Draco Malfoy sat alone chained to a wall, he held regret close to his heart. His hands bound above his head rubbed raw from the rough iron, his dark mark cut from his arm unworthy to bear it, his once platinum blonde hair dirty grey and bloody, he wore a once white shirt tattered and old, now cut and torn in the places where torture had occurred. His lower half was bare and covered with the reminder of being there for so long without a proper loo, The stench of rotting flesh and excrement he had become accustomed to would make anyone else sick. They had left him there with no food or water for at least 3 days now. Bellatrix had been the one to cut away the dark mark and whip him into submission. She had also laughed at the pain she brought when she slit his mother's throat and let her blood cover him as he watched helplessly. He knew the war was all but won by Harry Potter and he held out a sliver of hope he would live just long enough to see the Dark Lord and his minions perish in despair. He also relived every moment of regret from the moment he didn't try hard enough to befriend Harry Potter to the moment he was to scared to run with his mother before being given the order to kill Dumbledore. He knew in the depths of his soul he would give anything to go back and change his path. He would do the unthinkable if it gave him the chance to change his past and live his life the way he should have from the start ensuring his fate would not be the cell he was in now.
"Harry Potter the Chosen one vanquished Tom Riddle also known by all as Lord Voldemort." Hermione Granger read from the Daily Prophet. "They are unbelievable, do they really think that we have forgotten the filth they spread about you and Dumbledore?" She slammed down the newspaper causing the 8 people sitting nearby to jump.
Being at home resting to the survivors of the War meant hiding at Number 2 Gramauld place until the Ministry Aurors rounded up the last of the Death Eaters who scattered after their Dark Lord fell. She sat around the table with Harry Ron and Ginny but also Mr. And Mrs. Weasley George Weasley and Teddy Lupin being held by his grandmother Andromeda.
Hermione huffed and folded the newspaper passing over to Arthur Weasley for him to scan.
"I just want to be normal and forget about the War." Harry Potter added. "I had hoped that Hogwarts would be rebuilt by the start of term but the Ministry is not working fast enough."
"You're a loon for wanting to go back!" Ron exclaimed earning him a smack on the head from his mother who had been sitting right next to him. George snickered earning him one as well.
"Is there any news of my sister and my nephew Arthur?" Andromeda intersected bouncing Teddy on her knee to keep him from fussing.
"They still haven't been able to break through Malfoy Manors wards to get inside." He looked at Andromeda and sighed. "But I'm sorry to say we do not hold any hope of finding anyone alive."
"I just need to know what happened to them." She got up from the table and placed Teddy in Harrys arms before sitting back down. "I need closure." She sighed and rung her hands together. "I regret everyday not taking Cissy and Draco into hiding when Voldemort came back. Cissy had an odd sense of duty to her husband."
Everyone was silent and polite while Andromeda expressed her feelings. Some held sympathy for the woman. Others mainly Ron were content with ignoring her altogether.
"Have they announced Kingsley as the new minister yet?" Hermione ask Mr. Weasley.
"I suspect they will do so soon." He looked at her knowingly. "Why do you ask?"
"She wants to get spew added to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and start another war." Ron joked.
"It's not spew it's S.P.E.W., honestly Ronald after all these years you would think that you would know it by now!" She explained. "I just wanted to discuss the possibility of having a conversation about S.P.E.W. being apart of the Department."
"I'm sure he would give you the whole Department if you asked politely enough." George chimed in. Ron high five him earning a death glare from both their Mother and Hermione.
"Regardless of the motivations, Kingsley Shackbolt would probably drop everything for a meeting with the brains behind the Golden Trio." Arthur stated with a tone of endearment.
Draco Malfoy crouched down and vomited the contents of his stomach on the floor which was nothing but stomach acid. He counted 8 days since seeing someone and could feel his body shutting down, he asked Merlin for a painless death and hoped his request would be fulfilled. His tiny cell only provided a small iron barred window from which he counted the sunrises and sunsets. He stared at his feet wondering if they ever really looked the bony or if it was just the lack of food and water that had caused it he couldn't really move his head to examine the rest of himself but predicted that he looked just as bad.
"Check the dungeons and report back immediately..." Draco heard a faint voice for which he dismissed as a hallucination. Then he heard foot falls of boots in the puddles of blood that had accumulated from the torture that had been performed down here. "The smell is wretched..." He heard a second voice. Dracos heart began to race. He was saved. Now all he had to do was get their attention.
"Help me!" He yelled which came out more like a scratchy whisper.
"Did you hear that?" One of the voices asked. There was a pause and and the footsteps started again, only this time they were moving in Dracos direction.
He thought quick and started the bang the chains around his hands against the stone wall.
"Hello? Is someone down here?" Draco saw a beam of light on the floor outside his cell and began to bang harder.
"You don't think someone survived did you?" Draco recognized the voice and groaned the Weasel, Ron.
"You never know but they cannot be in good shape." He would bet money it was one of the Weasel Twins.
Whoever it was he could feel the freedom, his heart raced faster and faster in anticipation.
The light grew brighter and brighter, then it stopped. Through the dirt crusted tendrils that was once his hair he could make out 2 shapes.
"Well fuck, let's get him down then." George Weasley stated.
"How about we leave him here?" Ron answered. Draco shook with anger at the statement and made the chains rattle.
"I don't know about you but I'd rather not feel Dads rath if he found out. Plus there might be a reward." George blasted the bars off the cell with a well placed spell and rushed to Dracos side lifting him off the floor. "A little help, he really stinks." Ron meandered over and unlocked the cuffs. Dracos arms stiffened and as he tried to lower them he discovered his shoulders had been dislocated. He cried out in pain for the first time in a week.
"Boys!" They could hear Mr. Weasley yell.
"Yeah, Dad we're fine, but we found a survivor!" George replied. They hauled Draco up by his waist and George threw him over his shoulder and carried him up into the entrance of the dungeons. George laid him down on a stretcher Mr. Weasley conjured and took a look at his physical state.
"Well he's alive but barely. He should go to St. Mungos but I'm afraid the last of the Death Eaters will try to finish the job." Mr. Weasley conjured a patronus and sent it away to Headquarters. "He will have to be transported by floo, apparition will just make his injuries worse." He looked to his 2 sons. "I thought there was a curse or a trap down there. You two gave me a heart attack."
"Nope just a lot of blood and him." Replied George.
"Well you were lucky to have only seen that. We cleared a room upstairs with a dead guy in it he had a hole in his chest. It looked like someone chewed through him." An Auror Draco didn't know walked up with a rotting flesh stench wafting around him.
"Rats." Draco choked out.
"What's that son?" Asked Mr. Weasley.
"They tied a metal bucket to his chest with rats inside and placed a flame on the bucket to heat it up." Draco was starting to get his voice back, after not using it for so long it felt alien to him.
None of the men had a reply to that statement and all wished they hadn't known.
"Were you the one who did that?" Asked the Auror.
"It was a personal preference of my Aunt Bella, I was next." He explained.
"That I believe." George stated.
"She liked the screams." Draco added.
A reply patronus came and instructed the group to floo Draco back to headquarters and to report immediately to Kingsley Shackbolt.
"Should we send word to Andromeda?" George asked.
"We will let Kingsley decide that, no need to get her worked up if all we are going to do is give him to the Dementors for the Kiss." Mr. Weasley replied.
Draco shuddered at the thought and hoped that Merlin was watching out for him.
Hermione worried about the Weasley men going to the Malfoy Manor. From the stories she had overheard from various Aurors it was not a friendly place and could have curses and traps set up throughout the entirety of the house. She was also hopeful that someone would be found alive that they could reunite with their family. She felt sympathy for Andromeda but she was not one to care of any Malfoys lived. It was preferable if they didn't.
Andromeda had dropped by to visit with Harry so that he could bond with his Godson Teddy. The pair of them were in the attic playing with some of Sirius's old toys and could be heard stomping around. Hermione along with Andromeda and Mrs. Weasley were sipping tea and discussing the possibility of returning to the Burrow once the Malfoy Manor is cleared of Death Eaters.
"I would love it if you kids would come back with us to the Burrow." stated giving Hermione that mom look in which you had to agree with any request she made.
"I would really like to finish my education and possibly Muggle University. Professor McGonagall said it had been done before and I think it would really help the Ministry if they had more officials with a Muggle background." Replied Hermione.
"Reform couldn't come fast enough." Andromeda added. "Some of those old farts need to understand the importance of saving our way of life by marrying and having children with Muggles. I cannot believe that some still follow the pureblood ideology." She sipped her tea and heard the floo being activated in the adjoining room and paused to see if the other two women had also heard it.
All three of them bolted to the next room to find Mr. Weasley Ron and George who was also held what looked to be a person.
"Oh Dear, is that who I think it is." Mrs. Weasley asked as she rushed to Draco and helped him off of George.
"Andromeda, I think we should go to the kitchen and discuss a few things." Mr. Weasley walked up to Andromeda and guided her out of the room.
"Should we tell the Ministry?" Hermione fussed.
"Dad sent word to Kingsley. He'll probably be here any moment to take him away." Ron said while walking up to Hermione and kissing her on the forehead. Draco saw the exchange between the couple and bit back a rude comment on bushy red haired kids.
"Let's take him to the back room and I'll give him a pain potion while we wait." Mrs. Weasley took point walking to said backroom mumbling about wasting perfectly good potion on a Death Eater.
"You aren't going to heal me." Draco felt abashed by the comment fron the older woman.
"Oh no dear, we can't afford to waste medical potions on someone who has a very good chance of getting the Kiss." Mrs. Weasley retorted sounding like it was an everyday occurrence. "And I won't force Hermione to perform healing spells on you if she doesn't want to. She's not a healer but the only one who could do so." Draco stole a glance at Hermione who was trailing behind everyoIne and had a stern look on her face.
Draco felt like he should've died down in the dungeons instead of being saved for a few more hours just to have his soul sucked out of his body. They set him down on a cot in the middle of the room it looked as though it was used as a makeshift hospital room with various potions and unknown metal instruments and lots of bandages stacked up along the wall.
"You should've left me there." He said to no one in particular. Everyone ignored him.
"Do you want me to fetch Andromeda, mother?" Asked George as he made his way back out of the room.
"Dear," Mrs. Weasley turned Draco head so he could focus on her eyes. "Would you like to see your aunt?"
"No." He replied.
"Well, alright then." She shook her head. She pressed a vial of pain potion to his lips and he greedily gulped it down. He instantly felt better and the pain in his body melted away, even though he couldn't move he was still able to relax.
Ron and George exited the room leaving Hermione and Mrs. Weasley alone with the young man.
"Hermione dear, would you fetch Harry for me please." Mrs. Weasley sat down on a Stoll next to the bed and took hold of Dracos hand for which he felt grateful and comforted.
Hermione left without a word and Draco could hear foot falls above his head.
"Now, we will have a chat about what is to come now. I know we are waiting for Kingsley who will decide what to do, however if he is much longer I'm afraid we won't be able to save you at all." She had a look of sadness in her eyes.
"It's that bad?" He questioned.
"Yes, you have blood poisoning and it's already spread too far for magical and Muggle medicine. I imagine it's your magic keeping you conscious. But soon you'll either slip away or start to seize and convulse. I didn't want to alert anyone of you dying. I'm sure Hermione can see it." She added as an afterthought. "The only thing we can do is keep you comfortable."
"I was beginning to think I was going to have a Second chance at life." Draco stared at the ceiling contemplating how fucked up this situation was and how he will never see past tomorrow, either by dying or the Kiss.
"Will I still get the Kiss?" He asked her. His voice soft and small.
"I'm not sure dear." And with that the room fell silent.
"Mrs. Weasley?" Harry had the door cracked opened and his head poked through.
"Come in Harry." She replied. He Cautiously walked in and shut the door quietly behind him.
"He's alive." Harry stated the obvious.
"Well you'll get to see me dead and cold soon enough Potter." Draco sneered.
"Giving you the Kiss, eh?" Harry replied.
"Enough you two." Mrs. Weasley barked. "I didn't bring you in here to bicker."
"Why is he here?" Draco snapped.
"I brought him in here because you two need closure. Fighting for so long has been tiring I bet and with Mr. Malfoy he doesn't have much time to make amends."
"In other words I'm dying and I need to clear my mind." Draco sighed. "I'm already at peace with death I have been for awhile now but I wanted you to know that if I could go back and change my actions towards you Granger and Weasley I would." His voice started to crack and the pain slowly started to creep back into his body. He could feel his blood and it was on fire. He suddenly felt cold and started to shake uncontrollably.
"Do something." Harry shouted.
"I will only prolong his suffering there is nothing to be done." Mrs. Weasley had a tone to her voice almost as if she would cry.
Draco felt his muscles tense up and his eyes go black and then nothing.