Chapter 8

Lucius watched as Penny walked out the door, her hair bouncing behind her. She will need my help, and when she convinces herself to come to me, she will realize how much help I can really be, Lucius thought.

Standing alone in the dark house, Lucius decided to investigate the different rooms further in search of any clues about where the prophecy could be stored. He began with the first floor and searched the rooms by the light of his wand because he refused to light any of the lamps.

Lucius eventually stumbled upon the library in the home. It was nothing out of the ordinary, especially when compared to the massive library that resided in Malfoy Manor.

The bookshelves were lined with outdated books with worn and faded covers. Dust covered every inch of the place as if it was never used. Lucius used his handkerchief to wipe off the spines of the books so he could read the titles.

Suddenly, the creaking of floorboards caught his attention. Have the Black's returned already? Lucius quickly ducked to the corner of the room and placed a cloaking charm on himself.

As the creaking sound drew closer, Lucius' heart raced. He almost breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the creature that was making the floorboards creak. It was a house-elf that belonged to the family. The elf looked much older than the one who belonged to Lucius' family, his ears seemed to droop as well as his nose. His eyes were unfocused and he had a terrible hunchback.

Lucius disregarded the charm and became visible again. This elf is as dumb as a rock, he wouldn't be able to tell me apart from Narcissa. With this thought, Lucius continued his search for information on the Black Family Curse in the library, while the elf attempted to dust off a sofa near the entrance.

"Pathetic little thing," Lucius scoffed, as he watched the elf's futile attempt. But the elf seemed to hear his remark, for the elf turned and faced him.

"What?" Lucius asked as the elf's eyes bore into his.

When the elf didn't respond, Lucius broke eye contact and continued to look through the books.

After searching through the entire bookshelf, Lucius looked over his shoulder at the elf. He had been having the feeling that the elf was still watching him, and he was indeed correct. The elf stood there frozen, his eyes following Lucius' every movement.

"Elves really do have pea-sized brains don't they?" Lucius muttered to himself, "Now go along and go back to your work."

The elf stood still and seemed to have no response to Lucius' words.

"Stupid little thing," Lucius said while kicking the elf aside to walk to the next bookshelf.

At the bookshelf, he saw some books that caught his attention. He brought those books to the sofa and began looking through them. Whilst his reading he placed his feet up on the table.

"Master would not like that!" The elf screeched. It took Lucius a second to realize it was the elf who had made that horrible sound.

"So, you can speak? What a surprise." Lucius said before returning to his reading. As he was reading he felt a movement around his feet. He looked down to see the house-elf attempting to remove his feet from the table, but was doing a terrible job at doing so.

"Master would not like your feet on the table!" The elf screamed. But Lucius just responded with a kick to the nose of the creature. The kick pushed the elf back and caused the elf to fall backward onto the bookshelf. Books started to come off the shelves and onto the elf's head, Lucius could help himself but laugh at the elf's miserable form.

"Master will be so mad! MASTER WILL BE SO MAD!" The elf yelled as he tried to place all the books back on the shelves.

As Lucius watched the elf place the books back one by one, he saw a book that seemed like the perfect source of the information he needed.

"Give me that!" Lucius shouted at the elf and outstretched his hand.

"No, no, no mister. This is a special book that the master wants to protect." The elf replied, holding the book against his chest.

"Well, I just need to borrow the book." Lucius reasoned as he tried to pull the book from the elf's grasp. "Give it!" Lucius spat, through gritted teeth.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, Lucius thought as he wielded his wand.

"Crucio!" Lucius shouted. As soon as the spell hit, the elf fell to the ground shaking terribly and begging for mercy. Lucius easily grabbed the book from the elf and allowed the elf to be free of his spell.

Now in possession of the book, Lucius decided to apparate back to his room in the Manor.

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"What do you mean 10 Galleons? I only stayed one night, and Lucius Malfoy already paid you for that," Hermione was infuriated. She didn't have the time or the money for this misunderstanding.

"Yeah, but aren't you staying in your room tonight?" The employee asked.

Hermione had no answer to this question because she was unsure of the answer herself. It was getting dark outside, and she had no other place to stay than the Cauldron. Yet, she only had a limited amount of money, and it would be used all on this one night's stay.

Considering her current situation with retrieving the Black Family Prophecy, she would need more than one night's stay in the Leaky Cauldron.

"I suppose." Hermione finally responded.

"Well, then I'm sure you will have no problem with handing over 10 Galleons now?"

"Isn't there a room, where the stay is less expensive?"

"Unless you want a broom closet?" The man responded impatiently.

Hermione rolled her eyes and quickly began to scavenge through her beaded bag for the money. Reluctantly she placed 10 Galleons into the man's palm, and he seemed satisfied and strolled off.

Hermione huffed as she walked up the stairs toward her room. Tomorrow I need to find a lead. And if I don't, I might have to call in help from Lucius, Hermione thought as she opened the door to her room. She was spending much more time than expected to recover the Black Family Prophecy. Every second she spent here was one second she had to spend away from her friends and from Draco.

Hermione had to admit that Lucius certainly did remind her of Draco, not only appearance-wise, but he was no replacement. Lucius was cruel and snobby, which still made her wonder why he decided to help her in the first place.

Hermione fell onto her bed, she should try her best to enjoy it, this bed cost her the rest of the money that she had brought into this timeline. She tried to get some rest, yet the unknown plan for the next day kept nagging to keep her awake. She had no leads whatsoever except for Lucius, and she still wasn't sure if she could trust him.

To help her get to sleep and maybe possibly get any leads, Hermione opened up the newspaper she had kept from earlier today. As she read through the headlines, a wedding announcement caught her eye:

The New Mr. & Mrs. Potter

Fleamont and Euphemia Potter are pleased to announce that their son, James Potter, and Lily Evans married on August 27, 1978. The couple has settled on a lovely home in Godric Hallows with their cat and dog.

Dog? Hermione thought after reading the tiny section, but when she saw the picture she smiled. James and Lily were accompanied by a huge black dog.

"Sirius!" Hermione quietly shouted. Harry mentioned how Sirius frequently spent time in the Potter household, in an attempt to get away from his own family. If I could somehow talk to Sirius about his family, surely he would know something about the prophecy. Using this newly found information, Hermione's mind spun with different ideas. Maybe I will be able to escape from this timeline sooner than I thought. With this thought, Hermione climbed under her bedsheets. Slowly she drifted off to sleep.