"Shall we ditch the party and have a party of our own? Pansy here says she has a bottle of firewhiskey hidden on her person. We could ditch the dull Elfish wine." He smirked and took a sip from his glass.
The shorter of the men, but not by much, snorted into his own glass. "For it being so dull, you drank quite a bit of it, Blaise."
Blaise Zabini, the dark skinned wizard, shrugged his shoulders and drank the rest of his wine in one gulp. "I drink what I'm given, Theo, to numb how boring these parties are nowadays. Why do the lot of them even throw so many of these anyway? It's not like any of them even like each other."
Theodore Nott, the sandy haired wizard, also shrugged his shoulders but didn't answer the rhetorical question. He looked around the room at the many witches and wizards who were, one way or another, part of his bloody family. He looked over his shoulder at Daphne Greengrass with a bored expression and she laughed.
The blonde wizard, Draco Malfoy, also looked around the room to try to find someone new to joke about, but noticed that he made fun of almost everyone in the two hours since this party started, and decided that he was bored of his little game. He put his arms around his two best mates. "Let's go to the library. Pansy, bring the firewhiskey. My father also has his own stores that we can drink from. Daphne, please do join us."
The five friends snuck free from the party, something that they were use to doing over the years. As kids they would go off to play in Draco's room, but as they got older they would go off to one of the many rooms in the Malfoy Manor to drink their boredom away. They kept an eye on their destination going out the door, but also kept an eye on the inhabitants in the room to make sure no one noticed them slip away.
The walls of the manor were covered in portraits of Malfoy relatives that were never in the mood to speak to anyone. Even around fellow purebloods, they thought they were superior. Draco really hated the lot of them and scowled at the thought of them always patronizing him throughout his life. He got it from his father; he didn't need it from anyone else. It's why he cherished his friendships with his current companions. They knew what it was like growing up in this toxic environment.
After about ten minutes of walking to the opposite side of the manor, the group of friends rounded the corner to the hallway that held the library. One side of the hallway had more portraits of relatives, and the other side had tall windows that showed the back garden. The moonlight lit everything in front of them, and Draco could see the library ahead. He took out his wand when they reached the tall double doors and whispered an incantation. One of the doors opened and the friends slipped in.
The library was vast. It had rows and rows of tomes that were clearly centuries old with wear and tear, on the second story. The lower you went from the ceiling, the younger the books became. The group walked towards the middle of the first floor where there was a couple dark colored couches and a few dark colored armchairs.
"Tell me again, why does your father have a secret lock on the library, of all places?" Theo sat down in an armchair. Daphne removed her heels before sitting with him with her back against the armrest and her legs pulled up over his lap. Theo moved the bottom of her dress robes over so that he could run his hands up and down her bare shins.
Draco ignored Theo's question for the time being and walked to the glass cabinet on the wall closest to the sitting area and opened it. He noticed Pansy standing behind him and he held out his hand. Pansy smiled as she reached into her cleavage to retrieve the shrunken bottle of firewhiskey. She handed it to Draco and he tapped it with his wand as she walked away. The bottle enlarged to reveal the burnt red liquid. He proceeded to pour five glasses and charmed the glasses to stay chilled.
After handing all his friends their respective drinks, Draco sat in an armchair. He held his glass in one hand and spoke as he twirled the liquid around. "You know why, Theo. He has a hidden room in here. One that I have yet to even find."
Blaise smirked as he leaned against the wall closer to his friends. "Why don't we split up and try to find it? I'm sure all of us would be able to if we worked together."
Pansy spoke up from her spot on the couch. Her heels were also kicked off and she had her legs taking up the space so no one else could sit down. "If Draco couldn't find it, what makes you think any of us would be able to?"
Daphne rolled her eyes. She swung her legs onto the floor and stood up. Theo sputtered in protest but Daphne ignored him as she walked to the bookshelf closest to the group. She turned around with a sparkle in her eye. "What if we used all our magic to say revelio together? I'm sure it's because Draco's magic isn't strong enough alone. You know how advanced Lucius is."
Draco glared at Daphne before tilting his head back to drink his firewhiskey in one gulp. "I resent that statement."
Blaise looked back and forth between Daphne and Draco. He snapped his fingers. "I think Daphne is onto something. What harm could it do?"
Draco visibly exhaled a breath that he didn't know he was holding. He really did want to know where this hidden room was. "I mean, the worst that could happen would be some sort of curse coming from somewhere unknown and us slowly feeling our impending doom come into play. But sure, let's try."
Daphne squealed and clapped her hands together. Draco rolled his eyes at her but had a small smile grace his features. He really did love her enthusiasm sometimes. As they got older, the more he believed she should have been a Hufflepuff. He watched as Daphne walked through the bookshelves with her eyes closed and her finger running along the spines. Curious as to what she was doing, Draco followed her. He watched as she continued this for a few minutes, in silence. By this time, the rest of the friends were following.
Daphne suddenly stopped in front of a bookcase and smiled wide at her friends. "This is it."
Theo looked at the bookcase and his brows met in the middle in confusion. "Are you sure, Daph? This bookcase looks like all the rest. You'd think that wherever this room is, it would be somewhere elaborate."
Daphne's smile didn't falter. "That's what he would want you to think, obviously, right? The Malfoy family is the richest wizarding family since the beginning of the Sacred 28. The reasoning behind a grand entrance to a secret room in the library only makes sense. But does it really?"
Pansy had a look of understanding and smiled mischievously. She took out her wand from the elegant bun on her head. "Let's find this bloody room, shall we?"
The young wizards all looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. They understood it was probably best not to go against the witches. They also took out their wands from inside their dress robes.
Daphne squealed for a second time that night and her friends laughed under their breath. She took out her wand from inside her dress sleeve. She pointed at each of them to form a small circle. "On the count of three, we're going to all say Revelio."
"On three, or after three? You need to be clear on the instructions." "Shut up, Blaise. One… two… three."
"Revelio!"
All five friends looked at each other before looking at the bookcase that didn't show any signs of shifting or revealing a door. Draco sighed in defeat and put down his wand arm. "At this rate, I'm beginning to believe the secret room is a myth."
Daphne looked around in confusion, also putting her wand arm down. "I was so positive that this was going to work. I had a gut feeling."
Theo laughed and put his wand arm over her shoulders. "Magic is a bit more complicated than a gut feeling, love." He kissed her on the cheek and tried to pull her away to go back to the sitting area, but she resisted with a glare and pulled away.
Daphne looked around one more time and shushed her wizard. She ran her fingers along the books' spines once more. At that moment, she noticed a small opening behind one of the books that seemed to have shifted forward discretely. She was about to stick her hand out to try to pull it free, but thought better of it. She turned towards Draco and pointed at the book to show him. "Malfoy blood would probably be better. I prefer not to die tonight."
Draco nodded once. He tried to not show his excitement but his body language and eyes gave it away. He has been trying to find this room for years now. He got closer to the bookcase and stuck his hand out to grab the book. As soon as his hand was about a foot in front of it, the book flew into his open hand. It took him by surprise and he took a step backwards. He looked towards his friends with wide eyes as the bookcase disappeared and a dimly lit hallway was revealed.
Blaise whistled lowly as he read the title of the book. "'The Hierarchy of Blood Purity.' Wouldn't think any less of old Lucy. Can't have an elaborate bookcase for a secret entrance? Might as well have an elaborate misogamist book."
Pansy rolled her eyes as she walked barefoot into the hallway. "Let's go before Lucius gets some kind of warning that his man cave is open."
Daphne followed closely behind Pansy and the wizards followed suit. They all could see how nice the hallway was with dim lighting and stone walls. The floor was made out of stone as well but there was a dark emerald carpet running along it. Seeing as both witches were barefoot, they noticed that the carpet was warm and plush. Pansy vaguely wondered if Lucius walked barefoot into his secret study regularly. She smirked to herself at the thought.
Draco quickly got in front of the witches, trying not to show how excited he was about finally finding his father's study. The hallway opened up to a small room. Draco saw there was a medium sized solid chestnut desk with a matching chair. The desk was facing a simple fireplace and he saw that the fire was burning low. He looked over to his best mates. He noticed the two witches were looking around on their own.
Theo had a look of realization. "It seems Lucius was here recently. Probably right before the party or a little after it started." He walked over to the desk and saw there was an open tome. He waved Blaise and Draco over when he saw what page it was opened to. "Have either of you ever seen this book before? I believe it's dark magic." Theo went to close the book to look at the title.
Blaise walked quickly over before Draco made it over and grabbed his hand before Theo could graze it. "What the bloody hell are you doing? If it looks like dark magic, don't touch it! Being a Nott, you should know better."
Theo glared at Blaise and tore his hand away. "I do bloody know better, but why would Lucius have it open to this page of all pages?"
Both Draco and Blaise looked down at the page. What Draco noticed first was the illustration of a man with a look of agony as he is on his knees. It looked like a part of him was floating out of the top of his chest. The second part of this illustration had his other half on the tip of his wand and he was transferring it into an object that looked to be a quill. Pansy and Daphne came over to look as well.
Draco looked up in confusion. "What is he doing?"
Blaise eyed Draco with hesitation. "He's splitting his soul and putting it into an object that he could save for later."
Pansy rubbed her hands up and down her arms, seeing as the fire was now almost out. "Why would anyone do that?"
The dark skinned wizard lifted up a hand to rub the back of his head. "To be immortal. To be able to die and come back to life. My newest stepfather informed me of this and hinted that the Dark Lord did just that."
The witches looked at Blaise in horror as the wizards went pale. There was a moment of silence before Draco spoke again. "This doesn't explain why my father has this book."
At that moment, the fire roared to life. Instead of the normal reds and oranges of fire, it was blues and greens to inform the recipient that the floo network was activated. Pansy, Daphne, Theo, and Blaise ran down the hallway towards the entrance to go back to the library. All they could think of was to look as inconspicuous as possible as they went back to the sitting area. They grabbed a drink again to calm their nerves. As they all sat down with their hearts racing, they noticed Draco was missing.
Back in the secret study, Draco hid under the desk so that he could see who could possibly be needing his father at this time of night. With a party raging on in the main portion of the manor, he was sure all the purebloods were already there.
He heard footsteps exit the fireplace and going towards the desk. Draco held his breath as he saw shoes enter his line of sight. He scrunched his nose as he noticed that they weren't very nice. He heard the intruder rip a page from the book above his head and stuff it in his trouser pocket. The intruder also opened a drawer and shuffled a few items. He then heard the familiar sound of a quill scraping against parchment for a few seconds before the quill getting thrown onto the desk. Draco saw the shoes disappear from sight and walking back into the fireplace. He tapped his wand to his head and then he peeked slightly above the desk, as he heard the swoosh of the floo taking the intruder away.
His eyes widened a little. He could not mistake that head of red hair.
He stood up from his location as soon as he knew the floo was disconnected. He looked down at the desk to read the note left behind and his eyes widened even more.
I'll keep in touch. -RW