Within the Smoke
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. Their J.K. Rowling's.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Draco only shook his head and turned away. He saw that the dementors were nearing now. Any happy memories had long since left him and he knew it wouldn't be long until his own reason was replaced with dark misery.
===Note====
La di da. Yeah I know I left you hanging in the middle of the story's climax but it seemed right to split it into a couple of chapters. I had considered a couple different ways of going with this, and I'll let you know my other choices after you're done reading this. I think you'll be a little surprised at what happens next. =)
Within the Smoke
Chapter 11: His Desperation broke him
Hermione felt as if the ground beneath her was spinning. Closing her eyes, she prayed this was a hallucination. Hope died when she found herself unable to drown out the maddening laughter which plagued her. She had been unsure what she was seeing when he first appeared. Tangled masses of hair hung blocking his face and his robes were torn and smeared with dirt. When he laughed, he voice came out strangled. But Hermione realized that nothing compared with the way he was glaring at them now.
The man before them had been respectable. His presence had once demanded obedience. But seeing him now, you would never know it. Lucius parted his hair with a hand to see them better. Hermione took a startled step backward, her hand gripping Draco's arm tightly.
His glare was crazed and far more threatening than words. His eyes darted between Draco and herself as if unsure who to devote his attention to. They settled on her and she saw him grin. The small action terrified her. Before them stood a beaten man with nothing left to lose. Hermione knew the danger in the combination and realized that Lucius Malfoy was mad.
Draco stepped in front of her at that point and spoke to the lunatic that was his father. "What are you doing here? What do you want?"
Lucius' grin widened and his eyes danced in wild merriment. "You didn't think I would leave him did you?"
That's when Hermione looked down and noticed that he was standing over Voldemort's dead body. Questions erupted in her mind but she suppressed them. Was Lucius so far gone that he didn't even realize his master was dead? She saw then what a bitter existence he had created for himself. He was blindly devoted to his lord even after death.
"He is dead now." Draco began evenly. He was trying to reason with a madman. Hermione doubted Lucius would listen. His sanity seemed to have left him completely.
"No! He isn't gone. Don't lie to me boy!" He was screaming at them now, his voice frantic. Hermione watched his hands involuntarily shake, torn between sorrow and fear. She pitied the man. He was attempting to hold on to the only hope he had remaining. She could almost see it draining from him.
"It doesn't matter. I'll resurrect him! And then I'll be rewarded as his most loyal supporter!" Lucius' bizarre smile returned again. It seemed he was successful in fooling himself. Bending down, he spoke to the body. "You'll reign once more, my master."
Hermione shook her head sorrowfully. There was not a potion or spell in existence that could accomplish the task. She knew there was no way a soul could be returned to life. Lucius was deceiving himself, and it convinced her he had completely lost his mind. Fear left her leaving behind only pity. Hermione wished she didn't have to witness what a broken man he had become.
It was true that Lucius Malfoy had never been her favorite person. She doubted he had ever gained sympathy from anyone before. But in this irrational state, she felt he deserved hers. She watched in silence as he began laughing nervously. His movements were becoming more frantic. His eyes darted left and right as if expecting something to emerge and attack him.
Hermione then glanced to Draco and saw that he seemed to be frozen in place with his wand raised. He too was watching the madman before them. She noticed his jaw was clenched tightly and his mouth was set in a grim line. She wondered what thoughts could be going through his head. Hermione couldn't imagine how it would feel to see her father lose his mind in front of her eyes.
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Reality was decaying around him and it hardly mattered. Draco forgot Hermione's presence next to him. He ignored his previous anxieties and could barely recall where he was at all. The man before him filled his eyes and thoughts. This was his father, his blood, and he was watching him being robbed of his sanity.Throughout his childhood, he had respected his father mostly out of fear. He always knew the man held power and authority. Privately, he wished to become him when he grew older. Boyhood fantasies however, were worthless. Reaching adulthood, Draco realized his father didn't hold any real power at all. He was nothing but another blind follower of the Dark Lord. Lucius would have sacrificed his life and family to please Voldemort. Draco had just stubbornly refused to believe it.
Draco became bitter as he realized his denial had deceived him. This man didn't deserve freedom. His heart was cold and his honor nonexistent. Lucius did not resemble the figure of dignity Draco had so long ago contrived. He was nothing but another lost soul who valued power over life itself.
His father was frantically pacing now as if unsure what to do. Suddenly, he walked up to Draco and grasped the front of his robes.
"Will you help me?" His voice was that of sheer desperation. Draco saw his eyes were blank and wondered if he was too far gone to even recognize his own son. With some difficulty, he removed the man from his robes. He had pitied him once, but saw that he had made a mistake. There was nothing left he could do for his father.
Lucius suddenly recoiled from them. He emitted a scream as he crouched to the ground and hugged his arms around himself. He didn't seem to be talking to them but was muttering things under his breathe. Draco strained to hear what he said.
"They're coming." His body shook violently and his eyes blinked rapidly. "I feel them. It's so cold. All the people I've killed. They're speaking to me. They're taunting me! No! No, no..."
Draco was watching in astonishment. What was happening to him? He didn't understand his father's sudden rash behavior.
Within a moment however, Draco felt a chill himself. The cold crept up his spine and his mind was taken over by long lost memories of the past. He remembered the time his father used an unforgivable curse on him to teach him the meaning of pain. He revisited the sight of Lucius begging for his help. The sorrow of ancient cruelties consumed him. At last he realized what was happening.
Turning his head, he saw them coming. There were at least a dozen of them approaching. Their seemingly shapeless forms drifted almost leisurely. The dementors had arrived to bestow their kiss.
Hermione was weeping again. Clutching his arm, she spoke to him urgently. "What are they doing here?"
"Their job." He replied faintly.
"But the Ministry..."
Draco let out a bitter laugh. Didn't she understand? The Ministry had no real power over these creatures. They were like a plague killing whatever stood in their way. They were released with the instructions to find Lucius Malfoy. They would accomplish that task at all costs. What Draco feared though, was that they wouldn't stop at just that.
Attempting to concentrate on a happy memory, he stalled for time. He knew if he succumbed to sorrow he would be lost. Feeling Hermione shaking beside him, he knew she was reliving Potter's death. Draco considered what to do next. He realized it was impossible to fend them off because not a single sufficient happy memory could surface above his current misery.
He was distracted then by his father's sudden movement. Lucius seemed to have come back to life from his trance. He looked at Draco and crawled toward him.
"Please, help me. Please don't let them have me! I'll do anything! You must save me, I'm begging you." He was pleading pathetically as tears ran down his face. Draco didn't know how to cope with the situation.
No, he decided, he had already made that mistake once. He wasn't foolhardy enough to do it again. Taking a step back from his father, Draco only stared at the broken man with pity.
Seeing that his words were not having any affect, Lucius became increasingly desperate. "No, please. I'd rather die! Don't let them do this to me!"
Draco only shook his head and turned away. He saw that the dementors were nearing now. Any happy memories had long since left him and he knew it wouldn't be long until his own reason was replaced with dark misery. His thoughts were already becoming blurred. Memories that had long since been repressed were consuming him. They danced in his mind and taunted his sanity.
Distracted, he was unprepared when Lucius suddenly launched at him. Draco grunted and staggered back as his father hit him and wrenched the wand from his hand. Panting heavily, he watched in alarm as his own wand was raised to him.
A laugh came from Lucius and he glared at Draco almost drunkenly. "That was a mistake. I have everything I need now. I'll bring the Dark Lord back! And I'll receive the greatest reward!" His movements were still nervous and Draco realized he was suppressing doubts. He knew it was vital to convince Lucius of his insane notions.
"Voldemort's dead! What will you do with no one to protect you? You can't run forever!" Draco realized he was yelling and his voice was frantic but saw his words taking affect. "The Dementors will find you. There's no where to go!"
His father was shaking violently now and it showed on his face that he had resigned his hope. He began muttering to himself again and Draco noticed his grip on the wand tighten. Staring at the weapon, he waited for possible death.
Lucius let out a desperate scream as he watched the Dementors draw ever closer. Fumbling with the wand, he turned it on himself. The end was quick. Draco drew in his breathe sharply as he heard his father yell the curse and watched the man fall to the ground in a crumpled heap.
===Note===
I was going for believably shocking with this chapter. Did I choose the right end for him? I considered several different ways to go with this. First, I thought Hermione might kill Lucius with Draco's wand. But I think I read something like that in another fanfic before and I wanted something more original. Then I thought Draco might kill him. But, I didn't like the idea of him murdering his own father. That left me with my 3rd option of Lucius killing himself, which I thought might be appropriate and surprising. Review for me please and let me know what you think.
Next chapter coming very soon. I finished it already and just need to edit and revise.
-Captive