--don't own don't sue thanks!
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Memoria
Creeping like thieves in the night Lupin, Harry and Lucius steered toward the mansion, wands out and ready to stun any in their path. They moved to the rear of the house, where it was more sheltered by the large labyrinthine bushes leading to the cemetery. Lucius momentarily froze as he spotted the recently mounted gravestone of his wife. Her beautiful face was carved forever in the stone like a weeping angel.
"I missed you too." He whispered, "Never thought I'd ever have to break into my own house." He said gruffly and turned to unlock the door with his wand. Entering the Mansion he took in the smells. He smiled weakly at the memory of home and led them to his study, off the library near the entrance hall.
Harry had never seen the place before. Dust sheets and blankets covered every surface, with muddy footprints and broken glass from nearby windows. They weren't the first people to have broken in. Burglaries should have been predicted, what with the Malfoy fortune laying unclaimed and unprotected. Despite this, Harry knew that this was once a very grand house indeed. All varnished oak walls, marble floors, crystal chandeliers and exotic fabrics. It was like the stately homes of the past, which muggles would waste hours staring at for their own amusement. Most if it seemed to be intact, as if the burglers had been nothing but teens wanting deatheater souvenirs.
"I just hope it hasn't been stolen." Lupin bit his lip nervously as they entered the ransacked study.
Lucius didn't respond, and moved toward what appeared to be a solid oak panelled wall. Feeling for its edges he gently lifted a detachable panel to reveal a velvet curtain. With a gentle tug he opened the curtain to expose the blinking face of a wizard Harry recognised. He had the same pale, pointed face that Lucius had Draco had inevitably inherited. There was no doubt that this was Abraxas Malfoy.
"Is it that traitorous son of mine?" The painting blinked through the darkness, trying to decipher the bearded man that stood illuminated with his wand at his side.
"Hello father. We have guests, do behave yourself." Lucius said coolly. Harry understood the hidden message. Don't say anything. "Open the safe."
The painting sneered and obediently swung outward to reveal a secret room full of hidden items untouched by the ministry. Harry was amazed they had not found it.
Lucius lifted an old cracked stone basin from a shelf and carried it back out, shutting the safe behind him. The painting of Abraxas muttered something Harry could not hear but it had undeniably insulted his son, who angrily put the pensieve down and yanked the curtain across to hide the portrait from view.
Harry stepped toward the stone basin and lifted it into his hands to inspect it.
"It's empty!" Harry frowned, looking at Malfoy with a look of fierce disappointment.
Snatching the pensieve out of Harry's fingers, Lucius placed it on his desk. Lupin shifted uncomfortably as the dusty Mansion creaked and groaned. A chill wind from the broken windows blew the white dust sheets and made them flap.
Malfoy removed his wand, waved it over the seemingly empty bowl whilst muttering an incantation.
Harry watched in amazement as liquid began to pour back into the bowl, like when water drains down a sink, except it in reverse. Lupin curiously watched from over Harry's shoulder. "Dark Magic Harry." He explained, glaring at Malfoy.
"Wouldn't want the ministry to use my own memories against me would I?" Lucius sneered and stirred the liquid with his wand, searching for the right memory. Harry gasped for a second as he saw glimpses of Malfoy's past. He saw a flash of Voldemort…looking younger and a little more human, saw Lucius getting his dark mark, his father's funeral, his wedding, a young draco learning to walk, malfoy fastening a necklace around his wife's throat.
"The LOCKET!" Harry gasped as he recognised the pendant and almost dove into the bowl.
Malfoy pushed him away angrily. "Not so hasty!" He hissed slowly. "What about the locket?"
"It's a Horcrux! Show me it!" Harry wanted to grab Malfoy's robes and throttle him.
Malfoy frowned. "That locket? Are you certain?"
"Where did you get it!" Harry roared. His face livid, "WHO IS R.A.B?"
"Harry calm down!" Lupin grabbed the boy's shoulder and turned to Malfoy. "Let's start from the beginning, where did you find it?"
Malfoy kept stirring until a face appeared.
"Sirius?" Harry gasped.
"Regulus." Lucius corrected. "This is it." He turned to Lupin. "This information may come as quite a shock!"
"I think I can cope." Lupin glared. "After you Lucius." He said politely.
Malfoy glared and sneered before lowering his face into the bowl. Harry did the same. A watery feeling engulfed his entire body as he fell deep into the bowl. His heart raced, and he slammed onto the ground hard. Getting up painfully he saw Malfoy standing next to him, a smirk stretched across his face. "Very nice landing Potter!"
Lupin appeared behind them and Malfoy pointed to two figures in the distance. They were outside in what appeared to be a field at night. The faint yellow dots of windows in the distance told Harry that they were near a muggle town or village. Electricity pylons stretched overhead and Harry smiled slightly as he held out his hand and watched the rain pass through him like he was made of air. He wondered whether this was what being a ghost felt like.
Malfoy led them over to the figures, who appeared to be having a heated discussion in the rain.
Regulus Black was instantly recognisable. He looked like Sirius. He had a lighter shade of hair, and looked a lot younger but it was undoubtedly Sirius' brother. He held his wand toward another, who appeared unarmed.
The other man was hooded and cloaked, but Harry could tell from the voice that it was Malfoy.
"You betrayed him Regulus! You can't just disappear and never come back! He'll find you! He'll kill you!"
"Is that so?" Regulus sneered.
"Why have you brought me here?"
"I wanted to show you something!" Regulus shook a little. "You've always been the reasonable one…true you torture muggles and you do the occasional bribery, but I've never once witnessed you kill…you're not a killer! Neither am I! I never intended to be!"
The hooded Malfoy started to laugh. A low wicked laugh that caused Harry to gulp. That same laugh had echoed in his ears as Voldmeort tortured him. "Regulus you have no idea what I'm capable of."
"But…I've seen you! You're not like them! You're…you're not evil!"
"No…no I'm not...I'm much worse…" Malfoy paused and looked around. He lowered his hood and Harry looked from the younger twenty six year old Malfoy, to the older one beside him. Lucius did not look at Harry, he stared wide eyed at his memory, as if he were witnessing it for the first time or had forced himself to forget it.
Regulus licked his lips and was shaking a little from nerves. Clearly he had made the wrong decision bringing this deatheater here. "What have you done Lucius? Killed a kitten did you?" He appeared to be joking but demanded an answer, and pointed the wand fearfully at Malfoy.
"I murdered my Father."
"Abraxas died of Dragonpox!" Regulus scoffed.
"Did he?" Malfoy smiled.
Lupin made a noise, he was stunned. Harry just glanced at both Malfoy's, clearly confused.
"But…" Regulus started.
"That's what I do Regulus… I conceal the truth! Only the Dark Lord and I need know it. My father…" He seemed to get angry every time he mentioned him, "…was my first murder…I wanted my inheritance, I wanted revenge…I joined the Dark Lord and he helped me achieve it! As a result I am forever in his debt."
Lupin glared at Malfoy, who didn't acknowledge him. Instead he looked at his younger self with a look of deep loathing. He had been foolish. So foolish.
Regulus swallowed his fear. "I seem to have underestimated you Lucius…you are not the man I thought you were…I doubt you'll have an interest in my proposal."
"What proposal would that be?"
"To destroy Voldemort." Regulus sneered. The young Malfoy flinched. He looked livid.
"How dare you!" He hissed. "You filthy little blood traitor!"
"Don't vex me Lucius, I still have a wand." Regulus sneered. "I'll get information from you, whether you join me or not!"
"I'll never betray the Dark Lord!" Lucius spat at him.
"Really?" Regulus smiled wickedly. Harry no longer thought he looked like Sirius. Regulus was still acting like a deatheater, even though he was plotting Voldemort's downfall.
"You don't have it in you!" Lucius snarled. "You're weak! Pathetic! Just like your traitor brother!"
"I can use unforgiveables!" Regulus gripped his wand tightly, still shaking from his stress. "Maybe not on muggles or mudbloods…but I can use them on you!" He sneered. "Crucio!"
The Malfoy next to Harry flinched as he watched his younger self, double over in screams of pain and anguish. Harry couldn't watch. He had the pleasure of witnessing that curse first hand too. It was the most agonising pain one could experience.
"Never thought I'd witness the deatheaters turn on each other." Lupin said above the screams. Malfoy glared at him. "He betrayed us…tried to back out when the killings started and ran away…so the Dark Lord marked him for death."
The screaming stopped. Regulus towered over Malfoy's shivering body as the rain beat down on them. "Tell me where the Horcruxes are!" He roared, pointing the wand at Malfoy's temple.
Lucius clenched his eyes shut and shook his head. He was gasping for breath but still he would not give in.
A thunder and lightning strike near the village drowned out the screams as Regulus cursed Malfoy yet again.
"TELL ME!" He hollered.
Lucius almost passed out from the pain. Regulus released the curse and watched as he struggled to get to his knees. He glared at Regulus straight in the eyes.
"I'm going…to…kill you!" Lucius stammered. His body was still shaking from the pain he had just endured.
"Not yet!" Regulus hissed. "Tell me where they are…and I'll let you go."
A second lightning strike hit the pylon at the other end of the field. The wizards glared at each other some seconds. The rain had soaked them to the skin and both were shivering from the cold and from the hatred burning within them.
"You know I can't do that…I won't…FIND THEM YOURSELF!" Lucius roared at Regulus, and spat in his face. Black looked furious. Malfoy braced himself for the final curse. Cruciatus would not break him…it would kill him first. Regulus knew it, and he could not let Malfoy live to tell Voldemort his plan.
"I always liked you Malfoy." Regulus grimaced. "Avada Ke-"
A huge crack of thunder and a bolt of blinding white light smashed down on the pylon next to them, showering them both in sparks. Lucius, furious that he was just about to be murdered lunged for Regulus, knocking the man down on his back. He threw a gloved punch at Black's head, and tried to wrestle the wand from his fingers.
"You bastard!" Lucius roared.
Regulus held the wand tightly, as Malfoy tried to wrench it free.
"He tried to kill you?" Harry was shocked and looked up at the Malfoy next to him.
"I succeeded." Malfoy sneered, not taking his eyes off the memory.
Sure enough the young Lucius punched Black in the head again, and stood up, wand firmly in hand.
"I never liked you Black!" He sneered through a bloody nose. "Avada Kedavra!"
Harry and Lupin winced as the green bolt of light burst from Lucius' wand and enveloped Regulus as he lay on his back. Harry grimaced as he remembered Cedric Diggory being killed by the same spell…then himself being tortured as Malfoy and the others jeered.
"This is how we found him!" Lupin hollered to Harry over the thunderstorm. "We never discovered who killed him!"
Malfoy nudged Harry as the younger version of himself, knelt beside the body, searching him. He snapped Regulus' wand in two before stuffing it in his pocket. Then found his own. He stood up to leave before something glinted at him. Slowly he bent over and plucked a chain from the body, on it was a golden pendant locket. Time seemed to stop as Harry watched Malfoy turn the locket over in his fingers in puzzlement. The watery air around them felt as though it was moving, and the world around them dissolved as Lucius remembered what he did with it.
"Cissy." He gasped and looked hurt. They were in Malfoy Manor, when it was lived in and looked after. There were no dust sheets, no broken windows, it was a beautiful house. His younger self came in silently through the front door, drenched and trembling from the cold. He looked sick, and weary.
He silently walked into a living room, where a blonde woman lay sleeping. Harry recognised her as Draco's mother Narcissa.
"I'm sorry Lucius." Lupin said gently. He noted the deatheater frown with deep pain as he saw his younger self kiss his young wife on the forehead. Then lift her into his arms and carry her upstairs. Malfoy followed them…he seemed to forget that Lupin and Harry were with him. He watched himself lay her sleeping form on the bed and walked over to the dresser, placing the golden locket into Narcissa's jewellery box.
"You kept it didn't you?" Harry said. "It was under your nose the whole time?"
"A constant reminder of what I'd done to Regulus." Malfoy said wretchedly. "I'm a cold blooded killer Potter… but don't think for a second that I enjoyed it!"
"Did you enjoy murdering your father?" Harry blurted out angrily. Malfoy smacked the back of his hand across Harry's face. Harry winced but didn't cry out. Lupin lurched uneasily, ready to protect Harry if Lucius went for him again. But he didn't. Malfoy stepped back with an angry glare. Because he knew Potter was right. He had enjoyed it. Every second. But he had been so guilt ridden he would not admit it to himself. He looked away from Harry. "Get out!" He hissed.
"Malfoy…" Lupin started.
"OUT!" He roared. His temper overflowing. Lupin grabbed Harry's shoulder and lifted him from the Pensieve. They stepped back into Malfoy's dusty study and caught their breaths. Lucius had also left the pensieve and looked as angry as ever. He stormed from the study in a rage, heading for the stairs and brushing his damp hair off his face. Harry and Lupin followed, anxious to know where he was going. They recognised the master bedroom as he charged into it and started to open drawers and chests.
"It should be here!" He snarled, ripping out clothes and throwing them carelessly on the floor. "Where is it!" He seemed to be talking to himself again. He angrily pulled out a drawer and upturned it on the floor. A loud clunk as something heavy landed on the floor made him smile wickedly. He lifted a gown to reveal a silver jewellery box. Dropping to his knees he opened it slowly. A beautiful tinkling music echoed throughout the silent house as he did so. Malfoy seemed to freeze. Harry and Lupin gloomily stared at the deatheater. The sharp piercing grey eyes were no longer menacing…as they listened to the music his face fell into one of deep sorrow.
"Its not here." He whispered and got to his feet. Pacing toward the window he looked out onto the gardens and saw the beautifully formed statue of his wife's grave. Lucius snapped. A terrifying roar made Harry and Lupin jump as Malfoy ripped the curtains from the window and tore up the room in a rage.
Harry felt a lump in his throat. The locket was gone. How on earth would they find it now?
"He's taken it! He took it when he killed her!" Lucius bellowed.
"Malfoy calm down!" Lupin said gently. "Voldemort wasn't here…it was suicide…he didn't know you had the locket!"
Malfoy grimaced and nodded disbelievingly. "No!" he stood in front of Lupin. "He killed her…and covered it up to add insult. He's playing me Lupin! He wants me to snap! Beg for death at his feet…grovel and plead for my son's life to be spared. He killed her… and he must have seen it and taken it."
"I doubt he would have rummaged through your wife's things looking for a horcrux he didn't know was there!" Harry said. "He must still think it's safe in the cave."
Lupin nodded in agreement. Malfoy grimaced and collapsed onto the floor painfully. "I'm finished." He sighed, removing his wand from his waistband and turning it over and over with his fingers. Without warning he lifted it to his head.
"NO!" Harry cried and lunged for his arm. "We can get it back…we can find them! And kill him!"
"He'll kill me first!" Malfoy sneered.
"Malfoy killing yourself is not the answer!" Lupin said sternly.
"Who said I was killing myself." Lucius smiled, and pulled the wand away from his head. A whispy white ribbon seemed to flow from his temple and drifted with a flick of his wand into a discarded perfume bottle nearby.
"All the information you need, all my memories…are in my pensieve…and this bottle…you will find those remaining horcrux potter…and you will destroy them." He glared at Harry, placing more and more memories into the bottle.
"Where are you going." Lupin frowned as Malfoy got to his feet and shoved the bottle into Harry's hand.
"I'm going back."
"What? Why?" Harry spluttered.
"There is one Horcrux you cannot hope to get near…for he keeps it on his person at all times..."
"Nagini!" Harry gasped. "Of course…but…how do you plan to get her? He'll surely kill you if you go back!"
"…as I was saying…he keeps it on his person…but sometimes, when he returns to headquarters, he will leave her under guard whilst he travels, and send for her when he is settled...with any luck, he'll be travelling right now."
"How can you be so sure?" Harry frowned.
"Because he's looking for me." Lucius smiled weakly. "No doubt he's keeping a close watch on Draco, hoping I will come for him."
"Well what about Nagini's guards."
"I can take care of myself, Potter. I was second in command for a reason!" With that Malfoy marched out of the house without another word.
Harry made to follow but Lupin held him back. "He's still dangerous Harry let him be. Now, the Locket isn't here, we should take the memories and return to Grimmauld Palace to search them."
"Yeah, but if Voldemort didn't take it, the ministry must have confiscated it…maybe Mr. Weasley could find out what they did with it!"
"It's worth a try." Lupin agreed. "But getting Arthur Weasley on the same team as Lucius Malfoy will not be easy!"
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