Chapter 10: Dungeons and Divorces

Draco could not stop laughing. He'd just overheard Lavender and Parvati talking about the homework they'd received from Lockhart; a poem about Lockhart's defeat of a werewolf, whose existence was somewhat questionable in the first place. Harry was looking amused, both at the situation their poor classmates found themselves in, and at the fact that by this time, Draco's laughter had turned silent, with the occasional noisy inhale, causing Draco to resemble a retarded seal. His rolling on the floor and the frequent clapping of his hands did not help matters. Then again, Harry was glad that Draco was able to enjoy himself to this extent, when Harry knew how stressed he was. He had nightmares more nights than not, and Harry was the only one who could wake him up and calm him down, and the only way Draco seemed to be able to fall asleep again was if he was in Harry's bed. Draco never talked about what they contained, but it didn't take a genius to figure out they had something to do with his father.

In fact, Draco's worry was most likely centred around the plan the old and new Marauders had come up with together in order to free Narcissa from Lucius' tyranny. In two days, the first Quidditch match of the season would take place—Slytherin versus Gryffindor—and all of the members of the Board of Governors would be attending, as was custom. However, Narcissa had packed as much as she could without tipping her husband off, and then, with Sirius' aid, would get her marriage annulled.

Now, finally, the day had arrived, and Harry was currently trying to coax Draco with a bite of buttered toast. Just as he'd convinced Draco to open his mouth—

"But what if Father decides to leave in the middle of the game?"

Harry sighed silently. "Luna and Nev are standing by with the mirror. You know this, Dray, I've told you five times today alone. Please, for my sanity as well as yours, relax."

Draco slumped dejectedly. "Sorry Harry, I just… I can't stop thinking about all the things that could go wrong, and I know I'm being as paranoid as what Sirius says Mad-Eye Moody is, but she's my mother, my mum, and I just want her to be safe."

From Draco's other side, Neville spoke, "We understand, Draco, but we're kids, and okay, we may have been the ones to suggest the Quidditch match as the time to get everything done, but it won't do you any good to worry."

Just then, a regal-looking eagle owl landed in front of Draco, bearing a letter. Just as he was about to open it, a dark shadow fell over the three of them.

"Mr Black and… companions, I suggest you come with me at once, and explain yourselves."

They gulped nervously; when Snape was using that voice, the common reaction was to sink lower into one's chair and regret any and every wrongdoing they'd ever committed. All three were confused, though. Their last prank, one of covering popular hang-out spots in invisible tar, had been over two weeks ago, and it had been Snape himself who had offered the idea to them (well, he hadn't actually offered… it was more like he'd been ranting about the tar-like thickness of Crabbe and Goyle's Forgetfulness Potion, and suggesting they use it to stick themselves to chairs in the library so they would study properly… and the idea was born).

When they got down to Snape's office, he turned to face them, cloak swirling. "All right, I believe we are safe now. Draco, you can open the letter from your mother now."

Neville exhaled shakily, and Severus smirked, knowing exactly why he'd been so nervous.

Draco opened it gingerly.

My dearest Dragon,

I have written to you today, because I know full well that you're worrying yourself immensely. I promise, all will be well, and I shall see you again over the Christmas Holidays — this time, for the duration of the break, not just one measly afternoon.

It would be unwise to inform you of exactly where I will be staying until then, but rest assured, I will be safe.

Good luck in the game today,

Your Mother

*Narcissa's POV*

Narcissa was pacing anxiously in the music room when she felt the wards go off. Straightening up her robes, she made her way down twelve hallways and three flights of stairs, each more grand than the next, and finally entered the Entrance Hall. She motioned for the grand doors to open and allow her cousin in.

Sirius raised his eyebrows until they were almost at his hairline and whistled appreciatively. "This is some place, Cissy."

She snorted in an unladylike fashion. "It may be fancy, Sirius, but it's cold. Now, come and help me finish packing? I'm just about finished with the music room."

Her cousin grinned good-naturedly with a dash of cheekiness, and motioned for her to lead the way. Half an hour later, all the instruments had been shrunk, the books packed, they'd collected the essentials (i.e. paperwork) from her office, and had packed all of her many robes and other outfits, as well as her jewellery. They were ready. Sirius checked in with Luna and Neville, who told him the score was sixty to zero to Slytherin, due to the combined factors of heavy rain and the superior Nimbus Two Thousand and One brooms the whole team had.

"Is Dora doing okay as me?" asked Sirius worriedly, and Neville simply turned the mirror so they could make out what looked like Sirius wearing all red and gold, and screaming himself hoarse for Gryffindor. Narcissa laughed out loud. "You look like you're having fun, Sirius."

Sirius agreed, and ushered her out the front doors and past the wards, then Apparated her straight to her eldest sister's house, luggage in tow. The door burst open, and Andromeda came barrelling into her, sobbing in her ear. "Oh, Cissa, I was afraid you wouldn't make it! Did everything go oday? How are you feeling?"

Narcissa smiled tremulously as she was let go. "I'm fine, Andi. All this stuff is mine, and Sirius and I still need to get to Gringotts and speak with Urzog."

Andromeda exhaled shakily. "Right. Well, do that, then, and Ted and I will get all this inside."

Sirius nodded and drew Narcissa to him again, then Apparated away. They popped into existence on the bottom step of Gringotts and rushed inside as quick as they were able. They were ushered into Urzog's office and the goblin cleared his throat. "All went well, Lord Black?" he asked gruffly.

Sirius nodded, and said, "As Lord of the House of Black, I wish to annul my cousin Narcissa's wedding to Lord Lucius Malfoy. While you're at it, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to dissolve Bellatrix's marriage, then fully disown her? She did, after all, have a Horcrux in her vault, and doing that would be a just punishment."

Urzog grinned—or grimaced, it was hard to tell—and opened a drawer, taking out the relevant paperwork. "Sign here, here, and here, Lord Black."

When that was done, two of the three forms glowed gold and disappeared. Urzog turned to Narcissa. "Madam Black, please sign here in this sub-clause, to signify that you are doing this of your own volition, and here, to prevent all contact, magical, owl, verbal, or otherwise between your son, whom you now have full custody of, and your ex-husband."

This form, she signed without pause, and when that was done and it had turned golden and disappeared too, the two Blacks left Gringotts and went back to Andromeda's. Just as they were about to make their way inside, Sirius was called on the mirror. "Sirius!" exclaimed Neville. "Harry got his arm broken by a bludger! He's in the Hospital Wing right now. Oh, but he caught the Snitch, so Gryffindor won!"

*Sirius' POV*

Sirius' mind was a combination of the thoughts Oh bollocks, and Well done, Harry, as he checked Narcissa was okay and Apparated to Hogwarts. Upon his arrival in the Hospital Wing, he almost crashed into Harry and his friends as they made their way out. "Whoa, slow down there, Padfoot!" exclaimed Harry.

"Harry! You're okay? Not in any pain?" he asked hurriedly.

Harry smiled lopsidedly. "Perfectly fine. It took about a second for Madam Pomfrey to fix my arm, and she gave me some Pain-Relieving Potion."

Sirius' eyes went wide. "The last time we gave you that, it was the commercially brewed one, and you ended up singing happily about turtle-shaped clouds bringing the end of the world."

Harry's smile got wider. Sirius gulped. "Oh, Merlin, she gave you that one, didn't she? What's the point of having the youngest Potions Master in three centuries if he can't brew it without valerian root?" He sighed. "Come on, kids, let's see what Severus has to say for himself."

They ventured down to the dungeons, Harry starting to hum along the way, and Sirius desperately knocked on Severus' door. "What?" the dour man snarled when he opened the door, then his sneer fell away from his face as he took in Sirius' desperate expression, and Draco's slightly bemused expression as he held onto a dopey-smiled Harry. He vaguely noticed that the Weasley twins, Hermione, Neville, and Luna looked just as bemused as Draco did.

He raised an eyebrow. "Sirius. What, may I ask, is going on?"

"Harry's overly sensitive to the valerian root's inebriative effects in commercial Pain-Relieving Potion, and for some reason, Poppy saw fit to give some of that to him, even though that's in his file. Do you have anything for it?"

Severus furrowed his eyebrows. "I just gave her two new batches of that; one with, and one without valerian root. You'd be surprised how many people are sensitive to it in the same way." He sighed and stepped away from the door. "Okay, you might as well all come in."

The group made their way inside and sat down on assorted seats in Severus' sitting room as he set up a quick decoction, then handed it to Harry. Harry sniffed the drink he'd been given and wrinkled his nose at the smell. "What is this?"

"Bay leaf," explained Severus simply. "It counteracts the effects of valerian if you're sensitive to it. Drink."

Harry gave a huge sigh, as if especially put-upon, but gulped the drink down in one, gagging slightly when it was gone. Then, slowly, Sirius was glad to see full cognition returning to his godson's face, and the knot that had been in Sirius' gut since he'd heard Harry had been hurt started to unravel.

*Lucius' POV*

Lucius stormed into Malfoy Manor, looking for the cause of his current problem. True, he'd previously felt somewhat of a loss in the Family Magics when he'd disowned his former son, but it was nothing compared to this. The full amount of those Magics were now pressing down on him, which was never meant to happen. There should never simply be only one member of a House alive, especially if they were the Lord of that House, and they'd previously had other members to ease the load. He sneered in distaste as he entered the music room, which was, for some unknown reason, his wife's favourite room. However, his sneer fell away when he noticed she was nowhere to be seen. Confused, he made his way into her bedroom (he refused to share a room with her, since she was only there to provide him with an heir and to hold some of the burden of the Family Magics), and found she wasn't there either.

The only other place he could think to find her was in the gardens, but he didn't want to go traipsing through multiple gardens to try to find the one that interested his wife most today, so he summoned an elf. "Where is my wife?" he demanded.

The house-elf gulped, and stuttered out, "M-master has no wife… sh-she left not long after Master left for Hogwarts, and the elves all felt her cut the cord."

Lucius saw red. He yelled and screamed at the useless little bat-eared thing, which was hitting itself with a closed fist for disappointing its Master, and when he eventually stopped, it suddenly occurred to him how bad this would look. He'd made sure to spread the news that his heir had betrayed his family, without giving specific examples… but now, his wife, whom if he remembered correctly, had supported her son, had fled him and somehow managed to divorce him without going through the courts and lawyers. This would come to the public's attention soon, and he couldn't lie and say that he'd been the one to divorce her, because any hungry reporter could easily find the annullment paperwork in the Ministry's archives. Besides, he hadn't heard any news that his little scheme had worked. Perhaps the little blood-traitor bint wasn't as susceptible to the Mind Arts as he'd thought?

What was he going to do?

*Harry's POV*

Harry and his friends said farewell to Sirius (After he'd promised dozens of times that Narcissa was okay and separated from Lucius), and made their way to the Gryffindor common room, where they were met by a frantic Ginny. "You guys! Colin went to see if he could remember the way to the kitchens that you'd shown him two weeks ago to get some food for the party, and McGonagall came in ten minutes ago and said that Colin had been found Petrified!"