Chapter 54 The Prize of Love



Narcissa Malfoy looked around in wonder. The place was really splendid.
The sight over the Rhine was breathtaking and the August sun glowing
brightly over the beautiful valley covered with vineyards and remnants
of fortress walls from times long gone bye gave a fairy tale aspect to
the whole scenery.

The wonderful view over the most beautiful part of
the Rhine Valley, with the famous and unique stronghold, the castle on
the island in the middle of the Rhine, Pfalzgrafenstein; the brisk and
plentiful boat traffic on the Rhine - all this was a delight to the
beholder!

Draco presented his arm in a very courteous manner to his mother.

'I think, we should go inside now, My Lady and get rid of our luggage
first!'

He smiled mischievously, beholding his mother's totally enthralled
gaze. He knew this gaze very well; Narcissa was interested in
culture and very knowledgeable with architecture, paintings and
sculpture. During their sojourn at Florence he had seen that very gaze
almost constantly...seconds before she'd squeeze his hand and start
to explain to him in her soft low voice, telling him some details or an
anecdote about the place they were visiting or the work of art they
were watching. He enjoyed these moments of complicity with her more
then the wildest game of Quidditch or even a boat ride with Lucius over
the Atlantic Ocean in front of their island home off the shores of
England.

When they had returned from Italy to Anglesey only 24 hours ago his
father's stately falcon had flown straight into Draco and presented him
with a thick envelop covered in Lucius' handwriting. It had been full
with superb photographs of the countryside they were now looking at and
a short but enthusiastic note from the elder Malfoy.

'Forget about the stiff social occasion and the bloody boat racing thing. You MUST join
me over here. It is the most enchanted place I have ever seen. Get
yourselves some change .........Love Lucius !'


A small portkey had been attached to his father's message.

It was not unusual for Lucius to send this kind of invitation to his
wife and only son when on business abroad. Sometimes he simply got
enthusiastic about a place he visited and felt an urgency to share
this with his family.


They had not hesitated for a second. Draco had stormed up to his rooms,
throwing their luggage from the Italy trip into a house elf's hands and
ordered her to prepare another set of luggage for him and his mom,
while a smiling Narcissa had simply set down to write some excuse
letters concerning their planned presence at the Annual Charity and
the Boat Race on Anglesey. After a quick shower, a short diner and a
night of sleep the two had traveled in high spirits to Germany to meet
Lucius.

An employee of the Hotel Castle greeted them cheerfully, not even asking
a question on how they had managed to turn up at the gates without a
taxi or any other transportation around. He took the luggage from
Draco's hand in an instant. Then to the surprise of the young man he
drew a wand and pointed it at the enormous gates of the castle. They
swung open without the slightest noise.


' Lady Malfoy, young Lord Malfoy, we have been expecting you!'

The employee spoke perfect English, although he had a hard German
accent.

'It is an old custom on Castle Gutenfels that for anyone who comes in
peace, the doors will be opened wide in welcome. Castle Gutenfels above
Kaub on Rhine is one of the most beautiful castles in Germany. You
only become aware of the greatness of this castle, its beauty and its
secrets, when you are prepared to open your heart and accept the magic
and romantic of the place. Gutenfels is over one thousand years old.'

'Thank you!'

Narcissa replied with a smile. Lucius was such a love to organize this and the reception by the gate was every inch her beloved husband; his style, his class and his
never-ending joy to make her and Draco feel special.


'Lord Malfoy has informed us that he will arrive not later then
lunchtime. He asked us to confer his excuses, since he is still bound
to finish some business in Cologne before joining you.'

The employee explained Lucius absence easily, while leading Narcissa and Draco through the gates.


With the closure of the heavy castle gates, the noise and hectic of the
outside world disappeared. A new world full of romantic magic
surrounded a delighted Draco and happily smiling Narcissa. The many
small gardens they saw during their walk up to the main building were
equally romantic and delightful. There were terraces, and alcoves to be
found on Castle Gutenfels and from all of them there was a wonderful
view into the Rhine Valley.


The employee stood still for a moment and motioned with his hand to
the two guests.



'Up-stream you can see to the large bend in the Rhine and Bacharach,
down-stream to Oberwesel and the Castle Schumburg, and beneath you
this is the old town of Kaub.

This....'

He pointed to another spot on the horizon.

' ...is the Island Falkenau with the famous Pfalzgrafstein.'


They delivered their passports at the reception desk for registration
and a middle-aged lady, obviously as much a witch as the young employee
was a wizard took a huge key from a chest of drawers.

'I will show you to your rooms now, if you please.'

She said politely to Draco and Narcissa.

' After you have settled down, you may wish to have some refreshment on the Northern Terrace before lunch.'


Dr.Dieter Weigold gave a sigh. It had been a race against time to set
up this unsuspecting scenery. Moreover, it had been a truly hard job to
convince Malfoy not to write the letter he intended to send to
Anglesey, but to trust him and play by his rules of the game.

The German counterintelligence wizard was tremendously relieved when the
heavy gates of the Castle Gutenfels were solidly shut again. Behind the
protective wards of the ancient fortress his prisoner's wife and son
would be out of reach for the terrorist Voldemort and he could progress
his daring plan unhindered.


Malfoy had accepted to cooperate in exchange for the security of his
family. Following his confession and explanations, they had tried him
under Veritas Serum. Weigold by now understood that the man was indeed
completely honest. He did not care for either his life or his safety.
He was ready to pay the price for his following the Dark Lord and
for all the crimes he had been committing for and on behalf of his
'Master' over the last two decades.

All Lucius truly cared for were this beautiful woman and the blond-haired teenager, who was such an exact copy of his father.


The German counterintelligence wizard shrugged his shoulders. While an
exhausted Lucius had finally requested an hour of sleep to recover from
his interrogation under Veritas Serum, he had quickly investigated
Narcissa Malfoy, born Narcissa Black: She had no criminal file at all.
She was obviously not a follower of Voldemort herself, although one of
her cousins - Regulus Black - had been. He had died from the hands of
Voldemort himself some sixteen years earlier.

Narcissa had also an elder sister - Bellatrix - in Azkaban and with a Dark Mark on her left forearm and a cousin -Sirius - a convicted mass murderer and
ex-prisoner of Azkaban on the run from British muggle and wizarding
authorities alike after his spectacular escape from the heavily guarded
island prison in 1995.


Weigold had also found out that Narcissa's second sister - Andromeda -
had been disinherited by the Black Family for consorting with and
marrying a non-wizard, Tom Tonks. They had a daughter -Nymphadora- who
was a witch and an employee of the British Ministry of Magic.



Therefore, Narcissa while being the offspring of a family of traditional dark
wizards and criminals had never ever soiled her own hands in blood and
crime.

Weigold threw a short glance at the man by his side.

Lucius stood very still. His steely blue eyes twinkled softly for the first time since
the German counterintelligence had taken him in a few days ago at
Koblenz.

The counterintelligence wizard could not condemn a man, not even a servant of the
terrorist Voldemort for loving his family and requesting their safety
before engaging himself in a hazardous and highly dangerous gambit. He
understood perfectly well that Malfoy would play a clean game for as
long as he could be 100% sure that Narcissa and Draco were beyond the
wrath of his terrible and dangerous master.



'I suppose, Mr.Malfoy, that you feel much better now?'

Weigold asked Lucius with a smirk.


Malfoy nodded. Then, very uncharacteristically for the haughty and
arrogant wizard, he took his nemesis right hand between both his hands
and pressed it.

'Thank you, Weigold! Thank you for keeping my family
out of harms way. I gave you my word of honor and even if you may have
a very low opinion of someone 'like me'...I will not play a double
game on you or betray our deal. You kept your word, I will keep mine!'

The German counterintelligence wizard gave the dark wizard a determined look
straight into his eyes.

'This, Mr.Malfoy, I know perfectly well. Now, before I allow you to unite with Lady Malfoy and your son to explain the situation and its consequences, it becomes urgent to enter Phase 2 of our plan. I believe you have to send an urgent message to the Dark
Lord!'

Lucius nodded and sat down at a small table. Weigold, since he had been
informed concerning the powers of the Dark Mark, refrained fortunately
from pronouncing the very name of Lord Voldemort in order not to
trigger off an ancient and terrible magic residing in the enchanted
sign of allegiance.


It had been decided what Lucius would tell his 'Master' a fairy tale,
too good to not bit the hook: All funds of Voldemort had been collected
from the various bank accounts in England, France, Germany and the US.
The private bankers who kept the German funds had been skillfully placed
under 'Imperio' to do Lucius' biddings without questioning them. Since
the bankers had two more clients, Lucius explained that he had to stay
in Germany for another three or four more weeks simply to make sure
that one of them -a honorable diamonds merchant - was removed without
attracting attention. The other client - a muggle arms dealer with a
very sinister past and history - could be useful for Voldemort's cause
and Malfoy employed himself to suggested to his 'Master' that turning
this man into a tool for their cause would be an overall advantage. The
arms merchant would travel to Germany by the end of August in person
and Lucius intended to manipulate him into cooperation either by words
and promises or by spells and potions.

The dark wizard wrote down his plan for Voldemort in many details, outlining carefully the advantages and inherent logic of every step and the substantial help
classic ways of muggle terror would provide to the Death Eaters in the
future. When he was finished with his message he re-read the long
letter with satisfaction. Everything was perfect and very tasty for a
power-hungry man who was in need of solid foundations for an
organization that had been dormant for fifteen years. This letter
would buy time .........at least.



Weigold took a huge bird gently from its perch in a corner of the room.
It was a young, male barn owl, trained by the German
counterintelligence for special missions. The animals eyes blinked
lively and intelligent, while he spoke to it in a very low voice. He
did not need to put a tracking charm on the owl, since Malfoy had
informed him concerning the Dark Lord's whereabouts already, but he
wished a complete and neutral picture of Voldemort and the minion
-Pettigrew - who resided with him in the island manor.

'You must remember every detail, every impression, scent...even the
faintest reaction, if you have a chance to observe the target while he
reads this message, Gereint!'

He told the bird gently. Then he fixed Malfoy's letter with a solid piece of leather to a keenly outstretched claw.

Lucius observed the whole scene with some bewilderment. Although
himself a powerful dark wizard, he had never seen something like this.
A human speaking to an animal as if it were an equal and the beast
obviously understanding every word that was spoken. Was it an
animagus, a police officer who had taken the form of an owl or had
these Germans a peculiar breed of magic birds with an enhanced
intelligence to not only comprehend orders but logically react to them?

'Dr.Weigold!'

Lucius spoke softly.

'If this should be one of your officers in his animagus form, I must caution you! The Dark Lord will realize this kind of cheating and the man behind the bird will never return back
home alive. It will equally tell the Dark Lord, that I have been either
apprehended or turned. In this case my life would be forfeited the
very moment I return to his side and apart dying with honor in order to ensure the continued security of my wife and son, I could do nothing else for your service.'

Weigold did not reply at first. He padded the head of Gereint before
releasing the huge bird through an enormous open balcony window into
the bright, sunny August sky over Old Father Rhine and the breathtaking
landscape bordering Castle Gutenfels. Finally he turned around to his
captive with a smile.


'I do appreciate your warning; Mr.Malfoy and I have no doubts as to
your willingness to die with honor! It proves again that you play an honest game of chess with me. Nevertheless, do not fear. I neither intend to send an officer on a suicide mission nor will I blow your 'cover'. This owl has been specially trained, nothing else! He is as much an owl as you and I are wizards, although he was imprinted
according to the method of the famous Professor Konrad Lorenz. You may
have heard of him and his experiences with wild geese in the 1960ies.
We simply applied his methodology on birds of prey and it worked
out..............if you are interested, I can provide you with a good
book. Now, we should hurry up and see your wife and son together.
I presume that after the courtesies you will not mind to allow me to
share the family lunch on one of the sunny terraces outside. In the
meantime Gereint can do his job and deliver the missive to 'The One we
should not name' ...'


Malfoy stood up and slit long slender fingers in a careless way through
his shiny blond hair. He felt fairly relaxed, since he no longer wore
prisoners' cloths but tasteful muggle trousers and a crisp clean white
shirt. In a swift movement he took his blazer from the chair next to
the table. Weigold took his jacket, too and both men left the room.
There was no need to bind Malfoy or to handle him with a drawn wand.
The dark wizard was unarmed and Weigold had taken the trouble to test
him out for wandless magic skills before conceding to a lower level of
security. The whole castle was staffed with highly skilled
counterintelligence personnel and police magic and non-magic alike and
the best experts Germany employed in governmental service had cast heavy anti-apparition wards over the place. The single access road
from the valley up to Gutenfels was been blocked by the local police
and an official advertisement announced that the Castle would neither
receive guests nor visitors because it had been rented out to a private
company for an event that would last the whole week.

This was habitual for this famous Rhine-valley attraction and even if
Voldemort should cast tracking charms on the owl 'Gereint' because he
was suspicious or felt doubts about his Death Eaters explanations and
delay in Germany, the Dark Lord would only stumble over a scenery and
situation that were normal.

By August 15th Weigold would take his mysterious portkey to an unspecified location -probably in France – in order to meet a certain Professor Severus A.Snape and.................he was fairly sure of it, General Claude Fillon of the French Secret Intelligence Service, while Narcissa and Draco Malfoy would be transferred to a safe house with a new identity and under police protection.

Lucius himself would start to do what he had
explained in his message to the Dark Lord -closely surveiled by
counterintelligence and unable to escape while Weigold would discuss
with the French.

He had already made sure with his superiors that he
could strike a deal with his colleagues from the other side of the
Rhine and play the 'Voldemort Issue' according to his own intuition and
plans.

While he and Lucius crossed the castle in companionable silence he
could not but smile inwardly. From what Malfoy had told him about that
terrorist Voldemort he was sure that they would do a good deed to the
whole wizarding Europe by retrieving that dangerous bastard from the
surface of the Earth!