The long and winding road to love

Chapter 25: An odd invitation





Thanks to Sylvia Potter who beta reads for me.

Thanks to all of you for your amazing reviews; you are truly
loyal.

And… I do hope you like where this story is
going. I’ve written a couple of chapters more so… stick around.

Anyhow… here it is; chapter
25… enjoy!

 

Chapter 25: An
odd invitation

 

It was early enough for Draco Malfoy to owl his father with the
piece of information he had managed to get. He was, after all, his father’s son
and the evil within him allowed him to do as much harm as he wanted to as many
people as he wanted.

 

And soon enough with daddy at the very top of the Ministry of
Magic, things would run smoothly for him. Yes. Dumbledore needed to die.

 

He ran to his room which he shared with Crabbe,
Goyle and other Slytherin boys whose names were not
important enough for him to remember. Everybody had gone to breakfast and were getting ready for morning lessons so the room was only
for himself to use.

 

He sat on his bed and searching through his night table he found a
parchment and the quill he used specially when he wanted to tell his father
important things. For these school supplies were magical and their function was
to prevent a stranger from reading the message without a proper password. A
password known only by his father and mother who had purchased the items for
their child to communicate at leisure, in case the time came when they were
intercepted by Ministry employees.

 

He lay now on the bed with the parchment on his stomach and the
quill in his left hand and with a gasp of air he started writing:

 

Dear father,

 

I followed your
instructions and I am pleased to tell you that Hermione Granger and Professor
Snape do sleep in the same chambers and their relationship is stronger than we
thought.

 

Unfortunately,
not only does he penetrate that mudblood but cares for her as well, something
very suspicious for a Slytherin. Father, I advise you to take this into
consideration; Professor Snape never shouted at any Slytherin like he shouted
at me this morning and I am certain that Hermione Granger is not as courageous
or as untruthful to her friends as we thought the other night. She refused to
be touched by a Malfoy, father. You should make her pay for that. I am sure,
however, that Professor Snape will never allow you to touch her if she does not
want to be touched and thus a plan needs to be elaborated to prove their
loyalty to the Dark Arts.

 

I look forward
to hearing from you,

 

Draco.

 

He then walked all the way to the Owl tower where he knew
Ambrosius would be eager to travel all the way back home and so inserting the
note in his beak he let him fly away praying the Gods for an early answer.

 

--*---*--

 

It was late that night when Lucius Malfoy decided to sit on his
velvet armchair at his private rooms with a glass of port on his left hand near
the fireplace to keep warm. He enjoyed the beautiful color of fire because of
its power to destroy things. And here stood a man who enjoyed destroying things
important to other people because, make no mistake: Lucius Malfoy cared for no
one but himself.

 

He was about to throw the port into the flames so they would roar
with stamina when he heard a “tic, tic” on the window.

 

He turned his head to the right and noticed that Ambrosius- Lucius
gift for Draco’s birthday- was there in the middle of the cold with a note in
his beak.

 

“Oh, Draco, Draco,” he said while opening the door letting the
bird and also the cold breeze in, “what have you got here, Ambrosius? Is this a
letter from Draco?,” he asked to a bird who was unable
to answer back. But all the same he enjoyed the company of animals a lot more
than the company of certain types of wizards. In fact, both creatures were on the
same level, easy to kill, easy to murder for someone with the political power
of Lucius Malfoy.

 

His power, however, had decreased since Voldemort’s defeat; even
though he had come out clean from that case, his reputation had been damaged by
rumors. But his manner remained calm through the abyss; the time would come
when he would take the lives of those who had tried to vanquish. Ye. Yes,
revenge is the sweet nectar of the gods, even sweater than his port.

 

He took the note in his hands and read it as quickly as he could.

 

“Draco thinks Severus loves that little mudblood, doesn’t he,
Ambrosius?,” he asked the bird that perched now his
shoulder. He, then, caressed his head because he was particularly fond of the
bird, “I think Draco is blinded by his attraction for that filthy mudblood. The
only way for us to find out how strong their feelings for each other are and
where their loyalties lay is to invite them here, to dinner with Narcissa and
I,” he told the bird and without saying a single thing he stood up and searched
through his cupboard for the special quill and parchment he had purchased for
his son and himself.

 

He then, wrote:

 

Dear Draco,

 

It is always
delightful to hear from you but the next time, could you please detect useful
information? Because as much as I appreciate your efforts I do think that your
adolescent feelings for Miss Granger have completely blinded your objectivity.

 

As for now I
advise you not to worry for I will invite them to dinner on Friday night as to
investigate the real nature of their feelings and their loyalty to the Death
Eaters.

 

You mother
sends her best,

 

With love,

 

Lucius.

 

 

And handing not note to Ambrosius, he fed him an owl treat and
opened the window for him to leave. He needed to write to Mr. and Mrs. Snape
requesting their presence for Friday night and sure enough useful information
would be revealed.

 

---*---*---

 

Severus Snape was about to fall asleep after a long day of
teaching Potion’s to, apparently, limitless groups of dunderheads when an owl
he recognized as Calicius, Lucius favorite owl, woke him completely.

 

He got up and opening the window he let the owl in and a letter
that meant nothing but trouble.

 

The letter went as follows:

 

Dear Severus,

 

I firstly must
apologize for my son’s behavior which I consider rude, bad-mannered and
offensive. I discussed the subject with Narcissa and we have agreed to invite
you and your wife for dinner on Friday night as an apology for our son’s
behavior. Moreover, we would have the chance to argue serious subjects which
our wives will find irrelevant, I am sure.

 

We will also be
more than pleased to accommodate you at our residence so feel welcome to stay
for the weekend.

 

I look forward
to hearing from you, Severus, and please send my best wishes to your wife,

 

Lucius.

 

Severus folded the piece of parchment and with no hesitation he
answered the letter with what he thought would be the appropriate thing to do:
say yes.  He then communicated the news to Dumbledore, who agreed and with
no further actions he caressed Calicius head and opened the window for him to
fly away.

 

Calicius arrival had taken Severus’s intentions of going to sleep
away and so his feet gradually led him to Hermione’s chambers where he watched
her snore gently, remembering the times in which they had been happy.

 

Those times were gone and sure enough Friday night would be
crucial both for Severus and Lucius, for good and evil will confront and
nothing good ever comes from that collision. Not even love. Not even peace.