It was late afternoon when a knock on their door jolted them both awake.
'You go,' was all Severus was willing to grunt.
'Why me?' came the sleepy reply from next to him.
'Because the only people who can knock on this door are the ones we share this apartment with and since they are all your family I don't think you would appreciate what I would like to do to them for waking me up.'
He heard a quiet chuckle and felt how the duvet on her side was thrown back. When she opened the door it was her mother.
'Are you awake yet?'
'No.'
'You have slept almost six hours now, if you keep on sleeping you will not be able to sleep later this night.'
'Yes, mother.'
'So will you get up now?'
Sophie pulled her inside the room and closed the door behind her.
'Mum, what's wrong?'
Her mother looked around for a moment and then her face changed from embarrassment at being caught to resolve. She took a deep breath and explained.
'Your aunt. She is driving me nuts. When I got up to use the bathroom I found her sitting on the couch in the sitting room. She said she can't sleep and she can't rest. She has been complaining for hours now saying how worried she is, how this place gives her the creeps, how Sam... I mean.. What's his name now?'
'Severus,' came a deep rumble from the direction of the bed. For a moment her mother looked shocked until she seemed to remember that her daughter was now a married woman.
With more embarrassment she continued.
'Well, she said Severus is scaring her and what we would do if those people should find us here. And and and… Sophie, I truly cannot stand it anymore. Please come outside and sit with us.'
Her pleading was genuine and Sophie felt somewhat guilty, after all it was her husband's situation that had brought them here. She sighed.
'Yes, sure. I will just go and have a shower and then join you in the sitting room. Don't worry, Mum. She is probably suffering from shock after everything we went through last night.'
Her mother nodded in agreement.
'Yes, but you know what she is like.'
With that she turned and left the room, gently closing the door behind her.
'If you think that I will get up to go out there and hold your aunt's hand while she keeps complaining, you will find yourself woefully mislead,' came another grumble form the bed.
Sophie smiled and sat on his bedside. She leaned down over him and pulled the duvet a bit down to have easier access to his head. She gently pressed a kiss on his cheek.
'I never said I expected you to do that, my love. You should stop jumping to conclusions.'
He could hear the laughter in her voice. He felt himself smile too.
'Good. Cause I wouldn't. Just so you know.'
He heard her laughing outright now.
'I know, my love. I know. But I love you anyway.'
Another peck on his cheek and he heard the bathroom door close behind her.
When she emerged from the bedroom, she found her aunt and mother sitting on the long couch opposite the fireplace together. She was just about to join them when there was a knock on the door. Sophie was startled. Not because it was a loud knock. More because it seemed to have just the right strength to be heard without being aggressive or annoying. For lack of a better word, Sophie would have described it as "polite" had she not still been too preoccupied with her thoughts on why Severus had rejected her advances earlier.
So without thinking too much about the fact that she was in a foreign country, in a foreign and magical place and had been attacked some 12 hours before by a horde of wizards, she went over to open the door.
She was met with the sight of a man that seemed to just have come off the set of a period tv drama. He was tall, dressed in a black, patterned velvet frock coat, a black silk vest and an immaculate white silk shirt tied with a grey cravat, which was pinned with a silver serpent. In his hand he held a black wooden walking stick of which the handle was silver too, but Sophie could not make out the shape that was hidden underneath his right hand. His left hand was resting in a fist on his hip and his posture spoke of arrogance and old-fashioned manners. But it was his eyes which drew most of Sophie's attention: cold grey rested in a perfectly symmetrical face framed by white blond hair and a grey blond Van Dyke-style beard.
She must have stared for too long at this unexpected sight because before she could say anything the face of the man took on an impatient and reluctant expression as he said:
'Is this the way to welcome guests these days at Hogwarts? My, what has this place come to, I wonder'
His pronunciation and inflection confirmed Sophie's impression of arrogance but she was too gentle in spirit to take offence so quickly.
'Oh, I am sorry. How may I help you?'
'Well, first of all it would be helpful to know why I have been summoned here.'
'I'm afraid, there must be a mistake. Maybe it is the headmistress McGonagall you wish to see? Although… I could not tell you where to find her since I am not familiar with the castle myself.'
'Good Merlin, no. I would certainly not have come if that old bat had called. I was asked to meet someone here.'
'Who?'
'Well, I don't know. I was given the impression I would be expected.'
'Why don't you come in for a moment and we will try to sort this out. What is your name by the way?'
'My name is Lucius Malfoy.'
He said it in such an aloof way as if the name should have been familiar. But the name sounded so strange to Sophie that she felt it rather hard not to start giggling. She managed to smile politely and stepped aside to let him pass before he could detect anything.
He walked into the sitting room and positioned himself by the mantlepiece of the fireplace. Again displaying a posture as if Jane Austen was a personal acquaintance of his.
While her mother and aunt were eyeing the newcomer suspiciously from the couch and Mr. Malfoy was ignoring them, Sophie was trying to think of what to say.
'Ahem… can I offer you some tea?'
'No, thank you.'
'Would you like to take a seat?'
She moved over to the couch to introduce her family but the man just took one look in their direction and gave a cold answer.
'No.'
Well… so much for good manners.
'Well, why don't you tell me what made you think you were expected here?'
The man heaved an exaggerated sigh, looking to the ceiling as if life always gave him the hardest of all tasks.
'My son asked me to come here. He asked that I should help a mutual friend. Though he did not say who that friend was. He claimed he was too short of time to elaborate but I am beginning to think that was just a ruse.'
'Who is your son? Ron Weasley?'
The man's eyes grew wide for a split second before his face turned into an ugly sneer and he answered coldly.
'Are you trying to insult me?'
Sophie was a bit surprised at that outburst. Apparently this man was not a friend of Ron's.
'No… I just tried to understand who your son is. The only man of an age to be your son, of who's background I know nothing and who knows that we are here, is Ron. So he was the only logical person I could think of.'
That seemed to placate the man a bit. He was still speaking to her as if she was a bother though.
'My son's name is Draco Malfoy.'
He said it again as if it should be common knowledge.
'Uh… sorry, I have never heard that name before.'
Again he looked to the ceiling.
'Maybe you should tell me who you are and we might come closer to solving this ridiculous situation.'
Just in that moment the door into the apartment opened again and Ron, Hermione, Harry and another young woman whom Sophie had not yet met, came in.
'Hello! We didn't want to wake …'
Harry stopped short when he came in view of the man by the fireplace.
'Mr. Malfoy. What are you doing here?'
His tone was suspicious and made the alarm bells in Sophie's head go off. Maybe she should go and wake Severus?
'Mr. Potter.'
He said it slowly, clearly pronouncing every single syllable.
'What are you doing here?'
Harry repeated and slowly stepped between him and Sophie. That must have aroused the older man's curiosity for he suddenly looked at Sophie with new interest.
'Uh.. Harry?'
It was Hermione speaking up from next to Ron.
But before Hermione could say anymore, Sophie felt how she was pulled back from behind. A tall frame pushed itself in front of her and she recognised Severus.
'What are you doing here?' came a menacing hiss. 'Leave this instant. I will not give you a second chance.'
He held his wand and pointed it at Malfoy who was looking for once lost for words. He stared. Lucius Malfoy stared and if it hadn't been for his good breeding, he would have done so with his mouth wide open.
'Have you gone deaf? I told you to get out of here!' Severus voice rose.
Sophie came out from behind him and put a hand on his arm. But this time he shook it off and pulled her behind him again.
'Severus!'
'Stay there.'
'But..'
'I said stay there,' he roared.
'Hey! Would you stop yelling at me? What the hell has gotten into you?' Sophie was shouting back now. The shouting brought forth all the remaining members of her family and within seconds the entire room was in upheaval. Everybody was shouting and trying to be heard but nobody seemed to be listening. Meanwhile Lucius Malfoy was still staring at Severus, who was still pointing his wand at him staring right back.
Harry at last managed to quieten everybody down. He wanted to interrupt this silent staring match so he turned to Malfoy once more.
'Now, Mr. Malfoy, would you kindly explain your presence?'
But Malfoy would not take his eyes of Severus.
'So,' he said in his customary lazy drawl, 'you survived.'
It was more a statement, he didn't really seem to expect an answer. His expression was unreadable. Sophie could not have said whether he was angry or whether he would surrender and walk out. He stood there by the fireplace, unmoving. But if Severus was unnerved by that, he didn't show it.
'Yes, I did. Anything else you want to know?'
'I can hardly imagine what you must have gone through since that fateful night. You must have felt desperate, in need to resort to extreme measures...such as associating with …muggles.'
He raised his eyebrows. He knew well that he was provoking Severus, that much Sophie could tell. He was deliberately goading him. But for what reason, Sophie did not understand. Severus on the other hand just gave a condescending smile.
'Oh, Lucius, no. You are mistaking the situation. I simply felt overwhelmed by the stench I had exposed myself to for the first thirty odd years of my life. I couldn't bear it anymore. But what about you? I am surprised I should find you free. I would have expected you in a cell, rotting away and losing the bit of brain that you possess to the Dementors.'
Malfoy snorted and for a moment, his carefully constructed mask of calm and indifference slipped and his eyes were blazing with anger.
'This world has changed, Severus. Azkaban is no longer guarded by Dementors. And I …I paid my dues. More than enough. So don't you come here after twenty years judging me. I did what I had to, to survive and to protect my family.'
At this Severus gave a mirthless laugh.
'Protect your family? You were pissing your pants, more like, whenever the Dark Lord came near you.'
Lucius turned beetroot red and was about to answer when Hermione interjected.
'Uhm… just a moment. I have a feeling this is all going very wrong here. Mr. Snape, I asked Mr. Malfoy to come here.'
'No, you didn't you little m…'
'Don't you dare say that word!' Severus roared.
'Oh, I am sorry. I forgot it hurts the feelings of our oh so beloved hero!' Malfoy sneered.
Severus stepped closer and Malfoy drew his wand so quickly Sophie hadn't even seen him move his hand.
'Come on then, Severus. Time to settle some things.'
'Oh, I couldn't agree more.'
'Stop!'
Sophie stepped in between them. Severus looked ready to explode.
'Stand aside. Now, Sophie.'
'Oh, has it come so far already, Severus? Needing to hide behind a Muggle?' taunted Malfoy. Severus was about to raise his arm when Sophie began to shout.
'That's quite enough now, both of you! Aren't you ashamed of yourselves? Two grown-up men behaving like little children fighting in the school grounds? You, Sir, came here uninvited and lost not a moment of time to insult my husband after admonishing me for my manners? Pray tell what kind of manners do you display attacking someone in their own living room? And you, Severus, I would have expected more of you. Don't you see that he was deliberately goading you? Are you so easily manipulated when somebody attacks your pride? That is truly pitiful!'
She took a shuddering breath and looked angrily from one to the other. They were both still facing each other. For a moment the situation seemed frozen, and it was uncertain how it would resolve. Everybody was very aware that this could go both ways. Either they would attack each other, and the hatred in both their eyes was enough evidence that mercy would not be given from either side, or they would take heed of Sophie's words and let sense prevail. In the end it was Severus who made the first move. Stung by Sophie's words he lifted up his hands and demonstratively returned his wand into his sleeve. Malfoy tried not to look too astonished and then followed suit, pushing his wand back into his walking cane but not without giving a reluctant grunt as if he was so sorry that it hadn't come to a confrontation.
'Now, may I know who told you to come here?'
Sophie asked in a calm voice turned to Malfoy.
'As I said before. My son asked me to come here. But rest assured, if I had known who was waiting for me here, I certainly would not have come.'
'And have you considered that that may be exactly why your son was so secretive about whom he wanted you to meet?', Sophie asked impatiently.
'But how would Draco know that I am here...unless…' Severus said turning to the golden trio.
'What you're looking at me for?' Harry asked in astonishment. 'I mean, it's not like Malfoy and I are meeting every saturday night down at the pub. I don't even remember the time I last saw him.'
'Yeah, us neither,' Ron said confidently.
But he did not see the sheepish expression on his wife's face, which Severus was now commenting with a raised eyebrow.
'Mrs. Weasley, care to enlighten us?'
Ron laughed.
'I just said, we haven't seen him in ages either.'
'Uhm… Ron…'
'Maybe you're getting just a little too paranoid in your old days, Snape.'
'...Ron…'
'I mean, I get it, you never liked us, but honestly, isn't it enough already?'
'Roooonnnn.'
'We are not responsible for all that goes wrong, you know.'
'For Merlin's sake, Ronald Weasley!'
'What?'
'Would you kindly stop speaking in my name.'
'But...I mean, it's really just like it always has been. Something is fishy and he's blaming us.'
'He might have a reason.'
Ron looked dumbfounded for a moment.
'Why would he have a reason?'
'I asked Draco for help.'
'You did what?'
Ron exclaimed and looked at his wife incredulously.
'Why did you do that? We have no dealings with Malfoy. We don't need him to figure this out.'
'Goodness, Ron, grow up! If anyone might have heard something going on it's going to be Malfoy, isn't it?'
'Excuse me, I am still in the room.'
'Sorry, Mr. Malfoy. My husband sometimes needs things spelled out to him.'
'But why would you… that guy has never been anything but rude to you.'
'Well, that's not exactly right.'
'What do you mean?'
Again Hermione looked like she would rather be flying a broom in an international quidditch match than having this conversation.
'I ...Well, you see, a few months ago I was on duty at St. Mungo's and Draco came in with Scorpius who was not well at all. The staff in the magical accident ward did all they could but the boy wasn't getting better. He saw me in the cafeteria by chance and then caused such a racket and demanded that I took Scorpius over...He shouted at the head healer that his son would not be treated by the incompetent amateurs that the head healer had put on the case. He wanted that I was assigned to Scorpius or there would be hell to pay.'
'Sounds just like Malfoy to bully people into having his will.'
That remark earned Ron an angry look by Malfoy senior but Hermione already continued.
'Well, to be honest, he was really upset and worried about Scorpius and I was actually somewhat touched that he thought I was the best person for the job.'
Hermione turned slightly pink.
'Anyway, it took me some time but in the end I figured out what it was. Scorpius had been cursed with a dark spell. Draco was really relieved and ...well, you know...he is not all that bad.'
'And what is that supposed to mean now?'
'Well, he was ...just very happy I managed to heal his son. He is not nearly as arrogant as he used to be…he was actually so grateful for what I had done. And so...so...sometimes when he is in town… we meet for lunch.'
'You what?'
Ron looked ready to burst, his face was had gone so red.
'You meet that git for lunch? Hermione, are you still sane? That guy made your teeth grow. You punched him in the face cause he is such an asshole and now you're meeting him for lunch!?'
Hermione rolled her eyes.
'See, that's exactly why we didn't tell anyone. For Merlin's sake, Ron. We are all grown-ups now. Malfoy isn't that boy in school anymore, you know.'
'No, but he is still a Malfoy.'
'For once I must agree with Weasley, and trust me, I never thought I would say that,' Malfoy interjected. 'But as lovely as this little anecdote is, could you please explain why I am here? I cannot be late, you see. I have to meet my son and... uhh...thank him… for this little surprise.'
Hermione already felt sorry for Malfoy. She hadn't meant to get him into trouble. She just wanted to tell Malfoy about the Death Eaters. But it was Harry who spoke next.
'Wait a moment, Hermione. You said Scorpius was cursed with a dark spell?'
'Yes...it wasn't quite as complex as the one that hit Albus…' Hermione went quiet, her eyes opening wide almost to the size of tea saucers.
'Oh sh…!' she exclaimed. 'Why hasn't that occurred to me?'
Severus too was on the case already.
'What exactly do you remember about this curse?'
'It was … it definitely had a different pattern to the curse that hit Albus…that's probably why I didn't make the connection in the first place. But there was something…it was very complex and it seemed somehow…old…just like the one that Albus was suffering from. An old and very dangerous dark kind of magic.'
'Could anyone explain to me what this has to do with my grandson and why in the name of Merlin I am here?'
Malfoy senior seemed close to losing his patience again. Severus realized what Hermione had had in mind and even though he was reluctant to accept Malfoy's help, she might be right. If he still had connections to other Death Eaters, of which Severus was almost certain, he might have heard things or even more. And if he could be made to understand that his grandson had been used in some way by these people, he was equally certain they could obtain the information without having to resort to more unpleasant means.
'One of Potter's spawns was attacked by some dark wizards. Apparently their aim was for him to contact me so that I might heal the boy and thus, by trailing him, finding out where I was.'
'Potter knew you were alive all these years?'
'No, but someone must have suspected my alter ego to be me and since a complex potion was required in the healing process, there was a good chance Mr. Potter, in his incomparable headstrong way, would personally try to get me to cooperate. And thus, doing the job for them by using his skills to track me down.'
'And why would that involve Scorpius?' Malfoy asked puzzled.
'That would be for you to answer, Mrs. Weasley.'
'As I have said already, Scorpius was cursed by a very old and, at least to us, unknown curse. It took a lot of research and some sleepless nights to put together a charm that could lift the curse. After that we needed to treat the effects, which were quite severe by themselves. But he is a brave little fellow and he was very cooperative, so we managed to release him soon after.'
Hermione was smiling at the memory of the blond haired little boy that had been so different in his behaviour and his manners that what Draco had been at school.
'You sound like he was a cute little angel,' Ron looked ready to sulk.
Malfoy senior on the other hand looked ready to curse Ron.
'He is a dear boy. Very unlike Draco when he was a child, no offence Mr. Malfoy. He is not a bit the spoiled little prince he could well be if you see how Draco is doting on him. On the contrary, a lot of the times I had the impression he was suffering greatly but wouldn't say because he didn't want to worry his Dad.'
Ron looked astonished.
'We are talking about a Malfoy here, right?'
'RON! Just a moment ago you were complaining about Snape not being able to let go of the past. Now listen to yourself! I mean… let us all listen to ourselves. I get it, it's hard to let go of the past, but if we want to catch these new Death Eaters, maybe it's time we all left the past behind and unite our knowledge and our abilities. Because if these guys are really on the rise again and we don't stop them in time, who knows, they may be too much to handle this time. And I don't think anyone of us wants these dark days to return. At least, it's the last thing I want.'
'Wait a moment. What do you mean by new Death Eaters?' Malfoy asked.
'The people who came up with this plan to find me, they are Death Eaters….at least that's what they called themselves.'
'That's impossible.'
'Is it?'
'Of course it is. I know …well… .' Malfoy's look changed from disbelieve to uncomfortable reluctance when he looked over to Harry and the other two.
'Oh, go on Mr. Malfoy. Didn't you just listen what I said? It is so important we find out who these maniacs are. I mean, they curse children! They cursed your grandson!'
'You have no proof for this.'
'If what Mrs. Weasley says about the curse is true, I would bet, it was the same people who cursed Albus Potter. And if you think about it, attacking your grandson makes even more sense.'
'Why would that be?'
'I am the godfather of Draco. If he needed help for his child and knew I was still alive, he would do anything to engage my help. His demand for Mrs. Weasley's assistance is proof of that. So, if they assumed I was alive, which they must have in order to develop such an elaborate plan to make me reveal myself, the obvious connections to use in this world were Draco and Potter. They used Draco first, probably thinking if anyone would still be in touch with me, it would be the Malfoy family. But after their plan with Scorpius failed, they could not repeat it without arousing suspicions, so they waited for a while before they tried the same thing with Potter's son.'
Malfoy stared at him.
'You are saying somebody deliberately attacked my grandson in order to find you?' His face was turning slightly red again and his eyes blazed once more.
'Who?' he asked with a deadly voice.
'They attacked me in my…new home. They said, they had been ordered to take me to their new leader so he could teach me a lesson for betraying the Dark Lord. They called me a traitor and all that… and one or two names were mentioned that sounded familiar. They were the sons of Death Eaters I had known, but they called themselves Death Eaters too.'
'That's ridiculous! Whoever is behind this obviously has no idea about… I mean…'
'They don't know what it meant to be a true Death Eater. I agree. Also, none of them showed me a mark or just so much as mentioned anything particular about the Dark Lord that only a true Death Eater could have known. To me, it seemed more like child's play, as if they were just impersonating the hero's that they believed their parents to have been.'
'Well, I wouldn't call it child's play. I mean, they nailed you to a wall,' interjected Hermione.
Severus smiled.
'Mrs. Weasley, trust me, if they had been true Death Eaters they would not have nailed me to a wall. That was far too easy.'
'Easy?'
'Yes… First of all, true Death Eaters would have turned on my family first. Then they would have used a lot more magic to hurt me. The hurt they inflicted was by using none magical objects such as nails. No cruciatus, no mind addling, nothing of the sort a true Death Eater would have done. They were bad imitations at best.'
Malfoy was thinking out loud.
'So someone is trying to make it look like the Death Eaters are active again? But why?'
Severus shook his head.
'I think someone IS trying to bring the Death Eaters back. And not just make it look like they are coming back. The idiots they send after me could not have come up with such a complex plan themselves. Neither of them had an ounce of the intelligence needed for this. Someone is behind them and I think he or she is trying to create a reputation in order to, for one, make it known that the Death Eaters are not gone and still to be reckoned with and also to gather those that have been disappointed by the failure of the Dark Lord and convince them that they are the better and the new leader.'
'You mean a new Dark Lord is on the rise?' asked Harry.
'Yes, I think that is a very real possibility. And with this in mind I was the perfect victim. The traitor, of whom no one knew that he survived did not escape the new Dark Lord's justice. A strong symbolic act and a demonstration of power.'
Silence followed this comment.
Everybody still vividly remembered the last Dark Lord and none of the magical people gathered in that room cared very much for a repeat of those days and the feeling of fear, loss and pain they all connected with them.
