DISCLAIMER: Recognisable Harry Potter and co. are all JK Rowling's. And I do not own Queen. Damn.
WARNING: This chapter contains many people dying in gruesome ways so don't let little people read it.
Chapter 16 – The Funuslente Potion
With a sucking sound, the green light was drawn into his body, and suddenly the night grew still.
Harry glared at Voldemort with fiery green eyes. Rage boiled up inside as he reflected on just what this being had done to him. He had taken away his parents, his godfather's sanity, Moony's happiness...
Voldemort narrowed his eyes at the still-breathing boy and opened his mouth to restate the curse.
But Harry wanted Voldemort to die.
The dam broke.
Green light poured out of the 7-year-old's body, illuminating the clearing with its brightness.
Voldemort screamed and twisted in agony as the raw-powered curse took over his body, lacing his skin with its green rage, turning into flames as it touched his foul body. It raced along his arms and legs, finally reaching the place his heart should have been.
With a deafening crack, it leaped in intensity and changed from the bright green that Harry had learned to associate with evil, into a pure spectrum of colours.
The rest of the Death Eaters burst through the trees then fell to the ground - those too stupid to cover their eyes were permanently blinded.
Voldemort was rapidly engulfed in flames. Sparks leapt from his screaming figure, higher and higher, until some reached the cowering death eaters and set them alight with their fiery justice.
Harry fell to the ground, exhausted, as the last of the true death eaters burned like torches in the night.
-o-o-o-
But one hooded figure was not screaming. Like a phoenix rises from the ashes, he stood among his burning comrades and stumbled purposefully towards the unconscious boy.
He was reaching towards him when a fiery hand fell on his shoulder. The man screamed in pain as his forearm burnt with a new strength and he was turned swiftly around to face a pair of blood red eyes surrounded by flames.
The eyes flashed and they invaded his mind. The man, too weak to keep up a mind shield, struggled in vain to push his master out as images of his service as a Death Eater flashed before his eyes.
No, he couldn't know…
Suddenly, the images stopped. The man jolted back into the real world.
The eyes of his master burned with rage.
"You…" he hissed.
He KNEW.
Suddenly, Voldemort screamed. The fiery hand dropped from the man's shoulder clutch the Dark Lord's eyes.
They were burning.
With a final shriek, Voldemort and his Death Eaters simultaneously burnt to the ground.
Silence.
A mist gathered around the Death Eater's ashes, spinning them in circles, and forming them into a single shape.
The man watched as the shadow of Voldemort reached hungrily towards the Boy-Who-Lived. Its finger stretched out to brush his cheek, but the shadow threw back its head and screamed as its particles were scattered in the wind.
The man was left, swaying in the smoke, listening to the silence that seemed to ring with the shadows of pain. Invisible fire seemed to dance in the clearing, creating patterns on the trees.
For the rest of time, no muggle, wizard, or animal would venture into that clearing. The grass would die, never to be replaced, and trees would grow only past its border. It came to be named as Devil's Demise, for a shadow hung heavy in the air.
The man turned. As he stumbled towards Harry, he drew his wand. A sallow-skinned hand shakily circled around the boy's lank wrist.
"Bertie Botts"
-o-o-o-
Snape landed neatly, and straightened up, only to be met with the end of a wand.
"POMFREY!" he roared.
"Oh… it's you Severus." The matron tucked her wand back into her pocket. "Who – HARRY! Oh, my dear boy, you poor thing! What happened to you?"
"He's unconscious, Pomfrey. He can't hear you." Snape sneered.
"Yes, well." She sniffed. "Lay him down. What happened to him?"
"He was fed a potion; I do not know which without examining him."
"Well, CHECK then!" she shrieked.
Snape hastily obeyed. She even scared him sometimes.
He had his suspicions about the potion, but if they proved to be true…
He checked for the symptoms. Racing pulse, high temperature.
He jumped back in alarm as the boy's eyes sprang open and he pitched a high scream.
Hallucinating, he grimly noted as Pomfrey wrestled him back onto the bed, and dilated pupils.
This was not looking good.
A quick examination of the boy's fingers resulted in the finding of a slight green-speckled rash, and his fears were confirmed.
He turned to the nervous matron. "Funuslente Potion, heightened by magical exhaustion."
"FUNUSLENTE!" she shrieked. "WELL, GET THE HEADMASTER! NOW!"
Snape whirled around and sprinted out the door.
Don't die on me now, Potter…
-o-o-o-o-
"Let me GO Bill! I'm just going to the bathroom!" Draco whined.
"Well, fine." Bill grumbled, "But only the bathroom – NOWHERE ELSE!"
Draco nodded gleefully, and rushed out of the common room.
But he had no intention of going to the bathroom. In fact, he had just gone half an hour ago, thankyou very much.
He cackled at his ingeniousness as he raced up to the gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office. After all, could you really expect him to not try to find out about his best friend?
"Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans?"
Nope.
"Sugar Quill?"
No.
"Lemon Drop?"
BINGO!
He raced up the moving staircase to knock on the door, but suddenly stopped and lowered his ear to the wood.
-o-o-o-
"… got him?" Professor Dumbledore asked. Lupin looked up hopefully from his chair in the corner.
"Yes, Albus." Snape replied, "Pomfrey sent me up here to -"
"What? You've got him? Is he alright? Is he – "
"SIT DOWN, LUPIN!"
Remus sat down and shut his jaw with a snap.
Snape glared at him "Yes, I did bring him back. And no, he is not alright because he was force-fed the funuslente potion."
The atmosphere in the room seemed to tense, and the faces of the two men in front of him paled.
"Funuslente?" The Remus whispered.
Snape nodded wearily. "Combined with magical exhaustion."
"What happened to him?" Dumbledore interjected quietly.
Snape looked down at his long fingers.
"He… destroyed him…"
Suddenly, his mind received the full impact of what had happened that night.
He pulled up his sleeve, only to be met with unblemished skin.
The skull and snake tattoo that he had grown accustomed to every morning and night he dressed, had disappeared.
"Its gone…"
A new feeling hurled itself at Snape's senses. Something he thought he'd never feel towards any offspring of James Potter. Gratitude.
He was free…
Snape was jolted out of his thoughts as the door burst open of its own accord and a very sheepish-looking Draco Malfoy fell through the doorway onto the ground.
The Potions Master frowned. "Mister Malfoy, please explain what you were doing eavesdropping, since I have no doubt that that's what you were doing."
Draco hauled himself up from the ground. "Er… I… do you have a Funuslente Antidote, sir?" he asked nervously.
Snape looked away, almost shamedly, "No. I do not…" he said, softly.
"You have no antidote?" Lupin queried softly.
"The Funuslente is not exactly a common potion, Lupin. I had no need for it before." Snape bit out.
"But you're a potion master! Can't you make one?! Can't you save him?!" Remus' voice increased in pitch and volume as he rose from his chair.
Snape turned his head, black eyes blazing. He'd touched a nerve. "Lupin, SHUT YOUR MOUTH! Funuslente Antidote takes 2 MONTHS to make! We do not have that sort of time. At most, the poison would kill him after 3 hours. Are you as imbecilic as to think that I would wish him dead? I WOULD DO ANYTHING TO ENSURE HIS SAFETY!"
A stunned Remus sat back down in his seat, and Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at his Potion Master's sudden change of behaviour.
Snape turned back to Draco. "Is that all you wish to say, Mister Malfoy?"
"No, sir. My father has the antidote in his manor."
Snape stared at Draco, hope swelling in his heart (contrary to popular belief, he did have one), his mind calculating the possibilities, and arriving at one conclusion.
"Black."
Remus looked up at Snape sharply. "What?"
"Lucius' wards only allow for very close extended family of both himself and Narcissa. That includes first cousins. You need at least two people to get the antidote and bring it back. The only other person in this castle who fits the criteria is Black. Mister Malfoy will go with him"
But Dumbledore held up a hand. "Severus, Draco is seven years old. He is hardly old enough for this sort of mission!"
Draco fumed where he stood. Seven was an old age! Stupid Dumbledore with his evil twinkling eyes and his ugly half-moon glasses. How he'd love to jump on them. They'd make such a lovely smashing sound..."He is fully competent, Albus! Who else knows the manor as he? There is no one besides Draco and Black who is able to get inside the house uninvited!"
Draco smiled. At least greaseball was sticking up for him.
Albus nodded his head in reluctant consent. "Very well."
Remus rose from his chair determinedly. "I'll get Sirius." He said grimly.
Snape watched in satisfaction as the werewolf exited the Headmaster's office.
So he has got guts…
-o-o-o-
As Remus entered Sirius' room his werewolf senses detected the same scent they always received when he came in here. Sadness, guilt, hopelessness. Usually it made him miserable, but today it just irked him.
He bit his tongue and walked over to the bed. Taking in a deep breath, he started.
"Padfoot, Harry's been poisoned with the Funuslente Potion. We need the antidote from Lucius Malfoy's manor, and you and Draco Malfoy are the only two in the castle who can get through the wards. He's only got three hours before we've lost him." Remus' voice cracked. "Padfoot, please."
But Sirius just stared at his favourite spot on the ceiling.
Remus, for the first time in many, many years, began to get truly angry. The wolf inside him reared its ugly head.
What did he think he was doing just laying here, while Harry was dying! Come to think of it, what did he think he was doing when Harry was left parentless? What did he think he was doing when Harry was kidnapped? What did he think he was doing all these years when Harry had no family?
What had happened to Sirius, had happened to Remus. But he wasn't so selfish as to fall into himself! Every minute that wasn't spent searching for a cure for Sirius was spent searching for a loophole in the law that would enable him custody of Harry. Which Remus might have been able to pull off if he was Harry's godfather!
"RIGHT!" he screamed, "THAT'S IT! I AM SICK AND TIRED OF THIS! LILY AND JAMES' SON – YOUR GODSON IS DYING AND YOU'RE JUST LYING THERE!" Tears pricked the back of his eyes but he continued, too angry to care. "DID YOU THINK I WASN'T HEARTBROKEN TOO? DID YOU THINK I DIDN'T TORTURE MYSELF OVER THE FACT THAT I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN HE WAS THE TRAITOR?"
His voice dropped to a venomous whisper. "Harry was your responsibility and you failed
"I renounce my friendship with you, Sirius Black. You disgust me."
He turned and stalked towards the door, fuming.
How dare he -
"Moony… wait" a faint croaky voice called after him, and he whirled around.
Sirius' grey eyes were staring into his own, cloudiness gone.
"Help me up?"
Remus stepped tentatively towards the man and tried to pull him to his feet, only to have him collapse to the ground.
"I can't walk…" he croaked.
"Well, that's what happens after you don't move for 6 years" Remus snapped.
"Moony, I'm - "
"I don't want to hear it Sirius."
Remus placed a strengthening and mobilising charm on Sirius' legs and a healing charm on his voice box and pulled him out of the room.
-o-o-o-
"The red portkey will take you close to Malfoy Manor; the green ones will take you directly to the hospital wing."
"Headmaster, why is there only one red portkey and fifteen green ones?" Draco asked curiously.
"Just a hunch, dear boy." Dumbledore smiled.
Snape, in his corner, was muttering something that contained creative use of the words 'hunches', 'imperial jack ass' and 'rear end', when the password to the Headmaster's office was screamed angrily.
"Got quite a voice, Remus does." Dumbledore commented thoughtfully as Snape sniggered.
The office door slammed open, admitting a terrified Sirius followed by a red-faced Remus.
"Got him, Albus." He bit out, grinding his teeth.
"Thankyou, Remus." Dumbledore said calmly, "Nice to see you finally up and about, Sirius."
Sirius had the grace to look ashamed.
"Now," Dumbledore said, "the red is for the outward journey and the green will deposit you in the Hospital Wing. The activation word for the red is 'shameful' and for the green it is 'learning a lesson'."
Snape cackled gleefully at the choice of activation words, and Remus' mouth upturned slightly in one corner. Sirius stared at his feet.
Dumbledore smiled serenly. "Off you go then."
Draco hoisted the bag of green portkeys onto his shoulder, and he and Sirius both held onto the red.
"Shameful."
A tugging feeling behind their navels, and they were gone.
"Fitting activation words, Albus."
"Why thankyou, Severus."
-o-o-o-
Sirius and Draco landed with an 'oomph' behind a tree. Gathering themselves to their feet, they surveyed their surroundings. The two were standing in a small park. To their right lay a busy main road surrounded by an assortment of shops. London civilians criss-crossed the streets loaded with shopping bags, their ears assaulted with the beeps of car horns. To the left stood an old church. Its white-washed walls were surrounded with leafy bushes and trees, and birds twittered in the branches. But despite this image of peace and harmony, something was decidedly wrong. The birds, if listened to intently, seemed to sing a sick, forced song. The white walls were dirty and aged. The dappled light created by the trees flickered to form snarling faces. Sirius shivered but stuck out his chin. This was Harry's life on the line here, and he'd be damned if he was going to back out because of a scary building.
"Where is it?" Sirius inquired forcefully.
Draco's head shot round at the harsh voice. "Follow me."
Draco led Sirius around the back of the church, and laid his hands on the ground. "Lay your hands like this and speak your full name." he instructed.
Sirius raised an eyebrow but complied. "Sirius Orion Black"
Suddenly, the earth yawned open and he was sucked into the earth, pulled under the church.
He put out his hands, but felt nothing. Only the air rushing past him.
He was falling...
-o-o-o-
Draco laughed to himself quietly as he heard the elder man screaming all the way down. And he called himself a Gryffindor.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy", he said, and then was pulled into the ground.
He landed next to Sirius, who was lying on the ground, panting with fear and mental exhaustion, and was greeted with a black stone castle. The magical sky and sun above Malfoy Manor, for that is what it was, did not infiltrate the dense shadows that hung about the place. White, leafless trees were the only vegetation, their gnarled, dead limbs clawing at the walls and ground like fingers, and the only wildlife was a raven that croaked eerily in the branches.
"This is where I used to live"
"Huh." Sirius said weakly, beginning to gather himself off the ground.
Draco lapsed into silence, reliving the horrible memories of his past that took place here, until he was interrupted by an impatient Sirius.
"Anyday now, Malfoy."
Draco scowled. He was no Malfoy "I'm coming, Black."
"I hope you know the way out." Sirius bit out as the boy before him pushed himself off the ground.
Draco ground his teeth. He'd only been with this man for not three minutes and he was already bugging him.
"Obviously, I do. Otherwise I wouldn't have led us in here."
"Well I wouldn't know what to expect from a Malfoy, and a Slytherin no less."
"Well, maybe I shouldn't know what to expect from you. After all, aren't you a Black?" he argued back
"Shut up, boy. Don't talk about things you don't understand."
'Whatever' Draco thought bitterly, as they both stalked, fuming, towards the castle.
-o-o-o-
"Keep a look out," Draco whispered grudgingly inside the Entrance Hall. "My mother might be home."
Sirius nodded sharply. "Do you know where we're going?"
"The only place I can think of is under our drawing room: Lucius never let me down there"
"And that is...?"
Draco pointed reluctantly.
"Well let's GO!"
Draco poked his tongue out at the back of Sirius' head as he was pulled down the corridor.
"Stick your tongue back in."
Draco resentfully complied.
"And don't roll your eyes."
"How can you tell?"
"Shut up" Sirius commanded.
Draco glowered angrily "No, I will NOT shut – "
A hand clamped over his mouth.
"Mmmmph!"
"Look, kid." Sirius hissed in his ear, "My god son's life is at stake here, so would you just be co-operative?"
Draco's eyebrows shot up. Co-operative?! HE wasn't the one being difficult!
"And besides that, I hear footsteps."
Oh.
Draco listened hard. Yes, there was definitely someone coming. He gently removed the hand from around his mouth and turned to face his new mutual enemy.
"It's mother."
Sirius didn't answer, but regarded Draco with his grey eyes, as if he was making a weighty decision.
"... hello...?"
The elder heaved a sigh then parted his lips to speak.
"You go." He said.
"What?"
"Get the antidote. I'll stay here and distract Narcissa. You are the only one of the two of us who knows where it might be, and I'd get lost."
Draco gaped at him. "But – "
"My godson's life is in your hands. Its up to you now."
Draco nodded.
Sirius' eyes sharpened with determination "I'm not losing another one to Lucius Malfoy" he whispered bitterly.
"Now GO!"
Draco turned and sprinted off into another corridor, just catching the whisper Sirius sent after him.
"Please save him..."
-o-o-o-
"How's he doing, Poppy."
Madam Pomfrey wiped her brow. "Not good, Albus. We've managed to keep him breathing, but I don't know how–"
She stopped as the light beside Harry's bed flashed red and omitted a beeping noise.
"Remus – the potion!" she screamed, "Albus help me hold him – he's having another convulsion..."
-o-o-o-
"Aaahh Narcissa." Sirius wheedled to the woman in question's not-so-happy expression. "Dearest cousin of mine. How are you?"
"What are you doing here? I certaintly don't recall inviting you" she said coldly.
"Aaw, come on Narcissa, it's me, Sirius - the adorable cousin. I was just dropping in to say hello. Is that such a crime?" Sirius asked putting on his puppy dog face. NO ONE could resist the puppy dog face, he was sure.
Narcissa pursed her lips until they were nothing than a thin line and crossed her arms.
The animagus grinned triumphantly. "So, what's it been? Ten, eleven years? We have so much catching up to do!"
He rubbed his hands together in glee.
-o-o-o-
Draco burst into the drawing room, looking around wildly, then racing towards where the trap door was hidden.
"Master Draco!"
Said Draco leapt a foot in the air, and whirled around to encounter the pointed, ecstatic face of Dobby the house elf.
"Dobby is so glad to see you, sir! Dobby thought Master Draco had run away and was never coming back!"
"Ah... I did Dobby..." he said, attempting to steady himself, as he had lost the mobility of his legs to a house-elf hug.
Dobby's ears drooped as he looked up at his master.
"So young master is... leaving?" his lip quivered.
Draco sighed. "I'm afraid so, Dobby. But first, do you have the keys to underneath the drawing room?"
Dobby sniffed, nodded, then took out the keys and gave them to Draco.
"Thanks Dobby" he said and raced towards the carpet that concealed the trapdoor. Pulling away the carpet, and unlocking and lifting open the door, he began to descend the stairs, then stopped.
"Dobby!" he called.
"Yes Master?"
Draco pulled a sock off his foot and threw it into the arms of the house elf. "You're free. If you want work, with pay, you can go to Hogwarts. That's where I'll be."
Dobby burst into tears. "Thankyou kind master! Dobby is most grateful! How can Dobby ever repay you?"
"Don't worry about it" he smiled "see ya Dobby!"
Dobby nodded happily, clutching onto his sock tightly. He clicked his fingers and disappeared in a slight haze of smoke.
"A job well done, Draco." He congratulated himself. Then he descended down into the trapdoor.
Underneath, everything was pitch black. He carefully felt his way down the staircase. Light, by some magic, stopped at the entrance to the stairs. A heavy silence had descended upon the place, only interrupted by the occasional echoing drip of water, and sometimes a strange moaning sound. The air got colder and more stuffy the further he went down. At one point his hand touched the wall and he snatched it back – they were wet and slimy.
After what seemed like hours inching down into the blackness (when in reality it it was only seconds) Draco's foot touched the ground, and torches around the walls blazed into life.
He was standing in a narrow passage-way that stretched on into darkness. To his left was a red stone wall that seemed to be melting. Draco put his hand out to touch the strange wall again, then jolted to a stop. His hands – his hands were red, too.
Horrible comprehension dawned. The dripping he had heard wasn't water. It was blood.
Draco leapt back in revulsion and shock. Something brushed his back and he turned to come face to face with a pair of lost eyes in a torn and dirty face. The mouth twisted into a wry grin.
His heart leapt into his throat and he jumped away from the thing, trying not to touch the wall.
"S'all right, young man." The voice of the thing said, reaching through the bars. "I ain't gunna hurt ya."
Draco backed away fearfully.
I just won ya ta let me ow'." It pleaded.
He turned and ran down the tunnel, ignoring the cries from the cells that continued down his left hand side.
This tunnel... this tunnell was not a secret storage area. It was a prison. A torture chamber.
He began to understand, for the first time, just how disgusting, wrong and macabre Lucius Malfoy really was.
-o-o-o-
"Hold him!!" Madam Pomfrey screamed.
Snape and Remus forced Harry's shoulders back onto the bed and Professor Dumbledore held his head still as Madam Pomfrey poured a potion down her charge's throat.
He relaxed and began breathing normally again. The three men sighed in relief.
"Severus, if you could check..?"
Snape nodded. He bent over Harry, his sharp eyes searching.
"The rash has moved up to his shoulders." He confirmed dejectedly, head hung.
Madam Pomfrey sunk into a chair.
"The rash?" Remus inquired softly.
"Travels along his arms, starting at the fingers. Once it reaches his lungs he will die. Breathing potions will not help. Only the antidote will stop the progression of the rash and dissolve it. He hasn't got long now."
-o-o-o-
"And do you remember that time when James and I turned your hair and robes pink and wouldn't remove the spell until you cried in the Great Hall?" Sirius asked Narcissa, who was looking more murderous by the minute.
"Ah, that still brings a tear to my eye. And remember the time when Lucius dumped you after I told him you were cheating on him with Snivellus? Just hilarious. Don't you just love when I drop in, 'Cissi?"
-o-o-o-
Draco reached the end of the tunnel.
The prisoners were still moaning at him, but he ignored them. Only one thought was on his mind.
No antidote.
There was no antidote!
"THERE'S NO BLOODY ANTIDOTE!" he screamed.
The dungeons fell silent, as his voice reverberated around the walls.
Draco turned. The prisoners ogled at him.
"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!" he roared.
They turned away quickly and shuffled back to their respective corners of their cells.
However, one of the prisoners did not retreat. "You need the funuslente antidote?"
Draco swiftly sought out the voice. It belonged to a young woman with sandy blonde hair. Her brown eyes peered out from a sunken face. She was probably in her late twenties, but she looked so much older and more wearied.
"You know of it?" Draco asked anxiously.
"Yes. Let me out and I'll show you." She bargained.
"What if I don't?" he asked. Wild thoughts were spinning through his head. She could be anyone, he reasoned. Maybe she's a spy of Lucius' sent here to trap me.
"Then I wont show you and you'll never find it. Besides, Im sure you don't have that much time if someone has been fed that potion."
Draco weighed up the possibilities in his mind. Wouldn't Lucius have caught me by now? Or maybe he's trying to lure me into a sense of false security. Or maybe shes just a prisoner.
He cast an appraising eye over her face, and was sure that noone could ever look like that. A glamour charm may have served for the appearance, but her eyes told so much more... nothing could replicate them. And she claimed to know of the antidote.
Draco sighed in consent. "Where are the keys?"
"Touch the bars."
"What?"
"Touch them. There are keys, but not here. You are of Malfoy blood, I can tell by the hair. You need none."
Draco nodded and layed his hand across the bars. They dissolved and she stepped out.
The other prisoners grumbled. "Oy Wolfy!" one yelled "get the kid to let us out!"
"Soon, Dung. Just wait a bit longer. 5 minutes is nothing compared to seven years, eh?"
Draco was stunned. Seven years? They'd been in here for seven years?!
There were a few more grumbles, but the prisoners seemed to accept that there was nothing they could do about it.
The woman turned to Draco. "Right," she said, "follow me."
-o-o-o-
"Oh, and do you remember when I accidentally dropped soup down your white silk dress during the Annual Dinner Party your parents held? You wouldn't talk to me for ages. Priceless. I seem to be only talking about you, rude me. I should talk about myself, but it's more fun discussing you. Remember when you had a birthday party and nobody came? Well, guess what! It was because, I, Sirius Black, told everyone it was cancelled. Brilliant joke no?"
Narcissa flexed her fingers. How she would love to get them around his scrawny neck and squeeze.
-o-o-o-
The woman led Draco back along the passageway. Her gaze was trained on the ground, and she was limping slightly. He was about to inquire as to her well being, when suddenly she stopped and her head snapped up. She turned to the wall.
"Bleeding wall." She remarked, smirking.
Draco's jaw dropped. "How can you joke about that! Isnt it your blood?"
She waved it aside. "Nah! Well... some of it is. But we wouldn't have enough blood all together to cover the entire wall. Its muggle fake blood with a few charms. One thing about Lucy – he'll go to any lengths to make sure his pleasant sense of interior decorating is fulfilled to perfection."
She winked.
Draco was horrified.
"Oh lighten up! I've spent seven years in here. Got to have something to joke about." She frowned "although, that one is getting a little old. Anyway – "
She closed her eyes and held up her hands inches away from the wall. "Open Sesame!" she cried.
The blood parted and a doorway formed.
"That was the password?" Draco asked, incredulous.
The woman smirked. "Come on," she said, and pulled him through the passageway.
-o-o-o-
Narcissa's right eye began to twitch, and a vein had popped out of her forehead.
Sirius was in for it now. But he had to be strong. For Harry. Even if it meant he would die. At least that boy could find the antidote while his cousin was busy strangling him.
He'd fired all his ammunition, but he had one last round. It was time to take the final plunge.
"You know, I barely remember what happened in the past six years. They went so fast. I did a lot of thinking. I've finally come to a decision that I will have to tell you what I should have told you at the very beginning. Did you know that you look as if you have shit under your nose, the way you scrunch it up? I mean, there isn't much difference, but it does make you uglier than you are."
He sucked in what might be his final breath and waited for the fireworks to begin.
-o-o-o-
The woman pulled him down the secret corridor and stopped outside a doorway to a room.
"It's in there." she said, "I can't go in – don't have Malfoy blood. Just run in, grab the antidote and come out. Knowing Lucy, it will probably be on display with the Funuslente in the middle of the room – it's his most prided creation. Do. Not. Touch. Anything. Else. Is that clear?"
Draco nodded.
"Good luck, kid. Now go!"
He ran into the room, ignoring the hundrends of other bottles lining the wall and fixed his sight on a small table. Two bottles were sitting on top of it, which were, just as the woman had predicted, labled 'Funuslente Potion' and 'Funuslente Antidote'. He walked towards the antidote, his arm outstretched, when a flash of gold caught his vision.
He turned.
The bottle on the shelf seemed to outshine everything – even the urgency to get the antidote back to Harry. Draco's thoughts focused completely on the dancing golden colour of its contents. It was so beautiful...
He reached up and took it down from its place on the shelf.
'Parental Love Serum,' it read.
Draco's heart beat faster as he turned it over to read the back.
'This potion allows intensified feelings of parental love, from the consumers biological parents to the consumer. To be taken in its entirety.'
Parental love? Wasn't that what he had been wishing for all along? All he had to do was drink the potion...
In his minds eye, Draco saw himself drink the potion and smile. He watched his imaginary self run out of the dungeons and into the drawing room, where he was swept up into the arms of a gently-smiling Narcissa, who fussed over his sadness and his sore feet. She kissed him on the forehead and took his hand, leading him into the kitchen to bake cookies. Draco stepped into the kitchen after them, and gasped – they, and the kitchen, had disappeared. Instead, Draco was facing the back of a much older version of himself, standing alone in the middle of a grassy plain, sky overcast with a wind that wipped his hair wildly. As Draco watched, the teenage him knelt down, and placed a flower on a... tombstone. Then he got up, wiped a tear, and walked away.
Draco crept forward to read the words.
Harry James Potter
1980 – 1987
He's Only Flying Too Close To The Sun
RIP Pronglet
We love you.
Draco leapt back and let out a strangled cry, jerking himself back into the real world as the bottle of Parental Love Serum smashed at his feet. He backed away from the mess, breathing hard, grabbed the antidote and sprinted out the door, barrelling into the woman.
"Hey hey hey! Watch where you're goin!"
"Can we just go?" he asked frantically, tucking the Funuslente antidote into his robes.
She eyed his white face curiously and opened her mouth to ask a question.
"Don't," he entreated her, "please, lets go."
He didn't want to imagine what would have happened if he'd drunk the potion. The vision would have come true and Harry...
She nodded, and began pulling him up the passageway.
"Thankyou Ma'am."
"Call me Ella, ok?"
"Draco."
"Nice to meet you, Draco. Now lets get my mates out, okay?"
Draco nodded, glad to be away from that accursed room, and they burst out of the opening.
"Right," Ella said cheerfully, "off you go!"
He ran to the very end of the corridor and trailed his hand across the bars all the way up to the stairs at the start, dissolving them. The prisoners spilled out behind him, shouting thanks and cheering.
A slight smile curved up the corners of his mouth as he heard their praise.
Maybe he wouldn't be that hard for someone to love.
-o-o-o-
Sirius winced as Narcissa wipped out her wand.
"You are the most annoying person to step foot on this planet! Why do you always seem to be involved in my mishaps? If something goes wrong, ITS ALWAYS YOUR FAULT!" she thundered.
"Hoo boy.." Sirius muttered. When Narcissa yelled, you knew you were in deep doo doo.
"Cousin dearest...."
But Narcissa had had enough. She hissed a banishing charm and watched in satisfaction as her cousin flew backwards out the manor, showing no signs of stopping.
"WAIT! I HAVEN'T TOLD YOU ABOUT HOW SNIVELLUS FEELS ABOUT YOU! CISSIIIIIIIIII!"
Narcissa stomped over to the door and slammed it shut, just catching sight of Sirius as he flew out the staircase that served as a doorway into the world above.
She was fuming. How dare he –
Her thought train stopped as her ears caught sound that shouldn't belong in the silent manor.
And it definetly wasn't her cousin screaming as he flew over london.
She turned her head, and purposefully strode towards it.
-o-o-o-
"For Merlin's sake Lupin – HURRY UP! NO NOT THAT ONE! How many times do I have to tell you – I WANT THE PURPLE ONE, NOT THE BLUE!"
Remus frantically skidded back to the potion cupboard and pulled out a purple bottle.
"EXACTLY! NOW BRING IT HERE!"
Madam Pomfrey turned back to her young charge. He was sitting bolt upright in the bed, his eyes rolling back into his head, and his face turning blue.
Snape was frantically flapping his hands at Harry's figure.
"Severus, as much as I appreciate the thought, that's NOT GOING TO WORK! Now MOVE!" she roared, shoving him out of the way.
She snatched the potion from Remus' hand and poured it down Harry's throat.
He fell back onto the bed, taking shaky breaths, his face returning to its normal hue.
Her eyes flicked to the empty Breath Potion bottles scattered around the bed.
"How many are left?" she asked worriedly.
Snape checked the potion cupboard.
"Four."
Madam Pomfrey hung her head.
"In his current state, each potion will last for 5 minutes at the most," she whispered, "If they don't come back with the antidote within 20 minutes, he will die."
Remus turned and stared out the window.
Where are you?
-o-o-o-
Sirius picked himself off the ground and took a look at his surroundings. And despaired.
He was at least an hours walk from Malfoy Manor. He'd never get there in time!
He lowered his gaze to the ground, scuffed his shoe in the dust, paused, blinked, then smacked himself in the head.
"You idiot!" he hissed "Apparate!"
Shaking his head at his stupidity, Sirius took out his wand and closed his eyes, imagining the eerie church.
When he opened his eyes again, he smiled, then raced around the back.
Screw the muggles. Let them be hallucinating for today.
"Sirius Orion Black!" he commanded, and fell into the earth.
-o-o-o-
Narcissa's steps quickened as she neared the drawing room. Now she was convinced. Something was up with the prisoners. What reason would they have to cheer? It wasn't exactly a holiday down there.
Or maybe.... maybe one of them had escaped.
But how? The only people who could set them free had to be overseen by a malfoy, or be a Malfoy themselves. And she knew all of her husbands friends were at a meeting. So who...?
Draco.
Draco was in the house. Sirius was distracting her. It all made sense!
She scurried to the drawing room.
-o-o-o-
Draco dissolved the last of the cell bars and stood at the steps, watching with satisfaction as the prisoners laughed in sheer delight.
He smiled as a few bounded up to him, including the man he had first seen, who apologised 'fa scarin ya befare'.
"That's fine" he said.
Others came up and introduced themselves. " 'Dung Fletcher, at ya service." One said, grinning. "Champion drinker of Hogwarts."
"Eh Dung, that was a long time ago."
"Yeah but I'm still tha one an only!"
Draco laughed.
-o-o-o-
The raven in front of Malfoy Manor watched with interest as a man fell through onto the earth, transformed into overlarge dog and infiltrated the mansion through the window.
Not something you see everyday, he remarked to himself. He then remembered where he was, and quickly resumed the role of 'imposing gothic raven' appointed to him by his master, Lucius, as part of his interior decorating scheme. Got a bit boring at times, really.
-o-o-o-
Sirius hurtled through the halls as fast as he could, following his cousin's scent. He wished she didn't wear such strong perfume. It smelt like gasoline. Although in this case it was helpful.
He caught sight of her just as she slipped into the drawing room, and padded over and slunk in quietly after her.
Dogs, unfortunately, cannot grin evilly, so you never know what they're thinking...
-o-o-o-
The prisoner's trooped up the stairs, chattering excitedly.
Draco, the leader, got to the top and froze. Directly in front of him was Narcissa Malfoy, her hands on her hips, and one carefully plucked blonde eyebrow raised.
They stared at eachother in defiance, neither backing down, until –
A large black shaggy dog soared through the air, landing on top of her head. She screamed as she fell and Sirius stuck his paws in her perfectly piled blonde hair and messed it up, a gleeful look in his eye.
"LETS GO!" Draco yelled. The captives surged out of the dungeons, roaring with laughter at Narcissa's predicament, who was now alternating between shouts of "THE GRIM!", "STOP THEM!" and "MY HAIR! MY HAIR!".
Sirius listened for the shouts to fade, indicating the prisoners had made it outside the manor, before giving one last rub to his cousin's hair and running out to join them.
Narcissa straightened up, wiped the invisible dust of her robes, and tried to act as if nothing had happened even if she was scared out of her wits. Then she caught sight of herself in a mirror and forgot all about the escaping prisoners.
"MMMYYYYY HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRR
-o-o-
The ex-prisoner's gathered around the portkeys as Sirius, now in human form, sprinted out of the house and grabbed one with Draco. "You did good kid" he smiled. "I'm sorry for underestimating you." Draco grinned. "S'Ok. Thanks for distracting her. And I'm sorry for being snarky to you."
"Friends?"
"Friends."
They shook hands, and Sirius took control.
"Okay, everyone! Make sure you have a good hold of your portkeys! The activation code is 'learning a lesson'!".
"LEARNING A LESSON!"
-o-o-o-
Hogwarts...
"Come on, Harry. Breathe!" Remus yelled, grabbing Harry's hand. Madam Pomfrey was sobbing on the other side of the bed, and Snape was clutching his sallow face.
"Harry – come ON! PLEASE!" But Harry didn't respond. His eyes were wide open, his pupils dilated and his face was quickly turning blue.
"HARRY!"
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
A/N:
So, didya like it? 25 pages in MS Word. 6323 words. Gah.
My fingers hurt.
NOW WE HAVE: - da da daaaaaaa –
QUESTION TIME!!
Why the rum balls did I kill Wormtail?
Well, I figured if I didn't kill him, he'd be sad and miserable and suffer heaps. Even though he saved Harry, everyone else (especially Remus and Sirius) won't be so easy to forgive him for his betrayal. He could end up in Azkaban and we don't want that. So I figured he'd better die.
Will it be slash?
Nope, don't write slash. Sorry
Why can't Warner Bros spell Moony? Who knows. All I know is that they spelt it MOONEY on the M. Map in HP3 and I thought I was spelling it wrong and took their spelling.... which was wrong...
Who gave Peter sugar? Mwahahaha
-hides sugar bowl-
It was fun to make him crazy! :P
Is Voldemort dead for good?
YES!! :D
And that is all :D
Hrei-siesn
Thankyou so much for your review. You wacked it right on the nose – now I know what I'm doing wrong. When I read back on what I've written I end up wondering what the hell can I do to make it sound smoother, if you get what I mean. And it was 4 times worse before my beta got to it and fixed it more (thank god). Sometimes I can tell there's something wrong with it, but I don't know what to do about it. I think a part of my problem is that I'm thinking visually, instead of in writing form, so I end up seeing it in my head as a movie and trying to write all the complexities down. But that just doesn't work. Sigh. But this is my first big fic, so hopefully I'll get better! When that happens, I'll go back, laugh at all my attempts at fanfiction, and revise it. I hope you'll like this chapter (when its done or so far) better than the last ones – with any luck it's more like it should be (crosses fingers). Thanks for your criticism and compliments, too. I'm glad to hear this interests you, despite its crappiness :)
p.s. reading back on my chapter Im finding bits that I have no idea how to fix, so maybe I just to leave them a while and go back and edit them later on. (shrugs)
- tinwen