Fait Accompli

Chapter 5: Pawn to Queen

The negotiations were quick and brutal. Narcissa held firm to only three clauses in the contract, though those clauses were horrible enough. The nurse demanded outrageous concessions in return, and Narcissa wished rather desperately that she could simply kill the obnoxious woman right now and have done with it. Cold logic whittled away tiny bits of the other woman's demands as improbable, and finally Narcissa set it all down on the parchment, in plain ink this time. She blew on the ink to dry it.

"Agreed then?"

"Agreed."

The parchment was pushed across the table to Draco. "Sign it, sweetie."

He mutely refused, arms folded rebelliously across his chest. Suddenly, a clanging noise reverberated throughout the manor house, loud and insistent. Narcissa looked up in alarm.

"Sign it now, Draco!"

Resentfully, he glared at her, but he pulled the parchment to him. She handed him the black quill. He winced as he signed his name, and almost put his hand in his mouth again before he caught her eye.

"Now the girl," Narcissa said, ignoring the ever-increasing noise from upstairs. The nurse appeared to be about to refuse, triumphant that rescue was at hand, until Narcissa dug her wand into that fat neck once more.

"I have nothing to lose now," she said coldly. "It would be a shame for you to die this close to freedom."

With a glare equally as resentful as Draco's had been, the nurse placed the parchment on the girl's lap and the black quill in her hand. Unseeing eyes vaguely looked her way as she instructed the girl to sign the contract. The girl nodded fuzzily and her hand formed a familiar scrawl. A bloody signature blossomed on the back of her hand.

Narcissa picked up the contract carefully, almost weeping with relief. "Done, then."

Shouts came from upstairs, and the sound of heavy feet. Narcissa winced at the thought of their muddy boots dirtying her floors. She delicately dipped the quill's sharp tip into an open vial on the table and drew the nib across the wooden surface, peering at the wet smear left behind. Flecks of blood from the quill dotted it. She carefully inhaled the scent of the potion and screwed up her eyes in thought.

"A dreamless sleep potion." The nurse nodded. "I think you ought to take this."

"You think... beg pardon?"

"I think you should take it," Narcissa repeated. "You yourself said that the Minister is likely feeling bloodthirsty at the moment. While I'm sure someone at St. Mungo's had to have heard the fuss you put up, and they are ascribing your unknown whereabouts to suspected foul play, it would be wise for you to appear the unconscious victim when the cavalry comes storming in with vengeance on their minds. Don't you think?"

"As much as I might cherish the sight of you being led away in chains, for once you may have a point." Here the nurse glanced with revulsion at the signed contract. "Very well."

Narcissa watched her drain the vial and, when the last drop was swallowed, turned to her son.

"Go let them in, Draco."

"Why? They'll never find us."

"Because I told you to, that's why."

The little boy inside the almost-man responded to the stern command before he had time to think about it. Obeying Mum was a force of habit. Only when he was out of earshot did Narcissa allow herself a vicious smirk at the nurse, whose head was drooping onto her abundant bosom. It was shameful, really, for a Healer to be so forgetful about her potions. Any halfwit knew the sole difference between a dreamless sleep potion and Silent Death was human blood. She carefully wiped the quill clean on the corpse's robes and composed herself for what was coming.

Draco listened to the thumps from the drawing room above him, and tapped the antechamber's ceiling three times with his wand. He smirked at the sound of cursing as the rug rolled up above his head; from the sound of it, he had managed to knock over at least three people.

He heaved the trap door open. "Hullo there. Whatever took you so long?"

He left the trap door open and scurried back down the steps before anyone could think to get their wands out. No sense pushing his luck there. Mum was seated at the table still, next to the slumbering nurse, and he leaned up against it in an attempt to appear nonchalant as the room rapidly filled with Aurors- angry Aurors. The Minister broke through the ranks; her eyes lit hungrily upon the pair of Malfoys, the slumped Healer and the wan form of Miss Granger. Teeth flashed in a feral smile.

"Narcissa Malfoy, " she began in ringing tones, "you are under arrest for the kidnapping of one Hermione Granger. You will surrender your wand at once."

Looking almost bored, Narcissa held out the wand. A skittish young man, barely out of the pimply stage, gingerly took it from her and retreated to safety. The barest hint of a dimple flashed; she was thoroughly amused by their too obvious fear of her.

"Lovely." The Minister seemed to swell, and every word was pronounced with relish. "You are hereby sentenced to death, execution to take place in three weeks time."

A ripple went through the crowded Aurors and one manicured eyebrow shot up of its own accord. "Kidnapping is not a capital crime."

"Ask me if I give a damn." Amelia Bones turned to Draco, her face still frozen in a mad caricature of glee. "Draco Malfoy, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of one Hermione Granger. Surrender your wand at once."

Narcissa saw her son's cheek twitch, just once. He was scared. "I'm afraid there's a little snag there, Minister," she said calmly. She picked up the parchment and waved it once. "Draco had no part in any crime, and even if he did you couldn't arrest him."

"Bollocks," Madam Bones snapped. "You've only your word that he- a Malfoy!- has done nothing wrong. I find that less than sufficient, especially with the girl in question lying right there behind the pair of you. Furthermore, I don't care if I have to charge him with spitting in the streets, he will be arrested, charged, tried and executed. Maybe in that order, maybe not."

Narcissa waved the parchment once more and Madam Bones snatched it from her hand, giving it a cursory glance. "What a load of tosh," she said dismissively, throwing the contract to the floor. "Incendio."

The contract lay on the stone floor, burning merrily. Well, there were flames anyway. Madam Bones glared at the parchment for a few more moments and then put out the fire with a look of supreme disgust.

"So you've Impervius'ed it. Means nothing. You two, take the boy's wand and let's get out of here. This house reeks."

A grey tabby, all but unnoticed, darted between legs to sniff at the parchment. As Narcissa stood to get between her son and the Aurors, Minerva McGonagall appeared ostensibly from out of thin air and strode forward, the parchment clutched in her hand.

"What exactly is the meaning of this?"

"Minerva," Madam Bones exclaimed, startled. "Where the devil..."

"Harry asked that I be present," the teacher said shortly, by way of explanation. She thrust the contract under Narcissa's nose and shook it. "Explain this."

"It's quite simple." Narcissa carefully searched for the right words. This woman would be a good ally, even unwittingly. Especially unwittingly. "The Minister has decided that my son is to be executed without benefit of a trial, or evidence. She wishes to use him as a sacrificial pawn to assuage public outcry; I was forced to take steps."

Minerva spun incredulously on the Minister. "Amelia!"

Madam Bones shrugged. "His father was You-Know-Who's top Death Eater. With or without evidence, you can't tell me the boy's an innocent."

"He is a student! A child!"

"Lucius Malfoy killed Susan!"

"Then I shall fetch Lucius Malfoy's body and you can execute him! Since when is vengeance a matter of law, Amelia?"

The Minister gesticulated wildly, spittle flying from the corner of her mouth. "If people hadn't been so soft the first time, Lucius Malfoy would have been executed years ago and Susan would still be alive! But no, due to technicalities and delicate sensibilities, people who we didn't have enough evidence on and yet were nevertheless guilty as sin were let free! I won't have it, Minerva, and you can't stop me!" she shrieked, bursting into tears.

The assembled Aurors, mostly trainees with little to no field experience, stood aghast at this outburst, unsure of what to do. It was by now painfully obvious that this was no longer the straightforward raid they had planned on. For the moment Minerva allowed Madam Bones to grieve, perusing the document more carefully. Her thin lips pressed together until they almost disappeared.

"Amelia, you should have the Aurors take Mrs. Malfoy into custody, and bring someone in to see to Miss Granger and this Healer. As to young Mr. Malfoy, it seems that the course of prudence would be to take him and this contract to Dumbledore."

"I will not allow him to go free."

"Frankly, Amelia, at this point in time I don't think you have a choice. I won't risk Miss Granger just because you have a vendetta."

At last, Narcissa allowed her smirk to escape. Pale cheeks dimpled spitefully at the Minister. "Checkmate."