The Otherwhere

The Steaning Woods

As it turned out, it was some days until Ginny felt well enough to stand up again.

Blossom was a welcomed pastime, because Draco rarely spoke a word and walked around with a pissed off expression on his face. Ginny was positive that the small lizard was anything but dumb. The only habit she couldn't break it of was to be called Scrawny as well.

Despite everything, Blossom was fond of Draco, who wasn't at all amused. Over twenty times a day Ginny could hear him cursing when Blossom tried again to follow him everywhere. The lizard wasn't bothered in the slightest that he fended her off gruffly, and the word ´Brute´ seemed to be a compliment for it.

Ginny wasn't really convinced about his fierce animosity either; not after she had seen both of them the day she had awakened finally from her fever dreams. Malfoy was able to hear the grass growing, as if he wouldn't have been able to notice Blossom on his shoulder, and in addition with her tail around his neck?

Slytherins are well known to be good actors.

The outburst over Crabbe and Goyle had caught her attention, too - like Draco had feared, together with some other observations, she could come to her own conclusions. The fact that Lucius Malfoy had to hex him with a Crucio to open the portal, a casual remark about "The Lord of the Rings" - Ginny herself hadn't read it, but she knew, it was a famous novel in the Muggleworld. Muggle and Malfoy? How did that match up?

Who was the real Draco Malfoy?

***

Ginny was relieved when they left the half destroyed village.

Blossom raced ahead of them only to double back every once in a while.

Draco wasn't talking much anymore, but he wasn't looking as murderous either. Then Ginny laughed at herself - what did she care if he was moping? It seemed to be his normality at the moment.

But the perpetual silence was grating on her nerves now.

"Can I ask you something?" she said as carefully as possible.

He growled something which could mean yes or no.

"Well, could you ... would you teach me how to throw a Chakra?"

He stopped so abruptly, she almost ran into him.

"Do I look like your private coach?" he then asked coldly. "What would you do with that knowledge anyway? I have just this one, and it's mine."

Breathe, Ginny, calm down ...

"And what if you break your hand? And don't throw me that look, Malfoy, it's possible that you might get hurt. The Chakra is the only weapon we have."

"Both hands together? Rubbish."

"Malfoy, what the hell is your problem? I didn't ask you to bow in front of me, just to teach me something which would be valuable for both of us!"

"NO. This is a word with two letters, very simple. Even you should be able to understand that."

He stomped forward, leaving her standing where she was.

No, I simply won't wack out, stay calm, Ginny, he is the idiot here, not you ...

It wasn't helping much, Ginny fumed. Why the hell did she even try to get along with him? With gritted teeth she followed him.

To her surprise, he was waiting for her a short distance away.

"You said what you wanted to say, so shut up and leave me alone!" she snapped.

"No, I didn't make myself clear. Weasley, I understand what you mean." He sounded as if he had to force each word out of his mouth. "But I won't teach you, and there is a very simple reason for that."

"And this would be? Your impossible stubbornness?"

"Stop that! You aren't helping!!"

Ginny stumbled back, she hadn't been expecting him to shout directly in her face.

Draco was visibly fighting to calm down.

"I wasn't making fun of you when I told you I wouldn't be able to conjure your fingers back on. When my Fa ... when I was being taught how to throw a Chakra, I managed it three times, and another time, the Chakra was sticking in my thigh. You want to risk that? You will bleed to death!"

"I would be careful ...." Ginny tried to intervene, but he shook his head angrily.

"It doesn't work that way. A wrong turn, a wrong step, and you are dead. Is that clear enough for you now?"

"Who did teach you that? And why did you have to learn that, if it is so dangerous?"

"Weasley, I won't answer your question, regardless how often you try. Let's stop this discussion immediately, otherwise we'll fight again, and I'm just tired of it."

With that, he started moving again. This time he didn't stop.

"Well, that's really new," Ginny muttered, but she had to accept that these were his final words over this issue.

***

A few hours later, they reached the Steaning Woods.

Ginny saw them first, admittedly only because Draco was in a quarrel with Blossom who had tried to jump on his shoulder again.

"Hey, do you see that?"

"What?" Draco looked up and left himself undefended, and Blossom used this to reach her goal. "If it continues this, there will be lizard fillet tonight! Down!"

"Stop, the both of you! Blossom, leave him, this is important."

The lizard jumped down after a short hesitation and sniffed offended.

"Thank Merlin! She mauled my shirt!" Draco complained.

"Hello, I am talking! Stop your blabbering for a moment, look ahead!"

Draco grumbled something, but glanced in the direction Ginny was pointing.

"Looks like wood. I see trees," he then answered dryly.

"A grey wood?" As Ginny said this, comprehension dawned on her. "That should be the Steaning Woods Sandrine talked about! Let's have a closer look."

"If you're right, we have to go through anyway."

Ginny's assumption was correct. When they reached the edge of the wood, they exchanged a doubtful look. Even Blossom was quiet and stared watchful.

It was uncomfortably silent. No living being was here. Trees, plants, bushes, even the leaves consisted of grey, dead stones.

"This is damn weird, if you ask me," Ginny said, glad that Blossom was sitting on her shoulder again.

"Doesn't help us in any way, we have to get through. Let's go."

Their footsteps were the only noise around them for a wide distance. The further away they went from the edge of the Steaning Woods, the closer the trees got. Soon it was tight enough to get agoraphobia.

"Who brought these ... these things here? And why? I mean, stone doesn't grow, right?"

"And God's breath swept over the land, and all it touched became lifeless and stone forever," Draco said quietly.

"What?"

"I've read it somewhere, I can't remember in which book. Suits, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it suits too much." Ginny shivered. "You think the woods are huge?"

"If I remember the map correctly, it's about three or four days."

"Splendid."

"Splendid." Blossom mimicked her sarcastic tone exactly.

***

In this solitude they hadn't had any chance to light a fire this evening. Star shine and moonlight just came barely through the huge treetops, and soon it was pitch-black.

"If we had known earlier, we could have collected some wood for a fire, we had enough chances to get some." Ginny was annoyed.

Draco who sat at her left side snorted. A second snort came out from Blossom's direction.

"Sandrine knew it, I would put all my money on it. Blossom, stop dragging my clothes! But she didn't say a single word."

"I don't think she lead us into a trap," Ginny said sharply.

"Didn't she?" His voice was a little bit strained.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Forget it. You're convinced that she told us the whole truth."

"Didn't she?" repeated Ginny.

"Maybe she did tell us the way. But without a complete hand, a whole card game is witless."

"I don't get it."

"Think, Weasley. I mean, she did hold back a few things. Like this. You reach the Steaning Woods. That was all, wasn't it? Show the bracelet the people in the villages you pass. We just saw one village on our way, and it was destroyed, maybe since months. Sandrine is Tanadryl's biggest opponent, she leads the army of the humans. She must have known these things."

Ginny's eyes followed a small trace of light which had managed to seep through the trees.

"Why should she do such a thing? What's her motivation?"

"I don't know. But ... something is foul. Sandrine fights for her own war, and that's the survival of the humans and the Fortress. I don't want to say she sends us to our deaths, but we would be a felicitous distraction."

Ginny thought that over.

"Are you sure?"

"I just have a bad feeling, that's all. Besides, we are vulnerable. We come out of nothing, from a home she was repudiated by. Already at our first meeting, she said Tanadryl would be highly interested in us, remember?"

Ginny nodded, and then realized he couldn't see her in this dark.

"Yes. How long have you been thinking about that?"

"Since our departure from the Fortress. Sandrine had ... unimportant. But I just sense great trouble fast approaching us."

Silence followed his words.

Ginny flinched as something touched her hand lightly. It was just Blossom who made herself comfortable at her side. She petted the small body, and Blossom purred contentedly and rolled her long tail around Ginny's hand.

"Draco?" she asked some time later.

"Yeah?" He didn't sound as if he had slept yet.

"What if we never go back home? What if? What if the story about the portal is a lie?"

"Ginny, I really don't know. I want to go back as much as you want to. Maybe Sandrine was totally earnest, and she tried with all her might to help us. Maybe I'm just oversensitive. And too proud of myself and my brain." Draco's voice was bitter.

Ginny didn't, of course, understand that jibe.

"But you don't believe you are ... eh, oversensitive, right?"

"Right. Something ... something is bad. Very, very bad. It's just a misgiving, but it grows every day we stay here in this world. I had a lot of time to think that over while you were ill. The Steaning Woods are another issue for me. It would have only been a few words and no problem for Sandrine to tell us these Woods were a second Stonehenge. But why didn't she?"

"We can't trust anybody, isn't that what you try to tell me?"

"You caught the Snitch, Scrawny. We should just trust each other - and that is difficult enough."

Ginny had to smile, whether she wanted to or not.

"Right."

*****

*****

*****

Malateras

They needed three days to get through the woods. The whole time the eerie silence followed them, it couldn't be ignored, not even with forced conversation.

Ginny was already thinking worriedly about their shrinking reservoir of water when Draco stopped.

"The edge. We got it, Scrawny."

She sighed in relief and went after him. The relief was soon gone when she looked over the plain which followed the Steaning Woods. She was barely able to suppress the scream rising in her throat, and her eyes widened.

"There was nothing about this in the guidebook," Draco muttered next to her. He sounded sick.

A broad path wound its way through the plain. It was lined by crosses, made of wood. On each cross hung a skeleton. Further away, one could recognize corpses which hadn't rotted completely. Each skeleton or corpse had a sword sticking in its chest.

"So many." Ginny's voice shivered. "And we need to follow the path, right?"

"Just a short length. If we followed the path to its end, we would reach Yorga, I bet. I turn down the visit the King of Undead. I forgot my evening dress."

"How the heck are you able to joke over something like that?" Ginny was close to a hysteric fit. A bird landed on the corpse next to her and started to peck at its eyes.

"It's of no use if I freak out, too," Draco responded icily. "Stop watching them and look down. It helps."

Ginny tried to calm down, but it was hard. Suddenly, one of the corpses lifted its head and looked her straight in the face. She gave out a shriek, took a step back and came across Blossom who sat on the ground, her teeth bared. Then she bumped her head on something hard, and the world went black.

***

Draco was as startled as Ginny when the corpse came suddenly to life, but he was more lucky. While she hit her head on a stone that was at the edge of the path, he just stumbled back and sat down so hard on his arse that the black and blue mark would be seeable for the next week.

"Scrawny!" Blossom squeaked anxiously and hopped to Ginny's lying form.

"It's your fault, you damn brute!" Draco spat out. "Weasley ... fuck!"

He turned her around and saw the laceration on her forehead.

"Are we cursed! Holy FUCK!"

Over his head, a rusty voice started to giggle, and continued with a loud laugh. It sounded like horrible raven's croak.

Draco flinched. He had forgotten the trigger of the accident for a time being.

"Very funny, ha ha." He wasn't impressed by the laughing corpse anymore, which had now opened its eyes and was grinning sardonically. Undead he had seen enough at the Fortress, it had just been an unforeseen moment.

"It is funny. Sweet, your girlfriend. A little bit clumsy, eh?" The voice was getting greedy now. "Unbind me, and I can help you carry her."

"Yeah, and I am the Prince of Darkness. You think I am dense?"

And she is not my girlfriend he wanted to add, but in these circumstances, he decided to hold his mouth shut.

"I can show you the way. I can protect you both. I know paths nobody but me knows. Unbind me!"

Blossom, who sat on his shoulder again, hissed at the Undead. "Unbind - no!"

"No worries, Blossom. There must be a reason why he's here."

"It was an accident!" the Undead whined. "They didn't give me a chance to explain why I burned down these humans. Only four, and worthless!"

Draco's eyes narrowed.

"And I ought to trust you? Have a nice day!"

With this, he turned and threw Ginny like a sack over his shoulder.

"I even know what you can do against that." The voice was fishing now.

"You didn't understand me. I will free you when hell freezes over!"

"Really? Look at your arm, young Lord ... and look carefully." The Undead laughed.

Draco had a menacing answer on his tongue, but he forgot what he wanted to say when he pulled up his sleeve and stared at his arm.

"Malateras, Blondie. You have another two days before you go voluntarily to Yorga."

Two dark stains were winding its way around his left forearm. Draco asked himself involuntary how he could have overlooked this - and how he had been contaminated.

"Nobody knows how Malateras is carried forward," the undead said, as if reading his mind. "They say the wind is bad. Some people get it - and some people don't."

"What can I do against it?" Draco felt like somebody had hit him full force in the groin again. He hastily checked Ginny's arms, but she was okay.

"No no no," the Undead sang. "Sweetie, first you unbind me, then we go as far away as we can from here - and then I will tell you."

"I am not your Sweetie and who says you will tell me after I unbind you?"

"No one. But nobody else will be there to tell you." The eyes of the corpse were glittering evilly.

"Draco. Unbind. No!" Blossom got more agitated with each passing second.

"Blossom, I don't like it, no more than you. But I don't want to die!" Fear crept up his back, and he tried to suppress it. "Okay. I will unbind you."

There was no way out of this predicament. Draco took the dagger he had taken in the Bone Valley some time ago and started to cut the leather bands which bound the Undead to the cross. Before he did so, he took the sword out of the Undead's chest.

The corpse was watching him with a grin.

"No worries. I won't catch a hold on you, and you will be satisfied with my help."

I doubt it. Really.

***

Ginny's head was hammering. When she opened her eyes, she saw the ground passing slowly underneath her. Why was she hanging head first on... Draco?!

"I think your girlfriend's waking up." This voice was unknown and didn't sound likable at all. "I'll help you."

"Leave your undead paws off her," Draco snarled and laid her down in the grass.

Ginny blinked and touched her forehead.

"Scrawny? Everything okay?"

"Just a headache. What happ ...." She silenced when she saw the second face next to Draco. "Who's that?"

"Tyron, little lady," the Undead said and grinned. "Your boyfriend was so nice to unbind me."

"He's not my ...."

Draco took her hand and pulled her up. He shook his head warningly, but in a way the Undead was unable to notice.

Ginny realized what the creature had said.

"You freed him? Are you nuts, Malfoy?!"

"He had no other choice," said Tyron and his smile was predatory.

Ginny shuddered under his dead eyes and the sickening look of lust.

"You excuse us for a minute, would you?"

She grabbed Draco's arm and pulled him some feet away.

"You're mad! The guy will either slaughter or bring us over to Tanadryl!"

"Loose the grip on my arm, and I'll show you why I had no other choice!" Draco hissed. "Because of this!"

Ginny looked down at his arm and gasped.

"That isn't ...."

"Yes, it is! He knew it! He knew it before I even realized it! And he knows how I can get rid of it before I start rotting by myself!"

"Malfoy, do you really believe him? Who is naïve now?"

"Tell me, what should I have done otherwise? It's a matter of time!"

"A village probably ...."

"Probably? PROBABLY?" Draco was screaming now. "I don't want to die, nor do I want to end up as a wandering corpse!! And if I die, you'll never get home either! So will you shut your damn trap now!!"

Ginny realized he was close to panic. And she knew he was right.

"Draco, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way."

"Oh, forget it." Draco tried to breathe normally and think. "Don't come too close to him. I don't trust him, if it makes you feel any better hearing it from my own tongue. He thinks we're lovers, and I think it would be safer for you if we don't correct him."

"But I don't have to make a show with you, do I?" The thought was making Ginny nervous.

"NO!" Draco looked horrified. "We don't have to go over the top!"

"Are you finished whispering sweet nothings?" Tyron laughed. He had come closer. "If yes, hurry up and get down from the plain!"

Draco clenched his teeth.

"He's right. We better hurry, we're seeable for miles."

***

"Where is Blossom?" Ginny asked some time later.

"Right, where is she?" Draco looked around. "Last time I saw her was on the path."

"Scyros and Undead don't match. Your cuddly toy scooted up." That came from Tyron.

"Scyro?" Ginny repeated.

"The firelizard. A Scyro. You know very little, Sweetie." He grinned slimily at her. "But that's not bad, you look adaptive."

Ginny swallowed heavily.

Draco laid an arm over her shoulder and threw Tyron a cold look.

"Leave Ginny alone, she doesn't go for blokes like you. And I dislike somebody speaking to her in that way."

Ginny had to laugh. Hearing this right out of the mouth of Draco Malfoy was nearly worth the whole situation.

"How long do we have to follow you for until you open your mouth?" Draco asked huffily, and took his arm from Ginny's shoulder. He knew exactly why she had laughed.

"Calm down, young Lord. Just one or two hours more, then we're safe enough."

"I'm the persona of calm." This statement was the blatant opposite to Draco's eyes, blazing with fury.

***

Behind the plain, a forest was starting, this time a real one with heavy trees, wild plants, and some animals rustling in the underwood. Twilight came over the sky.

Ginny watched out for water while Draco kept an eye on Tyron.

"Okay, not far behind is a stream. Tyron, spit it out. How can Draco get rid of Malateras?"

"Oh, sure, I'll tell you." The Undead grinned and played around with a branch he had picked up some time ago. "It's rather painful. Hey! What's this?!" he screamed suddenly, pointing in the shadows.

Draco and Ginny turned hastily, and the Slytherin unsheathed the Chakra.

"There is nothing!" he said angrily.

"No, there never had been. Have a nice sleep, my dear."

Tyron's branch hit Draco's back of the head with full force. The Slytherin toppled down with a hard thud and went unconscious.

Ginny screamed like a banshee and jumped Tyron. He held her back and watched, amused, while she tried to rip him into shreds.

"Calm down, Sweetheart. He will wake up soon."

"Why did you do that?" Ginny screamed. Fear was nagging her, but she was determined to do everything to save herself and Draco.

Tyron smirked.

"You wanted to know how to fight Malateras. Well, you just have to cut off the stains from his arm. You think he would have let you?"

"What?" Ginny whispered, paling. "You're lying!"

"All right, I'm lying. Let him die. I bet Tanadryl will be happy when he appears in his ranges. He has the hots for blonde boys, if you understand my meaning." Tyron laughed almost hysterically.

Ginny was sick.

"And you want to ... Won't he wake up because of the pain?"

"Sure he will. For this reason you will help me to tie him down."

"No way!"

He grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, and Ginny flinched.

"You have to wake up, Sweetie! I can't hold him down while cutting his arm! Or do you want to use the knife by yourself? Just go on. If he's lucky, you will catch the artery, and it'll be over soon!"

This has to be a nightmare!

***

Tyron tied Draco with the leather bands he took with him from the crosses. The Slytherin moaned softly, but didn't wake up.

Ginny was standing near Tyron and wished desperately for a chance to prevent this.

"Search for a wooden stick or something," Tyron said shortly.

"Why?"

"So that he doesn't bite his tongue into shreds, that's why."

She thought that over and gave Tyron her useless wand.

"Take this."

"What kind of thing is that?"

"Why do you care? Go on."

Tyron grabbed her neck in an instant and pulled her head near his face.

"You're lacking respect, redhead," he said, smirking evilly. "You have a lot to learn. Shall I teach you?"

"Draco will kill you!" Ginny croaked, and tried to get out of his grasp.

"Right now?" Tyron loosened his grip. "Really. But we have time afterwards, right?"

He blinked in her direction and pulled on the bonds.

"Ready. You want to look while your dearest heart is screaming his heart out, Sweetie?"

"You enjoy that, do you?" Ginny said angrily.

"I like blood." He licked his rotten lips. "Especially the blood of others."

He pulled a knife out of his cloak. It was sharp and flashed in the light. Ginny asked herself why the ones who had bound Tyron at the cross hadn't take it away.

Tyron made the first cut, and Draco's eyes abruptly shot open. He screamed, it sounded hollow because he had still Ginny's wand in his mouth.

Tyron stopped for a second, and Draco spit out the wand, his eyes blazing with hate.

"What are you doing? Let me go, immeahhhh, stop it, that hurts, what are you doing?!"

"Leave that thing in your mouth, biting on it helps now and then," Tyron said calmly. "No? Your choice, Blondie."

Again he made a cut. Ginny saw how Draco's muscles bulged to rip off the bonds, but it was hopeless. He screamed in shear pain.

Between two cuts, Draco saw Ginny standing next to Tyron.

"You let him? You let him do this to me?" he shrieked. "Stop him, he kills me!"

"He doesn't kill you." Ginny's face was wet of tears. "You can only stop Malateras when you cut off the stains."

"And you BELIEVED HIM? I swear, Scrawny, I will kill you with my hands, I will take the Chakra and cut off each body part of yours slowly!"

Another cut, and Draco howled and smashed his head back.

Tyron's hands were now smeared with dark blood.

"You're not very nice to your girlfriend," he said almost happily.

"She's not my damn girlfriend!" Draco shrieked. "Who would want this piece of scum as his girlfriend? She isn't even able to take care of her enemies!!"

"She's not?" Tyron threw Ginny a look, and she felt chilled to the bone. "You think I can borrow her, then?"

"Do with her whatever you please, but take your hands off me!" Draco started to sob now. "Stop it, I beg you, stop it!"

"Sorry, you wanted it. Only two ore three pricks more, and you're done."

Ginny couldn't stand this anymore. Sobbing, she turned on her heel and ran away.

She could still hear Draco's shrill screams.

***

"Finished." Tyron wiped his hands carelessly on Draco's cloak. "It's behind you. You can get Malateras only once in your life."

Draco's eyes were glassy, and he didn't react in the slightest.

"I can't untie you, Sweetie. You might lie down on your arm, and that wouldn't be any good, now would it? And me, I'm eager to see where you girlfriend had went. Oh, I forgot - she isn't your girlfriend. Another reason to let you stay here tied down."

Tyron's eyes were glittering.

***

Draco felt imprisoned in a living hell. His arm was burning in immense pain, and he wasn't able to move the slightest bit because of the bonds.

He could barely remember what he had screamed at Ginny. At that special moment, he wouldn't have hesitated to spit into Voldemort's face if it would have helped him to escape the pain.

Very slowly, he came back to reality. The enormous wound pain was still there, but his head was a little clearer now.

To be sure, Tyron's way of doing things had been malicious and cruel, but on the other hand, he wouldn't fear landing in Yorga at least.

"Hey," he croaked out and turned his head weakly. "I'm okay now, you can untie me."

No answer came. Around him it was very calm, and nobody else was there.

"Scrawny?"

He froze when he heard a desperate cry wailing up. It was definitely Ginny's.

"What the ...." Suddenly he remembered Tyron's words. "Damn. Oh, fuck! Why couldn't I hold my fucking mouth shut!"

He tried again to rip off the bonds, but he had no hope.

"Even if she's not my girlfriend, that doesn't mean you can simply rape her, you brute! FUCK!" he yelled.

"Brute," a voice repeated next to his ear.

Draco wrenched his neck.

Blossom sat on her heels next to him, regarding him curiously. Then she sniffed.

"Malateras," she said clearly. "Blood. Knife."

"How do you know these words? We haven't taught you, that's for sure!"

"Scrawny." Blossom mimicked a sneeze.

Like an answer, Ginny screamed again.

"Blossom, can you loosen these bonds?" Draco started to pull on them again. The thought was ridiculous. By the time Blossom had bitten through the bonds, Tyron would have killed Ginny.

Blossom didn't obey anyway, she hopped away.

"No! Come back! Blossom, you ... oww! Damn!" His arm ached like hell when he moved it.

Suddenly the tie around his left wrist went limp, and fell down seconds later.

"I don't believe it. What the hell is going on?"

The second tie fell, and he pulled himself up into a half-sitting, half lying position, swaying slightly. His right arm was still bond, and both legs, but he could see the small miracle now.

Draco's eyes widened. Blossom was holding the Chakra in her mouth, exactly at the dull spot. She tore off the tie at his left leg.

"Draco!" she squeaked impatiently. "Draco - Scrawny!"

"Damn right."

***

Ginny was sitting at the small rivulet, hands pressed over her eyes, still weeping. She didn't notice Tyron stepping into the glade.

"We need to finish something, eh?" he said aloud, and her head shot up.

"Leave me alone," she said coldly, but fear was rising in her. "Believe me, I've coped with worse blokes than you."

"Oh, really?" Tyron grinned as he stepped closer. "Your boyfriend ... oh, excuse me, your enemy is lying back there, tied I might add, and I doubt that he would help you, even if he could. After all I heard."

"If somebody cuts me to shreds with a knife, I would be screaming a lot of nonsense, too," she managed to shout out.

It took all her courage to try and get past Tyron, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her near him.

"Who are you kidding, Sweetie? He doesn't care for you. Well, I must say, I can't comprehend that. Such a witty thing like you ...."

"Leave me alone immediately! You're disgusting!"

"The little girl I had in bed last time said exactly the same thing," he answered, lost in thought, while he held her tight. "I cut out her tongue so she could not insult me anymore. I mean that's impolite, isn't it?"

With a loud smack! Ginny's fist hit his face.

"How dare you!" she hissed.

Tyron hit back and with such a force that Ginny was hurled back and landed hard on the ground. In an instant, he was over her, pressing her down.

"Humans are always so impolite!" The insanity shone in his eyes. He pushed Ginny's arms into the mud, and she tried to defend herself, screaming loudly.

Again, he smacked her around the head.

"Shut up, little girl, and don't resist so much, it will hurt less if you obey me." Tyron was confident of victory. "I haven't had a human woman in a long time. Not since I had cut off the bitch's head with my sword."

Ginny bit his lips as he tried to kiss her. She earned another blow for her efforts, and the back of her head banged on the ground.

She heard herself scream while Tyron tore her shirt into shreds.

Merlin, this can't be true. Somebody help me!

A guttural growl sounded suddenly, and Tyron looked up, obviously irritated. It was a loud noise, vibrating in the air.

Then something jumped out of the shadows, and a hoarse shout emanated from the Undead.

With rising hope, Ginny saw that Blossom was hanging, biting and clawing, at Tyron's face.

The Undead cursed and threw the lizard on the ground. He then tried to attack Ginny again, when something rapidly fast crossed her field of vision. Tyron froze and moved his hand slowly to his throat. His glance was still bewildered as his head took an impossible angle and fell into the sand with a disgusting smacking sound. His headless body stood a little longer and finally collapsed too.

Blossom shrieked worriedly and jumped on Ginny's chest, sniffing carefully.

"I'm okay," Ginny murmured, still numb. "Blossom - how did you do that?"

"Draco - Chakra!"

"Ginny! Scrawny, everything all right? Hells, Ginny, talk to me!"

Somebody fell next to her in the sand, shaking her gently.

Ginny stared from Draco to Blossom. The picture becoming blurred as tears threatened to escape her eyes, and exhausted she leaned on the Slytherin. Blossom hopped up to her shoulder.

"If I ever saw a rescue in the last second, this beats them all," she sniffed. "Draco, he had ... he wanted ...."

"I know. He won't touch you again. He's dead - this time for good."

"Dead!" Blossom squeaked triumphantly.

Ginny smiled weakly under her tears.

"Draco, I am so sorry."

He pushed her gently away from his shoulder, looking into her eyes. Grey eyes were watching her in an oddly friendly manner.

"Don't. There is no reason to be sorry."

Despite his wound, he lifted her easily up into his arms while Blossom remained on her shoulder, purring softly.

"Your arm. I should have stopped him. So much blood, and you don't know if you will ever be able to use the arm properly again ...."

Impossible as it seemed, he started to laugh softly.

"What would have been the alternative, Scrawny? It's me who should be sorry. I was the one who agitated Tyron. And the arm? It'll heal."

"You can be really nice if you want to," Ginny muttered, while snuggling in his arms.

"Sure, and right now, I want to be. But don't become accustomed to."

"I wouldn't dare. Who would I argue with, then?"