The Siren's Call (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

75. Tornado

The soft crashing of waves broke into Dioleh's sleep. She smiled, forgetting for one, blissful moment that anything had happened today or yesterday. She forgot that she was orphaned. A foreigner. A fugitive. Opening her eyes, she was confused at first why it was still dark before everything came rushing back to her. With it, the dark, angry sorrow appeared to gnaw at her heart. Dioleh got up to feel something pressing harshly into her hand. She stared at it for a few minutes before realizing it was Imani's letter. After getting the sand out of her hair, Dioleh dried it with a flick of her wand. 

Up at the school, she found Imani and Andre sitting together in the Great Hall. Few students were already up. She sat down with her head pounding to find that neither was eating or talking. Andre had dished himself up food but it was sitting completely untouched. Dioleh half-heartedly grabbed an apple but could do anything other than bring it to rest in her lap. 

"Where were you last night?" Imani asked in a hollow, dead sort of voice. 

"The hideout," Dioleh replied, turning the apple over and over in her hand. "How do you guys feel?" 

"Same as you, probably," Andre said in a defeated tone. "There's no point. As long as they have that potion, they'll destroy us all. Everything is against us." Suddenly, Imani's eyes flickered and her defeated expression shifted as her lips pulled into a frown. 

"Andre," she said softly, her eyes beginning to lighten. He merely grunted in response. "What if they didn't have the potion?" 

Rolling his eyes, he snapped, "Well that would be something, wouldn't it?" 

"No," Imani snapped. Lowering her voice, she glanced around quickly and whispered, "What if we took it from them?" Andre's eyes widened. 

Leaning forward, he hissed, "Steal? From the Ministry of Magic? Are you mental?" 

"My father works there," Imani whispered back. "If he can tell us how to get in and where to find it, we can get in and get out before anyone knows we're there." 

"That's insane," Andre countered dismissively. "Come on, Dioleh, tell her that's a crazy plan." Dioleh glanced between the two of them, deep in thought. Both Andre and Imani looked expectant, anticipating her agreeing with them. Even if the ocean and the lake were poisoned, the three of them and Ebony could still live in the small saltwater pool in Grimmauld Place or the one at Hogwarts, but neither of those appealed to her in the long run. The moment her memory flashed to long days spent out with her father searching for pearls and gems, she made her decision. 

"Andre, if there is any chance we can save them, save our family, isn't it worth it?" Dioleh asked. For a brief moment, he appeared utterly dumbfounded. 

"You can't be serious," he said in disbelief. "What's the point when we're just going to fail? How can we ensure they don't just have a backup? This won't work." 

"Then we burn it down," Imani said. 

"What?" Dioleh said, glancing around to make sure Imani hadn't been heard. "Are you insane?" 

"It's the only way to make sure they don't win," she said. "We have to destroy all their files. Everything." 

"Imani," Dioleh protested. "In case you forgot, Voldemort is still on the move. If we burn down the Ministry of Magic, not only will we shatter their internal systems, we will leave them even more vulnerable to him." 

"And that's such a bad thing?" Imani snapped back. "Who knows, maybe Voldemort will make things better for us." Andre and Dioleh shared dumbfounded looks. 

"You don't mean that," Dioleh said, her voice small and frightened. "In case you have forgotten, he would kill Hermione. Dean. Probably hundreds of others just in Britain. Would you really let them all die?" 

"Wizards have been killing us for centuries," Imani snapped back. "Why can't they know what it feels like?" 

"Even if they all would be finding out what that is like, it isn't right," Dioleh said. 

"Since when do you care?" Imani shot back. "Oh yeah, I forgot. You don't care if sirens die." Dioleh's throat dried as Imani snapped, "You never cared that Julio almost died, why would you care about us?" 

"Imani," Andre said quickly, glancing at Dioleh to see what her reaction was going to be. Suddenly, Imani's hair shifted, flying behind her as she was pushed back off of the bench. Angrily, she got to her feet to face Dioleh who also stood. Wind was still swirling around the room, catching the attention of the other students. Before they could recognize where it was coming from, Andre grabbed onto Dioleh and dragged her from the room. He didn't let go until they had reached an empty corridor. 

Letting go of her, he thundered, "What is wrong with you?!" 

"I didn't do anything!" Dioleh shouted back. As the word left her mouth, Andre was shoved back slightly by a huge gust of wind. Gaining back his balance, he glared at her with a raised eyebrow as if to say 'Really?' 

"You have no idea what you're capable of, do you?" Andre said tensely. 

"I-" Dioleh broke off. "Andre, don't you think there are more important things right now?" 

"No, not if you're going to lose control again," he said. "Dioleh-" 

"It's just the wind, okay?" she snapped, cutting him off. "I have control of everything else." 

"Then make sure you get control of it," Andre warned, lowering his voice as his eyes shone with worry. 

"Talk some sense into Imani," Dioleh snapped back. He sighed and nodded.