Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury books, Scholastic books and Warner Brothers have that pleasure. I am merely borrowing them
Chapter Eight: Trust?
"I'LL KILL YOU ALL! DON'T TEMPT ME!" Draco's hand shook as he pointed the wand at his father, Snape and Masters. "Get over there, NOW!" He pointed to the corner with his other trembling hand.
Snape held his hands out, palms up. "Draco, we only want to help you."
Draco's free hand stabbed through his hair. "Shut up! I've had it, JUST SHUT UP! " He shut his eyes tightly.
Snape edged toward him. Draco's eyes flicked open and he acted rapidly, pointing the wand directly at the Potions Master. "Crucio!"
Snape collapsed to the floor, body twitching in violent spasms. His face was contorted in agony, yet no sound escaped his lips, a holdover from his years as a Death Eater.
"Draco, NO!" Mr. Malfoy took a step towards his son, whose horrified face stared back at him, wand still pointed at the jerking figure.
The next events came in rapid succession. The door behind Draco swung open and a wand pointed at his back. "Petrificus Totalus." The boy toppled forward arms to sides, feet together, wand clacking harmlessly to the tile floor. His father dove toward Draco and caught him, gently turning him on his back. The Headmaster retrieved the abandoned wand, sliding it into his pocket.
Masters knelt beside the shuddering Snape, gently touching her hands to his head and leaning into him. Instantly the tremors ceased and his breathing slowed. He felt his head swimming as an intense surge of magical energy passed through him. His back arched, and lips parted, eyes rolling back into his head. She then gently released him lowering his head to the floor. He slowly opened his eyes, questions in his piercing gaze. As he sat up he was surprised to feel no aftereffects of the curse.
The Headmaster levitated Draco onto the bed.
The elder Malfoy was the first to speak, gently pushing a stray lock of platinum hair from his son's eyes. "Draco, it's okay." He beckoned the alienist forward and withdrew to stand at the foot of the bed.
"No one is going to hurt you," she soothed.
Although Draco could not move any part of his body his eyes were brimming with fear and helplessness and big tears started to fall.
"It's going to be okay. I'm going to have the curse lifted, okay?" She motioned to Dumbledore.
"Is that wise?" Snape questioned, clearly surprised.
"It will help build trust. Do it please." Snape's eyebrows rose but he didn't respond. The Headmaster came forward and muttered the counter-curse.
Draco lay still, his breath coming fast and shallow. He felt overwhelmed looking at the many people surrounding him. The image of his mother sneered at him, while slowly approaching the bed. Fear grasped his heart and squeezed painfully as he closed his eyes and covered them with his trembling hands.
"I need you to take this potion, Draco. We can talk all you like after tomorrow you've had a chance to rest." Her voice was calm but firm. Masters watched him peek at her through his fingers as she reached out to him. He recoiled. She then touched his bare forearm with the lightest of touches and he limply slid back onto the mattress, arms falling loosely to the side, head lolling back against the pillow and jaw slack. She removed her hand.
Draco felt as if he was floating, calmness and serenity flowing over him in gentle waves, However, a small kernel of fear still resided in the dark recesses of his paranoid mind, calling to him, preventing him from fully giving himself over to the peaceful feeling. He spoke in a soft voice that she had to strain to hear. "I don't want to die."
"I know…I know. All will be well, you'll see." She held the vial out for him to inspect but he didn't move to take it. He just stared at it with glassy eyes, still affected by the magic she had released into him.
He slowly shook his head. "It's poison. I can't do it!" Draco looked to the Potions Master and then to his father.
Snape stepped forward and held out his hand and Masters put the vial into his hand. Taking it in his long slender fingers he held it up to the light and tipped it seeing a swirl of orange and yellow colors. He then uncorked and sniffed it. "She is correct, Draco. It is indeed the Adrego Sanitas potion with a small amount of dreamless sleep potion added." Replacing the cork he then offered the vial to Mr. Malfoy and he examined it as well.
"It is as they say," Lucius concurred. "I take it myself every night." He approached Draco, sitting on the bed beside him. "Sit up, son."
Draco obeyed shakily pulling himself up to a sitting position. He searched his father's face for reassurance and his father nodded.
"Drink this." Lucius held the vial to his son's lips.
Draco's frightened eyes took in the others in the room, then swallowing the lump of fear that was threatening to choke him he closed his eyes tightly and tilting back his head he opened his mouth allowing the potion to be poured in. As he swallowed a single tear slowly trickled down his cheek.
Once he had taken the potion his father pulled him into a firm embrace. "It's okay, son." Draco's body went limp in his arms. Lucius shut his eyes tightly to rein in his tears. A moment later his eyes grew wide and he lurched forward a bit, as if in pain. Snape immediately knew what had happened. Mr. Malfoy carefully laid his son on the bed and then clasped his hands together tightly.
Snape came forward, adjusting the blankets and exchanging a knowing look with the elder Malfoy.
Masters spoke, "Mr. Malfoy? I would like to speak with you, if that's okay?"
The Potions Master came to his aid. "I would like to speak with you first if I may, Healer Masters?" The door opened and the four exited. Snape and Masters adjourned to Pomfrey's office.
Mr. Malfoy was becoming increasingly less comfortable with each passing second. He stared at the floor, transferring his weight from foot to foot. A light sheen of sweat sprinkled his forehead. "I have to go…Narcissa will want to know what happened." He retrieved his belongings and hastily left the ward. Mr. Malfoy stopped briefly in the hallway grasping his burning forearm in pain and taking deep steadying breaths. He knows! He knows! Moving on, he exited the castle and the grounds for his meeting with the Dark Lord.
Pomfrey was puzzled by the elder Malfoy's behavior and looked quizzically at Dumbledore. He shook his head knowingly with a silent " don't ask" and then sat at the table, peering into the glass, watching Draco's chest rise and fall with each breath. The mediwitch moved into Draco's room tending to his scratches and cleaning the blood from his body while changing him into his fresh pajamas.
*****
Snape asked the burning question: "How did you do that?--I mean after the Cruciatus and then with Draco?"
Masters smiled. "It takes a great deal of effort to use wandless magic and there are drawbacks, most certainly. Of course, in my line of work having a wand can be frightening to your patients as well as dangerous. Alienists are trained in limited forms of wandless magic to be able to render aid to our patients without causing them anxiety. It takes years of practice and there are some much more adept at it than I."
"What?" He was incredulous, mouth gaping.
"It's not all roses and buttercups, I assure you. I rarely even use my wand anymore. I really can't 'waste' my magic in that way—," noting his raised eyebrow she continued, "—I told you there are drawbacks. If I used my wand to do everyday things all the time I would not have the 'magic reserves' so to speak for the really important things, like calming people for instance. What I did for you was a variation of the calming, just concentrating on your nervous system."
*****
Lucius Malfoy was a very lucky man. The Dark Lord had summoned him but not for the reason he feared. His Lord only wished to talk to him concerning the next date and time to initiate the new Death Eaters. He did not bring Draco into the conversation and Lucius was not daft enough to bring it up himself. The Dark Lord didn't like his followers to attract any kind of attention. He would find out, of course. The students at Hogwarts were notorious for loose lips, owling their families about every little juicy tidbit and this must've sent a legion of owls crisscrossing the country. After agreeing on a date and time for the next initiation he was dismissed. Malfoy smiled to himself as he apparated to the front door of his manor, congratulating himself on his dumb luck. Life is good. He opened the door. It was eerily quiet inside, unnaturally so.
"Narcissa?" Lucius heard footfalls coming from the study. Crossing over, he entered the room. She stood with eyes narrowed, arms akimbo, lips thinned. Oh no! Not today of all days! He knew better than anyone that his wife's words could be like acid, tongue quickly spewing invectives onto the unsuspecting, leaving them burned and emotionally bloodied. She had this uncanny ability to instantaneously ascertain a person's weaknesses and exploit them. It was true that she could appear to be very caring and loving, but he knew that was an act. Narcissa only cared for herself, her standing in the community and her money, in that order.
"I have to hear about this from Celeste? It is not possible for my own HUSBAND to owl me about my own SON!" Celeste Parkinson was the worst kind of gossip. Tales spread from her like a virus but not before she had mutated them with her own disease, the need for dominance in her social circle.
"Narcissa, I did not have an opportunity. The minute I left Draco I was summoned."
"That is your excuse for everything, isn't it? I was summoned," she mocked. "I don't give a damn if you were summoned by Merlin himself. I am your WIFE!"
"Sweetheart, calm yourself." He put his hands out toward her.
Stepping back to avoid his embrace she continued. "I have…had…ENOUGH! It will be in the paper, Lucius, THE PAPER! "
For Narcissa Malfoy the worst possible crisis in her life would be for people to find out that her carefully constructed life was all a façade. She had squelched every rumor of her husband's illness from becoming common knowledge outside her own home. "He is highly strung, volatile, is all," she would explain. His stay in Azkaban had frazzled her almost to a nervous breakdown herself. The guards had feared her husband. Without his potion he was wild, screaming obscenities and repeatedly rushing the bars, injuring himself in the process. When a healer was brought in to tend to his injuries Mr. Malfoy had tried to strangle him, claiming that the man was trying to kill him. He was becoming harder for the guards to subdue, howling loudly and rocking while alone in his cell and talking nonstop to anyone he could get to slow down as they passed by his cell. The Ministry was very concerned about the number of resignations they were getting from the guards; something had to be done. Mr. Malfoy's alienist had stepped in saying it was unseemly for the government to lock up an obviously mentally ill man. Mrs. Malfoy and Snape agreed to care for him at Malfoy Manor with the constant supervision of the alienist. Large amounts of money greased the palms of the Ministry officials and Azkaban guards and one guard who would not be persuaded to keep quiet mysteriously disappeared.
"It is over between us, Lucius—"
"What?"
"—This has been coming for a long time but this is the final straw!" She began to slowly circle him, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end.
"All of this simply because I didn't owl you?" His panic was rising. He had never seen his wife so furious.
Her blue eyes widened. "You stupid idiot! I will NOT go through the rest of my life with TWO lunatics hanging 'round my neck!"
He watched an artery pulsing in her white throat sending blood to her flushed face. "Narcissa!"
"Don't you Narcissa me! I am leaving."
"Why?"
"I just told you. I won't put up with your, your…madness any longer!"
"What about Draco?"
"That damn child has ruined everything. EVERYTHING! He is growing up to be just like you!" She irritably jabbed her finger into his chest.
"He is your child too, Narcissa."
"I don't give a damn about him." She smiled as she saw how her husband blanched at her confession. "I am taking the Black family house-elves." She started to exit the room but then stopped. "One more thing, dear Lucius. I always told myself that if this day ever came I would make my exit memorable." She tipped her head toward the closed door. "Come in, please."
The door creaked open, admitting the six Malfoy house-elves. Five had huge grins splitting their faces and the sixth frowned slightly, looking towards the floor. There was something odd about their appearance. The five were looking him directly in the eye, which was unnerving enough, but all six sported a white tunic with gold embroidery along the hem. CLOTHING! Mr. Malfoy was gobsmacked.
"I had them specially made for the occasion. I rather like them myself." Narcissa gave her frozen husband a flirty wave and quit the room. Closing the door behind her.
Loud battle cries followed her into the hallway where her servants awaited. She smiled to herself as Minky assisted her into her traveling cloak. THUMP! She slowly donned her gloves, careful as ever not to rip the fabric with the stones of her overlarge rings. CRASH! Looking to her house-elves she nodded and the front door was opened. Narcissa greeted the cool, starry night and smiled contentedly, ending this chapter of her life.
Next Chapter: The next day's Daily Prophet says it all. "Bare boy becomes bonkers biting Harry Potter!"
Author's Notes: Thanks, as always, to my beta Catmint!
Arafel2: I'm glad you like the story. I am trying to portray the disorder in an understanding way. Thanks for your comments.
Samhaincat: Thanks for the kind words. I guess I wanted to see if I could make Lucius believable as a decent father. Also, I made is mother the real "heavy" and I didn't want Draco to be totally alone!
Daintress: Thanks for the reviews. This chapter is longer!
Catmint: Thanks, as always for finding my missed commas and sometimes-awkward words! You are the best!
CuriousDreamWeaver: There is a strong hereditary link in most mental illnesses. Thanks for your kind and consistent reviews.
Ryo Akuinenn: Thanks for the review!
Sinical-Sarchasm: Thanks for reading and reviewing. I like to try to shake things up a bit!
I give it all to Mr. Black: Thanks for the review!