The Squib in the Attic
By dragonbrat (aka Amanda Snape)
Chapter 1
Draco Malfoy collapsed as soon as the curse hit him. Pain ripped through his body like never before. However, through the pain he could hear laughter. Not the cruel, harsh laughter of the Death Eaters around him, but the carefree, light laughter of a young child. Then, the images came.
Two children were skating across a frozen lake. One boy, Draco, was holding the hands of the younger child as he tried to skate. Instead of gliding across gracefully, the younger boy fell flat on his behind, and he started to cry.
"Shh, don't cry Cassius," said Draco, sitting on the ice next to the other boy. "It takes a while to learn how to skate as well as I do."
"But I want to learn no-ow," whined Cassius, looking up at Draco through his tears. Draco wiped them away.
"Malfoys don't cry," said Draco, getting up off the ice. He held a hand out for Cassius. "Come on, let's go inside. Maybe Dobby has some hot cocoa ready for us."
"Okay!" exclaimed Cassius happily as Draco pulled him to his feet. They sat at the small bench at the lake's edge and took their skates off. After putting their shoes back on, they headed towards the Manor.
It was Christmas morning, and the Christmas tree was decorated in its entire splendor. Underneath it, and hidden in its branches, were many gaily-wrapped gifts. Two children, Draco and Cassius, came running into the room, followed by Narcissa Malfoy.
"Well, go to it," she said as she settled into her favorite armchair. Cassius looked up at her.
"What about Father?" he asked. Narcissa stiffened at the mention of Lucius.
"Yes, what about Father?" piped up Draco. "Shouldn't we wait for him?"
"Your father had to work this morning, so he won't be joining us," Narcissa replied. Both children made sounds of disappointment, as they were obliged to do, even though they were relieved that Lucius wasn't there.
Cassius and Draco were sitting on the floor in the sitting room, a toy broomstick between them. Suddenly, Lucius burst out of the office off of the sitting room and grabbed Cassius by the arm.
"Get away from him, filth. You are not worthy enough to be near him," said Lucius harshly. Draco couldn't hear what Cassius said in reply, and when he tried to follow them, Lucius put a binding charm on him. Draco lay, board stiff, on the floor until his father returned.
A little while later, Lucius returned to the sitting room, alone. He undid the binding charm on his son, and Draco jumped up from the floor.
"Where did you take Cassius, father?" asked Draco, his eyes wide and inquisitive. "I want to play with my brother."
"You have no brother," Lucius said, pointing his wand at Draco. "Obliviate."
The curse was lifted then. As soon as it was, Draco retched on the dusty floor.
"That's just a little lesson of what will happen if you do fail me," said a cold, hissing voice above him. Draco looked up into the scarlet eyes of Lord Voldemort. "You wouldn't want to fail me, now would you, young Malfoy?"
"No, my Lord," Draco gasped through the aftershocks of pain still coursing through his body.
"Good," said Voldemort, obviously pleased. "You may go now."
Draco slowly got to his feet and, as soon as he was strong enough, Disapparated away to the large penthouse flat he had moved into soon after graduating. He flopped onto the sofa and closed his eyes. A minute later he heard movement in the back of the apartment, and soon after someone sat next to Draco. He cracked open an eye to see the pug face of Pansy Parkinson.
"How the hell did you get in here? I thought I changed the wards!" Draco said. Pansy just smirked.
"Don't you remember, Dracky-poo?" she cooed. "Charms was my best subject!"
"How could I forget?" muttered Draco. "Get out of my house, Pansy. I'm not in the mood to deal with you."
"Surely you don't mean that," said Pansy, batting her eyelashes at him. Draco drew his wand and stood, looming over the other Slytherin.
"Oh, don't I?" said Draco softly, much as Snape did when he was trying to intimidate. "If you don't leave willingly, I'll curse you so that you will." Back in their fourth year, when the fake Moody was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, Pansy couldn't throw off the Imperious curse, and he was positive she couldn't now. Pansy's eyes widened a fraction, resting on Draco's wand.
"You wouldn't, you'd get caught and sent to Azkaban," said Pansy.
"Oh really? Are you sure about that?" asked Draco, not moving his wand. "In case you haven't noticed, Parkinson, my wards are set so that no magic can be detected by the Ministry. I could cast Avada Kedavra and nothing would happen to me. Convenient, isn't it?"
Pansy was now very afraid. She looked at Draco's wand with wide eyes, and she slowly got to her feet.
"All right, I'm gone," she said quietly. She strode to the door of the flat silently, and she was about to leave when she turned back. "I hope you know what you're doing, Draco Malfoy. I may be the best thing to ever happen to you." Without waiting for a reply, she flounced out of the apartment. Draco let out the breath he didn't know he was holding as the door clicked shut.
"Stupid cow," he muttered, relaxing and staring up at his ceiling. The one thought that was going through his mind was who the hell was that other kid in his visions? What was his name again? Cassidy? No, wait, that's a girl's name! Cassius? That's better, Cassius.
Draco never remembered anything about another child being around when he was younger. But he would have remembered Cassius; he seemed to be eight or nine at the time of the last memory. Draco wasn't sure what was going on, and that wasn't a feeling he liked having. He suddenly got up and started pacing; it seemed like he thought better when he was on his feet.
Why can't I remember him? Wait…maybe those aren't MY memories! Maybe I inherited some of Father's memories…wait, that's just stupid. You can't inherit memories. That's just impossible. Draco's thoughts were running rampant in his head; there was little organization to them. Then an idea hit him like a bludger. Of course, I'll just ask Mother about it! Why didn't I think of that before? Without another thought, Draco grabbed his traveling cloak and Disapparated.
A lone figure appeared out of no where on the edge of the Malfoy estate. The estate was warded much like Hogwarts; you couldn't Apparate or Disapparate on the grounds. As well, the wards were set to detect intruders, and unwelcome people were disposed of immediately.
Draco began the long trek up to drive to the large manor house. He had no idea why a carriage hadn't come and picked him up, but that was inconsequential at the moment. The walk gave him time to think; after all, he had no idea on what to say to his mother. He could just see it now: him bursting into the house, scaring the bejezus out of his mother. The thought gave him a bit of a smile, but he quickly quashed it. He had to be serious about this.
He finally made it to the front door. With a deep breath, he grabbed a hold of the ornate serpent-shaped knocker and tapped the door three times. A moment later, it swung open, a small house elf peeking out.
"Oh, Master Malfoy, you is coming for a visit?" it asked in a squeaky voice. "Tippy will go tell Madam Malfoy, Master Malfoy, you is waiting here." With that, the little elf Disapparated from the front hall, presumably to go find Draco's mother. A moment later, the elf reappeared, bowing low. "Madam Malfoy is in the library. Is you needing Tippy to show you where she is?"
"No thank you," Draco said absently. He strode down the corridor that he knew would lead to the library. When he entered, he saw that his mother was sitting in a chair in front of the fire, a large book in her lap.
"Why hello there, Draco. How nice of you to drop by," she said with a smile. She gestured to the chair opposite her. "Come and sit. Will you be staying long?"
"However long it takes, mother," Draco replied, sitting down. Narcissa looked confused. "First off, is Father around?"
"No dear, he isn't," replied Narcissa with a frown. "What is this all about, Draco?"
"Oh good, this will be so much easier without him around," Draco said with relief. "I was at a meeting last night, and while I was being tortured," Draco shuddered at the memory, "I had a few images come at me. They were of me and another boy, possibly two years younger than me. I was wondering if you could explain that."
"Well, it could have been your cousin Colubra," Narcissa remarked. Draco shook his head.
"Colubra is two years older than me, remember? The boy I saw was two years younger," he said. "We were no younger than ten, if that helps."
"I don't know how to tell you this, dear, but, well…" began Narcissa, trailing off because she didn't know how to word it.
"Well what?" asked Draco, growing impatient. He hated being made to wait, and if Narcissa hadn't been his mother, she would be on the floor writhing because of the Cruciatus curse.
"I…" she began again, but she stopped when she heard the door creep open…
Ooh, cliffie! I'm so sorry for not updating…writer's block and exam prep can get in the way sometimes, LOL. I do, in fact, have a few exams left, but it's come to the point where if I don't know it by now, I'm screwed whether I study or not. Anyway, I hope you liked the new chapter, and please don't yell at me too much for not updating. I promise it'll be faster going for chapter 2!