Chapter 58

"Horcruxes?" Draco immediately regretted repeating what his father had just said. Despite the fact that he had no idea what it meant, it made him feel dirty to utter it.

He, Hermione, and Harry had decided they needed to discuss all the things that their parents had kept from them over the years. It was an open secret that there were things the adults were doing to bring about the end of Voldemort, the specifics of which they hadn't been privy. They realized that their parents had just been trying to protect them, but it wasn't something they could afford any longer. If they were going to lead this fight they needed the full picture.

They figured it would do no good to put the conversation off, as unpleasant as it was probably going to be, not to mention that all of the most important adults in their lives were already gathered in the same place.

They emerged from their conference in the training house's bedroom resolute and told the group in the training room that they needed to talk.

Snape had begged off almost immediately, which nobody really argued about. Lucius and Narcissa had taken him aside and had a fairly amiable looking conversation before he apparated away. Draco trusted them to know best when it came to Snape, so given that they'd let him leave, he figured they could trust him not to run off and tell Voldemort what he'd learned during Lily and James' visit and decided not to worry about it any further.

Draco also realized that it was best if the most critical information was kept within the smallest group possible. His professor probably didn't want to know what they were about to learn. It would only make his job as a spy even more difficult if he had even more information to hide from Voldemort.

After actually greeting their parents this time, with a series of long embraces, they all sat in a conjured group of chairs situated around Dumbledore's bed. Hermione was silent, she was in contemplation mode, and Harry was equally silent. Though Draco supposed his friend was probably finally feeling the effects of what had happened earlier this evening. Meeting your dead parents had to be quite a shock.

While in action Harry often dived right in, in conversation he usually chose to take a back seat and let Draco or Hermione ask the questions, so his silence wouldn't have been all that unexpected on a normal occasion either.

And as much as Draco hated it, this did give him some insight into why he had been the one entrusted with the wand. His love and his friend were true Gryffindors. Noble and sentimental, he was much better at shoving his emotions aside, and doing what needed to be done. That's what they needed from him tonight. So, he did the talking.

They were aware that their parents had been doing research trying to figure out how Voldemort hadn't been killed, but instead was simply disembodied the night of the Potter's murders, as well as how he'd ultimately gained a new body. So, Draco decided to begin by asking about that. He was unsurprised when nobody argued about them being given this information, what had happened tonight had been too significant.

Lucius began speaking, uninterrupted for at least ten minutes, and that was the first time Draco ever heard the word 'horcrux.'

"Yes," Lucius nodded, after Draco repeated the word, gripping his wife's hand- and that said a great deal about his discomfort over the issue.

Draco, who already had Hermione's hand in his grasp, squeezed it, knowing intuitively that they were about to learn something horrific.

It was.

Apparently his parents had spent the last four years on some morbid scavenger hunt for pieces of Voldemort's soul. Pieces he'd placed in a variety of objects after committing murder, which tore his soul, and then wrenching it out of his body. Hermione's parents did what they could to help, then Sirius joined them, and finally Dumbledore.

The whole idea made Draco feel sick, and their parents and Dumbledore had been quietly carrying this burden. His respect for all of them grew.

"And so, you see, we have to gather and destroy them all before the Dark Lord can be killed," Lucius finally finished his explanation.

There was a long pause as they all absorbed that.

"Wait, that's not right!" Hermione blurted as if she'd just snapped out of a trance.

Draco whipped his head around to look at her, she blushed and glanced at his father sheepishly. "I'm sorry that was rude."

He gave her a sad smile. "It's okay, I am aware of how you think and that you didn't mean any offense. But could you explain?"

She took a deep breath. "Perhaps I misunderstood," she raised her chin as she spoke and Draco was certain she didn't believe she'd misunderstood at all, he didn't believe it either, "but he can be killed right now. He's already been killed once."

"But he came back," Harry reminded her, looking at her like she wasn't quite stable.

"Yes, of course. I suppose what I should have said is that his body can be killed. I understand it would be ideal if we got all the horcruxes first, so there's no possibility that he can come back again. But it took him 14 years last time! Fourteen years that he wasn't out killing innocent people. And it's not like his followers flocked to help him last time, I don't see what would be different this time either. Fourteen years would be plenty, less even, for us to finish gathering the horcruxes and destroy them before he can come back. Especially because it sounds like they've already got most of them!" she glanced at Lucius. "Is any of that incorrect Lucius?"

He actually chuckled this time. "Congratulations, it took you five minutes to spot something all of us have missed for years."

"That's a risk Miss Granger," Dumbledore interrupted.

"But it might be a risk we have to take! There are other factors here. Like I said, when he was disembodied he wasn't hurting people. How long can we sit back and let him make violence on this country? How long until it gets worse? Because I don't believe for a minute he's going to continue waging this war quietly, nothing I know about him suggests that he'll settle for that. And also," she sniffed quietly and ducked her head. "Lucius, how long do we really have before he tries to mark Draco."

"Mia," Draco breathed quietly.

"You know it's going to happen, he's already given you one task. And one day he's going to tell Lucius to bring you to him and give you to him like some kind of sick present, and that is not happening."

"No it's not," his mother and father said in tandem.

"If I had to, I could be a spy like Father," he argued halfheartedly.

"No!" Hermione hissed at him, her fury washed over him like a wave.

Sirius let out a bitter bark of a laugh. "No offense, but you don't have it in you Kid, and I do mean that as a compliment. I have every faith in your ability to fight, ruthlessly even, for a cause you believe in, but for one that you don't? No way. And you're not naive Draco, you must be aware of some of the things you'd have to do to prove yourself, do you think you could do that?"

"No," he admitted, "I'd be dead the first day."

"Draco," his mother sounded anguished and he couldn't look at her. He heard Helen sniff.

Hermione had removed her hand from his and crossed her arms over her chest, "so like I said, that is NOT happening. Anyway, we," she gestured between Harry and herself, "need you, I thought we just agreed to that."

He had probably just earned himself several lectures.

"You're right."

"I don't think it's even possible to mark Draco," his father commented.

"Why do you say that?" He asked.

"Because it cannot be forced on you, not if it's completely against your will. And I don't think there is a single part of you that wants it, nor that there is anything the Dark Lord could do to you that would convince you otherwise."

Draco just nodded, but he wasn't certain that was entirely true. If Voldemort had Hermione or his mother, for instance, he was fairly sure he could want it enough if taking it was what must be done in order to save them. But he didn't comment.

"I believe," Lucius continued, "he will wait until after you are finished at Hogwarts to make that request," he spoke the last word with so much sarcasm it was almost comical. "He believes you are a great asset at the moment and he wouldn't want to put you at risk by having you marked while you are still living in the castle. He's very much hoping Black will get himself killed, you will inherit the title, and he'll finally get House Black onside. That would just about round out his collection of the Sacred 28, at least the ones he considers worthy."

"What about your sister in law?" Richard asked, "She's a Black."

"Bellatrix is a woman, therefore he doesn't consider her a proper representation of that house. He wants a Head of House, even when Regulus was alive he didn't have that. Not to mention that she's already married into another house."

Richard snorted. "So he's a misogynist too?"

Lucius tilted his head to the side in contemplation. "He greatly resents his mother for leaving him an orphan and I believe that affects his opinion of all women. There is a reason there are so few female Death Eaters. It is both to keep us in line, because most of us would greatly object if he wanted to mark our wives or daughters, it would be a major breach in propriety."

"What a line to draw," Sirius snorted.

Lucius shrugged. "As for Bellatrix, he cares for her but he treats her more like a favored pet than anything else. He indulges her but he does not respect her and has no problem using her as a simple means to an end and asking her to cuckold her husband in the process, though I truly don't think Rudolphus cares."

"Okay, that is more than I ever wanted to know about that," Sirius said, sounding like he was trying not to retch. "By the way, why isn't Bellatrix dead yet."

"She's too sick to be dangerous," Narcissa explained, "Helen hypothesizes that her magic is helping her metabolize the poison faster so it's not killing her as quickly," she turned to look at Helen, "did I get that right?"

"Yes, you did," Helen said quietly.

"Which is actually a good thing," Narcissa continued, "it will look more like a natural death if she's sick for a long time. Also, her illness is a distraction to the Dark Lord, if she dies he's likely to lose his temper and do something rash and destructive."

"Fine, fine," Sirius groused.

"Yes, anyway," Hermione continued loudly in a clear effort to move the conversation along as she wormed her hand back into his clenched fist, intertwined their fingers, and squeezed. "I have a question about the horcruxes. From what I understood about the ritual which created his new body, there wasn't a horcrux used in the ritual."

"That's correct."

"So he doesn't need to have one present, they just need to continue to exist, they truly are just anchoring him to this plane?"

"Yes, but there are rituals which others could use to give the sliver of his soul which resides in that horcrux a body."

"Which is another reason it's so important to keep the horcruxes secret, so nobody else attempts that," Draco concluded.

"Yes. Fortunately we believe the Dark Lord has taken great pains to keep what he's done a secret. He brags about how far he's progressed towards immortality, but he's not more specific about his means than that. Mostly, I believe that he's worried somebody will do what we're doing and destroy him, but I think he also doesn't want anybody to try and duplicate it."

"What a sweetheart," Draco couldn't help but snark. "Can't settle for simply being immortal, but also has to be the only one."

Hermione let out a low chuckle.

"Okay, Is there anything else we need to know about these horcruxes?" Draco asked.

"I believe," responded Dumbledore in that slow deliberate manner he used when he was teaching them something, but he usually sounded much stronger, and Draco made a concerted effort not to look at his ruined hand, "I have some knowledge to impart about Voldemort himself and his journey to making the horcruxes."

"Okay, thank you Professor."

They snuck back into Hogwarts well after curfew with newfound confidence about traveling under the invisibility cloak. Harry dropped them off at the entrance to the Slytherin dorms and then departed for Gryffindor Tower. One positive outcome of the night was that if their Head of House caught them coming back in, he would let it slide, knowing where they'd been. Harry would be able to wear the invisibility cloak all the way to his bed.

Draco and Hermione climbed into bed and doused the lights. It was late, Hermione was cuddled up against him, but he was wide awake, there was a question pounding at the back of his brain and he couldn't keep quiet.

"Mia?"

"Yeah?"

"That thing Sirius cleansed from Harry's scar in ritual, do you think it was-"

"Yes.'

"How certain are you?"

"Very."

"Should we tell him?"

"No." She took a deep breath. "He asked about it right after he awoke from the ritual, and Sirius gave him the choice to know or not. He chose not to, but Sirius promised to tell him if he ever asked. Harry's smart, unfortunately I think he'll figure it out, but I think we should let him have his ignorance while he chooses it."

"Okay."

"And we never speak of this again."

Draco groped for her hand and then hooked her pinkie with his. This was one pinkie swear that wouldn't be spoken aloud either.

0000000000

"I have something to ask you," Draco said to Hermione a week later while they were studying on his bed, he'd been trying to work up the courage to present his idea to her for a couple of days.

"Okay," she looked up from her book which was propped up against Plato who was stretched out in front of her- it was an amusing sight.

"But it's a big ask, if you agree we'll talk to Harry, and Sirius too, it would definitely need his permission, but I needed to discuss it with you privately first."

"You're making me nervous, Draco."

"I'm sorry, this just involves something we've been talking about for years and I want you to know that it's still fully your call."

She cocked her head. "Is this about Sirius signing over the Black estate to you?"

"Sort of, I have a plan involving the whole thing. A plan that could hopefully help end the war."

"I'm listening."

"Do you remember how Father said Voldemort is basically trying to collect the Sacred 28, and that he really wants House Black?"

"Yes."

"And then I was thinking about what Dumbledore told us about the Horcruxes. How he went to all that trouble to get ancient magical artefacts and other meaningful things to make into horcruxes. And did you notice that tid-bit when he was talking about Tom Riddle at the orphanages, and how he took trophies from the kids he bullied?"

She nodded.

"Voldemort is a collector. It seems like that's a central part of his personality to me. I assume it probably has something to do with him growing up in an orphanage and not really having anything of his own."

"That makes sense. A lot of muggle serial killers keep trophies too."

Draco grimaced, but nodded. "So I say we play into that. Sometime after my coming of age- either whenever we finish destroying the horcruxes, or if we have to, when the war gets really bad- I'll let Sirius sign over the title and estate to me, and then we let Voldemort collect me. But in doing so, we'll actually be leading him into a trap."

He immediately felt her panic and reached for her hand to soothe her.

"You want to use yourself as bait!?"

"In a manner of speaking. I want to throw a party. They used to have these big Death Eater galas, they don't so much anymore. But don't you see? We could be the ones to bring it back."

"A party?" She arched an eyebrow incredulously.

"Yes, come on Hermione, you know how we purebloods are by now. We'll make a big thing of it, that would also appeal to his sense of gravitas and his ego, to demonstrate in this public way that House Black is committing itself to him."

"Okay, that does sound like something that would appeal to him. And the Death Eaters would be falling all over themselves for an invitation if we make it look elite, because as you say, that's how you purebloods are. I assume that's what you are aiming for, to take most of them out at once."

"Exactly, and it would be in a venue we know, with wards we control, someplace he's never been. There are a couple of Black properties I know of that would do. It's just, everything I've heard about the Order, they are always reacting and never acting. I want to have a proactive plan in place, especially before we go asking them for help. I think they need to see that we're serious."

Hermione took a deep breath. "That's gutsy, but I like it in theory. You're right about how they only ever react, I don't see how we'll win that way. Just waiting for the perfect opportunity could certainly take years. Of course it could take years to finish gathering the horcruxes."

"Father seemed pretty certain there's only one left, besides the snake."

"Because she won't be at all difficult to take out," Hermione snorted.

"True, but they have their horcrux finding map- which sounded pretty cool, by the way, we need to remember to ask to see that, so I'm hopeful. And like I said, if things get bad, we'll strike first and then we'll finish the job with the horcruxes."

"Right, you're right. I'm trying to stay positive." She smiled at him. "I'm impressed with your plan."

He smiled at her cheekily and swooped forward to steal a kiss. "Thanks, I need some help with some of the details."

"Right, like why Voldemort would ever believe Sirius would just voluntarily sign the estate over to you?"

Draco grinned. "Oh well, that's easy, and I actually think Sirius is going to love this. We make him think that Sirius has been killed and I just inherited upon his death, as I would if he actually died. I was even thinking we could stage it so that it looks like Father did it."

Hermione stared at him for a long time and then clapped her hand over her mouth, unsuccessfully stifling a giggle. "Catch them on a bad day and Lucius might actually do it."

Draco burst out laughing.

00000000000

"Oh Merlin, Harry!" Hermione snort-laughed, while leaning into her friend, Holly poked her head out of Harry's collar and looked for the source of Hermione's amusement. "Stop it or they'll hear us!" They were seated on a garden bench outside the training house in Ireland watching two wizards attempt to coax four puppies through an obstacle course.

Sirius had a practice course at Potter House, and Draco had one at Hogwarts that could be taken apart and put away, which Greg Goyle and some much smaller helpers had helped him construct. But apparently it was vitally important that they had a third at the training house where they could bring the puppies to practice at the same time and compare their progress.

It was ridiculous and Hermione wasn't going to say a single thing against it.

"Hush," he murmured, "or they'll stop."

"God how are they not exhausted? I am. Training was brutal today, Dumbledore has really stopped pulling his punches."

"Hermione, they are exhausted but neither of them is going to admit it first."

"We might have to call them in like a couple of kids," she said as Sirius leapt over an obstacle in a bad imitation of a gazelle, trying to get Sundance to follow him and she just stared at him like he was an idiot. "Want to know a secret?"

"Always."

She turned to him with a grin. "Narcissa says that Lucius has secretly been training Francesca and he's going to bring her in as a ringer on the day of the competition."

Harry's mouth dropped open and his eyes lit up. "She's totally going to win too! The dog who wears a ribbon around her neck in place of a collar is totally going to win, because there is no way that Lucius isn't better at training dogs than these two!"

"Right?!"

"Gods that's hilarious, thanks for that, I can't wait. Claire's coming for part of Christmas so she'll be able to watch."

"I know," she bumped his shoulder with hers, "how's Claire?"

"She's good. I mean, obviously we can't talk about all the serious stuff that's been going on because it's not safe to put in a letter, so I'm looking forward to seeing her. I can't believe she wants to come, I figured she'd want to spend more time with her parents."

"I know you've never met them, they're nice people and they love Claire, but they've always been a little aloof. That's part of why she's so close to Lucius and Narcissa."

"Yeah, she's said as much. And I guess she'll want to see them and Draco but she can't stay at the Manor."

"She's not just coming to stay with you because she can't go to the Manor, she wants to see you. She could have stayed with Draco and I at my parents'. She knows we're going there for most of the holidays." Hermione sat up a little straighter as she had a thought. "Oh, the two of you should come over for a day or two, my parents would love that, and we can go out in the muggle world!"

"That would be fun, but I didn't realise you and Draco weren't going back to the Manor."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise I hadn't told you," she absentmindedly rubbed her eyes, "there's so much to keep up with. "Yeah, I'm putting up wards for my parents now that I'm of age and it's legal for me to do so, and it will help them settle best if I'm there. But mostly I'm trying to make sure I don't neglect them now that I've moved out. Plus, I miss Crookshanks. Though it actually comforts me a lot that he's around to look out for them, and I know he loves being king of the castle. They spoil him rotten. Actually, it's probably mostly Dobby."

Harry just gave her a soft smile. "Has Crooks ever met the Philosophers?"

"Yeah, we took them over to meet my parents the day before we left for school. You'd think he would have been all ornery, right?"

Harry nodded.

"He was basically the complete opposite of Nox. He just refused to acknowledge their existence. Though he did drape himself across me and Draco for the duration of the visit."

"That sounds like Crooks too, actually."

She whipped her head around when she noticed something falling in her peripheral vision, only to see Draco laying on the ground, Sirius bent over him laughing hysterically. Draco swung his body around, kicking out Sirius's legs and he went down hard and hit the ground with a thud. He could be heard, still laughing.

"It's moments like these that I'm reminded they're actually a lot alike," Hermione mused with a shake of her head.

"I'd noticed," Harry snorted, "Draco may look like Lucius but there's definitely some Black in there."

"I actually think Draco represents a lot of what Sirius could have been if his parents hadn't been such terrible people.'

"Huh," Harry seemed to consider that. "That makes sense."

"Draco and I decided we're going to accept Sirius' offer about the Black Estate."

"Really?"

"I think it was becoming more and more apparent that we should…that we wanted to."

"It's a big responsibility."

"It is, but it's one Draco was born for, even if he only ever expected to be the Malfoy Head of House. But this world is going to need a lot of healing when this war is over, we're going to need to change a lot of heads and hearts and we both feel like this is a good opportunity to do so."

"You're a good person." He nudged her fondly.

She shrugged. "And Sirius has assured us that he'll still help with House business so that takes a lot of pressure off, especially because we both want a post-Hogwarts education. I think it's just being in charge and carrying the title that really brings him down."

"I'm glad, I wouldn't want you to give anything up, especially your education. And I agree, despite his immediate family history, he does want to see House Black recover from its terrible reputation. He just doesn't want to be the face of that reformation."

"He still feels a lot of shame about Azkaban."

"I know, I wish there was a way to convince him that there's nothing to be ashamed of."

She sighed and put her head on his shoulder. "And more than the shame, it just made him tired. He deserves a more carefree life."

"Yeah."

"Anyway, I just wanted you to know because Draco and I wanted to talk to the two of you about something and it involves that. Draco's already written to Sirius. We had to make sure everybody had left first, but we needed an excuse to stay, thus the puppy shenanigans, so we could get you two alone without it being obvious."

"Oh, that sounds ominous."

"Well, it's a possible plan to end the war."

Harry's mouth dropped open and he turned to look at Draco and Sirius. "Oi, idiots, get over here!"

Neither of them argued with the command because they had obviously given up on training for the day, and they came trotting right over.

"Apparently Hermione and Draco have something to talk to us about," he looked at her significantly.

Hermione glanced at Draco, who gave her a slight nod. She turned to Sirius, and while giving him a sweet smile she said: "Padfoot, how would you feel about dying for the cause?"

Author's Note: Well it's been awhile, again. I wrote a personal note about why that is, what's been going for the past couple of years, and why I hope things are about to improve significantly. It's on my Tumblr (RiverWriter) and my Instagram (Riverwriter78) if you're interested. If not, I completely understand but I'm not going to say more about it here. Thanks for your patience, for all your wonderful comments, and just for reading, as always!