The Siren's Call (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

144. The Dream

Draco emerged from the cellar with blood covering his hands and several bloody pieces of cloth, a bloody needle, and the remaining thread. Just as he reached the top, Draco came to a stop, spotting his mother and father speaking in hushed whispers. The moment her eyes caught the blood, Narcissa jumped to her feet and began to rush over. "I'm fine, Mum," Draco said quickly, evading her grip and moving towards the kitchen where he knew there was a large rubbish bin.

Lucius and Narcissa followed behind as he threw everything away and moved over to the sink to wash his hands. "Then why are you covered in blood?" Narcissa retorted.

"Because Imani was dying," Draco said, watching the blood swirl away from him and down the drain. "I had to make sure she was all right."

"Good," Lucius said in relief. "The Dark Lord may be more favourable towards us if he knew you went to such lengths to keep his lead alive." Draco grunted, drying his hands and turning towards the stairs and trying to erase the image of all of that blood from his mind. When he turned to shut the door behind him, however, it was to find Narcissa still following him. With a weary sigh, Draco left the door and stepped into his room.

"Draco," she said gently. He ignored her, opening a drawer and tossing a shirt and sweatpants onto his bed. "Draco-" she began again.

"Mum, the absolute last thing I want to do right now is talk to you," Draco sighed, resting his hands against the smooth, dark wood of his dresser.

"Draco, that's not fair," Narcissa said. "I know the last year has been hard on you."

"Mum, you have no idea what the last year has been for me," Draco snapped back weakly, shutting the drawer gently and moving over to sit on his bed.

"I know you cared about that siren," Narcissa said, taking a seat beside him.

"Stop," he begged, leaning forward and burying his head in his hands. "Don't talk to me about her. Please. It's bad enough to be reminded of her as much as I already am. I don't want to think about it anymore."

"Well, regardless," Narcissa said. "With your father going away, I know you struggled. And with not being able to complete your task."

"Mum, is there a point to this talk or are you just here to remind me of depressing things?" Draco asked wearily.

"I just want you to talk to me," Narcissa begged and for the first time he heard true emotion in her voice. Looking up, he saw that she was crying.

"I'm sorry, Mum," Draco sighed, wrapping an arm around her and laying his head comfortingly on her shoulder. Narcissa let out a shaky breath, attempting to keep herself from shedding more tears as she distracted herself by beginning to play with her son's hair. Although he would never admit it to anyone, the feeling was so soothing he soon felt himself drift off into the first space of deep sleep he had experienced in months.

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Draco opened his eyes to see he was submerged in water. Looking up, he saw the moon casting its weak, milky rays down into the water and all around where he sat on the sand surrounded by coral and colourful rocks. Fish too moved around in rhythmic swirls, moving between different pieces of coral like bees between their flowers. Looking back up, Draco was shocked to see a bright, reflective green-blue tail move above him. Turning, he saw that the siren to which the tail belonged had a long train of purple and blue hair flowing behind her. His eyes wide, Draco rushed toward her, trying to call out.

Dioleh turned, fixing her gaze on something far to Draco's right, but even as she did so, he caught sight of her face. Her skin was the same glorious caramel-bronze shade with the soft shade of pink colouring her cheeks and lips. His heart ached as he stared at her familiar face with a warm, happy smile on her lips. The same smile he could remember seeing hundreds of times before.

But suddenly, her smile began to falter and although he could not tell if she was crying, her expression was contorted with such a rage of grief that he didn't even need to see the tears. Looking over, he saw with a start another version of himself with his hands wrapped around human-Dioleh's throat as she desperately tried to fight him off. She was choking, scratching at his hands with her mouth open wide to try and draw in the breath that would never come. Draco tried to scream at himself to let go as he rushed forward to stop it but even as he banged against the invisible shield between them, the other version of him kept holding on until Dioleh lay completely still, her hands resting against the sand with nails broken from the ferocity of her struggle.

Other-Draco crouched down beside her, cupped the back of her neck and kissed her forehead with closed eyes. Letting her go, he walked away. Draco looked back to siren-Dioleh who still had that awe-struck, horrified expression. Trying to swim towards her, he called her name, but before he had made it far, a current started up, sweeping him back as Dioleh stayed in place. He cried out, attempting to reach for her or catch her attention but Dioleh was still staring with utter horror at her own human form still laying on the sand.

Just before he was completely swept away, human-Dioleh disappeared in a mass of bubbles and quickly floated up to the surface out of sight.