- Rating:
- PG-13
- House:
- Astronomy Tower
- Characters:
- Draco Malfoy Harry Potter
- Genres:
- Romance Slash
- Era:
- Multiple Eras
- Spoilers:
- Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire
- Stats:
-
Published: 03/30/2004Updated: 04/03/2004Words: 34,819Chapters: 23Hits: 78,050
Draco Malfoy and the Heart of Slytherin
Saber ShadowKitten
- Story Summary:
- At the heart of every Slytherin...
Chapter 05
- Posted:
- 03/30/2004
- Hits:
- 3,243
Chapter Five: Death of a Malfoy
Resembling a pair of street urchins, Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter appeared
with their trunks and Hedwig's cage at the Leaky Cauldron at precisely 11:28
a.m. Tom, the Cauldron's bartender, clapped jovially and smiled at the boys.
"You made it safe and sound, I see."
"The portkey worked fine, sir," Harry said, handing Tom the garish lady's
handbag that served as the key. The teens had appeared in the room they'd be
renting for the night. Harry had made arrangements for a taxi to take them to
King's Cross in the morning.
"Very good." Tom headed for the door. "I'll leave you boys to it. Busy day
and all."
After Tom left, Harry turned to Draco. "Gringotts?"
Draco checked to make sure he had the Malfoy vault key and nodded. "The
sooner I obtain new clothing, the better. People are going to think I've been
adopted by the Weasleys if they see me like this."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Just don't toss anything. I plan for our lessons to
continue once we return to Hogwarts and you might be more comfortable in the old
Muggle clothing."
Draco snorted as he followed Harry out of the room. "You honestly believe
I'll continue to associate with you at school?"
"Yes."
"And why's that?"
Harry stopped on the stairs and looked back at Draco. "Because knowledge and
power are addictive. Because you know I won't ask anything in payment. Because
you know eventually the student exceeds the Master."
Draco was irritated by Harry's factual tone of voice. "Then what do you get
out of this, Potter?"
A blank mask descended over Harry's features. It was a mask Draco was
familiar with; Harry wore it ninety percent of the time.
Harry turned and continued down the stairs, saying over his shoulder, "Ask me
another time."
Draco's lips compressed in a thin line. He fell back into step behind the
aggravating Gryffindor. If what Potter had said wasn't true about Draco's
reasons for continuing the lessons, Draco would tell the other boy where to
shove it. If they had still been within the boundaries of the Dursleys home,
Draco might have shoved it to Harry himself.
Diagon Alley was bustling with wizards and witches as the two boys crossed
through the portal behind the Leaky Cauldron. Students and parents hurried from
shop to shop, gathering school supplies. Excitement permeated the air as
classmates met again after the summer holidays. Conversation was loud and
boisterous, punctuated by laughter and the occasional childish scream.
Draco and Harry strode in fluid step, side by side, as they made their way to
Gringotts Bank. Draco was amused by the number of heads they turned. Staring and
whispering followed in their wake, and the few snatches he heard questioned
their identity and commented on their clothing. A group of girls giggled when
they passed, and Draco shot them a wink. They squealed.
Harry didn't react to the attention they were getting. Draco didn't see the
Gryffindor look in any direction except the way they were heading, but he had a
feeling Potter saw everything that was going on around them.
At Gringotts, their ragged appearance didn't matter as long as they had their
vault keys. Draco was pleased to find the Malfoy vault untouched. He'd secretly
feared his mother would have cleaned it out, though he wouldn't have blamed her.
With Lucius in Azkaban, their saved wealth was their only source of income.
After signing some papers that transferred the vault into his name -- Draco
assumed because of his father -- and with a bag filled with galleons, Draco bid
goodbye to Harry in the lobby and made his way to Madam Malkin's alone.
Madam Malkin was measuring two first years for their robes when Draco entered
the shop. The smell of fabric and tailors chalk greeted him, sending him back in
time. Having had a private tailor fit him when he'd last grown, he hadn't needed
to come to Madam Malkin's since his own first year -- when he'd unknowingly met
Harry Potter for the first time. Draco didn't remember being as small as the two
students on the measuring blocks, though.
"I hope I'm sorted into Slytherin." The tow-headed eleven-year-old on the
left slanted a look at the brunette on the second block. "What about you? What
House do you want to be sorted into?"
"Gryffindor," the other first year replied. "Slytherins are slimy.
Gryffindors are great!"
"Sly, not slimy," Draco spoke up, drawing the children's attention. Madam
Malkin looked around the Gryffindor-wannabe's legs and smiled in welcome.
"Mr. Malfoy! My how you've grown," Madam Malkin said. The measuring tape
hanging around her shoulders twitched in anticipation. "Come for new school
robes, have you?"
"An entire new wardrobe, actually," Draco corrected. Both students were now
staring at him with a mixture of fascination and fear. "I'm sure you've heard
about my father."
"Terrible, that," Madam Malkin said, though whether she was referring to the
fact that Lucius had murdered a Muggle family, or that he was locked away in
Azkaban, it was hard to tell.
"Isn't it, though?" Draco responded, equally as vague. "In any event, I'm in
need of clothing, as I'm sure you can see."
"I'll be with you as soon as I finish with these boys," she said and
continued to work.
"Are you Draco Malfoy?" the Slytherin-potential asked tentatively.
"I am," Draco acknowledged with an affirmative nod.
"Aren't you supposed to be kidnapped?" the tow-haired questioned.
Draco's pale brow arched. "Kidnapped?"
"The Daily Prophet reported you were missing," the dark-haired one
piped up. "And Rita Skeeter sepcu- specta- suspec-a-lated that it had something
do with your father."
"You're both finished," Madam Malkin quashed further conversation. "Off you
go, now. Your robes will be delivered later today." She turned to Draco. "Now,
Mr. Malfoy, let's see what we can do for you."
*****
Dressed comfortably in new school underrobes (which resembled a Muggle shirt
and trousers tightly cuffed at the ankle and billowed in the legs), Draco left
Madam Malkin's with a faint smirk. The tattoo spider was still crawling around
his body and it had caused Madam Malkin to shriek when she saw it.
Draco had school supplies to purchase -- Snape had owled his list shortly
after Potter's birthday -- but his feet took him from the sunny and populated
Diagon Alley to the shadowy and silent Knockturn Alley. He had potion
ingredients he needed to replace that weren't available to students in the
regular shops. Most of the ingredients for Harry's sleeping draught -- which
Draco knew he needed to replenish soon -- were just a few of them.
Draco had visited Knockturn Alley with his father since he was old enough to
walk. The sliding shadows and hidden, watchful eyes had no effect on him. He was
left alone by the vendors and not beckoned by side-alley cutthroats as he made
his way confidently through the streets.
Thecary's Potions smelled cloyingly of cloves, and Draco wrinkled his nose as
he entered the dark, dreary shop. Deep wood shelves, lined with jars and boxes,
were covered in dust. Cobwebs stretched across corners, catching the faint
sunlight coming through the chipped paint-covered window.
Draco crossed purposefully to the long wooden counter and rapped his knuckles
hard on the surface. Those who shopped at Thecary's knew that most of the
business was held in the back rooms of the shop. While Draco waited for the
shopkeeper to emerge, he removed his ingredients list from his pocket and
double-checked to make certain everything that he needed was on it.
Conversation preceded the shopkeeper and a customer as they emerged from the
back. Draco recognized the witch in fuchsia robes as Pansy Parkinson's mother,
Posey, and he sniffed in disdain. Posey was a whiny clinger like her daughter,
always fawning over the Malfoy men.
Draco put on false aires and smiled politely. "Mrs. Parkinson, how lovely to
see you again."
"Draco, darling!" Posey rushed over and hugged him to her ample bosom. "How
are you? Everyone's been worried about you!"
Draco doubted that, but he refrained from saying so. "I've been busy," he
lied smoothly. He extracted himself from her hold and laid his list on the
counter. "I require these, if you would, sir."
"Yes, Master Malfoy," the shopkeeper said, taking the list and heading into
the back again.
"How have you been, sweetums?" Posey asked, brushing invisible lint from his
shoulders. "I'm dreadfully sorry about your father. Nasty business, that, but
you know how it is."
Draco frowned slightly. "How what is?"
"Why, the sacrifices one must make in the name of our Dark Lord," Posey said.
"Really, Draco, your father couldn't have expected anything less after being
tossed into Azkaban, not after last time. The Dark Lord isn't taking any
chances."
"Chances about what?" Draco was getting annoyed. Posey was talking without
saying anything.
"About anyone confirming His return." Posey shook her dark head. "It's a
pity. Your father was a good man. I'm sure his death was painless."
Draco stared at her, unblinking. The shop was extremely quiet suddenly, and
his breathing very loud. "My father... is dead?"
Posey's face pinched. "I'm sorry, luv, it must still hurt so. And to have the
news splashed on the front page of The Daily Prophet," she tisked. "The
reporters should be ashamed of themselves: taking advantage of someone's grief
to sell papers. I would want to pretend to be kidnapped, too, if I were in your
place. I imagine it would be dreadful to be asked what I felt like knowing that
my father was toes up in the dirt."
Posey Parkinson was a rather insensitive cow, Draco noted absently. He turned
to the shopkeeper, who had returned from the back. "Send everything to the
Cauldron for me, please," he instructed, placing a handful of galleons on the
counter. He nodded to Posey. "Mrs. Parkinson. It was a pleasure. You'd best make
your purchases. I think the shop has broke a water pipe." At the volume of the
rushing sound in Draco's ears, he figured they'd soon be swimming.
The teen left Thecary's Potions and started back to the Leaky Cauldron. He
needed to be there for the delivery. He wanted to hide the ingredients deep in
his trunk. Plus, his chest hurt something fierce and he was having trouble
breathing. If he lay down, perhaps it would stop. He hoped he wasn't becoming
ill. He'd rather not spend the first days of school in the Hospital Wing with
Madam Pomfrey.
"Ow! Hey, watch where you're bloody going, Malfoy!"
Draco blinked. An extremely tall Ron Weasley was suddenly towering over him
and glaring daggers. The noise of hundreds of people speaking at once bombarded
Draco. He was in Diagon Alley in front of The Daily Prophet. A photo of
the Publisher beckoned for him to go inside and purchase the latest edition.
"Aren't you going to apologize?" Hermione Granger stood at Ron's side, hands
on her hips. Potter had been right, Draco thought dazedly. She was
taller than him.
"I doubt I'll get one unless I beat it out of him," Ron stated, his overly large hands clenched into fists.
Harry Potter abruptly stepped between Ron and Draco. Draco hadn't seen Harry
before, but where there were two, the third couldn't be far away.
Green eyes focused intensely on Draco for a long second and Draco felt like
Harry was reading his mind. Perhaps it was something he'd learned in Trelawney's
class.
He finally asked softly, though Draco heard him clearly because everyone else
had suddenly gone quiet again, "Have you gotten your books?"
"No." Draco hadn't had time to get his books. His potion ingredients were to
be delivered and he needed to return to the room at the Leaky Cauldron and his
father was dead and he didn't want to leave the ingredients out because he
technically wasn't supposed to have them...
"I'll get them. You go on," Harry told him.
Draco nodded once in affirmation. It was getting rather cold out, anyway. He
was shivering already. He rounded Harry and Ron and continued to the Cauldron
and up to the room.
The moment he crossed the threshold his knees gave out and he collapsed to
the floor. Harry must be testing him again. He could've done without the floor
burn, though, and the pressure in his chest rather hurt.
"Finite incantatum," he choked out, but nothing happened. He was
stuck on his knees on the wood floor, and it was getting harder and harder to
breathe. Oh, and his father was dead.
It was later when Harry came into the room, though how much time had passed
was unknown. The silent dark-haired teen set a few parcels down, pressed a
handkerchief in Draco's hand, and left again.
The handkerchief had to be hexed like the floor, because Draco's cheeks were
suddenly wet.
*****
"My father is dead," Draco spoke for the first time since yesterday, when he
had found out the news. He and Harry were pushing baggage carts with their
trunks and school supplies along the Muggle platform at King's Cross Station.
The train to Hogwarts was due to leave in a quarter hour.
The prior evening and the entire morning was a blur to Draco. He had moved on
automation, following Harry's lead. He had a vague recollection of breakfast and
the taxi ride to the station. Harry had made it simpler by not trying to console
him, or even talking to him other than a few instructions. Whether by instinct
or experience, Draco was thankful for the silence, until now.
"I know," Harry responded. "I'm sorry. No one deserves to lose a parent."
"You-Know-Who killed him," Draco continued conversationally.
"I presumed as much."
Draco's hands tightened on the baggage cart handle, knuckles whitening. "I
hate him."
"Hmm," Harry made a sound of acknowledgment. They arrived at the entrance to
Platform 9 3/4 and waited as another wizard family used it.
"Do you mind terribly if I killed him?" Draco inquired, glancing over at
Harry.
"Since that's already the plan, I suppose not," Harry replied. He gave Draco
a measuring look. "You do realize that if you kill him, you become a murderer."
Harry's gaze shifted and his eyes became unfocused. "Once you take that step,
something inside you is forever gone and the way you view life is eternally
altered."
Harry turned abruptly and started for the brick curving column between
Platforms 9 and 10. "Wait for me after breakfast tomorrow in the Great Hall and
we'll go over our timetables," he said over his shoulder before disappearing
through the wall.
Draco followed more slowly. Potter's words had made him uncomfortable. He had
expected cheers to wanting the Dark Lord dead. Acceptance of help at the very
least. What he got instead was a second glimpse of what really lay beneath the
mask Harry Potter had worn all summer; the first being on Harry's birthday when
he'd received Hermione's book.
Draco didn't want to know what made Harry tick. Potter was not his friend,
nor did he want the other boy to be. Their relationship was a business
arrangement -- lessons for potions -- and nothing more. Friendship required
caring and he hated Harry Potter... right?
"Get on the train, Malfoy," he mumbled to himself. Standing around wasn't
solving anything and neither would missing the train to school. Besides, he was
still angry and upset over his father's death and not thinking with a clear
head. His feelings of animosity toward Potter would return to normal once he
arrived at Hogwarts.
Or so he hoped.