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Chapter 7 – A Busy Day

Fortunately for Severus Snape he obeyed and sadly brought Draco to the Dark Lord. He had stunned the child as he made his way to his godfather's quarters so that he wouldn't know who had brought him to his doom. As his godson, Draco was the closest thing to family he thought he had and that Lucius was the closest thing to a friend that he had ever had…after Lily. But like Lily, he had been used and then abandoned for something more, profitable, as Lucius always said.

After checking Draco and Severus for trackers and other spells he ordered Snape to leave and reminded him not to tell Dumbledore about his abducting Draco as well as brewing a certain heritage potion which "Should be enough to give you a rather unpleasant, but necessary, surprise" the Dark Lord replied and then apparated away with Draco.

Tom took Draco to a safe house, did all the things he had to concerning the boy's new life and Barty was off to Brussels to drop Draco off in front of a hospital. He then went home to get a good night's sleep as he had much to do tomorrow.

Severus Snape had spent most of the night brewing the special potion. He ignored marking papers and preparing for tomorrow's lessons. At midnight, the seventh year Slytherin Prefect knocked on his door to report that Draco was missing and the last anyone saw of him was when he had left dinner to keep an appointment with his Head of House.

"I did request Draco come to see me concerning some things about his performance as a Prefect, but he never arrived. I am going to chastise him tomorrow before breakfast as I am brewing a potion which I cannot leave. Keep looking and let me know if he decides to sneak back to the House. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt – for now." The Prefect was dismissed and Snape went back to his work.

At Malfoy Manor things were…tense. Narcissa had locked herself in her private quarters, containing a sitting room, a small bedroom, full bath, the majority of her wardrobe which took up two separate rooms (Narcissa never threw out or gave away any of her expensive clothes) and a small private library containing the books she had brought into her marriage and didn't want Lucius to have access to. It was part of her marriage contract as well as her dowry.

When she woke up from the stun, she was informed that yes, Snape had taken Draco to the Dark Lord. She screeched out a wail of total grief and despair. Deena, her personnel elf had been waiting and took her to her sanctuary. Naturally she was in shock and Deena tended to her as best she could. All of the elves were silent and kept out of Lucius' way as the loss of his only son, although his choice and his fault, had put him in a vicious mood. Therefore he would have to torture someone to feel better and he was wise enough not to take it out on Narcissa.

Ah yes, Narcissa. She who had been his faithful, beautiful, talented, very useful wife was now of no use to him. The Malfoy heir was gone and it was his duty to provide another one (or two or three) so the House of Malfoy could continue. Draco had been their only surviving magical child. There had been two daughters before Draco's birth but they had mercifully died at birth or shortly thereafter. Both girls had been deformed. He tried to blame Narcissa but her family had never produced such monsters just the occasional Squib whereas the Malfoys were so inbred such things were common. Only he had survived and was normal and magical. After Draco's birth, another 'monster' was born and had survived and was healthy, magical but very deformed. "IT" might have lived but Lucius would not have such an abomination tainting the Malfoy name.

Lucius had a problem. No doubt Narcissa would demand a divorce and due to the circumstances of Draco's demise, she would get one and allowed to take her full dowry with her. He couldn't let that happen as although Lucius possessed much property and investments he was cash poor. They lived their luxurious life on the interest the dowry produced.

The punishment money Lucius was forced to give to the Dark Lord had made a huge dent in the cash available for his use. To acquire it, he had to take out a loan from the Goblins at outrageous rates, until he could recoup the money by the sale of some of his assets. If he got a good price for them it would repay back the loan and interest but he would be strapped for cash and knew he would have to bribe many people (such as Fudge), make other "donations" for the Dark Lord's cause as well as the donations to the various charities he was expected to fund.

Therefore, to keep Narcissa's wealth as well as marrying again to get an heir, Narcissa would have to die. It would have to be by suicide and if she didn't do it on her own, she would have to be "helped" along. People would believe it was suicide due to the loss of her only child, and Lucius had to decide if he should Imperius her to do the deed or surprise her and end her pain by arranging for her death. It was yet another decision he didn't want to make yet but had to and do it soon. Thus, he would give her a week before he took any action.

However, Lucius wasn't the only one contemplating murder. Due to Deena's tender care, Narcissa soon regained her composure and ability to think, plot and plan. Despite everything, she wanted to live, if only for revenge. She knew her husband too well to know that he was probably planning her demise so he had to pay for his perfidy.

No one would ever believe that Lucius would willingly kill himself, so it had to be an accident or in the service of his Dark Lord. Also it couldn't be traced back to her as she didn't want to join her sister in Azkaban.

But Lucius would die for this unpardonable sin. She knew she couldn't harm the Dark Lord and at Lucius' death it would be the Dark Lord who would inherit the Malfoy estate – one way or another. But she was going to escape as soon as possible taking her dearest personal possessions (such as Draco's photographs, favorite toys, some of his baby clothes, etc.) and everything she brought into the marriage, but most especially her dowry.

The Head of the House of Black, her great uncle Arcturus had died in December of 1991. He made it known (once again) that Draco was not his heir nor was Sirius Black and they never would be. There was an heir who had inherited the title, wealth and power, but Arcturus would not say who it was for the heir's safety as he knew a little thing like the law wouldn't stop Lucius or Dumbledore trying to seize it for their own nefarious needs.

However, Arcturus had made it perfectly clear that if Narcissa ever decided to divorce Lucius, she would have his approval and full use of her dowry and anything she had brought into the marriage. All she had to do was to meet with Ragnok, who would take care of everything, including hiding her from Lucius.

She sent Deena to arrange for the appointment, and had Dolly, who was Dobby's sister, do the packing. Dolly, Dobby and their mother Dilly and her brother Diddy, had been Lestrange elves but Lucius had claimed them when the Lestranges were sent to Azkaban. Diddy didn't survive very long due to Lucius' cruelty and his death at Lucius' hands had been an example and a warning to the others to obey Lucius as he was now their master as Draco was the Lestrange heir. However, Lucius wasn't fully their owner and that was how Dobby was able to risk punishment or death to "save Harry Potter" because Lucius only had partial control over him and thus did not have the complete loyalty of the elf.

Narcissa's appointment was for 1:00 a.m. so that Lucius wouldn't suspect she had left the Manor. So that Lucius wouldn't be warned by the Malfoy elves, Dilly (who was head cook) slipped the Malfoy elves a sleeping potion and then she, Deena and Dolly left with Narcissa.

Narcissa told Ragnok all that had happened and how she was leaving Lucius before he could arrange for her death to keep her wealth. The Goblin listened intently and immediately made the arrangements. But he had one question to ask the distraught mother.

"You said Draco was taken to the Dark Lord to be killed instead of Lucius. However, according to Draco's trust vault, he is not dead and has full access to it."

"What?" was the only thing Narcissa replied. However, before she would celebrate, she asked "Then where is my son? Are you positive he is alive? Can you trace him?"

"Only if you had placed tracers on him and hadn't removed the Ministry trace from his wand" the Goblin replied. "As far as we know he is alive, but where he is we do not know. Do you still want to divorce your…."

"Yes" was the instant reply. "He chose his life over his son's and I can never forgive him. Also he will cause my death so that he can remarry and get another heir. He as much as said that when he came up with the plan for me to sacrifice my life to save Draco's."

They discussed Narcissa's escape plan and the possibility of Lucius' "accident" and since it was now nearly dawn, Narcissa and her elves were given the use of some of the Goblins' guest quarters while Ragnok made all of the necessary arrangements. Like several others he would be having a very busy day.

At 9:35 a.m. the Headmaster of Smeltings Academy was receiving visitors. A Child Welfare employee, a Mr. Snape, and an attorney, a Mr. McGonagall, were there to deliver some sad news. Apparently Vernon and Petunia Dursleys had been in a terrible car accident. Mr. Dursley had died on the way to hospital and Mrs. Dursleys was in critical condition with only a 50-50 chance of survival.

The attorney was the family solicitor for the Dursleys and had been sent by Mr. Dursley's sister to retrieve her nephew for the funeral and to sit at his mother's bedside until she was out-of-the-woods or joined her husband. Miss Dursley had given Mr. McGonagall a letter allowing him to break the news to Dudley and to bring him home. Actually the men were Tom (as McG) and Barty as Snape as a "prank" and to make it seem that the "Freaks" had captured the Dursleys' baby boy.

Both Dursley parents were as hale and hearty as they always were (meaning Vernon was on the verge of a stroke or heart attack and Petunia was bulimic), but due to the information Barty found out from Vernon, Harry might still be able to be traced by using Petunia's and/or Dudley's blood. Vernon was holding out for more money from the person who had appeared at their door requesting a vial of Petunia's blood. He was demanding that the monthly stipend they received from Dumbledore be raised from £1,000 per month to £1,500. The fact that his nephew was missing only made Vernon more determined to squeeze more money from the Freaks, especially now that they were desperately looking for Potter.

Dudley was called to the Headmaster's office (a place he knew very well due to being sent there on numerous occasions) and the sad news was gently broken to him by Mr. McGonagall. The boy didn't cry just asked if he could go home immediately.

"That is why these gentlemen are here" the Headmaster told him. "Go to your room and pack a small bag and you will be taken to your mother's side."

Dudley was out of there like a shot. He soon returned with his trunk, a duffel bag, a smaller trunk and his Smeltings stick. He had added his straw boater to his uniform of maroon tailcoat and orange knickerbockers. With his father's death, Dudley was determined not to return to Smeltings as there he was just a fat boy with no power or friends except Piers, one of his gang members at home. He wanted to attend Stonewall High where his other friends were and some of the people he bullied and resume his career as the terror of the neighborhood. His mother would be glad that she would have his support and would spoil him even more.

Dudley was impressed when he saw the Mercedes that was to take him home. He carried the stick, duffel bag and smaller trunk while the Child Welfare bloke carried his large, heavy, overstuffed trunk. He showed no emotion whatsoever except to ask about the car, when his dad was "going to be planted" and what his mother's chances of survival were. McGonagall and Snape noticed that the boy didn't seem worried or upset. Apparently he knew that his father was heavily insured, had a generous pension plan as well as stock in Grunnings and they got money for the Freak's "care" so he wasn't worried about starving or doing without his necessities.

Once they were out of sight of the school and town, Dudley felt sleepy and nodded off. That was because Barty cast a sleeping spell on him so that the car could turn into a portkey and take them directly to the lair. Dudley was entered into the wards and taken to a specially prepared room. Okay it was the best room in the dungeon. He was then unclad (Tom refused to look at that horrid uniform a moment longer) scourified (as he was not as fastidious at school as he was a home) and a draught of living death was spelled directly into his massive stomach.

Now they only had to snatch Petunia, have the elves scourify the house of all DNA, such as Harry's blood, but only after the woman was reported missing and the police were sent to investigate due to an anonymous call. Vernon was not the only person at 4 Privet Drive who was heavily insured. Petunia and Dudley were insured for £100,000 each and Harry was insured for £150,000. Vernon knew the kid wasn't going to make old bones and perhaps not live to graduation. Vernon considered it an investment whereas Tom and Barty were smart enough to know that Vernon knew Dumbledore had nasty plans for the boy.

At 11:45 a.m., Petunia received a call from Vernon. Actually it was really Barty imitating Vernon's voice. He told her that he had made a big sale and decided to celebrate. He had things to do so couldn't pick her up so she was to meet him at a very posh restaurant at 1:30 p.m. He had reservations for a new show in the West End of London and then they would have dinner at another posh restaurant.

Petunia was thrilled. She dressed carefully and made it to the parking garage of the restaurant where she was stunned and taken to the lair by Tom. Barty glamoured Winky as Petunia and charmed the car to drive back to Privet Drive. Winky had Petunia's purse and the clothes she had worn, and grabbed the housedress Petunia had been wearing and apparated back to the lair.

Tom, Barty and Winky had committed two perfect crimes.

At the luncheon meal, Snape reported to Dumbledore that Draco was missing. He and his five remaining Prefects had scoured the school and grounds and nothing was found concerning the boy. He told Dumbledore that he had no idea where the boy was only that he missed an appointment with Snape the night before.

He asked leave to go to Malfoy Manor and see if the boy was there as "There were already complaints made concerning his performance by the Staff which was why I summoned him to my office. He probably sensed this and might have run home to Mummy and Daddy to complain."

"That is an excellent idea Severus" Dumbledore replied. "If he is not there, perhaps you can convince Lucius or better yet Narcissa to become a spy for the Light." He was then dismissed to obey his "Light Master" who thought only of the defeat of Voldemort. He didn't care if the boy was in trouble only that one of his parents might be turned.

But Severus had no intention of going to Malfoy Manor – ever again, if possible. Lucius would more than likely punish him for "turning his son and heir in" despite the fact that Severus would forfeit his life and magic if he didn't. However, he was more worried about Narcissa's wrath as he knew just how powerful a witch she was.

Lucius always underestimated her and thought of her only as his wife, hostess and property. But Severus remembered that the woman was a Black and Blacks were always taught the darkest of magic and most were always on the verge of insanity. Her son's death might push her over the brink and she would avenge Draco's death. She couldn't touch the Dark Lord and Lucius was already planning her death so that left only Severus Snape to harm.

As the Dark Lord had told him "The potion should be enough to give you a rather unpleasant, but necessary, surprise" and it had.

Now Severus had some revenge of his own to get and started by going to Gringotts and demanding a meeting with Ragnok. The Goblin at the front death did the Goblin equivalent of a snicker and told Snape that Ragnok was too important to look at a person such as him let alone get an appointment.

"I have just found out that I am the heir of several Ancient and Noble Houses and that Gringotts has conspired with others to keep me ignorant of the fact" he shouted loud enough for all to hear. "I demand that heads rolls or has Gringotts lost all honor?"

That got everyone's attention, but the Goblin demanded that Snape name the Houses. He whispered the names to the Goblin and if a Goblin could pale he did. He then ran off telling Snape to follow him. Ragnok had given strict orders that if certain individuals entered the bank, they were to be taken to him immediately or else and one of them just did.