The Perfect Plan

Chapter Twelve

The Perfect Plan

A Hufflepuff's Family.

~*~~*~~*~

The sudden warmth was the first thing she felt, then the sweet perfume of spring flowers filled the air. She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. For the first time she didn't recognize the ceiling she had woken up under. She sat up expecting to feel a sudden surge of pain through her shoulder as she had so far every time she tried to move. There wasn't any.

She looked around in the bedroom she was in and contemplated on how she had gotten there. The last thing she remembered was being hit by a huge animal and seeing its eyes as they both fell and realising that up close they were not actually brown but a rich shade of sherry. She then recalled a large amount of pain before darkness fell on her. Crawling on the ground came next, for a packet to keep her awake and then a shadow of something picking her up. Whatever or whoever it was must have taken her somewhere to tend to her. She swung her legs over the bed and tested her them to see if they were working. She pressed on them with her bodyweight and stood up carefully so that she didn't do the same thing she had done before. When she was able to stand for a good few minutes she made her way over to the vanity on the other side of the room. She still had on the same clothes so there was still blood on them, both red and blue. They mixed to a rich shade of purple.

As she stood in front of the mirror she pulled at the sweater she had on to reveal... nothing. The place where the thing had stabbed her was gone. There wasn't even a scar. The scratches that she had felt on her face were gone too.

The door opened behind her. She jumped and spun around. At the door stood a boy that looked around her age, behind him was a woman that looked so much like him she had to be his mother. They were looking at her in concern before the woman went past the boy and came inside.

"Vous êtes bien? J'étais s'inquiété!" the woman said running into the room and cupping Cordelia's head in her hands, she placed her hand on her forehead. "Vous vous sentez malade?"

The boy then entered the room and took her hands off of Cordelia. "Erm, Je ne pense pas qu'elle peut parler le français."

Cordelia stared at the woman with no clue to what she was saying, she suddenly wished she had listened when Chayse was always spitting out his French proverbs. "Erm." She thought hard. "Parlez-vous anglais?" she tried.

"Oui!" the woman said excited. "Erm, do you 'av a name?"

"Yes I do, it's Cordelia."

"Co-or-da-lia?" the woman tried.

She nodded slowly, "Yeah, that's close enough," she said thoughtfully.

"C'est bien ma mère, tu allés en bas." The woman nodded to her son and left the room closing the door. He waited for her to go and then turned back to Cordelia. "You had us all frightened, you know, lying unconscious on the ground like that."

***

There was a sudden sound of something falling and Draco looked around to find Ginny on the ground unconscious. She had fallen on the top of the mound but that had done nothing as she began to slip down and roll.

"Shit." He quickly moved forward to stop her and picked her up in his arms. "Son, where did you leave her?"

"Over there, by the tree." He pointed to the large oak tree that stood off center of the other small clearing. Draco walked down quickly as Chayse followed slowly behind looking at the ground. He could see the footprints where the beast had run down the hill with Cordelia. Near the bottom of the mound was a large dug-out hole in the ground. It must have been where it collided into her. He shut his eyes tight willing away his tears but he couldn't fight them back. They were practically falling when his father called him over.

He walked shamefully to where his father had laid Ginny on the ground keeping his vision down as he went. As he walked he saw footprints of a different kind going in the opposite direction. They looked like Cordelia's size.

"Enervate!" he heard in front of him.

"She got up?" he said quietly. He turned and followed them until there was another two small dug-out pieces of earth parallel to each other. They dragged for a while until they came to a stop and leveled out.

"She fell and crawled to something..." He looked ahead of it and saw a small packet which he knew as the anti blow out candies. She had thought they smelled awful. "She knew it could keep her awake..." As he stepped back from the print of Cordelia on the ground the picture became clearer as more footprints came into view, human ones. "Someone came and helped her?"

What he just said took a while to click, but when it did he yelled out, "Father! Someone came and helped her."

Draco turned around to look at his son. Ginny had awoken and was staring at the two of them bewildered. She knew something had happened to her daughter the second she saw Chayse running but she kept that at the back of her mind. She couldn't help but feel disgusted with herself, while her only child was busy getting killed she was busy almost having sex with Malfoy, again. It was like a sign from God. They just weren't meant to be.

"What are you talking about Chayse?"

"Look for yourself, the footprints on the ground. Someone came to help her! They took her..." He contemplated their direction and pointed. "That way, they took her that way."

When Ginny heard this she got up. "Well let's go for her." She began to walk forward when Draco stopped her.

"Ginny." He held her arm, but the second he touched her she pulled it out of his reach.

"No, don't touch me. Every time we do something bad happens. Right now I just want to find my daughter." She went up to Chayse and looked at him. "Which way did they go?" she asked again.

He shrank back a little. "Um - that way." He lowered his head and Ginny looked at him.

She crouched down and looked into his eyes. "Look at me," she said sternly. Slowly Chayse raised his head so that he was looking her in the eye. "I want you to know, that I trusted you to look after my daughter. The fact that this, beast thing you spoke about has hurt her is not your fault. There was nothing you could do to stop it. Right now I need for you to be strong enough to help me through this. Can you do that for me?"

Chayse nodded and sniffed. He was glad that she wasn't angry at him. "You're not angry?"

Ginny looked at Malfoy and then back again. "Only at myself." She stood up.

"Ginny, if someone took her there aren't many places that they could go. There are a choice few that would live here-."

"The map!"

"What?" both parents said.

"The map, there's a map! We had Williamson make a map. Well actually I think he bought one. He lives here! Well his family lives here. They must have taken her because he told them we were coming!"

"How do you know?" Ginny asked.

"I just do, it's a hunch. She's safe I promise, please, just trust me," he pleaded. Ginny hesitated and looked at Draco.

He shrugged. "He's a smart boy, I believe him."

She sighed harshly. "Fine, but I hoped for your sake that you're right."

"I am, I promise you but I have to find that map." With that he began searching through his bag. Ginny watched him sprint off and looked at Draco as he picked something out of his eye.

"Would you stop that?"

"What?!"

She sighed heavily. "Nothing," she said and they both ran off after him.

***

"You speak English?" she asked, surprised at how well he could speak it.

"Yes, a little." He stuck out his hand. "You must be Cordelia Weasley, my cousin Edward 'as told me a lot about you and your plans. I must say zat I was not expecting you to go so far. I am looking forward to meeting Chayse."

She laughed to herself. "Believe me, neither did I." She suddenly thought of something. "Does he know that I'm here?"

"No I do not z'ink so; you were alone when we found you."

"Who else was with you?"

He shrugged. "Seulement mon père. I mean - my far'zher, just my far'zher."

She smiled at his effort to make her comfortable. "What's your name?"

"Oh, Raphaël Williamson, at your service. Edward told me zat you were coming and asked me to service you in any way possible."

"Oh, well I think I should get home. Chayse must be worried and I won't start on my mother."

"Well if you'd like I could transport you back, I do not z'ink zat zey would know where you are."

"That's true." She sat down on the bed and started to play with her eyelashes.

"You play wiz your erm -." She looked at him. He was having trouble finding the right word but he kept touching his eyes with his finger. When she noticed what she was doing she took her hand away.

"My eyelashes?"

"Oui, your - eyelashes."

"Yeah it's a nervous habit."

He furrowed his eyebrows and for a moment she wondered if he knew what she just said. "Come on, we go downstairs."

"Oh, alright then." He took her hand and led her down the steps to a living room where soft chairs encircled a roaring fire. It looked very cozy like the living room at her grandparents' house, The Burrow. Of course, she hadn't been there in years.

"Papa?" he called as he walked down the stairs. She, at least, knew he was calling for his father.

"Oui, Raphaël?" A man poked his head out from a door in the kitchen.

"Elle voudrait rentrer," Raphaël said pointing to her. Cordelia just stood there without the slightest clue what they were saying.

His father set his eyes on her then back on Raphaël. "Bien, la prendre à sa maison." He turned back to what he was doing and ignored them completely. Raphaël turned to her and took her hand then led her out the front door.

"Zat was my far'zher, 'is name is Ralph. My moz'zher, you met 'er upstairs, she is Marianne." He continued walking with her beside him. "Your 'ome is zis way," he said pointing.

"How do you know?"

"We know all cabins up 'ere; it is our business to know. My cousin Edward, 'e says you are coming to visit so we go for a walk to see you. When we do you are being attacked by Grap'orn-."

"By what?"

"A Grap'orn, zey frequent higher in mountain but 'unters after zem, for les cornes-."

"Les what?"

"Erm how you say, erm... ah!" He then placed his two fingers up by his head next to his ears to stick up into the air.

"Oh, their horns?" she said laughing

"Oui, 'orns yes," he said. "Zey are very valuable. Used in potions. And z'eir skin very tough. Stronger zan Dragon. Wizards 'unt and kill each year. So, zey simply drift." He shrugged. "Zey 'ave become common sight around 'ere, very vicious come at any'zhing. Especially if zey 'ave wands."

"Wands? Wands! That's why it attacked us, my wand was on the ground. It ran off when Chayse had his in his hand though."

"Yes, zey run from magic z'ough it cannot penetrate zem. Wizards 'ave found new ways catch zem. Magic that does not involve spells as such but much 'igher levels. Zere are now ways and ways to 'unt for Grap'orns. Lucky we come along to make noise to distract while you run. It would 'ave killed you. We saw you take massive dive with Grap'orn over zat 'ill. Very brave by ze way, saving your bro'zher so."

It took a while for her to register everything. "The noise that made him turn... that was you?"

'Yes, my far'zher actually. He grew up 'ere so 'e knows 'ow to 'andle Grap'orn. We follow you to clearing and over 'ill but your bro'zher was already gone. We figure 'im go for 'elp."

"Yes he went to get my - well, our parents really," she said with a smile.

"We see you crawling on ground zen falling so we bring you 'ere. My far'zher, 'e knows all 'ealing magic. Useful for woods, 'e teaches me 'ow."

"You 'ealed - you healed me?"

"No! Too um - difficult for me. My Far'zher, 'e 'eals you."

She heard distant voices ahead of her. They were calling her name. In an instant she knew who it was.

"Chayse!" she called.

"You 'ear 'im, 'e is 'ere?" Raphaël asked her. "I cannot see any'zhing." He looked ahead but there was nothing there.

She listened again, there really wasn't anything there. She could have sworn she heard him though. They continued walking with the sound of old leaves crunching under their feet. As they rounded a tree, she saw a flash of red but shrugged it off due to the rest of the forest ground being covered in red and brown.

It wasn't until they came to the top of a mound did she see Chayse, her mother and his dad walking in their direction. "Mum!" she yelled out.

Ginny's head snapped up at the sound of her name. Instant relief flooded her as tears fell instantly. "Cordelia? Cordelia!" she returned as she ran towards her daughter's rapidly approaching form. They met in a giant huddle and the bottom of the mound almost tripping over giant roots from the trees. "Oh, I thought I'd lost you! Where were you? Are you alright? Let me look at you." She turned her around and around to examine her. "Look at your clothes, does it still hurt?"

"And who are you?" Draco asked looking up at the boy who was standing at the top of the mound.

"Me monsieur?"

"Oui," Draco answered. "Comment tu t'appelles?"

"J'ai Raphaël Williamson monsieur." He made his way down.

"Edwards's cousin?" Chayse asked.

"Oui," he said.

"Well I'm-."

"Chayse Malfoy, I know." He turned to Draco. "You 'ave a very brave daughter monsieur, you should be proud." He gestured towards Cordelia who was in the process of being suffocated in her mother's love.

Draco turned to them. "Daughter? She's not-."

"Well, I think we should be getting back home," Chayse said loudly enough to drown out his father's words. "Raphaël, thank you very much for your hospitality, we greatly appreciate it."

"C'est rien," he shrugged.

Draco turned back to Ginny who was still denying her daughter air. "Ginny, she's fine, look at her. If she can run down a hill and hug you without expressing any pain she's fine."

Ginny glared at Draco and then looked back at her daughter holding her tight once again. "Don't you ever frighten me like that again do you hear me, I almost died." She let her go.

"Fainted, you fainted not died."

"Shut up Malfoy. What's wrong with being worried about my daughter? She's all I have; you can't expect me to not feel anything after she almost dies."

"But she's fine! Look she can walk, she can run, and she can speak. There's no need to go around suffocating the girl."

Raphaël tugged on the edge of Cordelia's sweater. "Your parents, zey always fight like zis?" he asked Cordelia quietly. Chayse turned around to face him.

"Toujours."