Ch 26 After Boxing Day
Tuesday Albus and Cleo ate breakfast with Cleo's parents, but also Richard and Annabella.
"How was your first night as a married couple?" Cleo asked.
"We moved into a room in the Slytherin Dorm over the Christmas holidays, so it wasn't our first time," Annabella admitted. "It was better, though. Not so much physically better, but emotionally better, if you know what I mean. More permanent. More what we should be doing instead of what we wanted to do but it was maybe not quite right."
"I was told that once you are married your body is not just your own," Albus suggested. "Us wizards have to learn to be patient with our wives, and not focus on our own pleasure, and if we do it will be better for both of us."
"It is not quite as natural as I thought it would be," Richard agreed. "It is something physical you need to learn how to do. It is fun, though."
"Your body isn't changing," Annabelle commented, looking at her changing shape. "We were given some instructions, and when Richard takes his time, and I'm ready, well, I think the wedding helped, because last night was good. More than good."
The couples moved on to the business of the day.
The next day, in the middle of the day, Nausicaa Scherica and her husband Bishop Apollo Scherica showed up on the island. They asked to meet with just Albus and Cleo, and the four of them went up to the house on the top of the hill, leaving everyone else in the house that had become the administrative headquarters of the island.
"Why did you wear those robes from Switzerland at your wedding?" Nausicaa wondered.
"We needed something to get married in, and Cleo and I remembered them," Albus replied. "It was the morning of our wedding, and we didn't have much time. One of the witches who tends the garments at the palace was eager to fit us for those robes, and they fit, so we wore them."
Nausicaa looked at Apollo, shook her head, and then put her head in her hands, attempting to compose her thoughts. She finally muttered, "I was worried about those robes." She looked at Cleo and Albus. "Those are very pagan garments. Most Magi are not Christian or any religion. Those robes are pagan garments, and they are garments made for you two. It is just that you need to exercise extreme care when and where you use them."
"Magic, as you know, is not inherently good or evil," Apollo reflected. "It is like a knife that can be used to prepare food, or to kill you. Those garments are the same. They are very powerful artifacts that should be used with great care."
"It probably didn't help that Cleo and I had our wands as well," Albus thought.
"Probably not. Where are the robes now?" Nausicaa wondered.
"Stored in our rooms at Grimmauld Place," Albus replied.
"Don't wear them in public without checking with us first," Nausicaa pled. "I am sure there will be appropriate times to wear them, but I would be very careful about wearing them in a large public setting."
The two couples talked a little more about the robes. They were not classical wedding garments, but obviously special purpose robes. They had to be made for and good for some purpose, but wearing them in a big gathering posed problems.
Eventually Albus and Cleo had to get back to work on things pertaining to the island.
Lucius had been even more isolated than he usually was, with no contact with other prisoners for the last three weeks. Something had obviously happened. Lucius thought that Cleo was pregnant with Scorpius's child, but now he did not have a good feeling about what had been happening. Maybe things were going to work out after all, and he could get out of this damn prison, or maybe things had gone terribly wrong.
Tuesday noon the whole family gathered for lunch in the dining room of Malfoy Manor. Narcissa announced, "We are going to visit Lucius this afternoon. All of us."
Astoria started to object, but Draco insisted, "You are going, Astoria!"
"Are you sure you want to meet Grandfather Malfoy," Scorpius asked Rose. "He is not going to be happy."
"My mother was tortured in his house, by people he supported," Rose proclaimed. She remembered seeing th letters Bellatrix had carved on her mother's arm, and hearing about the wicked things Lucius had done. "Now he is in prison, and his grandchildren are going to be part Muggle. I just want to show that he didn't win. Maybe get a little revenge for my mother."
Scorpius looked askance at Rose; she could be a little snarky at times, something she had probably learned from Aunt Ginny, but normally she was very polite.
"I do think you ought to meet with Lucius, at least once," Narcissa advised Rose. "I hope the visit goes well, but I cannot promise that it will."
"I've turned into everything my Grandfather is against," Scorpius observed. "I know he tortured and killed Muggles for enjoyment. I find that so horrifying I want to work the rest of my life to make sure that sort of action is never tolerated in our society."
"I am very proud of you, Scorpius," Narcissa exclaimed.
Draco said nothing, conflicting emotions all over his face.
Lucius was led into one of the largest visiting rooms, and he sat down. His feet were chained to the floor, and there was a chain around his waist. He hated this, but at least people could touch him across a table. He knew of some violent prisoners who were always behind barriers.
Lucius was not happy; if the pregnancies and marriages had gone as he had thought, and Scorpius was married to Cleopatra, he should know about it, and hopefully he would have been broken out of prison. Everything had been too quiet the last weeks. They had even stopped giving him the Daily Prophet to read.
Lucius watched as Narcissa marched in, head held high, and then Draco leading a surly Astoria. Scorpius followed, and then a young girl about Scorpius's age was on one side of his mother-in-law, Druella, and her house elf, Rapier, was on the other side of her.
"What happened to you?" Lucius gasped, gazing at his mother-in-law.
"Your mother did this to me!" she exclaimed. "She then fell on her own poisoned knife; may she rot in hell. I caught the killing curse she threw that was headed towards your son's bride, and saved a great-grandchild's life in the process."
"Albus Potter and Cleopatra battled Jezebel, the Pirate Witch Queen, in our home, Lucius," Narcissa told her husband. "We have had a rather exciting couple of weeks."
Lucius looked hard at Scorpius and what was obviously his wife. She was not the way Cleo had been described to him. She looked too much like that Mudblood Granger with redder hair. Something had gone horribly wrong with the plan.
Lucius glared at Rose, hatred obvious in his whole bearing.
Rose held onto Scorpius's hand. She had heard stories about Lucius Malfoy, but the vicious stare made her first afraid, and then when she had conquered her fear, mad. She was not going to let this wizard dominate her.
"Grandfather, I would like to introduce you to my pregnant wife, Rose Granger-Weasley, now Rose Granger-Malfoy," Scorpius said.
"You were supposed to marry Cleopatra!" Lucius snapped as he glared at Scorpius. "Not this Merlin forsaken spawn of Granger and Weasley!"
"I really like Cleo, but I didn't want to marry her," Scorpius countered. "I love Rose, and Cleo loves Albus Potter."
"Who cares who loves who," Lucius sneered. "Who said marriage has anything to do with love. You were to marry a pure blood and pass on the family name and fortune unsullied by mudbloods and half-breeds. Of all the mudbloods you pick … HER! Get it out of here, and get out yourself. Get out!"
"Quite a tribute to marriage and love, Lucius," Narcissa sighed. "It hardly makes it worth my while to come and visit."
"Then don't visit," Lucius snapped.
"Come on Rose, we do not have to put up with this," Scorpius told Rose.
"Not before I let your grandfather know that I am going to give him plenty of Granger-Malfoy grandchildren with that Muggle Granger ancestry," Rose proclaimed. "We are already redecorating Malfoy Manor to reflect the Malfoy part Muggle heritage too. Plus, we are going to make it a child friendly place for all the Potter and Weasley children to play in when they visit."
"Over my dead body!" Astoria yelled. "You are not making Malfoy MANOR into a nursery."
"Just wait and see what I do," Rose muttered, shaking her head. "Come on, Scorpius Hyperon Granger-Malfoy, let us leave your perverted grandfather to contemplate that his great-grandchildren are going to be Granger-Malfoy children!"
Lucius raged, "Scorpius, what did you do?"
"Married Rose, and changed my, and the family, surname," Scorpius sneered.
"DRACO, you know what you need to do," an enraged Lucius yelled.
Scorpius guessed, "He is supposed to kill me and Rose, and pass the line on to other children, except he doesn't have any other legitimate children. His wife, that poor imitation of a human being who never loved me, and my father are not even civil to each other. Tim Granger, his bastard child, one of them anyway, is happy to be the adopted son of Mr. Granger, and wants nothing to do with father."
Scorpius stood glaring at his grandfather. "My father and I do not always get along, grandfather, but unlike you he is no murderer."
"A Malfoy who marries a Muggle ought to be killed," Lucius insisted. "Whose side are you on, Narcissa? Are you part of this conspiracy to sully and tarnish the Malfoy name?"
"It seems to me you are the one who has tarnished the Malfoy name, Lucius," Narcissa observed.
"Scorpius and Rose are a good match," Narcissa insisted. "Scorpius has become quite the hero. He helped fight the allies of the Pirate Witch Queen when Albus and Cleopatra fought and killed her. You ought to be proud of him. Come on, Scorpius, Rose. We do not need to put up with this. Mother, I am sorry I put you through this painful confrontation."
Rose and Rapier helped Druella out, and Narcissa followed. Scorpius followed the others, leaving Astoria and Draco in the room with Lucius and a couple of guards.
Astoria stared at the two men, aware that she may have conceived another child, but terrified to say anything about it, because if she did she might be pressured into spending more time in her husband's room and bed. She finally backed out of the room and joined the rest of the family, waiting for Draco.
Lucius and Draco stared at each other for some time, neither saying anything.
"What did you know about Jezebel Nukpana?" Draco finally asked.
"She was going to get me out of this Merlin forsaken prison once Scorpius bedded Cleopatra," Lucius sighed. "I expect she is mad enough that the whole family is in danger."
"How did you communicate with her?" Draco asked.
"What happened to Nukpana?" Lucius asked, ignoring Draco's question. "If you know, at least let me know."
"Albus Potter and his wife Cleopatra killed her. Cleo has her wand."
"Narcissa was telling the truth? So Potter's a hero, and Malfoy's are goats again, thanks to you," Lucius snapped.
"In the battle that killed Cleo's great-grandmother, Scorpius became something of a hero, and he is still treated as someone special," Draco replied.
"What did you do, Draco?" Lucius sneered.
Draco did not say anything. Lucius asked again, "What did you do Draco? Whose side were you on? What role did you play in this farce that has kept me in prison?"
"I didn't do anything, father, for either side," Draco finally admitted. "I used the escape hatch in the living room and took myself and Astoria to safety before we were killed."
"Just when I needed you to be fighting for me and not wimping out, you disappear, AGAIN. Couldn't kill Dumbledore or do anything I've told you to do, damn you."
"I became a Death Eater for you, father! The estate is in better shape, has more assets, than what you left me. And I have produced an heir for you."
"And your heir is married to a Mudblood, and a Mudblood will carry the Malfoy name for the first time. Astoria owes you, and any wizard with any guts would insist on his marriage rights. INSIST! You have dishonored your name and heritage, damn you to hell.
"When did this travesty of a marriage take place, and where?"
"At the Weasley compound, in between the two big homes, December twenty-third," Draco told his father.
"Did you take part? Did you say the wedding spells too?"
"Grandmother and I did. Astoria was there, but I didn't hear her saying anything."
"How do you know that Rose is really carrying Scorpius's child? Did you watch them do a pater conceptum revelio spell?"
"No," Draco admitted.
"And it is too late now, in any case, because you messed up again.
"I need you to do something for me, Draco, and try to get it right this time," Lucius finally spat out. "I need to write a special document, and I want a special quill that I have had waiting for me at Borgin & Burkes. Just ask for the quill that Lucius Malfoy has waiting for a special document. The quill that Abraxas Malfoy contracted for but never used. Lucius Malfoy, the special Abraxas Malfoy quill, special document, Draco. The words are important! Bring in the quill and a piece of parchment when you visit next."
"Yes, father," Draco answered. He arose and left.
A silent family went back to Malfoy Manson.
The next day Draco went to Borgin & Burked to purchase the special Abraxas Malfoy quill. He was told that he needed to bring in one-hundred and fifty Galleons, and then wait for about a month.
Wednesday morning at breakfast Narcissa suggested, "We really ought to begin to clear out Godiva's rooms."
"Why?" Astoria snapped. "It is not like anyone else is going to need to use them."
"She is dead," Narcissa replied. "It is morbid to keep rooms as a shrine to the dead."
Draco frowned. "I'm not cleaning out her rooms!" he stressed. "Let the house elves do it."
Rose was about to yell 'ELVES,' but there was too much tension in the house already, so she held her tongue. It was not a pleasant place to live.
"I forgot," Draco sneered. "You are descendant from the poor Weasley clan that could never afford servants. Do it yourself, then."
"A little honest work never hurt anyone," Rose huffed, unable to keep quiet any longer.
"Rose and I can help," Scorpius added.
After breakfast Narcissa led Scorpius, Rose and Druella upstairs to start to clean out Godiva's rooms. After lunch they were close to finishing when Druella mentioned, "There should be a modest sized office here." The group found a hidden door, but it did not open. Eventually they called Bill Weasley to see if he could come over and break the spells keeping them from getting in, since he had been a curse breaker.
"I'm a little out of practice," Bill told Scorpius, "but we have a curse breaker on staff. Many of the old vaults and even properties that Tom Riddle once owned need some continual curse breaking, and we keep buying or finding enough to keep him busy."
The young man had no trouble opening the door, and removing all the curses that would keep it from being opened.
There were a number of dark objects, and the curse breaker stayed, just in case. Rose looked at the bookcase and was startled to find a book entitled Secret of the Darkest Art. The book looked evil, as did several other books. There were other books that Druella identified as having belonged to Bellatrix.
There were also a couple of additional knives that the curse breaker identified as having poison on them, and several additional dark objects, at least two of which were designed for torture.
"Bellatrix left many items here when she left to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts," Druella remembered. "She, Rodolphus and Rabastan shared a room here when Tom Riddle was here. Many of the items disappeared after The Battle of Hogwarts."
"I think we should call the Ministry to get rid of the evil items," Rose suggested.
"I will call the Ministry for you," the young wizard replied. He looked, but finding he had no cell signal left to go outside the property where magic would not interfere with the radio waves.
Eventually they opened a box and found a Crystal Ball. Scorpius took it out and put it down on the desk, and put his hands on it. Clouds formed, and then parted, and it appeared to show an office. After a few minutes Albus's face came into view.
"Hello, Albus," Scorpius said.
"Is that you, Scorpius?" Albus asked.
"Where are you?" Scorpius wondered.
"In the office at, we are in what was Jezebel's house, now our house, at Resort Cleo, the name we have given the island," Albus told Scorpius. "Cleo's new wand felt something, an urge to check the office, so we did. I thought I saw you in the Crystal Ball and sat down to check. I don't really trust these Crystal Balls, though. The last time I tried to look into I was confronted by something I didn't understand, and it felt evil. I want the prophets and curse breakers to go over these first."
"I will put it back, then," Scorpius replied. "It sure looks like Godiva Malfoy was talking to Jezebel, though."
"Good bye, Scorpius," Albus said as he withdrew his hands from the Crystal Ball and putit back.
"We need to put this away," Scorpius told Rose, Narcissa and Druella. The three agreed.
2022