Nicole Stevens: Blood and Daggers

Chapter Twenty-One: Here We Go Again

"Somnus, I need a favour," Draco began, trying to act cool and condescending, but failing. "Okay, look cousin; I'm giving you a job. You have to get Nicole back to school, before anyone notices she's gone. Don't let her get her arm bitten off by the viper bush in the garden. And be careful."

"Why am I helping you, again?" Somnus asked lazily, his quill poised at the top of a piece of parchment. I watched as a large drop of red ink dripped from the quill's tip and splotched onto the parchment, which Somnus seemed oblivious to.

"You are helping me because--" Draco seemed to have trouble thinking of Somnus' debt to him. I began to wonder if Draco had ever done anything for his cousin. "You are helping me because I helped you with a Latin essay."

"That was five years ago," Somnus said with an expressive flourish of his hand. "So I count that as a dead debt. Any other debts you can dredge your mind for?"

"Well," Draco said, almost defeated but not willing to show it. "Just--fine. If you won't do it for me, do it for Nicole." Draco grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me in front of Somnus, trying to get an expression of pure innocence and pleading while also acting arrogant. "Come on, Somnus, don't be so stiff. I'll pretend like I sent you to fetch me something. Now take her back to Hogwarts, and if you want to use a carriage, I'll make up an excuse; or if you want to use your transportation ring, go ahead, but only when you get inside the village."

"I'll do it, but I'm not doing it for either of you. Draco, you used the Imperius curse on me to make me take her back to school, Nicole, you just went along with Draco's plan. Good? Okay. I'd like to tell Jade where I'm going before I leave, so if you'll just excuse--"

"No, I forbid you to tell your loud-mouthed sister where you're going. She gets into enough trouble as it is, and if anyone asked her anything, she'd tell them where you had left for. No, no, no," Draco said, shaking his head. "Too bad you love your siblings, I don't care. Just leave."

"I won't leave without telling Jade," Somnus pushed past Draco to get to the door, but Draco caught his arm and pulled him back.

"No."

"Let go of me, before I decide I won't help you at all, and decide that Uncle Lucius and the Dark Lord need to hear about your plan."

Draco growled something I could not distinguish, but Somnus had obviously understood it.

"Shut up." They started quarrelling, and I sat at Somnus's desk. It was always funny to watch Draco when he argued, because he made up the most ridiculous things, but always seemed to win.

"Fine, go tell your sister that you're going to be gone for a while, and then come back here," Draco consented finally.

"All right. I'll be back in about ten minutes." Somnus walked out, leaving Draco and me alone in the room.

"Stubborn good for nothing--"

"Malfoy," I finished for him. "You're all like that. I bet it's the curse of the Malfoys, they must always be obstinate. I'm not sure about your father, or anyone else, but I know you're stubborn."

"Well, that shows how much you know about me," Draco said. "I might have a couple of times where I might be very determined about what I say or want, but it's not like I'm flat-out determined to have my way all the time."

I snorted disbelievingly, "Of course. Whatever you say."

"What? I'm not!"

"Sure. Tell that to the rest of the world. I'm sure they'll believe you fully."

Draco scowled and pouted, going to sit on Somnus's bed. He lie back, his shined shoes resting crossed on the black velour bedspread showing a coat of arms showing a viper wrapped around a sword. His eyes looked nearly clear blue because of his entirely black surroundings and outfit. It was almost disconcerting; Draco's eyes looked like Somnus's.

"So, when am I going to see you again?" I asked Draco, trying to keep the concern from my voice. "Will I see you before the summer?"

Draco stopped cleaning dirt from underneath his already immaculate nails, and raised his eyes to mine. I thought I could see a glint in his gaze, but almost as quickly it was gone. "I'll probably be back before Christmas. You'll get a letter from me every once in a while, as well. I think I can manage to have a letter smuggled out."

I nodded, relieved, for the most part, that he would at least owl me sometimes. At least I wouldn't be completely cut off from the only boy who had betrayed me twice and gotten away without a broken nose.

"Come here," Draco said quietly, sitting up. "I need to tell you something." From the tone of his voice, I could tell something was wrong.

I went to sit beside him, and he pulled me onto his lap. It seemed to be more for his pleasure than for mine, because I had his knee digging into me, but I let him, wondering what he wanted to say.

"The sword my father got for you, you'll have to keep. It's not evil, if that's what you're thinking. It's something that you can use for protection. And when you're back at Hogwarts, be careful. Stay away from the Slytherins. There are only two Slytherins besides me that you can trust, Snape, and Pansy Parkinson." My look of complete revulsion and disgust must have showed on my face, because Draco amended himself quickly. "She'll help you, because she knows you're mine." He used a possessive pronoun, which didn't bother me, but it did strike me as different.

"So if I need help from a Slytherin, I go to...?"

"You'd go to Pansy first, if you needed help with the other Slytherins, and you'd go to Snape if you needed help that only an adult could give."

"All right. Well, I suppose this is goodbye. Somnus should be back any moment." I stood up, Draco following. He reached for my hand, but I withdrew it, shoving my hand in my pocket. "Let's not say goodbye. We'll have to say it when we really won't see each other ever again."

Draco mumbled an agreement, before someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," I said.

"You needn't worry," Draco said. "Whoever it is will come in whether or not you want them to."

The door opened, and in stepped Somnus, who looked entirely livid, Lucius Malfoy, who seemed extremely spiteful, and Voldemort.

I turned to Draco and thought, Here we go again.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

"Trying to escape again," Voldemort said, laughing coldly and circling around me like a wolf circling around a sickly deer. "Pity, pity, pity."

I struggled against the bonds that held me to the chair, and yelled something obscene through the gag they had bound around my mouth. Voldemort smiled, and, in a show of how unimportant I was, walked out of the room, down the single spiral staircase that led down from the tower. I was left alone, pondering the moment when I had first known something had gone wrong.

When I had seen Lucius and the Dark Lord come in, I knew that something was amiss. They had captured me, Lucius receiving a blow to his gut, and a black eye. Then, I'd been "escorted"--they called it that but it wasn't really true--to this god-forsaken tower that had a crap heating system (none at all) and then, to add insult to injury, I'd been tied to a chair and scorned. What an awful mistake.

This sucks, I thought forlornly.

I know.

Why do I always screw up? I asked my conscience.

Well, my conscience had just begun on a very long explanation, when I heard a step creak. Someone was coming up the staircase.

I waited anxiously for a moment, before a black-haired head showed over the rickety handrail. The boy--it was a boy, I now noticed--had turquoise eyes and fine black hair. Tom Marvolo Riddle, the Dark Lord, Voldemort; these were all his names. He was the one everyone had trusted in his days at Hogwarts, the one who had killed his father. This was the monster, the viper, the wolf. But he looked oddly--handsome. Evilness was attractive on this boy, who also reminded me vaguely of Harry Potter. Was Harry evil? No, no. I was thinking crazily.

"Stevens?" he asked, as if we had never met. "Nicole Stevens?" I mumbled something through the gag. "I never thought I would meet you again." He walked behind me, and my muscles tensed, ready to be hurt. But he only untied the bind around my mouth.

"Thank you," I choked hoarsely. It was surprising how dehydrated a person could get after only a couple of hours of being imprisoned. Maybe lack of water causes people to want water more...?

"Tell me," Tom kneeled before me, raising my chin so I was looking him in the eye, "why you tried to con Somnus Malfoy into getting you out?" His voice sounded so kind, so caring, and it made me want to cry on his shoulder and tell him everything about me, and why I was here.

"I..." I choked back a sob that grew in my chest. "I...don't know. I just don't like it here...I want out. Can you get me out?" I beseeched.

"No," Tom said, with a compassionate smile. "I cannot help you escape. But, if you would like for me to remove these bonds," his fingers were at my ankle and dancing lightly up my leg. "I could do that. And, if you assured me that you would not try to escape, then I could take you to my room, and you could get some sleep."

Sleep, the forbidden word that I had refrained from even thinking. It caused my eyes to droop with tiredness, and I had to fight to maintain consciousness. I knew that if I did not keep myself awake, I would probably never wake again.

"I won't escape," I murmured, trying to stay awake. "I won't do anything but sleep. Sleep, I want sleep. Must have...sleep."

"Good," Tom said as if he were pleased. I saw him extract a shining silver dagger from his boot, and he sliced away at the bonds that were cutting painfully into my ankles and wrists, before hacking off the large silvery cord wrapped around my waist.

Tom offered me his hand, and pulled me to my feet. I slumped against him, faint from tiredness, and he caught my thin body with ease. Tom decided immediately that I could not walk, and picked me up in his arms. My body was limp in seconds, because I had finally received what I needed most. A nap.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

I woke in much the same position as I had fallen asleep, only this time I was held against someone, and lying on a bed, which I considered a large improvement. A hand passed over mine, and I heard the heartbeat in the chest I was cradled against.

"Hmn..." I let out a slight yawn, looking up at the person who was sharing their warmth. Seeing Tom's eyes sparkling playfully, I jumped out of his arms like a cat out of water. Tom stretched on the bed, and put his hands behind his head.

"What's wrong? Did the kitten wake up from the nap and realise that she wasn't home anymore?" Tom asked, laughing softly. Realising that he was using an odd metaphor, I frowned. Being called a kitten was not something I enjoyed. There happened to be only two boys whom I had ever allowed to call me "kitten", Draco and Harry. Tom wasn't either of them.

"I'm not a kitten," I hissed irritably. "And where am I?"

"You are in the red room of Malfoy Manor," he answered, waving a hand at the red blanket, walls, and carpet. "And this happens to be my room, currently."

"Well, why am I here?"

"You are here because you asked to be here right before you passed out."

"Uh-huh. I'm going now--" I started for the door, but Tom brought me back with his next few words.

"You can't leave this room."

"And why not?"

"Because you promised not to escape and because if you try there is a set of enchantments on the door that makes it impossible for you to leave." I scowled at this new revelation.

"So, in other words, I'm stuck here with you forever?"

"No. I can leave. And, when I decide that it's safe for you to roam again, I'll remove the spells."

"Will you tell me when you do?"

"No," he answered, smiling cruelly. I growled an obscenity, and went to sit at the desk on the far side of the room by the window, through which pale moonlight was shining. How long had I been asleep? This question, among others, was the reason I would humour this demon from the past.

"So, Tom," I walked over to him and sat next to him on the bed. He grinned slightly, as if he could read my movement, and see my every muscle tense beneath my calm exterior. "You seem to know a lot." Stroke his ego... "And I'm really confused about where I am. Surely you could tell me something..."

"Actually," he smiled his snake-smile up at me and sat up, "I can tell you quite a lot about this manor. Is that what you meant?"

"Well, yes."

"All right. This manor is twelve generations old. In the past, this was a castle owned by Audren Malfoy the third. Audren was a noble among the commoners. He had relations that were dukes and duchesses, and so he was given rule of this land and all the land around it. When Audren died, his wife, Mariana, who was much younger than Audren, took over the estate. Her eldest son, Nikolas, became the next true ruler. However, there is a mention of a child, a girl. When she was mentioned, it gave her name: Nikole. Oddly enough, her name and yours differ by only one letter. Nikole's brother, Nikolas, died at the age of twenty-one, and so Nikole was forced to take her brother's place. She was a prophet, apparently, and she consorted with Mortem Agdeburg. They had many likenesses, and believed much the same about Mortem's prophecy."

"So...?"

"So, when she died her oldest son took her place, and it goes on until Lucius Malfoy became the head of Malfoy Manor." He stopped, and I could tell that my interview was finished. Tom looked at a watch on his wrist and said, "I must go now, but I shall be back before the sun rises." He stood abruptly and left me, and I was alone, sitting by my self.

"Well, great. I know a lot about Malfoy Manor's history, but I have no way to get out, and no way to contact help. What a great planner I am," I berated myself, chastising myself for not asking questions that might help me in some way. I was such an idiot.

"I wish there were a book to tell me all I need to know," I sighed. Then, as if by magic--probably was--a stone door became visible, and a passageway appeared behind it. "I wonder if Riddle knew about that." I stood warily and stepped over to the passage, which had appeared beside the desk. It was with extreme caution that I waved my hand in the doorway to see if I could pass. Apparently the spell only applied to doorways that Tom knew about, and it seemed that this one had been unknown to him.

I went through the passageway, and the door slid closed behind me with a snap. I jumped at the sound, but continued onwards, hoping this led outside to the salvation that would surely await me if only I could make it there.

After five minutes of hearing only the steady drip of a leak and my own footsteps, I came to a curtained opening. I pushed aside the curtain, revealing that the room was relatively small, with potion ingredients on two shelves, and books on three other shelves.

I stood in the room for a moment, before gathering my wits and beginning to rifle through the stack of papers that was on the table. Finding only old documents with a foreign language printed on them, I stopped and went over to the shelves containing books. There were some written in Latin, but I found some that were written in old English. I knew I had little time, so I did not even attempt deciphering the scrambled languages.

A sudden noise startled me, and I spun around, searching for the source. As I saw a door slowly opening, I threw myself back through the entrance through which I had come, and waited against the wall. There were soft voices in the other room; I could hear Somnus' lazy drawl, and Draco's sulky tones.

I peeked around the curtains, and saw that Draco and Somnus were pulling books and potion ingredients from the shelf, and arguing. It seemed like there was no one else there, so I took a chance and stepped out of hiding. Draco saw me immediately, and he just stood there, looking mildly incredulous. Somnus took a fraction of a second longer to spot me, but when he did his expression was one of scorn, most likely for is cousin's open-mouthed staring. At least, I hoped he wasn't smirking at me.

"You shouldn't be here," Somnus drawled.

"Why--"

Somnus pointed behind me, and I spun around, coming face to face with none other than Tom.