Challenged Love

Chapter 35

Eventually, the light from my wand faded out, and the darkness swallowed us whole. The door creaked slightly open as Draco peaked around. That's when I heard quickened footsteps and two familiar voices.

"Draco?" Blaise questioned as if he believed he were just seeing things.

He cautiously opened the door to reveal the two of us stuffed in the closet.

"Thank goodness!" cried Lara.

"You guys are safe," I breathed a sigh of relief.

For a second I thought they had been captured. I thought-

"Let's just use the window," Draco suggested. "We can't take a chance going back."

I retrieved my wand from the closet just as Blaise used "Alohomora" to fling open the window. It was still dark outside, so I assumed me and Draco had been hiding for a few hours, which had felt like years in that tiny closet. After our little- uh, incident-, we sort of snapped back to reality, staying on guard in case we were discovered and anticipating the worst. But now, the window was opened, and freedom was calling my name.

At the end of the hallway, Narcissa stood watching us, smidges of blond revealing itself out from under her dark hair. Even at such a late hour, she appeared as ethereal as ever in the dim lighting of Malfoy Manor.

"Be careful," she called out to us from across the hallway, then retreated around the corner.

Next thing I knew, the four of us were dashing across the lawn on our way to freedom. However, something in the grass caught my eye, causing my breath to hitch. Two tombstones that looked identical, both a deep gray stone, with names engraved into each of them. The first one read Kasper Norman. I realized I was standing over my own cousin's grave. A mix of emotions overtook me, a gut wrenching feeling I couldn't shake as I was brought back to so many memories. Then, I noticed the other gravestone, which read Holly Rosewood.

A hand placed on my shoulder. It was Lara.

"Let's go," she whispered, though her words were drowned out by the wind.

I wish I could have had at least five more minutes, just five minutes to visit his grave, to talk with him one last time. But time was a luxury in such demanding circumstances.

"This way!" Draco called out to us.

We then sprinted through the back gate and into the surrounding forest. We ran past several more trees, tripping over sticks and branches as we did so. Finally, Draco stopped, uncovering an old shoe buried in the dirt.

"Yes! The port key! Right where I left it," he celebrated.

I raised a brow but didn't say anything.

"Where will the port key take us?" Blaise asked, urgency in his tone.

"Somewhere far away," Draco answered quickly. "Just grab on!"

As I held onto the portkey, the world swayed and swirled and blurred away in an instant. My feet then hit the ground with a thud, and I fell to my hands and knees. From what I could see as I lifted my head up, we were in an open field, no sign of more human life or civilization. The wind played at my hair, and the grass swayed beneath me.

"Where do we go now?"

Blaise had asked the most demanding question, the one thing we all wondered the most. But no one could answer. None of us knew. All we knew was that we had to go somewhere.

All I could see for miles was forest area and flower fields. I collapsed on my side, lying on the grass. At that point, I did not care if bugs crawled into my brains; I just could not find the strength to hold myself anymore. The night was chilly, but peaceful; dark, but gentle. Stars twinkled overhead. The moon was glowing as if the sun were in its place. The bright light grew closer and closer, so close I thought it might blind me. It then shone directly on my face.