Introduction
This is the third story in the Sartorius cycle! While this is a stand-alone, I'll refer to some of the events described in the previous stories. For those who haven't read "The Secret of Sartorius" and "The Promise of Sartorius", here's a brief timeline and summary of what's been going on.
If you are planning on reading the other two fics, skip this, because it'll spoil you badly. If you have already read the other two stories you can also ignore the rest of this.
Just move ahead to the next chapter!
The Secret of Sartorius:
Early 1970s:
Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters (including Lucius' father Octavian Malfoy) kill the German wizarding family of the Sartorius. Everyone thinks that no one survived. However, Wilhelm Sartorius, his wife and young daughter flee to England and live in London pretending to be muggles. Wilhelm Sartorius and a muggle friend, Marvin Oswald, open The Four Elements bookstore in the Strand.
Late 1970s:
Wilhelm's daughter Eleanor Sartorius attends Durmstrang
1980s:
Eleanor returns to the muggle world, studies history of art and eventually gets a teaching job at the University of London
June 1989:
Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagal seek out Eleanor and offer her a job at Hogwarts to teach muggle studies. Eleanor accepts. Eleanor meets Lucius Malfoy in Diagon Alley.
August 1989:
In his position as school governor Lucius interviews Eleanor as a new staff member. He gives her a book on the Dark Arts written by her grandfather, Falco Sartorius. Eleanor discovers Lucius is a Death Eater while Lucius realizes that Eleanor has sympathies for the Dark Arts, but hates Voldemort. The leader of the Death Eaters, George Lepidus, finds out that Falco Sartorius used his knowledge of alchemy to illegally manufacture a homunculus, a tiny human shell kept in a vial that could be grown if fed on human blood and could become a body for the Dark Lord. Lucius is set to spy on Eleanor to obtain information where the homunculus might be found.
September 1989:
Eleanor visits Lucius at Malfoy Manor. They spend the night together. A few days later Dumbledore alerts Eleanor to the existence of the homunculus and Lucius' deception. Furious, she breaks off all contact to him. The Death Eaters raid and search the old Sartorius residence in Cologne and the Four Elements bookstore, killing a muggle. Eleanor realizes that Marvin Oswald is now in danger. She alerts the aurors, locates him and is about to warn him when the Death Eaters attack. Eleanor attempts to defend herself and her friends, but when Lepidus curses her with the cruciatus Lucius intervenes, taking on the curse in her stead. The aurors arrive and Eleanor manages to slip away unnoticed, taking Lucius with her. They hide out at her old muggle house in London getting reconciled and decide to each lie low for a while as some of the Death Eaters got arrested and they are now under observation by the aurors. Eleanor further researches the location of the homunculus and finds out that he is kept in a secret compartment at her father's bookstore. Lepidus, who has escaped arrest steals the information and manages to secure the vial that holds her grandfather's experiment.
October 1989:
The aurors finally stop watching Lucius Malfoy and Eleanor gets another invitation to Malfoy Manor. When she arrives she finds that Lucius is missing. Following her connection to the homunculus she manages to get to the dungeon where Lepidus has imprisoned Lucius whom he now considers a traitor. He is using him to feed the homunculus with human blood, slowly killing him. Together Lucius and Eleanor manage to defeat Lepidus, and Lucius agrees to hand both Lepidus and the homunculus over to the aurors in order to prove himself to Eleanor. Eleanor finds out that Dumbledore had brought her back into the wizarding world precisely because he hoped she would play a part in thwarting Lepidus' plans and perhaps draw Lucius away from the Death Eaters. She refuses to change Lucius from what he is. Finding her position at school difficult with her relationship with Lucius, she is glad to accept a teaching position at Durmstrang.
The Promise of Sartorius
March 1994:
Eleanor Sartorius is still teaching at Durmstrang and has become head of the House of Fire. After Igor Karkaroff's flight the school has a new headmistress. Lucius visits quite frequently and it becomes clear that he is unhappy with Lord Voldemort's lack of success in eliminating Harry and reestablishing the Death Eaters. One of Karkaroff's nieces, who attends school has managed to get herself pregnant and intends to marry the muggle-born student who has fathered her child. Her pureblood family is furious at her dishonor and Igor breaks back into the school murdering the father and unborn child. He is eventually killed himself, but not until it becomes clear that he seems to possess a strange ability to endure the unforgivable curses without any ill effect. Intrigued Eleanor and Lucius attempt some demon invocation and discover a means to evade magical attack.
May 1994:
Lucius has grown even more apprehensive with regards to Voldemort's plans. He instructs the Malfoy family lawyer to contact Eleanor if something should happen to him and places in his care a book that he and his father have used for many years to blackmail prominent wizards and witches for political favors. During the Battle at the Department of Mysteries he and other Death Eaters are arrested, brought to Azkaban and questioned illegally under Veritaserum. The lawyer, Advocatus Tethering, informs Eleanor as instructed and after some deliberation she decides to use Lucius' book to compel people to help her. She first secures permission for herself and Tethering to visit Lucius in Azkaban and is shocked at the mistreatment he's had to endure. Tethering suggests that they should try and get him sentenced to exile in the muggle world. Lucius is not happy about this, but the alternatives, life imprisonment or execution seem even less appealing.
June 1994:
Eleanor visits Professor Dumbledore in his capacity as head of the wizengamot and Professor Snape who is with him and barters away her knowledge of how to dodge the unforgivables for a sentence of exile for Lucius. She also meets with Draco at the request of his father and finds out that Draco is upset because of Narcissa's refusal to help Lucius. The wizengamot convenes and after a brilliant defense by Tethering, Lucius is indeed sentenced to exile. His magical powers are suppressed by a squib-hex and his wand is broken. Narcissa also informs him that she is filing for divorce. Lucius snaps and is unceremoniously thrown out of the Ministry, which violates some of the conditions of his sentence. He seeks refuge in Eleanor's old London home and in order to avoid arrest for helping an exiled wizard, which is forbidden, Eleanor asks Marvin Oswald to supply him with food and other necessities. Lucius finds it difficult to settle in without his magical abilities.
July 1994:
Because of the desertion of the Dementors the arrested Death Eaters manage to stage another mass breakout and at the command of Voldemort seek out Lucius, whom the Dark Lord wants dead for confessing earlier under Veritaserum. Eleanor decides she will not abandon Lucius and comes to his rescue, tricking a storekeeper in Diagon Alley into selling her a broom and reporting the auror that shadows her as a Death Eater to the ministry. She finds that the Death Eaters have already overpowered Lucius and are torturing him. Using her ability to evade the unforgivables she is able to fight them off, but is nearly killed by Bellatrix. Lucius manages to save her by knocking his sister-in-law out with his cane. The next morning Eleanor finds that Lucius is in bad shape. He loathes himself for being nothing more than a muggle, and to get through to him she finally breaks a habit of many years or self-restraint and confesses her feelings for him. He reciprocates. With the Death Eaters defeated and secured, Lucius and Eleanor call in Advocatus Tethering who helps them to make bail and secure a date for the review of Lucius' sentence, as it was carried out with omissions and in a highly irregular manner. A few days later during the review session the wizengamot is forced to revoke the sentence and Lucius is reinstated as a wizard. Eleanor is cleared of the charges of helping him, as he was not appropriately exiled in the first place. Lucius exerts his revenge on Narcissa by accepting her divorce and enforcing the marriage contract that takes Draco away from her. Back at Malfoy Manor Lucius and Eleanor find themselves confronted by another Death Eater attack. Draco has been taught the evasion of the unforgivables by Snape and manages to survive an attack by Bellatrix. Lucius is furious and flays Bellatrix alive for her attempt on the life of his son. Scared and appalled by his behavior Eleanor briefly doubts her feelings for him, but they manage to patch things up.
August 1994:
Eleanor has decided to resign as head of house at Durmstrang and live at Malfoy Manor, attending school merely to teach in the mornings. She is convinced that the Death Eaters will make other attempts on their lives and she and Lucius strike up some bargains with several aurors and with Severus Snape. Lucius proposes to Eleanor on her birthday.
"The Legacy of Sartorius" picks up where "The Promise of Sartorius" has left off.
As with the other stories the usual disclaimers are in place. Thanks go again to Ms. Rowling for creating the wonderful universe of Harry Potter's world and to Mr. Isaacs for his magnificent portrayal of Lucius Malfoy.
Read, review and - hopefully - enjoy!
