A/N - This is cracking me up. I'm getting far more reviews at the moment
for my old story 'This Present Darkness' which has been up for ages than
for this new one. I knew people would always prefer my Snape to my Draco.
I hate to say it but I do too! LOL.
Chapter Seven "and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him." Genesis 15:12
Between the daily visits to the Ministry to see Ferenelle and Archimedes, and the dismantling of the Dark Arts store Draco was extremely busy. He did not forget his promise to himself to invite Hermione round for morning tea the next Sunday morning and dutifully sent off a well-mannered invitation via owl.
Hermione smiled when she got it but replied in kind and graciously accepted.
That week, the Aurors had asked Draco to show them how to get into the Dark Arts room. He led them through a series of booby trapped tunnels under the Manor. The charms were not sophisticated but they were certainly effective. In order to reach the first tunnel, you had to know the password to make the door appear behind a tapestry in what was now Draco's study. The first charm once you were through the door sensed body heat which set off a hex that rendered the interloper unconscious. You had to say the counter curse the second you crossed the threshold in order to avoid it.
At the first branch in the tunnel, if you went the wrong way you fell down a hidden pit. The floor looked like smooth stone but it was an illusion. The bottom of the pit was lined with stakes. "Lovely," one young Auror said sarcastically when she saw it. Draco glanced at her but said nothing.
The right tunnel had a hidden doorway. Once again, the wall looked like smooth stone but if you knew exactly where to stop and used a password, you would get to the next part of the tunnels. If you continued on, you would come to a dead end that would force you back on your tracks and down the tunnel with the pit.
"Crude but effective," Archimedes said with narrowed eyes as he was present on this particular day.
The next tunnel was even more dangerous. There were three hexes to get past. The first was a deadly form of fungus on the floor. Unless you knew the charm to protect your feet, the fungus would attach to your shoes and rapidly eat their way through them in order to pierce your skin with tiny spores that would kill you in seconds. The second was a wall of iron bars across the tunnel. Three potions were lined up along the wall nearby. One would bend the iron temporarily and the others would kill instantly on contact with human skin. You had to know which was the safe potion. The third was a goblin. If you had not brought gold to pay him with, he would kill you and drag your body to the family for payment.
Once past the goblin, you had to know one final password to get into the Dark Arts room. By this time, you were deep under the Manor and out beneath the grounds under the woodlands. There was a secret exit out into the woods for emergencies which Draco knew about and knew the password for but had never seen. He himself had never been allowed into the Dark Arts room although his father had showed him how to get past the charms to get there many times.
He admitted to himself that he was incredibly curious about what he would find in the Dark Arts room. He had some misgivings about it, taking into account what he had found out about his parent's activities in the last fortnight but on the whole he was more curious than apprehensive.
The group stepped over the threshold led by Draco. He stood just inside the entrance and looked around. Green torches leapt to life the minute he entered the room but it was still gloomy and filled with shadows. It took a couple of seconds for his eyes to adjust but as soon as they had he could see it was actually a series of rooms. The main room which he had just stepped into was a Dark Arts library, similar to the one at Gillamoor but with a larger collection. From this room branched two other rooms separated from the main one by only stone archways.
The Aurors had fanned out into the other rooms and were checking for any further hexes. In five minutes they were given the all-clear and Draco walked through the archway on the left. He backtracked out again very quickly. The room was filled with crude torture instruments. A half- decayed corpse was hanging in a garrott against one wall.
He sat down on the chair in the library before he fell down and swallowed over and over so that he didn't throw up. He could feel cold sweat on his forehead. He would never go in there again.
He wasn't sure how long he sat there before Dumbledore found him. The Aurors were busy testing all the equipment they found and sorting through it in the other rooms. Draco was surprised to see Dumbledore when he sat down next to him. He had not been part of the group that had come down there earlier that day.
"You're doing a very brave thing," Dumbledore said, his blue eyes perceptive as he looked at the boy.
"I don't want to look at it," Draco said abruptly, as though he felt he had to explain himself.
"No, I don't blame you. I don't want to look at it either," Dumbledore said mildly. "But it's a brave thing to face all of this so soon after your parent's trial."
Draco's eyes were focused on the stone floor. "How many people died down here?" he asked tensely. He seemed to have said nothing else in the past two weeks. 'How many people died, how many people were found' seemed to echo around his head endlessly.
"The Aurors don't know yet. That may take months to confirm," Dumbledore said gently.
"I didn't know the first thing about my parents - not really," Draco said, his face tight.
"No, you didn't. No-one at Hogwarts was going to enlighten you either. It's bad enough you're having to deal with this now when you're still so young," Dumbledore said frankly.
Draco nodded slowly. "What else is down here?" he asked finally in a low voice.
"Just a store of Dark Arts instruments and materials," Dumbledore replied truthfully.
"What are you going to do with all of this stuff?" Draco asked, trying to compose himself.
"I'm here to go through the Dark Arts library and decide what needs to be kept in the restricted section and what needs to be destroyed. The Aurors will probably spend some considerable time dismantling the instruments in the room you saw and testing them to trace the victims. Then they will move onto the Dark Arts instruments and materials, and destroy the most dangerous of the items and keep the others in our Dark Arts labs for further research," Dumbledore explained.
"Further research?" Draco questioned.
"The more we know about how the Dark Arts works, the more effectively we can fight it and protect ourselves from it," Dumbledore replied.
"How long will all this take?" he asked, looking around at the Aurors working.
"The Aurors will probably need full access for around 3 months but I imagine they will be examining what they find for at least another year. Do you want a copy of their report when they are finished?" Dumbledore asked cautiously.
"Ask me in a year," Draco said flatly.
* * *
Hermione came for afternoon tea that weekend. She was smiling when she apparated but the smile quickly vanished when she saw him. He looked dreadful. The purple rings under his eyes had gone black and his eyes were sunken into his head. His face was boney and his skin an unhealthy blue- white. He looked like he had spent a week in a dungeon rather than just opening up the family one. He was still immaculately presented however. At home he wore trousers and a turtleneck, dispensing with a robe. The brown trousers were beautifully cut but the cream turtleneck simply emphasised the pallor of his face.
Draco could see the effect his appearance had on Hermione and there was an awkward pause. "Please come through to the sitting room. We'll have tea there and then I'll show you around the house," he said politely.
"Draco," Hermione breathed. "You look awful!" Her face was crumpled with concern as her shrewd, kind grey eyes examined him closely.
Draco tensed. The worst thing anyone could do now was be kind to him. "I'm okay," he said, a slight frown passing over his face. "The past week has been rather stressful, that's all."
"So I can see," Hermione said meaningfully.
He led her through to the sitting room. Hermione would have been looking around her at the magnificent Manor but her attention was focused on the ashen, subdued Draco before her. Hermione poured the tea for them both and as she sipped, she examined him once again.
"Draco, I know it's really none of my business but it is awful to see you looking so stressed. Are you eating okay? Are you sleeping?" she asked kindly.
Draco wanted to lie and say he was fine but he was sick of lying. He did feel appalling and it would be a relief to tell someone. "I'm too tired to eat and I'm not getting much sleep. The Ministry is putting the pressure on to gather information about the Death Eaters and I've got Aurors crawling all over the Manor constantly," he said tiredly, putting down his tea cup and rubbing his forehead with one white hand.
"I'll get Severus to send you some sleeping potion. It's not ideal but at least if you get some sleep you'll have a bit more energy to look after yourself and eat. Also, I think maybe you should move back to Snape Manor for a few weeks until the Aurors are finished dismantling the Dark Arts store under your Manor. You need some peace and quiet. I'll get Severus to owl the Ministry too and see if they can ease up on their investigations a bit. It's pointless you getting so stressed and tired that you are unable to give them full and complete information. It's not like there is any rush really, Voldemort is gone for the time being and just about all of the Death Eaters have been caught," she said sensibly.
Oddly enough, Hermione's rational suggestions made Draco feel slightly better. He decided he would use the sleeping potion and move back to Snape Manor for a bit. At least he would have Severus-the-first and Hermatica for company, and could dodge all those Aurors. He could go home for an hour or so every day just to check that the House Elves were carrying out his orders regarding the refurbishment of the Manor.
"Thank you, that's very helpful advice," Draco heard himself saying. "If Professor Snape has no objection, I think I will move back to Snape Manor as of tomorrow."
"I'm sure he won't mind a bit," Hermione said with a grin, nibbling at a bit of fine shortbread. Hermione hesitated for a moment and then said, "Harry has being saying to me lately that he'd like to see you sometime. Would you be interested in meeting up with him at my place maybe next week?"
Draco nearly dropped his teacup. "Why does Harry want to see me?" he asked suspiciously, his expression guarded.
"I think he's heard me talk about you and what's been happening to you these past couple of weeks, and he'd like to see you," Hermione replied thoughtfully.
"What have you told him?" Draco asked sharply.
"About how you divorced your parents and have been helping the Ministry with their investigations into the Death Eaters, that kind of thing," Hermione said candidly.
Draco's mouth thinned. He couldn't see where there would be any hidden agenda. Harry needed nothing from him - that was for sure. On the other hand, he was curious. What on earth could the precious, famous, perfect Harry Potter have to say to me, he wondered? "I guess so," Draco agreed cautiously.
"Great," Hermione beamed. Draco was struck afresh by how attractive Hermione was. No wonder Professor Snape took his chance when he had it, he thought with cynical amusement. "How about lunch again on Thursday?" Hermione was saying.
Draco merely nodded but he had a cold feeling in his stomach. If Harry was hostile, he'd hex him. He was tired of being despised and rejected by wizards of Harry Potter's ilk and he had precious little tolerance or patience right then.
* * *
True to her word, Hermione had gotten Snape to bring him some sleeping potion that night. His guardian had shown up not long after Hermione had left Malfoy Manor after her tour of the place with a large phial of the potion. Draco smirked to himself when he saw how promptly Hermione had caused Snape to respond. I bet she's got him wrapped around her pretty little finger, Draco thought smugly.
In fact, Hermione's distressed description of how dreadful Draco looked had been the cause of Snape's rapid departure for Malfoy Manor. He found that Hermione had not exaggerated. He looked very displeased when he saw the state the boy was in and ordered him to eat a large meal then and there before he would leave. Then he watched as Draco took some sleeping potion. Once Draco had gone to bed, he lingered long enough to write a letter to Dumbledore and the Ministry about the boy's condition. He had told Draco before he retired for the night that he expected him at Snape Manor the following day and if the House Elves reported that he wasn't eating three proper meals a day while he was there, he would personally come and stand over Draco at every meal time until he did. The mere threat was enough to make Draco decide to eat regularly, regardless of how tired he felt. The thought of having Snape hovering over him like a great bat was enough to ruin anyone's appetite, he reflected.
Thursday came around quickly again. Although his visits to the Ministry had been scaled back to only twice a week thanks to Snape's intervention, Draco was still over-seeing the refurbishment of Malfoy Manor and still answering the queries that came via owl to Snape Manor from the Aurors dismantling the Dark Arts store. Severus-the-first and Hermatica had been pleased to see him but Hermatica had clucked worriedly over how tired and skinny he looked.
Chapter Seven "and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him." Genesis 15:12
Between the daily visits to the Ministry to see Ferenelle and Archimedes, and the dismantling of the Dark Arts store Draco was extremely busy. He did not forget his promise to himself to invite Hermione round for morning tea the next Sunday morning and dutifully sent off a well-mannered invitation via owl.
Hermione smiled when she got it but replied in kind and graciously accepted.
That week, the Aurors had asked Draco to show them how to get into the Dark Arts room. He led them through a series of booby trapped tunnels under the Manor. The charms were not sophisticated but they were certainly effective. In order to reach the first tunnel, you had to know the password to make the door appear behind a tapestry in what was now Draco's study. The first charm once you were through the door sensed body heat which set off a hex that rendered the interloper unconscious. You had to say the counter curse the second you crossed the threshold in order to avoid it.
At the first branch in the tunnel, if you went the wrong way you fell down a hidden pit. The floor looked like smooth stone but it was an illusion. The bottom of the pit was lined with stakes. "Lovely," one young Auror said sarcastically when she saw it. Draco glanced at her but said nothing.
The right tunnel had a hidden doorway. Once again, the wall looked like smooth stone but if you knew exactly where to stop and used a password, you would get to the next part of the tunnels. If you continued on, you would come to a dead end that would force you back on your tracks and down the tunnel with the pit.
"Crude but effective," Archimedes said with narrowed eyes as he was present on this particular day.
The next tunnel was even more dangerous. There were three hexes to get past. The first was a deadly form of fungus on the floor. Unless you knew the charm to protect your feet, the fungus would attach to your shoes and rapidly eat their way through them in order to pierce your skin with tiny spores that would kill you in seconds. The second was a wall of iron bars across the tunnel. Three potions were lined up along the wall nearby. One would bend the iron temporarily and the others would kill instantly on contact with human skin. You had to know which was the safe potion. The third was a goblin. If you had not brought gold to pay him with, he would kill you and drag your body to the family for payment.
Once past the goblin, you had to know one final password to get into the Dark Arts room. By this time, you were deep under the Manor and out beneath the grounds under the woodlands. There was a secret exit out into the woods for emergencies which Draco knew about and knew the password for but had never seen. He himself had never been allowed into the Dark Arts room although his father had showed him how to get past the charms to get there many times.
He admitted to himself that he was incredibly curious about what he would find in the Dark Arts room. He had some misgivings about it, taking into account what he had found out about his parent's activities in the last fortnight but on the whole he was more curious than apprehensive.
The group stepped over the threshold led by Draco. He stood just inside the entrance and looked around. Green torches leapt to life the minute he entered the room but it was still gloomy and filled with shadows. It took a couple of seconds for his eyes to adjust but as soon as they had he could see it was actually a series of rooms. The main room which he had just stepped into was a Dark Arts library, similar to the one at Gillamoor but with a larger collection. From this room branched two other rooms separated from the main one by only stone archways.
The Aurors had fanned out into the other rooms and were checking for any further hexes. In five minutes they were given the all-clear and Draco walked through the archway on the left. He backtracked out again very quickly. The room was filled with crude torture instruments. A half- decayed corpse was hanging in a garrott against one wall.
He sat down on the chair in the library before he fell down and swallowed over and over so that he didn't throw up. He could feel cold sweat on his forehead. He would never go in there again.
He wasn't sure how long he sat there before Dumbledore found him. The Aurors were busy testing all the equipment they found and sorting through it in the other rooms. Draco was surprised to see Dumbledore when he sat down next to him. He had not been part of the group that had come down there earlier that day.
"You're doing a very brave thing," Dumbledore said, his blue eyes perceptive as he looked at the boy.
"I don't want to look at it," Draco said abruptly, as though he felt he had to explain himself.
"No, I don't blame you. I don't want to look at it either," Dumbledore said mildly. "But it's a brave thing to face all of this so soon after your parent's trial."
Draco's eyes were focused on the stone floor. "How many people died down here?" he asked tensely. He seemed to have said nothing else in the past two weeks. 'How many people died, how many people were found' seemed to echo around his head endlessly.
"The Aurors don't know yet. That may take months to confirm," Dumbledore said gently.
"I didn't know the first thing about my parents - not really," Draco said, his face tight.
"No, you didn't. No-one at Hogwarts was going to enlighten you either. It's bad enough you're having to deal with this now when you're still so young," Dumbledore said frankly.
Draco nodded slowly. "What else is down here?" he asked finally in a low voice.
"Just a store of Dark Arts instruments and materials," Dumbledore replied truthfully.
"What are you going to do with all of this stuff?" Draco asked, trying to compose himself.
"I'm here to go through the Dark Arts library and decide what needs to be kept in the restricted section and what needs to be destroyed. The Aurors will probably spend some considerable time dismantling the instruments in the room you saw and testing them to trace the victims. Then they will move onto the Dark Arts instruments and materials, and destroy the most dangerous of the items and keep the others in our Dark Arts labs for further research," Dumbledore explained.
"Further research?" Draco questioned.
"The more we know about how the Dark Arts works, the more effectively we can fight it and protect ourselves from it," Dumbledore replied.
"How long will all this take?" he asked, looking around at the Aurors working.
"The Aurors will probably need full access for around 3 months but I imagine they will be examining what they find for at least another year. Do you want a copy of their report when they are finished?" Dumbledore asked cautiously.
"Ask me in a year," Draco said flatly.
* * *
Hermione came for afternoon tea that weekend. She was smiling when she apparated but the smile quickly vanished when she saw him. He looked dreadful. The purple rings under his eyes had gone black and his eyes were sunken into his head. His face was boney and his skin an unhealthy blue- white. He looked like he had spent a week in a dungeon rather than just opening up the family one. He was still immaculately presented however. At home he wore trousers and a turtleneck, dispensing with a robe. The brown trousers were beautifully cut but the cream turtleneck simply emphasised the pallor of his face.
Draco could see the effect his appearance had on Hermione and there was an awkward pause. "Please come through to the sitting room. We'll have tea there and then I'll show you around the house," he said politely.
"Draco," Hermione breathed. "You look awful!" Her face was crumpled with concern as her shrewd, kind grey eyes examined him closely.
Draco tensed. The worst thing anyone could do now was be kind to him. "I'm okay," he said, a slight frown passing over his face. "The past week has been rather stressful, that's all."
"So I can see," Hermione said meaningfully.
He led her through to the sitting room. Hermione would have been looking around her at the magnificent Manor but her attention was focused on the ashen, subdued Draco before her. Hermione poured the tea for them both and as she sipped, she examined him once again.
"Draco, I know it's really none of my business but it is awful to see you looking so stressed. Are you eating okay? Are you sleeping?" she asked kindly.
Draco wanted to lie and say he was fine but he was sick of lying. He did feel appalling and it would be a relief to tell someone. "I'm too tired to eat and I'm not getting much sleep. The Ministry is putting the pressure on to gather information about the Death Eaters and I've got Aurors crawling all over the Manor constantly," he said tiredly, putting down his tea cup and rubbing his forehead with one white hand.
"I'll get Severus to send you some sleeping potion. It's not ideal but at least if you get some sleep you'll have a bit more energy to look after yourself and eat. Also, I think maybe you should move back to Snape Manor for a few weeks until the Aurors are finished dismantling the Dark Arts store under your Manor. You need some peace and quiet. I'll get Severus to owl the Ministry too and see if they can ease up on their investigations a bit. It's pointless you getting so stressed and tired that you are unable to give them full and complete information. It's not like there is any rush really, Voldemort is gone for the time being and just about all of the Death Eaters have been caught," she said sensibly.
Oddly enough, Hermione's rational suggestions made Draco feel slightly better. He decided he would use the sleeping potion and move back to Snape Manor for a bit. At least he would have Severus-the-first and Hermatica for company, and could dodge all those Aurors. He could go home for an hour or so every day just to check that the House Elves were carrying out his orders regarding the refurbishment of the Manor.
"Thank you, that's very helpful advice," Draco heard himself saying. "If Professor Snape has no objection, I think I will move back to Snape Manor as of tomorrow."
"I'm sure he won't mind a bit," Hermione said with a grin, nibbling at a bit of fine shortbread. Hermione hesitated for a moment and then said, "Harry has being saying to me lately that he'd like to see you sometime. Would you be interested in meeting up with him at my place maybe next week?"
Draco nearly dropped his teacup. "Why does Harry want to see me?" he asked suspiciously, his expression guarded.
"I think he's heard me talk about you and what's been happening to you these past couple of weeks, and he'd like to see you," Hermione replied thoughtfully.
"What have you told him?" Draco asked sharply.
"About how you divorced your parents and have been helping the Ministry with their investigations into the Death Eaters, that kind of thing," Hermione said candidly.
Draco's mouth thinned. He couldn't see where there would be any hidden agenda. Harry needed nothing from him - that was for sure. On the other hand, he was curious. What on earth could the precious, famous, perfect Harry Potter have to say to me, he wondered? "I guess so," Draco agreed cautiously.
"Great," Hermione beamed. Draco was struck afresh by how attractive Hermione was. No wonder Professor Snape took his chance when he had it, he thought with cynical amusement. "How about lunch again on Thursday?" Hermione was saying.
Draco merely nodded but he had a cold feeling in his stomach. If Harry was hostile, he'd hex him. He was tired of being despised and rejected by wizards of Harry Potter's ilk and he had precious little tolerance or patience right then.
* * *
True to her word, Hermione had gotten Snape to bring him some sleeping potion that night. His guardian had shown up not long after Hermione had left Malfoy Manor after her tour of the place with a large phial of the potion. Draco smirked to himself when he saw how promptly Hermione had caused Snape to respond. I bet she's got him wrapped around her pretty little finger, Draco thought smugly.
In fact, Hermione's distressed description of how dreadful Draco looked had been the cause of Snape's rapid departure for Malfoy Manor. He found that Hermione had not exaggerated. He looked very displeased when he saw the state the boy was in and ordered him to eat a large meal then and there before he would leave. Then he watched as Draco took some sleeping potion. Once Draco had gone to bed, he lingered long enough to write a letter to Dumbledore and the Ministry about the boy's condition. He had told Draco before he retired for the night that he expected him at Snape Manor the following day and if the House Elves reported that he wasn't eating three proper meals a day while he was there, he would personally come and stand over Draco at every meal time until he did. The mere threat was enough to make Draco decide to eat regularly, regardless of how tired he felt. The thought of having Snape hovering over him like a great bat was enough to ruin anyone's appetite, he reflected.
Thursday came around quickly again. Although his visits to the Ministry had been scaled back to only twice a week thanks to Snape's intervention, Draco was still over-seeing the refurbishment of Malfoy Manor and still answering the queries that came via owl to Snape Manor from the Aurors dismantling the Dark Arts store. Severus-the-first and Hermatica had been pleased to see him but Hermatica had clucked worriedly over how tired and skinny he looked.
