The Three Keys

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any Harry Potter Characters, just my Laurel, her family and any misc. people that you don’t already recognize.

A/N:

THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO MY LOVING, EVER-SUPPORTIVE FRIEND WHO STILL MANAGES TO BE AN AMAZINGLY PATIENT AND DEDICATED BETA:
RONNIE!

Dear All, I’d like to take a moment and let you know that this chapter celebrates THE THREE KEYS one year anniversary! My little ode to Draco and Laurel has been spreading its roots and youthful tendrils up and out, blossoming and growing for over one year now.

It’s been an eye-opening journey thus far, full of self-discoveries regarding my abilities and desire to write, and the commitment that it takes to continue an endeavor such as this. The best part without question though, and a huge part of what keeps me motivated to write, has been the many amazing people that I have had the pleasure to meet just from the words that I’ve written across a page. I have been greatly blessed too, in that I have had the privilege of getting to know a few of these people intimately and now call them personal friends.

So, as I often do, I’d like to thank you, my dearest readers, new and old, for taking this voyage with me. And to thank you for being an active participant in the lives of one extraordinary boy, who will become a man before our eyes and will find within himself the courage and strength to fight his way out of the life that was slotted for him, to become so much more than even he dared to dream and the girl that was destined to be by his side.

Thanks for reading this past year and partaking in the journey.

Lorett

And now, the adventure continues…

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CH 37 – INNOCENCE LOST

Date story began - August 2004
Date began chapter - September 25, 2005
Started new job that’s been kicking my ass break - October 3, 2005
Date finished chapter - June 18, 2006
Chapter word count - 19,831

Previously:

“I will bid you farewell,” the goblin paused, bowing formally to Draco, “Lord Malfoy.”

Ezra smiled. “The paperwork is complete, the Heir’s Privilege has been invoked. Your work here today is finished.”

----- -----

Lucius Malfoy walked with brusque, sure strides, leading Goyle and Zabini toward the Malfoy family chamber. He only hoped he was in time...Because if he wasn’t Draco was going to learn the TRUE meaning of the word suffering.

Rounding the corner Lucius stopped abruptly, holding a languid hand up to stop the men behind him, a cold smile turning his lips up. “Draco…”

Draco’s eyes narrowed, turning deep grey as he assessed Lucius and two – ‘FUCK’ – two other Quorum Death Eaters.

At that moment, Draco Malfoy, now unquestionably one of the most wealthy and powerful wizards in the known world had never felt so acutely alone in his entire life.

“Hello, Father,” Draco drawled lazily, “What kept you?”

____________________________________________

Draco looked calm and composed and was trying desperately to maintain what he hoped was a neutral expression as his father stalked the short remaining distance between them with fire in his eyes. Draco cocked his head, his chin jutting slightly in rebellion and met his father’s gaze squarely. Even though all outward appearances gave the impression of cool self-assurance, inside Draco was rigid and on guard. He could feel the already taut muscles in his neck stiffen painfully as his fingers twitched and tightened around his wand. But, Draco did not move his wand, it remained at his side, poised to strike as he watched with hooded eyes the three Death Eaters - fearsome killers, men he’d known his entire life, one of them his own father, approaching him with calm determination.

Draco was so screwed.

Lucius was strolling ahead of the other two, his long, elegant gait doing nothing to belay the purpose and restrained anger in his surefooted strides. He was obviously a man on a mission.

Mission: KILL TRAITOROUS HEIR WITH RELISH.

“Draco,” Lucius repeated, as he tipped his chin just a fraction in acknowledgment. Draco was almost flattered; as he thought it a move his father might make addressing a worthy opponent just before battle. Though he’d only spoken his name, Lucius’ tone was formal, nearly agreeable sounding and Draco wasn’t fooled for one minute. He was in trouble; Lucius was probably going to try and string him up by his breeches any second now and Draco was doing everything he could to fight and keep in check the dread that was threatening to overtake his body, because there was absolutely no way he was going to let these men know that he was terrified, or worse, admit to his being completely outnumbered.

Uh-uh.

If Draco died, then he’d do it taking as many of these bastards down with him as he could, and he’d do it with a smile on his face. At the very least, if Draco was to be greeted at the gates of Hades this day, then by Merlin, he’d make damn sure he took Lucius along for the ride.

Lucius was quick to note the defiant flash in his son’s eyes as his gaze swept swiftly over Draco’s appearance, his great displeasure evident. Draco knew Lucius was annoyed at his state of dress in muggle clothes and resisted the urge to roll his eyes, they were currently otherwise engaged; glancing warily back and forth between the three men before him and he didn’t dare break away from them for even a moment least he be caught off guard.

Lucius turned his head slightly; a broad, lazy smile gracing his lips, his cool eyes locked on Draco even as he addressed Leo Zabini as if vindicated. “You see, Leo,” he practically oozed mocking sweetness, “I told you my son would be expecting me.” Zabini only gazed stonily at Lucius while the looming Goyle addressed Draco indifferently.

Draco sniffed and immediately dropped into his defensive pose, leaning back seemingly indolently against the wall, his arms crossed, wand pointing casually at his father. He was tightly wound, ready to spring into action. If Lucius’ money was involved, there was nowhere else his father would rather be, so yeah, he expected him all right, he expected him to come out with wand blazing and gallows swinging...

Lucius’ eyes narrowed slightly at the sound and he turned back to look at his son fully, the smile that had been there for Leo and the elder Goyle fading as soon as his gaze locked with Draco’s.

All the hairs on Draco’s neck prickled nervously and as Lucius took a step forward toward him, the fragile, cool temperament Draco had been clinging too slipped away as if it had never been. Draco sprung away from the wall instantly, his left hand snapped up, wand pointing directly at his father’s heart. “I would stay where you are, if I were you,” Draco said quietly, his eyes, which had been half lidded and lazy moments before were now narrowed and focused solely on Lucius.

There was a sudden, uncomfortable silence among the group. Laurel and Ginny tensed, keeping their eyes and wands trained on the three elder men before them. Both were nervous about how long they could retain the upper hand once the men discovered they were there. If any one of them attacked Draco they would only have mere seconds to stun them…Laurel hoped that would be enough time to get them disarmed and to get the hell out of there unscathed. But for the moment the girls had the element of surprise and they intended to keep that advantage as long as possible.

Lucius hesitated momentarily, livid that Draco would dare challenge him in front of his men. “Put that wand down, boy…” he commanded tersely.

Draco only shook his head silently and stood taller. “I don’t think so.” Lucius looked murderous as his eyes swept over Draco assessing him, contemplating the situation. If Lucius made the wrong move, the silly schoolboy would destroy everything in one fell swoop, and he couldn’t have that. Lucius rather fancied living.

The tension was palpable and wearing on Draco’s frail nerves. He was frantically considering whether or not he could just try to physically run past the three and disarm them with a few stunning spells when suddenly a rich, deep, cultured laugh broke the silence. Draco’s heart stopped at the unexpected loud noise, his hand jerking reflexively and his wand crackling in response to the tremor of fear that shot through his body. The boisterous laugh echoed and boomed off the surrounding walls forcing every eye to a grinning and laughing Leonardo Zabini.

“Well, well, well, what have we here?” Leo’s voice was jovial sounding. It was in sharp contrast to the hardness in his calculating dark eyes. “It would appear that our young Draco doesn’t seem to trust you or your inferior aim, Lucius ol’ boy. Can’t say that I blame him, really. I wouldn’t have made such a foolish blunder as to strike an almost fatal blow, when it was supposedly only meant to graze.” Leo’s eyes were sharp and trained on Lucius as he spoke. His smug smile grew as he watched Lucius’ face flush angrily in response to the brazen insult. “Zabinis do not make such inane mistakes.”

Lucius gasped loudly in outrage but Draco did not hear him; he was frozen, rooted to the spot, his mind whirling and processing incredibly fast, putting the puzzle pieces together at lightning speed as Leo’s words began to sink in…”inferior aim…doesn’t seem to trust you.” As soon as it had been said, the very thing that Draco had not let himself even consider, became painfully, horrifically obvious.

“Bloody hell,” Draco breathed, his lungs suddenly becoming constricted as the truth crushed in on his conscience and seemed to squeeze all the air out of his body. Draco felt dizzy, for he knew damn well that Lucius didn’t have such a thing as ‘inferior’ anything when it came to the Dark Arts. And the idea of him missing a target was ludicrous; he was an especially exceptional marksman. Draco should know, Lucius had taught him how to use a wand since he was first able to hold one in his hand. The man knew what he was doing and if he was aiming for you, it was NO accident, nor did he miss if you were his intended target.

Draco took a small, involuntary step back, and against his will the events of the prior evening began replaying itself before his eyes, as if he was watching it in a pensieve. Draco saw the masked Death Eater take aim at Harry…he saw himself push Harry out of the way and take the hit for him…he saw the man bristle with anger then aim for him. His wand steady and his aim true. That man meant to kill him; Draco knew this and was preparing himself to die.

And he would have died, if that Death Eater had not been knocked to the ground and bound – by Laurel.

Draco groaned; he should have seen it! Why didn’t he see it? He knew that Lucius would never accept or even forgive the idea of his son – a Malfoy no less, one of the Death Eater’s proudest future legacies, standing shoulder to shoulder with Harry Potter, trying to defend his life. Had he not stood in front of Potter and Weasley proclaiming that very thing just hours before?

Then why was he truly surprised by his father’s actions? And why was he suddenly hurting more than he ever imagined possible?

Draco would not even be standing here making these startling realizations if not for one stubborn, captivating young witch who had barreled her way into his miserable life, lighting it up as if opening the curtains on a beautiful spring morning into a dull, gray room and flooding it with brightness.

Laurel Winters had saved his life.

She’d saved it from none other than Lucius Malfoy and quite possibly the very clutches of the Dark Lord himself.

She’d probably saved it in more ways than he was willing to even consider.

And for the first time that day Draco was glad Laurel was not with him, because at the moment he was not sure he wanted to be saved again. For Draco’s mind was presently in two very distinctly separate places. The vulnerable part of him that felt things passionately and deeply, which he worked very hard at repressing and hiding away, was aching; wounded and in such sudden and intense pain processing the reality that his father, who, though he would be hard pressed to admit, he really did love, had tried to murder him. The very notion was already tearing him up inside…

But his other side – the cool, shrewd, unsympathetic, unforgiving and dangerous part of his conscience, was utterly disgusted at his naiveté. That part of him was busy tormenting his already frayed brain for being so appallingly gullible with cynical, aloof observations of all the vile things his daddy would do to him, that were so easily evident in hindsight. How could he let his guard down for even a second around Lucius? His mind spewed useless reprimands, that he knew better…that he knew his father…that he should have been anticipating this…and what did he expect, defecting to Potter’s side – a farewell party complete with balloons and cake? HA! More like a funeral reception. And hadn’t all those years of experience he had under his belt taught him just how far he could push Lucius?

Apparently not.

Draco blinked trying to calm his screaming brain; Leo’s words were mixing with his own thoughts, meshing together, jumbled and scrambled, roiling over and over in his head, shouting at him, whispering, laughing, horrible callous things – Draco trembled. Leo was still talking, Lucius was still regarding him cautiously, but Draco was no longer listening, he had gone back in time, his own tormenting thoughts bringing back with razor sharp clarity so many painful memories that Draco had worked very hard to force away long ago…

Draco was five, he’d come in from playing outside, it was winter, his cheeks were flushed red from the chill in the air and he’d run into the house shouting for his daddy, mindless of his soggy and snow laden coat and boots and charged straight into his father’s study to tell him about the latest Quidditch move he’d learned. He ran to Lucius and hopped into his lap, his eyes glowing with excitement. He’d been so determined to share his exploits with his daddy that he’d not seen the others in the room. The smile that had lit his face faded to uncertainty as he noted how stiffly his father had held him and the dark look in his grey eyes. It was then that he noted the other men sitting in the den, their stony expressions melting away the happiness he’d felt and replacing it with wary insecurity. Draco had immediately slid from his father’s lap and meekly left the room. He’d just stumbled upon his first Death Eater meeting. And he had paid the price later that evening. He’d never made the mistake of running into that study again.

Draco was eleven; he’d become an impetuous and arrogant young boy and the lure of the Dark Arts was beginning to take a strong hold with him. He was impatient to learn more about the ‘old magic’ as his father called it and knew just where to look for any answers he sought. Although he was forbidden to enter the dungeons of Malfoy Manor, Draco ignored the rules and often snuck down to explore the extensive collections of books and items stored there. He paid no mind to his father’s warnings, for now he’d become clever enough to avoid being caught and only ventured there while Lucius was out of the house.

Draco had been in the dungeon one those evenings looking for a book on hexes, he wanted to show off to his friends when he started school in the fall and was hoping to nick that book to take with him to Hogwarts, when his heart stopped as he heard someone enter the quiet space. His head spun with fear when he realized it was his father and that he was not alone. Draco had been frozen to the spot as he watched from his secluded corner, his father, the man he’d admired and idolized, and his band of bloodthirsty Death Eaters as they dragged into the dungeon an innocent young boy, obviously a muggle, no more than eighteen or nineteen years old and proceeded to torture him. The rituals they performed and the things they did to that boy were some of the most unbearable things Draco had ever seen and it left him sick to his stomach.

Draco had backed up into the shadows terrified at the thought of being discovered. Merlin only knew what they would do to him if they knew what he’d seen. He never found out what happened to that boy, he assumed the worst, but he couldn’t stay to see any more of the goings on, for the young man’s agonized screams had so shaken and troubled him that Draco had turned and run blindly as fast and as far away as he could. He thanked the heavens that his father never came to get him. He’d been jumpy and frightened for days after, sure that his presence would eventually be discovered. He felt decidedly fortunate that it never was.

It had been a good two or three years before he’d had the courage to step foot back into that dark place, for every time he’d tried, the screams of that unknown boy would ring in his ears, filling him with fear and dread and helplessness.

Sometimes he could still hear them…

Draco could recount several other occasions where he’d been afraid, terrified even of his father and his wrath. He’d often recounted over the years those defining events in his life as moments when he’d thought he’d lost his innocence.

But now…oh now, he KNEW the truth and it felt like he’d been broken apart again by the same vile curse his father had used on him last night, only this time it had found its mark, straight and true into Draco’s heart.

Draco shuddered as he felt it drain out of him in a violent surge, like a hole had been blown apart into his very soul and the last of his purity poured out of his being along with the unshed tears he longed to release and left in its place a cold, bleak shell, empty and broken.

Draco had just lost his innocence.

He knew now that his dream of having a real relationship with his father was just that – a futile, childish fantasy.

And Draco no longer believed in dreams.

He was angry that he, Draco Malfoy had to actually even stoop so low as to long for the love of a parent. Really, it was beneath him, and he hated being denied anything, especially something so basic as the instinctive bond of a parent to his child. That tantalizing ideal that was so common and natural that most took it for granted had been taken away from Draco forever with one effortless, humiliating little sentence.

There was no use wasting time grasping hold of a desire that Draco knew now would never come true. With that stark comprehension becoming clearer and clearer by the second, the bitter sting of reality burned behind his eyes and he blinked for a moment, horrified at the thought that he might just cry. And as was a strict family rule, Malfoys do NOT cry – at least not any place public where there could be potential witnesses that you would have to dispose of later…

So Draco swallowed hard and tried to get his rush of emotions under some semblance of control least he prove to his father what an absolute wuss he had become. Draco suddenly realized with a much-needed moment of clarity that bonding with Potter was already affecting him. He guessed that his teetering emotions and lack of control was a lingering side effect of their bonding ritual.

Of course it was.

Draco scowled; this was so not the time for him to have some type of emotional break through compliments of Potter. If this is what it felt like to be filled with all the Gryffindor hero’s mushy emotional crap, then he was happy to remain the cranky, surly, heartless Slytherin bastard he’d always been. Draco decided a good and thorough beating of Potter was in order once he got out of this mess. Yes, that would make him feel much better.

But there was one sentiment he could make good use of, one he currently had a plentiful amount of at his disposal – anger. Yeah, he would keep that one handy for later. But before he could talk himself back into being the old dependable, bitter and calculating Draco, the rest of his emotions that were still churning in frenzied abandon managed to gain control once again and the words escaped his lips in a quite, breathless rush. “It was you…”

Lucius eyes widened then narrowed dangerously and he cringed inwardly at Draco’s hurt expression and betraying words. Merlin, he was so like his mother, so full of feelings. Feelings were dangerous. They were lethal. Letting in too many feelings would get you nowhere, except dead. Lucius thought he’d managed to drill that into that thick head of Draco’s. Rule number one - never, ever, let feelings dictate your actions. Draco knew that. One would think the boy didn’t know how Lucius would react to his duplicity by the wounded expression on his son’s face …Clearly his feelings were getting in the way, clouding his judgment. Good. Lucius would use that to his advantage.

“Idiot,” Lucius muttered under his breath. The dolt was going to get them both killed if he didn’t do some very quick thinking. Lucius was hoping he would have a bit of luck and Leo wouldn’t catch the thunderstruck expression that flashed across Draco’s face… But, apparently luck was not on Lucius’ side today. He let out a small, frustrated breath, and watched Zabini’s eyes narrow as they slid to Goyle and the two exchanged a quick significant look.

Lucius gritted his teeth; that fool boy was going to pay if these two slack-jawed minions put his standing within the Quorum in jeopardy. Who was he kidding? It was already in jeopardy.

As Lucius feared, Leo’s expected questions immediately followed. “You didn’t know of Lucius’ intentions of setting your plan in motion then? Did you not know he would be the one to wound you to get you in good with the Potter boy?” At Draco’s stony silence Zabini purred, “Now that is most interesting news.”

Lucius’ face paled and he turned to his son, his voice maintaining its usual air of casual arrogance but his gaze was fierce. “Of course he knew, Zabini. Draco has always been well aware of my intentions. But he set his fate the minute he made the decision to go to that muggle hellhole. He put these events in motion himself and once he went to stand beside Potter there was no going back. He had the opportunity to change his mind when he saw his fellow Death Eaters. He could have come to fight with us; instead he chose to move down his own path knowing all the risks. Who am I to stop him if he so chooses to take up such an arduous task? And now it is up to him to show to the Dark Lord what he is truly made of.” Lucius had the audacity to smirk at Draco. “Everything that happens from here on out is all up to him. The Dark Lord is most interested in seeing what Draco is capable of. As am I.”

Leo’s voice was flat when he droned out, “As are we all. You must be so proud.”

Goyle’s oafish, lopsided grin and deep, slightly too loud chuckle set Lucius’ eye twitching in annoyance, “Indeed,” was his brusque reply.

Standing beside her, Laurel heard Ginny’s slight intake of breath. Her eyes were narrowed dangerously and she was now turned fully toward Draco eying him skeptically. Laurel pursed her lips and shook her head in warning at Ginny and took her forefinger, making an exaggerated gesture of pointing Ginny’s wand back toward the Death Eaters. Ginny let out a huff of breath and slid her gaze to Laurel’s face, obviously upset, then turned away completely, her cheeks pinked in annoyance.

Laurel rolled her eyes. Couldn’t Ginny see how worried Draco was and that he wasn’t involved in any of this? She had almost tossed the cloak aside when she felt Draco’s immense pain at discovering what his father had tried to do. She felt so dismayed that he had to find out in such a way, with no one there to hold his hand or hug him tightly or tell him things would be okay. She’d had to screw her eyes tightly shut in an effort to block his aching from her mind.

She was an unknown intruder on his private feelings and there was nothing she could do about it. Laurel knew she would have to tell him she knew how he felt, but that would come later. She could feel Draco’s recklessness; he was hurting and she wasn’t sure he wouldn’t do something rash if provoked.

That meant one thing – and one thing only. Laurel and Ginny had to get rid of these troublemakers – and pronto. They were dangerous, and all of their shadowy souls clustered so closely together were setting off all kinds of alarm bells inside her. Laurel could feel their evil and the pull of the darkness within them and it was scaring her silly. She’d never felt such malevolence so strong before. She guessed it hadn’t affected her much last night because she was so focused on keeping herself and the boys alive. But now their intentions were crystal clear. These men had murder in their hearts, they could hurt or kill all three of them without a second thought, Laurel was sure. Hell, they’d have finished the job last night if they could have.

This was all a dangerous game and Draco was caught smack in the middle. Laurel didn’t know how they were going to get him out of there and she was getting downright frightened. Since Lucius and his goons had shown up she’d been furiously working out options and tossing them aside as too risky or too far-fetched and still nothing had proved a workable plan. Something had to come to her, something had to.

Laurel was right about how alone Draco felt. He shivered slightly and wished again for a split-second that Potter were with him right now. Draco would have loved to watch Lucius’ eyes pop out of his head before having an apoplectic fit. Draco might have even tossed an arm around Potter’s shoulder just to freak both Lucius and Potter out. Now that would have been fun…

But as amusing as that scenario would be, Draco was more focused on Lucius and his transparent ‘good luck and good riddance’ speech. He’d all but come right out and said, ‘Draco, hope that whole defeating the Dark Lord thing works out for you. Don’t bother asking for my help, because I don’t do lost causes. You’re on your own, kiddo.’

Draco swallowed the lump in his throat; Lucius was right, everything he did from here on out really was up to him. His destiny was truly his own now.

‘Shit, Potter better be worth all this…’ Draco thought grimly.

He knew down deep he was doing the right thing, and even if Potter wasn’t worth all the trouble, those huge piles of money Draco just gained control of certainly were. Not to mention the pretty girl he fancied sharing it with.

Well, at least he liked the idea of things being up to him. That was good, that way he could stack the deck in his favor. Draco growled, feeling more like himself for a brief moment and his eyes narrowed, he had had just about enough of this play-acting. If Daddy Death was in the mood to share, well then so was Draco.

He turned to Lucius and cocked his head arrogantly. “Oh yes, I’m quite sure Father is most proud. I certainly turned into the image of what you envisioned I would, didn’t I, Father?” Draco addressed Leo next, but his eyes never left Lucius as he spoke. “And he was right, Zabini, I am very aware of what my standing next to Potter means. I always planned on taking matters into my own hands anyway, so this suits me just fine. My plan, my odds, my way. Besides, Father knows how much I love challenges.” Draco flicked his eyes away from a glaring Lucius momentarily to Zabini then back and hissed, “But believe me, if I had known what to look for, what my father’s ‘intentions’ were for last evening, rest assured, things would have turned out very differently.”

“I see…” was Zabini’s calm answer. He and Goyle shared another look before the hulking Goyle shuffled his feet impatiently and folded think arms across his chest in a rather intimidating fashion, instantly making Draco think twice about his flippant, taunting jibes at these two. They may not be anywhere near as clever as he, or Lucius for that matter, but at the very least, they weren’t complete morons. Well, Zabini wasn’t, anyway.

“Draco...” Lucius must have been thinking along the same lines because Draco halted at that tone in his father’s voice. He was all too familiar with Lucius’ ‘Pay attention and shut up’ cue, and despite himself his instincts took over and he kept quiet. Lucius waggled a finger at Draco in mock reprimand, tutting and shaking his head slowly in disapproval. “Draco, Draco, once again, you forget everything I’ve taught you. Your memory and etiquette is simply abysmal. Need I remind you that Leonardo and Gareth are high ranking and trusted servants in our Lord’s service? You would do well to remember that for the future and treat them appropriately.”

Draco grimaced at his father’s words, but there was no mistaking the warning; ‘Watch what you say, you idiot.’ The handwriting was on the wall, emblazoned with blinking, blinding lights. Draco was surprised that Goyle and Zabini did not squint or bat an eye from the bright arrows pointing out Lucius’ not so subtle advice.

Draco glowered at Lucius, lowering his wand a fraction; he had a choice to make here. He could keep quiet and play along with whatever ridiculous ‘plan’ his father had schemed up to keep his sorry arse alive and perhaps get out of this day alive himself or he could go down right here and now and take Daddy Death with him.

He was seriously pondering the idea of telling Zabini and Goyle that his father had really wanted to kill him last night, but dammit, Zabini was smart and it wouldn’t take him very long to put two and two together and realize that – hey, Draco really had turned traitor and was trying save Harry Potter’s life and therefore, in fact really had been trying to kill him and any other Death Eaters that happened to be in that club.

That could be a potential problem for Draco, as he happened to know that Zabini frowned upon people trying to end his life. It didn’t sit very well with him. Draco knew the feeling. But, as he also happened to know what Zabini did to those who were foolish enough to cross him, he decided against signing his death warrant at the hands of the formidable man. So, he gritted his teeth and managed out a somewhat forced sounding, “My apologies.” He did not bother to look at Goyle when he spoke. He did not think that Goyle even noticed.

Lucius gave Zabini an utterly insincere looking smile. “Draco never has learned how to address his elders properly.” Lucius’ eyes strayed to the arm of his jacket and he tugged casually at the crisp white sleeve jutting out the end of his cloak before continuing in a bored voice. “Now, I must speak with my son privately, at our Lord’s orders of course. You may wait for me at the lorry, I will meet you when I’ve finished.”

For a moment Zabini and Goyle stood there mutely, clearly angered at being dismissed so flippantly, the resentment evident in their defiant posture. “You don’t order us around, Malfoy, our orders are to watch you…” snapped Goyle, puffing up his broad chest and glaring at the wizard with cold eyes.

Both Lucius and Draco’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and Leo was quick to cut in smoothly, “Watch out for you is more appropriate, actually. Our obligation is to make sure that both Malfoy men fulfill their duties to our Master. And it is one that we are looking forward to following through on. I know our Lord will be most interested in hearing of the enthusiasm with which Draco has embraced his mission.” Leo finished sounding quite pleased.

Neither Lucius nor Draco could spot any hint of mockery in Leo’s voice or expression, which made the both of them decidedly nervous. Never believe a straight-faced Death Eater who looks you right in the eye...As a general rule that’s a good sign they’re lying. Actually it’s a safe bet that pretty much anything they tell you, any way they say it, is going to be a lie. That’s what Death Eaters do. It’s in their mission statement right up front – lie, pillage, slay and create chaos. Words these men took to heart – Draco narrowed his eyes warily.

“Naturally,” came Lucius guarded response, jarring Draco out of his thoughts.

“Now, IF you will excuse us, I’ll speak with Draco and be done. We wouldn’t want to be caught unawares down here by any unexpected visitors. Our orders were quite clear. Relay my information to Draco quickly, without incident or discovery. You’re wasting precious time, Leo. Time in which someone could discover you here and we wouldn’t want that, now would we?” Lucius asked innocently.

Zabini sniffed and pointed a well-manicured finger at Lucius. “No, Malfoy, I believe you have that backwards. We,” Leo tossed a hand back and forth between him and Goyle as he spoke, a smug grin settling across his face, “don’t have any concerns about being discovered. We’re not wanted fugitives, unlike yourself, of course,” he finished. Leo was smiling pleasantly, but his eyes were deathly cold. “Now finish your business and be quick with it.” With that he turned and strode away leaving the elder Golye standing there alone before he hesitantly turned to follow.

The air hung heavy with tension and anger buzzing steadily after them and Draco was glad for their departure.

Laurel watched the men leaving and turned to Draco, now uncertain whether to leave him alone with Lucius or go after the Death Eaters. Her decision was made for her as Ginny yanked her hand in an effort to get her to move, causing a slight rustling of their cloak.

Draco, who was still standing near the girls, tensed instantly hearing the muted noise and snapped his eyes back to Lucius. Were there more Death Eaters here, hidden? He edged himself closer to the wall in an attempt to cover his back and glared at his father waiting for him to make a move unaware of the girls as they spirited away.

Lucius turned to Draco, folding his arms impatiently across his chest, and let the veneer of coolness he’d been holding fast to slip away with the sound of the fading footfalls. Finally the raw anger that had been simmering and boiling since he’d first laid eyes on his son was able to run free. Draco saw the change in his father’s countenance and took a tiny involuntary step back. “Damn” he spat quietly, instantly regretting the display of weakness in front of Lucius. But Draco’s body reacted on instinct, he had had enough of Lucius and his tender displays of affection over the years. Even though it was just a fraction of a step, it was enough for Lucius to see and a nasty grin lit his face. The very idea that he could make Draco nervous enough to move away from him sent a burst of satisfaction shooting through him.

“Now, boy, let’s get down to business, shall we?” Lucius all but purred, basking in Draco’s nervousness.

Draco clenched his jaw tightly his wand snapped back up. “Yes, let’s.” He had a few surprises of his own to share, and the knowledge lit his own eyes with a dark gleam.

Lucius stepped closer, mindful of Draco’s wand, and stepped closer still, so close that Draco could see the muscle in his jaw twitching under Lucius’ smooth skin and feel his hot breath hiss against Draco’s face when he growled, “Where is your mother, Draco?”

Lucius had wanted to wait to ask Draco in a weak moment when he was distracted, but he found the words slipping from him in an angry rush, so impatient was he to discover where she had fled. He was not pleased at the shocked and instantly dangerous look that twisted onto his son’s face.

Not the reaction of a man hiding a secret.

Draco’s eyes flew open wide and his own growl matched his father’s. “What did you say?” Draco instantly feared the worst, thinking that his actions had spurred Lucius to harm his mother. If that was the case, Lucius was going to pay. He sprung away from the wall jabbing his wand threateningly in Lucius face. “What have you done to Mother?” Draco’s eyes had gone flat and cold. “If you’ve hurt her…”

“Stop with your empty threats, boy. Of course I’ve not hurt her and I’ll not tell you again to keep your wand out of my face. I’ll ask you again, why did she leave? If you are keeping her from me then -”

“What?” Draco asked in a harsh whisper. Momentarily he obeyed his father’s command, lowering his wand slightly. This was bloody unbelievable. “Mother left you? And you don’t know where she’s gone? When did she leave? Did anyone see her go? Was she alone? What if - ”

“Stop asking these incessant questions!” Lucius thundered. He had been so sure Narcissa would have told Draco where she was going. This was very unsettling, indeed.

Draco’s mind began working furiously again and he suddenly snapped up to his full height, looming threateningly over Lucius. “What if your precious Master has her?” Draco asked, his voice shaking with rage. “What if she’s in trouble because of you? This is your doing!”

Draco watched as a range of emotions played across Lucius face. His typically stoic demeanor was gone for just a moment and Draco knew that Lucius was thinking the very same thing.

Despite how dire the situation was, Draco was truly shocked. “You really didn’t hurt her?” the words, ‘because of me’ were left hanging in the air between them.

“NO.” Lucius barked, knotting his hand into a fist and twisting it painfully into his free hand in frustration. ‘Not that I wouldn’t like too.’ he thought sourly.

Lucius’ eyes grew stormy. He didn’t even want to consider the idea that Voldemort had Narcissa, because there would be only one reason for him to take her – that would be his knowing of Draco’s and inadvertently Lucius’ deception to him. And that was not good. Not good at all. “ANSWER my question, boy. Do you, or do you not know where Narcissa is?”

Draco shook his head no. “I thought that was obvious,” he snapped. ‘But, I’ll find her’ he vowed silently. Lucius could see that Draco truly didn’t seem to know of Narcissa’s departure. That was a good thing for Draco’s sake. He decided to move on to his next topic, he’d revisit Narcissa’s leaving again, just to make sure Draco wasn’t hiding anything from him. “Where is my wand, Draco?” Lucius asked calmly.

“Your wand?” Draco’s eyes immediately went to Lucius’ wand belt and he was surprised to see that his usual belt, which was custom made for his walking stick, which housed his wand, was instead replaced by both a different holster and wand. “What happened to your wand?” Draco couldn’t help but smirk. Lucius Malfoy losing his wand, now that was something to behold. He thought somewhere, quite possibly pigs were flying.

“Your little savior snatched it away from me,” Lucius’ face had paled with anger as he spoke, his voice a harsh whisper.

“Did she now? I’ll have to remember to thank her properly for that.” Draco almost laughed at his good fortune. Now, not only did he have control of the money, but he also had the Malfoy family crest to adorn on his own wand. Some of the light from Draco’s eyes faded at his next words however. “That must have been just after you tried to murder me…when she bound you like an ignorant first year being pranked, as I recall…”

“That is QUITE ENOUGH!” Lucius snarled and Draco chuckled, not even flinching this time when Lucius finally drew his replacement wand. Draco noted that it didn’t look half as threatening as Lucius’ own and wondered if his would look as formidable with the crest mounted to it. He certainly hoped so. Theatrics for dramatic effect were nice and all, but when you could back up the bad boy look with the power, it was even better.

Draco already guessed the proxy wand Lucius had was his grandfather’s. Old wizarding families often passed down from generation to generation the head of the clan’s wand, as was the case with the one in Lucius’ hand. Ah well, let him keep it for now…

“I don’t have your wand.” was Draco’s flat reply waggling his own mockingly in front of Lucius as if to say – ‘see!’

“Then you will get it back for me and quickly.” Lucius commanded.

Draco quirked a brow at Lucius. “And why would I want to go and do that?”

“Because I told you to! We have work to do and I need my wand to do it. It’s always best to have your own wand in battle. And believe me, Draco, there is going to be a battle. You’ve put yourself in an excellent position to spy for the Dark Lord. Now that you’re there you have to get as much information on Potter and the Order as possible. You have to do this, Draco in order to keep living. To keep us both living. And you will do it.”

“Keep us both living?” Draco’s brows knitted together. “Oh now, that’s rich. You should chose your words more carefully, Father. You don’t have many threats left that bear much weight.” At the dark look Lucius shot Draco his lips curled up into a thin, ugly grimace. “Or what?” Draco challenged.

“What do you mean, ‘or what?’” Lucius growled.

Draco rolled his eyes. “I mean, what will you do? Kill me? Oh wait, you tried that already.” Draco’s voice grew cold, “Ah! I know,” he continued, snapping his fingers together, “you’ll cut off my allowance…” His eyes were locked on his father’s now, a dark, vindictive glint sparkling in their smoky depths. He shot Lucius as sly grin. “Nope,” he said shaking his head “Can’t do that either I suppose, now can you. Only someone in charge of the money has that ability…” Draco trailed off, his wicked grin widening into a smug smile.

“What?” Lucius said disbelievingly.

“Oh come now, Lucius, surely you heard me clearly.” Draco chuckled and moved with an easy grace, as did Lucius, both men falling into a dueling stance, wands pointed and at the ready.

Lucius chest was heaving when he spoke, trying to keep a snarl from escaping. ”Draco,” he asked in what he hoped was a composed voice, “What is it you think you have done?”

Draco’s eyes narrowed; he saw his father’s hand shaking very slightly. His voice was gritty with emotion when he announced quietly, with no trace of joy, “I’ve taken it all, Father. It’s all under my control now. Everything is mine.”

“Impossible,” Lucius scoffed. It was impossible, wasn’t it? It took WEEKS before an Heir’s Privilege could be finalized and invoked. Sometimes longer. “Now is not the time to jest with me, Draco. I’m assuming that you tried to execute the Heir’s Privilege clause. But that isn’t something that someone can just get done quickly. There is protocol to follow, ritual. It’s a complicated process.”

“I didn’t just try; I did. You’d be surprised at what having money can do to speed things along. Although I’m sure you’re familiar with the advantage. I hope you have an excellent memory though, because all those advantages are now a thing of the past for you.

“And, rest assured, Lucius, I am most definitely NOT jesting. I invoked the Heir’s Privilege today and there is nothing you can do about it. I am in control of the family fortune and that is the way it will remain.”

Lucius was infuriated, his wand was raised and his lips were parted, ‘Avada’ was ready to spring forth…

“I would rethink that if I were you,” came Draco’s stony interjection. “I’ve taken care of it so that no matter if you kill me here or not, you’ll not see one galleon more of any Malfoy money. Ever. And if you do kill me, Potter knows where I am. He’ll know whom to look for. That is, if I don’t kill you first.”

Draco’s eyes radiated rebellion and Lucius was enraged.

This was not possible.

How could this dense boy have pulled something so complex and difficult off so easily, so quickly? It was unthinkable. Lucius’ eyes flickered dangerously. “Potter? So, you've put your trust in that intolerable dolt now have you? Foolish, stupid choice, Draco. Potter is hardly anyone to be concerned about. You know that as well as I do. And as for the other issue,” he purred softly, the menace in his voice sent a foreboding shiver down Draco’s spine. “That situation can be rectified.”

“Situation?” Draco grinned; trying to sound unaffected and stubbornly ignoring the warning shiver down his spine. “There is no situation, except for the fact that you’re piss-poor. And don’t bother trying to garner Mother’s funds either. She’s being provided for directly by me. She has no allowance to speak of.” Seeing Lucius’ complexion drop a shade, Draco’s grin grew wider. Good, keeping his mum out of harm’s way was of utmost importance. Once Lucius realized she was not a viable avenue for money, she should be reasonably safe from him. Now all he had to do was find her…

Lucius gritted his teeth. “I see. How very fore thinking of you; almost as if you and your mother had been planning this.”

Draco took a threatening move toward Lucius. “The only thing I was planning until last night was trying to figure out how I could finish up my summer and see as little of you as possible. Mother had nothing to do whatsoever with my decisions here today.”


Lucius sniffed and regarded him coolly. “Really? We shall see, Draco. But I was referring to you being the sole Malfoy heir. I may not be able to garner control from you or your mother, but I can always change your status.”

Draco blinked and his heart thudded uncomfortably. Change his status? Did he mean? At the look on Draco’s face Lucius leered at him. “Yes, that’s correct, Draco. I can always have another heir. I’m still a young, fit man, despite what you think. And your mother has a few good birthing years left in her, I’d dare say. Once we had another child, well, it would be most unfortunate if you were to have a, ah, sudden unpleasant accident.” Lucius sighed, “It would certainly be tragic. But, rest assured somehow we’d manage to survive.” Draco’s jaw dropped in shock or anger, he wasn’t sure which emotion was winning at the moment. Lucius smiled darkly at his son and added, “Maybe that child would be the success that you never have been.”

That was it. Draco felt himself growing sick to his stomach. He was not upset at the idea of Lucius trying to have him murdered again. Well, yes he was, but he was more disturbed by the thought of Lucius bringing another innocent child into the world, and not because any siblings would threaten his inheritance. He really didn’t fancy the idea of sharing his money, but really, when it came down to it, there was more than enough of the Malfoy fortune to go around. No, what he was furious about was the idea of another blameless young life being brought into this world merely to be a pawn in some twisted game of Lucius Malfoy’s. He or she did not deserve to be burdened with Lucius as a father. They would look up to him and hope for and expect to be loved and cherished and cared for as Draco had – and would invariably be horribly, heartbreakingly disappointed, as Draco was.

Draco felt sick at the thought of a younger sister or brother being all alone with Lucius, for he knew he would probably be killed before he could protect or even get to know him or her. His heart ached anew. He couldn’t even depend on his mother to do anything remotely brave or selfless. Narcissa had done such a bang up job keeping him safe and shielded from Lucius…

And, DAMN Lucius, Draco had not made any provisions for another heir being born between Narcissa and him. He’d just not even thought twice about it. “Shit” he muttered. One HUGE loophole he’d neglected – and already it was a monumental problem.

Well, Draco thought determinedly, every problem has a resolution.

----- -----

Ginny yanked a frustrated Laurel past Draco and very near Lucius as they crept by. So near in fact that she got a full breath in of Lucius’ scent mixed with some ridiculously expensive cologne, she was sure. It was a heady mix of masculinity and wealth, and Laurel found it sent a thrill - of what, she was afraid to identify - running through her. Laurel had not taken a moment to really analyze it, but she noted fleetingly as she swept past him, that Lucius was indeed a very handsome man. Actually, that was rather an understatement, she just guessed knowing what she did of him took away some of his physical appeal. So similar to Draco was he, in fact, that she’d have known they were father and son without even guessing. They had the same facial features: long, elegant face, and straight, aristocratic nose. His hair was the same shade of pale blond, but was longer than Draco’s and was held back in place by a tight knot at the base of his neck. She thought he looked quiet like some noble English gentleman/hero from one of those period romance novels she’d read. Yes, his stature was regal with well-defined and broad shoulders like Draco, not quite as tall, but their similarities were unmistakable.

Except that this man was no hero. He was good-looking to be sure, but this was clearly a case of not judging a book by its fancy cover.

This man was heartless, cold, full of rancor and bile, and it scared her that Draco had been in the care of such a person his entire life.

How can living with someone like that for so long not shape the man Draco is to become in some way?

It was strange to see how truly Draco resembled his father physically. Truthfully it was more than a little disconcerting, and yet he could be so vastly and totally different on the inside. She’d always heard that no matter how much you try to be different from your parents, that you typically end up falling into their paths and habits. She just hoped that even though Draco’s soul was pure now that it would remain that way. Laurel had no doubt whatsoever that a person can change at any time and that people are not defined by the possibilities of what they can become, but by the choices they make out of that potential. What choices was Draco going to make? What was he doing here today, even? Laurel felt a cold chill run down her spine. Squaring her shoulders she told herself that he was still good and pure of heart. And besides, if he ran into trouble or down a dark patch, maybe where his road was harder to follow, she’d be his light and help him choose the right fork in any road that came along.

They could do it together. She was sure of it. And she was sure he was worth it.

--- ---

Both girls were nervous as they rounded the corner away from Draco and relative safety to face down a pair of very frightening, not to mention intimidating, Death Eaters alone. Without Draco’s protection, not that he knew they were there…but still.

Laurel tugged on Ginny’s arm for a moment to keep her moving slowly so as to not make noise and alert the men to their presence. They were both more than a little scared. Each was thinking of what to do and Laurel grabbed Ginny again to hold her back and try to formulate some kind of ‘on the fly’ strategy. They whispered urgently to each other and came up with a quick plan.

Plan – stun the Death Eaters and worry about the rest later.

With their goal set they turned the slight bend in the chamber and halted abruptly, finding that their prey had been so accommodating as to stop and wait for them.

There they stood, not more than twenty feet in front of the teens, heads bent closely together talking quietly and clearly up to no good. Well, they’d just have to put a stop to that. The girls grinned happily at each other, took a calming breath and raised their wands in unison.

Plan accomplished. Ginny turned to Laurel and asked, “Now what?”

Laurel chewed on her bottom lip and glanced at the two men now face down on the ground before them. “Dunno, exactly. Any suggestions?”

Ginny pursed her lips in thought and then her eyes lit up. “Toss them over the edge of the landing and forget about them?” she suggested hopefully.

“No murder for you today, missy.” Laurel answered primly, shaking her head and fighting the grin that wanted to show itself. She ignored Ginny’s very sincere sounding disgruntled grumble and began tapping her foot. “There has to be something we can do to get them out of the picture.” As they contemplated ideas, Laurel bound the men from head to foot in thick coils of rope and muttered quietly, “Tolga voz.” At Ginny’s raised eyebrow she smiled and replied, “Voice silencing spell.”

The red-head looked surprised for a moment, then nodded approvingly before holding her hand out and accio-ing the Death Eater’s wands. The girls looked at the two wands for a moment in silence and began talking seriously about whether or not they should give them to Laurel’s mom as evidence, for they were sure they had performed many incriminating spells that would send their owners to Azkaban. But really, the whole idea of this venture today was to be secretive and not get themselves sent to Azkaban or worse, grounded till they were well into their 20s. So ultimately they decided to destroy the wands. Perhaps this was the wrong move to make, but the decision was final. No point in pining away with what-ifs. Besides, Laurel and Ginny had concluded these two trouble makers would incriminate themselves perfectly well all on their own somewhere on down the line.

Ginny looked at Laurel one last time for her go-ahead. “You sure?” she asked.

Laurel paused for a long moment and turned the question back on her. “Are you sure?”

Ginny nodded slowly at first, then more confidently. “Yeah,” she answered and sucked in a deep breath, taking first one wand and then the other in her hands and making a big show of snapping them in half over her knee. She gave Laurel a wide, Cheshire grin as the broken fragments laying at their feet sputtered and spewed weak sparks before dying out completely. “Always wanted to do that,” Ginny said and sighed a deep satisfied sigh. Ginny suggested casting a distraction charm on the men so that anyone happening down the corridor would not see them, therefore making their discovery hopefully a bit harder.

They would be discovered eventually, both girls knew, but why make it easy?

Laurel nodded thoughtfully and added a sleeping spell and lead-limbs hex for good measure, so that they wouldn’t be rolling around and bump into anyone passing through the hallway. Laurel vanished the remnants of the Death Eater’s wands and smiled at Ginny. “They’ll be sleeping for several hours and when they wake up,” Laurel chuckled, “well, they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. It should buy us at least till tomorrow morning.”

At Ginny’s slight frown, she asked what was wrong. The younger girl shook her head. “It was too easy.”

Laurel’s mouth gaped. “Too easy?” Her brows threaded together agitatedly. “Ginny, there hasn’t been one easy thing about today,” she replied crisply.

Ginny shook her head again in disagreement. “Laurel, I don’t know what it’s like where you come from, but here one just doesn’t snap their fingers and bind, silence and effectively take down two Death Eaters with little to no effort.” Ginny looked grim, her hazel eyes darkening pessimistically. “It was too easy…” she trailed off ominously.

“Don’t do that!” Laurel huffed. “And how would you know anyway? How many times have you faced Death Eaters before?” She didn’t mean to sound snooty, but really, how would this little slip of a girl know about big, bad Death Eaters? Laurel was quite surprised by the quick, flat answer.

“More than I’d care to discuss presently; but let’s just say that crossing paths with You-Know-Who’s goons is par for the course when you’re close friends with Harry Potter.”

“Oh.” Well now, that certainly wasn’t good news. “Then you’ve actually had run-ins with Death Eaters before? Before today?”

Ginny made a sound at the back of her throat in disgust even as she nodded the affirmative. “Believe me, I sure wish it wasn’t true, but unfortunately it is. So, I do know what I’m talking about when I say it’s too easy. I’m just going on past experience.”

Laurel suddenly felt a lump well up in her throat. “Oh God,” she groaned. “Just fucking perfect. Way to ruin the moment, Ginny.”

Ginny grinned, surprisingly happily. “Don’t mention it.” She didn’t know why she felt the need to keep Laurel from getting too smug, but better it be she to drag the naive American down a few pegs than some crazed psychopath Death Eater. Laurel didn’t have enough experience with these arseholes yet. She didn’t know what they were really capable of. Ginny supposed she didn’t either, after all she was still here, alive and kicking, but she had a damn good idea. They could talk more about this later. Right now she just wanted to get Malfoy and get back to Harry. She wondered if Hermione was there yet and felt a ripple of jealousy run through her. Yeah, it was time to get back to Harry A.S.A.P. When was Hermione supposed to get there again? “Let’s go get Malfoy and get out of here.”

Laurel didn’t miss the nervous edge to Ginny’s voice. She nodded. “Yeah, let’s.” She had been thinking the same thing.

But just as they were turning to leave Laurel snapped her fingers and swung back around, pointing her wand down at the two sleeping men and said forcefully – “OBLIVIATE!” She watched in satisfaction as they both shook with the force of her spell and turned to Ginny. “Best that they forget all about any of this. Wouldn’t want them remembering hearing us or any of our discussion.”

Ginny smiled. “Winters, you are a witch after my own heart. Being sneaky and dodgy will get you far in my book.” Laurel sniffed in reply but her lips lifted for a brief amused smirk.

Neither girl said anything more as they moved silently back down the corridor to where they’d left Draco. They had never taken off the invisibility cloak. Neither had made a move to remove it while facing down the Death Eaters, nor suggested it. Somehow, just the idea of their anonymity made them both feel better, though that, too, went unsaid.

--- ---

“It doesn’t have to be like this,” Draco said quietly. The profound sadness in his eyes made Lucius pause. It moved him more than he cared to admit. “It shouldn’t be like this,” Draco said more forcefully, but his voice, although tinged with sorrow, held just a minute note of hope.

“It should not,” agreed Lucius.

Draco’s eyes, dull and glassy moments before, suddenly sparked and lit up even though he was trying so very hard not to show his feelings.

Perhaps all hope was not lost.

Draco never lowered his wand from Lucius, but he straightened taller. His shoulders, which had been sagging and hunched with the weight of his fate, were now straight and broad. He seemed to be coming back to life right before Lucius with just those three simple words. Draco took a cautious step forward. Though there was just a short distance between them, the gap, to him, seemed fathomless and insurmountable.

“We can beat him,” Draco declared, making a bold move to grasp that which he believed to be beyond his reach. “Together.” He waited breathlessly to see what Lucius would say, and when he remained quiet Draco continued. “It’s the way it should be; father and son, side-by-side.” Draco was prepared for an angry onslaught, but none came.

Instead, Lucius sighed deeply. “You are right, Draco. It should be that way and it can be. We will explain it to the Dark Lord. We will tell him that I decided not to let you go back with Potter because we feared you being compromised. He will be lenient with you I’m su-“

“I meant WE can finish him!” Draco bit out. “We can,” he paused, hesitant. Draco was afraid Lucius would see how deeply he cared. Afraid it could be heard in his voice when he uttered - "Father." There was so much emotion, unhindered and honest in just that one word – ‘Father.’ Lucius wasn’t blind to the unguarded desire that was etched so clearly on his son’s face. He knew what Draco wanted from him, perhaps needed from him, though his mind refused to hold onto that fleeting thought for more than a millisecond. But, either way, whether Lucius wanted it or not, no amount of wishing that things could be other than what they were could turn back the hands of time. His path was as it was supposed to be and one boy’s youthful foolishness and optimism could not change that. Even though that boy was his own.

“I tried that once already, Draco.” Lucius admitted. “I know no one believes me, but there was a time when I attempted to put the choices that I made in my youth behind me. Don’t look at me like that, boy!” Lucius muttered seeing the dubious look on Draco’s face. “You don’t know of the sacrifices that I’ve made in the Dark Lord’s honor.”

Draco snorted bitterly. He knew very well of the sacrifices. His father’s love for him and his mum was one of them.

Lucius looked at his son and shook his head slowly, ruefully. “However, as you know very well, my past was not cast aside, merely delayed. I can no longer look the other way, though at one time that may have been what I’d honestly wished for.”

Draco was speechless. This was more of an earnest admission than he had ever hoped for. It set his heart thumping uncomfortably fast. He shook his head. He could convince him now! He knew he could. “NO!” Draco said passionately, “Don’t you see? It’s all different now! The past, that was before! You, me, we’re Malfoys. We’re not meant to be manservants. We should bow to no one! We can do it, if we’re smart and stay united. It will not be easy, but we can do it! I know we ca…” Draco was stopped short when Lucius laughed.

It was a cold laugh, a resigned laugh that was too full of experience in disappointment, pain and loss.

“And just what makes this time different, boy? Humm?” Lucius chided. “What on this ungodly earth is going to stop the Dark Lord? He’s more powerful now, Draco. He’s done…” Lucius faltered and even in the dim light of the corridor Draco saw him pale visibly. “He’s used the old magic in ways that I’d never dare to even speak of to ensure his invincibility. His power and his followers are more vast than ever before and they continue to grow. His skills and abilities far surpass that fool Dumbledore. And it won’t be long before our Master gets inside those crumbling walls of Hogwarts, Draco. Of that you can be assured.”

“He’s NOT my master!” Draco growled and Lucius’ lips curled up in disgust at his son’s arrogance. “And you forget one thing.”

“Oh? What have I forgotten, Draco?”

“Potter.” Much to his consternation Lucius threw his head back and laughed heartily. “What is so damn funny?” Draco snapped. He was trying to ignore the dread beginning to return like a sickening lump sliding slowly down to his gut and making him want to retch.

He was losing this battle. He could feel it. He was losing his father again. ‘But how can you lose something you never had?’ Draco’s mind whispered and he felt his anger surfacing anew.

“Potter?” Lucius spat out hatefully. Draco tried to ignore too, the agreement with his father’s feelings. He really didn’t like the moron very much either. “That halfwit brat? His days are even shorter than the old coot’s. He’ll not make it back to his safe warm bed in his precious Gryffindor Tower.” Draco felt a cold knot wind painfully in his stomach. Now that was something that he could not let happen.

Draco wasn’t going to let anyone get to Potter at this point. Dark Lord, Death Eaters, Dementors, Lucius – whatever. If his father wasn’t going to join him then he had to be fully invested in protecting his assets; and at the top of the short list was that scar-faced idiot. Bring it on.

“He’s going to defeat the Dark Lord, Father.” Draco said coolly. “Can’t you see, he’s the only one who can do it? He’s escaped every single time someone or something has tried to stop him.” Lucius scoffed but Draco ignored him. “Why do you think that is? It’s not because he is some great warrior. He’s an oaf.” Lucius grunted in agreement. “He’s escaped the Dark Lord on more than one occasion, he’s escaped a mountain troll before he even knew how to hold a wand properly for Merlin’s sake!” When he saw his words were having little effect, Draco added slyly, “And he’s even escaped you.” Lucius froze and glared so viciously at Draco that he recoiled slightly.

Draco remained composed outwardly though. “Like I said, why do you think that is, Father? It’s not because he’s more clever than you.”

“You are testing my patience, boy.” Lucius snarled. “Potter is as good as dead!”

‘Not if I have anything to say about it.’ Draco thought and shrugged. “I’m merely pointing out that not even the Dark Lord himself, nor the best of his men, even you, could capture a boy, as you say, with no extraordinary power. And there is a reason. One reason only. Because Potter is the one fated to defeat him.”

“He’ll not do it.” Lucius growled thrusting his wand in the air toward Draco in frustration. A vein began throbbing in Lucius’ temple. It always made Draco twitch uncomfortably when Lucius’ vein began throbbing.

“He will.” Draco countered evenly, stiffening a bit as he cautiously watched the wand waving in front of him. “Potter has one more ace up his sleeve that the Dark Lord didn’t count on, you see.”

Lucius raised his eyebrow and ground out through gritted teeth, “Let me guess…”

Draco smiled; his eyes, however, were razor sharp and mirthless. “That’s right, Father. He’s got me.”

Lucius’ eyes became dark, menacing slits. “I’ll not hear one more word of this Tom Foolery.” He said it quietly. Too quietly. “I’ve been very accommodating, listening to you prattle on about your pie in the sky daydreams, Draco, but this conversation is now over. You will not betray me. You will do what I tell you and you will obey.” Lucius raised his wand to Draco’s chest then. “Or you will face my consequences.”

“You would battle me here? Right now? Because that’s what you’re going to have to do, Father. Make no mistake, there is no way I’m doing anything you want in the Dark Lord’s name again. EVER.” Lucius sneered and Draco felt the sadness creeping back into his heart. His voice when he spoke was even, almost detached sounding, but he was so very heartbroken. Lucius would never side with him; he saw that clearly now. “You’ve made your decision then, as have I.”

“Don’t be a fool, boy! We’re men of action! We are warriors, Draco, you and I. It’s what I’ve groomed you to be your entire life! You’ve been taught since birth to be a leader, a commander in a battle that has yet to be fought. I’ve taught you to understand what it means to have to fight for what we want. We don’t fight because we want to, we fight because we must. We fight to provoke and shape change. To make things different. We don’t want war, Draco, but we will embrace it, encourage it because it is through battle and the blood of the lost where conquests are achieved. There is great honor and glory in a warrior’s death, Draco. Ah, but, there is far more glory in the spoils of victory!” Lucius’ eyes gleamed with the glint of dark purpose and a thirst for blood that made Draco shrink inwardly. He wanted this battle, this war.

He craved it.

Draco nodded in agreement. “You have taught me very well.” He said it solemnly. “I don’t want to fight you, Father. But I will. I asked you to join with me. I asked you to join the winning side. And I will win. You’re making the wrong decision. One you will live to regret.” Draco paused. “Or not. That is entirely your choice. Live or die.”

Lucius’ face turned scarlet with rage. “HOW DARE YOU!” he thundered. His fists balled up and sharp sparks began zig-zagging to and fro from the wand held tightly in his grip. That more than anything told Draco how truly angry Lucius was. His father just didn’t cavalierly reveal his emotions like that. He just didn’t. Draco stood taller and more alert. Lucius raged on, “Malfoys are men of influence, of power! We can affect the course of history! We HAVE! And, THIS – THIS is how you choose to use your power? To pledge allegiance to some snotty brat and an old doddering fool?”

They began circling one another slowly. “I guarantee your opinion is not the popular one, Father. And their success probability just jumped up quite a bit, if I do say so myself.” Lucius snarled in response.

They both moved so fast that the girls coming around the corner at that moment froze and gasped, Laurel tossed a protective arm in front of Ginny as an enraged Lucius shouted a curse at Draco that blasted a portion of the wall out from behind him. Draco moved just as swiftly sidestepping it and whipped his head around to catch a glimpse of the gaping hole in the rock. He turned to glare back at Lucius darkly. “Tut-tut, Lucius. You’re slipping. Getting to you, am I?”

“That was a warming.” Lucius stated icily. “You’re more use to me alive, presently. But, as I said, I do have,” he paused and said menacingly, “options.”

Lucius raised his wand and shouted out a curse at Draco, but this time Laurel was prepared. She shot out her hand and hissed, “Pedis Labo!” Lucius gasped as he lost his footing and stumbled, barely regaining his balance. He looked up at Draco and glared.

“Last chance, Father. Join with me!” Draco entreated.

Lucius righted himself. He was so consumed with rage he could barely think straight. “You’re as insane as the rest of them if you think I’d give up everything I’ve worked toward all these years for YOU! Incendie Badine!” he spat venomously and a jet of fire erupted from the tip of Lucius’ wand and roared toward Draco.

Draco blocked him with a complex counter-curse, yelling, “Tepesco!” A hiss of icy steam poured from his wand and a frosty wall stopped the fire in its tracks. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Draco said sincerely.

His mind was swirling with indecision on what to do next. He didn’t want to hurt Lucius, but what choice did he have? He had as yet to try and cast any spell or hex that would harm Lucius, choosing instead to simply block anything being sent at him. Draco was not used to fighting back against his father. It just didn’t feel right.

A heartbeat later he cursed himself for not paying attention for even a second as Lucius attacked again, this time more viciously.

Draco caught the light from the hex coming at him out of the corner of his eye, swinging instinctively away from it and staggering a few steps backwards, twisting sideways and just barely missing a direct hit to his chest as a hot streak seared across his left shoulder. There was a moment of shock before his body registered the pain as a dark crimson line stretched across the top of his shirt. He gasped; he’d been cut open at his shoulder and the blood was oozing slowly down his chest soaking his shirt through. Draco groaned from the pain, but knew this wasn’t that bad, just more of a flesh wound. He moved to block another spell.

“I – I don’t want to hurt you!” Draco blurted out surprised again at the truth in his words. His eyes were stinging from the pain in his shoulder and the pain in his heart.

Lucius growled at seeing Draco remain standing and then laughed openly at his boy’s bravado. The whelp had more fortitude than he’d thought. “You will never hurt me, boy.” Lucius replied. His eyes were so dark with anger they looked almost black. “Have no worries about that. You, however, are another story…”

Draco clenched his jaw at the threat. Okay, so maybe hurting Lucius was an option.

Lucius surmised it wouldn’t take much longer to bring Draco to his knees. He really didn’t want to think too long on what to do with the boy at that point, but it would have to be something severe. He’d cast the Imperio on him immediately, of course, and take back control of the fortune. After that, he’d have to be careful on how to proceed. He would use Draco’s newfound sense of ‘propriety’ to his advantage. If he could situate Draco back inside Dumbledore’s ranks there was no telling how pleased and to what extent the Dark Lord would go to show his gratitude…

Yes, that would work rather well. Lucius’ eyes gleamed with a new purpose. He had a plan, and a good one at that. Lucius stood taller and moved with precision, working to weaken Draco with newfound vigor that surprised the youth.

They circled each other, wary adversaries, yet no matter how strong Draco was, he was just no match for his father’s skills and experience. Lucius was wearing him down, blow after calculated blow; slowly, surely, purposefully showing Draco with an almost lazy grace that he was going to lose. Lucius came at Draco again and again, nicking his wand arm, sending a razor fine gash along his cheek, hexing him with a spell that felt like he’d been punched in the gut, taking the air out of his lungs and making Draco cough and sputter trying to catch his breath and stay on his feet.

It became painfully obvious to Draco that Lucius was simply toying with him, waiting for him to weaken and fall before Daddy Death finished him off. This made him disgusted and inordinately angry.

“What are you waiting for?” Draco hissed finally. He was trying to keep upright to his full height which was proving harder and harder with the loss of blood and him being weakened already from his previous injuries. He clutched weakly at the side where he’d been hurt the night before. It was tender to begin with but was now aching painfully with each breath he took. “Quit playing me the fool! If you’re going to kill me, why don’t you just do it?” Draco was exhausted and tired of fighting against and for his father. His strength was waning and at this point he just couldn’t bow down and lower his wand. Dying that way had never been in the cards for him. Draconous Lucius Malfoy would die fighting on his feet and with his pride intact. Lucius owed him at least that dignity.

At Draco’s words Laurel’s eyes blazed and she whipped her wand in Lucius direction. She could feel Draco’s resignation, feel his strength leaving him in steady waves and she didn’t like it. It was making her scared that he might actually believe that this was it, that this was where he was going to end his young life. “Yeah,” Laurel muttered, “That’s not happening.” She was not going to lose Draco. How could she lose him when he had just come into her life?

Laurel had had it with standing idly by and letting Lucius hurt Draco mentally and physically. It was taking everything she had not to just run at him full force and jump on the mean asshole straight away. Sometimes the muggle way of physical violence was so much more satisfying, she thought and had to shake her head wryly. Like she even KNEW about harming anyone physically. But today seemed like a grand day to try it out and see for herself…

Laurel turned and glared at Ginny who had had a death grip on Laurel’s arm this entire time, not letting her move a muscle in Draco’s defense since she hexed Lucius and he fell earlier. Laurel was ready to do some serious damage and no fucking way was Lucius going to kill Draco. Her gaze was intense and protective as she glanced back at him. Laurel moved then to take a shielding step in front of Draco, secrecy be damned. It was time to reveal herself.

‘Let’s just see how smug Lucius looks when he realizes he’s now outnumbered’ she thought darkly.

But before Laurel could move one step in Draco’s direction she was stopped by Ginny. “Let him go on, Laurel. Let him think he’s got the upper hand. We won’t let anything happen to Draco,” she whispered heatedly into the frantic girl’s ear. Laurel shook her head angrily and yanked her arm free from Ginny’s hold. Couldn’t she see he was already hurt? She answered her with a hissing ‘NO.’ but Ginny just grabbed her arm again and held her fast.

Ginny knew Draco a hell of a lot better than Laurel did and she knew he’d be right brassed off if he found out the girls took this battle away from him. This was something Draco had to face on his own with Lucius, and as long as his life didn’t appear to be in imminent danger she was going to let him have it out. “Just a few more minutes, Laurel.” Ginny told her quietly and at the look in Laurel’s eyes Ginny knew that was all Lucius was going to get. She didn’t like it much either, but she understood it was better for Draco to fight his own battles. Win on his terms. He was just full of too damn much machismo to accept anything less.

Laurel jutted her chin out and nodded crossly, yanking her arm free again and training her wand on Lucius. Just one more cut or blow to Draco and she was going to lose it. She was already pissed beyond words at his flagrant humiliation of Draco and doing this to him after Draco had pleaded and practically begged for Lucius to switch sides was only making it worse. Even knowing that he had tried to KILL his son, Draco was still willing to forgive Lucius. He so desperately wanted his father's love. Wanted a chance to be a family. And to see Lucius discard Draco's feelings, tossing them aside so casually, like Draco baring his heart meant nothing whatsoever made her feel such a sense of outrage and disgust that it was frightening.

Laurel had never really felt the desire to use her powers for the sole purpose of inflicting pain on someone, but she was surely feeling that new emotion now. It was strong and constant and making her think irrationally that she could do whatever she wanted and get away with it. Who would blame her? Lucius had hurt Draco so thoroughly and completely that anyone would understand.

If Draco didn’t start trying to defend himself instead of only blocking Lucius’ hexes she would jump in and do it for him. No matter what Ginny said. Lucius would be sorry, of that she made a silent promise.

Lucius grinned self assuredly. He was feeling victory close at hand. “Why would I kill you just yet, Draco? I’ve got plans for you. I may just decide to keep you around until I get my other heir birthed and am assured that the line will continue.” Lucius chuckled. “Perhaps I’ll even get you married off and have an heir of your own that I can also control. The point is, Draco, that I will not need you much longer. But, for now, I’m not going to kill you. Consider yourself lucky. Lower your wand and I’ll put this to rest.”

Draco felt a sickly wave of indignation and rage crash over him. Have another heir? So he was back to that. No damn way was he going to let Lucius touch his mother ever again, that was out of the question. But for Lucius to dare suggest marrying him off to some pureblooded swot just to birth an heir to continue the line? And then to tell him outright he was going to take Draco’s child away from him for Lucius’ own sick plot?

All at once Draco’s mind was flooded with flashes of a girl with dark brown curls holding an infant in her arms and grinning happily and his heart flip-flopped with some strange emotion he couldn’t identify. He saw a pair of warm brown eyes beaming at him as a soft hand fitted itself over his own, fingers twining intimately through his hand which was resting protectively over her swollen belly and his lungs froze. In the next instant he saw her crying out in terror as her child – HIS child was wrenched from her arms.

Then he saw it, a flash of gruesome green light and his heart stopped.

She was gone. They were both gone.

He saw red.

OH NO.

Draco’s body trembled and a stone cold fury shot through him so completely that it startled him.

Draco had never considered murder before that moment. He’d never wanted to let loose that darkness that lurked in the cold, black part of his soul until then. But no matter whether Lucius lived or died there today, he was never going to threaten any child of Draco’s. Draco couldn’t stop the image that came so clearly to his mind in a sudden flash. A startling vision of a little girl with think dark curls and wide grey eyes like – like his. It made him shudder and he almost gagged trying to choke back a sob.

His child. Taken from him. His wife, taken from him. Forever.

Draco wasn’t sure when he made the decision to do what he did. He decided immediately he’d let himself digest who the girl in his vision was later. Why he was already thinking of her as his –permanently. But before he could make her his, all he could focus on now was that he had to stop this crazy bastard before he ever touched one curl on her adorable head.

This was just the first thing that popped into his mind. It was something he’d thought up during one of his rebellious phases when he was furious with his father for some mundane thing. But what he’d thought of was dark and ugly. It was unforgivable and something he’d dreamt up back when he was a naughty, evil-hearted kid.

He’d never really intended to use that knowledge. To do what he did.

But, drastic times require drastic measures.

Draco’s face became a cold mask and he growled out low and dangerous, “If you think for one bloody minute you’re going to touch any child of mine you’re the one who is insane. Put your fucking wand down, Lucius and I’ll reconsider not killing you here and now.”

This was the first time Lucius had seen that glint in his son’s eyes. He recognized the look all to well; it was one he often got when he was moving in for his own kill, when his mind was settled on a course of action. Lucius’ response was to hurl a vicious curse at Draco and this time Draco fought back. He was breathing heavily and without hesitation now Draco sent his first curse at his father causing Lucius to hurl backwards against the cold stone wall and sputter angrily.

They fought bitterly for the next few moments; hard, heated dangerous curses flew in rapid fire. There was no room for mistakes, no stopping. This battle would be finished right here and now and only one of them would come out of it. Draco knew this because that is what Lucius had just snarled at him moments before. Draco’s reply was a growled out agreement.

Laurel was shaking with trepidation. She was watching the two men holding her breath and with a death-grip on her wand, looking for her moment to tip the scales in Draco’s favor. Lucius would screw up for one moment eventually and she would seize that chance when it came. The only reason Laurel, or Ginny for that matter, didn’t step in immediately was because both men were moving so fast that the girls were afraid they’d hurl a hex at Lucius and miss, hitting Draco instead. A wrong move would be devastating at this point so both girls just watched and waited for one of them to stop.

Lucius was indignant at Draco’s sudden surge of violence and renewed strength. He’d been so sure he had him. “You’re making a mistake, boy. If you want to walk out of here today, comply. NOW.” He hissed out another curse and Draco blocked him but he sagged with the force of the blocked curse and staggered for just a moment.

Lucius smiled triumphantly. He raised his wand as Draco struggled to stand and Lucius murmured something under his breath and Draco gasped and clutched desperately at his throat. Lucius waved his free hand and Draco’s wand flew out of his hand and clattered to the ground before him. Draco’s eyes widened as he tried to lunge for it. Lucius took a casual step forward toward Draco and it was enough time for both Laurel and Ginny to react.

This time both girls raised their wands, one at Lucius and one at Draco. Ginny whispered “Finite Incantatem” and Draco sagged forward relieved, leaning heavily on the wall and taking in great gulps of air. Laurel raised her wand and, in one fluid moment, Lucius was on his knees and his wand was out of his grasp.

Draco, though still dizzy, didn’t think twice about his good fortune and seized the moment to overtake Lucius, lunging for his wand and fighting to keep his balance. Lucius’ hand was outstretched accio-ing his own wand when Draco reached him, kicking viciously into Lucius’ gut and sending the older man rolling out and away from Draco, clutching low to his belly. He pulled himself to his feet glaring with unmasked loathing at Draco. “Give me back my wand, Draco.” Draco only barked out a laugh in response. “What are you going to do, boy? Hummm? You’re weak like your mother. You don’t have the stomach to follow through on your feeble threats.”

The words hung there between them, suspended, challenging.

‘Uh-oh’ Laurel thought and turned to Ginny. She leaned into Ginny’s ear and whispered quickly her question, pulling back to watch the girl’s eyes and gauge if she could trust her. If not, she’d just obliviate her later, but no need for Ginny to know that. Ginny’s eyes were serious and narrowed as she thought through what Laurel had asked her. She sucked in her breath and turned to face Laurel and nodded her acquiesce. “Are you sure, Ginny?” Laurel asked. This was no time for second-guessing. “I need to know you agree with me. Do you?” she whispered trying to read the girls emotions. It was the first time Laurel reached out her with soul to seek answers and peer into another’s heart for anything other than innocent intentions. She wasn’t quite sure, but she thought she’d felt Ginny’s reluctant agreement.

“I understand.” Ginny snapped her answer back. She wasn’t a fool. She could see the look in Malfoy’s eyes. She got what Laurel was asking of her. It is what she would unquestionably do if the roles were reversed and it was Harry standing there. She nodded again. “I’m with you.”

Laurel immediately turned and grasped Ginny’s forearm just above her wrist and nodded her chin for Ginny to do the same to her. Ginny looked nervous but complied at the challenging glint in Laurel’s eyes. Laurel took her wand then and swirled it around until a thin wisp of light, barely visible shot from her wand like a whisper-thin ribbon. The ribbon twined itself around both girls’ arms, binding them together and Laurel leaned close to Ginny and said, “I vow secrecy. I vow loyalty. I pledge it for eternity.”

Ginny’s heart was racing but she gritted out quietly, “I vow secrecy. I vow loyalty. I pledge it for eternity.”

The thread that was glowing like a distant star sparked for one brief moment and then melted into the girls’ skin, sealing their vow of protection for Draco and whatever his choice was here today.

Ginny stuck out her chin defiantly. She had to hand it to this new girl; she was definitely clever and shrewd. Ginny was stuck. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she’d just taken an unbreakable oath. ‘Just great.’ Ginny sighed. Like she didn’t have enough trouble heaped on her shoulders today, now she had to go and add an unbreakable vow that if she betrayed it was punishable by – oh, let’s see – death, if she recalled correctly. Ginny shook her head resignedly. Yeah, this girl’s got spunk. Ginny liked her more and more all the time.

Laurel felt the weight of that vow sink into her soul and cringed. What else could she do? If Draco took it upon himself to do something that he could never take back, she’d just made sure that neither she nor Ginny could change their minds and rat him out. Rash decision? Yeah, probably. But, now Draco was safe, no matter what. She chewed on her bottom lip and turned back to watch Draco. He was closer to Lucius now and Laurel took an involuntary step toward him. Ginny thought this a wise move and followed. They were so very close to him now that Laurel could see him trembling slightly. More than that, she could feel the raw adrenaline and nervousness coursing through him. She felt his indecision, anger, confusion and fierce protectiveness – for her?-- coursing through him. She knew what he was contemplating. It made her spirit whisper to his in an attempt to give him the strength not to do what he wanted to, but to do what was right.

She wouldn’t blame him if he did. She just prayed that he wouldn’t.

Either way, both girls would never say a word. Life or death. Whichever choice Draco made for his father, they would back him up, help him get through this and clean up any mess he left behind.

Draco had been standing there just looking at his father. It was un-nerving for everyone it seemed, except Draco. He was standing ramrod straight, his bloody wand arm unflinchingly held out and trained on Lucius, his eyes dark and contemplative.

The silence became too much for Lucius. His face was a deep scarlet and a large vein in his temple was throbbing so violently that Laurel could see it from where she was standing slightly to the side and a little behind Draco. He yanked himself up taller now and took a step away from the wall. “DON’T move,” came Draco’s icy warning. It stopped Lucius in his tracks.

Lucius sneered. “What are you going to do to me, Draco?” He tilted his chin up haughtily. “Are you planning some nefarious crime here today? Because, like I said, you don’t have it in you. You’re just a fearful, cowardly little boy.”

Draco didn’t move for a moment, then he tilted his head thoughtfully and considered Lucius. When he spoke, however, his voice was quietly menacing. The tone sent unwelcome chills down both girls’ spines. “I was told once that the most dangerous of men are those who would never otherwise consider violence as a means to an end.” Lucius visibly shuddered and his face paled noticeably. “Do you recall that, Father?” Draco asked quietly. “Those men were the peace makers. They honored and followed all the laws and righteous principles rigorously.” Lucius took a step back at Draco’s words, but Draco did not seem to notice. He continued. “Those men only became dangerous not when their homes were plundered or their valuables stolen, not even when their very lives were threatened.” Here Draco shook his head almost dazedly. “No, no. They became deadly when their families were put into jeopardy. That is when nothing was considered taboo. If a righteous man’s family is put in danger, beware of him, for you know not what he will do to keep them safe.” Draco’s eyes settled on Lucius, dark and inscrutable. “You do recall that don’t you, Father?” When Lucius remained silent Draco took another step toward him. His lips thinned into a cold smile. “You should, since you were the one who told me. You recall it now, don’t you? Don’t you!”

Lucius choked out through gritted teeth, “Yes, of course I do.”

Draco nodded. “I thought you might. Family. That’s what this all comes down to.”

Lucius’ head snapped back to Draco. “What family do you have to protect, Draco? Your mother? She may be away now, but she’ll come back to me. She is mine. Your Black relatives are all but dead and gone. You have no one to protect but yourself. You have no immediate family to speak of except your mother and me. And you won’t kill me only to spend the rest of your pitiful life in wizarding prison. You wouldn’t survive long in there, Draco. Of that I know without a doubt.”

Draco was already shaking his head. “You’re so wrong, Father. He emphasized the word ‘father’ slowly and clearly. “I have a lot to protect. I’ve never considered taking a life before. Not really. I suppose I thought about having to do it in battle, but it’s not the same as a calculated plan to end someone’s life, now is it? If you kill during a war, it’s acceptable. It’s even required. You’re honored for your kills. Ridding the world of the enemy. But here, between two people, it’s quite different.” He shook his head again and his voice dropped low and foreboding. “I will do what I have to, to protect my family.” He trained his wand on Lucius then, his eyes becoming narrowed and focused. “You will never touch any of my children. You crossed a line tonight that you can not come back from in threatening what is mine."

“What is yours? Any children you have, son, will be my grandchildren, my blood. I’m entitled to be in their lives. You cannot fault me for wanting to safeguard the Malfoy line. For keeping the Malfoy heirs safe, protected.”

Draco snorted. “Can’t I? That’s funny, considering I am a Malfoy and your heir and I don’t ever recall feeling safe and protected by you. Just look at me.” Lucius sniffed indignantly but leveled his eyes on Draco. The sight before him was not a pleasant one. Draco’s shirt was soaked through on one side with blood and clung tightly to his chest. One side of his shirttail hung askew out of his jeans and he had a gash on his cheek that had bled down his face and was drying and beginning to clump. There were large purple smudges under his eyes indicating at his extreme fatigue and he was leaning heavily on his right leg. He looked a disheveled, bloody mess. “Look at me!” His voice was rough and commanding and Lucius’ eyes slid mutinously from Draco’s face, down his body and back up locking again with Draco’s eyes. “Have you gotten a good eye-full? This is your idea of protection? This is how you treat a child. Your child?”

“You see how differently you feel when your son betrays you.” Lucius’ voice was calm, unemotional. Almost as if he’d expected this all along.

Draco raked a hand through his hair in frustration. “That’s the difference between you and me, Lucius. No matter what, I would never try to hurt any child of mine.” Draco looked expectantly at his father and when he said nothing Draco snapped, “Well? Have you nothing more to say?”

Lucius answer was to sneer in contempt. Finally he replied, “No matter what, eh?” It was clearly a mocking, hurtful statement. “Well then you’re a fool. Anyone can betray you, Draco.” He dragged out Draco’s name spitefully. “Like breeds like, Draco.”

Draco’s mouth snapped shut at that and he worked his jaw furiously, swallowing hard to keep in the angry sob that wanted to erupt from him. He was finally resigned. It took a moment before he composed himself enough to mutter, “This isn’t about heirs anyway, you narrow-minded man. It’s about children. About being protected and cherished by your parents, you know, the ones who are supposed to love you. Clearly, that is something you know nothing about.”

Lucius opened his mouth to retort, but Draco cut him off again. “And don’t ever call me, son again.” He raised his wand and commanded to Lucius, “On your knees.”

Laurel sucked in her breath and turned shaking to Ginny. They grasped hands tightly and could only watch mutely waiting to see what Draco would do.

Lucius shook his head defiantly. “I will not bow before you, Draco. Not ever.” He raised his chin proudly. “I will stand.”

Draco’s voice was thick with emotion. “You don’t get it. Still, even now you refuse to see. This isn’t about bowing before anyone. This isn’t about money or that goddamned, sick maniac you call your master.” He was shaking and clearly unsettled. “I never wanted this,” he whispered. “I wanted it to be so very different. So different.” He trailed off. Lucius was silent. The way he saw it, he had one last chance to catch Draco unawares. Without warning Lucius charged full force at his son in a mad dash, bowing and running straight for Draco’s gut aiming with his shoulder. Draco and Laurel both reacted at the same time, him shouting “Impedimenta!” and she silently waving her wand and dropping Lucius flat on his face again. The elder wizard grunted in surprise.

In a moment Lucius found himself standing once more. Draco had levitated him to his feet. Lucius glared spitefully at his son and grinned icily, wincing slightly and taking the pad of his thumb to drag it across his lip, which had been cut in the fall. He looked at the smeared blood on his finger rubbing it away and sniffed before standing tall to face his fate. “Do your worst, Draco.” He was almost proud of the fact that he would meet his end by the hand of his son. He saw it as some twisted sense of family privilege.

“I’m sorry,” was all Draco said. Then Lucius was on the ground, writhing in unimaginable pain. He was clearly shocked as he gasped for breath and his body jerked with involuntary spasms from the torment. He clutched at his belly and his eyes flew wide open. It felt like his groin was being ripped apart, shredded. He moaned loudly and began rolling, trying to stop the fire in his loins. It was hard to watch, so instead Laurel turned to survey Draco closely. He looked sad but determined. His eyes were focused and unblinking as he gazed stony-faced at his father on the floor before him. Laurel could hear Draco muttering under his breath and knew he was casting a spell, but she couldn't hear it clearly. She glanced back at Lucius and gulped again, turning away quickly. She was trying to decide if she should intercede on Lucius’ behalf.

Could she let a man die here today? Even a man as unquestionably evil as Lucius Malfoy?

Laurel went back to listening to the incantation Draco was chanting. She knew she kept hearing the word ‘letum’ which was the word ‘death’ in Latin. But, that didn’t mean Draco was murdering his father. She hoped. Watching Lucius roll around on the floor brought back very uncomfortable memories of her attack and how she too had been rendered helpless, tortured viciously and in pain so intense that her body trembled anew, just thinking about it.

She didn’t deserve what had happened to her. Lucius did. But was that still just? What about all the pain Lucius caused Draco? All the hurt and sadness for so many years. Was it enough to justify ending a life? An eye for an eye? She honestly didn’t know.

Laurel closed her eyes and tried not to hear Lucius very soul shrieking in pain. Oh yes, your spiritual body could cry out just as loudly as your physical one. You just had to be able to hear it. Unfortunately, Laurel could hear this one now. She tried to piece together the spell again. It was Latin, mostly. Draco’s voice was low and shaky which made it hard to hear over all Lucius’ screams but he began repeating the words and this time she heard them clearly, stepping closer to Draco, nearly grazing his shoulder so she could hear. Laurel almost wished she hadn't, because she didn’t like what she heard one bit. “Letum a no nacido. Letum a frere, letum a soeur. Etrico a familia. Eripio familia, patire nullus magis. Alma eripio para sempre. Poena nullus magis. A Amor. A Familia. A Liber vita. A eripio en morte. Nullus Parvulus para sempre. Constans. Parap Semper. Nullus Magis.”

Draco finished speaking and lowered his wand and Laurel turned to glance at Ginny who was watching Lucius with a dark expression on her face. Her wand was trained on him. She didn’t appear to be paying any attention to Draco at all. Draco now waited, watching fascinated as Lucius writhed and clutched at his groin, moaning in torment. He wondered if that was all there was to it. He remembered thinking that there was more. Then he saw Lucius body begin to tremble violently; he flung himself onto his back and clutched desperately at his hips, writhing and bucking. The man was actually sobbing. Then, slowly, as if it was being pulled from the depths of his body, a small, shimmering light appeared and began to rise from Lucius. With each bit more that rose from him, Lucius shook forcefully and groaned out. His voice was raw-sounding with pain. The light continued steadily rising from Lucius until finally it was completely out and he fell back, limp to the ground, moaning lowly and rolling to his side and curling tightly into a ball.

But Lucius was not what Draco or the girls were watching any longer. It was the small, dazzlingly glowing, iridescent-blue globe.

Laurel thought for a crazy moment that it looked very much like a lit-up snow globe and that the tiny little flecks shining inside were snow flakes glinting off the light and making everything inside the sphere shimmer and dance. When you looked closer, however, there were what looked to be perhaps hundreds of tiny little shooting stars zinging this way and that in a hap-hazard ballet of lights.

It was simply beautiful.

But what was more perplexing was that Laurel could feel something radiating out from that sphere. Somethings, more precisely. She could almost hear them.

Laurel’s mouth gaped open and she actually held her hand out then to reach for them.

THEM. Laurel trembled.

She would have reached them, too, if Draco hadn’t raised his wand and called the orb to him.

He took hold of the ball carefully in his right hand and gazed at it, openly enthralled. His left hand still had his wand trained loosely on Lucius.

Below him Lucius was struggling to heave himself up against the wall but had only managed to pull his chest and shoulders forward enough to support his upper body. He clutched at his belly weakly and glared up at Draco with fire in his eyes. He was pale and shaking uncontrollably, but he was enraged.

“What – what have you done?” His voice, even though it was gravelly and raw, was full of malevolence.

Draco looked at the man before him – the man that had given him life. The man that could never love him, or anyone else, he suspected. He looked weak - old. He was utterly vulnerable. Draco could kill Lucius Malfoy so easily right now. The idea was tantalizing. One flick of his wand. One whispered curse and Draco could be done with him forever. He was fairly sure he had enough hatred in him to do it.

But, then again, perhaps not. Perhaps he still wanted a miracle. He still wanted to make Lucius see. To make him understand.

“Can’t you guess, Lucius? Don’t you know? I told you, this was all in the name of family. Something you can’t seem to understand is that some of us associate family with things other than that which only has monetary value. But family is precious to me.” He looked down at Lucius and held up the small globe.

Lucius’ eyes locked on it. He was confused and cautious. “What is that?”

“I can’t let you hurt them, Lucius. No matter what you think about what I have done, when you look back on this day I want you to remember, to understand that this was never about money. It was not about gold or estates or the family holdings. This was done out of love – for them.”

“Love for whom? If this is about giving the money to someone – giving away the estate? Giving it to your mother. If that’s what this –“

“Didn’t you hear me? I don’t give a FUCK about the money or the manor!” Draco shouted. He startled Lucius so much so that he actually shrank back a bit from the crazed look in Draco’s eyes. He knew that Draco was very much capable of murder at that moment and was frantically trying to think of a way for Draco’s first kill NOT to be him.

“What then?” Lucius asked, stalling for time as his eyes roved over the ground quickly trying to find his wand. Ah...there it was, just a hand’s reach away if he could get to it.

“This is for my innocent brothers and sisters who you would bring into this ugly world for no purpose other than for your own misdeeds and selfishness. They would come into your life and look up to you…” Draco trailed off, his voice became broken, “they would look to you” he tried again, “Look to you like I did. Like I did, for love. They would depend on you and expect to be protected. And that would be your duty to them – you children! It is only right! Only natural! But you wouldn’t.” Draco was shaking his head; his eyes were glazed and far away looking. He looked quite frightening and Lucius halted the subtle shifting of his body trying to get into position to grab his wand to focus on what Draco was saying. He was still talking, mumbling really, “- hurt and disappoint them...Yes you would. Like you disappointed me time and again. You’d forget that they needed you. That they only wanted your…” Draco's words spilled from his lips akwardly, “your love. You would only use them, like so many pawns in a sick game. They’re precious lives! I’d rather set them free than have them be tied to a bastard like you for all eternity as a father.” Lucius’ eyes grew wide with shock and realization. His mouth opened and his eyes slid from Draco then to the glowing ball resting so peacefully in his son’s palm.

“Draco – what – what did you do? What have you DONE?” Lucius looked truly panicked.

Draco glanced at him briefly before his eyes lifted back to the glowing sphere. “These are my brothers and sisters. These are your legacy and the future of the Malfoy line.” Lucius gasped and tried to stand, scrambling into a sitting position to pull himself up, but he was not strong enough yet. He fell back weakly against the wall, shaking.

“What are you doing? What are you going to do? Draco, don’t…”

“SHUT UP! Just, shut up! What? Don’t what, Lucius? Don’t hurt them? Don’t cause them any pain? Don’t try to kill them?” He sounded quite hysterical now. “I know what you’re thinking! You’re still thinking this is just about the ruddy money! MONEY! What do I care if you had ten other children? Sharing the fortune would be more than enough. This is about you, Lucius. This is all your doing. You could have stopped this. All you had to do was to say yes! All you had to do was accept what is going to happen. Accept me.” Draco shook his head. “But you couldn’t do it, could you? You couldn’t put your son’s interests before your own – just once. Not even once. And now, look what it’s gotten you.”

Draco raised his hand and Lucius cried out – “NO! DRACO, DON’T!”

Draco lifted the ball firmly; it felt so warm against his icy cold hand. So comforting in his grasp. He didn’t want to do it. Really. It was taking every ounce of courage he had to raise his hand with its precious cargo. He didn’t notice Lucius reaching for his discarded wand a few feet away from him. Neither of the girls noticed either. They were riveted to the ball of tiny lights flashing and dancing about. Laurel’s mouth hung open in amazement. She could hear them clearly now!

The idea of what Draco was going to do was just heart-breaking. These tiny little souls that would never be. Each and every one of them alive. Living. Waiting for their chance to be born. Waiting for something that would never come.

“I told you, Father, before tonight I’d never considered murder. And now, here before you I’m going to commit genocide in your name. This is for them. For their freedom. For their very lives. You’ll never hurt another child of yours again, Lucius. Not one more Malfoy will be sired by you.” With his words still stinging in his ears Draco lifted his hand and hurled the tiny ball as hard as he could to the stone floor. Lucius’ screams filled the chamber as he watched the orb hit the ground and shatter.

The lights flickered and grew brighter now that they were suddenly free from their constraints; they zoomed up and around wildly before dimming slightly and flying at the think hewn walls and disappearing. Their buzzing and vibrating sound filled the chamber briefly before they were gone and the silence returned.

“They’re gone.” Draco whispered. “All gone. You can never get them back.” He cast his eyes to his father but Lucius was not there. He’d crawled over to his wand and hauled himself up on shaky knees. His eyes were murderous as he pulled himself to his feet.

“I can reverse it! This isn’t permanent!” Lucius himself looked crazed now.

Draco held his wand at his father and shook his head slowly. The look on Draco’s face told Lucius all he needed to know. He felt the sickening dread of truth settle into his hollow gut.

“No, you can’t. This isn’t some prank, Lucius. You’re never going to have another child again. Ever. I’m your first and your only.”

“YOU!” Lucius snarled so ferociously that he looked almost to be foaming at the corner of his mouth. “You will pay for this, Draco! This is not over! This will never be over! In taking away what is MINE, you have forfeited yourself!”

With that he raised his wand and shouted some strange curse that Laurel could not identify, and then he was gone.

She and Ginny looked at each other. Both felt a cold rush of air above them and felt a shiver of trepidation as they shakily hugged for support.

Something still felt terribly wrong…

“What the fu-“ Draco hissed. He ran a trembling hand through his hair as he spun around immediately in a full circle looking to see where Lucius had gone.

That bloody bastard was full of surprises. He must have had some kind of port-key that he had hidden.

Draco groaned and slumped against the wall. He was still alive. He had secured his family fortune. He had made it so Lucius could no longer threaten his life by using a sibling as a pawn against him. He had secured his mum’s financial freedom from Lucius. He’d even set up the merry band of do-gooders for life…

Yet, he felt utterly despicable. He felt used and ugly and just as lowly as any Death Eater.

Once again, Lucius had won, dragging Draco down to his level. Forcing him to do things he never wanted to do.

Draco sighed. Well, at least this had happened in secrecy. Maybe he could bury the horror of this experience deep inside his soul along with all the other dark things that had happened in his life.

Things were only going to get worse from here, he knew. Draco cursed softly. Worse is right.

Because worst of all, worse than anything else that had happened here today, the unthinkable had occurred. Draco had Lucius right there in his grasp – his for the killing.

And he’d failed. He could have ended it all right here. And no one would be the wiser.

But his bloody conscience wouldn’t let him. Now he was royally screwed.

And even worse than that - Lucius was out there and hot for Draco’s blood.

“Way to go, Malfoy.” Draco sighed as he slumped against a wall. “Way to go.”

______________

A/N:

SPELLWORKS:

Tolga Voz – Silence the voice. – Latin

Pedis Labo - To Stop or Trip the Feet

Incendie Badine – Fire blast

Tepesco – To cool, to freeze

Lead Limb Hex – Borrowed shamelessly from the creative genius that is Ronnie as featured in her amazing fic – A New Definition of Family @ FF (go read it – you’ll love it!)

Soul Freeing Spell – Un-named: - Origin Latin (some French). Dark Magic. Releases a soul from the body. In this case, releasing souls yet to be born.
Letum a no nacido – (Death to the unborn) Letum a frere,-( Death to my brothers) letum a soeur. – (Death to my sisters) Etrico a familia. – (Freedom to the family) Eripio familia, patire nullus magis (Be free and in no pain oh my family) Alma eripio para sempre. Poena nullus magis (The soul will suffer no more) A Amor. A Familia. A Liber vita. A eripio en morte. – (For the souls of my family there freedom only in death) Nullus Parvulus para sempre. Constans. Parap Semper. Nullus Magis.” (Suffering no longer. Unchanging. Forever.)

As always, spells are mine unless otherwise noted. Feel free to use them, but kindly give credit, where credit is due.

A WORD BEFORE PARTING:

So, as most of you know, this chapter was a very long time in coming. It was, in truth, one of the most uncomfortable and difficult things I’ve had to write. I think it really brings out the very gray and murky parts of Draco’s psyche and poses interesting moral dilemmas for our characters to chew on and grapple with. I wasn’t quite sure I would be able to do it. Draco didn’t really want this to happen. And please believe me when I tell you that Lucius certainly didn’t want to be put in the position where he’s – er – shooting blanks. (sheepish grin) But, the story must move forward as will our characters.

Thanks for sticking with me during all these months of silence while I wrestled this chapter out of Draco and Lucius.

Up next, monsters, mischief and mayhem.

As always, your comments and reviews are appreciated. I’ve been STARVED for months kids. Be kind to me. Give me a review. Fatten up my review pocketbook a bit.

Thanks much to all who read - I have SO TRUELY missed you. PLEASE KNOW THAT I KEEP WRITING FOR YOU AND THAT YOU ARE CHERISHED!

PS - If any of you wonderful readers also have read my sweetheart fic - IT HAD TO BE YOU (dm/hg) and you've been wondering when I would update that fic? Well, wonder no more. Chapter 7 is now up for your viewing and reviewing pleasure. Just head up to the top of the page and click on my name and enjoy! Thanks!

Cheers, Lorett