Hour of Grace

HOUR OF GRACE

by Strega Brava

Chapter Twelve: Sins of the Father

Hermione watched in horror as Lucius Malfoy smirked derisively at his bound son. Harry squeezed her hand in silent warning…they were in terrible danger and were indebted to Professor Snape for warning them by making such a ruckus.

Lucius stepped into the room with careless arrogance and briefly surveyed it with ill-disguised disdain. Hermione felt his gaze pass over them and almost let out a sigh of relief. Professor Snape was behind Lucius and he scanned the room warily. The relief was visible on his face and he allowed himself to relax somewhat. But Hermione knew that look…the look which was already calculating various means of escape…the look he used to get watching Neville brew a potion which told her he was ready for any catastrophe…any disastrous combination of ingredients. It helped her conquer the rapidly rising level of panic as she looked into Lucius' eyes and flinched at what she saw.

Draco looked at his father in utter disbelief and then, slowly, cold fury took over his face. He stopped struggling against his bonds and faced his father calmly, almost rationally.

"You are not welcome here, Father," the silver-haired youth made the last word have relatively the same impact as a base profanity.

Still smirking, Lucius casually walked up to his son and, without warning cuffed him soundly with the back of his hand. A ring on his hand cut Draco on the cheek. It was bleeding…a thin rivulet dripping down his chin and onto the white shirt he was wearing.

"You will show your father respect, dear boy," Lucius' words were laced with hatred and anger.

"How can anyone hate their own child?"

Hermione wondered, worried about how Draco's head had snapped back at the sheer force of the blow. Harry's grip on her hand was almost painful and she could imagine why. Having had no parents, Harry had always envied Draco…the one thing that Draco had which actually bothered Harry were his parents. Hermione had the feeling that Harry was not feeling the same way now. Better to have no parents than to have a monster like this…and she had to agree.

"I have no respect for you, you sniveling bastard. I would sooner have respect for Trelawney's predictions," Draco spat out angrily.

Lucius cuffed his son again, harder this time. Draco's eyes rolled for a moment but he quickly regained his focus and glared defiantly at his father.

" I cannot condone this behaviour, Lucius. If Albus discovers this…" Professor Snape started, his face becoming more and more pale at this callous treatment of his student.

Lucius turned on him angrily. "Who cares what that Mudblood-loving old windbag will do? I have half a mind to simply use a Killing Curse on him and get it over with. What has he done with this hallowed school, Severus? He has turned it into the laughing stock of the wizarding world. Anyone who can do card tricks is practically guaranteed a spot here."

"If I am to maintain my position as an ear to the Dark Lord, you must at least try to keep up the appearance of being a devoted parent. If we have Ministry officials poking around in here, it will make my ability to gather useful information much more difficult. And if a student, particularly a Slytherin student, were being mistreated, it would be difficult for me to explain it to the Headmaster without him losing faith in me. His faith in me will be his undoing, Lucius, but the time has not come for that just yet. The Dark Lord and I are in agreement about that."

Hermione shuddered…both at the danger that Professor Snape faced and at the cool and casual way the two of them were discussing the untimely demise of a wizard she looked to as a sort of grandfather…well, great grandfather perhaps.

"That's right, Father," Draco sneered. "You have to do everything the Dark Lord tells you…when to kill Dumbledore, when to call a meeting of the Death Eaters, what shoes to wear, how many rashers of bacon to eat at breakfast…which Ministry official to bribe today."

"I will not tolerate such insolence from my own son," Lucius roared.

"You see yourself as so powerful, Father," Draco continued, looking his father in the face and smirking. "Perhaps you even see yourself as the Minister of Magic one day when the Dark Lord has taken over the entire world. You are a fool. You are nothing but a boot-licking servant…no better than a pathetic house elf."

Lucius bared his teeth in an animal-like gesture and took out his wand, holding it to his son's chin in a threatening manner.

"Stop it, Lucius. He is your son…what, in Merlin's name, are you doing? Let him rant for a bit. He will come to see our way of things soon enough," Professor Snape pulled away the hand holding the wand.

"If I had not seen the results myself that you were indeed my son…" Lucius whispered menacingly.

"We would not be having this conversation, would we, Father? Unfortunate, really, that being your legitimate son, while saving my life, destroyed everything else of value in my soul," Draco's voice held a tinge of sadness.

"How very romantic and utterly pathetic, boy. I taught you to be strong…to always be the one who comes out on top. I wanted you to take pride in the family history…in our traditions and beliefs. I insisted that you be taught the hierarchy of wizards and witches so that you would always know who you should ally yourself with, who to conspire against, and who to despise wholeheartedly." Lucius paced around the room as he made this speech, causing Hermione and Harry to flatten themselves against the wall so that Lucius would not come close to touching them.

"Everything that is important was taught to me by Mother. She is the one who taught me how to temper ambition with compassion…to base my opinions of others not on antiquated notions of pedigree but on their individual worth. She fought against you…rebelled against you and you could not come to terms with that. And what am I left with now…a father that is even less of a man than the ghost of Harry's father. At least James Potter loved his son. I am simply your trophy!" Draco shouted.

Lucius came very close to Draco and leaned in towards him. Draco did not flinch or back away.

"If you are my trophy, dear boy, then you are a sorry prize indeed. And do not speak those names again…worthless Muggle-loving fools, the whole lot of them. The Potter boy is your enemy…never forget that!"

"His name is Harry, Father, and he is not my enemy…you are," Draco said venomously.

Hermione closed her eyes as she saw Lucius' arm whip out savagely towards Draco's jaw. But she could not cover her ears and the sound of cracking bone caused her to feel momentarily dizzy.

"Lucius!" Professor Snape's voice forced her to open her eyes again. Draco's head was lolling forward. There was a lot of blood coming from his mouth and his eyes were closed. Hermione felt a knot of dread form in the pit of her stomach.

Professor Snape pushed away the elder Malfoy and, taking out his wand, performed several healing spells to repair the damage that Lucius' pummeling had caused.

"Why must you insist on acting like an irrational animal, Lucius? How can you just stand there and do that to your only child?"

"He is not my child, Severus. He belongs to Lord Voldemort and it is high time Draco accept his glorious fate," Lucius replied quietly although his fingers twitched violently.

Professor Snape sighed heavily as he finished healing Draco.

"He will need to see Poppy. My healing skills are rudimentary at best," Professor Snape remarked, looking over Draco with a critical eye.

"Not yet…he will regain consciousness in a few minutes time. We shall wait and we shall see if he needs any further assistance," Lucius conjured two small chairs and sat in one, indicating with a gesture from his wand that Professor Snape was to take the other one…which he did, albeit hesitantly.

The silence filled the room with an oppressive air and Hermione found that shifting her weight from one foot to the other did little to relieve the tension building up inside of her. Even though Professor Snape was in the room, she was afraid to think what Lucius Malfoy might do to them all if they were discovered.

"As long as we make no sound. After all, he has no reason to suspect that there is anyone else here,"

she reasoned…uncomfortably aware of how tightly Harry was still gripping her hand.

Lucius Malfoy looked at the unconscious form of his son with casual disdain. He was twirling his wand negligently in his hand. Professor Snape had taken out a roll of parchment from a pocket and was writing some notes with a rather sorry-looking quill. Every so often he would glance in various directions as if to ascertain the position of the hidden duo.

And then, it happened. Draco looked up suddenly and fixed his father with a piercing glare.

"He is returning, Father. But remember this, you have not won yet…I still have an hour of grace and, as long as I have that, I have hope that I will defeat you," he whispered and immediately began to shake uncontrollably. He struggled against the bindings and thrashed his head from side to side. He did not utter a word although the anguish on his face was plainly visible. And then, just as Hermione had seen so many times, the cold mask fell down on him, his eyes being the first affected. Draco stopped struggling and a smile appeared on his lips.

"Good evening, Father. Good evening, Professor Snape. To what do I owe the pleasure of such distinguished visits at this hour of the night?" Draco asked calmly.

At that very moment, a knock was heard and Crabbe and Goyle entered the room, closing the door quietly behind them.

"I brought you some pumpkin juice, Malfoy," Crabbe grunted as he put a glass on the floor next to Draco.

"Are you completely brainless, Crabbe? Just how do you expect me to drink anything while being confined like this?" Draco yelled angrily as Goyle hurriedly began loosening the bindings and backing away when he was done. The pair noticed Lucius Malfoy and Professor Snape and they moved towards the door, both with eyes bulging in fear.

Draco reached down and picked up the glass, taking a delicate sip.

"I am relieved that you can follow simple commands…that at least means that you can be a faithful pet if not a loyal servant," Draco sneered.

"I trust that all is proceeding properly, Draco?" Lucius inquired in a calm tone…almost as if he had been asking about the upcoming change in weather.

"Everything is proceeding according to the wishes of my master, Lord Voldemort," Draco replied, taking another sip.

There was suddenly the sound of hurried footsteps. Draco jumped out of the chair, nearly spilling his pumpkin juice all over a bemused Goyle. Lucius quickly transfigured the chair into an ordinary looking stool and caused the bindings to disappear. The door opened once again. Hermione nearly collapsed in relief. The night-capped face of Albus Dumbledore stood angrily in the doorway. His grave expression threw away any notion of laughing at his odd choice of nightwear…a nondescript grey flannel nightshirt covered with a robe (upon which were embroidered a multitude of golden snitches). His nightcap had a tassel of gold thread and his slippers had seen better days.

"Good evening, Lucius. I trust you realize that all parental visits are to be cleared beforehand with myself or Minerva," the Headmaster's eyes appeared mild but there was a steely edge to his voice which made Hermione realize that he did not like Lucius very much at all.

"It must have slipped my mind. Fatherly concern, of course, dear Albus. I simply missed the boy terribly," Lucius replied blandly.

Dumbledore looked at Draco and shook his head slightly. "Somehow, I feel there is more to it than that."

"I did not think it was such a crime for my father to visit me…after all he is a member of the Board of Governors and, as such, is certainly entitled to be here without being subjected to your crude security measures," Draco drawled impressively, pausing to sip at his pumpkin juice.

Hermione felt Harry tense immediately and even she bristled at the insolent tone of voice directed to the older wizard. She noticed Professor Snape’s fingers flexing and relaxing periodically and smiled.

"He would probably love to wrap those fingers around Lucius’ neck," she thought to herself.

The Headmaster, however, did not betray the slightest bit of anger at this example of blatant disrespect. There was a note of sadness but nothing more than that.

"Since that unfortunate incident in your fourth year, Mister Malfoy, we cannot be too careful. People are not always what they appear to be," Dumbledore’s soft-spoken voice seemed to fill the room with a resonance of quiet power.

Hermione watched as Draco’s expression changed for the briefest of instances and his head nodded almost imperceptibly. Lucius did not see it, thankfully. His attention was occupied by asking Professor Snape for a headache potion.

"I don’t carry that sort of thing with me, Lucius but I would imagine that Poppy might have some available for your use. Be careful though, Lucius, it is highly addictive," Professor Snape warned.

"Malfoy," Goyle grunted warily. "We have to get you up to bed…double Potions tomorrow with the Gryffindors."

"I quite agree," Lucius added with a significant look to Professor Snape.

Draco put the glass of pumpkin juice on the floor and, standing up again, stretched leisurely. Hermione was suddenly reminded of a cat…a lithe white cat. She half expected him to purr.

"I suppose," he said in a voice of absolute boredom. "I look forward to seeing you again, Father. Good night, Professor Snape. Headmaster…a pleasure…as always."

The three youths exited the room. Dumbledore and Professor Snape watching them momentarily before returning to the task at hand.

"I will be staying in the Slytherin guest quarters over the next few days, Albus. Please ensure that the house elves maintain my rooms properly," Lucius remarked casually, flicking a piece of lint from his fine robes.

"Why do you find it necessary to stay, Lucius? Surely you don’t believe your son is being mistreated?" Albus asked mildly. Professor Snape’s expression wasn’t nearly so mild.

"I have no reason to think anything of the kind, Albus. I just think it would be in his best interests if I were to stay with him…as you said yourself…people aren’t always what they appear to be," Lucius said, casting a derisive glance at Professor Snape who simply glared back at him defiantly.

"Follow me, Lucius, we will discuss this in my office. Severus, you need not join us but I will want to meet with you after breakfast tomorrow," Headmaster Dumbledore said and he left the room, closely followed by Lucius Malfoy. Professor Snape stopped and bent down, as if he had dropped something.

"Are you still here?" He whispered as quietly as he could.

"Yes," Hermione was grateful to Harry for answering…she would not have been able to.

"Come with me…I have to get you out of here."

Hermione and Harry moved towards Professor Snape and shadowed him silently as he opened the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Pretending that the laces of his shoes had untied, Professor Snape stopped again and bent down, giving the two hidden students a chance to slip through ahead of him. Finally satisfied with the state of his shoes, he stepped through and closed the entrance with a dull thud.

"This way," he whispered and hurried towards one of his potions laboratories that was located nearby. The only sound heard was the soft swishing of Professor Snape’s robes and a harshly whispered choice expletive every so often…which invariably had something to do with the Senior Malfoy.

"There is certainly no love lost between them," Hermione surmised quietly as she and Harry hurried to keep up with the taller wizard’s longer strides.

They reached the laboratory quickly and, after watching Harry take the cloak off, sealed the door with several spells to ensure privacy. He then practically fell into a chair, massaging his temples fiercely.

"What are we going to do now?" Harry shouted, pacing somewhat. "He is going to be watching Draco every night from now on. How on earth are we supposed to get past him?"

"Don’t shout so loud, Harry," Hermione protested, wincing somewhat. "I feel as if my head is going to crack in two."

Professor Snape pulled a small bottle out of his pocket and held it out for Hermione.

"What is it?" She asked, taking the proffered bottle and looking at it curiously. It was difficult to determine the colour of the potion sloshing inside because the bottle itself looked as if it were cut from a solid sapphire. It was really quite pretty…rather incongruous for Professor Snape to be carrying something like that.

"Headache potion," he muttered.

She creased her brow in confusion. "But I thought you told Lucius…"

"He has given me more headaches than I could possibly count, Miss Granger. I do not think that I am obligated to provide treatment to someone who is himself something of a thorn in my side," Professor Snape smirked.

"Is it addictive?" She asked, holding the bottle up to the torchlight.

"No, of course not but, then again, Lucius wasn’t the brightest student when it came to Potions. He made Mister Longbottom look like quite the genius from what I have been told."

Harry and Hermione looked at one another in complete disbelief.

"No," Professor Snape sighed wistfully, "his talents lay in an entirely different direction."

Hermione uncapped the small bottle and took a small sip. She tasted mint and orange water and a spice whose name she couldn’t quite remember. The pain in her head vanished and she smiled as she returned the bottle to him. Professor Snape took a small sip as well and, taking the cap back from her, sealed the bottle and safely returned it to his pocket.

"If only all the discomforts in our lives were so easily remedied," Professor Snape sighed, looking slightly better now. "We have to come up with a plan and we haven’t a moment to lose."

Professor Snape summoned some blank parchment and a stack of quills. The three heads bent over a piece of blank parchment as he began to scribble furiously.

"Hang on, Draco," Hermione thought firmly. "Just a little longer."