The Family Jewels

Chapter 30
Measure Twice

An imposing, hooded figure strode purposefully through the twilight of Knockturn Alley. The denizens of the Alley were not certain who this was, but he fairly radiated power and suppressed violence. Though no face was visible, the robes were of the finest quality, his boots obviously polished with a mixture of bootblack and Muggle champagne.

The figure, clearly a man, stopped at a small potion shop called Gaetani’s, its wooden sign swinging slightly in the breeze, a carving of a monkey under the name. A surprisingly clean shop for Knockturn Alley, the merchandise here was of the finest quality, and very, very discreet. The proprietor came out from the back, and stood behind the counter, waiting for the figure to state its business. All transactions were on a cash basis, and no one would be the wiser. Lucius Malfoy lowered his hood, his cold smile even more frightening than the unknown behind the black hood had been.

Gaetani regarded Lord Malfoy dispassionately, the physical perfection of his features perhaps even enhanced by the danger that flowed around him.

“A belvoir potion.” The voice was clipped, aristocratic.

“Of course my Lord,” Gaetani said quietly, believing that his full instructions would be coming.

“Belvoir 25, not a day more or less. How much?” A money bag was dropped on the counter.

“100 Galleons. Drink the potion as the moon rises, and it will last until the sun sets on the following day. Will that be acceptable?” Gaetani received a cursory nod, then went into the back and retrieved a small cobalt blue bottle.

The entire transaction couldn’t have taken more than two minutes.

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Blaise Zabini watched Hermione as she slept in his arms. A slight frown between her eyebrows was the only indication that her life was more complicated and dangerous than any other young woman he could think of. The Talisman of Mars had become painful when Draco and Ginny had faced off against Potter and Hermione. He had never contemplated that the danger Hermione was feeling was from Draco as he ran as fast as he could.

Blaise was still desperately angry with Draco. The threat from his father and the Dark Lord were uppermost in Blaise’s mind. Discretion was not a word Draco was apparently familiar with. The walls had ears here at school, and he had claimed Hermione as the woman he loved at the top of his voice like, well like a teenager in love for the first time. Blaise knew their situation was tenuous at best, but Hermione had made her wishes clear. She loved them, wanted them both, and was willing to do almost anything to keep them.

Draco opened Hermione’s door a crack, and found Blaise’s eyes already trained on him. He made a small gesture, and then closed the door softly. He didn’t have to wait long before Blaise joined him in the Head common room. “Draco.”

“Blaise,” Draco responded, without meeting his eyes. “I know I fucked up, all right? Are you happy now?”

“No, Draco, happy is not how I would describe myself,” Blaise answered, rather coolly.

“I said I was sorry,” was the best Draco could come up with.

“I suppose you think that makes it all better, don’t you?” Blaise was struggling, but some of his violent anger was beginning to seep out. “She been having nightmares, did you know that? Waking up drenched in sweat, crying? Sometimes she was crying over you, sometimes over Potter. You can’t do this to her.” Blaise looked up at Draco; his eyes a clear blue, but with lines of tiredness and dark smudges under his eyes.

Draco was silent for a minute, then he stood and held his hand out to Blaise. “I am deeply sorry that I placed Hermione in any danger and forced you to worry over her safety. I will never allow it to happen again. Do you forgive me?”

Blaise wasn’t even sure why he had waited through the entire lame promises that he had heard before. “I think I need some air. Sorry, Draco. I’m not dealing with this well. Both of your talismans were giving off wild signals of danger. We will talk later.” Blaise walked out of the common room without looking back.

As soon as the portrait closed on Blaise, Draco was up the stairs. How dare he not take his hand? He would have done the same fucking thing if he saw Potter coming down the hall with Hermione in his arms! Wouldn’t he….?

Draco had his hand on the doorknob to Hermione’s room, but somehow he couldn’t turn it. What if she was angry with him as well? ‘Maybe I’ll get just get ready for class,’ he thought. He went through his room and turned on the shower. He shaved and brushed his teeth, then stepped under the stinging spray. He slowly adjusted the water temperature until the water was lukewarm. It seemed like a long time since he and Hermione had been in this rain locker together. He felt like punching something, no he felt like destroying something. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the toilet flushing, so Hermione was awake. Maybe she would go away so he didn’t have to face her? This thought was reduced to rubbish when he heard her voice. “You must be clean by now.”

Draco slammed the lever to the OFF position, then stepped out. Hermione was waiting with a towel. “How are you this morning?” she asked carefully.

“You mean you’re actually talking to me?” Draco gave a short laugh that contained no humor.

“Why wouldn’t I be talking to you?” she asked, reaching up to pull his chin down so she could see into his eyes. “You’re my hero, love. You even defended Ginny, and you two have never been close. I know you did it for me,” she said softly.

“You understand?” Draco asked her in a slightly awed tone.

“I know you Draco. Of course I understand,” she shook her head slightly at how dense men could be.

“Blaise is very angry. He wouldn’t even shake my hand when I apologized for scaring him,” Draco said.

“Blaise would have done the same. He may be feeling guilty that he wasn’t the one defending me,” Hermione smiled slowly. “I’ll talk to him. The three of us need each other.”

“How did you get so smart?” Draco asked, wrapping his arms around her.

“Just lucky, I guess. Draco, you’re getting me all wet.”

“Am I?” he asked with a wolfish grin, the double entendre clear in his voice.

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Blaise was standing in front of the Slytherin common room when he heard the clearly displeased voice of his Head of House. “You seem to be making a habit of missing bed check, Mister Zabini,” Snape drawled.

Blaise turned to face Professor Snape. “I’m sorry, sir. It won’t happen again.”

“We both know that isn’t the truth, don’t we?” Snape almost felt sorry for the young man in front of him. “Come along, Mister Zabini, we must talk.”

‘Fuck, could this morning get any worse?’ was the only thought he had. Unfortunately, he was looking at Snape when this thought went through his brain.

“I assure you, it can and it probably will.” Snape had the grace to smile a thin, rather cruel smile at him before turning with a flourish and leading the way to his office.

“Sit down, Mister Zabini.” Snape waved vaguely at the chair in front of his desk.

Blaise sat, and waited for the hammer to fall. Losing house points, detention, it couldn’t be as bad as he felt at this moment, his two most important relationships in limbo.

“I assume that you spent the night in the Head Dorm?” Snape started with the easy ones.

“Yes sir, I did.” Blaise had no apology in his eyes.

“How is the Head Girl this morning?” Snape asked.

Blaise jerked in involuntary reaction to this question, wondering just how much Snape knew. “I’m not certain; she was sleeping when I left. She didn’t have a calm night.” Blaise could see that lying was pointless.

Snape nodded, looking thoughtful. “And the Head Boy?”

“Actually, sir, Draco seemed to be his arrogant self.” Blaise was tempted to laugh until he saw the look in Snape’s eyes.

“I’m glad to hear it. I have heard that they might be in some danger. I am relying on you to help keep them safe. If you find anything unusual, you will come to me immediately.” It was a command.

“You want me to…spy on them?” Blaise asked incredulously.

“My sources have not been vague, Mister Zabini. Lord Malfoy is deeply angry with his son, and he is a man of action. We will all do well to be prepared.” Snape sighed. “I asked Draco earlier about the diary that came with the jewels, and it seems that you are in possession of it. How much do you know?”

The time to come clean was apparently at hand. “I have translated most of it, sir. The Malfoys are a very old family, as you know. They have been prominent for hundreds of years, though untitled until the mid sixteenth century. There is the bonding necklace of Lady Malfoy which ties the brides of their house to their husbands as long as they live. This is reciprocal magic, with the Malfoy signet ring. Apparently, this much is well known among the Pureblood families.” Snape nodded his agreement with this. “What doesn’t seem to be known is that there are other obligations that Lord Malfoy should fulfill to come into his full inheritance.”

“Draco hasn’t come into his full inheritance yet. He will only do so when his father is dead.” Snape raised his eyebrows, clearly thinking that this was obvious.

“No, sir, you misunderstand me. I believe that the current Lord Malfoy has not fulfilled the requirements outlined in the diary, and should only have come into the original entailment. There is an ancient code de famille that I believe to be over 1200 years old tied to the Malfoy family.”

Blaise pulled the diary out of his bag and opened it to the page he was referring to. “No sworn oath of allegiance to any other not of my blood will ever pass my lips. So I swear before my lord, Carolus Magnus.”

“What is included in the original entailment?” Snape asked.

“A small house in France that Draco has never been to, and a small amount of cash.” Blaise paused, looking up into the shocked face of Severus Snape.

“No title, no Malfoy Manor, none of the other estates or vaults?” Severus questioned.

“I am not a solicitor, but that is my reading of this,” Blaise said.

Snape began to pace around the room. “Lucius must really be slipping to have let the diary come into Draco’s hands. He took the Dark Mark before he finished Hogwarts, so he couldn’t accept the jewels; he had already sworn his allegiance to the Dark Lord.”

“Surely Lord Malfoy could have fought such an obscure covenant, who is Carolus Magnus anyway?” Blaise didn’t recognize the name.

“He was rather well known in his time, but by another name.” Snape smiled a true smile, one that few people have ever seen. “I’m sure you’ve heard of him. In France he was known as Charlemagne.”

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A/N – I felt honour bound to advance the story, since so many have been kind enough to read and review. There is still much to come…

Josh Cohen – Act Two coming up.

elektrik_storm – You are right. I left a clue, I’m curious if you caught it?