The Siren's Call (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

87. Pale

Dioleh stepped out of the office and into the spiral staircase to see that Draco was sitting, waiting for her at the bottom. With a tired sigh, Dioleh took a seat beside him, resting her forehead in her hand. "You all right?" Draco asked.

"I don't know how to feel," she admitted with another sigh. "This is all my fault. Yes, it was Imani's idea, but if I hadn't gotten so worked up about Mom's- Oh!" she cried, drawing in a harsh gasp and covering her mouth as her eyes flooded with tears. Draco turned so he was facing her better before taking her hand in his. "I-I'm fine," she said, even as more tears streamed down her cheeks. "Seriously, I'm fine, I just- I'm overwhelmed. It's just an emotional reaction. I'm fine." She probably would have said more, but her tears overcame her speech as she gasped for breath.

"Dioleh, it's all right," Draco said, wrapping an arm around her. Letting out a sob, she leaned into him, resting her head against his shoulder as he wrapped his other arm around her. Although she knew Andre was sitting in the Hospital Wing either dead or alive, Dioleh couldn't bring herself to move. Draco had continued talking but she had no idea what he was saying as she was too wrapped up in her thoughts. Images of her mother suspended in water flooded her mind.

"I wish I didn't have to leave her," Dioleh whispered. Draco paused. "When she died, she was at the surface so we couldn't retrieve her body. We couldn't have a funeral because no one was brave enough to try and get her body. I wasn't brave enough."

"Love, you were four," Draco countered, rubbing her back comfortingly.

"But she was my mom!" Dioleh cried.

As she dissolved into tears again, Draco said, "Shh, it's all right."

"It's not all right," she breathed through her tears. "Andre is sitting in that Hospital Wing and I'm here sobbing about my mother who died eleven years ago."

"Alright breathe," Draco prompted. "Just give yourself a minute to calm down and then we can go see Andre. Stop being so hard on yourself, okay? If he was conscious, he would understand."

Letting out a deep breath, Dioleh said, "We should get to the Hospital Wing." Nodding, Draco got to his feet, being careful to not to disorient Dioleh who had been leaning on his shoulder. Taking his hand, Dioleh got up, wiping away her tears.

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Imani had impatiently endured Madam Pomfrey's persistent requests to stay out of the way while she tended to Andre. After a seemingly endless amount of time, Madam Pomfrey said, "You can come see him now." Instantly, Imani rushed to his side. While he still appeared paler than usual, his breathing had evened out and he was resting peacefully. Taking a seat beside him, Imani interlaced her fingers with his, trying to keep her tears from falling. The door to the Hospital Wing opened and Imani turned to see Dioleh, who was still clutching Draco's hand. At the sight of Andre, however, she let go and approached slowly, almost fearfully.

"Is...is he?" she began breathily.

"We don't know," Imani said before breaking down into tears. Shakily, she looked back at Andre and, blinking away tears, brushed a strand of his white hair back. "Blaise went to get his broom to get to bikes back."

"He can't have gotten far," Draco said. "I'll go help." Dioleh nodded before going to Imani's side and taking her other hand in her own.

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"Blaise!" Draco called, spotting him outside with his broom.

"Hey," he replied, mounting. As Draco mounted his own, Blaise asked, "How's Andre?"

"It's not looking good," Draco admitted. The two took off for a far more sombre trip to London than their previous one. Over the wind, Draco explained, "He's still knocked out. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't say how it was looking." Blaise shook his head.

The snake lunged toward Blaise just before he drew his wand. Andre jumped forward, knocking Blaise out of the way just as the snake clamped down his jaws. He screamed as the fangs pierced his flesh.

Blaise bit the inside of his cheek in a vain attempt to wash away the memory with pain. Letting out a small breath, he tried not to think about the fact that what he called 'pain' was nothing compared to what he would have felt if Andre hadn't jumped in the way. "Dioleh all right?" he asked gruffly, attempting to distract himself.

"She got in a argument with Dumbledore," Draco admitted.

"Why?"

"He thinks she doesn't trust that his plan will work," Draco explained.

Raising an eyebrow, Blaise asked, "And what exactly is his plan?"

"To try and talk a few hundred governments into stopping a genocide that's been going on for centuries," Draco said blandly.

"He can't seriously think that would work," Blaise said with a sigh. Draco shrugged. "They're not going to listen to him."

"No, probably not," Draco admitted with a sad sigh.