Traitor arc
Draco looked at the entrance of the room of requirement. He needed to work on the Vanishing Cabinet some more. He paced back and forth in front of the doors, repeating softly the mantra he had come to hate.
"I need a place to keep something safe. I need a place to keep something safe. I need a place to keep something safe."
However, the Room wasn't programmed to listen only to words, but also thoughts.
I wish someone understood me. I wish someone wouldn't judge. I wish I could have a friend.
He walked into the room, only to find himself in a forest. It was night, and the overgrowth was turned around, but there wasn't a door behind him. Nervous, he went on his way.
He saw a fire in the distance, and headed towards it. He reached the edge of the clearing where the fire was and looked around.
The fire wasn't really a fire anymore, just glowing embers. The camp was small, with a cast-iron pot near the fire and... Was that chainmail? He didn't have time to look further, thoug, because something sharp and cold pointed against his neck.
"Why are you here?" The voice was cold, and the steel on his neck didn't shift. Draco scrambled for his wand, but the dagger dug deeper, starting to break skin.
"Don't struggle." Draco immediately stood still and protested his innocence.
"I don't even know who you bloody are, much less why I would be looking for you in this blasted forest!"
"Like I'm naïve enough to believe that. Tell Morgana that I found you, like the rest, and will not see her again."
"Who the bloody hell is Morgana?" The knife stilled, and with lightning speed, it switched. The new blade was cold, and had an aura of malice about it.
"I don't want to negotiate with Oberon either! Why can't you people just leave me alone to stew in my miserable traitorous personality?!"
"Look, I have no clue who the bloody hell you are, but you will let me go!" Draco managed to work his wand free and point it at the man. He was wearing a hood and cloak, in dark colors, that made it impossible to see his face. He was heavily muscled, though, and had a huge sword in his hand.
"Sorcerer. Huh, I expected many to try to find me, but Merlin is not one of them."
"Why would Merlin not want to find you?" Draco asked. "Oh, wait, I know- he's the greatest wizard who ever lived and you're just a filthy muggle in the forest."
He kept his wand pointed at the man, who laughed bitterly and lowered his sword. He half fell onto a stump, and gently laid the sword beside him.
"Mate, you seem to be a most confusing mix of court magician and hidden under a rock for the past five years. I thought everyone knew that I killed Arthur." He said this matter-of-factly, as if it was nothing. As if he had not just said that he killed a man.
"Who the hell is Arthur?" Draco asked. He knew that he was far from home, just not how far.
"Who the hell is Arthur?" The figure mocked. "Only the greatest king yet to live, according to Merlin. My da, according to my witch of a mum. A bloody noble and pompous overbearing twat, if you ask me. The people agree with Merlin. The trees agree with me, or at least they don't disagree out loud. The people decided I should be with the trees, and toss me out of any settlement I come across. I'm lucky if I don't get rotten vegetables tossed at me while I'm at it. And you say 'who the hell is Arthur'!?"
"You killed him?" Draco asked. He could see just the tiniest bit of hurt in the man's eyes. He slowly sat down on the ground across from him and lowered his wand. The man looked at him less warily, and nodded once curtly.
"What was it like?" He asked, genuinely curious. He thought of faces he knew, faces that would soon be dead if the Dark Lord had his way. He knew he would have to do what this man had done.
"That's a rather personal question." The man told him.
"My apologies- my name is Draco Malfoy." He watched the man, but he showed no signs of recognizing the name.
"I'm... well, call me Mort, Son of No One, Ap Arthur, Arthur's bane, take your pick. Not like I have much of anyone to talk to here anyway."
"Alright." Draco was still watching 'Mort,' who looked up from scuffling his feet in the dirt.
"Why do you ask that?" He asked, calculatingly.
"I have found myself in a... Situation. My Lord and some people I know are at odds."
"What are their names?"
"They aren't friends. I've just known them for a while. I am expected to be able to kill him."
"... My friend's names are Gaheris and Kay. They were fellow Knights. Gaheris is all right. Kay got on the bad side of my mother's second in command. I saw him carried away but I don't know how he is."
"... Potter's been my nemesis for six years now. Granger's backed him up, she's my main competitor scholastically. Weasley has a legion in the form of family, and he considers Potter a brother. Longbottom isn't too bad, but he'll probably die first. Lovegood constantly has her head in the clouds."
"If you know people, it hurts more." Mort recited the words almost robotically, like they had been drilled into him.
"Who taught you that?"
"My mother. She wanted Arthur's throne. I guess the best way to do it was have an illegitimate son with him and train said son to kill him from birth."
"... She wasn't a Slytherin, was she."
"What's a Slytherin? Is it a witch thing?"
"You could say that."
"Well, my dear old mum is a card-carrying, cauldron-bubbling witch. I'm fairly sure that's why I'm not dead right now. I have no talent with it, though, can only do a couple things." He waved his hand and the fire sprang to life.
"That's wandless magic! How did you do that?" Draco gasped. Mort looked at him levelly.
"I got cold."
"But you said you couldn't really do magic."
"My mum's magic is huge, powerful waves of destruction. She wanted me to kill Arthur with a fire, or water. I had to settle for steel. She made me this sword. Then she sent me to the castle to be one of his knights. She wanted me to stab him while he slept. I managed to convince her to let me face him in open battle."
"Why?" Mort sighed.
"I am already a traitor, kin to Cain and Judas. I didn't want to be a dishonorable traitor too."
"Why did you do it, if you regret it?"
"My mother told me to kill a man I had been raised from birth to hate. She told me it was my duty. She implied that she would love me. I was fifteen and stupid. She gave me a 'strength potion' before the battle- I woke up with a sword through my gut. Very unopleasant feeling. Even more so when you find a dead king on top of you. I ran, she chased me. Apparently, she needs me to be a puppet ruler, because she doesn't have royal blood. I disagree. Here we are, in the middle of bloody nowhere and I'm saying this to someone I met ten minutes ago!"
"Lack of human contact will do that to you." Draco murmured. He remembered some of the Death Eaters who had been freed from Azkaban. Even the ones put in the parts of the island without Dementors were not right in the head because of the solitude.
"Huh. Here I was thinking that I was driving myself insane."
"And you do regret it?"
"Every day. The best advice I have to give you is choose your side carefully and never betray it."
"How do I choose the best side?"
"How do they treat you?"
"Well, my enemies don't hurt me near as much as my Lord..."
"There you have it. I see a door behind you, you probably have to go."
"You want to come with?"
"And be stuck in the middle of a mass of wizards who look down upon me because I can't perform magic? No thanks, I'll stay here. I saw how you looked at me."
"Alright. I'll try to find you when the war is done."
"It's not like I'll be anywhere else!"
Draco turned and saw that there was indeed a door behind him. He went through and found himself where he left. Shaking himself off, he went on his way.
...
He stood outside of the Griffindor Portrait and knocked. Weasely opened it, and immediatly pointed his wand at him. He held his hands up,
"I don't suppose you could arrange something like asylum, would you?" He asked. Weasely called his friends, and after a short conference, invited him in.
"We are willing to make a deal. Safety, for information."
"Glad to help. There's a broken vanishing cabinet in the Room of Hidden Things..."
...
Several months later, Malfoy Manor, Secret Floo Room
"Potter, if this is a wild goose chase, I will murder you!" Malfoy muttered. Over the floo, he heard his reply.
"It's not like you're not related to Bella. You're probably the closest blood relative that is unconvinced of aiding Voldemort. Think of it this way: we aren't asking you to break in, just asking the goblins to let you collect an old debt in the form of an artifact."
"Still, it better work!"
...
Later, At the battle of Hogwarts
"Ginny, take everyone and protect the castle. Malfoy, you're with me- you know how the inner circle fights. If you see your mother, stun her and levitate her into the castle. No cursing her while she is unconscious. If anyone finds Snape, he should be treated the same way- he's the Order's spy like Malfoy is ours."
The army yelled assent and charged into battle.
...
Ten years later, King's Cross
Draco saw Potter's family across the station, and pointed Scorpius to them. The boy shot off, saying his goodbyes over his shoulder. Draco followed at a more sedate pace, with his wife behind him. Potter was comforting his youngest, so he waited a bit before talking to him. All was well.
...
Somewhere in a dark forest, a hermit smiled.
...
Goodness gracious, that was a long one. Reviews are appreciated- can you guess who Mort is?
Thank you for reading!