5 5

Once again, the big backpack was full, but instead of Ellery's belongings, it was full of travel necessities. She'd not had the chance to ask the mysterious man anything about the orb he had given her, or how they were supposed to use it. She and Draco had spent a couple days trying to get information and had gotten nowhere. Ellery managed to find a book on the basic usage, but she wasn't entirely sure if it was safe. Even so, it was all they had. They'd have to give it their best shot.

" Hey," Draco said from behind her, " We've got about three hours until we have to leave for that ministry thing."

" Ah, right. I'll be ready soon.... I just have to make sure we have everything. You're packed?"

" Yes."

Ellery nodded and turned back to her bag and scanned everything over. Changes of clothing, water, her stone sword, first aid and food. Then she looked over her shoulder at Draco and smiled. " I'm all set. I suppose I better get around to getting dressed here."

He nodded and left. Ellery went over to the closet and pulled out another dress, this one a lot less comfortable than the first, even to look at. It had a piece that went around her neck to keep the top of it up. It was a tight fit for her upper body until it reached a fire red colored satin belt in the middle. It then flowed about her in all the colors of the sunset. It was very beautiful, but she was too anxious to enjoy it. She changed and finished getting ready in silence, looping her hair into a loose side braid.

" Pull yourself together," she murmured to herself, " You can do this." Ellery drew in a deep breath, checked herself in the mirror once more and left the room. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Narcissa approached her with a pair of delicately woven silver sandals that looked like they may have belonged to a goddess once.

" You should wear shoes to this one," she whispered to Ellery with a smile. Ellery's cheeks turned bright red; she didn't think Mrs. Malfoy had noticed her lack of shoes last time.

" Uh, thanks," she mumbled, holding back an embarrassed giggle and taking the shoes. Quickly she slipped them on and turned to Draco with a grin.

" Ready, charming?" she asked, holding out her hand for him to take.

" Ready," he chuckled, taking it. Draco's father gave a playful smirk and rolled his eyes.

" Come along children. We mustn't be late," he said, ushering everyone out the door.

With that, their plan was officially in action.

------------------

" I'm not dreaming, am I?" Ellery asked, her eyes wide in disbelief.

" I don't think so," Draco replied. He could tell by the distant look in her eyes that she was thinking about her past, so he put a hand on her shoulder. She shook her head and the clouds behind her eyes cleared.

" Are you okay?" he asked. She nodded.

" I'm okay. C'mon... We have to enjoy ourselves while we can. This trip will be dangerous, and well... I'm sure you can agree that one last moment of safety and certainty can't hurt."

Before Draco had a chance to reply, he was pulled into the vastness of the ballroom. I guess she's not wrong, he thought. First one, then two hours melted away as the duo spun like tops around the dance floor. For the first time in a long time, Draco felt truly at ease. Ellery sure knew what she was doing when it came to enjoying things, despite everything the past few weeks had brought about. That, and she knew how to dance. It reminded him of the Yule ball a little, though he didn't say it aloud. This was better, he decided.

Ellery glanced at the clock and grabbed Draco's arm. Their eyes meet for a moment, a silent message passing between them. The fun was over. It was time.

They made their exit look like they were only taking a break. Draco's parents were distracted, so it was now or never. They hurried out the door of the ballroom, towards the bathrooms to change. Once they were both in more comfortable clothing; simple t-shirts, jeans and dark colored cloaks, Ellery heaved her pack onto her shoulder and withdrew the glowing white orb from a concealed pocket.

" Let's do it outside," Draco suggested, " Just in case."

Ellery nodded in agreement. " Good idea."

Looking around to see if they were being watched, the two made their way to the big heavy doors that led out into the warm evening. Ellery pointed to a patch of trees nearby and they ducked under the cover of the thick canopy of leaves. With so much as a glance at each other, they both put their hands on the orb and spoke a single word over it. It began to glow brighter and brighter, the light growing every second. Ellery's stone hard courageous gaze met Draco's fearful stare. That was the last thing either of them saw before the light consumed the duo.

---------------------------

Falling. That's the sensation that crawled up Ellery's skin the instant the intense light faded. She still had her eyes squeezed shut, her hands curled up in fists. She was prepared for the impact with the ground, but it never came. She peeled her eyes open and gasped.

She was already on the ground, or on the deck of a boat, rather. Draco lay nearby, a shocked expression frozen into his features. Ellery scrambled to her feet and ran over to him.

" You okay?" she panted, offering a hand to help him up.

" Yeah," he breathed, sounding a little panicked, " Where are we?"

" I don't know. Judging by the style of this ship, we went exactly where we intended. But that means scarier things than you could ever imagine lurk around every corner. Watch. Wait. Listen. Observe. That's how we survive here."

Trembling, Draco took hold of her hand and pulled the dark green cloak she'd given to him tighter around his shoulders. Scarier things? He hoped they didn't run into them. His imagination was telling him that anything that caught them would either kidnap them or eat them. In fact, he half expected there to be pirates on this ship, even though it was docked on a vast beach.

It was about mid day, and the temperature suggested that winter was almost here. Ellery shook her hair loose of her braid and coiled it up in a bun, a couple of strands near her face falling back over her eyes. From her pack she took her stone sword, her aura winking into assistance for a second after her hand met the hilt.

" Your hood. Put it on," she told Draco, " We can't be seen, especially if we get into trouble."

He obeyed without question. Ellery swung her pack back onto her shoulder and pulled the cloak hood over her eyes. " Whatever you do, stay behind me." she said, and then exited the ship. Draco followed close behind, every muscle in his body tense. Ellery didn't appear to be too worried, so he focused his eyes on the back of her head and drew in deep breaths to control the shaking.

" This is a little overwhelming for you, isn't it?" she asked without looking at him.

" A little," he admitted, " But I promised you I'd help. Besides, I can't really back out now that we're back in time a whole century."

" That's true," she agreed with a half laugh, " Though I wouldn't blame you if you decided to run. Strange things happened in this timeline, things that not even your nightmares could toss at you."

" You're not helping the situation here."

" Oh I know that. The truth isn't always a helpful thing."

Draco took his wand out of his pocket and gripped it in his hand, trying to comfort himself. He was beginning to regret promising this girl he'd help set her free.

Hours crawled by, and the sun was beginning to set behind them. They now found themselves in a forest, surrounded by nothing but trees and insects. Ellery stopped walking suddenly, making Draco stumble into her.

" We should stop here. It's getting dark." She began unpacking two bed rolls and a fold-able canopy. Draco could see the exhaustion on her face and stepped in to help her. When they were all set up, Ellery took a seat on top of her sleeping bag and smiled tiredly at him.

" Thanks," she said, leaning back on her hands.

" You're welcome." He smiled back at her.

Suddenly, Ellery's arm shot out. Surprised, she brought it up to eye level. Her right forearm was twitching uncontrollably, the skin squirming as if it were crawling with a million insects. She inhaled sharply through her teeth. Draco turned to face her, a frown of concern on his face.

" What is it?" he asked, grabbing her arm.

" I don't know," she ground out through gritted teeth, " But it hurts."

Eyes widening, he looked from her pained face to her arm and back again. No, no no! Please don't let it be that, he thought, panic rising up inside him. He knew what this meant; he was vaguely of the small twinging of his own arm. The mark. They were a whole century behind time, which meant they were missing whatever was going back home. That included Death Eater gatherings.

" What? What is it? Draco!" Ellery snapped her fingers in front of his face. He blinked, coming back to reality.

"Okay. I need you to stay calm." Draco inhaled sharply and pulled back her sleeve. Sure enough, her skin was beginning to discolor and warp to form the Dark Mark. Looking back up at her, he let his held breath go. " You know that mark I've got on my arm? That Death Eater thing I told you about?"

" Yeah? What does that have to do with this?" Ellery winced again, digging her fingernails into the palms of her hand.

" Well... one of the spells side effects is that you'll start to develop some of the same scars and markings..."

" I have the Dark Mark. That's what you're trying to tell me, right?"

Draco swallowed and nodded. Ellery drew in a deep breath and pulled her sleeve back over the pulsing mark. " Then we need to get rested and get on with this fast, don't we?"

Another nod. He watched as she took out a roll of bandages and wrapped her forearm up tightly. Then she lay on her bedroll, facing away from him. Draco lay down too, but sleep wouldn't come. He was too worried that the spell would turn her into a female version of him before they figured out how to fix it.