Chapter Two - London Rain
Draco pulled his trunk behind him and cursed the fact that he was underage, and therefore unable to levitate it. None of the family servants, be they house elves or people, would take his gear, or even look at him. They had been instructed by his mother not do so.
Much as he hated circumstances at the moment, he still admired his mother, and they steel core she'd shown in kicking him out. Obviously not something anyone else would think, but Draco was purebred Malfoy and Slytherin, and there was no more formidable combination that that.
His face twisted as he thought of his heritage, and how he'd betrayed it. His father, locked in Azkaban, would kill him, then possible himself, and as for the rest of his family, not to mention the other Death Eaters he knew...
He was as bad as the traitor Black. Worse.
But nothing would happen, at least not if he didn't tell anyone.
His Aunt Bellatrix had accepted his story of being unable to live with his mother for personal reasons quite readily, and though it was risky for her to make a public appearance, after what had happened with Potter two years ago, she'd promised to meet him.
Potter. Draco's lips curved into a scowl and his grey eyes looked more likely to flash lightning than the clouds above. The-Boy-Who-Lived. The one who'd put his father in jail, ruined the Dark Lord's domination - he really did ruin everything.
Walking into the black marble foyer for what he assumed was the last time, he found his mother standing quietly, her back to him, watching the rain. Chinky the house elf, her personal servant, stood by her. She flattened her ears and glared at Draco.
"Chopin will go with you," Narcissa said to him without turning around. "He is your personal servant and would not be persuaded to stay here."
Draco didn't say a word. Holding his head up proudly, he walked past her, to where Chopin waited in a corner. Chopin levitated the trunks, and said squeakily, "we go now, Master Draco?"
"Yes, Chopin," he said, looking at his mother, and finally accepting that she just wasn't going to forgive him this time. "We're leaving now."
Without another word, he walked out into the rain, letting it drip down his neck and plaster his white-blonde hair to his head.
Inside, Narcissa wept from shame and grief as her only child walked down to the gates and out of her life, for, she believed, forever.
Draco didn't have to walk far. He put out his wand hand as he neared the end of the driveway, and with a bang the Knight Bus appeared. Instead of Stan Shunpike jumping down the stairs and announcing his little speech to the world, a member of the Magical Law Enforcement Team, wearing the traditional black robes with red bands, steped down and said in a dry voice, "please raise the sleeve on your left arm and release your wand for a quick inspection."
Draco grimaced, but did as instructed. When the man had finished, he took back his wand and climbed onto the bus.
Harry sat, staring at the small sphere of light that had sparked in the middle of the kitchen table.
"He's on the Knight Bus," a voice came from inside the light. "He's going to Charing Cross Road, in Muggle London."
"Right," Mr Weasley replied. "er - Harry, do you know where that is?"
"No, sir," Harry replied.
"I do," Kingsley said from behind them. "But I really think you should reconsider this, Arthur. Bellatrix Lestrange is dangerous. Once she hears that Draco Malfoy has been snatched..."
Ginny looked highly disconcerted. "Maybe we shouldn't do this, Mum," she suggested.
"This was your idea in the first place, Ginny," Fred snapped.
"No, it wasn't," she retorted. "I just agreed with Mum and Dad. I don't even know why the Hell I did it."
"I know," Ron said. "Think of all the stuff we could have paid him back for. That's the only reason I agreed. Now we've got her after us."
"This was a stupid idea in the first place," George snapped. "I was only staying to make sure the little git didn't try anything. Why the Hell are we bothering?"
"Well, we can't changed our minds now," Mrs Weasley sighed. "And we don't have a choice, really, George."
Fred and George left the room, grumbling. Harry, not trusting what they were up to, followed.
He found them in their room, pulling what loked like ordinary Muggle handcuffs from a box under Fred's bed. "What are you doing?" he asked, shutting the door behind him. "How did you get those?"
"Dung," George replied, after looking around to see who it was. "We decided to take a small break from producing for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and made these for the Order."
"They're the only ones we have," Fred added. "They're strengthened with magic, and completely protected against any Unlocking or Destroying Spell we've found in the library at school, here, or in the Public Lbrary in Diagon Alley."
"Let's ee Malfoy do anything with these on," George added with relish. "If we take his wand off him, and put a Cloaking Spell on him, so nobody can sense him with magic..."
Harry nodded, and began to feel a little better about this whole thing. "Maybe we should blindfold him or something as well," he suggested. "So he doesn't know where he's going."
"Excellent, young Harry!" George enthused. "But we will have to take the blindfold off at some point. I want to make sure he knows exactly who has him."
The door swung open, and the three boys jumped, calming when they saw Ginny and Ron.
"We need to talk," Ginny said. "Mum and Dad only know Lucius Malfoy. They don't know what Malfoy's like, but we do. We need a plan."
George stood up and quickly locked the door, then cast an Imperturbable Charm on it.
"What are those?" Ron asked, sitting down on the bed next to the handcuffs. Fred and George explained again, and Ron and Ginny both looked interested.
"We have to make sure someone's always watching him," Ginny said firmly, tossing her red braid behind her shoulder. "Mum and Dad are probably just going to let him wander around the house. I vote we lock him in a room somewhere."
"What, with the ghoul in the attic?" Ron asked, sniggering. "He'd wet himself."
"What about in Percy's old room?" Fred asked. "He's put so many Protection Charms on it - got sick of George and me breaking in, I guess."
"Sounds good to me," Harry said, shrugging. "But we can't just rely on spells. Even if we're taking his wand off him - which we are, right?"
Four nods greeted his statement. "What are we going to do when school goes back, then?" Ginny asked. The boys all looked at each other.
"I bet Mum and Dad didn't think of that either," Ron said worriedly.
Voices downstairs alerted them to the fact that the others were leaving. "Right," Fred said quickly. "We go now, and meet again the second we get home."
"You mean after we get Malfoy settled," Ginny said, her eyes glinting with hate.
Draco pulled his trunk behind him and cursed the fact that he was underage, and therefore unable to levitate it. None of the family servants, be they house elves or people, would take his gear, or even look at him. They had been instructed by his mother not do so.
Much as he hated circumstances at the moment, he still admired his mother, and they steel core she'd shown in kicking him out. Obviously not something anyone else would think, but Draco was purebred Malfoy and Slytherin, and there was no more formidable combination that that.
His face twisted as he thought of his heritage, and how he'd betrayed it. His father, locked in Azkaban, would kill him, then possible himself, and as for the rest of his family, not to mention the other Death Eaters he knew...
He was as bad as the traitor Black. Worse.
But nothing would happen, at least not if he didn't tell anyone.
His Aunt Bellatrix had accepted his story of being unable to live with his mother for personal reasons quite readily, and though it was risky for her to make a public appearance, after what had happened with Potter two years ago, she'd promised to meet him.
Potter. Draco's lips curved into a scowl and his grey eyes looked more likely to flash lightning than the clouds above. The-Boy-Who-Lived. The one who'd put his father in jail, ruined the Dark Lord's domination - he really did ruin everything.
Walking into the black marble foyer for what he assumed was the last time, he found his mother standing quietly, her back to him, watching the rain. Chinky the house elf, her personal servant, stood by her. She flattened her ears and glared at Draco.
"Chopin will go with you," Narcissa said to him without turning around. "He is your personal servant and would not be persuaded to stay here."
Draco didn't say a word. Holding his head up proudly, he walked past her, to where Chopin waited in a corner. Chopin levitated the trunks, and said squeakily, "we go now, Master Draco?"
"Yes, Chopin," he said, looking at his mother, and finally accepting that she just wasn't going to forgive him this time. "We're leaving now."
Without another word, he walked out into the rain, letting it drip down his neck and plaster his white-blonde hair to his head.
Inside, Narcissa wept from shame and grief as her only child walked down to the gates and out of her life, for, she believed, forever.
Draco didn't have to walk far. He put out his wand hand as he neared the end of the driveway, and with a bang the Knight Bus appeared. Instead of Stan Shunpike jumping down the stairs and announcing his little speech to the world, a member of the Magical Law Enforcement Team, wearing the traditional black robes with red bands, steped down and said in a dry voice, "please raise the sleeve on your left arm and release your wand for a quick inspection."
Draco grimaced, but did as instructed. When the man had finished, he took back his wand and climbed onto the bus.
Harry sat, staring at the small sphere of light that had sparked in the middle of the kitchen table.
"He's on the Knight Bus," a voice came from inside the light. "He's going to Charing Cross Road, in Muggle London."
"Right," Mr Weasley replied. "er - Harry, do you know where that is?"
"No, sir," Harry replied.
"I do," Kingsley said from behind them. "But I really think you should reconsider this, Arthur. Bellatrix Lestrange is dangerous. Once she hears that Draco Malfoy has been snatched..."
Ginny looked highly disconcerted. "Maybe we shouldn't do this, Mum," she suggested.
"This was your idea in the first place, Ginny," Fred snapped.
"No, it wasn't," she retorted. "I just agreed with Mum and Dad. I don't even know why the Hell I did it."
"I know," Ron said. "Think of all the stuff we could have paid him back for. That's the only reason I agreed. Now we've got her after us."
"This was a stupid idea in the first place," George snapped. "I was only staying to make sure the little git didn't try anything. Why the Hell are we bothering?"
"Well, we can't changed our minds now," Mrs Weasley sighed. "And we don't have a choice, really, George."
Fred and George left the room, grumbling. Harry, not trusting what they were up to, followed.
He found them in their room, pulling what loked like ordinary Muggle handcuffs from a box under Fred's bed. "What are you doing?" he asked, shutting the door behind him. "How did you get those?"
"Dung," George replied, after looking around to see who it was. "We decided to take a small break from producing for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and made these for the Order."
"They're the only ones we have," Fred added. "They're strengthened with magic, and completely protected against any Unlocking or Destroying Spell we've found in the library at school, here, or in the Public Lbrary in Diagon Alley."
"Let's ee Malfoy do anything with these on," George added with relish. "If we take his wand off him, and put a Cloaking Spell on him, so nobody can sense him with magic..."
Harry nodded, and began to feel a little better about this whole thing. "Maybe we should blindfold him or something as well," he suggested. "So he doesn't know where he's going."
"Excellent, young Harry!" George enthused. "But we will have to take the blindfold off at some point. I want to make sure he knows exactly who has him."
The door swung open, and the three boys jumped, calming when they saw Ginny and Ron.
"We need to talk," Ginny said. "Mum and Dad only know Lucius Malfoy. They don't know what Malfoy's like, but we do. We need a plan."
George stood up and quickly locked the door, then cast an Imperturbable Charm on it.
"What are those?" Ron asked, sitting down on the bed next to the handcuffs. Fred and George explained again, and Ron and Ginny both looked interested.
"We have to make sure someone's always watching him," Ginny said firmly, tossing her red braid behind her shoulder. "Mum and Dad are probably just going to let him wander around the house. I vote we lock him in a room somewhere."
"What, with the ghoul in the attic?" Ron asked, sniggering. "He'd wet himself."
"What about in Percy's old room?" Fred asked. "He's put so many Protection Charms on it - got sick of George and me breaking in, I guess."
"Sounds good to me," Harry said, shrugging. "But we can't just rely on spells. Even if we're taking his wand off him - which we are, right?"
Four nods greeted his statement. "What are we going to do when school goes back, then?" Ginny asked. The boys all looked at each other.
"I bet Mum and Dad didn't think of that either," Ron said worriedly.
Voices downstairs alerted them to the fact that the others were leaving. "Right," Fred said quickly. "We go now, and meet again the second we get home."
"You mean after we get Malfoy settled," Ginny said, her eyes glinting with hate.