Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all of the characters belong to JK Rowling.
Warning: This is set after the seventh book. It won't have a happy ending and leads up to another story I'm writing. Also this is Slash, meaning Draco and Harry will be getting it on at one point. I'm not sure how far I'm going to take it. Truth be told I've never finished any lemons I ever tried to write. Anyway, I Hope you like it.
~Kitten
Chapter One
Harry Potter waited, less than patently, at the gate of Malfoy manor. His partner and best friend, Ron Weasely poked around the tall hedges with his wand, scanning for dark magic. The ginger shook his head signaling a negative and Harry pushed the gate open. The messy haired auror stormed up to the looming building. Malfoy manor had changed dramatically in the past three years. Ivy vines had crept their way up the cracking and degrading brick of the mansion walls. Several windows were shattered and the garden was overrun with weeds and dead grass. The place had obviously been neglected.
Not that Harry cared much. Who would expect the Malfoy's , whom were stripped of all but their home, to maintain the manor themselves. That prat Draco certainly wasn't going to do it, that much was clear. And Harry very much suspected that Narcissa had not worked a day in her life.
A very annoyed boy-who-lived stalked past all that and straight up to the peeling front door. When Harry had agreed to take the Malfoy Case he had never suspected it would cause him so many problems. Draco never made it to his monthly parole meetings, Harry always had to come collect him, and the git always made the interview difficult. The scared boy from the war had gradually regained his confidence and was constantly testing the young auror's limits.
Though Harry had to admit that Draco wasn't all bad. The blonde's joke and prods no longer held the bite they once did. No they were more witty wise creaks and jokes that almost made Harry laugh sometimes. The ex-Slytherin seemed to have turned over a new leaf. But none of that mattered this morning. Why? Because this morning a report came in saying that dark magic had been performed at Malfoy manor. Guess who was woken up at four in the morning to investigate the disturbance. That's right. Harry freaking Potter, and the boy savior was not in the least bit happy about it. Interrogating an arrogant git had not been on the top of Harry's list of things to do today.
"Open up Malfoy," Harry shouted, pounding on the door while Ron jogged to catch up.
"Calm down mate," Ron grabbed Harry's shoulder and pulled him back from the door. Using his wand the red headed auror unlocked the door. The dark haired man made a face at his own forgetfulness that made the ginger laugh.
"Come on," Harry scoffed and pushed past the taller man to enter the dark front hallway. It was one of the few rooms not covered in a layer of dust, besides the kitchen, bedrooms (only Mrs. Malfoy's and Draco's) and the library. And the bathroom but nobody ever seemed to count that. The two aurors searched the house high and low for the two purebloods only to turn up with nothing.
"Malfoy!" Harry growled, growing frustrated.
"Oi, Harry!" Ron called," I hear noise coming from their dungeon."
Harry joined his friend at the top of the stairs that descended down to the dark prison. The scarred man had long sense gotten over being locked down there while Bellatrix Lestrange had tortured Hermione, he had been in this house too many times now to let it bother him still. Ron on the other hand was still a bit squeamish about the memory. After all it was his fiancé. In any case the red headed auror always looked pale when he sometimes came to the manor with Harry to collect his charge and they passed these stairs. Ron looked pale now.
"Mother, please," Draco's voice drifted up the stone stairwell. The man sounded desperate and a little panicked. The two men at the top of the stairs shared a look, Ron nodded and Harry began to descend. He could see a faint glow of lamp light glowing at the bottom of the steps, lighting his way. Halfway down the two heard a woman shriek.
"NO!" Her voice was shrill," I'll make it right! I'll make it better! I'll fix everything Draco."
"Mother, Harry and the Weasel are probably storming the manor already. Please mother, forget this madness," they heard Draco say as the reached to bottom of the stairs.
It was obvious something was going on with . Harry didn't have time to feel guilty for it was Draco who had done something wrong. The man had a job to do. The torches that lit up the stone structure illuminated the grime creeping up the walls. The stone cavern was dank and smelled of musk, mildew, and faint traces of burnt wood. The space was thrown into flickering shadow making the figures in the room look ghostly pale and feeble. Mrs. Malfoy was on the floor, covered in soot and scribbling furiously with a charred piece of wood. Next to her Draco stood looking distressed. He pulled gently on his mother's shoulder but she shrugged him off.
"Just you wait, my Dragon," she wept as she worked. The tears worked tracks down her soot stained face," Everything will be made right."
"Malfoy," Harry said stepping forward.
Draco jumped grey eyes wide and startled when they darted in his direction. The taller man looked strained and stressed. He was in all black robes, usual attire for Draco, which looked if they had been put on in a hurry. His platinum blonde hair was a mess, strands falling around his face in a disheveled heap. Giving the aurors a curt nod he turned back to the woman on the floor and tried again.
"Look mother, auror Potter and Weasely are here. Why don't we go make them some tea? You've gotten quite good at it haven't you."
Ron snorted causing the prim blonde to glare at him. Harry elbowed his partner, a silent gesture meaning shut up. Ron got a lot of those.
The woman, unfortunately, didn't hear a word her son had said. She merely continued to scribble on the floor, all the while muttering to herself.
"Malfoy, what's going on?" Harry asked gently, wand rising defensively. The blonde didn't respond other than to give the scarred auror a pained look. Before the dark haired man could say anymore Mrs. Malfoy leaped to her feet.
"Yes," she cried," Yes!"
The raving woman scurried to the far side of her mess of markings. As she crossed the floor, careful not to smudge her lines, Harry noticed something. The charred drawings were all very precise for mere scribbles of a crazy woman. There was a specific intent behind the symbols. It reminded the auror of something but what he couldn't put his finger on it. He was faintly reminded of Hermione and a drawing in a book she had shown him recently. For the life of him couldn't recall what the conversation was about.
"Mother! No! "Draco shrieked, voice filled with panic.
Harry's head shot up at, eyes focusing on the widow. Mrs. Malfoy had gotten a knife from somewhere and was now dragging it across her forearm. Blood dribbled down from her freely bleeding arm onto the charcoal lines at her feet.
"Everything will be made right," she promised, smiling at her son who was paralyzed at the sight of her blood. Harry realized the blonde man was standing in the middle of the complex drawing. The man stepped forward, toward Draco, intent on pulling the stunned man away.
"Malfoy," Harry said pulling both blondes out of their stupor. For the first time sense the aurors had arrived she noticed their presence. The smile dropped from her face and she became as pale as her son. The woman hadn't factored them into her crazy ritual.
"No," she whispered," NO!" she cried more forcefully, frantic. But it was too late. Harry had already stepped into her spell. The floor lit up, blinding both men with white-blue light. They could feel the room shutter then Harry felt as if he were falling.
"Harry!" was the last thing the scarred man heard before gut wrenching pan spread through the man's body. He gave an agonizing shriek of pain then blacked out.