Rain fell as lightning cracked through the sky. The bright blue light illuminated the wizard prison of Azkaban.
If it wasn’t such a terrible place it would look quite picturesque thought the hooded figure who now approached the prison. The rocks on which the prison castle stood were green and eroded where the sea battered them. The salty smell of the ocean only served to add to the repulsive nature of the place.
Azkaban had always had a fearsome reputation which, although it improved slightly when the Dementors left to join Voldemort it still was not a place you would want to be spending a Friday night; especially when you’d come here to help someone get out.
The hooded figure remained lost in its thoughts until they came across a guard standing at the front gate. “Lucius Malfoy.”
The guard nodded his head. “Come with me.” And he led the hooded figure through a series of corridors in the dark, dank prison, where ghosts of ex inmates remained to terrorise the living; and where the stench of death lurked at every corner.
The guard came to a stop in front a cell and took a key from inside his robes. Without saying a word he placed the key in the lock on the door and with a click, the door opened.
The hooded figure stepped inside the cell, eyes struggling to see through the darkness, they could see the outline of a man sitting in the corner of the cell. “Leave us,” the hooded figure commanded to the guard; the guard nodded and left the cell, closing the door behind him.
As soon as the guard had left the room the hooded figure reached inside their cloak and withdrew a wand, “Lumos” the figure whispered, and bright light glowed from the end of the wand, illuminating the man sitting in the corner.
“Lucius, do get up off of the floor, it’s no place for you,” Said the hooded figure, pulling back their hood.
Lucius gasped at the tall, slim woman he saw in front of him. Her long blonde hair framed her pale, pointed face. She stood with the air of someone who thought herself superior to the rest of the world. Her pale grey eyes were fixed upon him, her thin lips curving into a smile. “Narcissa,” Lucius drawled, as he got to his feet, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Narcissa was shocked to see how ragged her husband had become since her last visit. He had been in Azkaban over two years now, and it was beginning to show. His hair, once long and blonde like hers, had become matted and dark with dirt.
Narcissa ran towards her husband and embraced him.
“Lucius, my love. Now it not the time for talking.” She reached inside her robes and withdrew a wand. “Take this, it is time you were leaving this place.”
Lucius looked at his wife with a questioning expression, had she gone mad? “Narcissa, what exactly are you doing? You do know we are surrounded by Ministry of Magic workers. The odds of us getting out of here alive should we try and fight our way out, are slim at best.”
“Trust me Lucius. I have thought this through, I’ve had help planning this, and we will escape without a problem.”
Lucius fingered the wand in his hands; it had been a long time since he had been in possession of a wand. “Help from whom?”
“It is not the time for questions, do you want to get out of this place or not?”
“Of course. It’s pointless to even ask that question.”
“Then stop questioning me and listen!”
Lucius began to argue back, but fell silent, and nodded his head instead.
“That’s better. Now I am going to call for the guard, he is going to come and unlock the door, as soon as he does, take him. I would do it myself, but the Imperius Curse always was your speciality.”
Lucius readied himself as his wife approached the door. “Guard, I’m ready to leave now.” Narcissa called in a casual tone.
“Yes madam.” Said the guard’s deep, throaty voice from the other side of the door. You could hear the jingling of the keys as he searched for the one to the cell.
Lucius pointed his wand at the door and as soon as it opened and the guard came into view he spoke the words, “IMPERIO!”
The keys the guard had been holding fell to the floor as his arms hung limply by his sides. An expression of peace and serenity crossed his face.
“Now what, Narcissa?” Lucius asked, with a cruel smile on his face, it had been a long time since he had this control over someone; he had forgotten how much he liked it.
Narcissa crouched down and picked up the keys, “Follow me, and make sure he comes with us,” she replied, gesturing at the guard.
Narcissa led the way through the twisting corridors of Azkaban, with Lucius behind her, and the guard following him, arms still hanging limply by his sides.
“Narcissa?”
“What?” came the snappy reply.
“How is it you know exactly where to go through this place? You’re travelling as if you’re one of the guards.”
“I told you, I’ve had a little help planning this.”
“Who…” Lucius started, before Narcissa held up a hand to stop him.
“I have told you, this is not the time. When we are safely out of here, I shall tell you everything. For now, let’s just concentrate of getting to Draco.”
Lucius stumbled in shock. Narcissa was not only trying to break him out of Azkaban, she was attempting to break Draco out as well? She must have lost her mind.
They continued to dash through the corridors and passageways of Azkaban until they finally arrived at a cell.
“Here,” Narcissa spoke. “He is in here.”
Lucius turned the to the guard. “Open it,” he commanded, passing the keys to the guard, who promptly placed the key into the lock, opening the door to the cell.
As Lucius peered inside the dank cell, he let out an audible gasp at the sight of the person before him. Draco Malfoy was no longer a boy; Azkaban had ravaged his once youthful face, leaving it grey and gaunt, his eyes had become sunken and bloodshot. It was none of these things that bothered Lucius though, it was the fact that Draco was smiling. His smile becoming wider and wider as stood looking at his mother.
“Oh, Draco,” cried Narcissa, as she ran towards him; she had not visited Draco in quite some time. She took him in her arms and held him tight. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“Stop!” Draco demanded, pushing her away roughly. “What are you doing here? What do you want?”
“I’ve come to take you home. Please, Draco, I’m still your mother.”
Draco snorted. “And what use is a mother here? I have no need for…” he paused, noticing his father for the first time. “Well, well, look who it is - it’s father,” sarcasm evident in his voice as he pushed past his mother, and strode to where Lucius was standing.
Lucius looked at the man in front of him; he was barely recognisable as a human, let alone Lucius’ son. “Draco, if you would rather stay here then by all means do. Come Narcissa, we’re leaving.” And he turned to leave the cell, “But before we leave, Draco, your mother has a surprise for you. Give the boy his gift Narcissa.”
Draco’s sunken eyes grew wider as his mother reached into her robes and withdraw a wand, hesitating slightly before she handed it to him.
The maniacal smile that had been getting ever larger grew, even bigger as Draco examined the wand. Suddenly, without warning he turned the wand on the guard, who was still standing obediently to the right of Lucius, “AVADA KEDAVRA!” Draco bellowed, as a flash of green light shot from the end of his wand, straight into the chest of the guard.
“WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR? HE WAS OUR WAY OUT OF HERE!” Lucius yelled at Draco, as the guard slumped to the floor dead. Narcissa looked on in shock.
Draco laughed. “Oh come on father, like you weren’t hoping for a little action on the way out of here. It’ll be easy for us; we’re in here for a reason. In case you had forgotten, you are one of the most notorious Death Eaters ever captured.”
Lucius smiled as he remembered what it was like to be a Death Eater; the feeling of superiority as they worked to cleanse the wizard world of half-bloods and Mudbloods. “Be that as it may, Draco, but what about you?”
Draco laughed again, “Oh, mum, you didn’t tell him, did you? I killed Mad-Eye Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt. It was me who revealed to the Dark Lord just what Severus Snape was up to. I can handle myself, I assure you.”
Narcissa could feel the tension between father and son. “Look, let’s compare records when we’re out of here. Let’s go!”
No sooner had those words escaped Narcissa’s mouth, than the sound of approaching footsteps were upon them as another guard drew near. The footsteps grew closer and closer and the Malfoys heard a loud hissing sound as the guard came to a halt by the open door of Draco’s cell. A shocked expression spread across his face as he found himself face-to-face with the Malfoy family, all of whom had their wands pointed at him.
The guard crumpled to the floor as the life rushed out of him in a burst of green light. Narcissa quickly raised her hood, covering her face once again.
“RUN!” yelled Lucius, as the Malfoys exited the cell.
The three Malfoys broke into a sprint and for a moment were alone in running through the prisons corridors. The sound of footsteps filled the air, as the whole of the Azkaban guard force descended upon them.
Flashes of light illuminated the entire prison as the guards did whatever was necessary to capture the Malfoys. Narcissa had just deflected a stunning spell from when she reached inside her robes, withdrawing a small packet of powder, and an old, severed hand holding a candle.
“The Hand of Glory!” shouted Draco, as he fought off three guards as once, “Throw the powder mother, hurry!”
Narcisssa reached into the packet and grabbed a handful of powder, she threw it up into the air and Azkaban was plunged into utter darkness. “Come on, let’s go,” she said, as she grabbed hold of Lucius’ robes.
Using the Hand of Glory to light their way, the Malfoys found the exit to Azkaban with no trouble, as the guards all flailed pointlessly in darkness. With a last burst of energy the Malfoy family emerged from Azkaban, and stood panting in the moonlight.
Draco let out a loud cheer and paced back and forth, letting the feeling of being free wash over him. “Well done mother, father.”
Lucius looked at his son, “It seems I misjudged you, Draco, you are indeed very capable. Although, it was your fault we had to fight our way out in the first place!”
Draco raised his wand at his father, Lucius raised his wand at his son, Narcissa stood between them. “Stop it, stop it the both of you! I didn’t risk everything to get you out so that you could kill each other!”
The Malfoy men lowered their wands, and glowered at each other.
“That’s better,” said Narcissa, “Now you two will have to hide out for a little while, because I dare say that the Ministry will be all over our house until they are satisfied that you are not there. I suggest that you search for somewhere suitable, because if you are caught, I will not save you again.” With that Narcissa turned on the spot and Disapparated, leaving father and son alone together.
It was Lucius who spoke first, “We had better leave this place, Draco.”
Draco nodded. “I know of a place we can hide out, come, father. Let’s go.”
Lucius and Draco both turned on the spot, and disappeared, just as the lights came back on in Azkaban.
A/N - Thanks to my beta Orlaith. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, i see this as the point where the story really gets going!