Author's Notes: Sorry for the late update. There have been lots of lightning storms and tornados around here, and the electricity keeps going off.
The idea about Lucius exchanging information/ evidence for his release from Azkaban, the term "Serpentine Mudblood" as a reference to the Dark Lord, and Lucius' concern for his family all come from the rich imagination of Slate-One.
Chapter Thirteen
The Dark Lord and his Death Eaters disapparated. The floating lamps vanished, and all I could see were black shadows and the sky dusted with stars. I could barely see the outline of the stones against the indigo horizon.
"Lumos." A light blossomed from Severus' wand. He bent over to study the still form of Mr. Malfoy lying on the grass. He must have passed out during the meeting.
"Lucius must be exhausted," The tall wizard muttered dryly. "Apparating across the ocean is draining enough without having been tortured beforehand."
I was barely aware that he was talking. I still huddled at the base of the cold stone. I couldn't stop shivering. My feet had lost all feeling from sitting on them so long. In front of me laid Karl's corpse, and the cool, night air was filled with the metallic, tangy scent of blood.
"Miss Silverthorn?" Severus asked in my direction. When I didn't answer, he walked over to me and knelt down on one knee. He pulled out a small, silver flask and held it to my lips. "Just a sip," he told me.
The liquid raced down my throat like fire, tasting something like pepper and cinnamon with a dirty-sock aftertaste. I coughed. I sputtered. "What is that stuff?" I managed to gasp out.
"It's an anti-trauma potion," He said. "Mixed liberally with whisky. I've always found it helpful after these little get-togethers. It seems to be the only potion that eases the after-effects of the Cruciatus curse, which thankfully, you were not forced to experience."
To my amazement, soothing warmth flooded my muscles and I relaxed. My hands stopped shaking, and my mind cleared. "Did you know?" I asked him. "Did you know that the Dark Lord was going to do that to Karl?"
Severus helped me to my feet, steadying me as I swayed against him. "The Dark Lord's all-consuming hatred for Potter and for Muggles has made him a bit predictable. I was not entirely sure of the outcome, of course, but any chance of deflecting the Dark Lord's wrath is worth taking." I felt rather than saw his dark gaze studying me. "Better him than you, Miss Silverthorn. Do not torment yourself with guilt."
"I hated Karl and everything, but that-" I shuddered. "That was horrible. I never knew anything like that existed." For the first time, I wondered what it would be like to have that kind of power. I searched myself for feelings of guilt, but all I felt was a sense of closure.
"Ennervate!" Severus pointed his wand at Mr. Malfoy. Mr. Malfoy woke, and sat up with a scowl on his face.
Soon I found myself curled up in a chair in the Malfoy's receiving room, and I listened to the two men argue. Severus thought that Mr. Malfoy might have ruptured an internal organ from the Cruciatus curse, and we were now waiting for the family Mediwizards to arrive. I was too shaken up to even consider going to sleep. It was difficult for me to follow their conversation, not knowing the names of the people or the places they used. I couldn't tell if they were friends, enemies or perhaps both. It seemed they had known each other for a very long time, at any rate.
It was strange to watch them together. Mr. Malfoy seemed cold, shiny and beautiful. Even sprawled out on the sofa, exhausted and in pain, he had a luminous quality about him. Severus, in comparison, most definitely did not. His angular features were quite plain. The Potions Master, however, had a beautiful voice, low and velvety and curling with subtle inflections. His mouth was also quite expressive. He moved with a grace that fascinated me. He gestured occasionally with his long, white hands while he spoke, and every movement was graceful and full of meaning.
Severus' face was carefully neutral as he watched Mr. Malfoy, but his obsidian eyes glittered as though he was watching his prey. "I assume that Miss Silverthorn will accompany your son on the train to Hogwarts today?" He asked.
"Draco is locked in the dungeons," I said. "He can't go anywhere."
"Silence, Miriel." Mr. Malfoy shot a warning glance at me. "You are so pathetic," He told Severus, his lip curling in disgust. "Dumbledore certainly has you on a tight leash, doesn't he? Like a pet."
"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," Severus said, his eyebrows arching in a parody of innocence. "Surely your own loyalties have been compromised from time to time."
Mr. Malfoy glared at him. "What in Merlin's name do you mean by that?"
"Only that I'm wondering how you managed to find a lead to Miranda's location after all these years. As a Mirror-Mage, she surely would have been registered with the Ministry of Magic, and it's no secret that those idiots would dearly love to have found her."
Mr. Malfoy hesitated, and I thought for a moment that he wouldn't answer. "An associate at the Ministry happened to be vacationing in New Orleans, I believe, during Mardi Gras. He detected a mirror at a nearby market that bore Miranda's magical signature."
"That was certainly convenient," Severus muttered.
"What exactly is it that you are implying?" Mr. Malfoy snarled. "Just spit it out, Severus. You're beginning to waffle as much as that senile headmaster of yours."
"I should think it would be obvious. For quite some time it seemed likely that you had Cornelius Fudge wrapped around your little finger. He certainly did his best to prevent the public from knowing about the Dark Lord's return. Now, I've been wondering what exactly you could have given him that would convince him to release you from Azkaban prison when no one came to rescue you. He risked bad publicity for doing that, you know. The gods only know that that is the one thing that he detests. Did you give him...oh, I don't know, information? Evidence? Or are you working for Fudge in some unofficial capacity now?"
Mr. Malfoy's face turned red, as he struggled to rise, only to fall back again on the couch panting. "Don't...be...ridiculous! You know very well that I was released for a perfectly legal reason."
Severus snorted. "An ancient law that Fudge dug up out of some scrolls, so old that nobody took it seriously anymore. You'll have to do better than that. It's no wonder that the Dark Lord has grown suspicious of you. In his eyes, you have failed him twice. Once in your failure to get the prophecy last year at the Department of Mysteries, and secondly, you withheld from him that you had found the child of his Mirror-Mage. How long do you think you can remain in the Dark Lord's good graces at this rate?"
"This, for once, was not about that serpentine Mudblood!" Mr. Malfoy shouted. He pointed at me. "She is about my family. The continuation of my centuries-old bloodline, a decent wife for my son, and honoring my brother's-"Here he caught himself, as if he had just revealed too much.
Severus smiled, a glint of triumph in his black eyes. "You, better than anyone, should know by now that that 'serpentine Mudblood' doesn't care about your family. All he cares about is Harry Potter. Perhaps in the beginning, when we first joined his ranks, he was truly concerned about the preservation of our wizarding culture, but now..."
"Forget that I said that. I am in a great deal of pain right now." Mr. Malfoy leaned back into the sofa, covering his eyes with his hand. All the anger drained out of him as though he were defeated. "I am obviously not thinking rationally or sanely at the moment."
"To the contrary, old friend," Severus murmured, so softly that I wasn't sure if Mr. Malfoy could hear him. "I think you are thinking more sanely now that you ever have in the past."
Just then the Mediwizards flooed into the room. Soon Mr. Malfoy was suspended horizontally in mid-air. His long, silvery hair floated around his face as though he was floating in water. Guided by the wizards, his body drifted down the hallway toward his room.
"I must be getting back to the school. There are many supplies that you no doubt need to obtain, but we will worry about that later," Severus told me, moving toward the fireplace. He bowed slightly. "Miss Silverthorn."
"Thank you," I told Severus. "I hate to think what could have happened to me tonight. And thanks for helping me to go to Hogwarts."
A small, ironic smirk tugged at his lips. "Don't thank me yet, Miss Silverthorn. You have not yet had me as a potions instructor."
After he left, I finally fell into bed. I was so wound up, that every time I closed my eyes, I saw Karl's face as he was being tortured. I must have finally fallen asleep, however, because the next thing I knew, something soft and warm nuzzled my cheek, like little kisses.
"Hmmm..." I buried my face deeper into the pillow.
"Having a bit of a lie-in, are we?" A voice murmured. Something warm and wet like a tongue slipped into my ear.
"Aaaagh!" Wiping my ear with my hand, I opened my eyes to see Draco grinning down at me.
"Go away." I hid my head under the covers.
"That's not very friendly," Draco told me, bouncing on the bed beside me. "I've just spent a horrible night, on a cold, stone floor."
I snuck a peek at him, and he actually looked well rested. Well, compared to me, at any rate.
"Thank Merlin that dungeon door opened in time," He continued. "I guess Father didn't forget. I'm leaving for the train to go back to Hogwarts today. The house elves are packing my things. Maybe I'll be able to sneak off before Father wakes up. I'll be gone for a few more months before summer break. I'll be rather lonely without you."
I didn't answer.
"Maybe a farewell shag is in order."
"Look." I threw off the covers and sat up. "I had a really terrible night. Much worse than yours could ever be. Forgive me if I don't feel very romantic right now."
"Ugh." Draco looked me over. "You do look totally knackered. And what happened to your hair?"
"What?" I touched my hair, and was horrified to find it in masses of huge knots. It looked like rats had been nesting in it.
"You've got stone-imps in your hair. Hold still." Draco wriggled his fingers into my hair, and pulled something out. "See?"
In his hand he held what looked like a tiny, grey fairy with iridescent wings. It didn't look very happy at being pulled out of its new home, and it screamed at me in a tiny, high-pitched voice.
"They love it in people's hair because it's all warm and cozy." He attempted to throw the little creature out my bedroom window, but before he could shut it again, the thing whizzed back into the room at a blinding speed and dove once again into my hair. "They're really hard to get rid of. You can only find them around magical stone sites like Newgrange and the Mound of Hostages. But where..." Suddenly, Draco's eyes grew big, and his mouth fell open. "Or the ring of stones on Malfoy land! Merlin's balls, Miriel, what were you doing last night?"
"It was horrible," I whispered.
"You- you saw the Dark Lord, didn't you? You have to tell me everything."
"I don't think you want to know. It'll just make you feel bad." Honestly, I really didn't think I was up to Draco's dramatics just then. "Maybe your dad should tell you everything."
"No." Draco's mouth set firmly. "I'm not leaving until you tell me. Father doesn't tell me anything interesting. He thinks I'm indiscreet. He thinks I'll blab everything at school."
I sighed. I told him about Severus coming to take me to the Dark Lord, and how the Dark Lord tortured Mr. Malfoy. I told him about how I was supposed to attend Hogwarts.
"But Miriel, that's good, isn't it? That's what you wanted, and now we can- "
"But Draco," I interrupted. "The Dark Lord said that I'm supposed to get close to Harry Potter and his friends. He thinks Harry is interested in me. I'm supposed to spy on Harry."
"Get close to Potter?" Draco looked so green I thought he was going to be sick. "How close? Exactly?"
I rolled my eyes.
"All of this is Potter's fault." Draco's mouth tightened and his cheeks flushed red. "I hope that Potter went to visit the Weasleys this Spring break."
"Why?"
"Because that means that he will be on the Hogwarts Express today returning to school, and I'm going to kill him." Furious, Draco ran out of the room.
"Wait! Draco! What about my...hair?"
I ran into my bathroom and studied my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were rimmed with red. How was I going to forget the sound of Karl's screams? How was I going to keep Draco from killing Harry Potter? How in the world was I going to comb the knots out of my hair?
To my horror, the stone-imps' tiny heads poked up through my hair to make nasty faces at me. I think there was even a baby imp. Their tiny shrieks of laughter filled the room.
"Oh, my, Dearie," My enchanted mirror said. "You do have a bit of a problem, don't you?"
"You have no idea," I told it.
Thanks to all my reviewers! (This is a rather abbreviated version, as it's three in the morning, and I'm really tired!) :-)
Thanks to Shadowstar21, Slate-One, Arsinoe de Blassenville, and Dragonwing
Eclipse of Starz- Don't feel bad. I'm blonde too.
Chocoliciouz- Oooh, you're scaring me! Remember, IT'S JUST A STORY! (yeah, right, that's what I keep trying to tell myself)
Escaped- Thank you so much for all your comments. I'm glad you think that all my obsessing isn't in vain.
Rycca Wolfbane- You is a bad girl, Missy, for deleting LadyJenilyn's e- mail. Bad girl! I is telling Master Lucius to whack you on the head with his snakey pimp-stick! (That's my bad house-elf impression.) Thank you for your reviews.
