Harry Potter belongs to JKR

Chapter 56

"Honestly Draco, why didn't you enchant yours straight away?" Draco thought as he and Shawn worked on both his phone and one other. What should have been obvious before, and had been painfully illustrated that morning, was he needed a direct line to Potter. Fortunately, he had the means to deliver one.

"They could have summoned me there alone, or Potter alone," Draco thought, "why both of us? Must have something to do with Rastaban… but why not stay and finish us off? If there was even one Death Eater there, we would have been done for."

Nothing about the ambush at the cemetery made any sense. Clearly, something else was going on, but nothing fit.

"Who in Merlin's name could even create that many Inferi? And the wards?" he thought, "if it was Rookwood, why send me and Potter there instead of releasing them on the city or doing whatever he was planning on doing with them?"

He folded the aluminium foil around the phone and nodded to Shawn.

"Fuck it, thinking about it more isn't going to help. Bloody Darren better hurry up and find them..." he thought.

"Done," he said as the enchantment took hold on the second mobile phone, "alright, thanks for this. Where are you headed today?"

"The Ministry, figure some of the departments could use a magic proof mobile phone," Shawn replied, "procurement budgets are being decided now for next year."

Draco smirked. It was a good thought.

"Assuming they can find a way to charge them. Right, when you're done with that, head back to the shop near the Leaky," Draco said, "Tracey's doing inventory after closing and she could use a hand."

Draco saw Shawn to the door, then apparated to Diagon and owled the new phone along with a note including his mobile number to Potter at the DMLE. In a few minutes, he was back in another cellar to pick up an oversized bag of weed, and used the direct floo to Mrs. Greengrass' cottage in Germany.

He arrived to see Verner Udet drinking tea with her in the kitchen.

"That was fast," Udet said as he stood up.

"I like to keep my customers happy," Draco said as he set the bag down and accepted the pouch filled with galleons in exchange, "when would be a good time to talk about your other business?"

The older German smiled.

"Do you have time now? They are working tonight, I can show you," Udet said in his thick but easily understandable accent, "we can ride in my car."

Draco smiled.

"For this? Of course," he said.

He followed the grey-haired man out to his enchanted car while Mrs. Greengrass levitated the cups and saucers to the sink. He helped Udet load the bag into the back seat and then sat in the front and strapped in.

"Hold on," Udet said as the engine rumbled to life. The elderly German released the handbrake, then pulled a plunger in the dashboard, and Draco was struck by a sense of disorientation, most likely from an invisibility booster. Then Udet shifted into gear and the car zoomed off, zipping off down the road and through the woods, and then up to the top of a hill. The ride became bumpy as they moved from paved road to gravel, and then to a dirt trail, but the old car didn't seem to have any difficulty navigating it. Finally, they stopped at a bluff overlooking the countryside, still lit up in the last rays of twilight. A bright ribbon of lights extended from Draco's right, all the way to the horizon on his left.

"This is where we are constructing," Udet said, "it is much faster than the muggles."

"Right, you mentioned they're paying for this… but how did you get around the Statute?" Draco asked.

Udet grumbled.

"A lot of time, and effort, and memory modification," Udet replied, "we have an obliviator on staff."

Draco chuckled. Apparently this was a major operation, lots of wizards involved.

"What's the project budget, if you don't mind my asking?" Draco asked.

"For this stretch of road, we are collecting nine hundred thirty million Deutsche Marks," Udet said.

Draco's mouth fell open, and Udet smiled. He did some quick arithmetic.

"That's… that's three hundred million pounds," Draco said.

Such a staggeringly large number almost didn't make sense in his head. He tried to convert it, and figured it would be about fifty million galleons, an almost incomprehensible sum.

"Yes," Udet said, "we don't get to keep all of that, of course!"

"Of course," Draco said drily.

"But even ten percent would be huge," he thought, and his heart thumped with anticipation.

"We still have to purchase the muggle materials, and we have to pay the wizards, though it is less than what we would pay muggles," Udet said, "if not for keeping the Statute, we could make more. Tell me, what do you think of it, the Statute of Secrecy?"

Draco scoffed. The whole reason he'd needed to go to the trouble of creating a custom floo links from the Manor was to bypass the Statute.

"It's a pain in my arse," he replied.

"It seems we agree on this," Udet said, "but unfortunately, this is reality."

As Draco watched, he squinted as he tried to make out the wizards working in the valley. Udet passed him a set of omnioculars, and Draco observed the building process. Four wizards worked in tandem, enchanting the road materials to lay themselves. He watched until it was fully dark and had trouble making out the features of the woods around them.

"I want to learn how to do this," Draco said, "lots of countries don't have roads, and I can definitely find more wizards to train up."

Udet smiled.

"Next time, I will arrange a demonstration," Udet said.

"Excellent, I look forward to it," Draco said. He turned back to the construction site in the distance, but a small ball of blue-white light dropped out of the sky and resolved into a brilliant fox.

"Draco, emergency. Get to St. Mungo's now," Shawn's voice said. The fox vanished into motes of light and dissipated.

"That sounds serious," Udet said, "do you need a ride back to Cordelia's?"

Draco's breath caught in his throat.

"No, I'll apparate, but thank you for the offer," Draco said as he drew his wand.

"Do let me know if you require assistance," Udet said.

"Thanks, I appreciate that," Draco said, and he shook hands firmly with the elder German.

He appeared with a pop back at the cottage, and practically ran into the house.

"What's wrong?" Mrs. Greengrass asked, but Draco ignored her and practically dove into the fireplace. No sooner had his feet hit the ground than he turned and apparated to the reception area of St. Mungo's. The entire journey took less than half a minute.

"Draco," Shawn said from just beyond Reception. The normally carefree former Auror trainee carried an uncharacteristic haunted look, and his hair was mussed, as if he'd been constantly running his hands through it.

"Tracey was attacked, better get a badge," Shawn said.

"Attacked? How?" Draco asked.

"Just get a badge, I'll explain on the way," Shawn said as he ran his fingers through his hair again.

Draco approached Reception and then, visitor's badged affixed firmly to his lapel, he followed Shawn to the lift.

"Vampire attack at the shop," Shawn said, "I arrived in the middle. Anama's dead."

"Fuck," Draco said, "and Tracey?"

Shawn shook his head and took a shaky breath.

"They uhh, they made her into one of them," he said, "Ministry's already reclassified her as a Dark creature."

"What the fuck?" Draco thought as his senses reeled. The girl he'd known for eight years, Hogwarts prefect, bright future ahead of her, was now a fucking vampire? A Dark creature?

The doors opened, but Draco held onto the railing inside the lift to keep his balance as his world tilted.

"Come on, she's over here," Shawn said.

In a daze, Draco followed Shawn, and they slipped into a dimly lit recovery room with a single bed. Tracey lay there on top of the sheets, wrists chained to the bed, her robe torn in places, dried blood smeared on her cheek. Her mouth was open, eyeteeth clearly elongated as she ran her tongue over them. She glanced to the door, then immediately snapped her mouth shut and closed her eyes.

"Oh no," she said, her voice thick with emotion.

"Trace," Draco said.

She squeezed her eyes shut, then took a few deep breaths.

"Am I fired?" she asked.

"What?" Draco thought.

"Uhh. No… don't worry about that. We'll add a night shift or something," Draco replied, "just… you know, try not to eat the staff."

She coughed out a sob and tears leaked from her eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered. The tears left pink tracks on her fair skin, the salty moisture clearly mixed with blood.

"Don't mention it," Draco said, "are you, err… are you okay? I mean obviously you're not okay but…"

"I'm not okay," she replied, "they just told me, I'm a fucking blood-sucker. They've got me chained to the fucking bed! Merlin… I didn't want to drink it, but I didn't want to die. What… what am I going to do?"

Draco's chest ached for her.

"Don't worry… I mean… you were working for me when you were attacked, so… I'll take care of you. We'll work something out," Draco said, "do you know who it was?"

She shook her head.

"It was a Death Eater and a vampire," Tracey said, "I don't know who, they were both wearing masks."

"Fucking Sanguini," Draco thought as their recent meeting came back to him, "I swear, next time I see him, I'm gonna kill him."

Tracey swallowed.

"Can you get me a glass of water? I'm so damn thirsty," she said.

"It's not water you're thirsty for," Shawn said.

She squeezed her eyes shut again in realisation.

"F-fuck, how am I going to do this?" she said, "Merlin, it's fucking gross but… it tasted so good… better than anything I've ever tasted in my life."

Draco recognised the way she talked… almost like the way Mary talked about the smack when she was trying to convince him to inject with her. She looked to Shawn.

"What did my parents say?" she asked.

"They're… well, they're not coming," he replied, "sorry."

She bit her lip to stifle, but silent sobs wracked her body as she looked away. She couldn't even wipe her face.

"We'll give you a moment," Shawn said as he tugged Draco's elbow.

He shut the door behind him, then steered Draco to an empty room and locked the door.

"Listen, I know she looks like Tracey, but there's a reason they're all immediately classified as Dark creatures. You need to be very, very careful," Shawn said.

Draco almost couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, she's your cousin," he said.

Shawn opened his mouth but checked himself, but Draco knew what he was about to say: 'not anymore.' It's exactly what he would have said at one point in his life.

"Listen to me, we covered them in Auror training. Vampires can't be trusted," Shawn said, and he lowered his voice, "and, she's already killed someone. I did what I could, dressed the scene up, told them Anama was killed by the vampire who attacked, but you should know Tracey is the one who killed him, sucked him dry."

Draco took a step back. He forced himself to think.

"It was Sanguini, I'm almost certain," Draco said, "Fuck him."

He paused.

"Where's her wand?" Draco asked.

"It was broken," Shawn replied, too quickly.

"Come on, you cleaned things up before they Aurors arrived," Draco said, "you know they'll break it if they find it. What'd you do with it?"

Davis glanced to the side and lowered his voice.

"Yeah, I nicked it, just to keep them from snapping it," he said, "Merlin, my uncle will snap it himself if he finds it. I figure I'll watch and wait a bit. She can't really use it now anyway."

Draco tilted his head.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Vampires have their own magic, just like goblins and house elves," Shawn replied, "but she was also a witch. She knows how to use a wand, but only if she has magical blood."

"So if she wants to keep using a wand…" Draco said.

"She'll have to drink a wizard or witch's blood," Shawn replied, "that's the way it is for all the vampires."

Draco filed that little tidbit of information away for future investigation.

"Alright… bugger, she's going to need a place to stay during the day," Draco said, "maybe the shophouse near Knockturn, in the cellar."

Shawn nodded.

"I know what Sanguini was trying to do," Draco said, "he wants my vote for additional rights for vampires. The bastard thinks that by making her into one of them, I'll be more likely to vote for it. Fuck them, I'm going to do the opposite."

"Yeah, I don't blame you," Shawn said.

"There's a Wizengamot meeting tomorrow, I'll bring it up," Draco said, "for now, let's get her out of here."

He unlocked the door, and paused when Shawn put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, thanks for not throwing her away," he said, "just remember what I said, and watch yourself."

Draco nodded.

"Yeah, don't worry," he said.

He hoped those wouldn't be famous last words.

"The Chief Warlock recognises Lord Malfoy," Ogden said.

Draco smoothed his pristine plum coloured Wizengamot robes as he rose to his feet. He stared at the legislative body of Britain, glanced at the dozen or so Beings who now sat in the second row of seats, and nodded to Winthrop seated in the Minister's seat.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Wizengamot, I come to you today with disturbing news," Draco said, "last night, one of my employees was murdered, and one severely injured in a vampire attack in Diagon Alley. While this is undoubtedly known to all of you, what is not known is that I was recently approached by a vampire and requested to vote in favour of more rights. While we await determination whether the two are related, the timing is too coincidental. I motion to delay the vote on additional-"

"A warrant has been issued for the arrest of the vampire known as Sanguini, but we should not allow an isolated incident to impact what could be a landmark piece of legislation, nor allow the actions of one individual to be used to punish an entire group," Macmillan said as he stood up, "werewolf attacks are down over ninety-five percent since they were granted full rights. It is time we do the same for vampires and allow them to better integrate into society."

Draco bristled at the interruption, but schooled his features. To lose his temper would be to lose his credibility.

"With all due respect, Mr. Macmillan, it was the wolfsbane potion which made additional werewolf rights possible," Draco said, "no such potion exists to counter the requirement of vampires to drink human blood to survive, and to grant them additional rights in the wake of this unprovoked and life-altering attack would only serve to encourage more assaults on innocent witches and wizards. I've already lost one friend, and next could be any of us, or our families threatened as leverage. Research into the creation of artificial blood is required, but until we determine whether this is possible, I must oppose any action on the classification of vampires, and I urge this body to do the same. I motion to delay this week's vote until more information is known."

"Second," Edmund Macnair said as he stood up.

"Motion to delay the vote on vampire rights is recognised," Ogden said, "all in favour?"

The final vote tallied more than eighty percent in favour of delay.