Scorched Earth Policy
By Terra
Chapter Nine: Repentance Ignored
"I am a man who has grown from a son/been crucified by enraged women/I am a son who was raised by such men/I'm often reminded of the fools I'm among"-Alanis Morisette, a man
*** ***
"Mr. Potter? Are you awake?"
Someone was tapping Harry on the shoulder. It was really annoying. He batted the finger away and rolled over on the floor. The crash jolted him awake. He realized that it was about ten o'clock in the morning and he was still in the same clothes as yesterday in the sitting room.
"Was I asleep?" Harry mumbled thickly, adjusting his glasses.
"Like the dead," the intruder replied, offering a hand. Harry took it and he was pulled up to his feet. "Speaking of the dead, we need you to take care of a certain problem that might arise."
"What would that be?" Harry answered seriously then asked in alarm, "Malfoy didn't…?"
"Draco Malfoy isn't the problem. His former wife is."
"Former?"
"She's dead."
That sentence hung in the air as Harry absorbed this information. "How? Who killed her?"
The Auror shrugged. "Herself. Found hanging in her room early this morning."
"So what? Is she a zombie or a ghost or something? That's not my department."
"Oh, no. Not that. She's very dead. But her death may have repercussions."
"I don't understand." Harry frowned. The other Auror sighed as if this was obvious and didn't really want to take the unneeded time to explain.
"Most believe Draco Malfoy went mad because of the death of his father, Lucius Malfoy."
"So? You said Malfoy wasn't the problem."
"His son could cause a problem."
"How? Because Pansy's dead, Aidan will snap?"
The Auror nodded. Harry rolled his eyes.
"That's completely ridiculous!"
"He has been under a lot of pressure. He may even blame himself. Or worse," the Auror suggested darkly, "the hospital for letting it happen. Our sources say that Aidan demanded to see her and they took their sweet time bringing him to her."
"So, you're saying he may lash out?" Harry answered.
"Malfoys have not been exactly stable in the recent years. We're finding evidence that Lucius was going nuts by the end as well."
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"We need someone to serve as damage control," the Auror explained quickly as if Aidan was time bomb ready to go off any minute in the hospital. "We need to stop a disaster before it becomes one. You're the best man, we thought you should go."
"Fine," Harry agreed, "I have to get dressed and then I'll go." He turned to go upstairs but stopped. He turned around to ask, "Does anyone else know about this?"
The Auror looked sheepish. "Um… yes."
"Who?"
"The press."
Harry groaned. "Let me guess. It's today's front page?"
"The nurses tried to make them head back but then the whole Pansy thing happened. They smelled a story, there was nothing anyone could do. The hospital had to call security and everything."
"Was Skeeter there?"
The Auror nodded glumly. Harry swore violently. He dashed upstairs to change before anything more newsworthy could happen that day.
*** ***
"I don't care," the plump nurse said firmly to Harry Potter, "who you are. That boy needs rest! Go away!"
"Miss," Harry pleaded, "I'm not a reporter."
"I wouldn't let you pass even if you were the blinking Minister! Go away! Harass someone else!"
Harry was not having a good day. No nurse or doctor would gain him entrance to the wing where Aidan was being kept. This was the main nurse, the boss nurse one could say, his last hope.
"Ma'am, I need to see him."
"And I need a backyard pool. We all have problems."
"Look, I'm not here to interview him. I'm not here to hurt him. I have orders to make sure he is okay."
"Well, he's not! Happy?"
Harry continued, "The Ministry sent me here to help him. I need to speak with him. I have orders to speak with Aidan Malfoy."
"Aren't you listening to me? You can't go in! Case closed. Go home."
Harry tugged at his hair. This was a nightmare. "Fine," Harry said calmly, "forget my orders. I want to see him because I care. I know what he has been through. I personally want to see if he is okay."
"No."
"Why not?!"
"The boy needs rest. He needs quiet."
Harry, in an act of desperation, got down on his hands and knees and begged, "I'm on my knees. Let me see him! He can send me away if he wants; let him decide. If he tells me to go, I'll leave."
The nurse appeared to consider his request as Harry lay prostrate on the floor. "That was an impressive performance, Mr. Potter."
"Thanks for the compliment. May I please see the patient now?"
The nurse sighed wearily. "You're not going to leave until I say so, are you?" Harry nodded on the ground. Nearby people were starting to giggle and whisper. Harry knew how completely stupid he looked. He was going to see Aidan even if the last thing he ever did.
"Fine, you may see him. But if he says leave, you better be running out of that room or we'll call security and they'll break your arms in half, got it?"
"Yes, ma'am," Harry answered, getting up off the dusty floor. The nurse sped down the corridor not caring if she happened to lose her charge in the process. Luckily, Harry was pretty fast and also in shape so he stayed in step.
Finally, the race ended and the nurse opened the door to Aidan's room. Aidan had been moved to the Mental Ward and put under Suicide Watch for his safety. With a simple charm, the door unlocked. The nurse opened the door and poked her head in.
"There is a Mr. Harry Potter here to see you."
Aidan didn't reply. The nurse added, "If you want him to leave, just say so."
"It's fine," a dead voice answered. The nurse opened the door fully to lead Harry inside. The room was completely bare. Anything that could be a weapon was gone, the window was barred up, and the chair was bolted to the floor. Aidan was huddled on his bed, looking tired and ashen. Harry almost had to laugh; Aidan was in the exact sitting position that Draco sat in when Harry went to gather him from Raveneux. Must be the Malfoy "I hate my life" sitting position, Harry thought. Aidan didn't look up when they entered. The nurse continued quickly, "Well, when you want him to leave, just tell him so. If he's causing you a problem, you just press the Help crystal on the bedside table and security will dispose of him for you." The nurse gave Harry a dark look before exiting the room.
Harry didn't know where to begin. Aidan looked sick. The wind would topple him over.
"So, how are you feeling?" Harry asked awkwardly.
Aidan didn't look at him. "Fine," he answered weakly.
"You don't look fine."
"Then why did you ask?"
"Because it was the only thing I could think of," Harry admitted. He walked over to Aidan's bed and sat next to him. Aidan didn't even twitch. There was a long silence then Aidan asked weakly, "Why are you here?"
Harry took a breath. "Well, first, I was ordered to come here."
"By the Aurors?"
"Yes, Aidan." Harry saw Aidan's fists clench.
"So? When am I expected to start seeing rats, Mr. Potter?" Aidan growled. "Or kill Muggles? Or kill you?"
"Aidan, no one thinks you're insane."
"Yeah! Not now! I'm fine now!" Aidan finally raised his head but looked straight ahead at some invisible accusers, quoting them, " 'Ooo, there's Aidan Malfoy, watch out for him.' 'Don't get too close! Malfoy's coming through!' 'Don't sit by him, Muggle-borns! He'll get you!' 'Just wait everyone, he'll grow up just like his dad!' Everyone is waiting for me to lose it! Everyone's double-guessing my moves! I hate this!" Aidan's head dropped again.
Harry didn't know how to reply to all that. He felt a little guilty. He did just used to think of him as Malfoy's son. "No one thinks you're insane, Aidan."
"I'm so sick of doctors," Aidan whispered, close to tears, "I am so sick of hospitals."
"You're not in here forever, Aidan."
"But it feels that way. If it's not one nuthouse, I have to visit another." Aidan raised his head again but refused to look at Harry. "Do you know what's the worst part?"
"What?"
"Everyone here thinks I'm really upset over my mother's death. I mean, that's normal, right? People get sad when parents die, right?" Aidan got up to look out the window.
"Yes," Harry replied uncertainly. He had no idea where he was going with this. "That's perfectly normal."
Aidan shook his head. "I'm not sad. I always thought I would be. I thought I would be depressed. But I'm not upset at all! Am I evil? Is there something wrong with me?"
"Perhaps you're in shock?" Harry suggested, shrugging. Aidan was looking a touch hysterical.
"No, I was in shock last night," Aidan explained, pacing, "I'm just angry. I mean, I wanted her to get better. But she just refused! I've failed. I failed them both."
"Failed…?"
"My only goal, my only dream was for them to be okay. That's all I ever wanted. I wanted my family back. I never really had my family in the first place but I always thought…" Aidan choked, tears shining his eyes, "I always thought if I did everything I was supposed to, everything would fall into place. Mother would get better and Draco would be released. Ten years of my life. Ten years, wasted. I wasn't asking for much. Just two people. People I really cared about." Aidan looked at Harry finally, adding, "I'm not even sure if it was love. Maybe more like duty. My mother never wanted me. My father… Draco Malfoy… I don't even know what he wanted from me."
"Aidan… it was never your duty or responsibility to make your parents better. You were only a child. There was no way you could change anything."
Aidan didn't seem to be listening to Harry as he went on, "I'm being punished somehow. It's all because I rejected Draco last night. Now all my plans are going wrong just to spite me."
"Aidan, you're not being punished. You've done nothing wrong."
"I rejected my own family!"
"Aidan, the two events were not related. You haven't committed any crime. None of this is your fault." Harry stood up and took Aidan by the shoulders and gently set him by down on the bed.
"I was their only hope," Aidan breathed in despair. "I just abandoned them."
"They never had any hope, not then and not now," Harry explained softly, "There was nothing that you could have done. It's time to save yourself, Aidan. Do you remember the trial?" Aidan nodded, looking at his clasped hands in his lap. Harry continued, "Remember how Professor Snape said his testimony that he believed that there was hope for you but not for your father? He was right. It's too late for your father. It was too late for your mother. But not for you, Aidan." Harry took Aidan's chin and raised it to he would look into his face. Aidan sniffled as lonely tears ran down his face. "You can start fresh. You can change the meaning of Malfoy. No one can stop you, not me, not your father, not even your mother. You were right last night, your father doesn't understand and he will never understand because he can't understand. I'm sorry that you had to face that reality last night. I'll admit it," Harry added honestly, "I also thought that you were just another Malfoy but now I see I was wrong. Maybe… maybe there was a time that your father and mother could have been saved but somehow, the chance passed them by."
"I wish…" Aidan choked out.
Harry shook his head. "It won't come true. I'm not saying that to be mean. Years ago, you said your goal was to save your parents. I couldn't bear to say the truth back then but now I see that lying to you didn't make the realization any less painful."
"I wouldn't've believe you anyway," Aidan replied, wiping away his tears.
"No, I guess not. I strongly believe that there is hope for you, in spite of all this, regardless of what my colleagues think. You're stronger than your ancestors and you can get over this."
"Thank you, Mr. Potter," Aidan answered, his eyes still red from tears but those tears were starting to lessen.
The two men stared at each other in silence, besides the occasional sniffle and hiccup. Finally, Aidan stated, "I suppose that I should tell you why I returned to the Parkinson estate even after Draco put me under his spell."
Harry was surprised. "Wasn't it to buy time?"
"That is what I told the professor and Sirius Black but that wasn't my real reason." Aidan looked back at his lap in shame. "I wanted revenge."
"Revenge?"
"Draco always told me that no one crosses a Malfoy and gets away with it. I was very angry at him but I was more angry at the Parkinsons for kidnapping me and nearly deleting my memory."
"So, you poisoned them for revenge?" Harry asked, perplexed.
"Mr. Potter," Aidan scolded, looking up, "think about this for a second. If I went back to the Parkinsons, and convinced them I was on their side, I'd see everyone there without their masks. Everyone there was either my family or a close family friend."
Harry caught on to what Aidan was implying. "That would make you an excellent witness. You can name everyone involved in the kidnapping, couldn't you?" Aidan nodded solemnly.
"My mother realized that. In her note, she said that the blood of my family is on my hands because if I give the information, I betray my family. I'm in a rather tight position."
"So," Harry remarked disappointed, "you're not going to say?"
Aidan sat Indian-style on the bed as Harry waited for an answer. He looked slightly less sick than before but he would have a way to go before a full emotional recovery. "Yes, I will tell you because they could have hurt the other children and me. What they did was wrong and justice must be served equally." Aidan tilted his head to the side. "Where should I begin?"
*** ***
After I convinced Professor Lupin and Sirius Black to let me have the herb I needed and return to the house, I ran to the front door. I knew that all of the group would exit through the back through the smaller, less used kitchen and I didn't want to run into Draco.
My plan was very simple. All I had to do was to convince the family that I had been put under the Imperious curse by the Ministry for the past ten years. Since I had been locked in the dungeon, the curse somehow broke. I managed to break myself out of my cell and came straight to the family I trusted for help.
I entered through the front hall. The hall was massive but drab. Sorry, but Malfoys just like pretty things. We like stuff but the Parkinsons do not go for objects to show off their wealth. The Parkinson family believes that wealth should just come out in the person themselves, that people walking by can just look and say, "My, that person has money." I guess the Malfoy family has never been that confident. We're a family of Nifflers in human bodies. I wasn't here to critique the home of my mother's family so I moved on.
Another difference between the families is that the Parkinsons like crowds wherever they are. This meant that large families are widely encouraged. The more children a sibling produced, the better off he or she appears. My father's family, on the other hand, goes for the "quality, not quantity" way of thought. Too many children for the Malfoy clan means irresponsibility and lack of control. I have often heard rumors of past Malfoys smothering their excess infants in their cribs. Whether this was true, I have no idea, but it resulted in me having an unbalanced family tree. My father was an only child (although I have heard rumors that smothering was in practice to keep him that way) but my mother had a total of ten brothers and nine sisters, my mother being the second oldest after her oldest brother. Most of them are married and carrying on the Parkinson tradition of large families. I have an excellent memory for names and placing them to faces because of my large family.
I listened for conversation (and for the long line of children making their escape) to guide myself. The trick was to make everyone believe I had sought the family out for help. Someone up there was smiling on me because I was spotted by my Aunt Yetta. Yetta is a bleeding heart and dumb as a brick. She can believe any sob story you could come up with and I certainly had a gut-wrenching tear-jerker for her.
"Aunt Yetta!" I ran to her like a frightened children in the dark. She seemed surprised to see me. I ran to her skirt and clutched it in my fists. "Thank God I found you!"
"Aidan, what are you doing here?" she asked.
"I was kidnapped!"
"Well, I knew that! Why are you not in the dungeon?"
I wailed, "Oh, Aunt Yetta! I've been through Hell! These past ten years have been torture for me!"
Yetta bent over to touch my shoulders in sympathy. "I don't understand. What do you mean?"
"The Ministry! They put me through all this!"
"What do you mean?"
"The Imperious, Yetta! I have been under that Imperious for the last ten years! It's been awful for me!"
Yetta pulled me close to her chest in concern. "But how? Why?"
"To make me serve the Mudbloods! I was never able to fight it until now! I'm so glad to be back!" I hugged her to demonstrate my supposed relief in "being back to normal". She rubbed my back soothingly.
"You poor thing. I had no idea, none of us did. That Ministry is going to the dogs, isn't it? Putting a child through all this to serve their Muggle-loving desires. Sick, is what it is, simply sick."
I nodded weakly and hid my smile in her shoulder. Yetta pulled me away from her and I quickly wiped off my grin.
"I'll bring you to your uncle. He'll understand all this mess," Yetta told me with tears in her eyes. Her husband, which was who she was referring to, is my Uncle Esmond Parkinson, my third uncle. The only person he ever believes in the entire world is his wife, Yetta. He spoiled Yetta and their five children with all his heart. He was actually a loving man besides the fact that he takes great pleasure in torturing people.
She took me by the hand like I was five years old but I had to pretend I was enjoying her presence so I didn't wrench my hand away from her fist. She babbled at me as we traveled through the multitude of hallways but I wasn't listening. I just nodded at the right places and that seemed enough for her. Finally, we ran into Uncle Esmond. He was furious when he saw me.
"Yetsie! What is Aidan doing with you? Didn't Patrick…?"
"Esie!" Yetsie and Esie are Yetta's and Esmond's pet names. Apparently, they find these names very cute and romantic. My parents thought it was revolting. "I just found him!"
"Well, put him back in the dungeon. We're not ready for the Memory Charm!"
"I know that, Esie. I'm not a complete idiot!"
I highly disagreed but I sniffled to cover up my giggling. This brought attention back to me. Esmond continued, "Yetsie, darling, he has to go to the dungeon until we need him. Once the Memory Charm is performed, he'll be right as rain again."
"But he is right as rain! That's why I came to find you. It's simply awful what the Ministry did to him!"
Esmond seemed surprised. He looked at me and I put on my most pathetic face I could conjure up. He turned back to Yetta and asked, "The Ministry? What do they have to do with it?"
"Oh, it's terrible! They put him under the Imperious so he could serve all those Mudbloods at the Manor. Could you imagine it? Ten years under some official's control? Harry Potter must have ordered it, the bastard. It's not enough that he took away his father and home but his will?"
"I never liked that Harry Potter. I wouldn't let it pass, no sir."
"You should have gone into law, Esie, then this monstrosity would have never happened!"
"This is simply too much, Yetsie! We're lucky they didn't try the same trick with Pansy! My poor sister!" Esmond wept as he knelt down to grip me by the shoulders. "My poor nephew!"
I hugged my uncle and cried, "Oh, Uncle Esmond! I thought no one would believe me and I'd have all my memories wiped!"
Esmond rubbed (very hard) circles in my back, since he thought I was really crying, and said soothingly, "Don't worry, Aidan. You're with your family now. We won't hurt you with that painful procedure."
"Thank you, Uncle Esmond, Aunt Yetta," I sighed with fake tears running down my face, trying very hard not to giggle at them.
Esmond pulled me away reluctantly and gave me a glance. "You're simply filthy, Aidan!"
"Well, you did stick him in a dungeon after all. I'm sure that's not very clean," Yetta suggested, patting me on the shoulder. My stomach growled. They smiled. Esmond said, "You must be simply starving! Why don't you go to the main kitchen and clean yourself up a bit? Dinner is supposed to be soon. I'll explained everything to the family. You needn't worry about anything anymore."
"Thank you, Uncle Esmond," I replied in my most gracious voice I could muster before walking to the main kitchen.
The main kitchen was closer to the dining room and much cleaner and larger than the one in the back. I have no idea why the Parkinsons have two kitchens in that mansion. I never saw the other one used. I guess it's for special occasions. Regardless, the House Elves were madly dashing around me in their haste to prepare dinner. One saw me and offered me a chair in a squeaky voice, which I accepted.
There was a silver platter on the cutting table were I was sitting. I regarded my reflection in the mirror. Esmond and Yetta were correct; I was flithy. My face was covered in dirt and grass. My hair was sticking out everywhere and dirt and grass were embedded in the strands. Once I saw the grime on me, I felt it everywhere. My hands were filthy as well. I dragged myself to the nearby sink and I washed myself with hand soap. I wet my hair down to make it appeared somewhat groomed. After several tiring minutes of ripping the dirt off me, I regarded the platter again and a clean, well-groomed face stared back. It was a shame I couldn't fix my clothes as well but I had no choice.
The next plan on the agenda was to find a way for the asphodellia to sneak into the food but not in something I might end up eating. My stomach growled again and I hunched over in pain. I was starving. In my panic, I hadn't noticed but now I was a little safer and hunger could force my attention on it. I simply couldn't put it in the food; everything looked delicious in here and I'd probably end up eating everything presented. I then saw it: the wine bottles. Parkinsons like to drink; my mother obviously demonstrated that throughout her life. Wine is always served. I, being a Malfoy, can take or leave wine. I personally don't really like wine so I usually decline.
"Excuse me?" I grabbed the nearest House Elf. "Are you serving those wine bottles?"
"Y-y-yes, y-y-y-young M-ma-ma-ster," the House Elf replied in fright. He hadn't even noticed me there. I had forgotten that House Elves don't like to be caught when they work.
"Sorry for bothering you like this," I added when I realized that I wasn't being very nice to him.
"No bother, young Master. Just fright, pure fright. Goober did not see young Master." Goober bowed repeatedly to show he really didn't mind my presence. Lacking time, I pressed on, "May I add something to the wine?"
"What thing to add, young Master?"
"An herb," I stammered, "good… for liver problems. Preventive herb."
"Oh, how kind! Such good for family! Goober open bottles for young Master." Goober quickly gathered all the bottles and brought them over to the cutting table. With a wave of his hand, the corks popped up and landed delicately beside the bottles they came from. There were five bottles of red wine. I took out the pouch and added a thimble sized amount of the paralyzing herb to each bottle. I swirled the bottles to make sure the substance dissolved without a speck. I had heard that the plant doesn't have any taste of its own so I wasn't worried that the wine would taste different.
The next problem became apparent to me after I completed the task. I didn't know how I was to go about sealing the wine back up. I knew a Reparo spell would do the trick but I didn't have my wand with me.
"Um… Goober?"
"Yes, young Master?"
"Can you seal these back up?"
"Why, sir?"
"To make it look nice. It's a surprise. I don't want them to know I added the herb at all."
Goober's eyes went wide and he whistled softly. "Oh, young Master does great deed in private. Such noble strength of young Master. Goober never tell of deed of the young Master." I breathed a sigh of relief when Goober popped the corks back in and fixed the gold foil surrounding them. It looked like I had never been there.
Goober's help was not a moment too soon because Yetta breezed in. "There you are, Aidan!" She reached her arms out to embrace me. I stiffly entered the embrace. Yetta smiled. "All nice and groomed, aren't we now? Don't you feel better?"
"Of course, Aunt Yetta. Are we sitting down to dinner now?"
"Yes, my darling, we are. Do you want to change your clothes?"
"No, no point changing. I'll be heading to bed soon after dinner." That was my plan too. As soon as I had dinner, I would head to bed and wait for the plant to take its effect, this taking longer because it was mixed with another chemical, and when they were all immobilized, I'd run to the hospital after everyone else.
Yetta led me into the dining hall where everyone was sitting. Everyone there, in the eyes of the law, was an accomplice to the kidnapping. I was sat at the left end of the table, directly across from my mother. She was scowling at me fiercely. I simply smiled and said, "How are you, Mother?" She didn't reply. Everyone around me expressed their utmost sympathy in my being under the curse and their delight at me finally breaking it. It was obvious to me that my mother knew it was a lie; that I was putting on an act. Her wits hadn't totally left her at the end.
On my side were all the men involved. There were twenty-nine men to my right: Patrick Parkinson, Voltimand Parkinson, Timon Parkinson, Aaron Parkinson, Joshua Parkinson, Esmond Parkinson, Baptista Parkinson, Caliban Parkinson, Cato Parkinson, Flavius Parkinson, Gallus Parkinson, Lennox Parkinson, Richard Parkinson, Acton Quade, Harrison Quade, Rawley Quade, Sahn Packer, Eamon Packer, Fabon Packer, Gaelin Packer, Flax Haden, Eero Esmo, Lalo Tabor, Zale Wade, Bain Cabot, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Bene Avery, and Elmon Mulciber.
Across from me to my mother's left, were all the women involved. There were twenty: Adoss Parkinson, Caipricia Parkinson, Basha Parkinson, Yetta Parkinson, Dahlia Parkinson, Galadriel Parkinson, Faline Parkinson, Vanna Parkinson, Welsa Quade, Alea Quade, Belle Quade, Calpurnia Packer, Emilia Haden, Helen Haden, Iris Esmo, Lucetta Tabor, Lavinia Wade, Margaret Cabot, Bianca Parkinson, and Katharina Parkinson.
Did you get that all down? It's quite a lot to repeat.
Everyone was dressed in their usual finery and joking with each other. As far as I could tell, no food or water was being brought down to the dungeon. It was like there was no kidnapping at all, that I had just come for a friendly visit. I resisted the urge to scream and throw things. I put on my best public face but chatted very little, keeping my answers simple.
Soon enough, the first course was brought out along with the first bottle of wine. I watched everyone around me filled their glasses with the drugged liquid while I declined the wine myself. "Only water, thank you."
"Only water?" Aunt Adoss asked, frowning.
"I'm not in the mood," I lied and added in my head, "to become paralyzed like you suckers."
Dinner went smoothly and the food was delicious. I noticed that everyone kept glancing down at my mother whenever she took a drink as if they were waiting for her to keel over on the spot. I waited anxiously for dessert because once that was finished, it would be my cue to yawn hugely and asked for a spare bedroom.
The plates were carried away for the final time. Before I could stretch and yawn, my mother stood up. She opened her mouth, obviously to reveal my betrayal but she didn't get the chance. She toppled to the floor.
I panicked. The herb wasn't supposed to take effect yet. I wanted to have a few minutes to get myself upstairs before they would realize what was going on. I leapt out of my seat. I would have to run in the confusion but first I still had to look like I was surprised.
"Mother, what's wrong?" I demanded. I glanced at my relatives and a chill settled in my stomach. No one moved. No woman was putting her hand to her mouth in surprise. No man was rushing to help my fallen mother. They were calm, expressionless.
"I can't feel my legs!" my mother protested in fear. "I can't even wiggle my toes!"
"So it seems," Patrick said and then to me, "Sit down, Aidan." I sat slowly, bewildered.
"Will someone help me or should I lay on the dining room floor all night?" Pansy demanded angrily.
Adoss replied, "Well, you don't have to lay on the floor all night, Pansy."
"Well, I can't get up unless someone helps me!"
Yetta asked, "You can't feel your legs at all?"
"No, Yetta, I can't!" Pansy barked.
Aaron commented, "Stuff works faster than we thought, Patrick."
Esmond nodded. "Shame we have to do this at all, though." All were still seated in their chairs.
"Shouldn't we help her?" I asked.
"No, it's too late to help your mother," Patrick explained, getting up. He went over to my mother. He said to her, "The asphodellia worked faster than it was supposed to so you have to forgive our unreadiness."
"Asphodellia?" My mother shrieked in alarm.
Welsa supplied, "You know, the paralyzing herb."
"I know what it is! Why did you put it in my drink?"
"On your cup, actually," Aaron corrected, "but it doesn't make a difference anyway."
"But why?"
Patrick looked at her coldly and explained without remorse, "Because you are a liability."
My mother's eyes went wide with shock. "Liability?"
"You're useless and more harm than good. You brought us Aidan, which was admirable, but beyond that, you have no purpose. We can't afford to have someone like you running around unchecked."
Calpurnia added softly, "You simply have to go."
"Go? Go where?"
"You know where, Pansy," Patrick growled. "And if we could, we'd make Draco Malfoy come with you." He turned to the rest of the family. "We must prepare."
Patrick took me by the hand and dragged me to another room in the mansion along with the rest of the men, leaving behind my screaming and howling mother. He took us to a cloakroom filled to the brim with dark robes that clearly meant Death Eaters. Everyone picked out his robe and pulled it over his head. Patrick quickly put his own robes as he said to me, "We don't have a robe ready for you. We didn't realize what had happened during those ten years. You'll just have to wear that."
"Um, explain to me what we are doing," I requested.
"Aidan, it should seem obvious. We are sacrificing your mother for the good of the Death Eater cause. She is toxic to our purpose and should be eliminated."
"Um… Uncle Patrick? Isn't Lord Voldemort dead?"
"So?"
"Wasn't he the leader?"
"Aidan," Patrick explained softly as if I had just received a slight blow to the head, putting a hand on my shoulder, "simply because our master is gone does not mean his message can not continue. The Death Eaters will continue in his stead."
I gulped. This was frightening. I liked Draco's psychotic fits better than this. "Don't tell we're going to kill my mother."
"Aidan, we simply must. I know it's confusing right now. My first murder was confusing as well but you grow to understand."
"But it's my mother!"
"Aidan," Patrick snapped, appearing quite annoyed, "you'll understand when you're older. Right now, don't question my authority. Her sacrifice will benefit us all, that's all you need to know."
Patrick ushered me out of the room and everyone else followed. They didn't bother with the faceless masks. The women were also complete with their transformation. They queued up in two solid lines and went to gather my mother. She was still on the floor in the same position we had left her in. My uncle Richard lifted her body up and carrying her screaming and sobbing body ahead of us.
As we marched through the halls, a little voice in my head told me that it was probably just that my mother died. My mother had offered me no love my entire life. For the past ten years, I had lived like an orphan. She had betrayed me and the residents of the Manor by giving permission for the Death Eaters to kidnap us. Besides, if it wasn't the Death Eaters, it would be the Ministry.
We stopped in front of a large brass double door. Patrick muttered a secret password and the doors rumbled open. Inside was a large dome-shaped room filled with floating black candles, which flared to life once we stepped inside. There was a copper altar etched with arcane symbols of Dark Magic surrounding on each side a large Dark Mark in the circle. The top of the altar was clean and smooth and reflected the bright light of the candles and the menacing light in my family's eyes. The bricks were painted a dark red, which added an eerie gloom to the chamber.
My mother wailed in the air as Richard made her float horizontal and laid her on the copper altar. Everyone went into a circle around my mother. Ropes leapt up from the base of the altar, grabbing her wrists, pulling them off the altar to press against the sides. Patrick put a hand on my shoulder to get my attention. I spun around to look at him. His face was partially covered in the hood of his robes but in his hands was a velvet bag. He pushed it towards me. I took the holder and knew exactly what it was. I opened the slipcase and held in my right hand a cursed knife.
It was almost hot to the touch. I had read about this kind of instrument in a book. The knife was enchanted to always remain sharp. Most than that, its real horror lay in the fact that the weapon did not just cut the victim, energy pressed against the wound, making the skin rip open and enlarge the hole. Some, and I'm sure this one as well, dissolved the surrounding skin as well. My mother was to have a very torturous death.
"Death Eaters," Patrick boomed, "in celebration for having Aidan Malfoy return to us, we will grant him permission to use this knife to kill his disgraceful mother. May she die slowly and painfully under his hand."
I wished I had been shocked or disgusted. I am now both, but I wasn't then. I bitterly angry at them all. I wanted them all to die. I truly wished them painful demises. I gripped the knife in my right fist and strode over to the altar where my mother lay crying.
"Aidan, please! I'm your mother!"
"I'm your son, Mother. You betrayed me."
"You're just like your father!"
"He betrayed me as well. If you give me a good reason to spare you, I will."
The Death Eaters around me chuckled. They probably thought I was teasing her. I was serious. If she had given me an excellent reason, I would have cut her free right there. My mother didn't reply, only sobbed. She knew that she had no redeeming qualities that could save her. She was doomed.
She would have died under my hands if Patrick hadn't groaned behind me. I whirled around. He collapsed and all around him, other relatives and Death Eaters were groaning and falling down as well. I had completely forgotten about my drugging of the wine. I laughed at them all. I dropped the knife and roared with laughter.
Patrick demanded, "Why are you laughing?"
Yetta yelled, "Why can't I feel my legs?" Other chorused her question as they lay on the floor.
I laughed harder, bent over from laughing so hard. My stomach was starting to hurt. "You're such fools! All of you!" I pointed a finger at the circle. "You all seriously believed that that silly lie about me being the Imperious! I thought you would never believe me and you all did!"
"You mean…" Yetta stammered.
"That's right! I knew exactly what I have been doing all these years! You seriously thought I was just going to let you do a Memory Charm on me without fighting back? I'm disgusted with this family! Disgusted! It makes me unbearable ill to know I come from just such blithering fools! I hate this family!" The Parkinsons gasped in surprise. I continued, "Your time is over! You hear me, over! You are all nothing! Nothing." My mother sobbed behind me. I felt a pang of guilt.
I walked over the crippled bodies on my door to the open door, without looking back. I ran to one of the playrooms and grabbed a brand-new Nimbus 2010. I mounted and zoomed out of the room, down the halls at a mad pace. I considered leaving my mother behind, to leave to her to die with the others. I realized that my mother was not to blame. She was my mother and had the right to be forgiven. I flew to the sacrificial room and cut the ropes binding her.
"We're getting out of here, Mother," I told her.
"I'm not going with you!" she screamed.
"Mother, I forgive you for what you've done. I want you to live." I picked her up and placed her on the broomstick. She screamed and pounded me with her fists as the others wailed and shouted at me. Those with wands shot hexes at me but I dodged them.
I sped from the mansion, slamming open the front doors. Once outside, I listened for sounds of people escaping. I heard nothing.
"They've left," I said aloud.
"Who did?"
"The other children," I explained.
"They escaped?!"
"Yes, with the help of Mr. Potter and Father."
"Those two were here?! You evil…"
I ignored her and weighed my options. I didn't want to blindly go into the forest and get lost. I only knew one spell that would help and that would be a tracking spell. I sped back into the mansion and grabbed a sheet of parchment. Still on my broom, I used a quill to draw grid lines on it. Now I needed a possession. My heart sank. I had nothing of anyone in the group.
When Draco had tricked me, he had mentioned me being of his blood. It gave me a marvelous idea but it was a Dark Arts spell to separate blood. I had no choice.
"Mother, give me your wand," I ordered, flying back outside.
"What? Why?"
"I need it. I know you have it!"
My mother reached into a hidden pocket in her ragged dress and pulled out her wand. I ripped it out of her hands and realized I needed to actually draw blood. I groaned and flew back inside to the kitchen.
The House Elves screamed in fright as I flew overhead. I stole a knife from the cupboard and cut myself on my left upper arm. I suppressed a scream as my blood spilled on to the grid lines.
I zoomed outside again. My mother was just sobbing now. I pointed my wand at the blood.
"Blood of father, blood of mother
once apart, now joined together
Person of one, child of two
Separate again, become new
Separatio!"
The drop of blood rippled and then divided into two evenly divided drops. I pointed at the grip work and said, "Indagario!" The left droplet sped away from the right droplet. The right droplet remained still. I moved the broomstick forward and the right droplet moved forward. I sped towards the direction of the left droplet.
*** ***
"After a while in the forest," Harry concluded, "you encountered us." Aidan nodded, worn out from so much uninterrupted talking. Harry flexed his wrist to get rid of the cramp that had developed. He had completely used up the notepad in the room to take down Aidan's testimony. "Sign the bottom to verify that you gave this account." Aidan took the quill and quickly signed the little white space that was left on the pad.
"Will I get expelled for using magic?"
"I believe that Section Something or Other says that if an emergency arose, it is permissible. We'll have to look into that because of the spell in question being a Dark Magic spell though. Do you understand?" Aidan nodded. "Aidan, do you still have those Dark Magic books?"
"Yes, sir."
"Are they still in your room?" Aidan nodded. "I'll have to take them now. I should have before but I never realized that you actually would use a spell in those books." Harry got up from the bed. Aidan sat by the barred window. The sky was a lovely bright blue without a cloud in the sky.
Before exiting, he turned to Aidan, "Aidan?"
"Hm?"
"Stay well."
"I'll try, Mr. Potter." Aidan turned his face away from the window and gave him a tired but hopeful smile. Harry smiled back as he opened the door.
He stepped out of the room and Chloe slammed into him.
To be continued…
Author's Notes: Once again, the quoted song inspired a scene. I always imagined that song playing during the sacrifice scene, so you can too if you want. In case you have forgotten, a Niffler is a small creature in Harry Potter land that likes shiny objects. Hagrid shows them to his class in Goblet of Fire. The left upper arm is where the Dark Mark is supposed to go.
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