Accidents of Circumstance

Chapter 8: The Arrival

The next day, Draco was in class as if nothing had happened. He didn't speak to anyone, didn't shove any Gryffindors, didn't make Neville's potion explode. He took his notes quietly with his self-inking quill, making sure that his penmanship was even more painstakingly neat than usual. He responded only when spoken to, and ignored the comments that his hair wasn't gelled quite as much as he usually had it.

"Temperamental veela blood," someone said during Transfiguration. Draco concentrated, and that student's sleeve caught on fire. He wasn't surprised to find out that it was Blaise Zabini that had made the comment. They had never really been close friends anyway.

Draco was more and more discontent with his fellow Slytherins, something he never would have thought possible even a few weeks before. Every once in a while, he would look toward the Triumvirate. They were subdued today, but still together. They searched for answers together, studied together, presented a united front together. Seeing it in action only served to underscore just how alone Draco really was.

He had burned his father's letters after reading them. It was nothing but the same old summons, threatening him with bodily torture if he didn't stop sulking. Growing up was taking responsibility, following orders set down from birth and handing over every dream he might have ever had. Draco wasn't merely a son, he was a tool.

Unfortunately, human tools didn't always work the way you thought they would.

It would have been easy to brew a potion to make him forget the ache in his chest. There were plenty of potions in the advanced books that would help make it easy to naturally forget the past few days. It was the description of the other effects that made Draco pause. The easiest potion to make would make him forget not only the past few days, but everything leading up to the event in question. Taking that potion would not only let him forget the pain of Regina's sacrifice and abduction, but also everything about her. In that case, it would be that much easier to give in to his father, to get himself caught up in what he was sure he didn't want. It hadn't been just Regina's respect that had gotten him to change his mind. She had shown him that there were other routes to power, other uses to knowledge. She had incredible power at her command, yet never felt the need to use it recklessly or needlessly. She never flung her abilities in everyone's face and never used it to make others feel less than her.

If only his own father had been that way.

He would have to tough this one out on his own. No potions, no spells, no forgetting everything that made the past months important.

Draco sat down at the Slytherin table by himself in the Great Hall. It was a little early for lunch, since he had come here straight after class. He had a slim volume in his hands, a book on the Tarot. He had taken it from Regina's room when he had left for Potions this morning. It made interesting reading during one of his classes, rereading the summaries of the cards that had appeared in the spread Regina had done for him. He knew that she hadn't told him about everything that had appeared in the spread, only what he had needed to hear. The circle in the Celtic Cross spread had been glossed over entirely, and now Draco was trying to decide what the circle had meant.

The Tower. He was in a place of confusion and desperation, a place of treachery, calamity and Not Good Things, as Regina would have said, capitals evident in her tone. Six of cups, reversed. Covering him was the inability to share, corruption, knowledge that was painfully gained and unwanted, selfishness. Four of swords. Draco was moving away from rest and contemplation, away from consolidating his resources. Wheel of Fortune. He was moving towards destiny, opportunity and personal ambition. The energies in his life were beginning to pick up their pace and head toward a goal. His immediate future would be told by the Ace of Cups.

Expressing deep feelings. Responding to messages from within, enhancing psychic awareness. Falling in love, establishing bonds, developing a relationship.

Who with? Snape? Sure, he had admitted that he loved Regina, but then again, so had Snape. And he wasn't really sure, if he wanted to lie to himself. What was love anyway, but that nagging, gaping hole in his chest?

Draco sighed and shut the book. It was silly. Regina had already told him about the parts he had needed to hear. He really didn't need the rest of it, else she would have told him about it sooner. What did it matter that he would grow to love somebody? What did it matter if she wasn't here to share it with?

Students were beginning to file into the Great Hall for lunch singly, paired or in little clustered groups. All whispering and laughing and having a great time together. The vague concept of relationships from the Tarot cards again.

Draco put a hand up to his temples as he pulled the book from the table and shoved it into one of the pockets within his robes. He wasn't taking Divination this term, so it really wouldn't make sense for him to be reading about Tarot cards. His eyes strayed over to the Gryffindor table, starting to fill up. There was the Weasley girl - Gina? G-something, at the very least - sitting by herself and looking a little lonely. She had a book at the table, one that looked suspiciously like a Tarot text from Divination.

There really weren't that many students in the Great Hall yet, and he wasn't that hungry in case she would drive him away. Before he could question his motives too much, Draco got up and walked over to the Gryffindor table for the second time in three days. She didn't even look up as he approached, probably thinking he was another Gryffindor. She wiggled over a little, making room at the table for him next to her. It was an unthinking act of kindness, pure Gryffindor in action. It hurt him somehow; he knew she never would have done it had she known she was making room for a Slytherin.

"Could I see that book for a minute?" he asked quietly.

She finally looked up, and her eyes went wide. "What are you doing here? I thought you were Seamus."

Draco schooled his face blank. "I was curious about something, and wanted to look it up, and you have the book I need."

"But why sit here?"

Why indeed? He didn't want to question his motives too closely. "Listen, give me that book. I'll give it right back." Draco didn't wait for her to agree. He grabbed it from her slack fingers - freckled slightly, just like her face, he was surprised to notice - and opened the book to the front. It was a third edition, when he knew for a fact that Sybil Trelawney would have asked for the seventh edition, the most recent. There were several different Weasley names written into the inside cover, the last being Ginny Weasley. He flipped the pages until it came to a brief overview on different card spreads. He deliberately skipped over the Celtic Cross, and started reading about the Past-Present-Future spread. Draco vaguely thought that perhaps it was called something different by now. "Got a pack of cards on you?"

"No, they're in my room," she said, looking at him curiously. "Why?"

"Get them."

"I'm not going up to the Tower from here!" she replied in an aggrieved tone.

Draco's eyebrows rose. "Can't you do a simple Accio spell?"

Ginny flushed bright pink. "Look, why should I, anyway?"

"I'm telling you to."

"You're not one of my brothers," she snapped. "I don't have to listen to you."

Apparently, she had grown more spine than his father had ever given her credit for. Then again, she had to have some presence after dealing with Voldemort, even in diary form. "Thank Merlin for that," Draco muttered. "Just get the deck, then I'll leave you alone."

With a pout of annoyance, Ginny said "Accio Tarot deck!" A few minutes later, a battered deck flew into the Great Hall, whizzing past a knot of Hufflepuffs. Draco caught it midair, using his Seeker reflexes, then began shuffling the deck. He dealt out the three cards required in the simple spread.

Past - Chariot. Being difficult to control, trying to master the self, determination to succeed, concentrating energies toward a goal.

Present - Queen of Swords. Painful honesty, understanding of hidden motives and desires, straightforwardness, sense of humor and experience with realistic expectations.

Future - Lovers. Staying to the self, struggling with moral choices, finding out what truly matters, desire and passion.

"Well damn...." Draco muttered, looking at the cards in awe. Maybe Regina had been on to something with her spread after all.

"What is it?" Ginny asked, looking over the cards. She understood the significance of the cards in the layout, but not in his life.

Draco had forgotten about her. Red hair, brown eyes and too many freckles in a pale face; she shouldn't have been that easily dismissed. "Er... something personal."

"She meant a lot to you, didn't she?" Ginny asked softly, tapping the Lovers card.

"Look, thanks for letting me borrow the book and the cards," he said, rising hastily. He slammed his knee into the table and winced. "Er... good luck on your test or something. Just make it up, Trelawney never notices."

Ginny nodded, her eyes too wide in her face. Draco got the feeling that he had just done something terribly, terribly wrong. "Shit. Look, um, forget about all this, okay? Just forget I ever came over here."

And then he quickly raced out of the Great Hall, leaving Ginny speechless.

***

Snape had his back turned, writing the list of ingredients for the potion the Slytherin and Gryffindor sixth years were going to make. He heard something, similar to the snick of a blade whipped across air, and the gasps of his students. He spun around, seeing with shock that a very bloody, very hurt Regina Vial was standing three feet behind him, a line of shimmering, glittering air fading next to her. She stepped sideways slightly, as if her balance had been thrown off, and her mouth opened to make a gurgling sound of pain.

Snape took in her appearance at the same time the students did. Large clumps of hair had been ripped out of her scalp, exposing raw skin that had been cut and bruised. The remainder of her hair was matted and ragged, plastered to her head from water or blood or some combination of the two. Her face was various shades of purple and black, with cuts still weeping blood. Part of her right earlobe was missing, as if it had been ripped out along with her earring. Her shirt and sweater were in tatters, barely offering any kind of decency. The skin exposed was also cut and bruised, if not cut out, the skin stripped from her in ragged chunks. Her hands were mangled, blackened and swollen, as if burned and then broken in several places. The jeans she had been wearing were still more or less intact, though they were slashed through and the bottom four or five inches of left leg had been ripped off. Her boots were missing, and she was standing there in torn black socks. The puddle she was in was discolored, and was slowly spreading.

A student made a sobbing noise, and brought her hands to her mouth. Regina turned, and the students could see that her nose was broken and her left eye was swollen shut. The right was bloodshot. Regina scanned the crowd uncertainly, and then saw Snape. "This can't be right," she said in a hoarse whisper. She was breathing with her mouth parted, and the sound was like sandpaper being rubbed. "You can't be my safe place," she said, staring at Snape, her mouth open and her voice choking.

"Regina..." Snape whispered, reaching for her.

She stepped back with her left foot, and as soon as it hit the floor, she made that choking sound again. "I shouldn't be here... I wasn't meant to come here..."

"Gina," he said softly, taking off his robe. He draped it over her shoulders, covering her up. "Gina, listen to me..."

"It's cold," she said abruptly, her right eye closed. "They threw me into the lake and the waters closed over my head. I could see the ice forming over me."

"Gina, I have to take you to Madam Pomfrey."

Her eye snapped open. "Dumbledore. I have to see Dumbledore, they have plans..." Her head wildly scanned the room. Her gaze slid over the shocked students, the crying students, the ones that looked ready to faint. She located Harry, as if drawn to the lightning bolt scar on his forehead. "They have plans for you, Harry. I have to tell Albus..."

Snape caught Regina as she swayed, and under his breath let out a curse. He had felt her ribs shift against his forearm, not a good sign. He couldn't carry her to Albus Dumbledore's office, let alone the infirmary. He took his wand out of the robe Regina was wearing and levitated her. He tried to ignore the way her left ankle flopped, revealing bone that had pierced the skin, weeping blood. He would rather not think of how she had endured the pain of standing, the pain of getting such a wound. He knew how she had gotten it, after all. He had once been a Death Eater himself, and had received plenty of wounds after trying to escape them.

Regina was murmuring to herself as Snape barked at Draco, leaving him in charge of the class. Hermione was dutifully copying everything down once she realized it was a list of potion ingredients. "...datura, belladonna deadly nightshade, garget wort, faro seeds, unicorn blood, basilisk scales, royal mugwort, June berries, a single leaf of sea lavender and a sprig of poor man's pepper wrapped for three years in cades leaves..."

And then she was gone, on her way to Dumbledore's office.

Everyone was quiet, with only the sound of harsh breathing keeping it from being too painfully silent.

"I should go," Harry said suddenly.

"Snape wanted everyone to stay put," Draco said, his eyes still focused on the blackboard, on the smear of chalk left behind when Snape had turned around. Snape had been annoyed, then had a look of startled fear on his face before it had disappeared. Draco knew that Snape still loved Regina. Draco only had this painful hole in his chest that he assumed was love.

"She said they were after me," Harry was saying.

"You stupid git, when were they not?" Draco said, finally turning to look at him. "When did they ever not try to kill you? What year have you ever had here without some kind of a death threat? Think, Potter. What the fuck could you do, barreling in there with Regina just a step away from death?"

The entire classroom was stunned silent, and Harry plopped wordlessly down in his seat.

Draco didn't feel any kind of vindication for stunning Harry Potter to silence. What the hell was wrong with him? He should be rubbing it in, should be doing something Malfoy-ish. Why was he staying there so still, so silent?

Fawkes flew into the classroom ten minutes later, swooping in over the students' heads before landing in front of Harry. Fawkes tugged on Harry's robe with his beak, towards the doorway. Harry was meant to follow.

When Harry looked over at Draco with an unreadable expression, Draco only sighed and waved off the other boy. It was rather like an imperial summons, when Draco thought of it, as if his father's peregrine falcon had grabbed him by the shoulder to keep him away from parts of the mansion he wasn't allowed to enter. His mother had a raven, which annoyed his father, since Lucius felt a raven was too common for the Malfoy name. But Narcissa's raven was eerily intelligent, and always squawked in fury when Draco disobeyed Narcissa's orders. If Draco stopped to think, he had been hemmed in from all sides since before he was even born. Even Harry was, if Draco ever dealt with the situation honestly. Here was a boy that wasn't supposed to be alive, had been threatened so many times over, yet still lived. Harry didn't have too many choices presented to him either.

Draco didn't say a word when Hermione and Ron slipped out with Harry. In fact, what he did do was collect his belongings and leave the classroom himself.

***

Draco wandered the hallway, finding himself outside of the library. Oh hell, why not? He had no other place to go. He was acting less and less Slytherin lately, and doubted he would have any kind of welcome in the Slytherin common room. Since it was the middle of the day, most students were in classes, not in the library studying. Draco moved towards the back of the library, keeping out of Madam Pince's line of sight.

There was a flash of red out of the corner of his eye.

Ginny Weasley was reading a Transfiguration textbook; Draco could tell by the diagrams on the page she was reading. Hm... here was a way to ignore himself.

Draco crept up behind Ginny, then dropped his hands onto her tense shoulders. She jumped with surprise, but didn't let out a single sound. Intrigued, Draco began to massage her shoulders slightly. "So when did you get so silent?"

"What are you doing?" she hissed, turning around in the seat.

"What? Can't play with a Weasel?"

Face shuttered, Ginny slammed the textbook shut and abruptly stood. She scooped up her books, hands shaking with anger. "You're so full of yourself! And you weren't Regina's favorite student anyway!"

Draco remained very still as she stomped off and left the library.

It hurt. Regina had sought out Potter, hadn't she? And she was in pain, she was in all kinds of pain. Why didn't she think of herself for once?

Draco hurried out of the library, intent on finding Regina.

***

You know the ring keeps sliding around your finger. It's silly. There's the stone, then it's not there, then it's gone.

Li, haven't you got something better to talk to me about?

Well... all right then. You've done the major prep you planned for before you left, and whatever else you could get away with. Is it enough?

Of course not.

It's cold in here.

Silly girl. This is what between should feel like.

You read too much.

Don't grumble, you do too.

The sky is going to fall.

Don't be so melodramatic, Li. It's as it ever was.

Don't be stupid, Gina. You're not as cool as you think you are.

Of course I am. I know all kinds of scary shit. I scare full grown magicians with only a look sideways.

Selphie's worried about you.

She always is.

She pulled the Strength card in relation to you.

As long as it's not the Tower or ten of swords...

Don't make fun.

What did the entrails say?

She doesn't like reading the entrails, you know.

But she would have done it anyway. So what did she see?

Confirmation for what she saw without it.

Selphie only sees the beginning of the spiral.

No, she saw it down to the end, branches and all. She saw you, Gina. She saw what they did to you, knew it was going to happen. You shouldn't have let the barriers fall so soon, you should have let it stay up as long as possible. They could have tried something else to get you out of there in one piece.

There was no time to set a stronger ward.

They got out, but you didn't. You paid for them in blood.

And more than blood.

We're all worried about you. We don't like the vibe we get off your scrying stones.

I told you not to use them... Selphie tuned them to me, and we've drifted apart enough that they won't work for you.

They're all we had to try and find you.

Doesn't matter... they'll disband now, thinking Albus and his crew are able to follow my trail backwards to the source.

There's no trail, is there?

No, there isn't. I could do only enough to get me out of there. They bled me too much to focus and create a trail back.

Well, we tried to find you anyway. Your students tried, too.

Small consolation, isn't it? That I get ripped up in order to save them? That they're safe and I've never been?

Gina, stop. Focus.

Find my heart, Liane... I think they stole it from my chest. I can't feel anything.

No, you're safe. The Sisters spelled you safe from things like that.

They didn't. They took the thing I didn't want, they made sure I didn't slit my throat for what he did to Mom and Dad. It wasn't any hardship, you know. I only had to bleed, and I was only too ready to do that anyway. I had the tarp laid out and ready to catch all the blood so that Sel, Jess or Claire wouldn't have to do it.

Mom loved that carpet. She would've come back to kick your ass if you destroyed it.

Yeah.

Gina... They're going to worry about you. You've fallen, they don't know where you went.

S'okay. It's warm here, I can sleep here. I don't feel them resetting my bones and trying to regrow my hair and skin and fingernails. I think I'm missing an ear, too. They'll have to grow that back for me, too.

Gina...

So tired, Li. I took it all on as my own fight, but I'm so tired, I just want to keep my eyes closed and let everything fall apart. Fuck it all. Fuck it.

You can't....

I've pulled myself into a shell. I can't feel my hands or feet, the holes I had to rip into them in order to pull myself off their floor.

Your eyes are closing again. They won't like it, they won't understand.

Silence.

Gina! Say something! Say something, goddammit, you can't leave us here worried about you! Say something so we know you're okay!

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

You bitch... arriving out of nowhere and leaving us to clean up your mess.

Sobs in the silence, hitching breath and a moan of misery.

What good was making me in your image if all you do is blow me off?

There was no one to answer.

***

The falcon found Draco in his bedroom. It really hadn't mattered how far away he tried to go, how much he tried to ignore the summons.

Draco,

Stop your foolishness and meet your destiny. All will be forgiven if you return.

Lucius Malfoy

The letter crumbled into ash of its own accord, expensive vellum and black ink dissolving into gray. Draco watched the ash dance in the gust of air that accompanied the falcon's adjusting its position. It had been told to wait for a letter in reply.

Father,

My decisions are my own. I will bear the consequences alone, if I must,

though it shouldn't come to that. No one else should pay for my decisions. There

will be no sacrifices any longer.

Draco

The falcon seemed disturbed as it watched Draco neatly pen the reply. It stayed still as Draco attached the letter to its ankle, and cocked its head as if to ask if Draco was sure about what he was sending.

"Take that to Father. I don't think he'll like it, but he needs to read it."

The falcon flew out of the window, and Draco waited until it was out of sight before shutting the window and flopping down onto his bed.

Teachers don't disappear in order to save all of their students from being tortured or even killed. Teachers don't get tortured to keep said students alive. Teachers don't reappear in the middle of a different class outrageously beaten and tortured with a fragile grip on reality. Teachers didn't warn of impending doom to hero children that didn't have any sense to hide themselves from view properly. Teachers didn't make them love you by listening to you and treating you as if you knew what she was talking about. Teachers didn't make you wonder what else there was in life, what else there was besides a dim plan created before you were ever born. Teachers didn't make you think that maybe, maybe, there was some spark hidden deep inside, something that was worthy of being loved in return.

Whatever else happened, Regina wouldn't be forgotten soon.

***

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