The night was dark, and the stars were covered by thick clouds. Felix couldn't sleep, his mind was thinking of too many things. He did not want tomorrow to come and if he slept, it would come faster. Tomorrow was the big day, as his mum said. Thinking about it made his skin crawl. He had issues with hurting living things. His mum said that was normal, but he should fight that feeling- pain was the only way of controlling mindless creatures, which was better for them in the long run.
Felix knew that wasn't right. At first he had tried to stop his mum when she would hurt a small animal, but he later found the animal's dead carcass in a trash bin behind the cottage. If he didn't interfere, they lived. He tried not to feel bad about it- his mum told his it was okay- but he couldn't help it. Felix pushed the bad thoughts away and thought about what he was trying to do instead.
He was holding the armband loosely in his hand so he could feel if any more words carved themselves into it. This was his mission, the messages were important. He remembered the last thing it had said. Your mother is not your mother. A man will come. He is not who he says he is.
Or something like that.
He had started to focus on the second bit earlier that night. Felix decided it was way more confusing than the part about his mum, and that part was as cryptic as ancient Egyptian. He sighed for the millionth time that night. His eyes had gotten used to the darkness and he could see the small clump of trees on the far side of the garden swaying in the breeze. As he watched them, something within their branches moved, something that was definitely not a tree.
Felix sharpened his gaze and waited. There it was again. Something was definitely moving among the trees. It was hard to tell what it was, but it was big. Maybe an animal of some kind? Felix didn't know, but his heart started to beat a tattoo against his ribs. He watched as the figure crept across the garden, pausing to crouch behind a rock.
Felix climbed slowly out of bed and made his way to the window, staying low. He peeked over the ledge, but the shadowy figure was gone! He was no longer behind the rock! Felix's heart jumped into his throat. He crawled over to his door and reached up, turning the knob slowly and silently. When it was open, he dashed down the small hallway to his mother's room and almost fell into the room with the amount of force he used to push her door open.
"Mum!" He cried, trying to keep his voice soft and failing miserably. He ran to the side of her bed. She looked so peaceful, sleeping there with her hair like fire around her smooth face.
He shook her once. "Mum, wake up!" Her eyes shot open and her hand came up, wand already clutched in her hand, tense and confused.
"Mum," Felix said, breathlessly. "It's me." She didn't relax. She stared at him with a scary glint in her eyes. Felix backed away, but as he took his second step her eyes suddenly changed, her muscles relaxed as she finally recognized him.
"Felix? What...what do you want?" Felix was slightly taken aback by that, usually his mum would ask what was wrong right off the bat. He shook it off.
"There's someone outside, mum. They're creeping around the yard." He said, annoyed to find his voice was a bit shaky. His mum blinked a couple times before registering what he had told her.
"I'm sure it's nothing, go back to sleep." She said, lazily. Felix grabbed her arm and pulled with his whole body, he put everything he had into it- which wasn't much, he was pretty small for his age- everyone thought he was two years younger than he was.
His mum was forced to stand, though she was unbalanced and had to hold onto Felix for support. She seemed unable to fully wake. What was wrong with her?
"Come on, mum! Wake up, some weirdo is outside the house! You gotta blast him to smithereens!" He said, pulling his mother towards the door. She shook her head and swore loudly. She said a word he had never heard his mother say before, Uncle Ron said it sometimes when he didn't think Felix could hear, but never his mum. She was mumbling under her breath, Felix only made out a few words. Mostly a lot of "bloody," "gits" and other choice expletives.
They reached the front door and before Felix could devise a plan she flung it open, the cold night air making her thin nightgown press against her. She stepped unsteadily onto the porch and yelled out into the night.
"What?" She screamed. "What the hell do you bloody want?" She flung her arms out, wand limp in her hand.
"Mum, don't!" Felix said, pulling on his mum to come back inside before she got herself hurt...or worse.
"Get back inside, kid." She said, waving him off absently.
Kid?
Then something materialized out of the night. Well, maybe not materialized, but it seemed like it. He hadn't been there a second ago. A man was now only meters away from his mother, holding his wand steadily at her chest. Felix felt his throat tighten and every muscle tense. One thought was rolling around his head…
A man will come, he is not who he says he is.
A man will come...
The man was tall and pale with gleaming silver hair that was dancing in the night's icy wind. He seemed vaguely familiar, but before Felix could figure out why, his mum spoke.
"D-Draco?" She said, stuttering from the cold. Her arms dropped limply to her side and she leaned against the side of the cottage. "God, I thought it was the...someone else." She paused, her eyes trying to focus on him, but unable to.
"Whatdrya doin' here?" She said, slurring her words. The man-Draco?- stepped forward, not moving his wand an inch. Where had Felix heard that name before? Everything about this man- his hair, his eyes, his name, even the way he moved- was familiar, but his memory was so fuzzy...
"I finally found you. After years of hiding, I finally found you, Ginny!" He yelled over the wind, his eyes blazing with fury. His mum flinched as if he struck her.
"What?" She seemed confused, then, comprehension dawned on her face. "Ohh..." She actually touched her cheeks and looked at her hands curiously. This was weird.
"You thought you could hide from the Order! How foolish are you? You will never defeat us! We will make the muggles our army and rule the world!" His mum's mouth was slightly open, she scratched her nose.
"Are you crazy Draco? What are you-?" But he cut her off with a flick of his wand.
"The Order will prevail!" The man yelled, feverishly. Felix would have laughed except for the look on his mum's face. It was something he had never seen before. He didn't know what it was.
"The Order will never prevail." She spat, lips curling in a snarl. "The Order will crumble. The muggles will be destroyed. Really, Draco, I never expected this from you, even if you are a traitor."
"Felix should come with me! He is my son, too!" Felix's mouth dropped open, his world froze. He couldn't move.
His mum huffed.
"Right. You haven't cared about that the last nine years of his life, why should you care now?" She sneered. Felix couldn't believe it. Wouldn't have believed it if his mother hadn't just confirmed it. He looked at the man as if for the first time. He saw now why the man was so familiar. He looked like Felix. He had the same silver hair, pale complexion and sharp features. Only Felix's eyes and nose were different, like his mum's. He was a perfect cross between the two adults.
This man was his father.
His father!
"Are you really my dad?"Felix blurted out before he could think, his voice hoarse. The man blinked.
"Yes. I am, Felix. You should come with me." He reached his empty hand towards Felix. The blonde haired boy shrank involuntarily behind his mother. She didn't seem to notice.
"He's not going anywhere with you, Drakie." She shooed him with her wand. "Go, get. You're disturbing my beauty sleep." She said, wearily. The man- Draco, his father- took another step closer.
"I am not leaving without my son." Felix felt his mother stiffen.
"Over my dead body." She said through gritted teeth. "He's my assignment." Felix didn't have time to register the strange last thing his mother said. Draco had a mad glint in his eye. Felix was the look his mother had in her eyes earlier- madness. Before Felix could blink or scream, the man yelled the two worst words in the world.
"Avada Kedavra!" A sharp green light blasted from his wand and hit his mother in the chest. Felix heard someone screaming, high and deafening. He ran to his mother's side and found that it was him who was screaming. At some point tears had started running down his face. Felix put his small, pale hand on his mother's face, willing her to blink, smile...anything! But she was gone.
Felix howled and buried his face in his mother's chest. Her brown eyes staring blankly at the dark night.
The large broken gates of Nurmengard loomed over Draco. Even with the Latin words unreadable, he could feel them pressing down on him.
For the Greater Good.
Draco actually had to suppress a shudder. He could still vividly remember his father standing over the bodies of two muggles from a nearby village and saying to Draco without even a hint of remorse, "For the greater good, Draco. It's for the greater good. Always remember that." And he always had, just not in the way his father had wanted him to. Draco was never one for killing, though he seldom admitted that to many people. He enjoyed the reputation he had. He was an enigma. When he made threats he wanted people to believe he would carry them out- which he did, more often than not. But he avoided killing...if he could. It's just seemed so final and unnecessary.
He found he was trying to rationalize the reason to himself and stopped. He didn't need to explain himself to anyone, especially his own mind. Clenching his jaw he went through the gates of Nurmengard and onto the water parched grounds. What was left of the plant life crunched under his shoes. Draco didn't need to pull out the blueprint, he could see it clearly in his mind. He needed to go forward about twenty meters and then he should see a short wall. Well, he hoped it was a short wall. He would climb over the wall and on the other side would be a small opening in the battlement. Draco took a breath and made his way quickly and quietly through the dead, stunted trees.
It was early morning, maybe three or four and the sun wouldn't rise for about another two hours or so, no need to rush this. He had to remind himself that Ginny was probably fine. If they wanted her dead they wouldn't have bothered taking her. They needed her for something, his father needed her for something. Draco felt his fist clench and his adrenaline give a mighty surge. He had to watch what he thought. A single, stray, uncontrolled thought could cost him his or Ginny's life. He had been taught to control his feelings in battle.
Draco almost laughed at that. He had been taught but had ignored those lessons for years until he had to go into hiding. For years as a teenager he had let his emotions get the best of him, but thanks to the Dark Lord he had finally found a need to put those lessons into practice. Draco formed a room in his mind and shoved all feeling- anger, fear, trepidation, anxiety, hatred- into that room and locked the door. He pushed the room away into darkness and felt a cool void surround him. His purpose was a clear as the noonday sun.
He would find Ginny and Felix. Then he would kill his father.
Ginny woke to feel a throbbing pain in her head. She squeezed her eyes shut even more, hoping it was just a lingering part of a nightmare. The throbbing didn't go away, however, and so she opened her eyes. She stared at the wall in front of her for a few seconds, trying to figure out where she was and remember what had happened to get her here.
The wall was gray stone and looked old and crumbly. The mortar around the stones was chipping away and pockmarks made gouges in the rocks. Ginny sat up and found she was on the floor of what looked like a small cell. Suddenly, she put a hand to her stomach and bent over, dry heaving, nausea and vertigo slashing through her. It took a few minutes of heaving nothing but air before she could slump weakly against the wall. Tears were streaming down her face she was surprised to note, she didn't remember deciding to cry.
Where am I? She wondered, rubbing to stomach, willing it to settle. It didn't really matter, all she cared about was getting out and finding Felix. She didn't even bother feeling for her wand, she knew it would be gone. She remembered...a hospital room and Draco. She remembered kissing him. She felt her cheeks flush at the memory. She remembered wanting to do a lot more than just kiss him. Everything after that was hazy and disjointed. She didn't know why her head felt like a troll was trying to fight his way out or why she would be in a tiny stone room.
Ginny took a calming breath and stood, unsteadily at first, but with determination, and staring at a spot on the floor, she became less wobbly. Ginny walked slowly over to the wooden door. It was slatted with iron and looked just as old as the walls, though sturdy. There was small square hole in the middle at eye level. Ginny looked through, but to her great annoyance couldn't see anything. The corridor outside the cell was dark and though her eyes had adjusted to the dark all she could make out was more stone. There was a small window on one side of the hall, but there wasn't any moonlight to help her.
Ginny felt along the door gingerly, careful not to stick herself with a splinter. She found and iron ring on the right side that must have been the handle. She tugged on it with all the strength in her small frame, but that door didn't even creak. After ten minutes she slumped to the floor, defeated and worn out.
Before she could feel any more pity for herself, a horrible grating sound echoed through the hallway. Footsteps came closer and closer and Ginny pushed herself to stand, barely swaying, ignoring her pounding head.
"Wakey, wakey. Time for you to meet the master," a raspy voice said through the small hole in the door. She tried to see if she recognized it, but her brain wouldn't work.
"M-master?" She said feebly.
"That's right, darlin'." The voice rasped. Ginny shuddered. "He's going to have fun with you."
"What does your, uh, master want with me?" Ginny asked, surprised to hear her voice was calm and strong.
"I'd imagine he'd want to kill you."
"K-kill me?" She said, her hand shaking.
"Or something like it." His voice was deeper and laced with innuendo.
Ginny couldn't stop herself from letting out a small sob. She clasped her hands to her mouth to stop any other incriminating sounds from escaping.
"Why are you doing this?"
"You're a filthy blood-traitor. You deserve to rot." He growled. Ginny tilted her head, finally hearing his voice. Raspy, deep but without any emotion. Even when threatening her.
"W-who are you?"
He didn't answer. Only silence came from the other side of the door, then footsteps back down the hallway. Then the scrapping came again, like a heavy door being pulled again a rock floor.
Ginny let out a frustrated sound and stamped her foot. There had to be a way out! Looking at the shadowed door, she started to formulate a plan.
Making his way through the dark trees, Mordecai- a name he took upon himself years ago- slowed when the child came into sight. This was wrong and that was why he stayed close to the Dark Lord, to protect those who could not protect themselves. He scowled, an expression he knew well.
Mordecai was only a few meters from the child, though he did not look up from the dead woman. The corpse on the ground barely registered to the dark man. As he came closer, the child's head snapped up and he protectively place his arms around the woman's chest.
"Get away!" He screeched, tears streaked his pale face and made his eyes red and swollen.
"Felix," Mordecai said strongly and the boy blinked in confusion.
"M-Mordecai?" He asked, wiping his nose. Mordecai crouched down and placed a hand on the child's shoulder. He considered what to say. The Dark Lord had given him explicit instructions and now he had to convince the boy to do the opposite.
"We must leave here." The boy's eyes grew fierce.
"No! I won't leave my mum." He said, teeth clenched. Mordecai saw the beginnings of more tears in the corner of the child's eyes, but the boy refused to let them fall.
"You must, you are not safe here."
"I don't care!" He yelled, the tears now falling unbidden. Mordecai watched as the boy tightened his jaw defiantly. "I'm not leaving my mum!" His little voice broke on the last word. Mordecai made a quick decision. Rash and perhaps foolish, but his mind was set.
"Where is the armband?" He asked, making it sound more like a demand. The child frowned, confusion plain on his face. Mordecai didn't have time for this, he scowled deeper.
"The armband," Mordecai hissed. The boy gave a jerk, and then pointed to the house. Mordecai felt his pulse slow. So the boy had found it. Good.
"The last message you received was what?"
"I-eh-what?"
"The message," his patience was running out.
"Uh…something about a man," the boy's face contorted into a sneer of rage, eyes unfocused. "That man who killed my m-mum."
Mordecai stood stiffly.
"That woman is not your mother." But the boy didn't seem to hear, he cut off Mordecai before he could finish his sentence.
"Where did he go? That…that monster, D-Draco?" Mordecai considered the boy, knowing he could not lie to him.
"He went far from here. A dangerous place. No place for a boy. You must come with me, away from here. We must go into hiding."
"Where." The cold fury that iced the boys voice struck Mordecai hard, he stared, astounded. He remembered a time, almost fifteen years ago, when a different silver haired boy knelt beside a dead woman, a muggle, with the same look of fury. Mordecai could have been looking at a clone. He had no time for this. The boys mind was set.
"Nurmengard." The boy stood, taking something from his mother. Mordecai saw it was her wand, the man didn't try to remove it from the boy. He had a right to it.
"Take me to this place, Nurmengard. My father will pay for this." The boy's mouth twisted with disgust on the word father. Mordecai gave a small nod. Who was he to try and change fate? He should have known better. He had learned that lesson years ago. But there was one thing Mordecai knew. He would not let this boy commit a murder in the name of a lie. He could not tell the boy the truth now, he would not listen, but he would do everything in his power to prevent any more damage coming to this child's soul.