"I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them."
•
WHEN THE CREW arrived, the first thing Draco noticed was the blood. It was on everyone. It was splattered on Harry's face, it tainted Tonks's shirt and it was all over Sirius's hands, as he held Skylar's limp form in his arms, with a wild, helpless look on his face. For a moment, he was frozen. For a moment he felt she was gone.
Then she saw her eyelids fluttering and her lips still contorting into weak smiles as she greeted everyone as if it was the right time to do so. He saw, Granger and Weasley a little behind him, just as shocked as he was, Sirius putting Skylar on the couch, blood soaking her white shirt completely. He saw as Harry learned over her and choked, saying, "She got hit, Voldemort-"
"Voldemort!" Granger squeaked beside him. Draco took one look at Skylar, her eyes fluttering wildly as she tried to stay awake. Draco set his mug on the table next to him, and rolled up his sleeves jerkily.
"Yes- he was there- he hit her right before we made it through the enchantments-"
"She's bleeding!" Granger wailed, bounding forward. Draco fished his wand soundlessly from the pocket of his trousers and stepped forward.
"Move," he said, yanking Harry aside. Granger moved away without him having to yank her too. He crouched next to her, his emotions blank and his thoughts running overdrive. Her eyes looked at him for a second, and he bunched up her shirt, pulling it apart, buttons falling everywhere.
"It's going to be okay," he said to her, gently slipping her over, and sucked in his breath. The wounds on her back were gaping, wide open and angry. Blood gushed out of them slower now. "Give her blood replenishing potions, it's in my apothecary."
"Your what?" Ron stuttered, clearly a little shaken up by everything, but Granger bound to the other end of the crooked house and came back in seconds with two vials of potion. She tipped it into Skylar's mouth and watched her gulp it down against the gravity. His hands shook ever so lightly as he unhooked the bra and, once the pressure was released, more blood seemed to gush out. Granger gasped.
"Vulnera Sanentur," he said with something burning in his chest. It was exactly what had happened to him. On his chest, on her back. Potter gasped behind him as he kept repeating the spell. He waved his wand with caution for he had never used that spell. He had seen Professor Snape use it on him when he was attacked. He knew how it worked. He had to do it.
Slowly, blood from the surrounding seeped back into her wounds, the slashes on her back closing slowly, as if stitching itself.
Minutes felt like hours when it was finally done. He could feel everyone's eyes on him, Weasley comforting Potter who seemed to have a seizure or a panic attack or both; Granger holding her breath apprehensively; the adults huddled around the table waiting for him to fuck up. The wound had closed but the Mars were still red and angry.
"Dittany," he said, holding out a slender hand, without removing his eyes from Skylar's scarred back. Granger handed him the bottle of purple medicine soundlessly. He uncorked it and poured it on her wounds. With his other hand, he waved his wand and the medicine smoothed over her back. "There is Unicorn-Hair infused gauges in the apothecary, Granger please get me those."
Granger ran back to the other end of the crooked house. He saw out of the corner of his eyes, Remus and Sirius slump on two chairs. Tonks was standing next to them. Mrs Weasley was near tears. He held his gaze on the scars. Skylar had passed out. Her breathing was shallow but steady. Her right arm was dangling off the sofa. He quickly bent and captures her wrist with his fingers pressing into the veins. Steady.
"Here!" Granger was back and handed him the pouch. He opened it; his fingers weren't shaking anymore, and pulled out the gauges. He placed them on the scars- there were too many gashes. He had to be careful before he exhausted his supplies. The only source of Unicorn-Hair was the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. And there was no way he could go there. He supposed if he asked the Aurors present, he could get Hagrid to collect the hairs and send it through them. He set aside three strips of the gauge, and sliced them up into perfect pieces for the wounds. He could feel everyone's eyes on him. He placed them on the wounds. He supposed he'd have to use ferula when he changed the dressing the next day.
He stood up, and finally looked away from Skylar. He seemed to have been in a trance all these while, his mind working on autopilot as he only saw his ailing girlfriend in front of him, losing blood and in pain. When he looked up, the stares seemed agonizing. He quickly grabbed his extension-charmed healing pouch from Granger, who was stare staring at him curiously, and fished out a calming draught.
"Open up, Potter," he said, grabbing Harry's jaw. His face was tear stained and his breathing was heavy. If Draco was in the mood, he would have made a comment on how disgusting he looked. But he had to prevent Potter from dying of hyperventilation first. He tipped the Potion into Potter's mouth, closing it to ensure he swallowed. He looked hard at the boy before him and saw his breathing quieten and eyes calming down. "Tergeo."
His face was clean and there was no more of Skylar's blood anywhere. He looked behind and addressed the stairs. Everyone have cleaned themselves and we're staring carefully at Skylar.
"She's alright," Draco said, wrapping up his supplies. "We cannot move her now, the wounds might open. The Unicorn-Hair bandages would speed up the healing process while the Dittany should help with the scarring. It won't go," he sighed. "It is Dark Magic. But it can be healed. She should be awake tomorrow-"
Sirius had bounded across the room and engulfed in an embrace so tight Draco almost felt his ribs could've cracked. He was shellshocked at this, and after a split second he gathered himself and hugged Sirius back, awkwardly.
"I thought we'd lose her," Sirius said stepping back from the embrace. "When we were at Andromeda's place, she was bleeding so heavily I thought- I didn't know what to do. And-"
"She bled like a watergun through the Portkey," Harry said quietly. "It was so scary."
"It's alright," Draco said again. "She'll be fine before you know it. We have to leave her here, increase the warmth a little. She lost a lot of blood. I'll stay up, administer the blood replenishing Potions-"
"We'll stay up with you," said Fred without a blink. Draco hadn't noticed him come, not did he notice his twin who was now crouching next to Skylar.
"It's alright-"
"You need to rest too, Draco," said Mrs Weasley, in a motherly tone that almost sent him spiralling into missing his family. "You saved her."
"Yes he did!" Tonks said loudly standing up. His eyes met hers and there was an unspoken agreement that they all were with him. He say Moody bound across the sitting room and conjured thirteen glasses of firewhiskey, making them flow across the room to everyone's hands. Draco grabbed his glass gingerly.
"To Skylar Nova Firegold," he growled, holding up his toast. "The girl who did everything to save me tonight!"
"The Girl who took the Dark Magic on herself to save me tonight!" Harry added.
"The Dreamer," said Fred.
"The Thinker," said George.
"The Believer," said Remus, with a croak in his voice.
"The Girl who sees possibilities everywhere," said Bill.
"The Supa'nova," said Fleur, laughing lightly in her broken English. They raised the toast and we're about to drink when-
"To Draco," added Kingsley Shacklebolt, surprising everyone, for he hadn't spoken a word all the while. "The one who saved her."
In that moment, they all understood each other completely. Finally, Draco Malfoy received the approval, the appreciation he had been looking for all his life. The Dark Mark on his wrist meant nothing compared to the burning Phoenix in his heart. His lips curled to a smirk as they all downed their glasses. His eyes fell onto Skylar as the Crew started narrating the incidents of the move. How Harry had been converted to Dedalus Diggle using the Potion Draco had brewed, how they met nearly thirty Death Eaters, how Skylar had covered them all with her field bubble, how she had distracted Bellatrix Lestrange from attacking Tonks, how she had used the duck-spell- only Skylar could do such a thing, Draco thought-how she had fallen off the broomstick and everyone thought they'd lost her, how she can back up, flying like a bird, riding the winds- angel, Draco thought- how she had cleared the skies with her spell, how she had called Voldemort a nargle, how she had pushed everyone through taking the Spell upon herself.
Draco looked at her as they downed another glass of firewhiskey, and thought how rare she was, how celestially beautiful and vaguely threatening she was, how could never, ever compare her to anyone else. She bore the scars like an armor on her back, and even asleep she looked like she could take anyone down. He smiled and thought how she stomped on eggshells where everyone else would be tiptoeing. How wild and inexplicably dangerous she was. How she was his, and only his.
-
A girl, about fourteen, sat in her room that was covered every inch with books and parchment. It smelt distinctly of azure ink and old paper. The girl sat on her bed, swaying back and forth, holding her knees tightly. She was fidgeting. Suddenly, she gasped, lifting her face.
Her eyes glowed bright blue like lightening and thunder courses through her veins. The whites of her eyes were completely engulfed by an inhuman illumination. She gasped loudly, her face contorting to an agony no one could fathom. The veins around her face and neck glowed red like electricity, and her hair seemed to sway with an invisible wind.
She lurched upwards and for a moment, it felt like she was floating in air as if attaining nirvana. Blue and red light emanated from her fingertips and attached to the objects around her, scattered throughout her room. They rattled to life and shot upwards, as if gravity had been tilted. A loud noise was heard as goblets and books and inkpots crashed against the ceiling. A stray tear left her face as she tried not to make a sound.
"Meredith- "
The door burst open and a boy her age stood at the door way, frozen on spot, completely shaken by the sight before him. The girl- Meredith- turned her blazing eyes towards the boy and he scuttled out of the doorway, sheer terror on his face.
"Mother she's doing it again! Mother-"
An old woman came rushing to the door, just as Meredith gave one last agonizing gasp and collapsed back on the bed. The lightning in her eyes seized as they turned back to a faint hazel color. The objects crushed back down on the ground. Everything was a mess.
She was gasping, her eyes watery, but they still seemed to be blazing, not with magic, but with something innate and dark now. She threw her head back and saw her mother.
Her mother's face was contorted into an anger that rattled even James. He stepped ahead next to his mother, feebly grabbing her arms, attempting to stop her as she raised her wand at her daughter. Meredith looked at her defiantly as a nonverbal spell escaped her mother's wand and something hot and fiery struck her across her face. Meredith fell back on her bed.
"Mother, NO-"
"You wretched girl!" The woman was shouting with inhuman aggression. "You abomination!"
"Mother-"
"Get back James!" She shouted at her son. And looked at her daughter.
Meredith sat up, an angry blister appearing across her face. Her eyes were watery but didn't once waver from her mother's eyes as she raised her fingers to her face. A golden glow emanated, Meredith's mother watched with horror, and flowed over the blister. When the glow stopped, there wasn't a blister. There wasn't a mark. She smirked at her mother who raised her wand again.
"Mother-" James shouted, pulling his mother again, but a curse left her wand.
It didn't reach Meredith. It ricocheted off an invisible force and crashed against the bookshelf.
"You're not allowed to use magic outside school, Meredith!" Her mother said through gritted teeth, her eyes blazing with anger. The boy, James, ran downstairs immediately, and back back within seconds with a man.
"Euphemia!" Fleamont Potter shouted, standing between his wife and daughter. His wife looked at him, and something's seemed to escape her. The anger. The agony. He took a glance at Meredith, and saw as she sat in a bubble of sheer blue force, protecting herself from anything that came.
"I didn't want her," the woman sobbed. "This dark magic, that runs through her," she collapsed on her husband, sobbing. "This isn't my daughter! I don't want her. Take her away! Take her away!"
James watched in horror as his sister's face faltered for just a second before her lips curled into a sneer, "It's a gift, mother. You cannot stop me."
The environment shifted only slightly as the girl, Meredith, collapsed out of a fireplace into 12, Grimmauld Place. The people in the sitting room- Bellatrix's, Andromeda and Narcissa, stood up abruptly at the noise. Andromeda quickly made her way to the girl who had just tumbled out of the fireplace.
"Meredith," she gasped, holding the girl. "Tergeo!"
As the dust cleared from the carpet and her face, Bellatrix approached. She was seventeen, fresh out of school. She kneeled beside Meredith and lifted her chin with a slender finger. "What's wrong Meredith?" Her voice was hard but concerned.
Meredith looked up at them, and her eyes met Narcissa, her best friend, and she broke into sobs, sitting on the carpet, holding her head in her hand.
"I'm going crazy," she sobbed. "I'm going insane."
For a second everything was silent, except for her sobs nothing could be heard. And then there was shuffling and Narcissa held her in a hug.
"What happened?"
She told them what had happened- the agonizing pain as the magic reacted as if it had a mind of its own, how the magic ran through her veins and she could see it, and feel it as if she was being dipped into a tub of hot molten gold, the horrible sensation of weightlessness as she floated without wanting to, the sheer fear she felt when she saw her mother and the absolute hatred she felt as she pushed past everyone and decided to come here. How her mother had called her an abomination. How her mother said she didn't want her.
"I'm losing control of it," she sobbed. "I don't want it."
"It's a gift," Bellatrix said, holding her shoulders tightly.
"The only reason you're losing control of it is because you're not allowed to use it," Narcissa said quietly.
"You cannot give in to the prejudice," Andromeda said, wiping her eyes. "People say strecromancy is Dark, but that's only because they're afraid of it."
"They're only afraid of it because they don't have it," Bellatrix said. "It's your gift. And you must learn how to master it."
"I don't want to go back there," she sobbed.
"Then don't," Narcissa said, standing up, helping her friend on her feet. "I'll get you some sleeping draught. Stay here for as long as you want."
As she walked upstairs with Narcissa, she saw a boy, her age, with smile wrinkles around his eyes, at the doorway. He looked at her blankly as she glared at him. He was beautiful, but he was James's friend. And James wanted nothing to do with her.
"It's not good to evesdrop Sirius," Bellatrix snapped, pushing Sirius. He groaned from the impact, and with one last glance at Meredith and marched to his room.
-
"Mother. . ."
When my eyes opened, I felt like shutting them again. I felt numb all over. I felt thirsty and I felt like going back to sleep and see what else happens in the dream.
"Skylar," a voice spoke next to me. I squinted against the light and looked. Through the haze, I saw Draco. His grey eyes were sleepy, just like mine.
"Why am I upside down," I moaned, trying to sit up. Immediately a hand wrapped around my shoulders immediately.
"Slowly, now," said a voice that distinctly belonged to Fred. "Can't have you bleeding all over the room again."
I laughed weakly, as I sat up and my eyes met George. He looked concerned. I flicked his forehead.
"Don't look at me like that," I said. "So, I'm alive? Thought I'd die for a second."
"Stop," Draco said, kneeling next to the couch, draping a blanket over my body, that I just realized was topless.
"It's okay, Draco," I said, placing my hand on the side of his face. "I'm not going to die so easily."
George laughed. "Classic!" he said, slapping Fred's arm. I laughed, and looked back at Draco.
"You saved my life," I whispered. "Only you knew the spell."
"I had to save you," he said, his eyes glistening. "You saved me."
Something tugged within me. Something cold and hard creeped inside me. I didn't know this feeling. I wasn't a savior. I wasn't a hero. I was just a girl from the future.
"Draco-"
He kissed me. I was taken aback slightly, but he didn't stop. He cupped my face, and kissed me deeper, but there was nothing intimate about it. It was tender, longing and sweet. He pulled back, his grey eyes were like molten steel as he pressed his forehead to mine.
"Uh," Fred muttered. "We're still here."
Draco jumped back, and sat down on the floor with a grin, rubbing his eyes. I looked at Fred and George, who had similar tired expressions. "Didn't you all sleep last night?"
"Not really," George shrugged. "We were checking the wound and feeding you blood replenishing potions all night."
"Draco, really," Fred said, pushing George's shoulders a little. "He did all the work. We were just here keeping him company."
"Did he now?" I smirked looking at him. He shrugged nonchalantly.
"He's quite good at healing," George said. "He was a right foul git to us, but he's great at Healing."
"Malfoy you should be a healer," Fred said. "But Georgie can you imagine him in a white coat and everything?"
"Not really, Freddie," George muttered.
"How did you spend the whole night with these two?" I asked, looking apologetically at Draco.
"Hey-"
"Actually," Draco interrupted them. "I liked them."
"He's mighty like us, y'know?" Fred said, putting his face in his hands leaning on the center table. George got up and went somewhere. "We should've recruited him in on our pranks. He had some ingenious ideas-"
"Did you know he composed and directed the whole Weasley is our King, that song?" George said, appearing with four floating mugs. "Coffee?"
"Yeah," I said, taking a cup and drinking the warm brew. "And no I didn't know."
Draco smirked, shrugging, as if composing and directing the song made him cooler. If anything it made him a geek.
"And those fourth year badges, the Potter stinks ones? He made those!"
"They also said Firegold stinks," I narrowed my eyes at Draco.
"That would be Theo. I left at Potter stinks. My idea and everything. Theo was in charge of modifications," he raised his arms in surrender.
"Sure," I said disbelievingly.
"We could've used him," Fred said dreamily.
"That sounds dirty," Draco made a face. "Don't ever say that again."
I cracked up and then stopped when a vivid image of Draco, Fred and George doing unholy things popped in my mind. I shook my head and focused on my coffee.
"Oh," Mrs Weasley's voice came as she bounded out of the kitchen. "You're awake! Georgie told me. How are you feeling?"
"I feel great-"
"I'd believe no less, dear," Mr Weasley said appearing in a formal attire. "Draco Malfoy is a true healer."
"Can't imagine him in a white coat!" Fred and George said in a singsong.
"That doesn't undermine what he did last night," Mr Weasley said, giving the twins a look. "You saw that right dear?"
"Of course," Molly Weasley said admirably. "Eleven OWLs, I'd expect nothing less!"
"It's nothing really," Draco muttered, looking embarased at the amount of attention he was receiving.
"Nothing? Did you hear the boy, Arthur!"
"It's not nothing, but I think you're all embarasing him," said Sirius appearing at the doorway, clearly just awake.
"Oh, you stayed?" I chirped.
"Well," he said walking towards me. "I couldn't live without knowing you're okay, now, can I?" He kissed my forehead and stood up, and suddenly, without notice, ruffled Draco's hair. Draco looked positively tortured as she scrambled and stood up, a few inches taller than Sirius-he might be the tallest in this house for all I know-and frowned. "I always wanted to do that," Sirius winked.
"Why don't you three," Mrs Weasley said, pointing at Draco, Fred and George, "go get some sleep. And while you're here, Draco, Bill and Fleur's wedding is in a few days. If you don't mind, of course, could you help us out with some chores? Of course I'm not asking you to-"
"I'd be glad to help Mrs Weasley," he said, flattening his hair and standing straight. He spoke very well, he might've gotten private lessons in formal affairs for all I know.
"Alright, m'boy," she smiled, her brown eyes twinkling. "Off you three go!"
I took the final sip of my coffee as the three disappeared inside the crooked house. I heard Mrs Weasley say to Arthur, "I always wanted a blond one! So many gingers-"
And I smiled to myself, leaning back, looking up at the wind chimes.