Black Truth
Chapter Thirty: Opening the Gates of Hell
Lucius Malfoy's eyes opened blearily, and took in his blood covered son and his son's bonded in the dim light before saying:
"What are you two thinking!?" He half shouted at them as Harry whispered the spells to unlock the chains. "You cannot possibly be this dense!"
"With all due respect, Mr. Malfoy, you're beginning to sound like Snape" Harry said seriously. He was fixed with two incredulous looks before Draco spoke.
"I came to rescue you, Father, but I did not bring Harry. He came by himself. He's the stupid one, not me."
The look Lucius gave his son was one that stated quite clearly that he highly doubted his son's words were true, but he said nothing. He gave a long suffering sigh and leaned back against the wall, wincing as his body protested.
"So then Potter, I can guess how my son came here from Hogwarts. How did you?"
Harry looked down at the blood-stained floor sheepishly. "I had Dobby connect the fireplace in your study to one in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts."
Instead of being angry that his former House Elf had done something like that, Lucius merely looked impressed. "That was a good idea, Potter. And it gives us a means out of this mess."
"But your study's in the south wing," Draco pointed out. "And we're in the north wing. Initiation isn't going to take all that long."
"It's probably over by now" Lucius replied morosely.
"Initiation?" Harry asked, the blood draining from his face.
"Yes. You two picked a magic's cursed time to stage this rescue mission."
"Draco picked it, not me" Harry pointed out.
"I didn't ask you to come, did I?"
"This is not the time to be casting blame." Lucius stopped the bickering with a look. "We have to devise the safest way out of this mess, and quickly. We could take the diagonal, go down to the ballroom. And though that would be the fastest way, it's probably the worst as well. They most likely used the ballroom for Initiation."
"We could walk through my wing and then down to yours" Draco offered, thinking of his mental maps of the Manor.
"Too much time spent walking in a place they could easily check. No, we have to get over to the east side of the Manor without them being able to see us."
"Underground then?" Draco asked, a slight tinge of fear in his voice.
"Yes. No Death Eater would look there."
"Um, Mr. Malfoy, are you sure you can walk that far?" Harry asked as he surveyed exactly how much damage Lucius had been through.
"You'd be surprised what adrenaline and Veriae magic can do towards ignoring one's wounds" Lucius drawled. "Once we're out of this magic forsaken tower, I'll be fine."
Leaning heavily on his son, Lucius stood on shaky limbs, and the three of them made their way towards the base of the tower.
"Where are we going exactly?" Harry asked, as they made their way down the steps. Neither of the two Malfoys had explained their conversation from before and he had no idea what they were talking about.
"The dungeons run underneath the north to west wall" Lucius explained in a ragged voice. "We're going to walk through them to get to the west wing and then walk down the corridor that leads to my study."
"No one goes down there." Draco said with conviction. "Even if every Malfoy to live here has memorized it passageways, it's still not a good place to go by yourself."
At the bottom of the steps a small shriek greeted them.
"Master! You is so hurt! Let Diddy help-"
"No. I'll be fine."
The House Elf cowered uncertainly at her Master's feet. "If you is saying so, Master," she said sadly.
"Harry Potter, is you ok?" Harry looked down to see Dobby's eyes looking up at him with concern, as if checking to see if Lucius's ailments were also Harry's.
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Dobby is happy to hear that!"
Dobby's eyes swept over the elder Malfoy and he pressed himself further into Harry's shadow.
Lucius ignored the House Elf, and addressed Harry. "Request that your House Elf connect the floo in my study to the one in the Headmaster's office. I don't want to waste time walking through the halls of Hogwarts as well."
Harry relayed the request to Dobby, who was happy to do such for Harry Potter. The House Elf disappeared with a small pop and Lucius turned to his own House Elf.
"I want you to get all the other House Elves together. If the Death Eaters start looking for us, I want you to get in their way."
"Diddy understands, Master. Diddy will do so."
The other House Elf vanished with a pop and left the two Malfoys and Harry Potter standing alone in the corridor.
Harry had never been to the dungeons of Malfoy Manor, and he was happy that he hadn'the thought as he stepped off the small staircase and looked around. The rooms were dank, dark, and smelled of bodily fluids that Harry didn't want to identify. Someone shifted next to him and a small light appeared in Lucius Malfoy's handone of his feathers, glowing as brightly as a Lumos spell.
In the dim light Harry could make out the cell doors, wood and steel monstrosities that lined the hallway that they were in. Harry could see why no Death Eater would want to come down here. The dungeons, from what he could see, were a maze of hallways. There would be no hope for a prisoner to get out of here once left behind in the lightless rooms.
"Be careful." Lucius spoke softly as he began to walk down the passageway. Harry and Draco followed as silently as they could, passing door after door, hallway after hallway.
One of the doors they passed was open and Harry looked in to see a skeleton sitting in a pool of dried blood. After that he didn't try and look around.
Lucius turned and headed down another corridor, turned again at the next hallway and continued in that direction for a while. Harry found himself praying that Lucius Malfoy knew where he was going, because there was no way he'd be able to find his way back to where they'd come from if the man suddenly announced that they were lost.
After they turned yet another cornerthere was a small crunch, and both Lucius and Harry turned to see a peculiar expression on Draco's face. "I think I just crushed someone's head." He explained, his voice strained, his eyes pointedly looking anywhere but down at his feet where the splintered remains of a skull lay under his shoe.
Luicus didn't say anything but turned and continued walking.
Harry almost cried out in relief when he saw a set of stone steps spiraling upwards towards a small door. They had reached the other side of the dungeons.
Lucius was about to put a foot on the step when a small voice whispered "Lumos" behind them.
All three turned to see the pug-like features of Pansy Parkinson looking at them with tear-streaked eyes. She stared only at Draco for a moment before her eyes closed tight and she placed a hand over her eyelids.
"I didn't believe them when they told me what was going on." She spoke quickly, her voice hushed and afraid. "But – but I can't! I can't! Get out here now! I – I didn't see anything. I didn't!"
Draco cast a sorrowful look at the broken girl before he followed his father up the steps.
A lone Death Eater stood in the hallway with his back to the door that lead down to the dungeons on guard duty in case the three of them tried to enter it, Harry guessed. He made a strange strangled sound when Lucius's wing slit his throat and he fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.
Neither boy made a comment as they followed Lucius down the hall, carefully sidestepping the body who's blood was now seeping into the purple Persian carpet. They had to run a little in order to keep up with the elder Malfoy's long and purposeful strides. They were not fleeing the house… not yet, but they were certainly moving quickly.
The hallway seemed deserted, but they could hear crashes and movement resounding throughout the entire house. The Malfoy house elves were doing a great job then They certainly must have been holding up a lot of Death Eaters, if the muffled shouts were anything to go by.
A sharp pain hit Harry like a needle through his stomach. Realizing it for what it was, he pushed Draco down to the floor just as a blue beam of light raced over their heads.
Lucius whirled around at the sound of curse hitting wall and snarled as a robed figure stepped out of the shadows.
"I told you not to let me see you," the Death Eater hissed at Draco.
"Blaise-" Draco started.
"I found them!" Blaise yelled at the top of his lungs. The boy could say no more as he was flung back against the wall, the sound of broken bones on stone filling the hallway as the full fury that was Lucius Malfoy was unleashed in a fit of Veriae magic.
Blaisegasped as he slunk to the ground. "Run… now…" he whispered pitifully at Draco as Harry helped the young Malfoy to his feet.
"Come on!" Harry whispered, as Draco stared at his friend with a look of horror. He could hear the muffled footsteps of the Death Eaters getting closer, most likely tracking Blaise's position with a spell.
The three now took off at a run. The long hallway was now filled with shouts and curses as the Death Eaters poured into the rooms of what had been Lucius's personal wing. The sound of breaking glass, splintering wood, and a few shrieks of what had to be House Elves filled their ears, and yet could not drown out the sound of their own hurried footsteps, muffled by the rug.
The study door was still open as they neared it A sigh of relief squelched in Harry's throat as a lone figure walked though it to bar their path of escape.
The three running stopped short, a room's length away from the robed figure. Almost cowering behind the steel wings of his father's, Draco's hand sought Harry's as his own wings re-emerged, steel tipped on one side, soft as silk on the side near Harry.
"Luciussss Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter," the figure hissed, and Harry could almost picture a forked tongue as he spoke.
"Get ready to run, Draco." Lucius spoke calmly, his eyes never leaving the red ones of Lord Voldemort.
"Run?" The figure's mouth curled into a cruel smile. "Where would you run? Not back up the corridor, surely. It's full of my loyal Death Eaters by now. And you cannot run from the Killing Curse."
"No, but you can block it" Lucius replied just as calmly.
"Daddy" Draco whispered, his eyes looking up at his father in new fear.
There was something Draco must know that I don't, Harry thought.
"Ah yes, you always did say that, Luciusss. The easiest curse to block, you said. All you have to do is get someone in-between you and the curse and it's blocked." The smile twisted into a sneer. "There will be no one in between us when I cast it, I assure you."
A wand lifted in their direction and Lucius shouted. "Now Draco!"
Draco didn't wait to ask, but ran past his father towards Voldemort and the doorway, pulling Harry along behind him.
There was a small pop, and a snarl as Voldemort was pushed backwards by one lone House Elf that was standing between him and her master. There was a growl and a bolt of green light, and Harry barely registered his own shout as the little creature, Diddy, fell dead.
Draco barreled into the room, hand clenched tightly around Harry's, and headed for the open pot of floo powder Dobby had placed on the mantle. Lucius entered the room at a run as his son grabbed a handful of the powder, more spilling over the floor in his haste.
"Quickly, go!" Lucius shouted, as an irate Voldemort entered the room.
Harry pulled Draco into the fireplace as the floo powder fell upon the flames, turning them green.
"Father come-" Draco tried to pull his father into the large fireplace.
He was pushed back into Harry with a snarled, "Go!"
Harry realized what Lucius Malfoy was doing as Voldemort raised his wand and pointed it towards him. "Hogwarts!" He yelled as Voldemort spoke:
"Avada Kedavra."
The last thing Harry sawthrough the flameswas a cascade of black feathers as Draco's screams filled his ears.
They fell out of the fireplace into an undignified sprawl of arms and legs. Harry grabbed on to Draco as the other boy scrambled to get back to the fire.
"Father!" he screeched.
"Draco, stop!" Harry yelled, fighting to keep the blond away from the flames. "There's nothing we can do."
The blond collapsed in a sobbing heap on the floor of Dumbledore's officeas the door was opened and Albus Dumbledore walked in, followed closely by Ron and Hermione.