When the Past Catches Up with You...

When the Past Catches Up with You...

Chapter 6 - Aftermaths

Ron was visibly irritated. Everything had been planned so well, but for some reason things didn't go like he had planned. Apparently, the Romanian security forces weren't able to get the smallest problems under control.

At first everything went well. Because of an Anti-Apparation Charm, every visitor to the World Cup had to enter the stadium through one of the guarded entrances. The security precautions worked efficiently; every visitor got registered when he went through the archway, therefore, providing a record of everyone in attendance, just in case of an 'unwanted event'.

But everything came out differently than planned...

Ron had gone into the cabin of the stadium announcer during the match, given that he had a good view over the stadium from there. While the French team had taken a time-out, he noticed that some sentinels had gathered nearby the tunnels, debating with each other heatedly.

An uneasy gut feeling made Ron decide to have a look for the source of the turmoil the Romanian surveillance-wizards were in.

The way down to the entrance where he had spotted the group didn't take more than a few minutes. When he turned the last corner, he already heard the nervous babble of voices from the Romanians. Normally, he was able to just about communicate with the Romanians, but during this utter confusion he only picked up a few fragments of their conversation.

"...security hole...intruders...Razvan..."

"What's up with Razvan?" Ron asked when he joined the Aurors, who were mostly Romanian. The slight anxiety broadening inside of him was hardly to restrain. "Where is he?"

A tall wizard called Marian Galaicu turned towards him and looked at him somewhat appalled. He was the group leader in the Romanian region of the tunnels. He was actually quite a competent man in Ron's eyes, capable of keeping his control even in difficult situations, but now Ron thought he could catch a hint of uncertainty in his light brown eyes.

But when Marian spoke, he acted composed. "We found him in one of the cells down in the tunnels. Someone had used a Binding Charm on him. He was unconscious."

"WHAT?" Ron was beside himself with rage, worry and anxiety. "How could that happen?" But Ron rather didn't want to know it. The realisation of someone having broken through their security system was much worse. 'What's going on here?'

"Razvan has been guarding one of the entrances alone for a short time. Someone must have taken him by surprise. When Emil came back to the entrance, he was missing and the Registry Charm had been cancelled." Ron noticed that Marian was taking the whole affair much to heart, though it definitely could not be his fault. If Razvan had been keeping watch alone voluntarily, nobody could reproach him.

"Damn," Ron cursed, "how often did we discuss that no one stays alone when in position? Now you see what comes out of it." He didn't want to give Emil a speech; above all, it wasn't his job. Marian would certainly tackle him later.

"Well, we have to find out who the attacker was and above all what he's up to. You take care of Razvan," he told one of the wizards, who looked as if he would prefer to be holed up in a dark corner, "and two of you look after the safety precautions at the gate. The rest of you sift through the tunnels and seats in groups of two. Send blue sparks through the corridors if you notice something suspicious and wait for back-up." Ron looked quickly around and saw that everyone nodded. "Let's go. Marian?"

The addressed Romanian followed the Gryffindor towards the VIP lounge. It went without saying that they attended to this critical point themselves. After all, celebrities from all kinds of countries had arrived for the opening of the World Cup.

But before they turned the last corner, which led to the long corridor to the VIP-lounge, Marian held him back. When he saw Ron's enquiring look he just shook his head and sent blue sparks towards the direction they had come from. Ron didn't understand for he hadn't noticed anything notable so far, but he decided that it would be safer to trust his colleague.

When the two Aurors looked cautiously into the dark corridor they could make out a cloaked figure in the glow of the torches, kneeling at the entrance to the VIP-lounge with his back facing them. Next to him lay the unconscious bodies of the two assigned sentries. 'Hopefully only unconscious...' Ron thought and suddenly he felt quite queasy. 'How could he manage to get here?' After a quick glance and a nod on the part of his colleague, he and Marian tried to sidle up to the stranger as silent as possible. In doing so, they noticed that he was bending over something they couldn't identify in the dim light of the tunnels. Only every now and then did they catch a small gleam, as if the light of the torches were reflected in something.

They didn't need words to agree. Pulling out their wands, they approached the apparent intruder. They didn't dare attack him at that instant, being unable to assess the danger emanating from him.

'What is he doing there anyway? And who is this person at all?'

However, during Ron's train of thoughts the person suddenly stood up and turned to them.

"You're too late!" The eyes of the stranger looked as if they were glowing, standing out against the darkness even though the rest of his face was kept hidden under the hood. He put his hand forth, holding a glass sphere with green bolts, flashing as if they were searching frantically for a way out.

'What's that thing?' Ron thought. He had never heard of such an object, let alone seen one. And Marian too seemed to be puzzled, his features having shaded distinctly. Because they didn't know what they had to deal with, their possibilities were quite limited. The stranger started to speak again while both of them were still thinking.

"You can't stop me anymore. This sphere holds dozens of deadly hexes. And when it breaks..." The lunatic laughter of the unknown person penetrated his ears and slowly Ron started to think that he knew the voice. He just couldn't say exactly where from.

But then his opponent pulled down the hood and Ron's eyes widened. In front of him stood one of his former schoolmates, one he had thought of never needing to see again...

"Ronald Weasley..." The low snarl sent a shiver down the spine of the addressed person. "It's an especially great pleasure for me to meet you again. At last I'm getting the opportunity to pay you back for trying to snatch Draco away from us that time."

A flash of panic came over Ron. All the years he had thought that no one had known anything about him and the blond Slytherin. Apparently he was thoroughly wrong. It's true that he had noticed that the rest of the Slytherins had been more nasty than normal, especially the one standing directly in front of him now. But he had never thought that his relationship had something to do with that. 'How naïve have I been...' Ron wondered how much the Slytherin really knew and if he was the only one.

"You can only be glad that Draco eventually came to his senses again. But now..." The glow in his eyes was just more threateningly now and Ron realised that he was only one more step away from his enemy, who had stepped up to him while speaking.

The following incidents passed so fast that Ron wasn't able to lift a finger. He felt paralysed and could still hear the words being spoken to him, fraught with hatred.

Without Ron taking notice of it, the Slytherin had pulled out his wand and pointed it at the heavy wooden door of the VIP-lounge. A yell clanged through the long hallway when the curse had been spoken but the flash didn't hit the door. Marian had watched the conversation between the two closely and had lunged now at the offender to snatch his wand away from him.

Somewhere in the farthest corner of his consciousness, Ron asked himself why Marian hadn't stupefied him with a spell. But he hadn't enough time left to follow this thought. The diverted flash hit the wall to the box seats next to the VIP-lounge and tore a hole into the wood with a loud bang. The vehemence of the explosion hit the front of Ron's body, causing him to tumble several steps back. Despite much effort, he couldn't keep his legs from giving way and he fell backwards onto the hard stone floor.

Even though everything passed so fast it seemed to Ron like it was in slow motion when Marian and his opponent toppled down together. All Ron could do was stare at the hand holding the glass sphere, watching how the fingers loosened and let the sphere fall to the floor.

Ron followed the events with wide eyes. He wanted to scream, to run towards them, to catch the sphere, but his limbs just didn't want to move. He still heard the words of the Death Eater in his ears, having caught him so unprepared. And only slowly he began to understand what exactly was going on.

Marian too seemed to have noticed that they were facing a disaster and before Ron could really realise it, he managed to stretch enough to catch the sphere within the last moment.

During this act he admittedly had to give his opponent some space, who used this opportunity for turning around towards Marian and levelling his wand at him. The rage could be clearly read from his face and when Ron saw the "Avada..." forming on his lips he finally regained his composure. Something had awoken him when he saw the immediate threat for his colleague and with his own curse he threw the Death Eater against the already abundantly damaged wall of the VIP-lounge.

Only now did Ron dare to breathe again, the tension slowly leaving his body. He nearly didn't dare go to the unconscious body but his feet seemed to move on their own. From the corner of his eye he saw how Marian watched him with a shocked expression, still too distressed about what had nearly overtaken him.

But Ron still went up to the Slytherin, his head feeling as if thousands of thoughts were crashing in at once. Thoughts of the explosion, of the injured or dead people they didn't have a notion of yet, pictures of several Death Eaters straying the hallways. But, most of all, memories of Draco came to his mind, the fear that every one of Voldemort's followers knew about them. What if they tried to get to him through Draco? What kind of information did they get about him and the Order because of Draco?

He heard the distant steps of the Romanian Aurors, which were arriving in the meantime, but his look was only fixed on the motionless body, on the now glassy eyes of Theodore Nott...

^~~^~~^~

When he had finally realised what had happened, Draco found himself amongst a hysterical crowd, thousands of people running around panic-stricken, screaming and trying desperately to get out of the stadium. With effort, he managed to not be overrun by the masses, but he couldn't ward off the stream dragging him along.

He had the feeling of being swept along by a giant wave. From all sides he got hustled and pushed. Many a time an elbow got at his ribs and he probably would have turned around to hex the person responsible if he hadn't had to try so hard from being overrun by the crowd. By no means did he want to end up like some of the wizards he had to climb over. Some hadn't made it to keep themselves upright in between the masses and were trying desperately to get out of thousands of feet alive.

While Draco made an effort to get out of the jostle he tried to arrange his thoughts.

It seemed as if Lucius had followed through with his adumbrations earlier than Draco had assumed. 'On the other hand... there couldn't be a more perfect time... apart from the final game perhaps.'

But he had to watch out. What if one of his father's footmen saw him here? How could he get out of this situation without choosing a side? They wouldn't be surprised to see him here but he would have to take a stand. That was the last thing he wanted to do. 'Or maybe Lucius is here in person? No, he's too above this kind of work.' He couldn't refrain from snorting in contempt. His father had never been the one for simple work. Only when he had to deal with something very special and all-important did Lucius care to operate it himself. But not with such a - in his eyes - trivial task.

Meanwhile the crowd had come nearer to one of the exits and Draco made use of the chance to disappear into one of the niches. Only now did he dare to breathe, relaxed again as he drew the air deep into his lungs. It's true that he hadn't problems with large crowds; however, he couldn't keep his countenance completely when they were acting like this.

'They thought about everything, except how they can get all the people out of the stadium unharmed in case of an emergency.' Draco could only shake his head. 'So much for Anti-Apparation Charms.'

He needed a few minutes to gather his bearings. The crowd had led him automatically near the Romanian tunnels. He couldn't be far away from the VIP-lounges where the explosion had taken place. At least that was the only logical explanation crossing his mind at the moment.

'RON!' The thought hit him like lightning. Where was he at the time of detonation? Only a short time previously had he seen him at the other end of the stadium. What had happened?

Draco was a bit worried for himself. He hadn't thought that he could forget everything so fast, just because he worried about the redhead. All these years, he had been able to suppress his still-existing feelings for him into the last corner of his mind but now, when he knew he was near, everything else seemed to be inconsequential. Nevertheless, he tried to focus on the essentials by contemplating what his father had mentioned about the assault at the World Cup.

As far as he remembered, the attack should only have been the prelude, the start of a set of other offensives which were to show that the Death Eaters were anything but inactive during the last weeks. But the attack ought to serve another purpose, too. Like with every World Cup, the VIP-lounge would be full of high-ranking guests from all over the world. It would be a heavy blow for the respective countries if their governments were weakened that much. Privately, Draco was glad for not having got a ticket for one of those seats.

But apparently something must have been gone wrong given the fact that the explosion hadn't hit the VIP-lounge directly. Draco had noticed at least that much before the crowd had drawn him towards the exit.

Uncertainty was something Draco didn't like at all and therefore he decided to go towards the VIP-lounge using one of the tributary hallways, which were hopefully a bit less populated. He wanted to get a general idea himself, even though he possibly might run into Voldemort's followers.

But nobody came across him in the dark hallways of the tunnels, which astonished him and he began to wonder seriously what this all meant. How few people had his father sent? He had reckoned on considerably more. Or could it be that all had been centred on this one explosion?

Draco had to admit that his lack of knowledge, caused by his absence, was making him a bit insecure after all. He should have spent more energy on his father's plans. But he couldn't change that anymore. He had to be on his guard all the more, trying to act as inconspicuous as possible, just in case.

But all his intentions got ruined as he turned the last corner and arrived at the hallway to the VIP-lounge...

He scurried into one of the niches when he saw two Aurors, bent over an unconscious body. He stood a few feet away and though their backs were directed towards him, he noticed immediately that one of them was Ron and, unintentionally, a sigh of relief escaped him.

But the glow of the torches wasn't enough for him to see the face of the motionless person lying on the floor in front of them. It's true that Draco had an idea; however, he wanted to assure himself. But he didn't dare to step nearer, now was the worst time to provoke an encounter with his former lover.

There were some wizards standing around the two who Draco didn't know but because of their clothes and nervous behaviour, he supposed that they had to be sitting in the VIP-lounge. When he saw the giant hole in the wall next to the VIP-lounge, he could only wonder that some of them had in fact survived the explosion.

That very moment he heard the hasty steps of several persons and he pressed himself farther into the dark of the hollow in the wall. Four or five wizards, probably part of the security team, ran past him. Suddenly one of the men stopped and looked sceptically towards the spot where Draco had pressed himself close to the planks in the shadow. But before the Auror could approach and discover him, one of his colleagues called him and he disappeared again.

Draco scarcely dared to breathe and it took some seconds until he risked looking into the hallway to watch the events. The range was too large for him to understand any of the words spoken but it was clear that Ron and the Auror standing next to him were giving the just-arrived-ones instructions. A short time later the same persons, who had passed him before, came back again, between them a hovering body. Now the Slytherin could finally identify who it was.

'Theo!' His heart suddenly seemed to beat a little faster. 'So I had seen correctly earlier. But certainly he's not alone here...' Theodore Nott was in fact a competent Death Eater but Draco didn't believe that he had taken on this task alone. 'I wonder how many more are here.'

Draco saw how one man of the security forces stayed and took care of all the senior guests in the VIP-lounge. He led them down the hallway into the opposite direction with pacifying gestures.

Before he was able to catch another thought he suddenly saw a moving shadow on the other side of the hallway.

Ron and his colleague attended to two more motionless bodies lying near the VIP-lounge and due to their behaviour, he assumed that they belonged to their staff. Apparently, they tried to bring both back to consciousness and they seemed so engrossed in their work that they didn't notice someone sneaking up to them. Perhaps they just didn't count on another Death Eater, now that Nott's try more or less had failed. Or they were just waiting for others from the security team before they wanted to start searching the hallways. 'Fools!'

Through the hole the explosion had torn out of the wall, Draco could hear the panicked screams of some people, though they seemed to die away. But they were still loud enough to drown out the nearly soundless steps of the other person, lurking in the dark. Even Draco had to peer fiercely over to not loose her from his field of vision and his breath caught when he saw how a wand was being pointed at the two Aurors that very moment.

The situation caused an unintentional conflict inside of him. He didn't know how he should react and his thoughts seemed to rush. In a sense he wanted to stay out of this but he couldn't just watch Ron get hurt or even killed. But then he had to give up cover and risk being discovered. Somehow he had to make it, getting out of this situation, without giving himself away. 'But how?'

There was not much time left for him to decide when he saw the Death Eater stepping out of the shadows, preparing to speak an incantation. Intuitively, Draco pointed his own wand at the person, recognising him now while he stood in the light of the torches. Despite his frayed nerves he tried not to speak too loud. Maybe he could get the whole situation under his control without attracting the attention of Ron and his colleague. Either way he would have to act fast.

The Death Eater seemed to have noticed him because he turned his head just the moment Draco spoke his Binding and Silencing Charm and stared at him. When the spell hit him, his tense look changed to a questioning expression, only to be replaced with pure animosity shortly after.

Everything had passed quite fast and noiselessly but Draco didn't want to put his luck to the test and therefore he hauled the helpless Death Eater into the next corridor with a Levitation Charm. Just in time too because, from the corner, of his eye he could see that Ron was turning around the moment he disappeared behind the corner.

He heard voices and fast paces approaching him. Therefore he had to hurry, running off with the bound body preferably without a trace.

Without looking back, he ran through the long dark hallways of the tunnels until he was finally near the exit. He didn't know if his hunters were still closing in on him; the sounds got drowned out by the babble of voices in front of the stadium and inside the halls.

He could see security men trying to calm down the people and attempting to get them out of the stadium somewhat civilised. Here and there, they had to immobilise wizards who were trying to curse their way out. Draco didn't want to think about how it would be if they succeeded. It was probably what the Death Eaters had intended with their attack - a mass hysteria, everyone fighting one another.

The Slytherin hauled the still defenceless Death Eater on his feet again and put his arm around him to drag him outside amongst the masses. The crowd helped him carry the person's weight, so it didn't take him too much effort.

When he was finally outside, he pulled the body behind one of the many small tents standing on the areaway of the stadium. There he let him fall onto the floor and released him from the Silencing Charm.

"Draco! Damn, what's going on here? On which side are you actually on?" The eyes of his opponent seemed to lighten with distrust and the addressed thought desperately about how he could sneak out of this situation.

"Could you please calm down for a minute? Be glad that we've escaped the security forces. Had you paid more attention you'd noticed that several aurors were on their way to the VIP-lounge." Draco didn't know how he had come up so fast with this lie; the words just came tumbling out. But apparently they were effective on his opponent.

"They would have taken you before you could have even thought about getting out of there again. By the founders, you still haven't learnt to use your brains, Vince?"

His former schoolmate now looked at him quite questionably, as if he didn't want to trust his words at all but also realising that Draco was the son of Voldemort's fugleman and enjoyed a special position between the ranks of Death Eater.

That one freed Draco from the Binding Spell. "What are you planning next? During my absence I didn't get much information from father."

Evidently Crabbe had decided to believe him because he didn't lunge at him at once but looked at him a tad confused. "The ministry... I don't know what's happening exactly, only that they have got someone."

"Alright, now get out of here. I have to take care of something else." But Crabbe seemed as if he didn't want to budge. "Or do you want to get caught by the security after all? Tell my father that I'll be back in a few days. And now GO!" The sharp sound got Crabbe flinching, but he stood up and disappeared without another word into the crowd.

Draco sank on the ground exhausted; his back leaning against the tarpaulin. A deep sigh escaped his lips. He really hadn't believed that it would be that simple to persuade Vincent.

'Hope it won't go wrong...'

^~~^~~^~

The day had been long and Ron just wanted to forget. He had sent a short note to his family and Dumbledore to inform them of the current events, but now he wanted to put all of it behind himself for at least one evening.

After the incident at the VIP-lounge they had searched the tunnels repeatedly, having found two more Death Eaters, who they had arrested temporary. But their side hadn't been without losses either, several injured and one dead of the security forces.

But the visitors' harm was much worse. The explosion had torn a huge hole into the box seats and not less than ten wizards had been slain according to status quo. Several dozen were disabled and were lying in a temporary infirmary tent on the areaway of the stadium where they got treated from a few healers. The next hospital was just too far away since they could only be found in the bigger cities and a transport wouldn't have been responsible for every case.

And that was just what they knew about the direct impact of the explosion. How many people were suffering severe harm because of the panic wasn't noted at all.

Thousands of thoughts were racing through Ron's head and he knew that he would just brood more when Marian asked him to come with him to one of the clubs in town. Thus he agreed, glad about some kind of distraction. Though a club wasn't really something he would prefer right now, it would provide sufficient indulgence to forget the events of the day for at least a short time. And that was something Ron could really do with. Furthermore he didn't want to stay alone, he knew himself too well for knowing that solitude would crush him right now. Seemingly, the others felt similar.

Nearly all people of the security team who weren't lying in the infirmary tent had come along. But soon they trailed off in the crowd after they had entered the club. Marian and Ron looked for a table and ordered something to drink.

Neither of them wanted to speak about what had happened and so they sat silently side by side for a while, both content with the stillness between them. Ron let his gaze wander over the people in the room; some were sitting at the bar or at tables like them and were talking, others in turn had settled onto a small dance floor and were moving to a mix of traditional but also modern music. Depending on the kind of music, the light being focused on the dance floor changed from bright to dim or some mix of both.

After the third firewhiskey Ron noticed how his muscles began to slowly relax and he leant back slack against the padded seats. He saw that next to him his colleague was doing the same.

The effect of the alcohol and the music enveloped Ron in a warm and comforting state and for a moment he closed his eyes, trying to forget everything around him momentarily, to push the events of the past day away into the farthest corner of his memory.

Suddenly he heard the low voice of Marian quite near his own ear. "You've got a pretty deep scratch there on your neck." Ron felt how his colleague touched the injury, which wasn't closed completely yet, softly with a finger. In addition to a short ache because of the contact to the wound, Ron also felt a slight prickling, spreading slowly out from his neck. He realised how one or two drops of blood ran along his neck down to the collarbone. His fingers warily wiped up the drops and he opened his eyes to look at them.

"A jinx touched me a little while ago and I fell on a wooden balustrade. Must have got harmed right then," Ron answered in a somewhat shaky voice. Marian sat, to Ron's surprise, much nearer to him than before.

'How did he do that without me noticing?'

The Romanian took hold of his hand and brought his lips to his fingers to clean the blood carefully and slowly with his tongue. The whole time Ron looked him in the eyes, suddenly feeling as though he had a lump in this throat. Nevertheless, he swallowed hard, and somehow found himself enjoying the closeness of his colleague.

Marian turned his head back softly with his hand and Ron sensed Marian's breath close to his skin. A shiver ran down his spine, it had been far too long since he had felt someone that near to him, it just couldn't not effect him.

'Why the hell not?'

The Romanian's hand left his face again, only to slide slowly along his neck to his chest and Ron felt goose bumps rising. He decided to just relish in the sensations and closed his eyes again. If Marian wanted to do something, Ron would certainly be the last to reject the offer.

After all, he wasn't really unattractive. He was tall and slender, with somewhat strong shoulders you just wanted to lean on. His long dark hair fell down on them in slight waves and now, when Ron was thinking about it, he really wanted to comb through them with his fingers. His kind facial features got Ron suspecting that he couldn't harm a Flobberworm when they first met, but it turned out that this was far from the truth. Sometimes Marian's light brown eyes sparkled playfully and you just couldn't avert your eyes. You could detect some fine scars on his face and arms when you were looking close enough, but they didn't deface him and Ron wondered for what reason the Romanian kept his scars.

'Perhaps as a reminder or warning?'

The fingers on his chest began to make light circular motions and Ron felt, how his body slowly began to react to the touch. When Ron noticed how Marian's tongue followed the trace of the wound he couldn't prevent taking a sharp breath. The slight burn caused by the contact of blood and saliva spread pleasurably out on his whole upper torso. 'Merlin, it's really been too long.'

The soft impulse got replace far too soon by a light nibbling, only intensifying Ron's sensations. The cautious caresses changed to demanding but gentle little bites and his heart suddenly seemed to be racing. But before he could waste another thought he realised how Marian got snatched off from him. The move was just too abrupt for it to be deliberate on Marian's part.

Ron opened his eyes in confusion to see what was happening, his thoughts still a bit blurred and overwhelmed. Marian lay on the ground, around him shards of the glasses he had dragged along with him.

His look roamed from the Romanian to the figure standing above him and his heart seemed to stop from one second to the next when he stared into the furiously blazing eyes of Draco Malfoy...