The Siren's Call (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

83. Free

Darkness cloaked the school as Dioleh, Andre, and Imani snuck down to the kitchens. The house-elves were all asleep, leaving their way clear as they made for the central pillar in the room. As quietly as possible, Andre whispered to it in Mermish. Instantly, it moved noiselessly, revealing the hole at the bottom of the hollow pillar. Like they had done hundreds of times before, the three drew a deep breath and one by one plunged into the water. Scales and fins appeared as the cold water rushed over them.

The hideout was dark when they emerged, glancing up at the stars. "Wicked," Blaise said, looking them over. Growing slightly irritable, Andre pulled himself out of the water, before turning to help Imani. Dioleh sat down wringing out her hair as Andre and Blaise talked through the plan for a final time.

Glancing at his watch, Andre said, "It's time. We need to head out. Is everybody ready?" Dioleh stood up, quickly slipping into her winter coat and dusting the sand off of her. "Let's go." They each climbed out of the hideout, starting with Blaise. Once they were all ready and the hideout was resealed, Blaise turned towards the forest. He set a brisk pace to fight the cold and soon the less fit of them found themselves out of breath. "Quite the adventure, no?" Dioleh whispered to Draco with a raised eyebrow, coming up beside him.

"With you, always," he replied with a smile, glancing over at her. Dioleh laughed, pushing him playfully. His rich laugh met her ears, making her smile. Draco looked over, seeing how the moonlight shone in the pale, cold light of the winter moon. Dioleh's cheeks and nose were slightly pink from the cold and snow dusted her blue-purple hair and eyelashes like powdered sugar. Snapping himself out of it, Draco forced himself to focus on Blaise who was beginning to slow.

Blaise signalled them all to stop as they came to a clearing. Moving forward, he reached into thin air and pulled a large tarp from over a bulky form and Dioleh was shocked to see the apparent rocks and snow disappear. "Magical camo tarp," Blaise explained. "My Mum's fifth husband invented it."

"How many times has she been married?" Dioleh asked with furrowed brows.

With a dismissive shrug, Blaise replied, "Lost track around six or seven." Pulling the tarp the rest of the way, Blaise revealed several dark shapes that were difficult to see by the pale light of the moon.

"What are those?" Imani asked, taking a step towards them.

"These, my dear partners in crime, are what the muggle world likes to call motorcycles," Blaise explained dramatically. "Only, I spruced them up a bit."

"How?" Andre asked cautiously.

"Autopilot, flying, the usual," he replied. "Now, as I've only got two and only Draco and I know how to fly them, everyone else needs to sort out accordingly."

"I thought you said they fly themselves?" Andre countered.

"They do, but they could still go wrong," Blaise explained. "We need experienced drivers at the ready just in case. So, who's with who?"

In the end, after a decent bit of squabbling, Blaise ended up with Imani and Andre, leaving Dioleh and Draco together on the smaller one. Dioleh got on and cautiously wrapped her arms around Draco's waist. She felt him tense for a moment before glancing back at her. Covering her hand with his own, he said quietly, "I'm okay."

"I know," she said with a warm smile. Giving her hand one last squeeze, Draco let go, focusing back on what was in front of him.

"You ready, Malfoy?" Blaise called excitedly, exuberant glee clear on his face.

"As I'll ever be," Draco replied with a smirk, excitement dancing in his eyes. Dioleh let out a cry of surprise as the motorcycle jolted forward, instinctively tightening her grip around Draco. He laughed, smiling widely as the engine roared to life. Blaise took off first, moving forward until he hit a sort of ramp. The motorcycle roared into the air. Dioleh drew in a shaky breath, laying her head on Draco's back and closing her eyes as they began to move forward. "Open your eyes, love!" Draco called over the wind. Cautiously, she did.

Below them, the dark sea of forest grew smaller and smaller until they could even see the school as a small form in the half-circle free of trees. "Oh, Merlin," Dioleh whispered, closing her eyes again. Draco couldn't help but smile. The wind was bitingly cold, but there was a certain freedom up in clouds with only the roar of the engine to accompany him. He drew in a deep breath, the cold stinging his lungs painfully, but nothing could extinguish the joy he felt in his chest. It was as if the cords that had so tightly coiled themselves around him had fallen away, leaving him free.

Stars dotted the sky in complex constellations. It was these that Dioleh chose to focus on as the journey went on. Soon, however, other bright lights came into sight. "What is that?" Dioleh asked.

"London!" Blaise called back.

"Why do you recognize that?" Andre cried. Blaise shrugged, a confident smirk on his face. He had defiantly done this before. At the edge of the city, Blaise and Draco landed, but the ride wasn't over yet. Although there were still some cars passing through, it was empty enough that Blaise and Draco were able to get them through the city relatively quickly. In front of a red telephone box, the two boys came to a stop. Dioleh shakily let go of Draco and the two got up. Andre looked like he was going to hurl.

"Well, you don't do that every day," Dioleh said with a shaky smile.

"New experiences every day," Blaise said with his signature smirk. Biting her lip, Dioleh turned to look at the box.

"So, this is it?" she asked nervously.

"Yup," Blaise replied, securing the motorcycles. "Now, the real adventure begins."