Author's Note: This story is dedicated, once again, to Lu Mezenga, lovely BETA e to my friend Stefanie, 'cause none of my OCs would be fun enough if they weren't based in anyone but her. I do not owe anything, queen Jo has all these rights. R&R :)
Chapter 1:
- Azkaban, 31st of July -
As soon as Narcissa Malfoy apparated at the old wizards' prison, the stench of the place filled her nose. She shook her head, still trying to keep the pose. Although it had been three months since the new minister, Kingsley Shacklebolt, unemployed the dementors, their smell was still in the place and it definitely wouldn't leave so soon. Azkaban was, then, guarded by highly trained aurors.
The witch walked to the reception, where a cranky man was sitting behind a small desk with some papers on it. Narcissa cleared her throat loudly and the man looked at her.
"Can I help you, ma'am?" the man asked in a bored tone.
"I'm here for a visit. I scheduled the appointment," she replied coldly.
The man looked at a long parchment for a while.
"Oh yes. Mrs Malfoy, here it's," he looked at her. "For safety reasons, I'll have to ask you to leave your purse and wand with me. You'll have them back after you leave."
Narcissa scowled and handed the man her belongings against her will.
"You can follow this corridor. Kyle will be waiting for you by the end of it and he will take you to see..." the man looked at the paper again. "Mr. Malfoy."
Narcissa followed the path she was told to. It was the first time she was visiting Lucius after he was arrested. It took a lot for her to gather courage to go to Azkaban and she didn't know how Lucius would react to her presence.
When she reached the end of the corridor, there was a tall and muscular man standing in front of a door.
"Mrs. Malfoy," the man greeted her with a nod.
"You must be Kyle," she said.
"Indeed. Please, follow me and try to be in a certain distance from the cells."
Narcissa nodded silently. The man opened the door behind him and let her go in front of him. Narcissa was still a bit confused how she got to one of the highest floors of the prison, where the most dangerous prisoners stayed, as the way there was very dark and only known by the aurors who worked there. Kyle escorted Narcissa through the cells. There were many faces that she recognized. Most of the men making company to her husband at Azkaban attended to the meetings at the Manor when the deceased Dark Lord was trying to rule the world. They looked terrible and they would probably look the same if the dementors were still there. However, Narcissa wasn't prepared to see the state her husband was. When she reached his cell, he was sitting on the floor staring at the wall mumbling something she couldn't understand.
"Malfoy," Kyle called roughly. "You have a visitor."
Lucius stopped mumbling immediately, but he didn't turn to them.
"You have five minutes," Kyle informed and stepped back so Narcissa could have a bit of privacy, although he kept enough distance to hear the conversation.
"You took more than I thought you would," Lucius said loudly still looking at the wall.
"How have you been?" Narcissa asked. Her voice wasn't more than a whisper.
"How do you think I have been?" he yelled getting up and approaching the bars abruptly.
Lucius didn't look good at all. His hair was all messy and dirty. His eyes were red and he really needed to shave.
"I've been locked up in this dirty and disgusting hole. I can barely sleep and neither my wife or son had the guts to visit me!" Lucius was furious and Narcissa somehow knew that this was the reaction she wished to see from her husband. It meant that he didn't go crazy, yet.
"Draco didn't come, because he is..." Narcissa tried to say.
"Because of what? What excuse are you making up to cover him?" her husband was still very mad.
"He is missing, Lucius," Narcissa said exasperated. "He ran away almost three months ago and I haven't heard from him since."
"You're saying the Malfoy's heir has been missing for almost three months? Why didn't you go after him?" Lucius yelled again.
"I looked for him everywhere! Don't think that I didn't do anything. He is not only the Malfoy's heir. He is my son!" she replied trying not show how worried she was.
"So, does this mean that you're living in the Manor alone for all this time?" Lucius asked coldly.
"No. The Ministry took the Manor from me. I've been living at another Wizard neighbourhood. I had to find a new place," Narcissa admitted and Lucius screamed in anger.
"I cannot believe that you manage to lose two of our most important belongings. Our son and our house!" he said.
"I don't think we have to worry. I heard that they schedule your trial for a couple of weeks from now. Once you're out of here, we can try to get the house back and I believe that until then, Draco will be back," Narcissa said.
"I'll deal with the house issue later. As for our son, I want him back home as soon as possible. You have to find him, no matter what," Lucius replied and his wife saw the anger in his eyes.
"How am I supposed to that? As I told you, I've looked everywhere!"
Lucius didn't reply. He turned to the wall thinking. He didn't speak for a while, but, then, he finally looked at Narcissa.
"I have a contact in Russia. Her name is Lizvetta Sven. She owes me a few favours. Talk to her and she will find Draco," he said.
"Are you sure?" Narcissa asked, but she didn't get her answer.
Kyle approached them and interrupted before Lucius could say anything.
"Your time is up. Please, follow me, Mrs. Malfoy," he said and Narcissa nodded following the man to the exit.
- A pub somewhere at Wizarding London, the same day -
"One shot of firewhiskey," Draco said to the barman, who finally noticed that he wanted to order something.
The barman was, actually, a bit frightened because of the black hood Draco was wearing. Since Draco left the Manor, he had been wondering around the Wizarding World trying to figure out what to do with his life. He still had some money, but he wasn't living with as many privileges as he used to. He spent the last two months and half travelling around the country and he was finally back to London. Draco was still shaken up from the war and he used many hours thinking about the values his parents passed to him while he grew up.
The barman came back with his drink and put it in front of him. Draco drank it all, when he heard two men talking about his father on a table near him.
"Have you heard that Malfoy is getting a trial in a few weeks?" one of the men said. He was fat as a pig and he was eating eggs and bacon.
"I bet he will try to pay everyone in the court, but now that we have Shacklebolt as minster, he won't have any chance," the second man answered.
"I read in the Daily Prophet that his wife didn't even visit him and his son is missing. If I had Lucius Malfoy as a father, I would run away too," the fat man said and the other man agreed.
Draco at first was mad for listening those men talking about his family like that, but he couldn't help but to agree that the men were right. The Malfoys had the bad reputation and it wouldn't change any sooner. Draco got up, leaving the money of the beverage besides his glass and left the pub.
- Harry and Ron's place, the same day -
"Happy Birthday, Harry!" Hermione said hugging her friend.
"Thanks, 'Mione," he replied and she handled him his present.
Hermione smiled and walked into his new place. Since the war ended, Harry and Ron bought a place together. They were working as aurors in the ministry, while Hermione got a position in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for the summer. She still had the intention to go back to Hogwarts and get her N.E.W.T.s. Ginny was planning to go back to Hogwarts too and she was enjoying her summer vacation, especially now that she didn't have to worry about Harry getting killed anymore. Hermione, finally, got together with Ron, but their relationship wasn't going so well. As they were living apart, they only saw each other at the ministry or after work. Besides they had been arguing about Hermione's will to go after her parents in Australia.
There weren't many people in the place, just the closest friends, that included Neville, Luna and George Weasley with his girlfriend Angelina.
It wasn't exactly a party, it was just a small celebration. So, after they ate, they just sat to talk and enjoy each other's company. The night went along pretty fast with loads of laughs and loud talks.
"So, Hermione, did you talk to Mrs. Williamson from the Department of Magical Transportation?" George asked, as he knew that Hermione wanted to leave the country.
"Let's not talk about this, please?" Ron said before Hermione could answer. He was annoyed by that matter as it had already started many arguments between him and his girlfriend.
"I wrote her and scheduled an appointment with her tomorrow, George," Hermione answered ignoring Ron. "It seems that Kingsley managed to not let any wizards or witch to apparate from England to another country. However, I believe that I can convince her to let me go to Australia."
"But do you know where your parents are?" Angelina asked.
"I sent them to Melbourne, but I'm not sure if they moved or something. I'll find them, no matter what," Hermione smiled.
"I'm sure you will," Luna smiled.
"If I cannot get anything from Mrs. Williamson, I'll talk to Shacklebolt personally. Besides, I don't think I'll have much problems in Australia. I heard it is a very nice country and I've already got the spell I needed to restore their memories. I have already looked at hotels to stay there and apparently there is a small wizard community in Sidney where I can get some support if I need it," Hermione replied and smiled too.
"Stop talking like you're actually going!" Ron complained.
"I won't stop, because I'm going, Ronald. Like or not, I need to find my parents!" Hermione said to him annoyed.
"No, you're not. There are many reasons why Shacklebolt is not letting anybody leave the country. One of them is safety. It's not safe to go to Australia, at least not for now," Ron continued.
"I don't know if you remember, but I can take care of myself perfectly, Ron. Just because I'm not an auror, it doesn't mean I can't duel or fight with someone," Hermione got up angrily.
"I'm not letting you do this, Hermione. I care about you way too much to put you in risk," Ron got up too.
"Too bad I don't need your permission to do what I want," Hermione replied.
"As my girlfriend, you need to respect my decisions," Ron said and Hermione finally lost her temper.
"If that's the condition to be your girlfriend, then I don't want to be with you any more," she yelled and got her purse.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Ron asked yelling too.
"It means, it's over, Ronald," she replied and apparated with tears in her eyes.