The Casting Stone 18
I just have to start with a 'thank you' to everyone who sent us such kind well wishes. I put the spoilers up due to lingering guilt over the last 'disappearance' episode, not really thinking about it. Life happens, you know?
Anyway- we're back. I say 'we' because now we're writing this together, and I want credit to go to 'Thing2' here for his participation. He's screaming about inconsequential details now, so I'll move on. We've managed to finish this chapter despite the BBC America Monty Python marathon; having watched them to death years ago, we've not seen these brill little shows in years, and all work in the house as stopped as everyone has gravitated to the den w/martinis & 'howls of derisive laughter, Bruce."
Summary: Well, honestly, you know what happens….But not everything all at once (a few more chapters here….) Draco's POV is back. At the start I had not intended for Mr. Malfoy to take such a prominent position in all of this. Yes, he was important, but….anyway, he just won't shut up, and I'm surprised to see that I've become rather fond of him. I'm a sucker for the dark horse, what can I say. Narcissa finally appears; she is not in the least apologetic for her actions, and the truth about Draco leaves her struggling a bit. But she does admit she has vastly underestimated Peter. The time-spell is moving forward with exponential speed, and they are all in danger of Peter succeeding in his intentions.
***
Draco knew that his mother had entered the chamber long before he saw her appear at the far end of the aisle from himself and the others. He felt her arrive with a familiar sense of almost tangible presence in the very air he breathed, as always. The same aura he had felt hovering in his consciousness his entire life. His father had not had this effect on him; Draco had often felt ill at ease standing near his father, but that was an issue of his perception of the man, not the acute somatic response he always sensed from his mother long before he could actually see her. Lucius had been a ghost that whispered and mumbled inarticulate, nearly inaudible words while starting at him with unseeing eyes. Narcissa's bond was far more nefarious, as vigorous as it was incontestable. Draco was her child, and he belonged to her; and he would honour that commitment, no matter what was asked of him.
Draco reached over and grabbed Harry, spinning him forward with him to face the front of the room in the direction he knew Narcissa was about to appear from. As he turned, Draco confirmed that Black had in fact vanished with Remus, Malcolm and Pettigrew. He heard himself swearing under his breath, as he ascertained what the others were doing. George and Fred had their backs to the entry as they quickly ran forward towards the dais to bind the still unmoving Demoncles, not minding what Draco and Harry were doing. Liz was moving towards Jack, who was now sitting on the bottom step where he had fallen, shaking violently and twisting his hands through his hair. Katie seemed to be standing as if in a daze, looking at the spot where only seconds before Remus and Malcolm had been. But Katie caught Draco's movement and she looked up immediately, following Draco's gaze to look down the aisle towards the front of the building. Draco assumed he had an expression as equally furious and dangerous.
"Draco!"
Narcissa appeared out of the shadows of the entryway, long black robes billowing wildly about her as she ran forward, then halted and raised her arms and levelled her wand towards Katie, who met her with a similar stance. Draco saw a familiar look of contempt and anger on her face, but he also saw, to his astonishment, a hint of disquiet.
"Mother, stop where you are. You have been sadly mislead; by myself and by Mr. Pettigrew."
Narcissa did not move, but she did turn to look more fully at Draco, a surprised aspect to her pale, thin face. Draco felt his own mouth set in a grimace as frowned at his mother.
"How dare, you, mother, do such a thing. To steal a child? I had always hoped that somewhere there was some aspect of mercy to you, but it would seem that this was an empty wish conjured by a frightened boy. I am no longer a boy. I will not underestimate your capacity for malice again."
Draco heard Katie whisper his name in a shaken sounding tone beside him, but he ignored her and stepped forward, closer to Narcissa.
"And I am shocked at your utter lack of judgement. To take the word of a madman, a man father knew to be unbalanced and seemingly incapable of original thought, a puppet of others."
Draco could barely keep the rage he felt now in check. Everything seemed to want to flare up and overwhelm him again. He felt his palms start to itch as unwanted energies surged within him, seeking some sort of expression, at long, long last. He kept looking at Narcissa, wondering now what he was to do next. This was his mother, and despite everything, some part of him still needed her to be that, while his saner thoughts told him calmly that this was not what he dreamed it might be. Think she'll turn into Katie if you wish for it hard enough, Malfoy? You were her duty, not her want….
Painfully aware of exactly what his mother was capable of, Draco quickly moved to grab Katie's non-wand arm and pulled her back as he finally moved forward to stand fully between Narcissa and the others. As he did this, he cast the most powerful reflecting charm he could think of at the same time, amazed to hear Potter saying the same words to his left. They would be shielded, temporarily, from anything Narcissa might try. Long enough to talk to her; long enough to try. Draco wasn't certain exactly what he wanted from her, or what he needed to say to her. She is just as bad as father ever was, only she played a different role. Her job was to stay at home, to keep up the front, to keep me safe…keep the name intact.
Draco considered his next move. Narcissa may very well be able to help them get out of this place, even to find Professor Lupin, as she had been here with Pettigrew and should well know what he had actually done. Draco had to convince her, however, that she needed to help them all, or she would only remain a dangerous hindrance to their accomplishing everything they had fought for. This was not an acceptable solution. Somehow, she had to be persuaded to help them. But can I do that? Perhaps when I actually tell her…when she truly understands what I have done…. Liz said I was too important to her, but Liz has no idea what she's talking about, for once. I wish she did…Stop it. Will you permit your weakness to cause further harm? I think not. He dropped Katie's arm and shifted to face Narcissa. Relieved that none of the others seemed to be moving to interfere, and simply waiting to see what Draco would do, he blocked them out and focused everything on trying to deal with his mother.
Draco pushed his own thoughts towards here through their bond, both to assure her he was capable of controlling his own actions and to let her know exactly how he felt about her. He saw her expression twitch a bit, obviously picking up on his darkness, then her eyes widened slightly and she took a small step forward. Draco heard the fabric rustling as five wands were simultaneously raised and levelled at Narcissa at that. He gave his mother a faint, cold smile.
"I shouldn't move if I were you, mother. People may get the wrong impression."
Narcissa did not move again, but glared with contempt at the group around Draco. But Draco could now sense that she was confused and suspicious, even as she was carefully contemplating the situation and what her next move would be. Such the little strategist. I wonder what the Weasleys would do to you if they knew you orchestrated that little incident that very nearly killed Ron our last year at school. Or what people would do if they knew it was you who told father to give Ginny Voldemort's old diary. I will not betray your past sins, mother. But I will not permit new ones. You will face your own fate for what you did to Malcolm; I don't care what you thought you were doing. And if Malcolm dies here in this wretched place, I will not stop Katie from killing you. Too bad you cannot respect that this is exactly what will happen should that child be lost; Katie will avenge not herself, but Remus. Could you possibly comprehend such a depth of feeling for another?
"Draco? Come here, I will not let them stop you."
Draco couldn't stop himself from giving a small laugh at that statement, and shook his head incredulously at Narcissa. She did not so much as blink, but Draco sensed her resolve slipping even further, and a hint of weakness rose as her indecision increased. Oh, mother; did you suspect this? Father denied every suggestion of it over the years. I watched him kill a man less than 10 feet from me for saying such a thing. But what did you think? And would even you have dared to question him?
"You have been lied to mother. By several people, and obviously I am including myself in that category, I always told myself that technically I wasn't lying to you, simply 'omitting' things. But it was all done with the spirit of deception to serve my own purposes, so yes that is lying. You should be proud that you taught me to 'care only for myself' so well; neither you nor father ever suspected it would seem. Not for a moment. But you can not be pleased, I am sure, to find that these deceptive tendencies served only to work against you, not for you."
Draco chuckled again, and addressed himself to Liz, though he did not take his eyes off of his mother. "Miss Harker, I think I finally understand you to some extent. Not the most propitious time for such a precipitous personal revelation, but there you are."
"Congratulations, Draco," Liz replied in a dry and quiet tone behind him.
Draco smiled again at his mother, but his eyes were bitter and somewhat darkened. Narcissa's long thin face was finally starting to betray some of her confusion and emotions, but her own pale eyes stayed fixed on Draco. She seems almost to be pleading…certainly only for understanding. After a few moments Draco sighed and continued.
"Mother," he said quietly, but firmly, "I am here of my own volition. And, frankly, with the intent of capturing that evil, disgusting little man and bringing him back to England where he will be revealed for the traitor he is, and pay the consequences for what he has done. Now and in the past. I am here to help Remus Lupin, and even to help Sirius Black. You are here because you have allowed yourself to be used."
Now Draco moved forward a few steps, getting a better look at his mother. There, she's getting it, and she's not liking it at all. Angry at me, or angry at Pettigrew? Probably both. At least she's still listening.
"Pettigrew used you, mother. Used you to try and stop Professor Lupin, or at least to control him. That man is a coward and he is weak; he can only succeed when he has others to fight for him. He knew he was no match for Lupin and Black should they manage to catch up to him, so he needed leverage. And you gave it to him. How could you have done something so stupid and so cruel? If you wanted me, why not just come for me? But that is not how you think, I know. Granted you, like father, are a dark and selfish person intent only on seeing that what you hold dear is kept and met. But arrogance and lust for personal power aside, even this seems too much. Perhaps it was simply my own misguided feelings; my own weak hopes that my mother, my mother, had something left inside of her that I could cherish. What were you going to do, mother? Kill a three year old? What a pathetic and cowardly thing to contemplate. But then, other people are just objects with no more value or sense than a book or a plate, aren't they? I always thought that all I would ever be was like you, but I am not. I do not hold such little value for others. Not anymore. Not for a long, long time. Not since I actually grew up and learned to think for myself, not parrot what you told me."
Draco finally stopped, a little stunned that he had let all of that come out, but feeling somewhat relieved for it. Narcissa glared at him.
"Draco, stop this nonsense and come here this instant."
"No."
"I did not harm that boy!"
"I'm not interested anymore. You need to make a decision, right now, mother. Either you will help us stop Pettigrew from doing whatever he is trying to do, and leave with us, or you will stay here. I don't know If you've figured out exactly what this place is, but I doubt very much you would like to be trapped here with a seemingly immortal and soon to be very disappointed and angry werewolf."
Narcissa finally lowered her wand, slowly, but did not speak, seeming to lapse into a cold standoff, watching Katie closely and contemplating what might happen next. Not a stupid woman mother, despite yourself. Of course, no matter what you decide, these others may not wish to have you with us at all. Thinking about that?
Harry came over now and briefly touched Draco on the shoulder so he would turn away from Narcissa and look at Harry. Draco didn't miss the shadow that went across his mother's face as she watched this exchange.
"Malfoy, we don't have time for a long debate, I'm sorry…."
Draco nodded. "I'm well aware of that Potter. We'll see what she says next. If she agrees, is it acceptable that we try to at least trust her? To listen?"
"Of course, Draco."
"There's no 'of course' here, Potter. She's not here to help Pettigrew or she would have already tried to blast you all into next week. Yes, even with me standing right here. If she tries to draw this out….let me go to her and deal with it. I'd get her out of here if I had the slightest idea how…."
"Draco!"
Draco and Potter both turned back to look at Narcissa Malfoy now, and she watched them both evenly.
"Wormtail has, with the aid of that man," here she nodded in the direction of Demoncles, now laying bound with thin silver cords at the top of the dais flanked by Fred and George, "cast a time spell. He is 'unconcerned' about any of you, now that it has been set in motion. He seems to feel that shortly he will be more than a match for all of you. Once I would have laughed at the very idea, but…."
Draco said nothing, but Katie finally spoke in a very cold voice.
"Do you know where he is now? Where he has taken the others?"
"Others?"
"My husband and my son and my friend."
"No. There is a means by which one can travel within the confines of this place; literally to jump from spot to spot….or rather, it appears, to pull energies from one place to another. They could be anywhere."
"You're not exactly being helpful, mother."
"What do you expect of me!? Do you know what I went through? You were gone, vanished! Nobody knew where you were, nobody knew anything! I thought…I thought that Lupin had decided to finish the job! I know it was he who killed your father! And now you stand there and tell me that you are helping him? That you…that you…."
"That I have been for years, mother. That I decided a long, long time ago to do so. The night I saved his life and let him escape from father that Christmas. That was when I made my choice. We don't have time for this; you make your choice now."
Narcissa seemed to shiver a bit and put her face in her hands. "He killed your father, Draco."
Draco didn't feel like playing games with her. "Stop trying to manipulate me, mother. This is some fantasy you have made up to give yourself some sort of consolation. If you must know, I am as much to blame as anyone, because I was the one who raised the alarm and told the League exactly what was about to happen. Now, decide."
Narcissa shook her head, then walked forward, ignoring the wands, to come to stand in front of Draco. Draco looked down at her and struggled to keep a blank face. Now that she was so close, he couldn't help but see the strain and exhaustion on her features, but he simply couldn't accept that this was the result of any genuine care she had for him simply as he was.
"Did you ever ask your precious professor what happened? Was he man enough to face you with this?"
"No. I don't care. You have exactly 10 seconds to tell us if you will help us or not."
Narcissa looked at Potter now with a scowl. "You know…you tell him."
Harry said nothing, and Draco stepped closer to Narcissa.
"Mother…."
Narcissa seemed to consider her options, carefully looking around at the others in the group, giving Katie a particularly malevolent stare that Katie returned. Just when Draco thought that he was going to be forced to do something, that his mother would call his bluff, she turned back to him and spoke very quietly.
"I never would have believed that such a man could possibly be capable of what he's done, but Wormtail has unleashed something very dark and seemingly very powerful. I do not savour the idea of another madman with awesome powers trying to destroy our lives again anymore than you do. I will not serve this man. He's most likely near a place he calls The Chamber of Khepesh. It is deep under the earth, but it is enchanted to show the night sky, supposedly. This is how it is opened, and the time spells here manipulate everything through this point. Like most Egyptian magic, it is a highly ritualistic process to gain access. He started this three days ago, with the aide of the wolves who guard this place. They seem utterly uncaring. Until Wormtail succeeded in releasing the time spell, I thought that they were so non-plussed because they thought this was all…false. Or impossible for this weak man to achieve. I simply waited…."
"I was just waiting for you. I don't care about what they want. Or I didn't. The simple fact is that none of us will leave this place if we don't stop him. I am not falling to this worthless man, and I will not let him destroy you."
Draco nodded at her slowly. "Then you will help us?"
"I really don't see that I have much of a choice, my son."
"Quite right; you do not."
Draco looked over at where Demoncles was.
"No," said Narcissa, firmly and loud enough for the others to hear her clearly. "Do not trust that man. He is far more powerful than we are, and only cares for one thing. He left us earlier to come here simply for that purpose."
"To have Professor Lupin kill him."
"Yes. He will kill all of us in an instant if we stand in his way, and it will be impossible to hide from him, or run from him if he wishes to follow us. He is enchanted into the very fabric of this location, of these buildings. That's how he can move himself and others so freely."
Liz looked surprised. "Of course; a binding spell with location charms. Same type of magic used in the Spelldoors that link this site to the others. He'll be able to follow us anywhere in an instant while we're here, or simply pull us to where he wants us."
Narcissa nodded slowly. "That was one of the first spells required that Wormtail cast."
Liz looked at her then gave an odd small smile. "Are you telling me that Pettigrew has bonded himself to this site?"
"Yes."
Draco looked at Liz, who seemed to be thinking about something now and said nothing further. Is that good for us? Was that a mistake on his part? Don't we need to get him out of here?
Katie finally joined the conversation. "What about Jack, the young wolf there?"
Narcissa nodded but looked sceptical. "Yes, he's usually with the other one, but he seems only to be a servant, and may not be able to help us."
Draco shook his head now and moved towards Jack and Liz, the others following behind. "No, Jack has far more power here than I think you understand, mother. As another werewolf, he seems to have some authority over the spirits in this place, and may be more useful than we think."
As he came over to where Jack and Liz now stood, Draco couldn't help but shiver a bit as he moved closer to the wolf. Jack was sweating now, his bangs clumping on his forehead and a sickly sheen covering his face and chest. Dark black circles made his eyes seem to deaden and sink into his face, and he was panting slightly. But he appeared relatively clam, which Draco took as a good sign. Draco looked at Katie, expecting her to speak with Jack, as Jack seemed most sane when addressing her. Katie took the hint and smiled at Jack as warmly as she could, though Draco didn't miss the slight shake to her mouth. Long day for her.
"Jack, please, we need you to help us. Do you know what is happening here?"
Jack looked nervously up at Demoncles for a moment, and winced at the sight of the silver bonds on his arms and legs, rubbing at one of the burn marks left on his own arm from when the liquid silver had exploded from its spell.
" s'allright, Jack," said George. "He's not going anywhere and he won't be after you. Promise."
Jack nodded quietly and turned back to Katie, looking at Narcissa for a moment. "The doors have been opened. That means…it means the servant is here in the house now. He is the guide, you see. He is the judge. If you are worthy, if he judges you worthy, then he will take you to the chamber, and you will be granted a wish."
"A wish?"
"Anything you ask of Set. Set will be here and he will make it so."
"Sounds like our stone," said Fred, giving Jack an uncustomarily nervous look. "I say, Jack, can the doors be closed? Before the judgement?"
Jack thought for a moment, but then shook his head sadly. "I don't know. There's still so much here I haven't read….so much I don't really understand. Do you know?"
Here Jack looked at Draco, for the first time without cringing. Draco was a little surprised, until Fred spoke up again.
"Draco, how did you stop Demoncles from doing what he was doing before Pettigrew got here?"
Draco reached into his shirt and pulled out a piece of parchment, holding it up for the others to see. "This is part of a spell Professor Lupin and I found when we first arrived here. I've been translating it bit by bit, hoping it might….we knew it had to do with the curse. I thought maybe it might have a suggestion about how to …stop it or something." He looked at Katie quietly, then shook his head. "This is all suggestive language, and it didn't have anything really useful, I thought. It tells about how Set created the curse, and how it is meant to be a 'reflection'; it is powered by the moon, which is a reflection of the sun, and so forth. I thought it was interesting that all the passages were written to 'mirror' one another, and it wasn't until I had translated most of this that I saw there was a pattern and a purpose to the reflective qualities. Just as the moon reflects sun, silver reflects light; it's all about things being turned backwards; corrupted. As soon as Demoncles started to speak, I thought it couldn't hurt to see what would happen if I turned his words back on him. So I just 'reflected' what he said. I was as surprised as you that it worked."
Liz looked at Jack, who's recent transformations were still evident in his composure and his exhausted looking stance. "Jack was too young and too inexperienced to really fight what was happening, unlike Remus. So he did transform, but came back very quickly."
Draco nodded, and looked at Jack carefully. "But keep this in mind, now that we are moving forward in time, the full moon is no doubtably coming with us. Next time, soon, we won't be able to stop the actual transformation. Of any of them."
Katie gave a small groan. "This year, the full moon….it's the solstice itself. So we need to move now and have this showdown before anyone does something they might regret."
Harry smiled at her. "We won't let Remus kill Demoncles. The wolf's never killed anyone before, and its not going to start now."
Narcissa gave Harry a look of total contempt and fury at this statement, but he did not so much as flinch as he met her gaze evenly.
Draco chose to ignore this exchange and addressed himself to Jack again. "Jack, can you help us get to Remus and the others? Can you take us to the Chamber of Khepesh?"
"Yes, yes."
Narcissa looked as if she was about to
protest, but Draco gave her a glare that, thankfully, stopped her from saying
whatever it was she was thinking.
Fred and George finally came back down the steps to join the others. "We'd better go now. Look, I've got him bound, but who knows if the Servant or something else isn't going to just happen along and set him free? I doubt we're going to be very popular for this. Granted it was Pettigrew who blasted him, but I really doubt we're in for questioning on the matter." Fred finished by crossing his arms on his chest, and George nodded his agreement.
"Jack, let's go."
Jack hesitated only for a moment, giving a final frightened look at Demoncles, and then turned to limp towards the front. Narcissa cringed as he walked past her, but he ignored her. Draco took his mother's arm and bent low to whisper in her ear, "behave. We haven't forgotten you."
Jack stopped about halfway down the aisle and seemed to be lost in thought. Draco was just about to call out something after him when he felt a chill descend on the room, instantly turning him to ice. Startled, he looked at Harry who raised his wand and peered into the darkness, but who said nothing. The air seemed to slowly come to life around them, just beyond the edge of the light. What the hell is this? What has that man called here?
Seeming to respond directly to his thoughts, the shadows now moved, and, from both sides of the aisle, the glowing yellow eyes of the jackals seemed to rise out of the darkness, and they stepped forward without a sound to creep into the light of the lamps hanging from the pillars.
"Don't"
The spirit jackals halted immediately at the sound of Jack's voice, despite the slight shake to it.
"Get back!"
Their empty, wretched eyes never leaving Jack's face, they seemed to fade back as quickly as they appeared. Jack motioned for the others to come closer to him.
"Those are everywhere, and now that the Servant has opened the doors, they'll be in here, all over. But just stay with me; they can't actually hurt you."
Draco looked over at Fred Weasley, who was looking into the darkness carefully. He felt Draco looking at him and turned back to face him.
"They're ghosts, not real jackals."
"I suspect these are the remains of Demoncles' armies. Their bodies are in the ossuary, but their spirits are trapped."
"Oh, wonderful, that makes me feel so very much better. I think hundreds of angry jackals would be preferable to hundreds of 2300 year old vengeful spirits."
Draco had to give a small smile, but shook his head. "Obviously Jack can shoo them off, so we'd best follow his advice…."
Jack led them all back into the courtyard, where it was now bright as day. Draco felt slightly ill as he moved down the steps and out onto the flagstones with the others. Effects of the time spell…. He looked up and could only see the air seem to shimmer, though it was not the clear blue of the desert from the previous days, but a dull hazy grey, as if they were encased in a sand storm somehow. We probably are. The jackals all seemed to have vanished from this place.
They went into a small building on the far side of the courtyard, facing the statue of Set. The walls, floor and ceiling were painted a deep dark blue, and covered with row upon row of gold five pointed stars. The only other opening in the room was one of the many large pairs of silver doors. Jack ignored everything else and went directly to pass through the door and into what appeared to be another steeply downward slanting passage. Draco grabbed Narcissa by the arm and held her with him, motioning for the others to go in front. Narcissa's expression had gone blank and she said nothing to him.
They walked down the dim passage for a long time, before reaching the end and another pair of open doors. Jack, however, hesitated here.
Liz, as usual, strode forward where angels feared to tread and had a good look at the doors, then motioned to Harry. They whispered something together, not looking at the others. Draco could feel Narcissa straining next to him, obviously off put by this private exchange. Still she said nothing, and eventually just gave Draco a sideways glance. The light was too dim for Draco to really make out her expression, but he could sense that she was struggling with everything still. Just shut up and be good, mother. I think you have at least figured out that you'll never get out or stop Pettigrew without us. And gods help you once Black gets a good look at you when we catch up with them. You'll need us all to stop him, I can promise you.
Finally Liz and Harry stepped back slightly, and raised their wands at the wall on the left of the door.
"Aperio!"
Draco had to blink back stars as a blinding spell hit the wall and rippled around them. Looking back, he saw that they had brought down another of the false walls they had found earlier. Their spell had also been strong enough to bring down the spell that projected the false passage in their path, revealing a dark well of water. Like the one Draco had seen earlier, this well was also being filled with water that ran too slowly from a stone pipe.
"Katie, what is that exactly, do you know?" asked Draco, seeing that she was looking at it closely.
"Cursed wellspring. The water will pull you in and under and hold you there, drowning you. It paralyses you, so you are unable to cast any spell to save yourself. Jack is naturally prevented from stepping into it because he's protected, but he naturally couldn't reveal the door here."
I don't think I'll ever tell her I very nearly killed her son with one of those. But as he passed the well, he thought of Charles and Elvira, and again wondered where they were. They can't be trapped back in that place; they knew…they saved us. They can't be trapped here, it's too unfair.
They walked again down another long, doorless corridor for a while, before once again coming to a pair of opened silver doors. As they walked in, Draco was staggered at the shear magnitude of the room they entered. The ceiling wasn't visible, the pillars filling the hall simply vanishing into darkness. It was too deep to see anything at the far end, the room itself melting into darkness.
"We're here."
Draco looked at his mother. "This is the Chamber?"
"Not exactly. At the far end of this room is the entrance to the passageway leading into the chamber. The right hand wall of this room is lined with false doors, leading to individual rooms. In each of these rooms are the keys to the spells that open the Chamber. I suspect that …the others….will be in one of the chambers Wormtail has already opened. That's where I would hold them."
Narcissa stopped, then pointed at a large circle several feet away from them in the floor. Everyone stepped forward to get a better look. The circle was actually a depression in the floor, opening into a large pit that was slowly filling with sand.
"When this is filled, the Chamber will open. And that will be that."
Katie glared at her then glanced over at the wall with the false doors.
"Are these sequential? Do we just start at the far end and work our way forwards until we find the room where he's put them? And will he have spells here to alert them we are here?"
Narcissa shook her head slightly. "You can break spells here, but we cannot cast them, so no. They are sequential. The last room I saw him open was the fourth room. There are only seven."
"Fred, you open the first door, George, get the next one. Liz, you take three and I'll get the fourth. Harry, you watch all of us and step forward if it looks like we're having trouble." Katie gave Draco a quick apologetic glance but he just shook his head at her and turned to look at Jack. Knowing that he was a far more accurate way to gage exactly how much time they had left than some sandpit, Draco was trying to watch him closely enough to see if he was starting to change, or looked ill. Jack actually looked slightly better than he had back in the temple above ground, so that at least suggested they had some little time. He was pacing around the rim of the pit now, muttering to himself and looking up every few steps before turning his attention back inside of himself, perhaps seeing something there he needed to.
What are we going to do with him? Can we take him from here? He'll be dead, no doubt, within a month or two. But that must be a better option than this. Professor Lupin will think of something, or Katie will. They'll never just leave him behind. Not now. Draco looked over at his mother again, still standing with her arms crossed watching Harry as he stood at the edge of the colonnade, presumably keeping an eye on the others. Despite everything, Narcissa still managed to look calm and cold while she stood there, and Draco found himself staring at the back of her, wondering what would possibly be next for them. As if sensing his mood, his mother turned slightly to give him a cold and rather bitter look that he was quite familiar with.
"When we get home, Draco, we will discuss your behaviour at length."
Draco felt himself cringe for a few seconds, then he took a deep breath and walked around Narcissa to stand between her and Harry, and leaned in to whisper harshly at her, "Mother, I am 20 years old; 21 come November. I will not be spoken to by you as if I were 7. And I am the head of the house where you are a guest as far as I am concerned. You have been well protected, when we both know that you should be in Azkaban with so many of your 'friends'. Understand this, you may yet end up there for kidnapping, one of the more severe crimes if memory serves."
Narcissa glowered at him, then gave a bitter smile. "Exactly who is going to step forward to accuse me? Expose me, expose the Lupins, and Black. They cannot touch me. The boy is a child of a werewolf, for gods sake….."
Draco grabbed her arm and forced her to stop. "Perhaps you haven't been paying attention. We are not leaving here without Pettigrew. We will return directly to the Ministry, and everything will be brought forward, so your actions will indeed be public record. And your contempt for Professor Lupin does not disqualify his son, who is quite human, thank you, from full citizenship. You were, honestly mother, quite careless in your planning. Very unlike you."
Narcissa finally showed some spark of life in her face at this, and she looked at Draco now with some hint of apology in her eyes. "Draco, I did not plan anything. I reacted. I was so certain…I was so certain that they were going to hurt you. Can't you see that….Never mind. You have made it very clear that you decided years ago that your family meant nothing to you."
Draco shook his head. "That is incorrect, mother. I did not turn against my family, I turned against the darkness you chose to serve. There's a difference. But as I myself have only recently realized this to some extent I cannot image that you could possibly understand what I mean."
"Draco…."
"Please. I will see that you come out of here safely, but you will answer for what you did to Malcolm, if the Lupins so choose it."
"Sirius!"
Draco looked up as he heard George Weasley call out Black's name, and then heard the sounds of footsteps running. He stood his ground though, and waited. After a short time the others appeared, with Sirius and Harry at the lead, and Remus following just behind with Katie, who was holding Malcolm.
"Malcolm, you are not to let go of me again, understand, sweetheart?" Katie was saying to him, and he nodded rather emphatically. Draco could see that Malcolm was starting to look very tired and strained from everything at last. Sirius came over to stand a few feet in front of Narcissa, Remus right behind him. Obviously they had been told she was here, Draco assumed, because Sirius looked as if he was only just managing to stop himself from cursing his mother into next week because Liz had a very firm grip on his left elbow. Whatever she said to him must have been something. Sirius eventually decided silence was his best option and after one last murderous glance at Narcissa turned away to stand with Harry.
Draco looked at Remus, and was surprised to see that Remus was not looking at Narcissa, but at him, and with a very dark, sad look in his eyes. What?
"Professor, you are unharmed?" Draco asked, startled to hear a slight waver in his voice. Remus' look was unnerving to him for some reason. It must be the wolf, being so close to the surface…you've never seen it when it hasn't been controlled.
"Yes," he responded in a hoarse voice Draco knew well. Draco looked quickly over at Jack, who had stopped pacing at least, and who was watching Remus carefully. He looked the same as he had a few moments ago, so Remus' condition must be lingering effects from the earlier episode when Demoncles had nearly forced the transformation on him as well.
"Draco, Harry said you were able to stop Demoncles by repeating his words back to him?"
"Yes."
"Thank you. Thank you for that, for that time."
Draco felt himself smile slightly. "You're welcome, sir."
Remus nodded at him, then looked carefully at Narcissa. "Mrs. Malfoy, do you have any idea as to how fast this time slip is moving? How long we have?"
Narcissa shook her head, but did not speak to him. Remus nodded again and turned back to the others.
"Sirius, where's Peter?"
Black pulled out his map, then swore when he reached for his wand, forgetting it wasn't there anymore. Liz simply pulled out her own and opened the map. They held it open and inspected it again.
"Wormtail should be near here," said Fred, leaning over Sirius' shoulder to get a better look, "since this Chamber of Khepesh….hang on, where's Jack?"
Draco quickly looked back at the pit, but Jack was simply standing there silently as before, rocking slightly on his heels.
"Remus is missing too," George pointed out, indicating the cluster of dots representing the rest of them.
Sirius looked perplexed. "That shouldn't be; the spell doesn't 'filter' things. Unless…unless the werewolves are 'protected' somehow in here. Look, we can't see Demoncles either. There's Pettigrew, up this way, with the other two."
Narcissa finally spoke up. "Three."
Everyone looked at her. "There are three others with Wormtail."
"Anyone have any quick ideas on how to trick this map into revealing werewolves? 'Cause I really don't want to be in here blind with this. No offence, Remus."
"None taken, George. Well, why not try what Draco did before?"
"What?"
"Sirius, Draco stopped Demoncles by saying his spell backwards, by reflecting it. Correct, Draco?"
"Correct, but I think that this may not be a similar…."
"Wait!," said Katie, now stepping forward. "You need a spell that negates the fact that they are being 'reflected' off your map. It's not the spell, but this place working on the map. Try a deflecting charm, and see what that does." She shifted Malcolm slightly as she finished, and he brought his head up from her shoulder. But at this he caught sight of Narcissa finally, and went pale. Draco saw Sirius' jaw clench at that but he did manage to bring his focus back to the map.
"Well, Malcolm, I think mummy's got a very good idea there. What say I give it a go?"
Malcolm looked over at Sirius and just gave a weak nod before turning back to lay his head on Katie's shoulder and clutch her shirt a little tighter. Sirius glared at Narcissa, but just grabbed Liz's wand and waved it over the map.
"Cantio declinum!"
At first nothing happened, but after a few moments Draco saw new dots appear. Not the four they had expected, but seemingly hundreds of them, covering the map. There was a stunned silence for a few moments, until Harry said very quietly, "look at the names. All Greek; those are the ghost jackals. It makes sense."
Remus nodded, then pointed out the four dots they were really looking for.
"Remus Lupin" and "Jack McCabe" stood, as they should be, with the others in their party. Above their position they saw a new dot appear near Pettigrew labelled "Norris Cantersholes", which seemed to cause Remus and Sirius to gasp.
"Norris!?"
"But, I thought he was…."
"Obviously not."
"Damn and blast!"
"Sirius, take a deep breath. All right, so Norris Cantersholes is not dead, he's working with Peter, which frankly I find more amazing, and he is in fact a werewolf. That's all news to me. Sirius, you keep an eye out for him, as you know what he looks like. He graduated before Liz got to Hogwarts…." Here Remus looked at Narcissa. "But he was in your year, was he not, Mrs. Malfoy?"
"Yes. One of you lot."
"Yes, he played for our house team. A great friend of Herthal Santal….but he was supposed to have died the same time Santal did!"
"I really wouldn't be one for keeping up on the gossip of the Gryffindor House, Mr. Lupin."
Draco gave his mother a dark look before turning back to Remus. "Professor, I think we've got a much greater problem in the fact that Demoncles' would appear to be moving."
Draco pointed at the map at the dot labelled "Demoncles Athanadkis", which he had been searching for as soon as the others had all appeared. Much to his horror, the small dot was in fact on the move, and seemed to be headed in their direction.
"Quite right, Draco. I think our only option is to move forward and try to find Peter and the others with him as quickly as we can. But how does Peter expect to control Cantersholes when the time comes?"
Sirius closed the map and reached to take Malcolm from Katie. "Worry about it later. Katie, let me take Malcolm. Wormtail took my wand, so you need to be free to cast, and Remus needs to be free to deal with the other wolves. I promise I'll take good care of him."
Katie did manage to smile at Sirius and surrendered Malcolm to him. But as soon as she had let go she spun to face Narcissa and stood very close to her.
"What else have you neglected to tell us?"
"Nothing."
"I hope you're lying to me so I have an excuse to…." Katie stopped as Remus pulled her quietly away and started them walking towards the top of the chamber.
"Katie, love, not now."
"Just wait until we get home, Remus…."
Draco looked at his mother and gave a cold smile. "Move, mother; perhaps what waits ahead of us is not as bad as what awaits you once Professor Lupin no longer has reasons to restrain his wife."