Hey everyone,
So yeah, this was supposed to have been the content of the previous chapter, but – getting that picture was just too important to the plot. Also YES! Harry is going to make a visit to Godric's Hollow and his old family home at some point. I can't say when yet as I don't have it planned until after Christmas at the soonest, but I do swear that it will come up. However, the upcoming chapters are not going to be about him, just mention him in passing from time to time.
Okay? Okay,
Venquine1990
Chapter 28
Marks Of Death
12th of November 1995
Malfoy Manor, England
Lucius' POV
I had felt quite relieved to know that Snape had only left a few minutes after I had closed the door behind me and I had made a quick stop at Draco's room to see how he was doing before heading for my own chambers. The boy had been lying with his back to the door on his bed, the way he was lying proving that he was actually angry with the world at large. Hoping that a good night's sleep would make him more amicable, I had gone to sleep myself.
Yet Draco has remained in his room all day and now it's time for lunch. I retreated to the formal dining room as I am waiting for Unspeakable Pomfrey and have caught myself multiple times this morning wanting to grab and even reaching for the mark on my arm. And while I know that the mark won't be gone after this, do I still feel concerned for two scenarios. One being the pain I will surely feel when it's removed and two, the Dark Lord calling me just when the woman is at work.
Because these scenarios keep playing through my mind, do I notice that my hands are slightly trembling as I hold my cutlery and try to just digest a small, light salad with my favorite vegetables and then notice Draco coming in and taking a seat at the halfway point of the table. This gives me some reassurance that the boy might learn his lesson quickly, only for the boy to blow my hopes to bits as he coldly asks:
"Father, when will I be returning to school?" At which I coldly retort: "You will when, like your ex-godfather, you have learned your lesson and stopped believing that everything you do is right and everything others do is wrong. What you did yesterday at the match, blood or no blood, was wrong and would normally be considered against the law. You need to start realizing how lucky you are that Lord Black, instead of getting you arrested, left your punishment to your mother and me."
At this the boy turns his head the other way and so I curiously ask: "Speaking of, where were you this morning? Did your mother summon you to her chambers?" To which the boy mutters: "No, she came to mine. She wanted me to recap the match and then told me how others would see it." And while I nod in understanding, do I also let out a defeated breath as I can almost hear him whisper: "Not that I should care about that."
He turns back to me and asks: "And what do you mean, ex-godfather?" To which I answer: "I have dismissed Severus from his role as your godfather last night for multiple reasons. One, he willfully let you repeat the actions of your great-grandfather, who brought shame upon the Malfoy line by breaking the same Sabotage rule that you did the other day. He kept trying to put full blame on others, including the victims of your attack. And he even proved that he has no respect for women, their rights or the actual meaning behind a marriage.
I will not have my son raised by a man like that." Draco looks at me wide-eyed and then another, now familiar, voice speaks and says: "Not to mention that even more evidence has been found against the man and that he is now, basically, fired from life." Draco and I look up and I feel myself tensing a little when I see Unspeakable Pomfrey walk out from the shadow of a large recliner chair set in the fireplace corner of the room.
"Is there any kind of shadow that you Unspeakables can't come out of?" I can't help but ask, subconsciously trying to stall the moment that I will have to pull up my sleeve by sating my curiosity and the woman smirks and shrugs as she says: "The shadows cast by a watery sun if it's trying to break through a light cloud." At which I smirk back at her before I say: "Please, have a seat, Unspeakable Pomfrey. I'm afraid that my wife won't be joining us, so you may as well take her seat." At which the woman gives me a grateful nod.
Yet Draco looks at her shocked and befuddled and asks: "Wait, Unspeakable Pomfrey? How are you a simple – is that just a cover-up or something?" And while I actually feel amused at his confusion, does the woman turn colder than my son and I had been to each other just now and say: "No, the simple school Healer, as you were planning to call her, is my younger sister. And for the record, young man, I do not like the fact that, two years ago, you tried ruining her reputation like you did."
And while Draco whispers: "What is it, pick on Draco Malfoy day?" Making me take and release a deep breath as I really wish the boy would take this criticism with some more dignity and making me curse Severus all over again. I turn to Pomfrey and say: "May I offer my sincere apologies for that event, Unspeakable Pomfrey. I'm afraid that I played a role in that as I encouraged Draco in this endeavor." Yet the woman proves me that she is a very respectable person as she says:
"It's quite alright, Lord Malfoy. I have learned enough about you to classify you under the category of parent first, wizard second. Which to most Unspeakables, bar the ones who just no longer have families, is a very well-respected category." And while I really hope that learning about this category will help Draco understand where I'm coming from and why I am against his actions of the other day, do I continue to voice my curiosities.
"So tell me, Unspeakable –." But then the woman says: "Just Pepper will do." To which I gratefully reply: "Lucius, then. Now, Pepper, what did you mean when you said that Severus is basically fired from life?" The woman fills a glass of water for herself and while she does, she says: "After he left your manor, more information about his past crimes came to light, including a crime that, until now, only three people actually knew about – and two of them are, unfortunately, no longer of this world and took this knowledge to their grave."
This seems to intrigue Draco enough that he loses the arrogant look on his face. "As you know, Lucius, Snape was friends with Lily Potter growing up. However, she and her parents were closer than she ever was to Snape and after her falling out with him, her father did not take kindly to how the whole thing went. Therefore, the summer after the falling out, when Snape tried to come see her, her father would not let him in. But while this was happening, Lily was convincing her parents to move elsewhere without informing anyone.
Now, before I continue, perhaps you can fill in one last little bit of blank that I have in regards to this event. Do you, perhaps, know when Severus Snape started learning Occlumency and Legilimency?" And instantly I know I will be sealing Snape's fate with my answer as I say: "The Christmas before their falling out. I recommended it as I had learned that, from time to time, the Dark Lord would use Legilimency to smoke out potential spies or traitors and knew he had some aspirations to joining the man as well upon graduation."
The woman nods and says: "I thought as much and so did Dumbledore. Apparently Snape read the mind of young Lily's father and through that found out about their moving address, even though Lily herself had asked her father not to tell anyone, not even her, where he was moving or to move until after she had returned to Hogwarts. So while young Lily thought that her parents were now safe, did she find out in November of 1976 that this was not the case.
She received pictures showing her parents having been murdered from one of the ravens that, as you know, Voldemort and his men used to cause terror, fear and pain in the relatives of their victims and one card proved Snape's guilt. However, for reasons that Lily took with her to her grave, she kept the fact that Snape was responsible for selling out her parents to herself and made both James Potter and even Sirius Black keep this secret. Now I have no doubt that Sirius would have revealed this upon the Potter's death, but then – well, we all know what happened."
At this I nod, but then Draco asks: "But that doesn't make sense. Why didn't Black try to gain his innocence by proven that U – that Snape wasn't as innocent as Dumbledore believed him?" At which, while I commend my son for his question, the Unspeakable says: "Probably pride. I can only imagine that Sirius felt betrayed by Dumbledore trusting a former Death Eater but not standing up for a member of his own team and therefore didn't believe that anyone would even hear him out. Let's not forget he was sent to Azkaban without even a polite questioning, let alone a trial."
At this both my son and I nod and Pepper says: "Anyway, I don't think it needs to be said, but Albus has basically wiped his hands clean of any relation or connection he still has with Snape and has set him an ultimatum, though personally I don't feel like agreeing with it. Either Snape apologizes for trying to defend the attempt on Harry's life – or he's going to suffer the Longbottom's fate come the Thursday before the Christmas Hogsmeade weekend.
Though the knowledge that his first crime was at the age of sixteen and that he did it, because he thought he could own Lily upon her parents' death, that she – as he obviously thought – would be his if this obstacle was out of the way – it really doesn't make me want to wait for him to make that apology. Plus, the person he needs to apologize to isn't even in this world anymore as young Harry and most of his friends left for Radiant Garden or the Garden as they call it earlier this morning."
"Then how is he supposed to apologize?" Draco asks and I feel annoyed as there is actually a defensive tone to his voice. Yet Pepper just shrugs carelessly and says: "He could always top it by actually apologizing to his first victim, even if it is just her gravestone and not her." But thanks to the conversation I had with the man the other night do I already know that this is a lost cause. And with that do I take a deep breath and mutter:
"Let – let's just get this over with." Pepper sends me an accepting and understanding nod and thoroughly cleans her hands before walking over. And under Draco's intrigued and confused gaze, do I roll up the left sleeve of my shirt and lie my arm open on the table, the mark now aimed for the ceiling. The woman herself does the same, but then with both her sleeves and gently lies the tip of her wand against one of the scales that makes up the snake part of the tattoo. She turns to me and says: "I will not lie, this will hurt."
At which I take a deep breath and say: "I have recently been under the Dark Lord's Cruciatus. I can take it." But at this the woman falters and asks: "How recent is recent?" And when I answer: "The Friday before last, the fourth of this month." Does the woman nod before turning her focus back to my mark and her wand still aimed at the same scale. "Alright then, good. Removing this spell is going to attack the nerves in your arm in a similar, but lesser manner to the Cructiatus and I have no interest in further damaging already frayed nerves."
The woman says and while I notice that Draco now has a look of hesitant concern on his face, do I give another nod to Pepper, giving her a silent confirmation that I am ready for what she has in store for me. The woman sends me a short look, her eyes shining with a great sense of pride and care, and then returns her focus back on my arm again. And while she doesn't move her wand or say a single thing, do I feel her magic entering my arm.
I feel it attaching itself to the magic that attaches the mark to my arm and instantly feel this same magic resisting the magic that is now being imbued and forced into its core. This alone already feels mildly irritating, yet so far it only feels like someone is casting Stinging hexes at my arm, something I often endure when practicing with Draco over summer. Because of this, while I cannot really sense the intent of the magic seeping into my arm, do I just keep a calm look on my face while watching Pepper keep a focused look on her own face.
The woman actually doesn't seem to be doing anything, making me realize that she is using non-verbal magic to cast the spell. Part of me wonders what kind of spells might be going through her mind while she casts, but then suddenly notice the apparent battle between the magic on my arm and the magic coming from the wand intensifying. The wand also makes a sharp twist to the right, yet while nothing physical happens otherwise, do I still feel it.
The mark's magic, or at least the spell that is obviously hidden beneath this one scale, is slowly but surely being encased by the magic of the Unspeakable, yet it itself is trying to burn the magic that is trying to encase it to shreds. And the fiery burning sensation of this magic feels like it's burning my skin at the same time, feeling a lot more painful than it did previous. I grind my teeth at this and notice Pepper sending me another look, this one a silent warning.
I give her another nod, willing to suffer any kind of pain if it means that I won't go mentally insane and lose my chance to raise my son, lose my chance to undo the damage done to his upraising by his bastard of a godfather. And only a second after I nod, do I hiss and does my entire body tense as an intense sense of pain wrecks that single nerve that the scale is attached to. Feeling like the encasing magic has suddenly been encased in the heat of Fiendfyre or something, do I endure it as it burns away the defensive magic of the scale.
"Three, two, one." Pepper hisses to herself and after this, she pulls her wand away with a firm pull of her arm and I feel like she viciously pulled several hairs from my arm at the same time. I let out a yelp, put my other hand on the sore spot and hiss a bit as the pain slowly but surely lessens. After this I pull my hand away and notice that the scale she had put her wand to now looks dark black, like a starless night, standing out against all the other dark green scales.
"It's not yet entirely deduced what will happen to your mark once Voldemort meets his end in a few weeks, but unfortunately that mark will remain on your arm for the rest of your life. We managed to create a simulation of the mark and studied that thoroughly the last few weeks and not even the purest forms of fire magic, including a light, but well-controlled form of Fiendfyre, had the end results that we wanted. Any other tests actually had us activating other protective spells that Voldemort put into the marks and a lot of them had – less than positive results for the wearer."
Pepper gently explains to us as she goes back to her seat and while, thanks to my years of serving Voldemort, I can only imagine what kind of horrible magic the man has put into the mark on my arm. Yet at the same time I can't help but ask: "Is there any chance that this other magic will activate once he falls?" To which the woman shakes her head and says: "No, don't worry. Like I said, we did extensive research." And instantly I realize what she means. I nod at the woman, who also pulls a bit of a salad towards herself as she continues:
"Now, I do also know how to take out the magic that allows Voldemort to call upon you, but considering multiple factors that are currently in play – Snape being an unreliable source of intel, Voldemort being completely unaware that we are onto him and our chance at destroying him come the Thursday in question – I am ordered against doing so. I want to, as I respect Sirius' desire to see his family safe from that monster, but I cannot. My hands are tied."
At which I reply: "I will not let you down." The woman looks at me shocked and she asks: "Wait what?""Father, you're not suggesting –?" Draco tries, but I silence him with a look and say: "You said it yourself, Pepper. Severus has proven just how unreliable he is. Not to mention that Lily Potter, who – while Muggleborn – I have always held a great sense of respect for, just like my wife, has suffered long enough. I may not be able to tell you the names of the Death Eaters that killed the Evans' as I don't remember them, but I will repay you for your help.
A Malfoy never leaves a debt hanging and you saved my mental health and with that my life when you removed this curse from my arm. I will repay you." And while both my son and the Unspeakable look at me astounded, do I think: "I have never been more grateful for your lessons, father. I will finally be able to put them to good and proper use." And with that do I start to mentally create a shield around my mind, one that is basically a second persona. The Pureblood Lucius Malfoy that I often show the world, especially to one Arthur Weasley.
HOLY CRAP!
Okay, Draco and Lucius having their little conversation was planned. Pepper telling Lucius about Snape and his first act of treason was planned. Lucius enduring quite a bit of pain while Pepper removed the heinous charm from his mark was planned. Lucius deciding to become the new spy for the Light in order to repay Pepper for this – NOT PLANNED! But at the same time, it and the whole mental persona do make sense in my eyes and explain why Lucius, in this story, might come off as OC to some people.
I like it,
Venquine1990
