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The ball was still being talked about, even today, over two weeks later. I couldn't blame anyone though. The attack had fundamentally changed wizarding Britain in myriad ways.
The boy-who-lived, Harry Potter, a national icon, was missing. Presumed dead if what the grapevine said was accurate. With my knowledge of canon, the best guess I had of what had happened was that Barty Crouch Junior hadn't included Potter in the tournament since he was already given free access to the boy as his mentor for the duelling league. He must have taken him directly to Voldemort with everyone distracted by the Yule Ball. The fact that Lucius had been even more distracted in the past weeks and kept leaving at odd hours of the night lent some credence to my suspicion.
There was also the effect of Durmstrang's attack. The imperius had been involved but I had no idea how anyone could have even taken control of so many students or even which students had been controlled and which hadn't. All I knew was that dozens of European children had died within Britain's borders. From what little Lucius had said, it was causing a massive international disaster. Tensions were running high and everyone was blaming everyone else. A war could be coming soon, Lucius had said with a wicked smirk on his face.
Even Hogwarts hadn't been spared. The school had closed down the day after the ball, and everyone had been returned to their homes. No one had any idea when the school would eventually reopen. No longer being on the board meant that Lucius also had very little knowledge n what was to become of the school.
The major thing that had me worried was the fact that Voldemort was probably back. He'd used Malfoy manor as a base in canon and I would be damned if I ever allowed that happen. That's what had me doing what I was doing tonight. Lucius would never refuse his master so Lucius must be eliminated.
He and Narcissa slept in separate rooms, so as I snuck in and stunned him, I didn't have any need to worry about being noticed. The elves would have been a cause for concern, but Lucius had banned them from this wing of the manor if they weren't summoned. Apparently, he hated seeing the 'disgusting creatures' underfoot.
I levitated his body ahead of me and made my way to my room. I couldn't just kill Lucius, that would be a waste. His death needed to mean something. It had to be useful. I would normally balk at the thought of what I was planning but I honestly didn't even have the desire to care. He was a death eater. His master's machinations had cost me the love of my life. In the chaos of the 'battle of the ball' as the press called it, Hermione Granger had been killed. No one had any idea how it happened. A killing curse had been the cause but who fired it was still a mystery.
I couldn't find the direct perpetrator, but that didn't mean I couldn't take vengeance on those that had enabled the act in the first place. Death eaters and their master. Voldemort was a dead man walking; he just didn't know it yet.
I stopped to pick up the last of the supplies I needed from my room and disillusioned both Lucius and myself. I'd set up a ritual circle in the forest bordering the manor already so it was only a matter of getting him there.
Throughout the journey, my heart felt like it would beat out of my chest. Every second felt like it was the second I would get caught. Lucius could somehow overcome my stunner and start screaming for help. Narcissa could look out her window and somehow spot me. An elf that was out cleaning the grounds could notice something off and sound the alarm. There were a hundred things that could go wrong and as I arrived at the ritual circle I'd set up, I breathed out a sigh of relief that none of them did.
I got to work very quickly. Drawing the runes in blood was easy with magic to help. I'd been draining and storing my own blood for weeks at this point so I had plenty to spare. When it was all finished, I tied Lucius to a stake on end of the circle. Then, I rennervated him and dropped my wand outside the circle before making my way inside.
I watched his eyes move around the circle, land on me, and then move around again. "Draco? What is the meaning of this? Release me at once." He struggled against the rope to no avail. I could see he was already beginning to figure out that this wasn't going to end well for him.
"No. Your master has fucked up Lucius. You've all fucked up. He took something from me. Something that I loved more than anything else. Now, what I want more than anything else, is revenge. Congratulations. You're going to be helping me kill the dark lord." After my frankly unnecessary speech, I began chanting and lifted my hands to the air for magic to hear my plight.
Lucius's screams echoed across the clearing as the magic started to consume him. That was my first sign that the ritual was working. He was becoming dust right in front of my eyes. Every part of him was fading into dust. It started with his feet and as it got closer to his torso, he began to beg. To cry, to plead with me to stop. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. It was already too late.
The dust suddenly collated into a single cloud b efore rushing at me. I couldn't overcome my instinctive flinch and the pain that followed removed those thoughts from my mind. The ritual had mentioned pain but nothing like this. Nothing ever like this. It felt like there was lava moving through my veins instead of blood.
Everything was burning. I felt pain in places I didn't know existed. Pain beyond pain, and pain beyond even that. My insides were melting and reforming. I was becoming greater, that's what this ritual did, after all. For now though, I wasn't feeling it. Just the omnipresent pain of everything that was me being burned away. I couldn't even tell when I fell into the bliss of unconsciousness.
XXXXXX
I woke up in my room after what could have been an eternity for all I knew. I thought of standing up and found myself doing exactly that. A wave of the wand I didn't even notice had jumped into my hand conjured a glass with water already in it. Everything felt so much better. Like I'd been running on decades old hardware before today.
That was the point of the ritual though. It clearly worked. Using the essence of the father to empower the son beyond every limit. Two coming together to make something greater than their parts. I searched my mind for another possible benefit of the ritual and there it was. All Lucius' knowledge was right there, mine for the taking.
It wasn't as instinctual as accessing my own memories but with a bit of focus, I was sure I could cast most of the spells Lucius had already known. Another boon of the ritual. Thinking of the ritual did have me considering something else though. I'd fallen unconscious in the forest. So how was I here in my room in the manor?
Did I sleepwalk? Did someone bring me here? Fuck. Was I noticed? Had I been caught? There were no answers to be found in this room at this time so I walked to the dining room for breakfast. A tempus charm told me it was barely after dawn, two days after I'd attempted the ritual. So I'd been unconscious for a full 24 hours. That was going to be a bitch and a half to explain away.
Breakfast was silent. Narcissa sat across from me, silent as the grave. She gave me a long stare when I walked in but apart from that, hadn't acknowledged my presence at all. Just eating her breakfast at a languid pace. Did she know? She couldn't, could she? If she knew I killed her husband, regardless of how adversarial she could be with him, I doubted that she would be here, just calmly having breakfast with me.
"A letter from the ministry arrived for you yesterday. I took the liberty of scheduling your appointment for tomorrow. I hope that works for you" She said after she finished her breakfast and got up to leave the table.
Letter from the ministry? Oh. Had to be the one about arranging my NEWTS. I needed to take the exam sooner than later and I wanted nothing to do with Hogwarts for the foreseeable future. My OWLs had arrived a week ago and Lucius had been proud at the results. Achieving all Outstandings and an Exceeds Expectations in Divination was quite a feat and he hadn't made his thoughts on the matter hidden.
For a moment, I felt bad about what I'd done. I'd killed him. I could talk a big deal about doing it for revenge but that was only an excuse. A bad one at that. I'd killed Lucius Malfoy because it was the best thing I could do for my own goals. It was easy to kill him and the benefits went beyond the boons the rituals had granted. With Lucius dead, Headship of the Malfoy family would fall to me, along with mountains of gold and land to achieve my goals.
I polished off the rest of my breakfast and went to Lucius' solar to have a look at what was now mine. I'd have to report Lucius' 'disappearance' to the ministry eventually, but it was common for wizards to go on sudden trips so the advised waiting period was a week.
With how large the manor was, it took me more time than I would have liked to move from the dining room to the solar, and when I got there, I was surprised to find it crawling with aurors and even the Minister of Magic.
As I walked in to get a better idea of what the fuck was going on, the aurors noticed me and alerted the minister to my presence. The pudgy man waddled forwards towards me while shouting a greeting from across the large room.
"Draco, My boy. We'll get to the bottom of this, I promise you." He said as he walked in and hugged me like I was his own son. I accepted the hug because what else could I do and started trying to puzzle out what was going on here. I couldn't for the life of me figure it out.
"Minister, we should be questioning the boy" A tall, dark-skinned man intruded into the con versation before I could give my own greetings.
Fudge only waved his hand and laughed a deep bellied laugh. "Nonsense, Shacklebolt. Narcissa has already given her statement. No need to trouble the young boy."
The minister put his hand around my shoulder and gfuided me towards one of the ends of the solar.
"Narcissa already told us of what happened. Yesterday, the goblins alerted her of your father's death and she let us know immediately. We'll find exactly what happened, Draco. I promise you that."
I just nodded at me and tried my best to look suitably put down at the thought of my 'father's' death. Apparently, she'd excused my absence yesterday by telling the minister I was grieving in my room and was in a bad state.
I could see why Fudge was so friendly now. He'd lost one of his major backers and was probably hoping that I'd step right into my father's role. I excused myself and returned to my room to think.
Narcissa clearly knew something. She knew enough to know Lucius was dead. The goblins didn't give out information like that and Lucius Malfoy would never have even subscribed to such a service. She also knew enough to know I would be indisposed for all of yesterday. The only remaining question was what should I do about it. Could I even do anything?
Confronting her would be stupid and pointless. All I could do was prepare for my NEWTS. If the letter had truly arrived yesterday, than Narcissa would already know why I intended to do it. There's two known methods to ascend to full adulthood in wizarding Britain; living long enough to turn 17, or completing at least three NEWTs.
Obviously, one option was more popular than the other. For my purposes though, waiting that long would be unfavourable.
Lucius Malfoy's will would be read exactly a month after his death as normal for a pureblood family head, to allow us time to bury him and grieve appropriately. That gave me a month to achieve adulthood.
If I was anything less than a full legal adult by the reading of the will, then a regent would have to be appointed for managing the house's affairs. Lucius would have been the one to make that choice and having someone else in charge of the wealth and power of the Malfoy family for even a short period could prove disastrous.
I had to get at least three NEWTs in a month and while the exams were scheduled for tomorrow, results could take as long as two months to come in. Less than ideal, to say the least. The best I could do about it was just hopefor the best, or was that it?
XXXXXX
The NEWTs didn't fail to live up to their name. They were truly Nastily Exhausting. Taking seven of them on the same day must have been the height of stupidity to the professors that invilgilated me during ym ordeal. Even Tofty, who I'd found to be something similar to a friend found it doubtful that I would be ready to take my NEWTs so soon after taking the OWLs. I had no choice on the matter though. Lucius Malfoy had needed to die and as I easily walked through the ministry with grace I didn't previously possess, I felt his sacrifice was well worth it.
The practricals the next day went as smoothly as the written exams. This time, my feas for extra-curricular credit didn't achieve quite the same level of awe that they had during my OWLs. Even though I felt Professor Tofty made quite a magnificent Lion.
From the department of education, I made my way to the elevator, where I sought to go to the highest floor. The minister's office. Fudge had said I should feel free to visit him anytime, so this was just me taking him up on his not-so generous offer.
The man might have liked to deceive himself that he was some sort of chanmpion of the people. A moral creature that existed to satisfy the needs, wants, and desires of the common man. I suspected that, at some level, he even believed his own bullshit. He believed that he was legitimately interested in helping me, and that, perhaps made him the most dangerous politician of all.
He wanted to build a friendship with me to secure continued access to the Malfoy coffers but to the world, and himself, he was just a friend to the family empathizing over the shared loss of a patron to wizarding Britain.
Xxxxxx
Lucius Malfoy's funeral was probably the most well-attended ceremony that magical Britain got the pleasure of witnessing in decades. Apart from the Quidditch world cup finals, of course.
I looked at the mirror in front of me and resisted the urge to fiddle with my robes any more than I already had. Narcissa had come into my room at an ungodly hour of the morning to make sure I was ready for the funeral before going off to perform her own duties. She still hadn't spoken to me much since Lucius' death. Every day, I became more and more certain that she knew. Too many things just wouldn't have made sense if she didn't.
The cover up was too smooth for her to do it with no knowledge whatsoever about what had happened. The best question was then, 'when did she find out?' If she knew before I killed Lucius, then she was complicit and unlikely to turn me in but if she only found out after the deed was done, then she might only be shielding me out of motherly love. The issue with that, being that I'm not really her son. Not in the way that matters. I don't love her the way Draco did. I possess a passing fondness for the woman but nothing more. Never anything more.
A popping sound alerted me to the arrival of my personal elf. Tilly had changed in the past weeks. As I was the new head of the family, albeit unofficially, my elf had been elevated to the position of head elf within the hpousehold.
She wore the position well. Her head held high and her voice coming out in the smooth confident pidgin English that elves were fond of speaking.
I nodded at her message and left the room with a totally unrehearsed twirl of my robes. I'd been watching the preparations for a while, so I knew the funeral grounds were already set. Lucius' funeral was to be held in a relatively unoccupied area of the manor's grounds. If you thought the manor was large, then the grounds surrounding it would blow you away. There was enough space for a full sized Quidditch pitch on every side. It was impressive to say the least and all I could do was marvel at the opulence.
The funeral field was decked out completely in white roses, to symbolise rebirth. Death was never the end after all. I was also dressed in matching white robes and I'm sure when Narcissa came down the stairs, she would be in a matching white dress.
It was tradition, and there's nothing purebloods took more seriously than tradition. That was the foundation of our power, wasn't it? Why did only purebloods from the same 44 houses sit the Wizengamot? Because its tradition. Why could only purebloods be minister for magic? Tradition, of course. That's why every bit of tradition was adhered to to the letter. When one does away with one or two, it becomes harder and harder to convince people not to do away with them all.
Narcissa's steps down the grand stairs jolted me from my thoughts, and I found myself slack-jawed with shock. I'd always intellectually known that Narcissa was a beautiful woman. It was hard to live with her for weeks and not notice this fact. What I hadn't noticed was that she hadn't been trying. This is what she looked like when she put in the slightest bit of effort.
Blond hair flowed down her shoulders in curly rivulets. Pale skin being highlighted by the white of the dress she wore. A dress that clung to her like a second skin. It wasn't revealing, but hinted at every curve that could be hinted at. Even her smile was different. The fixed smile she wore was replaced by another one, equally disingenuous, but more beautiful by orders of magnitude. She looked breath-taking.
"Mother, you outshine the sun itself with your radiance" I said with a formal bow as she got down and offered her my hand. She only smiled at me, the smile was a tad more genuine but still not the full gleaming smiles she'd once offered.
I swallowed my apprehension and led her down the steps to the carriage waiting for us. The manor grounds were large, and it would be ridiculous for us to walk all the way to the funeral venue on foot. Pulled by two Abraxans, and the steward of the grounds that I'd never actually gotten the opportunity to meet beyond Draco's memories.
The man was a pureblood from a lesser family hired by Lucius to make sure every bit of the family estate was kept to his standards of excellence. He was also the one that had directed some of Draco's earlier lessons like fencing and riding. Yes, purebloods fence. Not as a sport or anything, but it was a rite of passage for every young heir to learn the art. Apparently, it taught discipline and patience.
I led Narcissa down from the carriage towards the waiting crowd. There were seats arrayed in ordered rows in front of Lucius' casket. The seats were almost completely occupied. This was the more private and intimate ceremony before the grounds would be open for general members of the public to come pay their respects. An outdoor floo connection had been created for precisely that purpose. I walked forward with Narcissa by my side, and took our seats at the front.
I watched with only half my attention as Fudge delivered a speech on all Lucius Malfoy's contributions to the future of wizarding Britain. I smiled as the man even let loose a few obviously fake tears during his speech. If not for the benefit of an outside perspective, I'd probably have fallen for the act- hook, line, and sinker. Authors who portrayed Fudge as an idiot had it all wrong. If there was ever a man to perfect the art of politics, It was Cornelius Fudge.
He left the stage after five more minutes and I turned around to search for the next speaker. Narcissa had taken charge of the funeral preparations and I was surprised to note that she'd penned Dumbledore down as the second speaker. Her explanation had been that it was tradition for the Chief Warlock to speak at the funeral whenever a member of the Wizengamot lost their lives.
After looking around for a bit, I noticed that Dumbledore wasn't even present at the funeral. I could only grit my teeth at the disrespect. Fudge had noticed a few seconds before I did and was already walking back to the stage before I started hearing whispers from the crowd and I turned around to note Dumbledore walking down the aisle. The old goat must have just arrived. If it was only the lateness, then perhaps I could have forgiven it, but as I noticed the person walking beside Dumbledore, my rage soared to new heights.
Harry fucking Potter. Dumbledore had brought the supposedly dead harry potter to my father's funeral. It didn't take a genius to figure out why. This was the most well-attended event in Wizarding Britain. Even just this private gathering had almost two hundred guests. The only better way to announce Potter's survival to the wizarding world was to parade him down Diagon Alley. The boy looked uncomfortable to be here, but I couldn't care less about that.
This was intentional and disrespectful. Dumbledore subverted Lucius' funeral for his own purposes. Drawing attention away from the dead man to his suddenly living apprentice. I might have killed Lucius myself, but this bit of disrespect was well beyond even me.
Dumbledore's speech was a ten minute eulogy about Lucius' roles on the wizengamot and even the Hogwarts board of governors. It was beautiful, but not a singlr soul in the crowd paid him any attention. They were all staring at the living, breathing dead man. The boy-who-lived lives again, the headlines would read. The whispers irritated me and as I noted Narcissa's smile become just a bit more fixed every second that went by, I guessed that she was also in my boat.
Eventually, the speeches came to an end and Narcissa and I stood in front of the casket to accept offers of condolences from all-comers. The death was only announced three days ago, and we'd accepted no visitors since then, as was pureblood tradition.
This was the opportunity for most of these men to have their first looks at us, and maybe determine the future of the Malfoy family. Everyone was respectful enough to avoid mentioning any business, but what they said all went in the same vein.
'So sorry about your father's death. He was a great man. We were very close friends. If you need anything, I'm here for you' They all said in pitifully obvious attempts at manipulation. Even Draco wouldn't have fallen for any of this.
There were only two notable visitors. Dumbledore and Theodore Nott Snr. Dumbledore had swept me up into a hug that had be confused and Potter had simply stood silently at his side. Dumbledore's apologies for my father's death even sounded genuine. I might have believed him if he didn't use the funeral to announce his protégé's death.
Nott Snr was even more curious in his won condolences. "Draco, Draco, Draco. Lucius was a good man. Good for the cause. He had duties, you see? Important duties. I hope you can fill his shoes adequately." He had said while giving me a long firm handshake. If that was all, then there would have been nothing wrong, but the bastard pulled me in even closer and whispered into my ear, "Our lord requires your service, Draco Malfoy. Don't disappoint him"
Those words echoed through my head continuously. There was no way I could ignore what he was getting at. Voldemort had clearly given Lucius some assignment or the other, and they expected me to take Lucius' place in the ranks. It was sad that I'd be forced to disappoint them in this. There was no way I would be spending my life bowing and scraping to a murderous psychopath.
That sounded a bit hypocritical considering I was attending the funeral of a person I'd personally murdered. I stood in front of Lucius' casket for hours. People from all walks of life came in to offer their condolences. We only saw the wizarding world from Harry Potter's very biased perspective in the books so we never truly got to appreciate the sheer importance of the Malfoy family.
Lucius had been the largest donor to several political campaigns and charities. He sponsored the only wizarding orphanage in existence, and was the patron to a whole wing of St. Mungos. Lucius had tied himself into Britain extremely well. These people probably didn't like the man himself, but his money was essential for them. They showed up at the funeral in displays of completely performative grief out of the fear that I'd pull funding from whoever didn't attend my father's funeral. A very reasonable fear, to be completely honest.
I had no idea about the scale of the family's finances and I could only hope that Lucius wasn't on the verge of bankrupting us with his attempts to launder his public image by throwing money at everything he could.
At the start of dusk, we finally closed off the floo and sent all the remaining guests home. This final part of the funeral was family only.
I turned to the casket and took out my wand before beginning a long chant.
At the end, white flames shot out of my wand before completely enveloping the casket. The flames produced no smoke, and I watched, with Narcissa by my side as an empty casket was reduced to cinders.
A/N; How does this chapter feel?
A/N; Thanks for reading. We're already halfway through with chapter 17 on the pa-atreon page. Feel free to join me there if you can. Same username as up here. The link's on my profile.