A/N: Keep those reviews coming! I love them and they really do motivate me to write faster and more often :)
In the Company of Snakes
By: Cousin Mary
Part10
Draco Malfoy was exhausted, more than exhausted. He was emotionally and physically drained beyond anything he'd ever felt in his entire life. He'd always thought the phrase 'too tired to sleep' was a load of centaur dung, but here he was, tired beyond all measure, staring at his bedroom ceiling with eyes that just wouldn't close. He rolled to his side and shut his eyes tight, trying to absorb everything, accept what he couldn't change and at least get a little sleep.
His father had always been so strong. His mother too, in her own way. And while yes, Draco had been the defacto leader of Slytherin, at least his own year, he'd never had any –real- say in his life. He could ask, connive and manipulate with the best of them, but at the end of the day he'd always needed someone's approval, be it his parents, Snape, or even occasionally Dumbledore. Yet here he was, fifteen years old, with his father in a coma, his mother gone and a newly discovered sister who apparently had the sight and who may or may not have used the Imperius curse on his potion professor.
And it was all up to him. For the first time in his life, Draco Malfoy was truly in charge. And it terrified him.
His father needed him. His father believed in him, trusted him with his very life. And Maggie, well, Maggie needed a lot of things, that was obvious. His sister literally flinched if you looked at her wrong, he had no idea what her past was, but he was sure as hell it wasn't pleasant. But she too needed him, needed him to tell her it would be all right, even if she knew he was just making it up as he went along. She needed him to be strong, because no matter what her powers were, she didn't see herself as strong enough. And then there was his mother… he didn't know what to think about what had happened. On one hand he could see that Narcissa was capable of such a thing, but on the other… she was still his mum.
Oh, and lets not forget Professor Snape, passed out in the guest bedroom. Draco groaned and punched at his pillow. It was going to be a long night.
In the Blue Room, Maggie too lay awake. So much had happened in so little time. A week ago she'd been in hell, well, as close to hell as she could imagine. Then, suddenly, the end of the world, a light and Agent Peller had swooped in and rescued her before the Department of Mysteries could get their hands on her. She'd been questioned, prodded, fed what to say and what not to say in her new life and shipped off to England. And in less that 24 hours of getting to jolly ol' England, her new father was almost killed by her stepmother who left, and she was left with her brother, who was great, but who was bound to start asking questions soon. And she didn't have any answers.
Since she couldn't sleep anyway, Maggie slipped out of bed and walked over to the large window that dominated and entire wall of her new room. Pushing aside the deep blue drapes, she sat heavily down on window seat and drew her knees to her chest. She stared up through the beveled glass at the moon, settling her head on her knees with a loud sigh.
"Missy Malfie?"
Maggie looked back as the pink house elf popped into her room. She frowned a bit, it wasn't time to get up, and she'd already eaten… "Yes Pony?"
"Yessum Missy," The thin bodied elf slipped across the floor on silent feet and climbed up next to her on the seat. She settled herself comfortably down, pulling her knobby knees up to mimic Maggie. She stared at the human girl with large round eyes for a moment before settling her head on her bent knees and asking, "Whatcha thinkin'?"
Maggie's lips twitched involuntarily, "Nothing too interesting, just how strange life can be."
Pony seemed to take a moment and think about it, breathing in and out through her large front teeth, it whistled a bit. "Life can be very strange Missy Malfie."
Maggie nodded, looking back out at the moon.
The elf sat next to her for several minutes, quietly whistling as she thought. "Strange, like how Meester Malfie didna have a daughter and now he has you, and you're almost grown upped."
"He always had me as a daughter," Maggie explained, "He just didn't know about me. I was in America."
"America?" Pony echoed, "Like with Uncle Yankee Doodle and the Statue of Sam?"
"Liberty."
"Uncle Liberty," Pony nodded, "Sorry Missy."
"That's okay, " In spite of herself Maggie smiled.
"Missy?" Pony asked quietly, "Is the Meester going to be all better soon?"
"I don't know," The girl frowned, "Draco and Professor Snape are working on it."
"I like the Processor," Pony grinned then, "He smells like peppermint schnapps!"
Maggie stared a moment, then started laughing. Her shoulder started shaking and she cackled like a loon. "Oh god!" She held her hand over her stomach, she was laughing so hard it hurt. "Probably not schnapps, Pony. Peppermint drops maybe, peppermint oil, not, heheh, schnapps."
"No, schnapps," Pony insisted, nodding as she spoke as if to show how sure she was, "Donkey drinks schnapps on Tuesdays and sometimes it's peaches and sometimes and it peppermints. And the Processor don't smell much like peaches."
Maggie was still snickering, "No, I suppose Professor Snape doesn't smell much like a peach."
"Donkey smells like a peaches sometimes though," Pony continued.
"On Tuesdays?"
"Only some Tuesdays," Pony told her.
"Ah, well," Maggie grinned, "That's okay then."
"Yessum, all okie dokie," Pony nodded, "And as soon as the Meester's better then all will be okie dokie."
"Yeah, as soon as he's better," Maggie sighed, turning to look back out the window.
Pony affected a loud sigh next to her and stared too.
On the other side of the house, Lucius stirred in the dark. He was floating in a luke warm goo and the air around him felt uncomfortably cool. He sank deeper into the wetness around him, but was disgusted by the oily stench of it. Gathering his wits, he surmised where he was and quickly flicked on the small reading light by the tub.
When he saw the condition he was in, he gave a sharp gasp. He was as pink as a new born! The potion he floated in had the consistency of raw egg, it was a deep green color, but flowed of his flesh as easily as water when he raised his hands from it. His hands, he was pleased to see, were nearly healed and no longer the tangled mess of scars he remembered. He flexed his finger experimentally, most of his mobility had returned. He vaguely remembered Draco hovering over him. Well, the boy had done well.
Taking a deep breath, Lucius lifted himself from the tub. He had to practically crawl to the sink, but once there, he collected what was left of his dignity and climbed to his feet. His legs wobbled, but held.
He took a glass from beside the sink and held it under the faucet, filling it. He was so thirsty and the first drops to hit his tongue were pure heaven. The rest of the glass wasn't so easy, his throat tried to close and he had to literally force the rest down. Disgusted by his own weakness, Lucius slammed the glass down, shattering it. One piece jumped up and he had to jerk his head away to avoid getting it in his eye. He felt a sharp sting as a tiny shard buried itself in his cheek.
Clenching his jaw in annoyance, Lucius turned to the mirror to pick it out. When he saw his refection though, his breath hissed out even as his hand lifted to his face. His skin across his face was as pink as that on his arms and chest. His hair was gone, as were his eyebrows, even lashes. There were welt like marks across his chin and the bridge of his once perfect nose. His cheek was bleeding from the glass, but the red blood looked especially bad against his too pink skin.
"Dear Merlin," Lucius gently probed with his finger and pulled out the shard of glass. He felt numb with shock as he carefully set the glass down. He glanced around the room then, took in the many simmering cauldrons and empty bottles. Hours and hours of work had taken place here. Just how severe had his injuries been? He looked back at his reflection, his vision swam.
"Narcissa tried to kill me," He whispered as he collapsed to the floor.
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