The Dragon, The Lion and The Serpent

Aftermaths and Lessons

"Stop her!" the Dark Lord shrieked and Lucius Malfoy immediately pulled out his wand.

Abigail quickly cast a protection spell on Ginny as she woke up and spun around to face Lucius, but it was too late.

Hermione thought her heart would burst from beating so fast as she anxiously watched Malfoy Sr. cast the Cruciatus curse on the Slytherin girl.

But once again, the spell backfired and narrowly missed Voldemort's second in command. It caused the rest of the Death Eaters to instantly back away from Abigail, even though their master continued to shriek at them furiously.

"Kill her, you idiots! She's only a little girl. Kill her, kill them all!"

Hermione wondered why on earth Voldemort didn't simply kill them all himself - it would have saved him a lot of time - but the thought quickly flew away from her mind as she suddenly realised that each and every Death Eater before her had turned around to face her, wand in hand.

Since the large, black cloak she wore hid her face and figure well, none of them could identify her, and they had no idea what to expect. They seemed too scared to strike the first blow after seeing what Abigail's shield had done. Instead, they watched her warily, and Hermione, terrified, stood frozen on the spot, helplessly trying to catch sight of her friends among the crowd. She spotted Ginny among the rows of Death Eaters, creeping away from the table unnoticed and then dodging spells sent her way.

She seemed unharmed, although her eyes were wide with fear. She had finally nearly reached Hermione, when there was a loud cry from the other end of the room. Immediately, the Death Eaters before them turned their attention back to the raised dais and saw Lucius Malfoy, lying on the floor on his side, his long blond hair in disarray, clutching a bleeding leg, his wand having fallen a few metres away from him.

Abigail stood above him, pointing her wand down at his chest, her eyes watching closely the rows of Death Eaters before her. Scarlet, slit-pupiled eyes watched on eagerly.

"Lower your wands or I'll blast him to pieces," Abigail warned them sharply, although she was trembling like a leaf. "I said lower your wands!" she yelled again when they did not respond instantly.

She jabbed her wand in Malfoy's side, who immediately hissed in pain and caused several Death Eaters to step back in shock and revulsion. The noise was animalistic, and hardly what they would have expected from Voldemort's second.

Abigail grabbed Malfoy by the front of his robes and lifted him up as best she could, her wand pressed against his neck.

"And what are you going to do now, Serpent?" There was a mocking tone in the voice that addressed her. Voldemort, after his brief panic, was now sitting comfortably in his throne looked down at the scene before him in delight. "Do you think you can kill my most worthy Death Eater and that I will let you get away with it?"

"Malfoy's only a safety measure to leave this wretched building alive," Abigail told him, partly hidden behind Malfoy's large stature. "But if you or any of your Death Eaters try anything, he's history."

She pressed the tip of her wand deeper into Malfoy's skin, who glanced up at his master in turn, although his face held no fear.

"My Lord!" he urged, still clutching his leg, blood trickling from his wound.

"Silence," the Dark Lord spat, quieting him at once. "And what about your friends, my dear? I could very well have them killed for all the insolence you have shown me."

Abigail smirked in return. "What friends?"

Voldemort's eyes flickered up towards the entrance at the back end of the hall, where one of the oak doors was slightly ajar.

"Very clever," he congratulated her, his pitiless red eyes looking down at his subjects. "Believe me when I say my Death Eaters will be severely punished for letting that happen."

The black-cloaked figures squirmed under his stare and several exchanged nervous glances as they realised that the two girls had slipped out right under their noses.

Voldemort once more turned his attention to Abigail and slowly raised his crooked pale white hand, a spidery finger pointed at the door.

"You may leave for now, Serpent," he said quietly. "But remember, you are being watched and Dumbledore won't always be there to protect you."

Abigail said nothing. She had never expected her plan with Malfoy to work. Voldemort would never have let her go so easily unless there was some sort of plan behind it all. Abigail didn't know what it was and certainly didn't have time to think about it. She roughly pushed Malfoy forward, who winced but staggered on, and the crowd of Death Eaters before them parted down the middle. Abigail kept a sharp eye left and right for any wands pointed in her direction, but there were none; no one was stupid enough to defy the Dark Lord's orders.

As Abigail approached the door, she stopped and stared for a few seconds at a certain Death Eater, who screamed in return and ran to her lord.

Abigail continued to march on, still using Malfoy as a hostage and shield and turned around as she finally reached the door.

"What is it Bellatrix?" Voldemort demanded loudly.

"She spoke in my mind my Lord! Her voice was in my head!" Bellatrix Lestrange cried out in terror.

"I'll be seeing you very soon, Malfoy," she whispered angrily in Lucius's ear before roughly pushing him forward and disappearing behind the open oak door, flinging it shut behind her.

She did not hear the rest of the conversation as she ran outside hurriedly and Disapparated as soon as she reached the gates.

"He's coming for you next, she said. He'll kill you, she said," Bellatrix continued crying out loud, clutching the bottom of Voldemort's robes.

"He'll kill you!"

"Who?" Voldemort demanded, bending his head down to his most faithful Death Eater.

"Harry Potter, my Lord," she finally breathed out.

*****

Abigail woke up the next morning with a start. Her head pounded painfully and she felt awfully faint. The meeting had taken a lot of energy out of her the previous night, especially since her shield had protected her from two Unforgivables. Her power had certainly increased over the previous year. She had not expected to escape the second attack, but was grateful that she had; one more curse and she would have surely been seriously hurt, or even killed.

After Apparating back to the Forbidden Forest last night, she found the two Gryffindor girls waiting for her at the clearing and all three of them walked silently back to the castle; Ginny trembling in Hermione's arms, whilst the Head girl remained quiet.

Abigail didn't blame them. Fear overcame her too as she walked back to the castle and she couldn't help but throw up in the bathroom as soon as she reached the Slytherin common room. More than anything she feared Voldemort's revenge and needed to speak to Malfoy about it. Only he could tell her what the Dark Lord had planned for her.

Getting out of bed, Abigail quickly got dressed and when she sat down to put her shoes on, her owl suddenly swooped into her dorm through the window, carrying a letter on its leg. She took it and trying not to wake her roommates, she quietly walked out of her dorm and went down to the Slytherin common room.

Curling up into a plush armchair, she opened the letter and read it to herself.

Dear Abigail,

Have you heard about your mother? She has been transferred to St Mungo's and I shall try and visit her within the next two weeks. I am still at Malfoy Manor and we have both been invited to stay over for Christmas, therefore I hope to see you here very soon. I miss you very much.

Your Father.

"Next two weeks!" she exclaimed out loud.

What the hell? Staying at Malfoy Manor for Christmas? Who is Malfoy trying to fool?

This definitely wasn't her father writing to her; now she was sure of it. Whatever was going on, she was going to figure it out. She would go to Malfoy Manor during the Christmas holidays and get her father back.

How, she had no idea. But she had no other choice and would probably need Draco's help, although she didn't trust him at all.

She folded up the letter angrily, stuffed it in her pocket, but when she stepped out of the common room, she bumped into Snape; a very angry Snape.

He pushed her back inside and put a silencing charm on the common room and locked the doors.

"Did you get what you were hoping for?" he asked calmly, looking down his nose at her, obviously trying to control his wrath.

"I don't know what you're talking about -" she started, but he cut in angrily.

"That was the most selfish thing you could have done! You went too far this time you insufferable idiot!"

Abigail hardly listened to what he had to say and sat down in the armchair again.

"I don't care," she said quietly. "I did it to save my mother, it's none of your concern."

Unfortunately, she was pushing Snape to his limits. He blanched with fury.

"It concerns all of us now!" he yelled at her. "I've never known anyone to do something as stupid as what you did last night!"

His words finally seemed to hit her and she stood up to confront him.

"Don't you get it? I don't belong to your side. I'm not a pawn Dumbledore or you can play with for your benefit. My family is neutral, I can't choose sides!" she cried out in exasperation.

"Precisely!" Snape retorted and suddenly pointed an accusing finger at her. "You fell right into the Dark Lord's trap! He knew exactly what you were going to do. He knew you would go to him for a counter-curse, he knew you would save the Weasley girl. And not only did you do that, but you also showed him the extent of your powers!"

Abigail looked back at Snape as if he'd gone mad.

It doesn't make sense! What it matter if I've showed Voldemort my powers?

"Don't you see?" Snape sneered at her. "You're indebted to him!"

And then it hit her. She finally understood what Snape meant. She had rescued Ginny, but her family was neutral to the war and so since she had helped the Light side, she would eventually have to help Voldemort.

But... but someone had to save Ginny," Abigail retorted, finally realising the gravity of her act. "Besides, I prevented Blaise from becoming a Death-Eater."

"Wrong," Snape told her, his face turning grave again. "They found another Muggle to sacrifice, the ritual continued."

Abigail looked back at him aghast. Blaise was a Death-Eater now!

Suddenly, something else struck her.

"So, are you saying that you wouldn't have saved Ginny?" she asked him slowly.

Snape looked back at her blankly. "She was a sacrifice we had to make."

Abigail opened her eyes wide and had the sudden urge of laughing at the irony and sadness of the situation.

And they call themselves the good side!

"Listen Professor," she said very clearly. "There is no 'we'. I might be a Slytherin, but I still have a sense of honour. I don't give up on my friends, I don't leave them to die and honestly, I don't care about the consequences of my actions."

She then side-stepped him swiftly and stormed out of the common room, with Snape shouting behind her.

"If you help them, then we might as well all die now!"

*****

Abigail ran down the stairs as fast as she could. She was suffocating in this enormous castle and needed to get out quickly. She needed fresh air, she needed to take in everything that had happened these past days.

She suddenly realised that she needed her mother. She needed to hear her soothing voice again telling her everything would be alright. She would have done the right thing last night and Abigail was terrified that she hadn't.

She continued her trip down the stairs, passing students who looked back at her with curiosity. She didn't notice the dark-haired Slytherin coming towards her.

Feeling her arm grabbed roughly and pulled away from the next flight of stairs, Abigail spun around in fright.

"We need to talk!" Blaise said sternly to her.

Oh shit!

"I've got nothing to say to you!" she cried out, breathing heavily, but he continued to pull her away from the crowd and towards a quieter spot.

"You've gone way too far Abigail! What you did last night to our Lord was unforgivable!" he barked at her.

Pulling her arm free, Abigail's eyes glittered back at him angrily. "What he did to my mother is fucking unforgivable! Now get the hell away from me Blaise! We're over, you understand! It's over, so don't ever talk to me again!"

She turned to leave but heard his taunting voice behind her. "This isn't over Abby. You'll pay for what you did... Malfoy already has."

Prick!

Abigail continued her way down, but in her mind she couldn't help wondering what had happened to the Slytherin Prince.

*****

Hours later, Abigail began to shiver from the winter cold. She had been sitting outside, by the lake, on the rocks, where she could stare out at the water's surface and the sky's reflection on it.

It was her favourite spot.

Sighing heavily, she stamped out her last cigarette and wiped her frozen tears away. Her world had been turned upside down and finally she had realised that she had acted impulsively, first with Malfoy and then with Voldemort.

She had been like a hurricane that nobody could calm down until it was satisfied by its destructive path. And in the end, everything she had done hadn't been useful at all. She was still without a counter-curse and felt even more lost.

If only her mother could wake up....

She stared out numbly towards the vast lake, contemplating the ripples on its surface due to the wind. It blew strands of her long black hair into her face, but instead of pushing it away, she simply continued to stare.

"Abby?" a voice called behind her. "What are you doing here?"

Although she recognised the voice, Abigail didn't look up.

She felt a warm and heavy cloak slip onto her shoulders and Harry eventually sat down beside her. He looked at her for a while and then turned his head to stare out into the lake.

"I use to come down here a lot when my godfather died," he finally told her. "It felt good being lost in my thoughts, away from reality. I could pretend he was still alive and any moment from now he would come and find me."

Feeling the cold wind caress her neck, Abigail pulled the cloak tighter around her. "My father mourned Sirius' death you know. He seemed pretty hurt when he heard the news, but he refused to show it."

Seeing his surprised face, Abigail smiled at him knowingly, pushing her hair away from her face. "They were related. Remember, all purebloods are nowadays."

Harry nodded at her words. "Hermione told me everything this morning. I'm glad you rescued Ginny."

She didn't answer, preferring to stare out into the open landscape before her. She couldn't tell him what Snape had said. How could she?

"I'm sorry about your mother Abby, but please don't face your pain alone," he eventually told her. "Trust me, it doesn't help."

She gazed back at him sadly, pushing her hair back behind her ears. Her eyes couldn't help but look straight into his bright and sincere emerald eyes.

"I know."

Silence followed as they continued to gaze at each other.

"She was so frightened. I sensed it at the hospital, fear and panic totally overcame her and so her spells didn't work," Abigail suddenly explained to him softly.

Her chin began to tremble again, but she refused to let herself cry in front of Harry.

"Magical spells don't work with a confused mind. Now you understand what I meant by fear being the basis to Voldemort's power."

Harry nodded and seeing her distressed face, he gently took her hand.

"It's ok to cry, you know," he said after a moment.

"No, its not," she said with an empty voice, getting back up on her feet. "My mother isn't dead after all, she's just not well at the moment."

Harry looked back at her surprised as she handed him back the cloak and, turning her back on him, headed back to the castle.

*****

Reaching the castle doors, Abby noticed Ginny standing in her way.

"Abby, I'm so sorry about everything," she said gingerly.

The Slytherin girl gave her a cold look in return. "I warned you about him Gin."

"I know and I should have listened. I'm so sorry for being such an idiot. Please, can you forgive me?" Ginny asked her anxiously.

"Of course I will," Abby answered, a smile creeping on her face.

She hugged her friend and the two girls headed inside the castle. As they crossed the entrance hall, they noticed a fair number of students staring at the announcements board and talking eagerly amongst themselves.

"What's going on?" Abigail asked out loud.

But as she saw the notice on the board she groaned.

Not again!

Ginny squealed at the news. "It's official! The Christmas ball is happening next week!"

*****

(Draco's POV)

Draco slowly took off his black shirt, turning his head to look at the state of his back through the mirror. He had locked himself inside the bathroom and quickly needed to get rid of the cuts and bruises, which covered his body, before Hermione woke up.

The only problem was the limping, he couldn't help it and no spell could conceal it. He was sure there was a spell, somewhere, but he couldn't remember it, and right now he didn't care enough to find it.

He looked down at the blood, which covered his clothes again. The ritual had continued as planned but this time a whole Muggle family had been killed to compensate for a Death Eater's loss.

When Voldemort had discovered that Avery had been killed, Draco would never forget how those horrifying beady red eyes had abruptly turned to him.

"This is all your fault!" he had hissed.

And Voldemort, never the sort of man to do his dirty work, had ordered Lucius Malfoy to torture his son. Draco hadn't protested, or even cried in pain, when the Cruciatus curse was repeatedly used on him, or when the whip had ripped open the skin on his back. Those sort of things had happened before. He was prepared for them.

He was used to the pain and the black memories, which filled his mind each time. They haunted him at night during his sleep, which was the only time when they could overtake his mind.

But it was the blood he would never get used to, nor the satisfaction on his father's face. It angered him more than anything else.

"Bastard," Draco muttered angrily, punching the mirror before him and effectively shattering it into millions of shards.

Alarmed by the noise, a knock was heard on the bathroom door.

"Go away Granger!" he growled and hearing nothing in return, he turned back to face the shattered mirror until he suddenly heard the door unlock.

Before Malfoy could cover himself, Granger walked in and gasped loudly at the sight of him.

"Get out!" he told her, turning his back to her. "This isn't any of your business, I told you not to come in here! "

Whatever was happening with Granger, he had made the right decision by putting a stop to it. If Voldemort or any one else ever found out what little had happened between them, then they would both die. And now that Blaise was initiated, he had to be even more careful not to reveal anything.

"It wouldn't have happened if we hadn't gone there, so it damn well is!" she retorted, pulling out her wand.

"Evanesco!" she said, pointing at the mess on the floor, which instantly disappeared.

Draco looked back at her surprised as she started healing his wounds.

"He expected Abigail to be there," he said quietly after a moment as he observed her healing his wounds.

"Oh Draco," she spoke up, worry in her voice as she looked at the state of his back. "Why do you let him do this to you?"

He seized her hand, intending to make her stop, but instead it caused her to step even closer to him.

"Granger, if I could change I would... take back that stupid vow I would... but I can't!"

Suddenly all his resolutions seem to fly away as her sorrowful eyes captivated his attention and he felt himself irresistibly attracted to her.

Still holding on to her firmly, he bent down and kissed her softly on the lips. He didn't expect her to kiss him back, nor did he intend her to, because somehow this was his way of simply saying 'thank you'.

Her chocolate eyes flickered with surprise and Draco realised his error.

He was a Death Eater with a job to do and, unless he wanted to die, he needed to do it quick.

"You'd better leave," he told her in his usual cold voice.

Unfortunately, Hermione didn't budge. "No, you still need -"

But her voice made him even more determined. "Don't you understand English?!" he shouted at her. "Beat it!"

She left hurriedly, scared of his sudden reaction, and as Draco watched her go a mixture of emotions rushed through his soul.

*****

"Serpent!"

He had finally managed to find her, near the lake, as usual. She was sitting by herself on the rocks again, doing her homework.

She turned around surprised and scowled as she recognised him.

"Hello, Malfoy!" she greeted him coldly. "Concealed your bruises did you? You still have to work on that limping though."

He smirked, ignoring her attempts to aggravate him. "You probably know why I'm here."

Her face fell, as she understood his meaning. Voldemort hadn't lost any time. After the meeting he had instantly ordered Draco to find Abigail and force her to regain her neutrality by helping his cause.

"Fine," she said indifferently. "What is it you want?" Idly, she wondered if she would have anticipated Draco's demands if Snape had not shown her the true nature of her foolishness.

"You should teach me some of your family magic," he answered maliciously, feeling his power over her. "For instance, how did you protect yourself from the Unforgivable curses?"

"That is for you to discover," Abigail answered without hesitation. "Anyone can protect himself from those curses. We all have a family ancestor who when summoned creates a protective shield. Each family has a different one and I don't happen to know yours."

She then looked up at him from her homework and grinned.

Not letting himself get disappointed, Draco continued. "Then teach me one of your family spells."

Thinking upon it for a moment, Abigail pulled out her wand and pointed it at her book.

"Stonificus!"

Her book suddenly turned grey. It was no longer made of paper, but hard rock stone.

"Very impressive," he said sarcastically, "but anyone can do that."

"Yes, but I also know how to transform objects into wood, metal, stone or liquify them."

Draco looked at her unimpressed. "Sure, Hogwarts doesn't teach us that, but you must know something better."

His words seemed to anger her considerably. "You want me to teach you how to kill people?" she shouted back at him.

"No, but you must have more powerful spells than that!" he replied calmly, casting her a stony glare. "In case you haven't noticed, I brought your mother to St Mungo's, you threatened the Dark Lord, you killed one of his-"

But before he could finish, Abigail suddenly turned her wand at him. "Boisum clothes!"

He watched unamused as the cloth of his school uniform and black cloak suddenly changed into ebony wood.

*****

Draco spent the rest of the afternoon arguing with Abigail over which curses were useful to learn or not. He finally decided that if he was ever going to learn more from her then he'd have to be patient. The Serpent heir wouldn't reveal her darkest spells just yet and so he half-listened, extremely bored as she taught him simple and insignificant spells.

"I think I've had enough for today," he said eventually, pocketing his wand and standing up from the rock he was sitting on. "I'll be seeing you same time, same place tomorrow."

As he expected, she argued back. "And who says I'm free tomorrow? I have tons of homework to catch up on as I was in hospital and -"

But Draco hardly listened. "And you'll be coming with me to the Christmas Ball, so dress accordingly."

He walked past her, meaning to leave, but looked down amused as her eyes opened up wide.

"Excuse me?! I have no intention of going to that stupid ball and even less of going with you!" she exclaimed, standing up herself.

"Everyone has to go on Dumbledore's orders and I'm not taking Pansy again," he explained walking back to the castle without bothering to face her.

"I don't care if you don't want to go with Parkinslut!" Abigail shouted back angrily, trampling after him. "I won't go with you -"

"Too bad, you still are," he added with a smirk and suddenly turned around to face her. "You and I can still be together you know."

"Are you kidding me?! I fucking hate you!" she shouted back at him angrily, stopping abruptly. She was furious and seemed to lose track of what she was saying. Draco, suddenly realising she was causing a scene again in front of other students, pulled her aside.

"I can't understand how you could ever think that I would go with you;" she continued not bothering to keep her voice down, "an arrogant stuck up asshole! Besides, even if I went to the ball, I'd rather go with Ha -"

But she stopped short, catching herself before her tongue slipped.

However, Draco realised her mistake and felt his blood suddenly boil in his veins. He gripped her wrist even harder and turned around to face her, menacingly.

"With Potter."

His voice was chilling to the bone.

"Is that what you were going to say?" His silver eyes watched her like a hawk as she tried to back away from him and lowered her gaze to the ground.

"Did you really think that we Slytherins would let you go to the Ball with him?" he continued dangerously. "I might have let you see him before but from now on I don't ever want to see you near him again -"

"You're such a hypocrite!" Abigail suddenly cut in. "I'm sure you're dying to go with Granger -"

"There's nothing going on between us," he answered calmly, letting go of her wrist. He knew perfectly well that if he lost his temper now, Abigail would see right through his lies.

She looked straight into his eyes, searching for the truth, but quickly gave up and walked away towards the castle doors. Draco Malfoy's soul was unfathomable, even to him.

*****

Draco found the Slytherin common room empty that night and slipped into the leather couch, sighing heavily with fatigue. Reaching under a nearby cupboard, he found a half-empty bottle of firewhiskey and proceeded to down it.

"How did it go?" a voice asked him firmly.

"It'll take some time before she tells me what we want," Draco answered back, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

Blaise sat down opposite him. "We don't have much time."

Draco looked at his long-time friend and noticed how tired he seemed. He certainly hadn't slept either since his initiation.

"There's a problem though," Draco said calmly, leaning back in his chair.

Blaise turned his head to look at him, concerned. His life was at risk in this too.

"She's befriending the Gryffindors. She's hardly a Slytherin anymore," Draco continued, finding a couple of Butterbeers left in the cupboard.

He watched as his friend's blue eyes turned darker at his words.

"I want her back," the dark-haired Death-Eater admitted to him, taking the Butterbeer Draco handed him.

Draco smirked in return. "I know. We'll find a way."

As he spoke, the Slytherin common room door suddenly swung open and Pansy walked in, winking at Blaise as she passed them by and purposely avoiding Draco. He preferred not to respond anymore when she flirted with him.

Blaise, turning back to face Draco, smirked as well.

"Catch you later!" he sneered as she followed Pansy up to the boys' dormitories.