Immortalitas Aestas

After Draco and Sirius disappeared with a pop, Harry was left standing between Dumbledore and Narcissa, heart thumping so loudly he could have sworn the other two could hear it. His throat had closed up somewhere in the middle of the Apparation spell, and he was unsure if he'd be able to find his voice.

He'd never been more scared in his entire life.

This realization surprised him a bit. After all, he'd faced Voldemort on several occasions, and was positive he'd been terrified in all of them.

But, he supposed this was different.

In each situation where he'd come face to face with Voldemort, he'd pretty much been thrust into them blindly, with little or no warning at all. He frankly hadn't had much time to get frightened, as he'd been too busy trying to stay alive. The one exception to that had been, of course, the Triwizard fiasco, which he'd been lucky to escape with his life.

Dumbledore suddenly placed his hand on Harry's shoulder, jolting him from his thoughts, and nearly causing him to jump out of his skin.

"Well, Harry, I think you should go on in for your detention. Professor Snape is sure to be waiting."

Harry didn't trust his voice, so he simply nodded, stepping away from the two adults and heading towards the castle. The shock of stepping from normal February temperatures into the above nineties again took his breath away, and Harry gripped the gates tightly for a moment before starting up the path.

As he walked, the temperature seemed to grow hotter, and the walk from the Hogwarts gates to the front doors longer. By the time he reached the school, the muscles in his legs were screaming at him and sweat was dripping down his back, no doubt due to his rather quick pace. The last thing he wanted was to be late and lose points for his house. He pushed open the doors, hoping he'd be greeted with slightly cooler air, only to have the heat steal what was left of his breath.

This was, he thought crossly, getting ridiculous. At least Draco's journey into Malfoy Manor would relieve this heat, assuming, of course, that he found the book and got back out. But Harry wasn't going to think about that right now.

Panting slightly from his quick trek across the Hogwarts grounds, he shoved a hand through his hair, pausing in his journey to the Potions classroom. He glanced around the Entrance Hall, seeing a couple of students sitting on the main staircase, sharing a book. Harry didn't quite understand the concept of studying on the stairs, but merely shrugged, continuing on his way to the dungeons. It was, most likely, cooler in the Entrance Hall than anywhere else in the school, he supposed.

His thoughts were spinning wildly in his head, and he was hoping he'd be able to keep the panic and fear for Draco pushed down, at least until he was finished with his detention. No reason to give Snape anything else to taunt him about, after all. He pushed open the door to the classroom and stepped inside, walking determinedly down the aisle.

Snape was seated at his desk, several rolls of parchment next to him, and he was viciously making marks on the poor essay before him. Harry could see the red ink from where he was standing.

"Professor?" he finally said after five minutes of silence, and was pleased to see that his voice had come out sounding normal.

"Potter," Snape replied, not glancing up from the essays in front of him. "I see you're on time."

"Yes, sir," Harry said uncertainly, not sure whether Snape had wanted a response or not. Making one last mark on the parchment, the potions master wrote a large "D" across the top, a look of satisfaction on his face. Harry swallowed audibly.

"Potter," Snape said again, adding the graded parchment to the pile to his left. "Your assignment for this detention is to clean up my potions store. I want all the containers wiped down and organized correctly on the shelves. You may leave once you're finished."

Harry blinked at this. That had not been what he was expecting at all. He'd been thinking more along the lines of scrubbing cauldrons with a toothbrush. "Yes, sir," he finally murmured, after realizing that Snape was still staring at him, awaiting his response. Snape nodded once then turned back to the pile of ungraded essays, selecting one with a grimace.

Harry shrugged and picked up a rag, which had been sitting on the tabletop nearest the potions storeroom. He stepped into the room, amazed to feel cool air, no doubt from some strategically placed spells necessary to keep the potion ingredients stable. He reached for a glass jar labeled "Dragonfly Wings", which for some reason was in the section for ingredients that began with "M", and slowly wiped it off.

He took a look around the room, surveying his project for the evening. It appeared that there wasn't a single jar or bottle on its correct shelf. Everything seemed totally disorganized and out of order, and it was very dusty in the room.

Harry sighed, and settled down on the floor with his legs crossed. He might as well get sort of comfortable, because this was going to be a long night.

***

Draco felt his knees give out, and he slumped to the ground, eyes still fixed on the fencing in front of him.

"I made it," he murmured out loud, running his fingers through the blades of grass. He'd never been so glad to see Malfoy Manor in his life. He was sure that he would have been unable to climb any more hills.

Then the uncertainty set in. After all, he had no idea what awaited him once he was inside the gates. He turned that thought off quickly, though, instead concentrating on getting off his knees.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself to his feet and took out his wand. He carefully approached the fence, still wary of setting off any alarms, and glanced around, hoping he wouldn't see anyone, and more importantly, that no one would see him. Not seeing anyone lurking in the trees, he turned his full attention to the fence in front of him. It was made of iron and had been specially designed for the Manor. The Malfoy crest was located every five feet or so along the top, the design looking slightly sinister in the darkness.

"Okay," Draco said softly, holding his wand tightly in his hand. Giving the typical "swish and flick", he said, "Finite Persisto Herba."

The fencing glowed a slight yellow color, just as it had in the Charms classroom back at Hogwarts, and Draco relaxed a fraction. "One down," he murmured, lifting his free hand to push the hair off his forehead. "Five to go."

He continued ending the spells on the fencing, each requiring a more complex wave of his wand, and watched with cautious optimism as the iron glowed the correct colors. He stopped every so often to again glance around the grounds, wanting to be absolutely sure that he was alone, and also taking a little time to get his thoughts in order for the next spells.

With each spell properly cast, the tension in Draco's body lessened, although Draco had no doubt that it would return tenfold once he was actually through the fencing. Pausing to take a deep breath, Draco pointed his wand directly at the spot of the fencing he was going to enter. The next three spells were the most complex, and actually tired him out a bit. He was hoping that the Pepper-Up Potion Snape had given him before leaving Hogwarts would help against those side effects.

He carefully ended the next two spells, careful not to let his concentration sway or to get too excited by his accomplishments, because the most difficult spell, and the one that had given him the most trouble, still remained.

Draco held his breath again, as the iron gleamed purple, thus indicating the completion of the fifth spell. Releasing his breath on a hiss, he pointed his wand again, giving the simple "swish and flick" motion again, remembering Harry's words in his mind, and said softly, "Aedifico Foris."

The opening appeared and Draco had to hold back the urge to "whoop" loudly. He'd done it. Glancing around the grounds one final time, he slid his wand into his pocket and transformed into a beautiful silver fox, climbing carefully through the opening.

Being a fox was quite different from being a human, Draco mused, and allowed himself a few seconds to get used to the transition. His center of gravity was quite a bit lower, and there was also the issue of having four legs. His sense of smell was heightened, as was his hearing. He could hear owls hooting in the trees of the forest lining the grounds, and even the small sounds of cicadas in the grass. His nose actually tickled a bit from the scent of roses, no doubt growing in the Malfoy Gardens, which had been enchanted to bloom all year round.

He jogged lightly across the grass, eyes and ears intent on his surroundings. The idea was for him to remain in his Animagus form, as he could travel more quickly and receive less attention in that form, unless he came across a dangerous situation. If that happened he was told to immediately change back and defend himself. So far, the journey across the Manor grounds had been uneventful. He came to a large body of water, which in reality was actually a small pond, and stepped up to the water's edge to see his reflection. Silver eyes gleamed back at him in the light of the moon, and his silver fur shone brightly. He was, he thought vainly, rather beautiful.

He stepped back away from the water and continued on his journey, jogging around the pond. It probably would have been quicker to swim across, but Draco had no intention of getting wet. He was sure that wet fur wouldn't be all that attractive on anyone - even a Malfoy.

He stopped again, this time outside the gardens, the scent of the flowers strong in the slight breeze. His nose tickled and he sneezed, a small animal sneeze that would have caused most girls to respond, "How cute!" Using a paw to brush away a leaf that had fallen from a nearby bush onto his head, he stepped slowly into the gardens, eyes carefully scanning the grounds.

Of all the places on the Manor grounds, Draco's least favorite was the gardens. There were many plants that were actually illegal to own. Several were of the man-eating variety, and several more had special charms to attack unwanted visitors. Draco desperately hoped he didn't qualify as one of those "unwanted visitors".

There were several rose bushes, in all different shades, lining one wall of the garden. Roses were his mother's favorite flower, and Lucius had gone to no expense to give them to her. Of course, it was all for appearances sake - his father actually couldn't have cared less about what his mother liked or did not like - but Lucius refused to look bad in front of his peers. To Draco's left was one of the man-eating plants, a tall vine that, strategically enough, was placed directly under what used to be his bedroom window. Draco had named the plant Louis when he'd been younger, after a vampire he'd read about in a Muggle book. This somehow seemed appropriate, even now.

Next to Louis were some lilac bushes and a white stone bench. Draco remembered that his mother had liked to sit on the bench and read when the weather had been nice. Shaking his head to clear away the memories, he sped up his pace. He wanted to get out of the gardens.

Once reaching the other side, he paused again, this time scanning the brick of the Manor itself. There was a door on the outside that led to the servant quarters, although the Malfoy's had never actually had servants, instead relying on the house-elves for their every need. Draco had used the door to escape from his father, and hoped that it hadn't been bolted shut.

He transformed back into his human self, long fingers immediately seeking out the doorknob, which would only appear after tapping each of the panels on the door itself in a specific order. Knocking once lightly on each panel, the handle appeared, and Draco nearly sobbed in relief. He turned the knob, body tense, and pushed the door open.

Gently closing the door behind him, he leaned against it for a moment, getting used to the claustrophobic space and the feeling of again walking on two legs. He carefully retrieved his wand from his inside pocket, whispering, "Lumos". The spell cast a soft glow of light on Draco's surroundings, and he nearly groaned aloud at what he saw.

Stairs.

A ton of stairs.

He'd forgotten about the stairs.

Bringing up his free hand, he pinched the bridge of his nose. It was just his luck, he supposed, dropping his hand back to his side. Sighing, he began his trudge up the steps, leg muscles screaming at him after only four flights.

He climbed slowly, first one flight, then ten, and actually had to stop after a while, knowing he simply couldn't go another step. He slid down the wall, one hand still holding his wand, the other tightly gripping the handrail, and sat on a step. How the hell had he managed to climb all these when he'd lived here? He remembered some days when he ran up and down them three or four times but now his body was already yelling at him in protest, and Draco knew he still had several more flights to climb. Taking a deep breath, he stood, doing his best to ignore the pain.

You know, he thought to himself, if you'd been a Gryffindor, you'd be used to this by now.

That thought put a grin on his face, which quickly turned into a grimace as he got a cramp in his left calf, causing him to pause in his journey to rub at it gingerly.

Finally Draco reached his destination. He carefully pushed the door open, wand ready in his other hand. He wasn't really expecting to see anyone, as the servants quarters hadn't been used since he'd left for Hogwarts, but wanted to be careful nonetheless. He'd used the rooms as his play land when he'd been younger, a place where no one would ever venture into and find him. It had been his sanctuary, and if either of his parents had known, they'd not said anything about it.

The floor was covered in dust and there were white sheets thrown over the furniture. In the corner Draco saw a small pile of blocks, built into what he'd imagined Hogwarts had looked like at the age of ten. Propped in another corner was a small broom. It was actually the broom he'd learned to fly on. There was a crate of Quidditch balls next to it. He smiled at the memories this room evoked, but knew he couldn't remain any longer. He had to find that book and get out of here.

Treading lightly across the floor, Draco opened another door, which led him into the hallway. Lucius' study was on this floor, ten doors to Draco's left. Of course, there was nowhere to hide in the hallway, so if anyone appeared they'd see Draco without any trouble. That is, they'd see him if it weren't for the Invisibility Cloak conveniently shrunk and hidden in his pocket.

Harry had given the cloak to him yesterday, saying that Draco had to promise to take it with him, as you never knew when you'd need it. And right now, Draco was very glad that Harry had done so. After saying a quick spell to return the item to its original size, he donned the cloak and arranged it so that every bit of him was hidden and set off down the hall.

Counting silently to himself, he glanced around once again. Draco hadn't set foot in this house in eighteen months, and was curious to see what, if any, changes had been made.

The family portraits still graced the walls, and Draco could see their eyes following his movement; they apparently had the ability to see through the Cloak. Between each doorway on his right was a small table, complete with a small vase of flowers. This had been another thing his mother had loved, and Draco was rather impressed that Lucius was still fulfilling her wishes. His wife had, after all, run off and fallen in love with Sirius Black.

Draco finally stopped in front of the study door, a gleaming expanse of oak, gold handle shining. Taking a deep breath, he reached out, hand closing around the knob, and turned it. There were no sirens, no lights; no noise of any kind. Draco relaxed slightly.

He pushed open the door, which was charmed so that only those of Malfoy blood could enter, and stepped lightly onto the carpet, feet sinking into the thick plush rug. He pulled off the cloak, instantly running a hand through his hair to tame it. He pocketed his wand and looked up.

His breath caught instantly in his throat.

For there, staring him in the eyes with a smirk on his lips, was Lucius Malfoy.