The euphoria of winning the Quidditch cup carried into the first days of June before it started dying down. Exam season was here, and maybe it was just the exhaustion, but I could swear the castle itself was changing a bit. The stone gargoyles seemed to sneer more; the changing staircases became more retarded than ever. Heck even the sunlight outside seemed harsher.
I was spending most of my time these days studying. Daphne was usually with me, which made it somewhat more bearable. She helped me come up with a great timetable which meant I was managing decently enough, even with the extra subject.
Speaking of which, Ancient Runes was my first exam, on the morning of the 4th.
To be honest, it was easy. Maybe a little too easy… oh god, I hope I hadn't fucked something up.
Whatever, can't think about that right now. Right now it was time for lunch, but tomorrow was Transfiguration and there was a lot to revise, so I took the textbook with me. I was joined by Daphne.
"How was it?" she asked me.
"Hmph?" I said, then swallowed my bite. "Oh, it was good. I think I did alright. What about you?"
"I… didn't have an exam. Transfiguration is my first, remember?"
"Oh right, sorry."
"You have mail, by the way."
I looked up from my book and saw a gray owl land on the table right in front of me. I took the envelope tied to his feet and opened it.
'Dear Draco,
Your father and I have decided to let you stay with your cousins in France for the summer. We decided a change of scenery would be good for you, and we know how you've been missing your cousins.
Good luck for your exams. Study hard, I know you'll make us proud!
Love, Mum'
Well, that was… direct. But I guess I was clear for the summer as well. Which meant a couple of Voldy-free months after school for me to plan shit out – which I know I should have done by now but whatever. I had my plate full with… school stuff.
Christ, I needed to sort out my priorities.
Whatever though. Sorting out my priorities wasn't my priority right now. The wrath of Professor McGonagall should I flunk my OWL seemed far more threatening at the moment than Voldemort.
[…]
Well, Transfiguration went solid. The exam was tricky; I think I may have screwed up a couple details in the theory but the practical bit went seamlessly. Daphne apparently did great too; she was humming happily as she walked out of the exam hall. It was the first time I'd seen her this cheerful in a week.
After dinner I just went straight to bed, didn't bother doing any revision. We had Astronomy tomorrow, which was at night and easy as shit.
I spent most of the following day revising for Charms, which was the next tough one. I only turned my attention to Astronomy in the last couple of hours. The exam took place on top of the astronomy tower, and was predictably easy. The night sky was clear and starry, with a bright full moon. Perfect for star-gazing.
As I filled in my star-chart, I happened to gaze over the moonlit grounds. The lights were on in Hagrid's cottage, and smoke was coming from the chimney. I could even see his silhouette going about his business inside the cottage.
In another timeline, Hagrid was probably fighting Umbridge and a couple of aurors right now. In this one though, he was chilling in his cozy little cottage, probably breeding some dangerous abominations for our OWLs. And it was all (mostly) thanks to me! Man, that felt good to say.
I finished my star-chart and handed it in. Ignoring the dirty looks a few of the others shot me, I left the tower and returned to my dormitory.
The next day was Charms. This was honestly the first test I struggled with. I didn't think I was gonna fail it (hopefully), but I definitely could have done better on the Theory bit. Practical went alright though, hopefully that might cover my ass.
Next was Care of Magical Creatures, which I… definitely fucked up. Big time. I'd be lucky if I passed the written exam but the disaster that was the practical was definitely gonna tank my final grade for the subject. Herbology went marginally better, but I was doubtful on that one too.
With morale at an all-time low, I went into Potions, and came out three hours later with a confirmed 'Outstanding' on my result card. I frigging crushed that bitch, fuck yeah!
"Well, someone's cheerful," Daphne said, catching up with me outside the exam hall. "I'm guessing the exam went well?"
"You bet your sweet batooty it did," I said.
"Batooty…?"
"Oh, I picked that up in… America. Went there over the summer," I explained.
"Ah…"
"It means butt."
"Yeah, I kinda pieced that together myself," she said. "Anyways, mine went alright. What was the fifth ingredient for the Strength Potion?"
"Fanged Geranium," I recalled.
"Shit, I wrote snake fangs."
"Oh no, now you're gonna get 99 out of 100 marks, which I believe is only an 'Outstanding' grade!"
"Shut up," she snapped. "And please stop playing with my hair."
"Sorry," I said sheepishly. In my defense, her hair was in a messy bun and something about that always really got to me.
The next, and second to last exam, was Defense Against the Dark Arts. I was no Harry Potter, but I'd say it still went great. Not as good as Potions but better than the rest of my exams. I don't wanna jinx anything, but I'd say I could at least hope for an Exceeds Expectations.
At last, we had History of Magic. The final hurdle. Three more hours to go till freedom.
[…]
Well, those three hours went by fast. For me, anyway. Much like Astronomy, I was one of the first to finish, earning me dirty looks from some people, including Daphne… which was just… ouch.
It was a nice sunny day outside. Most of the students were by the lake, including me and Daphne. She was sitting at the base of a tree, I was lying next to her, my head rested in her lap. This was the first time in a while since we'd been together and not beenstudying. We weren't even talking all that much. We were just hanging out together, sharing comfortable silence.
"Hey, Draco…" Daphne said.
"Yeah?"
"Do you want to do something over the summer? Together, I mean?"
"Hmm… sounds tempting," I said. "But I'm spending the summer in France with my cousins."
"Oh… okay," she said.
"Maybe you could come with me?" I suggested.
"Heh, like my parents would ever let me spend three months away from home with a boy. I like you, but not enough to get disowned over it."
"C'mooon, can't you at least try?"
"I can give it a shot. Don't get your hopes up, though," she said.
[…]
Across the lawn, on a small slope overlooking the lake, sat Harry, Ron and Hermione.
"- I wrote 14 inches on the Giant Wars, d'you reckon that's enough? And I accidentally confused Liechtenstein and Luxembourg's roles in the 1817 vampire genocide-"
"Hermione, I doubt anyone apart from you even knows those countries exist," Ron said irritably. "Much less know their roles in vampire genocide."
"The examiners will know!" Hermione snapped back.
"They're probably too old to even remember the names of their grandchildren-"
"Guys, can we just not talk about the exams?" Harry groaned. "We literally just got done with them!"
"Hey, tell that to Hermione, man…" Ron said.
They fell silent for a while. Ron's gaze went around the lawn.
"Hey, since when's Greengrass been going out with Malfoy?" he asked suddenly.
"Since February, I think," Hermione said. "They got together after Valentine's. Why do you care?"
"Eh, just thought she could do better," Ron said in an unconvincingly flippant tone.
"Heh, like you?" Harry snickered.
Ron went red. "No- I don't… don't be stupid Harry!"
"I can't believe it…" Harry said, laughing. "D'you remember how skeptical he was about her joining the DA, Hermione? Now look at him!"
"Harry shut up!" Ron said through gritted teeth, ears turning red. "I don't fancy her or anything like that!"
"Alright, relax man, it was only a bit of teasing- OW!"
Ron and Hermione suddenly sat up straight.
"What's wrong?" Ron asked sharply.
"Did your scar hurt?" Hermione said in a hushed voice.
"Er… nothing, it's fine…" Harry said, rubbing his forehead.
"Harry…" Hermione said in concern.
"Trust me, Hermione, I'm f- ARGH!"
"Harry? Harry!" Ron said.
Harry clutched his scar, writhing on the ground for a few seconds, before going still, breathing heavily.
"What happened? Did you see something?"
"He- he has Sirius!" Harry sputtered. "Voldemort has- we need to tell Dumbledore!"
He got up on to his feet and started running back towards the castle.
"Harry, wait! HARRY!" Hermione called after him as they got up after him as well.
[…]
My eyes were starting to get a bit heavy. Everything was good. The weather was nice. The spot beneath the tree was nice and cool. Daphne was with me…
Then I noticed Harry running back to the castle at breakneck speed. Ron and Hermione were running after him, calling his name. That kinda got me awake.
Were they…? No, that can't be. It couldn't happen… Dumbledore had never left Hogwarts… Voldemort would never try to lure Harry to the Department of Mysteries. It was something else probably. It had to be. None of my business…
And yet, why did I feel like something really bad was gonna happen? No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't ignore it.
I pulled out the Marauder's map from my pocket.
"What're you doing?" Daphne whispered. "Someone might see."
"No, they won't. And it's only for a second, I just need to check something…"
The trio were running towards… their common room… whew. Okay, so maybe it wasn't anything-
And they just ran out of the common room. They were running downstairs.
"I just remembered something," I said. "I have to go, I'll catch up later, okay?"
"Mhmm," Daphne nodded.
I ran back to the castle as well. Inside, I took out the Marauder's Map and spotted Harry – with Ron and Hermione in close pursuit – running towards Dumbledore's office.
Except the Headmaster's office was empty.
[…]
"What do you mean he isn't here?!" Harry said angrily to the gargoyle outside the Headmaster's study.
"What do you think it means, kid? It means the Headmaster isn't in the office," the gargoyle snapped back. "Ugh, I don't get paid enough for this."
"You get paid- ow!" Ron started before being elbowed in the rib by Hermione.
"Where's he gone to?" she said.
"He was saying something about Manchester... he had a couple of teachers with him as well."
"Which ones?"
"Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and Professor Shacklebolt," the gargoyle said. "They were also talking about calling Professor Hagrid… whatever it was, it seemed urgent."
Hermione pulled Harry aside.
"McGonagall and Shacklebolt, with Dumbledore… see Harry? The Order is on this!"
"Hermione, he said Manchester!" Harry said. "The vision I had, Voldemort had Sirius in the Department of Mysteries, in London!"
"So that means… whatever Dumbledore and the others are doing, its something else entirely?" Ron said.
"Which means nobody else knows about Sirius," Harry said.
"Harry, if Dumbledore and the others really are busy with some other issue," Hermione said. "Voldemort could just be trying to lure you out, it's exactly the kind of thing he would do! It could be a trap!"
"But what if he does actually have Sirius?" Harry shouted back. "We checked the mirror, right? And he wasn't there! And none of the Order know that he's missing!"
"Harry…" Hermione said pleadingly.
"Hermione, he's the only family I've got!" Harry said. "I can't lose him."
Hermione sighed. "Alright, fine, but we need to do one thing first."
She stepped up to the gargoyle and said, "Cockroach cluster."
The gargoyle didn't move.
"Sherbet lemon."
Still, it didn't move.
"Blood Lolipop?"
The gargoyle stepped aside, revealing a spiraling staircase leading up to the Headmaster's study. Hermione quickly ran up the stair case into the office. It was empty save for Fawkes, perched in his nest.
"What are you doing?" Ron said as he and Harry followed her.
"Alerting the rest of the Order," she said. "I can't stop Harry from going after Sirius, but at least I can make sure we'll have backup."
She whispered something to Fawkes, who let out a beautiful cry before spreading his wings and flying out the window.
"How're we going to get to London?" Ron asked.
"I was thinking we could… fly," Harry said. "I can get there in an hour and a half on the Firebolt at max speed."
"I might be able to get there in less than two as well," Ron said. "Hermione can ride with me."
"Alright, let's go then," Harry said. The three of them ran out the office.
[…]
I entered the third floor and took a left turn, into the corridor with Dumbledore's office, skidding to a halt in front of the large stone gargoyle guarding the stairwell.
"If you're looking for those three Gryffindors, you're too late," the gargoyle said.
"What?" I wheezed.
"They just left a few minutes ago."
"Oh, for FUCK'S sake!" I said and sat down on the ground, catching my breath.
"Good lord, aren't you supposed to be a Quidditch player? A few flights of stairs did this to you?"
"Hey, man, shut up. I just ran up all the way from the lake without stopping…" I panted. "Besides, OWLs have put me out of shape."
I knew I didn't have much time, so I got up quickly and took out the map again. It wasn't hard to spot them. Their names were flying across the map. It seemed Ginny, Neville and Luna had convinced them to let them come along as well, since they seemed to be with them. Better six than three I suppose.
As I got up, a thought crossed my mind; should I even go after them? Assuming they were going to the Department of Mysteries (which seemed like the case) … if I went, I'd be outing myself to the Death Eaters, which included Lucius, y'know, my father. I doubted anything that came from that would be good for me. Not to mention I could potentially… die. But on the other hand, someone had to make sure Sirius survived.
Oh, shit this was hard…
Fuck it, I was going after them. This was important, I couldn't sit on my ass for this one.
I ran back my dormitory to get my broom, then I headed out into the grounds towards the forest side. Most of the students were by the lake, on the totally opposite side of the castle, so there was nobody around to see me as I took off. Nevertheless, I made sure to cast a Disillusionment Charm on myself. I was trying to fly as fast as the broom could allow, barely managing to keep the six tiny dots ahead of me within sight.
[…]
A little over an hour and a half later, by which time the sun had set, I landed in an alleyway in London. There was an old, decommissioned phone-booth in the alley. Harry's firebolt and a couple Cleansweeps propped up against them. There were also a couple Thestrals foraging for rotten food in the dumpster.
Yeah I think this was the place.
I stepped inside the booth and dialed 62442 – which stood for 'magic' – and a cool female voice spoke.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."
"Draco Malfoy, I'm uh… here to save some people, or at least try to?"
"Thank you," the voice said. "Please take the badge and attack it to the front of your robes."
A badge slid out of the metal chute where returned coins normally appeared. It said 'Draco Malfoy, Attempting to Help.'
"Visitors to the Ministry are required to submit to a search and present their wands for registration at the security desk, situated at the far end of the Atrium."
"Yeah, yeah, just hurry!"
The floor of the booth shuddered and began to descend into the depth of the Ministry of Magic. The Atrium was completely empty and dimly lit. There were no fires burning in the mantelpieces set into the walls. The only light source was the twisting, moving golden symbols emblazoned on the dark blue ceiling above.
I ran out the booth as soon as the doors opened. I ran across the Atrium towards the lifts to other levels of the Ministry, past the security desk where I would've had to register my wand. The desk was ominously devoid of a security person. I entered the nearest lift and pushed the number 9 and the lift began to descend as the grllles closed with a bang. When they opened again, there was a hallway leading to a plain black door.
"Level Nine, the Department of Mysteries."
I took out my wand and walked up to the door. Inside was a circular room with a dozen more doors. As soon as the door closed behind me, the circular walls started rotating extremely fast, before stopping after a few seconds. If I recalled correctly this was to stop a person from knowing which door they came through. Well, let me tell ya. It worked.
I also realized I had no clue which door to go through, so I opened one at random. It was the Death Room, the archway containing the Veil in the center of the room.
I stepped inside. For the moment it was empty, so the others were probably in the Hall of Prophecies right now.
The Veil – being the only thing in the room – caught my eye and I was tempted to approach it. in the back of my head, I knew keeping my distance would be better, but I didn't really care about that. I was drawn to it. Near the archway I could hear whispering voices saying something unintelligible. They grew louder as I approached the Veil, as if they were trying to communicate with me. Were these the voices of the dead, speaking from the other side? The Veil was moving gently in the archway, like how a curtain moves after being touched… maybe it was the spirits of the recently deceased passing through-
A loud crash came from behind me, distracting me from the Veil. I turned and saw Harry fall through the door into the chamber face first, the Prophecy falling out of his hand and rolling across the floor to me.
He looked up and his eyes widened as he saw me. He quickly got to his feet and pointed his wand at me. Guess the Disillusionment Charm wore off. The rest of the group ran into the room from the same door. Hermione gasped when she saw me, while Ron, Ginny and Neville immediately raised their wands, while Luna was looking past me at the archway.
"I'm not here to fight you guys," I said. "I'm here to help."
"Like hell you are!" barked Ron.
"Give us the prophecy, Draco," Harry said.
"Just hex him and take it, man," Ron said.
Harry ignored him. "Give it," he said to me.
I picked up the prophecy, but before I could hand it to them a giggling voice came from the door immediately to my right. A woman entered the room. She had long black hair, and a pale, gaunt face with a sinister, dangerous sort of beauty to it. She wore long, loose black robes that showed a generous amount of cleavage.
Bellatrix Lestrange, Voldemort's deadliest servant… and by the looks of it, the dream of everyone that ever wanted a big tiddy goth girlfriend.
'Wooooahhh, hold your horses there, chief!' I thought to myself. 'She's technically your aunt… and you have a girlfriend… and also THERE ARE WAY MORE PRESSING MATTERS HERE!'
"Well, well, well, Draco darling, I can't say I expected to see you here," she said mischievously. "But life's full of little surprises… isn't it?"
"Draco…" another voice said, this time from the opposite end. Lucius Malfoy, dear old Pa himself, stepped into the room, as did a dozen other death eaters from the other doors. Lucius had shadows under his yes, his face looked tired. "You should never have come here. Give us the prophecy, and leave."
"Don't be so stern, Lucius, you should be proud!" Bellatrix said. "Draco did well, he got the prophecy. The Dark Lord will be pleased."
I looked at the crystal ball in my hand, and then at Harry's group. They had formed a circle and moved closer to the center where I was, wands at the ready.
"Give me the prophecy, Draco," Lucius said again, holding out his hand. "Now."
"Draco, please don't give it to them!" Hermione pleaded. "You have no idea-"
"Silence, girl!" the nearest Death Eater spat.
I needed to stall, just long enough till the Order showed up…
"What's in the prophecy?" I asked.
"What?"
"The prophecy. What's it about?"
"It- nothing that concerns you!" Lucius spat.
"You'll tell me first, then I'll give it."
"Alright, you've gone from precious to irritating now," Bellatrix said, then she pointed her wand directly at me. "We can do this the easy way, Draco, or the hard way. You may be family, but the Dark Lord comes first. I won't hesitate to-"
"Bellatrix!" Lucius snapped angrily, holding up his hand to stop her. Then he turned to me, speaking with a hint of pleading in his voice. "Draco, be sensible. Do you really want to risk the wrath of the Dark Lord… for them? Are you really going to betray everything you… we have stood for?"
It was in that moment, just as I was wondering when the hell they were gonna show up, that I realized there was no real guarantee the Order was gonna come in time, since logically speaking, this whole fiasco shouldn't have even happened in the first place. I had gotten rid of Umbridge, thus preventing Dumbledore from having to go into hiding. That should have meant Voldemort would never have tried to lure Harry out.
"Y'know what?" I said loudly. "I think I am going to do exactly that."
The whole room went quiet. Even more than it already was. Just about everyone seemed shocked by my words, which admittedly were probably the last thing they expected to hear from the mouth of a Malfoy.
Lucius winced. "Son, think of what you're saying…"
"Yeah, I've given it a bit of thought," I said. "and I've come to the conclusion this whole worldview is a pile of shit!"
"Then you leave me no choice," Lucius said. "Expelliarmus!"
I blocked it with a shield charm and fired a Stunner back at him. He dodged it, but it gave Harry the opportunity to Stun him. Just then, a curse from Bellatrix hit me in the side causing me to fall down, a sharp pain throbbing where the spell hit me, but I managed to keep a hold of the prophecy. Chaos erupted in the room. Spells flying everywhere, some hitting the walls, others blocked by shields, and a few managing to hit their targets.
Bellatrix was focused on me, fury imprinted on her face. I shot a few Stunners and Stingers at her but she deflected them like nothing. I managed to block her first counter-curse, but the second one broke through my shield and the third hit me in the chest, sending me flying back into the wall.
"Your mother would be sooo disappointed in you, Draco," Bellatrix cackled mockingly. "Frankly, I am too! Is this really how you welcome your aunt back after a decade in that rotting Dementor-ridden stinkhole! YOU WILL LEARN SOME MANNERS, BOY!"
She fired a purple hex at me, which I managed to dodge by scrambling out of the way. The spell hit the wall behind me and a small chunk of debris struck my cheek.
Fuck, this was a bad situation… okay, I had an idea. It was a stupid idea… but that might be the reason it could work. No way in hell she'd expect me to cast a Patronus charm in a battle. It wouldn't do any damage, sure, but it might catch her off guard long enough for me to get in a good shot.
I concentrated on the memory of Umbridge getting owned by Dumbledore, in the courtyard, in front of the whole school. Seeing her smug, toad-like grin change to complete horror and shock… yes, that should be good enough.
Just as Bellatrix raised her wand, I raised mine and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!"
A burst of silvery-white light shot out of my wand, catching Bellatrix by surprise. It danced around her face for a few seconds, giving me my opportunity. I waved my wand and shouted, "Sectumsempra!"
A flash of red light hit Bellatrix in the stomach and she let out a horrible, blood curdling scream as she fell to the ground, bleeding from gashes all over her torso. She didn't get back up immediately.
It felt weird using that spell. On one hand, it was extremely dark and violent magic (although not illegal, since only Snape knew about it) but on the other hand… this was Bellatrix Lestrange. She had done way worse to people before.
As for the Patronus, I was pretty sure that had been a corporeal Patronus, not the usual shroud of white mist. It had been canine in appearance, a fox perhaps, but it was gone before I could get a proper look.
A jet of orange light flashed by me from my right. It came from a masked Death Eater who fired more spells my way. I blocked them with another Shield Charm, and one of the spells bounced off the shield and hit him square in the chest, knocking him out as well.
At that moment, there were several loud pop noises, followed by cries of, "Stupefy!"
The chamber was briefly lit by a flash of red light, and the distracted Death Eaters went down. The Order had arrived, Sirius, Remus, Mr. Weasley, Tonks, McGonagall, Kingsley, Dumbledore, Mad-Eye, and several others I didn't immediately recognize.
Sirius grinned at Harry, who smiled back.
"Apologies for the late arrival," Dumbledore said, lowering his wand. "We arrived as soon as Fawkes reached us."
"Where were you all?" Harry said.
"We had received intelligence that Voldemort was planning a massive attack at wizarding locations in Manchester as a power move; a message to the world that he had returned," Dumbledore explained. "We were there to counter him."
"Only, there were no Death Eaters in Manchester," Mad-Eye said gruffly. "We kept watching and waiting, nothing. Then Fawkes arrived, gave us your message. We put two and two together. Figured out that the Manchester nonsense had just been a diversion, and the real crisis was here."
"Be vary," Dumbledore said. "Voldemort may still launch a final assault to take the prophecy. Mr. Malfoy, if you would?"
Dumbledore held out his hand. Realizing I still had the small orb clutched tightly in my fist, I handed it over to him, ignoring the suspicious looks I got from some members of the Order. Dumbledore himself looked at me with curious contemplation as he took the prophecy.
"The children should be escorted out immediately," Dumbledore said.
"I'll go with them," Sirius immediately volunteered.
"The aurors should be on the way, I'll come with you as well," Dumbledore said.
Mad-Eye nodded. "Alright, rest of you, make sure these Death Eaters stay put."
Sirius put his arm around Harry and led the way out the chamber. The rest of the group followed, with me trailing a few feet behind the others and Dumbledore bringing up the rear. As we left the room, I heard Tonks go, "Yikes, what happened to her?"
"Probably friendly-fire," Mad-Eye said gruffly. "I doubt one of the kids coulda done this to Bellatrix Lestrange."
I promptly scooted out of the room. We made our way back to the Atrium, Sirius talking to the others and answering their questions. In the Atrium, Dumbledore put a hand on my shoulder and pulled me aside.
"I will admit, Mister Malfoy," he said in a low voice. "Even I did not expect your actions tonight. It takes courage to go up against Death Eaters. But to go against everything you have been taught to believe since you were a child, to stand up to your own family, in order to do what is right… that takes a wholly special kind of courage. A kind that – if you'll forgive me for saying – I did not know you possessed."
"Uh, thanks…" I said unsurely. I was careful not to lock eye contact with Dumbledore, since that was needed for Legilimancy. I doubted he would be trying to read my mind at this moment, but you couldn't be too careful, not with the kind of stuff in my head. "You're not trying to get me to switch to Gryffindor, are you?"
He smiled. "No, in fact, it's made me realize perhaps the Houses need not be so separated."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"For the meanwhile, I'm not sure myself."
Up ahead, Sirius and the others stopped near the golden fountain. The fountain seemed to be shaking.
"GET DOWN," Sirius yelled just as the fountain exploded into a thousand pieces. Dumbledore quickly cast a huge shield over the group to save us from the debris.
From behind Dumbledore, I saw dozens of Death Eaters apparate into the Atrium. The fired hexes at us, only to be completely blocked by Dumbledore's shield. He then waved his wand in an elegant motion I hadn't seen before, and a flash of gold light shot out and struck the death eaters, taking out a good dozen of them.
"Sirius, get the children out of here!" Dumbledore commanded. "I'll hold them off!"
Sirius nodded. He turned to us and shouted. "You lot, hold on to me!" he said to the four people closest to him, which happened to be Harry, Neville, Luna and Ron.
"Can't you take us with you as well?" Ginny yelled back.
"More than four Side-Apparations is too dangerous," Sirius said. "I'll come back for you three, it'll only be a second!"
And with that, he disapparated with the other four. I looked back at Dumbledore. He was still single-handedly pushing back the Death Eaters like a total beast, but it was complete chaos. Stray spells were flying everywhere.
As promised, Sirius returned a moment later. I reached out to grab his arm, and a stray spell struck me on the hand, causing me to recoil. I quickly recovered and held on to him again, and we were out of there.
Everything spun at first, and went dark. I struggled to breath. I felt like I was being suffocated but I didn't let go.
Suddenly the spinning stopped, and my eyes were met by light once more. The suffocating sensation stopped. I looked around and saw that I was on the floor of what looked like a well-furnished living room. The others were there, looking dazed. Maybe Grimmauld Place?
Sirius disapparated again, probably to go help Dumbledore. I tried getting to my feet, but my head started spinning, and I felt like I was gonna throw up. Kreacher entered the room at that moment, initially with a look of deep loathing on his face, but upon seeing me he sank into a deep bow.
"What a pleasant surprise to see the young Master Malfoy," he croaked excitedly.
Now that the adrenaline was slowing down, I became aware of a painful, burning sensation in my right hand. I lifted my hand and saw that it was starting to turn black. The fingers had gotten thinner, almost skeletal. Slowly, the blackness was spreading, it had reached my wrist.
"Uh… guys?" I said. "Does this normally happen after Side-Apparition?"
Hermione shrieked. The others, even Luna, looked rather alarmed.
The burning was getting worse, as was the dizziness. My head was spinning and my eyes were watering. I tried fighting it but to no avail, and fell unconscious.
[…]
When I awoke, I was in a bed, in a bright room, and there was a window next to the bed. I could hear cars outside.
"Oh, good, you're finally awake," a woman's voice said.
I looked around and saw a middle-aged woman in white robes enter the room.
"Uh, who are you?" I said groggily.
"Relax. I'm Healer Marion Chambers, you're at St. Mungo's hospital."
St. Mungo's… oh right! Probably because of my arm…
Speaking of which, I lifted it up to see it, and stared at it in shock. Where there was once a hand, there now was… a hand, but made of silver.
"What the…"
Healer Chambers sighed. "The curse you were hit with… well, I'll be straight with you, we have no idea what it was. I've been working here since '78 and I've seen nothing like it. No one else had either. We had to amputate your arm to stop the curse from spreading. The silver hand will take some getting used to, but it was better than the alternative."
"Right… I understand," I said. I moved the hand around, wiggling the fingers, clenching it into a fist. It was a bit weird… the fact I now had a hand made of silver. Its motions were a bit janky as well.
"It feels a bit weird," I said. "Moving it around, it's a bit janky."
"It'll take some time to get used to," she said. "But this is a brand new, top of the line model, once you get the hang of it, it'll work just as good if not better as your original hand. Keep moving it."
I nodded. My gaze fell to the side table, where there was a stack of cards. I picked them up and read the first one.
'What you did was really cool, you've gained my respect.
Get well soon, idiot.
-Theodore Nott'
The rest of the cards were mostly from classmates, wishing me a quick recovery. There was one from Harry there too, and three from Hermione, and seven from Daphne and Astoria.
"Uh, Healer Chambers? How long was I out?" I asked.
"About three weeks."
Jesus Harold Christ- three weeks?! How much shit had happened after the whole Department of Mysteries fiasco?!
At that moment the door opened and another, younger, woman poked her head in.
"Healer Chambers, there's some visitors for him," she said.
"Yes, you can send them in, he's ready."
A moment later the door burst open and Daphne pushed past the two women and smothered me in a hug.
"Ow- agh, Daphne! Not so hard!"
"I'll leave you two kids alone," the Healer said and left the room.
Daphne loosened her grip a bit but continued to hug me without saying anything for almost a minute, and for that one minute all my worries seemed to fade. Suddenly finding out about what had happened in the aftermath of the battle at the Department of Mysteries didn't seem so important, and a small part of me couldn't help but think how stupid I had been to risk losing this…
"You absolute fucking arse," she muttered in my ear. "You stupid, moronic, sexy idiot, don't you ever do something like that again!"
We broke apart. I looked her in the eyes.
"I was so worried!" she said shakily, wiping a tear from her eye. "What if you'd- what if-"
"Hey, hey, stop that," I said gently. "Look, I'm here, right? I'm perfectly fine-"
"You lost a hand," she said.
"Well, yeah, but I got his badass silver hand!" I said. "I see this as an upgrade."
"I hate you," she said, leaning in for a kiss.
"I hate you, too," I said with a smile as I kissed her back.
We kissed for a few moments, breaking apart when the door opened again. I was surprised to see Remus enter.
"Good evening, Mr. Malfoy," he greeted.
"Evening, Professor Lupin," I said.
He smiled. "I'm not your professor anymore, you can call me Remus," he said. "Anyways, I'm sure you have questions regarding your situation, following the events at the Ministry of Magic three weeks ago."
"More than a few, yeah."
"Well, I'm here to fill you in on everything. We have a lot to discuss, so we should get started right now if you're feeling up to it."
"Yeah, sure."