in the end ~ d. malfoy

Chapter Sixty-Four

October 2016

THEY'RE RUNNING PAST THE ARCHES AGAIN, Maya grabbing Diana's arm as they duck from a red jet of light. The shattered remnants of the prophecy she was holding lay shattered on the ground. Her heart beats fast, pounding with adrenaline as she fires a curse back at Yaxley, Diana jumping over a few seats as she pulls Maya with her. The members of Dumbledore's army fight harder than ever against the masked agents of death around them, explosions and thuds reverberating against the stone walls of the Ministry.

Across from them, Arya's engaged in a duel with Lucius Malfoy. She strikes hard, ducking as his curse hits the wall millimeters away from her, "That all you got, Malfoy?"

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet—" Lucius snarls, drawing his wand, but a cackle on the side distracts him. As Maya dodges a stray stunner, she sees Bellatrix Lestrange facing off against Sirius.

The older man narrowly ducks, red light missing him by inches. His curse nearly knocks Bellatrix off of her feet, and she screams, enraged, "Blood traitor!"

Sirius cackles, victoriously, jumping as he dodges his cousin's curse yet again, "Azkaban's made you lose your touch, hasn't it, Bella? You're quite rusty."

"Oh, trust me, I'll make you eat your words." Bellatrix hisses. A maniacal glint glitters in her eyes as she smirks, the expression chilling Maya to the bone, "IN HELL—"

"No—" Diana screams, rushing forward.

"Come on, you can do better than that—" Sirius laughs yet again, but his expression immediately freezes. The red jet of light hits him straight in the chest, and it's as though everything happens in slow motion. Maya screams, running, but it's too late. His body crumbles in a graceful arc and falls through the thin veil covering the entrance to the arch. Disappearing like he never existed in the first place.

"No—no—" Arya screams, rushing down the steps as Shivani tries to stop her, "Shiv, let me go — Sirus!! SIRIUS!!—"

"One down." Bellatrix laughs, a cold, high laugh that makes the hair on the back of Maya's neck stand on end. Her dark eyes glitter with insanity, and just as Maya pulls out her wand to make her pay, hurt her, kill her, do something, anything to avenge the innocent man she just killed — something happens.

The Death Eater turns, and in an instant, her clothes vanish, and morph into those of someone all too familiar. Before Maya can even blink, Camille Belcourt screams, leaping at her with her hands outstretched as blood drips from her fangs. Her voice is garbled, almost demonic as she screeches "Now it's your turn, hybrid!!"

The sickening crack of the stone hitting her head is the last thing Maya feels before her soul leaves her body.

When she wakes, she doesn't wake with a bang. Maya doesn't bolt up from the bed, or fall off, thrashing in her sheets. No, she gasps in air, almost locked to the bed with the chain-mail armor of fear that roots her to the spot. Fear from what her mind just concocted. Fear all too familiar.

Fear that for some reason, something feels oddly, mysteriously wrong.

However, before she can think any further, Maya's body betrays her, and sleep pulls her back into its dark, cavernous confines once more.

The steam from the shower still lingers on her skin as Maya closes the bathroom door behind her. Classes start later today, so the sky is lighter than usual outside as she shakes her hair out of the towel, draping it over a chair and drying it with a flick of her wrist. Clary's already headed out for Arithmancy, though she doesn't have to do anything but pretend to take notes, and there's a palpable silence in the dorm as Maya slips on her school skirt, brushing her wet hair away from her face.