The Family Jewels

Chapter 24
Tasting and Judgment

As soon as the portrait swung shut, Ginny Weasley dropped Harry’s hand as if she was being burned. She didn’t look at him as she said in the stiffest voice he had ever heard, “I never thought that my brother would have a more mature reaction to what happens in Hermione’s private life than you would have. I could even have understood Ron; he was in love with her for years. You have always been just friends. Friends.” The last word was said with such bitterness that Harry backed up a step.

“Since we’re all being so honest with each other, isn’t that what you said? Do you want to be in there with them right now? Make it a foursome? Because I don’t think Slytherins share with others.” Tears were starting to leak out of the corners of her eyes, though Ginny tried hard to prevent it. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but it was the look in Harry’s eyes that made Ginny put up her hand to silence him, then turn and run.

Shame.

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Lucius Malfoy had been awoken the night before at midnight. At first he had thought that the whore he was spending the night with might want another go, but then he realized that it was his signet ring burning bright green, and his heart was beating so loud, he could almost hear it. Draco was ignoring his warning; he needed to talk to Severus.

Lucius looked at the blonde next to him in bed. ‘Her hair is actually real,’ he thought to himself, looking at the dark blonde hair that was trimmed into a heart above her pussy lips. Not that his face got that close to her pussy lips. He had fucked her in the cunt, in her arse and she had sucked him off twice. His finger moved up the center of her body, the pulse that beat at the juncture of her throat a little thready. Lucius cocked his head, idly observing the bruises just coming up on her hips, perfect handprints from where he had held her down. ‘Maybe I should cut back on the amount of the potion I’m giving them. They seem to get paler and thinner by the day,’ his thoughts were keeping him company as he got up and dressed. He left the accustomed payment for the number of times he had violated her. She turned in her sleep, and he tossed an extra Galleon onto the table for the blood.

Lucius Apparated to a small cottage in Dordogne that had belonged to an old retainer to the family. The man was dead now, and Lucius was sure that no one would be able to identify the body. The Floo in the house was still operational, although he hadn’t been using it. This was a special occasion, though, and he wanted to check on his wayward offspring as soon as possible. Lucius took a small pot from the mantle and threw a small pinch into the flames he had conjured. He knelt down, saying very clearly, “Hogwarts Castle, Private Chamber of Severus Snape.”

Severus was sitting in a chair in front of the fire, and if he was surprised to see the disembodied head of Lord Malfoy in the flames of his fireplace, he gave no outward sign of it. “Lucius. How are you this evening?” Severus asked.

“Save the pleasantries. My son has informed me that you are safeguarding the Malfoy emeralds,” Lucius said in what passed as a polite manner, for him.

“Not are, Lucius, were. Viscount Malfoy has taken his inheritance. I believe that he had plans to seduce another virgin tonight. Apparently, the 7th Year Slytherins are having some sort of contest.”

This was clearly the right tack to take with Draco’s father. He smirked in a vaguely reminiscent fashion, “Yes, I remember a similar competition my last year at Hogwarts. I won, of course.” He paused and frowned deeply, “I did not have the added benefits of the jewels, to do it either.”

“Since when has the young Lord Malfoy ever turned down an advantage that his peers do not have?” Severus smiled faintly.

“Severus, I am surprised at you. You know how powerful some of those pieces are, not to mention how valuable.”

“The fact remains, the jewels are his. Draco is truly turning into your son, and I hesitated to deny him something that was his birthright.”

Lord Malfoy was silent for a minute, and Snape began to be cautiously optimistic that this interview was almost over, and that he had pushed Malfoy in the right direction.

“And the diary, has he, I mean, can he read it?” Lucius stumbled over the words.

Very, very interesting. Severus had known Lucius Malfoy for over twenty years, and in that period of time, he had not heard him stutter once. Not once. “I don’t believe that he can. Some of the pages have been damaged, and it is written in a highly arcane Medieval French dialect. Is the diary important?” Snape asked silkily.

“No, of course not. The jewels are full of Dark Magic, though. I can’t take the chance that he will do something that is not easily undone. When is the next Hogsmeade weekend?” Lord Malfoy asked.

“It is not for another three weeks. You only saw your son yesterday; surely you said what was important to him then?”

“Apparently, he did not heed my kind words of advice. When does he play Quidditch next?” Lucius asked.

“Next Saturday, against Gryffindor,” Snape didn’t want to add that information, but he knew it would all too easy for Lucius to find out on his own.

“Against Gryffindor…I think that will do nicely. Thank you, Severus. I shall give your regards to our Lord then, shall I?” and then he was gone.

Severus Snape sighed, and then got up from his chair. He needed to see the Headmaster about Lord Malfoy’s latest plans. ‘I’ll be lucky if I get any sleep tonight,’ he thought wearily.

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Narcissa Malfoy closed the book she was pretending to read in the privacy of her bedchamber. She was occupying the guest bedroom in her niece Nymphadora Tonks’ flat in London. She wasn’t really happy there, but she was safe. Her niece was a half-blood, but she was a powerful witch, a Metamorphmagus; the Blacks had always been a powerful wizarding family.

Narcissa missed her son, but she knew she had to let him find his own way. He had denied the Dark Lord, but only after his father had been imprisoned in Azkaban. Denying the dark was not the same as embracing the light. Her entire family had been lost to the ravages of war. There was no one left to carry on the name of the noble house of Black. Sirius had been the last, and her own sister had killed him in a duel. Narcissa was shamed at the memory. When Lucius had first turned to the Dark Lord, he had talked about how they would save their world from the impurity that was besmirching it on all sides. Exactly how did killing Pureblood wizards, her own family, save their world from outsiders? Now Draco was the very last of their line. She was determined that he would live to adulthood, and father a child. A free child, who would swear his allegiance to no one.

She pulled out the ring that hung from a chain around her neck. Lucius’ mother had given it to her on her deathbed. It was a circle of diamonds and emeralds channel-set in platinum. The stones of the ring itself seemed to glow with an inner light, and she knew that Draco had the rest of the jewels, finally. He had placed another of the pieces on someone he loved. The jewels would reject anyone else, if there was not a marriage bond between them. She had placed her faith in him, that he would know what to do with them when the time came. There was nothing to do now but wait.

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A/N – Just a short chapter to check in with all our players. I had been hoping to finish this fic up in about fifteen chapters, but that didn’t happen. Now my children have their summer holidays and I’m bumping up against the release of HBP, which for me involves the traditional reading of all the previous books, in order. Perhaps we should have more fun with the items in the chest before we have a confrontation between the powers that be? What do you think?