Draco Malfoy's Two Months in Muggle Land

Chapter 8: Week Seven: Helpless

Week Seven: Helpless

The first thing Draco thought when he regained consciousness was, I feel like I just had the sky fall on me. It took him a few minutes to remember that that was very nearly what had actually happened. When his headache receded a little and his vision became less blurry, the young boy liked around as best he could, trying to assess the situation. From what he could remember, he had been on his way out of the cinema when he heard voices shouting curses. He vaguely remembered the ceiling giving an almighty groan, and then nothing. A Death Eater attack, he thought, as he looked around at the damage. A small shaft of light penetrated the otherwise dark area, allowing him to make out the extent of the devastation. He was surrounded by huge piles of rubble, which reached all the way up to what was left of the ceiling. Water was dripping from somewhere, freezing the lower half of his body. People were lying everywhere, most of whom were beneath piles of concrete. The sight made the young wizard slightly nauseous, and he had to breathe heavily for a few minutes before his stomach settled enough for him to move. When he did, he let out a groan of pain as agony burst through his head. Gingerly touching his forehead, he pulled his hand away and looked at the congealed blood on his fingers. Something must have hit me, he thought, looking at the gore, but at least I'm better off than most.

After a few minutes of collecting himself, he gingerly sat up and looked around. It suddenly occurred to him that Evelyn and her family was nowhere to be found. Panicking slightly, he frantically started to shift the debris off of the people lying dead and unconscious, seeking a familiar face. He groaned in frustration when he realised that he wouldn't be able to move anything with magic. That sudden thought prompted him to remove his wand from his trouser pocket, and he let out a sigh of relief when he found it to be unbroken. With a groan of frustration, and little else to do as he had moved all he could manually, he pointed the wand at the nearest rock and muttered to himself.

" Well, it's not like it'll do anything, but Wingardium Leviosa."

Much to his surprise, the small chunk of concrete wobbled a few times before unsteadily lifting off the floor slightly. Draco was so surprised that he let out a small yelp and the rock fell to the floor once more. The young wizard looked at his wand in disbelief, before shakily pointing it at a larger chunk and repeating the spell. This time, the concrete shuddered violently and levitated slightly, but not as much as the other had. Deciding to give it one last try, Draco aimed at a large boulder covering a young woman, and said the spell in a strong voice. The debris vibrated slightly, but nothing else happened.

" Great," he murmured in frustration, " My magic's starting to come back, but it's too weak to be of any use."

Slightly disheartened, Draco tried a few more spells to see what he could do, soon realising that he could perform some of the first year, low level spells, but to a limited extent. His most successful was the Lumos spell, which enabled him to conduct a more thorough search of the area in the hopes of finding his friend. He eventually located her not too far from where he had woken up. She had a large cut of her head, much like he did, but other than that she seemed unharmed. Rushing over, he knelt next to the small girl and brushed matted hair out of her face, and laid her down more comfortably before trying an Enervate spell. She seemed to stir at first, but then drifted back to unconsciousness. After a few more tries of the spell, Draco managed to wake her with a light shake. Groaning, she pushed herself into a sitting position and took in her surroundings, looking at Draco with a small frown creasing her forehead.

" What happened?"

" The roof collapsed. We're stuck in here."

" Why did the roof collapse?"

There was a question Draco really didn't want to answer. If he told her the truth, she wouldn't believe him, and if he lied to her, and she later discovered the truth, she wouldn't be happy with him. Telling her the truth was a bad idea as well, though, as Draco knew how people's minds worked. If he told her that wizards had attacked them, and revealed that he too was a wizard, she might hate him for it. He knew he was being irrational, but she was his first real friend, and he didn't want to risk losing her. He settled for telling her a half truth.