Draco glared at his opponent from the floor. The man was smirking, thinking he had finally won, finally beaten Draco. Draco watched, with slight vindictive pleasure, that smirk fall off his face as he slowly, painfully, got to his feet- again. He was not going to break for anyone- especially this guy.
“Why won’t you just die!” he screamed, and pulled out his wand. With a jolt of dread, Draco realized this man was through with the games- he was going to perform the Killing Curse. Draco had seen that look before on other faces, with other people. He had seen Avada Kedavra used before. A green light would envelop Draco’s mind and senses, and that would be it- playtime is over for you, Mr. Malfoy.
But Draco was born a fighter. Though once thought a coward at school, life in the past few years had brought out the nerve in him. There were reasons why he was still alive, for he surely had no right to be. Plus, he simply hated this man too much to let him win.
Draco dodged behind the statue at the same time the man fired his spell. He took a couple deep breaths, and wiped the blood from his forehead, which was trickling down into his eyes. Okay. Think…
All right, that’s a plan. Not much of one, but a plan is a plan. Draco listened… his rival was over there, in the corner of the room, too far away to hit with a spell. If what he heard above them was what he thought it was- it might work.
“Hey- Dad!” Draco called out. That would annoy the hell out him. Even before he had been disowned, before his true colors had come out, before his engagement to a certain bushy-haired muggle-born, Lucius had hated ‘Dad’. He preferred the formal ‘Father’, or even ‘sir’. Sure enough, Draco heard Lucius make an angry noise.
“You have no father,” he said, disgust dripping off his every word. “You are dead- you died seven years ago.”
“Really?” was all he could think to say. His brain was blank- he was concentrating only on willing the louder footsteps to be who he hoped. But he had to keep talking, to keep Lucius from hearing them himself. “Is that why you didn’t come to the wedding? Because you thought I was dead? You should know, it was a beautiful ceremony; to bad you weren’t there. I had to use Potter as my best man-”
“Shut-up!!” Lucius roared, blasting a corner off the statue with his wand. Draco fell silent. His father was coming closer, as were the footsteps… All he needed was a bit more time. A little more time, and he was saved.
“I sent Mother an owl recently, did she tell you? She didn’t reply, but the owl actually came back- and in better shape than the others. Think she’s starting to forgive me?”
“My wife will never forgive the traitorous piece of filth that turned his back on his family,” he hissed. The footsteps were almost here- time to move.
Then, several things happened at once. Lucius, who had been much closer than his son had thought, jumped behind the statue, with the Killing Curse on his lips. Draco had sprung in front of it, yelling the disarming spell. And three very familiar somebodies burst through the door, all yelling hexes and charms of their own.
“Draco!” Hermione yelled, rushing towards him. Harry and Ron raced toward Lucius, who had quickly realized the odds were no longer in his favor. A single wounded man was one thing, but these three were in fine physical condition. And what’s more, these three were nothing to sneeze at, magically speaking. They were powerful wizards. He turned and ran.
It seemed one of the hexes had hit Draco- he was down, his limbs twitching spastically. Hermione leaned over him, checking his vitals. The years following the Dark Lord’s return had changed Hermione. Besides gaining experience in school with the Dark Arts, she had joined the Order days after graduating Hogwarts. The ten years since then of fighting Death Eaters, seeing friends and fellow fighters killed had affected her greatly. She wasn’t as emotional as she once was. Tears and emotion had their place, but that was later. First make sure he was alive, and keep him that way. Blubber and gush later.
“Draco?” Hermione murmured. He was hurt bad; he really needed medical attention. “Draco? Wake up, please.” This last bit was barely a whisper. She shook him slightly, and his eyes fluttered open. “Oh, thank you.” She sighed. “Draco? Draco, can you stay awake? Please?”
Draco struggled to clear his head. He was aware that Hermione held him, but where were the others? Where was Lucius? He tried to talk, to be understood, but she already knew what he was thinking.
“Don’t worry, Harry and Ron went after him, and there’re more coming. They’ll get him.”
“They can’t- don’ kill him… he knows…knows about…” but Draco was passing out again- he could feel it. He didn’t know if he was even understood, but to the last he tried to make himself heard.
Hermione saw he was gone again. Gently she propped her husband up against the statue. She was still fussing over him when Tonks, Susan Bones, and George Weasley came in. She looked up. Tonks nodded at Draco.
“Is he-?”
“He’ll be fine, he just needs some medical help,” Hermione replied, still kneeling on the floor. “Lucius went that way, Harry and Ron followed.” She pointed to the door on the opposite side of the room.
“Right then, you stay with him, we’ll go help Harry and Ron.” George said, and they were about to run off when Hermione remembered. “Oh wait!” they turned. “Draco said something about not killing him- I think Lucius knows something- something important.”
They didn’t have time to argue the issue, though George was sure this was just a remaining shred of Malfoy loyalty speaking. But that couldn’t be talked about right now. They had to go.
Harry and Ron had followed Lucius outside his summer home (where they were) out into a garden. It was night, and the moon shone brightly overhead. Lucius had enough of a head start that he had been able to hide in the heavy foliage. Harry and Ron slowed down, walking cautiously along the stone path, wands raised.
“How do we even know he’s still out here? What if he disapparated?” Ron muttered under his breath.
“He’s out here. I can hear him.” Harry responded, though there really was no need, now Ron could hear him too, breathing heavily somewhere among the trees.
“What do you want, Malfoy?” Harry called out. “You had to know we were monitoring this place, the minute you stepped foot into this place we knew. So what do you want?”
Silence.
A wind blew through, ruffling the leaves. Though the path itself was clear and easily seen, the trees and bushes covered everything to the left and right. It was completely dark.
“Lumos,” and now they raised their wands about their heads, staring into the wilderness. Once this garden had been carefully tended, kept in perfect condition by house- elves. But the Malfoys had not lived here in years, the house abandoned. They had gone into hiding, hiding from the Ministry and the Order. The summer home had fallen into disrepair.
“Where the bloody hell is he?”
“I have a message for Potter!”
Harry and Ron spun around. Though the voice had come from behind them, no one was there.
“Show yourself!” Harry commanded. A sneering laugh met his words.
“Nice try, Potter. I have a message from my Dark Lord, or else I would not be here at all.”
Harry and Ron continued to search, but in vain. Mostly to keep him talking, so as to follow his voice, Harry replied, “Well then, what is it?”
“He knows the prophecy; the full prophecy. and he’s waiting for you.”
Harry, who had been slowing walking toward the voice, stopped in his tracks. Ron, behind Harry, stopped too. Ron looked at Harry.
“What is he talking about?”
Harry opened his mouth to answer, but stopped when Tonks, George, and Susan came around the bend. A loud crack told them Lucius was gone.
“Harry, Ron. What did he mean? What prophecy?” Tonks looked at them both. Ron was equally confused, but Harry only said:
“We need to talk to Dumbledore.”
(A/N): Well, if you like, don’t just sit there- review! Thanks- and more chapters on the way!