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Harry both hated walking down Knockturn alley and was exhilarated by it. This place disgusted him for all it dark magic's while at the same time he knew that this was where he could catch dark wizards in the act of some nefarious transactions.
Harry came here knowing his prey made his regular weekly stop at Borgin and Burkes today. Just as he came upon the store front in question he saw his prey walking out of it and his prey saw him.
"What are you doing here scare-head?" He sneered.
"I should be asking you that question Malfoy." Harry retorted.
"I don't answer to you Potty but if you must know I'm trying to get back some of the heirlooms the Ministry stole from my family and put up for auction. I had heard Mr. Borgin may have acquired some of it and so I was trying to get the family silverware back.
I know you were hoping to catch me doing something illegal but if I were, it would take someone more cunning than you to catch a skilled pure blood wizard, Potter."
"We'll just see about that. It's my prerogative to do random searches for dark artifact on the person known to consort with some of the darkest wizards. Open the bag and lets see what you got there Malfoy."
The other patrons of Knockturn alley were watching the scene with interest. The Potter/Malfoy feud was well known at this point. Everyone wondered if this was the day where they would have their duel. Most believed that if it were to happen that it would end in Harry dragging Draco limp form off to Azkaban prison.
"Consort? Who's to say I'm not one of the darkest wizards?" Malfoy taunted.
"It has to do with that cunning and skilled thing you mentioned just a bit ago. You have nether." Harry replied in a bored tone as he began looking through the contents of Malfoys shopping bag. He pulled out an elegantly styled silver container with an engraved 'M' upon it and said. "Well, well. What do we have here? I don't have to use my wand to feel the magic coming from this item."
"It's a milk dispenser part of a much larger tea set, you uncouth dolt." Malfoy replied.
"What about the magic coming from it?" Harry inquired.
"It's a cooling charm to keep the milk cold." Draco explained.
"A likely story Malfoy, I'll just be taking this to the Ministry and have it retested to make sure. You'll be getting a letter to come pick it up if it's clean. That is, if we remember to send one. If not it'll go into auction so you might find it back here in ninety days where you can buy it from Mr. Borgin."
"I just told you, I'd just bought it from Mr. Borgin."
"And I'm sure Mr. Borgin enjoys your business. If you'll excuse me I have a meeting to keep. Good day Malfoy." Harry said with a smirk and walked out of the Alley.
Malfoy stood there seething from the indignation. Once Harry was out of sight Malfoy said aloud letting everyone hear. "You'll pay for this Potter. I swear you'll pay."
Harry made his way through the crowds in Diagon alley to the leaky Cauldron and out the front door to muggle London. He went two blocks due east until he came to a condemned building where he used his wand to gain entrance. He went up a flight of stairs and into a dingy office. He was surprised to find that the person he was meeting wasn't there yet. So, he transfigured an old busted up floor model television set into a comfortable wingback chair and waited. A half an hour later he heard someone trying to sneakily approach the room. Harry went to the door and quickly pulled it open. The person was a lot closer to the room than Harry thought as he found himself face to face with Draco Malfoy.
"How does it feel to wait for someone that shows up late, Potter." Draco asked.
"What took you so long? I got here before you?" Harry asked.
"And because I'm the one who usually apparates, I'm usually waiting for you. This time I knew it would take you time to get here and I still had shopping to do. Now that I'm here what do you want?" Draco asked.
"World peace but barring that, information you have on any dark wizards would be nice." Harry said eagerly.
"Keep wishing, it's been quiet. The few dark wizards we haven't caught are still in hiding." Draco replied.
"You don't think they realize that you're a ministry informant do you? I've been passing the blame on other dark wizards and put a medium Obliviate on them. Even if they recover their memories it's false information." Harry said worriedly.
"No, there just suspicious and don't know who to trust these days. Besides you, Shacklebolt, and my mother no one else knows about our arrangement." Malfoy replied.
"I haven't even told Hermione or the Weasley's. I didn't want any of them acting differently towards you, or the dark wizards might think something's up." Harry admitted.
"Is that the only reason you wanted this meeting?" Malfoy wondered.
"No, I also came to tell you that your father is going to be going on a day trip outside the walls of Azkaban on Friday."
"What! Why?" Draco asked incredulously.
"There a prophecy with his name on it and it's calling out to be heard. The law states that he has to be there to hear it." Harry replied.
"Oh, that's just fantastic." Draco said sarcastically. "What if he tries to contact one of his cronies to make contact with or… kill me? I never know what mood the crazy bugger's in these days. It's not like Azkaban has visiting hours."
"I'm going to make sure he doesn't get a chance to talk to anyone Draco just be on your guard and make sure to tell your mum."
"Right, she'll just love hearing that." He said sarcastically. "By the way she's wondering when it would be good for you to come to dinner. She hasn't seen you in ages."
"I can come by on Saturday. I have some other things I'd like to discuss with both of you, then."
"Good, I'll have some good news to tell her to soften the blow of the bad. Dinner will be at five sharp as usual." Draco announced.
"I'll be there."
"And the next time you want to meet me, can you do it less publicly? All this name calling makes us look like morons."
"Yeah, you're probably right about that. Here's your milk dispenser by the way." He said pulling out the item from inside his cloak.
"Bring it with you on Saturday it'll get you through the wards and keep you from forgetting to come. See you Saturday Harry" he said and apparated away.
"I'll see you then Draco." Harry said to an empty room.
It was still strange for Harry hearing Draco calling him by his first name. The near death experience Malfoy suffered at Hogwarts made Draco see things in a different light. He could have died in that fire in the room of requirement that day if not for Harry. Many thoughts about his life changed that day. He wasn't immortal, he'd been an ass, he'd been petty, and the Dark lord was an idiot and so was his father for that matter. He didn't want to leave this world without making amends. He was still somewhat of a coward but taking a page from his mentor and head of house Professor Snape, he could do his part from behind the scenes as a spy. If it weren't for those changes in his mindset he might have been enraged when he realized he owed Harry a life debt for saving his life but he was actually grateful for the second chance. Draco's mother was happy with the new Draco as well. At least she knew he wouldn't be following in his fathers footsteps.
/Scene Break/
In the worst part of Azkaban prison Lucius Malfoy sat in a cell. He was a shell of the man that he once was, he had become so emaciated. His stare was vacant and every now and then he would moan loudly because his vocal cords were too raw to scream anymore and he shook violently. He had been so close to losing the last bit of himself to the abyss of his mind forever, but he hung on. He didn't know why he did. He was sentenced to life in this hell. There would be no reprieve. No family to fight for his release. No dark lord to break him out. But still he hung on. The dementors practically lived in the section of the fortress he was normally placed and yesterday he didn't even notice when the guards came and took him to a different cell that was less populated with those horrible things. Today though was different. He noticed. He didn't know why he was someplace else, but; it was like a man who had been trapped on a deserted island for years without a wand, and to see a ship come to his aid to take him home.
He found he could think. He remembered his name first. But then his name never really left his memory. In his horrible memories that the dementors made him relive people screamed his name. He became so detached from the memories he'd almost forgotten that it was 'his' name they screamed. In the span of a few hours he remembered most of his life. Growing up, going to Hogwarts, getting married, and joining the dark lord, the birth of his son, the death and then the rebirth of his master. After that he didn't have to remember anymore. After that, those were the memories the dementors made him relive everyday all day. The worst of it was that he remembered and relived every time he was put under the Cucio curse by his master. The memory of the pain was only half as bad as the pain he felt back then but it was still very bad only because of how many times he was made to relive it. Today however, he didn't feel any of it. He wasn't forced to remember. His mind felt clear as if a great wind blew through the halls of his mind and left it free of the clutter and filth that had been there. He knew the memories were still there buried somewhere in the back of his mind but wasn't about to go searching for them because he knew this reprieve was only temporary. But why was he given this respite? Soon the guard came to the cell door.
"Lucius Malfoy?" The guard asked.
"That's me. He replied."
"Good you're responsive. Only took twenty nine hours to come back from being a drooling idiot. At least you're no longer drooling. You'll always be the idiot though. You did side with Moldieshorts after all. Did you guys know he was a half blood named Tom riddle?"
Lucius shot the guard an irritated look. He found out toward the end of the war. He felt foolish for not seeing it long before then.
"Didn't think so. Anyway let's get on with it." The guard said as he unrolled the parchment and began to read aloud from it.
Lucius Malfoy,
You are here by summoned.
On this day the twenty-ninth of June, by the ruling order of the ministry of Magic you are hereby ordered to be escorted to the hall of prophecy where you are to listen to the prophecy made by the dark prophet Grand Master Sinjin Nabbawho in 1607. After which you will be escorted back to your cell to carry out the remainder of you life sentence.
Signed,
The Minster of Magic
Kingsly Shacklebolt.
With that, the guard rolled up the parchment and said. "We'll be leaving at noon. Get any funny ideas along the way and you'll be getting kissed by a dementor."
Lucius said nothing and only stared at the floor. He would do nothing to make that happen if he could help it. It was said that having your soul sucked into a dementor was like an eternity of grief and horror beyond what he was experiencing here in Azkaban.
He idly wondered how that conception came about because anyone whose soul had been devoured by a dementor would never be able to come back and tell anyone about it. But then how could it be anything else?
At eleven forty five Lucius was manhandled out of his cell. They put him in iron shackles around his wrists, ankles, and neck. The thick linked chains were heavy and his gaunt frame struggled to carry all the extra weight. They then led him outside into the too bright sun light of which he hadn't seen in years. They got to the edge of the island and went through a heavily guarded checkpoint. Once they passed it they went through a fortified gate before going through a heavy set of iron doors built into a fifty foot thick, fifty foot high stone wall that led to a long pier. They walked out onto it. At the very end of the pier was a small floating platform about fifteen feet long and ten feet wide. It was there upon the platform that they were beyond the wards of Azkaban so once Lucius and the four guards stood upon it one of guards took what looked like an empty sack from his side and placed the opening against the floor of the platform. When he pulled it from the floor a large waist high Greek pedestal came out of the sack to stand in the middle of the platform.
"The prisoner will now touch the portkey." One of the guards commanded.
Lucius and the four guards touched the pedestal. This portkey was set with a time rather then a password for security purposes so, at exactly eleven fifty five the portkey activated and took them straight to the prisoner receiving room of the ministry where four new guards took over the handling of the right hand man of the dark lord Voldemort. Lucius Malfoy.
He was led through the department of mysteries to the hall of prophecy.
"Alright Malfoy we're going to lead you to the listening room. You will sit in the chair and the prophecy attendant will bring in your orb. You will be left alone to listen to it but we will be right outside the door. Try anything funny and we'll put you down so hard the marble floor will crack. Once you've listened to the prophecy you'll be taken back to Azkaban."
Lucius, who had his attention focused on the floor at his feet, hung his head even lower in defeated confirmation to the guard's declaration.
Feeling very superior, the guard smiled broadly.
They made their way to the listening room and they all signed the register. They sat the prisoner in a chair at the table and chained him to it. They then waited for the prophecy attendant to deliver the orb. A minute later the attendant appeared with an orb in his possession. The Orb was placed in a holder.
"The grand master's prophecy seems to be rather long winded I'm afraid. Mr. Malfoy will be here for about forty-five minuets." The attendant announced.
"Then we'll check in on him every five." The guard replied.
"I'm afraid not. Prophecies are to be kept personal at all times."
"This is Azkaban business. My orders come straight from the ministry. The prisoner has no rights and must be watched. That we're leaving the prisoner alone for five minuets is far too long."
"The Hall of prophecy is regulated by the unspeakables, not Azkaban and not the ministry. Their department is far more terrifying than the rest of the ministry, Azkaban and all it dementors put together. To try and open that door during a private prophecy hearing would be like asking the unspeakables to cast experimental spells upon your person and as you know that would be the least terrifying thing they would do."
The guards went white. None of them wanted a confrontation with any unspeakable.
"Then maybe we should take him back to Azkaban. We don't want to risk loosing this one."
"I'm sorry that isn't possible. You have all signed the register and so you must leave him to hear the prophecy otherwise the unspeakables would descend upon you."
"What if he should get away?"
"Then the unspeakables would take the blame and would be among the many departments hunting him down."
"Well then, I think we can live with that." The guard announced before looking toward Malfoy and said. "Remember what I said Lucy, make one mistake and you'll go back to Azcaban as a black and blue bleeding lump."
Lucius stared at his lap. The guards and the attendant left the room leaving Malfoy with the smoky orb. He hesitated for a second before reaching out to touch it so it would begin speaking the prophecy. His fingers were still several inches away when it started speaking in a deep almost earth shaking baritone voice.
Good evening Lucius my dear cousin. Yes, cousin will do. I know we are related by blood but I couldn't be bothered to find out the exact nature of our relationship. But that's nether here nor there. As you may have noticed I'm not one of those profits that rhyme or measure their prophecies. I prefer to speak plainly. The purpose of this gathering is two fold. I have a prophecy for the world but I am only giving it to you, for you to do with it as you will. But I already know what it is you'll do. I know it sounds incredible but, to put it bluntly, the world as you know it now will end late next year. Entire land masses will sink below the oceans leaving only one continent where life will continue, the location I will tell you about in a moment. The second reason you're here is so I can save your life and allow my bloodline to continue. Yes, I know you're a prisoner and that you have just about given up all hope. I know the idea of the world ending sounds both outrageous and a blessing but trust me, if you leave here as a prisoner your mind will not survive the bombardment the dementors have planned for you upon your return. And do you really wish to be buried under the crumbling remains of Azkaban when the world ends or would you rather be alive and free knowing you outlasted that miserable place?
You may be asking yourself why I'm helping you and not your son. He is after all the next of our line, but he doesn't have the same values as you and I do. That is partly due to his mothers influence. Once you're free you should start over and create a new family.
So how could I, a man long since dead help you escape? It's quite simple. You don't know this but your fellow deatheater Mr. Nott bequeathed not one but three house elves to your service when he died. The ministry has no record of it because you've never claimed them so they were never taken away from you. If you were to claim them and call upon Fizzy he would take you away from here and to the safety of Nott manor. Nott manor will only be a temporary safe haven, a day and a half at most, so it would be best to relocate abroad to the Nott vacation home.
Now Lucius, I have a confession, something that greatly disturbs all profits. None of us have been able to see beyond 2012. 2013 and beyond is almost complete mystery to us. Only a powerful profit such as myself may only get impressions of things to come and while it is not guaranteed to happen I'm telling you that I have the impression that you will be told that you will be king of all you survey and beyond. But as I said, that is not a guaranteed prophecy. I look forward to seeing how it plays out as I watch from the great beyond. Now you must settle your affairs here in England as quickly as possible after which you'll need to hide yourself away in the unsinkable continent of… Africa. After 2012 they should stop looking for you.
I will now spend the remainder of this prophecy reciting my recipe for curing human flesh, giving you enough time to escape. Good luck cousin.
As Grand Master Sinjin Nabbawho droned on, Lucius pondered his claim to being a relative. He dismissed the thought as quick as it came. He could research it later. He also dismissed the idea of the world sinking but wasn't foolish enough to not follow the instructions of the Grand Master. Africa was a nice place after all.Right now his hopes had been restored. He didn't have a wand. He had something almost as good and three times more powerful. He had elves. They would never come to Azcaban. Even they couldn't handle dementors. Now they could rescue him from ever returning to that hell. All he had to do was order them to do so.
"I Lucius Malfoy claim the house elves bequeathed to me by the former head of the Nott family. Fizzy come to me." He said.
A house elf popped in and looked to the man sitting at the table.
"Is you my new Master sir?"
"Yes." He said quietly. "I am Lucius Malfoy and I have claimed three of the Nott family elves left to me by the former head of that family. I am your Master."
"Oh thank you so much master! You don't know hows much or hows long we waited for someone to comes and claims us. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Quiet you simpering fool. There are people outside this room that want to take me away from you and if I go you'll not get another master in your life time. Now get these chains off me."
"Yes sir." Fizzy whispered. "And with a snap of his fingers the chains were gone."
"Good now, get me out of here. Take me to Nott manor, quietly."
With another snap of Fizzy's fingers they evaporated like smoke, without a sound.
Lucius found himself in the foyer of Nott Manor. Looking around himself he saw two other elves.
"Is yous our new master?" One of them asked.
"Yes. I suppose I am. What are your names?" He demanded.
"I'm Tocky and this is being Bang sir. And might I say how grateful wees is to be having a master again sir. Each one of us is proficient in alls household chores. Even without a master for so long wees is still doing our jobs. This house is clean and ready for habitation as if our old masters never left."
"I see, very well, I've spent years in the company of dementors so I'll be needing chocolate immediately. He said pointing to Bang who popped away. I'll also need something more substantial to eat as well so Tocky can make supper. Fizzy, you'll show me to the master bathroom for a proper bath then you can lay out some cloths that best fit the stature of the lord of this house."
Bang popped back with a large bar of chocolate and handed it to Lucius who began eating it at once as he followed Fizzy to the bathroom. An hour and a half later Lucius was dressed and followed his nose to the dining room. He had spent an hour in the tub. Soaking in the warm water greatly relaxed his sore muscles. He told Fuzzy to get rid of his unruly mop of hair as it was obscenely long and greasy after his long stay in Azkaban. He didn't want to see his locks again for some time and decided to have it short for the time being. It wasn't a buzz cut but it was no longer shoulder length as it used to be. He still had five squares of chocolate left but decided to eat them after dinner. The elves had taken into account his physical condition and took appropriate measures. Fuzzy had taken in the suit that his previous master wore to fit Lucius's emaciated frame while Tocky made a light soup for supper.
Lucius ate his soup with buttered bread but stopped almost halfway through because he couldn't eat any more. It's not that Azkaban didn't feed it's prisoners, it was because the dementors only let up on their mental attacks for forty-five minutes. By the time the prisoners came out of their miserable trance, they only had a couple of minutes left to eat before the dementors would start up again.
Lucius sat there and contemplated his next move. They were looking for him by now. He couldn't stay here for long. Sinjin said as much. The Grand Master had said to take care of his affairs and leave as quickly as possible. What affairs? The only thing he wanted to do is leave as quickly as he could. Then he realized he would need provisions and then another thought hit him. The need for revenge upon his family. His wife, the traitor that she was had testified against him blaming him for her and their sons involvement with Voldemort. She also testified against many of the dead death-eaters. She didn't want any of the living ones coming after her, he supposed. Lucius was convicted by her testimony and sentenced to life in Azkaban while she and their son were free.
"Fizzy, I have two questions. The Nott family vacation house, where is it?"
"In Africa sir. Under the Fidelius Charm. I is being secret keeper."
"That's good. That's really good. Second question, can you get past the wards on Malfoy manor? "
"Yes sir, as a house elf I can get through most wards. Being your house elf I can get through any of your wards you allow me to sir."
"Excellent, I'll need you to pop into Malfoy manors attic and retrieve an heirloom, something small and monogrammed that will allow me passage through the wards without my wife or son knowing. Bring it to me and don't allow yourself to be seen or heard."
"Yes sir." He said and popped away.
"Tocky, Bang, did the Nott family own any extendable trunks or bottomless sacks?"
"Yes sir they had both." Tocky announced and Bang furiously nodded his head.
"Excellent, I need you to start packing up this house of all its belongings and ready it to transport to the vacation house property. Clothes, furniture, everything, understood?"
"Yes sir." Tocky said.
"We will be leaving England tomorrow and we won't be coming back." Lucius announced.
"Yes sir." Tocky repeated.
It was then Fizzy came back. "Sir, I brought you this." He said holding up a small silver snuffbox with the Malfoy monogram on it.
"Excellent, now Fizzy, this is what I need you to do."
/Scene Break/
A half hour later at Malfoy manor, Draco was hunched over the desk in his father's former office figuring out the finances for last year and the up coming year. He was unaware when a house elf along with Draco's Father in tow, elf-apparated into the room right behind him.
Lucius didn't waste time he picked up a marble nick-knack and hit Draco over the head, knocking him unconscious.
Lucius reached for the wand on the desk top that belonged to his son.
"Take him to this properties dungeon Fizzy. Keep a watch on him, I'll join you shortly. Afterwards, I'll want you to pack up this house of everything that isn't nailed down and move it to the vacation home. Have Bang help you. Speed is of the essence. "
"Yes sir."
As Fizzy silently evaporated with Draco into the Malfoy dungeon, Lucius headed towards the sitting room where he knew his wife would be. After all a creature of habit wasn't about to change her routine after twenty years give or take a few years. As he stepped into the room Narcissa Malfoy never looked up from her book as she said.
"If you have finished balancing the books I would appreciate it if you would recheck the wards. I don't trust your father not to try and escape his handlers. He's mad enough to come here if he does."
"Do you mean mad as in angry or mad as in insane because from your point of view I'm sure you think either could apply… or both for that matter." Lucius said calmly as if he were speaking about the weather in his cultured arrogant pureblood tone coming back to him with a vengeance, as he had no reason to do anything else but moan for eight years.
"Lucius you damn fool!" Narcissa said jumping out of her chair her wand in hand. Lucius assumed that it had already been in her hand because he didn't see her reach for it. "What are you doing in this house? They'll be looking for you here. This is the last place you should be."
"The house still carries my last name so it's only right I should be here besides, how could I leave without saying goodbye to my trusted loving family?"
Narcissa knew he was being sarcastic and replied. "I had to do what I did to save our son."
"And yourself, Lets not forget that. You betrayed me, like a common street wench."
"What you did, you did to yourself Lucius. You were going to Azkaban no matter what I said." Narcissa hissed.
"What you said on the stand was like a spike through my heart. What I did I did for us. I did it for Draco." Lucius announced.
"How dare you come here and lie to my face. We both knew you did it for power and nothing more and you almost cost all of us our lives. Even your so called long time friends turned on you for failing one small task set by that mad man you so willingly called master. Oh the irony that he turned out to be a half blood." She shouted angrily and raised her wand.
"Bombarda!" She shouted.
"Protego." Lucius said calmly followed by, "Expelliarmus". Making his wife screech at the loss of her wand. Narcissa had always been a lousy duelist. Despite that fact she only wanted to go to school to learn housekeeping spells and a few charms, she had graduated from Hogwarts with top marks in all her subjects but could never aim as quickly as she would need to in a duel. This time however, would be incredibly embarrassing if it weren't so final.
"I'm ashamed that that was so easy. I expected more from you after all this time."
Narcissa thought quickly in hopes to stall her husband.
"I could never hurt the man I still have deep feelings for my darling." She lied unfortunately, anger leaking into her voice.
"Not convincing enough my dear." He said.
"Then perhaps you should give me another shot." She replied.
"That would defeat the purpose my dearest. My only intent for this duel was to win your wand. As we've learned a random wand never works well if you don't have its allegiants or win it in a duel and to tell you the truth I'm in somewhat of a hurry. "Stupefy!"
The first thing Draco noticed as he fought his way to consciousness was the shrieking of a woman in the distance, as if she were in a long tunnel. As he got even closer to consciousness he realized that the sound was a lot closer than he originally thought. He immediately wished he had stayed unconsciousness. Not because of the screaming woman but because of the pain both in his head and in his knees. He remembered why his head hurt. Someone snuck up on him and hit him from behind but why did his knees hurt and why wont that bloody woman shut the hell up, didn't she know she was only making his head hurt worse. Then he noticed the woman's voice sounded familiar. Who ever she was sounded a lot like his mother but who did he know who had his mother's voice. He opened his eyes to look around and he immediately wished he hadn't and he shut them just as quickly. The dim lighting of the torches still hurt his eyes. The quick look around told him that his mother was chained up with her arms above her head in the center of the room about ten feet from where he was kneeling before her. Oh god the pain in his knees was now in competition with the pain in his head. He opened his eyes once more to better assess the situation. Looking down he saw that he was kneeling on the floor with his hands chained to the floor at his sides. There was a long triangular steel bar under his knees and his own weight was pushing his knees into it. A wooden post right behind him kept him from leaning back to take the pressure off. A rope around the frame and his chest kept him from moving forward. He heard someone cranking a winch in the corner of the room. He looked over only to feel his blood run cold. His father was there with a house elf and the elf was cranking the winch to raise his mother on her toes. Lucius Malfoy noticed his son was awake and acknowledged him.
"Ah good, you're awake just in time to witness your father putting an end to his bad rubbish so I can start anew somewhere else. Maybe next time I'll replace you with a girl or better yet a goat. It would probably do better in school then you have.
"Father, help us". Draco pleaded.
"After all the trouble I went through to get you both here? Not likely." Lucius replied smoothly. "No, you and your mother didn't even think about helping me to escape my fate. Your mother only tried to save both your hides and leave me to rot. You…, you tried to replace me. You seemed quite comfortable in 'my' office sitting on 'my' chair behind 'my' desk."
"There was nothing we could do." Draco replied.
You took the dark mark just as I did. You should have been in Azkaban sharing my fate. You both should have. Knowing you were both outside only served to make me want to reach out and pull you into the depths of my anguish. Nether of you even tried to find a legality to save me from that prison. Did ether of you try and bribe any of the judges? Did either of you even discuses a way of breaking me out?
You brought our family into that mess. Narcissa shrieked. We never asked to follow that mad man. It was only after his downfall the first time that you began to shine. Our family was strong. Had he not come back you could have been minister. You could have helped the ministry but you were so eager to prostrate yourself in front of a man not worthy to even lick your boots and you called him your master.
Voldemort may have been a mad man but he was a crazy and powerful mad man. It would have been suicide to go against him.
And yet it was most of the pure blood families that were killed off. Did you know that seventeen pureblood families are now extinct because of that war? She asked.
They were blood traitors. Lucius spat.
I was only referring to the ones fighting on the losing side. There weren't nearly as many families that died off on the light side. Not even a third. Narcissa explained.
Lucius was stunned at this news but then realized that most of the pureblood families were at the frontline of the attacks.
"Well I suppose that was to be expected." He said.
Did you know the Wizengamot suspect that that was Tom Riddles plan from the start? He was an orphaned half blood, angry that he wouldn't be able to achieve any notable success because his blood wasn't pure. He became the pureblood leader in a war he designed to get as many pureblood families killed as he could and humiliating any that were left by making them bow down before him and you fell right in line humiliating our whole family and what it means to be a Malfoy.
"Shut up!" "That will be enough out of you. Our family could have been great if it weren't for Dumbledore andhis golden boy. I did what I did because I wanted our family to succeed to become a family of power".
"You were doing that just fine before you gave up all your hard earned power to that abomination. You've left us near ruined". Narcissa shrieked.
"I said shut it! None of this would have happened if my family supported me. But you go behind my back and make unbreakable vows with Severus. My own son couldn't even kill Dumbledore or Potter. Not that he didn't have ample opportunity".
"But I…" Draco began but was cut off.
"Enough of this. We're out of time and I must be leaveing. The both of you will help me create a distraction that will allow me to slip away undetected".
"No we will not." She said.
"Your willing partisapation is not required my dear." He said coldly.
Lucius came up behind Narcissa and pulled out a dagger. Draco's eyes went wide. Lucius brought the blade to her waist and started to cut her skirt away revealing the wholeness of her right leg.
"What the hell are you doing?" She screeched worried about what he might think of doing in front of their son.
Lucius stopped what he was doing to consider the best way to answer her. He then moved in front of Draco and asked. "Do you know what this is boy."
Draco looked at the object shoved in his face and said. "It's the gold beetle knick-knack that adorned your office wall."
"Yes, a dark object hidden in plain sight. I was so glad to see it still hung in the same place. But it's not just any beetle, nor is it just a knick-knack and it's only gold in color. It's a scarab beetle, a real one, a magical one. They are 'A' sexual and so a plague if left to eat and breed and they do so quickly. This one was forced into dormancy upon its encasement within this golden magical shell".
Lucius once again was behind his wife with the dagger in his hand. He slowly brought it down to her exposed leg, the light reflecting off the blade. With one quick thrust he shoved it at an upward angle into her thigh up to its hilt and Narcissa screamed.
"Yes, isn't the pain amazing? Upon my study of the assassins hand book while in Voldemorts employ. I learned a few things about the human anatomy. This spot I stabbed you has many clusters of nerve endings but the angle has allowed me to miss any major veins or arteries".
He then took the scarab beetle and placed it head first into the deep cut leaving its hind quarters hanging out just a bit.
"By tomorrow evening you both will have been devoured and they will have multiplied to the extent of infestation. By that time they will be a large enough swarm to devour a full grown man in seconds. Once they find their way out of the manor, wizarding England will be too busy rounding up and killing bugs to worry about where I've gone off to. By next year it won't mater anyway. Did you know the world is supose to end by the end of next year? I was told where the location of the only safe place on earth will be to ride out what will come. There wont be any Aurors left to look for me by then". He announced and tapped the visible part of the scarab beetle with his newly won wand. The golden color disappeared and the beetle shivered awake. Its hunger drove its instincts to burrow further into the fresh meat.
Narcissa screamed half in pain half in horror. "Lucius please!".
"Father you can't do this, your killing mother". Draco pleaded.
"Goodbye, family of old." Lucius said with a smile ignoring their pleas. "I will try and miss you as often as I can, but no promises."
He left that section of the basement dungeon. It had been a wide open side room without a door or a wall to hold a door for that mater. Lucius first erected a silencing charm so their screams couldn't be heard and a false wall to hide them. He didn't expect them to be found before it was too late but luck didn't seem to be on his side lately so it was better to be safe then sorry.
Two Hours later Narcissa was gasping for breath as she whispered to Draco.
"It's gone quiet for the moment I think it's laying it's eggs." It was obvious that she was in a great deal of pain.
"Mother I…" Draco began but was cut off by his mother.
"Hush Draco, listen to me. I'm very proud of you always remember that."
"Mother don't please…"
"It's to late Draco. It has already chewed through several of my organs I won't last much longer so I need you to listen." She pleaded.
Draco stayed quiet
"I love you Draco, and I'm proud that you were able to resist becoming like you father. Draco, if by some miracle you should get out of this, you may feel the need to avenge my death and I wont tell you not to but do try to do it without getting yourself killed or going dark yourself and getting yourself thrown in prison. Nor do I want you to let it consume you. I want what all mothers want for their children. I want you to live a life and be happy. Find someone. Fall in love. Marry only for that love. And have some children of your own. My last will is at Gringotts and leaves you the keys to not only the Malfoy vault but the vault of my sisters as well. Not the Lestrange vault but the other one she kept under her maiden name Bellatrix Black because she had willed it to me. Now before that thing eats my magic as well I'm going to do something I hoped I never would. I'm going to invoke a magical annulment ritual. When it's ended I will no longer be a Malfoy. I'm doing this so when the time comes you will be able to renounce your Malfoy heritage and become a Black as well. But you'll need to do it only after you have secured the Malfoy valuables into the Black vaults. So he'll never be able to get his hand on any of it. I love you my son. I love you so much".
With that she began the ritual and soon after it was over she began screaming again from the scarab beetles renewed gnawing. An hour later she fell unconscious and a half hour more she stopped breathing. Draco was devastated.
/Scene Break/
Harry Potter started to run as he approached Malfoy manor. He was told this morning that there was no answer through the floo at the manor and when an Auror came around last night the house looked deserted. Harry wanted to Stupefy someone for not telling him sooner. A new auror cadet from Northern Ireland named John McNeill met Harry at the front of the house.
"Auror Potter sir, Auror McNeill reporting for duty sir".
"Cut the 'sir' bullock. It's just Harry John. If I have to tell you that one more time I'll start using Stinging hexes to get my point across, now what have you got".
"Yes sir… I mean Harry sir…I mean"
"John, relax. Take a deep breath and get on with it".
John did as he was told and began his report.
"It's just like last night sir. I came here knocked on the door to notify the residents that their family member had escaped but no one would answer so I tried to peer into the windows but I don't see any furnishings no chairs no rugs not even curtains on the windows. The other cadets think that the Malfoy's were all bad eggs and that they all fled together".
"Did you go inside?".
Ya can't, the place is warded. I don't know what kind of wards they have up but just being this close to them tells me it's a pretty nasty peace of work. It would probably kill you if ya tried to break in".
"We can now. I brought a Malfoy heirloom that was being tested for dark magic. It should get us through. Just stick close until we're inside".
"Should?" John gulped.
Harry used a sophisticated unlocked charm on the door. It opened and both Auror's walked in.
The first thing Harry found was Draco's wand lying on the floor of the entry hall.
"This can't be good." He said putting the wand in his holster. "You look around down here I'll check upstairs. Just be careful." He warned.
"Yes sir... I mean Harry." John responded.
After Fifteen minutes, of going from room to room looking for clues Harry came back down stairs to meet up with John.
This house has been totally cleaned out. There's nothing left not even a note with a forwarding address. John said.
"Did you check the cellar yet?" Harry asked.
"Well… no. I didn't want to go down there without letting you know were I was… in case something… happened".
Harry could sense that John was a little afraid to check the cellar himself but wouldn't blame anyone for waiting for back up.
"Good thinking. Lets both go". Harry said.
They got to the bottom of the stairs and opened the door. They both said lumus to make the tip of their wand glow giving them light to see by. It was just like the rest of the house, picked clean of everything. Harry used his wand to light the torches affixed to the wall.
"It's just one big empty room. There's nothing here to tell us where they went". John announced.
One big empty room, Harry thought. There was something wrong with that. One big empty room, Harry thought back to the time he and his friends were kept prisoner here. One big empty room… that's it! He thought. It's not one big empty room, at least it wasn't when he was here last.
"There was an open side room in this cellar somewhere over there." Harry said.
"I take it you've been here before. So should we blast a hole and see what's there now."
Harry walked up to the wall looking closely at the stone and mortar.
"I don't think that would be the wisest thing to do. Blasting could destroy whatever is behind there. Besides I think this is made of magic. Stand back and cover me." Harry said.
John gave him a nod indicating he was ready.
Harry pointed his wand at the wall and said. "Finite incantatem." The wall disappeared to reveal Draco and his mother. Draco had been chained to the floor while Narcissa hung from the ceiling. Both Harry and John made to move in and help them but Harry noticed Draco looking at them and feverishly shaking his head back and forth in what Harry believed to be a warning. He put his arm out to stop John.
"Something's wrong. Stay here and cover me."
When Harry looked back to Draco he saw his mouth formed to make the shushing sound but purposely didn't make the sound. Harry turned to John and whispered.
"John, whatever you do, stay quiet".
"Understood", John whispered with a nod.
Harry crept over to Draco as quietly as he could. He paused to look at Narcissa for a moment and noticed something was drastically wrong with her face. Just then Draco whimpered and Harry's focus went to him but then another sound of movement drew his attention back to Narcissa. Harry almost jumped backwards when something the size of a galleon under the skin of her face moved from the right side of her jaw to the left side of her forehead.
Another whimper from Draco and Harry went to his knees to get closer to him. He put his ear next to his lips and Draco breathed only two words but those words made Harry's blood run cold when the words scarab beetles registered in his mind.
In Harry's make up seventh year at Hogwarts, Hagrid the professor of Care of Magical Creatures taught a lesson on the very deadly scarab beetles that was bone chilling. Harry got the impression that even Hagrid found a creature he didn't like. Way back in ancient Egypt a dark wizard used them to kill two of the five giants that helped build some of the pyramids back then, which had been a very bad idea. The swarm having so much food had grown to ridiculous proportions and after devouring it they ate the dark wizard and nearly wiped out all of Egypt. It took a long time before the rest of the wizards eradicated the bulk of the super swarm to manageable levels and many years to get civilization back to some kind of smooth running system. Scarab beetles were without a doubt the most dangerous magical creatures to ever exist.
At this point Harry knew that Narcissa Malfoy was dead. The beetles were simply using what was left of the skin as a dark, moist leather bag to relax and digest a bit before moving on to look for more food and when that happened everybody in England would be on the menu.
Harry moved to Draco's bonds and with wordless magic banished the shackles and restraints. Harry tried to help him to his feet but as he did so Draco did everything he could to keep himself from screaming as his knees lifted off the triangular bar allowing blood flow to slam into nerve endings causing sever pain.
Harry heard Draco beginning to make stifled noises and saw that he couldn't stand. Because of the noise the beetles within Narcissa's body began to stir. Harry did the only thing that came to mind and threw Draco over his shoulder to carry him out of the room to safety. But it was too late the bug became restless from all the noise. It was the sound of food and they were hungry. They were first seen emerging from Narcissa's eyes mouth and nose but then began bursting through her skin in various places and out from underneath her cloths. Harry passed John and was at the stairs when John yelled.
You go ahead, I'll hold them off! He then began firing blasting hexes at them.
Harry was about to say 'No don't.' but it was too late. The moment John cast the first spell he was done for. Scarab beetles can only be dealt with by using a hand full of specific spells. Any other spell used on the beetles is like candy to them. Needless to say a blasting hex was a bad choice of spell work to use because the moment he did they attacked in mass. John McNeill was devoured in three and a half seconds. It was just enough time for Harry to get to the top of the stairs and shut the door. However, a wooden door wouldn't stop them for long. Harry got Draco outside and used the patronus charm. He looked to the glowing silver stag that emerged from his wand and gave it a message to be delivered to the head of magical law enforcement saying
"I need Auror's and unspeakables sent to Malfoy manor. There is an infestation of scarab beetles threatening to spill out into the countryside. No one will be safe if they get out. Everyone in England will be dead by tomorrow morning, hurry.".
Harry sent the stag off to deliver his message while he ripped open Draco's trouser legs to assess the damage. His Knees were almost black. About a minute later auror's and unspeakables started to apparate onto the lawn.
Six of the unspeakables surrounded the house. They reached into their robes and brought out ceramic pitchers. They measured themselves several yards from the house and began to pour out the contents of the pitchers onto the ground. The contents seemed to have the consistency of blue sand. As they poured, the sand became solid and took form upon the ground. It became a rough pillar of stone, aged and weathered. The stone material reminded Harry of the stones used at Stonehenge but these were covered in rune symbols. When they finished pouring the pillars were eight feet high. The unspeakables told the aurors that everything was ready. Seven aurors circled Malfoy manor and at the same time cast the dark curse of Fiendfyre.
One spell of fiendfyre was overkill in Harry's opinion but to have seven curses of Fiendfyre directed at anything just told Harry how scared the wizards were and how dangerous a Scarab beetles swarm was. After casting the Fiendfyre the wizard ran past the pillars and the unspeakables activated the rune covered stones.
Harry saw that a huge magical dome completely covered the manor. An unspeakable told Harry that the pillars created a shield that the fire couldn't penetrate. The only thing to get out would be smoke while at the same time the only thing that could get in would be air. The dome didn't stop at ground level but continued under it. In fact it wasn't a dome shape at all but a sphere, the bottom of which you couldn't see. The fire raged like a wild hungry animal. It put on an amazing show and was an incredible sight to see. Like a snow globe of fire.
Harry told the auror in command that he needed to get Draco to St. Mungo's for treatment and that he needed to question him about what had happened here while the information was still freash in his mind. He then asked the auror to keep him informed about the results of what happens there.
Harry would later hear that the manor burned for five hours. When the fiendfyre ran out of wood to burn it began burning the very soil and downword to the clay. Fiendfyre being almost as hot as a blast furnace, would harden the clay but with seven curses of fiendfyre even the clay had turned to ashes. On the sixth hour the unspeakable adjusted the shields so that even the air and smoke couldn't escape. With no air the fiendfyre used the only thing it had left to burn. The very curse magic it was made from. There was a bright flash as the magic was consumed and then it was out. The pillers and sheilds would stay there for two weeks before anyone would take them down leaving an acre of ash upon the property.
At St. Mungo's the med witches wrapped Dracos legs in smelly slimy violet bandages and gave him potions to drink. On an empty stomach the posions worked fast. Part of healing is pain and so Draco felt it all at once. Harry heard his screams all the way down the hall at the receptions desk. A half hour later the healer told him he could go in to see Draco now.
Harry entered the room.
"Hey Draco, I'm very sorry for your loss. Your mother was a fine woman and a good mother. She raised you to be a better man than your father ever could. I only wish I could have broken away to vist more often. I'll miss her". Harry admitted.
"Not as much as I will". Draco mumbled.
"Of course not"…Can you tell me what happened and who did this to you?
"It was my arse of a father of course". Draco confirmed.
'How did he get past the wards?" Harry asked.
"Damned if I know. But he had a house elf with him".
"House elves can get through wards undetected. It must have gotten through the wards and brought… Lucius a Malfoy heirloom." Harry said, tentative about how Draco would react to calling Lucius Dracos father at this point.
Draco grunted.
"Did he give any indication about where he was staying or where he was going?"
No.
Harry grunted at that. This was going to be a long meticulous man hunt without any clues.
"Hold on"… he did say something strange at one point. Draco remembered.
"Yeah? What was it?"
He said something about the end of the world and said he was going to be at the safe place where he'll ride out what will come.
"And I take it he didn't tell you where that was?" Harry asked. Hoping beyond hope that he would be able to solve two puzzels at the same time.
"No. but whatever happens I want in on it. I want to make sure he gets what he deserves".
Harry knew lecturing the victim looking for revenge would be useless at this point and so he just said.
"I'll see what I can do. He wont get away with this Draco. I promise you that. But you got to let me and the rest of the auror's do our jobs. Where will you be staying when your releast from here?"
"Damn. I hadn't thought of that. I guess I'll have to get a room at the Cauldron until I can make other arrangements".
"Well in any case here, I found your wand in the entry hall".
"Yeah, he used it to duel my mother after he knocked me out so he could win her wand. My mother wasn't very good at dueling, no mater how much my father made her practice".
"So, he has a wand now"?
"Yes, he liked my mother's wand. It was made of mahogany like his old one. Different lengths and cores though".
"Well if you think of anything else or need anything let me know".
"Alright, I'll do that,
I'll come by to see you tomorrow. Get some rest".
"So long Potter".
As Harry left the room he knew that Lucius knew were the safe spot was because of the prophecy he had listened to. It might come down to Hermione and the scoobies finding the safe spot before Harry could find Dracos father. But if he could find Dracos father he could tell Hermione and the others where the safe spot was. "Well," he thought. "Maybe I should check in with Hermione and see how far they've gotten. And then break the news of how close I was to the answer that would save us all."
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