LUST | dramione

27 | Levicorpus

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C H A P T E R  T W E N T Y - S E V E N | Levicorpus

spell. hangs victim from their feet.

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DRACO STANDS AT THE FOREST'S EDGE.

Clouds conceal the moon above and darkness floods the field between the forest and the rundown castle, giving him ample protection from a couple of guards waiting just outside of the entrance. As they chat, very loudly he might add, Draco sneaks through the tall grass. When he assumes he is within range, he draws his wand and strikes the guard on the right with Stupefy before doing the same to the other, but not before the man lets out a holler. He crouches in the grass and watches as the door swings open.

A figure is washed in light from behind, casting their face in shadow. It is their voice that gives away their identity.

"I am giving you this single moment to reveal yourself," Y'Zara shouts into the darkness.

Draco's heart thuds against his chest but he does not answer her call. He continues to watch her through the rustling grass.

She raises her arm and a molten glow of orange bursts from her wand aggressively, like the cork coming off of a champagne bottle.

The stretch of light, he realizes, is fire. An angry face morphs at the head of the beast, forcing Draco to relive the last time he experienced an assault by Fiendfyre. He falls back on his bottom, unable to move suddenly. His eyes widen as he watches the beast consume the western most end of the field. Next it would come for him.

Without any knowledge of a counter-curse, Draco scrambles from the grass and runs for the castle where he proceeds to bang on the door loudly. His eyes continue to flash to the fire as it continues scorching a path through the foliage. Suddenly he is dragged inside of the castle by the arm. His eyes rise to Ignatio's and he is filled with dread. However the man drops him from his grasp as Y'Zara joins them.

"I take it that Daddy fell through." She says this with a sickening grin. "With that thing destroying nearly everything in sight, it would be best to start heading out of here. We'll do the ceremony somewhere else, under the glow of the moon."

Draco eyes her suspiciously as he is forced into the fireplace, but he remains quiet.

"Where are we going?"

That grin returns to her face as she tells him, "Malfoy Manor."

He tosses down the Floo powder before feeling the familiar whoosh of action as his body is pulled through time and space to the cold Manor that has laid abandoned for days. As soon as he steps out of the hearth, a poof of smoke erupts and Y'Zara joins him in the formal sitting room.

"Come," she says without waiting for her goon. Her heels tap loudly on the floors as she leads them to the backyard.

They approach the center of the lush garden.

His eyes fall on the flowers that his mother so dearly admires, and he whispers an apology for what is about to happen in her beloved sanctuary. But, he knows that if he just accepts his fate, she can be saved. They can all be saved, he reminds himself bitterly.

Y'Zara stops and turns swiftly on her heel, her dark eyes flashing as she uses her wand to light up the small lanterns that hang above their heads in the gazebo.

"So, are you going to give me some sort of potion with your spit in it, or what?"

She laughs.

"If only it were that easy. No, I will be changing shortly. I expect you to withstand a bite and then render me unconscious. If you fail to do that last bit, I can't say what I will do to you." Her teeth glisten in the amber glow.

"You can't control yourself?"

Her smile fades.

"Fenrir was the only werewolf I ever saw control his urges. He was a killer, but unlike everyone else, he was calculated and coherent. Once, he told me of a man who hated werewolves so much that he condoned their immediate deaths. In his wolf form, Fenrir slipped inside this man's home and bit the man's child to teach him a lesson. He didn't even kill the kid, just damned him to a life of pain and prejudice. You'll have the same level of control as the rest of us, but honestly, don't get your hopes up. I'm sure Hermione won't hold her breath either."

The mention of Hermione sends a flurry of conflicting thoughts through his mind, reflections of arguments he's had with himself for months now. At the forefront of these thoughts come the hope that Theo has kept her safe in New York, away from all of this.

"If you love her so much, why are you keeping Greengrass around? She's easy on the eyes but Merlin be damned if she isn't the complete opposite of you. It's the purity thing, isn't it?" Her dark eyes scan him as he scowls.

"I don't even know anymore." He sighs, leaning against the gazebo pillar. He gazes up at the clouds that threaten to break away from the moon. "Before this whole mess with my father and you, I had the notion that my life would go on. I'd graduate and return home to take over my father's work with the Ministry. Get married and grow old. I didn't have desires to rock the boat, but it seems misery intends to follow me."

Y'Zara is quiet as she mulls over his response. She, too, leans against one of the pillars.

"What's the plan now then? Joining the Vukovi means a lot more than withstanding a bite and monthly transformations. We're a mafia of sorts and each member has a requirement to pull their own weight. Money, food, conflicts with other packs - can't do that with a kid and wifey on your tail."

He knows what joining this pack means, and without any other choice, he nods.

"I know what this entails and I am ready to assume my role in the pack."

Her twisted grin returns as she pushes herself from the pillar. Her arms unfold from her chest in time to catch her before she hits the concrete floor. Her body vibrates for a moment before the sound of splintering bones and cracking joints begin to rip through her body. Her limbs elongate and contort into abnormal positions. The dark hair on her head shrinks while matching fur sprouts from the pale exposed flesh. Her head whips upward and the lantern glow reveals piercing yellow eyes and sharp fangs dripping with saliva.

For the first several seconds all Draco can do is stare. He's never seen anything like this and this was about to become a monthly ritual for him. But as the transformation comes to a fearsome conclusion, he extracts his wand with a shaking hand, prepared to do what is necessary to make his sacrifice worthwhile.

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