A/N: Thank you for the favorites, follows, and reviews!
It has been one hell of a month! I ended up being pretty sick and was rushed into emergency surgery. That was the end of July. Now, I have been slowly recovering and writing but I can't sit for as long of periods as normal. It has been frustrating because I thought that once my incisions have healed over I would be back to normal. Not so! I still have to be careful with my internal sutures so I don't tear them. I also get tired a lot quicker than I used to. I am sorry for the erratic nature of the updates. I like to make and keep to a consistent posting schedule and I know you all like it much better too. I will get back on one even if it kills me. Lol.
15
Previously:
Knowing that Lucius had left the country, Voldemort decided that he would start there. Lucius on his own, though formidable, could be taken out and he would have to do it personally. Voldemort stood a smirk twisted his lips cruelly.
**HGHG**
Lucius pushed a chunk of his sopping wet hair out of his face as he furiously ran through the dark town in France. It was the last stop before he was safely on the ferry and once he stepped foot onto British soil, he would apparate home. Spells rained down upon him just as heavily as the rain and he was forced to forgo any comfort from the elements to focus solely on his enemy's fire. He was nearly out of stamina, having carved his way through several countries with Voldemort supporters on his heels.
Neon colors exploded the dirt at his feet and he jumped avoiding them while he was busy deflecting dark spells aimed right for fatal zones. He was out of breath, wet, tired, and mildly injured. He was at the end of his tether. His goal was to get to the safety of the wizard ferry, an ancient site that allowed all of its passenger's safety between France and England, it was just a bonus that it was owned and run by his mother's family.
He finally turned the last curve around the pretty little sea-side cottages before the ferry came into view when he came to a sudden halt. The road in front of him was blocked off with his former peers from Voldemort's ranks. Sebastian Nott leading them all.
"Hello Lucius," He sneered and sauntered forward, leaving his minions behind. "we can do this the easy way or the hard way. It is up to you. Come with us to meet our Dark Lord."
Lucius looked behind him and dread felt like a led weight in his stomach as he noticed he was surrounded. Two days of running, fighting, deflecting all leading up to this moment. He bared his teeth in frustration, ignoring the rivulet of rain running down his neck and between his pectorals soaking the inside of his clothes, making chafing a very real danger. He got his emotions and facial expressions back under control and threw his most arrogant glare back at Nott.
"The invitation is quite flattering but I am unable to attend at this time. Send a card to the Manor and I will see if I can pencil you in," Lucius smirked. Through the heavy rain, Lucius saw the ferryman standing at the gates and tried not to show his relief. His cousin Mathis would undoubtedly come to his aid if he had to. If that was the case he and his family would go into hiding for the foreseeable future, shutting down the ferry until the war ended or they were found but family always protected their own.
"You always were an arrogant bastard, Lucius. If you come quietly he might show you mercy."
"Have you ever seen the Dark Lord give anyone mercy? No, I am a dead man if I willingly go with you."
Nott gestured to the lackeys surrounding Lucius and that's when he made his move. Lucius could never allow himself to be taken, not after finally uniting with Hermione. Twirling his wand about his head, a long rope of fire erupted from the tip and he cracked it as if it were a whip, leaving bloody lines on the faces of his enemies. The lesser of the group fell back wisely afraid of Lucius and his deadly wand skills.
There was nothing for Lucius to lose. If he couldn't get away from them, he was dooming not only himself but Narcissa to a dire future, unacceptable. He snapped his whip expertly wrapping it around Nott's neck. He pulled and Nott's gargled scream made the others hesitate, knowing the legends of Lucius while in his prime before his fall from favor with Voldemort. He was not a man to be crossed and their instincts told them that he was even more deadly now than he was at the height of his power. Blood seeped beneath Nott's fingers running unchecked into the collar of his robes.
The shock of Lucius' attack opened a small window where Nott had stood moments before. He only had this one chance at escape. Letting his whip lengthen, he rushed to the small opening, elbowing the windpipe of one of his assailants and completely bowling over the other. Spells were shot at him and later he would wonder how so many killing curses were cast and not one of them landed. It was providence. Nothing else could explain his sheer amount of luck in getting onto the ferry platform with only insignificant wounds. He ignored the few beads of blood soaking the side of his robes. They would clot and heal on their own soon enough.
The moment he stepped foot on the ancient dock, he felt the wards caress his body and he exhaled heavily with relief. Thousands of years of mistrust and the need for sanctuary while traveling between countries started the practice of warding the crossings between the isles and the continent. An accord and wards that rivaled Hogwarts were the only things that saved Lucius Malfoy from a horrible death that would condemn Narcissa and the rest of the wizarding world to something far worse than the prospect of death.
Lucius shook Mathis' hand and the two men walked onto the small ferry and Lucius slid down one of the walls. Carefully, he pulled out the small moleskin pouch and opened the neck pulling out the small purple root. He closed his hand around it gently and raised his fist to his forehead, closing his eyes.
"Thank Merlin," He murmured. Had the Hazia been damaged, it would have been rendered unusable and there would have been no second chances. He exhausted every option, pulled every string, called in an immense amount of favors just to get the root he held in his hand. To be forced to journey for it a second time… He couldn't even imagine the hell he would have to face to try acquiring the rare root a second time.
He carefully put the root back in the pouch and slid it back into an inner pocket of his robe. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. He needed the rest for when he reached the other side. He would have to step out of the wards to apparate. It was there on British soil where he would be most vulnerable, valuable seconds outside of the wards where anyone could be waiting, where he could be waiting. Lucius massaged the bridge of his nose. He had just over four hours to rest and settled himself into a more comfortable position before falling asleep under the watchful eye of Mathis, the ferry master.
**HGHG**
Severus pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Narcissa was sitting on the Dog's mattress, caressing the Lupin child's face while he slept. It didn't matter how many times they had this conversation, it seemed she wouldn't come to his point of view. She couldn't stay here. End of story. She would unwittingly kill every person in this room. He could admit that he wouldn't be shattered if Black snuffed it, but a hundred people's worth of innocent blood on his hands might possibly tip him into insanity. Why couldn't she just accept that Teddy would be safer here with Black than anywhere near her?
Black and Potter were on the other side of the dark cavernous room catching up or comparing notes or whatever they did when they got together. It was annoying, the easy comradery that seemed to be given to Potter just because of who his father had been. Severus had never been given such benefits by anyone, let alone his father's old school mates.
Casting a nonverbal tempus, the current time glowed in the air next to him. Grimacing, he approached Narcissa again. The only indication he had that she knew he was there was from the tightening around her mouth. They both knew what he was going to say.
"We have to go and not just because he can find you here and kill everyone but also because I am working on the potion that will sever his connection with you and it needs to be tended to. And don't say that I could do what needs to be done and come back for you. These people are sitting ducks and if you brought him in through the wards and Teddy was a casualty, you know you would never forgive yourself! Come with me and once the potion is complete, you can come back. I will bring you here myself if I must."
"Severus, I am afraid if I leave, I will never see him again. Just a few minutes more,"
"I already allowed you more time than prudent! Narcissa, be reasonable!"
"I am sick and tired of being reasonable and sensible and putting everyone else first!"
"Don't break now, Love." He murmured into her ear as he pulled her closer, enveloping her with his own body. "We have to leave and when this is all over, you can come back."
Narcissa turned to him and hugged him, tangling her hands into the hair at the nape of his neck, fisting them as she buried her face on his shoulder. She was so tired of fighting, of being scared.
"Okay," she sighed softly. Allowing Voldemort access because she wished to stay was madness and she still had people she needed to protect. Teddy was her nephew and the last bit of her sister that was still alive. The sister that had the balls to tell the family to fuck off when they wouldn't even consider Ted Tonks as an appropriate marital alliance. She wished she was more like Andromeda then and now.
With one last caress, Narcissa left Severus' arms and interrupted Harry and Sirius' whispered conversation.
"I have to leave. Severus and I have to finish the potion and wait for Lucius."
"Do you want me to come with you both?" Harry asked, obviously torn between wanting to stay with his godfather and stay with her since they began this adventure together.
"No, it would be more helpful for you to be here. I don't want to be responsible for being the reason Harry Potter was murdered by Tom Riddle. Not when we are this close to the end."
"If we weren't near the end you wouldn't mind my demise?" Harry teased.
"That is not what I meant,"
Sirius and Harry both smiled at her, chuckling softly in the quiet vault.
"I know, keep yourself alive, yeah?" Harry said, staring intently at her. She felt like he was asking something completely different but couldn't put her finger on what he really was saying to her. She furrowed her brow when Severus took her arm and sneered at Harry and Sirius before beckoning to the tiny elf who had brought them. Her blue eyes bore into Harry's green ones in confusion. His lopsided smile was the last thing she saw before she materialized in a cave with Severus. "Where are we?"
"Teesdale."
"How do you know of this place?" She asked, looking around at the blackened spell damage to the walls and rock stools that surrounded the small stone table in the back. A steaming cauldron and various ingredients littered the top.
"Lucius and I have come here for years after the Death Eater meetings. They were often gruesome and perverse. This is where we let off the steam from that, dueling until we felt a semblance of normal."
Narcissa nodded. Much of what Lucius had done while married to her had been a mystery. He wasn't inclined to share himself with her but she had a feeling that Hermione would not be allowing such distance to form. Perhaps if Narcissa had tried harder, insisted on transparency their marriage wouldn't have been such a mess. Then again, she wasn't Hermione. Narcissa would never be the love of his life, no matter what she did or didn't do while married. It was hard to accept, even now but there was too much hurt and resentment to hang on to that sinking ship.
Looking over her shoulder, she watched Severus' dark eyes follow her each and every movement as he stirred the potion. Her stomach clenched as heat entered his gaze. There was no doubt about his feelings. Her fingers trailed from one blackened mark to another on the wall, her stare never leaving his.
"Fuck." Severus cursed as he carelessly touched the hot surface of the cauldron. Switching hands on the stirring rod, he brought the burnt appendage to his mouth and sucked. Narcissa giggled, turning her attention back to the constellation of burn marks. Severus smiled, keeping his concentration on the potion.
With one final clockwise stir, he lifted out the rod and placed it on the table next to the cauldron and studied the surface of the potion, a dark purple-red concoction that looked like congealed blood. It smelled like lilacs, so that was a bonus. All it needed now was the Hazia and a day of simmering.
"I thought it would take at least a month to make," Narcissa said, her finely arched brow nearly to her hairline.
"If anyone else brewed it, perhaps it would have,"
"You aren't going to tell me how you did it are you?"
"If I told you that, Love," He said, stalking her across the room and caging her in between his arms. His palms laid flat against the stone near her head and he leaned in so that their lips were nearly touching. "I would have to kill you."
Narcissa rolled her eyes and placed her hands on his chest, leaning even closer so that their lips were brushing. "I would like to see you try,"
There was a second where they were suspended, frozen in time. Neither moving, barely breathing as their lips touched. Taking a deep breath through her nose, Narcissa crushed her lips against his, surprising the hell out of him. He moaned in ecstasy, the vibration rumbling against her fingers.
He pressed her against the stone wall of the cave, lips, and tongue caressing her lips, seeking permission to deepen the kiss. Her stomach clenched and heat pooled between her legs. She could feel his hard body against her, pressing into the cradle of her thighs. He was a man of no little endowment and she swiveled her hips into his. Her hand moved from his chest down. The tips of her fingers explored his clothed body and she felt the rush of lust and naughtiness that usually was reserved for teenagers. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she kissed him back fervently.
**HGHG**
Draco pushed Hermione's door open quietly, hoping that Abraxas would have made sure she returned home safely. He sighed happily as he saw her curly head above the blankets but a thoughtful look crossed his face as he noticed Abraxas and his naked chest that was being used as Hermione's pillow. For a moment, he was undecided on what to do. Should he leave and give them privacy or should he join them?
Who was he kidding, Hermione's naked shoulders drew him like a moth to a flame. He needed to feel her skin against his lips, fingers, and body. He was already slowly moving to the bed, clothes dropping to the floor as he peeled them off piece by piece
Naked, he crawled under the covers spooning against Hermione backside, his lips already tasting the skin of her shoulders. He breathed in heavily, letting the scent of her surround him and closed his eyes.
When he opened them, he saw Abraxas' questioning gaze and peeled his lips from Hermione's delectable shoulder long enough to converse over Hermione's sleeping form.
"Azkaban?" Abraxas asked softly.
"The Dark Lord showed up, my only saving grace was that I had his wand. His minions didn't know who to target. I got seven out. Minerva McGonagall took us all straight to the resistance. They held me there for a while until the polyjuice wore off."
"We will talk more tomorrow." It was not a question and they both knew it.
Abraxas ran his fingers over Hermione's hair and lifted it out of the way so that Draco could kiss and suck on her neck, the spot just under her ear that Abraxas found that she really loved attention. Draco smirked at him, feeling confident that this was going to be a night that none of them would ever forget.
He slid his fingers down the curve of her body and studied the feel of her as if it would be his last time with her. He couldn't get enough of her.
"Hello, Love," Abraxas murmured to Hermione as she woke up.
"Wha?" She asked groggily and Draco pressed into her from behind, his erection poking into her bum.
"Honey, I'm home," Draco muttered in her ear even as he licked the shell of her ear.
"Azkaban?"
"Success," he whispered. She softened in his arms, allowing her head to fall back on Draco's shoulder and baring her breasts for Abraxas who took great pleasure in rolling the stiffened peaks between his forefinger and thumb.
Draco moved his kisses down her back along her spine and smiled while placing one after another in a trail as she shivered under his mouth.
"Draco," She murmured, arousal making her voice husky.
Abraxas raised her chin so that he could lean in and capture her lips, caressing her tongue and mouth with reverence and possession. She couldn't help shivering between both of their attention to her body.
Draco went up on his knees and pulled her onto hers, even though she was still connected to Abraxas. His hand was on the back of her neck holding on to her as if he dared the world to rip them apart. His mouth was hot and expert against hers and Draco's hand had trailed over her bum and down her thighs, chuckling as he avoided her slick folds. Abraxas's other hand was still rolling her nipple and she swore that she would melt into a puddle between them. A hot needy puddle.
She went cross eyed as Draco finally parted her labia and traced the sensitive skin around the hood of her engorged clit. Had her mouth been free, she would have begged him to stop teasing, to give her relief. His long fingers slid into her clenching channel and back out, spreading her natural lubrication over her nub. She never wanted him to stop. She arched her back and thrust her bum into his hips. He chuckled and withdrew his hand, earning a wanton whimper. He wasn't gone for long, having taken his cock in hand, he rubbed his head against her clit then to her pussy and back.
Draco thrust into her slowly with short thrusts until he was fully coated with her juices. Abraxas let his hand trail from her nipples down her abdomen until he was using his clever fingers to rub small circles around her sensitive bead.
Hermione threw her head back, making her curls dance around her and Abraxas, his thumb caressing that spot on her neck that drove her mad when one of her men kissed or rubbed their stubble against it.
Hermione reached back behind her and sunk her nails into the back of Draco's thigh as she tried to pull him in faster, harder.
"Draco, more!" She whined. His hands gripped her hips and he picked up his pace.
"Don't forget Brax, Granger," Draco murmured through clenched teeth, the veins standing out on his neck. Hermione gasped and brought her hand back from his thigh to support herself and moved her other hand to Abraxas' obvious erection. She couldn't concentrate with any consistency so he brought his hand over hers, helping her in wanking him. There was nothing sexier than a man that knew exactly how he wanted to be touched. Even if it meant he was no longer rubbing her clit. Watching his face, she relished in his pleasure. She grew even wetter while watching his handsome face tense, his teeth clenched.
Hermione could feel how close she was; her legs were shaking and her whole body was taut with her impending orgasm. With Draco thrusting into her and Abraxas's hand guiding hers over his cock, she couldn't hold back any longer.
"I'm coming!" Hermione whispered, her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
Shattering and clenching around Draco set him off and he rocked into her, shuddering against her, curling around her and laying his forehead against her spine. Fingers still dug into the flesh of her hips.
As Hermione came back to herself, she opened her eyes and studied Abraxas's face as she continued wanking him with his expert help. He had beads of sweat on his head and the muscle in his jaw was ticking in time to the strokes.
Draco pulled out of her and settled on the bed next to her. Hermione looked at him and winked, moving further down and enveloping the head of Abraxas' cock in her mouth. He growled, hips thrusting, straining to have her take more of his length. His hands dropped away and his eyes opened as he watched her mouth close around him and slide down his rod, tongue against the underside of him, her hand fisted around his base.
Both Abraxas and Draco's eyes were molten lava, watching her suck and lick Abraxas' cock. Draco held her hair out of her face and they both watched her, completely riveted. Her cheeks hallowed on every up beat, her tongue swirling around his tip. He continued thrusting up, whether on purpose or instinct, she wasn't sure but she relished the ability to render this man so completely under her control. She felt powerful. She felt sexy. She never wanted this to stop.
"Ahhh," Abraxas' throaty groan heralded his climax, sperm covering her tongue in salty ropes. Hermione continued to lick and suck him until there was nothing left in him. She looked up to Abraxas' lazy smile and Draco's raging hard on.
Draco smiled, lifting a single cocky brow, a challenge if she ever saw one. Hermione crawled up the bed and straddled his lap- lifting herself up and lining him up before sinking back down.
Hermione was so sensitive and she rolled her hips watching Draco's face as she set a slow and frustrating pace.
**HGHG**
Abraxas woke up the next morning with a smile on his face and left Draco and Hermione asleep. He lifted the wards that had kept Hermione prisoner and walked back to his room, determined to shower and dress. He had a mad witch to talk to this morning.
It didn't take him long to get ready for the day and decided to skip breakfast before seeing to his prisoner. He never knew what he would find in the chamber and it was always best to keep a clear stomach, just in case.
The moment he pushed open the obsidian door, the room cooled. It had been sweltering and the stink was nearly unbearable, the prisoners in the cages moaning. It was the first time he heard anything from them since that first day. The room must have determined that the prisoners needed to hear each other's torment. Abraxas shuddered. After this war was over, he never wanted to step another toe in this room.
Steeling himself for what he would find, Abraxas approached the area of the room that was Bellatrix's and looked on in astonishment as the small house was now surrounded by a lovely garden with a brook running down the center with decorative laurels on either side of a gravel path. Bellatrix was sitting on a bench with her back towards him and he slowly made his way to where she sat.
Once he rounded the bench, he saw that she was cradling her baby doll and her face was open in its utter contentment. The gravel crunched under his shoes as he shifted from one foot to another, uncomfortable. She cracked her eyes open and smiled wide in welcome.
"Do you want to hold her?" Bellatrix asked.
Abraxas not wanting to offend the mad woman, gingerly sat on the wooden bench next to her and held his arms out so that she could lay the doll gently in the natural cradle. He sat back and looked out at the scenery that the room provided. It was peaceful and lovely and wondered how this was designed to further break the woman.
"Hermione has been such a good girl for me. I never met a baby that never fussed. She is just perfect, isn't she?"
"Hermione? I thought you named her Auriga."
"Auriga?" She asked perplexed as if she had never heard the name before. "It's a lovely name, I suppose. But her father has a love for Shakespeare, the playwright and insisted on the name Hermione."
Abraxas frowned, perplexed. "Bellatrix, who do you think is the father?"
"Bellatrix?" she asked confused. "Why are you calling me that? My name is Eliza. Eliza Granger."
Abraxas looked at her in horror. He stood and thrust her baby back into her arms and fled to the tiny house provided. Looking at it now, it had morphed into a very familiar looking home. He slammed the door open unintentionally hard and ignored the crash as he stared at the interior of the house with a sick look on his face and in his stomach. Bellatrix hurried in behind him and laid a hand on his arm.
"Abraxas, are you okay? Do you want me to get Richard?"
"Love, is everything alright?" a deep voice materialized from the stairwell, a construct of the room. An exact replica of Richard Granger surrounded by the home that Hermione grew up in.
"It's Abraxas, I think he is sick,"
"Abraxas? Are you okay mate?"
Abraxas whirled around and grabbed Bellatrix's arms in a bruising grip. Panic holding him in thrall. What was happening?
"Abraxas, you're hurting me!"
"Let her go! What is the matter with you?" Richard yelled and made a grab for him but being a construct, he couldn't actually do anything. He wasn't real.
"My God," He choked out, now slightly shaking Bellatrix as she cried out for 'Hermione's' safety. "We have to get you out of here."
Abraxas took the doll out of her arms and laid it in the cradle in the living room before grabbing her arms and forcing her out in front of him. Maybe if she wasn't in the room, she would remember who she really was.
His breathing was racing and erratic as the crossed the doorway of the torture chamber. He let her go and she turned screaming to pound on the door that separated her from her 'child'.
Abraxas rubbed his face for a moment then forced her arms by her side and said, "Who are you?" He was hoping, praying that she knew who she was.
"You have known me for years, Abraxas. I am Eliza Granger and you are keeping me from my family! Open this damn door Abraxas Malfoy or I swear…"
"I can't let you back in that room," He swallowed harshly. "Bella, because that room is designed to break you. Hermione is not a baby any longer. She is a woman and lives with me in the Manor."
"I don't believe you," She whispered.
"I will show you but you cannot talk to her."
"Why not?"
"You are not her mother, Eliza. You are Bellatrix Lestrange and you are the woman who tortured her with the Cruciatus curse, right here in the Manor." Abraxas summoned a small hand mirror and turned it so that Bellatrix could see her own reflection. Abraxas had only enough time to cast a silencing charm before Bellatrix screamed. It was filled with pain and agony, the piercing shriek of a woman who perceived the world as a destroyer. It ripped through Abraxas and he shuddered with its intensity.
She sprinted away from him and the Manor, her feral expression terrifying and he thought perhaps this was a much kinder fate for her. Abraxas knew she wouldn't harm Hermione, not now- not ever. Let her fade into obscurity. But as he turned around back towards the Manor, he had a sinking feeling that Bellatrix would be back and it would irrevocably change them all.
**HGHG**
Hermione walked into the sitting room for tea and smiled at Bill and Luna who were sitting snugly together on the couch. Sigurd was stalking the perimeter, obviously feeling like a caged animal. His eyes flew to hers the moment she entered the room and he visibly relaxed. It was as if he had been waiting for her and yet feared she would never come.
"Elskede," He murmured before leaning down and kissing her temple, wrapping his large rough hand around her much smaller one.
"Good morning Sigurd," She said happily. He was so very sweet.
"Would you show me the gardens?"
"How about we go exploring together. I don't know it well myself." She said. Detangling their hands, she noticed a flash of reluctance before he smoothed his expression back to neutrality. She made herself a cup of tea and returned to Sigurd, threading her fingers through his.
The both of them left the room through the French doors that led to the small stone patio and rose garden.
"Here is as good as anywhere to start," Sigurd said smiling. He brought their hands up to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand.
"I've only been to the unicorn glade and I only saw that once. You mentioned something about planting walnut wand trees near the unicorns. Do you want to see how that grove fared?"
"That sounds great, Elskede." He murmured his eyes bright with wonder and happiness and the only thing he looked at was her. The whole way. As if he wasn't a dangerous warrior that had won the Malfoy lands using his sword and force of will to hold it against his enemies.
"Magic wasn't as focused and precise back then," He began and Hermione took a sip of tea.
"What do you mean?"
"The magic comes from within, not from a wand. Wands weren't a big thing then. I mostly used my sword to focus my magic as did most men that I knew did with their weapons. My mother used a staff and the other women used other various things. I didn't pay much attention to that. Of course, there were always the wand makers that lived here and in France and I think that might have been more of a cultural difference."
"You said it was more unfocused but you used things other than a wand to focus your magic. What do you mean by that?"
"There were those that didn't need a wand. The belief was that a wand would stifle such beings. Those people were powerful. I met one once, a boy, no more than twelve. He could move water in a way I had never seen before. He could suck it from the very air and create a floating water trap that could drown his enemies in minutes. He didn't live very long and I think that is only because he had no school, no mentor. His only goal was to protect his sister, the last living person in his family."
"What happened to them?"
"Someone more experienced and cunning came and killed the boy and claimed the girl as his wife. He wanted that magic in his line. Who wouldn't?"
"Do you know what family they were?"
"Sure, everyone knew the Gaunts. One of the most powerful families on this side of the Earth."
Hermione stopped in her tracks and looked at him in horror. The Gaunts. Tom Riddle- her. She thought she was going to be sick.
"That is the power that was passed to me supposedly? I am very accomplished with a wand. I don't feel stifled at all."
"Nor would you, being from two such lines."
"Two?"
"The unnamed boy and Merlin's. A formidable witch you will be. Are already. You alone brought my decedents back from the dead. Waking me was no mean feat either. The amount of magic needed and you didn't even notice. You are the most incredible woman I have ever met and that includes my Prophetess of a mother."
Hermione smiled and finished her tea before Sigurd banished it back to the sitting room with a wave of his hand. They topped the knoll and Sigurd caught his breath. What once was a meadow with a small stream running through it was now a wooded glade, hundreds of walnut trees protected by Bowtruckles filled the landscape as far as the eye could see.
"Incredible," Sigurd breathed.
**HGHG**
Lucius stepped off the ferry, hoping that he would have enough time to apparate away before his attackers could strike. Half in the wards and half out, a sound reached his ears that chilled his blood. Voldemort dropped the disillusionment that had hidden him on the dock.
"Lucius," He hissed, his wand pointed at the semi exposed man. "Join me before it is too late. This is the last time I will offer such amnesty. Come back to me, to your brothers and I will reward you with whatever your heart desires. There is no way that Potter can win." He spread his arms wide. "This world is mine now. Untold power is in my grasp. Take my mark."
"Your words are full of lies." Lucius glared, his own wand clenched in his hand.
"I can give you the girl. Hermione can be yours alone. You wouldn't have to share her with other men. I can do that for you."
"You forget that you would have to kill my father and son to make that possible."
"I did it once, I could do it again."
"Malfoys take care of their own. Always. I will never join you again."
"That is a shame," Voldemort hissed, as he cast a nonverbal spell at Lucius who had finally moved, bringing his whole body out of the wards before apparating away but not before Voldemort's purple spell hit him in the chest.
Lucius stumbled as he reached his destination- the cave in Teesdale. The place where Severus was undoubtedly working on the potion that would separate Narcissa from Tom Riddle. He landed on his knees, weak and unable to stand any longer. His hands came up to his chest and he drew them away, coated in blood. Looking up it was obvious that the inhabitants of the cave had yet to notice him. Severus had Narcissa against the wall, kissing the hell out of her.
Lucius groaned and fell on his face, unconscious.
