Sign, Sealed, Delivered
Disclaimer: We own nothing! This plot is the only thing we co-own (with each other, of course). Harry Potter is the creation of the amazing J.K Rowling. No profit is being made here whatsoever.
Summary: When Draco Malfoy's father receives the Kiss for unmentionable crimes, Draco's life hits rock bottom. As he spirals downward, there is only one person concerned for his well being. Can Harry Potter save Draco Malfoy or is too late? Eventual HPDM!
Dress up Romance's Notes (DRACO!): First and foremost, if you ever want a beta-reader I suggest that you advertise needing one RIGHT HERE in your notes section. That's how I stumbled upon Chloekitty22. She became my beta, then I became hers, then a friend, now a co-author! It was her brilliant idea to write this story together and I have to give her basically all of the credit on this one. It's my first story that I am co-writing and I couldn't be any more excited for the outcome!
Chloekitty22's Notes (HARRY!): WOOO! I was playing with my ipod, somewhere in between downloading "This is Why Im Hot" and "Mockingbird" I was like "omg! A story written completely in letters or notes." And sooo the first thing I did was email my beta and author of stories I beta, miss Dress up Romance, who is like my new best-est online friend. Lol. So here we are. And I'm super excited to write this. I hope you all love it as much as I'm sure I will.
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I remember when you taught me how to read
When you taught me how to laugh
When you taught me what love was
I remember the love that you had for me
And the love I had for you
I remember when I could seek you out and get all my answers
You face is so clear, I remember it perfectly
What I don't remember, is when it all left
I don't remember things being this way
I don't remember you not caring
What I do remember is when you left
And how you looked so apathetic
And I asked my self "Why don't I remember when I lost my father?"
I wondered when all of it really happened
I don't remember any of you now
I don't know you anymore.
Ana Luisa
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"Lucius is in Azkaban."
Draco Malfoy looked up to his mother with a questioning glare. He'd been finishing a letter to Blaise in the Owlery when his mother had approached him. Her remark made little sense to Draco, seeing as he'd known that he was father was in Azkaban since his fifth year of schooling at Hogwarts. It was mid-July before his seventh and final year of school. Either his mother was having a mental break down at this point or she failed to come to conclusions easily. He did not like the options he has to pick from. "Yes mum, I've known for quite some time now that father was locked up in there."
Narcissa scrunched up her nose as if she'd smelt hippogriff droppings. Her emotionless gray eyes gazed up and down Draco. She was determining something and by the looks of it, it must be something important: Narcissa never traveled to Owlery, let alone this wing of the Manor. "Who do you think you're speaking to in such a manner? I am your mother Draco! We are not a part of that filthy, muggle-loving family best known as the Weasleys; I will not have my son speak to me like I was a loon."
"Of course not mother." Draco stated dryly. He turned from her to look over his letter. With a quick nodded, he rolled the parchment up and picked one of the many family-owned owls. He chose a pure white owl with enormous brown eyes and a perfectly black beak. He beckoned the bird over with an owl treat and let her munch on it while he tied the rolled parchment to her outstretched leg. "Take this to Blaise Zabani, make sure that he answers me immediately. If he does not being to write, I want you to go to extreme measures to make sure he writes me back."
The owl hooted once and soared out the open window. Narcissa stood behind Draco, watching the owl fly off into the distance. "She's the daughter of my owl from when I was a girl. Her name was Kalona, and she looked exactly like her."
"That's very interesting mum," Draco said as if he were repeating himself to a four year old, "but I doubt it is what you came here to tell me."
"I already told you not to speak to me like that!" Narcissa snapped. Her eyes flared with rage and caught Draco off guard. Usually when she yelled at him, she seemed very bored with the conversation, but looking into her eyes now, there was something different about her. Her eyes bore rage, but they did not stop with the new emotions. Beneath her façade, Draco saw fear and sorrow looming within his mothers gaze. "But you are right; I came to tell you that your father is in Azkaban."
"Yes, I know mother."
"And he has been sentenced to receive The Kiss." She completed as if she was telling him that the house elves had finished preparing dinner.
"WHAT?!"
"All the cases against him were won. He's a murderer Draco, a lunatic. He killed the innocent, he followed that crazy fool…" Narcissa trailed off in her sentence after that.
Draco starred at his mother, his face contorting with different emotions. This was not his mother, it couldn't be. Narcissa Malfoy was a poised, elegant woman, so beautiful that it was assumed she was full or at least half-veela. Though she bore no veela blood, Narcissa had the allure and attractive physique that drove every man wild, and she knew and loved it. His mother was not some ditzy woman who began stories and interrupted herself to make absolutely no sense, and then finish the conversation with some life-changing statement. Lucius Malfoy was going to lose his soul. Of course, many would beg to say he had none; Draco was not going to allow it. They couldn't do that to his father! Of course Lucius had committed crimes, but he was sick. He was not mentally right; Voldemort had screwed with his thinking and made him loopy. All Lucius needed was some help, someone to guide him onto the right path.
Lucius Malfoy was the only person Draco had ever looked up to in his life and now this is what it had come to. His father was a lunatic that was losing his soul because of it. The one man who Draco had dreamed of becoming was a vicious, heartless killer. But it couldn't be true. His father had to have been put under the Imperius curse or something, this wasn't like him. Draco remembered the days when his father was always there for him, to teach him things. He trained Draco into the boy he was today. The boy I am today…but what if I am the next him? What if he felt the way I do now, but that's the whole point? He knew that and he groomed me into his perfect, poster child…he wants me to follow in his foot steps. What if I wanted to kill when I get older? What if I get past this doubtful stage and become a beast like him and kill the innocent? Draco smacked himself clean across the face; he couldn't bear the thoughts anymore. He did not want to be a beast! But he already was.
He is a vicious, little conniving teenager. That could develop into adulthood and then bloom into a ravenous murdering stage of his life. Then, he could be set for the same fate as his father. He tortured people mentally all the time. Lucius could have started out the same way; he must have! Draco had gotten everything he'd ever done from watching his father do it first. He wasn't his own person at all. He thought he was above the world, but he wasn't, he was just below Lucius, ready to seize his spot once he was out of the picture. Not anymore! I will not kill to be killed; I will not become the next Lucius Malfoy…
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Today was the day. The day.
"Oh Draco," Narcissa muttered from the doorway, "you look so handsome!"
"Thanks mum." he mumbled under his breathe. He didn't need her reassuring words to know that he looked dashing. He wasn't blind. As he starred into the full length mirror, he appreciated himself. His pale skin glowed in the sunlight of his room. His platinum blond locks fell just past his ears, framing his pointed and slightly feminine face. Adorned on his body was a stone gray suit, custom made for this occasion. The suits cold exterior matched his detached eyes. He was ready to go. Well, as ready as you can be.
"Now Drakeykins," Narcissa drawled, twirling a blonde strand of hair around her bony, pale finger, "we should probably leave now. You have never seen Azkaban before have you?"
"You've taken me to see father before." Draco replied wryly. His mother's child like antics were getting to him faster than he had expected.
"Oh yes, of course I have. Well then, you have a good mental picture then?"
"Yes mother."
She hooked her arm through his and shut her eyes tightly, scrunching her nose up and concentrating. "Shall we apparate then?"
Draco did not respond. Instead he focused on what it looked like on the inside of Azkaban. He remembered how cold and damp it was upon his first arrival. The stone walls were so foreboding that it churned his insides persistently. The darkness that hung around his body choked him, blocking his airways. This view of literal depression had his heart beating; beating so hard that he felt it and questioned its rapid pace. He could picture this place all to well. The chill that made his body shiver let Draco know that the dementors were near. His mother's tight clutch alarmed him at first; he'd forgotten she had been holding onto him.
"I feel them too." She whispered. Draco was unable to respond, for a Ministry official stepped before them, a stupid grin on his face with his hand stuck in Narcissa's direction. Narcissa looked to Draco with wide eyes before turning back to the official, taking his hand gingerly.
"It's a pleasure to be meeting you for the first time Ms. Malfoy," the man gushed immediately, as if Draco was not standing next to her, "you look absolutely stunning. But when don't you?"
"I…I-um, who are you," Narcissa finally got out.
"Oh sorry," he said a little taken aback. Within seconds his stubby, portly hand was now waggling at Draco. Draco took the hand with caution and the man went to shake Narcissa's hand once more, "The name is Martine Kinkle. But you can call me Marty."
"Mind my manners but," Draco looked this man over once. He was a short, balding fellow with hanging, yellowish skin. His obsidian eyes were dull, like shoes that had been worn too often. His ministry robes were crinkled and Draco noted a stain near 'Marty's' chin. Despicable. "But you don't seem very official to me."
"Draco!" Narcissa hissed.
"Err," Marty fidgeted under Draco's intensive gaze, "follow me this way."
The two followed him down a long corridor, solely lit by a miniscule candle that floated back and forth. He stopped when they reached two oaken doors with a giant brass latch upon them. "Now, they've already prepped Lucius and he is only allowed to say a minute's good-bye to both of you. Hurry on in then."
Draco scooted in first when the doors opened and he noticed that Marty held his mother back to say something to her. Probably about my attitude…or asking her on a date, uck. When he turned back to look at the room, he realized he wasn't the only one in the room. Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, and the Minister of Magic were all seated far back in a corner. There were two chairs, obviously for him and his mother, closer to the table that…his father lay strapped onto.
Lucius looked much different than the last time Draco had seen him. His father had always, even when he was locked up, had a superior look upon him. But now, Lucius looked defeated and broken. He was so pale, that Draco could see the veins running up and down Lucius's arms. His hair was matted and dirty and Draco wished that had allowed him a bath before this and was intending on raising hell about it. His father looked like a shaggy vagabond and he'd be damned if that was the way the sanity of Lucius Malfoy was going to leave this world. His father was not a messy, insane bastard! When were they going to understand? He was just mixed up was all! He didn't mean any of it; he was forced to do all of it. Lucius wasn't crazy! He wasn't evil. Yes he is Draco, you know it. You're not fooling anyone.
"Draco, say good-bye," Narcissa whispered into his ear. Draco looked his mother over: she was a mess. Her make-up was running from the tears that he'd failed to notice. Her perfect hair was all over the place and Draco took this as the assumption his mother had just said goodbye to Lucius. "Hurry…before it's too late."
Draco took the step separating him from his father and rested a cold hand upon the table. It was freezing. How he empathized for his father at this very moment. His back must have been numb from lying there like that as if he were a piece of meat. "Draco, how nice to see you."
"Of course father," Draco mumbled, "I had to come by."
"They're killing me you know…"
"No, no they're not."
"The Kiss is worse than death." He was right. Everyone in the right state of mind would prefer death over The Kiss. Lucius starred up at Draco with a pained look. Him too?! He's showing all this emotion as well? What next? Me! "My Boy."
"Father." Draco didn't want to risk speaking any louder, for fear of his voice cracking. He was suppressing his tears now, tears he had never expected to come.
"Good-bye Draco," Lucius shut his eyes. The doors to the room opened and Draco was the only person who notably flinched when the dementor glided in. Backing away from his father, Draco fell into his seat to watch the show take place.
Biting his lip, Draco watched as the dementor loomed over his father. It scanned Lucius once, knowing that it had found its prey. Leaning in so close as if to literally kiss him the dementor began The Kiss. Narcissa and Minerva both gasped loudly once Draco heard the rattling, sucking sound coming from the dementor's lips. Lucius bright gray eyes fluttered open in shock as his chest heaved upward once and then dropped back into him. The dementor only got closer, as the silver cloud fluttered out of Lucius's lips. Draco couldn't bear to watch any longer, for the screaming and terrible visions were flashing through his head and he wasn't even being attacked. But curiosity picked at him and as soon as he looked up, he watched the life drain out of his fathers eyes. He saw it; as the light lifted from Lucius eyes and now he starred up at the ceiling, dead to the world. He could not hold back anything anymore. He jumped up form his seat, tears streaming down his face he ran to his father and clutched him tightly. Severus and the Minister ran to him immediately.
"No, father! Say something," Draco cried as he starred into the eyes that looked like black holes, "it's me Draco! It's your son!"
"Draco," Severus shouted as he pulled the blonde off his father, "he doesn't remember. He doesn't know!"
"But he must…he must."
"He will never remember." Severus said as sweetly and gingerly as possible. All he wanted to do was calm his godson down and hopefully, mend his broken heart.
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Dress Up Romace's Notes (DRACO): I wrote the prologue (Chloe Kitty beta'd OPBVIOUSLY!) and I also wrote that little quote at the beginning, I hope you liked that + this story. Next up are our letters! We plan on making this as real as possible, so sit back and enjoy.
