Draco reaches for the doorknob, but before he could grasp it, Catalipsie scuttled down his arm and jumped on the round silver knob. She turns around and stands on her hind legs with her tail wrapped around the doorknob for support, before pushing Draco's hand away with all her might.
"Silly girl. Don't try to stop me. This is important." Draco grins at his pet's antics and pulls the door open by holding its side. Catalipsie hissed and a loud 'No!' echoed through Draco's mind. "Yes" Draco hissed back, already fully mastering the tones and intonations of the well-practiced word from years of back and forth banter with his beloved reptile. [1]
Stepping into the room, Draco breathed in the stale musty air. Yet strangely enough, the room didn't have any build-up of dust or mold. Almost as though the entire room had been enchanted to preserve everything within it. Everything was in shades of Black, Grey, and Dark Brown. It would have been difficult for Draco to maneuver in the dark had he relied on his sight. Instead, he relied on the magic around him to guide him towards the thing that was almost screaming out loud.
Bumping on a wooden stool, Draco looked down and saw a curious black leather-bound notebook. He could feel that it was this item that was calling out to him. Quickly taking the notebook, he stuffed it in his mokeskin pouch and returned it to a pocket within his cloak.
"Tom!"
Draco jolts at the low seething voice that spoke of the man's anger. Turning around, Draco wasn't surprised to find his father storming towards him still as graceful as a peacock, but an angry peacock.
"What are you doing in here?!" Lucius grabs Draco, his hands trembling yet firm on Draco's shoulders.
'I wanted to come back for you father, but thought to find something that will help me do that in here.' No 'I got lost.' As if. All sorts of thoughts and excuses raced through Draco's mind in milliseconds. Yet none were satisfactory.
"I-"…
"I don't know." Indeed. Pleading innocence in the face of glaring evidence was cowardly, yet quite effective as this would make others come up with a more suitable explanation on the perpetrator's behalf. It was placing all your eggs in one basket, but it was the best solution Draco could come up with.
Lucious had been furious at Draco's palpable shamelessness, yet, almost as if the world made sense, gears turned in Lucius' mind. He could only come to one conclusion. Of course, if Tom didn't know what he was doing, the Horcrux must have manipulated him to come here.
Quickly glancing down at the wooden stool, Lucious found that the black leather-bound journal was still there. Uncovered and slightly different from its original position, yet remains on the stool. Heaving a sigh of relief, he tightly embraced Draco in his arms with eyes filled with tears, yet none were allowed to fall.
Having had a sufficient degree of assuring himself that Tom was still safe, Lucius let go of his son and pushed him out of the room.
"Never come in here ever again Tom. This room holds more dangers than you could imagine. I have several things to sort through, could I place my trust in you and ask for you to wait for me in the dining area? There are important matters I need to discuss with you."
Lucius looks at Draco almost pleadingly, and Draco quickly replies with eyes shining with understanding and obedience.
"Of course father!" Lucius smiles and rubs Draco's head.
"Go now. I will be with you in a moment." Draco nods and turns around to head back into the dining room.
Once Lucius saw Tom enter the correct room from the hallway, he quickly shuts the door and heads back to the wooden stool. Bending down, he picks up the piece of cloth that was supposed to be covering the cursed thing.
Heading over to a cabinet on the far-right corner of the room, Lucius opens it up with a quick wave of his wand and a silent incantation. Opening a hidden compartment, Lucius's muscles relax in relief seeing a certain cup still in its place. However, Lucius saw a round blurry light grey object moving behind him in the reflection of the cup's surface.
With a quick twist, Lucius fired a [diffindo] in the direction of the source of the movement - making a deep gash in the couch in the process. A tiny grey mammal appeared from under the couch meeting Lucius' gaze with its red beady eyes.
[confringo]
An orange blast shoots through Lucius' swiftly aimed wand, and scorches a third of the couch as well as a good 3-4 diameter circle on the floor. The tiny mammal scurried away and stopped at the other end of the couch, returning its bizarre gaze upon its attacker.
"A rat." Lucius muttered to himself. The rat glared at him, and Lucius was unnerved by the idea of a mere rat glaring at him.
"I should summon the elves for an extermination."
There was something in the rat's glare that seemed to fit a snake more than a lowly pest. 'I suppose some vermin have yet to learn their place.' Lucius unnaturally stood in place for a couple of seconds, neither moving nor averting his eyes as though unnerved by the unusual impasse.
Not before long, the pest scurried away. Lucius turned around and pushed the hidden compartment of the cabinet back in place; locking the entire cabinet back up with a wave of his wand and another incantation that was much lengthier than the one he used earlier.
Assuring himself everything was still alright; Lucius walks back out of the room. Behind him, a small reptilian creature silently wiggles out from under the cloth without disturbing its place on the wooden stool. Dropping on the floor, it quickly runs up the wall and onto the ceiling. As soon as Lucius opened the door of the room, the tiny reptilian creature crawled out through the top of the door opening. As soon as it was out, it scrambled down the ceiling while hiding in the shadows of the corridor towards its owner that was peacefully resting in another room.
Lucius, unaware of the masterful thievery that just took place and with a mind too muddled with various thoughts to notice anything odd, shut the door and locked it with an incantation and a key.
Past the corridor, in the dining room, Draco was gleefully smiling in his chair at the successful return of his most trusted advisor and beloved reptile. It did not matter that she was scolding him again, for to Draco results were all that mattered.
Once Lucius had reached the dining table, he sat down on the seat he previously sat on. Cold silence penetrated the air, and Draco was getting more worried by the second.
With a wave of his wand, Lucius accioed tea set from the kitchen. A soft wingardium leviosa softly placed them on the table and scooped two tablespoons of black tea leaves into the teapot. A well-controlled aguamenti filled the teapot with water, and a tap of his wand caused a burst of steam to issue almost instantly from the teapot.
The aroma slowly permeated through the air, warming it up with a delicious scent. Draco could almost pick up the scent of Madagascar vanilla, lavender, and almonds.
Another wave of Lucius' wand lifted the pot and tipped it to pour the warm tea into the two cups. Wanting to impress his father and lighten the mood, Draco lifted his hand and cast a wandless wordless wingardium leviosa to send each teacup and saucer to their drinker.
With this, the silence ended and Lucius gazed up at Draco with eyes gleaming with pride, but also almost anticipatory for something.
"Tom. As you already know. I cannot stay here any longer."
Lucius' eyes searched Draco's, asking to have all of his attention and Draco nodded in agreement.
"And I have a proposal."
Reaching into his cloak, Lucius pulled out an ivory envelope with gold calligraphy on it.
"You were correct. The safest place on earth is not in Britain. Tom. Will you go to France with me? I have contacts you can stay with. Powerful enough to protect you, and obscure enough that neither the Death Eaters nor the Dark Lord can reach you. Though I cannot stay with you, I may visit you every now and then when it is safe."
Going to France? He was almost ready to part with his father once again, but suddenly getting a proposal to leave everything behind was something Draco had never considered. All this time Draco had been doing everything in his power to come back home, suddenly being told to do the opposite had left him befuddled.
No matter how tempting it was to leave everything behind, Draco knew that there was much more to lose than if he stayed. Who other than him can coax the idiot trio and the barmy old man to make the correct decision and defeat Voldemort? After all, Draco knew the future, and if the wizarding world had any chance at defeating Voldemort, his knowledge may have enough power to tip that scale to victory.
There was also that. That which he had gained in this life and was already deeply buried in his heart as much as his mother and father were. Draco reached for his wrist sensor that was softly starting to beep and gently rubbed it with his thumb. His cortisol levels were steadily rising while his adrenaline levels plateaued slightly higher than his average resting levels.
Draco took sips of his tea to calm down his rising nerves, but the close proximity of the tea allowed him to smell another ingredient he hadn't noticed before. 'Valerian sprigs? How peculiar' The bitter taste of the tea together with an all too familiar scent caused memories to flashed through his mind. One of a cold grey stone below a common tree that was surrounded by Valerian sprigs all year-round. Nothing was remarkable about the rock other than its slightly large size, but Draco had remembered every mark on that stone. Every chip, stain, and indent. A crude memorial stone with no names and no bodies, just two wands buried maybe 2 or three feet under for that was all his bare hands were capable of digging at that time.
*beep* *beep*
'but they will be alright' Draco convinced himself. 'if I set everything right, father will never go to Azkaban and never take his own life upon news of his wife's death.' Remembering the day Bellatrix cackled with laughter while telling him this made dread creep through his heart, sending tendrils of cold numbness down his limbs.
'Mother has always been father's strength. Father would die to protect me, but he cannot live without her. Before they could be together again, Voldemort can never find me or he will use me as a hostage to make father bend to his will once more.'
Draco pondered deeper, looking for a question within himself that will guide his decision 'Unless… Even if I come face to face with Voldemort one day, if he doesn't know I am their son then he cannot use me. However, father seems to want to bring all the dangers of the world to his doorstep just to keep me by his side. I can't let him do that. I can't stay by father's side any longer.'
*beep* *beep* *beep*
Draco softly smiled and pressed a button to put his sensor in silent mode. 'There is also that troublesome fellow. Despite the world calling him a genius, I would classify him an idiot given that he has yet to take Pepper as his wife despite his obvious dependence on her for both his personal and professional lives. For now, he needs me and… I need him. I need Tony. I need my dad. I could also never quench the penitence in my heart if I were to allow Pepper to develop eyebags and white hair if she was left alone to pull Dad out of his man cave and convince him to drink pina colada in lieu of stronger alcohol. She's already in charge of supervising 90% of Stark industries with Dad dumping all of his work on her, I can't possibly in decent propriety allow myself to let her work THAT hard… In hindsight, I should also probably hire a president to take care of Estragon Laboratories… Am I a bad son?... No, no. I'm perfect.'
Draco lifts his head and with all sincerity, spoke in his most apologetic tone. "I'm sorry Father. I cannot go to France and nor risk staying with you any longer. You were right in hiding my identity and not registering me. No one must know I am your son so that all of us can live."
Panic rose within Lucius which caused him to rise in his seat. He took a deep shaky breath before kneeling down and grasping Draco's hands. Feeling as though he was about to lose his son, the desperation he was trying to hold down had leaked into his voice and quickened the pace of his breath. "No Tom. Living unknown is no longer an option. Listen Tom. An owl came with your name on the envelope. I have already burned it to erase any trace, however; it is already too dangerous for you to stay here. If any identity revealing charms were placed on you, everyone would know that you, my son, my wife's son, exists."
Draco felt conflicted but believed his decision to be the best for everyone, despite the agony separation would bring. "You don't have to worry about me father. My adoptive dad will protect me. I also made several friends who can take me in when the need arises. There is also something I haven't told you, father. I have another identity and a new name that I can use. I was actually born and raised in America, all my papers and magical registration are all legal and under that other name."
"Don't joke around Tom. Do you honestly believe a mere muggle can protect you? I can't even guess what made you believe that anything received from that destitute barbaric country would account for anything in Britain. Did a yank tell you that? Listen to me Tom, I knew far more as a child than any Yank could ever know in a lifetime. Such bottom-dwellers could never understand the depth of knowledge and power that pure-blood wizards such as myself have been trained with since birth."
Lucius' scolding was far worse than anything Draco had expected. Not because it had been unanticipated, but because the derogatory terms his Father had used stirred up emotions in his heart which he never thought were there. Never had he expected to be so flustered and have a retrospective moment in this critical time.
Draco could not help but think that his father right now, was a reflection of his past self and his face flushed a deep cherry red. Not because he was angry or hurt, but because he suddenly became self-conscious of his past actions. The Draco Malfoy, who like an adolescent that never grew up, finally understood the juvenility of his 'showcase of power and elitism'.
Was it the leftist influence of California? His Dad's teachings about vocabulary sensitivity to the media? Both? Draco didn't exactly know. All Draco knew was that he was currently deeply and ruefully embarrassed.
Gripping tightly the hands that were holding onto his, Draco bit his lip to control his embarrassment for himself and his father.
"Father. I'm truly sorry, but…"
"No. You have no choice Draco."
'What?!' Draco looked up at his father, startled at the words that tickled his ear. 'That name shouldn't exist' he thought. An almost eerie smile graced his father's cold face and the mismatch of his expression was perturbing.
Lucius began to speak in an almost pacifying and hypnotic manner. His eye's milky and glazed over. Draco hadn't noticed when Lucius' eyes changed, but in lieu of the silver-gray irises he had been all too familiar with, were cloudy, almost cataract-like irises and dilated pupils. Lucius had used the fraction of a second Draco had been overwhelmed with embarrassment to convince his body to 'sleep'. It usually wouldn't have worked, yet Draco without any suspicion had been previously and continuously spiked. The unspoken charm and the chemicals swirling within Draco's system had worked in synergy to create an immediate and frightfully effective reaction.
"You do not have to worry Draco. By this time tomorrow, the only thing you would remember is I as your father and life as a proper pure-blood."
'Of course. Valerian sprigs and Lavender.' This was his thought that could fully take shape before Draco had been lulled into the cold embrace of slumber.
At the corner of the room, was a grey rat effortlessly blending into the dreary colors of the manor's wallpaper and drapes. Its red beady eyes reflecting the dull affair before scurrying off into the shadows.
Lucius stands over Draco, wand raised prepared to obliviate the muggle out of him and bursting with confidence about keeping him close - hidden right next to his own person. Lucius was prepared never again to let go of his son.
"Obli-"
*vrrrr**vrrrr**vrrrr*
"Obli-!"
*vrrrr**vrrrr**vrrrr**vrrrr*
'that incessant buzzing.' Lucius takes a deep breath to calm his nerves. Glaring at his son's 'muggle watch' displaying the words 'Incoming call: Dad'.
Lucius denies the call and struggles to open the messaging app without taking the watch of his son.
[[ Tony: did anything happen son? Something foreign entered your bloodstream. ]]
Lucius replies as quickly as he can, but he was quite slow-paced given his experience with the muggle technology [[ Tom: I'm doing well father. I apologize as I can't answer your call right now. I do promise to call you back later. ]]
Lucius stands up and raises his wand once more, prepared to utter the spell that would make Tom completely his son.
*vvrrrrr**vrrrrrrr*
[[ Tony: No Tom. Answer the call. You don't need to talk, I just need to see you. ]]
"This petulant muggle dare order my son. Loppy!"
With a loud pop, Dobby appears in front of his master. "Dobby answers master's call. What may Dobby do for master?"
Lucius sneers at the lower being, growling his order "Go bring me the potion's kit case I left in my room, swiftly!"
"Yes, master. Dobby will go get the potion case, Dobby will."
With three loud cracks in the air, Dobby disappears, reappears with the case that was quickly snatched from his raised hands, and disappears again back into whatever corner of Malfoy manor all the house elves have taken upon themselves to hide in.
Lucius opens the case with haste and picks out a vial with clear, bright gold liquid. Lucius proceeds to pluck out a few strands of hair from Draco's head with one hand and throws it into the vial he had popped open and held with his other. With a quick swig of the vial, Lucius had transformed in time for Tony's next call.
Lucius lifted his son's wrist, angling the watch such that the video call would only show his own person.
With a well-practiced business smile, Lucius places a finger on his mouth in a hushed motion, shakes his head, and whispers.
"I'm doing spectacularly father. I simply happened to consume quite a bit more food than I would have otherwise preferred, and my friend's asleep beside me from a food coma. I don't wish to wake them."
Tony smiled back and replied in the same hushed tone "Oh okay. Which friend are you with right now?"
"I don't believe I've introduced you to each other yet. However, I will let you both meet soon."
Tony seemed to glance around a bit while replying back.
"Sure thing son. Just text me when you want to come home ill pick you up. Have fun with your friend, but don't stay too late. Remember curfews at 5."
"You don't need to pick me up, I'll make sure to be home by 4:30 at the latest."
"Alright. Have fun with your friend but still keep me updated."
Lucius relaxed upon seeing the red circle indicating the call ended. Out of curiosity, Lucius scrolled up through their messages.
2:40 Dad: Tom?
2:38 Dad: you okay son?
2:35 Dad: (shark emoji)?
2:30 Dad: (shark emoji)
2:00 Dad: Baby Shark Tom: Dudududu 1:28 Dad: wazzuuuppp Tom: Wazzuuuupppp 1:02 Dad: 😘
Tom: eewwww 12:30 Dad: wat u eat?
Tom: ribs Dad: gud ribs?
Tom: vury gud ribs.
Dad: 👌😘
Tom:
Just like that. Messages were sent at least every half hour. But it wasn't until their earliest texts of the day did Lucius stop scrolling.
8:01 Tom: I'm in the car.
Tom: I think I forgot to tell you earlier when I left. I love u dad Dad: I love u 2 son.
Something flickered within Lucius' eyes, altering his most prominent thoughts. Lucius' mind had been murky and dark, almost reminiscent of the years he was barely sober enough to make out what was a dream and what was real. And Lucius had turned very confused.
Thoughts that were pushed to the very back of his mind had started clawing for attention. Conflicting thoughts were ravaging through what was left of the sanity he had regained after the reappearance of his son.
"I must take him. Take. TaKE HiMM, no no no no no. No I can't, I. NO must take no. Leave. Yes I should leave? Leave him? AARRGGGHHHHHHH!"
Lucius stepped backward, gripping at his head that felt like it was splitting apart.
"SAfE. sAfe. Must. Must kEep hiM safe."
Lucius eyes were flickering between cloudiness, deranged, hysterical, and saddness. He was very confused. Lucius had always been prideful of his impenetrable calculating mind, but now in front of his beloved child, any logic had been reduced to tatters. What thoughts were smart and which were emotionally driven? He couldn't make out either and it was driving him insane.
With his head cocked downwards held between his hands, he spotted the vial he had unknowingly dropped earlier. There was still half of the liquid left.
Without a plan, Lucius simply felt that Tom could and should no longer be his son and that somehow this would keep him safe. Safe. It was the only word that made sense to him. Hence, Lucius took that bottle and added in other ingredients while relying on muscle memory to pick out those that wouldn't transform into something deadly when mixed together.
Tilting Draco's head, Lucius pours in the murky golden/bluish/black concoction past his lips. He wasn't fully aware enough to comprehend exactly what he was doing, but felt agony as he watched as his son's features which resembled his start to boil and shift; watching his son turn into a monster by his own hands.
Time passes by and Lucius waits in delirious agony for the transformation to settle down. He was continuously tormented by the ringing of Tom's phone and the chimes of the grandfather clock. When the last boil had settled, Lucius stands up and carries Draco in his arms.
He apparates to an alley near the leaky cauldron and lays Draco on the cobblestone pavement. The water vapor in the air condensed upon Lucius's skin and eyelashes, almost giving the illusion of tears. Pointing his wand at Draco's forehead, he painfully mutters an obliviate as well as a compulsion charm with a shaky breath.
'With this, Draco will forget everything about the Blacks or the Malfoys, and he will never search for either of those names again. Warning him will not be enough. Draco must be completely separated from him in body and mind'
The faint flashing lights that occasionally seeped into the dark alleyway reflected off of the midnight fog that was creeping in upon evening London streets, dimly illuminating the father-son pair and painting a somber scene.
Lucius reaches his trembling hand, hoping to stroke his son's head one last time, but he couldn't do it. Almost like a physical barrier, his regret prevented his heart from accepting even just this tiny bit of comfort.
Scared of the pain that any more warmth would bring. He hides in the corner and waits for someone to get Tom. He waits until he could feel the magic in the air. With a crack, a figure appeared, dark messy hair and thick frames. He carefully picks up Draco and with another twist. Vanishes.
Taking out a ragged cloth from within his robes, he mutters [incendio] barely above a whisper. He watched the fibers blaze into a fiery red then disappear into the wind as tiny specks of ash. Raising his wand to his temple, Lucius once again repeats a single line in his head.
'Draco must be completely separated from him in body and mind.'
[Obliviate]
When the bluish green particles of magic dissolved into the air, all that was left in Lucius' eyes was calm darkness. Lucius had managed to regain his control of occlumency, with more control than he had managed in his prime. He turns and walks away without looking back. It doesn't take long at all for his figure to merge into the shadows of the streets. One would think that it was a cruel joke played by fate to portray the darkness that was consuming the man.
[1] Yes you can canonically learn parseltongue, (though in Draco's case, he may have learned a dialect of snake language since Catalipsie isn't a snake) As demonstrated by Ron Weasley from chapter 31, "The Battle of Hogwarts".
Ron made a horrible strangled hissing noise.
"It's what you did to open the locket," he told Harry apologetically. "I had to have a few goes to get it right, but," he shrugged modestly, "we got there in the end."
(I find it cute to make Draco speak parseltongue in dialect. Like Harry speaks fancy common snake language, and Draco speaks like a hillbilly snake from the boonies lol. But I guess it wouldn't be that bad. Maybe like British English and American English. Same but different. But same.)