Absalom's Legacy

Absalom's Legacy

When Ron Weasley, woke up, he at first could not figure out why his head hurt so much. Then he remembered. Today was the day.

He immediately got up and put on some clothes so he could go downstairs. As he walked down the endless staircases to get breakfast, he thought about the events of the past month. He now had a girlfriend, Hannah Abbott; he had finished his 5^th year of school and taken his O.W.L.s; and now he would be starting a new adventure: learning how to drive his father's new car the muggle way. He had even noticed some facial hair starting to grow the other day. 'I'm almost a man,' Ron thought to himself. He had grown a lot since he started Hogwarts.

When he finally arrived downstairs, he noticed that his father, Arthur Weasley, was already there, eating breakfast. "Good morning, Dad," Ron said.

Arthur looked up. "Good morning, Ron. Did you read the Driver's Instruction Manual I gave you?"

"Yes, I did," Ron said while getting some bread. "I stayed up very late last night reading it, in fact. The plot was boring, and the characters were completely lifeless, but I got the gist of it."

Arthur chuckled a little. "O.K., we can start driving after breakfast, then. Have you heard from Hannah since you came home?"

"Yeah, she's all right," said Ron. "I got an owl from her yesterday. She says she'd like me to visit her sometime this summer."

"That would be nice," Arthur said, smiling.

"Yeah, she's a great girl." Ron said, taking his toast to the table.

"Perhaps you could bring her over here sometime. I'd like to meet her too."

"Well, her family will be invited to Percy's wedding later this summer, right?"

Ron replied, biting into his toast.

"Yes, I think that would be a good idea. I'll talk to Percy about that tonight, though I can't imagine it hasn't crossed his mind, he's very brilliant," said his father.

"Of course I am," said Percy, who had just come down the stairs.

"Good morning, Percy!" said Arthur

Ron looked up at his older brother. Percy had changed a lot since the death of Mr. Crouch Sr. He still liked to work a lot, but now he spent more time with his family and friends than before, and with his fiancé Penelope Clearwater, which Ron supposed was what led Percy to propose to her. He was... warmer somehow. Ron still considered him to be something of a bighead, though.

Ron finished his toast. "Can we start now?"

"Certainly, Ron." Arthur said, getting up. "I'll be back soon, Percy. Today's my day off from work, and I promised Ron I'd teach him muggle driving today."

"That's all right, I'll probably be meeting Penelope in a few minutes anyway, and I still have some work to do, too. We can talk later tonight."

"'Bye, Percy," said Ron.

"Good day," Arthur said.

Ron felt a disconcerting sensation of foreboding as he and his dad walked out to the garage, but he pushed it aside. 'After all, this is only muggle driving, I can't get too hurt, can I?' he thought to himself as he entered the driver's side. "What do I do now, Dad?" Ron said aloud as Arthur entered the car.

Arthur held out a strange metal object. "This is called a key," he said, "and it goes in this slot here." He pointed to an opening just behind the steering wheel. "Once it's in there, turn it forward."

Ron took the key from his dad, inserted it into the slot, and turned it forwards. He heard the engine turn on. "What next, dad?"

"Push on this pedal when you want to move or go faster, and this one when you want to slow down or stop," Arthur said, pointing at the pedals.

Ron pushed down on the fast pedal, and the car suddenly rushed forward towards the garage wall. Realizing his error, he shoved his other foot down on the other pedal just in time to stop the car a centimeter from the wall.

"Sorry, that's all my fault," Arthur said. "Forgot to tell you how to put it in reverse."

Ron simply looked at the wall right in front of them, feeling the adrenaline rushing to his brain. 'Amazing', he thought to himself as his dad showed him how to put the car into reverse.

* * *

Later that day, Draco Malfoy walked down the many stairs of the large manor house where his family lived. His father had already left for work, although Draco had no idea why. "Certainly we must be rich enough to live without having to disgrace ourselves with working," he said to himself, somewhat disgustedly.

However, he was not really all that concerned about his father's well being or sanity. It was possible that his father simply had to keep up the appearance of leading an "honest" life so that others would not suspect what his real goals and desires were. Not that work was "honest." In fact, Draco believed that at least 90% of all work available to wizard or muggle was in some way or another "dishonest," it all involved some level or amount of deception. Not that Draco minded dishonesty or deception.

In fact he enjoyed it.

Soon, he came to where he had intended to go; the room where his 7 year old sister Viola was staying. He had been unable to see her until now because she had been recovering in private from her "accident," which was what they were supposed to call the incident several weeks earlier when Lucius Malfoy, their father, had pushed her down some stairs in order to break several of her bones, and then insisted that she heal without magic, so as to learn how to deal with pain. "Pain is life. Life is Pain. Deal with it well, and you will learn how to live properly," he had said. Draco had been through much the same when he was younger.

As he entered the room he saw that it looked almost exactly like a muggle hospital room, which disgusted him even more than he already was. His sister was lying on a bed at the far end of the room, her legs in a cast and her arm in a sling. "Hello, Viola," Draco said. "How are you feeling?"

"All right, I suppose." She paused, then continued, "How was Hogwarts?"

"All right, I suppose," Draco said, mimicking her. "I got into a little trouble with the establishment towards the end of the last term, though."

"What happened?" Viola said, suddenly grinning.

"I unleashed a few dementors on one of those damned Weasley boys and his girlfriend," he said mockingly, "and I unfortunately got caught. Father wasn't too happy about that."

Viola chuckled a little, then quickly held it back. "What was the punishment?" she asked.

"I was forced to plant pretty little flowers along the side of the road! Can you imagine anything more demeaning?" Draco said. At this point, Viola laughed out loud. "It's not funny! I can't believe they made me do that! Its so unlike me," Draco said. 'I hate that Weasley' he thought to himself. 'It's all his fault.'

"Sorry," she said when her laughter subsided. "Where's father?"

"Working," Draco said disgustedly.

Viola paused for a moment, then started to cry. "I hate him," she said. "Why is he so mean to us?"

"He thinks he's conditioning us for the future," Draco said, still very disgusted.

"Well I hate it!" she cried out. "I simply can't bear another moment of the pain I'm in!"

"Don't worry, Viola," Draco said soothingly. "I will make sure you are avenged. I hate him too."

"Thank you, Draco," she replied, calming down.

"I must go," Draco said quickly, and he left the room. He then motioned for one of the house-elves to come over to him, and he asked the elf to watch over Viola while he was gone. After he was a short distance from where his sister was recuperating, he said to himself, "What was I thinking, promising revenge? I can't do anything, certainly not what needs to be done." He paused. "I'm such a coward. It's not funny, Draco."

He went outside to spend some time in solitude, continuing to berate himself in this manner when he suddenly ran into Lord Voldemort near the bright, sunny gardens.

"What are you doing here, my Lord?" Draco cried out, kneeling in supplication. "Is there something I may do for you, my Lord?"

"No, Draco, there is something I can do for you. Rise, my friend," Voldemort said.

"Thank you, my Lord," Draco said, rising. "What is it you intend to favor me with?"

"I have become somewhat dissatisfied with the way your father is doing his work for me. I am also aware that you and your sister are growing increasingly dissatisfied with the way he is fulfilling his role as your father," Voldemort replied.

"That is true, my Lord," Draco said.

"I want you to prove yourself to me. Kill your father. Once that is done, you will be allowed to join my Death Eaters. Then I shall be your new father."

Draco was stunned. Voldemort was asking him to kill his father. The man he had always hated, true, but was still his father. However, he couldn't help but think that this would be a suitable way to avenge his sister's injury. He subdued his misgivings.

"I will do it for you, my Lord. Would you be willing to help my sister as well? She was recently injured by his hands, and is not being allowed help by magic," Draco replied.

"Yes, I will," Voldemort said. "We shall do it tonight." He disapparated.

Once Voldemort had gone, Draco sat down on a nearby bench. "I will be a coward no longer," he said to himself. "I am not a coward, I am a man."

* * *

Around 7:00 P.M., Arthur and Ron returned to the Burrow. Ron had been driving them around the countryside all day, becoming accustomed to muggle driving. 'He's getting quite good at it,' Arthur thought to himself. 'Better than me, even. Good for him.'

Upon entering the house, Arthur and Ron found Percy waiting for them. "Welcome home, Dad," he said.

"Hello, Percy," Arthur replied. "How was your day?"

"It's been a very wonderful day, Dad," Percy said, sounding very happy indeed. "I spent a lot of time with Penelope, I've missed her these past few days I've had to be away from her. How was muggle driving, Ron?"

"Fun," Ron said, grinning. "In fact, I'm going upstairs to write Harry, Hermione, and Hannah about it." He paused, grinning even more. "Harry, Hermione, and Hannah! I think I'll start calling them my three H's!" He ran upstairs, chuckling.

"I just don't get him sometimes," Percy said to Arthur. "But I like him anyway."

"Me too," said Arthur. "You're both such wonderful sons."

"Thank you, Dad," Percy said, as they went to the table to plan his wedding.

* * *

Lucius Malfoy arrived back at the Malfoy Manor around 8:15 P.M. It had been a long, hard day for him, and he was looking forward to being able to relax for a couple hours. He got himself a glass of wine and sat down in a very comfortable chair, sipping slowly so he could savor the moment. Later, he'd probably spend some time with his son, though he didn't really know what they'd talk about.

He suddenly heard a knocking from the front door. He was very annoyed. It was probably a salesman of some sort, wishing to sell him some sort of new talisman because he was their "favorite customer." 'If I wanted what they were selling, I'd buy it in a store,' he thought to himself. 'Can't they just leave me alone?'

But it was not a salesman. It was Lord Voldemort.

Lucius immediately cleared his mind of all negative thoughts and kneeled before his master. "What do you desire with me, my Lord?"

Voldemort said nothing. He gazed down on Lucius with a disgusted look, and then Lucius suddenly felt a sharp pain starting on his back, which then moved down to his waist. There was a knife in his back!

Turning around to look at his assailant, he saw that it was his son, Draco Malfoy. "Goodbye, father," Draco said.

"I love you, my son," Lucius gasped, as he fell to the ground, and as he fell, he realized it was true. "I've never been more proud of you in my entire life." And as Lucius Malfoy left our earthly realm, he thought, 'Thank you,' although he did not know whom or what he was thanking.

THE END