I do not attempt to claim ownership of Marvel Comics or the Harry Potter series.
Chapter Four
'Enter the Puppetmaster'
Wiltshire / 29.06.2009
"Time travel sucks," muttered Ron as he pushed himself to his feet before helping Hermione up, checking they were both still covered by the cloak.
"Where are we?" questioned Hermione, looking around the opulent great hall, the main doors thrown open to let in a gentle summer breeze.
"Malfoy Manor," replied Ron, pointing out of the open doors to the lawn beyond, filled the upper echelons of the magical community, Lucius Malfoy giving a speech on the stage, "That bastard!"
"The gala," muttered Hermione, placing a hand on Ron's shoulder, "That means we can't assume Malfoy's father took Harry just because the Portkey came from here, it means it could have been any of the guests here."
"No, I remember my dad saying that Nott Sr. never turned up," spoke Ron, calming down, "But the guest list had him checked in as being here."
"That sounds fishy," mumbled Hermione, the crash of a door slamming making them both jump.
"What was that?" whispered Ron, double checking the cloak was still covering them.
"Oh no, this isn't good," uttered Hermione as Lucius Malfoy walked down the main stairs.
"Why?" asked Ron.
"There's two Malfoys," responded Hermione, turning to face out the main doors, looking the second Lucius Malfoy, still giving his speech on the stage.
4 Privet Drive / One Hour Earlier
"Pathetic," sneered Lucius as he stepped over the stunned form of Ron, quickly arriving at where the front door had once been, tucking a time-turner under his robes.
Looking down, Lucius taking in the sight in front of him, an undercover Death Eater presumed to be dead and the Boy-Who-Lived, both unconscious, or at least, one of them was.
"Get up and stop pretending, Wormtail," spat Lucius, kicking Pettigrew in the ribs, causing him to jerk.
"I'm sorry," pleaded Pettigrew, dragging himself to his knees, "I'll do whatever you want!"
"Get out of here, go to ground," ordered Lucius, "I'll have use for you later."
"Thank you," murmured Pettigrew, fleeing quickly, vanishing with a crack as soon as he reached the edge of the wards.
"Onto the real business," muttered Lucius, turning and entering the lounge.
"W-Whoever you are, I want you out of my house!" stuttered Vernon, both Petunia and Dudley cowering behind him.
"Now, now, Mr. Dursley," spoke Lucius with his silkiest tone, "I hear you're quite the businessman. So am I."
"So you're here for business?" questioned Vernon, Lucius could practically hear the cogs slowly turning in his head.
"That I am," smirked Lucius, "In fact, you could say I'm the answer to all your problems."
"How so?" queried Vernon, starting to relax.
"The boy, I have an offer for you," answered Lucius, "I'll take him for you."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that," assured Lucius, "My wife is his closest living relative, by all rights we should have been his guardians."
"So you want to take him in now?" realised Vernon, "Why not earlier?"
"I'm afraid my political rival, I'm sure you know him, Albus Dumbledore, he blocked custody after the death of the Potters," explained Lucius, "The manipulative old man ensured his placement here in the vain hope of using the boy to build a stronger link between the magical and muggle world's."
"Which you don't want," spoke Vernon.
"Exactly, with the boy under my guardianship I can bring him back into the world he belongs," informed Lucius, "Instead of isolating him."
"Very well," uttered Vernon, "Where do I sign?"
With that Petunia seemed to come out of her stupor, "Don't you dare! I swore we'd keep keep him until he turned seventeen!"
"I'm afraid Mrs Dursley that as this is a magical guardianship, only the man's signature is needed," spoke Lucius with a smug smile.
"Excellent," replied Vernon, piggy eyes gleaming, "Now what kind of reimbursement are we talking about?"
"Six million, I've already had it transferred into one of your accounts," answered Lucius, "I believe it's the one you reserve for blackjack and hookers."
"What?" breathed Petunia, turning to look at her husband, "Is that true?"
"Of course it is," sneered Lucius, "Do you really think he'd be satisfied with someone like you?"
"Is this true!" demanded Petunia, Vernon's silence giving her the answer, "It is."
"You bastard!" roared Vernon, charging at Lucius, only making it a few steps before he was stunned.
"I guess I'll have to do this the other way," muttered Lucius before stunning Petunia and Dudley, both joining Vernon on the floor.
"I just couldn't help myself, winding up filthy muggles is just so much fun," mumbled Lucius, quickly binding the three Dursleys with ropes, "Almost as much as torturing them."
Tucking his wand into his robes, Lucius strolled out into the hallway and clapped his hands, looking down at the unconscious form of Harry.
"Mimsy is here," announced a house-elf as she appeared with a crack, "What is master wanting Mimsy to do?"
"How is my younger self doing?" queried Lucius.
"Mimsy is seeing identical master on stage," answered Mimsy, wringing her ears, "He is giving very long speech."
"Good," spoke Lucius, "And Draco?"
"Still in his room," informed Mimsy, "Young master is refusing to join the event."
"Hmm, I'll talk to him when I return," replied Lucius, "Now, I want you to take our new guest to the Manor, the Dungeons, and make sure to keep him stunned."
"Mimsy will do as master wishes," nodded Mimsy, vanishing with a crack, taking Harry with her.
Lucius smiled and leaned down, opening Harry's case. Quickly rooting around, the Malfoy patriarch withdrew his hand, Harry's holly and phoenix wand clutched in it.
Lucius moved to shut the case but paused, seeing Harry's Nimbus 2000. Sure, Draco's broom was a better model, but Lucius was sure his son would get satisfaction of destroying his rival's broom.
Taking the broom, Lucius shut the case and strode out the front door, stepping over Ron and vanishing with a crack.
Malfoy Manor
Draco sighed as he looked out his window, watching the festivities of the gala below. As much as he wanted to be down there with his friends, but he was still avoiding his father.
Only minutes after returning from his second year at Hogwarts this father had sat him down to explain the real events behind the last year. And what he'd heard had horrified him.
His father hadn't cared about who could have been killed, half-bloods, purebloods, not even his own son. The worst part was that once again Harry Potter had come to the rescue.
A sudden knocking grabbed his attention moments before his door slammed open, Lucius striding in.
"Draco, I thought I told you to be at the gala," spoke Lucius, "Why are you here?"
His entire life Draco had idolised his father, copied him, he'd never spoken back to him even once. Well, it was time for that to change.
"Take a flying guess," uttered Draco, refusing to look his father in the eyes.
"How dare you," sneered Lucius, "You will show me due respect!"
"And you think what you did with the diary will make me respect you?" questioned Draco.
"I'd hoped you would," sighed Lucius, "But maybe this will."
Pulling an object out of his pocket, Lucius gave it a tap to return it to its proper size, revealing it to be a Nimbus 2000.
"Have you fully lost it?" questioned Draco as his father handed him the broom, "You do know I have a much better broom?"
"It's not about the model, but about who owns it," replied Lucius with a grin like a shark.
Turning the broom over in his hands, Draco paled, "It's Potter's."
"Exactly," smirked Lucius, "Now you're getting it."
"What have you done with him?" asked Draco.
"Nothing too serious, yet," responded Lucius, "He's our guest for now, oh, and you can keep the broom, do whatever you want with it."
With that, Lucius left, striding away with a superior look on his face, slamming the door behind him dramatically.
"He's gone mad," muttered Draco, without Potter there was no-one around to stop his father's insane schemes, after all, he owned Fudge.
This left Draco one option, one he hated with a passion.
He had to rescue Potter.
And there we are, another chapter. It's been just a week since I started this story and it's already nearly at 10,000 hits. Also, I have come up with a posting schedule: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays between 15:00 and 16:00 BST.
Anyways, thanks for the awesome response I've gotten so far and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. And, yeah, I couldn't help myself with the Futurama reference.