In The Darkness
Chapter Three: Undertakings'Are you okay?' Neville asked Harry as he picked himself up from the wall where he had fired from, rubbing the back of his head where the force of the impact had left a small lump.
'Yeah,' Harry said distractedly, 'I thought I had that charm fixed.'
'What was that you did? I've never seen anything like that before.'
'Talk later,' Harry replied moving to the door, 'first I want to see who that was.' Moving out into the street he quickly paced towards the body as Neville ran into Dean's hallway, turning over the body he recognised the blank stare of the Killing Curse as well as the bullet wound the bastard had put in for the Muggles. As Harry neared the body he removed a small silver lighter, clicking the put-outer rapidly Harry doused the lights from the street lamps, also taking the light from the entrance to Dean's house. However when he got to the body of the man, Harry only glimpsed his face for a second before turning round and scanning the area where the second beam had come from.
Exiting the house and kneeling down beside the body, Neville turned the face towards him and blanched visibly, 'Draco Malfoy, I thought he was dead.'
'That's not Malfoy,' Harry muttered, still scanning the bushes, 'and he was never dead.'
'What, but you and he, the top of Hogwarts in our final year.'
'Yes, that was rather spectacular wasn't it?' came a familiar drawling voice, and from the shadows across the street emerged a familiar figure, dressed in a dark suit with ocean blue eyes and blond hair, it was Draco Malfoy.
'Stup-'
'Expelliarmus!' Harry cried and Neville's wand flew neatly into his hand while the man cradled his sprained wrist. 'Bloody hell, you don't ask enough questions really, maybe I shouldn't have given you the psych books.' Grinning at the joke Harry didn't expect the punch until Neville's clenched fist had already bounced off his nose, leaving a trickled of blood moving down and Harry sat down with a surprised thump.
'Enough!' Malfoy snapped, 'Longbottom go inside with Harry, I'll bring this along.' He sent a sharp kick into the body lying in the road, 'give me the put-outer, I'll put it back when you're in.' Taking the small silver lighter from Harry he stooped over the body and lifted it onto his shoulders while Harry shakily stood up, then began to walk back into Neville's house. Opening his mouth to object Neville found Draco's eyes piercing him, the statement was final; 'move now, questions later.'
* * *
Moving inside the house Harry went straight to the kitchen where he poured some cold water from a mug over his face, gasping as his nose stung he closed his eyes against the pain. Turning back to walk into the living room he was confronted by a pale faced Neville, holding his hand out, 'I owe you a slug when this is over,' Harry said, placing the wand in the outstretched palm. Moving into the living room he moved over to the body that Malfoy had dumped on the floor, 'who is it Draco?'
'Five minutes and we'll find out,' was the reply combined with the waving of a small bottle that Neville recognised as Curio Fluid, an antidote to the Polyjuice Potion. Now in clear light Neville saw Draco clearly for the first time, he hadn't changed much over the time since Hogwarts, twenty-one years of death had been kind to him. Apart from his face, down his left side was a massed of loose and scarred flesh that had been hidden in the dark street, 'pretty aren't I' he said sarcastically as he caught Neville staring at him. Standing up his pushed past into the kitchen and moved to the sink, as he turned on the taps Neville caught sight of a similarly scarred hand.
'Harry,' he muttered, 'just what the hell is going on?'
* * *
In the darkness, silence reigned.
'He has failed.'
'I know…I am displeased.'
'Master…we-'
'SILENCE! I WILL NOT ACCEPT YOUR FAILURES! CRUCIO!'
'N-'
A sickening crack rent the air followed by a gurgle.
'You will no longer fail me, you know what to do.'
* * *
'Twenty-one years ago I saw you die!'
'No, you saw what we wanted you to see.'
'What?!'
'Draco and I had been in league with each other for three years before the End that night.'
'Okay…what?!'
'I'll explain Harry,' Draco said with a sigh, 'you watch this,' he aimed another sharp kick at the body on the floor. Sitting back in the chair he closed his eyes, suddenly he flicked his wand causing the curtains to swish shut, only then did he begin to speak, softly at first but his voice grew stronger as he went on. 'After Cedric died and Voldemort rose again, I had enough, I left my home and my father, he was there like Harry said, but that bastard Fudge denounced him, I never knew he was a Death Eater…sometimes people hide things well. Well after that I lived in Hogwarts, no one ever knew that except Albus and Severus, and during the first holidays when Weasley and Granger went home, I mean no one wanted to leave their families alone, those of us who had them, I talked with Harry.'
'We decided that I should die, people always thought I was deeply involved with Voldemort since birth, and in a way I was, through my father. But then I also acted like it in the four years you really knew me, but if you remember I was always watched, Crabbe and Goyle, Bulstrode, even that traitor Quirrel watched me when he was at the school, so did Crouch. So in the End, Harry and I put our three-year plan into formulation, when Voldemort fell under the Order's attack we began our plan, I ran to the roof with Harry chasing.'
'I remember passing you in the corridor Neville, I must have stunned you or smacked you one, either way I apologise, but this needed to look real, I mean I even sent Colin Creevey into a Confundus state to make this work. Anyway eventually we got to the top of the Astronomy tower, and that's where the real magic began. Up there was a store of five Filibuster's crates which I began setting off the second I was up, when Harry arrived later I had set the rest to go off when he passed through the door, to throw back any who followed him, I gather Ron caught one but never realised the significance. Up on the roof was a Muggle glider, they don't use elec-ekelec-that stuff that powers their machines so within five minutes I was gone, after we threw the simulacrum off the roof. And before you ask, yes it was a body, stocked up with Polyjuice a la Draco, it was Crabbe who was eventually buried, not me, if you remember Severus permitted no one else to be present except for Dumbledore, he never knew that part of our plan. So there you have it, I lived, Voldemort and his followers died or fled.'
'Evidently they didn't all decide to stay hidden,' Harry muttered, 'Lumos!' in the darkened room he shone his wand light over the body to reveal that Draco had gone, and in his place lay the battered face of Goyle, only recognisable by his eye that Hermione had taken in the final struggle. 'They're gathering Draco,' Harry muttered, his eyes wide as the wand light went out, plunging them all into the darkness.
* * *
Around Neville's house the four dark figures merged with the shadows as the lights inside dimmed, a sharp nod from the leader reassured the others that they had remained unseen. Drawing wands stealthily from their cloaks, the Death Eaters began to spread out around the house, keeping to the shadows. Soon they were settled in position and as one they pressed their wands against the Dark Mark emblems that had been burnt into their skin, within seconds more appeared with small pops and flashes of light until the house was completely surrounded.
* * *
'It's early for lightning,' Neville muttered as the flashes penetrated the curtains and with eyebrows raised he crept over to a chink in them.
'That's…not…thunder,' Malfoy said, gritting his teeth and clutching his arm, 'Harry…we…'
'Neville, get away from the windows!' Harry exclaimed, as Draco fell to the floor writhing in agony, jumping across the room he tackled Neville as a dozen green energy blasts took out the glass in the windows. 'Explain that one to the Muggles!'
'What's wrong with Draco?' Neville shouted over the shattering glass sound that was echoing throughout the entire house, 'I've never seen anything like that before.'
'You remember my scar warned me about Voldemort?' Harry replied as a fresh wave of green energy dismounted, 'well Draco has-' but then the room exploded into a ball of dust and rubble, plunging Neville into unconsciousness, the last thing he heard was Harry shouting his name in the darkness.
A/N: What the bloody hell happened there? And who among you are confused? Good isn't it? Read more in chapter 4: hidden powers