Slytherin's angel

chapter 15- The attack

Many weeks later, on a Friday night, Ashley finished her homework and decided to go see Draco, as she usually did at the week's end. Announcing where she was going, with glares from Ron and Harry and a worried look from Hermione, she walked out of the portrait hole and made her way towards the abandoned East Tower where Draco's quarters were.

Waving and smiling at people she knew as she walked, her heels clicking happily on the floor, Ashley continued winding down the halls. Suits of amour creaked and whined, much in need of being oiled, and portraits talked merrily as they moved about, spreading mindless gossip and pointless bantering. She was getting close, as the number of students was thinning and the castle's movement seemed quiet in the abandoned corridors and classrooms.

Once she had rounded on Draco's portrait, she was quite alarmed to see none of the fairies by their little creek in the woods. She stared hard at it for a moment, scanning the picture, hoping that they were perhaps playing with her. She looked around, at what little amount of portraits decorated the hall, noticing that they were also vacant.

Deciding that she would wait either until the fairies showed up again or Draco did, she slouched against the wall, fumbling with her hands for entertainment.

"You shouldn't be here this late, my lady."

She looked up to see a 16th century Italian merchant, a worried look painted on his face.

"It's not even eight o'clock yet!" She objected in confusion.

"Yes-yes I know." The merchant answered hurriedly, peering down at either end of the hall nervously, "But there is something lurking down here. You need to leave."

"What's down here?" She asked, putting a hand on her hip and raising her eyebrow mockingly.

"We're not sure." He answered, "Whoever- or whatever- it was, hexed us all out of our portraits. They didn't want us to see whatever it was. Please, my lady, go back to where you belong."

"Well, shouldn't you tell someone?" Ashley asked.

"Dumbledore wouldn't waste his time trying to find a student who jinxed our portraits. Don't you think he'd most likely say it was for pure jest?"

"Maybe it is only someone jesting with you." Ashley tried to assure him.

"Suit yourself." The merchant said, a shiver running through him, "But I'm telling you, it's best if you leave."

"Where's Draco?" She asked, hoping he would know who that was.

"He hasn't arrived yet this evening, madam." He answered, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go to Morgan le Fey's portrait, I hear she was quite the sorceress in her day, might offer protection. Good day to you."

Ashley frowned after him, shaking her head. She was sure it was only someone messing around, what was there to be afraid of? Besides, what would there be in Hogwarts that would be lurking down here?

After several moments of sitting, she heard something shift. Her ears pricked up. It sounded like a shuffling of feet coming around the bend to her right.

"Shake it off." She whispered to herself, "You're paranoid."

Quieting her breathing, she heard for it again. But, there it was! Like someone was trying to get closer to her without her hearing.

"Who's there?" She called down to the dark corridor.

She struggled to her feet, cursing her loud heels on the stone floor.

"I said who's there?"

Silence.

"Lumos!" A thin beam of light emitted from her wand tip, but it wasn't strong enough to carry down the corridor.

Half of her told her to walk away, that she was getting that knotting feeling in her stomach for a reason. The other half, her courageous Gryffindor half, told her that it was nothing to worry about, probably someone's cat loose from a dormitory.

But cats can't jinx portraits, a fearful voice told her. She shuddered, trying to quiet her buzzing mind.

With every step she took, the dark corridor grew darker. Now, there was hardly any light but the thin beam of blue from her wand, bouncing off the walls, only emitting enough to illuminate the path a few feet in front of her.

She looked back, Draco's portrait and the last torch was a dozen yards away. Complete darkness consumed her.

Her wand caught something on the ground, shining and black. She jumped back when it moved backward further into the darkness. Slowly lifting her wand to her level, she realized that she was standing in front of something. She saw polished shoes, black pants and a cloak. She was wondering why a student was standing there, until she got to their face.

Blaise Zabini.

The scream was trapped in her throat. Black eyes glittered in the wandlight, a malicious smile painted on his face. He lunged on her, but Ashley reflexively punched him in the nose. He howled, kneeling down in pain. Ashley spun on her heel, running as fast as she could, realizing with pure fear that she couldn't run in her footwear, even thought they were her low uniform heels.

She was knocked to the ground when the hem of her robe was pulled back. Trying to catch her fall, she released her wand, as it spun in circles further away from her up the corridor. She reached for it in vain, but it was too far away. Blaise clawed at her robe, pulling her down to him as he dragged across the corridor floor.

"I finally got you, Delacour!" He growled, "Now, I'm going to do to you what you did to me!"

"I didn't even touch you!" She screeched, struggling to reach for her wand. Blaise was so forceful on her robes that he ripped them. Squirming out of them, she crawled to her wand, but Blaise was quicker. Pulling on her ankle he dragged her further away, back down to the darkness. An ear splitting scream broke the silence of their struggle, but no one could hear her, there were no portraits to aid her.

She could feel his hands on her calves as he pulled on her, she turned around on her back, kicking at him furiously. With a sickening pop he pulled on her shoes, twisting them until a pain shot up her legs. The heels were her only defense, now she had nothing but twisted ankles. Her skirt started to ride up, the ice cold floor on the back of her thighs made her breath catch in her throat. She moaned in pain as he pulled on her ankles, further and further down the corridor. Her vision blurred with tears as she realized what she had to do.

Blaise stopped feet from the shadows in which she found him. Figuring it was far enough and impairing her so that she could not run, he knelt down besides her, looking down into her blue eyes.

"I knew the moment you stepped in this castle." He said, trailing a finger down her cheek, down her neck and through the opening of her shirt. It made her shiver violently, but she remained still. Hot tears slid out of the corner of her eyes, "That you would be a prize to be won. Unfortunately, Malfoy got you. I had to step back; I had to watch as he paraded you around the school. Now, I'm going to get my turn."

His hot breath blew back her hair as he came down on her, kissing furiously at her cheeks.

Just a little closer, she told her trembling self, hold on.

His ear came right next to her mouth as he kissed her neck, his hand on her skirt as he started to lift it up.

She took a deep breath.

And screamed.

Blaise yelled in agony as he stumbled back, his hands clawing at his ears.

"You bitch!" His almond eyes sparked with fire.

Ashley took her chance. Ignoring the pain that shot through her legs, she dashed for her wand. She was in arm's reach when she was slammed back down onto the hard concrete. Her vision blurred as her head spun violently, tossing the ceiling and floor all over the place. It took every ounce of self-control to ignore his hungry hands on her. She made one last ditch effort to grab for her wand.

The fourteen inch piece of fir never felt so good until that moment. She knew what she needed to do, but it would require every ounce of happiness she could muster.

Blaise was crawling back to her quickly. She closed her eyes, thinking of the happiest thing she could. Draco's image flooded her mind, his pearly white smile and warm embrace encompassed her thoughts.

Blaise had a hold of her again, reaching to pry her wand from her hand.

"Draco." She cried weakly, pointing the wand into the air, "Expecto Patronum!"

A thin film of white emitted from the tip. A pencil thin object started to spin from it, then it grew thicker and thicker to reveal a horn. Within seconds, a horse's head sprouted from the wand, its head thrusting, dying to be released from its imprisonment. A unicorn cantered out, snorting and turning back to her, hoofing the ground in her distress.

"Go get Draco!" She cried.

Without another word, the unicorn soundlessly galloped down the corridor, disappearing.

Ashley swung her arms furiously at Blaise's face. Before she could utter a spell, Blaise covered her mouth, preventing her from using her only defense. He pinned her dominant hand above her head, leaving only her left to swing violently at his face. But he was taller than she and was able to stretch far enough away that her swings went unrewarded with making contact with his face. She swung instead at his right arm, trying to knock him in the elbow, anything, but the bend in his arm only contracted to accept her blow, not hurt from it. She could tell by the hardness in his arms that the muscles were having no difficulty recovering from her weak hits.

The look in his face told her that he knew he had only moments, so he better do whatever he was going to...

"Expelliarmus!"

Blaise shot back fifteen feet into the side of the wall, hitting his head with a sickening thud. He covered his face, moaning in agony.

The continuing tears blurred Ashley's vision, but that head of hair was unmistakable...

"Draco." She uttered, struggling to stay conscious, her vision fading in and out as the corridor continued to spin violently.

He moved past her, blind in his rage to her cry. He dropped his wand, grabbing Blaise by the scruff of his neck and swung. She could see blood splattering from Blaise's mouth, grunts from the force of Draco's blows.

She felt a pair of stern hands on her, as a dark figure swept passed her, rushing towards Draco.

"ENOUGH!" Snape's cold voice bellowed, grabbing Draco by the shoulders and pushing him off Blaise. Snape hoisted Blaise up roughly. His face was covered in blood, running down from his forehead and eyes. There were black bruises developing on his face, his left eye was already swollen shut.

"Come on, Delacour, up you go." McGonagall's voice was uneven as she tried to steady the shake in her words as she hoisted her up. The professor picked up her robes, repairing them and handing them back to her. Ashley quickly put them on, eager to hide every bit of flesh from Blaise's eye.

"What is going on here?" Dumbledore boomed, his blue eyes blazing with anger. He looked to Ashley, but she couldn't speak. Dumbledore looked to Draco and Blaise for an explanation.

"You saw the Patronus, Professor, in the Great Hall." Draco stammered, looking at Ashley, "It told me that she was being attacked."

Dumbledore was silent for a moment. Ashley looked away, the blue eyes sparkling with anger so great it almost burned.

"Severus, I trust that you will deal with Mr. Zabini accordingly. Mr. Malfoy, Miss Delacour, please follow me."

"He attacked her!" Draco bellowed at him, lunging at Blaise again. McGonagall left Ashley to help Snape restrain him.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Draco boomed, pushing through the two pairs of arms restraining him.

"Stupefy!"

Ashley watched in horror as she looked to Dumbledore, whose wand stunned Draco into a stupor. Immediately, he went lax in Snape's arms. Dumbledore waved his wand once more, and thin, invisible cords tied around Draco's arms and legs, suspending him in midair, his head bobbing up and down.

McGonagall looked horrified.

"Minerva, it is for his own protection, and for Mr. Zabini's." Dumbledore glowered at Blaise.

McGonagall was unable to remove the highly alarmed look on her face, despite the Headmaster's logic.

"Severus, if you would." Dumbledore nodded.

Snape grabbed Blaise by the scruff. Snape loathed everyone but students in his own house, but now, he looked like he could have killed Blaise himself. Ashley was sure he didn't care about her, but knew that he was beyond embarrassed by the behavior of one of his own.

Once they were gone, Dumbledore turned to her.

"I do not know what you have been through, tonight, Miss Delacour." Dumbledore's voice softened, "But I will have to ask you to relive it when we return to my office."

At this point, Ashley was so relieved in their presence that she couldn't object; she remained silent as Professor McGonagall gently grabbed her by the arm and led her after Dumbledore and Draco's floating body. Looking at him made tears come to her eyes. Where would she have been without him? His image was unbearable to look at, so instead, she turned her gaze downward, watching as the tears stained the dirty floor with wet droplets.


***


She sat down in a chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. Professor McGonagall patted her arm comfortingly. Lowering his wand, he set Draco in the chair beside her. He looked dead: his face was paler than ever and he was stiller than death. She reached out carefully, touching his warm hand.

"Drink this."

She was startled to see Madam Pomfrey thrusting a goblet of liquid into her hand, wondering on where on earth she had come from. She drank without objection, feeling all the tension leaving her muscles. Apart from feeling exhausted, she felt more relaxed that she had in weeks.

"What was that?" She asked her.

"A Calming Draught." Madam Pomfrey told her, shuffling back into her corner, where she eyed her carefully for any more signs of distress.

The Headmaster sat down, taking a deep breath and folding his hands.

"Will you wake him up?" Ashley asked, worried.

"He will only interfere." Dumbledore answered, "Mr. Malfoy has quite the temper, especially when his most cherished things are tampered with."

Ashley looked at him blankly; the meaning of his words were a fog, unable to be pieced together by the sedated witch.

"Once you have recounted your story, I will be happy to rouse him, Miss Delacour." He answered, giving her a grim smile.

Ashley recounted the attack with ease. She didn't feel panicked or afraid. She was aware of how she should have felt and although she tried hard to stir any panicked emotions, she couldn't. The harder she tried, the calmer she felt.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, taking a deep breath before he started asking questions. "Miss Delacour, did Mr. Zabini in any way, make contact with you inappropriately?"

Ashley looked at him. She felt a thousand miles away. Dumbledore's voice sounded as if she was underwater, McGonagall's face was blurred, as she leaned over her and said things to him that she couldn't quite comprehend.

"No, although he tried." Ashley shrugged, "But my ankles are twisted."

She looked down at them for the first time. There were no bruises or physical mark, but they were very swollen.

McGonagall pointed her wand to them silently. The swelling went down immediately as her ankles felt like they were being tightly squeezed. With a cry of surprise, they popped back and then they were fine. Ashley rolled them around, not quite believing that they could be back to normal, but they were.

"Did he say anything to you?" McGonagall asked, leaning over her.

"He just said he was going to embarrass me as much as I embarrassed him last semester." She answered.

McGonagall's mouth thinned into a straight line until she could barely see it. Although the potion calmed her, it didn't stop her from feeling humiliated. She kept her eyes in her lap, not even daring to look at Dumbledore.

"Well, since Mr. Zabini did not physically harm you, other than your ankles and did not hex you, I can do no more than give him detentions for attempted assault. I will assure you, Miss Delacour that he will not attempt to do anything of the sort to you or any other student at this school again." Dumbledore's voice pierced the silence.

She knew, had she not been given the potion, that she would have been infuriated.

"Thank you, Professor." Her voice cracked. Her shoulder slumped as tears, one after the other, fell onto her lap. She covered her mouth to stifle a cry. Closing her eyes tightly, she wished it all away.

What had she ever done to deserve this?

Ashley felt McGonagall's hand on her shoulder once more, but the kind touch couldn't salve her humiliation.

"I would write your parents immediately, but I know your family situation is rather fragile." Dumbledore announced.

Ashley perked up immediately, "Please, don't. They have enough to worry about."

"I'm afraid I feel rather obligated, both personally and according to school code."

"He didn't do anything, Headmaster." Ashley tried desperately, "Only my ankles were hurt."

Dumbledore looked rather set on his idea of writing to them, but possibly reconsidered when she saw how frightened she was for her family. He didn't offer any further words, so Ashley told herself she would find out soon enough if they had been contacted.

But she wasn't worried about her parents at the moment, she was worried about the blond haired boy in the chair next to her, still unconscious.

"Can you wake him up now?" Ashley asked, trying to steer his thoughts from writing her parents, who would surely drop everything and extract her from the school before they were even able to walk into the door.

Dumbledore sighed, waving his wand at Draco.

Ashley struggled to remain her composure as she watched him stir. Opening his eyes, he looked around in confusion, his eyebrows furrowing deeper every time his eyes passed over one of the professors. When he got to her, he went wild.

"Are you alright?" He jumped, shaking her by the shoulders, "What happened?"

"Mr. Malfoy, please." Dumbledore told him calmly, "She is in shock."

The only thing she could offer him was a watery smile, trying to communicate things that were beyond his knowledge as more tears spilled from her eyes.

"Can I go now?" Ashley begged, turning back to Dumbledore. Showing such emotion was growing rather embarrassing, especially in front of the three professors.

Dumbledore eyed her carefully.

"Minerva, if you would escort Miss Delcour-"

"I can do it." Draco piped, grabbing a hold of her sleeve tightly, "I am Head Boy, after all, sir."

Dumbledore looked him over for a moment. Sighing, he refolded his hands and gazed at him over his half moon spectacles.

"Mr. Malfoy, you will not leave her side until she is safely into her dormitory, am I understood?" Dumbledore narrowed his eyes at him.

Draco shook his head. She had never seen him so unnerved. He grabbed her by the arm, leading her out of the room before Dumbledore decided to send escorts after them anyways. As she closed the doors, she could see the three professors talking deeply among themselves.

Draco turned to her once the gargoyle had hopped back onto its slab. She looked blankly up at him. He wanted to hug her until he crushed her bones, but she looked so out of it.

"I'm going to take you back to my room." Draco warned her. "I don't want you to be alone tonight."

"Alright." Ashley shrugged.

"What did they give you?" He spat, angry that she was not reacting the way he was.

"A Calming Potion." She answered sleepily.

Draco couldn't be outraged; he couldn't afford to become angry when she was so lost emotionally. Huffing under his breath, he grabbed her hand gingerly as he started to lead her down the hall. She followed mindlessly, as if she was a ragged dog who moved where her master did.

This time, the fairies were back. They gaped at Ashley, horrified that she had returned where she was attacked moments before. Although whispers bounced off the frame of their portrait, they couldn't bring themselves to comment. Not even Morganne, who usually provided a snide remark, offered silence on the situation.

He pulled her through the archway, spinning around to embrace her in a bone crushing hug. She couldn't breathe, but the need to push from him for air was once again suppressed by the potion running through her veins.

He growled in her ears, "I swear to you, I'll kill him!"

"You will not." She lowered her voice.

He looked at her in disbelief, stepping back from her.

"How are you so calm about his?" He spat, "What's wrong with you?"

"I told you I was given a Calming Potion!" She yelled at him, balling her fists. The potion was wearing off quickly, however, as she glared at him.

He shook his head, running his hands through his hair.

"I told you, I told you!" He boomed, pulling at his hair angrily as he paced the room feverishly, "I told you shouldn't have messed with him! I was right all along!"

She gritted her teeth, trying to remain calm as the last effects wore off.

"That's what you have to say to me?" She scoffed, "He attempted to violate me, and all you care about is being right? You're an asshole, Draco Malfoy!"

Draco froze as Ashley turned to leave the portrait. He grabbed at her, squeezing her arm gently as he forced her to face him again.

His glare softened. He knew she didn't need this right now. All he wanted was her in his arms, and he was pushing her away when she needed it most.

"I'm sorry." He stammered, hugging her gently.

Ashley felt him shudder against her.

"I just love you so much, that's all."