Chapter 1: The House at the Crossroads
The residents of Thornbreak Hollow avoided the large house at the crossroads outside of the town. The muggle residents of the town believed the house to be completely unoccupied and therefore dangerous due to rotting floorboards and the like. The rumors of lights in the windows at night and the sounds of voices when there should be none, quickly gave rise to the rumors that the house was haunted. The horrifying tales told by a few of the local youths who had approached the house on a dare in years past only cemented the legend. The wizard residents of Thornbreak Hollow avoided the large house because they happened to know very well that the house was not unoccupied at all and what lay within its walls was far more dangerous than any structural unsoundness or even the nastiest of poltergeists.
All of the locals, wizard and muggle alike, referred to the house as the The Old Nott House, although the only reason the muggles called it that was because of the ivy covered sign at the front drive proclaiming the building to be Nott Manor. The wizard community knew more details of the family (or what was left of them) that still owned the house, but even they only spoke the name "Nott" in hushed whispers told to their children by firelight of masked killers and sinister signs fired into the sky.
No one was ever seen coming or going from the house and the property was considerably far from any other buildings so anyone travelling down Mill Hall Road at the last flickers of twilight on that warm summer evening would have been a bit startled to see a figure dressed in a long black cloak approaching the manor house. They would have been even more startled if they had been travelling down the road a few minutes earlier and witnessed the mysterious figure appear out of thin air with a distinct pop. Of course, if anyone had been on the road to witness this, they would have found themselves completely unable to recall the incident or speak of it. Such were the strength of the man's memory charms.
The man strode up to the gates of the manor and stopped in front of two stone gargoyles. They both turned and looked at the pale haired man standing in front of them and spoke in unison with raspy voices that seemed to echo through the night.
"Speak."
There was a long moment of silence that followed where even the normal creatures of the night that roamed the nearby forests and fields seemed to be holding their breath. The two gargoyles crouched down and prepared to spring and the visitor finally spoke.
"I, Draco Malfoy, seek entrance to the house of Nott by right of the ties that bind me to this family by blood and marriage. I swear by my magic that I mean no harm to those that dwell within."
The gargoyles paused, but did not relax. Draco lifted his sleeve and showed a faded tattoo to the first gargoyle. The stone sentinel growled and resumed its accustomed lifeless position. To the other gargoyle Draco then spoke.
"Tom Riddle was a psychopathic half-blood who nearly destroyed wizardkind and I am glad he is dead."
The remaining gargoyle continued to growl and Draco yelled towards the house.
"Theo! Call off your pet! I bring neither Death Eaters nor Aurors with me."
A tall man with sleek black hair left the shadows of the house where he had been standing and waved his wand toward the gate. The gargoyle sat back on its haunches and was still, but the gate remained closed.
"Draco, what creature did Moody, the auror, turn you into our fourth year?"
" It was a ferret. But it wasn't Moody, as you well know, it was the madman Crouch in disguise. Now that I have proven my identity will you give me your hospitality or will we spend the rest of the evening sneering at each other through these bars while your wife and child watch from the windows?"
Theo glanced back towards the house and one of the curtains in an upstairs window moved slightly. With a sigh Theodore Nott waved his wand once again and the gate opened. Draco strode up the drive and through the house's front doors as if he owned it with Theo following behind soft and silent as a shadow. The two men entered the library where a hearty fire in the hearth filled the room with a warmth that belied the house's grim exterior.
Theo raised his hands and clapped twice and a pair of house elves appeared out of thin air as was their wont.
"What can Krithkin and Malkeg do for you and Master Malfoy, Master Nott?"
Theo paused to consider it for a minute before coming to a decision.
"I think the 72' Ogden is called for, unless of course my brother-in-law disagrees?"
Draco waved his hand to signal his ambivalence and proceeded to slap a copy of the newspaper down on a nearby desk as the two elves disaparated.
"I can't believe they still let you keep those things, Theo. Mother tried to enlist some of them to help care for the manor a year or so back and she was refused at every turn. My mother! Refused! By house elves! Bloody hell, she was even offering to pay the creatures."
Theo laughed.
"Yes, well my family had enough sense to actually think of our elves as an investment to be handled responsibly. They tend not to show a great deal of loyalty when you throw knives at them."
"That was one time and Bellatrix…"
" I know, I know. She was a psychopath. They all were. Our fathers worst of all. Speaking of which, I understand Lucius is completing his sentence soon?"
"Christmas," Draco muttered, staring into the fire. "Believe me, that will be a barrel of laughs once father returns to the manor to hold court. All of the rats will come crawling out of the woodwork again."
"Ah, I take it that this is the reason for your visit? Have our old housemates come prowling around again looking for scraps and whispered promises of vengeance?"
Draco snorted. "Goyle has been lurking across the street from Malfoy Manor every night for the last week. He thinks he is being subtle, but he is...you know...Goyle. He is only slightly less noticeable than an erumpet in an apothecary."
Theo gestured towards the paper sitting on the desk where the headline "POTTER ACCEPTS POSITION AS HEAD AUROR" blared from the page. "Could you not speak to your old friend about it? I understand his people would love to know what Goyle, the Lestrange brothers, and whoever else is left are up to."
Draco threw his hands in the air in frustration. "What, and have the aurors crawling up my family's arses again? No thank you. The last time Mundungus Fletcher tried to get out of time in Azkaban by claiming Astoria and I were trafficking in dark artifacts that bloody fool Finnigan had a dozen aurors storm the Manor at four in the morning. Scorpius had nightmares for a fortnight. Yesterday I made the unpleasant discovery that my only son's boggart is a man in an auror uniform. Can you imagine what Rita Skeeter would say if she ever found out about that? Potter and his cronies stay out of this unless there is absolutely no other way. You should read that paper by the way. It says a lot about the times we are in right now that our old friends of the Skull and Snake may end up being the least of our worries. All of this stuff with the Statute of Secrecy, the International Confederation of Wizards sending a delegation, this war between Greyback and the Helsing society, the squib riots, and God only knows what else. Dark times are coming again, Theo. We need to be ready."
At this point both men fell silent as the elves returned with the firewhiskey and glasses. Theo sipped at his drink in a meditative manner and it was a long time before anyone spoke.
"You know," Theo finally said. "The time may be coming when there is no other way. Callum heads off to Hogwarts in the fall, and there are...certain risks...that are inherent to that. We have been walking this line for far too long Draco; neither truly a Death Eater nor truly one of those who seeks to stop them. All it will take is one mistake, one tiny mistake, and it will all come crashing down."
"I know," said Draco. " You know, you could just tell the boy. We all remember all of the secrets that Dumbledore kept and how those ended up."
"Dumbledore was right in the end."
"Dumbledore died in the end. Hell, if what my mother says is true, even POTTER died in the end for at least a little while before being saved by some love magic hocus pocus. We are not Dumbledore. Callum is not Harry Potter. I would not see my nephew suffer for his parents' indiscretions."
"Not yet. It isn't time. Right now most people he meets at school will hate him because he has the last name of Nott. If he were to let anything slip, most people would not hate him. Everyone would hate him."
There was another long silence before Draco drained the last of his Firewhiskey and turned to leave.
"Well," he said. "For all our sakes let's pray that the Hat puts him in Slytherin. If it doesn't...then we both know it is only a matter of time before all Hell breaks loose.."
Theo scoffed. "I hardly think that is anything we have to worry about. Everyone know that the heirs of House Nott have worn the green for centuries."
"Yes," said Draco over his shoulder as he left the house. "Everyone knows this. That is the problem. Goodnight Theo."
Draco walked to the road and vanished with a pop, but the lights in Nott Manor burned long after he had left.