The Siren's Call (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

162. Respite

The moment they landed on solid earth, Draco lay Dioleh down on the sand and crouched beside her. Cupping her cheeks, he whispered, "Dioleh? Dioleh. Dioleh!" He was panicking as he shook her slightly. Several figures rushed towards them, drawn there by Harry's grieving yells for the house-elf with a knife in his gut. Bill quickly went to where he could see Draco crouched over who he quickly recognized as Dioleh.

Ignoring his confusion, he quickly crouched down beside her and said, "We need to get her inside." Draco nodded, not moving his gaze from her face as he and Bill got her up and inside the cottage. Imani and Andre quickly rushed over to him as he came inside with Dioleh. At the sight of her, Imani let out a kind of scream. Fleur, however, rushed forward and with Draco's help, got her in a bedroom and instantly began doing all she could to revive her. After a while, she left and Draco moved to Dioleh's side. With a painful swallow, he took her hand in his and interlaced their fingers as Andre, Blaise, and Imani joined.

About an hour or so had passed when the door opened and Harry entered. "How is she?" he asked quietly.

"She hasn't woken up yet," Imani said. No one else seemed able to speak.

"I'm going to kill her," Draco growled darkly. "I'm going to kill Bellatrix for what she did."

"Draco," Blaise said gently. "Now is not the time for revenge. You need to be there for Dioleh when she wakes up. I've seen the mental effect that curse can have on people. You need to be prepared for anything."

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Bill with sitting in the living room with Ron, Hermione, and Fleur when Blaise came down the stairs and took a seat with them. "How's Dioleh?" Hermione asked quickly.

"Still unconscious," Blaise replied. "Draco's with her now."

"Escaped Death Eater Draco?" Bill asked with a raised eyebrow. Blaise and Ron shared cautious looks.

"Er," Ron said awkwardly. "Sorry, Bill, but we can't tell you anything."

"Alright, that's it," Bill said, getting to his feet.

Just as he headed for the door, Harry appeared and said, "I need to speak to Griphook and Ollivander."

"No," retorted Fleur, also getting to her feet. "You will 'ave to wait, 'Arry. Zey are both ill, tired-"

"I'm sorry," Harry said patiently. "But it can't wait. I need to talk to them now. Privately and separately."

"Harry, what the hell is going on?" Bill snapped. "You turn up here with a dead house-elf, a half-concious goblin, an escaped and wanted Death Eater, Dioleh, who is supposedly dead, looks as though she's been tortured, and Ron's just refused to tell me anything."

"We can't tell you what we're doing," Harry said. "You're in the Order, Bill. You know Dumbledore left us a mission. We're not supposed to talk about it to anyone else."

Bill was silent a long moment before he finally said, "Alright, who do you want to talk to first?"

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Dioleh was just waking up when Draco heard footsteps moving past them into the room across the hall. As she stirred, Dioleh's breathing picked up, but Draco quickly took her hand in his as he said gently, "Sh, love. You're safe. Everything's all right." Her eyes fluttered open to meet his as he ran his thumb soothingly over the back of her hand.

"Everything hurts," she whispered as tears came to her eyes. Draco's heart twisted painfully in his chest as he leaned forward to wipe away her tears.

"It's all right, you're safe," he said again, moving her hair out of her face. He had no idea what else he could possibly say. "I'm so sorry, Dioleh."

"It's not your fault," she replied weakly. Opening her eyes wider, she looked around the room and asked, "Where are we?"

"Shell Cottage," Draco explained. "Bill and Fleur live here."

"And is everyone okay?" Dioleh asked.

"Yeah, they're okay," Draco replied with a smile. With a small laugh, he said, "Of course, you had to go and be dramatic and almost die." Despite his attempt at a joke, his eyes watered slightly.

"Dray," Dioleh whispered, raising her hand to his cheek. "I'm all right. I will heal."

"She almost killed you," Draco whispered shakily, attempting to hold back his tears as Dioleh ran her thumb over his cheek.

"But she didn't," Dioleh said. "I assume that had something to do with you?"

"Dobby came," Draco explained. "He got most everyone out of the cellar and here while Harry, Ron, and I stayed behind to save you. Then he dropped a chandelier on you. He didn't mean to hurt you, he was just trying to get Bellatrix to let you go so we could escape. Then we came here."

"Where is Dobby?" Dioleh asked.

"He's gone," Draco said tearfully. "He died saving us." Dioleh let out a long sigh, lowering her hand from his cheek to interlace their fingers instead.

"Hermione's okay, though, right?" Dioleh asked. "And Imani, Blaise, and Andre?"

"They're all perfectly fine," Draco promised. He couldn't help but smile slightly as he thought about the fact that Dioleh, bedridden after having been tortured and not strong enough to walk on her own, was still was more concerned with her sister and her friends. The door behind them opened and Harry and Hermione stepped inside.

"Dioleh," Hermione said excitedly, rushing towards her. After a strange embrace, as Dioleh didn't want to try sitting up, she asked, "How do you feel?"

"All right," Dioleh replied.

Rolling his eyes playfully, Draco countered, "You just told me everything hurts and you were in a lot of pain."

"Oh, shut it, Dray," Dioleh said with an amused smile.

"Oh, yes, she's back to normal," Harry said with a grin.

In the open doorway, Bill appeared and said, "Breakfast is ready if you all want to head down. Fleur is bringing you up a tray, Dioleh."

"Thank you," she replied with a warm smile.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," Hermione said, kissing Dioleh's forehead before heading out the door with Harry.

"You should go," Dioleh said, slightly nudging Draco when she saw that he wasn't making a move to follow after them for food. "Eat."

"I'm not-" he began.

"Dray, go eat," Dioleh interrupted. "I can survive a few moments without your presence."

"You are quite stubborn, you know that?" Draco replied with an amused smile.

"You love it, don't lie," Dioleh countered. Draco bit back a smile before getting to his feet.

"I'll be back as soon as I'm done, okay?" he said.

"Yes, yes," Dioleh said dismissively, waving him off.