1996
"Harry, please. I need your help."
"…Mmmm."
"He has me, far in the Ministry. Please! You have to save me!"
"…No…no…Sirius."
"HARRY!"
"AHH!" Harry yelled out, waking himself. Panicked, he looked around wildly. Not seeing anything, and realizing that his nightmares have robbed him of another restful night, he let out a groan. Now wide awake, he sat in his four poster bed and took deep, heavy breaths. Realizing where he was, and what had happened, he grumbled to himself and laid back down.
'Fucking nightmares.' He thought to himself as his heart rate dropped back down to normal.
Deciding to get up, Harry wiped his eyes and moved to open the bed curtains, finding himself thankful for the foresight to apply silencing charms onto his bed every night. He knew he had been a bit of a hassle to room with over the years, and he hoped this eased that burden somewhat.
Knowing it was a Saturday, and a Hogsmeade visit again, Harry went about starting his day, knowing he would get no more sleep tonight. Yawning, he checked the time and to his shock, it read 5:24, only six minutes before his designated alarm was set. Pleased with the surprising amount of sleep he had gotten, he began getting ready for his run.
Stripping off his pajamas, he silently dug into his trunk to grab a pair of sweats and a hoodie, pulling them out and shutting the trunk. Getting dressed, he gave himself a look in the mirror of their washroom. Satisfied, he headed back to his bed and ducked to grab his converse, sliding them on to finish. Ready, he headed outside, shutting the door silently behind him.
Making his way through the castle, Harry hummed a tune to himself as he skipped down the stairs to the main courtyard, when a sudden noise bought his attention.
"Harry!" The voice shouted, aiming to be a whisper that carried a far distance.
Not expecting anyone at that time, Harry turned suddenly to see who it was this early, and what on earth they could need. But the sight of the person as they quickly jogged up to catch up with him brought a smile to his face.
"Neville, what are you doing man?" Harry asked, walking forward to close the distance to his friend.
Neville, who stopped suddenly in front of Harry, took in a few deep breaths before smiling back.
"You going for a run yeah?" Neville asked, hands on hips.
"Thats the plan." Harry replied back, holding up his towel and canteen.
"Want a partner?" Neville asked, causing Harry to smile. Nodding at his larger friend, Harry stepped to his side and beckoned for the large door, giving him an invitation.
"Absolutely."
Later
'This is bloody fucking terrible! This is awful! I will NEVER do this shite again!' Neville thought as Harry's constant remarks of "Just one foot in front of the other!" kept ringing in his ears.
It had been about an hour, and Harry had already finished his lap of the lake. Then another, then he decided to accompany Neville for his first run of the entire lake.
"Come on mate, just one foot in front of the-."
"I KNOW!" Neville shouted, causing Harry to burst into laughter.
Loosing his groove, and being completely exhausted, Neville wobbly stopped his run, collapsing onto the dirt in front of him. Looking up at the sky, with the stars starting to leave at the first rays of sunlight, Neville concentrated on them while catching his breath.
Feeling a weight settle beside him, and a sudden weight land on his chest, he opened his eyes to find Harry's canteen laying on him.
"When you are ready." Harry said, explaining the canteen whilst sitting beside Neville, also catching his breath.
"How… can you… so easily…?" Neville got out, still breathing heavily.
"Mate, I've done this almost every morning since the year began." He answered.
"…Why?"
"Ahhh, you know." Harry answered, looking down and twirling his warm brown ring that he'd put on his necklace. For safe keeping.
"Ah." Neville answered, seeing what Harry was doing.
"Why are you out here? Any reason?" Harry asked back, eager to avoid Neville's question.
"Yes." Neville answered quickly, now sitting up with the canteen open. "Somewhere out there, Bellatrix Lestrange is hiding, free, and i'm going to find her."
Seeing his friend staring out over the lake with a serious look of determination and sorrow, Harry felt he owed him something.
"Well then lets finish this run, and then we'll work on some spells. I've never met her, but Sirius has told me stories, and it sounds like we'll need a lot more preparing to match up. Are you ready?"
Moving his eyes to Harry's, he gave a nod. And Harry's heart broke at the sight of this war creating a new soldier.
"Then lets go." Harry said, patting the bigger boy's thigh and jumping up, with Neville quickly following.
"Just one foot in front of the other mate."
"I'm gonna throw a stone at you Harry I swear."
Later
"So are you sure that everything is prepared?" Delphini asked for the hundredth time.
"Yes dear. By the grace of Merlin himself YES!" Narcissa said, her voice raising throughout.
"Fine, fine. Just checking, no need to shout." Delphini replied, her hands in the air, surrendering. "Then thats it, we're ready."
"Yes, you are. Now, up." Narcissa said, directing Delphini to stand from where she sat.
"Spin." She ordered, to which Delphini quickly nodded and did as instructed.
Looking over the younger woman, Narcissa took note over what Delphini had decided to wear for the afternoon. A simple black knee-length dress, with a set of matching boots and belt, and finished with a grayish crossbody bag.
"What if it rains?" Narcissa asked, stopping Delphini, who simply patted her bag.
"Don't worry, I have multiple different choices for any kind of weather. I think I should be fine." Delphini answered, feeling quite proud.
"Alright, then we're good. Lets head down, make sure the coast is clear." Narcissa said, the giddiness in her voice peaking through. Moving over, she unlocked and opened Delphini's bedroom door, checking. Seeing nobody, she gave Delphini a nod and the pair left, shutting the door behind them.
Walking carefully through the manor, Narcissa led as she stopped at each turn, peeking around before they moved. After about five long minutes, the pair made it to the large wooden doors leading outside. Unlocking them with a spell, Narcissa looked behind them once more to check. Nothing. Satisfied, she gave Delphini a look over once more before nodding her head.
"Ready?" She asked her young ward.
Delphini gave her a nod.
"Okay." Narcissa said, turning around and opening the door. Then she noticed the person standing directly in opposite side of the door, and her breath stopped, and her heart began pounding like a drum in the night. Behind her, she could hear Delphini let out a gasp, feeling her grab onto her arm tightly.
Narcissa's felt like dropping down, but maintained her composure, but only just, since she has never looked weak in front of her sister before.
And she'd be damned if she did now.
"Hello Cissy. Daughter."
Later
Opening the door, Harry rubbed the towel over his hair as he left the showers, eager to get dressed. Walking into the bedroom, he laughed at the familiar sight of his best mates sleeping ritual. Hugging his pillow while his bottom lifted into the air, his snores filling the room with a calming noise. Smiling, Harry walked over to his trunk and opened it, digging inside for his clothes of the day.
After grabbing what he thought he'd want, he began getting dressed. Pulling his trousers up, he tucked the front bit of his sweater in before latching the belt. Bending down, he grabbed his trusty converse, tying those up as well. Then to finish, he walked over to his nightstand and grabbed his wand, tucking that away in his bracelet, which was enchanted to function as a holster, before finishing off with his favorite item, his warm brown ring.
Satisfied, he looked over his shoulder to where Dean Thomas sat on his bed, also getting ready. Looking up at Harry, the taller boy gave him a thumbs up, which made Harry feel like he was now officially ready.
Now looking over to see what Ron thought, he sighed as his friend still slept. Smirking, he moved to his trunk and grabbed his wet towel, then walked around their beds, giving Dean a fist bump as he passed, and walked until standing directly besides Ron.
Giving his friend a once over, he held in his laughter as he saw Ron's shirt had rolled forward, exposing his back to the world. Silently twirling the towel, Harry nodded at Dean to go ahead.
"Hey Ron, wake up man." Dean cooed, trying to wake the sleeping boy.
"Unnnngggghhhh." Ron said, his eyes still shut.
Mouthing for Dean to continue, Harry cocked the towel back.
"Ron!"
"Hmmppphhhh…. What?" Ron asked, smacking his dry lips together as his eyelids fluttered.
Then the towel snapped, and Ron's eyes flew open.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHGGGHHH!"
Twenty Minutes Later
"Yeah she said no Hogsmeade this month."
"Harry you moron, you need to think things through more!" Hermione said, smacking her boyfriend on the shoulder as they sat on the sofa in the common room.
"Hey it's all Ron's fault!" Harry said, pointing his finger at his friend sat on the floor in front of them.
"Piss off mate, I told Mcgonagall it was funny. She said you can't go, so it AINT my fault. You're both just lucky I got nothing else going on today so I can just hang here with you guys."
"Yeah, we're soooo lucky." Hermione said dryly, rolling her eyes at Harry, who chuckled. "Perfect timing by the way, snapping that towel right as Professor Mcgonagall arrived in the common area."
"Hey don't be too upset, we can still have a good day. We could go see Hagrid, or walk the grounds, or read, or hang with Luna in the forest. There is loads to do!" Harry said with excitement in his voice, giving Hermione a big lopsided grin.
"Alright." Hermione said, looking into Harry's eyes. "Lets go to Hagrids, I haven't seen him in ages. Ron, can you go to the Ravenclaw tower and get Luna please?"
"Hmmph, fine." Ron grumbled, sitting up.
"She won't be there." Someone cut in. The three friends looked over at who talked, seeing Neville walking down the stairs towards them.
"On a morning like this, Luna likes leaving the castle at sunrise. Says thats the only time of day you can catch a glimpse of 'Glistering Gnomes'. I'm surprised you didn't see her Harry, she waved at us this morning when we was training."
"Huh." Harry said. "Must've missed her."
"Alright, well Neville, can you go see if you can catch up with her, see if she wants to help me out today with these two." Hermione asked, pointing both her pointy fingers at Harry and Ron, who gave Neville goofy smiles.
Laughing at the pair, Neville gave Hermione a nod, before turning to leave the common room.
"Wait! Neville!" Ron shouted, causing Neville to stop.
"Yeah?" Neville asked.
"How'd you know where Luna would be?" Ron asked with a smirk, causing the tall boy's face to immediately flush red.
"Uhh… ya know… we…talk… sometimes." Neville stammered out, his familiar clumsiness pronouncing itself.
"Alright loverboy, alright. Well go get her then, but don't take too long!" Ron laughed, with Neville giving him the finger before turning and leaving the common room quickly.
"You are such an asshole." Harry laughed, causing Hermione to smack him on the chest.
Same Time
The warm trickle of blood running down her face made Narcissa furious.
Furious that she was at their mercy again.
His mercy.
"Wife, what oh what were you planning on doing, hmm? Sneaking out of our home? What would our guests think?" Lucius's voice slithered in her ears, a voice akin to nails on a chalkboard.
Raising her eyes to look into his, she was reminded of the pain she had inflicted. His one grey eye dark with fury, but his other, a empty mangled hole. Smiling at the memory of driving that knife into his eye socket, Narcissa let out a laugh.
"Fuck you, and fuck your guests." She said with venom, before spitting into his face.
"You fucking bitch." Lucius snarled out, raising his ringed hand to strike her.
"Lucius."
The voice of his master stopped him instantly, his hand immediately falling to his hips.
"Ohh you are such a fucking bitch." Narcissa muttered out at the sight.
"Lucius, that is enough. Be gone now." Voldemort said, entering the room from behind Narcissa.
"Yes my lord." Lucius said, immediately bowing before exiting the room. Leaving only his wife and his lord.
Waiting a few moments, Lord Voldemort just stood behind Narcissa. His breath coming out low.
"Where were you taking her?" His voice breaking the eerie silence.
Narcissa stayed silent, glaring holes into the wall ahead.
Letting out a sigh, he asked again. "Where were you taking my daughter?"
Silence.
"Narcissa Malfoy and her petty little games. Always a pleasure to be apart of. But unfortunately for you, my patience has run thin of late." His voice growing in volume.
Snapping his fingers, he signaled for somebody to enter. Hearing a new set of footsteps, Narcissa prepared for what ever test he would push onto her. But the steps didn't stop behind her. They moved until they were directly in front of her.
Then they kneeled down, and she gasped. Her eyes wide and immediately welling with tears.
"Draco?" She gargled out, a lump in her throat.
"Hello, mother." Her son said, smiling sinisterly.
Speechless, Narcissa gasped, rocking back and forth. Raising her hands to hold onto his face, as if she was hallucinating, but he moved back, avoiding her grasp.
"Mother, listen to me. You must answer our lord truthfully. That is all it takes, then the pain will disappear."
But she only mumbled, not listening, her eyes never leaving his.
"Draco, my son. My boy. Draco."
"MOTHER!" Draco shouted, loosing his composer, before taking a deep breath at the glare he received from Voldemort. "Mother, listen to me. Mother! You need to answer his questions."
"…How?"
Looking at her confused, he opened his mouth to ask what she meant when she quickly grabbed onto him.
"How are you alive?" She asked, pinching his cheeks. "I saw you! I buried you!"
"Let go of me!" Draco struggled, fighting her off of his face. Once free, he immediately stood and moved away. Breathing heavily, he turned to look at Voldemort, before shaking his head.
"Draco?" Narcissa asked, looking up at him confusion.
"Its no use, give her a week." Draco said to Voldemort, before turning and leaving the room.
"Wait! Draco!" Narcissa shouted out, rushing to give chase. When a sudden invisible force yanked her back, causing her to stumble onto the floor furthest from the door.
Looking up, she watched in horror as the dark lord turned his nose up on her before exiting the room, locking the door behind him.
"Draco!" She wailed out, running towards the door and slamming into it. Pounding on the door with her fist, she screamed and screamed and screamed.
But nobody came.
So when her voice left her, and her fist were covered in blood, she stopped, sliding down the door and crying.
And in the room right beside her, Delphini sat leaned against the wall, tears falling down her face.
