A/n: Lots of Adam in here, and another character makes a surprising entrance! Check me out on facebook to follow my page; the link is on my profile ;) Thanks to my betas Tessa Cresswell and JDeppIsMyLovely!
The Vial
Draco and Scorpius were practically glued together when she returned. The duo sat in the living room she always entered through, some sort of children's book sitting on the elder man's knees, his son in his lap. Those talons looked painful as ever, but nonetheless Draco looked very pleased to have his son nearby. Unfortunately, the child seemed to be asleep, yet the blonde kept reading.
"He's not even awake you know," she said, nodding to his son. Only then did Malfoy look up, closing the book to read her eyes.
"It doesn't matter to me. So long as he will still let me read to him in any way, I'll take it." She pressed her lips together, refusing to comment. He was clearly clinging to his son, trying to make up for the situation through small gestures. She almost felt bad for the man. Clearing his throat, he caught her attention again. "So, is that fucking man being fired?"
"He was terminated," she confirmed, brushing her hair back. "Blaise asked the same question."
"I would imagine so." He stood, cradling the child in his arms as he walked towards the bedroom. "As long as he never gets near my son again, I am perfectly fine with whatever fate befalls him."
"I figured you wouldn't really care."
He scoffed. "Of course I don't! I would've ripped him to pieces if you and Blaise weren't around. He better just stay out of my way; I don't want anything else interfering with Scorpius. I just want him better."
"I know," she agreed.
They tucked the child into bed together, and she performed a series of quick spells to check the youngster over and soothe a father's mind. When she was finished, she pocketed her wand and looked up at him. He wasn't returning the look, but she had a question on the tip of her tongue that had been burning to be asked for days.
"Malfoy?" she asked, tilting her head. He glanced up briefly, acknowledging that he had heard her. "Are you a Legilimens?"
His head snapped up, eyes narrowing at her question. "Why are you asking?"
She shrugged, brushing her hair back. "When we are in the woods, sometimes, you seem unfocused. I don't know, I thought I've heard something speaking to me sometimes out there, but-"
"Excuse me? How does that correlate with being a Legilimens?"
She cleared her throat. "It's only a question Malfoy, don't get snippy. I was only asking." She moved to leave the room again and leave him to whatever he was thinking about, but he caught her arm. "What?"
"What do you mean exactly when you say that you've heard something out there in those woods?" he asked, eyes narrowing at me. Hermione frowned at the question.
"You mean you've never heard anything while we're out there?"
"No."
"Hmm, I thought that might be the case, but I never really wanted to admit that I might be the only one hearing things." She bit her tongue then, realizing she was revealing far too much for her own good.
He shook his head slowly. "What do you hear?"
"It's nothing-" she began, trying to pull out of his grasp, but he cut her off before she could get very far.
"It's something Granger, obviously, or you wouldn't bring it up. Look, I have never heard anything out there, but more than once I have felt a force pushing at the barriers in my mind. I haven't spent the time really to figure out what it is, just that I have felt something trying to enter my thoughts. That must be the difference between you and I. I have a barrier set clearly in my mind, and you do not. That's why you hear things; you're accessible."
Her eyebrows drew together. "I never thought of that. I've been so preoccupied with this voice speaking to me that I haven't even thought of creating a barrier. In all honestly Malfoy, Legilimency is not something I'm especially good at."
"Perhaps then I'll teach you someday how to do it," he said, though he didn't sound very excited about the subject. And if she remembered correctly, Harry had a very hard time learning to push Snape out of his thoughts when he was learning the art to stay Voldemort free. It didn't sound like it would be a merry process. "What do you hear anyway when we are out there? Or does it just delve into your thoughts?"
She thought it was a bit dehumanizing to call the creatures an it, for they very obviously knew it had human-like qualities at the very least. The arm trying to strangle her some nights ago was proof enough of that. But they weren't entirely sure what was out there, and she decided to not correct him. "I've never felt anything invading my thoughts. Indeed, it simply talks to me."
"About?"
Hermione shrugged. "It calls me a princess, and if it uses my name it uses my full name. I have no idea how it knows who I am. It warned me the other night when we were out to turn back, but I didn't fully heed the words. It's not always smart to obey unknown voices in your mind after all."
"Yes," he agreed, nodding thoughtfully. "Have you heard anything recently?"
"Yes, but not since I went to St. Mungo's. I don't hear things all the time. Often, it speaks in riddles. I'm really not sure what it wants."
He ran a finger over his lips, thinking. "I see. Well, it's certainly something to look into. Even in the wizarding world it's not good to hear voices."
"I know." Glancing at the time, her eyebrows shot up. "Merlin, it's late. I should be getting home if I plan to come in at all tomorrow."
He waved his hand. "Come in a bit late if you prefer. You've worked longer than your shift already, and besides, I'm sure Scorpius will be fine those few extra hours. I'll owl you if something seems amiss."
She nodded thankfully. "Very well. We'll talk more in the morning."
If only they knew the chaos that would await them in the morning.
He found it quite easy to slip through the wards supposed security system. A few simple spells and a pulled up hood left everyone in a daze, and he waltzed past without a care. The room number sat in his pocket, the paper seeming to weigh a ton. A weight seemed to sit on his chest, crushing him as the reality of the task before him slowly set in. This was dangerous.
Actually, this could be murder. He wasn't entirely sure how things would pan out, just that his boss was informed to take these additional measures by his own boss, ranked high up in the Ministry. The adoring letter that came from the Weasely boy was atrocious; he was so excited to know such dangerous secrets, yet he sent such important fragments of paper through the post that it was insane. If someone received the address listed and the instructions attached, things could be very bad indeed.
However, that wasn't the main concern now, for Adam had a task to complete. Wandering down the long sets of halls, he eventually found his destination. His wand danced across his fingertips in his pocket, just in case he needed to distract anyone while fulfilling his duty. Pushing open the door, he grinned at the empty space. Stepping in, he studied the two figures on the beds.
They looked just like her, both sporting a head of dark brown hair. Both sets of eyes remained closed, and he recalled that the note stated that they were currently comatose. Why she chose to keep them in a muggle establishment like this instead of her own place of work in the wizarding world he didn't know, but it worked to his advantage this way. Reaching into his breast pocket, he pulled out the little vile of purple potion.
Bottoms up. Good luck to the both of you.
Uncorking the small glass bottle, he poured half the contents into each of their water supplies currently being pumped into their bodies through a needle to stay hydrated. He didn't wince once when the readings on both machines began accelerating quickly, he only hurried out.
He ignored the rushing nurses and doctors on his way out, knowing they were running to save their lives back in that room. He couldn't let his conscience get to him, not now. His task was complete, and Adam hoped this would have the desired effect.
We'll see.
The following day, Draco began to get antsy. He told Hermione that she could stay at home longer and he wouldn't let her work know- so her pay wouldn't be docked- but when noon came around, he began to wonder if she would show up at all. And at three when she still wasn't there, he began pondering whether or not he should owl her. By that time he was used to her being late, but three hours late was a different story. He had spent the entire morning just bonding with his son- which was nice- but it wouldn't help figure out what was going on. The blonde had just gone to pick up a quill and parchment to owl her when the floo roared to life. He looked up, expecting to see Hermione, but instead Blaise stepped through. He frowned.
"Oh, it's just you," the blonde muttered, returning to his task.
The Italian's eyebrows shot up at that. "Thanks for the peachy welcome mate. I'll remember that the next time you come for a visit."
"So long as Astoria is hanging around your home, you can bet I won't be going anywhere near that place."
Blaise laughed. "Then you won't be back for a while. She's still pestering Pansy with all of her problems."
"Is Daphne still away?" He nodded. "Well, I suppose it must be hard to be you then."
"It could be better," he agreed. "So who were you hoping would walk in? I obviously let you down by appearing."
The blonde shrugged. "I'm waiting for Granger."
"Still? Draco, doesn't she usually arrive in the morning? I wouldn't get my hopes up that she's arriving if you haven't seen her and it's nearly three."
"Yes well," he began, folding the parchment he had been writing on, "She returned here last night despite agreeing to go home and get a nights rest after her dealing with St. Mungo's, which she promised beforehand. I have no idea why she wanted to return."
Blaise cleared her throat. "I may have convinced her to come back after she finished speaking with her boss. I thought it was a good idea, and besides, she assured me that the marks on her earlier weren't from you-"
"I don't take it lightly that you think I've been hitting her," the blonde interjected, standing quickly as he grabbed an envelope. "I told you I didn't hurt her. That should be enough to get you to believe me."
"I did believe you Draco," his friend replied evenly, "I only wanted to figure out if she would tell me what really happened."
Draco stiffened, hoping she had not. Clearing his throat with his back to his friend, he voiced a question he wasn't sure he wanted answered. "And did she tell you?"
"Nothing." Inwardly, the blonde breathed a sigh of relief to that.
"Well, I'm owling her now to see if she intends to come at all today. At the very least she can send over a response."
The Italian nodded as he turned back. "One would hope so at least. So where is your son?"
"Sleeping, I just got him settled for a nap."
"Am I safe enough to see him now?"
The blonde thought about that, mulling the idea over in his head. Scorpius was nice to his father of course, and to Hermione who did nothing but try to help him, so he didn't see why it would be a bad idea. "I suppose, just don't startle him. He's very uncomfortable with how he is right now."
"And are you uncomfortable as well?" Blaise asked, forcing a question on him. The Draco he knew back in school would not want anything to do with a child who was mutated and changed by some unknown force, but this Draco- this more mature man- stood by the child's side more so than the mother ever did.
"Never," Draco replied, brushing past him. "He's my son Blaise. No matter what, I'm going to love him. I'm not my father; I don't have a heart of stone."
His friend let the ghost of a smile dance across his lips at that. At least the child had a father who stuck by his side, no matter what.
She pulled at her hair again, her tears soaking her cheeks. They wouldn't let her go see them, which was ridiculous considering that she could probably do more than they could at this point. She had absolutely no idea what had gone wrong, just that she received an urgent call early that morning to rush down there immediately. Upon arriving, they told her that she could not go see them and instead needed to wait in the lobby while the medics worked hard to save their lives.
It made her sick. She was doing what they would want; she was letting them stay in a non-magical place, allowing non-magic folk to see to their wellbeing. Obviously it was a mistake, for now she might lose them both now, so very suddenly. The thought made her want to rip her heart out to ease the pain, but she knew it wouldn't really help.
Happy thoughts sweet princess. Do not let this ruin you.
More than ever, she hated the voice. It kept popping in from nowhere, whispering quietly to her about nothing in particular. If its goal though was to soothe her mind, it wasn't working very well. It did help to have someone, anyone, around just then, but she preferred a real person to this faceless thing that did all of the talking. She was just too stressed and worried to do anything else.
At one point in time, the soft sound of tapping glass caught her attention. Another occupant in the lobby was staring out the window at something odd, and she followed his line of vision back to the fluttering owl. Alarm shot through her at the sight of it, and she didn't want to consider who that was from.
But she couldn't just take it in the middle of a muggle lobby either. Standing as inconspicuously as she could while the bird with the letter continued to peck the glass, she let the confused front desk lady know that she would be right back and hurried out the door without her jumper. Immediately, she drew the bird out of anyone's immediate vision and ripped the letter from it, cursing at the circumstances. Digging through her trouser pocket, she came up with a bit of crumbled cracker, a very ill-fitting treat for a bird, but it was all she had.
Unfolding her mail, she quickly read the contents:
Granger~
It's just past three, and I thought I would owl to see if you plan to come back at all today. Are you really that tired? Perhaps you are just coming down with a cold. We have lots to talk about though, and a large spans of woods to still deal with, so do come back when you can- and the sooner the better. To hopefully persuade you to get your arse back here faster, I'm even going down to my bloody library to look up anything I can on the voices you keep hearing in your head. Maybe it'll even lead me back to creatures that can do that, though I've never really heard of any.
I refuse to look into your vampire research. All the notes are with you and to be honest, I wouldn't have the slightest idea where to begin. Now hurry back here so that you can be the bookworm again, and I can go back to brooding and such.
~Malfoy
She closed her eyes. With the chaos of that phone call, she had completely forgotten to go see Malfoy. Now he was owling her about whether or not she would be coming into work that day. She knew it was bad for her to call out on a day when there was always the possibility that Scorpius might need her, but she didn't know if she could pull herself away enough to actually go back to Malfoy Manor. With the last of her family possibly dying just a few rooms away, she couldn't stomach the idea of leaving now. Flipping the parchment over, she pulling a muggle pencil she had been biting from behind her ear and scribbled a sloppy reply to the blonde:
Malfoy~
Something has suddenly come up that will draw my attention away for today. I won't guarantee that I will come at all today or perhaps tomorrow. But I can't just leave your son all alone; I should be there after all. Send me a status update every hour or so, and if I see a fluctuation someplace I will let you know what to do. Don't take Scorpius outside, or do a lot of physical exercise until I am back and can really look at him. If something does seem to be going wrong, owl me immediately. If I don't come fast enough, call St. Mungo's. In fact I'll owl my friend Hannah in a bit to stay on alert in case I can't return for a few days. I'm sure she will be willing to take it.
I'm sorry that I can't return right away, but really, I'm not avoiding your son. I simply have something that I must see to. Please understand, and I will be back as soon as possible. As for the woods, I don't think it would be smart to go in alone. Take Blaise if you must go investigating, but after what happened last time I'm not sure you should go in alone.
I don't know what to tell you about the voices right now. I can keep you posted at best, but really, thank you for looking up something about them. I've needed to do that, I just haven't had the time, and right now I'm really too concerned to focus on anything in a book. Let me know if you find out anything ground-breaking, will you?
I shouldn't be gone too long Malfoy. I do intend to fully see your son's case through, just right now I can't. I'm very sorry. I'll be back hopefully in a few short days.
~Hermione
When she sent it off, she didn't even register that she signed her first name to him, nor that she rambled a bit too much. Though it did dawn on her once the bird was out of sight that the letter she sent back was coated in tears.
It was later when the ginger escaped the coddling's of his family. His parents were lovely at times but could be a bit overbearing, and after the task he helped with earlier that day he didn't really feel that he deserved all the love being passed around the table as they ate supper. It was a huge get together that day, and Harry and Ginny had come over, along with Ron and Lavender. Hermione was absent, though he was the only one who knew why. Harry and Ron sent her a letter earlier wondering why she wasn't at a dinner. She had been sent a letter about four days ago, but she only replied that she had been very busy and had yet to check her mail. The girl said she was dealing with some big thing, and would be by later if it finished at a decent hour.
Percy knew that was a lie. The girl wouldn't be back up on her feet for a few days, at the very least. But no one else knew that, and it was supposed to remain that way.
After escaping his childhood home, he returned to the flat he paid for himself. He was supposed to meet Adam there in twenty minutes- even if he would much rather kill himself than face that man again- and being punctual was prudent. Adam could be touchy, and though he was not the boss of this huge, hidden secret, he was like them, and he was supposed to keep the secret secret. Percy very well knew that Adam played a much larger role in the scheme of things.
Walking into his apartment, he noticed an odd woman wandering down the street. She brushed past him, moving to sit on the curb nearby to wait for something. She was dressed far too nicely to be around those parts often, and if the woman wasn't careful she would likely have the wrong types of people following her around. He paused outside the apartment complex, contemplating whether or not to invite her inside so that she wasn't sitting out in the open, when glittering eyes caught his attention. He shuddered as he noticed who was walking down the street towards him, obviously changing the look of his eyes to draw the ginger's attention. Without glancing at the woman again, he hurried inside to open the apartment up for his guest. Adam walked in without knocking only a few minutes later.
"You were far too happy staring at her you know," Adam remarked rudely, brushing off his coat. "Poor thing was probably scared to death of your watchful eyes."
"I wasn't going to hurt her you know," he snapped, crossing his arms. "I was thinking someone else might hurt her."
"Don't be too worried Weasley, she's here for a purpose."
"Oh, and what's that?"
Adam grinned. "Don't worry about it. Now, enough chatting. There are real reasons I am here."
"I know," he muttered quietly. "Well she hasn't come to the Burrow yet, and nothing else has been reported, so Hermione's life isn't upside down quite yet."
Lincoln waved him off. "No worries, it will be soon enough. What I want to know is how the boy is fairing."
"Frank called up to the Minister today and confirmed that Hannah Abbott will be covering for Granger so long as she is preoccupied. The only person that can seemingly come close to the surface of this mess has just been removed from the puzzle. She will be too busy with her own problems now to be concerned about Scorpius Malfoy. No more research should be done for a while it seems. Abbott is only on call if her help is needed; she won't go over every day."
"That means the woods will be clear," Adam mused, wandering back and forth. "I didn't hear of any disturbances when I was there today."
"Good, that at least means something is going right."
Adam raised an eyebrow. Don't be snippy Weasley. I might not have ever fully transformed, but I still have the teeth.
Percy shuddered. Adam did not need to drink blood, that much was true, but he still had teeth that could rip through flesh in a moment. He was just very good at concealing the pointed tips with spells.
"And what if they survive?" Adam mused, tapping his chin as he took a seat on a comfortable sofa. "What then? She is loyal to her patients, and she will not remain there forever. Trust me, I have seen her arrive late more than once to Malfoy's, and every time I can almost guarantee she is coming from there."
"So if they don't die, you think she will continue doing what she is doing?"
The other man shrugged, before a dangerous grin spread across his cheeks. "Or perhaps not. She needs every penny she can make to keep them alive in their comas there, and if she is docking a day of pay even that small break could be enough to strain her budget beyond recovery. Trust me, I know her money is thin. When she used to disappear with Draco Malfoy to do Merlin knows what, I would search her bag. The witch spends more money keeping them alive than she does eating. It explains the shitty state of her apartment as well."
"You've been there?" Percy asked.
"Once," he replied with a laugh. "When she first got assigned to the case, Williams sent me on a quick run over there while they were speaking. It was easy enough to get into, even with her cute little protection spells. The girl is prepared, but only for wizards." He laughed harder. "She has no idea how to save herself against a vampire!"
"She shouldn't," the redhead scolded. "No one is supposed to know that vampires even exist anymore. Why do you think they are all kept hidden?"
Adam scoffed. "Yes, hidden. So hidden that a bloody Malfoy brat was able to find one- an uncontrolled one, but one nonetheless. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure who the initial one was. We're still trying to figure it out, but only so many want to comply with questions. And once you start pulling out a wand, the whole group tries to kill you. No one's going to tell me who started this mess by trying to drink the boy's blood." He shrugged. "If the barriers between where the land should end and Malfoy Manor's property began were simply marked better, this never would've happened. The child would've gone in, but any one of them would've been too far away to harm him. Now look at all the trouble it's caused."
"Yes," Percy agreed dully, though he wasn't quite sure what to think. In reality he was not much more than a message boy in regards to this particular problem, and some things he simply knew nothing about. But he wouldn't tell Adam that, not when he was so temperamental. "So… you have something I am supposed to deliver to the Minister?"
"Yes, here." He pulled out a roll of paper, tossing it to the ginger. "Don't read it, only deliver. It's enchanted so the words can only be read by specific people as it is, so it won't do you much good to try. Think you can handle that?" Percy nodded.
"Good," Adam continued, standing. Glancing out the window, he noted that the woman still sat on the curb below. "But I believe my business is done here, so I won't bother dwelling here a moment longer. Get that to him first thing in the morning Percy. It's quite important."
Percy nodded vigorously, thankful that the man was about to leave. Adam didn't bother glancing back as he left, and the ginger was thankful. As the door slammed shut, he let out a sigh of relief. The man had actually been quite civil to speak with this time.
Outside, Adam made quick work of returning to the young beauties side. She was brushing off someone as he approached, and though he couldn't see who the man was he could tell that the presence was unwanted. He thought about helping for a moment, until he noticed the large, Malfoy emblem on the corner of her jumper below. Falling back into the shadows, he ignored the scene as the other man stole her expensive handbag. Wasn't his problem after all. Besides, he might be able to use a distraught woman to his advantage.
He waited until she sat on the curb again, her shoulders slumped. The expensive white fur coat was dirty now, and as he moved to sit beside her she slid away, reaching up to strike him.
"You stay away from me!" She screamed, her wand gripped tightly in her other hand. He stopped her from attacking his face, gripping her wrist gently.
"Don't get so worked up," he said coolly, making sure to eye her emblem next, "Mrs. Malfoy."
"Oh don't call me that," she scolded, tearing herself away from him. "I won't be Mrs. Malfoy much longer as it is, so you may as well drop that title. I'll just be Astoria soon."
"Oh?" he asked, feigning surprise. Of course he knew that Draco Malfoy was divorcing- hell, the entire country did- but he didn't want her catching on. He doubted that she even knew he was one of her son's previous Healers, and decided to keep it that way.
"Yes," she hissed, straightening her coat. "I suppose it's for the better though, I could never live in that place now."
"Why's that?"
She glanced at him. "Now why would I tell you? I don't even know you!" She got to her feet, careful to put some space between them. "What am I even doing here? I'm silly to be out running around the backstreets of London at night! I should be back at my friends, not wandering this place." She glared at him. "And you shouldn't be bothering me!"
He held up his hands, standing slowly. "I didn't realize it would upset you so much," he replied evenly. "But you do look distraught Astoria. I'll tell you what, since you seem to be avoiding your friend's place despite the fact that it's probably the safest place for you, why don't you owl me if you need anything. My name's Adam, Adam Lincoln."
"Why would I owl you?" she hissed. "I don't even know you! You're just some strange man."
"True," he agreed, holding her gaze, "But outsiders sometimes have the best perception of situations because they are not emotionally connected. Remember my name Astoria, just in case. Now from an outsider's point of view, you should get back to safer places. You never know when someone dangerous is going to pop up."
She frowned at his words, watching him move past her and walk away. She really shouldn't have been out that night, not after she had been drinking, but her sobering spell at least made her seem decent. But with her cloudy mind, she didn't know what to think. Strangers were never that nice, right?
No one was that nice, not unless they had a hidden motive. She turned away quickly, hurrying to the nearest floo. Now, she truly did want to get out of that place.
And as Adam heard her heels softly clicking on the ground as she rushed away, he grinned. Because his offer was so strange, because she couldn't read him, she would remember him. And hopefully if she remembered him, her interest would grow enough to a point where she would owl him.
And once she owled him, he could really start messing with people's lives.
