Chapter 5
"I'm sorry, but Mr. Malfoy hasn't been in the office for the past couple days," The woman behind the desk stated, not looking up at Marie as she continued to write things down on a sheet of notepaper.
"Not here? Where would he be then?" Marie asked, her tone slightly hinting at her anger. The woman finally glanced up at Marie, and pursed her lips. She spun around on in her chair and yanked another piece of paper off a stack and began writing an address.
Sliding it across the desk to Marie, she mumbled, "He should be there if it's truly important you need to speak to him. I can't promise you that he'll let you in though." Marie picked up the sheet, thanked the assistant, and walked out of the department, making sure not to make eye contact with anyone, because she had to see Draco now. The hippogriff situation was getting a bit more complicated, and not to mention, he hadn't shown up to work so she had a few choice words to share with him. She said the address out loud, and Flooed in front of a huge mansion, stumbling on the grass, which was shockingly, a sickly brown color.
"I should have known, Malfoy Manor," Marie huffed, brushing her tan trench coat off and standing up. She took notice that there was no charms on his front lawn to prevent the frigid cold from killing of his plants and coating his walkways. Even his fountain was frozen in place, so Marie decided to do him a favor and produced a charm to keep his fountain water running, despite the freezing temperatures.
Her hat was placed securely on her head, attempting to prevent more cold from seeping in. Her boots crunched the icy sheet below her, and she carefully made her way across the bridge to his home. The ominous black door was the only thing in her way from reaching the man, but something about it sent chills down her spine. She hadn't felt like this when she went to his little gala, but now that she was alone, the true sadness behind this house really showed.
Gulping down all fears, and slowly took her glove off, and rapped quite hard at the door. Her hand instantly numbed to the chill of the air, so immediately after knocking, she slipped the glove back on. "One more week of this, one more week of him before Natale. One more week until I see my famiglia," She muttered to herself before the door swung open to reveal a small house elf in a stained, pink dress. The house elf had sad, blue eyes, and there was an almost forced smile on her face.
"Are you expecting Master?" The little house elf whispered, almost as if she didn't want to wake up someone.
"Is Signore Malfoy here?"
"Master is here, but Master told Jinx not to let people inside. Jinx can let you come back later."
"I'm afraid I can't, please, if you could just let me-"
"Master will not be seeing anyone!" Jinx screeched, going to shut the door before another voice shouted from across the Manor.
"Jinx! Is that Marie Benedetti at my door?"
Jinx slowly looked up at the woman before her and whispered questioningly, "Are you Marie Been-detty?"
"Yes, dolcezza."
"Yes, Master! Jinx is with Marie Been-detty!" Jinx called back to Draco.
Draco responded quickly, "Let her in and bring her to my room." Jinx nodded as if Draco was present in the room, and then reached her frail hand up towards Marie.
Marie crouched down so Jinx could take hold of a couple of her fingers and murmured, "Master is very sick and mad, Master told Jinx not to tell others what is wrong."
"Sick?"
"Jinx is bound to silence," Jinx said sadly, as if she wanted to tell Marie dearly, but couldn't. The house elf gestured for Marie to stand, and she led her up the grand staircase. Marie observed the eerie paintings on the walls, all depicting past generations of Malfoys. As Jinx walked into a barely-lit bedroom, Marie stopped in her tracks, eye to eye with a painting of the current generation of Malfoys. Draco's parents' cold gaze bore into her, as if they sensed her blood impurities and wished to wring them out themselves. Draco, however, had an odd sense of happiness in his eyes, one she hadn't really seen behind his steely eyes. It was perhaps, the fact that he was around nine or ten in the picture, and hadn't really been exposed to the horrors of the outside world.
Finally, she forced her feet to move, and she stepped inside the bedroom. She took in all the details of the room slowly, making sure not to forget anything. It wasn't very often that people got to go inside the locked doors inside of the Malfoy Manor. The curtain over the window was barely open, just letting in a sliver of dull sunlight hit the glossy wooden floor underfoot. The room itself was a queer, green color, not bright enough to be eye-catching, but not faded enough to look immensely old. There were tons of papers scattered across the floor, crazed doodles all over them. Others were full of notes on something that Marie couldn't make out.
Eventually, her eyes settled on the bed directly in front of her, with Draco Malfoy bundled in blankets, and sinking in hundreds of pillows. Next to his bed was a little nightstand, with an open book, a mug of warm tea, a lamp, and a half-eaten crepe. "Are you done looking at the place? Or would you prefer we spend the next two hours having you memorize every crack and crevice of this Manor?" Draco interrupted sarcastically. Marie's honey brown eyes blinked a couple times before turning towards him.
That's when she noticed a fist-sized stain of something red, something that appeared to be…blood. Draco's eyes followed her stare, and quickly lifted his sheets to cover the stain. He cleared his throat and continued, "Actual, nevermind, take a seat, considering I know you would rather take that offer up in a second." Draco patted the spot on the opposite side of the bloodstain, and Marie carefully sat down.
"Does Master or Ms. Been-detty need anything before Jinx leaves?" Jinx asked nervously, taking notice of the obvious tension in the air.
Marie smiled, "Grazie, Jinx, I think I'll be fine." Draco also slightly grinned, and waved Jinx off. The house elf snapped her fingers, and disappeared in a puff downstairs. Draco slowly turned on his side, facing his body completely towards Marie.
"I apologize for the inconvenience, Signorina Benedetti, but I've gotten quite a bad case of abdominal pain and a horrid earache. None of which are contagious, but I'm treating it currently, and should be back up on my feet by the time it's time for me to take my trip to your office," Draco explained, despite Marie's obvious skeptism.
"Then why was Jinx not allowed to tell anyone?"
"Well, I don't want anyone worrying. Jinx has a tendency to blow things out of proportion. I'd rather just explain it myself."
"Hmm, I suppose. Well, I came to tell you that our little hippogriff negotiation has faced a bit of a hurdle to jump."
"And what is that?"
"You're not the only one who's sick apparently. The British hippogriffs brought some sort of sickness over into Italy, and it's affecting our Italian hippogriffs. It's extremely deadly for the hippogriffs, it's causing their wings to become frail and practically fall off, but in the end, they die. We've got our medical team and Magical Creatures control squad on it currently, but we need you to issue an emergency team of your British department to head over to Italy."
Draco scratched his chin, squinting his eyes at her, before inquiring, "And how are we supposed to pass the abolishment of hunting hippogriffs soon if we send most of the department to Italy?"
"That will have to wait, sadly. This is a lot more important, we need all hands on deck. The longer we wait, the quicker the Italian hippogriff population will go estinto. We need as much medical crew members as possible, along with some magical creature control, because we need to start quarantining this before it spreads. So far, it's only present in one forest, but our people can only hold it for so long without any assistance. Can you please help?" Marie said pleadingly. Draco suppressed a smile, finding her vulnerability so innocently intriguing.
He teased, "Oh my, Ms. Benedetti, asking for my help? Not demanding it from me?"
"Only because you're malato. It almost makes you pity you, with your feverish, sickly look," Marie scoffed, rolling her eyes at him. Draco pulled his arm from under his blanket, and placed it tauntingly on her thigh. She flinched, her heart pounding out of her chest. What was he doing?
"Well, let me reassure you, I'll get right on it tomorrow. I'll yank myself out of this forsaken house, just for you," Draco promised, moving his hand slowly off her leg and back onto the bed. "Now, you can go hang your coat downstairs, make yourself a bit more comfortable so we can discuss how we plan to get this little hippogriff task force to Italy in time before they all wind up dead. Also, if you could tell Jinx to go into town and get some vegetables for our lunch, that would be quite lovely of you," Draco continued, letting out a tiny yawn.
Marie commented, "I didn't realize I was your maid."
"Of course not, you're worth a bit more than that," Draco replied coolly, giving her a mischievous wink. She popped off the bed, and headed out of the room, Draco's intent gaze following her.
Marie glided along the hallway, taking notice of the paintings again. As she slowed to a near stop, she had now realized they were moving in and out, talking to one another, but for some odd reason, Marie couldn't hear them. Well, every painting was moving around except for the one of Narcissa, Lucius and Draco Malfoy. It must have been because they were alive, but it was still unnatural to not pick up on the conversations of the paintings. It was as if she was blocked from listening.
Shrugging it off, she hurried down the staircase, ripped her coat off, and called out softly, "Jinx! Jinx, are you here?"
"Marie Been-detty! Leaving Master's home so soon?" Jinx articulated, appearing from the shadows of one of the rooms. Marie shook her head, crouching down to be eye-level with Jinx.
"No, not yet, I'm just putting my coat up, and then Signore Malfoy and I have some more… gli affari to discuss. He wanted me to ask you to head into town and get some vegetables for lunch, do you mind?"
"Jinx does not mind one bit! Jinx would be happy to go into town for Marie and Master!" Jinx said joyfully, and right afterwards, she snapped her fingers and vanished just as she did upstairs. Marie smiled, finding quite a fondness for the little house elf. Her eyes settled on an open door down the hallway, with a faint light trickling out. Curiosity getting the best of her, almost in the trance, Marie drifted towards the room.
As she grew closer, the air grew colder, and the faint light glowed a brighter white color, as if it was expecting her. When she walked through the door, the light faded back to a normal glow, to reveal a Pensieve. Almost hypnotically, Marie came even closer, eventually standing directly over it, staring down upon the silvery tendrils dancing around in the basin. It almost seemed to whisper to her, beckoning her to view the thousands of Malfoy memories that lay right at her fingertips. The enchanting light enveloped her, filled her with such warmth, that she gave in, and placed her head inside the Pensieve.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Draco sat quietly in his bed, tapping his fingers on his stomach, awaiting Marie's return. She had been gone for a few minutes, but perhaps she was using the bathroom. Women always were freshening up, and he knew it took them years to do it, so he wasn't incredibly worried. That was until he felt a sharp pain shoot in his chest, his breath hitching dramatically. "Traitor…coward…failure," Voldemort's voice hissed in his head, Draco realizing that his curse was flaring up once again.
"No, not now. Please, not now," Draco moaned, clutching his hand to his heart as he felt another stabbing feeling in his chest, and that's when the wretched coughing began.
"Abraxas, hurry up, you've got fifteen minutes before we go out to dinner with the Nott's!" A woman of perhaps her late 30's screeched. Marie was in the backyard of the Malfoy Manor, except, it couldn't be. It was much less dreary-looking, and there was a garden, decorating with millions of blossoming flowers.
An adolescent boy she assumed to be Abraxas responded, "Alright Mum, it'll be quick!" The boy rushed into the garden, disappearing in the six-feet tall bushes. Marie followed the boy without even moving or thinking, almost as if she teleported. "Sarah! Sarah, are you here?" Abraxas said hurriedly, crouching down and stepping with extreme caution. A minute later, a black-haired girl popped out from the opposite side of the bushes, a huge grin on her face. She was dressed almost improperly, with a relaxed white shirt and some baggy pants. Unlike Abraxas, who was dressed entirely in a black suit with matching shoes.
"You would not believe the hell I went through to get here, Abraxas! I went through a dozen charms before I finally made it past the magical barrier out on the edge of the property!" Sarah panted, bending over to catch her breath.
"Well, now you're here. I told my parents I was going to go water the plants in the center of the garden, so they don't know you're here."
"I still don't get why they can't know that we hang out."
"My parents are really strict about the type of people I hang out with. Especially with us going into Hogwarts next year."
"What do you mean 'type of people'?"
"You know, that whole bloodline thing. With your mom being a Muggle and all, well, they'd be really mad at me."
"Well, what did you need me for?" Sarah asked, not amused. She obviously hated when Abraxas brought up bloodlines.
"Since I couldn't see you on your birthday, I wanted to give you this," Abraxas mumbled, pulling out an emerald necklace from his pocket. He placed it in Sarah's hand and went on, "My mom has tons of jewelry, so she won't mind. I doubt she'll even notice, to be completely honest." Sarah's mouth was wide open, and she held the necklace tightly to her chest.
"Abraxas, this is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you," She whispered, before crushing him in a hug. Just before Abraxas said something back, Marie heard a bloodcurdling yell. At first, she thought it was part of the memory, but she sprung up from the Pensieve, and in a moment, she realized it was Draco upstairs.
Marie slid her wand out of her pocket and raced up the stairs, screaming, "Signore Malfoy? Signore Malfoy? Dove sei?" She grabbed the door frame to stop her momentum and swung herself inside the bedroom, ready to cast a spell on someone, but no one was in there. Except Draco, writhing on the floor, letting out another roar.
She threw her wand on the bed, and crouched down by his side, rolling him on his back. Blood was trickling down from his mouth and his nose in heavy streams, unable to stop. "What happened?" She cried, feeling tears streaming down her face as the poor man continued to scream, as if he couldn't hear her. She propped him on her lap and began wiping the blood away on her shirt, but he pushed himself off her in a random convulsion, his noises dulled down as he silently twitched all over the floor.
"Signore Malfoy, please answer me!" She pleaded, placing him on his back again and shaking his shoulders.
He clenched his eyes clothes and grabbed fistfuls of his hair before shouting, "Get out of my head! Leave me be!"
"Draco!" Marie sobbed, ripping his hands out his hair.
The sound of his name coming from her mouth almost ripped him out of his episode entirely, giving him just enough time to utter, "I need Draught of Peace."
As soon as those words spilled from his mouth, he began coughing uncontrollably, and his nose started bleeding heavier than before. His nails clawed at the floorboards, and he kicked his feet as hard as could, as if trying to expel a demon from his body.
"I didn't do anything, please stop!" Draco bawled, as his body began another series of terrifying tremors.
Marie lunged on the bed, snatched up her wand and screeched, "Accio Draught of Peace!" She waited impatiently, her eyes darting around the room, looking for a second plan in case the potion didn't appear. But it did, the vial zooming into the room and right into her open hand. She fell to her knees right by Draco and pried open his mouth, trying to stop his hyperventilating. Draco's eyes began to roll back in his head, as his back arched and arms slammed onto the floor almost rhythmically. Marie popped open the top of the vial, and dumped most of the content into his mouth, leaving a small swig in case something happened again and she needed more.
The convulsions slowed to a stop, and his body eased back softly on the floor, his breathing calming to a mere huff. Marie let out a deep sigh, before looking down at the man she once believed was so cold and intimidating. Now, looking at his peaceful, yet bloodied, pale face, she came to accept that it was all just a mask.
Hey guys! Sorry that this chapter was so delayed, I haven't gotten a chance to do much writing this past week. I believe I'll be writing the next chapter fairly quickly, but the one after that one might take a wee bit longer because I have to do some chapter updates for my other Harry Potter fanfic "Ignition". So be on the look out for those. As always, don't forget to help me out with your reviews, messages, likes or shares, I appreciate everything you guys do! Don't forget, stay awesome, Gotham! (Credit to Anna Akana for that catchphrase lol)
-April