The Perfect Plan

Chapter eleven

The Perfect Plan

Too Much Running

~*~~*~~*~

He gingerly got up and walked slowly over towards her. Fearing that the beast was still around, he took out his wand and held it tight in his hand. He walked over the small hill they had run over and passed the tree she had knocked and fallen. As he looked around the tree he could see her laying on the ground, the beast had moved back and was watching her. At the sound of Chayse approaching, it turned to watch him angrily about to challenge him also but upon seeing the wand in his hand it stood motionless just staring at it. Chayse looked down to his wand and raised his hand. The beast flinched but stood his ground nonetheless. Chayse then realised it must have be scared of it and pointed it towards the creature opening his mouth as if to say a spell. The creature retreated with a jerk and fled into the trees.

Taking that as a good sign, Chayse rushed down the mound and fell to his knees beside his best friend. She hadn't moved once. It was his entire fault. If he had just listened to her, if it hadn't been for his stupid plan for them to be happy this would never have happened. It should be him laying there not her. She was his best friend, she had remained loyal to him for four years and this was how he repaid her.

"Is this what I get for wanting to be happy!" he cried to no one. "You kill her because of me, what fairness is there in that?" He moved some of her hair from her face and placed his hand on her cheek. As quickly as he had put it there he removed it as if the mere touch had burned him, she was still warm.

"Cordelia? Cordelia! Can you here me, are you awake?"

She didn't move.

"Oh god, I have to go for help. Um - okay, Cordelia you have to wake up for me okay? Please, I can't use magic to wake you up so you'll have to do it on your own. Just listen to my voice, please." She still didn't move. He grabbed her hand and tried to shake her shoulder, but as he did so he felt something hot on his hand. When he moved it, his hand was covered in blood. The horn had gone through her shoulder. "Oh shit. Cordelia wake up you have to wake up!" He then got an idea. He opened his jacket and started searching in his pockets for what he hoped was still there. It was the antidote to the 'Blow out candies,' sold in each packet to wake the victim up. He had put it in his jacket because it couldn't fit in his bag.

He opened the packet hoping that it would work on victims of actual knockouts than just fake ones. The concept was the same so it shouldn't be much different. He raised her head and checked with his hand that she was still breathing and held the packet under her nose.

Within seconds her eyes fluttered open and she started coughing uncontrollably. "Urgh! That's - abso - lutely disgusting!" she coughed harder trying to get rid of the smell.

"You're alive! Thank Merlin I thought you were dead."

"I think I might have been, and if not that would certainly have done it." She pointed gingerly to the packet he had thrown. What happened? The last I remember was running and -." She grabbed his jacket. "Where did it go?"

"It ran that way when I took out my wand."

"You didn't use magic did you?"

"No, I almost did though. I think it was frightened of it."

"Well that'll explain a lot, it was looking at my wand in front of you before we ran. I picked it up before we started to run though. I think it thought that the wand was yours and that's why it came after you."

"Hmm, maybe. Can you stand?"

"I don't know I haven't tried. Being knocked out can do that to you."

"Would you stop with the sarcasm already? Merlin you're just like my father, annoying to the core."

"Your dad's not annoying."

"He is when he gets sarcastic. In that mood, he could agitate a mound of dirt."

Cordelia laughed despite the growing pain whenever she moved. Slowly she pulled herself back with her good arm allowing him to half drag her to a nearby tree. She sat up to prevent herself from falling asleep.

"You have to stay awake, I can't have you getting a concussion."

"Yes father, whatever you say."

"Look I know that when you're in pain you get defensive and not to mention offensive but could you try to refrain? I have to go and get some help."

"What! You ? You don't even know where we are!"

"You remember the clearing? Well I recognize it from two years ago. My father and I went for a walk here once. I couldn't remember it but when I saw you hit the tree I remembered it clearly."

"So it took me to knock myself unconscious for you to get a clear head. How backwards are you?"

"I remembered it because a bird slammed into it then and we had to nurse it back to health because it broke its wing."

"Oh, well thanks to me for knocking it back into your head."

"Will you be alright here on your own for a while? If the - thing comes back just wave your wand at it and you'll be alright."

"Okay, just don't be too long."

"I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise."

***

"Well that's the kitchen done." Draco looked at the sparkling new kitchen that he had cleaned all by himself.

"Good," Ginny said as she dried her hair from the shower. "Maybe next time you can do it the muggle way." She stepped out of her bedroom.

"Eew, no! That's disgusting." He went and sat on the chair in the living room in front of the fire.

"No actually sometimes it can be therapeutic. I do it all the time."

"Yes, well I think we have both established that you are crazy."

She settled down on the couch next to him decidedly closer than she was meant to. "Thank you for the sweater by the way."

"You're welcome. Can I ask you something personal?"

"I doubt I can stop you," she said as she dried her hair.

"True, but really can I?"

"Go ahead."

"What was he like?"

"Who?"

"Your husband." She made a small comprehending face. "Did you love him?"

"Of course I loved him. But we didn't get married; he died before we had a chance to."

"When did you meet him?"

"A little time after we broke up. When I was pregnant I was so happy that I could have something of his. I don't know sometimes it just seemed that he didn't have enough time for me you know? It hurts sometimes to look at her; she looks so much like him and she has his mannerisms too. Sometimes I swear I'm looking at him when she starts with those irritating habits she has.

"What kind of habits?" She seemed to hesitate before answering.

"Well she has this thing wh-," she began.

"Father! Father, are you here? Help!"

"What the hell?" Draco said getting up.

***

Cordelia sat there on the ground for what seemed like an eternity, the cold air on the forest ground was beginning to get to her and she felt herself losing consciousness even more as the seconds passed by. She had to stay awake and some time after Chayse had left her there to find help she had resorted to slapping herself every few minutes when her vision got blurry.

Some time and two raw cheeks later, she realised that the method was getting old and she had somehow become immune to pain and the searing effect it has on the body. It was then that she thought back to when Chayse had followed her over the mound and what he had used to wake her up in the first place. The packet he had thrown might be the only thing that would keep her awake despite the obvious disgusting smell.

She searched the ground with her eyes before they settled on a white packet lying between old brown leaves. Slowly and very carefully she pushed her weight onto the tree so that she could try and stand. After a few mistrials, she eventually managed to fight her way to a vertical position and raked her way up with the hand of her good arm.

"Okay, now the hard part." Tentatively, she pushed herself off the tree and took a partial step forward testing the strength of her legs. When she found they could support her weight she took even more seeing the support of the tree getting further and further away. She suddenly noticed how much further the packet looked standing up and almost gave up when she heard a noise.

"Oh crap not again," she said to herself quietly so not to draw attention. If the beast - whatever it was, was back then she was sure to be an easy catch.

She had to be fully awake if she had any chance of survival. The packet was not that far away now so she got to her knees as her legs seemed to give way. She tried crawling for a few metres but the tiredness crept fast over her and she could feel her eyes drooping with sleep. She fell onto her stomach biting her lip to prevent the scream of pain that would have escaped her. She turned over quickly and looked up at the sky through the trees. It was amazing how clear the sky looked through the leaves and how much closer they seemed when you continued to stare at them.

It wasn't until she heard footsteps did her senses come to her. Though her eyes were filling heavily with the need of sleep, she could still feel a presence of someone or something around her. As everything went black, the last thing she saw was the shadowy silhouette of something picking her up.

***

Draco opened the front door with Ginny close behind him to see his son running like a mad man back to the cabin. Ginny, who stepped out after, looked behind him and saw that her daughter was not there. She also saw the blood on his hands.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked as Chayse reached the bottom step. He took a while to speak between breaths and even when he did it was not at all legible.

Ginny, who was not bothering to decipher, spoke her thoughts. "Where's Cordelia?" she asked fearfully.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you. There was this thing in the woods and we ran and she got hurt and she told me to go for help so I did. She's waiting now we have to help her."

"Oh my - where is she is she still alive or awake or-."

"Son, can you find you way back."

Chayse nodded out of breath. "Yeah, I - I think so yes."

"Good let's go."

They ran through the woods passing the place they had been sitting when the thing had made an appearance. He saw the bag he had left there when they ran and picked it up and continued running until they reached the clearing and slowed down.

Ginny followed suit and asked, "Why are we slowing down?"

"She's just over there. Over the mound that's where it hit her." Ginny shrieked and sprinted up the hill calling her daughter's name. She stopped at the tree noticing a spot of blood. But it wasn't red, it was blue. When she looked over the mound she turned back to the two men behind her.

"Where?"

Chayse looked confused and walked quickly up the hill. "She's right-." He stopped when he looked at the empty stretch of ground beyond them. "I - I swear I left her right here."