The Lion and the Serpent

Draco found himsef on the ground, in an unfamiliar location. He was on his hands and knees, fallen onto the barren soil, littered with patches of withered grass, and little heaps of melting, darkened spring snow. He looked around, and saw naked trees in a distance. Near the trees, a lonely hooded figure stood, apparently waiting for them.



He felt someone\'s boot against his thigh. “Crawl,” they ordered. He crawled obediently towards the figure.



“Walk,” he heard above him, and realized that the order was not directed at him. He heard Calixa\'s furious hiss, and heard her footsteps, as she walked slowly behind him. “You are lucky I don\'t have my wand,” she spat. “Cowards.”



“You are lucky we are not after you,” one of the abductors said with a smirk. “So, shut up and walk.”



The hooded figure, draped in a cloak that concealed everything but the eyes, moved towards them.



“What is the meaning of this?” the man asked tiredly, and Draco shuddered, realizing that he knew that voice.



“What? It\'s not our fault she\'d cast a Slide-Along. We brought him, didn\'t we? Nobody noticed,” one of the abductors said defensively.



“Take the child back with you,” the man ordered. “Oblivate her.”



“That wasn\'t part of the deal,” the other kidnapper protested. “Too risky. You deal with her. We keep the Phoenix Rod.”



“Tie them and get out,” the man said flatly.



Strong hands lifted Draco off the ground by the hair and propelled him forward, towards the trees. He stumbled weakly, until his body was slammed into a tree-trunk. His arms lifted painfully above him, ropes held him tightly in place. A few feet away, Calixa was tied to another tree, in a similar, albeit slightly more merciful fashion.



The two abductors Disapparated promptly, leaving the three of them alone.



Draco tugged against the ropes slightly, assessing his predicament. As if in response to the movement, the ropes tightened some more around his wrists, almost constricting the circulation.



“There are a few spells placed on the ropes,” the strict familiar voice said. “Best if you don\'t move. Not that it will matter, in the end.”



Draco opened his mouth, but no sound came out.



“Would you like to be able to speak again?”



Draco nodded vigorously.



The man\'s wand pointed at him. “Finite Incantatem,” he said. “Do you know who I am, Mr. Malfoy?”



“Yes,” Draco said reluctantly. “Mr. Arthur Weasley.”



The man removed his hood and Draco stared at his thin pale face, unsure what else to say.



Calixa, on her part, didn\'t lack words. “Fucking cowardly patriarch of the blood traitors,” she swore spitefully. “It figures.”



Draco groaned loudly, and Arthur Weasley spun to face her.



“You really think that your petty insults mean anything, little miss?” He asked with a smile . “Don\'t be silly, and stay quiet.”



She bit her lip and glared at him defiantly, but Arthur Weasley\'s attention was turned to Draco again.



“What\'s a Phoenix Rod?” Draco asked.



“A fascinating item,” Arthur Weasley said. “It allows one to Apparate to and from restricted areas. Just like the bird. What can I say... not all items we confiscate at the Office for Counterfeit Magical Objects are actually useless.”



“Corruption,” Calixa said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “How unsurprising.”



Arthur Weasley ignored her.



“I want to see what happened,” the man intoned softly, his wand pointing at Draco. “Legilimens.”



Draco shuddered as Ron Weasley\'s father entered his mind and sifted through his memories.



“I see, I see,” the man murmured softly. “I had no idea, you understand. How much you had taunted him and harassed him in school. He\'d complained to me once in a while, but what did I do? Told him to be nice to you. Told him to try to make friends. Told him there\'s some good inside of everyone. Told him that the family animosity could be overcome with kindness. I\'m an idiot, don\'t you agree, Mr. Malfoy?”



Draco\'s froze, his breathing becoming almost inaudible. Unable to face the man, Draco looked right past him, into the distance. The grey clouds were gathered above the barren landscape, and just a hint of subdued sunlight emerged from above the clouds. For a moment, it looked like something shifted in the distance, as if an invisible shadow moved towards them, as if the sunlight was refracted in the air just a little bit oddly. Draco shook his head.



“The day he loaned you his book, you killed him,” Arthur Weasley chuckled, lowering his wand. “And now.. somehow you\'ve convinced our dear Harry and Hermione to make you into their little pet. Mindboggling, really.”



Stubbornly silent, Draco continued looking away. A faint elusive shimmer moved and passed again. Draco glanced at Calixa discretely, wondering if she had noticed it too, but her face was unreadable.



“What was in that poision, anyways?” Arthur Weasley asked casually.



“Basilisk venom as main ingredient,” Draco mumbled dejectedly. “Some other things...”



“Mmm,” Arthur murmured softly. “I understand it\'s like being set on fire.”



Draco nodded, terror settling in.



“You are a waste of magic, Mr. Malfoy,” Arthur Weasley said.



Stunned, Draco watched as the older man walked away to pick up a small canister and carried it back. He opened it, and a noxious smell of gasoline spread around. Involuntarily, he twisted and struggled as the fluid splashed into his face, his hair, and all over his body. Drenched head to toe, the foul smelling streams trickling down his body, Draco let out a quiet groan.



“Why now?” Draco asked painfully. “It\'s been over a year. Why now?”



The empty canister was tossed aside, and Arthur Weasley looked at Draco sadly.



“The thought had occurred to me on a regular basis over the last few months... but it\'s only when I had learned that you became Harry\'s little darling, I decided that it was time. There\'s a time for everything, they say. Looks like it\'s my time to kill.”



“Wait,” Calixa cried out suddenly. “Sir – Mr. Weasley. Please. Don\'t.” There was no trace of defiance in her voice, as she was pleading in the earnest. “Please don\'t do... that. If you want to kill him, give him a clean death, at least. Don\'t just.. burn him alive... If you think you need to do it to someone, do it to me.”



“Shut up, Cali,” Draco growled. “Just shut up.”



“Please?” she whispered plaintively. “Do anything you want to me. Burn me alive. Cut me up. I don\'t care. You are angry.. that\'s fine ... Just ... take it out on me.”



Arthur Weasley\'s eyes met Calixa\'s, and he sighed deeply. “You are young, and naïve. You should have never been a part of this in the first place,” he said. “I will not harm you. And you will remember nothing.”



“Don\'t make her watch,” Draco blurted out. “Stupefy her.”



“Don\'t do it!” Calixa screamed, on top of her lungs, struggling wildly, as the ropes tightened, digging deeper and deeper into her skin.



Arthur Weasley\'s hands held a matchbox. He struck a match against it, and the little flame danced between his fingers. And then, the shimmering intensified, and Harry shed his invisibility cloak, just as his hand clasped around Arthur\'s, putting out the match.



“Arthur,” Harry said tiredly, addressing the older man as an equal. “What\'s gotten into you? Are you out of your mind?”



“I could ask you the same thing,” Arthur Weasley spat. “Did my son mean so little to you that you would replace him in your life with his murderer so easily? So effortlessly?”



Harry sighed deeply. “Arthur – stop right now. You are not thinking clearly.”



“And you are? Is he that good of a man-whore that you would forget your best friend?”



Harry\'s hands grabbed Arthur Weasley\'s shoulders and held him firmly.



“Give me two weeks,” Harry said quietly. “Go home. Go home to your family. To Molly, to Ginny, to your sons. Wait two weeks. It will all be over. Maybe even sooner than that. I will end it.”



“End what, Harry?”



“Everything. Go home. Now.”



With a spiteful grunt, Arthur broke out of Harry\'s grip and turned around to walk away. Harry watched, waiting.



Suddenly, furiously, Arthur spun around, and drew his wand.



“Avada Kedavra!” he cried out, pointing it at Draco. The stream of green energy flowed out from the wand, and Harry calmly stepped in front of it, absorbing the Killing Curse with his entire body. The energy surged through him, and eventually collected into a bright glowing sphere that pulsated wildly in the palm of Harry\'s hand. Harry tossed the sphere away from them all and it struck a tree, which instantly withered and collapsed into a pile of cinder and ash.



The three of them stared at Harry in terror. His face looked even older now, and his eyes were black, glowing darkly with ancient knowledge.



“Imperio,” Harry said, pointing his wand at Arthur. The man turned his face to Harry questioningly.



“Go home, Arthur,” Harry repeated. “Go home to your family. That\'s all.”