A/N: What's this?! A new update without waiting a week and change for it? You must give me cookies for this. Or, you know, just read it. That's cool too. -DeathDealerWolf
Chapter 7: Changes (in the House of Malfoy)
The cold air in the tunnel seemed to be pushing them out. A thick fog covered the floor up to their knees, causing them to stumble over loose rocks and random holes caused by various animals that lived on the property. Draco had often seen rabbits and squirrels living in the woods behind the Manor, so this didn't surprise him. He pressed on, not wanting to cast a spell to clear the fog, for fear of setting off one of the wards, or another unseen alarm.
There was a yelp behind him, and he turned to see Lilith slowly rising out of the fog, dirt covering the front of her clothes and face. Brick, Maya and Harry snickered.
"Real smooth there, Lil." Brick teased.
"Oh, shut it." she grumbled, brushing herself off.
Draco gave her a once over to make sure she was okay. Lilith nodded at him, and he took that as a sign she was okay. He continues down the path, clearing the random spider webs that hung in their way, and the occasional large spider.
"Oh, thank Merlin that Ron couldn't come." Hermione said. "He would have abandoned us four spiders ago."
Draco and Harry snorted, but said nothing.
They continued their slow advancement into Malfoy Manor for about ten minutes before running into a brick wall that caused the tunnel to end.
"This has got to be it." mumbled Draco. He ran his hands over the brick, and felt a strong magical energy that reached to his touch.
Dumbledore walked up next to him and examined the wall. "Hmm…" he pondered, studying the wall. After a few moments, he sighed. "Surely this was made before out time. So crude…" He turned to Draco. "Mr. Malfoy, I believe that this is a Blood Magic exit. It will only open for a Malfoy who resides here."
Draco groaned. "Great. Just what I was hoping for." he said sarcastically. He pulled out his wand and conjured a simple knife. He pressed the blade to his palm, before looking back at the group. "Is everyone ready?" he asked.
He received seven nods in return. Draco took a deep breath, and quickly slashed his palm, gasping at the sharp bite of the blade. Maya and Hermione gasped slightly, while Harry looked away. Draco gritted his teeth, and pressed his bleeding hand to the wall.
"Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy! One of your own is in need!" Draco spoke to the wall. The wall shuddered, causing dust and pebbles to rain down in the passageway. Draco covered him mouth and nose with his shirt, noting that everyone else had done the appeared between the bricks, and the wall swung forward.
Draco could make out the dungeons, before Dumbledore pulled him back. He entered the room with his wand out, looking for any dangers. Satisfied, he motioned everyone to follow him. Draco conjured some cloth for a bandage, but was having trouble trying to his hand.
"Here, let me help."
He looked up, surprised, as Hermione took the bandage out of his hand. She expertly tied the cloth around his hand, leaving some slack. "This might hurt a bit. Okay?" She looked up at him. He nodded, gritting his teeth. "On three. One-" On one, she pulled the bandage tight, causing Draco to wince in pain.
"Merlin, Granger! You said three!" he spat at her, his hand throbbing.
She rolled her eyes at him. "I said three because if you knew it was coming, you would tens e up more. This way, you were more relaxed, and it hurt less. Quit being such a baby, Malfoy." she huffed, before turning away.
Draco shot a glare at her, but couldn't find fault in her logic. He hated that. No one should be able to win every argument. He turned, grumbling, to Dumbledore, who was looking over the door to the dungeons.
"What now, Professor?" he asked him.
Dumbledore continued to examine the door. "It seems that the door is charmed so you can't open it from the inside. It is made of heavy iron, which would take hours to cut through, and we can't afford to blast it open. The blast could reflect back towards us, causing a cave in. Also-"
He was cut off by Zer0 stepping next to him, and motioning for him to move aside. Dumbledore seemed a bit startled by it, but said nothing as he took a few steps back.
Zer0 pulled something out of his belt, and spread his feet into what Draco recognized as a fighting stance. "Maya" Zer0 said.
Maya nodded and stepped forward, her tattoos glowing.
Zer0 activated the item in his hand, and his sword materialized. With three perfectly placed slashed, the door frame was separated from the stone. As the heavy door teetered and began to fall over, Maya phaselocked it. She pulled it into the door, and threw it down the escape tunnel, where it landed with a heavy thud, muffled by the dirt.
Draco let out a low whistle. "Wish my father would have let me train with one of those instead of the stupid fencing sabers." Zer0 nodded at him, before turning off and sheathing his weapon.
Draco turned to Dumbledore, who nodded at him. "Go, Draco. And be careful. While you may be able to talk your way out of being captured, Miss Granger and Miss Maya will not. They will be right behind you under the Invisibility Cloak, so take care not to move to quick. The codeword will be… 'Eridium'." Dumbledore placed his hand on Draco's shoulder. "And remember what we discussed."
Draco nodded, and took a deep breath. "I will, Professor." He turned towards Maya and Hermione. "You two ready?" he asked them.
They nodded, and Hermione threw the cloak over the both of them. Draco heard Maya from under the cloak gasp. "Holy fuck, I need me one of these!"
Draco and Harry snorted again, while Brick and Lilith stared at where Maya and Hermione once stood. "That is pretty cool." Lilith remarked.
Draco shook his head to clear his mind. "Alright, let's move."
"Bloody hell, Malfoy, how big is your house?"
Draco grinned. "Shut it, Granger."
He heard a grumble behind him, but no other response.
They had been sneaking through the house for about fifteen minutes, running into two Death Eaters, who were quickly stunned and bound by Draco before they could raise an alarm. Draco figured that his parents would be in his Father's study, on the third floor. While getting out of the dungeons and making it up to the second floor was relatively easy, the way the stair were laid out forced them to walk to the other side of the manor to continue up. Draco knew that his father would normally Apparate around the manor, negating the need for stairs. While Draco could also, the ward would prevent Hermione and Maya from coming with him. So, they snuck their way around instead.
Five minutes, and two more Death Eater stunned later, Draco found himself outside his Father's study. He took a couple deep breaths, trying to slow down his rapid heartbeat. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and nearly jumped out of his skin. He bit his lip painfully to prevent a sound from escaping his mouth.
"Sorry" he heard Maya whisper. "I was just letting you know that we are right behind you."
Draco nodded, smoothing out his hair and trying to stop his ragged breathing. After a minute, he calmed down enough where he believed he could handle himself. "Okay." He whispered to them. "I'm ready."
He heard rustling under the cloak, and the sound of something metal rubbing against metal. "Let's go." he heard Hermione reply.
He took one last deep breath, and opened the door.
"What is taking them so long? Why haven't we heard anything yet?"
Lilith sighed, and shook her head. "Geez, kid, do you ever relax? You saw how huge this place was from the outside. You didn't really think they would be back in five minutes, did you?"
Harry shot her a dirty look, before turning back to Dumbledore. "What do we do, Professor?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "We must have faith that Draco can convince his parents to come with us. Other than that, all we can do is wait, and be ready. Should anything go wrong, Draco, Hermione and Maya will certainly try to get here as fast as possible. It is up to us to make sure that they have an exit to come to."
Harry sighed, frustrated. He ran his hand through his hair, obviously stressed. He shot a look at Brick and Zer0, who were guarding the door. "Hear anything?" he snapped at them.
Brick gave him a glare, which obviously meant that Harry was getting on his nerves, and shook his head. "I ain't heard shit. You, Z? he asked Zer0.
Zer0 didn't answer. Instead, he just stood still as a statue, staring at the door.
Lilith frowned, and walked slowly over to him. "Z?" she said softly. When Zer0 didn't respond, she went to put her hand on his shoulder, and let out a yelp when her hand went right through him. Harry and Dumbledore took a step back, as Zer0's hologram reoriented itself, before becoming still once more.
"Shit. He went after them." Lilith groaned.
"Mother? Father?" Draco called as he entered the room slowly. The study was dimly lit, with only one light near the door and the fireplace lit. Draco saw that two figures were sitting next to the fire, and hear them scrambling to their feet.
"Draco? Dear?" his mother asked. As she stepped into the light, Draco winced slightly. She had some nasty bruises on the neck and arms, and looked to be malnourished. "Oh Draco!" she cried, sweeping him into a hug.
Draco stiffened slightly, before wrapping his arms around his mother, and burying his face against hers. "Hello, Mother." He replied softly.
"What are you doing here, Draco?" he heard Lucius drawl from behind her. Draco looked up at him, taking his appearance in. He was dressed in his Death Eater robes, and it seemed like his hair was a bit thinner, and longer. She stood with the trademark Malfoy posture that seemed to radiate arrogance and power.
"I've come to talk to the both of you." Draco replied, letting his mother go. She pulled away from him, with tears in her eyes.
"Draco, you don't know how worried I was about you! What are you doing here? Surely your task hasn't been completed? We would have heard." his mother stammered, a dark fear evident on her face. Had her son become a murderer like the rest of them?
"No, Mother. My task has not been completed, and I believe it will never be completed." Draco replied curtly.
Lucius snarled, before pulling out his wand, and throwing Draco roughly against the wall. Draco, surprised at the speed of Lucius' attack, didn't have enough time to reach for his own wand. Lucius strode over to Draco quickly, before wrapping a hand around Draco's throat. "What do you mean 'it never will be completed'? Don't you know that you are the only hope to redeem the Malfoy name?! The Dark Lord will never accept your failure! He will kill you, your mother and myself for your weakness!" he spat, removing his hand, only to smack Draco hard across the face.
Draco's cheek stung with the strike, but he didn't make a sound. He stared defiantly back at his father, who sneered back at him. "What has happened to you, Draco? Do you not remember swearing yourself to the Dark Lord? Have you forsaken your sacred duty to him, and the Malfoy name?" He grabbed Draco's arm, and started to pull the sleeve up. "This mark is a sign of your-" Lucius' voice died in his throat as he gazed upon the pale, blemish-free skin of Draco's forearm. He stammered, taking a few steps back from Draco, who slid down the wall.
Draco groaned, massaging his throat, as he rose to his feet. "No longer, Father. I will not follow orders from a Half-Blood lunatic with a superiority complex." he growled at Lucius.
"How dare you?!" Lucius roared. "How dare you insult the-"
"How dare I?!" Draco yelled back at him, cutting him off. "How dare you?! How dare you lower the name of Malfoy to taking orders from someone else? For centuries, out name commanded fear and respect! We were gods, once. And you threw that away by following a Half-Blood who was angry at his mother for being a stupid, selfish Muggle lover." Draco relished the look of anger and pain that was plastered on Lucius' face as he threw in his face the truths he had learned from Harry the night before.
"Draco, dear." his mother spoke softly from the corner. "What is done is done. What do you expect us to do? The Dark Lord does not condone treachery or betrayal. He will kill you for saying such things. He will kill us for not striking you down right now!"
"You will do no such thing!"
Draco spun, as Hermione and Maya revealed themselves. Hermione had her wand pointed at Lucius, where as Maya held a ball of purple energy in her hand.
"YOU?!" Lucius snarled, raising his wand to Hermione. "It is you who corrupted out son! What did you do, bed him and fill his head with sweet nothings, while you let yourself be used like Dumbledore's whore?!"
Draco let out a growl, but it was Maya who threw the ball of energy at Lucius. He staggered back, sputtering, as he was coated in a purple liquid that emanated purple vapors from it.
"You bitch!" he growled, before disappearing with a crack.
Draco spun frantically, knowing what was going to happen. Lucius appeared behind Maya, and held his wand to her throat. "Do anything, and she dies." he said coldly to Hermione.
To her credit, Hermione didn't reply, but kept her wand trained on Lucius, as Draco grabbed his and held it to his father as well.
Lucius snarled. "Still so weak! You couldn't even face us by yourself. You had to bring Potter's Mudblood and this exotic specimen here." He looked down at Maya, who was trying to free her neck from Lucius' arms. "Was it the Mudblood, or was it this one who turned you against you family, Draco?" he asked, a murderous gleam in his eye. "If so, I'd love to experience for myself just how 'convincing' she could be."
Draco snarled, and fired a jinx at Lucius' head. His father calmly deflected it. "Pathetic."
"Lucius, please! Let her go!" his mother pleaded.
"You shut your mouth!" Lucius snapped at her, and his mother cowered in fear.
Something in Draco snapped at that moment. How dare he abuse Mother… Draco launched himself forward, and swung a fist at Lucius.
Lucius was obviously not expecting his son to engage him in such a crude and barbaric manner, otherwise he would have been more prepared. He staggered back, losing his grip on Maya, who scampered away as fast as she could.
Draco let out a roar, and swung another fist at Lucius, causing him to double over in pain as he felt a rib or two crack. As Draco was about to aim a vicious kick at Lucius' lowered head, Lucius flicked his wand, and sent Draco flying. He rapidly disarmed Draco and Hermione, and put a Full-Body Bind on Maya.
Lucius wiped a bit of blood from his mouth, growling, as he levitated Draco so that Draco was immobilized in front of him. "What a waste. You could have been great, Draco. You could have been worshiped as a God. But no. You had to throw it away." He shook his head in disgust. "You are no son of mine."
Lucius conjured a sinister looking dagger from thin air. "NO!" his mother shouted, before being silenced by Lucius.
"Shut up, Narcissus! This boy will be the death of us all. He brought this upon himself." Lucius turned towards Draco once more. "This will only hurt a lot." he taunted him, before plunging the dagger into Draco's stomach.
Draco's eyes shot open at the fiery pain that assaulted him. This was no ordinary dagger. His entire body burned like a thousand, white hot knives cutting into his skin. He let out a loud groan, and collapsed on the floor, writhing in pain.
Lucius looked down on his son without an ounce of pity or remorse. "You are a Malfoy. That is the only reason I will spare you the full power of this weapon. Goodbye, Draco." he said coldly, raising his wand to point at Draco.
"NO!" Draco heard Hermione scream somewhere behind the fog of pain that had numbed his mind.
"Avada-"
Lucius let out a howl of pain as his hand, along with his wand, fell to the floor, sliced clean off of his body. He staggered back, clutching his not useless stump of an arm, confused and in pain.
His eyes widened in shock as a man in a black suit, with a black helmet coving his face materialized out of thin air, a wicked looking blade that glowed blue in his hands.
"Sorry, did that hurt? / That "sorry" was sarcasm / I am not sorry." Zer0 taunted him.
Narcissus scrambled from the corner, grabbing Lucius' wand, and quickly freeing Hermione and Maya. They both hurried to Draco, who was still rolling in pain.
"Draco! Draco, stay with me!" Hermione pleaded with him, holding his head up, as Maya checked the blade. She went to grab it, but yelped as she was shocked by an unseen force.
Lucius laughed behind them. "That is an ancient Blood Dagger, owned by the Malfoys since the 1600s!" He spat arrogantly. "It inflicts the Cruciatus Curse nonstop until the victim, dies from blood loss or goes mad from the pain. Only the wielder can remove it from his victim!"
Maya spun around and threw another slag ball at Lucius, who howled in pain as the slag burned at his wound. As she went to turn back around, she saw Lucius' severed hand next to her. She grinned, grabbing it. Using it, she wrapped his now cold fingers around the blade, and slowly pulled it out.
Draco let out a long groan as the blade left his body, and the pain slowly withdrew along with it. Narcissus rapidly conjured bandages and wrapped Draco's wound. As she pulled the wrap around his body tight, he let out a gasp of pain. "Fucking hell…" he muttered, and he struggled to get up. It took Maya and Hermione both to help him to his feet. Zer0 was holding Lucius at bay with this sword.
"Draco, dear. Drink this." Narcissus handed him a potion from the one of the desks. "It will stop the bleeding."
Draco looked up at his mother questioningly. Narcissus looked a bit hurt, but she nodded. "I understand, Draco. I do. But I know you came here for a reason. You came for us didn't you?" Draco nodded. "Then I am coming with you. I could not live with myself knowing my son made the right choice and I didn't support him."
"Narcissus! You will do no such thing!" Lucius yelled. "He has betrayed everything that this family stands for!"
Draco growled at him, and gritted his teeth in pain. He took the potion from his mother, and drank it down as quick as he could. He felt a warm pulse around the wound, so he could only assume it was working. He let out a small groan as he leaned down to pick up the dagger, coated with his blood. A look of fear flashed over Lucius' face, which only fed into Draco's anger. "What's the matter, Father? A Malfoy should never show his emotions. Isn't that what you taught me?" Draco glared at his father with a fury that he had never known before. His body shook with all of the pent up emotions raging through him.
Lucius sneered at him. "Of all of the things I tried to teach you, that is one you remember? You disgust me. You are no heir of mine. You are not worthy of the name Malfoy!"
Draco smiled coldly at his father. "You are right, Father. I am no heir. I claim what is rightfully mine. I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, invoke the right of 'Sang Maintien de Ligne'." Lucius let out a roar of fury. Draco smirked. "In order to preserve the continuation of our bloodline, you cannot be allowed to be Head of this family any longer. Goodbye, Lucius."
Draco plunged the dagger into Lucius' chest. Draco narrowed his eyes, and barred his teeth with a growl, before pulling out the dagger, and stabbing Lucius again. Lucius' eyes locked on his, and were filled with fear and rage.
"Draco! Stop!" he heard someone call behind him, but he ignored the voice.
He stabbed Lucius again. Lucius slowly slid down the wall, his eyes becoming unfocused. Draco knelt down in front of him, and held his head, so he looked into his father's eyes. "I will never be you, Lucius. I will never serve anyone. I will be what you were too weak to be. And I will make sure your 'Dark Lord' joins you in hell real soon." With that, Draco slashed Lucius across the neck violently, and swiftly stood up and walked away from his body.
Maya and Narcissus were staring at him, with looks of shock, and fear on their faces. Hermione was just outside the door, throwing up into a planter in the hallway.
Draco felt a tingling feeling on his hand and looked down to inspect it. An ornate, emerald ring materialized on his middle finger, with the words 'Chef de la chambre de Malfoy' wrapped around the stone. It was done, then. Lucius had passed, and he was now the true Head of the House of Malfoy.
Zer0 stood near him, and bowed his head towards Draco. Draco stiffly nodded in reply, and walked out of the room, motioning to the others that they should follow. Maya held on to Hermione, and followed Draco and Zer0 as they walked back towards the dungeons.
"Eridium."
Brick and Lilith lowered their guns, and stepped out of the way, as the Malfoys, Zer0, Maya and Hermione climbed down the stairs. As soon as Zer0 entered the room, Lilith walked up to him and smacked his chest.
"What the hell were you thinking?! We could have needed you here, and you decided to go off and deviate from out plan?! What the hell, Z?" Lilith was glad to see everyone was okay, but she was still peeved at the fact he left without saying anything. When Zer0 didn't reply, she sighed loudly. "Why did you leave, Z?"
Zer0 looked over at Maya, who was helping Hermione walk to the exit, and remained silent. Lilith followed his gaze as best she could, considering she couldn't see his face. She quickly figured out why he left, and shook her head, nudging Zer0 with her shoulder. "Alright, Z. I get it. But no more going off solo, alright? We are still a team."
Zer0 nodded. "Understood, Lilith."
Draco walked up to Dumbledore. "Professor. We are going to need Fiendfyre to destroy this dagger." he said, handing the dagger carefully to Dumbledore.
Dumbledore took it, and inspected it closely. "It is a shame that there was a time where people believed that Dark artifacts such as this were necessary."
Draco scoffed. "What do you mean 'was', Professor? These people are alive right now."
Dumbledore nodded sadly at him. "Too true, Mr. Malfoy. What of your father, Draco?" he asked him, a hint of hesitation in his voice.
Draco lifted his hand to show him the ring. Dumbledore nodded, and said no more. He turned to the rest of the group, and motioned them to start making their way out. Draco hung back, making sure that he was the last one left. He placed his hand on the hidden door, and it swung closed behind him, the cracks sealing themselves up again.
By the time the group reached the end of the tunnel, the sun had just cleared the horizon. And by the time they returned to Hogwarts, Draco's nerves had reached their breaking point. As the rest of the group ascended the stairs to the Great Hall, he cleared his throat. "I'll be back in a bit." he said, before walking away towards the Quidditch Pitch.
Maya turned to watch him walk away. She bit her lip, before muttering to Lilith that she would be back later, and went to follow him. She didn't notice the faceless stare watching her run after Draco. Nor did Draco notice a certain Gryffindor looking crestfallen. Lilith did, and grabbed Zer0's and Hermione's hands, and led them into the hall.
Draco finally reached the top of the towers overlooking the Quidditch pitch. It was around eight in the morning, and the house teams wouldn't start practicing until ten or so. He sat down, and felt his body run cold as the adrenaline of the morning wore off suddenly. A huge sob chocked in his throat, and he buried his face in his hands. He heard footsteps on the stairs, and tried to compose himself.
"Draco?"
Maya stepped out of the stairwell, and slowly sat down next to him. There was an awkward pause, before she wrapped her arms around him, and hugged him tight. It was too much for him, and he broke down, sobbing.
"I couldn't stop, Maya."
"I know, Draco."
"Am I as dark as he is?"
"You are not, Draco. Your father killed for fun, and selfish reasons. You killed him to protect those you loved. There is no shame in that, Draco."
Draco buried his face in Maya's neck, and she held his head, running her fingers through his hair, whispering comforting words, and promising that everything would be alright. And as she held onto him, Draco almost believed her. But he knew better. Something inside him died that day. And he wasn't sure he would ever recover.
A/N: Let me know what you think. Reviews are much appreciated! Till next time. -DeathDealerWolf
