Duet

*~*~*~*
Truth

Draco looked at the Christmas decorations gracing the main floor of Malfoy Manor. The house elves had done a beautiful job, as usual, but the special sparkle his mother always put in was missing.

He had arrived from Hogwarts the evening before to spend the Christmas Holidays with his father. Lucius informed him that there would be a meeting for the Death Eaters Inner Circle on Boxing Day. Lord Voldemort “requested” it be held at Malfoy Manor much to Lucius’ dismay.

Draco climbed to the Owlery to send off the * invitations* for his father. With an early snow, the estate looked like a holiday confection. The white snowy owl was still in residence. On a whim, Draco held out his arm and called “Hedwig?” She looked at him, tilting her head a moment before she fluttered down, landing on his arm. She held out her leg expectantly; he tied a small parchment to it.

“Take that to Harry Potter,” Draco instructed her. She soared out of the Owlery, circled the manor and landed on a windowsill on the third floor of an unused wing of the manor. She tapped on the window; soon the window opened and she flew in.

*~*~*~*
Harry was alarmed. Lucius was at work at the Ministry of Magic and would not return until early that evening. Hedwig was perched on the back of a chair, nibbling on Harry’s leftover breakfast. Harry read the note again; the handwriting did not belong to Lucius.

“Happy Christmas, Harry” was all the note said.

Harry unconsciously let his hand rest on his abdomen. He was nine months pregnant and due early in the year. His wand was tucked into the sleeve of his dressing gown; he had a dagger in the pocket.

Hearing a noise in the hallway outside of his rooms he positioned himself for attack. He could feel the exchange of magic against the wards guarding his rooms.

Draco pushed open the door to the sitting room and found a dagger against his throat and a wand in his ribs.

“Potter?” he asked.

Harry indicated a chair near the fireplace. “Sit.”

Harry respelled the door and watched Draco. Draco set his own wand on the table in front of himself. He couldn’t help staring at Harry’s form.

“Did you send Hedwig?”

Draco nodded.

“Does anyone else know?”

Draco shook his head.

“What are you going to do?

*~*~*~*
Lucius apparated into Harry’s sitting room later that afternoon.

“Harry?” he called softly.

“Hello, Father,” said Draco coldly. “We need to talk.”

*~*~*~*
Sirius Black stared at the parchment he had untied from Hedwig’s leg. Hedwig was currently snacking on a field mouse she had caught outside Sirius’ cave hideout. The animagus was torn; did he dare believe it?”

“Dear Sirius,

I am very sorry that I have not been able to contact you until now. As you can tell, I am not dead and I apologize for letting you think that I was.

I would very much like you to spend Christmas with me. I will explain everything when I see you.

Enclosed are two items. The handkerchief is for Padfoot; I know he knows me by scent and he will know that the scent is fresh. The bottle is a portkey. Twist off the lid to activate it.

If you trust this letter enough, the portkey will bring you to a private library. You will meet someone you least expect but know that I trust him with my life.

I look forward to seeing you, but if you are uncomfortable with this, I will understand. Please send Hedwig back so I know that you at least received this letter.

Remember that I love you and that I always will.

Happy Christmas.

Harry James Potter”

Padfoot sniffed at the handkerchief and at the parchment. It could be a trap, but the scent on both items was that of his eighteen-year-old godson. He knew that Moony would kick him in the head for his stupidity, but Merlin, he needed to see Harry.

He changed back to his human form and combed through his tangled black hair with his fingers; he brushed the dirt from his ragged robes.

“Hedwig,” he called to the snowy owl. “Go home to Harry. I will see you there.”

Sirius clutched a borrowed wand in one hand, closed his eyes, and unscrewed the cap off the bottle. He felt the pull of a hook just beneath his naval as the portkey activated. Stupid Gryffindor courage….

*~*~*~
Wand drawn, Sirius stumbled but kept his footing. He looked around the large library, but saw no one. A slight movement caught his eye and he found himself facing a tiny house elf.

"Sir,” she squeaked. “Ginger will not hurt you. Mr. Black must follow Ginger.”

“Where am I?” Sirius asked, his voice hoarse from disuse.

“Master’s house,” she replied as she led him into a hallway. Wherever he was, the place was huge and the wizards were wealthy.

“Who is Master, Ginger?”

The little elf’s bat ears twitched. “Ginger can not tell you. Master forbids it.”

She led him down the hall to a suite of rooms. She opened the door to a bathroom. A deep bathtub was filling with soapy water. “Master’s Mate thought you would like a bath. Master’s Mate picked you out a change of clothes. Ginger will wait for Mr. Black to be finished.”

Sirius paused, looking at Ginger. She pointed to a basket of basic toiletries and fluffy bath towels. He looked at his wand and the bathtub.

Ginger stood, little hands on hips. “Ginger will protect Mr. Black while he is bathing. Master insists.”

*~*~*~*
Sirius tucked his wand into the sleeve of the expensive black robe he was wearing. It was slightly too large, but it concealed his gaunt frame. Ginger had fashioned his shaggy black hair into a neat braid.

The little elf knocked on the door to a sitting room. She led him in, bowed and disappeared. He could see a slight, raven-haired figure looking out of a window across the room.

“Harry?”

Harry found himself swept up into the arms of his godfather. After holding him tightly for a few minutes, Sirius held him at arm’s length.

“Merlin, Harry. I don’t know whether to kiss you or kill you…”

“I missed you so much,” Harry whispered.

Sirius took in the small wizard dressed in dark green robes. His jaw dropped at the very pregnant silhouette. “Yes, Sirius, it’s a baby…”

Sirius became aware of another presence in the room. Turning, he saw Lucius and Draco Malfoy. Harry caught his hand as he reached for his wand.

“You don’t want to make her an orphan before she’s born, do you?”

*~*~*~*
Lucius bowed as Lord Voldemort apparated into the foyer of Malfoy Manor. Ten other Death Eaters had already assembled in his library, awaiting the arrival of the Dark Lord.

Snape spoke quietly with Avery and Parkinson. They each bowed as Voldemort entered the library with Peter Pettigrew in tow. The Dark Lord was in a very pleasant mood for a change. There were no curses thrown at any of his faithful; with the exception of one raid, the recent raids had been successful. After a short meeting detailing future plans and attack goals, the group moved to the dining room.

Voldemort began discussing the failed raid as the Inner Circle gathered in the dining room. Lucius noticed the Dark Lord glance at Snape several times; an odd flicker in his eyes. His heart sank. Snape had known about the failed raid ahead of time; he had not known about any of the others.

When they had all seated themselves, Lucius summoned the servants to begin serving.

“Lucius,” Voldemort hissed.

“Yes, My Lord?”

“Is your son not joining us? I thought for certain he would be home for the holidays.” Voldemort turned his attention to Snape. “Severus did permit him to come home, didn’t he?”

“Yes, My Lord. Severus was gracious enough to let his apprentice spend a few days with me. However, Draco will not be joining us. He is visiting a relative.”

“A pity.” Lord Voldemort turned his attention to Snape and began to ask all manners of questions about Draco’s apprenticeship. Lucius felt uneasy; the odd flicker in the Dark Lord’s eyes remained as he drew Snape into a detailed conversation.

As the servants began to serve the meal, Voldemort casually mentioned that he had a special entertainment that they all would enjoy planned for after dessert. Lucius saw the eye flick toward Snape again and he knew – Snape was to be the after dinner entertainment.

The guests were just beginning their soup course when a house elf crept into the room and whispered something to Lucius. Lucius folded his napkin and placed it beside his soup plate. “My Lord, please excuse me. My house elf informs me that my groundskeeper has been injured by one of my thestrals. Severus, could you please assist me? You are the only one here with mediwizard training.”

Voldemort gave Lucius a calculating look before he dismissed them. “Very well, Lucius…but don’t keep Severus too long.”

“No, my Lord.” Lucius and Snape bowed and exited the room.

Snape held back until they were out of earshot. “What’s your game, Lucius? You don’t have a thestral.”

Lucius beckoned him into a room down the hall and grabbed a box of floo powder. “It’s the first thing that came to mind…He knows you are the spy. You are the entertainment after dinner.”

“Are you sure?” Snape blanched.

“The raids were an elaborate set up to determine where the leaks were. The only raid you knew about was the only one that failed.”

Lucius tossed the floo powder into the fire, but Snape held back. “Why don’t we just apparate? Floo is so messy.”

“I can’t leave the manor. Draco and my husband are hiding in another wing. They don’t know how to apparate.”

“Husband?” Snape sputtered as Lucius tossed more floo powder into the fireplace, pulled both of them into the flames and said, “Raven’s Room.”

The floo kicked them out in a sitting room in another part of the manor. Snape quickly looked around the room trying to figure out how to defend such a space. As he brushed the soot from his robes, he heard Lucius address one of his house elves.

“Nutmeg, tell the rest of the staff that it’s time. I’ll be raising the wards on this wing in fifteen minutes. I want all of them in safety.”

“Yes, Master,” he replied and disappeared.

Lucius halted Snape’s questions and threw floo powder into the fireplace. “Dumbledore.”

After a moment, Albus Dumbledore’s head appeared in the fireplace. “Lucius?”

“I know Severus told you there was to be a meeting of the Inner Circle this evening. Voldemort knows Sev is the spy – I dragged him out of the meeting under false pretenses, but the story will not hold for long.

“I know this is giving you next to no warning, but Voldemort is in my main dining hall with ten additional Death Eaters. I have placed dis-apparation wards on the main manor. Severus and Draco are with me along with two other wizards. We cannot apparate out of here because one of the wizards is incapacitated and I will not leave him. We will have to defend this wing.”

Lucius went on to give Dumbledore the apparation codes necessary to access Malfoy Manor.

“Albus, I don’t know how long we can hold out. Voldemort will be able to break the disapparation wards in short order.”

“Thank you for your information, Lucius. I will try to rescue you as soon as possible.”

“Just make sure that this time you kill the red-eyed bastard.”

Dumbledore laughed and disappeared.

Snape was staring at Lucius in shock when a pained cry came from another room. Lucius caught the Potion Master’s arm.

“Lucius, what’s…”

“Sev, I’ll explain as we go, but right now I need you to act as a midwife…”

*~*~*~*
TBC