I'm sorry father, but you drove me to it.
Everybody that had surrounded Lucius had now moved away, leaving a perfect circle around the frozen man and freshly killed woman, crumpled on the floor, head bent against her back in a sickeningly awkward position. All eyes were on her…. one pair of eyes were on him, though no one could see them.
A fist suddenly materialised and flew out of seemingly empty air, connecting violently with the blonde mans jaw. The loud 'crack' echoed around the painfully silent room as the rest of Severus Snape appeared from thin air, as if an invisible curtain from which he had been hiding had been drawn.
Then they were on the ground, the dark man throwing Lucius's head and shoulders onto the ground repeatedly, tears sparkling in his anguished eyes; the image of suffering. He never lessoned his onslaught, his body numb with a vicious wild anger, possessed with an insane desire to destroy the man that had once been his best friend; his only friend. Strangled sobs and fierce cries of agony ripped the stunned silence as Severus Snape beat the life out of Lucius who could only writhe on the floor, trying uselessly to protect himself against the wild attack.
Draco could only stare at his mother. He didn't even notice as the ropes around him were being tugged at by small, yet strong hands, the hands of Miriam. He thought he heard talking, but it didn't seem to register, nothing did, only incredible coldness.
Lord Voldemort looked at the scene before him, one of his most trusted deatheaters had betrayed him and the other had stayed loyal to his side. Yet, The Dark Lord had a different mind to other men, and he murmured his thoughts out loud to Wormtail and Crabbe. "Severus, on the one hand he has betrayed me, do not think I will forget that, but on the other; here he is, protecting a boy that isn't even his son, coming here against all of his brothers with only his courage at his side. And there's Lucius, treating his own son like a prize animal, snivelling at my side like a lap dog, murdering his own wife…. doing this all without any of his own initiative, just leaching off me. I know who I want by my side when the final battle comes. After all, there are ways to make Severus obey."
Wormtail listened to this with intense confusion, looking at the two men, the blonde now hanging slightly limp as Severus threw him against the ground, a look of bemused disgust on his rat like face, and then something clicked; he understood. He grinned, showing his yellow, pointed teeth. "What about Lucius, my Lord?"
The Dark Lord smiled unpleasantly. "Let Snape kill him, it'll give him good practice"
He made to leave, and as he motioned to the others they seemed reluctant to go, finding it hard to tear their eyes away from the violent scene. "Do not worry!" said the Dark Lord. "Were just getting a better spot, that's all, I couldn't miss this" The others grinned between each other. "After all, it's not time to leave just yet." And with that the whole group moved as one, seeming to fly to the ceiling and like smoke, they became the very shadows of the Warehouse, the occasional glint of the sun against their staring eyes the only sign of their existence.
Goyle had remained behind, seemingly unnoticed by the retreating group of Deatheaters. He couldn't believe his eyes, Narcissa was dead. Intense sadness and remorse beat inside him, and he felt deep inside that he couldn't do it anymore, he couldn't see another innocent person dead. The only thing he could resolve to do was help the boy and get these people out, he didn't care what would happen to him after.
Miriam was struggling with the ropes to no avail, tears pouring down her face, the battle with the ropes the only way to stop herself from breaking down, agony filled sobs of anger and frustration burst out of her throat. Then the ropes were gone, she looked with teary surprise at a man who's wand was pointed at Draco; he had just severed the ropes. He then lowered his arm, and a quite "I'm sorry" came from his lips as a whisper. He went, with Miriam, toward Draco who remained stood to the pillar, arms still wrapped around it as if he were still tied, he seemed to be using it as a support. He felt arms wrap around his waist, the very urgency of their embrace causing him to start feeling reality, then he felt a hand on his shoulder.
Severus had given up, exhausted, huddled on his knees, hands covering his face as sobs tore through him. Lucius, now covered in blood looked in fear with wide blood shot eyes at Severus, then Draco, then his wife. His eyes lingered on the sight of her, and as he tried to crawl away, bloody hands grappling over the floor, pulling his body across the blood drenched ground with incredible pain; all he could see was her in her long white dress at their wedding day, and how happy he had been.
Severus was now crawling to Narcisa's side, his hands stroking her face as her eyes stared blankly and unfocused just above him. He kept repeating "No, no, no, please no" and pulled her lifeless body into a fierce embrace. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry".
He held her for a while, then placed her back down to the ground. He straightened her out between sobs, made her lie in a comfortable, peaceful position, as if she were sleeping. He smoothed her hair from her beautiful face, placed her arms so they crossed over her still chest, and lastly placed his hands over her blank eyes, and closed them. "Good-bye, Narcissa" His voice broke at the end.
Draco now felt tears slide down his face and he couldn't take the feel of the elf and the man. "No" he started to say as he struggled to be free of their touch. "No, get off, I need to… " they let go and Goyle held Miriam back as she attempted to stop him.
The Dark Lord watched intently.
Draco walked past his mother and the broken man now stroking her face, and then walked in front of his father on the ground who was attempting to crawl away faster. Draco looked down at the pitiful sight, confused to how he could have ever been afraid of him. Lucius now looked up and started to feel what Draco had always felt; dread.
"I'm sorry" he said in an anguished voice. Draco just starred down at him.
"Please, it was an accident, I couldn't see, I would never- you know I would never, I….." he needed Draco to say something, anything. "I LOVED HER!"
Silence.
"Get up"
Lucius wiped his eyes, "what?"
"I said, Get Up"
Lucius starred up at him, now crying, and forced himself to stand.
He wavered and stood face to face with his son, whose wand was now pointed at his chest. "I want to see you crumple"
"No, Draco, no! Put that down!"
Draco started to murmur, "I'm sorry father-"
"Draco, I order you! You are my son, I raised you!"
"-but you drove me to it."
The room lit up with green light, a loud bang burst through the pained and heavy silence. Then he was on the ground, a look of surprise on his dull grey eyes.
Draco's wand fell to the ground with a clatter.
Lord Voldemort smiled with satisfaction. "I knew the boy needed more time, but Lucius insisted. We will come back for him soon, when his anger and hatred has grown, and he will be a powerful asset"
&
Narcissa Malfoy, devoted mother and dear friend. May her strength live on forever.
Draco read the stone over and over again, surrounded by the graves of his family; hers was the most grand and beautiful of them all.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Severus Snape behind him, fighting back tears. One squeeze of his shoulder and he knew it was time to go.
"The train leaves King Cross in exactly half an hour; do you think you're ready for school just yet?"
Draco knew the answer straight away. "It's what mother would have wanted, I'll do her proud, become more then the Malfoy name, bring back what we used to have before my Great Great Grandfather tarnished our name and associated us with Voldemort."
Severus smiled. "That is exactly what she would have wanted."
They walked in silence for a while, enjoying the sound of bird song.
"You know Draco, that-" "I know" he stopped him mid-sentence, he knew exactly what he was going to say. He was free. No more did he have to live in fear of his father, he could live his life as he wanted, and though his mother could not be by his side, Severus always would be.
"Your mother will never be gone, she was an amazing woman, and her courage and spirit will never die"
Draco just nodded, scared that if he spoke he would break down his barriers. Old habits die hard.
"Mr.Goyle is a good man, I'll miss Greg at school, Crabbe will find himself a very lonely guy this year."
Severus smiled. "Yes, i'm happy he managed to escape finally, he never really wanted to join, he just wanted to be a part of something, he didn't know he would get in so deep."
"Escape to America, I suppose it wouldn't have been safe for them to stay, I'll keep in touch though, maybe I'll join them some day!" He laughed weakly.
"Don't be angry at Vincent, you know more then many not to judge people by their fathers" Draco didn't reply.
They could now see Miriam in the distance waving at them as they approached, now a free elf.
"Where did you decide to leave your fathers ashes? Somewhere 'fitting' I hope?"
Draco smiled. "Sold them"
Severus almost tripped right to the floor. "What?!"
"I sold them to some guy in Knockturn alley, said he could turn ashes into diamonds, may as well get some use out of him"
"Draco!-"
"I'm kidding" they both shared a look. "I just shook them over some fields as far away from here as possible." He then said as an after thought. "I'm not a murderer"
There was silence. "But i'm glad he's dead"
Snape looked at him intently, then sighed and looked away. "If you hadn't have done it, I would have. But is that what your mother would have wanted?"
Draco couldn't answer that, didn't want to. All he knew was that his life could finally begin, and although he knew that it wasn't over with Voldemort, intense happiness filled his heart with the thought of being safe at Hogwarts and putting this all behind him, with Severus, Miriam and his mother at his side.
The End
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And that is that. (Phew!) Its finished woooooooooooooooooooo!! Celebration!! . I can't believe its actually finished, after allllll this time, its done!! Complete!! Wow. Just 26 chapters, but still. Next time I decide to write a fic, it'll be a much more structured and all round better one! But still, I'm not unhappy with this one, I quite like it really! But it took too long. I hope you like the ending! Hope it was satisfying enough, I know it wasn't brilliant, there was a bit of " and this happened, then that happened" type of listing, but I tried to tie up all the loose ends, although there's a hint of a sequel if I ever decide to do one, may as well keep it open. I really hope you enjoyed this story!! Thank you soooooo much for everyone who has reviewed!! 151?? I never thought I would get that many!! Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me right from the beginning!! I really am grateful, it's the only reason I carried on, apart from the fact that I do enjoy writing! : ) Tell me your thoughts on the ending and if any part of the fic didn't make any sense, please tell me and I'll try to explain! Much love, Perfectpureblood.