Emerald Phoenix
I don't own Harry Potter or any of its character's; that honour goes to J.K Rowling.
Before Draco knew what was happening, he found himself face to face with the fathers of his best friends. He remembered the fall out he had had with them and wondered whether it was this that caused the familiar welcoming looks he once associated with them to be gone in the two men's eyes.
Sudden flashbacks pushed their way through Draco's panic-stricken mind and he briefly saw himself at the house of Mr.Crabbe's as the man opened the door with a smile, and then sitting at the table at Mr.Goyle's as the man embarrassed his son whilst making his jacket potatoes walk along the table with his knife and fork. He had known these men since he was 6 years old…. And now seeing the transformation in Mr.Crabbe's face disturbed Draco more then he thought it could; something so familiar, someone he once felt safe with now looking beyond recognition. Draco looked toward Mr.Goyle, in an attempt to see some brief compassion in the hostility.
He got what he so desperately craved; beneath the mask of grim determination; regret and remorse shone dully from the man's eyes, and Draco saw the man he remembered as a child.
The two overwhelmingly strong arms clasped over the boys weak, pain racked shoulders, but he couldn't feel the pain as a sudden wild hope took over him. "Please" he said, quieter then a whisper, directing the plea at Mr.Goyle. "Please" he said louder and more urgently, pleading with every ounce of his being toward the one person in the room that gave him any grain of hope.
"Please, help me" Mr.Crabbe saw what Draco was trying to do and with a gruff "Come on!" smacked Draco round the head and violently pulled Draco along. Draco pulled his head back up in a haze of pain and starred at Mr.Goyle, not caring how pathetic he looked or how low he had sunk, his imploring eyes wide with fear.
Draco could swear he saw more then remorse in the man's small eyes; he saw true sadness. The man pulled Draco along also, more gently then his counter part, and leant close to Draco's ear. "I'm sorry, son, it doesn't hurt, not really, just close your eyes and it'll be over before you know it, you'll be ok, I promise" Draco just shook his head, over and over again in a fit of panic. "No, no, please, please!" Guilt flooded Mr.Goyle, he started to ramble, in an attempt to make the boy feel safer and to ease his own increasing guilt.
He began to rub the boys arm, and Draco could distantly hear the man's shaky voice. Even though he felt disappointed and afraid he also felt slightly grateful for the man's attempted reassurance, and knew how bad the man must feel. "Once it's done it's done, and be-being a death eater isn't so bad, it-it's fun, sometimes….." his stuttering voice trailed pitifully knowing that every word he was saying was a lie, and he resolved to just saying over and over again. "Don't be scared, please don't be scared…" almost pleading with Draco himself. Draco tried to struggle, but the mans pleading sent an insane feeling through him to obey and ease the mans guilt, through years of his father demanding obedience of him, Draco now forgot about his own fear and tried to calm himself down in a pathetic attempt to ease Mr.Goyle's conscience.
He could now see where he was being led to; Lord Voldemort stood smiling calmly, yet the smile was tainted with coldness, near a tall, thick wooden pillar that looked rotten and decaying. The wood was damaged and eaten through by insects; it seemed to hold up the entire warehouse and thick, heavy looking ropes hung from its middle and base. Draco caught a sudden sight of his father, who appeared to be panting with anticipation, Draco wondered, as he was forced against the cold, wet pillar; whether his father had gone mad.
Hooves slammed rhythmically on the ground, its constancy bringing a strange reassurance to Narcissa as a sudden foreboding swooped in her stomach.
Through the heady recklessness and feel of adventure as she rode on Glory, she forgot that she hadn't thought about what exactly to do when she arrived there; it was her, a potions master and an elf against a whole horde of death eaters.
Could she really pull this off? Or was she selfishly trying to full-fill a savage laden dream of revenge against Lucius, blindly jeopardizing her son's life? No, she would never do that, she would get her son whatever it took, whatever she had to do, then she would deal with Lucius…
"Severus!" her voice was instantly lost in the wind as her hair swept wildly around her face. She quickly pulled her thick blonde hair from her face, holding it back as she looked up at the fast flying raven. "Severus!!" The bird looked briefly down then swooped toward her, flying evenly to her eyes. "What do we do when we get there? Do you have a plan?!" She roared out. The raven just winked, and Narcissa could see a glint of assurance in what was without a doubt, Severus Snapes eyes.
He motioned his head forward and soared over her head again, leading the way once again. As she looked forward a small gasp escaped her lips; looming ever closer was a large, wooden ware house.
Hands kept him pressed against the cold wood as the thick, heavy ropes flew magically around him and bound him tightly to the pillar.
It wasn't just the pressure of the ropes that made it difficult for him to breathe; but the increasing panic sent his heart hammering painfully against his ribs and his breath came in quick, shallow pants. He found himself starring at the many faces of the death eaters, some with looks of hungry anticipation, others with obvious looks of fear and dread.
Mr.Crabbe looked on with satisfaction and Draco thought briefly whether he could imagine his own son taking the mark, as he looked smugly toward Lucius, who looked at Draco with ever increasing glee, Draco knew Mr.Crabbe was almost saying 'my son would happily take the mark, your son is an embarrassment'.
As Draco's eyes flickered over to Mr.Goyle he saw the same look of guilt and sorrow, and could swear he saw the man mouth 'I'm sorry'. Draco thought again that Mr.Goyle was thinking the same as Mr.Crabbe about his own son, but instead of the elation of Mr.Crabbe, he felt horror and trepidation.
Suddenly his fathers voice shouted out "finally, finally!!" and Draco's eyes meet with the single pair of eyes that sent his body in to total shut down, the crimson pair of Lord Voldemort's as he slowly clasped his fingers round Draco's arm and gently pulled it from the ropes. It was a strange sensation, having the ropes melt through his arm as Voldemort held it with disturbing softness, it was the lightest touch, yet seemed to hold him tighter then if someone was gripping him as tight as steel.
Draco suddenly felt drowsy as he slipped into an odd sort of trance, watching as if in slow motion his own arm hold itself out straight in-front of him.
Voldemort suddenly held his gaze as he felt his own pale pair grow wide and unblinking.
He no longer felt the need to struggle, and he allowed his sleeve to be ripped off without protest.
His mouth began to open slowly as Voldemort produced his wand and used his other hand to hush his followers and order them to stand back. Then Draco felt the long bony fingers clasp his wrist as the Dark Lord placed his wand on Draco's fore-arm. "Prepare your self" he hissed. It was all over….
A sudden whooshing noise filled the void of quite and Voldemorts head snapped violently forward as his wand fell to the ground with a clatter before the mark was burned into Draco's pale flesh.
All death eaters looked wildly around as Lucius and Mr.Crabbe rushed forward to their master in fearful concern and confusion.
Both Draco and Voldemort stayed deadly still, the Dark Lords head still bent over.
All death eaters started to accuse their neighbours and an up roar exploded in the warehouse, Lucius and Mr.Crabbe urgently trying to tend to Voldemort whilst blaming Draco for the seemingly invisible assault.
Draco's meek voice came out unheard in the wild up roar, "How could I have done it? I'm tied to a pillar, I don't have my wand" as he saw his fathers fist fly toward his face he again found himself in confused awe as his fathers head snapped violently forward just like the Dark Lords had, who had now straightened himself up with an unreadable expression on his snake like face.
The up roar stopped, and this time thick confusion filled the air.
Everybody held their breaths and the Dark Lord began to pace, looking around himself causing everybody he passed to shrink away.
Draco was shocked to see something he had never seen in the Dark Lords face before; true concern.
Then suddenly, with no warning, the room seemed to explode like a mountain of fire works. Jets of red, blue and golden light shot out of thin air at incredible speed and accuracy. Deafening sounds filled the ware house as all in it either dove for cover or blindly tried to defend themselves against invisible assailants, their faces screwed in concentration as they fruitlessly aimed their wands at thin air.
Wormtail and Crabbe used their bodies as shields against the Dark Lord who had backed away behind the pillar that Draco was bound to, in doing do, using Draco as a third shield. Draco didn't feel scared, even though he was completely vulnerable and there was no telling where the jets were coming from, somehow he knew they wouldn't hurt him.
Pandemonium had broken out, and in the haze of moving bodies one more suddenly joined the rest. In a sudden explosion of climbing green flame a woman appeared out of the flames like an emerald phoenix.
Draco's eyes widened in disbelieving shock, the relief that drowned him seemed to stop his heart. His mother had appeared, and in his jumbled mind she seemed like an angel, her blonde hair floating around her like she were underwater.
Then in that brief moment of magic, the green flames disappeared as quickly as they had come and her hair dropped limply around her.
Draco suddenly felt an indescribable feeling of fear.
Something was wrong.
His smile slipped of his face and his face froze as nerves danced violently in his body, a fear that chocked him and sent his heart hammering.
His mother had an expression on her face that would haunt Draco for the rest of his life, burn forever into his soul, cause him to wake in the middle of the night in cold sweats.
Her eyes were wide with surprise and pain, her mouth slightly open.
She was starring right at Draco, her body at an awkward pose, akin to having a sword thrust straight into her back, her arms held out in-front of her.
She looked like some grotesque statue.
Her eyes appeared to sparkle with tears, and then they glazed over, as dull as puddle water.
Everything was in slow motion.
Then suddenly, Narcissa Malfoy fell, and ended up as a broken, crumpled mess on the ground.
Dead.
Everything went silent.
No one made a sound.
Draco felt like he'd been hit with a ten ton anvil.
Behind his mother stood Lucius, his wand drawn, pointing to the exact spot that his wife had just been. His face was a picture of shock.
cries! I killed Narcissa…. I always planned it, so I had to do it! I quite liked this chapter, quite long, again, not much dialogue, it didn't seem fitting. I quite like how Narcissa's death came about on paper, still sad though. anyway, hope you enjoyed!
I've actually updated! Wasn't too long to wait, not a year anyway! Just one more chapter I'd say. thank you to allllll my great reviewers, I'm so grateful for your kind and constructive words! hugs! .