Chapter 15
Harry left Hogwarts without anyone's notice. Once beyond the wards, he shadow walked to where he knew Malfoy manor would be. He appeared at the edge of the manor's wards. He could just shadow walk right into the room where the bitch is but he didn't go for subtlety here. He wanted the residents to know he was there. Without wasting any more time, he sent the shadows into the manor to find the ward stone. He then manipulated the magic of the stone to allow a temporary shutdown of the wards. Temporary because this was still Draco's home and he wanted the blonde to be safe within it.
The wards shattered into non-existence and Harry walked freely in. With multiple flicks of his wand, he brought up anti-apparition, anti-portkey, and anti-floo wards. The shadows were excited 'Here she comes, floor by floor. The elves fret, will she make it?' About halfway through the bushes came alive and shot at him. Harry flipped back to avoid them and threw up a shield to block the spikes that came at him. With a diagonal flick of his wand, the air crackled with energy and the bushes caught on fire. This did not halt anything though as flaming vines sought to catch him. One managed to catch his arm, leaving an angry burn there once he broke free. He twisted his wand at the air in front of him, he then pulled back. A whip formed with the wand as a handle. He brought it down in a large arc. The trees were decapitated at the trunk. Another flick of his wand magnified the flames so the bushes were nothing but ashes.
The ground shook threateningly, almost toppling Harry to the floor if not for his good reflexes. Some stone creatures rose from the ground, eight feet tall with an imposing bulk on them. At the same time some stone spikes shot at him from all around. Thinking fast, Harry brought the wand in a wide circle over his head then drove it into the ground. A large pulse of energy exploded outwards. Everything the attack touched disintegrated into dust. He continued his slow trek to Malfoy Manor. Shadow walking got him inside in short order. The house was silent. 'The Lord has become the slave. Below the foundations he tries to be brave. The place he lies even the sun can't touch. Impatience soaks the walls, will you succeed or will the screams fill the halls?'
The boy walked into the receiving room and looked around. It looked exactly the way it was at Yule, minus the decorations and the guests of course. Harry placed a hand on the wall and closed his eyes. A bit if magic later images flashed behind his eyelids. Nothing out of place; no one came across this place today and he couldn't get images of any further. He tried different more halls. When he was in the hall leading from the left wing he saw something different. An elf was leading Lord Malfoy down the hall. Lucius was not as composed as his usual self. His hair was in a mess and he was wearing some expensive silky night clothes. The man had his head down so Harry could not see his face. He saw them disappear into the portrait at the end of the hall. He went to it. He touched it and felt the corridor beyond it. Seconds later the shadows brought him to the other side. The passage led to some stairs that went down. He walked for a couple more minutes until he heard a voice. It was a woman's voice. "No no no. No one can enter the wards, no one! They can't find me. What do they want? SHUT UP!" A muffled scream was heard. Harry did not break his stride or hurry up. He did not need light to see into the darkness but there was a light at the bottom of the steps that lit a bit of his way. Once at the bottom he looked around the corner. The passage opened up to a spacious room. It was bare if not for the plush carpet, a single desk and a few chairs scattered around.
Narcissa stood over the hunched form of Lucius Malfoy, legs and wrist tied as he lay sprawled on the carpet. There were a few lacerations on the skin Harry could see. The man was squirming, trying to get over the aftereffects of the cruciatus. "You will stay quiet. There is nothing for you to say. You haven't been listening to me lately. It seems that the curse I put you under is not working as it should. When this is over you will get what's coming to you, dear husband."
"Wow. I never would have thought you had it in you Cissy." The woman whipped around to face him, wand raised. Her eyes narrowed when she saw him. "A woman beating her husband into submission. Then again, you are a Black." She leveled the wand at him more firmly. A sneer appeared on her face. "Potter. How did you get in here? Who did you come with?" "Don't worry it's just me." He said, edging around her a bit. She noticed the move. "Do not move, Potter! What is your purpose here?" Harry sat down on the desk. He let his magic subtly move around him in a form of first line protection. Besides, it would be easier to call on it this way. "Draco told me what you have been up to. I just came to correct your mistakes." She was surprised for only a moment before throwing a bone-crushing hex at him. The shadows swallowed him up before it reached him. A sharp snap! Was heard and Narcissa screamed. She fell to her knees, more pain flaring in her broken upper leg.
Fingers curled around her throat and her wand was snatched from her hand. Some invisible force held her down. "Oh, Cissy. Dear Miss Black. I am so disappointed in you." He dragged his now sharp nails along her fair skin making deep cuts. She screamed in surprised pain then cut off the sound by biting her lip. Harry crooned. "Shh. Don't cry Cissy. It's only the beginning. Not unless you comply with everything I say. I promised Draco I wouldn't touch you after all." "You're already hurting me." Narcissa ground through her teeth. Harry made a sound at the back of his throat. "I'm not very good at keeping promises I make when emotional. I was pretty upset when he told me about your behavior." He moved to her front, noticing Lucius shift ever so little. "So, I am going to break all the bones in your body one at a time, then we will move on to my demands, your compliance and finally your release. Ok?" Narcissa glared at him. "What makes you think I will comply?" Harry laughed; a sound that should have been angelical but seemed to be too harsh and menacing. His face then cleared of all emotion, eyes cold. "You will obey Cissy. In fact, you will beg me to listen to you. Fuck my promises; you will be alive at the end of it all. That's what matters." With those words, both he and Narcissa were sucked into the shadows.
Lucius was left on his own, still tied and wide-eyed. The gag placed on him prevented him from saying anything but that wasn't necessary. He was speechless as it was. Harry Potter just broke into his manor and took his wife with him to Merlin-knows-where. What did he want from her, from them? Was he going to hurt him too? Would he laugh at him when he came back, embarrass him like Lucius knew he could? Would he kill him? The blonde groaned, dread filling him. He had to get out of here. He squirmed further, trying his best to crawl to the exit but it did him no good. His bonds were too tight. A sob threatened to claw its way from his throat, helpless tears staining his cheeks. He didn't want to die. He still wanted to be there for his precious son. He missed Draco. Even so, he wanted him nowhere near this place, nowhere near Narcissa.
Narcissa; the woman who has violated him in so many ways, took advantage of his very nature. He didn't know what he really was until Narcissa came along. His parents tried to hide it from him, stifle it with rules and training. Made the perfect Malfoy Lord. It seems it wasn't enough. Narcissa saw him for what he was on their honeymoon when Lucius refused to lay a hand on her, the very thought sickening. She forced herself on him, and that set the patterns of their relationship. In public, they were the perfect couple, in private it was a lot different. For many years her behavior was tolerable; she was bossy and demanding but not very abusive. He could take that. But as Draco got older and left for Hogwarts things got worse. She turned abusive, angry, more demanding. It even extended to his little boy progressively. It was then Lucius had enough. He fought back. He made sure to protect Draco when her episodes started. It did not last long. She cursed him with an obedience spell of some sort, one he could not break from even with his magical strength. Many times he spaced out only to come back to himself days later with no memory of what happened. As the years went by the spell got weaker. This led to many bouts of torture from his wife. He was only glad Draco didn't know about these.
Now he was here. Has been for a couple of hours. He does not know why, does not know what Narcissa had planned. Then Harry came and forced his captor to her knees. Then he disappeared with her and left him to wallow in his thoughts. He was scared and anxious. He has always been told he was a fierce man, very powerful in his own right. Maybe he once was. Now he did not feel any of it. He was lowered to a little more than a glorified slave. He shut his eyes tight to try and halt his thoughts. It did not work. The fear kept on gnawing at him until he trembled. He wanted it to end. He wanted it all to end.
He startled when Narcissa dropped out of nowhere with a small thud! She looked completely unharmed, even her broken leg was healed, yet she was unconscious. A moment later Harry stepped out of the dark and approached him. Lucius couldn't help but flinch back. "Don't be afraid." The boy said softly as he knelt before the blonde. Once he calmed down the erratic breaths Lucius didn't notice he was taking, Harry continued. "I am going to look into your mind. I need you not to resist; I don't want to hurt you." A moment of silence passed as Lucius assessed the boy trying to figure out if he was genuine. He nodded. Harry gently raised the man's chin so he looked directly into his eyes. "Ligilimens." The whispered words sent him into Lucius' psyche. Once he was out he smiled gently in a way that made Lucius' insides flip. "You're a submissive. It's really rare to meet one these days with all the prejudice. I won't tell anyone." A sigh of relief escaped the blonde's lips. Harry removed his gag. "Why are you here Potter?" Harry helped him stand up after undoing his bonds. "I was initially here for Narcissa, but now that I ran into you I will offer to take her out of your life for good." Lucius' eyes widened. "How will you even do that? You're so young, not to mention that there is a binding contract tying Narcissa and me forever." "Binding contracts can be nullified, we just need to find the necessary loophole." "There are no loopholes." Lucius would know. Heaven knows he tried many times to leave this marriage. "Just give it time." Harry replied. He gestured to Narcissa. "You can either leave her here till she wakes up or wake her up yourself. Either way, she won't be making trouble for anyone. I made sure of that. Have a good day Lord Malfoy." With that, Harry disappeared into the shadows again.
Lucius glanced around himself, a bit lost with this newfound freedom. He steeled himself and left the room with his wife laying there. He went to take a long shower before lying down to sleep.