Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or places used in this story.
A/N: This idea just sort of hit me one day and I wanted to see where I could take it. Feedback is always welcome! Thank you and I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter Warnings: Gore
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Chapter One
He could feel the burning in his lungs and his legs were aching. He could see his father racing in front of him slightly, but he wasn't expecting the curse that struck him in the chest, winding him as it threw him back into the trees. He dropped at the base of the tree, struggling to catch his breath. He pushed up to his feet, spotting his father turn back to him when he realised that he'd fallen behind him. He was about to tell his father to just continue, that he would catch up, when he heard a male's voice to his right.
"Crucio"
The curse hit him in the side and he screamed, the agony of it bringing him to his knees. He didn't know how long the pain lasted, it could have been seconds or hours. All he could focus on was the searing, stabbing pain that shot through him and caused white specks to float behind his eyes.
Draco felt a hand pull him to his feet and he groaned in pain as the curse wore off and his gaze focused on his father. He was dragged behind his father as Lucius pulled them towards the caves up ahead. They ran into them, taking sharp turns to try and lose their pursuers, hoping to get lost in the darkness long enough to apparate to safety.
Draco stopped when a curse hit his father in the chest, raising his wand and firing a wordless stupefy at the man before running to his father's side. Draco dropped to his knees by Lucius's side, wide eyed at the blood that was pouring from the man's chest. He raised his wand and mumbled a healing charm that only successfully slowed the bleeding. He was about to try another spell when Lucius gripped his wrist and stole his attention.
"D-Draco-" Lucius gasped as his son looked up and met his gaze. He saw his son flinch at how weak and strained his voice sounded. Lucius knew then that he would die there, but he wouldn't allow them to claim his son's life also. "You need to leave, Draco." Lucius said, tightening his hold on the Malfoy heir's wrist as Draco shook his head. "You must leave!"
Draco shook his head fiercely. "Stop it! Get up, father. We'll leave together."
"Draco! Stop. You listen to me, boy!" Lucius snapped, but his voice was weak and Draco felt the tears sting his eyes as he bit the inside of his cheek. "You need to go. Leave me here. You need a healer, you need to go get help. I can't leave here and you know that, Draco." Lucius paused, coughing and Draco just stared at the blood that flecked his father's lips. He could hear manic laughter ringing off against the walls of the cave. "Go get your mother, Draco. You need to make sure that your mother is safe, you must promise me that you will protect her!"
"Stop it!" Draco shouted at his father, his anger rising to push his fear back. "Shut up! You can't just fucking give up, father. You need to get up and keep fighting!" Draco shouted at Lucius, letting his fist connect with the ground beneath him, splashing into the rapidly forming pool of blood.
"Draco!"
"No!" Draco shouted it, knowing that he should keep his voice down. "Just get the fuck up. Stop all this bullshit. I don't need to protect her. Mum is safe right now. Its us that are fucked at the moment, so you need to get up and we need to get the hell out of here. So you can then fucking protect mum! She's your wife, you're meant to be keeping us safe so just shut the hell up. I will not leave you!"
"I'm dying, Draco!" Lucius shouted back at his, stopping the younger blonde's rant.
Draco flinched at the panic in his father's voice. He could feel the tears stinging his eyes but he refused to let them go. He shook his head again, denying his father's words and their implications. He couldn't leave him here. He couldn't leave his father here for these bastards to kill. Draco knew, deep down, that his father was correct. Lucius wouldn't leave this cavern alive, but he just couldn't accept that. He was only twenty two and he could not accept that his father was going to die here at his knees. Denial was a powerful thing, and right now it was abandoning all of Draco's common sense and knowledge and replacing it with rejection. It didn't matter that there was a massive tear in his father's abdomen or that the blood was pouring from him rather than the slow seeping of Draco's own wounds, Draco wouldn't accept that his father was dying.
"Stop..."
"Draco!" Lucius scolded, the footsteps and mocking laughter louder now and Draco looked up as Greyback rounded the corner with a smug grin. "Leave!" Lucius shouted it, and something in his father's tone sliced through Draco. The blonde stood and shot a deathly cold glare at the werewolf before he turned on his heel and bolted. Draco only managed to escape the cave before he heard his father's agonised scream and he skidded to a halt, tears slipping past all his defences and soaking his cheeks. Draco doubled over when he suddenly tasted bile, gagging on the scent of blood that was swirling around his head. He vomited his stomach contents up, shaking as he placed his palms against the cave wall. His father's screaming hadn't stopped and Draco about turned to go back and try and fight Greyback away from his father when he heard an echoing snap that echoed off the cave's walls and his father's screaming stopped without any warning.
Dread settled in his stomach and Draco trembled harder, looking up and glancing back the way he'd came, just as a hex smacked into his left side, scorching his skin. Draco snarled, threatened and trapped as he was, he had no choice. His vision blurred and Draco knew that he was dangerously close to losing consciousness. When a growl, he apparated away, choking back the bile burning his throat as the guilt of leaving his father made his chest ache.
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Since the war, Hermione had worked at the ministry within the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and while she didn't see quite as much as her friends as she used to, Hermione loved her job. She worked within the Werewolf Capture Unit, and while they one weren't funded well, Hermione was slowly changing that and making it known how important their work really was. She knew that not all werewolves were bad. Lupin had struggled every full moon to resist his change and did everything in his power to keep those around him save, but not all werewolves were like Lupin had been. Harry and Ron both worked for the ministry too, both were working within the Auror Department, and she was so proud of them and of how well they were both doing.
Sighing, Hermione rubbed at her eyes and paused, her concentration slipping before turning her attention back to the files in front of her. There had been a number of reports regarding werewolf attacks and a string of missing people. Some of the victims were found killed and their corpses carelessly dumped within wooded areas, but others had just vanished – the only common aspect with the missing victims were that they all disappeared during a full moon. She just couldn't figure out how to track all these missing people and she'd spent months getting these reports. Six months ago, she'd read that Fenrir Greyback had been broken out of Azkaban and that was what was concerning her the most.
Years ago, Greyback had attempted to create a werewolf army, and had succeeded by a certain extent, but what if he had been broken out to recommence his former plans? Sighing for the fourth time that hour, Hermione rubbed her eyes again and decided to finish early. She would go home and get some rest and hopefully something would come to her while she tired to relax. What she really needed was a large glass of wine and a long bubble bath to soothe aching muscles.
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Draco stumbled as he apparated into the ministry by the Floo network, losing his footing and dropping to his knees with a pained moan. He caught himself on his hands as his lungs burned from running and he clutched at his ribs, flinching at the pain that shot through him and coughed, his breathing heavy. He moved his hand and stared at the sticky deep red that stained his skin and soaked into his shirt turning it into a deep burgundy. The metallic scent clung to him and he could still smell the moss from the forest he'd just left, the damp smell stuck in his nostrils and he gagged, doubling over.
Draco stared at the floor, knowing that he had to get up. He had to get the Aurors, healers, anyone that could help him, but he couldn't force his legs to obey his commands and his thoughts flicked back to the scene that he'd left in the forest. Draco closed his eyes, fighting back the sight of all the blood and the manic gleam in his attackers' eyes. The image of his father's body dropping haunted him, and he groaned as the image of Lucius choking on his own blood flashed in his mind.
He punched the ground hard and then again, watching as his fist smeared blood on the tiles. He had no idea if the blood was his or his father's and Draco slammed his fist into the ground once more for good measure, splitting his knuckles. Draco stared at the ground, his anger swarming his thoughts. How could he have just left? What the hell had he been thinking? He'd just fucking abandoned his father, leaving him to the mercy of those bastards. He should have dragged his father from there kicking and screaming if he had to, but he'd fled like a bloody dog with his tail between his legs. Draco ran a blood soaked hand through his sweat dampened hair and let out a frustrated shout, slamming his hand into the ground again, cracking the tile and hearing a snap that caused pain to shoot through his hand as his knuckles broke.
Draco wasn't aware of what time it was, but the ministry was quiet, he knew that much. He was unaware of the footsteps that headed his way. He wasn't aware that he was trembling and that the sweat that soaked his skin was evaporating now, chilling him to his core as he struggled with his horror. His father had been swimming in his own blood, three horrifically death gashes down across his chest. Lucius had told him to run, to flee to get help and to leave him. Draco had hesitated until his father had screamed it at him, and he'd apparated then, already tasting the bile that stung the back of his throat.
"Malfoy?" A timid voice called his name and broke through the shock that was settling in his mind. He looked up and hesitated, taking longer that he was proud of to realise who the woman was that knelt in front of him. A head of dark curls and concerned brown eyes met his grey ones and Draco's mind suddenly caught up. Hermione was friends with Potter, and Draco knew that Potter was an Auror. He had to help. Draco grabbed the woman's shoulders frantically. "You need to help me!" He snapped, panicked. In his current state he almost missed her concerned look, and when he did catch it, he couldn't understand the witch's concern. "Where's Potter? I need an Auror! Hurry, dammit, where the hell is he?"
"Malfoy, slow down. Where are you hurt?" Hermione said, trailing her gaze over him. He was covered in blood and his already pale skin was a sickly grey. He looked awful and his eyes were wide and frightened and the fact that something had scared him so much worried Hermione. Draco Malfoy had always had the infamous Malfoy stoicism and to see him so unhinged was concerning. She'd only known of him being like this once before in sixth year when Harry had found him having a breakdown in the prefect's bathroom.
"Stop! I don't have time. Granger you have to get the Aurors to the Clearwell Caves in Gloucestershire. They're near the Forest of..."
"Malfoy. Stop, I know where they are. Just stop for a moment and tell me what happened? Where are you hurt? You need a healer." Hermione said, prying his blood-covered hands from her shoulders, frowning at how much he was trembling. His skin was cold and clammy beneath the blood and his eyes looked distant when he met her gaze. Hermione glanced up when she heard footsteps and saw Harry and Ron heading her away.
"'Mione?" Ron called, frowning as he took in the scene of a blood covered Malfoy on his knees in front of his best friend, shaking and clearly terrified. "What's happened?" He asked her as he and Harry both stopped by their friend's side. Before Hermione could really answer her friend, Draco collapsed against her and she yelped in surprise as she caught him, cradling him in her arms and watching him as he lay in her lap, shaking. She stared at him, confused and concerned.
"Draco?" She questioned hesitantly, but she could see that he was drifting out of consciousness.
"Granger, please..." Draco groaned, his breathing laboured and clearly pained. "My dad... we were attacked..." He mumbled, stating the obvious by the blood that still seeped from his wounds and soaked his pale, clammy skin. "...Werewolves."
Hermione only just caught Draco's whispered last word before the darkness claimed him, but she had heard him and she knew that her friends had heard as well. "I need to get him to St Mungo's!" She said, meeting their gazes. "Go get the other Aurors and head to the Clearwell Caves by the Forest of Dean. I'll get some mediwitches and meet you there. Be careful, we're not entirely sure what happened, but you both know that Malfoy doesn't get that frightened!" She told her friends before apparating to St Mungo's.
She stayed on the ground with Draco in her lap, and called for help. She brushed blonde locks from Draco's face and frowned, glancing down at him. His chest was a mess, she could see it now that he wasn't doubled over. His white-turned-rust shirt was torn and stained and she could see the deep seeping wounds on his chest. He'd been hexed, but why?
The mediwitches came running and tore int her thoughts as they bundled Draco onto a stretcher and rushed him off. She spoke quietly to one of them, explaining all she knew and letting them know that she needed a couple of them to accompany her to find Lucius Malfoy. They hadn't hesitated in accepting and Hermione was soon standing by her two best friends and a handful of Aurors by the entrance of the caves. She didn't know where to start looking for Lucius, but they had to find the Malfoy patriarch.
Hermione wasn't sure what she was expecting, but when their small group followed the splashes of blood to a smaller cave the scene that lay before him made her clamp a hand over her mouth to force back the scream that was building up in the back of her throat. The air was thick with dark magic and it felt like it was smothering her, but that was the least troublesome sight. There was a pool of blood lying stagnant close to Harry's feet. About a meter from said pool of blood was Lucius' body, but want made Hermione stare wide-eyed and feeling sick, wasn't the fact that Lucius' body was shredded, cuts in his chest so deep that she could see bone. No, what affected her so much was that at the opposite end of the small cave, magically pinned to the wall of the cavern, was Lucius' head.
She couldn't pull her gaze away from the sight and the smell of blood was filling her senses. A part of her, deep beneath her horror was praying that Draco had left before his father had suffered like this. She couldn't begin to imagine how her childhood enemy would have coped if he'd seen this. Hermione turned her gaze away, her hand still covering her mouth and her eyes watering. "How barbaric." She mumbled, a single tear falling from her lashes as she blinked. "Poor Malfoy. Who would do this?"
Ron was at her side, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, but he offered her no words. There was nothing that anyone could say to make this okay. Since the war, the Malfoys' had tried to change their views, and while Hermione knew that Lucius still looked down on Muggle-born and Half-bloods with contempt, she would never wish for anything close to this. This is was vile and she couldn't stand it. The thought that someone would have to break this news to Narcissa and her son made Hermione shiver.
"Come on, Hermione, lets get out of here. We'll let the others deal with this one." Ron was saying to her softly as Harry joined them. He looked grim and she couldn't blame him. He was aiming to become the head of the Auror's Office, and had would no doubt he had been given the task of letting the Malfoys know what had happened to Lucius. He took her hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Ron's right. You should go and get some rest. I'll inform Malfoy and his mum about this." Harry said softly but Hermione shook her head, making him frown at her.
"I'll come with you. Draco said that werewolves were involved. I need more information about this. I need to catch those that done this." She said, flicking her gaze back to the headless body lying on the cave floor before closing her eyes. She wasn't looking forward to Draco's reaction to this. It had unnerved her how he'd been so shaken, so terrified, in the ministry. He had collapsed against her and it had scared Hermione, but she didn't want to witness his reaction to this, and she knew Narcissa's would be just as bad. There was no denying that the woman adored her late husband. She didn't envy Harry's task of telling them.
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A/N: So there's the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it and I didn't quite intend to have Lucius' death quite so gory – that just kind of happened, but I rather like how it turned out. Poor Draco!
Let me know what you think! And thank you for reading. And I want to give a massive thanks to my best friend, Kim, for reading this over first and letting me know what she thought (as she's a total Harry Potter expert and I'm not)!