Chapter 4: Seawinds

A gentle nudge brought Draco out of slumber. He blinked up at Dagmar. She sat on the edge of the bed, her hair and makeup done.

Dagmar studied him with a smile and tilt of her head. "All right?"

Draco shrugged. "I'd be better if you came back to bed."

"Can't," she said. "I have to get going, or else I'm going to be late."

A weight settled in Draco's stomach before he furrowed his brow. "To what? You're done class until next term."

The easy humour slid off Dagmar's face, as if Draco had caught her in a lie. The illusion shattered with it. Panic seized Draco by the throat. He tried to move, but couldn't. The weight in his stomach had moved to sit on his chest, holding him supine.

"Wait," Draco struggled to say as Dagmar stood up. "Please don't go. Just stay home today."

"I can't," Dagmar repeated. She gave him a nervous look. "I have to go."

"Please, you can't," Draco begged. "Dagmar, come on—"

Just like how all the other dreams ended, Dagmar's gaze darted upward past Draco, her eyes wide and lips agape as if she saw something. She turned her face and her shoulders hunched as she braced herself. With a flash of green light, Draco gasped himself back into consciousness.

He was drenched in sweat. The cold air passing through his cell set his teeth into a steady chatter. Draco's heart nearly pounded out of his chest. Even with someone standing at the bars, he couldn't be bothered to feel embarrassed about the pathetic state of himself. There was no such thing as dignity in this place. Draco found it hard to care about anything at all when he'd already lost everything.

"Malfoy," the guard said. "Visitor."

Draco averted his gaze as soon as it met Dumbledore's. As much as Draco had craved some sort of interaction in this place—some sort of comfort—the idea of company was suddenly much too overwhelming.

The guard unlocked Draco's cell for Dumbledore. Draco's entire being lurched as he sat up on the edge of his bed. While Dumbledore joined him on it, Draco stared at the floor and fought the tightening of his throat. He could feel Dumbledore studying him in the silence.

"It feels pointless to ask how you're doing," Dumbledore said.

Draco closed his eyes as they grew heavy and blurred. He sniffled, unable to fend it completely off. Not that it made any difference to his situation, but not one person had asked Draco that yet.

"What happened, Draco?"

"Potter killed Dagmar."

"Because his Killing Curse rebounded off Voldemort?"

That Dumbledore asked it like that knocked just a little bit more wind out of Draco's sails. Would anyone even believe his version of events? It looked to Draco as if Aunt Bella had told the truth about some sort of connection between Dagmar and You-Know-Who. While her word was proven, that didn't mean anyone else would find her reliable in backing Draco up.

"That's what everyone thinks?" Draco asked.

"That's what Kingsley saw, and that's all I have to go on. Harry didn't see anything."

Draco hesitated to talk about why that was. Kingsley may have already told Dumbledore that Draco pushed Potter to the floor. Had Draco made it in time, he might have saved Dagmar. He might have spared You-Know-Who too, though. It couldn't look good, now that the jury was out on Draco working as a Death Eater. He didn't want to say anything that might cement his fate here, even if the larger part of Draco didn't feel much like there was anything for him to even leave Azkaban for.

"If Potter didn't see anything, then why am I here?" Draco rubbed some of the dried salt off his cheeks. "I was arrested based on what he told everyone at the Auror office. He said I was going along with You-Know-Who."

Dumbledore exhaled through his nose. "The best answer I could give you is that it was a highly-charged situation. Nobody could make clear calls in the moment. There will be no margin for error in the Ministry's eyes as they start sorting out what happened. If it was a mistake you ended up here, you'll see due process before the decision can be undone."

"Do people really think Dagmar and I were working with You-Know-Who?" More than for himself, Draco couldn't stomach the idea that that might end up Dagmar's legacy. He'd rather spend his life here than have people incorrectly remember Dagmar as a failed Death Eater spy.

"The only people I've discussed it with so far are Kingsley and Harry," Dumbledore replied. "None of us believe it. Harry wasn't even aware you were brought here. I don't think he did much thinking after killing Voldemort."

"So it's fine for him to send me here when he's like that?" Draco started to heat up as he oscillated back to anger, the other side of the emotional coin he was stuck spinning on. "How is that fair? How's that right? He killed two people. Why isn't he in here? But let me guess. That's different."

"I won't invalidate your sense of justice by denying it. He's an Auror, even if still in the training portion of his employment. He always had certain immunities anyway when it came to dealing with Voldemort."

Draco's face felt warm. He had to work to unclench his jaw. "Nobody even let me explain. Potter said that You-Know-Who was at my house and that they all got ambushed. Everyone else just ran on that. What did it have to do with me other than happening where I live? Why was it automatically because I had to be a Death Eater? All the help Dagmar and I tried to give him, and he couldn't even tell them to wait. He just watched it all happen after saying he couldn't tell who I was going along with. Why was You-Know-Who his call?"

"He was an Auror returning to the office as a witness to events," Dumbledore replied. "Again, I'd like to clarify that I'm not dismissing what he did. I don't think it was right. Nor does he. I regret that I couldn't have been there in time to try and defuse the situation. You two were at Malfoy Manor before the Ministry, were you not?"

"Yeah."

"The house elves said as much." Dumbledore nodded. "I'm sorry."

Even if Dumbledore meant that, it didn't make Draco feel any better. It didn't change what happened. "So what're you here for, then?"

"I may not have been able to stand up for you then, but I intend to now." Dumbledore laced his fingers together in his lap. "May we talk about the events that led up to Friday?"

Draco shrugged. He wanted to tell his side of the story to somebody—anybody—but the prospect of it remained exhausting. "I guess, yeah."

"Why were there Death Eaters at your home?"

"They just showed up."

"Who?"

Draco rubbed down his face. "Aunt Bella, You-Know-Who, and Wormtail. There were others watching over the place, but I don't know who or how many."

"Wormtail was there?"

Draco nodded. "He was the one that found Magnus Norheim in the Catacombs."

"Ah," Dumbledore softly replied. "When did they show up?"

"The week after Magnus was found," Draco said. "They were there when Dagmar got home from the hospital. I was still at work. Aunt Bella told her a bunch of stuff, which I guess ended up true. She told us not to try anything funny because if You-Know-Who died. . ."

Draco trailed off. He'd rather feel angry than sad, but he was coming back around to it. He'd hoped that Aunt Bella was just bluffing. She wasn't a good person. She wasn't supposed to be capable of honesty.

"What did she say would happen if Voldemort died?" Dumbledore prompted Draco.

"That Dagmar would too," Draco forced it out of himself as his eyes misted again. He hastily wiped them. "I'd hoped she was lying just to make things go her way."

"Of course," Dumbledore agreed. "I know it's difficult, but could you tell me the specifics?"

The images were all burnt into Draco's mind. It was like the inside of his eyelids were tinged green. He saw it every time he blinked. If Draco didn't work hard enough against it, his waking hours were just as haunted. "Is there honestly a point?"

"In interest of being open with you, no one could technically confirm that Dagmar died," Dumbledore replied. "When Kingsley returned to your home with back-up, your aunt and the other Death Eaters were gone. They took Voldemort's body with them. Dagmar's was also missing."

The lingering weight in Draco's chest encased itself all the more tightly around his heart. "They took her?"

"Yes."

As much as he fought it, Draco couldn't push down his grief at the idea of strangers handling—potentially mishandling—what physically remained of Dagmar. His mum could speak on Dagmar's behalf, but what did that leave Draco to bury if he even got the opportunity?

"She didn't want to die," Draco managed to say as his breathing grew uneven. "She had so much left to do. We were just getting started."

"I know." Dumbledore's newest sigh was hardly audible over the constant whistling of wind. "She's a terrible loss."

"She was my best friend. What am I going to do without her?"

"I certainly don't want to undermine your grieving process, but perhaps it would help to focus on getting you out instead," Dumbledore said. "One thing at a time. The situation is already unfair enough. I couldn't personally stand to see another scapegoat waste valuable years here."

"They're wasted anyway if I'm starting right over. I worked so hard and wound up with nothing. What's the point of trying when that's all that happens?"

"You haven't lost it all," Dumbledore told him. "When you didn't show up for work on Sunday, Gunvor reached out to me. I informed her what happened and that I was looking into it. She said that if you're indeed innocent and subsequently released, you will still have a job. Andromeda and Ted are waiting for me back on the mainland so that I can let them know what's going on. I haven't spoken directly to your friends, but I've heard through the devil's snare that Theodore and Daphne are on their way home from Australia. Luca is with Blaise. Ah—but you probably haven't been told."

Draco braced himself. "What now?"

"Professor Parasca was also killed."

"But let me guess. Nothing to do with Potter either."

"It wasn't," Dumbledore softly said. "It happened after you and Harry left. Kingsley tasked her to grab Dagmar's body and leave, but Bellatrix got an opening on her when three more Death Eaters came in from the garden."

Draco grimaced. "Luca knows, then? Is he doing okay?"

"He's devastated." Dumbledore shifted. "Because things with Dagmar weren't confirmed, the Auror office hasn't been able to tell them anything about the two of you. They fear the worst."

"What, that I'm. . .?"

"Yes," Dumbledore confirmed. "I hate as much as Kingsley to leave them in suspense, but it's easier to break the news that someone is actually alive rather than—well."

"Yeah," Draco hollowly agreed.

"So Bellatrix said that if Voldemort died, Dagmar would too?"

Draco nodded, his chin barely leaving where it rested against his chest. "She said that You-Know-Who didn't trust Hildegard back when they were working together on his phylactery. He had collateral. There was a connection between You-Know-Who and Dagmar. Aunt Bella said something about Dagmar being lucky You-Know-Who only got hit with the curse indirectly when he killed the Potters. It's also why Erik jumped in the way last March."

"I see." Dumbledore paused. "I could understand Voldemort taking some sort of measure against Hildegard in case she didn't hold up her end of the bargain. Wouldn't Voldemort have lifted it once the phylactery was built? Or did he go back on his word?"

"It never got finished."

When Dumbledore didn't reply after a moment, Draco glanced up at him. Dumbledore's eyes were wide. It was only really then Draco realized what he'd told Dumbledore, and Draco resented Potter even more now. You-Know-Who had no protection. He'd survived last time on a technicality. This time, it was final.

"It was never finished," Dumbledore repeated under his breath. "What was Voldemort at your home for?"

"He was in bad shape. They wanted Dagmar to treat him. When he felt better, they were going to go back to looking for the locket."

Dumbledore hummed. "So their stay was only meant to be temporary."

"Dagmar said You-Know-Who was feeling a lot better." Draco swallowed. "This probably doesn't do me any good to say, but them being there wasn't all bad. I never even saw You-Know-Who. He stayed in his room. Aunt Bella's rude, but she'd started to calm down a little bit. My mum's been with them all this time. They let her come, and they were going to let her stay with us when they left."

"Your mother? How was she?"

"Okay, I guess." Draco shrugged. "Fed, watered, had company, all that. She was happy for us all to be together again, so it's hard to tell through that what exactly she was coming from."

"Did she say where they've been hiding out?"

"Fantomøy. She didn't know it by that name, but she described it."

"Does she know where it is?"

"No, but it has some kind of illusion spell on it. She said it was really nice there for her, but that Mr. Nott didn't see it the same way."

"Wesley was there as well?"

Draco nodded. "Aunt Bella called him the babysitter. My mum didn't talk about him. Other than them all being there, things were normal. Dagmar and I could go to work and do our usual things. I think we were tailed when we went into the market and things like that. I thought about sending you a message to say what was up, but I didn't want to risk getting caught. We had it under control. I didn't want to raise a panic, especially from Potter."

"That's certainly understandable with hindsight."

Draco nodded, eyes brimming again.

"If everything you've told me is true, then you don't deserve to be here. I'm not sure when your trial is, but I heard mention of before the end of the month. There's nothing I could ever say to undo how unfair the entire situation is, but I'll do what I can for you."

Draco slid back on his bed and pulled his knees up before draping his blanket around his shoulders. "I honestly don't know if I dare to hope. I don't think I could handle being disappointed again."

"I have more trust in the Council of Magical Law than you, perhaps, but there are no guarantees. If Voldemort is truly gone, they will be eager to put away the rest of the Death Eaters. Everybody wants to be done with this, once and for all."

Draco grew nervous, even if he was trying to come at this situation from the assumption he'd be left to rot in Azkaban. He was still a human being. He craved freedom and shied away from discomfort. Draco could mourn Dagmar anywhere in the world, but he would prefer to do it somewhere far away from a rock in the middle of the North Sea.

"This is why Dagmar and I wanted to stay out of everything," Draco hollowly spoke. "We didn't have a whole lot to gain, but ran the chance of losing a lot. We didn't join the Order based on that. We just wanted to do the right thing."

"I hate to point it out, but it doesn't sound like it would've mattered what you did," Dumbledore said. "Dagmar was tied to Voldemort. I didn't expect Harry to use a Killing Curse on him."

"He probably wouldn't have gotten a chance if Dagmar and I weren't helping."

Dumbledore hummed. "I'm not so sure about that, actually. Harry would've still had Elodie Marigot as a contact, who would've informed him when she found Magnus in the Paris Catacombs. Your aunt would've still found Dagmar at Olaf Kyrre. The witness to Magnus' death would've still come forward. We would've still seen Dagmar in his memory."

Draco didn't feel any better to realize it was just a matter of time.

"The difference is that we have a better understanding of what happened," Dumbledore continued. "I can't say that it would be so easy to deem you innocent without having our previous working relationship to base your character on."

"Might not make a difference anyway," Draco replied. "It would look good for the Ministry to put someone away so quickly, wouldn't it? And a Malfoy, at that? I was probably just trying to finish whatever my father had been up to when he got arrested, in their eyes."

"That's likely the prejudice you'll be facing during your trial."

"Then I guess I won't bother getting my hopes up about anything."

Draco kept saying that, but it wasn't working. He wanted to believe that Dumbledore was capable of anything, and that that included getting Draco out of here. This was not the time and place Draco wanted to be confronted with the reality that Dumbledore was just one man. Yes, he had a lot of influence and his name carried weight, but it wasn't a pass to always get what he wanted—even if what he wanted was the right thing.

"Will anyone even really care that Dagmar is dead?" Draco asked. "The only way she could've survived is if You-Know-Who got his way. Why would someone who didn't know her care she had to die so that he could? It's not even like she was the only one on Friday. She's just another name on a list."

"You can't base her worth on the opinion of strangers."

"What about you?" Draco's gaze rose from a misaligned stripe on his trousers. "Or the Order? Is she just collateral damage?"

"Of course not." Dumbledore's brow furrowed. "She was an unfortunate example of how Voldemort operates. He can't feel love, but he understands it enough to see how it can be used to manipulate the people around him. In regards to the situation you and Dagmar were put in with him occupying your home, you did everything right. Indeed, had they moved on as planned and we were able to know everything you had learned from your aunt, severing the tie between Voldemort and Dagmar would have been our priority before focusing on him again. If we had that information, perhaps Hildegard would have volunteered something that could help her daughter."

Draco shrugged. "I figured after I heard all that that Hildegard was compromised. My father must have been too. He even told me something about how he hoped I didn't personally find out. . .I can't remember how he worded it exactly, but I think he was warning me to back off on helping anyone take You-Know-Who down. He thought either you or Potter were listening in, so he was being really vague."

Dumbledore sighed. "I'm curious what stake your father had in it. This connection would have had to be established prior to Halloween of 1981. After keeping an eye on your father since Voldemort first fell, I never saw any sign that he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt Voldemort was still out there. Some of his behaviours are questionable, such as when he gave Ginny Weasley Voldemort's enchanted diary. He clearly never dropped his prejudice against those with less than pure blood in their veins. That can exist without someone attempting to destabilize the wizarding world."

"I just wonder why he arranged for me to be with Dagmar if he knew there was a chance she might die," Draco glumly replied. "I thought maybe he knew I was thinking about getting away from it, and he hoped it would keep me in line."

"Or it could be that Voldemort used it to keep him in line," Dumbledore suggested. "Unless he tells us, we won't know."

"Don't know what it matters, anyway. Whether I get out or not, he'll be here. I wouldn't mind never talking to him again for the rest of my life. I don't think my mum knew that Dagmar was tied to Voldemort. She didn't even know that Erik wasn't Dagmar's biological father."

"She wasn't a Death Eater," Dumbledore pointed out. "Her knowledge was limited."

"She's under a Fidelius Charm," Draco said. "Aunt Bella is her Secret Keeper. So if you do find Fantomøy, I'm not sure how you'll find her unless Mr. Nott is there."

"I'll sort it out."

With how horribly things had ended for Dagmar, Draco hardly had time yet to even think about his mum. He was adjusted to being without her. The last time they'd been forced apart, Draco had Dagmar as a crutch. He had nobody except for Dumbledore now. If Draco wasn't so starved for some kind of socialization—for somebody to reassure him that he didn't imagine how unjust his situation was—he couldn't say he'd feel too kindly toward Dumbledore. Draco still quietly wondered if Dumbledore justified Dagmar as a necessary death. If Hildegard could help Dagmar, wouldn't she have? Hildegard was supposedly so powerful as a druid. What could have been done? Could anything? Wouldn't Hildegard have said so?

Draco rubbed his forehead. He'd had a headache he couldn't shake since Friday, and this wasn't helping. It occurred to him to take something for it, but he had no access to anything unless a guard would bring it to him.

"While I'm thinking about it, I'd like to discuss your manor," Dumbledore said. "I won't put the burden on you to decide if you'll allow the Order to continue using it as Headquarters. We'll stop having meetings there."

"Won't the Order disband anyway?"

"If Voldemort is indeed gone, then its purpose has been served. We might partner with Magical Enforcement to round up the Death Eaters first. If they've retreated to Fantomøy, there's no telling how long or what kind of efforts that will take."

"Right."

"I'll make contact with Wesley as soon as I leave here. If he's been keeping your mum company while she was held on Fantomøy, he'll know where it is. We know what the illusion spell is, so we can prepare. Wesley might even know how to get around it."

Draco nodded.

"Is there anything you want me to do for you?"

"Mm. . ." Draco hummed, then sat up straighter. "Yeah, actually. No one would listen to me about talking to my work, or to the Ramstads and the Dyrdahls, or about Heimr. He was outside when everything happened, so I'm not sure he realizes that me and Dagmar are gone. Dagmar didn't like him outside at night after he went missing at Hogwarts last Christmas."

"Ah, yes." Dumbledore adjusted his glasses. "It's all been handled, actually. You were due at Dagmar's aunt's house on Sunday for dinner, yes?"

Draco had forgotten about that with everything else going on. "Yeah."

"She requested a welfare check when you failed to show up and didn't respond to an owl. The Norwegian Ministry informed her and Håkon of what happened. They know as much as your friends do, as do the Dyrdahls. They checked in when Dagmar didn't come in to her Sunday clinic at the hospital. As for Heimdall, Janne and Ingrid managed to catch him yesterday. He's with Ingrid and Roar. Their girls have been taking care of him."

"That's good." Draco wiped at his eyes, relieved. "Heimr's used to them."

"If your trial doesn't go the way it should, is there anyone in particular you would prefer take him?"

It hurt Draco's heart to think about an innocent animal having his world pulled out from underneath him. Heimdall had such a hard time adjusting to new people that it made Draco feel even more like a failure. He owed it to Dagmar to take care of their cat.

"He likes my Auntie Andie best, if she wouldn't mind." Draco sniffled. "He was starting to warm up to my mum, so if she comes home. . ."

"I don't think Andromeda will mind at all," Dumbledore replied. "Nor would your mother."

Draco nodded. It was so hard not to hope that he'd be out of here and could take care of his own animal. Heimdall felt like a piece of Dagmar, and like a means for comfort that Draco certainly wasn't receiving from anywhere else right now.

As mixed Draco's feelings were, dread draped over him again when Dumbledore stood up. Dumbledore offered him a smile, but it was far from comforting.

"I'll be back and forth as I prepare your defence," he told Draco. He squeezed his shoulder. "I'll see you soon. Stay strong."

Draco shrugged. He felt about the opposite of that. "I'll try."