The Siren's Call (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

52. Rotten Luck

Dioleh clamoured out of the saltwater and quickly dried her clothes. Tucking the emerald necklace under her sweatshirt, she climbed out and was about to leave the woods before she heard voices. Quickly hiding behind a tree, she held her breath, listening to hear who was talking.

"Hermy-own-ninny talks about you very often," the low, grumbling voice of Krum said.

"Yeah," Harry replied indignantly. "Because we're friends."

"You haff never...you haff not-" Krum began.

"No," Harry said firmly. Dioleh lay her head back against the tree, hoping they would wrap this weird conversation up already.

"You fly very vell," Krum said. "I vos watching at the first task."

"Thanks," Harry replied happily. "I saw you at the Quidditch World Cup. The Wronski Feint, you really-" Before he could say more, there was a harsh rustling several meters to Dioleh's right. Her head snapped towards it, but she couldn't see anything. Her breaths became laboured as she waited to see what would emerge. Anxiously, she began fiddling with her ring, pulling it off before slipping it back on over and over again.

"Vot is it?" Krum asked. Suddenly, someone broke through the trees and Dioleh could see by turning her head that it was a man at least in his fifties, probably older. He was muttering crazily to himself. "Vosn't he a judge?" Krum asked. "Isn't he vith your ministry?" Dioleh didn't see or hear Harry respond, but she could make out what the man was saying.

"...and when you've done that, Weatherby, send another owl to Madame Maxime, because she might want to up the number of students she's bringing, now that Karkaroff's made it a round dozen...do that, Weatherby, will you? Will you? Will..."

"Mr. Crouch?" Harry said hesitantly. "Are you all right?"

"Vot is wrong with him?" Krum asked.

"No idea," Harry admitted. "Listen, you'd better go and get someone."

"Dumbledore!" Crouch shouted. Dioleh glanced over to see he had grabbed a fistful of Harry's robes. "Warn...Dumbledore. I've done a stupid thing...a very stupid thing." He let out a child's wail, letting go of Harry's robes and collapsing on the ground, his face suspended in an expression of agony with his mouth wide open. He straightened back up and began giving instructions to a tree.

"Stay here," Harry ordered. "I'll get Dumbledore. I'll be quicker, I know where his office is."

The moment Harry was out of sight, a low voice hissed, "Stupefy!" Krum instantly fell. Dioleh gasped, quickly covering her mouth with her hand and accidentally dropping the ring. It stifled her heavy breathing slightly, but it still sounded thunderous in her ears. From the shadows emerged Mad-Eye Moody. Dioleh stared at him with wide eyes and ever-increasing heavy breathing. Crouching down by the crazed man in front of him, Moody growled, "Hello, Father."

"No, no," Crouch sobbed.

"Avada Kedavra!" Moody shouted. Instantly, Crouch fell. Dioleh involuntarily screamed, causing Moody to look up sharply in her direction. He stood slowly to his feet and began creeping toward her. She slammed her eyes tightly shut, trying to quiet her breathing as her heart pounded in her ears. Both hands were clamped tightly over her mouth and her breathing was short, ragged, and loud. Suddenly, he grabbed onto her shoulders, causing her to scream again, her eyes wide.

"Please," she begged, beginning to cry. "I-I won't say anything! P-Please don't hurt me!" Without a word, he hit her over the head and she collapsed to the ground unconscious. Returning to his father, Barty Crouch Jr. transfigured his father's body into a bone and quickly buried it in the woods before returning to Dioleh who was still unconscious. He quickly transfigured her body into a cat and carried her up to the school and in his office. Transfiguring her back, he picked her up again and opened his trunk.

Looking down, he saw Moody who looked up weakly. "Brought you a friend," he growled, dropping her to the bottom. Slamming shut the trunk again, he left for the grounds.

⥖✦✧⦽✧✦⥗

Dioleh awoke with a groan. Coughing, she looked up to see-

"Oh my god," she breathed, although it was almost a scream. It was completely dark.

"How're you feeling?" a growling voice asked. She recognized that voice. On instinct, she scurried back as far away from him as possible.

"I didn't kidnap you," he growled. "He's an imposter."

"What?" Dioleh groaned, suddenly realizing that her head was pounding. Her eyes suddenly widened as she demanded, "Oh no, how long have I been down here?!"

"Not long," he replied. "An hour or two at most."

"I need to keep track of time," she muttered to herself, letting out a sigh and leaning back against the stone wall. She sighed, asking, "Have you any idea how long you've been down here?" He shook his head.

"It had to have been all year," Dioleh muttered.

"What day is it?" Moody asked.

"May twenty-fourth," Dioleh replied.

"1995?" Moody clarified. Dioleh affirmed his guess. "What's your name?"

"Dioleh," she replied, hugging her knees to her chest. Shivering, she said, "It's so cold." Anxiously, she pulled her necklace from under her sweatshirt and began fiddling with it.

"Why'd he put you down here?"

"I saw him kill Barty Crouch," Dioleh explained quietly. "He called him father."

Frowning, Moody replied, "That's not possible. Crouch only had one son and he died in Azkaban."

"Ever see the corpse?" Dioleh countered with a raised eyebrow.

"Suppose not," he growled. "Well, if that is Barty Crouch Jr, we all have reason to be worried. He's working for Voldemort." Dioleh shivered.

"Great," she muttered, curling more into herself and laying her head on her knees.

"You don't have any food or water, do you?" Moody asked. Dioleh looked up. Searching her pockets, she only found a roll she had stolen from dinner. Breaking it into two disproportional pieces, she handed him the larger piece and took the significantly smaller one for herself.

"Sorry it's not much," she said, crawling back in her place. He didn't reply, eating it slowly as if to savour it. "As for water..." She trailed off. With a sigh, she realized there wasn't much of a point in doing otherwise. Raising her hand, she shut her eyes, attempting to sense water somewhere in the room. Finally, she felt some. Biting her lip in concentration, she led the water from whatever it was in, through the keyhole in the trunk and down in an orb in her hand. She quickly gave some to him and left the rest on the hard ground, covering her side in the water.

"You're a siren, aren't you?" Moody said. Dioleh didn't reply, but she shifted to lay on the ground and stared up at the ceiling.