Draco forced himself to focus on the task on hand. He was surrounded by several books, none of them was the book he wanted. His mind kept wandering off to the last time he had seen Hermione, ten days ago. Giving into your whims never ended up well, he scolded himself. Why couldn't he just stay at the Manor instead of going back for her? The sense of relief he was having was worth it, he contradicted himself.
Now where did they stand? That was the question that irked Draco the most. That, and of course giving a name to the feelings he was struggling with. A name that didn't sound absurd or cause him a panic attack.
His line of thought was interrupted when his eyes fell on the book he was looking for. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Draco smiled triumphantly as he read the book's title to himself. He skimmed through the pages, stopping at one page. His fingers ran along the lines and his brows drew together in concentration.
When he was done with the book, he put it back in its place and headed to his father's room. He pressed his ear to the door to make sure the room was empty. Glancing sideways, he opened the door slightly and slipped through it.
"Accio key." he whispered.
Several drawers were opened and over twenty keys flew across the room, landing at Draco's feet noisily. He cursed under his breath angrily as he collected the keys and shoved them in his pockets. With great carefulness, Draco made his way to the cellar.
He waved his wand at the wall at the end of the cellar, mumbling some words. A door started forming in the wall. Draco took out one key after the other and inserted them into the keyhole. It was only after the sixteenth key that he found the right one. He entered the room and lit one of the torches fixed in either sides of the door.
As the dark faded, Draco's eyes scanned the room. The secret room was filled with artifacts and antiques that could put Borgin and Burkes to shame. Several pots, cups, necklaces and sculptures were stacked neatly all over the room. His parents had done a good job at keeping the room hidden and safe against the ministry's surprise inspections in search of rare artifacts related to dark arts.
"Accio dagger" Draco said and a small glass box floated in his direction. The box held a pointed silver dagger inside it. Latin words were carved on the handle and several symbols were carved craftily on the dangerously sharp blade.
Draco took out the dagger and inspected it carefully. He remembered the first time he saw that dagger in his aunt's hand when she was placing it in this room.
"It's called the Sica de Mors. Dagger of Death" she informed, looking at the dagger with reverence.
"Every dagger is a deadly dagger." Draco retorted. Unable to see anything different about the weapon his aunt was almost cradling.
"This one exceeds any other dagger." she insisted, "The blade" -she ran her finger along the length of the blade, careful not to touch it- "it was sharpened by a Manticore's stinger. Do you know what a Manticore is?" she asked.
Draco shrugged indifferently, finding the dagger with the silly name absolutely uninteresting. Bellatrix ignored her nephew's nonchalance.
"It's one of the deadliest beasts ever known to the wizarding world. A lion with a human's head and the tail of a scorpion. No witch or wizard was ever able to kill a Manticore; its skin repels most spells." she explained, "Its sting causes instant death and its poison has no antidote." she added enthusiastically, almost admiring the beast.
"And how exactly was the blade sharpened by a Manticore's stinger if nobody was ever able to kill it? Because I doubt it would be cooperative enough to polish weapons on its leisure time." Draco mocked with a smirk.
"Wipe that smirk off your face, Draco." Bellatrix hissed at him, "It was polished by the stinger of a dead Manticore. It died of old age. I don't recall who was the first person to posses that Dagger, but it had been a Black family heirloom for so long."
Draco's mind traveled to the present once more. His aunt's story about Manticores was now supported by the information he found in the book. He put the dagger in his pocket and headed back to his room. He wrapped it in a thick piece of leather before going to his father's room and placing the keys back. He needed to see Hermione and tell her about the new information he now had. If a Basilik's poison was strong enough to destroy Horcrux, a Manticore's poison would definitely be more efficient.
The Manor looked eerie, Draco noted grimly as he walked down the stairs. The battle had taken its toll on both the house and its residents. His father locked himself in his room most of the time. His aunt was hysterically vindictive. She kept begging Voldemort to let her go after Hermione. He entered the drawing room, looking for his father. Several men were gathered in the room but not his father, his aunt or the Dark Lord. As he went back upstairs to look for his father in one of the bedrooms, Draco heard his aunt's voice whispering to somebody.
"The boy..he's heading to Hogwarts. I can feel it." Voldemort's voice came barely audible through the door.
"Then let's gather every last one of your servants, my lord, and wait for him there." Bellatrix urged
"The boy is being assisted by people inside the castle." Voldemort informed, "Send an owl to Severus, tell him to search the castle thoroughly. Make sure every witch, wizard and ghost in the castle knows the consequences of assisting Harry Potter."
"My lord, why can't we just wait for him there." Bellatrix pursued hesitantly.
"We need time to gather an army. When Harry Potter is dead, he won't die alone. Every last man, woman and child who ever helped him will die with him. Hogwarts will no longer stand in my way." the contemptuous hiss pierced Draco's ears.
He almost stumbled away from the door. Voldemort's words brought frightening images to his mind. He needed to see Hermione now more than ever. He spent a while looking for his father until he found him eventually in the small room his mother once cherished. The room was dark and if it wasn't for his father's quiet sobs, Draco wouldn't have known he was there.
"Father, what are you doing here?" Draco asked as he crouched on the floor next to Lucius.
He pointed his wand at the lamp in front of them, letting light flood the room. Lucius's bloodshot eyes were staring blankly at Draco as tears ran down his face.
"This is all my fault.." -Lucius inhaled sharply- "I dragged her down with me..I dragged you down.."
"Get up." Draco cut him off sharply, "You shouldn't be sitting here."
"I'm sorry..so sorry" Lucius wept.
Draco ignored his father's apologies. He stood upright and pulled his father up with him. Lucius raised his hand to Draco's face, forcing him to make eye contact.
"Draco...I'm sorry." Lucius's voice almost plead.
Draco stared at his father's glistening eyes, fighting the urge to take out all his bottled up anger on the fragile man in front of him.
"It's too late for that now." Draco said in spite of himself. Instantly regretting his words when his father's sobs grew louder and more desperate.
Their journey back to his father's room took twice the time it usually did. Lucius's legs were too shaky. His weight was braced over Draco's frame as they climbed the stairs. He kept mumbling incoherent words and barely audible apologies that Draco did his best to ignore. As Lucius sat on his bed, Draco opened one of the drawers. He held up a flask and added some drops of it to a glass of water.
"It will help you sleep." Draco explained as he pushed the glass into his father's hands.
Draco watched as his father reluctantly drowned the cup. Several minutes later, he rested his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. Hastily, Draco headed back to his room. He cast some spells on the door to keep it closed before apparating out of the Manor.
"Where's everybody else?" Draco asked as he saw Molly Weasly sitting alone in the living room.
"Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione are in Hogwarts." Molly informed, "Is something wrong?" she asked warily.
"No, nothing." Draco shook his head distractedly before turning around to leave the house. He ignored the woman's calls after him. A sense of panic started crawling over him. Voldemort was one step ahead of them and they naively fell into his trap. He needed a way into Hogwarts that was as invisible as possible. He apparated back to the Manor and decided to postpone his visit to Hogwarts until everybody was asleep and there was no risk of his absence being noticed.
Time barely moved as Draco sat in the Drawing room. Hearing the other men making speculations about the cup that seemed so valuable for their lord. Some of them tentatively discussed Travers' foolishness during the battle. While others like Yaxley and Dolohov made assumptions about how the course of the battle would've changed had they been there. Everybody seemed to avoid bringing up Narcissa's death in the presence of Bellatrix.
When his aunt finally decided to go to sleep, Draco followed suit. He grabbed a coat quickly and disapparated from the Manor. Minutes later, he was standing in front of Borgin and Burkes. He raised his wand dismissively at old Borgin when he stood up to greet him. He stepped into the huge cabinet, hoping that the one at Hogwarts had not been removed from the room of requirement.
Draco felt the moment his last cell was safely transported into Hogwarts and sighed in relief. He heard some noise outside the cabinet and pressed his ear against the cold metal door. There were several people in whatever room the cabinet was in and Draco considered going back to the Manor. What if the cabinet was now in Snape's office? Then Draco was able to recognize Hermione's familiar voice.
He heard her saying Harry's name and decided that if the room was safe for them then it was probably safe for him too. No sooner had Draco opened the cabinet's door than he closed it again. The moment he was seen by the people in the room, several spells were directed at him. He heard loud noises outside the cabinet then hurrying footsteps started approaching him. Draco held his wand in front of him protectively.
"It's me." Hermione whispered as she opened the door slightly and poked her head inside. Her surprised gasp was lost into Draco's mouth as he cupped her neck and pulled her close for a brief kiss. Careless enough to ignore the fact that only the cabinet's door stood between them and a room full of their classmates.