Nicole Stevens: Blood and Daggers

Chapter Twenty-Four: Killer Bunnies and a Riddle

The oddest things were happening in the Malfoy home. Firstly, Draco was yelling at Somnus, and Somnus was yelling back, causing quite a ruckus and delaying the discovery of our escape. Second, Lucius Malfoy was finally telling Voldemort that Lucius thought him to be 'queer and unnatural' and Voldemort was screaming at Lucius to shut up his relatives, who were in the next room yelling their heads off at one another--Voldemort could not hear Lucius over the noise, which was lucky for him. And, lastly, Harry Potter and I were escaping, and only three people knew about it--Lucius, who had told Draco to go yell at his cousin, Draco, who had called Somnus a prick, and Somnus, who knew it merely because he had seen us sneak by the door, and thus had continued hollering at Draco. Tom Riddle was presumably sleeping off the after-effects of the Polyjuice Potion.

Harry had resumed his place as the leader, so I was just following him wherever he happened to go. Currently, we were heading down a hall that was dark and dank. It seemed to be a secret passageway that had been there for ages, but only Lucius and Draco knew about it. Harry held my hand and led me, because he had the map and knew how to read it. I was utterly in the dark about where I was being taken, but I trusted Harry, and I knew he would not intentionally lead me astray. However, it worried me that I did not know exactly where Tom Riddle was. He was a nasty enemy, and having him roaming the halls, where we might be, was not something I desired hanging over my head.

"...and if I take a left turn here, and go right at the next passage, then..." Harry began muttering to himself, cursing the darkness that prevented him from seeing well.

We continued on for a while longer, before we stopped at a pair of doors. The doors and ceiling were so far skyward that it was indeterminable how high the ceiling was. Harry stepped boldly forward, the moonlight streaming in through a high window illuminating his face in a sad blue light and throwing shadows under his eyes. His expression was one of grim determination, what could even be described as ferocity. In the light, Harry looked old and strong. Radiating from him was a sense of power so indubitable that his very being seemed to reek of it. It was around him, inside of him, throughout him.

Then he spoke. His voice was loud and clear, sharp as a knife: "Open."

And the doors creaked heavily open, slowly, so that the moonlight was only a small sliver on the stone at first, before becoming wider and wider. Then, Harry turned to me, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. He took my hand in his, pulling me gently through the doors and out into the warm night air. The doors closed slowly behind us, and the acrid scent of Dark Magic vanished into the night sky.

I turned my face heavenward, and the round face of the moon smiled down at me, her creamy light shining in my eyes. The stars winked at me from the black curtain of the sky, and I inhaled the smells of the night.

Harry's voice brought me gently back to earth. "Nicole, come on. We need to go."

"Yeah," I lowered my eyes, looking into Harry's. His eyes were especially green, his hair darker back than usual. "Let's get out of here."

He nodded and we both laughed softly. We were outside. We were going back to Hogwarts at last.

Our carefree mood did not last long, however. We were soon confronted with the awful realization that there was very little chance of our escaping before daybreak, which Harry said was 'not too far away'. But he would say no more, no matter how hard I tried to convince him to tell me. I soon became fed up with Harry's secretive manner.

"Harry, what is going on? Why won't you tell me what time it is?"

I stopped in front of a statuette of an irritable-looking dragon. Harry paused in the middle of the path, turning around to face me.

"Well, you see--Nicole, look out!" he said suddenly.

"What--why?"

"Move!" Harry grabbed me and yanked on my arm so hard that we both toppled to the ground. A blast of heat singed some stray hairs from Harry's head, and I say a jet of fire pass over us as we lay on the ground. As soon as the fire had hit the tall shrubs on either side of the path--burning a hole through that particular bush and leaving only a bit of smoke--Harry pulled me to my feet and we both hurried away from the source of the fire.

"Thanks," I said breathlessly. "What was it?"

"Dragon statue," Harry returned, panting from the effort of sprinting a hundred yards in ten seconds. "Breathes fire. Lucius--told me...about things like...that."

"Right. Are there any more, do you think?"

"Of course there are more, but we'll avoid them." I nodded, and we continued walking. The other obstacles were far and few between, but I sensed Harry had saved me the worry of knowing about others, just keeping me away from anything dangerous.

It seemed like forever, when we came to a courtyard. There were cute, pink rabbits hopping around, pink flowers growing up the sides of the shrubs. The flora smelled deliciously sweet and fragrant. I stretched out a hand to pick a particularly beautiful blossom with white-tipped petals, but Harry tapped me on the shoulder, saying, "Remember what Draco said." I nodded, shoving my hands into the pockets of Draco's overlarge and baggy trousers, which I was wearing.

"Aren't the bunnies cute?" I asked in a sugary voice. "I think this one's name is Fluffy," I cooed. "And aren't you a pretty bunny rabbit?" I bent down slightly and reached to pet it.

"Nicole, don't pet the bunnies," Harry hissed.

"But they're so cute, and I'm sure they're harmless..."

"Trust me. You just named it 'Fluffy'."

"Fluffy is a cute name," I said. "Besides, I had a bunny rabbit once. It' name was Fluffy, too. But then Fluffy the First got killed by an owl. Verita never liked Fluffy much..." I started to reach down to pet it again.

Harry seized my hand and pulled me away from the rabbit. "Nicole, Fluffy is what Hagrid named his three-headed pet dog. And he looked exactly the same when he said its name. And, Draco said they were not really cute."

"But that's Draco; Draco hates rabbits. He hates anything cute."

"He even told you not to pet them. Look, right there!" He extracted the note from Draco out of his pocket and shoved it right under my nose. I read the words they are not as cute when you see their true form.

"All right, Harry. You win. Now, which way is out?"

"I think it's--" he paused, checking the map. "It's that way." He gestured at the shrubs on the far side of the courtyard. "Or maybe it's that way." He pointed behind him.

"Or, maybe we're lost. Ever thought of that?" I snapped.

"Yes, actually. No, no, it's this way." He nodded toward the shrubs at the other side of the yard again. I shrugged as if I didn't care, and we began to step around the bunnies, making our way slowly to the way out. But the bunnies seemed to multiply, so that it became harder and harder not to step on them. Harry took my hand and we made a quick scramble towards the path out. The bunnies hopped after us, multiplying even more. Now there were two hundred bunnies, all hindering our progress.

Harry stopped, turned around and whipped out his wand. "Avertas Dissapearus!" he shouted, and the bunny population lessened somewhat.

I followed Harry's lead, taking out Somnus' wand and directing it into the sea of bunnies. "A-avetas sassairus!" the words became scrambled, and before I knew what was happening, the bunnies had disappeared, and in their place were snakes. "Harry! Do something!"

"Hysatha...hysatha sassa...hissa," he hissed. The snakes stopped, confused. Then, Harry said, "Hyathassi." And the snakes disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"What did you do?" I asked in awe.

"Told them to disappear. Now come on, there could be more still lurking in the bushes." He took my hand, and we made a mad dash out of the Bunny courtyard.

We continued walking until I felt that I could not walk anymore. Harry supported me when I stumbled, but I sensed a growing sense of worry building inside of him, and he was beginning to react slower.

It was after a few hours of constant walking that I finally called for rest.

"We can't rest," Harry argued. "We have to get out of here now."

"I'm tired," I whined. "And I'm thirsty."

"And you think I'm not? I know you're thirsty, but the sooner we get out, the sooner you can have water." He pulled me up, and I fell against him. He caught me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I could almost hear him thinking how odd it was that our bodies fit together so well.

"I forgot how good this feels," he whispered. I delicately pulled myself out of his grasp, pushing him away.

"Sorry Harry, but I can't lead you on again. Just--remember. We're not dating anymore."

He lowered his eyes ashamedly. "It's my fault," he apologised quickly. "Let's go."

"Yeah."

I tried to ignore the ache inside my heart at tuning him away, but every time I shoved it back, it only grew stronger. I wondered if Harry felt the same--as if being so close but not together was painfully wrong and corrupted; did he also feel as if his heart was being dismembered? I thought of saying something to break the awkward silence that had settled over us, but before I could say anything, Harry spoke.

"Did you ever know--I mean, did I ever tell you--that I wasn't ever thinking of Ginny?" I felt him glance at me, but I did not answer or return his look. "Did I ever say--I was always thinking about you?"

"Thinking? Thinking about me when?" My voice had taken on a pitch fives times higher and more cheerful than usual.

"When Ginny and I--you know--fooled around, I couldn't stop thinking about you."

I frowned as we walked, but when Harry looked at me again, I hid it. "Funny joke, Harry," I said in that odd-pitched voice that sounded cold even to me.

"I wasn't joking."

"Of course you were," I laughed a pseudo-laugh and smiled brightly at the ground. "You've always been funny."

"It was always you, never her. I wanted--want--you. She was just--just a mistake."

"Wow, you certainly love to draw out jokes," I laughed my fake laugh again, grinning at the mist-covered soil as we walked. "You can stop kidding me, now."

Harry stopped and grabbed my shoulders, pressing me against the nearest wall of bushes. His mouth came down hard on mine, his eyes half-open as he searched for a reaction. My eyes closed out of habit--his hands slid slowly down my shoulders, to my forearms, to my wrists. His hands travelled to my hips, and he applied slight pressure as his hands began moving up my shirt, though he went no higher than my waist. Harry's lips were bruising mine, his tongue roaming throughout my mouth, before Harry pulled out of the kiss to caress my lips with his tongue. He planted quick soft kisses around my mouth, biting my lip gently, before returning to my lips and becoming ferocious and bruising once again. I struggled not to react, but the yearning passion exhibited by Harry and the uncontrollable desire was becoming harder for me to ignore.

It was when Harry pulled away from another gulp of air that I decided to stop it. I pushed Harry's chest, and he was so high on adrenaline that the little shove sent him reeling, and he careened into the opposite bush, which was think and tough, a wall. He pulled himself into a standing position, taking deep breaths and wiping his mouth. I drew the back of my hand across my lips, finding blood streaked across the pale skin on my hand, as well as saliva.

"What were you thinking?" I snapped at Harry, whose intensely green eyes were staring at me, filled with a kind of hungry yet satisfied passion. "I told you--I told you to remember. I said to remember that we are not together anymore. Get that in your mind."

"You could have stopped me before I even began," he said. "Admit it. You wanted that just as badly as I did."

"I did not!" I lied.

"You did too," he said, coming closer to me. "I could feel it. You wanted me to kiss you, and you wanted to kiss me back. You wanted to, but why didn't you? Because of Malfoy, maybe--but it wasn't because of him, was it?--no, you didn't kiss me, because you don't want to admit that you made a mistake and that I am the one you want. You wanted me to kiss you; we both knew it. I could tell--everything you said was only a defence--" he stepped closer to me, "--a defence against the fact that you love me and you know I love you. What are you afraid of? Me? No, that's not it. You're afraid of commitment--aren't you?--no, you're afraid of love. You want someone who'll be there when you need him and gone when you want to be alone, but you don't want love. You reject it as a failure--you said you loved Draco, right? Well, why did you never sleep with him? Because you knew you didn't love him. You wanted me." He pressed closer, and we were almost touching. "You see how close you let me get? But as soon as I make a definite move," he touched my cheek softly, "you run away." I slapped his hand, and he took a step back. "There you are; you don't like it that you love me."

"Shut up!" I yelled. "So what if I love you?" I covered my mouth as I realised what I had just said.

Harry stepped closer to me again. "You admit it."

"I don't."

"Do you know what it's like, to be told you can't have to one thing you want most in the world!? It feels like someone is driving a knife through my heart every second I'm awake. The only time I can feel normal is when I sleep, because at least in my dreams you don't keep rejecting me. At least in my dreams, you don't ignore me when I kiss you or look at you. At least in my dreams, you still notice I'm alive."

I looked up into his face, feeling like I was about to cry. "I know."

"But you don't care."

"Harry...Harry, you don't understand. I do love you--I love you like a best friend, a brother, even, but, it's just..."

"You know you're lying," he whispered. "You love me as something more."

I nodded, unable to do anything else.

"I love you, and I will always love you. All I'm asking for is one more chance. If I screw it up..."

"I can't."

"You have to. I don't think I can last without you...I need you. I want you so badly that it hurts. It hurts me worse that the Cruciatus Curse. If you don't give me this chance, then I don't know what I'll do."

"But Draco--"

"I'll explain it to him. He'll understand. Just--just promise me I'll have a chance with you."

"I--I'll give you one chance, but I don't know if I..."

"Please. Just try to love me." His eyes were pleading.

"All right."

Harry continued leading, but there was an odd feeling passing between us. I felt like the Hoover Dam of emotions had broken inside of me, releasing all of my pent up feelings. There was no telling how Harry felt, but I knew something had to have triggered his reaction. Maybe he thought--we might not get out. But, no, surely he would have said if we were lost.

My lips were definitely bruised; I knew Harry was embarrassed about that. But, what really mattered now was what I would do when Draco found out. I prayed that, by some miracle, something would happen and everything would turn out all right and as it was supposed to. However, fairy tale endings did not happen to be easy to achieve--at least, not without a couple of magic fairies, lots of wishing wells, and a prince with a flair for sweeping girls off their feet. The fairy tale of my life had none of these things. However, I pledged to cope with the fairy tale alterations that I did have. I had a villain, a hero, and me. Hey, all I needed was to be a horrible actress, get breast implants, and it'd be a noontime soap opera. Wow, what a life to live.

Harry paused, flinging out his arm to stop me from going ahead. His abrupt stop caused me to run into him, but I grabbed onto his outstretched arm to steady myself. He pulled me up and pointed at the stone archway some feet in front of us. Ivy had snaked around the ancient, cracked granite, and past the arch was something I had least expected. It was...a Feoxi.

"Harry, why'd you stop?" I asked tentatively.

"That Feoxi, it--it might be dangerous."

"It's probably not though," I shrugged his concern off casually. "Come on."

I went ahead, stepping through the archway and beckoning Harry forward. The Feoxi turned an eye to me, but I saw that the normally black eyes were milky white; it was blind.

"Speak now, stranger," it said in a raspy voice. "Or, wait and I shall have your head."

I coughed awkwardly. "Feoxi, it is I, Nikole Malfoy," I lied. "Allow us to pass unharmed."

"Nikole Malfoy...certainly it is impossible," I heard the Feoxi sniffing. "You lie, intruder."

"I am Nicole. I am--a friend. I wish only to pass."

"Answer my riddle, and we shall see."

"Very well then," I answered. Harry came to stand by my side. He was warning me without speaking that this was a dangerous game. To lose was to die.

"Blood is spilt because of me,

Daggers are drawn because of me.

But nothing can damage me,

And nothing can hinder me.

Blood and Daggers,

I am an obsession,

Deeds and Bones,

I am a possession,

Now it is you,

To whom my secret must be known.

What am I?"

I mouthed wordlessly. Nothing can stop it. What is it? Come on, think.

"Repeat the riddle."

The Feoxi obliged, and my request caused a toothy grin to appear at the dragon's lips.

It is unstoppable. Voldemort--is unstoppable, one would think. But, what does he have? Dark Magic--no. A wand--all wizards have a wand, and wands can be broken. Pride--maybe. But, he doesn't seem altogether proud. But, he has power. He wants it more than anything else--an obsession. He possesses power--a possession. Power can't be hurt, but pride can. Power.

"You are power," I answered, my voice unfaltering.

"You are--" she began, as the bile rose in my throat.

"Correct."

The nausea passed, and I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding in.

"You may pass."

Harry took my hand, and we ran out of the little courtyard through another archway.

And then, we saw it.