Breaking All the Rules

Chapter Seventeen

Breaking All the Rules

Good Things Never Last

~*~~*~~*~

Julia continued to run through the dense forest. She had been running for little under a half hour trying to find Osiris when she had seen her sitting on a high branch. She had found it strange that she would stop there especially sensing the mood she was in. The second Osiris had started acting weird by flapping her wings and squawking in a high pitch, she had tuned in and felt a presence in the woods. Blaise had tried but couldn't feel anything and Julia's interest had peaked considerably. If she had known what she would find, she would never have left at all.

She had run full on into a forest that she had no knowledge of, after a bird that was acting strange. In hindsight she had been quite silly but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Now she was lost and running from a man that she had bumped into a little while earlier, had frightened the life out of her and told her that she had to come with him.

He didn't seem to even know who she was, but she knew who he was the second he had taken out the chain around his neck with the amulet of the island on it. She knew what he was because she had one too. She knew what he was there for and she wasn't going to just go with him without a fight. So she ran in the other direction, the direction she had come from. Hopefully it was the direction back to the house

She continued through the dense mass of bushes, thanking Merlin for those training sessions on the island and the fact that it too was densely populated with greenery among other things, and dodging the trunks of tall trees that seemed to be popping up out of nowhere all the while trying to find the house.

But the trees just kept on coming and she was sure she hadn't gone this far away.

She took another look back to see if he was still following her. She couldn't sense anything and she definitely couldn't see anything so she slowed down a little still looking behind her. She then bent over holding her knees for support as she breathed heavily seeing each breath escape with a slight steam. It still fascinated her how that happened, she hadn't seen it in seven years, let alone felt the cold. It was refreshing as if she had entered a whole new world that she hadn't discovered. And this time she had someone to share it with.

She smiled as she remembered him. Blaise would be looking for her, she knew it but if he said he couldn't feel anything... She looked around and doubted that was an accident anymore. It was well known the level of power he had and no marker would dare to go against him, no matter how good they were.

She stood up stretching out her back and looked around. When she faced forward again she saw the marker that was after her. She gasped and turned to run in the other direction but when she turned he was standing there too. She had nowhere to run anymore.

***

Ginny, Draco and Blaise walked through the forest searching for Julia and literally turning over every rock in the process. "I just don't understand how you can't sense her, are you sure you're doing it right?" Draco sighed getting frustrated.

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Draco, I've been doing this for a while okay? I think I know how to do it by now." He swatted away a bug that had been buzzing around him. Strange, he hadn't heard it buzzing around him.

Ginny turned around from in the front of the other two. "Will you both stop arguing, you're just making things worse. Focus on finding her and then, when we do, you can argue all you want."

They both went silent and continued walking behind her. "Remind me again why you're here," Draco said.

Ginny replied without turning around. "Because neither Blaise nor you can use magic and, as I'm the one who schryed, I get to come along."

Blaise sighed and continued looking around for any sign of Julia. She couldn't have gone this far. He squinted to see into the distance, not that it helped. He saw, far away through a set of trees, leaves rustling in the wind. He frowned then, wondering why there was wind blowing but he couldn't feel anything. When they had arrived, there was at least a slight breeze. He stood on the spot and looked around furrowing his eyebrows.

Draco noticed his behaviour. "What is it? Can you finally feel something?"

"Draco, can you hear anything?"

"What, you mean anything suspicious?"

"No, I mean anything, anything at all."

"Well, I can hear the birds, and the annoying buzz of bugs. Besides that, I also notice the wind has abandoned us to blow somewhere else. For winter, it's bloody hot you know."

Blaise nodded his agreement and then went back to the earlier part of his rant. "You can hear birds and insects?"

Draco raise his eyebrows to the most bizarre question he had ever heard escape Blaise's mouth. "Er, yeah?" he said questioningly wondering if it were the right thing to say.

Ginny watched Blaise suspiciously. "Blaise, what do you hear?"

"I can't hear anything, like someone has cast a silencing spell on the whole place." In the corner of his eye he saw the distant leaves on the trees rustling again. "I can see the wind blowing over there but it doesn't seem to want to come over hear, like it's stuck."

Draco and Ginny looked to where Blaise was pointing. When they cast their eyes over, they moved forward to take a closer look. Ginny continued watching but Draco turned back to face Blaise with a questioning look on his face, and then to his surroundings.

"Blaise," he said warily.

"What?"

"There's nothing moving. No wind, just sounds." He picked up a handful of leaves on the ground and held them. Blaise watched them in his palm. Draco blew them off his palm but they both stood in silence when they wouldn't move. "Nothing is moving, like they've been made to be inactive by nature.

Blaise looked again to where the wind seemed to keep still thinking many things until one thought kept repeating in his head.

Nature being put on hold. Put on hold, kept from moving. Barriers. Shields.

Suddenly, the transparent barrier of wind rippled and started to move toward them. He looked along it and further down the depths of the trees, the wave was coming at him from all around as if he were in a bubble made to keep him away from everything else. It sped up, faster and faster and he braced himself as it smashed into him. Loud noises and emotions collide into him physically and mentally and he almost screamed at the pressure of it bombarding him all at once. When he couldn't take it anymore, Blaise fell to his knees.

"Is it me, or has it just gotten a little colder?" Draco said and Ginny nodded. When they heard a noise behind them, they turned to see Blaise kneeling on the ground.

"Blaise? Blaise, are you alright?" It was rather a stupid question as it was obvious that he wasn't but he had to say something. Blaise got to his feet gingerly with their help and swayed a little on the spot as he refocused his eyes. The sounds of the forest blared in his ears. It hurt like hell as if he hadn't used his ears in decades. He covered them with his hands hoping it would go away. The noise calmed down and quieted until it resumed its normal octaves.

He stood up straight and drank in everything steadily. He could feel everything and anything that came his way. It felt good, and for the first time in hours he felt comfortable with his surroundings, he closed his eyes in contentment as everything fell in sync. Then he frowned. Something else was filling his system.

Fear, and lots of it.

It was her, he knew it had to be her which meant that something had been keeping him from finding her. He remembered how the barrier that he was able to see, though it was hardly noticeable if he hadn't been looking so furiously, had surrounded him and only he seemed to be affected by it as neither Ginny nor Draco seemed to understand. It was keeping him away from her and only one place knew how to keep an empath away from finding something as it was very useful when it came to end of school exams. For both theory and practicals. The professor seemed to favour them for practicals than theory to test an empath's reflexes.

"A shield," he said tiredly. That wave had taken a lot out of him.

Both Draco and Ginny frowned. "A what?"

"It was a shield. That's why I couldn't feel anything. Whoever it was just dropped it. It's taught at La Isla." He turned to them. "It's one of ours." He watched Draco's reaction as a solemn understanding flashed on his face. "They're after her and they didn't want me to find her. She's been marked." He looked back out into the forest. "Now it's down and everything came at me at once," he said shaking his head. He looked at Draco and smiled. "Even I'm not that good." Draco smiled and rolled his eyes. "This must mean that he wants me to come to him now, he thinks he has an advantage." He looked pointedly in one direction and narrowed his eyes. Eventually Draco did the same as if it would help him understand why he was doing it.

"An advantage like what?" he said following his line of sight.

Blaise smiled still searching, and then his face turned serious. "We'll see," he said quietly. Draco jumped when Blaise suddenly said, "This way." He then started running in one direction.

Promptly, Ginny and Draco followed him skipping over bushes and dodging trees until they came to a wide clearing near the edge of a cliff. In the centre of it was Julia. She was being held around her neck by a man dressed in black, the standard uniform that neither Blaise, Draco nor any other marker who had been at it for at least three months thought much of and therefore never wore, which meant only one thing. He was a newbie.

But, newbie or not, he was strong.

"Let her go," Blaise said holding out his wand to the man. Draco almost winced at the look he was giving him.

The man looked at the concentration on Blaise's face before letting his eyes travel to his wand. He smirked. "You can't kill me that way, you've been tagged, Alpha - 36-58." He pulled his arm around her neck tighter.

Blaise stopped and stood up straight. Was that Draco's number he just called? He watched him in confusion. "Huh?" he said turning to Draco. Draco just shrugged.

"Go with it, it's an advantage at least. Very impressive of them to do that though." Blaise nodded and then turned his attention back to the man.

"What do you want?"

"I don't want anything," he said arrogantly. "I'm here to give you a message from Leveret. Deliver the body in two days or else." He ignored Julia's attempts to wriggle out of his arm.

Blaise raised an eyebrow. He had always wondered what that or else stood for. "Or else what?" he said in a very 'rolled eyes,' way.

The man seemed to pause, obviously he didn't know either. "Or else your fate is tied with hers." He pulled his arm tighter again and Julia winced. His wand was at her throat and the tighter he pulled the harder it pressed and the more it hurt. She looked at Blaise.

Blaise locked eyes with her making a silent promise he'd get her out if it. She nodded discreetly. "Let her go," Blaise warned.

The man stepped back with every step Blaise took toward them and he edged more to the end of the cliff. He almost stumbled over the edge as he stepped back some more.

"Could he just kill him already?" Draco said under his breath winning a hard nudge from Ginny beside him. "What? The kid is obviously new and doesn't know the first thing about taking a captive."

"Will you stop this, it's serious."

"Fine, but if it were me, she'd be dead already."

"Draco!" she whispered harshly. They continued watching the spectacle before them.

"Just let her go," Blaise said edging forward some more. "Let her go and I won't kill you."

The man watched him as if that were the most bizarre statement he had ever heard. He almost laughed. Was it not him with the advantage, so why was he making threats? "Stand back A36-58," he warned pulling Julia tighter to him. "There is another part of the message I have to give you."

Blaise raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

"Leveret knows you were on La Isla." Blaise paused and looked at Draco. They exchanged looks knowing what each other was thinking. They had both thought this was something to do with the island. The professor was always very possessive of his teachers and students. They hadn't known the Company got wind of it. How would they have known? "He also knows that you took with you," he said turning his head to the woman in his arms, "something that should not have been taken, whether they walked out by themselves or not. We can trace every member of our group and we know where you are at all times."

Draco furrowed his eyebrows at that statement in thought. If that were true, wouldn't they have tracked him a long time ago?

"The message we send you is that no one leaves La Isla without discharge." He yanked Julia by her hair exposing her throat. She grabbed his hand to stop him from pulling too hard, it hurt enough as it is. As she reached up she lost her footing and ended up leaning back against him. The man obliged and held her firmly in front of him, his hand still secured in her hair. "And those that do must pay with what they agreed to pay when they signed their contracts." He yanked her head back more causing her to scream and yelled, "Machaera!" then slid his wand across her throat before pulling her back and off the cliff.

Blaise stood still for a moment in silence as he saw Julia disappear off the side of the cliff. "Julia!" Blaise yelled as he suddenly ran forward jumping off the cliff after her and pushed the man to fall with him. The man screamed to the top of his lungs while Blaise was looking directly at Julia. Seeing that she was about to hit the ground, he almost willed himself to fall faster feeling the cold air blasting past his skin as he plummeted after her. He knew he wouldn't reach her in time and apparated instead standing directly below her as she fell and then apparated back to the top as the man fell beside him and crushed to the ground.

Draco and Ginny stood at the top completely surprised to see Blaise do this, especially Draco who had always thought that Blaise was afraid of heights. Then again, love makes you do crazy things, he thought as he looked at Ginny.

They ran to the edge of the cliff to see them all falling and they saw Blaise disappear only to hear the loud crack behind them as he apparated to the top. They turned around to see him holding Julia in his arms. Blood stained them both. On her, flowing down her chest over the chain around her neck and onto her white blouse which made it all the more heart-wrenchingly painful to watch and it had even run to Blaise as it stained his hands and the front of his shirt. It was everywhere and it was still pumping out of her neck.

"Oh shit," Draco said as he realised with apprehension what was about to happen.

Blaise walked toward them a few paces and swallowed hard as he lay Julia down on the ground and kneeled beside her. When he spoke it was quiet and he didn't look up but Draco knew he was voicing his thoughts to them. "I can't heal it," he said shakily holding back his tears. He closed his eyes and breathed to get rid of the tremor in his voice. "It's too deep," he let out in a breath.

Ginny felt the lump in her throat, she fought back her tears and the lump grew painful. "Oh god," Ginny said beneath her breath.

"Draco," he said looking up at him. "What am I going to do?" He almost sobbed as Julia squeezed his hand and smiled at him. "Oh god." He squeezed it back and shut his eyes tight. "What do I do?" Draco stood back, he had no idea what to do. There wasn't anything to do and he didn't want to be the one to say it.

Julia reached up and touched Blaise's face to make him open his eyes. When he did, she smiled again. "Hear me," she said in a croaky voice as a tear slid out the corner of her eye.

He instantly dropped his barriers and all he could feel was a pain in his throat, it throbbed harder and twice as awful at each pulsation. He shuddered as it cleared away and he could feel her as she was last night, peaceful. She was showing him that he could take the pain away. He smiled at her beneath his shaky breaths as he jerked with each suppressed cry. No matter how at peace he made her, it didn't matter because under it all he could still feel her slipping away.

He swallowed hard. "Don't leave me," he whispered as the tears fell freely. He put a hand on her face and cupped it lightly. "Please. Don't leave me now, not now," he said shaking his head. "Not now."

Ginny gripped Draco's arm and stepped behind him not wanting to look. She let her tears fall as she turned her head away and felt Draco's hand on her back.

Julia took in a shaky breath jerking as she choked and touched his face again to wipe a tear from under his eye. She smudged it with her blood but he held his hand over hers nevertheless. She smiled, "Never," she let out with her last breath watching the steam roll out of her mouth. She focused on his eyes. Then her hand went cold and relaxed.

Her eyes closed.

As they closed, Blaise bent over letting it out not caring that his face would be covered in blood. He dropped her hand and pulled her up to hold her rocking backwards and forwards and cried into her shoulder not wanting to let her go. He sat there for some time afterwards not moving and just looking out into the distance.

"Blaise," Draco said softly once Blaise had calmed down. He put a hand on his shoulder as he lay her back down. "Blaise, we have to go."

Blaise sat seemingly impassive. The only evidence of emotion was his tear stained cheeks and red eyes. "So go," he said with no tone to his voice.

Draco frowned but it soon dissolved when he saw his friend's face. "Blaise, I'm not leaving you here. They'll find you."

He scoffed. It would have been convincing if he hadn't been crying a while before. "I don't care."

"Blaise, come on." Blaise closed his eyes and sighed. Eventually, he slid one arm under Julia's knees and the other behind her neck to pick her up and stood to follow them back to the house.

***

George had been watching out his window for any signs of them. When he saw them walking slowly back with an unconscious Julia in Blaise's arms, he ran outside to see if she was alright. His worried look was slowly replaced with shock and horror and they approached even closer. "Oh good God!" George exclaimed as he saw the blood that covered the two of them. He opened the gate to let them in.

Draco looked toward the house. "Where's Grandma?"

George kept staring at Julia and the fierce gash along her neck. "She's... inside." He began to point behind him. "I'll er... I'll go get her." He ran inside and returned with her leading the way to see.

She stepped out of the door and saw her. "Merlin above! What happened?" Blaise hadn't taken his eyes off her but, when he did, he looked away from the people around him.

Draco made her take her eyes away. "I'm sorry, grandma. We may have to cancel dinner for another time."

She looked at him. "Well, where are you going?"

Ginny spoke up this time. "A place called the burrow. We have to get back now to erm... sort things out." Draco looked back to Blaise who wasn't speaking. His eyes were red and wet.

"Well use our fire, you can get back from here. It'll give me a chance to pack some things."

"What?" both George and Draco said.

Callie turned on her husband. "You think I'm leaving him to go back alone? You of all people should understand." George rolled his eyes and shook his head as he went back inside. He ushered the others inside and they stood in front the fire place as he picked up the urn from the mantel. Ginny went through first followed by Callie and George.

Draco looked at Blaise. "We'll get him for it. You know that, right?"

Blaise looked at him and then slowly nodded. "I know," he said huskily as he stepped through the connection with her in his arms. Draco followed soon after.

***

Hours after they had arrived, the house was in silence. They had all apparated just outside a muggle cemetery to bury Julia quietly and returned to the burrow hours later after saying a few words. Blaise hadn't said anything. And he still hadn't said anything when he had returned. He just sat in a chair staring at the fire and at his hands that he still hadn't washed, making odd facial expressions as if he were having a long conversation in his head. Then, suddenly, Blaise stood up and practically ran upstairs. Draco followed him closely with his eyes and finally got up to see where he was going.

He opened the just slammed door and stared Blaise down. "Where are you going?" he said as he witnessed his friend picking up everything he had brought with him.

"I'm going home."

"What?"

"I knew that something like this would happen. I have done since I left that island. She was put up as a mark the second she left. She knew it and she still came with us."

"What are you talking about?"

"I want you to do something for me." He held out his hand and let drop a thin chain. It looked so fragile like it would break at any given moment. Draco furrowed his eyebrows looking at it. He recognized the amulet; it was given to every student who had ever passed through the camp. He didn't think he'd need it so he gave it to Blaise who had seemed really interested in it.

Blaise pocketed it again. And looked determinately at his friend.

***

"Blaise, where the hell are going?" Draco called as he quickly followed behind Blaise who was too busy storming away from him to answer. Blaise paused in the living room ignoring everyone in there and glared at Draco.

"I'm leaving, Malfoy, I'm going home. I don't want to be here anymore." He turned around and continued walking to the garden. The inhabitants of the living room stared at them and then at each other before getting up and following them out.

Blaise went out into the garden and put on his coat. Draco stayed by the door holding it open as he watched Blaise in the bizarre mood. "Merlin, Blaise. It wasn't your fault."

He froze in putting on his coat and paused for a while as if deciding what to do. He secured it on his shoulders. "I know that." He turned on him, the hatred in his eyes almost made Draco wince. The blood that stained his face made him look murderous. "It was yours."

This shocked him by all means. "What?"

Blaise came closer to him aware of the others in the kitchen. "I have been following you around making sure that you stayed out of danger. I promised it, so I kept my promise." He remembered promising to get her away from the man who killed her. She had nodded to him knowing that he would. He fought the tears back and glared at Draco. "You have done nothing else but make sure you stayed in danger. You distracted me and I lost her. I lost her Draco, I only just got her back and I... I didn't even get to say -." He paused wondering if he should carry on before deciding against it and saying something else. " - Goodbye." He backed away. "You made me break the only promise I have ever made to her. I failed her trust and it's your fault. I hate you right now," he said in a harsh whisper. Draco heard it though, it carried in the wind that blew around them giving it have a soft echo and making it all the more unbearable to hear. It felt like a stab in the heart to hear him say it.

"I do not go out of my way to make sure I'm in danger."

Blaise scoffed. "What do you call her then?" he said pointing at Ginny. Ginny gasped and looked away from her family members. "The second you decided that you couldn't kill her, you put all of us in danger. The only way to get out of it is to take on Leveret himself which you aren't going to do. I am not going to follow you this time. Go on and get yourself killed if you have to but you're not killing me like you killed her."

"Blaise, you're my friend, I can't just let you leave like this-."

"Do you honestly think you have choice?" he interrupted him. "Why don't you gather some new friends? You could gather some old ones with the experience too. I seem to remember we had a lot of those." He stormed off before pausing and then turning back. Draco watched him knowingly, thinking that he had probably decided whether to come back or not. That was before it was wiped clean when Blaise threw something at him that landed in the snow. "I want nothing to do with you anymore. She was murdered, Malfoy. She's trapped somewhere and it's your fault. Take this back; it'll do you better than you know." He glared at him before walking away again and apparating.

The whole house stared at the empty space in silence.

"What was all that?" Harry asked breaking the silence.

Draco looked behind him to Ginny. She seemed to be on the brink of tears. After all, Blaise had more or less connected her to Julia being killed. "He's angry at me," he said looking pointedly at her. "He loved her and now she's gone and he's looking for someone to blame." He bent down to pick up the object in the snow. It was the chain that Blaise had shown him upstairs. He took one last look out at the garden before letting the door slam back into the frame.

He had no idea Blaise felt that way. He knew that his friend was liable to do anything in that kind of mood and he was partly glad that he hadn't blown up the house or something.

"I have to go home."

"What?" Ginny said standing up. "Why?"

"Well, number one, I need more clothes as I guess that staying by Blaise is not such a good idea anymore. Two, I have to get a few particulars if we're going to do what Potter says." He looked at Ron. "I just hope you all know what you're doing." He then looked at Harry. "If you do then I will be all to grateful to follow your plan."

"I know what I have to do," Ron said.

"What about Blaise?" Callie asked him. He looked at her.

"He needs to be alone for a while, grandma. He knows what he's doing, I'm sure he'll be fine after some time."

***

Leveret turned as his secretary entered the room. "What did he think of it?" he said with a slight grin. He had been waiting for the news since this morning.

The secretary seemed to pause. It was obvious that whatever he was about to say would put his employer in a bad mood. Nobody here liked to do that. "Sir, we have had no receipt for the body of Mrs. G Thomas."

Leveret narrowed his eyes. It wasn't in anger though. He had had a lot of time to think these past few days and he was sure that there was something going on but he hadn't proved it until this moment. "What is he thinking?" he wondered quietly as he turned to look out the window. The sky was bright with snow falling but it did nothing for his mood.

"Pardon Sir?"

He turned disturbed from his stupor and watched the man with curiosity. "What?" He then remembered what he was thinking of. "Oh, never mind." He waved his secretary to leave and turned back to face the window.

Something was going on. He could feel it. This was more than refusing to kill, there was more to this than he had originally thought. The Marker, who was not doing his job, had not responded to the warning he had sent. He had expected retaliation, surrender or something - anything but this silence. As he was about to stand, a dark figure at the door caught his eye and he froze watching it. He narrowed his eyes to get a better view of the man watching him with such disdain before it was wiped clean and replaced with... nothing, no expression at all.

It was then that he recognized him. "What are you doing here? What do you want?"

The man walked in and stood directly opposite him. Leveret almost shrank back at the impassive man before him. He didn't know what to expect from people who didn't show emotion and he didn't like not having control of situations given that he controlled most of everything around him. "I want to end this." It was all he said.

"Why?" he asked sitting back down.

"There is too much death here. Unnecessary. I am here to help you finish it. I can get you the girl." Leveret sat back in slight shock which he refused to let show. The man in front of him sat down and stared straight at him with no emotion and no indication of dishonesty. As he went back into the light, Leveret caught a glimpse of the blood that stained his face. The man remained blank. Like he had nothing else to say but those few words.

Then again... Blaise Zabini was always a man of few words.