The Siren's Call (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

159. Disappearing into the Night

Harry fell to the ground with a crash as Andre and Draco quickly stepped in front of Imani and Dioleh as the tent flapped open. "Get up, vermin," a man spat as he grabbed Harry from the ground. Dioleh let out a surprised cry as she was grabbed and dragged out of the tent into the darkness. The rest were also grabbed and taken out. Dioleh felt close to vomiting as a hand began groping in the pockets of her jacket for her wand.

"Get off of her!" Andre shouted, wrestling against his captor in an attempt to get to Imani as Ron struggled to get to Hermione. Andre let out a cry of pain as he was punched across the face.

"No!" Imani shrieked, beginning to struggle even more.

"Your boyfriend's going to have to have worse than that done to him if he's on my list," said the same rasping voice. Dioleh shuttered as she realized that the voice belonged to none other than Fenrir Greyback, the same one who had held her in his arms when Snape tried to kill her. Dioleh glanced over at Draco to see he had also recognized him.

"Search the tent!" another ordered.

Striding over to Harry, Greyback let out a laugh and said, "I'll be needing butterbeer to wash this one down. What happened to you, ugly?" When Harry hesitated, Greyback sent a hit into Harry's diaphragm that made Dioleh flinch. "I said, what happened to you?"

Doubled over in pain, Harry replied, "Stung."

"What's your name?" Greyback snapped.

"Dudley," Harry replied as Dioleh realized that he was going to be asking for every name and looking at each of them. She prayed it would be too dark to recognize either herself or Draco. "Vernon Dudley."

"Check the list, Scabior," Greyback ordered as he came around to Ron. "What about you, Ginger?"

"Stan Shunpike," he lied.

"Like hell you are," Scabior retorted. "We know Stan Shunpike. He's put a bit of work our way." Dioleh flinched again as Ron was hit across the face.

"I'b Barty," Ron said through a busted lip. "Barty Weadley."

"Blood traitor," Greyback scoffed, moving over to Blaise. "You?"

Blaise hesitated only the slightest second before replying, "Matthew Howard."

"List," Greyback snapped, moving over to Andre. "And you, the overzealous boyfriend."

"John Hernandez," Andre spat. Greyback went next to Imani.

"Ebony Chanler," she said. He came next to Dioleh. Her heart was pounding.

"What about you, gorgeous?" he asked. Dioleh shuttered as he took another step closer.

"E-Elena Ortego," she stuttered. Moving on from her, he stood in front of Hermione.

Greyback's tongue ran over his teeth as he approached her and remarked with a growl, "And who are you, girly?" He was eyeing her neck like it was a piece of meat. Dioleh shuttered.

"Easy, Greyback," Scabior warned.

"Oh, I'm not going to bit yet," he replied. "What's your name, girly?"

"Penelope Clearwater," Hermione said shakily, but Dioleh thanked her stars she sounded convincing.

"What's your blood status?" Fenrir asked.

"Half-blood," Hermione lied.

"Easy enough to check," Scabior remarked, flipping through the list. "But the whole lot of them look like they could be Hogwarts age." Greyback didn't respond as he moved over to Draco.

Dioleh held her breath as he studied him carefully before asking, "And who are you?"

"Carson White," Draco replied. He sounded the calmest of all of them but Dioleh could tell he was terrified. Once they had run through all the names on their list, they were each bound together and Dioleh found herself by Draco's side. Drawing in a deep breath, she interlaced her fingers with his as she tried to keep herself calm.

"Not a bad haul for one night," Greyback said, coming back to them. "A Mudblood, a runaway goblin, and eight truants, none of whom are wanted." Dioleh tightened her hold on Draco's hand as she was unable to fidget with her ring as she usually would have done.

"It's all right," he said gently, trying to calm her as he moved his thumb over the side of her hand.

"Hey, look at this!" Scabior called, holding up the Prophet. "Hermione Granger, the Mudblood who is known to be travelling with Harry Potter." Dioleh's heart was thrown into a frenzy as he held up the paper to Fenrir to examine.

"You know what, little girly? This picture looks a hell of a lot like you," Fenrir remarked. Hermione tried desperately to deny it but she was so scared she could no longer lie convincingly. "Well, this changes things, doesn't it?" Greyback crouched in front of Harry and moved his hair out of the way with his wand to look at the stretched-out scar. Dioleh's chest constricted painfully as she tried to force herself to breathe. "What's that on your forehead, Vernon?"

Dioleh realized as their conversation resumed that she was having a full anxiety attack. She couldn't breathe and her heart was racing so fast she rather felt as though she was having a heart attack. As much as she tried to keep to the present, she could no longer focus. Her grip on Draco's hand was now so tight he was losing circulation in his fingers. She was only brought back when she heard Greyback say, "I hear they're using the Malfoy's place as a base. We'll take the boy there." Dioleh let out an audible gasp as she struggled for air. Her eyes flooded with tears that wouldn't fall.

"Shh, shh," Draco whispered, moving his numb thumb over her hand to try and calm her but nothing was working.

"What's wrong?" Hermione whispered in a terrified voice.

"She's having an anxiety attack," Draco explained as the snatchers moved towards them. They were all forced to their feet and grabbed onto tightly. Instantly, they disappeared in the night.