Chapter Six: Schemes at the Malfoy Manor
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A/N—Sorry for the delay!!!
Disclaimer: Neither of us are taking credit for Harry Potter, the gorgeous Draco Malfoy, or any other characters or past books. We are currently not making a cent off this either. If we could, we probably would, though.
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"This is just not acceptable, Narcissa," Lucius Malfoy hissed across the table, his rage apparent in his icy eyes. "What if he exposed us all," he sneered, "For the sake of his precious blood-traitor weasel!" His fist slammed down on the glossy dark mahogany table angrily.
Narcissa refused to allow her ram-rod straight body to flinch, but maintained her ice demeanor. "I cannot let you kill my son," she forced through her gritted teeth.
"If he betrayed the dark lord, he would kill us all!"
Narcissa laid one pale, elegant hand gently on the table and whispered, "How do you know he would do such a thing?"
"Narcissa, he will refuse the mark. That alone is enough reason for the Dark Lord to kill him, wouldn't you say? He knows too much, and won't swear loyalty. There's not much more I can do."
The Malfoy missus's face blanched ashen. "He's our only son. The Malfoy line would die with us. I can't let that happen."
Malfoy senior snorted. "So you would rather be disgraced beyond hope? I thought you were better than that," he sneered. "Haven't I told you? I WOULD RATHER DIE THAN BE DISHONORED BY MY VERY OWN DAMNED SON!" Lucius shouted, his voice echoing against the frigid, elegant interior of the Malfoy manor sitting room.
Narcissa was frozen by his outburst. But she understood. Or, at least she thought she did, until her husband smirked, chuckling under his breath. His silver, sinister gaze then locked on hers, and he said quietly, "And I want to kill him myself."
Narcissa remained as frozen as a snake, with its eyes locked on its prey. Inside, though, was a very different battle. She could not allow her husband to murder her only son. If he did, she would be forced to kill him, and she would be left with nothing more to live for. If she somehow could allow Draco to remain alive and with his despicable choice in mate, he would betray them, one way or another. It simply could not work. Nothing could possibly work in this situation! She thought in despair. Either way, somebody is going to die. Oh, what has the Malfoy line become of?
And then it hit her, like a battering ram. The horrifying, most terrible conclusion she could possibly come to, but nothing else would leave her alive. And that's what Slytherins top priority always was: put yourself before others, always. And Draco, her only son, was second on the priority list.
Her pale lips curved into a smirk. "Yes," she finally said, breaking the tense silence. "Yes, you are right, Lucius. Something must be done."
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To the Gringotts Goblin of whom it concerns,
I have a request of you that must be carried out as expeditiously and as discreetly as possible. Empty the entire contents of Vault 904 into Vault 586, and make it completely inaccessible to Mr. Lucius Malfoy. I trust this will be done within the next 24 hours.
Narcissa Malfoy
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She penned this as quickly as possibly and handed it to a bumbling house elf at her feet. "To Gringotts, immediately, and do not let this letter fall into the hands of anyone else, or you will be dismissed," she ordered.
The elf cried, "Of course, of course!" And dissapparated with a resounding crack. The thought of her husband waking to the noise was ridiculous to her and never crossed her mind, because Lucius slept in an entirely different wing of the manor, if he even slept there at all.
And it was a good thing, too. House elves bustled around her legs, emptying the contents of her bedroom into a magical suitcase that was charmed to hold as many possessions as you wished to fit into it. She had ordered the lowly creatures to be as silent as the grave, but occasionally they dropped a shoe or something and they were forced to kick themselves as punishment. Narcissa rather liked this arrangement. It saved her the trouble of kicking them herself.
The vast room was looking rather empty now; almost all her things were gone. In fact, she was sure that the rest of the manor looked a little empty as well. House elves had been scurrying back and forth to retrieve all her prized Black family heirlooms… and there were quite a few of them as well.
There was only one thing left for her to do. She used her wand to push aside her enormous Sleep Enchanted bed aside and out of the way. Beneath the bed was a small trap door which opened to a tiny, shoe-box sized chamber. She kneeled and emptied almost all the contents of the chamber into a silk canvas bag and passed it off to an elf. Narcissa then stood, clutching a small crystal vial to her chest. Then she snapped her fingers and an elf materialized at her knees.
"I order you to dump this entire vial into Master Lucius's morning scotch," she commanded, entrusting her precious vial with a pearl stopper to the wide-eyed elf. "If this is not carried out, you will immediately be dismissed." The elf's eyes widened and he shook his head hastily.
Within the gorgeous vial was a potion so deadly it killed within a fraction of a second. It was colorless and impossible to detect by an unsuspecting victim. There was certain ways to detect it, if you were looking for it; and Narcissa was one-hundred percent sure that the despicable Lucius Malfoy would never even know what hit him.
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Narcissa stared at the elegant wood door less than a foot away from her face. Was she really going to go through with this? The entire concept of sacrificing her pride and dignity was so completely revolting that it nearly knocked her right back down the spiral staircase. But it was all for her son, she thought firmly. All for Draco.
Pure force brought her hand to come in contact with the door, and she knocked three times. "Come in!" a cheerful voice called from within. What an old fool. Did he realize how much of a fool he sounded?
She entered the door, and saw her old headmaster's look of surprise before he swapped it for a sodding welcoming smile.
"Missus Malfoy, well, what a surprise. Please, take a seat," he offered. "What do I owe the pleasure?" he set down his ridiculously flamboyant flamingo feather quill and crossed his fingers thoughtfully.
Narcissa walked stiffly over to the chair he gestured towards and gracefully lowered herself into it. "I have found myself in… a predicament. And I need…" she sighed inaudibly and ground the words out, "…your protection."
Naturally, Dumbledore's eyebrows rose. "From whom, may I ask?"
Ugh, she was just going to have to say it. Narcissa growled two words under her breath.
"Excuse me, what was that?" he asked, still polite and cheerful. "My hearing grows old," he smiled kindly. If he smiled again, Narcissa was going to have to claw his lips off.
"My husband!" she exploded, and the phoenix sleeping on a perch nearby startled. "He is going to murder my son, and we both need immediate protection! Do I need to repeat myself?" she snapped.
"My, my…. Yes, that would be a problem." He said gravely. At least he isn't smiling, a voice in her mind reminded her.
His gaze was raised to hers, and she noted that his eyes didn't twinkle as they usually did. "And how far are you willing to go to receive this protection, if I may ask?"
Narcissa glared at her old headmaster. "I would die for him," she whispered. And they both knew exactly who she was talking about.
Dumbledore stared at her for a few more solid seconds before he questioned, "Then how loyal are you, Missus Malfoy?"
Narcissa gave him an icy smirk. "I can tell you things that would destroy him," she promised.
"Well, well, well… then I believe we have a deal. But this isn't the place for you," he said knowingly. "There is another location that you may reside with your son that would be impregnable to Lucius Malfoy and anyone he is affiliated with. I can guarantee your safety, if you can give me your word that whatever is discussed within those walls stays within those walls.
Narcissa fixed her ice blue eyes on Dumbledore's and said firmly, "I have no choice."
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Draco's mind was numb as he hurried along the corridors as quickly as he could. He had to get to his dormitory and leave Hogwarts in less than an hour. No, it was unbelievable! Running away, like some bloody coward! And his father… well, Draco already knew that something had to be going on. There was no way that his father would allow him to remain with a Weasley and live. They would simply have to kill him. There was no other way that they could betray him and survive, he knew. Draco longed to be able to discuss this with Mother away from the fool headmaster's prying eyes.
His entire body was buzzing as he stormed through the portrait hole.
"Draco!" Ginny jumped up from the chair, waiting anxiously on edge. "What did Dumbledore want with you? Are you expelled? Oh, what have you done now?" she cried, wringing her hands. It was almost insulting that she automatically assumed that he was the one picking the fights, he mused cynically. Normally, this would be true. But now, it was just ironic.
"My bastard father," he yelled, walking straight on through to his room. "He's going to kill me. If I stick around," Draco called behind him.
"No!" Ginny gasped, on his heels. "You have to be joking!"
Draco glared at her. "Then that's the most ridiculous joke I've ever heard," he swore.
"So you're leaving?" Ginny squeaked, aghast. "Me?"
He snarled, jabbing his wand at his dresser. The clothes flew out of the drawers and neatly into the open suitcase on his bed. "Don't be absurd. I'm not leaving you. I have no choice. My mother's dragging me into hiding. Do you really think I want to go?" his voice was scathing, and Ginny flinched from the venom in it.
"No," she whispered. "I don't want you to go either…" Draco merely ignored her, still emptying the contents of his closet.
"Listen to me!" She shrieked suddenly, grabbing his shirt collar. "Stay safe for me, okay? For me. Promise me," she demanded.
His eyes softened, although his lips stayed pressed in an angry line. "I promise," he murmured, and brushed his lips harshly across hers. "For you."
And he was gone. She heard the portrait hole slam behind him. Ginny's eyes burned. He was gone.
"Dammit, Draco Malfoy!" she yelled after him.
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This chapter was written by xfinishedinadayx…Please, please, please leave feedback; leave reviews!! Even if it's only two words, they make our day.
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