Third Time's a Charm

Chapter One: The old passes away

Hermione Granger unlocked the door of her flat and dragged herself in, weary from a long day at work. She slipped off her shoes, switched on the lights, and there was Draco Malfoy, stretched out across her sofa.

She shrieked.

"Malfoy? What are you doing here? Are you out of your mind?"

"Can't I visit an old friend?" he asked.

"We are NOT friends." As she spoke she slid her wand out of her sleeve with a quick, practiced flick of the wrist and trained it on Crabbe, who she noticed standing in the corner.

"Easy, Granger," Draco said. "I've come to make you an offer."

~~~

Five years earlier ...

~~~

Walden Macnair, the Goyles, and Vincent Crabbe Sr. came to Malfoy Manor in the summer after Voldemort's second demise. Draco had to eavesdrop--literally--to hear what was said. He went outside and, with the help of some hovering charms, climbed to the third floor and stood on the ledge, just outside of the room where the six Death Eaters were meeting. Luckily the window was open, as Narcissa often kept them in the summer. Draco felt a bit ridiculous clinging onto the outside wall of his house, but he was desperate to know what was going on. He cast an amplifying charm.

"...others believe he is gone and are content to go on with their lives." That was Crabbe's voice. "I, for one, have learned my lesson from last time, when we really thought he was gone. And this time we know he probably isn't."

Draco could practically hear the frown on his father's face. "Last time, it was a mere accident caused by an infant. This time Dumbledore and a whole host of other full-grown wizards cast Avada Kedavra. While I don't deny the possibility that he could be out there, this time there is probably no restoring him. Are you really prepared--"

"Lucius ..." Draco's mother interrupted.

Lucius went on. "Are you really all prepared to risk your positions for a dark lord who was defeated on numerous occasions, who only might be able to do anymore good for out cause?"

"We are." Crabbe's voice sounded firm.

There was silence. Draco breathed very, very quietly.

"Why don't you ... give it more thought. We'll meet again, Lucius, Narcissa." That was Walden Macnair.

"Stay for lunch," Narcissa said.

"No, we'll go," said Adelaide Goyle. "I'll see you at the Solstice Banquet, Narcissa?"

"Yes, of course."

"Dotty!" Lucius called for the house-elf. "Show them out."

Everybody said their polite goodbyes. Then Draco heard the clicking of footsteps and the heavy door open and shut. After a moment his mother started talking.

"The possibility that he could be out there? Lucius, what are you saying? You sound like a traitor; you sound like Ludovic bloody Bagman."

"A traitor?" Lucius said in a voice that Draco recognized as a very dangerous one. He heard a sharp slap and his mother gasp. His heart sped up, and in disbelief he inched forward so he could peer in the window. As far as he knew, his father had never hit his mother.

"How dare you call me a traitor or compare me to that filth! I fully support the cause; it is the fallen leader I question."

"I do not question him," Narcissa said, her hand on her woefully red cheek. They glared at each other. "He is not fallen, and you know it, and you are a traitor if you do not help to find him. Doesn't this seem eerily similar to last time, Lucius?"

"It seems nothing like last time. It is time to look for a new leader. Or perhaps I should be our leader, or maybe we do not even need one."

Narcissa gasped, then laughed hollowly. "Ah, I see where this change of heart has come from, then. You see yourself in Lord Voldemort's place. I'm sorry, Lucius, but I will join the others who are still loyal and look for him. I will certainly not--"

Lucius pulled out his wand. He wouldn't actually curse her, would he? Draco thought. "You will do what I say. Imperi--"

Draco leapt forward into the room without a thought, pulling his wand out of his robes as he tumbled in. "Expelliarmus!" he cried. Lucius flew backwards and crashed into one of the suits of armor that were standing against the wall.

"Draco?" Narcissa asked. Then she saw the blood that was pooling on the floor around her husband. "Oh Merlin ..."

"Mum. Oh, shit. He's going to kill me. I didn't mean to cast it so hard, but the things he was saying. And he hit you!" Draco shifted nervously. "Do you think he'll be all right?"

Narcissa knelt on the floor by Lucius and examined his head. It had been struck badly by the shield and there was an open gash from temple to crown. "Hush, Draco." Her eyes gleamed.

After a short moment Draco spoke up. "Mother? Shouldn't we call a Mediwizard or take him to St. Mungo's?"

"He was prepared to cast an Unforgivable on me, his own wife, to change my mind. No, Draco, I think it is too late to call for help. Let's wait here with him and let him die peacefully. Then we'll--"

"Let him die? Are you mad?" Draco tried to stop the rising panic in his chest. "I didn't kill him! It--I was just shocked and I didn't know what else to do! It's not that serious, is it? Just a cut ..."

"Shhh..." Narcissa said. "He slipped, that's all. He slipped on the carpet and fell onto the shield and was dead by the time he hit the floor. You just walked in and found me here, weeping for him."

"No ..."

"Draco. Listen to me. Your father was prepared to betray the cause; do you understand? It is easier this way. It is easier."

~~~

In total there were five Death Eaters who still supported Voldemort. Draco had no mark, and didn't count. They met at each of their homes in turn under the guise of dinner parties and other events. Draco only joined them when they met at Malfoy Manor. All in all, Draco thought they were a pathetic bunch: Walden Macnair, probably the leader, though his only real skill was calculated sadism; Vincent Crabbe Sr., dumb but loyal; Garet Goyle, also dumb but loyal; Adelaide Goyle; nothing more than a socialite who supported everything that her husband did; and Narcissa Malfoy, the one who had the most faith in Lord Voldemort himself, not just blind loyalty to the pureblood cause. Not a brain for strategy, searching, or plans among them. It was really no surprise that they accomplished nothing.

They tried every kind of location charm, from the most basic ones that were taught to Hogwarts first years to help them find lost quills to the most obscure that had to be looked up and translated from old texts hidden away in each of the Death Eaters' family libraries. Nothing.

They also spent months when they were supposedly on vacation searching old caves Voldemort had used for revels and hideaways during his reign of terror. One by one they lost hope of finding him, and started to believe that he was really gone, or worse, that Dumbledore and the Order had found his disembodied spirit first.