Title: Journeying: Chapter 10: Consequences and Plans
Summary: Draco and Ron deal with the aftereffects of Lucius' discovery.
Notes: I don't normally write action scenes; I think you can see why. Writing is in /.
Feedback: Yes please. If I don't know what was bad, it ain't ever going to get better.
~Consequences and Plans~
Lucius Malfoy tied his letter onto his owl's leg and sent the large bird off to the Weasley household; she should have it delivered within a day. Now was the time to make Draco see what was proper conduct for a Malfoy. Lucius left his office behind, which came complete with an ornate desk made out of ebony, and headed for his son's bedroom.
Lucius had discovered his son's dalliance when he'd seen the boy's owl return from somewhere and had decided to question Draco. The letter had been hidden by the time Draco let him enter, but Lucius was nothing if not resourceful. When Draco left to read that silly Muggle book of his, Lucius had sneaked back into the room and searched it. He'd waited there until Draco came back, and then he locked the boy in his room while he wrote to the Weasleys.
Lucius entered his son's bedroom quietly, without fanfare, but he knew Draco heard him enter anyway. Everything surrounding him was cold, even the air, and no creature was immune to the feeling. Draco was sitting on his bed with the curtains pulled shut, but Lucius could see the boy's outline through the sheer fabric. When Lucius reached the bed, he softly drew back the drapery. Draco looked up at his father without expression. It was the last moment that had a veneer of composure before Lucius attacked.
A curse, no matter how powerful or painful, wouldn't be enough. Lucius wanted his son to feel the pain physically and have it last long after Lucius himself was finished with the boy. Grabbing his son's hair, Lucius yanked the boy down. Draco hit the stone floor, and something, perhaps his arm, cracked. Lucius berated Draco, punctuating each statement with a kick to his son's body.
"How dare you?" ::kick::
"Not only is he a boy--" ::kick::
"Thus contaminating our family name--" ::kick::
"But he's a *Weasley*--" ::kick::
"An idiotic Muggle-lover--" ::kick::
"With Mudblood friends--" ::kick::
"And he's against everything we stand for!" ::kick::
Lucius bent down and, taking hold of his son's arm, wrenched him up. Draco stood there, silent, right arm held stiffly, head hung down, waiting for the climax of his father's diatribe. He resembled a marionette without the puppeteer to animate him.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" Lucius asked, fully expecting his son to cower for forgiveness.
Instead, Draco did the unthinkable-- he snarled at his father. Lucius would have been pleased if it had been under any other circumstance; his son was growing in anger and cruelty. As it was, the act of defiance only served to enrage him further. Lucius got in one good slap to the boy's face and one sucker punch to his stomach before his son's abused body crumpled once more to the floor. Draco's head made a relenting thunk as it connected with the flagstones.
Lucius turned and exited, leaving his son lying there. Once outside the room, he locked Draco in again. He would get obedience at any cost.
*****
When Arthur and Molly Weasley received the letter regarding Draco and their son, they didn't immediately tell Ron about it. It would only upset him, and the problem might go away on its own anyway. Besides, the couple couldn't possibly be serious. Arthur and Molly finally decided to sit down with Ron and have a talk after Ron skulked around for a few days and was positively twitchy. Apparently, the problem wasn't going away on its own.
When the rest of the Weasley clan was busy, Arthur approached his son and said, "Ron, there's something your mother and I would like to show you."
"Okay." Ron joined his parents in the living room but sat across, instead of next, to them. He leaned forward and folded his hands, appearing eager with his actions, but his eyes looked inert and disinterested.
Molly pulled Lucius' letter from a pocket in her dress and handed it over to Ron. He read it quickly and then looked back at his parents.
"You're not really-- I mean-- Are you?" Ron asked. The only signs of distress visible were his hands clutching at the letter's edges.
Arthur took hold of his wife's hand in a loving gesture and answered, "We think it's for the best that you break this thing off."
"But why?"
"He is in Slytherin, and they're not exactly noted for being...." Arthur trailed off, unsure about what word he was looking for.
"Nice people," Molly finished lamely.
"Dad, just because he's in Slytherin doesn't make him evil."
"Yes dear, your father and I *know* that, but the Malfoys have never shown anything but contempt for our family."
"But Draco did that because--" Ron said, cutting himself off.
"Because why?" Arthur asked when his son didn't elaborate.
"I promised I wouldn't tell," Ron mumbled.
"You should tell us."
"We need to know what the situation is," Molly added.
"His father beats him if he doesn't act like that," Ron said, looking down at his still-clasped hands.
Arthur and Molly sank back into their seats with dual countenances of shock on their faces. Neither parent had expected information quite like that.
At his parent's silence, Ron looked up with a wild gleam in his eyes. "You can't tell *anyone*," he said.
Molly nodded. She and Arthur were still thinking over what Ron had revealed to them. This wasn't the way the conversation was supposed to go. Ron was supposed to agree that breaking off the relationship was for the best; nothing could have come from it anyway. Now, she wasn't quite sure what Ron would do. He certainly wasn't going to give up his boyfriend easily.
Ron's desperate voice broke into Molly's musings. "We can't let him stay at Malfoy Manor. I don't know what his father'll do, but it'll be bad. He probably won't even care if he kills Draco."
Arthur answered for him and his wife. "We'll help you; no one, not even Draco, deserves to be treated like that."
*****
It had been five days since Draco had seen his father. He thought. It was all a little muddled in his mind with several fuzzy, confused patches that made keeping track of time very hard. He suspected that the lump on his head caused the problem. From when his father had.... Hold on a second; it was coming to him. There had been a fight, ending with him on the floor. So, he must have hit his head. His right arm was also apparently injured then. It felt like his hand was falling off.
Sitting on his bed, Draco held a quill in his broken arm and a scrap of parchment in the other. Very carefully, he wrote down /escape/ at the top.
Draco knew he needed to escape. There was no way to predict when his father might decide to punish him again, and he wanted to be gone before that happened. But to escape he needed a plan, and how could he do that if he kept forgetting his plans? He hoped writing them down would work.
Below /escape/, he penned /tunnels/. The secret passage underneath his bed led to a far corner of the gardens. He didn't think his father knew about it, but he could be wrong. He was willing to take the chance.
Next, he wrote down /owl/. Hopefully Ron could meet him outside and help him. Draco stood up and retrieved another piece of parchment for this letter. Sitting back down, he realized that he couldn't remember what the paper was for.
He needed to do something. He needed to... what? Draco looked down at the other parchment in his hand. He needed to owl someone? Someone important. Draco tried to think of who was important in his life. There were his parents, of course, but he didn't have to owl them. They lived in the manor with him. And besides, the parchment said /escape/. So he wouldn't want his parents' help.
No, he needed to owl someone else. It was.... It was... Ron. And just like that, Draco's plan came back to him. He scribbled it all down, including where the tunnel exited, as fast as he could. When he was done, he sent his owl off with the letter. For some reason, his father had forgotten about her.
*****
After dinner was cleaned up, Mrs. Weasley announced to the rest of the family that it was time for a family meeting, went out to the living room, and waited. Mr. Weasley and Ron entered first, side by side, and sat by Mrs. Weasley on the sofa, with Ron in the middle. Fred and George shared a chair-- one in the actual seat and the other perched on the arm, twin expressions of curiosity and confusion in their faces. Bill and Ginny came in last and took the loveseat.
"Ron has an announcement he'd like to make," Mr. Weasley said. "And then, as a family, we're going to help him."
Ron hadn't thought of a good gradual way of saying what he wanted, so he just dove to the heart of the matter. "I've been dating Draco Malfoy for the past half a year. We need to get him away from his mansion."
Ron peered anxiously at his siblings' faces. Bill looked... floored, for lack of a better word. Fred and George were doing their best fish impressions. Only Ginny wasn't shocked, merely concerned. The twins were the first to speak up.
"Draco Malfoy?!"
"Are you insane!?"
"Have you been put under a love spell?" Bill asked bluntly.
Ron blew up; he couldn't take people's responses anymore. "Why does that seem to be everyone's initial reaction? I said we've been dating for six months. Six *months*. That's a little long for a love spell to last, don't you think? And, while you may not have noticed it, I've grown up. I'm capable of making smart choices. Maybe there's something to Draco that you don't see; I certainly know him better than anyone else in this room. So shut up and deal. He's getting out of Malfoy Manor, even if I have to go there by myself." During his tirade, Ron had stood up, too full of impassioned gestures to sit still. Now, he sat back down with arms crossed defiantly across his chest.
Silence reigned for a time, until Ginny finally piped up. "What can I do to help?"
That seemed to spur Ron's brothers on.
"Look, we're real sorry."
"We just didn't think."
"You got to admit, it seems an unlikely match."
"But really, we're all good with this."
"Just tell us how to help."
"And we'll do it."
When they finished, a large eagle owl flew in and perched on the Weasleys' table. It looked like the one used to deliver sweets to Draco while at Hogwarts.
Summary: Draco and Ron deal with the aftereffects of Lucius' discovery.
Notes: I don't normally write action scenes; I think you can see why. Writing is in /.
Feedback: Yes please. If I don't know what was bad, it ain't ever going to get better.
~Consequences and Plans~
Lucius Malfoy tied his letter onto his owl's leg and sent the large bird off to the Weasley household; she should have it delivered within a day. Now was the time to make Draco see what was proper conduct for a Malfoy. Lucius left his office behind, which came complete with an ornate desk made out of ebony, and headed for his son's bedroom.
Lucius had discovered his son's dalliance when he'd seen the boy's owl return from somewhere and had decided to question Draco. The letter had been hidden by the time Draco let him enter, but Lucius was nothing if not resourceful. When Draco left to read that silly Muggle book of his, Lucius had sneaked back into the room and searched it. He'd waited there until Draco came back, and then he locked the boy in his room while he wrote to the Weasleys.
Lucius entered his son's bedroom quietly, without fanfare, but he knew Draco heard him enter anyway. Everything surrounding him was cold, even the air, and no creature was immune to the feeling. Draco was sitting on his bed with the curtains pulled shut, but Lucius could see the boy's outline through the sheer fabric. When Lucius reached the bed, he softly drew back the drapery. Draco looked up at his father without expression. It was the last moment that had a veneer of composure before Lucius attacked.
A curse, no matter how powerful or painful, wouldn't be enough. Lucius wanted his son to feel the pain physically and have it last long after Lucius himself was finished with the boy. Grabbing his son's hair, Lucius yanked the boy down. Draco hit the stone floor, and something, perhaps his arm, cracked. Lucius berated Draco, punctuating each statement with a kick to his son's body.
"How dare you?" ::kick::
"Not only is he a boy--" ::kick::
"Thus contaminating our family name--" ::kick::
"But he's a *Weasley*--" ::kick::
"An idiotic Muggle-lover--" ::kick::
"With Mudblood friends--" ::kick::
"And he's against everything we stand for!" ::kick::
Lucius bent down and, taking hold of his son's arm, wrenched him up. Draco stood there, silent, right arm held stiffly, head hung down, waiting for the climax of his father's diatribe. He resembled a marionette without the puppeteer to animate him.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" Lucius asked, fully expecting his son to cower for forgiveness.
Instead, Draco did the unthinkable-- he snarled at his father. Lucius would have been pleased if it had been under any other circumstance; his son was growing in anger and cruelty. As it was, the act of defiance only served to enrage him further. Lucius got in one good slap to the boy's face and one sucker punch to his stomach before his son's abused body crumpled once more to the floor. Draco's head made a relenting thunk as it connected with the flagstones.
Lucius turned and exited, leaving his son lying there. Once outside the room, he locked Draco in again. He would get obedience at any cost.
*****
When Arthur and Molly Weasley received the letter regarding Draco and their son, they didn't immediately tell Ron about it. It would only upset him, and the problem might go away on its own anyway. Besides, the couple couldn't possibly be serious. Arthur and Molly finally decided to sit down with Ron and have a talk after Ron skulked around for a few days and was positively twitchy. Apparently, the problem wasn't going away on its own.
When the rest of the Weasley clan was busy, Arthur approached his son and said, "Ron, there's something your mother and I would like to show you."
"Okay." Ron joined his parents in the living room but sat across, instead of next, to them. He leaned forward and folded his hands, appearing eager with his actions, but his eyes looked inert and disinterested.
Molly pulled Lucius' letter from a pocket in her dress and handed it over to Ron. He read it quickly and then looked back at his parents.
"You're not really-- I mean-- Are you?" Ron asked. The only signs of distress visible were his hands clutching at the letter's edges.
Arthur took hold of his wife's hand in a loving gesture and answered, "We think it's for the best that you break this thing off."
"But why?"
"He is in Slytherin, and they're not exactly noted for being...." Arthur trailed off, unsure about what word he was looking for.
"Nice people," Molly finished lamely.
"Dad, just because he's in Slytherin doesn't make him evil."
"Yes dear, your father and I *know* that, but the Malfoys have never shown anything but contempt for our family."
"But Draco did that because--" Ron said, cutting himself off.
"Because why?" Arthur asked when his son didn't elaborate.
"I promised I wouldn't tell," Ron mumbled.
"You should tell us."
"We need to know what the situation is," Molly added.
"His father beats him if he doesn't act like that," Ron said, looking down at his still-clasped hands.
Arthur and Molly sank back into their seats with dual countenances of shock on their faces. Neither parent had expected information quite like that.
At his parent's silence, Ron looked up with a wild gleam in his eyes. "You can't tell *anyone*," he said.
Molly nodded. She and Arthur were still thinking over what Ron had revealed to them. This wasn't the way the conversation was supposed to go. Ron was supposed to agree that breaking off the relationship was for the best; nothing could have come from it anyway. Now, she wasn't quite sure what Ron would do. He certainly wasn't going to give up his boyfriend easily.
Ron's desperate voice broke into Molly's musings. "We can't let him stay at Malfoy Manor. I don't know what his father'll do, but it'll be bad. He probably won't even care if he kills Draco."
Arthur answered for him and his wife. "We'll help you; no one, not even Draco, deserves to be treated like that."
*****
It had been five days since Draco had seen his father. He thought. It was all a little muddled in his mind with several fuzzy, confused patches that made keeping track of time very hard. He suspected that the lump on his head caused the problem. From when his father had.... Hold on a second; it was coming to him. There had been a fight, ending with him on the floor. So, he must have hit his head. His right arm was also apparently injured then. It felt like his hand was falling off.
Sitting on his bed, Draco held a quill in his broken arm and a scrap of parchment in the other. Very carefully, he wrote down /escape/ at the top.
Draco knew he needed to escape. There was no way to predict when his father might decide to punish him again, and he wanted to be gone before that happened. But to escape he needed a plan, and how could he do that if he kept forgetting his plans? He hoped writing them down would work.
Below /escape/, he penned /tunnels/. The secret passage underneath his bed led to a far corner of the gardens. He didn't think his father knew about it, but he could be wrong. He was willing to take the chance.
Next, he wrote down /owl/. Hopefully Ron could meet him outside and help him. Draco stood up and retrieved another piece of parchment for this letter. Sitting back down, he realized that he couldn't remember what the paper was for.
He needed to do something. He needed to... what? Draco looked down at the other parchment in his hand. He needed to owl someone? Someone important. Draco tried to think of who was important in his life. There were his parents, of course, but he didn't have to owl them. They lived in the manor with him. And besides, the parchment said /escape/. So he wouldn't want his parents' help.
No, he needed to owl someone else. It was.... It was... Ron. And just like that, Draco's plan came back to him. He scribbled it all down, including where the tunnel exited, as fast as he could. When he was done, he sent his owl off with the letter. For some reason, his father had forgotten about her.
*****
After dinner was cleaned up, Mrs. Weasley announced to the rest of the family that it was time for a family meeting, went out to the living room, and waited. Mr. Weasley and Ron entered first, side by side, and sat by Mrs. Weasley on the sofa, with Ron in the middle. Fred and George shared a chair-- one in the actual seat and the other perched on the arm, twin expressions of curiosity and confusion in their faces. Bill and Ginny came in last and took the loveseat.
"Ron has an announcement he'd like to make," Mr. Weasley said. "And then, as a family, we're going to help him."
Ron hadn't thought of a good gradual way of saying what he wanted, so he just dove to the heart of the matter. "I've been dating Draco Malfoy for the past half a year. We need to get him away from his mansion."
Ron peered anxiously at his siblings' faces. Bill looked... floored, for lack of a better word. Fred and George were doing their best fish impressions. Only Ginny wasn't shocked, merely concerned. The twins were the first to speak up.
"Draco Malfoy?!"
"Are you insane!?"
"Have you been put under a love spell?" Bill asked bluntly.
Ron blew up; he couldn't take people's responses anymore. "Why does that seem to be everyone's initial reaction? I said we've been dating for six months. Six *months*. That's a little long for a love spell to last, don't you think? And, while you may not have noticed it, I've grown up. I'm capable of making smart choices. Maybe there's something to Draco that you don't see; I certainly know him better than anyone else in this room. So shut up and deal. He's getting out of Malfoy Manor, even if I have to go there by myself." During his tirade, Ron had stood up, too full of impassioned gestures to sit still. Now, he sat back down with arms crossed defiantly across his chest.
Silence reigned for a time, until Ginny finally piped up. "What can I do to help?"
That seemed to spur Ron's brothers on.
"Look, we're real sorry."
"We just didn't think."
"You got to admit, it seems an unlikely match."
"But really, we're all good with this."
"Just tell us how to help."
"And we'll do it."
When they finished, a large eagle owl flew in and perched on the Weasleys' table. It looked like the one used to deliver sweets to Draco while at Hogwarts.