Chapter 38: Pulling Rank
"How is this affecting Malfoy?" Ron demanded, as he Apparated the point where his little sister and Draco had vanished to, seconds earlier. He was scowling, annoyed that Ginny had left so carelessly the minute she was finaly safe. Harry and Hermione soon followed, a series of pops filled the air as the rest of the contingent followed a minute behind them. Ginny turned from where she was kneeling beside Draco, who had gone extremely white and whose breath was coming out in ragged gaps.
"Because it's his land. He's responsible for the unicorns. It was a loaded agreement that was originally made by our ancestor, so many centuries ago. They offered him shelter, and he was to protect them in return. If that protection ever failed-"
"-There's no time for a bloody history lesson, Vincent," Draco groaned from the ground. He pushed himself up, shrugging away Ginny's outstretched hand ready to help him. He staggered forward, surveying the area. They were about a hundred yards from the centre of the maze. He shuddered in agony - he could feel the burning pain coursing through their bodies. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his rage. If he could ignore the pain and focus on his anger (how dare that bloody would-be Squib even try to hurt something that was his?), he might be able to stop this.
He took a step forward and swore candidly as he felt the pressure of a magical barrier stopping him from moving any further. He looked around wildly, the sounds of the conversations happening all around him were a blur. There was only one thingi n the world right now - the need to get to the center of the maze and kill that bastardonce and for al.
"How did he get through the spells? I thought we recast them!" Hermione wondered out loud, causing a series of theories to be thrown out.
"Something must have caused them to fail, or weaken in some way. A large burst of magic anywhere in the forest cand od that, I suppose," Vincent theorized. Ginny felt her blood freeze at that , remembering the blast of power she'd unleashed when Neville had had his wand pointed straight at Draco, just as he had been about to curse him. She'd used it without even thinking, it had been a reaction. A reaction meant to save Draco. And now it seemed it might be the reason he might die.
She forced herself to look at him, as he stood slightly slumped over, staring through the trees, as if the mere look of absolute hatred he was casting in that direction would be enough to stop Neville. He looked up, meeting her eyes, and she had to turn away as she took in his strained, whie face. A slight trickle of blood had started to drip from his nose.
"We have to take down the spells that are keeping us out. You said a blast of energy might be able to work?" Harry asked, looking at the group. Ron and Hermione nodded, instantly eager to have a plan and a purpose.
"It won't work. At least nothing th three of you could must would work anymore. The power of the unicorns, now that their number has significantly diminished, is a lot weaker. And he's a lot stronger, because he's using their blood to make him so. There would need to be about a hundred of you to have any effect right now," Draco's low voice said, silencing the hastily thought up plan.
"Unless it was from the other side of the barrier," Vincent said. All heads turned in his direction, watching his gray eyes as they were iluminated, making it clear that the wheels in his head were turning. "If you are on his side of the barrier, you wouldn't need as significant an amount of energy."
"Malfoy, you got through the barrier before. Can you do it again?" Ron asked. Draco just shot him a look out of the corner of his eyes, and grunted, before another wave of pain overwhelmed him.
"The last time was different because it was Virginia who was casting the barrier," Vincent explained.
"He needed me to keep all of you out while he did..well, what he's doing now," Ginny said, shuddering against the horror of the thought.
"But why would he need you, Ginny?" Ron asked. Ginny paused for a moment, before she remembered the wand she'd been using while under the effects of the trance, and suddenly, it all became clear.
"Because of Slytherin. He's pledged to serve Salazar Slytherin. He's a servant to him, he's made a pledge to be loyal to him and all, but despite all that, Neville's still a Gryffindor. That's why the wand wouldn't have worked for him. But because I'm connected to Slytherin - because I was technically the last Heir of Slytherin - he needed me there. To oversee it, I guess, because he's not a Slytherin, they can't completely trust him, even though he's pledged to them. I'm higher on the pecking order of it all, I guess you could say I outrank him," she said, the thought clearly disgusting her.
"That's all well and good, Gin, but we need someone to get on the other side of that barrier and take it down," Ron said, his voice strained and awkward-sounding, as it always was whenever someone brought up the events of the Chamber of Secrets.
"Neville's not going to let anyone just stroll in and blast his spell apart. We need someone who has some level of control over him,' Harry said, his eyes flicking momentarily at Ginny, who caught the look and nodded solemnly. Harry had made it clear what she had to do.
"Absolutely not!" Draco roared, so suddenly, with more energy than he'd been able to muster since he'd made the horrible revelation that the unicorns were indeed being attacked, that it startled everyone. They all looked to see him glaring at Ginny, and ignoring everyone else.
"It's the only way, Draco. No one else will be able to get through!" Ginny said softly, desperately trying to summon the strength to look away from the silvery eyes boring into hers. He wouldn't look away and he wasn't lettting her look away either.
"No. We'll find another way. Ginny, you've used enough of that magic tonight, I don't know how much more you have of it! It's so powerful because you've been holding it in all these years, but if it runs out -- you run out. Do you understand, Ginny?" he demanded fiercely.
"Do you want me to just stand here while we hang around like idiots and plot how to fix this? It's the ONLY WAY," she said, an air of finality in her voice. Ron suddenly realized what they were discussing.
"Malfoy's right, Gin. There's absolutely no way we're letting you go in there!" Ron yelled. Ginny sighed in exasperation, and just turned away from them all, silencing the debate, and she began to walk forward, searching for the edge instinctively with her magic. She could sense where it began, and felt it being to push her away, but she pressed on.
A hard, tight grip encircled her hand, and she was swung around fiercely, yanked away from the edge. She glared up at Draco's hard eyes, staring down at her in turn.
"I'm not letting you do this. We'll find another way," he said, his voice hard and cold. And pleading. She sighed.
"I'm sorry, Draco. There is no other way," she said regretfully, giving him a weak smile before she unleashed a burst of power, throwing him backwards as he was caught off guard. Before anyone else could stop her, she turned and ran, straight into the barrier.
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