Categories > Books > Harry Potter > A Killer's Life
Disclaimer- I do not own anything that is familiar to you. It all belongs to Rowling, Warner Bros, and many other industries.
Summary- AU! Nikolai is a cold-blooded killer. Problem is he's the boy-who-lived as well. It's not going to be pretty when he is arrested and sent to Hogwarts by Dumbledore. Dark! Independent! Manipulatemeanddie! Harry.
A/N- Hey all. I had this idea a couple of days ago. Before you start reading let me tell you THIS WILL NOT BE SLASH. Harry and Draco became friends growing up but they do not like each other in that way. I will be updating Glory and Death either later today, or sometime tomorrow. Sorry its taking this long, but I havn't had any power for the past 3 days and I really wanted to get this done first. Thank you R&R. Oh and this will not be a fic where Draco and Harry are friends.
Special thanks goes to my beta Lyric Z D from Perfect Imagination. (A link to this site can be found in my profile.)
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Chapter One:
"Avada Kedavra."
Nikolai watched as the sobbing man fell to the ground, lifeless, the thud of his corpse echoing around the small bedroom that they were in. The man had done nothing to him, so why did he kill him?
Easy... It was his job.
Ludo Bagman had made his contractor livid when he had refused to pay up the 40,000 Galleon winnings he owed to the man. Nikolai's contractor had been searching for Bagman for almost two years when he finally tracked him down.
Nikolai had been given the job for exactly one reason, the reason being that he was the best there was. From the two hundred-plus jobs he had been given, not one had gone uncompleted.
Turning for the door, Nikolai exited the small cottage in which Bagman had been hiding. He walked for about a hundred yards before he felt the Anti-apparition wards vanish. He was able to Apparate around low-powered wards like this one, but it took a lot out of him so he didn't bother unless it was an emergency.
Looking around, he saw no one in the area. Nikolai cast a few anti-tracking charms and a variation of the Confundus around himself before silently Apparating back to his flat in Muggle London.
He arrived just inside the door of his small living area. Sensing another magical signature in the area, he dove behind a small sofa.
Nikolai cast a quick charm on his eyes allowing himself to see through solid objects, much like the magical eye Moody had received because of an 'accident' caused by one of Lucius's friends.
He looked around for a minute before relaxing and removing the charm. Getting up, he headed for the tiny kitchen area.
Draco Malfoy stood in front of the refrigerator, pouring himself a shot of Ogden's Finest.
"Help yourself," Nikolai called from the doorway.
Draco jumped, causing him to drop both the firewhiskey bottle and his shot glass. They fell to ground and shattered.
Nikolai rolled his eyes. Draco was an excellent ally, great for information that his father wouldn't share with Nikolai, but he was about as tough as a pillow (not to mention annoying as hell).
Draco spun around to see Nikolai leaning against the doorframe with an amused look on his face. "Merlin, Nik! You could just walk up and say 'hi' next time."
Nikolai snorted. With a flick of his wand the bottle and glass were repaired. Another flick caused the firewhiskey to vanish.
"What is that? The fourth or fifth bottle you owe me?" Nikolai asked sarcastically.
Draco plastered a frown on his face. "Actually, I think it's the sixth..."
Nikolai shook his head. Draco was unbelievable.
"I thought you had a date with Parkinson tonight," Nikolai said.
"I did, but father made me cancel it so that I could come get you. He's hosting a small dinner, and you're invited to come."
Nikolai didn't respond to the question instantly (besides, they both knew that Nikolai would have to come regardless). Instead, he walked past Draco and pulled a Coke out of the fridge.
After snapping it open and taking a long swig, he answered. "I'll be there. What time is it?"
"Eight o'clock," Draco answered, also grabbing a Coke out of the fridge.
"Okay. I need to grab some sleep for a few hours then I'll meet you there."
"Perfect. I will be waiting for you there."
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When he had been only five years old, he had gotten lost on the streets of London. He was going to have to find his own way home now, of course. Petunia Dursley would never waste a second of her time looking for the freak who had caused her so much misfortune.
Misfortune. What a load of shit.
Five-year-old Nikolai (then named Harry) had started to head for the car park where Petunia had parked their car, but something else had caught his eye.
A black, dingy old pub was set in between two bustling shops that had people spilling in and out of them. It seemed so out of place next to the other brightly colored shops. The other odd thing about it was the fact that not one person seemed to be able to see the pub.
Curiosity getting the better of him, young Harry headed for the pub. Looking up at the sign hanging above the door he saw that it was named The Leaky Cauldron.
What a funny name, he remembered thinking.
Entering the shop, he was surprised by the sheer number of
people in it. He had half-expected that it would be empty.
A middle-aged man called out to him from behind the bar.
Turning to look at the man Harry saw that he was wearing some strange clothes.
In fact, everyone in the room seemed to be wearing the same type of clothing as the man was. Instead of the normal business suits you would normally see on the streets of London, these people were wearing a variety of different colored robes.
Nervously, Harry walked up to the bar counter and climbed onto a stool.
"Sir," he started timidly, "could you please tell me where I am?"
The man gave him a funny look. "Why, you're in The Leaky Cauldron, lad," he answered.
The way the bartender looked at him made Harry think that he was supposed to know exactly where he was.
"Where is your mother, son?" the man asked him.
Harry decided to play dumb and see where it got him. He was, after all, five years old. It was in his nature to be curious about such things.
"I don't know, sir. We were just shopping, and then all of a sudden I couldn't see her anymore," Harry said frantically.
"Ah...I see. Follow me lad. We'll get you back to her, don't you worry," the bartender told him soothingly.
Harry smiled gratefully, but on the inside he was smirking. Adults were so easy to trick.
Harry followed the man to a back door. The man opened the door and led little Harry into a small area surrounded by a brick wall.
Harry watched as the man pulled out an odd-looking stick and tapped several different bricks that Harry committed to his memory. It never hurt to remember small things like this.
His eyes widened as the bricks made a grating noise and started to separate and form an archway.
"There you go, lad. Do you need help finding your mother?" the man asked. Fortunately, he had missed Harry's surprise.
Harry blinked a few times to get the excitement off of his face. "No. I know what shop she's in," he said as happily as he could. "Thanks for your help, Mr.-"
"Call me Tom, lad," the man answered, holding out his hand.
Harry shook his hand and thanked him again before running through the arch and into the heavily crowded street.
His head swiveled back and forth at the odd shops. Quality Quidditch Supplies, Magical Menagerie, Apothecary, Cauldron shops. What was this place?
Continuing down the street, Harry saw another street branching off from the one he was on.
Knockturn Alley, the sign read. This street had few to no people on it, so he headed down it without question.
Harry had always hated places with a lot of people. It was just another one of the side effects of living in a cupboard.
This street was nothing like the one he had been on a few minutes ago. Whereas that one had been bright and loud, this one was dark and eerily quiet.The store windows he passed were filled with gross and frightening things such as skulls, bloody daggers, and vials of different colored liquids.
While Harry was exploring this dreary place, Lucius Malfoy was haggling with a Mr. Borgin inside the shop named Borgin & Burkes.
Ever since the fall of the Dark Lord, Lucius had been having a rough time.He had been taken in front of the Wizengamot three times, whether it was for carrying the Dark Mark or for being in possession of illegal items. All three times he had been able to bribe his way out of Azkaban, but he was running low on assets.
Lucius was selling Borgin almost all of the Dark items he held at Malfoy Manor. Not only would this prevent arrest, but get his liquid assets back into fairly nice shape.
Lucius was a slightly above-average wizard, and an excellent duelist. But he had a special ability called magical empathy.
Magical empathy allowed the user to sense another wizard's magical power.
While he trying to get a good price on the items he was going to sell, Harry walked past the store and Lucius's empathy went mad.
Commanding Borgin to wait for him, Lucius rushed out of the shop and looked up and down the Knockturn Alley.
Lucius was shocked beyond belief when he found the source of the power. This was a child! The boy was nowhere near adulthood, yet he had more raw power than Voldemort or Dumbledore.
Then a thought struck him. He could use this boy!
Lucius ran down the street and grasped the boy's shoulder when he reached him.
The child turned to look at Lucius. "May I help you?" the boy asked kindly.
Lucius took a moment to compose himself."I would like to propose a job to you," Lucius started.
"What kind of job?" Harry asked quizzically.
"Nothing for a few years at least. I would have to train your magic as high as possible before you could start. I will provide you with shelter, food, clothing, and any other necessities. I also have a son that is about your age that you could acquaint yourself with."
Harry studied the man in front of him intensely. His piercing green eyes searched for a sign of deceit or mistruth in the man's face.
"Okay, I'll do it, sir. But you have to tell me all about this magic stuff."
Lucius's eyebrows rose up in surprise. He was amazed; this kid was actually a Mudblood! That wasn't possible. No Muggle-born could ever be that powerful.
"Very well," Lucius drawled. "You may call me Lucius."
Harry nodded. "You can call me...,"
Harry stopped himself before he could finish his name. For some reason, he wanted to have a new name. Maybe it was because he wanted to start a new life, or just because he didn't like Harry, he didn't know.
"We will call you Nikolai," Lucius finished for him.
Harry nodded.
Nikolai eyes shot open as he was ripped from his sleep. Sitting up he looked at the small clock that was set above his door.
7: 38
Sitting up, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and slid off. Walking over to his dresser, Nikolai started to get dressed.
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Twenty minutes later, Nikolai appeared outside the gates of an enormous mansion. The mansion was four stories tall and spanned across three acres of land. In front of the building, the yard was littered with hundreds of different trees and flowers.
Fountains were scattered around the yard with benches circling each and every one of them.
The gates opened when he placed his hand on the Malfoy family crest, and he started up the stone pathway to the main doors.
Walking up the marble front steps, he took the snake knocker in his hand, banging it on the wood door three times.
An instant later, the double doors were yanked opened by a heavily-breathing house elf.
"Mister go this way, sir," the house elf wheezed, bowing and gesturing with his hand toward what Nikolai knew was the dining area.
Thanking the elf, he walked briskly into the room.
Sitting at the head of the table was Lucius. Draco was sitting on his right and Narcissa was sitting on his left. Three other men were scattered around the table. He knew Severus Snape and Vincent Crabbe Sr. by face, but he had no idea who the other one was.
Lucius looked up from his plate when Nikolai walked in. Getting up, he walked over to where the assassin was standing.
"Ah, Nikolai. It is good to see you again. I am grateful you came," Lucius said in a formal tone.
Gesturing toward the table, the host continued. "You remember Narcissa and Draco, of course. That man at the end of the table is Vincent Crabbe, and a few seats to his left is Walden Macnair. Severus is the man at the middle of the table."
Harry nodded to each one in turn, bowing to Narcissa.
"Please, do have a seat."
With a small thank you, Nikolai took his place next to Draco.
The first twenty minutes of dinner was uneventful. They exchanged small talk before the main course was served.
Throughout the dinner, Nikolai noticed Snape throwing glances at him every once in a while, but he thought nothing of it. He decided that it was because Snape had never seen him before.
After everyone was finished with their desserts, Lucius turned to Nikolai. He knew this had been coming. Lucius hardly ever invited him to dinner if there wasn't something important that needed to be done.
"Nikolai, I have a proposition for you," Lucius stated.
Nikolai nodded to show he was interested.
"There is this Mudblood witch who has been a nuisance to my Master. My Lord asked that I have someone kill the bitch's parents."
Nikolai spoke up at this. "You know I don't work for Voldemort," he said ignoring the scowls from almost everyone at the table. "And why does he want you to kill the parents instead of the Mudblood?"
"I told my Lord that you would not work for free. He is offering you 5,000 Galleons up front and 5,000 when the mission is completed," the lord of the Malfoy house stated. "The Dark Lord wishes for you to kill the parents only because the Mudblood is in a building with near-unbreakable wards."
Nikolai nodded. "I'll do it. Does he want me to make it look magical or Muggle?"
"You may make it look Muggle, but make sure that magical sensors will be able to pick up traces of spell use around their bodies. You may take their location from my mind."
Nikolai nodded and siphoned Lucius's memory into his own mind using Legilimency.
When he finished, he walked briskly from the room.
Nobody noticed the worried look that flashed across Snape's face.
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Albus Dumbledore surveyed the gathering of people in front of him as Kingsley Shacklebolt finished up his speech about Death Eater locations.
Standing up, he started to say, "Good, everyone. This concludes tonight's-"
Severus Snape burst into the room, striding quickly up to the chair in which Dumbledore was sitting.
The group, known as the Order of the Phoenix, watched as Snape whispered something in their leader's ear. They saw Dumbledore's eyes go wide moments before he started shouting orders.
"Kingsley, Tonks, Alastor, Sirius...Get to the Ministry and gather as many Aurors as you can before heading to the Granger residence. There is going to be an assassination attempt tonight!" Dumbledore shouted out.
As the four Aurors raced to the Floo, Dumbledore continued giving his orders.
"Emmeline, Bill, Hestia, Sturgis... Get to the Granger house NOW! Prepare for a fight."
When everyone had done what they were supposed to, Dumbledore sank into his chair.
"What is happening, Albus?" Hogwarts Professor Minerva McGonagall asked her superior.
"We have found Harry Potter," Albus answered wearily.
There was a collective intake of breath from everyone in the room.
"Well... That is... wonderful, but what does it have to do with the Grangers?" Minerva asked.
"Harry has been given the job to assassinate Ms. Granger's parents," Albus answered, lowering his head.
Shouts of disbelief and anger shot up from around the room.
"QUIET!" Albus shouted. Quiet ensued almost instantly. "I know this is hard to believe, and comes as quite of a shock, but it seems he has been an assassin and thief going by the name of Nikolai. How he learned of the wizarding world and became one is beyond me."
"Oi! I 'eard o' this Nikolai man,'' a shout came from the back of the room.
Albus glanced up to see who had called out. "Please, share with us what you know, Mundungus."
"They say 'e is a' ruthless a' the devil 'imself. Say 'e never fails a job," Mundungus shouted.
Whispers rose at this. People looked worriedly at each other.
"Then we shall hope that he fails this time," Albus said quietly. He turned to Minerva. "Please go inform Ms. Granger of the situation."
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Nikolai stalked up the lawn of the Granger residence. Usually he would have broken through the low-level Anti-apparition fields that he had encountered. All of his missions concerning Muggles so far had been extremely easy. Sometimes he wondered why the people who hired him paid so much for such easy jobs.
Tonight was different, though. Tonight his gut told him he would need absolutely all the magic he could draw up.
"Flatus," he whispered, slashing his wand downward. A small red light shot out of his wand, exploding in a ball of fire as it struck the door.
Walking through the smoke into the house, Nikolai found himself at gunpoint.
A tall, wiry man was holding some variation of a Barrett rifle, if his knowledge was correct.
"G-get out of h-here if you value your life!" the man, who was obviously the Granger family head, shouted.
Nikolai smirked. "You must be Mr. Granger," he sneered, "So nice to meet you." With that he kneed the man in his groin, causing him to drop the rifle and hiss in pain.
When Granger fell, Nikolai saw that his wife was staring at them, paralyzed in horror.
"Say good-bye to your wife, Granger," he snarled. "Frangos."
The spell shot out of Nikolai's raised wand and shattered Mr. Granger's skull. The man dropped lifeless to the ground, his
wife shrieking behind him.
One down, one to go.
He looked up at the Granger housewife. Deciding not to taunt the woman, he settled for a quick painless death.
"Avada Kedavra."
The green light struck Mrs. Granger just as the four Order members rushed through the door.
Sensing them, Nikolai spun around, creating a shield as four different Stunners flew toward him.
He smirked at them. "Stunners? Really. Do you really think you can win using third year spells? Here, let me show you some big boy curses. Lanius Tergum! Flatus! Os Fragmen!"
Not being able to throw up shields in time, the middle man's skin was ripped off of his body by the skin shredding curse, and one of the women was blasted back through the door by the high level blasting curse.
Another man, Nikolai recognized him as a Weasley by the red hair, screamed in pain as his collarbone shattered as the bone-breaking spell hit him.
Launching a counter attack, the two remaining Order members sent another volley of Stunners.
Nikolai dodged them easily and sent off another blasting curse, sending the remaining woman ricocheting off the wall.
"So Weasley... Just you and me, huh," Nikolai quickly disarmed the man, snapping his wand when he caught it.
Nikolai Summoned Granger's rifle and slid his wand back into it's holster. "I think I'll just use this baby here to kill you. The Aurors will think it was you who killed the Grangers," he laughed mercilessly.
Before pulling the trigger, he studied the man. He was leaning against the doorframe for support due to the fact he was about to pass out from the pain of his shattered collarbone.
While Nikolai looked the Weasley over, he thought about the bonus Lucius would give him for framing a Weasley of murder.
H
is ponderings were cut short when he felt a Stunner hit him in the back. His last thought before he lost consciousness was wondering how he could have been so careless.
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A/N: Thanks for reading. Like it? Hate it? I know this may seem like a Harry friends with Draco fic but it won't turn out as such. Please review either way.
Summary- AU! Nikolai is a cold-blooded killer. Problem is he's the boy-who-lived as well. It's not going to be pretty when he is arrested and sent to Hogwarts by Dumbledore. Dark! Independent! Manipulatemeanddie! Harry.
A/N- Hey all. I had this idea a couple of days ago. Before you start reading let me tell you THIS WILL NOT BE SLASH. Harry and Draco became friends growing up but they do not like each other in that way. I will be updating Glory and Death either later today, or sometime tomorrow. Sorry its taking this long, but I havn't had any power for the past 3 days and I really wanted to get this done first. Thank you R&R. Oh and this will not be a fic where Draco and Harry are friends.
Special thanks goes to my beta Lyric Z D from Perfect Imagination. (A link to this site can be found in my profile.)
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Chapter One:
"Avada Kedavra."
Nikolai watched as the sobbing man fell to the ground, lifeless, the thud of his corpse echoing around the small bedroom that they were in. The man had done nothing to him, so why did he kill him?
Easy... It was his job.
Ludo Bagman had made his contractor livid when he had refused to pay up the 40,000 Galleon winnings he owed to the man. Nikolai's contractor had been searching for Bagman for almost two years when he finally tracked him down.
Nikolai had been given the job for exactly one reason, the reason being that he was the best there was. From the two hundred-plus jobs he had been given, not one had gone uncompleted.
Turning for the door, Nikolai exited the small cottage in which Bagman had been hiding. He walked for about a hundred yards before he felt the Anti-apparition wards vanish. He was able to Apparate around low-powered wards like this one, but it took a lot out of him so he didn't bother unless it was an emergency.
Looking around, he saw no one in the area. Nikolai cast a few anti-tracking charms and a variation of the Confundus around himself before silently Apparating back to his flat in Muggle London.
He arrived just inside the door of his small living area. Sensing another magical signature in the area, he dove behind a small sofa.
Nikolai cast a quick charm on his eyes allowing himself to see through solid objects, much like the magical eye Moody had received because of an 'accident' caused by one of Lucius's friends.
He looked around for a minute before relaxing and removing the charm. Getting up, he headed for the tiny kitchen area.
Draco Malfoy stood in front of the refrigerator, pouring himself a shot of Ogden's Finest.
"Help yourself," Nikolai called from the doorway.
Draco jumped, causing him to drop both the firewhiskey bottle and his shot glass. They fell to ground and shattered.
Nikolai rolled his eyes. Draco was an excellent ally, great for information that his father wouldn't share with Nikolai, but he was about as tough as a pillow (not to mention annoying as hell).
Draco spun around to see Nikolai leaning against the doorframe with an amused look on his face. "Merlin, Nik! You could just walk up and say 'hi' next time."
Nikolai snorted. With a flick of his wand the bottle and glass were repaired. Another flick caused the firewhiskey to vanish.
"What is that? The fourth or fifth bottle you owe me?" Nikolai asked sarcastically.
Draco plastered a frown on his face. "Actually, I think it's the sixth..."
Nikolai shook his head. Draco was unbelievable.
"I thought you had a date with Parkinson tonight," Nikolai said.
"I did, but father made me cancel it so that I could come get you. He's hosting a small dinner, and you're invited to come."
Nikolai didn't respond to the question instantly (besides, they both knew that Nikolai would have to come regardless). Instead, he walked past Draco and pulled a Coke out of the fridge.
After snapping it open and taking a long swig, he answered. "I'll be there. What time is it?"
"Eight o'clock," Draco answered, also grabbing a Coke out of the fridge.
"Okay. I need to grab some sleep for a few hours then I'll meet you there."
"Perfect. I will be waiting for you there."
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When he had been only five years old, he had gotten lost on the streets of London. He was going to have to find his own way home now, of course. Petunia Dursley would never waste a second of her time looking for the freak who had caused her so much misfortune.
Misfortune. What a load of shit.
Five-year-old Nikolai (then named Harry) had started to head for the car park where Petunia had parked their car, but something else had caught his eye.
A black, dingy old pub was set in between two bustling shops that had people spilling in and out of them. It seemed so out of place next to the other brightly colored shops. The other odd thing about it was the fact that not one person seemed to be able to see the pub.
Curiosity getting the better of him, young Harry headed for the pub. Looking up at the sign hanging above the door he saw that it was named The Leaky Cauldron.
What a funny name, he remembered thinking.
Entering the shop, he was surprised by the sheer number of
people in it. He had half-expected that it would be empty.
A middle-aged man called out to him from behind the bar.
Turning to look at the man Harry saw that he was wearing some strange clothes.
In fact, everyone in the room seemed to be wearing the same type of clothing as the man was. Instead of the normal business suits you would normally see on the streets of London, these people were wearing a variety of different colored robes.
Nervously, Harry walked up to the bar counter and climbed onto a stool.
"Sir," he started timidly, "could you please tell me where I am?"
The man gave him a funny look. "Why, you're in The Leaky Cauldron, lad," he answered.
The way the bartender looked at him made Harry think that he was supposed to know exactly where he was.
"Where is your mother, son?" the man asked him.
Harry decided to play dumb and see where it got him. He was, after all, five years old. It was in his nature to be curious about such things.
"I don't know, sir. We were just shopping, and then all of a sudden I couldn't see her anymore," Harry said frantically.
"Ah...I see. Follow me lad. We'll get you back to her, don't you worry," the bartender told him soothingly.
Harry smiled gratefully, but on the inside he was smirking. Adults were so easy to trick.
Harry followed the man to a back door. The man opened the door and led little Harry into a small area surrounded by a brick wall.
Harry watched as the man pulled out an odd-looking stick and tapped several different bricks that Harry committed to his memory. It never hurt to remember small things like this.
His eyes widened as the bricks made a grating noise and started to separate and form an archway.
"There you go, lad. Do you need help finding your mother?" the man asked. Fortunately, he had missed Harry's surprise.
Harry blinked a few times to get the excitement off of his face. "No. I know what shop she's in," he said as happily as he could. "Thanks for your help, Mr.-"
"Call me Tom, lad," the man answered, holding out his hand.
Harry shook his hand and thanked him again before running through the arch and into the heavily crowded street.
His head swiveled back and forth at the odd shops. Quality Quidditch Supplies, Magical Menagerie, Apothecary, Cauldron shops. What was this place?
Continuing down the street, Harry saw another street branching off from the one he was on.
Knockturn Alley, the sign read. This street had few to no people on it, so he headed down it without question.
Harry had always hated places with a lot of people. It was just another one of the side effects of living in a cupboard.
This street was nothing like the one he had been on a few minutes ago. Whereas that one had been bright and loud, this one was dark and eerily quiet.The store windows he passed were filled with gross and frightening things such as skulls, bloody daggers, and vials of different colored liquids.
While Harry was exploring this dreary place, Lucius Malfoy was haggling with a Mr. Borgin inside the shop named Borgin & Burkes.
Ever since the fall of the Dark Lord, Lucius had been having a rough time.He had been taken in front of the Wizengamot three times, whether it was for carrying the Dark Mark or for being in possession of illegal items. All three times he had been able to bribe his way out of Azkaban, but he was running low on assets.
Lucius was selling Borgin almost all of the Dark items he held at Malfoy Manor. Not only would this prevent arrest, but get his liquid assets back into fairly nice shape.
Lucius was a slightly above-average wizard, and an excellent duelist. But he had a special ability called magical empathy.
Magical empathy allowed the user to sense another wizard's magical power.
While he trying to get a good price on the items he was going to sell, Harry walked past the store and Lucius's empathy went mad.
Commanding Borgin to wait for him, Lucius rushed out of the shop and looked up and down the Knockturn Alley.
Lucius was shocked beyond belief when he found the source of the power. This was a child! The boy was nowhere near adulthood, yet he had more raw power than Voldemort or Dumbledore.
Then a thought struck him. He could use this boy!
Lucius ran down the street and grasped the boy's shoulder when he reached him.
The child turned to look at Lucius. "May I help you?" the boy asked kindly.
Lucius took a moment to compose himself."I would like to propose a job to you," Lucius started.
"What kind of job?" Harry asked quizzically.
"Nothing for a few years at least. I would have to train your magic as high as possible before you could start. I will provide you with shelter, food, clothing, and any other necessities. I also have a son that is about your age that you could acquaint yourself with."
Harry studied the man in front of him intensely. His piercing green eyes searched for a sign of deceit or mistruth in the man's face.
"Okay, I'll do it, sir. But you have to tell me all about this magic stuff."
Lucius's eyebrows rose up in surprise. He was amazed; this kid was actually a Mudblood! That wasn't possible. No Muggle-born could ever be that powerful.
"Very well," Lucius drawled. "You may call me Lucius."
Harry nodded. "You can call me...,"
Harry stopped himself before he could finish his name. For some reason, he wanted to have a new name. Maybe it was because he wanted to start a new life, or just because he didn't like Harry, he didn't know.
"We will call you Nikolai," Lucius finished for him.
Harry nodded.
Nikolai eyes shot open as he was ripped from his sleep. Sitting up he looked at the small clock that was set above his door.
7: 38
Sitting up, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and slid off. Walking over to his dresser, Nikolai started to get dressed.
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Twenty minutes later, Nikolai appeared outside the gates of an enormous mansion. The mansion was four stories tall and spanned across three acres of land. In front of the building, the yard was littered with hundreds of different trees and flowers.
Fountains were scattered around the yard with benches circling each and every one of them.
The gates opened when he placed his hand on the Malfoy family crest, and he started up the stone pathway to the main doors.
Walking up the marble front steps, he took the snake knocker in his hand, banging it on the wood door three times.
An instant later, the double doors were yanked opened by a heavily-breathing house elf.
"Mister go this way, sir," the house elf wheezed, bowing and gesturing with his hand toward what Nikolai knew was the dining area.
Thanking the elf, he walked briskly into the room.
Sitting at the head of the table was Lucius. Draco was sitting on his right and Narcissa was sitting on his left. Three other men were scattered around the table. He knew Severus Snape and Vincent Crabbe Sr. by face, but he had no idea who the other one was.
Lucius looked up from his plate when Nikolai walked in. Getting up, he walked over to where the assassin was standing.
"Ah, Nikolai. It is good to see you again. I am grateful you came," Lucius said in a formal tone.
Gesturing toward the table, the host continued. "You remember Narcissa and Draco, of course. That man at the end of the table is Vincent Crabbe, and a few seats to his left is Walden Macnair. Severus is the man at the middle of the table."
Harry nodded to each one in turn, bowing to Narcissa.
"Please, do have a seat."
With a small thank you, Nikolai took his place next to Draco.
The first twenty minutes of dinner was uneventful. They exchanged small talk before the main course was served.
Throughout the dinner, Nikolai noticed Snape throwing glances at him every once in a while, but he thought nothing of it. He decided that it was because Snape had never seen him before.
After everyone was finished with their desserts, Lucius turned to Nikolai. He knew this had been coming. Lucius hardly ever invited him to dinner if there wasn't something important that needed to be done.
"Nikolai, I have a proposition for you," Lucius stated.
Nikolai nodded to show he was interested.
"There is this Mudblood witch who has been a nuisance to my Master. My Lord asked that I have someone kill the bitch's parents."
Nikolai spoke up at this. "You know I don't work for Voldemort," he said ignoring the scowls from almost everyone at the table. "And why does he want you to kill the parents instead of the Mudblood?"
"I told my Lord that you would not work for free. He is offering you 5,000 Galleons up front and 5,000 when the mission is completed," the lord of the Malfoy house stated. "The Dark Lord wishes for you to kill the parents only because the Mudblood is in a building with near-unbreakable wards."
Nikolai nodded. "I'll do it. Does he want me to make it look magical or Muggle?"
"You may make it look Muggle, but make sure that magical sensors will be able to pick up traces of spell use around their bodies. You may take their location from my mind."
Nikolai nodded and siphoned Lucius's memory into his own mind using Legilimency.
When he finished, he walked briskly from the room.
Nobody noticed the worried look that flashed across Snape's face.
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Albus Dumbledore surveyed the gathering of people in front of him as Kingsley Shacklebolt finished up his speech about Death Eater locations.
Standing up, he started to say, "Good, everyone. This concludes tonight's-"
Severus Snape burst into the room, striding quickly up to the chair in which Dumbledore was sitting.
The group, known as the Order of the Phoenix, watched as Snape whispered something in their leader's ear. They saw Dumbledore's eyes go wide moments before he started shouting orders.
"Kingsley, Tonks, Alastor, Sirius...Get to the Ministry and gather as many Aurors as you can before heading to the Granger residence. There is going to be an assassination attempt tonight!" Dumbledore shouted out.
As the four Aurors raced to the Floo, Dumbledore continued giving his orders.
"Emmeline, Bill, Hestia, Sturgis... Get to the Granger house NOW! Prepare for a fight."
When everyone had done what they were supposed to, Dumbledore sank into his chair.
"What is happening, Albus?" Hogwarts Professor Minerva McGonagall asked her superior.
"We have found Harry Potter," Albus answered wearily.
There was a collective intake of breath from everyone in the room.
"Well... That is... wonderful, but what does it have to do with the Grangers?" Minerva asked.
"Harry has been given the job to assassinate Ms. Granger's parents," Albus answered, lowering his head.
Shouts of disbelief and anger shot up from around the room.
"QUIET!" Albus shouted. Quiet ensued almost instantly. "I know this is hard to believe, and comes as quite of a shock, but it seems he has been an assassin and thief going by the name of Nikolai. How he learned of the wizarding world and became one is beyond me."
"Oi! I 'eard o' this Nikolai man,'' a shout came from the back of the room.
Albus glanced up to see who had called out. "Please, share with us what you know, Mundungus."
"They say 'e is a' ruthless a' the devil 'imself. Say 'e never fails a job," Mundungus shouted.
Whispers rose at this. People looked worriedly at each other.
"Then we shall hope that he fails this time," Albus said quietly. He turned to Minerva. "Please go inform Ms. Granger of the situation."
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Nikolai stalked up the lawn of the Granger residence. Usually he would have broken through the low-level Anti-apparition fields that he had encountered. All of his missions concerning Muggles so far had been extremely easy. Sometimes he wondered why the people who hired him paid so much for such easy jobs.
Tonight was different, though. Tonight his gut told him he would need absolutely all the magic he could draw up.
"Flatus," he whispered, slashing his wand downward. A small red light shot out of his wand, exploding in a ball of fire as it struck the door.
Walking through the smoke into the house, Nikolai found himself at gunpoint.
A tall, wiry man was holding some variation of a Barrett rifle, if his knowledge was correct.
"G-get out of h-here if you value your life!" the man, who was obviously the Granger family head, shouted.
Nikolai smirked. "You must be Mr. Granger," he sneered, "So nice to meet you." With that he kneed the man in his groin, causing him to drop the rifle and hiss in pain.
When Granger fell, Nikolai saw that his wife was staring at them, paralyzed in horror.
"Say good-bye to your wife, Granger," he snarled. "Frangos."
The spell shot out of Nikolai's raised wand and shattered Mr. Granger's skull. The man dropped lifeless to the ground, his
wife shrieking behind him.
One down, one to go.
He looked up at the Granger housewife. Deciding not to taunt the woman, he settled for a quick painless death.
"Avada Kedavra."
The green light struck Mrs. Granger just as the four Order members rushed through the door.
Sensing them, Nikolai spun around, creating a shield as four different Stunners flew toward him.
He smirked at them. "Stunners? Really. Do you really think you can win using third year spells? Here, let me show you some big boy curses. Lanius Tergum! Flatus! Os Fragmen!"
Not being able to throw up shields in time, the middle man's skin was ripped off of his body by the skin shredding curse, and one of the women was blasted back through the door by the high level blasting curse.
Another man, Nikolai recognized him as a Weasley by the red hair, screamed in pain as his collarbone shattered as the bone-breaking spell hit him.
Launching a counter attack, the two remaining Order members sent another volley of Stunners.
Nikolai dodged them easily and sent off another blasting curse, sending the remaining woman ricocheting off the wall.
"So Weasley... Just you and me, huh," Nikolai quickly disarmed the man, snapping his wand when he caught it.
Nikolai Summoned Granger's rifle and slid his wand back into it's holster. "I think I'll just use this baby here to kill you. The Aurors will think it was you who killed the Grangers," he laughed mercilessly.
Before pulling the trigger, he studied the man. He was leaning against the doorframe for support due to the fact he was about to pass out from the pain of his shattered collarbone.
While Nikolai looked the Weasley over, he thought about the bonus Lucius would give him for framing a Weasley of murder.
H
is ponderings were cut short when he felt a Stunner hit him in the back. His last thought before he lost consciousness was wondering how he could have been so careless.
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A/N: Thanks for reading. Like it? Hate it? I know this may seem like a Harry friends with Draco fic but it won't turn out as such. Please review either way.
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