Time was a tricky thing in Harry Potter's life. Trapped in the small stone room with no windows, a bright fluorescent light that flickered hung above his head. It was on at all times, illuminating the steel camp bed and bucket, the only things in his cell. Even the large iron door, there was no handle and if he had not seen the masked men close it he would think it was just part of the wall in a slightly more shiny grey color. Time was a tricky thing when Harry lost track of it.
He couldn't rely on his meals to help, sometimes they would be 55 seconds apart... Other times 262,841, he thinks. Maybe, he estimates when he sleeps, numbers become a comfort to him. He thinks that was the longest he'd gone between bowls of what he believed might be milky bread with lumps of uncooked fat. Not like taste is really an issue for him anymore, the sometimes bitter gruel is keeping him healthy, he thinks.
Harry Potter thinks a lot of things as he stares at the light fixture above his head. One time he tore the thin mattress apart, to try and lure a guard into his cell but it was replaced and the old gone in 986 seconds. When he tried it again, the cloth mattress was filled with ginger hairs. He didn't try again.
Another attempt at keeping track of time was marking the walls with his own blood in tally marks. One for every 60 seconds, he managed to make 456 before he fell into a fitful sleep. When he woke his entire room was covered in blood red tally marks, the floor, ceiling, even his little rusty bucket and cot. 84,609 seconds later the marks were gone, like magic.
Magic he no longer felt, he never realized he could until the electric current that ran through his body was gone. He tore three fingernails out trying to remove the metal cuff on his wrist but when he woke next, his fingers were mended along with the bruises on his wrist. He avoided looking at the metal cuff now, not wanting to look at the intricate runes carved deep into it. It would be a very nice piece of jewelry if it didn't steal his soul, dragging him down when he would suddenly remember it was still there and he was still there. In that room.
They couldn't control everything though, Harry Potter took vicious pleasure in knowing that he could still dream. He obviously wasn't in Azkaban, he never felt the draining presence of the dementors. Hardly ever dreamt of his mother's sacrifice. No, he dreamt of brown curls and dusty libraries, sometimes. They were the best dreams, the only dreams that could lift his mood. The rest were nightmares, reliving the day he watched the execution of his oldest comrades and being gifted to the Malfoy family. An official looking wizard slapped the cuff on his wrist and shoved him at Draco Malfoy's feet. His beautiful wife stood at his side, one hand laying protectively on her swollen stomach while the other rested on his arm. He felt sick as she turned to look at her husband with such tenderness.
"Harry! Did you fall asleep?" Hermione's voice shook him from his slumber and he looked around in confusion. They were sitting in a library. But it wasn't the Hogwarts library, it was smaller, cozier. His best friend was looking at him with a disturbed frown, just the way he remembered. Her wild curls had a life of their own, bright honey doe eyes filled with such concern that Harry felt his breath hitch.
"'Mione?" Harry croaked, his throat dry and irritated from never speaking aloud. He looked down to see he was still in his rags but he was clean, always clean. She was looking slightly rumpled in her Oxford shirt and regulation length pleated skirt. Her lips were puffy and he wondered idly how she got that way.
"Yes...are you alright?" Hermione whispered, reaching out to rest her hand on his forehead to feel for a fever. He unconsciously leaned into her touch, closing his eyes. So long since he felt another's touch, even in a dream it never felt so real.
"I miss you." Harry mumbled, leaning in close to her, the gleam of her prefect badge catching his eye.
"We've been here all day!" Hermione laughed, pushing him away with a indelicate snort. She closed her book audibly before shoving the papers into their bag while Harry stared at her with hunger, his hands itching to reach out and touch her.
"No, we haven't Hermione. I'm in prison, Draco Malfoy locked me away. I think I'm going crazy!" Harry whispered urgently as he reached out and grasped her delicate hands in his own. His hands were rough and calloused, the skin dry and cracking on his fingers and she felt like silk.
"Harry, you're being silly. I'm sorry I've kept you away from chess and quidditch but Professor Snape's essay isn't going to write itself." Hermione chided lightly as she pulled her hands from his grip.
"But 'Mione!" Harry cried out as she gracefully stood up, turning her honey eyes to look down at him.
"Well, if it isn't Potty and the mudblood." A silky voice startled the raven haired man and he tried to leap to his feet but found himself stuck to his chair. Draco Malfoy seemed to appear out of nowhere, coming to stand behind Hermione. Before Harry could even react Draco wrapped his arms around the curly haired prefect. His stomach turned as he watched his face morph into a predatory smile as he held her so provocatively, one hand on her hip and the other resting just beneath her breast.
"Malfoy! Le-" Harry's words died in his throat as Hermione neck seemed to open like a zipper right before his eyes. Her brown eyes rolled back in her head as blood flowed heavily from the long gash across her delicate throat, from ear to ear. He tried to move but he was frozen as she sagged against Draco, one of his hands moving up to grab her bloody throat, not to stem the blood flow. It still poured freely through his fingers, looking stark and ugly against his alabaster skin.
"Harry?" A sing song voice made Harry jerk upright, his back stiff and sore. He blinked sluggishly as he looked around his familiar, too bright stone room. He wasn't in a library watching his best friend die, he was in his prison. Slowly, he turned his head to look at the door, his breath catching in his throat.
"'Mione?" Harry rasped, his voice even worse than in his dreams. His tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth as he looked the gorgeous woman from head to toe. She was wearing a beautiful silk silver gown that clung to her curves as she took a step forward and leaned lazily against the wall. It all seemed to familiar, it wouldn't be the first time he had hallucinations in that room.
"You've done so well, Harry!" Hermione cooed, tilting her head to the side with a bright smile making Harry's heart constrict painfully. He wanted to rush to her, fall at her feet and hold her in his arms but his limbs felt like lead. "I found the horcrux, Harry."
"Horcrux?" Harry whimpered, his voice sounding so foreign to him, his throat refused to cooperate with him as it constricted painfully.
"Yes, Harry. You did it, Voldemort is no more. Aren't you happy?" Hermione snickered as a myriad of emotions ayes across his face. She opened her mouth to go on when the steel door creaked open, Draco Malfoy leaned lazily on the doorframe, dressed impeccably in stark black dress robes and looking at the petite woman hungrily.
"Love, we have a party to get to." Draco drawled slowly, his eyes trailing up the length of her body. He looked different then Harry remembered, not all sharp lines and arrogant sneer. The blonde was definitely older than when he last saw him as he was given away, wrapped in a bow.
Hermione lowered her head and looked up at him through her lashes with a sly smile on her face. "Draco, you're no fun." She tittered, flipping her glossy curls over her shoulder. She still looked the same as she did when he last saw her at Dumbledore's funeral, just more.
"We're going to be late, Mother has the children and Teddy won't be happy if we miss this." Draco smirked as he waved his wand, making the glamour ripple away. Harry felt tears well in his eyes as his best friend melted away before his very eyes. The blonde was not satisfied though as he stepped forward and grabbed her by the hair to roughly pull her into a passionate embrace, his eyes focused Harry.
"Teddy?" Harry whispered to himself, unable to take his eyes off the way she melted at his touch, leaning into him so intimately.
"Teddy's eleventh birthday." Maia smirked as she pulled away from her husband, her lips swollen from his bruising kiss. Draco placed a possessive hand on her hip as he guided her towards the exit, she paused and looked at him over her shoulder. "You fulfilled the prophecy. Aren't you happy, Harry? Isn't it everything you dreamed?"
"You know, I really thought you wanted to keep him as a more...interactive pet, love." Draco hummed nonchalantly as they walked slowly through the dungeons. They weren't as full as they once were, with the Order being dead and all. They only had two long term residents, Harry Potter and Lucius Malfoy. She only visited Harry maybe once every two years but she knew Bellatrix and Narcissa visited Lucius fairly often. Narcissa made sure he never lost his mind, no matter how brutal her sister tortured her husband.
"Well, I didn't want him to be worthless before I could extract any important information from him." Maia said defensively, not even sparing a glance at her father-in-law suspended from the ceiling, unconscious. "Not to mention we wouldn't have known about the horcruxes if I just let you attack him all the time. He thinks I'm a hallucination...a hallucination he can tell anything."
"You're so devious. How much longer until he's deemed obsolete? He can't possibly have any more relevant information and even if he did, not like Tom Riddle is going anywhere." Draco smirked maliciously as he idly lowered his hand to cup her backside.
"I'm not even angry with him anymore. I figured a year for each day I was held captive...but I was under the imperius curse so..." Maia tilted her head back and forth, pursing her lips.
"How will you end him?" Draco asked curiously, pausing in the long corridor to make her face him.
"I think Hermione Granger would be the perfect person to do it." Maia shrugged indifferently, pulling on his hand to continue to the ball room. A bright smile bloomed on her face as they opened the large oak double doors, music and laughter washed over them. The room was filled with the elite of wizarding society, all of the Houses were represented as they danced and drank in celebration of Thabit 'Teddy' Black's eleventh birthday.
"Maia!" The blue haired birthday boy rushed forward as gracefully as he could, still so clumsy after hours of etiquette training with his mother and aunt.
"Hello, birthday boy!" Maia smiled widely as she warmly embraced him. Scorpius was walking towards them at a much more sedate pace, holding the hand of his younger sister, Lyra. While Scorpius was like an exact duplicate of his father, her daughter was a perfect example of Black witch as she moved with far more grace than any five year should have.
"Go play children." Draco said gruffly after affectionately kissing his children on the forehead, his eyes trained on his wife. "Father thinks Lyra needs a little brother."
"Eww." Scorpius scrunched his nose in disgust as he watched his parents kiss, his face looking completely scandalized. By the time Draco pulled away from Maia the children were gone and he smirked.
"Shall we say hello to Tom before we do our rounds?" Maia asked breathlessly with her hands resting heavily in his chest.
"Of course, without him none of this would be possible." Draco smirked as he wrapped his arm around her waist and lead her to the large glass case. Inside a black wraith silently slammed himself against the glass pane, it's smokey mouth opened wide. Underneath on a silk cushion, surrounded by blood runes laid Slytherin's locket. The delicate pillow was filled with basilisk venom so if any of his former followers ever had any ideas of resurrection, the last horcrux would be destroyed if the case was ever damaged.
"He'll be there forever, watching over us as we continue to prosper." Maia said smugly as she tapped the glass, making the wraith seethe silently as it visibly vibrated with rage.
"Ahh, hello Malfoys!" Theo said jovially as he walked up behind them, a glass of fire whiskey clutched in his hand. Much like every time they saw him, he always had a drink in his hand. Ever since the death of his wife two years previously, the man found no pleasure in life anymore.
"Hello, Theo. Where are the girls?" Maia asked with a warm smile, expertly hiding the unease and concern she felt for one of their closest friends.
"I'm sure they're hiding in some shrubbery giggling as they stalk your boy." Theo chuckled hollowly, draining his drink. "Paying the muggle lord a visit?"
"Must pay our respects." Draco hummed noncommittally as Theo used his empty glass to tap on the magically reinforced window. The wraith shuddered violently as it silently screamed in rage.
"Is Teddy ready?" Theo asked as they watched the wraith bounce off the walls in its confined space.
"Ofcourse, Bella has been trying to convince us that Scorpius should join the celebration. Teddy kills Nymphadora and our son ends the House Malfoy forever..." Maia shrugged indifferently as she waved to Pansy Parkinson with a cheery smile plastered to her face. It was enough to keep the harpy away from her widowed friend, at least. Her smile turned malicious as Pansy sashayed away, a slight droop to her shoulders.
"I still think it's a fantastic idea, House Black absorbs House Malfoy. Or we can easily give the name over to the ministry for all the bastards they're pumping out." Draco smirked as Theo suddenly jerked to attention.
"It would be helpful, we've got fifty three Gaunts ranging from ages two months to seven years old. Most of them won't be absorbed into other houses, with Bella snatching up all the metamorphmagies no one wants a normal little bastard wizard." Theo grumbled, peaking over to where Bellatrix was surrounded by her dollies, all eight of them.
"Ooh! I think they are going to start soon!" Maia clapped happily as Bellatrix took her oldest, Teddy, by the hand and lead him to the stage where Nymphadora Lupin, née Tonks was suspended from the ceiling by her hands. The years had not been kind to the woman that was used as a veritable brood mare for the wizarding world. Her husband was publicly executed while she was locked away and kept magically sedated. Stress wasn't good for the babies.
"Welcome!" Bellatrix cackled happily, waving her wand to magically amplify her voice. Teddy stood close to her side, sneering at the beaten form of his birth mother in disgust. He was raised with the belief that family was everything and to have been born to a woman who not only kidnapped his favorite cousin, but turned her back on his family made him feel filthy and tainted. Now he would have the chance to wash it away with his real mother by his side. "Today, we celebrate my Teddy's eleventh birthday!"
"Yeah!" Blaise shouted out happily, a little tipsy as he wrapped his arm around his somber wife. She wore her bangs long to cover the shame she sported on her forehead. Ginevra Zabini, née Weasley looked back at her brothers sadly before turning her eyes back to the stage. Fred and George disowned her when they saw the word 'traitor' permanently scarred into her forehead. Charlie disappeared shortly after the downfall of Tom Riddle and Ron...last she heard he tried to escape the breeding house and after he was captured they took the bones from his legs, without magic.
"I know I speak for everyone when I say today would not be possible without the ambition of our favorite Black witch!" Bellatrix cooed, blowing a kiss to Maia who was leaning heavily on her husband with a bright smile. She pulled a familiar dagger from the pocket of her robes and handed it to Teddy who tried to hide his eagerness. "Today, my Teddy becomes a man."
"Thank you, Mother." Teddy said stoically, trying to appear totally indifferent when he was nearly vibrating with excitement. Bellatrix kept a comforting hand on his shoulder as she waved her wand, waking the bound woman.
"Cor..." Nymphadora breathed out heavily as she opened her eyes sluggishly. The first thing she saw was her little boy, staring at her with blazing grey eyes. She recoiled at the disgust she saw in them. She was vaguely aware of her time in the breeding houses, they kept her heavily sedated unless it was time for her to meet with her new partners. A sob escaped her throat as she watched Teddy raise the dagger and with a confidant wave, her face exploded in pain.
"This is the blood you betrayed." Teddy whispered, only his family that now surrounded him could hear the utter loathing that made the words so bitter.
"That's my boy!" Bellatrix cooed, clasping her hands beneath her chin with a watery smile. Teddy's chest puffed out with pride as he brought the knife down, impaling his birth mother in the heart.
"Teddy..." Nymphadora shuddered as her eyes stayed glued on her son's blood splattered face. As she took her last shuddering breath, Teddy pulled the knife from her chest, allowing her blood to flow freely and pool on the stage at their feet. The spectators roared with applause. There were very few public executions after the day the order was purged and watching Teddy Black claim his birth right left them feral. There were notable exceptions to the celebrations, Fred and George Weasley stood in the back of the room, nursing their drinks with cool expressionless masks. Their once twinkling blue eyes were hard as they exchanged a silent glance over their wive's heads.
"Thabit Black!" Bellatrix exclaimed loudly, turning Teddy around to face the crowd. His dazed smile brought on another round of applause. He wiped his cheeks hurriedly, thinking he may have started crying but it was just blood. His brothers and sisters crowded around him, stepping into the pool of blood to offer congratulations.
-0-
"How did it feel?" Scorpius whispered eagerly as he stood with Teddy in a quiet corridor near the dungeon stairs. The party picked up after the spectators lined up to defile Nymphadora's already mutilated corpse. Bellatrix stopped some of the more degenerate drunks from having their pleasure by stringing the now mousy haired woman up like a piñata.
"I can't really describe it...the best part was when she looked at me when I stabbed her in the chest...or when all the blood came rushing out when I pulled it out." Teddy whispered reverently, licking his bottom lip. "When are you going to do Lucius?"
"Dunno." Scorpius mumbled with a pout, his bright eyes trained on the dungeon door where he knew his grandfather was kept. His mother didn't have the same appetite as his Aunt Bella but she let him watch as his grandmother and great aunt spent time with his grandfather. Sometimes his parents would join in, his father more than his mother. He would look on, envious of his father's sure and precise movements.
"Why not now?" Teddy whispered mischievously, rubbing his hands together with a smile so like his mother's. Scorpius looked towards the the ballroom once, his grandmother took the younger children away while the party became more debauched and his father dragged his mother away from the party immediately after Teddy killed Nymphadora. He took a deep breath before looking up at his favorite cousin and nodded his head eagerly as they moved to open the dungeon door.
"It's unlocked..." Scorpius whispered nervously, watching as Teddy bounded down the stairs excitedly. Scorpius followed at a much more sedate pace, glancing nervously behind them as if expecting someone to come rushing after them.
"Half-breed." Lucius sneered as he dangled from hooks suspended from the ceiling, he was naked from the waist up and had numerous scars littering his body.
"Grandfather." Scorpius smirked, trying to hide the nervousness he felt as Teddy just pushed the blonde old man out of his way to the supplies cupboards. Lucius grunted in pain as the hooks deep in his back ripped his freshly healed skin open.
"You're no grandson of mine." Lucius said through gritted teeth, the veins standing out prominently as he clenched his jaw and glared at the little boy who looked so much like his son. "Filthy half blood bastard."
"You'll find that my parents were married when I was born, thank you." Scorpius hissed, squaring his shoulders to try and imitate his father's cool glare. He never understood his grandfather's ramblings of half bloods and mudbloods. He was pure Black, his family said so. On his seventh birthday he was given a choice, keep the Black name like his father before him or take up the name Malfoy. His mother told him it means 'bad faith' in French. It was an easy choice for him, one that didn't need to be officially declared until he came of age.
"You're mother is nothing but a mudblood whore." Lucius spat venomously as he rocked back and forth, the pain in his back spiking with each turn. He gasped in pain as Teddy swiped his side with a familiar silver glove. Four deep gashes opened along his side, exposing his ribs before blood flowed freely though the wound.
"Do not speak of Maia like that." Teddy said coldly as he raised the gauntlet to show Scorpius. It glinted dangerously in the low light of the dungeon. It was too big for Teddy's hand but the magic woven into the metal skeletal structure kept it secure to his wrist.
"He mine!" Scorpius exclaimed, stomping his foot childishly as his lower lip jutted out in a pout. Teddy laughed mirthfully as he took off the gauntlet and handed it to his younger cousin. The blonde took it with shaking hands, excitement and fear made his breath shaky as he pulled the glove over his fingers. He marveled silently how comfortable it felt, even though it was far too large for his hand.
"I'm yours, am I? What will your darling Grandmother think when she finds you down here playing?" Lucius smirked haughtily but his face quickly fell into a grimace as Teddy pushed his fingers into the deep gash on his side. His eyes rolled back as he could feel his nimble fingers attempting to reach between his ribs.
"This is fun!" Teddy cackled, his grey eyes flashing dangerously as his eyes were glued to his fingers disappearing into the man's side. Just as Lucius opened his mouth to scream Scorpius raised his hand and cuffed him soundly in the mouth, tearing the skin from his cheek. The blonde's eyes widened as the strips of skin fell to the floor with a wet smacking sound before Lucius howled in pain.
"What is going on in here?" Maia demanded as she rushing into the room, attempting to straighten her dress and flatten her mussed hair. Scorpius looked to his mother nervously as his father sauntered up behind her, zipping his pants with a satisfied smile. It took him a moment to realize that his mother had brown hair.
"Uh well, I." Teddy stuttered, quickly withdrawing his hand from the wailing man's rib cage. Attempting to hide his bloody hand behind his back innocently.
"Mum...your hair?" Scorpius asked in confusion, eying his mother closely as she flushed and waved her wand, restoring her normal features.
"What are you doing?" Maia demanded, glancing at her husband for support but he only swaggered past her to examine his father. Draco tilted his head to the side as Lucius screamed in pain.
"Very sloppy, Scorpius." Draco drawled lazily as he flicked his wand, silently casting a minor healing spell. "He would have bled out too quickly."
"Are you really critiquing our son after we discussed we would save Lucius for his eleventh birthday?" Maia huffed as she rolled her eyes. Scorpius looked nervously between his parents as they silently communicated through pointed looks. After a long tense moment, Maia's shoulders slumped and his father turned to him with a smug smile.
"I think you're old enough to learn the proper techniques. Don't you, son?" Draco asked with a devious grin. Scorpius looked at his father with wide eyes, seeing something he so longed to see in his father's eyes. Pride.
-0-0-0-
Kinda happy ending?
Not really but that is the epilogue.
I'm writing an alternate ending with Hermione coming back but...God, it bugs me when writers ship characters in the little brackets and they don't end up together. Like drives me bat shit so, it's a little more slow moving than I would like.
I'm marking this as complete.
I hope you enjoyed!