nose, but as I went to turn away, I realized that my reflection hadn't moved. So, I paused, noticing how I was at Hogwarts now, even though when I closed my eyes the night before, I had still been in Alberforth's inn.

I was dreaming.

Or more accurately, I was watching something that Diana wanted me to see, with Diana being who I mistook for my reflection as I walked the glittering halls of Hogwarts. She was in front of me now, while my head is foggy from being thrown into a reality separate from my own, the same feeling that you get when you're seconds away from waking up. Yet still, I managed to follow her, with the part of my will being tied to hers helping my case.

As we walked outside, the scene before us had begun to change, with walls crumbling, and red stains marking the cobbled path. I squinted through the smog, the smell that I associate with muggle gunpowder burning my nose, although I knew those types of weapons were not at fault here given that destructive curses tend to leave traces of a similar scent.

It's when I'm able to see my old Herbology classroom that Diana stops, waiting for me to catch up as a concerned look begins to grow on her face. "What is it?" I asked, jogging slightly to see what it was that bothered her.

"I can't help but feel their presence," she explained to me, "such a strange and unnatural sight for the dead."

I'm about to ask her what she meant by that, just as I see them start to make their way towards the greenhouse, hundreds, bordering on thousands of Inferi crawling together as if they were one unit. I step back on instinct, while Diana continues to speak; "it troubles me to see them, even though I'm as dead as they are."

For a second, I think they're starting to come for us, and I'm about to start turning away to run as the ground suddenly shakes, and the mass of inferi goes up in flames. I gasped as the sound deafens my senses, reaching out to clasp my hands over my ears as Diana just continues to stare.

It was then that I jolted awake, disoriented to my surroundings with my heart beating out of my chest.

Luckily, everyone else was still asleep, giving me the chance to calm my breath and think about what I had just seen.

If I had been able to find any evidence of being able to gain control of a mass of Inferi tied to another creator, I would've assumed that this was Diana's way of telling me that that was what I was supposed to do. But, I had come up dry in my research, with nothing that gave any indication that I would have a chance at being able to pull such a feat off.

So, I lay there without a clue as to what Diana was trying to show me.

Was I meant to find a curse to blow them up? Or was she just telling me what was going to happen?

By the time that everyone else had started to stir, I had made no progress in finding any answer, so I joined Draco in the shower instead. He knew what I wanted, and laughed at my attempt to claim I just wanted to save time and water. Still, he fucked me without arguing my motives, and I let my thoughts slow until I couldn't produce a coherent sentence if I tried.

Which was nice.

"You know, I think you and Blair are the only ones who slept through the night," I told him as I got dressed in the bathroom. "Everyone else... wandered."

Draco raised his brow, moving so that he was now standing between me and the mirror. "What do you mean?"

"Blaze went to see... someone. Gemma talked with Cecilia, Theo and Pansy..."