Chapter 32
Okay so I can't believe it's been 11 months since I last updated this. Fair to say I've been busy but I have no idea where the time has gone. Sorry for making you all wait this long. But like I said before my stories will never be abandoned, especially this one – my greatest treasure!
I hope you've all been well. In my absence, this story reached 30,100 views!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for still reading this story!
I will do my best to pick up where I left off! Enjoy!
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Malfoy Manor
"Then, she is…"
"A druid, yes. But there is no need to worry, the feelings between your son and her are purely platonic. Hermione's heart belongs to someone else, and Draco sees her as his greatest friend. There is nothing more there. And even if there was, I could hardy allow it. Nothing personal, just business." Claudius assured.
The time Claudius spent locked in one cell with Lucius Malfoy was most fruitful. He saw right though his thick pretence, Lucius grew over time, and worked on cutting through it layer by layer, digging into his real feelings about the organisation he was a part of.
It wasn't long before he was certain it was safe to reveal to Lucius certain aspects of his life that were more, secretive. But it turned out that Lucius did share some knowledge concerning the Malfoy family origins, and even for some time pursued to explore the knowledge and skills associated with them. Unsuccessful, he turned to the Dark Lord, thinking he was the key to accessing his long-lost heritage. Which, as Claudius found out, was a great disappointment.
"Well at least there's one thing we both agree on." Said Lucius, trying to shuffle his weight and make himself a tiny bit more comfortable, on the cold and hard floor of the cell he was a prisoner of. In his own home.
"Lucius I must say it has been a true pleasure knowing you." Claudius sighed suddenly.
"What are you talking about?" Lucius drawled tired.
"If I don't tell him how I was able to deflect the killing curse, he will get rid of me tonight. So, you see, you are the last person to hold a conversation with me before I am killed. I want to sincerely thank you for making this old man's last hours in this cold cell bearable." Claudius smiled sadly at him, and watched the bundle of emotions surf across Lucius' face.
"No, this will not do. We must get out of here!" Draco's father got up in a rush of energy, sparked by a sudden desire to do anything in his power to get them out of there.
What was there for him to do after Claudius was gone? Go back to his life and live as if nothing had ever happened? Forget about his son's new alliances? And then what? Live until the day the Dark Lord grew bored of him? Absolutely not. Malfoys were nearly ruined because of this war; all this sacrifice and for a half-blood no less. A half-blood that was now more of a threat than a worthy leader. No, Lucius was never brave but he had his pride and it would never let him give up and rely on Lord Voldemort's mercy.
"Nonsense. Once I'm gone you shall have this cell all to yourself." Claudius joked, but Lucius did not laugh. He looked down at him with rigid seriousness in his eyes.
"Being stuck here with you is intolerable, but being stuck here on my own would be beyond endurance. That is, if he is generous enough to keep me here. If I was to be sent on another mission, I would make sure to be overpowered by one of those juveniles. They're all wet behind their ears, but I'm certain they know the right spell if a situation demands it."
A suicide mission? As if the famous Malfoy pride would ever allow…
"I take it you no longer wish to serve your Dark Lord?" Claudius asked with a small glint in his eyes.
"I never truly did. At first, his ideals and goals seemed ever so appealing, then I did it to protect my family but now, there is no escape from it. I would give anything to be able to take my dearest wife, our son and walk away from all this."
"What if you could?" Claudius asked watching Lucius like a hawk.
"I'm a death eater who has escaped Azkaban. Your side wants me gone, and as soon as the Dark Lord will deem me no longer useful, I will die. There is no salvation for me no matter where I go." He replied in a strong voice but the empty look in his eyes indicated the reality of his situation was very difficult for him to accept.
"What if there is a way?"
"There is none. You and I will be each other's last companion before our deaths, whenever they come. And if one day you get out, and I'm gone, do let my wife know that I loved her with all my heart, and tell my son I couldn't be prouder of a man he has become."
Now, now, there is no need for such dramatics. Claudius smiled to himself, pleased.
"You will tell him that yourself when we both get out." Claudius told him. "Hypothetically, if I knew how to get us out, without anyone knowing, would you come with me?"
"Without hesitation."
"You didn't even ask what the plan is." Claudius chuckled.
"I'm sure you didn't survive this long on pure luck. Whatever plan it is you hypothetically have; it must be better than staying here and waiting for our deaths." Lucius replied massaging the sides of his aching head.
"Alright then, let's go." Claudius ordered, as he himself got off the floor.
"Go where?" Lucius asked as Claudius went to the door of the cell to check if there was nobody near it.
"Kiwi." Claudius called. A well-dressed elf appeared, startling Lucius.
"How may I assist you, My Lord?" She asked.
"Take us to the Greenfell Manor, please." Claudius asked, as he reached to grab Lucius' arm.
"That's an elf, you have an elf?! You could have done that all this time but instead you-you arghh! You infuriate me muggle!"
"Now, that's enough with the hysterics Lucius, grab my hand we must go."
"But, but my wife! What about Narcissa, I can't just leave her here."
"We will get her out Mr. Malfoy, but we can't do it now. It would be too suspicious, and there is too much at stake for us to be careless." Claudius told him as he grabbed his hand firmly. "Let's go Kiwi."
"Right away sir."
Within seconds the cell was empty.
Greenfell Manor
Lucius blinked and within a second the cell was gone and he found himself in a very different place. He was standing in a big drawing room of an enormous house, seemingly larger and grander than the Malfoy Manor. He looked around and blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Was it possible that their escape was really this easy? But what about the wards, how did his elf enter without alerting them? How did Claudius have an elf to begin with?
"Thank you Kiwi." He turned to watch Claudius interact with the funny looking creature. The elf looked different to normal house elves. It was standing tall and proud, and wore clean and expensive clothing. It's face was different too. How very strange. Lucius frowned.
"I shall go back now, My Lord." The little creature bowed its head.
"Yes, hurry before anyone notices our absence. You know what to do." The plan was to clean up any magical traces of their disappearance, and plant two dead corpses of himself and Lucius, and disguise it as a murder. A murder with an intent.
Tom Marvolo Riddle was a direct descendant of one of the Uther's followers. Alastair Riddle, one of the top names on Morgana's hit list. And not only was he carrying out his revenge mission on muggles because of his father, he was now after magic users and magical creatures that opposed him.
He was mistreating the pure blood wizards that served him, he was worse than his ancestor who prosecuted witches and wizards on Uther's orders. Despite his cutting ties with the Riddle family, Tom couldn't change the blood that ran through his veins.
To druids, revenge for the mass bloodshed Uther's followers have caused was sacred and could never expire. The deep resentment that was pulsing through the mother nature was calling for her servants to avenge their brothers and sisters. And Claudius decided it was time to answer the calling.
"Yes, My Lord." Kiwi nodded and disappeared.
Claudius turned to face Lucius.
"You've had a house elf with an ability to get us out of there this entire time, why didn't you get us out sooner?"
"Because you weren't sure if you wanted to leave." Claudius smiled.
Lucius was speechless.
"Where did it go?" Lucius asked, but Claudius only gestured for him to take a seat on the sofa alongside him.
"Oh yes, much better!" He exclaimed, letting his back adjust to the soft fabric of the furniture. "Your dungeons are incredibly uncomfortable; do you know that?" Said Claudius as he sank further into the sofa.
"I had a chance to find out multiple times, as you might recall." Lucius replied as stiffly as he was sitting, but Claudius merely chuckled to himself.
"Kiwi has been tasked with making sure we will not be followed. She is incredibly skilled at covering our tracks." Said Claudius, reaching for the cup of tea, waiting for him on the table. His elves were his almost greatest treasure.
"Sounds like you've given her many opportunities to practice." Lucius sat still, but his eyes ventured all over the place, observing and taking in all the details in an attempt to learn all that he could about this mysterious man.
"I'm an old man Lucius, you of all people should know best what it takes to be the head of a family, especially families such as ours."
"Indeed." Draco's father answered shortly, his eyes on the custom fireplace that featured ancestral sculptures and family related ornament.
During his long stay at the Malfoy Manor, Claudius had a lot of time to think. And after Regulus' most recent visit, he finalised every detail of his and Lucius' escape. Their death was to be detected as a result of suffocation and deep wounds, leaving the victims covered in their own blood as their skin shreded around the many wounds that are spread across the body.
A characteristic effect that can be achieved by a one particular dark spell. Used in the old times, by the most powerful warlords and dark wizards, most commonly druids, as a 'war declaration'. The druids would perform it on their enemy's prisoners or servants, as a challenge to either abandon their lands or participate in an indirect war, until one party gives in or the conflict is resolved through an open battle. It was last noted to be used 250 years ago, and there was no doubt Voldemort would recognise it. Given his extensive research into immortality, he had to come across a mention of it in one of the books.
But he would not know who dared to challenge him, as Claudius signed the note that was left on the wall at the crime site by Kiwi, with an ancient title that was used by the High Warlock, protector of the old magic. The last one that answered the calling of the ancient magic and took on the title was Merlin himself.
'Beware the power that you seek. It will never be yours. It will not submit to someone of your blood. The time has come for you to answer for your crimes against the ancient magic. I am coming for you.'
Lord Protector, High Priest of the Old Religion
"I am only upset my wife was left behind." Lucius frowned thinking of his Narcissa. She was left all alone, in a great cold house that was once their exclusive home, now it was headquarters of a madman, a gathering place of unspeakable criminals. But Narcissa was a Black and a Malfoy, and a Slytherin. She would survive this. She would be okay.
"I hope she can fall for the same trick twice, because her safety depends on how convincing her grief will appear. First her son and now her husband. I should expect her to take it hard, maybe she would even yearn to join her family."
Claudius considered how could they get Narcissa out of there without repeating the same scenario, but if they relied on Voldemort's underestimation of Lady Malfoy's strength as a witch against her sensitivity and pride of a mother and a wife, perhaps it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for her to want to leave this world behind.
"A suicide?" Lucius asked sceptically.
"You disapprove?"
"Narcissa is too strong to ever do something like that, they would never believe it." Lucius sneered.
"Claudius, is that you?" Came a voice from the next room down the corridor.
"It is me Amelia, in here!" Claudius shouted back. They heard steps getting closer until an older woman in an expensive long dress came in. She halted the second her eyes fell on her brother.
"Back so soon? Why not just stay there until the new year? It's not like you were in a rush to return home." She raised her eyebrow at him.
"I couldn't miss my favourite sister's birthday." Claudius replied with a big smile.
"Your only sister. Well, at least you made it just in time for dinner. Do get changed before we sit. I don't think I need to ask who your guest is, the resemblance is striking." She was about to leave the room but Lydia came in.
"Claudius! Oh, where have you been! We were all so terribly worried!" Lydia went to sit next to him. "And who is this?"
"Lydia, Amelia, this is Lucius Malfoy. Lucius, my sister Amelia, and my daughter-in-law Lydia." Claudius introduced the two chief women of the household.
"My pleasure." Lucius forced a polite smile, still thinking about his wife.
"How nice! Draco will be pleased." Lydia smiled back at him.
"Yes, where is my son?" Lucius asked, but suddenly nobody seemed to know the answer to that question.
"You will see him at dinner." Amelia provided. "Provided he shows up." She added under her breath.
"Whatever do you mean? Is he not with the Order? He and Niklaus have not been seen on the grounds since yesterday." Said Lydia.
"How very odd. They were asked to stay at the house. Is Hermione with them?" Claudius asked.
"Very unlikely. She just had tea with us not long ago." Lydia pursed her lips in thought. "Where could they have gone?"
"I will send Kiwi to investigate as soon as she returns. We should ready ourselves for dinner. Come Mr. Malfoy, all our elves are very busy lately, so it will be me who will show you to your rooms." Claudius announced, getting up. All the house elves have been running errands for Regulus and Amelia, who has been preparing for an arrival of a very disagreeable guest.
"How kind." Lucius drawled and followed him out.
Greenfell Manor
"My head feels like it's going to explode." Draco grabbed his head, as the three of them were on their way to the dining room. Draco and Klaus were drinking strawberry milk through small straws, from muggle carton boxes.
"That's the common side effect of messing up the intransportation spells and splitting up your consciousness from your body for a couple of hours. I hope you've learned your lesson." Lectured Hermione.
"I'm never doing that again." Draco promised to himself.
"Drink your milk, it will help soothe the pain. Your existence has been literally pushed back into your bodies. The headache won't be going anywhere for the next few days. You should never experiment with the old magic unsupervised, it is much too dangerous." She scolded with a semi smug expression on her face. It put her on a higher position in her childish feud with Draco Malfoy. They might have been good friends these days but getting him out of trouble still felt like a silent win.
"It wasn't my idea; I was forced into this. I was lied to! Klaus said he knew what he was doing." Draco complained waving his milk carton around.
"I never forced you. You wanted to check on them, I merely provided a way for us to get there unnoticed." Klaus grinned at the pair.
"You had your own vested interest in that trip." Draco sent him a glare.
"I never said I didn't. But at least now we know where we went wrong. Next time we can…"
Draco turned around to face him and roared. "There will be no next time!"
"Suit yourself. I'm sure Harry and Ron will be more than happy to go." Said Klaus baiting Draco's competitive side.
"We are not dragging Harry and Ron into this!" Hermione ordered.
"Keeping more secrets from your pet friends, Granger? I thought you were done with that." Draco smirked.
"Done with secrets? Hermione? You haven't even scratched the surface of Hermio…." Klaus began to say but Hermione cut him off.
"You're just upset because Harry wasn't as angry with me as you thought he would be." Hermione said to Draco after sending Klaus a warning glare.
Draco bent down and said to her quietly: "But Harry doesn't know everything, now does he?"
"Neither do you." Klaus said quietly to himself, earing himself a final warning look to which he replied with a wink. Draco seemed to miss that exchange.
"Considering I just saved your skin, you don't sound very grateful." She raised one eyebrow at the blonde.
"Well, you didn't sound very grateful when I got you out of the lake, back in our 3rd year either." He folded his arms.
"Recalling such trivial favours is unbecoming of you, Draco."
"I wouldn't call it trivial, considering that if I didn't do that, you would have drowned and neither you or your precious Regulus would be here right now."
"Neither would you, considering that it was Regulus who got you out of the Malfoy Manor before Voldemort had the opportunity to dispose of you. And we all know he was just waiting for that opportunity." Hermione told him bluntly.
"Teacher's pet." Draco muttered under his breath.
"Isn't it scary how many things could have ended very differently if it wasn't for that time tuner." Klaus gulped, thinking about his own inevitably early end, if it wasn't for Regulus' intervention.
"Yes, let's all thank McGonagall for her obvious bias and favouritism towards Gryffindors." Draco rolled his eyes. "Did she give out the time tuners to every student who wanted to attend classes that ran alongside each other or did her hospitality extend only to the insufferable bookworms?"
"Jealousy doesn't suit you, Draco." Said Hermione.
"It's not jealousy, Granger. It's the frustration at the fact that my life was flipped upside down because of something as insignificant as your unwavering ability to hoover knowledge faster than is healthy, like a total swot you are."
"If it wasn't for that exact ability, Malfoy, you would have been dead about three times over now." She sent him a smug smile.
Draco stopped suddenly and whirled around to face Hermione. She took a step closer, leaving only few inches in between them. "At least I wouldn't have to listen to you whine."
"Yes, burning in hell sounds like a much brighter alternative."
"It does." He returned the cold smile she gave him.
Klaus rolled his eyes at the pair and pushed past them splitting them apart. He continued to walk, with the two bickering few steps behind him for the rest of the way.
Greenfell Manor
"Let's sit." Claudius cleared his throat as he looked at the watch.
"They are late." Amelia said in a disapproving tone.
"Well, there are plenty of leech tanks for them to clean without magic, after dinner." Lydia smiled so kindly and genuinely it sent shivers down Lucius' back.
"My son will not be cleaning anything, and especially without his magic. What an absolutely barbaric notion…" Lucius scowled insulted.
"Oh but he already has. Many times, in fact." Lydia looked him in the eyes. "Draco enjoys cleaning in such way. It helps him think." She smiled making Lucius almost lose his temper, but there was a crack just behind him.
Someone appeared in the dining room.
"I came as fast as I could. What have they done now?" Regulus walked over to the table.
"Ah! Regulus! Very good to see you my boy. Come, join us!" Claudius extended his arm in the direction of the newcomer. Lucius turned to see who it was.
His heart nearly stopped when he saw a ghost walk towards them. He stood up suddenly, pushing his chair back, making it fall. The bang made the ghost stop and look up straight at him. Lucius nearly swallowed his heart when the ghost winked at him and turned to Claudius.
"It's good to see you Claudius. Aunt Amelia, Lydia. I did not come for dinner though. I heard Draco and Klaus have gone missing." Regulus folded his arms.
"As a matter of fact, it seems that they have been gone for quite some time." Claudius stroke his beard in deep thought.
"He's real." Lydia said to Lucius, who was looking at Regulus like he was hallucinating.
"I see you did succeed after all." Regulus said to Claudius, as he turned to look at Lucius. He examined his entire appearance, head to toe. He winced when he spotted more than one similarity to Malfoy's father, who passed away shortly after his son's marriage to Narcissa.
"You had doubts?" Claudius asked.
"None." Regulus smiled as he went to stand in front of Lucius.
"Hello Lucius. It's been a while." He said with a genuine smile. "I'm glad you're here."
Lucius' mouth kept moving, trying to form a sentence, a word, but nothing kept coming out. The shock of seeing Regulus, so alive and young was too much to process at once.
"It cannot be…" Lucius grabbed his shoulder. "How are you here? You died." He managed to utter weakly, looking at the ghost of the past.
"I did die, well, almost. But now I'm back. Here, sit." Regulus pushed Lucius down into his chair and went to sit himself down on the opposite side of the table.
"You have not aged."
"I'm as old as I look. It's complicated but I time travelled to the future a moment before my death."
"That's not possible, only the Dark Lord has such knowledge." Lucius claimed, trying to make sense of what his eyes were telling him and what he knew to be true.
"Well, that's what he would like to have you believe. You have no idea what's possible Lucius. We're both alive, even though the world thinks us long gone." Regulus told him. "And, one of the good things about being dead is that we don't serve him anymore." Regulus raised an eyebrow at him.
"The knowledge of truth, is that of a great burden to bare." Said Amelia. "Especially when one's judgement had been clouded by fear."
"It seems I've been gone for a long time. Tell me Lucius, are others just as brainwashed into chasing after his goals too?" Regulus asked. "I've been hoping to remedy that and free them from his chains of blind servitude."
"You know best what he's like. It is almost impossible to resist him, and utterly mad to go against him."
"You're right, I do know him. But I don't believe myself to be mad." Regulus told him.
"Just because you don't believe it, doesn't mean it's not true." Came a snigger from the entrance. Draco and Klaus walked in, followed by Hermione.
"Sometimes we fail to see what's right in front of our eyes. We're especially blind to the truth about ourselves." Added Klaus with a smirk.
"That's why Draco is such a monumental ass all the time." Hermione commented.
"Better to be a monumental ass than a bushy haired know it all." Draco sneered at her. The pair was so absorbed in themselves they had yet to notice Claudius and Lucius sitting at the table.
"Is there anything you'd like to tell me Draco?" Regulus gave him a look. The blonde only shook his head. "No? Klaus?" He turned to Hermione's cousin. "Where have the two of you been for the past two days?"
"In the workshop, cultivating our minds and nurturing our skills." He grinned.
"How does he know? Did you tell him?" Draco whispered to Hermione.
"I haven't had the chance." She replied quietly.
"Out with it." Ordered Regulus.
"My dear boy, perhaps we should eat first." Suggested Claudius making his presence known.
"Grandfather! You're here." Hermione exclaimed. Klaus and Draco turned to look at Claudius surprised but happy to see him back at home. Regulus was getting too authoritarian in his absence.
"Yes, he's back. And he's brought a guest." Lydia smiled, looking between her daughter and the boys. She gestured to where Lucius sat.
"Father!" Draco jumped up from shock, nearly knocking the nearest chair over.
"I-I hope you behaved with dignity of a Malfoy, over the course of your stay here, Draco." Lucius finally managed to say. Regulus burst out laughing.
"That's the first thing you're going to say to your son after all these months?" He asked incredulously.
"I don't think it's your place to lecture me, Black. After all, you have no children of your own. What would you know about bringing them up?" Lucius sneered at him.
"Very little it seems." Regulus reached for a glass and pouring himself some wine. He raised it locking eyes with Lucius, before taking a sip of his wine. Soon the trio and Regulus were all seated and everyone began to eat.
"Where's mother?" Draco asked Lucius but turned to look at Claudius.
"She's safe." Lord Greenfell said with a reassuring smile.
"For now." Regulus added, taking another sip of his wine.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco turned to Regulus who shrugged him off.
"Just that if you are late again, dear Narcissa will be in danger of aunt Amelia's discontent at your poor manners." Regulus' eyes wandered towards Claudius' sister. Draco made eye contact with her and Klaus.
"We're ever so sorry dearest aunt Amelia, we had a bit of a situation." Klaus grinned at her through his pounding headache.
"Well, go on. Do tell what you've been up to." Claudius invited him to elaborate with an amused smile playing on his lips.
"We went to Hogwarts." said Draco, causing a stir. Regulus dropped his fork and Hermione began to cough mid-way though drinking.
"Let me explain!" Klaus shouted over the many voices, and once he had everyone's attention he began to tell the story in details of how Draco and he, spent many hours locked out of their bodies.
"We were worried, and we wanted to do something useful. We're here, in this house and we're safe, but everyone who's left at Hogwarts isn't. I wanted to check on them." Added Draco.
"You broke the rules. I thought we had a deal." Regulus sent Draco a stern look.
"Technically, they never left the grounds. Their bodies have been here this entire time." Hermione provided.
"That's not the point and you know it." Regulus told her. "The point is, they've done something I specifically said not to do." He said to no one in particular.
"That's not important right now, what matters is what we witnessed was cruel and has to be stopped. Carrows are going too far, they are forcing 6th and 7th years to practice torture on much younger students, we have to do something!" Draco's hands formed into first in all his determination.
"This is absurd!" Exclaimed Lucius. "Draco that's enough. Do not concern yourself with the affairs of the…"
"Now Lucius, just wait a minute." Lydia stopped him before anyone else could. "You're being unfair. Draco, just like my daughter, has been in the middle of all this, and for you to ask him to forget and walk away is unreasonable, not to mention inadequate. Considering he's been under our care for the past few months, growing not only as a wizard but also a young man, I think you should refrain from trying to restrict his freedom."
"Restricting his freedom? I want to protect him! You've not seen the danger; you have no idea of the risk!" Argued Lucius.
"Perhaps not, but your son does. He was at the front line, was he not?" Lydia asked, setting Lucius off.
Not wanting to interrupt the heated argument, Claudius turned to Draco and smiled. "Draco as much as I appreciate your willingness to act, there is very little we can do without directly interfering. We are not prepared to face him yet. I'm afraid your friends will have to bare it for a bit longer."
"But we can't just abandon them. They've done nothing wrong. I've caused so much trouble and you saved me."
"Because it was just you. Saving one wizard is not the same as saving an entire school my dear boy. But leave it with me, I will think on it. Perhaps there is a way to help them." Claudius stroke his chin. Draco was right, the students of Hogwarts were in need of saving. Maybe there was an answer in all of this.
"I am his father and I will decide whether he is involved or not as I see fit." Lucius drew a line. He was tired of this debate, he only just got his son back and he wasn't going to just let him walk into a battlefield.
"Seeing as your decision making has almost cost him his life, MAYBE he's better off without your parental guidance." Regulus held his own. Hermione and Draco looked at each other and a silent understanding passed between them.
"How dare you speak to me this way! You're nothing but a child." Seethed Lucius, absolutely furious. Regulus was barely older than Draco, he had no right to lecture him on how to care for his son.
"Watch your tongue Lucius or I will return you to where we took you from." Threatened the 19-year-old, pointing a boiled carrot on a silver fork at ever so enraged Lucius.
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Thank you for reading! A bit of a slow restart but it will get more interesting very soon! I promise, I have something big in store for you.
Lots of love x