Never A Memory

A/N: Yeah, ok, so I heard a bunch of crap about the last update being short (Jakar) so I decided to send out another one (Jakar) to abate any brewing hatred (Jakar). Be satisfied (Jakar)!

Hee, hee. Just kiddin'. :P

...Except, I really did whip this up super quick.

You all know who you can thank. (Jakar)

Enjoy.



“…Behold, I will smite with the rod that is mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.” Exodus 7:17


~The Plagues of Draco Malfoy~

Draco sat straight up in the four-poster bed that had been allotted him mere days ago, sweat beading his forehead and the remnants of a horrible nightmare hanging around him still. Fleeting memories that were not his own whisked around his brain too quickly to comprehend and Draco shook his head violently to dispel them.

It had been three days since the Markaghirelle had been judged to be working properly and the Minister’s own appointments given to him for housing and isolation within the Ministry of Magic. Three days of good food and much needed rest. Three days of feeling immensely more comfortable in his own skin. Three days of pure relief. And three nights of blissful, deep sleep.

Until now.

Maul was always there.

Draco couldn’t hear him in his head since he began taking the Markaghirelle as a temporary antidote against him, but he could always feel him. His presence was like a dark whispering on his soul. Draco had become accustomed to it, ignoring it with all his might until he all but forgot he was there. But tonight was different.

Tonight, Maul squirmed angrily under the pressure of the Markaghirelle, fighting it with all its terrible might.

Draco swept the covers from him and placed his bare feet on the plush carpet covering the floor. Quickly, he donned a night robe and slipped some shoes on, turning lamp lights on as he went. Then he called for the Aurors standing guard in the foyer for the night shift.

In a flash, all four of them were there in Draco’s bedroom, looking slightly sleepy, but alert nonetheless.

“I need you to get Granger up here immediately,” Draco informed them, tying the sash of his robe into a hasty knot. “Something’s wrong.”

“What is?” a yellow-haired Auror asked, his voice reaching a nervous pitch that made Draco frown. He must be new.

“It’s three in the morning, Mr. Malfoy,” an older Auror named Feerse said. “That may take some time.”

Draco felt the whisper on his soul jerk violently, and sent the four Aurors a glare that could melt steel. “So. Why. Aren’t. You. Moving?”

As his guard went to send his message, Draco went into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. The Dark Mark on his spine burned as he placed the glass to his lips. Draco winced as he sipped a mouthful of water and immediately spat it out.

Raising shaky fingers to his lips, he wiped at the thick, acrid liquid that dripped from the corner of his mouth.

The water had turned to blood in his mouth.

~*~

A groggy Hermione Granger entered his room a mere half hour later, wearing a look on her face that had the mixture of irritation and worry Draco was sure only she could pull off. “I really hope this is impor—Merlin! Are you hurt?” Hermione stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the few drops of blood that had dried near the corner of Draco’s mouth.

The Pureblood was sitting at the kitchen table, hunched over a glass of water he held in hands that were shaking and red with blood. Draco raised his grey eyes to meet Hermione’s stare and handed her the glass of water. Hermione took it with a questioning glance. “Drink it,” Draco whispered, watching carefully.

Hermione hesitated, before raising the glass and taking a tentative sip. The water felt cool on her tongue and she swallowed it easily. “I’m not following—“

Draco snatched the glass back with a meaningful glower. “Watch,” he said hollowly as he took a drink of the water and spit it back into the glass.

Hermione watched, horrified, as crimson blood poured from Draco’s mouth and swirled in the remaining water of the glass.

“I’ve tried tea, juice, coffee,” Draco said, desperation and a hint of mourning in his voice as he wiped blood from his lips. “The bastard won’t let me drink anything without it turning to blood.”

“Oh dear,” Hermione said, plopping down into the chair next to Draco’s. “That’s….quite…”

“Except the Markaghirelle,” Draco murmured.

“What?”

“The Markaghirelle,” Draco repeated, his voice like dry leaves. “I took a dose to see if it would make it stop. It…didn’t. But the potion didn’t turn to blood.”

“Oh, well, that’s good.” Hermione offered a smile and Draco glared it down.

“This is not funny,” Draco muttered sourly.

“No,” Hermione agreed. “But one day it might be.”

“I hate you.”

“Feeling’s mutual.” Hermione stood. “I’ll add nutrients to the Markaghirelle so that you won’t get dehydrated.”

“That’s it?” Draco demanded, clenching his fingers into fists.

“I’m afraid so,” Hermione replied, her voice turning a tad apologetic. “He may be just throwing a temper tantrum. If potions aren’t affected by this, then we’ll just have to work with that.”

“You can’t just make the Markaghirelle stronger? If it’s working properly, then how can he control—“

“I can make it stronger, Malfoy, but it would probably kill you,” Hermione interrupted. “Maul is a Tulpa. His power is somewhat different than ours. And this one can think, so he’s probably just trying everything he can in his current state to piss you off. You get angry, he gets stronger, and the Markaghirelle isn’t as efficient.”

“You’re telling me I can’t be indignant?”

“Yes, Malfoy. I’m telling you that you can’t be indignant.” Hermione couldn’t hide her smile this time and Draco looked away from her with a sound of mortal disgust.

“Do you have any idea how nearly impossible that is for me?” Draco mumbled.

Hermione grinned. “Actually, I probably do. What would cheer you up?”

“Get out.”

Hermione frowned. “I’m serious, Malfoy. Getting cranky will just feed him.”

“You’re irritating me. Get out.”

“I want to see a smile first.”

“OUT!”

“Alright, alright,” Hermione said, throwing up her hands. She made good time leaving the lavish apartment and explained the situation to the Aurors posted outside. She would be back first thing in the morning to check on him.

All joking aside, Snape had anticipated something like this would occur. She would have to owl him immediately for advice.

~*~

Hermione met Snape in the Main Foyer of the Ministry of Magic. They turned instantly into the main hall and their quick steps took them deep into the Ministry. Hermione spoke rapidly to him in low tones and Snape responded only with every jerky nod a few minutes or so. Nearing the Minister’s Suite, Mary Heart nearly crashed into them as she hurried, wide-eyed, down the hall.

“Oh my goodness!” Mary squealed, clutching at Hermione’s hands. “I’m so glad I found you! You must come quickly! The Minister is so angry and the suite is such a mess—“

“What the—“

“Crap.”

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!” The Minister of Magic bellowed at Snape and Hermione as they rounded the corner. The hall floor outside the entrance to the suite was covered—and I mean COVERED—in frogs.

Oh, yes.

Frogs.

Huge ones, small ones, large horned toads, quivering thin ones with beady eyes, all shapes, all sizes, and the sound of them all collectively wasn’t nearly as suffocating as the smell.

Hermione and Snape gaped dumbly.

“WELL DON’T JUST STAND THERE!” Scrimgeour shouted, and only then did they realize there was an entire squad of Aurors rushing around the hall trying to round them up, waving their wands in frantic animation. Snape and Hermione quickly withdrew their wands, aiding where they could. Soon, the hall was nearly frog-free.

Then they entered the Minister’s Suite.

Draco sat cross-legged on the floor near the kitchen, his arms crossed tightly against his chest, and was scowling for all he was worth. Not only was the suite—and Draco—covered in frogs…but there were locusts, flies, and all manner of insects buzzing around the room.

“Merlin,” Hermione breathed, as every Wizard worth their salt began hexing away the mess. “Malfoy, what did you DO?”

“I tried to make a sandwich,” Draco grated, trying to stay perfectly still as an Auror attempted to pry a toad off of Malfoy’s head. “Just be cheerful, huh? Don’t be indignant, right?”

“You can’t possibly blame me—“

“Oh, I blame you.”

~*~

“We’ve…deduced that Maul has only the power to instigate a plague when you try to nourish yourself.” Snape was eyeing his skulking godson warily as he handed him the new, and improved, Markaghirelle complete with three hours worth of nutrients and labeled ‘BREAKFAST’.

Draco didn’t reply but merely snatched the potion, drank the dosage, and handed it back, keeping his blazing grey eyes fixed on the far wall of the living room. Two Aurors were present and Hermione stood in the kitchen, staying within earshot as she fixed herself a cup of tea, humming a cheerful tune.

It took a solid two hours to finally clear every toad, fly, and locust from the Minister’s Suite. Scrimgeour had been furious and roared at anyone who would listen unabashedly in front of Draco Malfoy. Finally, he had left, muttering to himself about ruined Persian rugs. Two more Aurors were posted outside the Suite, guarding the entrance as a cleaning crew came too and from, scrubbing the rooms of the suite clean.

Draco hadn’t uttered a single word in over an hour and Snape found himself trying to catch his eye every minute or so to make sure they were still grey and not black.

“I regret that we hadn’t thought of this sooner, Draco,” Snape said, trying to be consoling.

Draco snorted but still did not reply.

Snape tried again. “Granger is right about the need for you to keep your spirits up. Stewing like this will only antagonize—“

“Go to hell.”

“Excuse me?” Snape had never heard his godson address him so rudely.

“You people disgust me,” Draco growled, rising to feet in one smooth motion and storming into the bedroom.

Snape followed after him, raising a hand to halt Hermione and the Aurors when they moved to pursue as well. Snape quietly closed the door behind him and leaned against it, regarding his godson who sat at a desk by the opposing wall of the bedroom.

Draco covered his face in his hands. “This is humiliating,” he said, his voice muffled by his fingers. “Azkaban can’t be worse than this.”

“I don’t ever want you to say that again,” Snape retorted sternly. “Think what you want, but if that statement ever reached the Minister’s ears, you’d be under the Dementor’s Kiss so fast it would make your head spin.”

Draco laughed. And it was despairing one. “Would that be so terrible?”

Snape glared at the back of his godson’s silvery head. “There are dozens of people working to keep you alive, Draco. How dare you?”

“I never asked it of any of you.” That was a lie. ‘So protect me, Potter!’ He had asked one. Right after he had made him swear to kill him if Maul won. Draco clutched at his hair. “I am sick unto death of this whole sordid mess. Doing the right thing has only ever gotten me into one pile of problems and then another. I’m beginning to second guess my reasoning.”

Snape shrugged. His godson was preaching to the choir. “Be a martyr, Draco. Go right ahead. Be a victim. But you’re going to be it alive. All this effort will not go wasted.”

Draco lifted his head and turned so he could see his godfather. “How’d you get through it, Snape? How did you make it through the war when no one believed you?”

After a heavy silence, Snape answered. “The friendship of two women. Lily Evans and your mother.”

Draco blinked, feeling a weird sense of vertigo, like his equilibrium had been kicked in the shins. Draco knew his mother had been close to Snape, but Harry’s mother? A piece of the ever-confusing puzzle slipped into place, but Draco couldn’t fathom what it meant. Suddenly, he felt an odd mourning for his godfather, realizing that the only two women he had cared for in his life had married other men and fostered only sons. Sons that Snape had been sworn to protect.

“Are you bitter?” The words had slipped from Draco’s mouth before he could think twice about keeping them to himself.

“Yes,” Snape answered. “And no.”

“I don’t understand.”

Snape’s lips curved into a small smile. “Neither do I, Draco.” The Potions Master paused. “I drew my lot and I’m working with what I have.”

Draco nodded and felt ashamed. He was not the only one who had suffered. So many had. He had pondered this during his years in Asia and mourned for every person he knew, and many he didn’t. It amazed him how quickly he could forget his revelations from his time spent in the Tien Shen Pass. He really was brilliantly selfish.

Draco sighed.

Are you bitter?

Yes.

Draco thought of Harry.

And no.

Draco did understand, in his own way.

~*~


A/N: Mwahahahahaha! I know it probably sounded all forebodeing with the quote I put up. But I felt that the fic needed some long overdue comic relief. So that was my attempt at crack. Erm, it ended kinda angsty, but I felt that was great place to squeeze a little Snape luv in.


Lilith: Thank you muchly! I hope you enjoyed the update!



genxster: Thank you. For some reason, it was really important to me to do something cool with Blaise. He comes into the story kinda late, but he's vital to it all the same. More Blaise goodness coming up in further chapters!

I did recommend Learning Life Over. Its one of my all-time fav's on this site. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you for your review and I hope you enjoy the update!



Jakar: WOW.

LOL, THERE! OKAY? Geebus. You know how to force it outta someone.

Ha ha, yeah, I loved writing that line too. Cruelty turns everyone on, I don't care who you are. And anyone who claims otherwise is selling something.

Wow, that was presumptuous, wasn't it? *shrugs* Well, it's probably true.

OK, I'm monologueing, lol. Thanx for your aggressive review! :P I hope you enjoyed the update!



Mangacat: I have been stewing on Blaise for weeks and when I get through with him, he'll be...well. *winces* Can't tell you. It's a surprise. Thanx for your review! I hope you enjoyed the update!



Leentje: Why, thank you! Hope you enjoyed the update!



thrnbrooke: Christ, you're perceptive. I'm giving you no more hints. None. LOL, thanx for your review and I hope you enjoyed the update!