Fractured Time

Summary: Continuation of Birth of a Nightmare Man chapter thirteen, where we left Rabastan and Draco wondering about Harry Potter's fate. But now time has become a strange thing, and their world is dying. How can they escape? Will they ever see Harry Potter again?

Pairing/s: None.

Warnings: Time-travelling and dimension-travelling, some violence and gore. People acting OOC.

Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter nor do I make any money on fanfiction.

-o-

I know, two chapters in one go but I wanted to release Fractured Time and The Nightmare Man's Journey at the same time which required two chapters of Fractured Time in my opinion.

Fractured Time takes place around five years before The Nightmare Man's Journey.

Enjoy!

-o-

Chapter Two

Three years down the line, and Rabastan felt at times the need to curse Harry Potter. Or at least yell at him a little bit, or just… find him. That crazy kid that had gone from hero to tragic hero to revenge-mad to enemy of those he once protected to… gone. Just gone.

Rabastan didn't know how Potter's head worked, but he wouldn't stay away for three years without letting them know he was alright. So he wasn't somewhere where he could contact them. At this point Rabastan knew he must have been dragged into a crack of time.

London was nowadays a dangerous place to live, and mostly abandoned. The same went for the surrounding cities and towns and villages. No Muggles remained there. There was uproar throughout the Muggle world about the disappearances. Last Rabastan heard, the British Ministry of Magic was having trouble with other magical communities due to the cracks of time.

Especially when the cracks began to move across the sea, and come closer to other countries.

Never before had time-turners been researched so hard. How the shattering of a room with time-turners could create the break of reality. Could create thousands of paths of time. Was it because they shattered at the same time? Had Potter, suspected to be in the room, done a spell that somehow helped? Had it been something else in the room?

Now Rabastan was no expert on time-turners, but even a fool would see the cracks of time were not a good thing. They didn't stop, or really slow down. Would they one day be spread across the entire world?

The Malfoy Manor was still safe, but not for much longer. Both the cracks of time was coming closer, and Lucius had heard Amelia Bones, still the Minister, was close to finding the manor. So they did what only the desperate did, and went to London.

-o-

Rabastan tugged at the rope secured around his waist. It looked ridiculous; he and the three Malfoy members with ropes connecting them but it had already saved Lucius once from being sucked into a crack. They had agreed to it; either they saved the one being pulled through, or all four were pulled through the same crack.

Narcissa was behind Rabastan, then Draco, with Lucius bringing up the rear. For now they remained close to each other as Rabastan slowly led the way down a London street. The cracks glimmered in the afternoon sun. Their steps were the only sounds on the sidewalk. He trailed his hand over a wall, as if it would help him if anyone of them were sucked towards a crack.

In a way, the shattering of reality was beautiful in its destruction of their world. The power was still there, pulsating around them, glowing lights coming from some of the cracks. Others appeared… dormant?

He stopped near one.

"I want to try something," he said. "Hold onto something, hard."

All three Malfoys took out their wands and magic swirled in the air as they made sure they were stuck to the wall while Rabastan took a step closer to the crack. He inhaled, and reached out a hand. He expected a surge, a pressure and something pulling him closer.

Power cracked along his fingers as he touched the crack, but it appeared close.

"Nothing?" Narcissa said.

"No surge," Rabastan said. "It's closed."

He glanced around. Over half of the cracks he could see had no glowing light, like the one he was touching. Were they closed? Could they be closed?

"Fascinating," he said despite himself. "How come no one knows this?"

"Who in their right mind would go near a crack of time?" Draco asked.

"Good thing I'm not particularly sane then," Rabastan said. "Let's find a house."

"What is your plan?" Lucius said as they sought after a house untouched by the cracks of time. "You said you wanted to go to London, Rabastan."

"It might not be possible now, if the cracks can close but… I wanted to try and find if Potter went through one."

"How are we supposed to find that out?" Narcissa asked. "Besides, we've already established he must have. What use is it going here?"

"You're asking a madman for logical reasons? Surely you jest, Narcissa." Rabastan turned to them. "What else can we do?"

Not much. They were hunted. Unwanted by everyone but the British Ministry, and the British Ministry wanted nothing more than to punish them. Narcissa looked over at Lucius, then at Draco. It probably wasn't the life she had pictured for her beloved son.

"There is nothing else we can do," Lucius said. "With any luck, we'll get pulled into a crack of time that has a world that isn't going under. That's the best we can hope for."

Rabastan knew finding the same time Potter was most likely pulled into was slim to none, but he wanted to try. He was mad, so why not do mad things?

-o-

They found a townhouse at last, and dared to untie the ropes. But only inside the house. Narcissa inspected the rooms, clearly not liking them but few houses could compare to Malfoy Manor in its splendour.

Draco himself seemed less concerned, freeing the sitting room from dust and cobwebs before sitting down on the couch. His face was haggard, yet tense. Older than his years. Everyone seemed older than their years.

"Do you really think we can find him?" Draco asked Rabastan.

"No," Rabastan confessed. "Yet I still have a fool's hope that we will. He'll probably be very pleased with the chaos he left behind."

"Probably? You mean definitely. Who knew such madness could exist in Harry Potter, the saviour?" Draco looked down at his robes, well-worn and a little dusty from his cleaning earlier. "I never thought he could ever change. He was so… good, it was sickening."

"He would have remained neutral, if George Weasley hadn't died," Rabastan said. "Perhaps he would have even forgiven his friends, if that man hadn't died."

"Potter always did forgive so easily."

Rabastan was surprised at how much he missed Potter. He hadn't known the young man that long, and now all he wanted was to see him again. Make sure he was alright.

But they had to survive first. Get their strength back and then…

Then venture into a Ministry no one had touched in well over two years.

-o-

Lucius strengthened the ropes for the final time just before they entered the Ministry.

"Will you stop being paranoid?" Rabastan asked him. "That's usually my job."

"Well, I don't want one of us ending up alone somewhere," Lucius said through gritted teeth.

They made it down, and passed a short hall before entering the atrium. It was a shattered version of itself. Many of the cracks were dark, and they felt no pull from them. But a few glowed, and as they watched one crack appeared near the ceiling and began to glow.

"New ones form even here?" Narcissa said. "Oh dear."

"Oh dear, indeed," Lucius said.

As they walked, their footsteps bounced off the walls. Some of the rooms Rabastan glanced into were completely distorted, to the point even furniture had splintered. They moved slowly forward, staying as far away as possible from the cracks that glowed.

But they hadn't gotten to the end of the atrium before they heard a voice they most certainly hadn't expected to hear:

"Malfoy!"

Amelia Bones, and when they turned around they saw she wasn't alone. She was far, far from alone.

"How did so many of them make it this far?" Narcissa asked.

"I think it's best if we fasten the pace just a tad, and not wonder too much about that part," Lucius said as he ushered both Narcissa and Draco behind him while pulling his wand out.

This time it was Rabastan first, then Draco, then Narcissa and with Lucius last. He insisted on being last every time, as that meant if they were attacked from behind he would be able to protect his wife and son with his body, if it came down to it.

"You're not getting out of here!" Bones continued.

"Oh, and you are certain of this, Minister?" Lucius said.

"Where's Potter?" she wanted to know.

"No clue, I'm afraid. He didn't leave a message behind."

"You think we'll fall for that?" someone else shouted.

"Get them!"

One tried. He was sucked into a crack, tried to fight back and it ended with one of his legs falling to the floor with a wet splat.

"Alright, time to run," Rabastan decided.

They ran, even as they heard Bones and her rather large group of people began to move. A few spells came towards them, but were pulled into the cracks or even bounced back, as if some of the space between the cracks served as a wall.

The hallways were shattered, but they managed to get through most of them. Sometimes they had to crawl along the floor, or stick to the ceiling, but they made it further into the Ministry's destroyed halls.

As they weren't focusing on finding Potter's magic, they didn't expect it when it came. It came like a wave. It sang, and was more powerful than they remembered. The magic also felt old, yet painfully alive.

"This way!" Narcissa said and darted past two cracks into a different, darker hallway.

They followed, holding onto the rope keeping them all connected.

"Did you feel that?" they heard someone call. "Was that Potter?"

"He's here!" Bones shouted. "Track him!"

Lucius threw a few spells over his shoulders, rudimentary traps at best, but at least it would hold Bones' group up a little bit.

Potter's magic was pulsating, coming crashing towards them like waves. Powerful, and then receding. Rabastan's heart was nearly in his throat; what if it died out before they reached wherever the hell it came from? What if this venture was fruitless and all that would happen was death or being pulled into a crack into Merlin knows where?

But no, there! He could practically see the crack glowing, the air around it shattering into countless other, but tiny cracks. He pulled at the rope and called out:

"Here!"

The Malfoys followed, but so did Bones' entire group. How did they not get sucked in? Rabastan dodged a crack, was pulled back from another by Draco, and reached it. Potter's magic was already disappearing, and he reached out when Narcissa screamed:

"Lucius!"

Rabastan felt his arm being tugged at, and turned only to see Lucius being pulled into another crack. The rope quickly stretched between them, pulling tighter, as the group of four was pulled into two different cracks of time.

Rabastan didn't know how this would end. Lucius was already halfway through the crack, Narcissa holding onto him and Bones' group coming closer.

"Mother! Father!" Draco couldn't reach them, stretched too close to Rabastan.

Rabastan didn't hear the Malfoy couple speak. Those two didn't always need to speak out loud, to understand each other.

And they must have come to a decision, because Narcissa turned and said:

"Rabastan, you take care of Draco."

Draco understood a moment later, but a moment was all Narcissa needed to sever the rope. She and Lucius were dragged into the wrong crack, and Draco was screaming for them even as Rabastan was pulled through.

"Don't let them get away!" he heard Bones scream over the roar of magic working around him.

People grabbed onto Draco, held on, but Rabastan didn't hear much as the shriek of magic took over, and he was pulled from one timeline to another.

To the timeline where Potter was.

To be continued…


Short, but to the point!

Chapter three: Rabastan and Draco are on the other side of the crack. What awaits them, and who made it through with them?

See you later,

Tiro