FicWad

October 31st, 1981, Godric’s Hollow

Dumbledore looked regretfully at the ruined cottage in front of him. He’d truly believed that he would be able to protect the Potters, at least long enough to train Harry so that he had some hope of surviving. Stepping through what remained of the doorway, Dumbledore glanced sadly at charred corpse of James Potter. Staring only briefly, he turned away, walking towards the stairs. There would be time for grief and regret later. For now though, Dumbledore had to be the wartime leader.

Up the ruined stairs he strode, towards the child’s bedroom, the door to which had been blasted off its hinges. Stepping into the room, Dumbledore ignored the still cooling body of Lily Potter, instead choosing to examine the decimated corpse of Tom Riddle, his remaining visible facial features marred by dark magic. Flicking his wand in front of him, Dumbledore intoned a quiet “percipere animarum.” His wand glowed white briefly before going dark once more. So the broken soul of Tom Riddle had fled, and young Harry was nowhere to be found.

Sighing deeply, Dumbledore’s wrinkled face seemed to age twenty years in a moment. Another child lost to a senseless conflict. Now he could only hope they were all happy together, and that tonight’s events would satisfy the prophecy enough to let Tom be vanquished in a more permanent manner. Conjuring a simple wooden chair, Dumbledore sat down, solemnly watching the doorway, holding vigil over the fallen.

Soon After Midnight, At Malfoy Manor

Narcissa Malfoy looked up from her needlepoint as she heard the Manor door slam open. Setting it aside and standing, she calmly exited her study and walked towards the main hall. Halfway there she was met by a frantic Lucius, his eyes wild, his extremely strong emotions breaking through his nearly flawless Occlumency barriers.

Seeing his wife, Lucius ran towards her, and in a tone of complete panic he frantically spoke. “The Dark Lord has fallen Narcissa! They will come for us next! We’re doomed, our family will be ruined and I will be imprisoned or worse!”

Looking at her panicked husband, standing in front of her on the brink of mental breakdown. Making a decision, Narcissa stood tall. Now was not the time to be the comforting wife, or the dutiful Lady Malfoy. “Calm yourself Lucius.” She commanded, her voice leaving no room for debate. “There is nothing to be gained from panic. Think of Draco. You cannot let the fall of a petty Lord ruin you, you are a Malfoy, you must act like it.”

Calmly slightly, grounded somewhat by his wife’s harsh words, Lucius looked directly at her as he spoke, and Narcissa could clearly see the despair in his eyes. “But what can I do Narcissa? They will bring me to trial and I will be forced to admit to my crimes under Veritaserum!”

“You forget the resources at our disposal Lucius.” Narcissa responded, in a voice as hard as steel. “You will stand trial, and under Veritaserum you will testify that you were put under the Imperius Curse by Lord Voldemort.” Grabbing her husband's hand before turning to walk away, Narcissa thought about what would come next without the influence of the Death Eaters. Shaking her head, the hint of a grim smile graced her face. Regardless, her family would endure it all. She would make sure of that.

June 4th 1991, Almost Midnight, The Forbidden Forest

Firenze looked up at the night sky. Stomping his hooves, he coaxed magic out of the loamy earth and cast it onto the starscape above. He looked first towards Jupiter, as he did every night, satisfied to see that it was still strong in the sky. The herd would continue to prosper. His eyes tracked the other planets with practiced ease, and all was as normal. Then his eyes sought out Uranus, and concern clouded his typically tranquil features. Uranus was ascending, moving to eclipse Saturn. Disaster loomed in the future, and the stars refused to tell him what would come after. As he turned to leave the clearing, his eyes caught upon a celestial object that was rising from the edge of the horizon, and he almost tripped over his legs in his surprise. That was impossible! They had been imprisoned, sealed with magic older than the forest around him. Recovering from his surprise, Firenze took off, breaking into a full gallop as he raced towards the centaur lands. The other Elders must be informed.

The Next Day, At Malfoy Manor

Lucius Malfoy was many things. He was a Pureblood, a Lord of the Wizengamot, a Governor of Hogwarts, a formidable wizard and a former Death Eater. But despite that, he didn’t think of himself as any of those things, but rather as a father and a husband. All of his other duties were secondary, trivial when compared to his duty to his family. And that is why today, when a critical vote about werewolf control was being put in front of the Wizengamot, he was at home, watching an extremely excited Draco tear open his presents with as much grace and decorum as he could manage. Which, given the state of the wrapping paper, didn’t appear to be much. Draco didn’t have many presents in front of him, only four small boxes. Others would surely arrive later today from the Parkinson’s and the Notts, but for now he had just the gifts from his parents. And in Malfoy style, those gifts were few, horridly expensive, and well thought out. As Narcissa left the small gathering to check on the house-elves, who were currently making the birthday dinner, Lucius followed behind Draco as he shot outside to ride his new broom.

Ottery St Catchpole

In an odd looking house, the shape of a rook, a young girl sat, humming to herself. She was blonde, and her silver eyes had a constantly dreamy quality, as if she was never quite paying attention. Her name was Luna Lovegood, and she was currently drawing a picture. She barely looked at the parchment as she worked, expertly applying the finest of detail, while her eyes stared at something only she could see. After a while, she set her tools down, and finally looked fully at the picture she had made. On the parchment in front of her was a scene of chaos and devastation. Inhuman creatures slaughtered wizards in droves as Diagon Alley burned in the background. A sad look in her eyes, Luna pulled out a box under her bed and placed the parchment in it amidst many others.

That Night At Malfoy Manor

Lucius walked slowly towards his son’s room, not really sure why. He’d been preparing to go to bed when he’d felt a sudden and unexplainable surge of dread. While there was no reason for the feeling, it was strong enough that he decided to go check on Draco, just to be Osure. That’s why he was currently opening the door, looking at the sleeping form of his son. Lucius hadn’t done this since Draco was a baby. Creeping silently up to his bed, he assured himself that his son was indeed fine. Smiling softly as he looked down at his son, sleeping peacefully, Lucius reached down to fix Draco’s messy hair, which without his normal care was splayed out across his face.

Suddenly, Lucius was slammed backwards by a something. As he reflexively adjusted for impact and pulled out his wand he briefly reflected on the odd texture of whatever had hit him. Springing into action as soon as he hit the wall, Lucius cast a preemptive Protego as he looked around for the source of the attack. He found it standing over Draco’s bed. The room was too dark to fully make them out, but Lucius could make out a winged figure, the black feather wings curled around Draco as he lay sleeping. Rage in his eyes, Lucius snarled out “Avada Kedavra” sending the burst of green light towards the creature that dared to be this close to his child. Seconds before the deadly curse hit the winged figure, darkness surged through the room, and when the dim lighting returned the creature had not moved or been affected at all. Two Crucios and an Entrail Expelling curse later, the creature moved for the first time since Lucius had seen it. Not that he saw it move. One moment it had its wings curled over Draco, the next it stood in front of Lucius, managing to tower over him, despite his own above average height. Looking the creature quickly up and down, he made out horns, determined the creature was most likely male, and noticed its most startling feature, a pair of glowing green eyes, the same shade as the curse that had failed to take its life.

The creature opened its mouth, its apparently fanged mouth, and spoke for the first time. “Mine.” The creature’s voice was perfect, but something about it was wrong, making Lucius feel like he needed to run, to hide. “Leave.”

Despite how much Lucius’ brain was screaming at him to obey, to leave, running as fast as he could, Lucius would do no such thing. Especially given the terrifying potential implications of the creature’s first word. The way its wings had been wrapped around Draco had seemed awfully possessive to Lucius. Not knowing what he could do, but desperate to do something, Lucius brought his wand around once more, only to have it stopped by an extremely hard grasp on his wrist from the creature’s viciously clawed hand. Before he could do anything about this, the creature’s other hand came up, placing itself on Lucius forehead. And then Lucius’ world dissolved into nothingness.

Lucius’ world was a constant whirl of sound and colors, ever changing. It was like apparition, or a portkey, except it wasn’t ending, he wasn’t arriving at any destination. Laughter sounded in his ears, and he caught brief glimpses of people, many of whom he felt he should recognize. The laughter was broken by the sound of explosions, fire sweeping through his vision, flickering out as screams echoed through wherever he was. With a snap, the world around him wrenched into focus, and Lucius found himself kneeling inside a ruined castle, the remnants of screams echoing in his ears. Rising shakily to his feet, Lucius reached down for his wand only to find he didn’t have it. He took a deep breath. This was fine, he knew enough wandless magic to function. All he needed to do was find somebody who had a wand, and they could side along apparate him to the ministry, where he’d be able to get a crew of Aurors to come and eradicate whatever monster had broken into his house.

A plan of action in place, Lucius looked around the ruins, observing his surroundings. He was in a hallway of some sort. Moving to the side of the hall, Lucius walked along, examining the walls as he went. As he walked along, peering into any doorways he passed. Progressing, he was struck by just how recent the damage was. There was no plant life growing anywhere, and aside from the rubble, the ruin was clean. Mostly. There were spots of blood in places, most of it relatively fresh, a fact that worried Lucius slightly. He could hold his own without a wand to a certain extent, but against a competent duelist he was useless. Not the he had much choice but to continue. As he proceeded forwards, looking around warily, his eyes caught on something he normally would have ignored. Not daring to believe what he was seeing, he moved closer, looking, and his breath caught in his throat. Stamped into the metal torch holder in front of him was a crest he recognized. The metal was twisted slightly, but Lucius could see the H in the center, as well as the eagle in the bottom right corner. He was in Hogwarts.

“Hogwarts in ruins,” he murmured, his hand outstretched hesitantly, hovering above the crest, not quite touching it, because feeling it would confirm that it was real. “How is this possible?”

News of an attack on Hogwarts would have shot through the Britain immediately. He would have known. How- Lucius nose was assaulted by an all to familiar smell. Death. Pulling back from the torch holder he walked almost in a daze towards where the smell was coming from. Now that he knew this was Hogwarts, Lucius could see exactly where he was. The Great Hall was just up ahead, just around the corner and… past the bodies littering the corridor. He had seen and participated in his fair share of carnage as a Death Eater, but many of these bodies were children, not even teenagers yet, and that was one crime Lucius had never committed. Stepping over the body of students he didn’t recognize and teachers he did, Lucius entered the Great Hall. There was Dumbledore, missing the left half of his body. Over there was Severus, one of his oldest friends, and a few feet away was his head. And there on the raised dais at the front of the hall was something his mind refused to process because that was impossible. Staring back at him with cold dead eyes, blood pouring out of his mouth was Lucius Malfoy, lying across the equally dead form of his wife. He looked on with a sort of detached hollowness he’d never felt before. That is until he say the form next to his. Draco. Kneeling next to the still forms of his parents was Draco Malfoy, albeit one who was several years older. A false vision. This had to be, it was impossible for Draco to be this much older, he looked to be almost a man. But, everything was so real. It was then that Lucius saw another living form, the only other one in the ruins of the Great Hall. Walking out of the shadows, one of its large black wings crooked and coated in blood, was the creature. It walked up behind Draco, and encircled him with its arms in an extremely gentle manner, bringing its unharmed wing to curl around the teen. As Lucius watched, the creature turned its head towards him, and their eyes caught. Sorrow. Anger. Protectiveness. Lucius flew backwards, propelled by a force he couldn’t see, into a void of nothingness once again.

Drifting once more through a sea of sensations, Lucius barely had enough time to try and process what he’d seen before he landed on a hard surface with another snap. He was on a cold marble floor. As he rose from the floor, and looked around, he realized that he was once again in a location he recognized. In this case it was Malfoy Manor, but looking out the windows it was in the middle of the day, not the night it had been when he entered Draco’s room. He heard laughter from the direction of the dining room. Walking through the house was surreal. There were subtle differences everywhere. Furniture in different places, decorations that had never been in the house. Entering the dining room he saw even more differences. He knew he didn’t have that much gray in his hair for one. Watching himself talk with Narcissa and Severus was one of the strangest things he’d ever done, especially after he had seen their dead bodies not an hour before.

Suddenly Narcissa turned and looked behind Lucius, opening her mouth to speak. “Draco darling you look exquisite! And I do approve of the robes you chose for him, the compliment his wings perfectly.”

Spinning around, Lucius saw a teenage Draco in an elegant set of dress robes, smiling and looking extremely happy, while behind him stood an imposing figure with brilliant black wings. He heard himself say something, but all sound was muted as his eyes locked onto another pair, glowing a frightening green. Happiness. Protectiveness. Love. Lucius fell peacefully into a whirling vortex of changing scenery, like he had twice before.

The experience was similar, different only in details. An orchestra played in the background as lightning flashed through a sunny sky. More and more images and sounds flashed by, until they ended with a snap and Lucius landed on lush green grass. Rising once more, Lucius looked around at where he had ended up. He was in a massive flower garden. How odd. Everywhere he looked there were massive bushes of perfect roses, blooming rich and vibrant colors. Above it all however was some sort of sickly sent, that was making him nauseas. But Lucius was not here to admire the scenery, nor to be sick. He’d figured out how this worked. Walking around, he looked for his family, and for the creature that would send him onward. When he walked through an archway and saw them he froze, for this had not been what he had expected. Rising in front of Lucius were two perfectly maintained topiaries of him and Narcissa, immaculate in every way. They stood on either side of a wooden throne, in which sat a boy, a man. In which sat his son as a teenager, back straight, glaring down at the people in front of him, his eyes cold, a crown of thorns perched upon his head. Behind him stood the inhuman figure, its appearance more cruel somehow then it had been before. Lucius looked towards the figure, expecting to lock eyes and be sent onwards, but the creature did not move to look at him. Instead, the glowing green eyes looked at the same thing as Draco, the group of poor starving people kneeling before the throne, eyes full of fear. They were begging Draco for something, but he just glared at them with hard unfeeling eyes.

Then Lucius’ son opened his mouth to speak, and the voice that came out of his son’s mouth was so dark and full of contempt that it sent a shiver down his spine. “You have begun to annoy me.”

At Draco’s words, the supplicants’ eyes widened even further and they began to beg, for what Lucius could not make out amidst the throng of voices. It soon became clear however, what they had wished, as the monster standing behind Draco raised a clawed hand towards the group, and pulled. Lucius watched as the rose bushes around them writhed, and branches and vines burst out, grabbing the peasants and pulling them towards the plants. They screamed as the thorns cut into their skin, dig through their flesh, all the way up until they were dragged fully into the plants and the muffled screams cut off. As the plants became still once more, the sickly sweet stench that Lucius had been smelly got stronger, and he almost gagged as he realized it’s source. The most horrifying thing in all this however, was that through it all, Draco had simply sat on his throne and watched, his face showing nothing but mild disinterest, before gesturing at the creature behind him, who proceeded to lean over and place a kiss on the blonde teen’s lips. As the creature stood back up again, his eyes caught Lucius’. Triumph. Servitude. Love. Lucius had no time to scream as felt thorns bite into his skin, for a vine had already wrapped around his throat as he was dragged backwards into the bushes, his eyes still locked on green the color of death.