She looked up at the Manor house, but no response came from the place where the man who had taken her son lived. She had to hold her emotions under close reins, knowing that if she lost control and began to weep or visibly despair, Lucius would use that instant to attack her. There would be no tears, not here, not where he could see.
When she could not control her anger any longer, she placed her wand to her throat and shouted so the whole world could hear her. –Lucius, give me back my son!â€
It was going on noon and she had been standing there venting her frustration to the heavens with no avail for almost three hours, but she would not leave. She could not. She did not know what to do with herself if she did go. How could she make small talk to one of the nervous first time mothers who frequented their shop for the reassurance of an experienced mother as often as they came in to purchase a potion to cure some ill? Astoria would usually comfort or gently correct the neophyte mothers and they would repay her kindness by buying potions at her shop that any Hogwart’s fifth year could make. Today, she would more likely bite the head off some poor young woman, or some granny, just to vent her frustration.
What frustrated her most was she was all alone. Hermione had notified her, by owl, that Draco had been taken into custody at a Ministry that was in full damage control mode, trying to keep the news of the rescue attempt and arrests in America out of the Prophet while they drew up enough paper work to justify sacking both Harry and Ron.
She made the gates ring again with her ninth blast. As she glared at the Manor, the front door opened and a woman with long, grey, hair streaked with black pulled up into a fishtail braid, gingerly walked up drive to the gate. Astoria stared at her mother-in-law, the woman who had treated her like a servant girl since the day that Draco disobeyed his parents and married her.
Narcissa gave her daughter-in-law a head to foot look of total distain,before she said, –Stop all of this shouting and useless spell casting! Can’t you see that you have scared the peacocks? They are molting their feathers all over the grounds.â€
Astoria blinked and shook her head. She was crying for the return of her son and all this bitch was worried about was the damn white peacocks!? –I’ll stop, when you give me back my son!â€
Narcissa pulled her head back in reaction to the force of the words and Astoria saw the woman derisively shake her head back and forth. –Do you really think that if my husband was visiting with his grandson without parental permission, that he would do it here?â€
Visiting? Visiting!
For a second she thought she had mis-understood the older woman. –My son was kidnapped. Three men died because of your husband. And he will be next, unless he releases Scorpius.â€
Narcissa gave a choked laugh in reply. –If there was any connection, at all, between the acts of these American kidnappers and my husband, wouldn’t Harry Potter and his Aurors be here to question him and not you?â€
Astoria looked at the face full of all of the smugness and self-assuredness in the world. Narcissa’s smile made her want to wipe that look off of her face anyway that was possible. She looked at the side of the road and saw a stone. She picked it up and hurled it at the fence knowing it would do no good. The hand size rock bounced off of the spell wall and fell to the road, landing at Astoria’s feet. She watched Narcissa laugh at her attempt. She wanted to hurt the old woman so.
–In case you don’t know, three of the kidnappers were taken into custody and are probably telling all they know. Also, the kidnappers killed one of the team’s coaches.â€
A flash of worry spread across Narcissa’s face and quickly disappeared as she too calmly asked, –Potter’s wife?â€
She locked eyes with Narcissa and thought, –So, she is afraid of Potter.†She filed the knowledge away and answered, –No.â€
–Good, Harry Potter is not the most balanced personality-–
–Quiet! Shut your lying mouth! Your husband has my son. He has angered Hoyle Grindus, who is rich enough to buy every wand for sale in Europe. Harry Potter’s wife and children were threatened and, thanks to your husband, he will soon be unemployed free to join Grindus and the Weasleys to hunt you and that blonde sack of dung you married down! Do you remember the last time you went up against Harry, Ron and Hermione? And what happened to your sister when she faced an angry Molly Weasley? Maybe Molly will use the same spell on you that she did on dear, old Bellatrix.â€
Narcissa, who a minute before had appeared so haughty, pulled her cloaks tight about her waist, as if for her own protection. Her misgivings were expressed all through her face. However after a heartbeat or two, a strangely contented smile spread across her face. The larger the smile grew, the more apprehensive Astoria felt.
–When Draco first told us about your engagement, we were, of course, against it. Lucius was against you on account of your seven eights pureblood status and he thought you were not good looking enough to be allowed to mate with a Malfoy.†Astoria squared her feet under her shoulders awaiting her mother-in-laws forthcoming insults which were sure to be cutting. –I disagreed with Lucius. Draco has always had an eye for a certain common beauty. However, I was worried that you weren’t Slytherin enough for him.†Astoria felt her face squint involuntarily at the incomprehensible statement. Narcissa, almost in answer to her daughter-in-law’s confusion, added. –I feared you relied too much on your natural intelligence and your easy manipulating style. Malfoys have lived, and flourished, by setting snares and letting their foes trap themselves. I thought you were too naïve to ever be a true Malfoy wife; I may have been wrong. You’ve played this well.â€
Too hell with Narcissa’s backhanded compliment. –I want my son, now!â€
Narcissa shook her head. –Not now, he’s not here. However, Lucius was not going to keep him long. He knew that the boy’s release must come just after the axe fell on Potter and Weasley. The release would allow the new head of the Aurors a chance to claim victory and undermine the revenge motives for his opponents. The boy’s release would cause a split between the opposing alliance and the Auror office. It would place Potter at risk of stepping over the line and ending up in prison.â€
Astoria looked down committing every part of the conversation to memory. She looked into her mother-in-law’s face and said, with fake resignation, the only word that mattered to her, –When?â€
–My grandson will be able to sleep, by tomorrow, in his own bed at your home, or at Hogwarts if he wishes. I guarantee it.â€
Astoria snorted at the last comment.
Narcissa opened her cloaks, looked at Astoria and said, –I’ve been Lucius’ mistress since I was fifteen, almost half a century. My husband’s real wife is power. However, like any good mistress, I know how to manipulate my man to ignore his wife, when I want. I will convince him to release the boy or I will bring him to you. Trust me.â€
The two women stood there, locked in a staring match until the bell in the clock tower of the Anglican Church in the nearby village struck noon. Astoria looked down and then raised her gaze at the old woman. She leaned forward, purposefully aiming her wand in between Narcissa’s eyes, –If he is not back by bed time tomorrow, I WILL find a way into the manor and your naked peacocks will be the only things left alive when I leave.â€
Narcissa returned to her a warm smile and nod of what looked like approval. Her last actions were the most unsettling thing the old woman could have done, Astoria wondered if she had mis-stepped. Whatever. She would contact Hannah Longbottom to get the information to Ron, if Ron was still in charge at the Auror office.
Riddle Mansion
Scorpius swung his broom around and spied the Bludger rising to meet him. In the distance, he saw the Russian breakaway blasting past Kaitlin and James and being lead by Denis Federov. In front of the middle hoop, Rose twitched upon her broom, attempting to read the attack. Scorpius turned his broom, going into a shallow dive to increase the power in his strike. Striking the Bludger with all of his might, the ball flew true toward where the speeding Federov would be. As Federov cocked his right arm to fire home the Quaffle, the Bludger struck the Russian in between the shoulder blades. The Quaffle and Federov both fell hard onto the pitch.
As he celebrated the strike, Rose Weasley flew up to him. She shouted at him. –Why did you hit him? I had the shot blocked. You could have killed him! I hate you.â€
Scorpius awoke in a strange room. As he sat up on the bed, he looked out the window and saw the sun rising over a hill. Sitting on the bed, he tried to remember where he was and how he got there. The last clear memories he had were of Pyter, holding a wand to Rose’s temple and threatening to melt her face. He had agreed to go into the backroom with Pyter in order to save her and, before the door had completely closed, Pyter had wrapped his left arm around him in a choke hold and grabbed a knife that was on the lone table. His very last memory was a fuzzy one of his grandfather’s smirking face and a very bright light in his eyes.
He walked to the window and found he was in a corner room on an upper floor of a big building. He looked at the lay of the land. He was fairly certain that he was not at Malfoy Manor, or if he was he was in a corner of the building he had never been allowed to enter.
After about ten minutes of making his observations, Scorpius began searching the dusty cupboards and dressers for anything that could be used as a tool of escape or a weapon. The search was as fruitless as it was short. He walked over to the bed he had awoken up on and looked on the wall. A coat of arms with crossed swords and an image of a large building were carved into the wall. Scorpius climbed up and bounced on the bed until he could grasp the top of the carving. He reached and pulled until the miniature sword came off of the wall. The little sword was the size of cheese knife, but it was pointy and might be useful to him, somehow.
As he examined his prize, he heard a rattling noise outside of the door. Scorpius jumped onto the bed and bounced to his feet just as Pyter entered holding a tray full of cold breakfast items and a bowl. As Pyter placed the tray on a table across the room from the bed, Scorpius hid the sword in his pants pockets.
As he ate his breakfast, he looked up to see his grandfather Malfoy, waltzing into the room. Scorpius, who had not seen his grandfather in over a year, looked at the old man. He seemed years younger. The shuffling walk of a defeated old man was replaced by a confident stride. The change surprised and, in a strange way, scared him. He had always thought of Lucius as someone living in the past and a person to be pitied. Now, for the first time, he saw the man that had completely controlled most of his father’s life.
–You have two options: One, stay here as my guest for a few weeks or come with me and let me show you why I brought you here from America.â€
Scorpius wondered if the offer held a trap. He couldn’t see any, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t one. Lucius pulled a wand out of his sleeve, waved it, and a set of Muggle style clothes appeared on the bed. Scorpius went over to examine the outfit and found everything was his size down to the trainers.
Lucius Malfoy walked towards the door and opened it. He turned back to his grandson and told him in a flat, matter-of-a-fact, drawling voice, –Boy, if you ever hide a potential weapon from me again, I will make you suffer just so the lesson is well learned. Do you understand me?†Scorpius found his head nodding up and down like it had a will of its own. He reached into his pocket and dropped the little sword on the bed.
Scorpius’ head and stomach were both swimming when he landed with his grandfather. He had expected to arrive in some dungeon or another abandoned building. He was shocked to see they had landed in the middle of a group of older teenagers. The young people bustling past him were sporting book bags over their shoulders and almost everyone had a small box in their hand or up to their ear.
He swung around to see a sign, University of Lincoln, and behind it was a big building with large letters LPAC on the side. He was confused. Why would his proudly pureblood grandfather bring him to a Muggle university? He wondered what would happen if he just ran into a crowd and tried to escape. His tentative thought of escape was trumped by a mental image of Lucius aiming a wand at him while he stepped over the corpses of everyone in the area that he had killed.
His grandfather sat on a bench outside an area called the Alstrom Atrium and called out to Scorpius. –Find a rock, a decent size one, and place it across the walk from us.†Not seeing how this could be a trap, he did as he was told. –You do know how to levitate items, don’t you?†Lucius asked in a tone that was somehow both languid and insulting at the same time.
–You taught me that the first week after I got my wand from Ollivander’s. I guess old people forget easily.†Scorpius used a snotty tone of voice that his mother would never have allowed him to use to an elder.
Lucius seemed to like his grandson’s tone of voice. He slowly reached into his sleeve and pulled out a stick. Scorpius quickly grabbed it. He almost caressed his wand. He was not totally helpless. A laugh came from the bench next to him. Lucius, his own fingers in his sleeve, eyed him. The look was almost daring him to try something to escape. He remembered the warning from earlier and dropped the wand into his lap.
–Good. You are not as dense as I feared,†Lucius drawled.
Two separate pairs of pretty college girls came down the walkway towards the Malfoys. The first pair was talking with each other and the second pair was talking into their little boxes up to their ears. As they got within a couple of yards on the benches, Lucius looked at Scorpius and said, –Levitate the stone and hold it in position until I tell you to stop.â€
When the first pair of girls walked by, the rock stayed at the height Scorpius had first held it. However, when the girls talking into the boxes walked in between him and the rock, two things suddenly happened. Both of the girls who were talking into the boxes were now looking in frustration at the devices. The girl closest to him was shouting, –Jules, are you still there? Damn, my call dropped.â€
The other girl nodded and said something too quiet for him to hear. The second thing that happened was that, for a second, the rock dropped to side of the walk for a second and then rose about a foot higher before it returned to the original height.
–See! We will do this a couple of more times.â€
Scorpius looked at his Grandfather and asked, –Where’s your wand?â€
Lucius grew wary at the question. –Somewhere convenient, I assure you. I would not try to pull a runner, if I was you?â€
Scorpius was frustrated with the old man. –No. How do I know you didn’t affect the rock?â€
–I give you my word of honour.†Scorpius snorted his opinion of what his Grandfather’s word of honour was worth.
–I will turn my back on you and you can duplicate the experiment. I must warn you that if you do try to escape, the fate of all these students you see will be on your head, not mine.â€
Scorpius, who had never understood why his parents loathed the old man so much, was amazed at the casual way he talked about massacring dozens of innocent people. He now had a better understanding of his parents.
With Lucius’ back turned Scorpius duplicated the experiment using a flower pedal instead of a rock. The results were the same. Magic caused the failure of the Muggle devices and the Muggle devices interfered with the magic. Scorpius wondered if this was known by everyone or if it was something only his grandfather had discovered.
Lucius turned around. –These Muggle creations are becoming more and more commonly used. In London, Muggle experts have located a large zone where their signals do not pass through. They do not know it yet, but the area they have pinpointed is Diagon Alley. We cannot allow these creatures to discover our whereabouts! All they would have to do is flood an area with these little boxes and the mightiest wizard would be nearly helpless. Although they don’t know it yet, the Muggles have already invented the perfect Wizard killing machines. We must stop them and I need you to help me save all of wizard kind.â€
A chill went up his spine, Scorpius did not know how much of what he said was truth and how much were lies. He wished he had Rose and his parents here. –What do you really want from me, Grandfather?â€
–Just like I said, I want your help.â€
–Why not got to the Ministry? Let them help.â€
Lucius smiled a wolfish grin as he shook his head. –The Ministry is bound to their rules and treaties. You can’t do what is needed using the rules and laws those fools have created. Boy, what do you know about how Potter and his friends defeated the Dark Lord?â€
Scorpius looked around to see if anyone was listening. All of the young Muggles were only paying attention to their boxes, so he talked in a soft voice.
–The Dark Lord left behind treasures or something, and Albus’ father and Rose’s parents found and destroyed them. After that, Mr. Potter reversed the ‘Killing Curse’ and it killed him.â€
As Lucius leaned forward, his long white blonde hair fell from his shoulders and he edged closer to his grandson. –Yes, nice and neat. Wizarding history sanitized and homogenized to build up the reputation of their great young trio of heroes. Let me tell you the truth, because I was there. Your little Rosie’s mother used Polyjuice to impersonate a witch so she could break into Gringotts. And when that didn’t work, either she or Potter used the Imperius Curse on a wizard. Polyjuice is against the law and the Imperius is supposed to be a one way ticket to Azkaban. However, their little crimes were all covered up by the Ministry. Hermione Granger Weasley is now a noble counselor and advocate in front of the Wizengamot. And boy, you can’t block the Killing Curse, I know, I’ve killed enough with it. The Dark Lord was killed by the curse, but it was Potter who cast it. Potter used the most unforgivable curse in the books and look. He’s the ‘hero’ of the Ministry. They put him in charge of putting others in prisons for less than what he did. They rot on that accursed island, but not him! Scorpius, look carefully at what Potter did the moment his family was in danger. He told those do-nothings in the Ministry to go to hell and he went to America to help rescue you. If they were what they pretended to be, the Aurors would have gone and rescued you. Not Gringus, nor your father and not Ex-Auror Potter. The Ministry is just a group of old, fat, comfortable wizards trying hard not to do anything that will lose their pensions. Pensions paid for by people like your parents.â€
Scorpius shivered. He didn’t know what was truth, lies or exaggeration. Were Rose’s parents and Albus’ father guilty of the same crimes that they now sent others to prison for?
He felt the need to counter the old man. –Others, outside of the Weasleys or Potter, work in the Ministry. If not the Ministry, what about the ‘Daily Prophet’. You could tell them about the threat to wizards these boxes make.â€
–You are a trusting naive fool aren’t you? Your mother has coddled you too much.†Lucius drawled dipping his words in condescension to add to the insult. –The world doesn’t work that way and I don’t have time to correct your little childhood fantasies. Now, if you want the world to return to the way it was, with modern day versions of the witch hunts you can ignore all of this, but when the Muggles surround your precious Miss Weasley with these boxes and light up her bonfire, remember this day and how you could have prevented it all.â€
Scorpius felt a cold chill down his spine at the image, but he could not accept the premise. –It’s the twenty-first century. Witch hunts and bonfires won’t happen.â€
He watched his grandfather shake his head at his answer. –Okay. Maybe not bonfires, but how about those robed heathens they call doctors. Imagine what they’d do to her, to try to figure out why she can perform magic and not them. They would bleed her dry so they could check her blood and maybe cut into her brain with to see how she works. She’ll be no different to them than a talking dolphin or something.†Lucius remained quiet letting the image soak through.
When visiting Albus after their first year, Scorpius had been allowed to watch something called the telly and he had seen Muggle doctors in cloaks cutting into people’s bodies. Could that really happen to wizards?
–And speaking of your dear Rosie, I can help you with your other problem.â€
As a black haired girl about six or seven years older than Scorpius walked alone past the Malfoys, he saw his grandfather pull his wand from his sleeve and give it a flick. At the end of the motion, the girl stopped and slowly turned towards them.
–I understand that the Weasley girl has rejected you for some Russian Mudblood.â€
Scorpius shifted uncomfortably on the bench. He looked up at the girl who was standing there with her face frozen and her eyes unblinking. Lucius flicked his wand and the girl sat on the bench next to Scorpius. She reached over, her face struggled into a smile and she gently took his hand. She began to stroke his hand as she leaned in as if to kiss him. He pulled back from her touch; she wasn’t doing this his grandfather was making her.
–Stop this,†he shouted as he stood up. –Release her!†Scorpius immediately looked around to see if his action had caught the attention of one of the Muggles. If it had, Scorpius may have cost them their life. He was so happy that no one had noticed.
Lucius considered the girl and used his wand to lift her long hair exposing her neck. –She does have possibilities. The way she wears her hair reminds me a little of your Grandmother when she was this age. Narcissa was such an amazing beauty.†The old man looked down and then back to the girl. –I know Nott preferred liaisons with Muggle females kept in this state.†Scorpius saw his grandfather turn toward him. –Boy, do you know what the worst thing about being old is?â€
Scorpius looked at his grandfather wondering what he really wanted from him. –No.â€
Lucius turned towards the Muggle. –You no longer have the self-delusion of immortality. Every day is one day less and soon-– Lucius leaned over and brushed the girl’s long black hair with the fingers of his hand.
The repulsion spread through Scorpius as he watched his grandfather actually touching the enchanted girl. Lucius must have sensed it.
–You know, it doesn’t have to be a spell. I know more than one brewer of long term Love Potions. A few drops and Miss Weasley will be back in love with you. She will be unable to control her passions whenever you are near to her. Isn’t that every boy’s dream?â€
Scorpius looked at the girl still sitting on the bench with her hand extended reaching for his. How could anyone think of doing this to anyone, especially someone they said they cared for?
Lucius pulled a small vial from his cloak and offered it toward his grandson. –Take it. Keep it for the rest of the year. If you don’t use it by then, you can flush it down the loo. If you take it, I will drop you off at the door of the Leaky Cauldron. If you don’t, I send you go back to your turret bedroom.â€
He looked at the old man and wondered where the trick was. If he took the potion, he could go home? –What about her?†he asked pointing at the girl.
–We will walk over there and I shall release her, no harm has been done to her. I will leave her alone, if you first take the love potion.†Lucius extended the bottle again and this time he waggled the bottle and the pink fluid moved inside the glass container. Scorpius, biting his lower lip, reached out with his right hand to grasp the offered container and he slipped it into the front pocket of his dungarees.
The pair of Malfoys walked across the area and stood in a corner away from the tables full of coffee drinking young people. Lucius watched and, at a moment of his choosing, his wand moved and the girl seemed to awaken. She quickly looked to where Scorpius had been sitting. As he watched the girl, he felt his grandfather grab his arm.
When he got his eyes focused, he looked and found he was at the bottom of a hill. In the distance beyond the hill, a range of mountains loomed. Scorpius tilted his head to the right, because the mountains looked vaguely familiar. From the peaks beyond, he turned his gaze back to the top of the nearby hill. Standing like a large fork, a thin metal tower rose up a hundred meters where it ended with a group of flashing lights on the top. Lucius looked to his left and nodded. Scorpius turned the same way and saw a robed man standing in front of a downed pole. The pole had long tubes on the top that seemed to be shooting out sparks.
He looked over to his grandfather. Lucius smiled and said, –What you see is the closest Muggle tower to Hogwarts. The Muggle I interrogated told me about its radius of influence. The fool didn’t know that it reached all the way to Hogmeade. I will now make the village and the school safe. You can thank me later.†Lucius turned toward the robed man and nodded.
The man standing in front of the downed metal pole was dressed in a silver and black hooded robe. The robed man raised his wand and Scorpius heard a crack at the top of the hill. As the tower began to shake and twist, Lucius grabbed his arm and as they disappeared the falling tower was the last thing he saw.
Before he could look around, Scorpius was standing alone on the Muggle side of the Leaky Cauldron’s front door. In his right hand, his wand still remained. He had no money for the Knight Bus. He thought about going to the London Underground via the special magical entrance that he had used with Jimber and run to his mother. However, he had to make contact with the Aurors. He had to make sure that Rose, Albus and the rest of the team had truly been rescued. He couldn’t trust his friends lives to what Lucius said. So he put away his need for his mother and walked into the Cauldron.