Spoiler Warning: This chapter heavily references Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and as such spoilers will be present. Please read Harry Potter and the Crused Child before reading this chapter if you wish to avoid spoilers.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series or anything associated with it. The Harry Potter series is the property of J.K. Rowling. This fanfiction is a writing done out of love for the author's work and for creative pleasure. No disrespect or infringement is intended, and no profit is being made.
Author's Note: Reviews are welcome and appreciated, but please be considerate and keep all criticism polite and constructive.
Chapter Five: The Dragon and the Cursed Child
Harry Potter quickly lowers his wand and instructs the others to do so as well. He doesn't necessarily trust Narcissa Malfoy, but he is inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt on account of the fact that she betrayed Lord Voldemort and probably saved his life. She has also come without her husband, which sparks the curiousity of everyone present. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy are known to be extremely devoted to each other. Harry and the others are on cordial terms with Draco now, and know that Draco has changed. The fact that they are in the company of Andromeda, who would never associate with her sister and nephew unless she had very good reason to do so, lets everyone know that this is a matter of great importance.
Besides, nobody is not going to attack them while they have brought children with them. Draco's wife Astoria holds their two year old son, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, protectively in her arms. Scorpius is a sweet boy, Draco's little clone in looks, and gets along with Albus Severus. Narcissa is holding a young girl Teddy's age that they have never laid eyes. The little girl is shaking with fear and appears to be in considerable distress. She has her head buried in Narcissa's shoulder. With a nod from Ginny, Harry steps aside and lets Andromeda and the Malfoys enter his home.
The Malfoys are no doubt to encounter the Resurrected, necessitating introductions and a brief summary of recent events. The crying child is introduced only by the name of Delphi. Andormeda wastes no time running to Tonks, Sirius, and Remus, hugging each of them fiercely. As she predicted, Tonks gets severely reprimanded by her mother. Her only consolation is that Sirius gets the same treatment. Draco shakes hands with the Harry, Ron, and Hermione, then greets Severus warmly. Ginny escorts Astoria upstairs to put Scorpius to bed in James Sirius and Albus Severus's room. Molly sends Audrey, Angelina, and Padma upstairs after them to mind the children. Dobby and Kreacher quickly prepare tea for the newcomers. Ginny and Astoria come back down, and everyone except for Narcissa takes a seat to hear about what has brought the Malfoys to Grimmauld Place at such an hour.
Narcissa hands Delphi off to her daughter-in-law and excuses herself to go stand guard outside, drawing her wand. This alarms everyone, but most especially Delphi. She cries, "No, Aunt Cissy! Don't go!"
Narcissa smiles gently at her, "I will be alright, sweetheart. Do not worry."
She steps outside, after giving Dephi a kiss on the forehead to reassure her. Delphi gives a little sniffle and curls into Astoria's embrace, still looking quite fearful. Astoria attempts to sooth her, hugging her close. Everyone looks at little Delphi with concern, wondering what could be frightening the poor child so much. Their hearts go out to her, no child should be so distraught.
Draco clears his throat softly to get everyone's attention. He takes Delphi from his wife, and she holds on to him for dear life. He softly strokes her hair to calm her down. "Right, I suppose I should explain why we have come. I'm afraid it is a long and unpleasant story. First, I must get the most unpleasant bit out of the way." He indicates Delphi, "This is my cousin Delphini Narcissa Lestrange, the daughter of Voldemort and my aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange."
The uproar is instant and loud, with many exclamations along the lines of "Voldemort had a daughter?!" and "No! It's not possible!". No one is inclined to believe this, nor do they want to. Draco puts his hand up for silence. He produces a vial containing memories from both him and his mother. He everyone to view them when he is finished, assuring them that they will validate everything he is telling them. This satisfies them for the time being, though they will definitely be taking a close look at these memories later.
Delphi is shaking with fear again, and the reason why is now painfully obvious. The poor girl thinks they are all going to hate her, be disgusted with her. She is face to face with the people who killed her parents, Harry Potter and Molly Weasley. Everyone else has directly or indirectly suffered at the hands of her parents. Sure, they all hated Voldemort and Bellatrix, but they would would never take that out on Delphi. It isn't right to judge Delphi for the actions of the parents, particularly parents the child has never met and does not know. Severus in particular has learned this lesson over the years. He judged Harry because of his poor opinion of James, and treated Harry horribly as a result. This caused them both angst and pain, and Severus is determined not to make the same mistake in this second chance at life for him.
The reception Delphi receives is far different than she expected. Tonks greets her new cousin with a gentle, "Wotcher, Delphi." Albus and Severus both look at Delphi with sad expressions on their faces. Molly grabs a small blanket and wraps it around the little girl, giving the little girl's leg a gentle pat. Harry kneels in front of Draco and Delphi, and puts a hand on the small girl's shoulder. She turns to face him, and all she sees is empathy and understanding in his eyes. Delphi starts to calm down a little bit, pulling the blanket around her a little more and snuggling into Draco's embrace. Draco takes this as a sign to continue his story.
"I'll start from the beginning. Delphi was born in our home, in Malfoy Manor, on Valentine's Day, three months before the Battle of Hogwarts. It was kept a great secret, the fact that Voldemort was Delphi's father. None of the other Death Eaters knew, as far as we could tell. It was no secret that Aunt Bellatrix was devoted to Voldemort and we knew he valued her loyalty, but nobody ever suspected that they were in any type of relationship. They were very careful to hide it from everyone. When Aunt Bellatrix unexpectedly became pregnant, we were led to believe that the father was Rodolphus. Rodolphus certainly played the part of the expectant father well. After Delphi was born, she was taken from the Manor for her own safety. We'd been told she'd been sent to live with relatives of Rodolphus."
"That was until a few weeks ago. We were contacted by a woman named Euphemia Rowle, who claimed Delphi. Delphi didn't have the best of times with Rowle. Rowle was an unpleasant character. She didn't appear to be very fond of Delphi, and clearly only took her in for the gold. As far as we know, she wasn't a Death Eater. She didn't have a Dark Mark. Rowle told us that Voldemort is really Delphi's father. She proved it too, conjuring a snake and forcing Delphi to speak Parseltongue. She didn't put up a fight about us taking Delphi. We brought her home with us and intend to shower her with all the love that she deserves."
"Rowle isn't why we came to see you tonight. The reason we came to you lot is because we have a problem at Malfoy Manor. We have evidence that someone has snuck in the Manor last night. Whoever it was left a message for us." Draco hands Harry a wand, and Harry instantly recognizes it. It's Voldemort's original yew wand, whose core of phoenix feather is twin to the core of his own wand. "We found this outside the door to Delphi's room. We were hoping you might be willing to help us figure out who left it."
Harry nods in understanding and stands, "Ron and I will go with you to Malfoy Manor and have a look around. We will speak to the Minister about having words with any known Death Eaters or Death Eater sympathizers that somehow avoided Azkaban. Hopefully, we can find out what they are up to quickly and put a stop to it."
Draco and Ron rise as well. Ron sends out his Jack Russell Terrier Patronus to tell Kingsley to have a couple of Aurors with Vertitaserum meet them at Malfoy Manor and to verify that Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange are still in Azkaban. Several Resurrected offer to come, but Harry and Ron remind them that it might not be the best idea for their return not to become public knowledge quite yet. Madelyne offers to go with them, since she's the only non-Resurrected Ministry employee who's not a mother. The three men politely decline her offer and exchange goodbyes. Harry, Ron, and Draco then Disapparate to Malfoy Manor.
They find Lucius Malfoy in the midst of a duel. The three immediately join in the fray. Draco is immensely glad he decided to take his wife, his mother, his son, and his cousin with him to Grimmauld Place. The duel rages on between the four men and their opponent.
Their opponent comes as a huge shock. Their opponent is none other than Peter Pettigrew, back from the dead. The former Marauder Wormtail, who'd once been a dear friend to James, Sirius, and Remus. A dear friend who'd been James and Lily's Secret Keeper and betrayed them to Voldemort, who'd landed Sirius in Azkaban for twelve years. Draco is even shocked at this. Pettigrew had died right here in Malfoy Manor, Draco's ancestral home. Draco had seen and helped dispose of Pettigrew's dead body. Pettigree was killed by the silver prosthetic hand Voldemort had gifted him in reward for sacrificing his real hand to help Voldemort regain his physical form.
The duel goes for several more minutes. Pettigrew is shouting at them, attempting to explain himself. He appears to be in a bit of a panicked state. He says begs Lucius and Draco to help him, to not give him to Harry and Ron. Lucius laughs coldly at this. While he may not have lost any of his pure-blood supremacist views, he is very much done with Voldemort and the Death Eaters. He is all about his family now, his family and nothing else. Draco angrily shouts that he will never help Pettigrew or any Death Eater. Then, Pettigrew is suddenly hit with a silent Stunning spell from behind.