A/N: Sorry! I had company and it's hard to write with others around. We visit Torian Lestrange again in this chapter. In Darkest the biggest antagonists are Albus and Zachary, so this introduces the Slytherin's ingenious way to get rid of Voldy.
NOTE: The hereai showed up in the Yule Ball in Midnight Sun. I know both Lucius and Severus' fathers are the wrong names and Sev's dad was a Muggle, but we're going by Midnight's version of canon here.
NOTE: This chapter has a bit of violence and nasty images, so be warned. ALSO: Thank you to everyone who told me that I got Amycus and Alecto's genders mixed up. I don't have my copy of Deathly Hallows on me and Amycus sounded like a girl's name to me!
Chapter 32- Of Dark Lords and Potions Masters
Torian Lestrange moved briskly through the wards of the Dark Lord's latest hideout, resisting a smirk as he remembered just how many times the Order of the Phoenix had failed to do anything more than drive him into a new foxhole. Meanwhile the Custodis Pondera had been moving forward in a slow and sneaky manner that Salazar Slytherin himself would have approved. If he was successful in his private meeting with Voldemort today, they would be planning a way to do what the Order could not and rid the world of a psychotic hypocrite.
He, Torian Rodolphus Lestrange, would be instrumental in bringing this event about. Torian only cared about this as it would help greatly to wipe the stain his parents had caused to appear in their family line. His family motto was Pride and Respect, yet his parents had done nothing to support that claim. As soon as he officially claimed the Lordship in two weeks he would wipe his parents and his father's dead brother from the family tree. Then he would move on to other things, Fate allowing.
Torian knew there was a high chance he would be killed in the process of ridding the magical world of Voldemort. It was a price he was willing to pay if it cleared his family name in the process. He was a Slytherin after all, and a Slytherin did nothing for free. Most importantly, being involved in the death of Voldemort would be a sweet form of vengeance against those responsible for the death of his grandfather.
His face fell momentarily into sadness as he recalled that not one but two of the hereai were now dead. It had been during a meeting of the Custodis Pondera the previous month that the Auror office had called Severus Snape to inform him of the death of his father Lucien. Evidence pointed to the undeniable fact that the old Lord had been killed by Death Eaters, though Lucien had apparently put up one hell of a fight. Torian wasn't surprised; the old pureblood for whom Lucius Malfoy had been named was one of the most powerful wizards of his generation.
The last of the hereai left was Lucius' own father, Varian. They hadn't heard from the patriarch of the Malfoy family for three weeks, but according to Lucius he was shocked and saddened at the loss of his two friends and comrades. Torian's face hardened again, he would like nothing more than to know which Death Eaters had managed to kill Lucien. He had never seen as much emotion on Severus' face ever as when he had heard of his father's murder.
Smoothing his face with a great deal of effort he cleared his mind and strolled into the modest two-story estate Voldemort was forced to hold court in. It was not nearly as impressive as some of his previous haunts and by the so-called-Lord's brooding nature and violent temper he knew it as well. His ruthlessness the past few weeks had made up for it. Torian had been to three meetings now, each had been progressively more violent than the last. Lucius and Severus had gotten out just in time, it seemed.
He came to a sudden, shocked halt at the sight that greeted his eyes in the hall. Sitting on the cool marble floor on his knees was none other than Varian Malfoy. He was bound to the floor by magical bonds of a blood-red colour, his usually elegant appearance disheveled. There were tears in the fabric of his slacks stained red, where the blood was older the fabric had turned a crusty black colour. There was hardly anything of his pale skin that wasn't badly bruised or bleeding, his nose and arm were obviously broken.
Torian made his way slowly forward and looked around. Not seeing the Dark Lord anywhere in sight he carefully removed his medallion and pressed it into Varian's palm after removing it from the cord. "If you can get free, press this. Portkey will take you to safety," Torian whispered. Hearing footsteps he straightened, moving to the front of the large chair and dropping to his knees, eyes on the floor.
"Welcome, young Lord Lestrange," Voldemort's cold, high voice echoed through the room. "Did you see my latest prize?"
"I did, My Lord. Congratulations on tracking down the last of the hereai, I would imagine he wasn't easy to find or capture?"
"Not in the least, young follower. He, like your eccentric grandfather and the late Lord Snape will pay. Lucien and Varian should have kept a closer eye on their sons, I detest traitors and spies. It is a pity he has proven recalcitrant to provide information; I hate to kill someone of such pure magical blood for so small an issue."
Filthy hypocrite, Torian snarled to himself. It should be the Dark Lord bowing at OUR feet, not the other way around. We are the ones of pure blood, while he prances around with a title that should belong to Rial Black. Lord of Slytherin indeed, through a nearly squib mother. The Custodis Pondera had been shocked and intrigued by his revelation through the Order of the Phoenix about the Gaunt family and the Muggle family with the surname Riddle in Little Hangleton.
It had been even more of a surprise when they had gone searching through old bloodlines and found that the last pure descendants of the Gaunts were the Black family. Always Pure indeed, Torian thought in amusement. The Black family had always paraded around as if they were royalty until Sirius and his brother came along, and here they were of a sort.
"Why did you request a private meeting with me, follower?" Voldemort demanded.
Carefully Torian shifted the weight on his legs a bit and tried not to appear too eager in front of the Dark Lord. "As you know, My Lord, the Lestrange family has always had ties to the very Darkest of families. We also have contacts to Potions Masters of less, scruples, shall we say, than the traitor Severus Snape."
"I am aware of this," Voldemort said darkly, a warning note in his voice.
Torian hurried along, attempting to avoid being Crucioed. "I was speaking to one such Potions Master the other day, My Lord, and he had an interesting theory about your power levels and how to increase them."
"Oh? And what was this Master's theory?" Voldemort's voice had lost the warning tone and now sounded sardonic.
"He suggested that one reason your power levels are so high, other than your great inborn magic was due to the spells you cast, in particular Avada Kedavra. That spell was developed by Salazar Slytherin. I apologise ahead of time for this background drabble but it is necessary. The Killing Curse works by draining a person's magical core; in the case of Muggles it drains their life-force, which is their potential for magic. He said the reason why you have amassed such great power is that your magic is drawing the victim's magic or life-force into you instead of dissipating it as normal."
"I see, and his suggestion to increase it?" The Dark Lord still hadn't given him permission to look up but he could hear the plain interest in the sibilant voice.
"There is a simple potion, My Lord, one he would be willing to brew for a small price. It expands your magical core's ability to absorb and store energy. It is an old form of an Energy Potion and was banned for the fact that a single dosage allows the drinker's magic to expand exponentially. There is no risk and your magical capacity would more than triple, My Lord. If you are interested, I will gladly pay the fee and bring it to you when it is ready. It takes three weeks to brew, so since it is now early November it would be ready mid-December."
Torian held his breath and waited. They were counting heavily on the Dark Lord's greed for this to succeed. What the potion would actually do was ingenious as it was subtle. It was an old potion called a Magic-Poison. It would do exactly what it said. Once the Dark Lord took it the potion would make it poisonous for him to use magic at all, the stronger the spells the quicker it worked. With the Dark Lord's habit of using Unforgivables it would work extremely fast. Severus, the actual Potions Master involved, estimated that it would take at the most ten spells for the Dark Lord to essentially poison himself and die. There was no cure and it was highly illegal.
It also had a few expensive ingredients. Severus had already tracked them down, but they were counting on the Dark Lord's pride to pay for them. He waited; it seemed endlessly on the cold marble floor for Voldemort to decide.
"Look at me, follower," Voldemort demanded.
Checking his Occlumency shields he looked up cautiously into scarlet eyes. He felt the Dark Lord's intrusion, the man had about the subtlety of a battering ram. After a few more long minutes he raised his yew wand and said, "Crucio."
He kept Torian under the spell for five minutes, long enough to make him start screaming. When the Dark Lord released it he shakily pulled himself back into position as the Dark Lord snapped, "Do not presume that I cannot pay for something I want, young Lestrange. How much is the Potions Master requesting?"
"150 Galleons, my Lord. It covers the cost of the ingredients only; he wouldn't dare charge you for his actual services. He is a pureblood and backs your cause openly from his home."
"You will have it tomorrow. You will bring the potion as soon as it is finished."
"Yes, my Lord," Torian whispered, getting to his feet and bowing from the waist.
He heard footsteps behind him and stiffened. There was more than one set, and the expression on the Dark Lord's face seemed to indicate they were expected. He turned to the door and gritted his teeth at the sight of the werewolf Greyback and the Carrow siblings. Varian Malfoy had also noticed them and his expressive sapphire eyes looked oddly resigned. From this distance there was matted blood around his white-blonde hair and an oddly-dented cheekbone as well.
Negligently the Dark Lord waved his hand at Varian Malfoy and said, "He has proven unwilling to aide us in locating his son and grandson. Kill him and drop his body where the Aurors will find it."
Fenrir directed a sadistic, predatory grin at Varian and said, "Well come on, wizard. We don't want to ruin the pretty floor, do we?"
Varian's blue eyes darkened in disgust as he stared at the werewolf. He turned toward the Dark Lord and said in a cold, proud voice, "My son and grandson are intelligent, powerful wizards. Why would I turn them over to you, all they did for you was increase your petty, half-blood ego."
Torian winced at the Dark Lord's furious expression. Varian was defiant on the other hand, staring at crimson eyes and ignoring the blood darkening his cracked, dry lips.
"Your son and godson will die and you grandson will kneel at my feet before the end of this year, Varian Malfoy," Voldemort hissed. "I will not give you the quick death you seek; you will feel every inch of your pain before you die."
Amycus Carrow waved his wand, releasing the magical bonds. Varian rose gracefully to his feet, face blanching in pain as he did so. The Dark Lord had left the room, so Torian waited until Varian had strode out in front of Fenrir and the Carrows. He followed; wincing at the obvious limp in what was already Varian's bad leg. The Death Eaters had really done a number on the old Lord, yet Varian still moved as gracefully as possible, shoulders proudly straight and eyes forward.
They had just barely reached the outside of the estate when Alecto shouted, "Sectumsempra!"
The Cutting Curse slashed into Varian's hip and cut up across his stomach to his right ribcage. Varian staggered badly, nearly falling. When Amycus moved to shove him back to an upright position Varian struck. He had fallen into a crouch on his bad leg and used the good one to sweep Amycus off his feet. The Death Eater struck the ground hard and Varian was able to snatch his wand. A second later his hands were unbound and he threw a pale blue curse at Fenrir.
The werewolf howled in fury and agony, eyes slowly turning from gold to black as his blood turned to liquid silver. The man's whole body shuddered and arched as the curse spread. Varian followed it with a Cutting curse of his own. The blood that spilled from Fenrir's shoulder and throat was black and surprisingly thick. The werewolf's body shuddered in agony a few more times and fell still.
Torian's eyes were wide as he turned back to Varian. Realising he couldn't just stand there or risk giving himself away he threw a couple mild curses at Varian, who managed to dodge easily. Varian was concentrating solely on Alecto now, trading curses with the witch as he slowly but surely backed toward the wards. "Reducto!" she shrieked. The spell hit Varian's bad knee with a sickeningly loud crack and Torian winced. Varian paled dramatically and gave up fighting, turning and fleeing as swiftly as he could on a badly damaged leg. He was still managing to dodge Alecto's curses, the witch getting more desperate the closer he came to the wards.
Just as he reached the wards Varian swung around on his good leg and snarled, "This is for Lucien Snape, Alecto! Avada Kedavra!"
She couldn't dodge in time. She had been running forward so when the spell hit it was as if she'd run into a brick wall. She stopped and was flung backward, landing like a broken bird on the grass.
Varian looked at him, shoulders heaving from the effort of running and the various curses. "Wake Amycus and tell him to inform the Dark Lord of my disappearance. Is Lucius wherever this Portkey will take me?"
Torian nodded and he smiled faintly. "Thank you then, young Lestrange. You remind me of Taryen, he would be proud of you for doing what you see as right."
Varian set off at a limping walk, passing through the wards and activating the Portkey. Torian turned in the other direction, heading for Amycus. His throat had closed into a tight lump. He knew that Varian's last words to him were as much of a goodbye as the old Lord would give. Varian had been in too many battles not to know how many wounds were a fatal number. He bowed his head quietly in respect for the man.
-D-N-S-D-
Sirius, Lucius, Remus and Severus were all sitting on the back porch of the villa, sipping a cup of evening tea and waiting tensely for word from Torian. It would be a stroke of brilliant good fortune if they could rid themselves of Lord Voldemort this easily. The potion had been hidden in a book here at the Black Villa, Severus had been reduced to sheer amazement at the fact that it actually existed. There had been rumors of a Magic-Poison for years, but no one had actually found evidence of it until now.
None of them were surprised when the Portkey activated. Lucius was the first to look up and he shot out of his chair, moving quickly down off the patio. Sirius looked up as well and his eyes widened in shock. He recognised Varian Malfoy from the Yule Ball the previous year, but the proud man looked nothing like his usual self. He was on his feet in about the same time as Severus and Remus, moving down toward the Malfoy patriarch.
As he approached his grey eyes darkened. He had seen too many fatal injuries in the Auror office not to realise that Varian was dying. He looked over at Severus and saw the same sad realisation on his face as well. Late July had seen the death of Taryen Lestrange; last month Severus had lost his own father Lucien, now November would see the death of Varian Malfoy. He remembered from Severus' conversations with him that the Malfoy patriarch was his godfather and he winced for the loss coming so soon.
Remus had cautiously approached Lucius and was resting a hand on his shoulder as he gazed at the man who was his father-in-law in all but ceremony. His amber eyes were sad and tired as he looked at the old pureblood. Varian had obviously been through a great deal. Varian was speaking with Lucius and he managed to listen in time to hear Varian say,
"… did manage to kill both Alecto Carrow and Fenrir Greyback, though. I don't envy Amycus, he has to tell that bastard I managed to escape the wards."
"You killed Fenrir?" Remus whispered in shock, amber eyes widening. "Varian, I know we never exactly had a chance to get to know each other, but you have my eternal gratitude for that fact."
Varian chuckled roughly. "That creature had it coming."
He squeezed Lucius' hand lightly, eyes fluttering. Lucius let go for just a moment and Varian was able to lift his left hand. Their eyes followed his movements as he slowly, ponderously slid an ornate ring from his second finger. It was made out of platinum and had a cabochon-cut sapphire the size of a newborn's fist inlaid on the top, circled with countless tiny diamonds. The sapphire had the Malfoy crest etched in gold on the otherwise flawless surface.
Lucius' breath hitched slightly. Sirius knew exactly why. Each of the old families had signet rings, the oldest of which belonged to the ruling patriarch of the family. Lucius was the current Lord of his family, but the oldest surviving male of the family had been Varian, so he had been considered the Patriarch of the family. The signet had become his at the death of his predecessor. Once on his hand, it could only be removed when he was beyond any form of medical help.
Thus, by removing the ornate signet Varian had acknowledged himself that he was dying and was passing it on. Varian didn't acknowledge his son's reaction, instead slipping the ornate ring on the corresponding finger of Lucius' left hand. The sapphire flared a dark blue for a moment before settling back to its rich sea-blue colour.
Varian smiled sadly, sapphire eyes gazing deep into his son's silver ones. "Do not grieve over-long for me, Lucius. Take care of Draco, Remus and the new child and let them be you present and future. I go gladly to join my friends and the rest of our family. One last thing, Torian Lestrange was the one to give me the Portkey; he managed to convince the Dark Lord to take a potion of some sort. Considering the Portkey led here, I figured you may want to hear that."
Lucius smiled in sad relief. "It is a Magic-Poison, Father. Do not tell me to not grieve for you, you know I will. You always said I was one of the most emotional members of our family. But I will do as you say and not let the grief linger over-long. Rest peacefully, Father and give my regards to those we have already lost."
Varian smiled and squeezed his son's hand gently. His vivid eyes fluttered shut as he breathed out once more and stilled. Lucius bent his head, eyes shut. There would be a funeral to plan, but for now they stood out in the cool evening air in the garden and watched over their friend as he grieved at the loss of his father.
But even through this loss Sirius could see hope, for Varian's last words had told them of their success. By New Year at the latest the Dark Lord would be dead and they would be that much closer to gaining happiness and prosperity for the magical world. Varian's sacrifice had also brought about the deaths of two of the Dark Lord's most dangerous followers and ensured his grandchildren would live in peace.
A/N: 3500 words! So what did you think? I almost left it off where the page break was, but then I decided Varian deserved to say goodbye at least. It was hard to write and a bit more violent than usual, but we're getting closer to the end. BTW, someone asked me what language Custodis Pondera is in, most of the foreign language is Latin. Review!