Gone Twisted

Ash scrunched up her face as rays of light hit her eyes in the darkness, ripping her out of her sleep. Grouchily she tried turning away from the light and hiding her face under the soft silken pillows underneath her head, but the damage was done, she was awake.

Peeved, Ash sighed and hit Draco who was lying next to her... or at least was supposed to. Frantically she slapped her hand up and down beside her, still next intending to open her eyes, but then she ripped of the warm covers and peered next to her. Draco was gone.

In a surge of panic, Ash looked around the room, but nothing was moving, only the door was open a small crack - the source of the light. Draco had not left her side ever since Potter and his friends had escaped them, concerned about her. She had pretended that it annoyed her but after a while it had simply become a fact, a thing that was taken for granted... like the meat-lady at a grocery shop giving you a slice of ham when you are little.

Suddenly she scrunched up her eyes once again, but this time not from annoyance, but from a series of pictures rushing through her head.

"Will you become a Death Eater?" a shadowy blur asked her once again his voice showing furry.

"Never!" she gasped once again and the blur had it.

"Bring in the boy!" he sneered at someone, in the corner of the room.

"Yes, master," the rat said and scrambled out of the room, coming back with Draco following him closely. Ash could make him out clear as day.

"You wanted to see me, my lord?" Draco asked with fear in his voice, all Ash could do was stare at him in confusion as the pain started to clear from her mind. Suddenly Ash saw Draco fall onto the ground screaming and withering in pain as Voldemort hit him with a spell.

"Stop it!" she screamed and scrambled over to the screaming Draco, sobbing, begging through her sobs, "Stop it! I'll do anything, just stop hurting him!"

"Anything you say?" the cold voice said, laughter surrounding his words.

Ash shook her head. She had been getting more and more of these images in her head, always coming at her like detonating bombs in a theme park.

"Draco?" she called out, but of course there was no answer. Running a hand through her hair, she decided to walk to the kitchen to get her headache medicine, she hadn't been to fond of the house elves ever since that fateful day.

Tiptoeing over the carpet floor, Ash slowly made her way out of the already open door and down the corridor. The hallway was lightened up by a group of candles floating just above her head, but as she turned the corner of the hallway, she stopped short. One of the door, down a few meters of her current position, was standing ajar. Everything was quiet in the house, except the two voices that echoed out of the room silently.

She didn't understand what they were saying, but her attention was grabbed when she identified Draco's voice as one of them. Making sure no one saw her, she creped towards the open door quietly, listening closely and stopping when she was able to understand the words that were spoken.

"- pain. I don't know what to do with her any more! I've tried everything. Ash is just behaving so unlike herself, " Draco's voice flew out of the door in frustration. Ash frowned at his words, what did he mean? Was she a pain for him?

"Draco, calm down. Tell me exactly what's happening?" Ash looked towards the door, she knew this voice... Draco was talking to Severus Snape about her! Why? He knew she didn't like that man!

"Why did you show me this? Isn't it dangerous for you to do this?" her voice screamed inside of her head, frcing her mind to wonder away from Draco's words to another vision in her head.

"Very, but I believe I can trust you not to tell anyone," Snape said to her, his usual blank face staring down at her.

"But what it they torture it out of me?" she asked shaking.

Snape smiled, "The Dark Lord wont do that. Not if you agree to become a Death Eater."

"Never!" Ash snap again and got of the ground and tried to flee from Snape again, but he grabbed her wrist and, being much stronger then her, stopped her from retreating.

"Ash! Listen to me!"

"No! I will never become a Death Eater! Never! Never! Never!" she screamed at her former professor and tried to get away from him but his grasped remained firm.

"Listen to me!"

Ash stopped struggling under his grip and did as requested. "The Dark Lord wants to use you as bait for Potter. He believes that Potter will come and rescue you. He will want to keep you near, will want to make you into his most faithful pawn. Do it. Let it happen. Become a Death Eater and stay by his side, play the faithful pawn he wants you to be. You will be able to listen to all his conversations, he'll get you involved in his plans, hopefully ask for your advise. Be a spy for the order, Ash!"

"For the order?" Ash sneered, "why should I? What did they ever do for me?"

"Help Harry, if not the order," Snape said softly, "help Ron, help Ginny, help Hermione."

Ash bit her lip and stared at Snape. "Help Blaise," he added and made Ash stare at him with big eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Blaise heard about what happened from Harry. He and Tracy unofficially joined them in the quest of destroying the Dark Lord," Snape told her with a small smile.

"Blaise?" she muttered under her breath. Again that name. That name had come up in a couple of these visions, but never did she know who they were talking about! Who is this Blaise? Why would she ever agree to do something for him? What had he meant to her? Ash got her head out of her thoughts again and began eavesdropping on the others again.

Draco sighed, "Ever since that day that Potter escaped, she... she... seems so split. I'm unsure how to really describe it. I... I think seeing them and the torture after that... broke her," Draco admitted sadly.

"What do you mean?" concern laced Snape's words.

"I don't know... she's not focused any more, but allusive. Her mind just wondering about. The Dark Lord is also starting to see that, and I fear that he'll do something to her again."

"Allusive?"

There was a long break, Ash shuffled towards the door a bit more, peering through the crack between door and frame. There she saw Draco, standing and leaning against a leather chair in front of him. His hands tightly enclosed around the cover. From her perspective she couldn't see Snape, but she saw a outline on the wall behind Draco, flickering in the light of the flames.

"She seems fine and normal one moment, but ten she suddenly stops everything she does and just... stares. And she stays that way for a few seconds or minutes until she suddenly seems to wake up again and is back to normal. We tried every medicine we know, but nothing seems to be helping her."

"Does she behave any different then normal?"

"Yeah, like I said she's unfocused and has these weird episodes."

"No, that's not what I mean!" Snape snapped furiously, "Does she behave like she knows!"

"You mean if her memories are coming back to her?" Draco asked in wonder, looking up at the invisible men, but then shook his head, "No, she didn't change her personality back to how it was before."

Before? Ash wondered silently, before losing her focus once again.

"Guys do you know what time it is?" she asked, looking up into the blinding sun.

"No, sorry don't have a watch on me," the girl next to her said and that dark skinned boy shook his head no.

"It’s time to go for a swim!"

"What do you mean?" They started but where interrupted by Ash who jumped and grabbed onto their hands and started to run. Down the corridors they just came through and out of the building.

When they reached the lake Ash let go of their arms and took of her shoes and socks and jumped into the green blue lake. When she came out of the water again she looked up at the two still standing at the edge of the lake, looking at her as if she had grow three different heads.

"What are you waiting for?" she laughed and threw some water into their direction.

"Are you insane?" the boy asked still in shock at her just randomly jumping into the lake.

"Nope I'm spontaneous," she grinned. "Now come on in! It’s nice and warm!"

"But we don't have a bathing suit or anything," the girl answered.

"So? I don't have one either! Come on!! It’s fun! And don't forget we're witches! We can always magic ourselves dry again!" Ash argued.

"No sorry, I won’t go in that lake. I'm not that crazy."

Ash sighed an defeated sigh and started to come out of the water and climbed up the little levitation they stood on.

"I guess I'll have to force you guys to your luck," she said and pushed then into the lake before they could register what she said. Then she jumped right after them. When she came out of the water again she laughed at her two soaked friends, who in turn glared at her, as if they were about to murder her. If looks could kill she'd already be long dead and buried.

Then the two of them looked at each other and started to run through the water towards Ash, who in turn started to swim away from them in order to get somewhere safely away from them.

"You are so dead," she heard the girl shriek.

"Come on look at the bright side of life! You where allowed to do something new and exciting," she laughed back at her when the two of them caught her.

"We're soaked!" Tracy screamed.

"So? You’re a witch use magic to dry up again!" Ash still laughed. "Just look at it as a new experience and an awesome new memory!"

The boy let go of her, to her disappointment and the girl stepped back, "A memory we will defiantly remember..."

"Yes exactly," Ash smiled.

"You know what would make this memory even better?" the girl asked and nodded at the boy who continued the speech, "Us dunking you under water for revenge." Ash became wide eyed and started to run away again but the two of them where faster and started to push her under water laughing.

When they let go of her Ash quickly looked at them and smiled.

For a second she forgot where she was, in the long, barely lit corridor of the Malfoy Manor, and just swam in the memory of that sunny day. She had been like that? That happy-go-lucky girl? Were all these flashbacks real memories? Slowly tears started running out of her eyes, down her cheeks, past her lips and collecting at the tip of her jaw before falling onto her nightgown.

Suddenly a scraping sound interrupted her thoughts and made her focus on her surroundings once again.

Draco had just thrown the chair he had been leaning on down, so that it was now lying on its side. "I won't allow that! I will not allow you to go near her if you plan on doing something like that! She is only safe if her memories stay hidden forever and you know that!" he screamed at the potions teacher in front of him. Quickly Draco turned towards the door and stormed towards it.

Ash's eyes became wide, she didn't have enough time to hide or get away, but before her mind could decide on anything, she jumped onto her feet and ran back the way she had come from. She only slowed down when she was in their room and jumped onto the bed, trying to calm her breath before Draco came back.

Around ten minutes later Draco did just that. Not saying a word or making any kind of sound, she heard his snake form slither into the room and up one of the bed posts, before transforming back to his usual form and wrapping a hand around her waist.

Both of them stayed silent although they both knew the other was awake. Draco had smelled her scent all the way from the study to their room on his way back.

All of a sudden both of them gasped in pain as the marks on their forearms flamed into colour and summoned them to their master.