The Curse-breaker's Sister

The Curse-breaker's Sister
Chapter 10

The sun rose the following morning, casting a pinky-red glow over the city-state of Ur. Ginny was out on the balcony, enjoying the momentary burst of colour. Draco joined her after waking up, carrying out two steaming mugs of coffee.

"Sleep well?" he inquired after taking a few sips out of his mug.

"Yes, very well. The bed was quite comfortable. Did you sleep okay?"

Draco nodded. "The couch was comfortable too. Not the best thing I've slept on, but no complaints."

They took turns using the bathroom, Ginny taking longer then Draco because she couldn't resist trying all the exotic scented shampoos and body washes provided with the room. It was half past ten before they made it out to the streets below, Draco once again insisting they eat before working.

With breakfast out of the way, they took a rickshaw to the nearest library. Ginny had never travelled this way before and thought it quite strange to ride in a cart pulled by a boy. The road was bumpy and the cart bounced all over the road. More then once Ginny found herself clinging to Draco. She felt as if she was going to be thrown from the rickshaw at any moment. Finally she just closed her eyes and held on tightly to Draco's arm.

"We are walking back to the hotel even if it takes us all day!" she told him vehemently. They had just stepped out of the rickshaw and Ginny's brain felt like it was still bouncing around inside her skull.

Draco couldn't help but smile. Ginny's hair was a mess, red strands sticking out haphazardly from her head. He smoothed a few tresses behind her ears. For once, she didn't bat his hands away.

"I thought you'd enjoy trying the local transportation while you were here. Don't worry, we can Apparate back to the hotel room."

He took her arm and led her into the library. Ginny found them a private study room and settled in, spreading out the pictures, maps and translations they'd made back in England. Draco went out into the main library to find books that might aid them with the translation.

When he returned, they buckled down, talking only when necessary. Ginny was researching Sîn and Ningal while Draco was trying to find out what mode of cuneiform the tablet was written in. Neither of them noticed that they were being watched.

Crouched in the shadows, outside the study room window, was a skinny, almost skeletal looking man. His skin was the same brown colour as his dusty, stained robes. The sun didn't bother him, nor did the occasional wind that whipped sand from the ground into his eyes. He remained hidden, all day, only leaving when Draco and Ginny departed for the evening.

Ea Nasir sat on his throne, as he always did, and waited for his servant to report to him. He was a patient man. Some things were worth waiting for, but today his patience with his servant was wearing thin. He was about to send somebody after him when a large, decorative mirror lying on the table in front of him started to glow.

"Ninbanda!" he called.

The woman scurried out of the corner she'd been sitting in and lifted the mirror off the table. An image of the dirt stained man who had spied on Ginny and Draco appeared on the mirror's surface.

"I have found the Plaque of Poseidon, Sir!" Estrada squeaked. He was talking into a tiny, handheld mirror of his own.

Ea Nasir was silent. His servants knew better than making him ask questions.

"The plaque is with Malfoy," Estrada scrambled to keep talking. "He's with a girl. The girl has the plaque. I found them at the Library of Enlil."

"Tell me about the girl," hissed Ea Nasir in a low, menacing voice.

"She has red hair! Red hair, Master. They're staying at a hotel downtown. I followed them there. And now... now they are eating dinner at a café near here. I followed them, Master, just like your ordered me to!" Estrada's voice took on a whiney tone that annoyed Nasir.

"Find the plaque. Leave no witnesses."

With a nod of his head, Ea Nasir signalled Ninbanda to replace the mirror on the table, thus severing the connection with Estrada. He sat back in his chair and closed his eyes; the short conversation with Estrada had drained him.

"Leave me," he croaked.

Ninbanda obeyed, leaving the room and silently shutting the door behind her.

Nasir sat in the silence, pondering the presence of this red haired girl, trying to puzzle out the meaning of Draco Malfoy's appearance in his city. Like a torch lit with magic, the connection burst into his head. Bill Weasley had red hair. Draco Malfoy was in Ur with a red-haired girl.

His yellow eyes glared at the ashes in the fireplace. Just yesterday he had thrown another letter from Bill's sister into the fireplace and watched it burn. Nasty, annoying things, they were. His servants allowed only the one to go off. The servant responsible for that was long gone, and the rest had learned their lesson from watching him go.

Draco Malfoy's redheaded friend could only be Bill Weasley's sister.

"EMSAF!" he bellowed.

Moments later, his head bodyguard appeared. "Master," he said, bowing low.

"Go into the city and find Estrada. Make sure he does not fail me. Bring me the plaque and bring me the girl. UNHARMED!" he added when he noticed a sly gleam in Emsaf's eye. "Kill Malfoy."

Draco had taken Ginny out for dinner once more, paying for it himself and brushing aside her protests when she once again brought up the fact that they hadn't discussed payment.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Ginny. I don't feel like I'm working for you. I feel like I'm helping a friend. So please stop trying to pay me, or pay for everything."

"I feel like I'm using you," Ginny said. "I feel like I'm contributing nothing to this venture. At least if I paid for things, I'd be helping."

They had been arguing the issue while walking back to the hotel. Draco had learned that Ginny was stubborn and tenacious. When she wanted something, she didn't let go of it until she got it.

"If you are going to keep debating this, let's do it over drinks on the balcony." Draco unlocked the door to their suite and walked in.

Their suite was a mess. Everything was destroyed.

Ginny tried to run into the room but Draco stopped her. He pushed his way in front of her and wouldn't let her past.

"Wands out," he murmured. "We don't know if they're still in here."

Broken wood, pottery and glass littered the floor. What plants were still standing were covered in fluff from the couch cushions and pillows. Ginny's robes, both sets, were ripped to shreds. Draco found his spare clothing stuffed into the toilet. Large chunks of stone had been blasted out of the walls and the koi fish, which had been swimming happily in their bowl when they left, were now dead on the floor.

They searched the suite, leaving Ginny's room for last. There, hovering in the air, were two amulets. They hung in the air as if placed around invisible necks. The stones pulsed from a dull grey to a matte black colour.

Ginny reached out to grab them but Draco stopped her once more. "Don't. We don't know what they are."

Ginny pushed his protective arm away and plucked an amulet out of the air. As soon as she touched it, the stone stopped pulsing.

"They're mine," Ginny told him. "I made them."

"What are they?"

"They're protective amulets. I finished them just after Bill went away. I packed them on a whim, really. Just in case we needed them. Didn't think we would."

Draco walked around and stood behind the second amulet. There, in a direct line with the still pulsing stone, was a body sized imprints in the wall.

"Look," Draco said.

Ginny turned to look at the wall, seeing for herself the deep, body shaped holes in the wall.

"Somebody tried to harm the amulets, or take them. They're charmed to protect against people who mean harm to their owner. I had no idea they'd repel things across the room with such force."

Draco let out a bitter laugh. "I'd hate to be on the wrong end of one of those things. Look how deep those imprints are. That had to hurt."

"You were meant to be on the protective side of it, you idiot."

Draco turned to Ginny, a curious look in his eyes. "One of those was for me?" He felt strange inside. It had been a long time since anybody had cared for him.

"Yes," said Ginny. "One for you and one for me. Like I said, I didn't think we would need them, but now that we do..." She placed the amulet around Draco's neck.

Draco felt a warm, ticklish sensation all over his body. The skin directly below the amulet started to itch. Ginny was chanting something so quietly that he couldn't make out the words. She tapped the black stone with her wand and Draco watched in amazement as it turned to a deep, glowing green. After a few seconds, the glow faded and his skin stopped itching. Draco was left with a smooth, emerald coloured oval hanging around his neck.

Ginny looked up at Draco and smiled. "There you go, the Attunation is complete. Now for me."

She reached up for the second amulet and placed it around her neck. Draco watched as she repeated the process on herself. This time the black stone turned a dark red colour that reminded him of dried blood. Ginny had no sooner finished muttering the spell when there was a loud banging on the door.

They both spun around, watching the door with wary eyes, wands at the ready. Draco noticed a green light spread out from under the door, a sign that magic was being used.

"Ginny, grab what you can, I'll block the door. We've got to get out of here!"

Ginny hurried around the suite, salvaging what she could. Draco used the strongest magic he could muster to keep the door shut. The door was starting to vibrate and Draco's arm was shaking.

"Ginny! Hurry up! I can't hold the door much longer," he yelled, his voice shaking more then his arm was.

Ginny ran up to him, breathing heavily from exertion. "It's not much, almost everything is destroyed."

"The plaque?"

"It's fine. The amulets must have protected it."

"Alright, let's go!"

Draco lowered his wand arm and the door exploded in a blast of green light. Splinters of wood flew everywhere temporarily impairing their vision.

When Ginny could see clearly, she cast a Jelly-legs Jinx on the first man she saw. She heard Draco yell, "Serpensortia!" and then cast a stunner with his wand. The red bolt of lightning hit a burly man wearing a grey toga directly in the chest. He fell to the ground, knocking down one of his comrades in the process.

Draco grabbed Ginny's arm and together they ran for the window. They were on the second floor, but some scrubby looking bushes covered the ground below the window. They might break their fall.

Before jumping, Draco shot a thick, white beam of light out of his wand and Ginny watched as it dissipated through out the room. Suddenly, the room in front of them reversed itself and then men attacking them were hanging from the ceiling.

Taking advantage of the moment, Draco and Ginny leapt out of the window, hand in hand, landing in the bushes below. They took off immediately, running down the streets, ducking into alleyways, never stopping to see if it was safe. Draco risked a look behind them once and noticed that one of their attackers was still following them.

They ran faster. Ginny's legs were screaming in pain and her arm felt as if Draco was going to rip it from it's socket any second now. He was running faster then her, dragging her behind him by her arm. The bag with the plaque in it was slung over her shoulder, the stone tablet slamming into her back every time she took a step.

The frantic chase continued. Innocent citizens were knocked over and at one point, Draco and Ginny caused a camel cart to crash. There was no time to stop and apologize. The large man chasing them was quickly gaining on them. Draco ducked into an alley, pulling Ginny behind him.

"Come on, down here," he yelled in between gasping breaths of air.

They ran a minute longer, stopping when confronted with a dead end. Ginny could hear heavy footsteps getting louder as their attacker got closer. She looked around frantically for some sort of exit but there was none.

"Draco, what do we do?" Her eyes were wide with fear.

"Do you trust me?" he asked her quietly.

She stared at him, eyes still wide, and said nothing.

Draco grabbed her hands in his and looked her in the eyes.

"Do you trust me, Ginny?" he yelled.

"Yes!" she called out.

Draco wrapped his arms around her and before she knew what was happening, they had Apparated.