Spoiler Warning: This story is a sixth year fic that follows on from the events of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. As a conseqeunce this story contains *major* spoilers for book 5. You have been warned.
Revised Version Posted 22nd June 2003
SNAKE HEALER: THE MALFOY MUGGLE LOVER
CHAPTER 4: DEATHS
"He's here," Janus said just before midnight. There was no hint of fear in the voice, even though he fully expected to die within the next hour. Instead he spoke with determination and anticipation. He held himself with a confidence that was infectious, destroying the nerves and fear that Harry would otherwise have felt.
Janus' prediction was soon proved to be true, when Harry heard a large explosion, which he assumed correctly to be Voldemort making his way through the front door. It seemed like only a few seconds later when Voldemort strode into the living room, where Janus, Maria and Harry were waiting for him. Lucas was nowhere to be seen, but then Harry hadn't seen him since dinner. Harry was torn between hoping his annoying second cousin had run off to save himself, and was waiting in hiding so that their plan could work. He would probably be able to survive without Lucas' intervention, but only if the other boy stayed out of sight.
The dark lord was accompanied by a retinue of a dozen masked death eaters, which Harry was sure did not include Lucius Malfoy. He suspected that these followers were not here to cast any spells, instead they were to be witnesses to the death of Harry Potter, or at least what they thought was going to be the death of Harry Potter, or at least so they thought, and he and Janus weren't going to deny them. But boy were they going to get a surprise when he turned up at Hogwarts alive and well on September first, without his disguise.
"Where is he?" Voldemort hissed, his beady crimson eyes scanning the room for any sign of Harry Potter. It was clear that he could not see through Harry's disguise, and therefore assumed that the child in the room was Lucas Malfoy. All Harry had to do was not show any evidence of his scar, which considering how fiercely it was burning, was easier said than done. For all his faults the dark lord was not stupid, if he saw the child in the room clutching his forehead in agony then he was clearly going to realise something was amiss. Then there was also the possibility of his scar starting to bleed, which had happened before, although hot when he was facing Voldemort in person. Even so there was nothing he could do to prevent that possibility except cross his fingers and hope.
"Where is who?" Janus responded feigning ignorance, everyone in the room knew perfectly well who 'he' was, Janus was simply buying time. The blond haired man had stood up the moment Voldemort had entered the room and started glaring at him, as if looking for a confrontation. The dark lord showed no reaction, but Harry was pretty sure that his victims didn't usually react to him such a manner, normally they were afraid of him, and what he was about to do. Neither Janus nor Harry showed any such fear, although they both felt it. Instead they showed only two identical looks of determination, if Maria hadn't known otherwise she would have sworn that the boy was Janus' son. Having said that she knew perfectly well whose son Harry was, even if the boy himself hadn't been told, at least not yet.
"Harry Potter," Voldemort sneered, for once not bothering to disguise how much he hated the boy who had escaped him three times. It was a tone that no being could match for its sheer hatred and the darkness that it possessed. It was a tone that certainly intimidated Maria, and would have intimidated Janus too if he hadn't so focused on hating Voldemort. As for Harry a combination of his hate for Voldemort and his natural bravery prevented him from being affected by Voldemort's obvious abhorrence for him.
"He's not here," Janus lied expertly, "He went to visit his friends," Harry was slightly concerned by this second part of the sentence, he did not want Voldemort to send death eaters after the Weasley's or after Hermione, in case they killed his friends after finding he wasn't there. But on the other hand he knew Janus couldn't lie outright and say that he hadn't been here at all, Voldemort would know that they were lying and then start searching for him, which would ruin their plan.
"Then we shall wait for him," Voldemort sneered in reply, saying it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Unless you could bring him for me, Malfoy." The dark lord's sneer turned into a suggestive smirk, as he turned his attention to recruiting Janus. Lucius' younger brother was not impressed.
"The only thing I am ever going to give you is your death, Voldemort." Janus sneered harshly, his tone far icier than anything Snape could ever hope to manage. It certainly sent shivers up Harry's spine.
"Brave words from a man that betrayed his family by joining the light side," Voldemort sneered, not impressed by Janus' show of defiance, "A betrayal that will end up with your death, at the hands of your supposed allies. You are a Malfoy, a pureblood, and a strong and powerful wizard. You have much to be proud of, yet you persist in dragging the Malfoy name down through your muggle loving ways. You belong with us, on the dark side as a dark wizard, not a weak pathetic light wizard destined to lose to your own brother. It's your choice, I can offer you the power that is your birthright, the glory that the Malfoy name deserves and the safety you so desperately want. Join me Janus, you won't regret it."
Just as Janus' defiance had had no effect on Voldemort, so Voldemort's recruiting effort had no effect on the Malfoy. In fact Harry doubted that he even paid any attention to Voldemort's words, and even if he did, he wouldn't have given them any consideration.
"I have not betrayed my family Voldemort, I am no more loyal to the light side than my boy here," he said harshly, choosing his words carefully, so as to avoid lying while still trying to give the false impression that he was not on the light side, "I am loyal only to Slytherin, and to the healing of Slytherin. I seek to build a Slytherin house that Salazar could be proud of, that the other houses can respect and regard as their equal. I am the Malfoy muggle-lover, a man who seeks the redemption of Slytherin and the purging of all evil from the serpents den, who seeks the destruction of the reason behind the hatred for the greatest of the Hogwarts houses: You." His speech had got more and more passionate as he went, culminating in a his spitting out the last word in a manner that could have rivalled Voldemort for spite, "You are the reason why Slytherin is synonymous with evil, death and destruction, and whilst you are still alive Slytherin cannot be great again."
His speech didn't affect Harry that much, but then the sixth year was a Gryfindor not a Slytherin, and didn't really care that much about the rival house. It had clearly affected Voldemort though, who looked somewhat annoyed by the accusations that he was responsible for the disrespect and hatred that was directed towards Slytherin.
"Do not blame the weakness and inferiority of others on me. I am right, Slytherin is right, the other houses are wrong. Muggles and mudbloods are an inferior, corrupting influence. They are nothing more than the dirt on the hems of my robes, an irritant that deserves to be purged from the glory of wizarding society. We must not let them control our lives, to destroy our livelihoods and our culture. Only by destroying them will Slytherin survive. Only by joining me can you stop the destruction of the wizarding world."
"The only thing that I could achieve by joining you is the betrayal of everything I stand for," Janus responded his tone even harsher and virulent than before, "The betrayal of everything Salazar stood for, and the betrayal of everything the Healer stands for. I am not a traitor, I will not betray my own family by turning my back on the beliefs of the healer, just as I do not openly oppose my own brother." Janus' references to the healer seemed to annoy Voldemort even more. It soon became clear why.
"I am the heir of Slytherin and the healer. I will be the one to make Slytherin great again." The dark lord boasted snidely. It was a boast that generated a triumphant smirk from Janus, it was the sort of expression that Lucas wore just after he had played a prank or won an argument. He'd also seen the expression on Draco Malfoy once or twice and it always made him want to punch the blond.
"Perhaps you should read the Legends again, Tom Riddle," Janus retorted, his tone of voice matching his facial expression, "It says that the healer is an outsider, who rejected Slytherin because it was the house of his mortal enemy, destruction. The healer is a Gryffindor, Riddle. You were always a Slytherin."
"You're wrong," Voldemort hissed darkly, pointing his wand at Janus. That last comment and the manner in which Janus had said it had obviously caused the dark lord to lose his temper and snap, "I am the healer, your rightful master. Serve me or die."
Janus remained unbowed by the death threat, "You will never win Voldemort, and I will never join you. I chose only to follow the healer, even if it causes my death," he said, resuming his earlier harsh, angry tone of voice. His face was a picture of determination, determination that echoed in his voice.
"Death it is then," Voldemort sneered, a wicked smile etched on his face. Beneath the sneer Harry could detect Voldmort's anticipation at the fact he was about to kill someone. It was obvious and quite frankly it made Harry feel sick. It also had the effect of increasing Harry's determination to have someone, anyone, defeat the dark lord once and for all, "Avada Kedarva."
A flash of green light emerged from the dark lord's wand. It was the same colour that haunted Harry's nightmares, and as in the nightmares, it was fatal. At least Janus had died instantly, without showing any fear. His determination to become a martyr would be forever etched on his face, the final emotion that he showed. In Harry's mind the lack of fear was a small triumph over Voldemort, a sign that not everyone was affected by the dark lord's intimidation. He hoped it would be a lesson for far more people. Not that it was much consolation for Harry, who was severely affected by seeing Janus die in front of his own eyes. He knew it was only survivor's guilt but that didn't affect his emotions. The manner of the death and the enjoyment that the killer derived from it made things ten times worse for Harry; Voldemort's evil laughter was another regular feature of his nightmares.
Such thoughts and reminders of past nightmares were quickly put out of his mind by the sight of a raven-haired boy with emerald green eyes and a lightening bolt scar running into the room, looking extremely worried. Neither he nor Voldemort had heard the desperate cry that the boy had emitted when he had seen the deadly green light heading towards Janus. It was certainly a heartfelt cry, and seemed to be filled with shock and pain, but then it was the boy's father that was being killed, or at least that was the plan. Harry had no way of verifying whether it was Lucas under the disguise, but it would have taken an astoundingly good actor to fake such an emotional response, and there was no way anyone other than one of Janus' family could have responded to the Slytherin's death in such a manner.
"Ah, Potter," Voldemort sneered upon noticing the newcomer, "How good of you to grace us with your presence." He was completely fooled by the disguise, but then it was extremely convincing, and apparently the result of a potion brewed by Professor Snape. Even the voice had been changed to exactly the same tone as Harry's voice. The only possible problem with the disguised Harry was if Lucas' acting skills failed him, and that was extremely unlikely considering how good an actor the young Malfoy was and badly Voldemort know Harry. Ron and Hermione would probably see through the disguise and possibly his dorm mates and some of the teachers too, but certainly not the death eaters.
"I wish I could say the same thing about you, Voldemort," The false Harry snapped in reply, "But only the insane or the weak would willingly go anywhere near you, which explains why you only have one loyal follower. After all you can't get much weaker than Wormtail." It was a tone of voice that the real Harry would have used himself, but then it couldn't have been that difficult for Lucas to fake it; Harry's second cousin had been on the receiving end of a milder form of the expression for virtually the whole of the past week. Harry didn't hate Lucas, but he certainly found the boy just as annoying as death eater supporting cousin.
"My death eaters are all utterly loyal, Potter, even Lucius." The dark lord snapped a little too quickly. The impostor's comments seemed to have struck a chord with Voldemort, who most probably agreed with the sentiments even if he wouldn't admit it in front of his enemies, or at least in front of enemies that were most likely to survive the night, like he and Maria.
"They're not loyal Voldemort, they're scared of being caught. You're not their hero Voldemort, Snape is: the man who betrayed you and lived." the impostor sneered. His comments had managed to rile Voldemort, whose hatred for Snape was greater than his hatred for Harry.
"They may be cowards," the dark lord sneered, fixing a pointed glare on his followers. The clearest indication yet that he was dissatisfied with the death eaters, "But they still serve me loyally, that is all that matters." The impostor said nothing, but grinned in response, taunting Voldemort with the things he knew about Malfoy that the dark lord didn't. Lucas knew Lucius' true feelings about Voldemort, mainly through overhearing the conversations the blond man had with Lucas' father.
"They weren't particularly loyal after I defeated you the first time were they?" Harry replied, still taunting the dark lord with his taunting grin, "And they'll be just as disloyal after I defeat you for the second time." Harry winced internally at the comment, it was not the sort of thing he would say, it was too arrogant. It was just as well that the death eaters didn't know any better.
Voldemort laughed derisively, "Look," he mocked confidently addressing his death eaters, who soon joined their master's sniggering, "A fifteen year old boy thinks he can defeat the great Lord Voldemort. Let him try," He turned his attention back to the boy who was standing in front of him, glaring at the dark lord with all the venom he could muster, "I challenge you to another duel and this time you're wand won't save you."
"Only if you promise not to kill Lucas and Maria," the impostor responded. They all knew that Voldemort wouldn't pay any attention to the promise if he truly wanted to kill Maria or the boy he thought was Lucas, but still it was in character and it would make both Harry, Maria and Lucas feel better.
"Agreed," Voldemort replied, his smirk suggested something. Harry wasn't sure what, but it certainly didn't encourage Harry at all. In fact his tone and the fact he hadn't even looked at the two people he was promising to keep alive suggested he didn't care about what he was saying, "Now bow."
Lucas bowed slightly causing Voldemort to smirk even more, "Much better than last time, Potter," he drawled before adopting the duelling position himself and performing a short count down to mark the start of the duel. He didn't bow to Lucas.
Voldemort didn't waste much time in casting a Cruciatus curse at the disguised Lucas, which the Malfoy took stoically by refusing to show any pain or scream, in exactly the same manner as Harry himself. For once Harry was glad of his second cousin's overblown sense of pride and even bigger ego because it ensured that he didn't have to watch one of his relatives writhing about, screaming in pain. The experience was bad enough as it is without witnessing yet more evidence of the dark lord's sadistic streak.
"Avada Kedarva," The dark lord yelled, a few minutes later, after lifting the pain curse. A familiar green light emerged from his wand, accompanied by Voldemort's undisguised glee at the act of killing Harry Potter.
"Dracohen Na Kakunnan," The false Harry yelled at the same time as Voldemort cast the killing curse. The spell seemed to have no visible effect and didn't seem to affect the path or the result of the killing curse at all. Even so Harry could tell something happened when the curse struck it's intended target, the power flow that was given off were phenomenal even if it didn't seem to affect anybody in the room. Deep down Harry knew that something important had happened, even if the world believed Harry Potter was dead.
"His father did the same thing. Pathetic really," Voldemort commented scornfully before disapparating. He didn't bother disguising the glee he felt at what he thought to be the death of Harry Potter, a glee that made Harry sick. He wouldn't have felt the same thing about the death of Voldemort.
I'm glad you all like Lucas, I put a lot of effort into creating his character. I am not changing the plot because of your pleas though. Although I do have several surprises up my sleeve with regards to Janus and Lucas, more will be revealed in the next few chapters. I also spotted a major plot hole in my outline the other day, and will be using Lucas to resolve it. As a consequence he will be mentionned a lot more than I previously planned.
While talking about Plot holes, Tempest in Blue spotted something I didn't want you to spot in chapter two. Namely, if it took Harry 2 hours to chance upon finding Malfoy's office, and he was lost at the time, how was it that he was able to find his way back to his room and them back to the office again in only a matter of miniutes? I spent several agonising over this before posting the chapter, but I couldn't find anyway around it so I claim artistic licence.
Thank You to all those who reviewed chapter three, your reviews were most appreciated. If you want me to e-mail you when I update this fic leave your e-mail address in your review.