The Siren's Call (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

163. Making Plans

The rhythmic crashing of the waves against the sand was calming to Dioleh as she sat outside in a lawn chair, taking in the sunlight as Harry and Draco practised duelling together to pass the time. It was the first morning she had been able to, with a little assistance, get down the stairs on her own two feet. After watching the boys for a while, Dioleh shifted her gaze out to where Imani and Andre were laying in the water, splashing each other and having fun. She smiled. She had not seen sirens play together at the surface since she was a very young child.

Drawing in a deep breath, Dioleh got to her feet and attempted a few steps before tripping slightly, causing Draco to look away from Harry just as he cast a disarming spell. Ignoring the wand that flew from his hand, Draco rushed forward to help Dioleh. "Dray, I'm fine," she insisted but she allowed him to help her down to the water. Once laying down, she transformed and moved back in the water. It was only then that Draco noticed the full extent of the damage from three days ago. Red marks covered Dioleh's chest and stomach in strange, jagged lines. Self-consciously, Dioleh turned onto her stomach, hiding the marks from sight.

Once he was sure she was all right, Draco returned to Harry, taking his wand back. They had found after speaking to Ollivander, that the wand, which had belonged to Narcissa, seemed to have shifted its loyalty to Draco soon after leaving its mistress' grip. After spending some time in the water, Dioleh decided to return to the house and with Imani's help, got back up the stairs to the little room she, Hermione, and Imani were sharing. Once Dioleh had settled on the bed, the door opened and Draco, Blaise, and Andre joined them.

After they had all settled, Blaise looked around the group and said, "Potter wants to break into Gringotts." There was a long silence.

"Are you serious?" Imani replied, brows furrowed. "Why?"

"He reckons Bellatrix only cared about her vault so much because it has another Horcrux," Blaise explained. "She probably doesn't know what it is, but she probably knows that he cares a lot about it."

"How can we help?" Dioleh asked, shifting slightly to ease her discomfort.

"You aren't doing anything until you're healed," Draco countered.

As Doleh opened her mouth to protest, Imani said, "Dio, he's right. You need to recover first."

"Look, I don't know that any of us should help," Blaise admitted.

"What?" Andre said in confusion. "Blaise, we're here to help them hunt down Horcruxes."

"I know, but think about it," Blaise countered. "There are five of us, eight including Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Don't you think a break-in would go a lot better with only three people? They're planning on tricking them with disguises."

"So, what should we do in the meantime?" Draco asked.

"Why not go after the one in Hogwarts," Blaise suggested. "We can wait until Dioleh is recovered and then figure out how to get inside the castle. That's where Dumbledore reckoned one was, didn't he? So the other three get one in the Lestrange vault, we get the one in Hogwarts, and then we can sort out that snake of his. Then, Harry goes off and snuffs out You-Know-Who and bam, the war is over."

"Getting a bit ahead of yourself, aren't you?" Draco countered.

"Look, it's the best use of our time," Blaise said, shooting Draco a glare.

"You talk to Harry about any of this yet?" Andre asked.

"No, but I will," Blaise replied. "If we all agree."

"I'm down," Draco replied.

"Me too," Imani agreed.

"Same," Andre added. They all looked at Dioleh.

After hesitating a moment, she replied, "All right."

There was a firm knock on the door as Dioleh shifted again and Imani quickly called, "Come in." The door opened and Bill appeared in the doorway with Fleur.

Shutting the door behind him, he said, "Good, you're all here. I need to speak with you all. Frankly, we don't have tons of room here and we're trying to move as many people as we can to my Aunt Muriel's house. I know Harry is planning something, but I need to know if all of you are in on that plan."

"No," Blaise replied. "That's what we were just discussing. We have something else we need to go take care of. We're just waiting until Dioleh's recovered."

"If you need us to relocate until she's better, we can go," Imani said. "We know we've put a lot of extra stress on you and your wife."

"We don't mind too terribly," Bill replied. "If it's not too much trouble to move you to Muriel's, it really would help us all out here."

"Then we'll do that," Dioleh replied kindly. "Thank you for everything, Bill."

"Of course," he replied. "I'll contact my aunt and you five can leave with Mr. Ollivander tomorrow evening."

"Thanks again," Draco said. "I know it can't be easy to have us here, especially me."

Bill was silent a moment before he finally admitted, "Actually, Draco, I need to have a word with you about that."

"Why?" Dioleh retorted, sending an anxious look between them. Other than going slightly pale, Draco had no other reaction.

"A member of the Order is coming tonight," Bill explained, his gaze never leaving Draco's. "We need to know everything you do about You-Know-Who."

"Right," Draco said, swallowing. "Of course."