Not As It Seems

Chapter 4

Harry watched from a corner of the drawing room while Aquila tended to Voldemort first, and then turned to Ginny’s still form.

Aquila bent over her for a few moments, and then looked up at Voldemort, who nodded. She picked up the limp form and hurried out of the drawing room.

“Aquila doesn’t like your mother much, does she?” Harry asked Draco, who had not left his side.

“Aquila doesn’t understand why my mother doesn’t love my father,” Draco said. “She thinks Mother is a fool for keeping Father at arm’s length. I think she also envies her, in a way. Slytherins don’t like anything to be out of their control. Apparently, according to Father, it was like iron filings and a magnet, and they never looked at anyone else from the time they met.”

“What did Voldemort think?” Harry ventured to ask.

“He wasn’t upset,” Draco said. “He would have rather it had been Father, I think, but there’s nothing anyone can do about the kind of bond between Aquila and Professor Snape.”

“How do you feel about your parents?” Harry asked cautiously.

“I know you think that any parents would be better than none,” Draco said. “Family life isn’t what you think it is, at least not with my mother. She’s stiff and formal, and she insists on everything being that wasy, too.”

“I wouldn’t treat my children like that,” Harry said. “Children need love, or they become monsters.”

“Good thing I had my father, then,” Draco said, smiling. “Aquila gave me a mother’s love. All my mother is, is the woman who gave birth to me. The Dark Lord didn’t make mistakes with Aquila. He chose a woman that he knew would take care of a child and love it before he sired it.

“I think he wished that Bellatrix had given birth to a boy at first,” Draco continued. “But now I know he wouldn’t trade Aquila for anything. Father told me that he made sure he spent time with her, and told her he loved her, and praised her when she did well, and told her what she did wrong when she made mistakes.”

“I wonder what I would have been like,” Harry said. “If my father hadn’t come home early, that night.”

“Well, at least they rescued your girlfriend, Potter,” Draco said teasingly. “You don’t have to wonder who’s going to be the next Mrs. Potter.”

“What makes you think I go for witches?” Harry asked, arching an eyebrow and copying Draco’s smirk.

“You went after Cho Chang fast enough,” Draco said.

“Cho was a mistake,” Harry said. “If I went for a witch, it wouldn’t be her.”

“Who would it be?” Draco asked. “What’s the matter, Weasley isn’t pureblood enough for you?”

“That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” Harry said. “I don’t know that I can trust her, now. What if Ginny was geased to get a crush on me?”

“I think I see your point, Potter,” Draco said. He was about to say more, but Lucius beckoned both of them over, so they approached where Voldemort, Snape, and Lucius Malfoy were sitting in a group, discussing the evening’s events.

“I can tell you for certain,” Voldemort told both boys. “Ginerva Weasley is not part of Dumbledore’s group of allies. If the rest of her family is, I do not know. Her parents certainly are.”

“Why do you say that?” Harry asked. He was pleased that he was being included in the discussion like an adult.

“Dumbledore cast the Killing Curse,” Snape said, and then he downed his drink in one large gulp. Lucius reached over and refilled his glass.

“Is she dead?” Harry asked.

“No,” Voldemort replied. “She is not dead, but only because we used a spell that we were saving for the final battle. It deflects enough of the curse to save the life of the victim. Aquila is casting the spells that will restore her to her usual self. We only have to hope that she does not … “

His words were cut off by a bloodcurdling scream of denial that ripped through the building. Crystal shattered, causing the necessity for healing and cleaning spells to be cast. All of the fires went out.

TBC