The Creation of Ash
Author: xxxkia
Rating: M
Pairing: Draco/Hermione
Warnings: Dark Themes, Torture, War, Graphic Description of Violence and Torture, Sexual Situations
Extended Summary:
After a horrible incident, Draco Malfoy develops an Obscurus at the age of 4. When he grows stronger with time, he attracts the attention of Voldemort, who kidnaps him and holds him captive for decades, even after the war is long over.
5 years after the war, a conspiracy arises at the Ministry. A new faction of Dark Wizards seeks power and starts to steal and collect dark and powerful objects. A hint leads them to a warded place, where Voldemort apparently hid a deadly and destructive weapon. A weapon, which turns out to be a man, with unimaginable powers.
Before the conspiracy is able to catch him, the man escapes with the help of Hermione, who has no idea what she had just unleashed upon the Wizarding World.
Obscurial!Draco. Professor!Hermione. A dark, post-war Dramione fanfiction.
Table of Contents:
01: on a Hill
02: there is a Patch
03: of Dirt
04: it is Loose
05: for the Seed
06: which is Covered easily
07: through Water
08: and Sun
09: with Time
10: and Patience
11: a Seedling will grow
12: and become a Sapling
13: until it finally turns into a Tree
14: which will be Logged
15: and made to fire Wood
16: it will be Dried
17: and cut into Pieces
18: arranged into a Pile
19: all that is needed is a Spark
20: to start a Fire
21: which will produce some Light
22: first it is a Struggle
23: then it turns into a Blaze
24: before it is reduced to a Flicker
25: until it becomes Ember
26: which will turn Cold
27: and the light makes way for Darkness
28: because once the fire's Dead
29: then there will be only Smoke
30: and a pile of Ash
31: The Story of Noctua
Welcome to The Creation of Ash!
This note will be long, so I hope you stay with me :D
I'm so glad that you found your way here, no matter if it was over Facebook, over Pure or just by finding it in the HP category. If you are a Dramione shipper, you are right here! If you love Powerful!Draco, then you are right here as well!
This story could really be called a Crossover between Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them! I mean, the summary obviously revealed the one major plot line of this story. Ever since watching the new movie, I've been fascinated by the Obscurus and wanted to write about it, so what is better than to put it into a Dramione setting?
For those, who don't know what an Obscurus is, here's the scoop: (Obvious Spoiler for Fantastic Beasts!)
When a young wizard or witch represses their magic, they develop a parasitical magical force inside of them, which is called an Obscurus. The host of the Obscurus is called Obscurial. When the child reaches a breaking point, the Obscurus is realeased as an invisible destructive wind. In some cases, the Obscurial can physically transform into the Obscurus. When an Obscurial releases the Obscurus within, their eyes turn white and their body starts to distort. Children, who developed an Obscurus, normally die before their 10th birthday.
Now that this is out of the way, I have four more things to say :D As you can see above, I already figured out the chapter titles and the meaning behind them. I've written the first few chapters but not the whole story yet! Just wanted to say that.
Then, this story is an obvious AU because Draco never attended Hogwarts. For the sake of story telling and making sense of the Canon, I just decided that Theo Nott took over Draco's place as Harry's school enemy. For example, it was Nott Sr., who gave Ginny the diary, Theo was given the Dumbledore mission, and Harry, Ron and Hermione ended up in Nott Manor during the Horcrux hunt. Lucius and Narcissa were still involved as Death Eaters and in the end it was still Narcissa, who lied about Harry, but not because she was looking for Draco but because she wanted the war to end and Harry to win. Therefore, the 7 books happened like we know them, just without Draco and with the Malfoys being less noticeable for the Golden Trio. This story is set 5 years after the war.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything! BUT the poem for the chapters and the plot, I guess.
And last but not least, thank you to my betas: Lady Evora & SKDMHG!
So, I'm done now! Enjoy ;-)
Chapter 1: Hill
(Prologue)
on a Hill
It once was a castle on the hill.
Harry Potter stared at the ruins, which once must have belonged to a majestic building. High walls and high towers built from solid white stone. But now it was just a pile of weathered stones, broken and ruined.
The night was clear and dark, the moon was just a crescent; high above the hill, shining down milky light on the remains of the old castle. Harry couldn't spot everything in the darkness of the night with the moon not full but it was enough for him.
His glance wandered in the direction of the tent, which he knew was hidden behind another green hill on the other side where he was standing at the moment.
There was a rustle next to him and the black-haired wizard turned his head slightly.
"Tell me again, what are we doing here exactly?" Ron Weasley asked his best friend as he stepped next to Harry. Both of them were dressed in dark clothes, no robes, nothing to distract them.
"We are here to find something."
"What again?"
"Not quite sure."
"Well, good to know then." Ron answered dryly, looking over at the other wizard, who frowned back at him.
"And why are we doing it in the middle of the night without anyone knowing while there are a group of Unspeakables and one Curse Breaker on the other side of the hill?" Ron nodded towards the castle and therefore towards the tent on the other side, the same Harry had spotted earlier as they had searched the grounds around the ruins.
"Something's hidden in those ruins, something Voldemort tried to hide from the world. There are strong wards surrounding them and the Unspeakables have tried to break through them for over a week now with no results." Harry explained before he turned around, frowning before he checked his watch. "She's late."
"So, when the Unspeakables struggled to break through the wards, what makes you think we could?" Ron continued to asked while he started to look around as well.
"Oh, I don't think we can. But their Curse Breaker is a moron." Harry retorted. "Besides, ours is better."
"Ours?" Ron said surprised at the same time a quiet popping sound could be heard behind them.
The two of them turned around to find the third member of ther trio.
"You are late." Harry stated and Hermione grimaced as she came closer.
"You gave me the wrong coordinates. I landed a few kilometres over there." She pointed into the night away from them. "And then I first had to scan the area."
"Hey Hermione." Ron smiled at her and she smiled back sweetly before she looked back at Harry, her smile dropping.
"At least one's friendly." she mumbled absently before her glance wandered over to the castle on the hill. She whistled when she felt the wards, which were guarding the place.
"What is this place?" Hermione finally asked, looking from Harry to Ron and back. "And why exactly am I here?"
"Alright," Harry started, leaning closer while Ron and Hermione listened quietly. "About two weeks ago, I had to go to Azkaban for some formalities and while I was there I overheard two guards talk about how three Unspeakables where going in and out for the past few days, interrogating Death Eaters."
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "All the imprisoned Death Eaters are put on isolation. Every interview or interrogation needs to be requested in front of the Wizengamot unless it's life threatening."
"Exactly," Harry nodded in agreement. "This was one thing that threw me off. The other is that in the past months, there had been several break-ins and they all featured some missing dark objects. There was the break-in at Borgin & Burkes where a handful of books and one or two objects were stolen, then the break-in at Nott Manor, at the Parkinson Estate, the mansion of the Flints and last week someone tried to break into Malfoy Manor but the wards were too strong to get through. All of those places still host a lot of dark objects, even after the Ministry raided them when the war was over. And with every break-in, a few of those objects got stolen. Now, a few questions here and there, one or two trips under my invisibility cloak and I found out that the Unspeakables went to Azkaban to question one Death Eater only. And the results of the interrogation was that the man gave them the location of this place, saying that Voldemort had hid his most powerful weapon here. His Plan B so to say, which he never was able to use."
Hermione's eyes were wide. "Voldemort's Plan B? Harry, are you trying to tell us that you want to break in there!" she gestures to the dark silhouette of the hill, her voice raising.
"That's completely barmy, mate!" Ron agreed. "Besides, the Unspeakables are here. If there is some power source or weapon in there, then they can deal with it better than us."
"That's exactly the point!" Harry insisted, balling his fist in frustration. "Since Kingsley gave up the position as Ministry, the new Minister seems dodgy to me! The Department of Mysteries isn't even accessible anymore, they are completely shut off with the Unspeakables being some sort of exclusive group. And now they interrogate Death Eaters where Voldemort's former lairs were?"
"Are you trying to say that you think that the Unspeakables are behind the break-ins? That they are collecting dark objects under the order of Minister Fawley?" Hermione asked, her mouth agape. "Harry, that's ridiculous."
"Is it?" Harry defended. "You said it yourself, Hermione. When you started to work as a Curse Breaker for the Ministry after Hogwarts, you said that you felt like they were trying to bully you out of the office again. And once you finally quit to become a teacher, your chair wasn't cold before they replaced you with Wystan Fawley, precious son of our new Minister. Fawley Jr. works with the Unspeakables at the moment by the way. He's supposed to break the wards for them but he hasn't managed to do that yet."
Hermione snorted. She knew that her replacement was not even half as skilled as she was but Harry was right. When the war had ended five years ago, she had started to work as a Curse Breaker for the Ministry right after she had retaken her N.E.W.T.s. But her co-workers weren't exactly a friendly bunch and she had managed a year before she finally accepted Headmistress McGonagall's offer to teach. For the last four years she had been a teacher at Hogwarts and it was the best decision she could have ever made.
Harry and Ron had become Aurors right after the war, not even caring to retake their exams. As war heroes, they were accepted right away though lately Ron seemed to struggle with the possibility of working with George at the joke shop instead.
The Wizarding World itself had started to heal as well, with all Death Eaters caught and put on trial, the time to rebuild could start. If it was houses or families or friendships, a lot had been damaged during the war and it would take some time to heal.
With Kingsley as Minister everything was getting better but then two years ago, his health started to decline and he had to step back from his position as Minister. One of the candidates nominated to replace him, was Adair Fawley. He was a Pureblood and his family even belonged to the Sacred Twenty-Eight but he immigrated to the United States in the 70s and therefore, his family hadn't been involved in the two wars. He had returned to England four years ago, one year after the second war and he had money and connections. The Purebloods liked him because he was pureblood and the others liked him because he wasn't involved in the war. His views on blood purity were modern and he was charming and seem good at politics, so it wasn't a surprise when he was elected as the new Minister of Magic.
A year ago, Harry began to tell his friends of his speculation that something was going on in the Ministry internally. But when Hermione received the owl that morning with a short message and some coordinates from Harry, she surely hadn't expected to be dragged into his conspiracy theory.
"And you really think Fawley Sr. is ordering the Department of Mysteries to go after Voldemort's weapons?" Hermione finally asked, still struggling to believe Harry's strange suspicion.
"I don't know if it is the Minister or the Department itself but I know that they are hiding out here, trying to find out what Voldemort has hidden inside this castle." Harry pointed towards the ruins. "And I want to know what it is."
"Of course you do." Ron mumbled, rolling his eyes. Hermione looked over at the redhead confused.
"He's been stalking them for the whole week now. Flying around with his invisibility sloak on and all." Ron explained to Hermione and the brunette turned back towards Harry, her eyebrows raised.
The black-haired wizard shrugged unapologetic. "Like you didn't want to know what's in there as soon as you heard that Voldemort wanted to use it as a weapon."
"Actually, no, I don't." Ron answered while Hermione sighed.
"So, I guess, you called me here to break through the wards before Wystan manages to do it. You said that they have been here for a week already? Hmmm, if we come here for the next three nights, I might be able to get through."
Harry scoffed. "Next three nights? I don't think so, Hermione. You don't have the next three nights, you don't even have one day. I need you to break through the wards before sunrise."
"Sunrise! Are you mental?"
"Come on! You are the brightest witch of our age!" Harry grinned at her sheepishly as the brunette huffed in annoyance. She pulled out her wand from her robes, raising it in the air before she made some steps towards the hill.
She glanced above to the castle, which lay silent in the darkness of the night. Ancient wards were surrounding it, wards of complicated dark magic and Hermione knew instantly that they weren't there to guard whatever was inside from intruders.
They were there to keep whatever was inside from escaping.
Up on the hill, past the wards, on the still-standing tower of the castle ruins, a man was looking over over the grounds with dark grey eyes. He couldn't see what was behind the wards, not the Golden Trio on one side nor the tent full of Ministry workers on the other side.
The moon was a crescent above the hill.
The young man inside the castle looked up when the wards suddenly wavered as someone tried to breach it. The magic rippled, indicating that something was happening.
"They found us, Noctua." the man turned towards the darkness of the tower room and a pair of gleaming ember eyes stared back at him. A tail whipped through the night and he heard the screeching sound as big talons scratched over the stone floor. "After all these years."
"Someone's trying to break through the wards, girl. We'll be free soon." the man turned back to look over the old castle grounds.
"Soon." he whispered quietly.