Pariah: The Other Malfoy

Chapter 71: Blood

I glanced at my three friends who had all gone pale at the realisation. They were never expected to return from this detention, I was expected to kill them.

"Yer jus' kids," Hagrid was crying, his voice choked, "I'd give yeh my wand if I could, 'cept Snape knew where I kept it, an' he took it from me at the start o' the year."

He had taken us deep into the Forest to the point where our bonds fell to the ground. That was as far as the Carrows wanted us to be, that was their indication. I stared up at the large man, fear in my eyes. If he couldn't help us, there was no hope. I couldn't control myself, I was going to kill my best friends.

"Don't worry, Hagrid," Luna looked up at him, "You have to go. You can't be late."

Hagrid picked us all up, squeezing us tightly.

"Hagrid..." I gasped, "You're crushing us."

He dropped us immediately and I fell to my knees, sucking in breath desperately. I gingerly checked to make sure I hadn't broken any ribs before standing up again, my stomach growing queasy as the minutes until my transformation grew less and less.

"Hagrid, please go!" Ginny was desperate, "Get out of here before it's too late! Now!"

Hagrid reluctantly left and I turned wide-eyed to my friends. I backed away carefully, scenarios rushing through my head. This wasn't good, they were unarmed and I was much stronger than them. They didn't stand a chance, even a head start wouldn't guarantee safety. I was much quicker than them, and a million times more powerful. But they could at least try, a head start was better than just awaiting death.

"Run as fast as you can, as far away as you can," I breathed, "I can't control myself, they know that. The only thing going for you is I can't see, but my sense of smell is powerful enough for me to track you down. That's why they've made this your detention. They're trying to kill you. I'm going to kill you. Go, please."

I fell to the ground, groaning in pain. I felt my bones shifting, my mind changing. I was struggling to keep it together, to remain as human as I could be. I screamed in agony and saw Ginny take a step towards me.

"GO!" I screamed at them and they quickly turned and fled.

Not quick enough. I was already a wolf, adrenaline seemingly speeding up the process, already that huge black monster that couldn't control itself. I bounded after them, my face stuck in a vicious snarl. I was gaining on them, four legs were faster than two. The slowest one, the scent of a female, was within my grasp --

I pounced, pinning her under my heavy paws. My face was directly above hers, my sharp fangs inches from her face. So fragile, so easily broken. I could hear the blood pumping in her veins, it made my mouth water --

NO! She's your friend.

A voice within me made me pause. I looked up at the two other humans, the scent of them drawing my attention. The screams of the one beneath me didn't even reach my ears. The feeble attempts to scare me away by the three unarmed humans not even breaching my consciousness. I was focused on this voice, this conscience of mine.

You can't kill her. You can't kill any of them. It's not you, this is not who you are.

I stepped off of the human under me in shock. She scrambled to her feet and all three ran deeper into the trees, disappearing from view. I paced the clearing, my mind a mess. Why had I let a perfectly good meal go? They were within my grasp, all three of them were.

Because it is wrong. You are not a monster, you are a human, and if you killed them you wouldn't be able to live with yourself.

I was angry. Angry at this voice inside me controlling my actions. I was hungry, starving even, and I had foolishly listened to some inner voice telling me to let my prey go. The scent of them was long gone, I couldn't track them if I tried to. A perfectly good meal slipped through my fingers because of a conscience.