Price of Peace

Chapter Thirteen

Unstable

Malfoy Manor

Three AM

He hadn't slept in days. He had been busy, in search of a possible way to have hidden them without their death. No one believed that theory anymore aside from him. Apparently, the School Governors were planning to vote to have Draco's name removed from the enrollment in the next couple of days. This was unacceptable. Once he regained his son the boy would need to attend school.

The problem, as he saw it, was that Severus Snape had failed to resurface in weeks either. He had attempted to send an owl to Snape. A ruse, asking if the man had heard from his wife in an attempt to draw them out. The owl had returned with the letter still attached to its leg. He had been so angry that the Owl and the House Elf had both hidden from him the rest of the day. Which was disappointing when he had went in search of his dinner.

Now, however, he was searching through every book he could get a hold of that may have an answer to his situation. So far, none had offered him much in the way of valuable input. Several books had met the fireplace for agreeing with the Ministries assessment. One had offered the additional suggestion that somehow the child's magic had been bound and he hidden among Muggles. Lucius had set that idea aside to look into again.

The situation was, in his opinion, growing dire. He had less than a week before those idiots down at the Ministry officially declared his son dead. At which time there was a very likely chance they would arrest him for the boy's murder, as well as his wife. Possibly Snape's as well since someone finally noticed he was missing as well. He would not allow himself to be captured and imprisoned.

With this in mind, Lucius had continued his frantic research, as the house elf occasionally brought him food and timidly suggested once that he take a nap. Lucius' tantrum at the suggestion ensured she would not repeat the suggestion anytime soon. She then began avoiding him altogether. This did not improve his mood, since he had yelled for her twice before she brought him his tea.

Really, it was a pain that Narcissa had released his other elves. They had been well trained and used to his temper. The new one had no training as far as he could tell. She barely knew to leave the mess until he ordered her otherwise…or he forgot, and she should tidy up. Really, he had nearly trod on a splinter of glass thanks to her not clearing up.

Yaxley, Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle had all been by the last couple of days to try to have a conversation with the man, but none had made any headway. Unofficially, they had decided to consider Yaxley their leader until either Malfoy recovered or the Dark Lord could be found. Nott had suggested that the search may be as pointless as Lucius' search for his son. After all, the theories came from the same man.

Lucius was seemingly unaware of any of this outside of his occasional irritation with the house elf. He currently sat on the floor in the center of his study floor as he once again began reading through books in search of a possible answer aside from the boy's death. He was masked somehow. He had to be. Lucius could accept no other answer.

Eight AM

He had finished the last book, now curling in the bright flames of the fire, less than ten minutes ago before returning his attention to the one book that might have answers. It suggested several possible scenarios as to why the boy's Trace would have severed or been masked.

The most likely suggestion had been the child's power had been bound and hidden among the muggles. He had his doubts at this suggestion. It required his wife either abandoned their son or had forsaken her magic altogether. He HAD read that should a magic user avoid all magic use in proximity to the child, the child's Trace would not be triggered. It seemed unbelievable that she would leave the boy or give up magic.

The second most likely suggestion was that the child was dead. He rejected this just as quickly. He knew the Ministry seemed to have decided this was what had happened, but he couldn't imagine Narcissa killing their child anymore than her sending him away from herself. Additionally, he doubted that Narcissa had died. Though she had visited her sister's vault with Severus the day they disappeared, and he had heard they both were acting strangely… no, it was impossible.

The third, and least likely, suggestion was the child was being hidden under a cloaking spell. The spell would have to be very strong according to the book. They would also be confined to the area of the spell. Lucius found this to be the most plausible solution. He was convinced his wife and former friend must be holed up somewhere with his son. Trapped inside the house, and likely getting stir crazy.

It was obvious to him what had happened. Severus and Narcissa had decided to run off together and drug his son along selfishly. He wondered how long this had been going on, since their shared time in that basement? Since school? How long had she been betraying them? He wondered briefly if they had actually ever been kidnapped before remembering that horrid woman's threats. He assumed the Severus was acting as Secret Keeper, had it been Narcissa the area would have lit up on Draco as it was case unless it was done before he arrived.

Regardless, he was on his own in seeking answers. He was going to have to bide his time, lay low, let her think he believed them dead. Then, once she poked her head out of whatever hole she had hidden herself, she would be. Then he would bring his son home, and all would be well once again.

Amestris

Snape's Cottage

The country was celebrating the birth of the Fuhrer's youngest child and first daughter. Severus had seen the child the day before when he had arrived at the mansion to teach the boys their history lesson. He had also agreed that taking the rest of the month off would not harm the boys education before spending a couple of hours visiting the family.

Today his calendar was completely cleared, and he intended to spend the day with Cissy and Draco. He hadn't been in contact with anyone in England lately which made him a bit nervous with the looming threat still lingering upon them. It didn't matter if there had been one missing piece or a dozen, as long as a bit of it was, he could return.

The biggest hurdle now was that he had the advantage as long as he and the Malfoys remained in the protection along with Yuery because as far as the Ministry was concerned, they had all but been declared dead. At least that was what he had learned from Remus, who had heard from Shacklebolt and Weasley. Not wanting to lose the unexpected advantage had its downfalls. He was now confined to receiving information from secondary sources, as well as being unable to help Lupin in his attempts to speak to Black again.

It was decided by Lupin and Snape that somewhere among Black's possessions or properties laid one of the two remaining Horcruxes that they assumed were still out there. So, they needed Black's assistance now that it had been established, he had not been involved in the Potters death. Unable to be involved himself, and wishing the situation resolved before the owls began arriving for Draco and Yuery's year, Severus had reluctantly involved Arthur and Kingsley in getting an additional meeting with Sirius for Remus.

Unfortunately, Azkaban was refusing visitors for any of the prisoners at the moment thanks to the Dementors concern over an attempted escape. The idea that an unnamed Death Eater had nearly managed to get away chilled Severus. He knew some of the prisoners involved in the Death Eaters and the idea of them back out in the public was entirely horrifying.

Severus was frowning as he sat at his desk, reading the message once again, when Draco came into his study. The boy stood silently in the doorway, as if uncertain he should bother Severus when the man noticed him. He waited another minute to see if the boy was going to say anything before, he looked up and smiled with an effort to remove the scowl he knew marred his expression. "Are you alright Draco?"

"Yes. I was wondering, if I am not interrupting, if perhaps you would join Mother and me while we go to the market?" Draco asked in an almost shy tone. The boy only used that tone when he interrupted Severus in his Study. Severus couldn't help but wonder if his father had mistreated the boy for interrupting. He pushed this thought away as well, not wanting to give the boy any further reason to be nervous and surely an angry expression would do just that.

"Certainly.: Severus said as he rose, he could use a break anyway, before he frowned at a thought. "People are not harassing the pair of you again, are they?" Severus asked as he walked the boy out of his study and toward the living room.

"No, not at all." Draco smiled. "I just was hoping- that is to say, I know you are rather busy however we were hoping that you might have some time today. If you are busy, we will be fine on our own."

"Draco, I always try to have time for you." Severus said, feeling guilty over being unintentionally distant recently. He knew the boy and his mother were recovering from a difficult, abusive, situation. It was unlikely either would outright complain if they were feeling mistreated. He had agreed to help them. This was one of his closest friends and his godson, he needed to try harder to be more open.

"It is alright. You are a very important and busy person; you do not have much free time." Draco said.

"That is no excuse." Severus shook his head. "I am trying to adjust, so should you feel I am not paying attention, I want you or your mother to remind me I am not here alone anymore, alright?"

"…I shall try." Draco chewed his lip with a slight frown. On one hand, his godfather had always been a patient man with him. On the other hand, father used to say things like this when he was trying to make mother happy, but then he would yell should Draco actually interrupt. Severus, as usual seemed to read his mind though, because he smiled down at the boy and assured him that he meant it.

Narcissa was waiting by the door, searching through her purse to assure herself that she had both the list and her wallet. When she saw Severus join them, she smiled slightly before leading the way out of the door. Draco skipped ahead, happy to be out for the afternoon with his mother and godfather. He leads the way down the path to the gate, the adults trailing behind him far enough that if they spoke quietly, he couldn't hear what they said, but close enough they could catch up to him in a moment should he need them.

"The Ministry is prepared to declare Draco and me dead." Narcissa said quietly as they walked along.

"Yes. How did you find out, I intended to inform you this afternoon." Severus watched the boy carefully as they neared the street.

"Remus Lupin. He wanted me to let you know as well. When did you learn about this?"

"This morning. A friend in the Ministry sent me an owl." Severus shrugged. "Are you upset?"

"No. I should be for his sake. He had no say in whether he wished to give up his life in England, but I feel it was for the best for both of us."

"I doubt Lucius will believe you dead." Severus warned after nodding in understanding. "Draco will not be able to travel beyond the borders until he reaches the age of maturity, or the Ministry will learn he lived."

"Ah yes. Is that how they discovered the Potter boy was still alive? Was he under a protection spell and left it?" she asked, and he froze. He couldn't answer of course, but he wondered how much she should be told. In the end, which was entirely up to Edward, but with the amount of time the boys were spending together it seemed likely that she or Draco would figure it out eventually. He would have to talk to Edward about it soon. They had now caught up to Draco and the subject was dropped in favor of asking the boy where he wanted to eat lunch.

Undisclosed Location

He learned they had a traitor, he even knew who the traitor had been, but still he waited. He knew he could go to the others, inform them of what he had learned, though part at least some of them already knew. Still. The best chance he had at learning the Boy's location was to stay hidden.

This was what he told himself as he settled in for the night, free of any guilt over the other situations. They had been imprisoned, the Dark Lord reduced to a specter, or at least that was the theory he was working with, and those who remained free were hiding their true loyalty. Therefore, he was no worse than them. He was hidden, but so were they. He had failed to move to aid the Dark Lord, no one else had either. No, he carried no guilt, as he was doing what he had to to survive.

In doing so, he was gathering useful information that would otherwise be lost to them with Severus disappearing as he had. Unfortunately, though some of the visitors would mention the Boy and his location, there must be a spell in place on the information because he never heard it clearly, no matter how close he creeped to the conversation. No matter. He was gathering enough as it was. He knew whoever had the Boy was not an ally. He knew they were frustrated with the situation because they had failed, at least a couple of times, to retrieve the Boy from them.

Whoever had the Boy, hopefully they would be willing to work with the Dark Lord since they were opposed to Them, but he had his doubts from the things he heard. It seemed instead the ones who had him intended to keep him safe from magic altogether. The very idea of it made him want to laugh. Nothing was more powerful then magic. Whoever they were, they would crumble over his Lord's might.