Disclaimer: If I had the ability to churn out such an amazing story like Ms Rowling, I wouldn't be sitting at the computer twiddling my thumbs - I'd be jetsetting to everywhere possible! But enough of that dream...
A/N: Hope you guys like this one, although - uh-oh not very pleasant stuff ahead ...
A flash of light blinded her momentarily.
Before her eyes could adjust to the new environment, Hermione found herself being tugged, and she nearly tripped.
"Ow!"
There was a gruff sound that seemed a little awkward, and Hermione noticed that Draco was holding onto her arm, balancing her as she stepped out from the fireplace. Seeing his grim face come into focus, her eyes began to wander. The first thing she saw was a brilliantly-lit grand crystalled chandelier.
Not the only one around.
"Mother?" Draco's impatient voice interrupted her thoughts. He let go of her arm. "Mother?"
The Malfoy Manor was huge. No – enormous. Was there even an adjective that could describe how incredibly spacious it was? Not to mention exquisite, extravagant, and opulent?
"You – live here?" Hermione managed to squeak out.
Draco stopped calling his mother, and his eyes narrowed in a mixture of confusion and impatience. "Did you think I'd get my Floo navigation wrong, or that I cannot even recognise my own house?"
Hermione had always known Draco was wealthy, but this was insane. Not only were there chandeliers just metres away from one another, they were far above – the ceiling was at least two storeys away from her. There were huge Roman pillars crafted with gilded serpents coiling around them lining the hallways, beautifully ornate furniture, soft carpeted floor, long French windows that reached near the ceiling, but now draped over by exquisite curtains. Hermione had to make a conscious effort to stop her jaw from dropping.
"Mother!" Draco was now beyond impatient; he sounded afraid. He strode up the grand stairway, brushing off the soot from his robes as he did. "Mother, I need to speak to you!"
There was a sudden slam of a door, and when Hermione spun towards the sound, a figure with long golden curls had zipped along the second storey to the top of the stairway. The moment Hermione saw her, she felt a sudden chill go down her spine. At that very moment, both pairs of eyes locked – Narcissa's icy blue ones with Hermione's soft brown ones.
"There you are!" Draco sounded relieved.
Hearing her son's voice once again, Narcissa broke the gaze lock with Hermione, and stared at her son. The look on her face seemed to be that of despair, and Hermione was vaguely troubled by the sight of it. Narcissa descended the stairs quickly to grab hold of Draco's shoulders.
"What are you doing here, Draco? What are you doing here?"
It was not a question; it was a plea. A plea for Draco to go away.
"Mother, where has Aunt Bella been off to lately? You must tell me all that you know!"
Narcissa did not seem to hear him; her eyes grew wide with desperate fear. "Draco, you must go to the Dark Lord, you must tell him that you didn't mean to do all that to him. Tell him you were foolish. You must go back to him, you must carry on for your father!"
"Mother, what are you talking about?" Draco was aghast. "You know the Dark Lord was punishing us for Father's sins!"
"You don't get it!" Narcissa was hysterical as she clung onto Draco's robes. "Severus – he has been summoned back to the Dark Lord..." Draco's face paled. "He will die, Draco, he will die if you don't follow the Dark Lord's wishes. If he fails to protect you, he will die from the Unbreakable Vow first as well! Don't be foolish, Draco, you are overcome by your rage, you must follow your Aunt Bella – "
The mention of Bellatrix Lestrange seemed to catapult Draco into anger. "I am not following her anywhere!"
"You must apologise to the Dark Lord, Draco!" Narcissa was rambling feverishly. "You must apologise to him and tell him that you will be his loyal follower again, I can't lose you, I can't lose you after I lost Lucius, Draco you must understand, you must understand!"
Even Hermione could understand now – Narcissa was afraid of losing a second loved one to Voldemort.
Draco had difficulty calming himself down, but he tried his best. "Mother, it's impossible. He won't buy it anymore. I've betrayed him too far."
Narcissa's look turned wild, and her eyes darted towards Hermione, startling the girl. "It's her, isn't it? That's Potter's girl, isn't it? She's been influencing you – this, this Mudblood!" Both Draco and Hermione flinched. "She's been instigating you to move away from the Dark Lord, it's all her fault, tell the Dark Lord it's all her fault, it's not yours!" Her voice had risen to a shriek.
"Mother!" Draco lost his patience and gripped his mother's elbows hard, shaking her. "It's nothing to do with her! It's the Dark Lord's fault! He killed Father, he made me become his minion knowing how heartbroken I was, and I wanted to avenge Father! If there's anything, it's him!"
"Draco, take that back!" There were tears streaming down Narcissa's cheeks, and Hermione winced to see how desperate she was. "Don't say that! It was your father – your father had disobeyed him..."
Draco couldn't hold it back any longer. "Mother, do you know why Father disobeyed the Dark Lord?"
It didn't seem like Narcissa knew, for she gave him a blank stare through glistening eyes.
"He disobeyed the Dark Lord – for us."
It wasn't like Draco to sound so sentimental, but his voice was choking.
Narcissa looked completely bewildered. "What are you talking about, Draco? Lucius – Lucius failed to kill that exiled, diseased man... he was killed for his incompetence..."
"Mother, how could you, of all people, believe that?" Draco clung onto her arms, with an expression of disbelief on his face. "How could you?"
Narcissa buried her face in her hands. "I don't know, I don't know! Lucius wasn't even alive to tell me what happened!"
"Father died because he wanted to protect us..." Draco swallowed hard. "The Dark Lord wanted every Death Eater to eventually sacrifice their families when this war is over. Father couldn't let that happen, so when he was summoned to find Maldash Wentervale – the two of them actually conspired to share the secrets of the Dark Lord that were entrusted to them... once these secrets were destroyed, the Dark Lord would be destroyed."
Narcissa let out a gasp of shock.
"But when Father let Wentervale go a second time in order to prolong the finding of the – the secrets, he knew he had met his end." Draco's voice was now trembling.
"How do you know all this?" Narcissa whispered, but Draco's face was now twisted in a mix of pain and rage – he could hardly reply.
"We met Wentervale," Hermione spoke up, quietly, and Narcissa's head jerked towards her. "He told us what had happened to... to Mr Malfoy."
"You met Wentervale?" Narcissa's voice was incredulous.
"It's a long story, Mrs Malfoy," Hermione bit her lip. "But your husband left a series of clues for Dra – I mean, Malfoy to find Maldash Wentervale. And he did. But once the tale was out, Wentervale – he died." And the memory of Wentervale's passing made her heart ache.
"You're lying..." Narcissa was now looking very white. "Wentervale was lying..."
"Mother, if he lied, I wouldn't have gotten so far to finding those secrets and destroying them," Draco broke out of his grief, his eyes burning with fury. "And I'm very sure Aunt Bella knows one of these secrets! I need to know where she has been going, so that I can go destroy it! Destroy the soul of the murderer who killed Father! Mother, do you understand?"
"The Dark Lord..." Narcissa was losing it; suddenly, Draco had loosened his grip on her, and she just sank to the carpeted ground in a daze. Draco hurried to help her up, but she remained rooted. "He – he told me that Lucius had betrayed him, had been tempted... and I believed him..." Her gaze turned towards Draco, a very helpless gaze. "I believed him, Draco, I believed him completely..."
"Mother, now's not the time to blame yourself," Draco urged. "You need to believe me now. You need to tell me where Aunt Bella has been off to of late!"
Narcissa tried to clear her head. "I... come to think of it, she's been very suspicious of late... she told me she likes to go somewhere to remind her of her duty to the Dark Lord... she said..."
Before Narcissa could finish, there was a sudden howl of wind – Hermione spun around to face the fireplace where a whirlwind of flames and soot were bursting out. Draco instinctively released his hold on his mother, leaving her leaning against the steps in a daze, and ran forward to pull Hermione away from the whirl. Almost immediately, the main entrance of the Manor burst open, and all the Aurors were rushing in.
To his horror, Draco saw the figure of Bellatrix Lestrange materialise from the whirlwind. She moved so fast that she was a blur – and all of a sudden, a wide-eyed Narcissa was hauled up roughly into Bellatrix's arms, and Draco found himself staring at his aunt holding his mother hostage, with her wand pointing right at him. There could be no word to describe the way he was almost seeing stars from his rage.
"One move, Drakey, and mommy's dead," Bellatrix purred.
"I TOLD YOU TO MAKE SURE SHE DOESN'T COME!" Draco exploded in Kingsley Shacklebolt's direction.
"Surrender yourself, Bellatrix Lestrange!" It was a pathetic order, but Kingsley stood his ground, wand raised, together with his band of Aurors behind.
"No, back off!" Draco gestured wildly with his hand. "She'll kill my mother!"
"Bella, no!" Narcissa gasped.
"Cissy, Cissy," said Bellatrix, sighing, her eyes still on Draco. "I thought you were trustworthy, how could you be so sentimental? How could you believe what this foolish young boy says? He is resentful, resentful that the Dark Lord doesn't trust him, so he makes up all these stupid stories to make you weak and surrender to his filial piety!"
Draco could hardly speak in the state of fury he was in; Hermione glared coldly at Bellatrix. "You are such a heartless woman. How dare you do this to your own sister!"
"Are you lecturing me, my dear little Mudblood?" Bellatrix snorted derisively. "You are just a little plaything in the Dark Lord's eyes. You may have the brains, but you are nothing in the grand scale of things! Your words are..." She put on an expression of disgust as she brought a finger to her ears. "Urgh, pollution to my ears!"
Hermione's eyes narrowed as she flushed angrily.
"But oh..." Bellatrix's gaze travelled down to where Hermione was now gripping Draco's wrist tightly, preventing him from doing anything rash. "I see that dearest Draco has gone a lot further into hell than we had thought. What a pity, Draco, you like the Mudblood?"
"Don't. Call. Her. THAT." Draco seethed.
Bellatrix smirked. "Your mother is in my hands, and you care about what I call Potter's lackey? Draco, you really need to re-assess your priorities..."
Draco stared at his mother, agony contorting his face. "Mother, don't listen to her!"
Hermione shot a pleading look to Kingsley, but she knew it was in vain. Bellatrix would be too fast for them. If only – if only they could distract her...
"If I'm Harry's lackey..." Hermione steadied herself as she glared back at the insane Bellatrix Lestrange. "Then you're no better for Voldemort."
"How dare you speak his name!" hissed Bellatrix, eyes flaring. "And he is the Dark Lord, not some puppet master! He is powerful and strong, and he will kill Harry Potter!"
"He's just using you!" shouted Hermione.
Bellatrix burst into a frenzied cackle. "Do you think I'd buy that? Do you think I'm so easily swayed?"
"Bella!" Narcissa choked out.
"I'm sorry, Cissy..." cooed Bellatrix, her expression morphing into that of sorrow. "I didn't mean to hurt you. Your precious son made me do this..."
"Mother, what I told you was true!" Draco yelled.
"Now, now, Draco, no need to get all worked up, I'm sure your mother will love you enough to send you back on the right track." Bellatrix smiled wistfully. "Would you like to go back with me?"
"Hogwarts..." Narcissa suddenly trained her gaze on Hermione. "Hogwarts and its houses..."
Draco's eyebrows furrowed together; Hermione raised hers.
"And – and trees! Lots and lots of them!"
"What are you talking about, Cissy?" Bellatrix's grip on her sister seemed to have tightened as Narcissa grew even paler.
"The tree... inside..." Narcissa's eyes widened as she choked.
Before Draco and Hermione could even interpret what she meant, Bellatrix suddenly went incredibly wild. It was as if a huge convulsive spasm had overtaken her; her movements were so quick and wild that nobody really saw what she was doing. But when Narcissa slumped out of her grip onto the floor, eyes rolling back, there was no question as to what she had done.
"NOOOOO!" roared Draco, and he lunged towards his mother.
"Draco!" gasped Hermione.
It was all too sudden; there were red jets of light shooting across the hallway from the Aurors, as well as Hermione, but Bellatrix Lestrange had skipped aside, and created a Shield Charm to block all of them instantly. The crazed look was still plastered on her face, torn between mocking delight, rage, and anguish. Her insane cackles filled the air along with the crackle of the spells shooting out from wands.
"Can't catch me!" She laughed hysterically.
However, the moment her gaze fell on Draco who was cradling his mother with one arm, an agonised expression pressed against the pale, stoic face of her sister – Bellatrix Lestrange's face twitched.
With that twitch, the Charm momentarily faltered. And in a blink of an eye, Draco had directed his wand with his other hand towards her.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" He screamed, with all his might.
The moment the red jet of light connected squarely with Bellatrix Lestrange, the entire Charm disappeared, and from all angles, red streaks shot directly at her.
Within a split second, the Death Eater had collapsed onto the floor, her eyes wide open with a chillingly maniacal stare, and her lips frozen in a smirk.
Draco stared back, his lip quivering.
His mother's face was cold against his cheek. Icy cold.
His wand hand dropped to his mother's rigid body.
Mother... you can't leave me.
In the next few seconds, the Aurors had all surrounded the body of Bellatrix Lestrange, while Hermione hurried over to Draco, whose anguished look was terribly heartbreaking as he held on tightly to his mother, rocking back and forth and whispering frantically. When Hermione was near enough, she could hear him whisper,
"Mother, wake up, you have to wake up, you can't leave me alone... you can't leave me alone just like Father, you can't... you have to wake up now, Mother, please wake up, please, please, please!"
The Aurors were moving off, levitating Bellatrix Lestrange off with them. Kingsley knelt down beside Draco and Narcissa, and placed a hand on Draco, who shuddered involuntarily at the touch.
"I'm sorry," Kingsley said in an even voice. "She came from an unidentified location, and we could not intercept her in time."
Draco closed his eyes and buried his face in his mother's golden hair. Then, slowly, the blond-haired boy released his hold on his mother, as another Auror along with Kingsley slowly levitated the body of Narcissa Malfoy, away and out of the house.
It was just Draco and Hermione by the fireplace. The flames had long died away, and the Manor now felt cold and empty.
"Draco..." Hermione whispered, pained.
And then the once-arrogant and snide Draco Malfoy, who had become a Death Eater for the sake of fulfilling his father's legacy and taking revenge on his father's murderer, completely broke down. That horrified Hermione more than anything, for even though she had seen him shake and crumble in a rare moment of vulnerability after the Quidditch match, she had never seen him cry. But there he was, with tears rolling down his cheeks – Draco Malfoy was convulsing in sobs that made her heart ache terribly. Immediately, she flung her arms around him, fighting the urge to cry herself.
"Draco... don't be like this..."
Apart from the heavy grief that he was emanating, Hermione could sense a bubbling froth of rage. "He made me lose my parents..." Draco choked out. "I – will make him pay for this!"
The fire of revenge in him had never been stronger; the image of Narcissa's limp body, the image of Lucius reaching out to him in his dream and whispering pathetically, "Please...", and the insane look of Bellatrix Lestrange as she fell to the carpeted floor. Within that few minutes, he had lost every remaining member of his immediate family. And it was all because of him.
Voldemort.
I am Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy – and Narcissa Black. And I will hunt you till your death.
"Draco, you've got to pull yourself together." Hermione's voice was surprisingly steely. It seemed to offer him strength. "Your mother gave us a clue to the Horcrux Bellatrix was hiding."
Draco sat up suddenly, causing Hermione to unlock her arms around him. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand furiously. "She did?"
"Remember what she said about the houses of Hogwarts, and trees? Well I don't know what that really means, but I'm sure we can find it out when we get back." Then her voice softened. "You must hold on Draco, if you really want to avenge your parents. You must hold on to search for the last two Horcruxes. It's only this way that we can get rid of him."
Hermione was right; he couldn't stop there and grieve just like that. He had a personal mission to complete.
"Let's go back." Draco's voice cracked as he spoke, but the fiercely determined look in his eyes said everything. He was going to fight till the very end. This time, Hermione did feel the tears welling up in her own eyes as she took his hand – tears of pride.
-.-.-.-.-.-
Large, flowing, white curtains billowed in the wind, as the long windows had been magically created in the Great Hall. More white fabric hung from the ceiling, which had been charmed to look like clouds of white fluff. There were no long tables, but the long benches remained, where all the staff and students took their places. In the middle of the Hall, was a great rosewood coffin that held the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. There were a few sniffs and one or two crying, but most people remained solemn.
Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Corrinne and Luna sat in the front row with Professor McGonagall. Harry's head was bent, his spectacles in his hands. Ron shifted uneasily, while Ginny kept shooting side glances at Harry. Neville had his arm around Corrinne, whose eyes were closed and her eyebrows knotted tightly. Luna's, too, were closed, but in a peaceful manner, as if she were dreaming.
Professor Flitwick was reading some kind of a eulogy, but none of those few looked like they were paying attention. Ron cast a glance ahead at the bench on the other side of the coffin, and Pansy's and Astoria's heads were bent like Harry's. He frowned a little, then turned his head towards the entrance as a little creak was heard. He stifled a snort when he saw who had entered.
Ginny noticed his movements, and then followed his gaze to the black-haired, olive-skinned boy who had just entered. Instead of sitting beside Pansy, he slid onto the bench right at the far end. A hard look overcame her face.
When the main eulogies were over, there was a short break where everybody could relax for a bit. Ron let out a sigh as he hunched over, while Ginny walked over to Harry's side to squeeze his hand. With the other, he put on his spectacles, and when he lifted up his head, everyone could see how bloodshot his eyes were.
"Mate, ease up." Ron looked at him worriedly. "The nightmares getting to you?"
Harry ran a hand through his tousled black hair. "Sort of. I'm worried about Hermione too. I wish she was here. She would have wanted to attend this."
"Narcissa Malfoy is our last hope." Ginny chewed her lip. "Otherwise there's no way we can get anything out of Bell – I mean, that evil witch."
"Actually..." Corrinne's voice cut in, and everybody turned to look at her. "I just remembered something. I was telling Neville the other day that there's a possibility as to what one of the Horcruxes is."
"Oh yes!" Neville was enlightened.
"What about?" asked Harry, wearily.
Corrinne then told them of her suspicions that the Horcrux was probably something, or someone that was close to Voldemort, so that not only would it be hard to destroy, but if Voldemort's current entity was destroyed, this Horcrux would have the newest memories and escape to create a new entity altogether. When she was finished, Ginny's eyes were shining.
"What's on your mind, Gin?" Harry held her hand tightly.
"You need someone who sees Voldemort often to find out what is close to him. What he has been protecting all along."
"Hang on," said Ron, teeth gritted together.
Astoria and Pansy had made their way towards them, the latter a little reluctantly. "Hey," said Astoria, with a sense of urgency in her voice. "Has Draco come back yet?"
Harry shook his head. "No news yet."
"Anyway, as you were saying... someone close to Voldemort – you talking about Malfoy?" Ron's voice was laced with distaste.
Ginny shook her head. "He hasn't been going back since a long time ago, right? I'll bet there's someone in this Hall who's seen Voldemort more lately than Malfoy has."
"What are you talking about?" Astoria asked.
Ginny hesitated. Even though Astoria and Pansy were now exposed to the details, they only understood things on the surface. There were still many stories yet to tell to them, and probably not wise to say so now.
But Astoria was sharp. She understood that they couldn't possibly tell her everything now, so she just shrugged. "Someone who has seen Voldemort lately? You want to try Blaise Zabini?"
A little smile came onto Ginny's face. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking."
At the mention of Blaise's name, Pansy looked uncomfortable. She turned to see where he was, but he was getting up and ready to leave the Hall. Seeing that, it was Astoria who took off to accost him, and within a minute, had him brought in front of the rest. Blaise refused to look at any of them, merely staring at the floor and sucking at his bottom lip.
"Are you still working for him?" Corrinne made no effort to hide her contempt and disgust.
Blaise did not say anything; he shuffled a little.
"I said, are you still working for him!" Corrinne raised her voice, and Neville had to tug her hand, for people were starting to stare.
"Come on, let's go somewhere quieter," whispered Harry, and the little entourage made their way outside the Hall, save for Astoria, whose sister Daphne had pounced on her to demand answers as to where she had gone to. "Now, Zabini, we know you're in this pretty deep, you know that you're not going to survive being a Death Eater any longer after your little rescue mission." Harry's voice had turned hard. "He's not going to let you off."
"Regardless of whether I'm a Death Eater." Blaise raised his head, and his gaze was defiant. "So why do you care whether I'm still working for him? Isn't the answer obvious?"
"Yes, the answer is obvious," said Luna, coolly. "Otherwise you'd be dead by now."
Blaise glared at her.
"It just shows you have a conscience." Harry jabbed his finger at Blaise' chest, and the latter flinched. "And I'm pretty sure you have an idea why Voldemort was hunting Malfoy down."
Blaise's eyes widened. "I only know he was being a traitor. I assumed he didn't complete his mission... I –" His gaze wandered to the entrance of the Great Hall. "I don't know, alright, I don't know anything! I'm already dead meat, there's nothing more to say!" He ended, tersely, pushing past Harry and Ron.
"Blaise!"
He stopped short.
"Blaise..."
"Shut up, Pansy, I've nothing to say." But his voice was quivering. "Especially to you."
"No, but I have something to say to you. Blaise, I – I don't care. You – did wrong, yes, but you can start over."
"Start over?" Blaise barked harshly, turning around to meet Pansy's pleading gaze. "What do you mean start over? The Death Eaters think I'm a traitor just like Draco. They'd kill me when they find me, and that's a piece of cake. And this side? You think anybody's going to believe that I was foolish? No, I calculated the risks. I just didn't count on my conscience eating me up to go save Astoria Greengrass!" His voice was bitter now.
"You were weak, Blaise." Pansy tried to steady herself. "But you can make amends for it. And I'm not going to let them touch you."
It couldn't possibly be a promise; Pansy would be nothing against the Death Eaters. But the sincerity in her voice couldn't be doubted. She wanted to forgive him. Blaise swallowed hard. After he had disappointed her so badly, she was willing to forgive him. How could he deserve that? He opened his mouth to say something cutting and bitter, but he couldn't say anything.
"Listen here, you tortured soul," Ron suddenly cut in. "We don't have time anymore. We want you to think about anyone, anything close to Voldemort that could possibly hide a soul piece." Everyone stared at Ron, but he continued to glare at Blaise. "We don't have time to calculate whether you're good or bad anymore. But I think you should know which side will save your arse. And the way to get rid of that jerk who made use of you is to destroy these things that he places his soul in. It can be objects, people, animals, whatever. You may choose not to help us, but it also means we won't help you when you're in it deep."
That was a long speech for Ron, and the most confident one he had ever given. Ginny and Harry exchanged mildly amused glances, while Blaise looked terribly conflicted.
"The answer is obvious." Luna reiterated, her blue eyes shining. This time, Blaise did not glare at her. Instead, the wind seemed to have gone out of his sails, and his shoulders sagged.
"Frankly..." He hesitated. "I don't really know... I've only seen him twice actually..."
"Blaise, think harder." Pansy stepped forward to hold his hand. With that touch, Blaise stumbled a little.
"Objects..." Blaise bent his head. "Well – he doesn't take anything with him but those black robes – and his wand. Would – would his wand be one of it?"
"I doubt it," said Harry, quickly. "He could be disarmed anytime."
"So says the boy who specialises in Expelliarmus." Ginny chuckled affectionately.
"The thought of him making people into Horcruxes is sick," cut in Corrinne, her red eyes glowing dangerously. "But he can't possibly trust anyone to put his soul into it. What if the person decides to betray him and commit suicide?"
"Corrinne has a point." Harry sighed.
"Did you say... animals?" Blaise cocked an eyebrow at Ron.
Ron looked puzzled. "Erm – yeah, I did. I don't know. Ad verbatim from Dumbledore."
Blaise mumbled something under his breath.
"What?" demanded Harry.
"I don't know actually, I can't think of anything that he's been guarding very preciously," said Blaise, finally. "But if I could make a guess, there's something that he has which kind of embodies a bit of his personality. Like his soul piece. And it's always with him at important events, like induction ceremonies..." His voice grew bitter. "Except mine, because he said it was busy carrying out some mission for him. I guess I wasn't important at all."
"What is it?" Corrinne demanded, impatiently.
Blaise looked around at all of them. "Nagini."