Visions in the Night Sky
Chapter 13: The Sins of a Father
Breathless, Harry Potter stopped and pressed his back against the nearest tree. The outskirts of Hogsmeade were riddled with small clusters of trees and right now, he needed to gather his thoughts. Beneath his shirt, cold against his flesh, was a necklace. It was one that Aunt Petunia said had belonged to Harry's mother. It seemed too feminine to for a boy to wear a heart-shaped necklace, but it had been Lily's, and the only thing Harry really had from her other than her precocious green eyes. His own heart pounded as he spotted a group of guarding death eaters surrounding a door on a building that the Ministry suspected that Voldemort was using as a stronghold. Professor Dumbledore rested a hand on Harry's wand hand and Harry flinched. Dumbledore's eyes warned the young wizard to calm himself before proceeding. Gulping and taking a deep breath, Harry nodded to his headmaster and the two were off.
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A rumble in the distance awakened Minerva from her sleep. She rolled over carefully and sat up, rubbing her eyes as she checked her pocket watch. Had she heard an explosion or was that thunder? After ascertaining that it was the latter, she meandered down to the Great Hall, but the dinner time atmosphere was not what she was accustomed to finding on a weekend afternoon. It was solemn, quiet, only murmurs of conversation rose from the tables. The extended nap had helped Minerva to relax, but only her body knew that. Her mind still raged with what she needed to do. She was headmistress in Albus' absence, and though she was well rested and the child within her seemed to still be dozing, she still tingled with uncertainty of what could happen. As she sat down at the high table, the baby lightly kicked, and she knew that come what may, life would go on. It was just going to be a matter of patience and time.
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Merewen felt weaker than she ever had before. She never screamed or cried for as long as she had today. Her eyes were puffy and swollen, her head hurt like fury, and her throat burned from strain and thirst. Vaguely, she could hear the grate of chains on the floor, but she knew that they were not hers.
In the other cell, Severus' cell guard brought a bundle in with him. Severus' muscles shook as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. One of his eyes was swollen shut, but he forced the other open in order to see what was happening. The death eater placed the bundle on the floor out of Severus' reach. His eyes widened. Even his swollen eye was open a bit now in shock. Tears burned down over his cheeks and his voice cracked with emotion. That blanket, the size and shape of the bundle, there was no doubt in his tormented mind that this was his son.
"What have you done?" Severus whispered hoarsely. With an evil smile that handed down all the retribution that was necessary, the death eater knelt close to Severus' face and said, "You're…too…late." The guard left, and Severus wept openly. Surely, no torture was worse than having to look at the dead body of your own child.
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Draco tiptoed back into the empty Slytherin common room and hurried to the chair nearest the fire. He pulled something bulky out from beneath his cloak and held it as he fought to catch his breath. From the hall leading to the dormitories, Crabbe and Goyle approached him.
"Draco, what happened?" Goyle asked as he and Crabbe sat down nearby. Draco explained to them what happened in the prison in Knockturn Alley. He told them that their fathers were all there and that there had been a conspiracy to capture Professor Snape and his family. Then he told them the part of the story that nearly made him sick.
"They did what?" Crabbe growled.
"But why? Professor Capenum has never done anything to them!" Goyle cried.
"I know. But I knew something wasn't quite right. One of the death eaters had his wand pointed at the back wall, like he was projecting something. Like a sonorous spell through a wall," Draco said.
"But why would they do that?" asked Crabbe. Draco revealed what he had in his arms and his friends gasped.
"Because it was a setup. The baby that the death eater had was nothing but a doll," Draco said. He was holding baby Radwan, the real one, safely in his arms. Radwan scrunched up his tiny face and fussed, very much wanting his mother.
"Draco, we don't know anything about taking care of a baby!" said Goyle. "We should take him to Madam Pomfrey."
Draco looked at Goyle for a moment with a look of resistance. He even surprised himself. Crabbe and Goyle walked along with him to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey was just tucking her patients in for the night. When Draco showed her the baby and explained what he knew, Madam Pomfrey quickly warmed a bottle and hurried back to them. She noted Draco's hesitation to give her the baby and restrained herself before severely reprimanding Draco. She noted that he appeared to feel a responsibility to the infant and decided that it would do no harm to let Draco feed the child.
For someone who had never before held or fed a baby, he needed only minimal corrections. Madam Pomfrey gingerly adjusted Draco's arms to better support the baby's head and shoulders, and helped him to get the baby out of the heavy winter bunting he was still wearing. Draco sat in a chair there in the hospital wing with Crabbe and Goyle nearby and listened to the sucking sounds that Radwan made as he hungrily devoured his dinner.
"Don't you worry, Radwan," Draco promised as he held the baby against his shoulder after the bottle was finished. "We're going to get your mum and dad back. I promise."
Madam Pomfrey drew the line at allowing Draco to take the baby back to the common room with him. Radwan would be perfectly safe there in the hospital wing with her, where he could get proper care. Crabbe and Goyle gently helped to convince Draco of this, and he conceded. Draco placed the baby in a crib there in the hospital wing and tucked him in before letting his friends lead him away.
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The next day, when Professor McGonagall found out about all of this, she demanded to know why Poppy didn't wake her up when it was all happening.
"Minerva, you're pregnant. You need your rest. There was nothing you could have done about anything last night anyway. There was no reason to wake you about it," said Poppy, defending her decision.
"I'm sorry, Poppy," Minerva said. "I'm just so overwhelmed right now." Poppy embraced her friend and smiled.
"I know, Min. I'm here to help in any way I can," Poppy replied.
"Thank you, Poppy. I don't know what I would do without you," said Minerva.
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"Thank you for this, Professor. I don't know what I would have done without you," Harry said as he and Professor Dumbledore approached the fortress.
"There's no need to thank me, Harry. I've been anticipating this battle ever since before you were born. It is my honor to do battle beside you," Dumbledore replied. Harry turned to his teacher and gave him a look of reverent respect. Harry extended his free hand to shake Dumbledore's.
Dumbledore himself couldn't believe how much Harry had become a young man in the past two years. His shoulders had filled out, his voice had changed, and of course his prowess as a wizard had grown by leaps and bounds, but Harry would never have admitted it. Dumbledore was very proud of Harry, whether Harry liked it or not. Harry took one more deep breath before taking the lead and slipping inside.
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Draco couldn't seem to leave Radwan in one place. Though Madam Pomfrey worried about them, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle were making suitable make-shift fathers. Pansy Parkinson had teased them at first, but after a very pointed lecture from Goyle, who had grown to be imposingly tall, Pansy's attitude grew more mild.
"What are we going to do with Radwan when we execute this plan of ours?" asked Goyle, handing Draco the bottle from his schoolbag.
"What about Professor McGonagall?" asked Crabbe.
"She's got problems of her own to deal with," muttered Draco, picking at a plant on the nearby table.
"But she's the only one. Madam Pomfrey will need to take care of Professor Snape and Professor Capenum when we bring them back," said Goyle. Draco nodded hesitantly. It would have to do.
That afternoon, as storm clouds swirled overhead, Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Millicent, Pansy, and other Slytherin students who volunteered to accompany them slipped out of the castle and headed for Hogsmeade on their brooms. They had all vowed that they were not coming home without their potions professors.
"I can't believe our fathers would do this," Goyle had growled before they left. "I mean, I know that they're death eaters and such, but to threaten the baby!"
"And threaten Professor Capenum!" yelled Pansy. "She's always been so nice to me! Even when I was such a brat she was always fair!"
"Fathers or not," said Draco, tightening his gloves over his hands. "Paybacks are a bitch." Draco's eyes narrowed into icy slits as he mounted his broom.
When the Slytherins arrived at the place in Knockturn Alley that Draco led them to, Millicent involuntarily shuddered.
"It's going to be okay, Millie," said Crabbe, squeezing her shoulder. Millicent nodded and followed them.
As soon as they descended the stairs, incapacitated the first group of guards and pressed forward into the darkness they saw the rows of cells and Pansy's heart sank.
"How are we going to find them with all these cells?" she hissed.
"Simple," said Draco, leading them to the first cell his father had led him to. Professor Snape was curled up on the floor, not moving except for shallow breathing. The bundle that had been on the floor was gone, but Severus was sure that the image was impressed upon his eyelids for the rest of his life.
Draco looked at his friends and they all produced their wands, pointing at strategic points on the cell door. They blasted the door apart and coughed as the dust settled. Snape didn't panic, even though he couldn't see who was coming into his cell. He didn't care anymore. What was his life without Merewen and the baby? He fell unconscious again as the students undid his chains.
"What do you think you're doing?" roared a voice. Pansy and Millicent screeched, Crabbe and Goyle jumped, and Draco spun around, wand pointed firmly in his father's direction.
"I've turned a blind eye to much of what you've done, father, but I've grown up," Draco growled. "I'm old enough to choose my own path and I will. Not. Choose. Yours." Lucius held his head up as his son stared at him down the point of his wand.
"You would betray your family?" Lucius asked.
"No family of mine murders an innocent child," Draco sniveled.
"If you do this, you are no son of mine," Lucius threatened.
"So be it," said Draco without flinching. Pansy forced her mouth closed as she helped the others get Professor Snape to his feet.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Draco and Goyle ran the length of the hall to where the cell that contained Professor Capenum was situated. Goyle swallowed hard.
"My father did this?" he whispered through gritted teeth. Draco nodded. Goyle pocketed his wand as Draco and now Millicent protected him. He stooped down and gingerly lifted Professor Capenum into his arms. She awakened momentarily there, a somnambulism brought on by pain, fear and physical trauma.
"Leave me, " she whimpered. "leave me here. I can't go on anymore!"
"Yes you can, Professor," said Goyle, lightly kissing her head.