A/N: The events at the end of this chapter and at the start of the following chapter will be explored in a more detailed view in a side story that i will be writing to compliment this one. I was going to explain it in this one but it would take too much away from the whole Draco/Hermione theme of this particular fic. The side story will be called 'The Power of Blood' and i will advise when i post it that it is a side story to this one, many things that happen in this story and TPOB will be the same so please be patient with me. I doubt that i will get much updating done over the christmas/new years holiday as i am heading off to the beach for some fun in the aussie sun (yes i am an aussie) but as soon as i return i will try to post an update for all my stories.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of its characters or concepts.
Chapter Three: Explanations
Hermione sat next to Harry and Ron in Potions, it had been a few days since the accident and Harry had been released the night before, Draco however was still in the infirmary due to the fact that his injuries had been more severe and his blood loss greater. They were silent as they took notes on the potion that Professor Snape had charmed onto the board. Hermione had just finished her notes and was about to stand up and retrieve her cauldron and ingredients when a knock came at the classroom door and a fourth year Slytherin student poked his head into the room,
"Excuse me Professor Snape, I'm sorry to interrupt but, Professor Dumbledore would like to see you, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley in his office" Snape scowled at the student then turned to the three curious Gryffindors,
"Well you heard what he said! Potter, Weasley, Miss Granger, collect your things and follow me to the Headmaster's office immediately. The rest of you pack up your supplies after you have finished taking down the notes and head back to your common rooms until your next class, we will make this potion next lesson" Snape snapped,
"Professor what should we do with the essays that you wanted us to hand in at the end of this lesson?" Hermione asked timidly, not wanting to upset the potions professor and have him take house points away from Gryffindor.
"Just leave them on your desk and I will collect them later" Snape replied, he had changed his attitude somewhat towards the Gryffindor Princess since he had become aware of what she had done to save his favorite student's life, "That goes for the rest of you as well, if there is one missing the person's who is missing will lose points and receive detention. Do not try to take another students essay to get them into trouble as I will find out and will triple the punishment to the offender" Snape added as he swept out of the classroom with Harry, Hermione and Ron following him.
When they reached the gargoyle that protected the entrance to Dumbledore's office Snape stopped and gave the password,
"Candy Canes" the gargoyle jumped to the side to reveal a stone staircase. Silently Snape stepped onto the revolving staircase with Harry, Ron and Hermione following him, when the staircase stopped Snape knocked on the door then after hearing Dumbledore's voice bidding them to enter he opened the door and strode into the office, Harry, Ron and Hermione close on his heels. Hermione was thinking about what the Headmaster could have summoned them for, so engrossed in her thoughts, Hermione didn't notice Harry and Ron stop and walked straight into them. Hermione could feel their tension and after peeking around them she saw the reason. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy stood next to the Headmasters desk and were quietly conversing with Dumbledore and McGonagall, realizing that they hadn't been informed about the true personalities of the Malfoy's, Hermione could understand their tension. Taking the initiative Hermione stepped around her two friends and approached the desk. Harry and Ron snapped out of their trance and followed her, although they were extremely wary and were shooting glances at the Malfoys.
"Ah good, you are here, take a seat, we just have to wait for a few more people and then we can start" Dumbledore spoke as he conjured enough chairs to seat everyone in the office, plus a few extra, obviously for the others he was expecting.
"Professor, has something bad happened?" Harry asked while shooting Lucius a cautious glance,
"No not at all Harry, there are just a few explanations that need to be sorted out. Hermione already knows a little bit but we thought that since you and Ron were either directly or indirectly involved that we should explain everything all at once" Dumbledore answered. Harry was about to ask another question when the fireplace suddenly glowed green and out stepped Remus Lupin, Molly and Arthur Weasley and Sirius Black. Harry rose to his feet to go and greet his godfather but halted at the sound of Narcissa Malfoy's excited voice,
"Sirius!" jumping up from her seat Narcissa ran to her cousin and embraced him tightly,
"Cissa!" Sirius exclaimed as he enveloped her petite form in his strong arms and spun her around, Narcissa laughed gaily and slapped his shoulder,
"Put me down" she scolded. Sirius grinned but did as she asked, then looked behind her and saw her husband watching with an amused expression on his usually stoic face,
"Lucius" Sirius greeted with a grin and a nod, his arms still loosely wrapped around Narcissa's waist,
"Sirius" Lucius returned the greeting, then he turned to the other three, "Remus, Molly, Arthur" they all returned his greeting, then Sirius turned back to Narcissa, worry in his expression and eyes,
"Cissa what are you doing here? What's going on?" Narcissa smiled,
"Its over, they caught the last couple last week and its over, we're free" Sirius gaped, then turned to Lucius who nodded in confirmation, Sirius opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted,
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON?!" Harry bellowed out, he had stood there shocked throughout the whole scene and had become more and more confused, finally unable to contain himself any longer he had interrupted what appeared to be a very happy family reunion. Sirius dropped his arms from around Narcissa and walked over to where his godson stood,
"Sorry Harry, but I haven't seen Cissa for nearly sixteen years" Harry looked around the room then turned to Dumbledore,
"Professor what is going on?" Harry was surprised that McGonagall and Snape hadn't come down on him for shouting but realized that Dumbledore must have prevented it when he saw the potions professor glaring at him,
"All will be explained in a few moments Harry, now if everyone could kindly take a seat we will get started" Dumbledore replied, Harry sat back down between a serene Hermione and a silent Ron, who knew not to say anything in front of his mother. When everyone was seated Dumbledore turned to Harry, "There is quite a fair bit to be discussed today so please feel free to help yourselves to a lemon drop at any time. Now Harry before we get started I firstly would like to tell you that Pettigrew and McNair were finally caught last week and both received the kiss this morning" Remus, Sirius and Harry all sat up straight at the news that Peter Pettigrew had been caught,
"Are you sure Albus? He didn't transform and escape again did he?" Remus asked,
"I was there to witness the kiss myself Remus" Dumbledore replied, Harry sat back in relief, finally the man who had betrayed his parents had been caught and punished,
"Does that mean that there are no more Death Eaters unaccounted for?" Sirius asked,
"Yes Sirius, hence the reason that Lucius and Narcissa are here" Sirius nodded in understanding,
"Professor I'm confused, what does the fact that all the Death Eaters are accounted for have anything to do with the Malfoy's being here?" Harry asked with a glare towards Lucius,
"Lucius was a spy for the order Harry" Dumbledore stated quietly, both Harry and Ron's gazes snapped to the Headmasters,
"But that's impossible! I saw him in that graveyard in fourth year, he tried to Avada me when I freed Dobby in second year" Harry stammered out,
"A well orchestrated act between Dobby and myself, he knew to stop me and I knew that he would" Lucius replied,
"But the graveyard, and giving Voldemort's diary to Ginny"
"I was a spy, I had to fulfill my role to Voldemort to make him believe that I was a loyal follower. At the graveyard my role for the order was to make sure that you didn't get killed, I was only to help you if it was a certainty that you would die" Lucius responded,
"And the diary?"
"When I received orders to place the diary with Arthur and Molly's daughter I spoke to them about it as well as Dumbledore. We knew it was a horcrux and that there was no way out of the plan. How do you think that that book where Miss Granger found the information about the Basilisk magically turned up in the library?"
"You put it there" Hermione exclaimed, Lucius nodded,
"Yes it was from the Riddle Mansion, I was able to sneak it out and place it in the school library, with a small charm on it to encourage you to look at it. After the basilisk was killed I replaced it back in the Riddle Mansion Library"
"So that's why I couldn't find it again" Hermione murmured quietly to herself,
"NO! it can't be, how do I know that you weren't just pretending to be a spy to save yourself from being locked up in Azkaban?" Harry demanded,
"Harry! Mind your manners" Sirius reproached,
"Its alright Sirius, he is indeed entitled to his anger and disbelief, if I were in his position I would be the same way" Lucius stated,
"Lucius show him" Dumbledore told the elder Malfoy. Lucius grimaced, but removed his cloak and jacket and untucked his shirt from his trousers. Turning around so his back faced the group assembled he started to lift the back of his shirt. Narcissa rose to her feet and assisted her husband, lifting his shirt until his muscled back was entirely exposed. Harry stared in stunned silence, for there on Lucius's right shoulder blade was a tattoo of a phoenix in full wingspan with flames dripping off the tail and wing feathers. It was the magical tattoo of the Order of the Phoenix, only those loyal to the Order and who had never betrayed it were able to show that tattoo, anyone could receive it but the moment they left the Order or were disloyal to it the tattoo would disappear.
"Convinced Harry?" Sirius asked gently, Harry nodded dumbly and slumped back in his seat, then his head snapped up and he turned to Lucius,
"If you have that tattoo and are loyal to the Order, then your Dark Mark must have disappeared when I killed Voldemort!" Lucius paused in the middle of tucking his shirt back into his trousers and nodding pulled up the left sleeve of shirt, revealing the pale and unblemished skin of his inner forearm,
"From what I have seen so far, I am assuming that you were living under a charade until the last free Death Eater was caught" Harry stated slowly, choosing his words carefully,
"Yes Harry, Lucius joined the Death Eaters to protect me. My younger sister Bellatrix had joined and I was frantic with worry for her, I was going to join myself to try to keep her out of trouble, but Lucius wouldn't allow it as I was pregnant with Draco at the time. In order to protect me and Draco he told me that he would join to keep a watch on Bella" Narcissa explained,
"Before I took the mark, I met with Albus and told him what I was going to do. As I had no choice in the matter I offered to report anything I heard to him and to spy for the Order, that was when I received my Phoenix tattoo, before I took the Dark Mark" Lucius added, once he was fully dressed again and sitting next to his wife. Harry was silent for a moment and then he turned to Lucius, his eyes shimmering with fury,
"If you joined before Draco was born, then you would have been aware of the attack on my parents, and that Pettigrew was the traitor!" Lucius shook his head sadly,
"No. Voldemort never told his followers more than we needed to know, we never learned the identity of the mole he had in the Order, although we hated to admit it, we were forced to believe, like the rest of the wizarding world that it was Sirius. I didn't learn of the attack on your parents until I was handed the piece of paper with their address on it to apparate to. As I was stationed alone at the back of the house I was able to send a shot of red sparks into their open bedroom window to warn them so that they would at least have a fighting chance and not be killed while they were asleep in their beds. After they were killed and Voldemort lost his powers, the other Death Eaters were so angry that they destroyed the house. It was I who cast the protective charm on you so that you wouldn't get crushed by the rubble when your house collapsed"
"Why wouldn't Voldemort tell you about the attack before hand?" Harry asked curiously, he believed Lucius as he could see the truth in his blue eyes,
"Because I was friends with your mother at school Harry" Narcissa answered gently, tears shimmering in her silver eyes, Harry turned to face her and gaped in astonishment,
"What?"
"I transferred to Hogwarts from Beaubaxtons in sixth year, and was sorted into Ravenclaw. As Bella stayed at Beaubaxtons I was friendless, so I hung out with Sirius and the Marauders. I met Lily one day while James was trying to get her to go out with him.."
"For like the ten thousandth time" Sirius butted in, Narcissa smiled then continued,
"Lily and I became friends through similar circumstances. James was always asking her out, but she refused him every time"
"Why?" Harry asked, intrigued that he was hearing a different point of view on his parents story,
"Because Lily and Severus were somewhat friends and James kept fighting with him. At the same time Lucius here had decided that he wanted me as his girl and kept asking me out, but once again I wanted nothing to do with an arrogant egotistical prat"
"Sounds familiar" Ron snorted, then fell silent when his mother glared at him,
"There was even a running bet between the houses as to who would succeed to get their girl first, James or Lucius" Remus added with a grin, ignoring Ron's comment,
"I didn't believe in all that pureblood is superior hogwash that my mother and sister did, and I even broke Lucius's nose once when I punched him for calling Lily a 'mudblood' in front of me" Narcissa grinned at the memory, while Lucius scowled. Ron grinned and shot a look at a blushing Hermione, remembering the time when she punched Draco in third year.
"Yes Hermione, much like you did to Draco in third year, from what Draco told me it was indeed a great punch" Narcissa smiled at the blushing girl,
"Who won the bet?" Harry asked,
"James and Lucius hated one another, much like you and Draco do, but they decided to call a truce in order to get the girls they wanted" Narcissa continued,
"What kind of truce?" Harry asked again,
"James and I agreed that he would stop picking on Severus, and I would stop picking on Sirius and his friends" Lucius answered, "It worked as Narcissa and Lily started to see us both in a different light"
"Lily and I knew about the bet, and when we decided that we would give them both a chance, we agreed that neither of them deserved to win the bet so we walked up to them during lunch one day and both kissed them at the same time, neither of them won, but neither lost. The rest as they say is history, I married Lucius and Lily married James. Voldemort didn't tell Lucius about his attack on your parents until the last minute because he could feel that Lucius loved me, and if he knew that my friend was in danger that he would tell me about it. He didn't trust that I wouldn't try to warn Lily about the attack" Narcissa finished. Harry nodded in acceptance and sent a tentative smile towards both Malfoys.
"Harry, this isn't easy for me, I am not the man that you have known for the last few years, but I have always been cold and distant due to the way I was raised. It wasn't until I met Narcissa that I knew what love was, and it was her influence that changed me. I have always been of the opinion that Purebloods are superior but I never believed that muggles and muggleborns should be slaughtered for no reason, and up until the attack where you and Draco nearly died I still believed in the fact that they didn't belong in the wizarding world. Its true that I didn't get along with your father, but I did respect him. I would like to thank you for what you did for my son during the Manticore attack, without your interference Draco would have surely been killed" Lucius stated somewhat stiffly. Harry nodded, knowing how difficult it was for Lucius Malfoy to thank anyone.
"Excuse me sir, but you said that up until the attack on Draco and I you still believed in blood prejudices, does that mean that your views have changed somewhat?" Harry asked tentatively,
"Yes they have, something happened to change my views. If it wasn't for a certain muggleborn witch, who has the same rare blood type as Draco, my son would have died. I realized at that moment, when I was faced with the reality of losing my son, that blood didn't matter, all that mattered was life itself" Lucius answered with a small smile at Hermione. Hermione blushed but smiled back. Harry nodded, he and Ron having already been told by Hermione that she had been the donor for Draco's transfusion.
"Mr Malfoy, how come your son acts the way he does if you and Mrs Malfoy have a relationship just like my parents?" Ron asked tentatively, with a wary glance at both his parents and the Malfoys.
"Because due to circumstances we had to present the same façade to Draco as we did to the rest of the world" Lucius replied,
"So Draco didn't know that you and your wife were in love?" Ron queried,
"Voldemort knew that I was pregnant when Lucius took the mark, he told Lucius that our son might just be the heir that he was looking for. In order to protect Draco we had to make it look like we didn't care about him at all. If Voldemort found out that we were teaching Draco about love and affection, he would have forced us to hand him over to raise himself, and if we refused he would have killed us and stolen him. He had the children of other Death Eaters spying on him here and at home to make sure that we were raising him the way he wanted him to be" Narcissa explained, Ron nodded in understanding,
"Does he know the truth?" Sirius suddenly asked,
"Yes he does, and he would like to meet you Sirius" Narcissa replied with a smile,
"Now that all the explanations are out of the way there is one more thing that I would like to discuss with you all" Dumbledore addressed the eleven people sitting in his office.
"What is it Albus?" McGonagall spoke for the first time since the discussions had started.
"When the Ministry searched the hovel where Pettigrew and McNair were hiding they found something that was obviously important to Voldemort. They have asked me to see if I can figure out what it is, and of what importance it was to Voldemort" Dumbledore replied as he rose to his feet and walked to a door in one of the walls of his office. He opened the door then with a wave of his wand he levitated what looked to be a large wooden box out of the room before setting it down next to his desk. Taking a closer look at it, they all noticed the eight snakes that were stationed an even distance apart down one side of the box, it was obvious that they were the locking system to protect or secure whatever was inside.
"Albus, what in the world?" Arthur Weasley asked as he started at the box,
"I honestly don't know Arthur. Lucius, Severus, do either of you have any idea what may be inside?"
"I have never seen this box Albus" Severus answered, while peering closely at the object,
"I saw it once, it was locked in the maximum security cell in the dungeons of Riddle Mansion, all Death Eaters were warned not to go near it or attempt to touch it or he would kill them" Lucius supplied.
"Harry could you open it please" Dumbledore asked the black haired boy,
"What? Professor how?"
"The snakes Harry, they are the locking system, much like the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets I would imagine" Dumbledore replied,
"Albus I don't think that this is such a good idea with the children in the room" Molly protested,
"Harry is the only one who can speak Parseltongue Molly, I have already cast the necessary protective charms in this office as well as security charms on the box itself, it cannot hurt us, but just to be on the safe side could all the adults please draw their wands and surround Harry as he opens the box" Dumbledore responded. The adults all nodded and drew their wands. Harry stepped forwards and faced the box, studying it carefully, he waited until Lucius, Narcissa, Remus, Sirius, Snape, McGonagall, Dumbledore, Molly and Arthur were all surrounding him with their wands pointed at the box before he concentrated on the centre snake and spoke, the parseltongue coming easily to his lips as he concentrated on the Cobra lock in the centre,
"I command you to open!" the snakes all hissed at him, then one by one they started to unlock themselves. Harry stepped back a few paces as the last snake unlocked itself and the door of the box opened with a hiss. Everyone tensed in readiness when the box glowed with a green light. When the light dissipated all that was left was an enormous ancient picture frame. The portrait inside was of a life sized stag with a beautiful red haired woman sitting astride it. Silence ensued as the adults lowered their wands, then the silence was broken by Sirius who spoke in a shaky whisper,
"Prongs?"
Well there it is, as i said at the beginning the events at the end of this chapter and at the start of the next chapter will be explained in more detail and covered fully in the side story 'The Power of Blood' that i am writing, i am hoping to have at least the prologue and the sceond chapter to that story up before i go away.
Please read and Review but no flames, get into the christmas spirit and if i don't post again beforehand Merry Christmas to all my readers and Happy New Year as well!!! xoxoxo