Chap. 5: At the Great Hall

A sudden jolt at her side brought Hermione back from the blissful state she was in. She felt a warmth rise in her cheeks as she realized how entangled she was with Ron. She tried to take a step back but Ron's arms encasing her body would not let her go.

"Ron. Hermione!!!" A familiar sounding male voice spoke somewhere near her shoulder.

"Doing good for yourself." The same voice added with a hint of amusement. Hermione felt the colour rise higher in her cheeks but Ron seemed oblivious of everything.

"Commendable Mr. Weasley that's the way to go." Hermione could hear the laughter in the voice as she tried to detangle herself from Ron's grip. A wolf whistle rang past her ears. There was no other way, and though she hated it, she stamped on Ron's foot. "Ouch," he screamed and let her go. Laughter filled her ears. Furious she turned towards the man, ready to hex him to oblivion….and the words died on her lips. She could only goggle. A gasp at her side told her that Ron too was having difficulties in forming words. Speechlessly, the two of them looked at the laughing face of Sirius Black.

"So Ron you have certainly learnt some skills in all these years." Ron's face went a shade to rival his hair. "And you Hermione excellent use of both the mouth and the foot." Hermione could only stare back in reply. Then moving forward Sirius opened his arms wide and held them in an embrace. "Never thought I'll be able to see you again." Along with the laughter, Hermione could hear the tears in his voice. Her arms too moved and she too hugged him back tightly. After a few moments, Sirius took a step back and asked, "And is my godson too similarly preoccupied?" "No," Hermione finally found her voice, "he is with his parents." She yelped both in pain and surprise as Sirius clutched at her arm.

"Parents. Where? WHERE?"

"There," she gestured. Two dark heads and a red one.

For a moment or two, Sirius remained rooted to the spot, his fingers digging into her arms that it was all that she could do not to cry out. Then with a cry he bounced towards them. "Pro….Prongs….James….JAMES….PRONGS….JAMES."

"PADFOOT…SIRIUS….SWEET MERLIN," James looked up and the next moment he had pulled away from Lily and Harry and was hugging Sirius.

Hermione looked up at Ron, laughing and crying at the same time. Ron however seemed embarrassed, "Mione...I….I do not know what took over me…I…"

"Ron, it is alright. Truth to tell I quite enjoyed it. Now I know why Lavender used to look so delighted."

Ron became redden still, "Mione I have told you all that was a mistake …I…"

"Prat. I was simply joking."

"You joking! Will wonders never cease."

"You want them to cease?" She whispered softly as she glanced at where four figures now were entwined in each others arms.

Ron took her hand in his. "You know why I came calling for you and Harry. I wanted you to meet my uncles, Gideon and Fabian Prewett. They had died during the last war. You should have seen the way mom was when she saw them," Ron gulped, apparently unable to go on.

She squeezed his hand. "I want to meet them Ron."

The boundless, fathomless sky seemed to stretch on all sides of him. The Dark Lord's reward to him for having killed Dumbledore.

"What you have done is commendable and will be rewarded suitably."

"My Lord, I am but your humble servant. If I have pleased you, that is reward enough for me," he bowed low, the words oily slipping off his tongue.

"Appreciable sentiments, Severus. Sometimes I feel you are the only follower that I have of any worth."

He could feel the tension rise in the room. Envy seemed to emanate from the other Death Eaters. Two eyes seemed to drilling holes in his back. Bellatrix, he thought grimly.

"Come with me," Voldemort said, leading him outside. He watched as Voldemort suddenly threw his arms upwards as though he wanted to devour the sky and then his body rose upwards and suddenly he was no longer standing beside him but floating in the air. It took all of Snape's finely honed skills at concealing his emotions not to gasp.

Then Voldemort floated down. "And this is what I am going to teach you. Let it never be said that Voldemort does not treat his followers fairly."

"My lord," he said dropping to the ground, overwhelmed.

"Yes Severus," Voldemort's voice was deep, "the boundaries of magic are constantly to be expanded. We have to retrieve all our old arts and skills that have been lost because of muggle persecution."

He closed his eyes and willed himself not to hear the hypnotic timbre of Voldemort's voice. The voice, espousing such promising and grand ideas, that had seduced him all those years ago.

Borne in the air now, he could still feel the pull of it, as the wind rushed past him, ruffling his hair, tickling his body, pressing on his lips….

Draco rushed inside the hall searching for his parents. He should not have left them like this but he had panicked badly at seeing Dumbledore. All he had thought of was running away. "That's not unusual is it? At the first instance of trouble, all you do is the show your back and run away." The voice like a whiplash made him stumble. Who had spoken? He looked round wildly. His eyes widened: Aunt Bella stood only a little distance away from him. His throat went dry and he took a tentative step back. Aunt Bella could be very unpredictable; she might even curse him on sight. And he had no wish to be cursed by her. He shuddered, Granger's screams reverberated in his ears.

"And you of course did nothing, you just stood over there watching her writhe while you wet your pants." The voice was back.

"I did not," he flushed.

"That doesn't make you any less of a coward."

He looked round once again. Who was it speaking to him? Again his eyes landed on Aunt Bella. But something wasn't right. Aunt Bella held a small infant in her arms and then things happened very fast. A young woman, with bubble pink hair, came rushing through the crowd, virtually snatched the baby from the arms of aunt Bella and began to smother him with kisses. Behind the woman came two men, Draco recognized Professor Lupin but the other man was unknown to him. Professor Lupin cuddled the young woman and the baby, the older woman (aunt Bella?) hugged the other man. Tears were flowing freely from their eyes and they were making incoherent sounds.

The Dark Lord's voice rose in his ears, "Will you take care of the cubs, Draco?" No, it was not Aunt Bella but his mother's other sister, the one who had married a muggle-born. It was strange, Draco mused that he had no idea about all these people. Even Aunt Bella and Uncle Rodolphus Lestrange had burst one day in his life, just like that:

"Bella and Rodolph this is Draco, and Draco these are your aunt and uncle, Bella and Rodolphus Lestrange." His mother's voice came back to him.

So this was aunt Bella, he thought as he dropped a small curtsey. She did not look as she did in the photograph, the one on his mother's table: two women, his mother with her hair streaming down picking on flowers while the other one, her dark hair flowing round her face sat on the grass and talked to her. Sometimes the two figures would clasp hands. He liked to look at the photo because his mother looked so carefree in it. Sometimes his mother's eyes turned damp while looking at the photo. At those times, he would politely excuse himself and leave the room. But the woman in front of him was not the beautiful, confident one in the photo. She and her husband both had a white, chalky colour, and bags under their eyes. She moved forward and said in that raspy voice of hers, one that Draco would become so familiar with, in the days to come, "The last time I saw you, you were a little baby in the crib." And then without missing a heartbeat , she asked, "So young man, how much of dark magic do you know?"

He wondered whether his other aunt, now standing so near to him, had any inkling about him. Had she seen him when he was a baby? Perhaps as old as the one they were holding now: the werewolf's son, the cub. Gorge rose in his throat. How could the pink-haired woman, apparently his own cousin, marry that mangy, moth-eaten werewolf? Merlin, the wolf was slobbering all over his baby. No way was he related to these people. With a shudder, he started his search for his parents again.

Lucius thought that he would go mad. Where the hell had Draco disappeared? One moment he was with them, the other moment he had disappeared. Had something happened to him? He fought down his panic, it would not do to lose control now. They all ought to disapparate to the manor now. The Dark Lord had risen again along with his followers and no way was he going to forgive Narcissa her betrayal. He looked at his wife who too was searching frantically for Draco.

"Cissy," he whispered, and saw her eyes widen slightly, it was very rarely that he called her this in front of others. "Cissy," he began again, "you disapparate to the manor and get ready to leave, I'll follow as soon as I find Draco. We have to leave this country."

She looked at him and he saw the fatigue in her eyes. "I am not leaving without the two of you. We will leave together."

"Cissy why don't you understand?" his voice had risen.

"No Lucius," in contrast her voice had gone soft, as she turned to look at him, "you try to understand. You know what Draco and I suffered when you were in Azkaban? Every second of the day, I thought about you chained and fettered, surrounded by those dementors. I could not sleep, could not eat, could not do anything, felt so helpless. I would look at the Bella, the insanity in her eyes and wonder whether Azkaban was doing the same to you, fear that when I met you , you would be a stranger to me…and then I could not breathe, all I wanted was to be near to you, hold you so as not to lose you…." She choked, unable to go on.

He looked at her nonplused, one part of him wanted to hold her tight, to assure her….

"I cannot bear to be away from you Lucius. Whatever happens, I will not leave you," she said after a while more to herself than to him as he still stood fixed. Oh how he wanted to take her in his arms, wipe those tears off her face, smother her with kisses…but this was a public place, these gestures, these emotions, these feelings were to be displayed in privacy. A feeling of helplessness stole over him, Salazar he could not even console his wife, could not even tell her how much he loved her, appreciated her… to his horror he found that his eyes were becoming wet. He blinked once, twice…

"Cissy…Cissy…Narcissa…"A voice, hesitant, faltering, doubtful.

Narcissa quickly wiped the tears of her cheeks as she turned towards the speaker…her eyes opened wide, the words formed and reformed in her mouth…and then she could not control herself as she threw herself against the dark-haired man, tremulously smiling at her: "Reggie, Reg..oh Reggie."

Lucius looked on as her cousin hugged her back. He wished that it came easily to him too, the throwing off of restrains, making spontaneous gestures. It was the Black blood in her veins that made Cissy impulsive, being a Malfoy meant control and restrain and…

"Lucius?" There was a question in Black's voice and this revealed to him what a sight he presented to others. The always immaculately dressed Lucius Malfoy was right now dressed in robes that were more like rags, his cheeks unshaven, his hair uncombed, his eyes puffed. He who always stood ramrod straight, now seemed to be skulking. Salazar help him.

"Regulus Black," he nodded and extended his hand.

"Lucius," the other one had taken a step forward as if about to hug him. Instinctively, Lucius took a step back. Black stopped, nodded as if in understanding, and took his outstretched hand.

"I..I cannot believe it," Narcissa voice was shaking, the tears were back in her eyes, "We searched everywhere for you, where had you disappeared? Merlin do you know aunt went simply crazy …and uncle so heart-broken…."As if to reassure herself that it was not a figment of her imagination, she hugged him once again.

"Father, mother, are they…?" Black asked hesitantly.

"I am sorry but they are dead," it was Lucius who answered since Narcissa seemed incapable of speech. Black's shoulders sagged. For a minute or two there was silence and then Narcissa spoke, her voice trembling, "But if …you can come back…then perhaps they too…."

"Cissy," he had to speak, "Dumbledore said that those who died unnatural deaths."

Narcissa looked at him then at Black who mumbled, "What is happening? I simply cannot make any sense of it. Will you please explain."

She took hold of his arm, "Reggie I do not understand it myself…but I'll try to explain…and I think we need to sit down." Turning towards Lucius, she added, "Find Draco, I'll be here." Lucius nodded and moved on. Where the hell was the boy? Had something happened to him. Salazar.

The Dark Lord had turned out to be a surprisingly good teacher and he himself was a quick learner. In a few days he had learnt the art of flying and a couple of weeks later, he had mastered it. What a heady feeling it was when he had flown for the first time. Riding on the winds, seeing the ground from afar and the clouds so near. Was this the feeling that Deadalus also felt when he rose towards the sky? Afloat, for some moments he had been able to forget his life, the burden of being a spy, the hatred of others, his miserable existence, his father's words, Dumbledore's order that had ripped his soul apart, Lily's contempt, the constant humiliation at the hands of Potter and Black …and now they were back, with a jolt he was back in the present….and shivering. He had to get away. There was no way out. Putting every ounce of energy he flew towards his home…

Somebody pulled at him so sharply that Draco almost screamed. He looked up. "Father," he whispered.

"Where were you Draco?" Lucius wanted to shake him. "Your mother and I were frantic with worry."

"I…,"Draco began. He wanted to tell everything: his panic at seeing Dumbledore, Professor Snape's erratic behaviour, the headmaster's chamber, the werewolf slobbering over his cub…he threw his arms round his father.

Lucius gasped and pulled out, "Draco what is the matter?" Draco's chest tightened and something prickled in his eyes. He shook his head. Lucius shook him by the shoulders, "Draco look up and answer me."

"Nothing father," he mumbled looking up.

"Draco what is in your hand? Whose wand are you carrying?"

"It is my own father. It simply mesmerized in front of me."

"But how can this be Draco? Your wand was taken by Potter, it was the one used by Potter to …"

"But father," he could not keep the excitement out of his voice, "you have got yours back too."

"What?"

"Yes see," he said taking out a wand which was sticking out of Lucius' robe, "didn't you notice?"

Lucius took it from his hand and felt it with a shaky hand as though not quite believing. "I put it in my pocket but did not notice."

Draco looked at his father. The tight feeling in his chest disappeared. He knew what it was to be a wizard without a wand. He knew how humiliated his father had been after he lost his wand, the kind of ridicule that he had faced. And yet now he had been so worried about him that he hadn't even registered the fact that his wand had been returned at him. Impulsively, he threw his arms around him once again and felt his father stiffen again but this time he was not letting go. After sometime he felt somebody ruffle his hair, "My Dragon." And Draco did not blink back the tears any longer.

A hush fell over the hall. It was as if everybody was holding his breath. A silence so thick you could cut it with a knife. Startled eyes looked at the scene unfolding in front of them. Voldemort had walked over to where Dumbledore as standing. The two wizards faced one other as all the voices died in their throats. People had pulled out of hugs and embraces and now stood immobile. Slowly Voldemort kneeled in front of Dumbledore and placed his wand at the other's feet…

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I am indebted not only to J.K. Rowling but also to the numerous fanfiction writers.

The next update will take some time as I have an engagement and a wedding in my family.