Chapter 5: Basements, Vaults, and Secret Rooms
The Malfoy Manor was everything Hermione could have imagined it would be and more. The 'more' of it was the sinister feeling that was rolling off of it in waves. She always knew Draco Malfoy was rich, considering his father bought seven nimbus 2001s in their second year without blinking an eye, but not this rich. In the glow of the moonlight she couldn't see the entire grounds, but the building itself was at least a third of the size of Hogwarts castle which was still saying something. She could count at least eight floors judging from the lights in the windows, and at least one person if the shadow moving past the first floor was any indication.
She followed Draco in silence up the drive, and on either side of them large oak trees swayed as the wind blew around in a flurry. Hermione swiped her hair out of her eyes, and swallowed her nerves as they reached the large gate that surrounded the property.
"So…any plan here? Just going to stroll up and say hi to good old Mum and Dad?" Hermione tried to joke.
Draco turned to look at her, and frightened gleam in his eye.
"I want you to wear the invisibility cloak." Draco said resolutely, as Hermione threw the cloak over herself. "My father should be gone on a mission in Ireland. I don't think he will be back for another few days. Most of the Death Eaters should be out as well."
"Wait." Hermione held him back before he could take another step forward. "This is your headquarters!"
"Not my headquarters." Draco replied grimly. "Voldemort's."
"In your home!" Hermione exclaimed. Behind the cloak her face was incredulous.
"Why do you think I'm so hell bent on finishing him off?" Draco said darkly. "Not only the 'he's completely evil' part, but he's taking over my entire life. My mother is scared to death to even live in her own home. Afraid to say the wrong thing. It's a nightmare. The entire summer was a nightmare."
"So we are back here because….?"
"Because of The Chamber of Secrets."
"What?!" Hermione asked confused.
"Because when you told me that Harry and Dumbledore figured that the diary was a horcrux, I realized that my father was in possession of a horcrux for twelve years. Voldemort gave him a ton of stuff to hang on to before he…disappeared. I thought if we had one horcrux for so long, who's to say we don't have more?"
"That's….smart. This is a good place to look. So what's the plan?"
"Well hopefully it's just my mother in there, and maybe a few of the lesser Death Eaters. I say some story about coming home for the weekend, which wouldn't be completely unreasonable, and invisible you will take the opportunity to explore the house and see what you can find. I of course will help once I've made my excuses to mother."
"And when do we leave?" Hermione asked, suddenly anxious.
"Hopefully tonight. I can make an excuse to get back once we find what we're looking for." Draco said taking a deep breath. "I want you to check my father's study, third floor second door on the right, our vault on the second floor, and our stores in the basement. That's my best guess for where something like this could be. If we have any of the horcruxes I'm guessing it will be the cup, maybe even the diadem of Ravenclaw's you did research on, or the locket. I'm hoping that once you check the basement I will be able to join you and help you get into the other two rooms. If you need anything use the marks."
"Stay safe." Hermione said breathlessly summoning all her courage.
"Same to you." Draco replied, straightening his shoulders. He moved his wand out of his cloak and used several strange arm movements and incantations until the gates opened slowly, creaking in the wind.
The walk up the drive was long and cold. They passed several water features, and to the left what Hermione swore was a large rose garden judging on the smell. She nearly ruined their cover and screamed when a white giant peacock moved across the path in front of them.
"Nearly forgot to warn you about those." Draco muttered as he side stepped it.
"Peacocks? Really?" Hermione whispered furiously in his ear.
"We like the finer things." Draco shrugged, and without seeing his face Hermione knew he was smirking.
"Draco." A deep voice came from the shadows to the right of the front door.
A Death Eater Hermione didn't recognize was leaning against the side of the entry way smoking a cigarette.
"Yaxley." Draco replied with a curt nod. He tried to head inside, but Yaxley blocked his path.
"And you're here because…?"
"Because I live here."
"Heh." The guy laughed, and spit on the ground at Draco's feet. "We'll see for how much longer."
He let Draco pass after that, and Hermione squeezed her way into the manor after him.
"Master Malfoy?" A small squeaky voice came from the house elf who was in the middle of a large marble the entry way.
"Mippy." Malfoy said softly to the creature in front of him.
Hermione was immediately annoyed at the idea of Malfoy owning another house elf after Dobby.
"Why is Master not at Hogwarts?" Mippy asked curiously.
"Is my mother here?" Draco said, ignoring her question.
"Oh yes, sir." Mippy said nodding furiously. "She is having drink with Misses Bellatrix in the dining room.
"Show me to them." Draco ordered. "I see you've cleaned the door by the basement here Mippy. Well done."
Draco pointed to a door just off the main entrance, as Mippy led him away from Hermione and down a hall.
Hermione knew he only complimented Mippy to show her where the basement as, but she still smiled broadly all the same in hearing Mippy's grateful cries of thanks as the two of them took off in the other direction. She doubted Draco ever muttered a word of thanks to her.
The door closed behind her and the smell of Yaxley's cigarette smoke followed him into the entryway. Hermione barely side stepped in time, but she felt his arm graze hers slightly. He turned back suddenly baring his teeth in her direction. Hermione took a silent step back, his face only inches from hers. It seemed Yaxley finally felt he imagined their touch as he threw his cloak behind him and took off in the opposite direction of Draco and Mippy down the other side of the hall and out of sight.
Hermione was left alone in the entryway, her hand shaking as she reached for the door to the basement. She shut the door behind her and let her eyes adjust to the candlelight. It was typical Malfoy Manor. Elegant stone steps spiraled down into the dark, with candlelight torches every few feet. Each one of Hermione's steps echoed eerily as she descended, and she could only hope no one was this far down in the manor.
When she reached the bottom of the steps she found herself in a long red carpeted corridor with doors to the left and right down the length of the house. She thought she might as well start at the first doors and work her way down.
Hermione guessed a good hour had passed before she was down to the last room on the left. No signs of a horcrux anywhere. Most of the rooms were full of portraits of she assumed ancient relatives of the Malfoys. A few shouted when the door opened seemingly by an invisible force, and she swore one of the women in a frame shouted that it smelt of mudblood.
She found a few rooms with jewels, and more items of wealth that seemed promising as horcruxes, but none held that dark aura that she knew would be there when she found one.
She had read countless books on horcuxes since accioing them from Dumbledore's office last summer. Each one would give a sign of having a bit of soul in them. Whether it pulsed with a heartbeat of its own, or created an echoing voice in ones ear. Different people's horcruxes would be different but Hermione had a feeling she would know when she found one of Voldemorts.
The snake, something of hufflepuffs, a diadem of Ravenclaws, Slytheirns locket. Hermione found herself repeating the mantra in her head quite often these days, and even more so when she was in danger. She had been lucky so far to not encounter anyone in the manor, but she doubted her luck would hold. She was beginning to feel that coming here was a bad idea, and her next goal would be to find Draco and get out. The last room was completely empty except for an absurdly elegant chair. Hermione rolled her eyes at the entire corridor on her way back up the stairs. What a waste of space.
She kept her ear to the door when she reached the landing, hearing nothing at all except the beating of her heart. Hermione pushed open the door, and closed it behind her finding herself alone, and back where she started.
She considered heading upstairs to see if Draco was there, but then she heard raised voices coming from the hall that Mippy had led Draco down earlier.
Curiosity getting the better of her she headed in the direction of the shouting.
Several paintings were on the walls in the corridor, most of the occupants having striking blonde hair, and they all strained in their frames to hear the argument down the hall.
"-ever let him come home!"
"I can't control him!"
"Would you both be quiet!"
Draco's voice was the last she heard and it rang in her ears. His declaration was followed by a glass breaking, and Hermione took the last few steps to the closed doors where the commotion was coming from at a run.
The voices were quieter now, and Hermione reached into her pocket and pulled out an old extendable ear pressing it to her own and the other end to the door.
"-just wish you'd give me some forewarning. We never know who is going to be here."
Hermione heard the end of Narcissa's sentence.
"Draco is a man now." The shrieking voice of Bellatrix Lestrange hit Hermione like a blast of cold wind in the face. "A Death Eater. He doesn't need permission from his mothers to visit the headquarters of his master."
"Thank you Bella." Draco replied. Hermione couldn't tell if he meant it or not. He was a great actor.
She quickly leapt aside as the door opened, and Narcissa came storming out her blonde hair whipping behind her as she strode out of sight.
Luckily for Hermione the door was now open, and she took the opportunity to find her way inside, invisible to the eye.
Bellatrix was sitting on the far end of a long table, and Draco on the other side. Both had wine goblets in front of them, but neither touched theirs. There was a broken goblet in the middle where Narcissa had been sitting. She seemed to have slammed it down so hard it broke.
"I'm glad you came Draco." Bellatrix finally said breaking the silence. "Even if it's just for the night. Your mother and father have been slacking in their efforts to help the Dark Lord. Their unhappiness at him being in their home is reflecting badly on our family.
"I understand." Draco finally took a sip of the wine in front of him, and shot an anxious look toward the door.
Hermione knew he was wondering where she was, but she didn't dare give herself away in case he made any sudden movements. Not when Bella was in the room.
"I've managed to get in his good graces again, however marginally."
"Oh?" Draco said, his eyes still lingering towards the door.
"The Dark Lord has use of my vault at Gringotts." Bella said taking a sip of her wine, and twirling her wand between her fingers with the other hand. "He has brought me an object which is dear to him, and the use of our vault will conceal said object. If you can convince him that the Malfoys are happy to have him in their home, and the Lestranges can be of use to him with our vault, then our legacy will once again flourish in the Dark Lords eyes."
Hermione could barely contain herself from whispering in Draco's ear, and she willed him to voice the question she was dying to ask.
"I will do what I can." Draco sat up straighter, and continued. "So have we moved the object to your vault yet? Do you need any assistance in that matter?"
Draco asked her question so casually that Bellatrix barely noticed the tone of excitement in his voice. She was glad that Draco was thinking the same thing as her: Could this object be the horcrux?
"It's here of course. The Dark Lord was at the manor only yesterday putting in our possession." Bellatrix sighed loudly, and looked like a pouting child. "But he gave it to Lucius to keep safe until I could go to my vault next week. He doesn't seem to trust me enough right now. Your father of course is in Ireland so he will have to tell me the objects location when he gets back. Then I can be the one to tell The Dark Lord that it's safe in my vault."
Hermione could see Draco's clenched fist underneath the table. His leg was jiggling with anticipation.
"I'm glad you've thought this through Bellatrix." Draco said standing, and pushing in his chair. "I will do everything I can to bring honor to our family and The Dark Lord. In the meantime, I really need to patch things up with my mother."
"Of course Draco." Bellatrix said, staying put and waving Draco out with her hand. "You were always so much stronger than your father. Fix things with your mother, and I will see you soon."
Draco patiently strolled out of the dining room, and Hermione barely made it past the doors as they shut behind him. He took his time getting out of there, but the moment the doors shut he took off in a quick stride, almost running. Hermione could barely keep up, trying to keep the cloak from revealing her feet as she followed after him up three flights of stairs.
The décor continued to impresses as they reached the third floor landing. Hermione remembered Draco telling her this was the floor where his father's office was, and sure enough Draco took the second door on the right, and entered a room, closing the door behind him and an invisible Hermione.
"You think he hid it here?" Hermione whispered taking the cloak off of herself, and facing Draco.
He only seemed marginally surprised at seeing her, and his minimal shock quickly turned into pure delight.
"I know where my father keeps everything Hermione." Draco said striding across the room to the large book shelf. Hermione was too excited to even glance at the titles like she normally would have done when faced with an ancient library. "I know exactly where he'd keep something valuable that no one else should know about."
"Except you know about it." Hermione pointed out, as Draco ran his hands along the titles looking for something it seemed.
"I know everything." Draco said smirking at her, and she raised her eye brows in disbelief. "Well, about this manor anyway. As an only child you have to find some way to entertain yourself. I spent a lot of my time getting to know the manor and all of its secrets."
"So that one day you could help a mudblood in need." Hermione joked.
Draco stopped searching and turned to her a strange look on his face.
"Don't call yourself that." He ordered quietly, then turned to resume examining the books.
Hermione let whatever she was going to say next die in her throat. There was something in his expression that unnerved and elated her at the same time.
She was about to change the subject, when Draco pulled down hard on an old black tattered book seven rows up. He took a few steps back as the shelf shook, and slowly revolved to reveal a dark space behind it. Hermione squinted, but couldn't make out anything.
"Wands out, head up, and horcrux searching faces on. This is where we keep everything that is worth anything." Draco said mysteriously, gesturing Hermione forward with one arm, and lighting his own wand behind her.