Chapter 6- Train Wreck

AN: I've finally ran out of chapters that are ready, so the next update might be a while. Please review, I know a lot of people have been reading and that's great, but I really want to hear what you guys think, if you think I could be doing something better, anything. Just to say "hey I really like this"

Felix out-

Lucius Malfoy watched as his pathetic excuse for a son son lead the Potter boy from the castle. He scoffed at the scene. Him? Harry Potter? The scrawny little boy with glasses nearly as large as his face?

He lifted a hand to the gold locket hanging around his neck. It couldn't be. Harry Potter was dead, His lord had seen to tha-

The locket started glowing, heating up under his touch. He jumped. This wasn't possible, his lord was dead! He had seen it!

Lucius had been hiding out for nearly ten tears, not wanting to risk being thrown into Azkaban, like the others who had followed Lord Voldemort. He had been holding on to the locket as well. It held a piece of his Lord's soul, and it was supposed to tie him to this plane of existence until his curse had been fulfilled. He'd thought the man dead, the curse fulfilled and the Potter line ended, but that obviously was not the case...

Holding his wand firmly in hand, Lucius stalked out onto the grounds, making sure the unlikely trio was long gone. So the boy truly was the Potter spawn, eh? He knew where they were heading, at least. He'd make quick work of them- after he found and rejoined his master, of course.

The lake wasn't frozen solid this time of year, but there were thin sheets of ice floating on it. Lucius stood at the edge, peering into the murky depths of the black lake. The smooth surface began to move, then ripple outward. Bubbles began a few metres from shore, then moved closer.

A form began rising from the water, a thin figure. The person drew closer and Malfoy senior couldn't help but shudder. His lord was beginning to rot. He was cloaked in a dark robe, the hood up, but Lucius could see his skin deteriorating. He was undead, almost an inferi.

This is what the curse had reduced him to.

"Lucius, you have returned to me. I thought you would have pleaded innocence to the ministry." His blood red eyes flashed dangerously.

Lucius bowed. "My lord, I thought you dead. No one has seen hide nor hair of the Potters in years. Now Black is searching for his lost God son. Apparently, he is still alive."

Voldemort scowled. "Obviously. It seems a curse is not what it used to be." He chuckled lightly. The sound wasn't cheery, it was cold and harsh.

A glint of gold drew the dark lord's attention to Lucius's neck. "My locket, you have kept it safe, then. But I was under the impression you thought me gone for good? I never took you as one for sentimentality, Lucius."

Lucius unclasped the necklace with shaking hands, holding it out to the dark lord. "Yes, my lord, I have been keeping it safe all these years, just in case y-" he slipped on a patch of frozen earth, the locket flying from his hand.

"No!" Voldemort dashed for it, snatching it from the air and clutching it close to his chest while Lucius fell face first into the chilly depths of the lake. Sputtering, Lucius regained his footing, only to be grabbed by the collar by an enraged dark lord.

"I SPLIT my SOUL for this. And you, careless as you are, nearly lost it!" He brought his wand from the depths of his cloak, pointing it at the shaking blond.

"Crucio." As Lucius lie writhing in pain, Voldemort contemplated his course of action. He had to kill the boy, of course. But how?

"Do you know where the boy is going, Lucius?" He asked. Lucius struggled to his feet, nodding. "Yes, my lord. The Hogwarts Express, they are set to board soon." Voldemort grinned.

"You need to get on that train. I want you to do anything you can to ensure they never make it, is that clear?" Lucius nodded. Voldemort clasped his wand, and with a POP, he was gone.

Lucius turned, making his way to town, casting a few charms on his person so he wouldn't be seen. This would be interesting.

Harry sat across from Draco in the compartment. Hedwig was perched on the back of the seat.

Before hopping on the express, they had stopped by the Hog's Head and picked up some things. They had set aside a trunk of necessary items for Harry during their travel, but other than that it was all theirs. Not a lot, of course, one trunk for each of them, plus an extra knapsack for Draco.

Draco slid into the compartment, clapping his hands. "Well, from here we are going to London. We'll be at King's Cross station in a few hours, and from there we will walk to the Leaky Cauldron. We need to stop at Diagon Alley, of course, get you some more suitable clothes."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course, I have to look the part, right?" He adjusted his glasses on his nose, emerald green eyes straying to the slightly frosted over window that overlooked the passing hills of Scotland.

"Do you think I could be?" He suddenly blurted out. He turned red, his cheeks heating, and quickly babbled the rest of his question. "You know, Harry Potter." Harry reached a hand out, fingers making paths in the condensation on the glass.

"I think it's a strong possibility." Draco said, smiling charmingly. After that they fell into silence for the next few hours. Occasionally Harry would stroke Hedwig's feathers, and she would give a hoot of appreciation. Draco fell asleep tucked into a corner.

Harry noticed his gaze landing on his pale aristocratic features more than once. When sleeping, he rather resembled an angel. Harry inwardly snorted inelegantly at the thought. Draco, an angel?

Slughorn was busy writing something in a little booklet. He looked like he was concentrating very hard, the tip of his tongue occasionally darting out. When he was done, he smiled and stood, tucking it into his back pocket.

"Well, I am going to go search for the trolley. I fancy a few pumpkin pasties." He smiled and squeezed his way out of the compartment. In the hallway, he noticed a couple looking at their booklets. He inched forward, trying to hear their conversation.

"You see, they changed it. In the old ministry, official documents were an emerald green. Now, they are changing to this purple colour. Nine years, and they still haven't completely changed from the old ways." The man chuckled and snapped his travel paper booklet shut.

Slughorn paled. He rushed back to his compartment, seeing Draco and Harry. "We have a problem." He whispered this to Draco. The blond swatted at Slughorn, but the older man shook him awake. Silver eyes snapped open.

"What?" He hissed in annoyance.

"The papers, they've changed the ink to purple, ours is green!" Draco shot out of his seat.

Harry watched this with a look of curiosity. What had Draco so hurried? The man grabbed his trunk, pushing another into Harry's hand.

"Come on, Harry, change of plans!" The blond opened the door, ushering the green-eyed boy out.

They made their way to the baggage car, where Draco set his things down. Harry narrowed his eyes.

"The baggage car? There wouldn't happen to be anything wrong with our papers, would there?" He asked, voice icy. Draco smiled nervously and shrugged. Harry groaned. He turned and kicked a trunk.

"I cannot BELIEVE this! Of course we would be here ILLEGALLY." He sat down on the same trunk he had kicked, nursing his sore toes.

Suddenly, with an awful screeching noise and a loud BANG, the train lurched, sending Harry toppling over. Draco crashed into him as well, Slughorn coming down last, crushing them.

"What the bloody hell was THAT?" Draco was pushed off of Harry, who sat up quick.

The train shook once again. Hedwig hooted nastily, obviously displeased at being disturbed. Harry struggled to his feet, swaying as he made his way to the door.

Wrenching it open, he stood, shocked at the sight. The other cars were gone, and the mechanism that hooked them together looked as if someone had blown it to bits. The wind whipped his hair into his eyes, his clothes flapping. He shut the door quickly, before he fell onto the tracks.

"Slight problem," he said. Draco's eyes widened.

"What in Merlin's name is going on!" Draco wrenched the door open again.

"I'm going up to the front of the train, see what the conductor has to say." Swinging to the side and grabbing the ladder, wand between his teeth, he climbed up to the car's roof. He got to the top and cast a charm to keep himself from being thrown off of the top of the train. He made his way to the front, sliding into the conductor's car.

The man was dead, obviously the work of a killing curse. He swore, making his way back to the baggage car carefully. He closed the door behind him, locking eyes with Horace.

"No one's driving this train." Harry gasped. Draco rushed to the other door, throwing it open, the wind catching it and slamming it into the side of the train. He had to disconnect this cart from the rest if they were going to make it. The sight that greeted him nearly stopped his heart. The metal contraption was welded together.

Draco pointed his wand at the mangled mess. "Bombarda!" There were a few sparks, but not much else.

"We're going to die." Harry held his head in his hands. Eyes determined, he ran to where Draco was standing. He glared at the twisted metal, imagining it combusting. He focused as hard as he could. There was an explosion, and Draco and Harry toppled over. It had taken quite a bit of the wall as well, but at least they weren't attached to the rest of the train.

Hedwig took this chance to fly away from the car. Harry yelled after her.

"Hedwig!" He groaned. "Well, at least one of us will live."

Draco turned, spotting an emergency break. He let out a small cheer, running to pull the lever. It got a bit stuck, and he threw his back into it, yanking with all of his might. There was a Snap, and Draco was left holding the broken lever.

"Don't worry, we've got enough track between here and London. We'll be fine." He reassured Harry, who looked pale as death and ready to blow chunks.

Horace cleared his throat. "Or not." He pointed out at the distance. In a curve of the track, where it went over a few lakes, the rails were completely gone.

"Well." Draco turned to Harry. "We'll have to jump for it, won't we?" He turned to the side of the cart, wrenching open the long sliding door on the side. The tracks were at the top of a steep hill. Harry turned to Draco.

"After you." The blond glared at him. "Okay, okay, don't worry your little head Harry, I've got this." Harry rolled his eyes.

He cast around for something- anything- to help them. Draco took his wand and muttered an incantation. Ropes appeared, and he tied one end to the train. The other he sent out, looping it around the tracks. The train shuddered violently, and the trio was swept off of their feet once more.

"I don't think my bum can take much more of this!" Harry looked up seeing the rope snag, pulling up the planks that made up the tracks. The train lurched sideways, skidding. They gathered their things and stood at the side of the car that had been blown away, facing a gently sloping hill.

Draco jumped first, Harry following, Slughorn rolling down after them last.

Hedwig hooted, settling herself on Harry's shoulder. "Bloody lucky bird." Draco found himself with a face full of snow. Horace struggled to his feet.

"Well, we had better make our way to London, then."

"On foot?!" Harry groaned, flopping back down onto the snow bank. Hedwig hooted angrily and took flight, perching on a nearby tree.

"We were only about an hour from the station, it will not take long. If we are lucky, someone will come along searching when the train doesn't arrive on schedule." Horace Slughorn, the voice of reason.

Harry grabbed a trunk and groaned, beginning to make his way down the tracks. "Well, come on then! It's freezing, and it's dark. I'd rather not find out if there's anything that can eat me lurking in the shadows."

The two men exchanged a look and shrugged, following after him.

Draco wouldn't admit it, but sometimes he admired Harry's spark. It was endearing. When it wasn't irritating him, of course.

Voldemort swore, watching the trio get away.

That Potter boy was more powerful than he had anticipated, Lucius had taken every precaution.

The blond stepped up beside his master. "What is our next course of action, sir?"

Voldemort turned. "You will follow them for now. I have an idea, and I will need to work to put it into action."

With that, he was gone.

Lucius looked after the unlikely group as they faded into the distance. He felt a pang of regret for his son, whom he had loved at one point. He still did, if he was honest with himself. But he didn't have the luxury of emotional attachments. He needed to be a cold, ruthless killer.

Oh, but how he missed his family.

AN: Longest one yet. It was originally two chapters, but one was way too short so I jammed them together.

Please review!

Felix out-