Chapter Thirty Seven: Silent
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"Well, don't we look lovely?"
Regan just smiled at her gloating husband, though she could not actually bring herself to agree. She supposed that her reflection did portray her to look attractive, but Regan knew all of the bad things that she had done, so how could she ever see herself as lovely?
Her white dress was glorious, the loose silk making her feel suspiciously comfortable. The scoop neck showed off her glittering gift from Lucius, and was almost out shined by the matching earrings. Her hair had been manipulated into large waves, rolled under to create the illusion of a bob. She wore a diamond broach in her hair, wispy white feathers accented by her bright hair. The luscious silk was heavily embroidered with white and silver beads, creating an art deco design that shimmered every time she moved. It hung down straight to the floor, a white sash fastened around her hips giving her the slightest of shapes. She appeared to have stepped out of some 1920's film, something that pleased Lucius greatly.
"Nobody will be able to take their eyes off of you, especially me." He wrapped his arms around her from behind, kissing her cheek with a self satisfied smirk. "I am eager to have you tonight…finally."
Oh yes, the only reason Lucius was really excited for tonight. Regan was supposedly completely healthy and they could begin trying to conceive again. Lucius thought that they should take advantage of the excitement of the party and renew their sexual relationship. It was almost laughable that he would expect something so foolish, but he could go on thinking whatever he wanted. In a few hours, it wouldn't matter what he thought; in a few hours, it would all be over.
When they entered the decorated gardens, it appeared that everybody who had been invited was in attendance. They all looked the part, dressed mostly in black and green, causing Regan to stand out. It made her feel uncomfortable, but she just smiled and politely greeted her guests.
Regan's eyes searched the crowd for any signs of her fellow resistors, but they blended in so well with the others. She didn't know anybody here; they were all just a blurred line of faces whizzing past her with sickening smiles. It made her head spin. She finally just gave up and remained beside Lucius, figuring that it was the best place for her to be. She couldn't focus on the boring party stories or the champagne glass in her hand. All she could see in her mind was the wand strapped to her thigh and the blood that would soon be spilled. The idea of the fight excited her; she would finally be able to push back after months of just playing along.
It would feel so good to finally just say no.
After an hour of unbearable conversation, it was finally time for dinner. Regan sat up front with Lucius, Draco sitting to her right. He offered her a small smile when she sat beside him, an extremely comforting gesture. They were all here and waiting for Ron to give the signal. It was difficult for Regan, because she didn't actually know what the signal was. Her cue would come from Draco, who appeared to be surprisingly relaxed. It put her at ease, but her heart began to pound as a large group of servers began to mull about, none of whom she recognized. They all looked so serious…
Suddenly, electricity pierced the air and there was a dull thud from the back table. A man was on the floor, blood pouring from his eyes and mouth. He let out a strangled cry, his body convulsing before he collapsed and went silent. Over him was Ron, dressed like a waiter and with his wand at the ready. The spell disguising him was slowly peeling away and all anybody could see was that flaming red hair. All was silent as people stared at him, almost unsure of what to do. They had grown so sure that nobody would ever take them down; seeing Ron Weasley still alive was a complete shock of their system. Others began to emerge, pulling off masks and removing spells from themselves to reveal their true identity. And because they were fools and because they had become cocky, they all sat completely unarmed and unprepared for the attack.
That still didn't seem to stop them from rising to physically attack with their shining steak knives, but they were put down easily enough. Regan was quick to move, kicking off her shoes and pulling out her wand before slipping away from Lucius. The spells spilled from her lips, making her smile as she watched her opponents' fall, their faces covered in blood. They splattered as they hit the ground, staining Regan's arms and dress with blood. She didn't bother to wipe it off; it was a sign of her strength.
At one point, Regan found that her wand no longer satisfied the hunger she felt for a bloody battle. When she spotted a woman coming at her in a full out sprint, she took the opportunity she had...and picked up a knife. She kicked the woman hard in the stomach, grabbing her by the collar of her dress and plunging the knife straight into her skull with a sickening crunch. When the woman struggled and tried to pull away Regan's hands, she twisted the knife and shuddered when the woman's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. Regan panted, holding her wand in her right hand and the knife in her left hand. Blood was dripping down her face and trickling across her lips and tongue; coppery and sweet.
The small fight was over quickly, the rebels standing in pools of blood and victory. The only one left alive was Lucius, restrained by Charlie and George as their forces gathered together.
"Any damage to us?" Ron asked to whoever would answer him.
"None," Neville said. "We're all fine."
"And the servants?" Regan's stomach clenched slightly, thinking about the innocent people that had gotten caught up with Lucius.
"They're locked in the kitchen and they're restrained." Neville said once more. "We've got Swedish aurors coming in twenty; they'll help to drag them out and set up the bonfire."
"Excellent." Ron said with a smirk, suddenly directing his gaze towards Lucius, his wand aimed right at his face. "Mr. Malfoy, such a pleasure to see you again." Lucius sneered.
"The feeling is not shared, Weasley." Ron smirked.
"I was being sarcastic, or are you too old to understand sarcasm?" Lucius pursed his lips together, but he otherwise appeared outwardly calm. Regan could only imagine the storm brewing beneath his skin; it was only a matter of time before he completely lost it.
"I demand that you release me." Lucius grumbled out, a request that was met with snide chuckle.
"You're not going anywhere, Lucius." Narcissa peered at him from her spot behind Ron. Lucius was clearly shocked to see her, though she simply looked uninterested. Regan couldn't tell if he was more shocked to see her here, or if he was shocked to see that she had aligned herself with the rebels. The smile returned to Narcissa's face, though, when Draco, limping from an apparent stab wound to the calf, hobbled to her and leaned against her. Despite her slim frame, she gladly supported him.
"My own son has betrayed me." Lucius said, the anger rising in his voice. "This is something that will not be easily forgiven, Draco."
"I don't care if you forgive me." He quickly said. "You'll be dead soon." That only seemed to enrage Lucius further.
"Even you, Regan?"
Oh how could Lucius ever miss his wife, soaked in blood and looking like a vicious animal? She glared at him, tightly gripping her wand. The question insulted her; what else did he expect from her?
"Yes, of course me." She spit out, throwing down her wand and her knife and starting to pull the pins from her hair and savaging her red curls. "I can't believe you would even need to ask." She mused aloud to herself.
Her whole body trembled, rage erupting in her chest as a dozen thoughts assaulted her mind. She began to rip at her jewelry and wipe off her makeup, tears suddenly springing to her eyes. Every emotion that she had held back was pushing to the surface without any hope of stopping it.
"After everything you've done to me and everything that you've ripped away from me, how could you ever expect me to care for you?" Her lower lip quivered, her vision clouded by tears. With steady hands, she let her earrings and necklace drop to the ground in a pile of pale glitter. "I asked them to do this today…because your death would be the best present that I could ever receive."
"You deceitful slut!" Lucius screamed, reaching the final boiling point. "I gave you a life that others can only dream of and you go behind my back and do this?"
"People don't dream about being raped!" She screamed back, her face flushing pink.
"All right, that's enough." Ron said, angrily eyeing Lucius. "Careful what you say Malfoy, every word just brings you closer to death." Lucius narrowed his eyes.
"You'll give me a trial if you know what's good for you." Lucius threatened. Ron scoffed, shaking his head.
"What, and send you to Azkaban? Not likely." Ron bent down close to Lucius so he could be at eye level with him. "No, letting you live would only give you time to justify your actions and pull newcomers in with a sad little sob story so that they'll get you released. And then we all know what you'll do next, don't we? You'll just keep coming after us like a fucking idiot. No, I can't allow that to happen…plus, you deserve to die." Lucius snorted as Ron straightened out.
"It won't matter; there will be others to take my place."
"What others?" Ron asked, motioning to the one hundred and twenty three people that had been killed. When Lucius wouldn't look, Ron stepped forward, grabbing his chin and forcing Lucius to turn his head. "Your death eaters have been killed and your allies all abandoned you long ago. Nobody will stand with you, not even your own family." Ron glared down at him. "Nobody will come to save you; this is how you die, Malfoy: alone." He shoved Lucius back, Lucius lunging forward for an attack only to be pulled back by George and Charlie, their grips tight. "You should have died a long time ago…"
"And I should have killed you when I had the chance!" Lucius sneered back. Ron stepped back, letting Charlie and George pull him back to the ground. Ron pursed his lips together, his eyes darkening as he held contact with Lucius for a few tense moments. He raised his wand while keeping eye contact, letting out a steady sigh. He needed to see the light fade from Lucius's eyes; he needed to make sure that Lucius Malfoy died.
"AVADA KADAVRA!"
The spell came out with such force that Ron was knocked back to the ground, letting out a low groan as pain seeped into his body. He watched with everybody as Lucius let out a sputtering sigh before he slumped forward, supported only by George and Charlie. They let down the body gently, stiffly rising as if expecting him to suddenly jump back to life. It seemed that everybody felt the same, all standing in silence with their eyes trained on Lucius. Even when people began to disperse, gathering dead bodies and stacking them to be burned, Regan couldn't force herself to move. She just stood there, the reality of the situation slowly sinking into her brain.
Lucius Malfoy was dead.
Regan jumped when Hermione touched her shoulder, offering her a tired smile.
"Perhaps you should change and wash up?" She gently suggested, making Regan looked down to assess her appearance. She looked dreadful and the smell of blood suddenly made her sick.
"I'll take her." Charlie quickly offered, holding onto her arm. Hermione nodded as the pair walked to the house, watching as the Swedish aurors arrived and rushed to the backyard to help with the disposal of the bodies. They went all the way to the top floor so that Regan could scrub for as long as she wanted without being disturbed. She stripped with no modesty, handing Charlie her wand and disappearing into the shower.
Regan frowned when she saw the blood swirl around in the drain; she had no idea that she had been so covered. The blood came off easily and her curls were straightened under the hot water. She scrubbed her face raw, ridding herself of the heavy makeup. She turned up the temperature of the water, letting it scald her skin and turning her bright pink. For the first time in a very long time, she felt clean.
Once she was sure that she had used all of the hot water in the house, she stepped out and dried herself with a fluffy towel. When she walked out of the bathroom, wrapped securely with her skin still flushed, she found Charlie sitting on the floor, leaning against the foot of her bed. He weakly smiled at her, a gesture that Regan easily returned as she sat close to him.
"Astoria brought you some clean clothes." He said, motioning to the pile next to him. Regan nodded, but didn't move to dress herself. She sat, quietly combing her hair with her fingers before tightly braiding it to rest across her collarbone. "Are you all right?" Charlie asked after a while. Regan remained still and silent, because she was unsure of how she felt right now. The reality of the situation hadn't fully hit her yet.
"I don't know," she finally admitted. "Can it really be over?"
"Partially, yes." Charlie quickly answered. "I mean, we did just bring down a whole governmental regime, so there's going to be a lot more fighting that we'll have to do before this is completely over." He easily explained, having heard it from Ron a million times.
"I don't think I can kill any more people." Regan said, the pink slowly fading from her skin and leaving her pale once more.
"You won't have to," he said. "There are a lot of political battles that we'll have to take part in."
"But I thought everybody important was here tonight."
"It's not that." Charlie said as he shook his head. "We'll be taking lead positions and not everybody is going to be happy about that. And we'll have an uphill battle getting Hogwarts up and running again." He smiled shyly. "I've put your name in for Professor of Charms." Regan whipped her head around, her eyes wide.
"Why would you do that?"
"Well because you said that's what you wanted to do, and I think that you'd be really good at it." Regan frowned, though she couldn't say that she was really upset with Charlie. He had listened to her and this would guarantee her some sort of future after this was over, something that did really excite Regan.
"And you won't be alone. Neville's teaching herbology, Cho's teaching transfiguration, and I think Draco's offered to be potions master."
"What about you?" Regan asked. "Back to Romania with your dragons?" Charlie shook his head.
"The whole camp has been torn down and the dragons have been scattered across the continent. I think Ron and Hermione want me to act as head of the magical creatures department." Regan smiled slightly.
"You'll be really good at that." She said, her voice quivering. The heat had quickly seeped from her body and now she was becoming chilled with her damp hair and wearing only a towel. Charlie quickly wrapped an arm around her, holding her close and quickly offering her the clothing that Astoria had brought. She dressed as fast as she could, all the while Charlie watching her with a devious glint in his eyes. When she hooked her bra and pulled on the black long sleeve shirt, she could almost feel his disappointment.
"So when we live together, will you always be so liberal with your state of undress?" He asked, putting an arm around her again once she had dressed and settled back down.
"If I'm to be the Charms Mistress, I'll be living at Hogwarts."
"I suppose you could," Charlie mused. "But then who would take care of you?" Regan scoffed.
"I don't need anybody to take care of me. I'm an adult; I can care for myself." Charlie quirked an eyebrow, leaning his forehead against hers.
"I'm trying desperately not to beg, but it's proving to be rather difficult since somebody is proving to be rather stubborn." Regan rolled her eyes, turning her head so that Charlie's forehead came to rest in the crook of her neck. She blushed as his hot breath fanned across her nape, causing her stomach to clench.
"If I'm so stubborn, then why would you want to be with me?" She asked, shifting uncomfortably. "Besides…after everything that's happened…my body…I might not be able to-." Charlie silenced her with a firm kiss, waiting until she was completely relaxed before pulling away.
"You make me the happiest that I've been in a long time. Letting you go would only be proof of how insane I really am." He said with a small chuckle. Regan smirked.
"We don't need any more proof; everybody already knows that you're crazy." Charlie laughed, pulling her close for a tight hug. He slowly rubbed her back, both perfectly content to remain in one another's arms.
"Please stay with me," he quietly pleaded.
"You're so needy," she muttered into his shoulder. Charlie laughed again.
"But that's what makes me so lovable." He said. Regan rolled her eyes, but couldn't fight the genuine smile that blossomed on her face.
"All right," Regan finally mumbled, causing Charlie to quietly smile to himself. "But you're going to make my commute to and from work very difficult." Charlie chuckled, pulling back to smooth back her brilliant hair.
"You'll get over it." He said softly. "Come on, we should go downstairs to see if we can help." Regan nodded, watching Charlie stand and then allowing him to pull her up. They walked out of the room, bursting their brief bubble of happiness and walking back into reality. The whole house smelled like a fire and the stench of burning flesh was sickening. Regan covered her nose and mouth with the sleeve of her sweater, but the smell quickly permeated the fabric. The gardens had been torn apart to uncover the cool dirt to create large fire pits surrounded by stones. The flames were colossal and one could almost forget what was burning. Ron and the others had piled the bodies up neatly and had started the fire, but one body, covered in a sheet, remained reserved off to the side.
"We figured that you would want to be here," Ron said as Charlie and Regan approached him. "You know...when we burn his body." Regan stared coolly down at the sheet, her face unreadable to the brothers.
"We can go back inside if you'd prefer," Charlie gently told her, but she quickly shook her head.
"No, I should see it."
She really didn't want to see it, but a voice in the back of her head was nagging at her, insisting that she stay to watch her deceased husband burn. Besides, seeing his ashes blow away in the summer wind might make her feel better.
A smaller pit was set aside specifically for Lucius, only big enough for him alone. Two Swedes carefully placed his body in the cool dirt before piling logs around him. Narcissa and Regan, who had come to stand by each other, suddenly grasped each other's hands without saying a word. The fire was lit and quickly engulfed the wood and the flesh, burning with a pop and a hiss.
As the fire grew to a tremendous height, Narcissa began to quietly cry, letting the tears streak down her cheeks undisturbed. They glimmered with the intense firelight, but to Regan she appeared so strong in a moment of absolute sorrow. While she assisted in his demise, it was clear that Narcissa still deeply cared for Lucius; she possibly still loved him deep in her heart. Despite how much she completely loathed Lucius and could say nothing positive about him, Regan could not deny the respect that she felt for a woman who loved a man regardless of his evil deeds. It was a commendable act and only made her hold Narcissa's hand that much tighter.
Everyone nearby seemed to stop whatever they were doing to quietly watch the flames reach wastefully into the summer darkness. It was a small moment of peace, but no one could say that they felt relief. This was merely step one; from where they stood, they still had a monstrous mountain to climb. There would be dozens of people who would object to the hostile takeover, and they would not be easily silenced. And Hogwarts was a completely separate entity, a project to be tackled by Hermione, who would soon reign as Head Mistress.
Happiness was still so far away; a light at the end of a very long tunnel. It seemed like joy would be long forgotten; something condemned to the history texts of future generations, but everyone that stood alive at the Malfoy manor that night believed without a doubt that they would find happiness one day. After all, this wasn't the end; this was only the beginning.
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A/N: Sooooo...yeah, that happened. Hope that turned out okay...and that you guys enjoyed it!
Sad Face: We've got at least three more chapters...and I wouldn't really classify this story as a love story.
Sooph: Oops, my bad! But I'm glad that you're liking it :)
Dragoon Dave: lol just one chapter. Yes, we all like to indulge :) So how was this? Was this enough to satisfy you?