Chapter 14: Malfoy Manor
"Lizzie...honey?" Minerva asked, touching her arm cautiously to wake her up. Lizzie jolted awake and reoriented herself to the office she fell asleep in.
"Sorry, I um..." she said rubbing her face.
"You were picking the brains of portraits," Minerva said, looking at notes Lizzie took resting on her abdomen. She had a sudden wave of nausea that took obvious effort to suppress.
"Thank Merlin she ever fell asleep," Phineus said shortly. Lizzie glared at him but noticed Snape's stare seemed especially severe.
"Lizzie was brainstorming. The pensive can be exhausting," Dumbledore interjected.
"Who is 'pompous butthole'...?" Minerva started to ask, pointing to Lizzie's notes.
"Nigelous," Lizzie interjected with a disdainful groan.
"Thought as such," Minerva said and opened the tin of biscuits on the sofa table. "You ate them all?" She asked.
"When I'm not throwing up I take whatever opportunity I can," Lizzie said quietly. "I'll replace them," she added innocently. Minerva glared at her endearingly enough to make Lizzie smirk.
"It's Friday isn't it?" Lizzie asked.
"Sunday," Minerva said. Lizzie sunk her shoulders and groaned. "Why don't you go to your chambers or go home and get some rest today, Lizzie?"
"Teddy has recovered. Huge popularity boost his hero endeavor won him. James finally agreed to go to the Burrow. Charlie already completed your lesson plans. Annie is still - " Minerva said.
"Unconscious," Lizzie said with a heavy breath and stifled sob.
"That's not going to change if you starve yourself of rest and care. This is going to doom your condition at this rate. You need help figuring this out once you have a clear and rested mind. That's not going to come from passing out in my office picking the painted brains of three men you severely resent while reliving traumatic memories," Minerva lectured.
Lizzie rubbed her face and finally conceded. "Fine."
"Lizzie -" Minerva said as she gathered her things to leave. "Go see Annie. Charlie has only left her side when he has to, when is the last time you went to see her?"
"My energy is better spent figuring out how to wake her up, not watching her sleep," Lizzie grumbled.
"Honey, your presence might help her..." Minerva offered. "You don't have to stay for long."
Lizzie wiped a stray tear. "No," she said with a trembling voice.
"Azalea Potter," Minerva said sharply. "If something happens and you don't -" Minerva said the wrong thing.
"She will see me when she WAKES UP!" Lizzie roared. Her demeanor startled the headmistress and some of the portraits.
Lizzie slung her messenger bag over her shoulder and left the office. She averted eye contact with students in the corridor and found her usual place in the courtyard where she stopped to review her notes. 'Pompous Butthole' gave her next to nothing she didn't already know about Estrella Black. Dumbledore didn't offer much but suggested that the targeting of the children appeared to be more of a goose chase and distraction than a malicious effort to hurt them. The resurrection stone being gone when it would not have taken much looking to find the cloak was also an odd detail. Snape was adamant about Annie's involvement. She was reading his comments in his voice to herself. "Don't be a petulant child, Azalea, she's your daughter after all," she said in her best Severus impression and rolled her eyes in disgust.
She caught a glimpse of a figure and was startled so hard she nearly lost her balance on the ledge she was sitting on. "Fucks sake, Teddy, get a bell," she grumbled. But she also reached for him wanting a hug. It was a motherly impulse.
"I'm not six," he jabbed.
"Stick a quill in my heart why don't you? If you don't want a hug, hot shot," she jabbed back. He gave her a real hug, picking up her desperate need for one.
She held on long enough for him to realize how fragile her mind must be. "She'll be alright, Lizzie," he said quietly into her shoulder.
"How are you holding up? You ok?" She asked, holding his face and examining it.
"I'm fine," he exhaled, sitting next to her on the ledge and looking out over the lake. Lizzie stared at the side of his face and saw equal parts Remus and Tonks.
"You'd tell me if you weren't?" She asked.
"Of course not," he said incredulously. Lizzie glared at him. "You've got enough to worry about, another kid on your mind won't help," he said. Lizzie felt a pang of guilt and clutched at the fabric of her blouse around her abdomen. He didn't know another kid was on her mind. He was already putting himself on the back burner.
"Did I say thank you?" Lizzie asked.
"You climbed into my hospital wing bed with me and sobbed thank yous into the top of my head. It discolored my hair," he said. Lizzie frowned at his hair and inspected it from afar.
"Shut up, no it's not," she shot back. He chuckled.
"Jamie was really scared, was I that scared when I did that?" He asked. Lizzie was quiet for a long moment.
"How much of that night do you remember?" Lizzie asked, thinking about the night she pulled him out of the shack over seven years ago.
"Not a ton," he said.
"Do you remember why you ran out into the forest? Were you curious about your dad?" She asked.
He hesitated to answer and rubbed the inner corners of his eyes. He remembered waking up and going to his father's bedroom only to see his bed was empty. When he went back to the room he shared with Annie, her bed was also empty. He followed a noise downstairs and the kitchen door was ajar. He remembered the hem of Annie's nightgown disappearing into the trees and then the giant werewolf backing him into the shed. When he tried to run, he got slashed in the abdomen and crawled into the shed. He curled up in a fetal position and concealed his head, but the werewolf was building something around him, pacing, and had an eye on the window at all times.
"I don't remember why I went out there, I don't think I understood what my dad was," Teddy lied and didn't look at Lizzie. She sensed an omission that gave her pause. Chills broke out over her body.
"Ted - Annie didn't lure you out there did she?" Lizzie asked. He didn't say anything. "Teddy, look at me," she demanded, and he averted eye contact.
"LOOK AT ME," she hissed aggressively. His eyes were scared. Lizzie was quick to scare, all her children knew this. Her demeanor could shift rapidly, and she knew it, making an effort every time to catch it. Like a snitch, her temperament was damn near impossible to see coming. Teddy didn't like this about her, but he knew she tried, and the outbursts were short-lived and far apart. "I'm sorry," she breathed in shame. Nobody hated this about her more than she did. Teddy gave her a sideways smile of forgiveness because he always appreciated how quickly she apologized. In that moment she caught the same glimpse of her daughter's nightgown disappearing into the trees. Teddy knew she caught it and looked away.
"She was in bed when I checked on you both," Lizzie whispered. "Had she ever done that before?"
Teddy exhaled a tremble. "Not before, but after... the night Jamie was born." The blood drained from her head. Lizzie leaned over and kissed his head before leaving.
"She's not - she wouldn't hurt anyone... I know my sister. But there's... something... I really can't place it. Her whole demeanor changes," he said as Lizzie got up. "I know that doesn't make sense...I thought maybe it was something she picked up from...you..." he said cautiously, but her hands were shaking.
"... unfortunately, it does make sense... but I can't explain that to you right now, Ted. Just keep this between us for now," Lizzie said. "I've got to go talk to someone."
Lizzie took her motorbike to Malfoy Manor but didn't fly it. She hesitated to knock on the door with the large, silver, serpent door knocker but rapped three times and waited anxiously. House staff answered the door and let her in. Draco stopped halfway down the stairs with a mixture of shock and skepticism on his face.
"Not what I was expecting..." he said curiously and gestured for her to go into the parlor room to sit. He went straight for the bar cart and poured two drinks.
"No, um, no thank you..." she declined the drink. He shifted on his feet and gave her a suspicious look.
"For an alcoholic, you either think it's poisoned, or you're pregnant," he said.
"Not like you've never poisoned liquor," she jabbed and he smirked.
"When are you due?" He asked. "June?" She didn't answer but glared. "Congratulations," he added sarcastically and handed her a glass of water. He looked quite a bit like his father aside from keeping his hair much shorter. It was still long enough to tuck neatly behind his ears. He dressed nicely, as though always prepared to go to a court hearing. After all these years, her blood still simmered with rage when she was around him.
Lizzie stared at the fireplace and could see herself on her knees with her hair held back in a death grip by Bellatrix. Her insides were tense with apprehension, and she felt a violent movement in her abdomen, but this pregnancy was far too early to be feeling anything yet. Chills broke out over her body.
He sat down in the armchair across from her and pulled out a deck of wizard's cards. He leaned back with his leg crossed over his knee and began shuffling the deck. Lizzie watched absently and silently. "Am I supposed to guess why you're here?" He asked sharply. Lizzie exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding.
"Where's Astoria?" Lizzie asked.
"St. Mungos, she had an especially bad episode," Draco said looking uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry," Lizzie said quietly, feeling sympathetic.
"I asked why you're here, you asked why my wife isn't, so I'll ask again, why are you here, Azalea?" he said cynically.
"I need to know..." she said, pinching the inner corners of her eyes.
"Know, what?" He asked.
"What do you know about Rhiannon?" She asked. He stopped shuffling and stared at her for a moment.
"I know that you shouldn't have had her," he said finally and dealt the cards on the coffee table.
"What do you mean by that?" Lizzie growled. He looked slightly sympathetic for a moment.
"You know... I racked my brain how the Dark Lord could have impregnated you. I didn't see how he had any opportunity."
"What made you think that he did?" Lizzie asked.
"What happens when a parcelmouth breeds with someone they cursed with ophidians?" Draco asked. Lizzie held her breath and a story about ancient magic came to mind.
"Meladictus... but I wasn't cursed when I had Annie, and Charlie isn't a parcelmouth."
"But you are, and the Dark Lord is. You must have been pregnant before you disappeared and before you killed him, Charlie said you came back with her," Draco said.
"I wasn't cursed with ophidians when I had her, killing the one who bonds you cures it," she responded.
"But you were cursed when you got pregnant, weren't you?" He asked. Lizzie paused. "Conception questions set aside, your blood is still mixed with his, it's mixed with basilisk venom, too. Many things could be wrong with Annie."
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lizzie asked, jarred by his expression.
"Well?" He asked impatiently.
"Did he impregnate you, Azalea?" Draco asked. Lizzie shook her head and clenched her jaw.
"No, Charlie did, about a week before the battle," she said quietly. Draco frowned. There was a long pause. She picked up the cards but grew impatient and slapped back down onto the table.
"I would like to buy your wand, Draco," she said finally.
"My wand?" He asked. Lizzie nodded.
"The one I used to kill him," she said. "I'll pay whatever you'd like for it," she offered. He pinched his chin with his thumb and forefinger, intrigued by the question. He got up and gestured sharply for her to follow him.
Lizzie got up apprehensively and followed him up the grand staircase. He entered a familiar room and Lizzie hovered at the doorway. It was the room she was cursed in; the room Voldemort tortured her in fifteen years ago. Draco crouched down and unlocked a chest of drawers. He pulled out a box and a small velvet pouch. "I had a new wand made; I can put you in touch with the wandmaker. Wasn't Olivander, obviously," Draco said. Lizzie's heart hammered like a drum as she approached where he was standing. He pulled out his old wand and set it on the top of the chest. He emptied the pouch into his hand and then dropped the contents into hers.
Her chest tightened. It was an engraved ring Cedric gifted her, but she didn't receive it until the summer after he died. It must have been taken at the manor. She frowned at Draco and then stared at the bed, memories rushing of the week she spent in this room. She tried not to expose her vulnerability to Draco.
His hand wrapped around her lower stomach and slipped up the hem of her blouse. It was warm against her skin but made her nauseous. He leaned in close from behind her, "I hope you're not having a girl," he said quietly. Lizzie twisted away from him but he used his other arm to hold her still. His hand didn't leave her stomach. "If you want the wand, you need to tell me how your daughter was conceived."
"You want details, did you ever stop being a creep?" Lizzie hissed reproachfully. Draco snorted on a laugh near her ear and scoffed. Her skin crawled and she regretted coming here at all.
She looked at the wand and knew she needed it. She planned to hide the elder wand, so whoever took the stone wouldn't be able to unite the hallows. Since Annie had her Phoenix wand, Draco's was the only other that ever worked well for her.
"I'm not telling you about having sex with my husband, Draco. It was nothing particularly noteworthy..." she lied.
He turned her around to look at him, but a smirk was unevenly plastered on his face. "No, I think you're lying. I'm willing to bet you were possessed when it happened."
"What makes you think that?" She asked in a hoarse voice.
"I thought maybe Charlie had been because the Dark Lord used others to try to impregnate my aunt... but he couldn't do something that invasive from afar unless he possessed you," Draco responded. Lizzie assumed he didn't know about the Horcrux, but something else came to mind when he mentioned his aunt.
"What happened to Bellatrix's baby?" Lizzie asked. Draco raised his eyebrows.
"How do you know she had a son?" He inquired incredulously.
"He wasn't the only one that could access the other from afar," Lizzie said carefully. Draco frowned. "It was a boy then, you're certain?" She asked. Draco nodded.
"My aunt miscarried dozens of times. Whatever he tried to do to possess her husband or others to have his baby through a different vessel, didn't work. She had an affair with one of the others and he cursed, and consequently killed her son over it as punishment."
Lizzie's heart hurt for a slight moment on behalf of a fellow mother, no matter who, but Draco scoffed. "You think she cared?" He asked. "She was a lunatic," he hissed.
"What was the curse?" She asked. Draco stared contemplating for a long moment. He reached back into the chest and pulled out a parcel. Lizzie opened it when he handed it to her and dropped it immediately.
Draco sighed and picked it up by the chain off the floor. It was the necklace from Borgin and Berkes. The one he attempted to kill Dumbledore with but cursed Katie Bell instead. "Wh-" Lizzie gaped, confused.
"It's not broken, but the curse was lifted. I've never been able to trace the magic used. He used this on her baby," Draco said. She stared closely at it wondering if it could be another piece of him but couldn't see how. If he wasn't gone, the ophidians were never cured, his soul was still roaming. But she would know, she knew she would know in her bones if that was the case. However, the doppelganger in the room, when she gave birth to Annie, jumped to the forefront of her mind. Her mouth went dry.
"Did you read my books?" Lizzie asked hoarsely. Draco looked up at her incredulously.
"Of course, I read your bloody books, Azalea," he said.
"He used the cup, Hufflepuff's cup, to try to impregnate Bellatrix. Only the cup would have worked because he killed her aunt Estrella to make it. He needed a Black, or wanted one, to satisfy that debt. He sacrificed his ability to directly father children to that curse," Lizzie explained carefully.
"You don't have siblings because your father protected your mother from the same fate," she added quietly. Draco frowned to himself in thought.
"The cup, the one you escaped from here to go retrieve from Gringotts with Charlie?" He asked suspiciously. "So he was possessed then, wasn't he?" Draco seemed satisfied that a burning question was finally answered. He plucked his wand from the surface of the chest and offered it to her.
"He didn't use a Black. He used the last heir to Black fortune, though... thanks to your godfather. But if I understood your books correctly... he bred with himself, at least in part, when he - not Charlie - impregnated you." Lizzie shook her head in disbelief. "That's what I feared, I just thought he did it more... directly..."
"Do you think this necklace could have been a Horcrux?" Lizzie asked.
"I'm almost certain of it," he said. But Lizzie shook her head.
"No, I would know if I hadn't killed him, I would KNOW, I can't explain how, but I would..." she was getting panicked.
"I don't think it was his horcrux. Nagini... was a meladictus... a long line of her kind tracing back to -" he explained.
"Herpo..." Lizzie whispered. Draco sighed.
"I have no idea what happened, the baby he used it on died. I think the curse, the soul... had nowhere to go."
"How do you he died?" Lizzie asked.
"I was there," Draco said. Lizzie frowned. "I was told to monitor the baby for signs of life and see how the curse took its toll... he died. I didn't know what the necklace was, nor did I suspect what it was until I read your books. But it was horrifying to watch, so I -"
"Killed him, you... killed him..." Lizzie said. Draco looked uncomfortable, sunk his head and shoulders, and turned away from her a little anxiously.
"I would have given Astoria a potion to stop her from having Orion. She was already cursed. But the Dark Lord found out. He was hoping for a girl, to breed more meladictus. Fortunately, we had a boy," he said and took a big swig of his drink. He was in obvious pain. Lizzie remembered his comment at the World Cup about how neither she nor Astoria should have had children.
"Orion isn't afflicted by anything?" Lizzie asked. Draco shook his head.
"Only the suspense and terror of knowing he'll lose his mother," Draco said. His face was dark and forlorn.
Lizzie took the wand and wanted to leave. Her head felt light on her feet, and she turned. This room was coming back to her rapidly and something seemed to shift in the air. Draco snatched her arm and she spun on her feet into his grip. He held her jaw when she impulsively turned her face away and kissed her assertively. She struggled slightly but her body involuntarily surrendered. She didn't want to hurt her pregnancy in a struggle. She used her free hand to push his face off hers, but he grabbed her wrist.
"How much do you want the wand?" He asked with a hot breath near her mouth. Her body shook and she tried to say no before he continued. He walked her backward until the back of her legs hit the edge of the bed. "I want to know why I'm the only one you haven't killed..." he said quietly.
"Not... not in here..." she breathed. Her heart hammered violently. Draco was someone else. She suspected, from prior experiences with him, that intense dread and fear triggered something more sinister in him.
"No, I'm not -" he cut her off with his mouth and tongue deep in her mouth. She pushed him and bit his lip which made him stop. He backed up and stared at the floor while he rubbed a bleeding lip. Without looking at her, he picked up the wand and left the room. Lizzie took a moment to recover herself, then cautiously picked up and pocketed the necklace. She heard music downstairs and decided to descend into the foyer to show herself out. But she needed the wand.
From the bottom of the stairs, she saw Draco setting out tea on the table. She recognized the song; it was Silver Springs by Stevie Nicks. He looked up, noticed her frown, and sighed. "Astoria is a Stevie fan," he said. "You two would get along very well I think..." Lizzie stood there, still in a bit of shock.
"I'm sorry," he said. He held out the wand and Lizzie approached him for it. He pulled it back from her hand when she reached for it and extended his other to take hers. He wanted to dance and started to. Her body was rather rigid and uneasy, but he felt less threatening. She swayed on her feet as goosebumps broke out over her body.
"I feel somewhat conflicted because I've grown fond of your husband. He's been a good influence on Orion, who is very interested in his line of work..." Draco said softly near her ear as they swayed to the music. Lizzie shuddered with a wave of rage that her husband was any sort of figure in Draco's son's life. "But you wouldn't be here if you trusted him, you're furious with him, aren't you?" Draco asked. Lizzie clenched her jaw. Something foreign started to seep out of her soul and into her bloodstream, she felt it rise in the back of her throat like a phantom ophidian, she felt it entangle her brain in a web of resentment and doubt... vengeance... she knew the feeling. It was the darkness that killed her uncle; the same feeling she'd had when she killed Pettigrew and then tortured Bellatrix. This darkness would strangle Charlie if she let it.
"Time cast a spell on you, but you won't forget me
I know I could have loved you, but you would not let me" the song hummed, and it made Lizzie even more uneasy.
"I just want to know why I'm the only one you didn't kill. You saved my life and didn't need to. But you had every reason to, why?" He asked as they danced very slowly. "Unless you felt something," he said with his mouth on her forehead, leaving a kiss in the sentence's wake. Lizzie's heart hammered harder. She couldn't place it. She didn't know how to answer his question, because she wasn't sure what exactly compelled her to do it either.
"Do you love your wife?" Lizzie asked. He clenched his jaw.
"I do," he said tensely. "I did right by her... I did everything I could for her... had I not, she would have been used and abused by death eaters to get what the Dark Lord wanted from her until she inevitably died of the curse."
This sounded familiar. She was having a hard time remembering Astoria's face, but Janine came into view. "Something you think you spared me from, didn't you?" she asked.
There was a long pause. "I would have run away with you, despite Astoria's condition. If I could have stopped what happened to you here in this place, I would have."
"I don't believe that for a moment," Lizzie hissed. He stopped and looked affronted. "It would have been for your own gain, not out of respect for me, you've never had any respect for me," she growled. His face softened some in concession.
"Was it selfishly motivated? Of course, it was," he admitted. Lizzie glared. "But so were your intentions," he added.
"I pitied you," Lizzie snapped back. "I didn't kill you because I thought you were too pathetic, and I felt sorry for your predicament and wondered how different you'd be if you weren't raised in an elitist, bigoted, cult." She could tell these words dug a wound, but he tried to mask it.
"My turn," he whispered with a sinister glare. "Do you love your husband?" he asked.
"Of course I do," she breathed.
"Even though he groomed you," Draco jabbed. Lizzie shook her head. She experienced grooming, Damien came to mind, and Charlie did nothing of the sort. "He's a good man, Azalea, for the most part, better than most... his heart is in the right place, but his mind can wander into murky territory. He loves you deeply, but his children, his legacy are what's most important to him. He's lied to you, for a long time, hasn't he?"
Tears fell from her eyes. Draco wiped one side of her face dry and pushed her face up toward his. He woke up in bed and reached for the other side of it. The sheets Lizzie was in were empty. She was gone, so was his wand, and his blood boiled with contempt. He went to the other bedroom and noticed the necklace was missing. He paced a little anxiously, trying to remember every detail of their conversation to ensure he didn't give up more information than he intended. If she found out the truth about Bellatrix's son, everything he'd done, and what he'd done it for, would be in vain.