Disclaimer: I don't own any of the HP characters!
Author's Notes: Many thanks to my amazing beta Thewriterisme93 ! Let me know what you think below!:)
Chapter 8
Screndus tightened his grip around the necklace as the dragon released another bout of fire from its mouth.
The necklace had been a Black family heirloom after his grandmother had married into the Malfoy family. They had combined both the Black and the Malfoy's magic into the necklace so that any future Black/Malfoy descendants would be able to use it upon uttering the Black family motto. The dragon in the necklace served as a guardian of the wearer much like a patronus. Screndus watched as the necklace began to tremble in his hand. The small dragon encased in the pendent began extending it's wings until suddenly a silvery vapour began to seep out the necklace. Screndus watched as the vapour grew larger and more defined. He took a moment to marvel at the size of the sliver dragon in front of him before it realeased it's own roar of anger.
The necklace was intended to be a gift for the newborn son of Narcissa that bared the name of the dragon constellation, Screndus's father. However, before the gift could reach the family it had disappeared. They had only managed to recover the necklace after the war when searching through Bellatrix's belongings. Apparently, she had been jealous of the bias treatment the family was giving her sister. But Screndus was thankful he had the necklace now.
The silver dragon began to beat it's wings at the red dragon as it protected Screndus. The red dragon had now completely forgotten about the Screndus and tried to attack it's new enemy. Screndus watched the two dragons fight; it was almost as if they were dancing as they circled each other and dodged attacks. Not wasting another second, Screndus sprinted to the other side of the room where his friends were.
"Run! Faster!" Roux shouted.
As Screndus ran towards the door he felt his magic and concentraition slip. The room around him seemed to quieten as he looked over his shoulder, the Malfoy dragon had puffed and disappeared into thin air. The silvery vapours slowly disintegrating into nothing.
The red dragon turned and roared at Screndus, dashing towards him.
"Scren!" Lukas yelled as he held the door wide open for Screndus, "Come on, buddy! Run faster!"
"Blaire!" Screndus yelled as he saw the dragon gaining on him, not wanting his friends to get hurt by the flame that the dragon might breathe onto them. "Take the others and run!"
As Screndus was about to reach the door, he felt his feet catch on the jagged rock. His body fell forwards as he reached his hands out to catch himself. Screndus felt the sharp stone dig into the palms of his hands as he quickly tried to push himself up.
He could hear the dragon getting closer as he tried to stand. His arms shook in fear as he tried to scramble away. He could feel himself falling again when an arm wrapped under his and tugged him upwards. Screndus let himself be dragged towards the exit as he looked to his saviour.
Albus was gripping onto him as the scrambled for the exit. Both boys ran for their lives as they reached the door. Pushing Screndus first, Albus turned to help Lukas close the ancient door shut.
"Scren! The door!" Albus yelled as they tried to get the damn thing to closed.
Screndus quickly grabbed onto the heavy door and pulled it back. The three boys watched as the Dragon was only meters away. The last thing they saw was the dragon preparing to fire another bout of molten lava at them when the door quickly became unstuck and swung back with force.
"You idiots!" Screndus coughed as he looked over his five friends with relief, "I told you guys to leave!"
"You know," Lukas patted his back, "You do have too much bravery for a Slytherin."
"Shut up." Screndus huffed. "Are you alright?" Screndus spoke as he reached out for Blaire's hand and squeezed it. She looked taken aback at first but smiled at him. A loud roar sounded and the door Screndus was leaning on burnt him. He quickly jumped to his feet, "Hurry, we have to leave!"
They ran down the abandoned tunnel with only the sounds of their feet splashing against the water and the distant roars of the dragon echoing against the walls. They only stopped when they reached the end of the tunnel to an open space with a round plate on the ground. The plate had engraved upon it three snakes that were all intertwined together.
"Albus say something in parsel tongue." Screndus spoke.
Albus nodded and began speaking a low hissing noise, "Slytherin! Dragon? Open Seasemee!"
"I don't think the password is in parsel tongue anymore."Roux spoke up, "Voldemort is dead and no one except the Potter family can speak it."
"I think Roux's right." Lukas nodded, "There might be another kind of password."
"Maybe it's in dragon tongue?" Roux suggested.
Albus rolled his eyes, "There is no such thing as dragon tongue!"
"Oh yeah?" Roux challenged him, "How do you know?"
"Because I actually listen to Uncle Charlie's stories?" Albus spat back.
"Guys focus! The dragon is still on the loose!" Blaire reminded everyone.
"Don't tell me to focus! I already told you it could be in dragon!" Roux exclaimed.
"You two are idiots!" Blaire scoffed.
"Come! Young Malfoy! Come!" Whispered the sinister voice that Screndus had become so familiar with.
Screndus's ears perked up at the sound. "The phoenix shall be in flames as will those who taint the pure."
"Hey!" Roux exclaimed, "I suggested a pretty good idea."
"Do you speak dragon then?" Lukas spat annoyed at the fight, "Does anyone? Screndu-"
Lukas turned around, wanting his friend's opinion on it when he saw that Screndus was heading away from them, "Screndus? Where are you going?"
"I…" Screndus blinked out his daze, "I thought I heard something."
"Ashes, ashes will be the deceased. Sanctimonia Vincet Semper." Screndus whipped his head around to search for the source of the voice.
"Sanctimonia Vincet Semper?" Screndus repeated in a low whisper. Suddenly, the ground began to shake; the round plate under their feet began to rise. The five of them huddle together and looked around themselves nervously.
"What did you say?!" Roux asked alarmed as he tried to keep his balance as the plate rose.
Screndus, who was in deep thought took a big breathe before replying, "… my family motto."
The plate continued to rise as light began to pour into the tunnels. Screndus looked up and squinted his eyes. First he made out the stone walls, then the white sinks and finally the whole room that was Moaning Mytle's bathroom.
Not wanting to be stuck chatting with the bathrooms owner for the next hour, Screndus quickly bolted for the door followed by the rest of his friends. He was eager to get as far away from the dragon...and the voice that only he could hear.
"Stop right there!" They froze as they saw Filch with Mrs. Norris smirking in front of them. "Well well well, look what we have here. Potter, Weasley, Malfoy and Zabini, you're all coming with me."
~Malfoy Manor~
After putting the kids to bed, Draco and Hermione laid on the bed replaying the day's event.
"Mione?" Draco asked tentatively as he circled his arms around his wife who, more often now days looked troubled, "What's wrong?"
"I'm scared, Draco." Hermione whispered snuggling closer into her husband's protective arms, "I-I'm scared of what will happen to our kids. I don't want them to go through what we had to go through." Draco soothed her back as she continued, "I just want them to live a normal life."
"Well… I can't promise that." Draco said as he played with her hair. Hermione looked up at Draco with furrowed eye brows. Draco chuckled, "Because I know each of them will grow up to do great things. Like their mother."
Hermione blushed as she buried her face in Draco's chest. A trait Hermione has developed over the years whenever Draco teased her.
"But," Draco said, his tone suddenly becoming serious. "I'll do everything I can to stop them from having to go through what we had to."He gently lifted her chin up, "I'll do whatever I can to keep you all safe."
"We will do it together." Hermione smiled.
Draco chuckled as he planted a kiss on Hermione's lips, "What did I ever do to deserve you?"
˜Hogwarts – Dumbledore's office˜
"What were you all doing out past curfew?" Dumbledore asked as he studied the five children in front of him. Roux looked nervously around the room as he fidgeted in his chair, while Albus who was sitting next to him looked attentively at the objects on his desk. Screndus was seated in middle, lying back in his seat looking bored. While Blaire chewed on her nails nervously beside him. Beside her was her twin, Lukas, looking as innocently as he could at the headmaster.
Lukas shrugged and tied to look innocent, "We got lost."
"Like I haven't heard that excuse from your father before."Filch growled. He turned to the headmaster who was deep in thought, "I bet they were up to no good destroying school property!"
"We weren't doing anything bad or illegal, professor!"Albus protested as he sat up straight, "We're only first years!"
"Oh! You'd be surprised how much trouble first years can be!"Filch snickered, "I say we expel them all! Mrs Norris and I both have a bad feeling about these five."
"You can't do that!" Blaire spoke up, "We may deserve detention but you can't possibly expel us for being out past curfew! There's no rule that states-"
"Give it a rest Blaire bear." Screndus rolled his eyes at her, "No one likes a know it all."
At the comment Blaire whipped around and smacked Screndus on the head.
"Ow!"
Everyone sighed at their antics, but at the same time they all failed to notice the tiny twinkle in the old man's eyes.
Roux was first to break the silence, he was trembling at the thought of getting in trouble with his parents, "Pro..professor, we've learned our lesson, may we leave?"
"I should think so, I see no real harm done. But please do not make it a habit to be about the castle at night like your parents did.' Dumbledore smiled. "But…is there something troubling any of you?" Dumbledore asked as scanned the children in the room.
They all shook their head in unison. They had all come to an unspoken agreement not to mention what they had discovered in the chamber of secrets.
"No sir." Albus said as he held back Roux who was about to burst under the pressure.
Dumbledore shifted his attention to the young boy, "There's nothing troubling you?"
Albus shook his head as firmly as he could without faltering.
"Very well." Dumbledore nodded, "You may all return to your dormitories, and no detours please."
"WHAT?!" Filch exclaimed, "You're letting them go just like that? No detentions, no nothing?"
"I'm sure Hogwarts might seem like a maze for first years." Dumbledore spoke calmly.
"Are you joking?" Filch waved his hands around angrily, "They are up to something! I feel it in my bones! They are just like their parents! TROUBLEMAKERS I tell you! TROUBLEMAKERS"