Episode One Hundred and Six
Part One
Graves looked into the darkness with the apprehension of someone approaching the end of something important to them. He didn't want this to be over, but he wasn't aware of what "this" was. The hole he had entered led to another cave, similar to the one before, like a great long hallway lit only by torches in brackets.
He walked along for no more than five minutes, but with each inhaled breath it seemed so much longer. Time was such an escapable thing that without a watch one could hardly rely on their own sense to tell what hour of the day it was or how many hours had passed in the all encompassing, dark silence.
There was a light up ahead, traveling towards him as if someone were carrying a lantern before them. Graves concealed himself in the invisibility cloak before the approaching figure drew evenly with him. He squashed himself against the wall until he could tell who the torch bearer was.
As he saw the pointed but pretty features it became clear who he was looking at. He had seen this face many time in the firelight in the woods. While many had chosen to remain masked as the Dark Lord returned to power, Lucius Malfoy stood out among his companions. His naked bravery had won him favor with Lord Voldemort and while others still shuddered to even think of such things, Malfoy had played his cards correctly.
Until his son had joined, shortly after his graduation from Hogwarts. He had only been a member for a few months, but the boy was sulky and at times whiny. He was not the shining example of strength and composure his father had proved to be. Draco was not an asset to the death eaters and if Lucius cared to remain so he had to do something about this little problem his child was creating.
So it was that Draco had ended up incapacitated on the floor of the barren cavern. He had spoken out to his father about how the war was carrying on one time too many. When the war was ended and most of the death eaters broken and running scattered through the Forbidden Forest to face werewolves, giant spiders and all the other terrors of the woods, Draco remained hidden in the cavern in the woods, the refuge of the top leaders.
He had said something along the lines of "I told you so" and the elder Malfoy was quick to silence the boy before any of the others heard. They were not entirely defeated. In fact the wounds and blood spilled on the battle field that last day were merely an affront to the Dark Lord's true power. He would return with or without the aid of his followers.
All of this information Lucius Malfoy was privy to and now he had only to clean up his baggage left on the floor. Killing Draco would be easy. He had no real attachment to the boy and if he wasn't going to play the rules he wasn't going to play at all. Disposing of the body wouldn't provide a real problem either, for this sort of thing was commonplace to a death eater. The only real problem he could possibly face was the explanation to his wife, Narcissa. She might argue that Lucius hadn't really given his son a chance and that perhaps it was her fault for fussing over him too much as a baby.
He sighed as he passed Graves, thinking of what best to say to the sour faced woman he had married right out of school. Graves felt only the thick malice lingering on the air like a perfume that Malfoy wore daily. He followed the man, slowly and quietly and discovered his plans only when the man stopped over his son, his wand pointed down in a deadly arch. He spoke the first word as if it were a silken snake, sliding off his tongue to swallow Draco whole. "Avada…"
Graves pulled his wand and before he could stop himself, stunned Lucius. He knew he wouldn't have long, so he dragged Draco into a corner of the room, stunned him again so he wouldn't wake and give himself away and covered him with the invisibility cloak.
Graves ran back down the corridor, and while he wanted to follow the left path that lead to Gwen he knew that he still hadn't discovered where the right path lead to. He took a deep breath and began to run, making up all the time he had wasted protecting Draco. He found that the other end lead to another chamber, like a sitting room and another hall and so on, like a modern day conference center in a creepy hotel. He decided that this was not anything he needed to worry about and headed back to the room where the Malfoys lay stunned.
Part Two
Harry tried not to look behind him, but the feeling that someone was watching him was all around and upon him.
This hallway was no different from the others. The torches hung in brackets at different intervals, lighting only a little of the way, the rest of which was dark and felt impassable, even though he stepped through it every few feet.
After a great length of time however he realized that this hall didn't lead to anything. The torches continued on endlessly before him and endlessly behind him, but there was no obvious indication that this was anything more than an endless hallway.
He stood perfectly still, listening for any noise that might suggest he should continue on. He heard nothing except the familiar cave sounds he had been hearing, minus the shuffles of his feet and the ripples of his robe. He decided that this endless hall was just that and turned around.
He traveled back to the main room, finding Graves leaning against the mantel of the fireplace, his arms wrapped around his chest and his wand out. He saw that Lucius Malfoy was out cold on his face on the floor, and he saw a foot, sticking out from under Grave's invisibility cloak. He didn't ask, he simply took his wand out to hold in his hand and joined his friend by the fireplace.
Part Three
Gwen's journey was longer and darker than any so far. The torches were guttering in their brackets as the air took on a deeper chill. There was a breeze here, but it felt unreal. It screamed to get back and stay away, but since she had come so far she couldn't just step back and step away.
The final torches were not lit, but she could see just a little from the torches further back as their light stretched out to guide her. There was a solid wall before her, but putting her hand up to it she felt that the breeze flowed through and she realized this was a trick wall, something like the ones in the Faerie Mound.
She stepped ahead without wasting time to think on it. She had acted on haste before and it almost never turned out well, but if she had waited to think on it her courage would've faltered and she would never have stepped through.
Part Four
The Dark Lord had killed many wizards and witches without a backward glance. He was no stranger to indiscriminate killing. Yet when this young witch had entered his chamber he could not simply dispose of her. She hadn't taken her wand out of her black robes. She stood defiant and unwisely unprotected. She was looking directly into his inhuman eyes, her eyebrow arched without a twinge of discomfort.
She intrigued him. He waited for her to speak.
"Let's cut right to the chase." She started, her voice level and even. Her thoughts flew at her, as if out of a cage that had been locked in her mind up until now. She hadn't known when she had entered the trick wall that it would bring her face to face with Lord Voldemort. Nor did she understand why he hadn't just killed her already. She stifled these thoughts and spoke the very next that came to mind. "You've been trying to kill my friend for about eighteen years now and I don't want him to die. So I'm going to ask you, only once, to knock it off."
The dark lord sat in his throne-like chair, amazed at the upstart before him. "And who exactly are you?" He said, almost lazily.
"I think the question is who are you? Who gave you the right to take life away?"
"Who are you to ask such questions?" He thundered.
"The jury." She said with deadly cool.
He was amazed that she would be so calm. He had sent bigger, wiser wizard's knees knocking in fear. How come this one was so fearless?
"I've always been this way." She answered, as if she'd heard his thoughts. "I'd rather not be the judge or the executioner, but if you'd prefer…"
"What is my crime?" He asked intrigued.
"Which one? You have thousands of wizard's and witch's blood on your hands." She said, pointing her wand carefully at him and suggesting that he look at his hands.
He recoiled ever so slightly at the sight of gore and grimy blood covering them. "What magic is this?" He asked, more impressed than anything else.
"This is the power given to me by the Stag King. I can show you what you've done, like a mirror. I can make you feel the pain you've inflicted, like the conscience you obviously don't have."
"What do you want?"
"I want to know why. I want to understand how anyone could be so heinously evil. I want to know why you wanted me dead." Her teeth clenched as she finished, setting hard lines all about her face.
"Does there have to be a reason?" He answered dodgingly.
"Perhaps it's been so long you can't remember what started it all." She said with an icy dagger in her voice. "But surely you can remember back nine years. You sent your death eaters to kill a little girl. But she foiled your plan with fey magic. She's standing before you just now." She said raising her head high.
"Guenivere LeFey." He intoned darkly. "Ah yes, I do remember."
Part Five
Gwen staggered into the chamber where the two boys waited, wands poised at the still unconscious form of Lucius. She blinked, shook her head and asked: "Where's Draco?"
"That's all you have to say?" Harry asked, confused.
"You look like hell." Graves added, staring at her blatantly. Her robes were torn, her hair disheveled and she didn't look quite real. He noticed her right hand was clamped firmly over her chest, pressing in as if to keep some pain contained within her breast.
She huffed. "What did you do with him?"
"I saved his life is what I did." Graves replied, reaching down and removing the invisibility cloak from the fallen boy. "His father was going to kill him."
Gwen apologized with a simple glance and any anger Graves harbored was wiped away. She knelt once again, her hand still over her chest and did something Graves had never seen her done; she took her wand in her left hand. She concentrated deeply and performed the enervate spell.
Draco stirred weakly and looked up at her. "You." He said miserably.
She laughed, which caused her some sort of pain. Graves rushed to her side in a nervous state, closely followed by Harry.
"All three of you." Draco said, averting his eyes. "He didn't finish the job." He said of his father, whom he hadn't noticed lying on the ground some ten feet away from him.
"He wasn't allowed to." Graves said with extreme restraint.
Draco understood his meaning. He struggled to get up and noticed his father as he came to a wobbling stand. "Dead?" He asked.
"No." Harry said quickly with a rough nod.
Draco's lips hardened into a thin line. He looked down, trying to understand why these people who hated him were trying to help him. "I'm already too late." He said.
"For what?"
"I know where Dumbeldore is being held. But I'm willing to bet he's dead now that I've been delayed."
"You would've been delayed permanently had we not done anything." Graves said.
Malfoy glared at him sullenly.
Gwen touched Draco's arm gently. He looked at her from under his blond brows as if he couldn't believe her. She had always been kind to him, but this seemed too much. She had been kind enough to convince her boyfriends to protect him? He turned his gaze back to his feet and spoke softly. "The endless tunnel in the middle of the three tunnels at the end of the hall. That is where they last kept Dumbledore."
Gwen didn't bother with words, she took off at a run with Harry and Graves following. Draco took one more long look at his father before he too decided to follow them into the endless tunnel.
They ran until their sides ached and there was no more breath to spread amongst them. They ran until the lactic acid burned inside their muscles and their bodies were covered in sweat. They ran down the length of the endless hall and didn't stop until they had reached the end, no matter how their bodies protested against them.
This passage really did seem endless, but at last they discovered that it was not. There was another trick wall at the end of this hall. It led to a small chamber lit oddly blue by an unidentifiable light source.
In the center of this chamber was a crouching figure, dressed in a familiar robe, white hair creeping all about him in every direction. It was difficult to tell how long he had been kept here, but if the filth about him was any indication Graves would have guessed two to three weeks.
"We've got to get him out of here." Gwen said. No one argued; there was a sense of urgency that her tone of voice only confirmed.
All four of them made light work of lifting the man with their wands and carefully transporting him from the room.
"He'll be after us." Draco said under his breath.
"I don't think so." Gwen said, which raised everyone's eyebrows, but no one commented on the subject, now was not the time.
The group trudged on through the snow, Gwen guided them swiftly to the edge of the forest without any of them really realizing she was doing. She was going to get them as close to the school as possible before she left them to finish some business of her own.
