Rating:
PG
House:
Schnoogle
Characters:
Draco Malfoy Ginny Weasley Harry Potter Hermione Granger Ron Weasley
Genres:
Action Romance
Era:
Multiple Eras
Spoilers:
Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire
Stats:
Published: 07/19/2002
Updated: 10/20/2002
Words: 46,936
Chapters: 10
Hits: 26,478

Prince of Unicorns

Cinnamon

Story Summary:
Nothing lasts longer than a Malfoy's thirst for revenge. Nothing, that is, except for the memory of a Garden Gnome, and Ginny is about to become tangled in both as she searches for her own adventure in the Forbidden Forest.

Chapter 05

Chapter Summary:
Nothing lasts longer than a Malfoy's thirst for revenge. Nothing, that is, except for the memory of a Garden Gnome, and Ginny is about to become tangled in both as she searches for her own adventure in the Forbidden Forest.
Posted:
09/29/2002
Hits:
3,277
Author's Note:
Thanks to my faithful reviewers who've read each one of my stories and reviewed them all, you make these hours of writing worth it. So this chapter is dedicated to you.

Prince of Unicorns
By Cinnamon
Chapter Five

Copper took Ginny’s arm in a very courtly manner, escorting her to an antechamber. He smiled at her brightly and said, “You wait here while I prepare for the ceremony. I’ve got to fetch Draco.” The Prince had changed into elegant robes of dark velvet trimmed in silver, his hair had been combed, and a crown of braided silver vines lay in his hair. He patted her shoulder and turned to leave. “Oh, I forgot, Virginia. Don’t leave this room unless I am with you. Most of the fortress is enchanted with charms to protect it from infiltration.”

Charms?” Ginny asked. “What sort of charms?”

He waved an airy hand. “Oh, just basic misdirection charms. If you walk through one of these charms, you’ll become lost and most likely wander into one of the many traps I’ve set up around the caverns. Once you’ve got your crown, however, you will be immune to the curses in my fortress.” His smile was frightening. “I will return in a moment,” he promised, leaving the room.

“Curses,” Ginny mumbled to herself miserably. “That means I’ll have to come back to lead Draco out or he won’t make it.”

There was a large, overstuffed wingback chair before the blazing hearth, and Ginny slumped in it tiredly, rubbing her eyes and wishing her whole adventure was over. It would still get worse, she knew, because in a few moments she was going to have to pretend to kill Draco, and even if his spell worked and he didn’t die, there was still going to be a lot of blood, and Ginny didn’t like blood. Maybe she could change the plan a little bit to get rid of the blood…

She had nearly fallen asleep in the huge chair when Copper returned, smiling broadly. “All is in order, my dear,” he told her, ushering her from the room. “The ceremony will take place in the inner courtyard. The unicorns have gathered, as have ambassadors from practically every other type of creature imaginable. Draco is ready. The sacrifice will take place first, and then the coronation. Don’t be nervous, you’ll do wonderfully.”

They walked for a while before coming to a pair of huge metal doors. Copper threw them open with a flick of his wrist, and Ginny couldn’t help but gasp at the sight that greeted her.

The inner courtyard was huge, surrounded on three sides by cliffs into which the caverns had been carved, part of the courtyard sheltered by a rock overhang that was supported by four huge stone pillars. On the fourth side, she could see a wall of trees. There was no roof overhead and if she looked up she could see an endless, darkening sky of cold-looking clouds, from, which poured a thick curtain of snow. It wasn’t cold in the inner courtyard, however, despite the snow falling from above. A magical charm made it feel as warm as if a huge hearth blazed with a warming fire nearby.

Arranged in groups were the silent, watchful ambassadors from the animal kingdom who had come to watch the Princess be crowned. There were animals of every sort there, many Ginny recognized and some she did not. Cats and owls, toads and rats, dragons and phoenixes, Garden gnomes and some animals that seemed to be a mixture of the rest. In the front, of course, waited the unicorns. Ginny’s eyes flickered to them nervously and then away. A dog stood regally to the left, and Ginny’s mouth fell open when she saw him.

Fang!” she cried, and Hagrid’s dog started wagging his tail, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

Draco was lying on a slab of marble before the animals, his arms and legs tied with rope. He was staring up at the sky angrily, his jaw clenched. Ginny studied him carefully to make sure he was all right as Copper led her towards the altar.

Snow was falling all around, making the whole scene seem almost like a dream, especially since it wasn’t cold. Ginny swallowed nervously as she and Copper came to a halt beside Draco, facing the animals.

A large white unicorn stepped forward, bowing its head respectfully to Copper, and then glancing at Draco. Copper’s face went still, almost as if he were concentrating on something. A few moments later, the unicorn bowed again and stepped back. Copper turned to Ginny with a smile.

“That’s the alpha unicorn,” he explained. “Once I was crowned Prince, it became possible to communicate with the unicorns mentally. She was asking why I felt this sacrifice was necessary and I told her it was to prove your dedication to the unicorns. Shall we begin?” He gestured to Draco, who still looked furious.

“Wait,” Ginny said nervously. She smoothed the delicate crimson dress she was wearing. “This dress is very lovely, Copper, you were right. I… I do make a pretty princess.” She glanced at Draco out of the corner of her eye as she said it and saw his lips twist in a small grin. She took a deep breath. “It is the most beautiful dress I’ve ever worn, and I would hate to have it ruined with Malfoy’s blood.”

Copper scowled. “What are you saying? You’re not going to kill him?”

“Oh, yes, I will kill him,” she hurried to say. “As you said, I don’t like him, and his family is evil, and you are right to want to destroy them all; of course I want to do all I can to help. It’s just… I don’t like blood.” She wrinkled her nose and continued daintily, trying to act like the Princess she was supposed to be, “I know a spell that will make it so he won’t bleed when I stab him. He’ll still die, but he won’t bleed. I’d hate to ruin this beautiful dress.”

He smiled indulgently. “Virginia, I can make you a thousand more exactly like it in a heartbeat.”

Biting her lip nervously, Ginny glanced at Draco and then leaned towards Copper, whispering, “Please forgive me, your highness, but the truth of the matter is I am afraid I will faint at the sight of all the blood.”

He laughed, and airily waved a hand. “Cast your spell then, Virginia. As long as he ends up dead, I care not how bloody it is.”

Ginny took a deep breath, turning to Draco and pulling her wand out of her pocket. She could see his eyes fixed on her face, probably trying to ask her what she was trying to do, he was going to bleed when she stabbed him, but she didn’t glance at his face. She’d made a few adjustments to their plan, because, honestly, she could not stomach the thought of actually stabbing him. Now that Copper wasn’t expecting Draco to bleed, she could use Fred’s spell to replicate the knife and Draco’s spell would make him look dead anyway, and everything would be fine.

She closed her eyes and conjured up a mental image of a graveyard, and then imagined herself walking into it, slowly, slowly, and coming to a halt before a grave near the back, one with a huge raven carved into it. She read the epitaph and fell to her knees, wailing. She imagined she was crying beside Draco Malfoy’s grave.

With this image firmly in mind, she waved the wand over him and whispered, “Mortifer Appareo”. A warm flow of energy ran through her arm and down the wand, into Draco’s chest. He gasped in a startled breath, his eyes going wide and, terrified that she’d done something wrong, Ginny’s eyes flew to his face.

His skin was turning chalky white and his eyes were fighting to stay open. Ginny knew that if she didn’t hurry, he’d appear to die before she had stabbed him, and she held out her hand for the knife, trembling. Copper handed it to her watching with interest.

Ginny held the knife in the same hand that held her wand and whispered Fred’s copying spell very softly. She could feel the knife quiver for a moment, before a copy of it slowly pressed its way into her palm. The one who cast the spell was the only one who could feel the imitation as if it were real.

Hoping Copper wouldn’t notice anything, Ginny carefully flicked her wand up her sleeve, the real knife sliding up there as well, and before she could pause to think about what she was doing, she lifted the knife above her head and slammed it down into Draco’s stomach.

He screamed loudly and raggedly as the knife sliced through his stomach, making Ginny worry, for one horrible second, that she had stabbed him with the real knife and not the copy. Then he slumped back down onto the marble slab, going limp, his eyes finally closing. His chest rose and fell a few times before going very still, and Ginny knew she had killed him.

She stifled a sob and fell back, the knife in her sleeve falling out and hitting the floor just as she dropped the knife in her hand. One of the knives clattered as it hit the ground and the other disappeared in a small puff of smoke.

Copper didn’t notice the knife, he was too busy gathering Ginny against his chest, smoothing her hair and comforting her.

“There, there, Virginia, I know it was a nasty thing to have to do, but it was necessary. I knew it would be hard for you, you’re so softhearted, it’ll be all right, you’ll see. We’ll rid the world of all the Malfoys together, you’ve proven yourself to me.”

She sucked in a ragged breath, forcing herself not to cry, and looking at Draco carefully for a sign that he wasn’t really dead. There was no visible blood, but he was wearing all black and it could have soaked into his clothing. It was dark so she wouldn’t see even if he were bleeding. His chest wasn’t moving and his face was white.

“Is he dead?” she whispered.

Copper stepped close, feeling for a pulse. A few moments later, he looked at her and grinned. “Dead, Virginia. You’ve killed him.”

Ginny nearly fainted.

“Come now, on to more pleasant things,” he said brightly, drawing her forward.

She was breathing heavily, trying to keep from fainting, so when Copper pushed her shoulder gently to get her to fall to her knees, it was easy. She knelt before the unicorns, head bowed, while Copper said some pompous, ceremonial words over her head, gesturing wildly. She didn’t hear a word of it. That wasn’t the main part of the ceremony anyway.

After he finally finished speaking, the alpha unicorn stepped forward, a crown of woven starflowers on her forehead, around her horn. She bowed her own head so that her long golden horn was nearly parallel with Ginny’s back and the crown slipped down her horn, landing on Ginny’s head. Ginny sucked in a startled breath through her teeth as the flowers came to rest in her hair, because a magic like none she had ever felt before wrapped itself around her. Suddenly she felt like every single one of the stars in the sky was winding itself around her, wrapping her in a protective glow. The starlight ran through her, touching every inch of her skin and every cell of her body, running through her veins and crackling at the ends of her hair. It gradually faded but Ginny could still feel it deep inside, a part of her now. A magic she could call up at will.

“Rise, Virginia,” Copper called, and it sounded like he was very far away.

Ginny stood, still feeling as if she were in a daze and, as one, every animal there bowed to her. Copper took her hand, smiling broadly at her, and whispered in her ear. “You’re the Princess now. Raise your right hand and they will all get back to their feet.”

Ginny did as she was told, raising her hand. All the animals stood again and they watched her as if waiting for her to speak. Ginny didn’t know what she was supposed to say and Copper didn’t whisper any more instructions in her ear, so she just waited.

Someone spoke in her mind. The voice was as silky smooth and sweet as the starlight that had run through her as she was crowned, the gentlest voice Ginny had ever heard. Welcome, Princess. The alpha unicorn still stood before her, and bowed her head again. She was speaking telepathically to Ginny.

A little overwhelmed by the whole process, Ginny said faintly, out loud, “Please, call me Ginny.”

Ginny was sure, if unicorns could smile, this one would have, and it would have looked something like her own mother’s gentlest smile. As you wish, Ginny. Fear not for the boy, he lives.

Worried about Copper overhearing this time, Ginny hesitantly spoke in her mind. “Draco?

The unicorn nodded her head, pawing the snow. He is far gone, but he lives. He will awaken.

Ginny allowed a small, relieved smile. She was aware that Copper was watching her face closely, knowing she was speaking with the alpha unicorn. “Will you protect him when I am gone?

The unicorn made a soft sound and Ginny had the oddest feeling that she was laughing. Of course, Princess. No harm will come to him, anything you order will be done. I must confess, I was prepared to destroy you before you had the chance to kill him, until I felt the spell you wrapped around him. We would not have crowned a Princess who would kill a defenseless boy to earn the crown. We have learned not to trust your kind as easily as we once did when we gave up our freedom to the Prince.

I had to make it look like Draco was dead,” Ginny cried mentally. “Copper would have killed me too.

Nodding again, the unicorn said gently, I know, child. All will be well; we will guard him until he awakens. But you must take the Prince away before he decides to get rid of the body.

Ginny nodded and turned to speak to Copper. “We must hurry back to Hogwarts, if they find us out of bed after dark, we’ll get into trouble. If they find us in the forest, we’ll be expelled.”

Copper nodded. “I must fetch a few things from the fortress before we are on our way. Wait here, I will return.” He walked back into the caverns and as soon as he was gone, Ginny hurried over to Draco. He lay still as if dead, his thick eyelashes brushing against chalky skin, his chest still.

Ginny studied his face carefully. He looked so vulnerable and it wasn’t a look she was used to seeing on Draco’s face.

Without thinking about why she did it, Ginny smoothed his hair off his forehead, bending to kiss it gently. “I will come back for you, Draco, I promise,” she whispered.

The alpha unicorn was suddenly at her side. The Prince returns, she said.

Ginny walked away from Draco so Copper wouldn’t find her bending over him, talking to him. The unicorn walked with her, and Ginny looked up to realize that most of the animals had wandered away back into the forest. All except Fang, who waited for her.

Do you have a name?” Ginny asked suddenly. “I can’t very well go around calling you Alpha Unicorn.”.

The unicorn nuzzled Ginny’s cheek softly, making that same gentle laughter. My name is Adrieyl. You need not fear the forest any longer, Ginny. No creature here would dare hurt the Princess of Unicorns.

Will you come with me? Walk with me back to Hogwarts?

The dog has come for that, Adrieyl told her. He waits for you.

Ginny didn’t reply because at that moment, Copper returned, holding various magical artifacts too precious to leave behind. He nodded at her. “Ready to go?”

“Yes,” she replied, though she didn’t want to leave Adrieyl.

The unicorn nuzzled her again and then cantered off into the forest. Fang was the only animal left now, and Ginny held out her hand for him. He bounded over to her, licking her hand a few times. “Hagrid’s dog,” Ginny explained to Copper. “Hagrid’s from Hogwarts, we’ll have to bring him back with us.”

With one last glance at Draco over her shoulder, Ginny followed Copper back into the fortress, one of her hands resting on Fang’s back. They left the fortress and headed back into the forest, and Ginny was too exhausted to be afraid any longer.

***

Hermione burst into the cabin, her cloak covered in snow and her face red. “Ginny’s not back yet,” she said. “No one’s seen her today.”

Hagrid had gone to tell Dumbledore that Fang had gone missing, Ron was reading the book about mixed-breed creatures, and Harry was staring thoughtfully out the window. “Where do you suppose she went?” He asked over his shoulder.

Hermione sighed, shifting a little nervously. “Well, there were rumors,” she began, trailing off. She glanced at Sasha, who was growling and scratching the floor again, tugging at the rope that bound her.

“Rumors,” Ron prompted.

Hermione looked back at him. “Well, yes,” she continued reluctantly. “You see, Malfoy’s missing too.”

Ron leapt to his feet, his face going red with fury. “And what are the rumors saying?”

She licked her lips, glancing away. “People are saying that Ginny and Malfoy… That they’re… involved.”

Involved?” Ron cried. “Ginny and Malfoy? That’s impossible! That’s disgusting! That’s—”

“It could be true,” Harry interrupted, leaving the window. “I mean, they were together yesterday, somewhere, and now today they both go missing at the same time?” He shrugged. “Maybe they’ve just gone off somewhere to be…” he cleared his throat delicately, “alone.”

Ron was furious. “Ginny wouldn’t do that!”

“Ron, I didn’t say the rumors are true,” Hermione said hurriedly. “I just said that’s what people are saying.”

“Well, they’re wrong,” Ron said sullenly. “He’s probably dragged her off somewhere to torment her or something. We’ve got to find her.”

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but he never got the chance. Sasha tugged one last time at the rope that bound her to the wall and it snapped. With a fierce snarl, she pushed passed Hermione and charged through the door, escaping outside into the blizzard.

“Sasha!” Hermione cried, running to the windows. “She’s running into the forest, we’ve got to catch her!”

“Hermione, she’s a tiger, we’ll never catch her!” Harry argued.

“She was nearly dead yesterday, how fast can she possibly run? Besides, don’t you think it’s strange that both Fang and Sasha both disappeared into the forest? Something must be happening there, and if we follow Sasha, we’ll probably find Fang as well!” She was hurriedly pulling her mittens back on as she ran for the door, and Harry groaned.

“She’s mad,” he told Ron, who didn’t argue as he pulled his own cloak on. Both of them charged after Hermione and the mad purple tiger with broken wings.

It was still snowing heavily and Hermione lost Sasha quickly. She could hear Ron and Harry calling her name but she couldn’t see them, the snow was too thick.

“I’m over here,” she shouted.

Ron and Harry stumbled through the snow after her. The wind was blowing fiercely, stinging their faces. “Are you crazy, Hermione?” Ron shouted. “You can’t just go running off into the forbidden Forest in the middle of a snow storm, you’ll kill us all!”

Hermione covered her freezing nose with her hands, warm in their mittens. “We can’t just let Sasha run off now, can we?”

“Well, what help are we going to be, lost in the forest ourselves?” Harry replied, squinting through the snowflakes that were melting into drops of moisture on his glasses.

“I think Sasha went this way,” Hermione said instead of answering his question, heading off into the forest.

“In that case, I say we go the other way,” Ron argued. “It’s probably the way back to Hogwarts.”

“I can’t just leave her,” Hermione called, disappearing through the trees.

“She’s just an animal!” Ron cried. “A wild animal!”

“Come on, we had better follow her,” Harry said grimly, and they pushed through the wind and snow after Hermione.

“I think I see her!” Hermione was squinting through the snow at a dark shape further ahead. She could barely see, and she ran forward, hoping it wasn’t a werewolf or some other sort of creature.

The closer she got, the clearer the odd scene appeared, and by the time she could see exactly what was going on, Hermione was shocked. Sasha was standing in the snow, her head bent low in a bow, and Hermione sucked in a startled breath when she saw who Sasha was bowing to.

Ginny? Malfoy? What on earth are you doing in the forest?” She heard Ron and Harry stumble to a surprised halt behind her.

Ginny looked abnormally pale, but Malfoy smiled calmly. “Hello,” he said politely.

Hermione blinked. Harry scowled. And Ron tackled Malfoy to the ground. “What have you been doing with my sister?” he was snarled, his fist slamming into Malfoy’s face.

“Ron!” Ginny cried, trying to pull her brother away. Harry helped her, and Hermione was still too shocked to move. Sasha, her bow completed, returned docilely to Hermione’s side, and then another creature came bounding out of the shadows.

“Fang!” Harry held Ron’s arm with one hand and grabbed Fang’s collar with the other so the dog couldn’t disappear again. “What’s going on?” he asked Ginny finally, as she helped Malfoy up. “Why are you guys here?”

Ginny, shooting her brother a dark look, said, “Nothing’s going on, Harry. I’m cold and I want to get back to Hogwarts before anyone realizes we’re missing.”

“Well, it’s too late for that, Gin,” Ron said, jerking away from Harry. “Hermione says there are rumors about you and,” he gestured rudely to Malfoy, “him. About you two being together.”

Malfoy smiled again, that distant, polite smile that made Hermione frown. “I assure you,” he told Ron in a calm voice, “There is nothing going on with Virginia and I.”

Virginia? Ginny, what is this? Don’t tell me you’ve become friends with Malfoy?” Harry said, stroking Fang’s head.

Ginny tossed her red hair over her shoulder in annoyance. “It’s really none of your business. Now I want to get back to the castle before I freeze to death, so if you don’t mind…” She swept by them, stepping carefully through the snow, and Malfoy followed.

“Ginny,” Hermione called as she hurried to catch up with her friend. “What is that you’re wearing?”

“And what on earth is that in your hair?” Ron added, his voice cold.

Ginny touched the strange circlet of flowers on her head absently. “It’s a crown, Ron,” she told him, before walking away.

Ron watched Ginny, Malfoy, and Hermione hurry off into the darkness and then turned to Harry. “They’ve all gone mad, haven’t they?” he asked him.

“Well,” Harry said thoughtfully. “At least they seem to know the right way back to Hogwarts and we’ve found Fang. We can get the whole story out of Ginny when we get back to the castle.” He walked after the others, calling Fang to follow, and Ron trailed along behind, mumbling angrily to himself.