CLONE DEATH AT SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT 11.14.1996 | Draco Malfoy | Closed
The sound of the boy’s footsteps echoed off the cold, stone walls; breathing shallow and head hung. Whispers were exchanged between the portraits’ inhabitants, who were squinting from the dim light that the wandering boy emitted from his wand. But nothing was said to him. It had been too many a time they had seen him walk that very route. No sounds were heard other than the quickening thump of his heart banging furiously against his ribcage and the low murmurs of the portraits'.
Draco Malfoy’s visits to the seventh corridor were becoming more frequent and more dreaded as each night came and went. With each visit, the task that Draco set out to do remained as unfinished and as exasperating as it had been the previous night, with even less options for him to choose from. With a jaw clench and a tremble of the bottom lip, Draco’s eyebrows knitted together before he let out a choked sigh, catching sight of the hauntingly illuminated bird’s cage when he turned the corner of the left corridor. Was he there already? The journey seemed to get shorter and shorter with each time he wandered down the dark and enclosed corridor—which once seemed to take a millennium, now took a millisecond.
Darkness had flooded the Seventh Corridor in only a matter of minutes as the sun set, leaving the flickering aurora at the end of Draco's wand to be the only beacon of light; only illuminating the area a couple of feet ahead of him. The corridor held a strange presence at that time of night. The hem of his robes whipped against his legs as he quickened his pace towards the turning of the corridor where the Bird Cage sat, more out of anxiety than eagerness to get to his object of experimentation. A dull ache began in Malfoy's chest, willing himself into lengthening his strides.
Draco’s lack of sleep had lately begun to etch itself on his features: dark circles were present under his eyes—the eyes which had gradually become more bloodshot as the days progressed, and the Malfoy air about him had become fainter than ever. And yet he knew, that his fear of the irrevocable outcome he must, at some point, face overcame any commonsensical thinking or judgement for the matter. But for then, it just was the beginning of every other night, or so he was convinced.
Reaching the metallic cage, Draco came to a sharp halt before it, carefully sliding his lit wand into the inner pocket of his robe which then glowed dimly. Raising a trembling hand to the cool metal of the cage, Draco failed to notice how bony his wrist was, and how sallow and pale the skin that was stretched over it was. He lowered his head in observation to the little bird that had come to the edge of the cage, its chirp melodious. However, it was the slight movement in atmosphere and flickering of a wand's light from on to off that caused the chain of reactions that were soon to shake up the whole of the castle into alarm.
Hand automatically going for his wand and whispering, "Nox", Draco's heart stopped momentarily and he took an apprehensive step back. Fuck. Fuck, Merlin fuck. The short moment in the darkness was the longest ten seconds he had ever had to endure. Heart beating frantically and throat drying out, Malfoy was all of a sudden aware of even the smallest of noises, such as the now resonant flow of blood in his veins, was amplified tens of times. He could still hear the other person's sharp inhalations and exhalations. It was the sort of suspense that stopped time.
"Who's there?" The voice belonged to a girl; soft and imperative, yet clearly shaken up. The familiarity of the voice struck Draco, his insides twisted and he froze up completely. Granger!? His hand now shook violently as he tried to break through the restrictions his panic set upon his muscles and joints, which had locked firmly into place.
"Lumo-" Before the girl could finish the incantation, Malfoy's wand hand shot up and his lips were mouthing the word 'stupefy', his hand was shaking and his vision was poor but he knew he had hit his target due to a thump that signalled the unconsciousness of the girl. Silence. "Lumos." The tip of Draco's wand lit the room to display the crumpled body of Hermione Granger--her pallor looked unhealthily sallow and her skin waxy under the harsh light of his wand.
A sharp, remorseful pull at his chest almost compelled the wary, young man to check for any injuries he had dealt her in his rashness, as her leg looked to be at an odd angle. However, what followed was entirely unexpected. As Draco stepped forward, a blinding white light erupted from the pit of her stomach and the girl's eyes shot wide open - her pupils decreasing into small pin pricks, almost even disappearing in her brown irises - and a haunting wail pierced through the walls of the castle and caused goosebumps to erupt over Draco's body. Stumbling backwards in fear, the Malfoy had to cover his eyes with the back of his forearm: the intensity of it blinding. His back made sharp contact with the cool wall behind him, head knocking sharply against a protruding rock as he continued to attempt to shelter both his eyes and ears from the raw screech.
Darkness flooded the corridor once more and in the air hung an impending silence. Going through the motions of isolating each reaction, he locked his knees to stop himself from collapsing, he clenched his fists to calm his trembling limbs, and as he held his breath and calmed his pulse. "G-Granger?" His voice was feeble and his throat dry; the word hardly escaped his lips.
Hissssss. Draco's face tightened with dread, his hands pressing firmly against the wall behind him; he didn't know whether it was the cool stone that caused his blood to run cold or the distinct sound of a serpent's hiss that came from the place that Granger was laying. "Lumos."
Draco's heart faltered; his limbs stiffened and his guts twisted uncomfortably, suddenly feeling as if he was going to be sick. Hermione Granger's body had been replaced with a live and aggravated Adder who was advancing quickly on him, tongue whipping mesmerisingly from side to side. Before he could pull out his wand to immobilise the snake, echoes of footsteps and voices filled the corridor, the candelabras on either side of it being lit by magic and uncovering the large group of students, Professors and Aurors advancing towards him.
Snape shot an unknown hex at the snake, which burnt up from tail to tongue, leaving only its ashes in its place. "Please explain the meaning of this, Mr Malfoy." His voice was smooth and calm yet his eyes deceived him, black as always yet worry for the boy glazed over them. Auror Shacklebolt stood at the front, his face coated with mild interest. "A scream was heard - waking the entirety of the castle." Snape continued menacingly, his voice rising slightly.
His voice a strangled cry, Draco choked out his hurried words: "Granger--It was Granger.. I-.." He began, words cutting short as his windpipe tightened, his hand outstretched to point at the ashes. Swallowing down the phlegm that had risen to his throat, his heart beat rose to twice the speed it should've been with the panic. "Gods, help me, I didn't do it!" He spat out; by then, his white blond hair had stuck to his slick-with-sweat forehead and his eyes were wide in alarm.
"Clone." Shacklebolt muttered to McGonagall who stood beside him, whose hands rose to cover her mouth in shock. Directing his attention back to the shaken up Slytherin, his voice became austere and cold:
"Mr Malfoy, we would like you to come with us for questioning."