Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to HP. It all belongs to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Inc., Warner Bros., and any other entities involved.
The next morning, Tonks Flooed to the Burrow to escort Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and the twins. They surprisingly insisted on going along, even though their relationship with Draco was not ideal, in fact, Fred and George had managed to terrorize Malfoy during his previous visits to the Burrow.
After they were reunited in the living room, Tonks announced that they would be going by Floo to the Manor, a private connection having been established for the day.
Ginny stared suspiciously at the twins, they appeared even more mischievous and devious than usual, and looked for Harry. He'd been strangely withdrawn since his adventure with Draco and Tonks. He'd often sigh and stare in the distance. She had an inkling that something had happened with Draco.
She looked forward to visiting the Manor. Although her previous stay had been less than pleasant, now she was peacefully invited. She eagerly waited to see Draco interacting with his environment without having the ominous presence of Lucius to deal with.
After they arrived to the Manor, Draco greeted them and waved his wand in their direction. The twins rapidly drew their own wands and pointed them at Draco, which made him chuckle.
He said, "Easy now, Weasleys, I am only registering your presence with the wards, so you can come and go in peace. I would not be so uncouth as to hex my guests unprovoked."
They looked around at the foyer, awed by the cool elegance, the marble floors, the mahogany furniture, the delicate traceries in the windows.
Draco stood near the door, dressed in grey slacks and a dark green button-down shirt. Narcissa stood regally by him, wearing a severely elegant mauve dress. Next to them stood Andromeda Tonks, wearing a striking Muggle business suit, perfectly suited to her slim figure and dark coloring.
Seeing her next to Narcissa, it would be difficult to imagine that they were sisters. Narcissa possessed a striking Scandinavian beauty, while Andromeda, with her pale skin and dark hair, radiated a sense of classical Mediterranean exquisiteness. Contrasting starkly with Nymphadora, her mother was poised, collected and sure of herself.
Draco greeted his guests, "Welcome to Malfoy Manor. Though the Dark Artifacts have been removed," here he shot a look at Narcissa, "I advice you to stay away from the dungeons. Also Hermione, I think you'll love the library."
"But please take care with the books you browse. I haven't had time to filter all dark ones. However, there is a spell indicating dark magic, which makes the books glow silver. Please be cautious around them, because I don't know all the traps they pose."
"I believe you have all met my mother Narcissa Black Malfoy. May I have the pleasure of introducing you to my aunt, Andromeda Black Tonks?" "Due to recent circumstances," here Draco sardonically looked to Harry, "she and her family will be staying with us, hopefully for a long time."
Andromeda waved cheerfully at them and winked at Harry. He noted with interest that she resembled Sirius. Her complexion, the color of her eyes, the shape of her jaw, the determined stance of her shoulders, all this proclaimed her a Black, and Sirius' cousin. He felt there was a part of Sirius' family, a part of him still around, and felt the cold dread of depression sunk in, remembering the pointless way in which his godfather had died, the utter helplessness he'd felt as he watched him fall through that cursed Veil.
He remembered what Tonks had commented about reviewing his life and not wallowing in depressing thoughts about the departed, he pictured his life with his loving friends and Remus. He would always miss Sirius, but he was determined to live the life his godfather would want him to lead.
Trying to escape depressing thoughts, he remembered the lust, aching want and ferocious craving he'd felt when he kissed Malfoy, or rather Bellatrix!draco. He felt his cheeks grow warm, and he looked demurely and shyly at Draco. Ginny noticed and sighed, while Draco had to mentally chastise himself to stop from pouncing on Harry.
Ginny looked around at the rich décor, and glimpsed Harry as he continued to look intently in Draco's direction, carefully trying to appear nonchalant, and obviously drinking in his appearance.
Draco guided them to the guestrooms they'd be staying in. Ginny was amused to notice that Hermione's and Ron's were next to each other, the twins shared a room which was far away from the others, and she and Harry were next to Draco's room.
After they unpacked, they congregated in the library. It was magnificent, half as big as that of Hogwarts. There were sconces strategically placed in the huge room, providing a warm illumination. Among the bookcases there were glass cases with diverse antique weapons and obviously priceless vases.
Hermione looked around, impressed and awed with the amount of books. Her eyes were glassy, and it was easy for Ginny to imagine the amount of research she was planning to do with the new tomes at her disposal.
Looking at Harry, Ginny inwardly snorted, "Come on Harry, don't drool and most of all, don't brood. Whatever happened with Draco, just go for it. Though I love you, I won't allow you to trample on my emotions. I don't want to marry you and five years down the line, pathetically watch as you leave me for Draco or some other bloke."
"I want you to be sure that you truly want to be with me because you want to, and not because you have to. I'd rather lose you to Draco now, and not later. Most of all, I don't want you to play with Draco's love, he doesn't deserve that after the life he's led."
"Cut the guy some slack and make your move."
Hermione took out a book and handed it to Draco saying: "After what I overheard from your conversation with Tonks, I gathered that you are an avid reader of Muggle novels. I hope you like this book as much as I have enjoyed it."
Draco received the paperback, read the title, and smiled at Hermione. His smile was intense, so rare, and it made his face positively glow.
He commented, "Thank you, Hermione. I know why you are so beloved by your friends, and I promise I will discuss the novel with you later."
Harry neared Draco, and took the book from his hands. After glancing at it, he stated, "Foucault's pendulum? You'll have to tell me what it's about."
Draco took the book back from Harry, and their hands touched. They felt an electric tremor radiate from their hands to the rest of their bodies, notably their groins. Harry visibly shuddered, and only Draco's Malfoy mask repressed his own excitement.
Draco declared, "I'll have to take it to the Heir's Room."
Harry snarked, "What is that? I guess a quaint Malfoy custom."
Draco responded, "Surprisingly enough, you are right Harry." "You see, there have always been power struggles among the Malfoy head of the family and the Heir. Centuries ago a spell was cast creating the Heir's Room, a set of rooms which cannot be entered by any Malfoy but the current Heir. They are designed as a refuge, a power base, something trying to protect the Heirs from overpowering fathers. When I was six years old I stumbled upon them, and they have truly been my refuge on more than one occasion."
"When I have an Heir, I won't be able to access the Room, but for now, it is my office and my den," smirking and winking at Harry, he continued, "it's where I keep my porn mags."
The guests were flummoxed. Harry, and surprisingly Ginny, blushed a crimson red.
Hermione remarked, "Seriously, Draco! Anyway, that bears a strange parallelism to the French crown, where the heir to the throne, the Dauphin, had a province he owned apart from the King, a place of refuge like you mention, Draco."
Malfoy rejoined, "Yes, the French noted our tradition and replicated it for their benefit."
Hermione looked doubtful, she didn't know if this was just a boast, or if it was meant seriously.
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Draco guided them to a distant wing of the Manor. He stopped in front of a blank wall, and started pacing in circles. Finally he raised his hand and put his palm on the wall, and instantly a door appeared. He entered, and motioned for the others to follow him.
Ginny was the last one. She noted a library, quite small compared to the other one, untidy and cozy. Some watercolor paintings hung on the walls, depicting Hogwarts scenes and what looked to be the Manor gardens.
What really surprised her was a desk upon which was a computer, situated in the far corner.
Draco took the book and put it upon a well-used bookcase. Noticing their surprised looks, he said, "It took a fair amount of money to get the shields in place to allow electronic equipment to work in a magical environment, especially hard to do around the Manor, but it was worth it. I'm able to research and try novel methods of approach to magic and Muggle technology."
"For example, I recently mixed surveillance equipment and Trelawney's divination tools to make something unusual."
He turned on the computer, and navigated to a screen which showed a beautifully decorated landscape. He remarked, "This is a view of the main entrance to the Manor. Nothing unusual, but combined with scrying materials, sometimes I get a glimpse of events which will happen shortly in the future." "It is unreliable, and most of the time it doesn't work, but if it should prove worthwhile, there's an alarm connected to the screen."
"The software that governs this is very intricate. I could never have come up independently with the Arithmancy formulas. Fortunately, there is a company in which I invested seed money, which provided the program."
Ginny noted that all of them were very surprised, but Hermione had a gleam in her eyes, like she did any time she detected a mystery which she wanted to solve.
Hermione commented, "You'll have to brief me thoroughly later, Draco. But I am intrigued, why was it especially difficult to make a shield that would work within the Manor?"
Draco grinned and replied, "You are truly observant, Hermione."
"There is something very unusual, magically, about the Manor grounds. It's a point where the ley lines converge. According to some Muggles, these lines are "lines of power" linking prehistoric sites along trading routes. Other more enlightened Muggles have suggested they are lines of cosmic energy in the Earth. Whatever they are, they are thickest in Wiltshire, and more specifically the Manor."
"It has been suggested that this is the oldest continually inhabited magical place in Britain. Rumor has it that there is a tunnel connecting it with Stonehenge. I wish I could tell you more, but our geomancy books were hidden by Lucius, and I haven't had time to research them. Maybe you would like to do that?"
"At any rate, the magic around the Manor wreaked havoc with the electronics, more so than would have happened at Hogwarts. It took a lot of effort and manpower to create shields powerful enough that allow the technology to work."
Hermione was very intrigued by all this. Ever since Lucius' demise, Draco had been forthcoming, more free than ever before, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Seeing this personal library, the way it showed constant use, made her realize that with Draco, she had an intellectual equal with whom she could discuss deep matters.
As much as she liked and admired Ron and Harry, oftentimes when she told them about her pet theories and intellectual cravings, she had to slow her thought processes and frequently she had to explain from scratch certain concepts. It certainly put a damper on pursuing intellectual endeavors with them.
But with Malfoy, she felt she could now let her hair down and indulge in free ranging intellectual discourse.
She went near a shelf and read the titles, snorting, she said, "I never thought you would be a reader of Muggle science fiction and philosophy, honestly Draco, Albert Camus?"
Draco replied, "His writings helped me a lot. After I'd become disillusioned and repulsed with Lucius' beliefs, and before I decided to join the Light there was a point when everything seemed so drab, so pointless, that I was tempted to put a stop to it all."
"Reading his books I embraced his cheerful negativism and stoic pragmatism, and made them my own."
"But enough with boring our friends. Let's have tea."
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In Fudge's Manor, Voldemort gleefully chortled as his Death Eaters cowered in front of him. Even though he keenly felt the loss of two of his top lieutenants, Wormtail and Bellatrix, he still had Nott, and the little sycophantic toad had his uses.
He was determined to make Malfoy pay, even though it would interfere with his carefully constructed plans to insure his complete ascendancy.
Nott kneeled and kissed his robes. He said, vainly trying to keep his voice from breaking, "My Lord, I went to that Muggle army place, and got the strange thing you ordered me to obtain. Your people are changing it as we speak, and we expect it to be ready in three days. Arrangements have been made with that Muggle that calls himself General."
Voldemort's voice boomed, "Soon, faithful followers, we will wipe our enemies from this realm, and it will please me enormously to picture their faces as they realize the way they are disposed of."
tbc