our little angel

The Whispering Woods - Part 10

Age:12
Words 746
Summary: Draco heals Lola first and then they all figure out what's going on with Raven and the bark magic. Since Lola is the smart one

Draco burst through the doors of Malfoy Manor, his heart hammering as he carried Lola in his arms. Blood stained her robes, her face was pale, and she barely stirred as he laid her down on the long couch in the sitting room.

Mattheo staggered in behind him, clutching Raven against his chest. She hadn’t moved. Hadn’t made a sound. And that silence terrified him.

“Put her on the table,” Draco ordered. His voice was sharp, focused—his Slytherin instincts taking over. Raven was dying. But before he could save her, he had to heal Lola first. She was their best chance at understanding what had happened.

Mattheo hesitated for a fraction of a second before carefully laying Raven down. He ran a shaking hand through his hair, his entire body trembling as he knelt beside her.

Draco turned back to Lola, his wand already raised. Her breathing was ragged, shallow. The dark tendrils of magic had left angry burns along her skin, and Draco gritted his teeth.

“You’re going to be fine, Lo,” he muttered, pressing his wand to her side. “Vulnera Sanentur.”

The spell glowed brightly as it worked to mend her broken ribs and seal the burns on her skin. But the dark magic resisted.

Draco’s jaw clenched. “Oh, you want to fight?” he growled at the lingering darkness. “Fine. Let’s see who wins.”

He poured more magic into the spell, his entire body tensed with determination. The burns began to fade, the bruises softened, and after a few agonizing moments—Lola gasped, sucking in a deep breath.

Her eyes snapped open.

Draco nearly collapsed in relief.

“Draco…” she whispered, blinking at him in confusion.

“You’re okay,” he told her firmly, brushing her hair out of her face. “You scared the hell out of me.”

Lola groaned as she slowly pushed herself up, flinching at the soreness in her ribs. But then her eyes landed on the silent form of her daughter on the table.

Her stomach dropped.

“Raven.”

Mattheo’s head snapped up at the sound of her voice. **He looked like hell—**his hands shaking, his face pale, his eyes wild with desperation.

“She’s not waking up,” he choked out. “Draco tried healing her, but it—it’s not just her injuries, Lola. It’s something else.”

Lola forced herself to move, ignoring the pain still lingering in her body. She knelt beside the table, her fingers trembling as she brushed Raven’s messy black curls away from her face.

She was ice cold.

Her breathing was too faint.

And worst of all, Lola could still feel the dark magic clinging to her like a parasite.

“This isn’t just a curse,” Lola whispered, eyes narrowing. “This is something… deeper. Something ancient.”

Draco frowned. “What do you mean?”

Lola exhaled shakily, her mind already racing.

“I felt it,” she said slowly. “When I was in the woods. It wasn’t just an attack—it was a trap.” Her gaze darkened as she looked between them. “That magic wanted something from Raven.”

Mattheo’s breath hitched. “Why her?”

Lola hesitated. She had a theory. But saying it out loud made it too real.

“…Because she summoned him.”

Draco’s head snapped toward her. “What?”

Lola’s hands curled into fists. “Voldemort,” she whispered. “She’s the reason he came back. She didn’t mean to—but the magic in those woods is connected to something much older than him. And now it’s taken something from her in return.”

Mattheo paled. “Taken what?”

Lola hesitated. Then, softly, she said, “Her soul.”

The room plunged into silence.

Mattheo shook his head. “No. No, that’s not—” He pressed his hands against Raven’s tiny shoulders, desperate for her to wake up. “She’s still breathing! Her heart is still beating! That means—”

“It means she’s alive,” Lola said carefully. “But not fully.”

Mattheo swallowed hard, his throat burning. “So how do we fix it?”

Lola took a slow breath. “We have to find out exactly what took her soul,” she murmured. “And then we have to bring it back.”

Draco’s expression darkened. “And how the hell do we do that?”

Lola met his gaze.

“We go back into the woods.”

Mattheo clenched his fists.

They had no choice.

If they wanted to save Raven—if they wanted to get her back—they had to face the darkness once again.