Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Tender Beast ❯ Open your eyes Elvein, Please! ( Chapter 28 )

A/N My beloved reader, we have reached my favorite chapter. Please don't hesitate to tell me your conclusions. 

Elvein has lost track of time. She did not know when morning came when night descended, how many times had passed in this sarcophagus. The only thing she knew was that she had fallen asleep three times. Each time, waking up from nightmares, with Demian by her side, who held her body possessively, even during sleep. He walked a soulless puppet in the room, dressed her in expensive silks, adorning her in unspeakable diamonds and emeralds. If Elvein refused to eat, he starved as well.

The girl was quiet. She kept silent, and every day, she constructed walls from ruins, again and again, to hide from Ekrizdis' searching hands, his all-seeing eyes. And each time, Demian mercilessly destroyed her walls. After each shameful vanquish of her body, Elvein started punishing herself. But Demian took her every painful attempt on his own body. Then, everything went dark. Then again and again.

Even now, Elvein lay on her back. The unspeakable cold made her eyes open. A dark, hooded figure was descending from the ceiling. Wheezing, depriving the woman of the last shards of her soul. She could not breathe, could not move. The oozing hand was about to grab her, and everything would have ended.

"Wake up! Elvein, wake up!" Instead of freezing fingers, Demian's hot hand was holding her neck.

She opened her eyes. Demian's volcanic gaze was boring to her. One torturer was replaced by the other, but she managed to breathe. On the unspoken question, she answered with a single word:

"Dementor."

Ekrizdis hugged her: "With me, you have nothing to be scared of."

Her body shivered. Lightning made a shadow of a shredded robe reflect on the stone wall.

"Why do you keep them?"

"I hate them as much as you do, but they are my inheritance, my responsibility."

His warm body calmed her, but she still released herself from his embrace. She still trembled, so the young woman sat near the fireplace. Demian followed her. The man stood by her side for a time. Then he went to his red chair. With her hair down, Elvein sat unmoved, then searched for her hairpin.

"I've got it." Demian traced the hairpin's golden teeth; then he studied pearls. "Have you heard of the legend, which says, Pearls are Eva's tears, who was banned from heaven. In comparison, emeralds resemble calmness and balance. Symbolic, don't you think?" His gaze, for a second, landed on Elvein's necklace. Then he outstretched his hand with the pin in it. "Here. Take it."

Elvein tried to stand up. But Demian shook his head.

"No. Use your magic."

Elvein thought he was making fun of her. So she just stared at him. Demian bore his ruby eyes to her and asked. "What is magic, Elvein?"

"Power of our souls."

"That's right. So tell me, why do you think, if someone takes your wand away, he deprives you of magic? I broke your wand but never restricted you from using magic."

Elvein was silent, so Demian continued: 

"Wand is simply a funnel that lets you concentrate and transfer your magic through it. Only wire between you and the object of magic." He rubbed his eyes and continued. "It wouldn't surprise you if I'll reveal that I was a very stubborn child. I had a half-insane grandma, as my only living relative and guardian, who tried to subdue me with hunger. So, as a child, I frequently sat on the floor, looking at food on top shelves, which, at the age of five, I obviously could not reach. That was when I started to think about what I was capable of, what I had, and how to use it. I realized that my magic belonged to me only, and I was the one to manage it. And I did succeed." Again, his eyes landed on Pearls. "People tend to choose easy ways out. Therefore, as soon as we turn eleven, they thrust wands in our hands, encouraging our dependence on them, at the same time making us fictile. Don't get me wrong, I do love my wand, but think of this, no matter how strong a heart it has, dragon's heartstring or unicorn's hair, how can an insensate thing be more familiar than your own fingers, rich with hundreds of nerves, blood vessels, and bones. As I've said, people tend to choose easy ways. But it's not who you and I are, Elvein. So, I am telling you. Take it." Once again, he stretched his hand, which held her hairpin.

At first, Elvein looked at him in silence. Then, she closed her eyes. It took her time, but she managed to feel every single cell of her body. Only after that could she recognize her own magic, similar to hot waves coming from the fireplace. Her whole skin pulsated with a cool vibration. It was a strange feeling, like the first time discovering your own limb. It took more time to concentrate and channel it. She kept trying while minutes passed, and Demian waited patiently.

She directed the whole vibration through her fingertips, and the hairpin slipped from Ekrizdis' fingers. It swam in the air towards Elvein, but only in a few meters, landed on the flood. Demian stood up with pride on his face. He picked a hairpin, brought it to his beloved one, tilted her face, and kissed her.

"I've never doubted you!"

Elvein turned her face away. Ekrizdis took several steps back to his chair, but stopped, turned around, and asked her:

"If magic is our soul's strength, what is Love Elvein?"

"Valuing someone else's life more than your own."

"Maybe. But I was asking literally."

Elvein looked at him with the question.

"Love is the vibration of our soul. The stronger the soul is, the more powerful the vibration gets. It's logical, right? That's why a wizard's love literally is capable of healing and destruction. If a simple drop leaves so many rings on the water, tell me Elvein, love as strong as mine towards you is, can it stay one-sided?"

"You are mistaking obsession for love." Elvein once again turned her face away.

"No, my love. Between the two of us, you are the only one lying to yourself when you say you hate me. You have mistaken anger for hatred, while the truth is, you are not capable of hating. You love everyone, your friends, your foes. You love your enemies Elvein. If given a chance, you will find excuses for Death-eaters who almost killed you." Demian's face muscles shook in rage. "Can you even imagine what I felt seeing you there, surrounded by Death-eaters, in the puddle of your own blood! I saw how you gave up! Can you even imagine what it took me not to snatch you from there, that exact second?!" His clenched fists shook. He closed his eyes and whispered: "Why? Why did you not tell me you were going to war?!"

"What would you have done? Would you have changed my mind? Would you have hidden me in this reliquary? You made your choice long before that."

"I would have fought at your side! You were the one I always chose! And you will always be the one!" Demian swallowed hard, took a deep breath, lowered his voice, and continued: "But right now, we are not discussing that. Let's go back to your ability to love. This is your greatest power, Elvein, that your love is infinite. You have inherited that from your father. No matter how much you look like your mom, it's your father who is capable of unconditional, boundless love. Mother left you when you were just a child because she was not capable of overstepping every Veela's curse - the craving for freedom. But your father still loves her. He loves her, not obsessing over her. His love turned out to be so destructive that, by choice, he refuses his own nature - magic. Did you think I would believe that he turned into a Squibb? No, my love. I see everything. And from your mother, you accrued love of freedom, anger, and stubbornness."

"That's a lie."

"Is it? Then tell me, Elvein, were you going with that brat? For whom were you ready to sacrifice your life? For whom you have followed me by your choice?" Elvein kept silent. "That's what I thought. You refused to come with me for the sake of the whole Hogwarts but agreed for him. And still, you did not allow him to restrict your freedom."

"Enough."

"Let's go back to my feelings, and let me tell you once more, I am not mixing love with obsession. Maybe, almost everyone around you is obsessing over Veela in you, but I love your human half more. I love your soul, which can not exist without spreading love; I love your flame, which you manage to hide so well, but I am obsessed with your body. If you still don't believe me, I will remind you. I have never cursed you with imperious; I have never humiliated you by using love charm."

"Your love is toxic."

"Do you really believe that MY love is toxic?"

"Twenty-five months, Demian. For twenty-five months, I wore your mark, like a thing, like an animal! For twenty-five months, I have not been happy. For twenty-five months, I have suffered every single day!"

Demian listened with his fingers squeezing his eyes. Then he smashed the glass with the drink on the wall and yelled:

"I was suffering with you too! Every single day! And if you have noticed, I have never reduced feelings coming from you. Not even once! I have drunk the bowl of suffering's every single drop! With you! I have made many mistakes, but not when I fell in love with you, not when I believed in us! Do you remember when the first crack appeared? Do you remember that night at Hogsmeade? You wanted to go to the ball, while I could not bear letting you go. Do you remember how mad you got? That was when you pushed me away for the first time, leaving me in that cursed house! I have made an unforgivable mistake - went against your love of freedom. That moment, caused by your anger and my possessive behavior, the vibration of your soul has shifted. You tore from me several strands of your soul, found the most tortured, suffering one on the ball, felt sorry for him, and gifted him with strands of your emotion."

"You are wrong!"

"Then tell me, why him?"

"Can you tell me why me and not someone else?"

"Of course, my love. More than thousands of reasons. But we are not discussing that right now. The thing is, even if given eternity, you would not be able to answer why you fell for someone who saw you as filth, as the dirt of humanity. You fought against him but still kept loving him. Because that night, you saw the boy who suffered, felt pity for him, and wanted to heal him. And what does heal better than love?"

"Stop!"

"I can't, my love. You must hear the truth. Mercy and love walk side by side. That's another great power of yours. Elvein, I was raping you, and you felt pity for me!" She could not tell anymore, was Demian laughing or crying. "I am sorry, my love! I am weak! When it comes to you, willpower leaves me. I see everything, and my actions have no excuse! I know! But please open your eyes! Ask yourself the question: Why did you love me? Because I love you, till madness! Why did he fall in love with you? Because you fell for him! I don't believe that there exists some celestial creature pairing people. That's insane! Every action is the beginning of contr-action. So, I am telling you. I love you, stronger than ever! Are YOU sure you don't love me? What's stronger in you? Mercy or anger? That's the root of everything."

Elvein was already standing, shaking violently. The truth was unbearable. Her vision was getting darker and darker, but Demian continued: "I have sinned against you many times. But the biggest mistake was not to follow you on that cursed night in Hogsmeade. Not to ask for your forgiveness. Not to come with you on that silly ball. If I had done that, are you sure you would have fallen for him?" Demian now stood on his knees. "So, right here and right now, I am begging for your forgiveness. Forgive me that you had to hide us. Forgive me that you had to choose between your father and me. Forgive me that you had to face my darkness. I know, right now, it would not change anything. But still, forgive me!"

Elvein sobbed uncontrollably, while Demian continued:

"Did you think I would bring you here if I were not sure you still love me? Would I have still imprisoned you? What for? To break your will? That's impossible. To make you love me again? The reason for my life, you have never stopped loving me. You are here, so we can find out what's stronger in you? Love or anger? Mercy or stubbornness?"

Elvein fainted, but at the very last moment, instead of hard stone, strong hands caught her and laid her on the bed.

"I love him, Demian."

"I know." He lifted a hairpin with pearls and put it in her hand. "He will find you, he will come, and everything will be clarified." He said that and, for the first time, left the room.

Elvein thought her tears would never dry out; breathing would never even, and her body would never stop shaking. She was cursing herself, her hypocrisy, that she did not throw away the hairpin in the train, but till the end, clutched it with egoistic hopes. Then - darkness.

From that day on, she was not leaving the bed. Despite Demian's bagging refused to eat or drink. She just lay there, waiting.

"I will die without you." Whispered Demian in her hair, laying behind her, hugging her back.

"I am dying here, with you."

Time passed. They did not move till one day; the sky did not light.