Lucius' hands clutched the wound immediately. Raidon took advantage of the situation and pushed the other wizard off him. As fast as his sore body could muster, he got back to his feet. He pointed his wand at Lucius again, with the hope of giving him the final blow, but was rather surprised to see that he was already standing up again. Since the knife was still stuck in his leg, Lucius shifted his weight to his other leg and still held his wand out, ready to curse Raidon as if nothing had happened.

"Using Muggle weapons in a wizarding duel?" Lucius said as he pulled the knife from his leg with a sickening noise. He looked at the blooded blade as he let it twist and turn between his fingers before he tossed it into the lake. "You disappoint me Mister Rohart. I thought there was still hope for you but you've really fallen low, Muggle-lover."

Lucius raised his wand for the final blow and had already muttered the word 'Avada', when a female voice suddenly roared across the lawn.

"NO! Don't!"

Lucius instead cast the Stupefy spell to knock Raidon unconscious. He turned on his heel towards the voice and summoned his cane to support his leg as he walked towards the place where Narcissa stood.

"What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing Narcissa? You know I do not tolerate your meddling with my affairs," Lucius hissed.

"And I will not tolerate you killing Raidon. Murdering those disgusting Muggles and Mudbloods is one thing but doing so to the son of one the Dark Lord's followers is wrong Lucius. Even after what happened between Dahlia and you," Narcissa stated.

"What?!" Lucius hissed, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Ariana told me about the row between Darius and Dahlia. A wizard with a tattoo just above his perfect arse? Come on Lucius, I'm your wife. Do you really expect that I wouldn't have found out sooner or later?" Narcissa said.

"It still is nothing of your concern, no matter how much you claim to know. I shall deal with my affairs as I wish," Lucius hissed.

"Very well, I know I cannot withstand you but," Narcissa closed the gap between her and Lucius. "If you dare to kill him, you shall regret it and you know very well that I'm capable enough," Narcissa hissed.

With a few steps, Lucius pushed Narcissa back against the wall. "And I believe you know very well that I don't respond so well to threats…precious," Lucius spat at her. He exhaled noisily through his nostrils, released Narcissa and walked towards the mansion.

Once inside, he ordered a few house-elves to collect Raidon's body and fetch some potions. He continued towards the library where he sat down in one of the armchairs by the fireplace. A few minutes later, the first house-elf returned with the potions and brought his master a glass of fire-whiskey as ordered. Lucius made the hole in his trousers bigger and poured some of the coloured contents from the vials over the wound which healed magically.

Then the doors burst open and four other house-elves stumbled in, dragging Raidon's body as best as they could. Lucius stood up, walked towards the fireplace and threw a hand full of Floo powder into the fire. He then walked towards Raidon's body and poured the fluid of the last little bottle over the boy. In an instant, he was covered with vicious bleeding scratches as though he had been attacked by a puma. With a simple incantation, he lifted Raidon up and literally threw him into the green flames.

With a satisfied grin on his face, he took a few steps back and dropped himself into a chair. He took his glass of fire-whiskey and was about to take a first sip when he turned his head towards the still open doors. Narcissa was gazing intensely at him, then turned on her heel and strode away.

Dahlia was sleeping on the sofa in Raidon's apartment. After she had read his letter, she had settled herself there and literally cried herself to sleep. There wasn't much she could do for her brother. Their parents would never stand up against Lucius so they were on their own.

She sat up bolt right when a cloud of dust and soot roared into the room. Because she couldn't see who or what had just arrived, she pointed her wand in the direction of the fireplace. When the dirt finally cleared away, Dahlia gasped as she saw her brother lying on the rug, unconscious - his face and body covered in blood from the scratches.

Dahlia gathered her brother in her arms as best as she could and placed him on the sofa. Her mind was racing like mad now but she couldn't think of a proper solution. There was no doubt that Lucius had done this.

She couldn't contact the Ministry of Magic. In the end, he had only protected his family and property. Contacting her father would only get her deeper into the mess. Eris would've come up with something…

The only person she could think of now was her mother. Ariana had never openly fought one of her children. It was a small chance she'd be willing to help but one Dahlia had to grab with both hands.

Dahlia ran into Raidon's study, took quill and ink and quickly scribbled a note on a small piece of parchment. She magically sealed the scroll, walked towards the window where the cage of a magnificent grey eagle owl stood and gave him the message.

"It's very important Ares, fly as fast as you can," Dahlia said as she drew her hand over its head.

The owl bowed his head and disappeared out the open window. Dahlia went to the bathroom and got a few of the potions from the shelf above the sink, a bowl of water and washcloths. Although Dahlia had always been interested in the art of potion making, she was far too nervous now and didn't want to take any risks on her weak brother.

Dahlia stripped her brother's upper body and started to clean of the dirt and dried blood. As she turned him over to wash his back, she gasped. The dozens of scratches that criss-crossed his back suddenly began to move. First they formed an exact copy of the tattooed intertwined snakes on Malfoy's lower back, then moved again and made the letters 'LM' before they returned to their original position.

A soft knocking woke Dahlia from her intense gazing. She quickly grabbed her wand and stood behind the door. She kept silent and the person on the other side finally spoke.

"Dahlia? Are you there?"

As soon as she recognized her mother's voice, she opened the door. She saw the friendly face of the woman she had always relied on and began to tell everything that happened but Ariana stopped her daughter's train of words by pulling her into her arms.

"You don't need to tell me what happened. I know most of it so don't torture yourself by reliving it over and over. The things your father didn't tell me have I heard from Narcissa," Ariana said.

"Do you have contact with the wife of that…that…" Dahlia stammered as she released her mother to look directly into her eyes.

"Yes Dahlia, but that doesn't mean that I or she approves of what Lucius did to you. In fact, if it hadn't been for Narcissa, Raidon would be dead by now. Speaking of which, let me take a look at him," Ariana said as she walked towards the sofa.

Ariana studied her son for a while but shook her head.

"Are you strong enough to Apperate, Dahlia? Good, because we'll have to take him to St. Mungo's. Lucius mixed a few potions and it would take me too long before I'd be able to determine what he used and to brew the proper antidote," Ariana explained.

Dahlia sat in a chair at the end of Raidon's bed. The medi-witch had just passed by to ask if she needed anything but she had politely refused. Her mother had already left in order not to upset Darius any further. Raidon was magically kept asleep since he was in for a painful ride.

She had nearly dozed off again when she suddenly heard someone coming closer. The curtains around the bed were closed so she couldn't see who it was but then heard a familiar voice calling her name. Dahlia opened the curtains and flung herself around Madeira's neck.

Madeira took a chair and started to tell how she had found her. As soon as she had returned, Eris' parents had contacted her and she in turn had contacted Ariana. Dahlia filled in the gaps for Madeira and as soon as the latter new everything, she insisted that her friend should consult a medi-witch herself.

Madeira's words had just been spoken whey they heard footsteps again and saw the shadow of someone tall approaching. Assuming that it was a medi-witch or a healer, Madeira joked, "Speaking of the devil."

The person stopped by the curtains and Dahlia started to shiver when she suddenly recognized the shape of the man. He drew the curtains open and sneered, "That's one way to put it…"

THE END!!!!!!