queenteek: Almost Back to the Beginning (Draco, PG-13)
Title: Almost Back to the Beginning
Author: queenteek
Rating: PG-13 (for language)
Prompt Set: Draco 100.3
Prompt #: 68- Come What May
Word Count: 3,543
Summary: Pansy is sensible and tells Regulus he should go to Draco’s alone. Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea…
Warnings (if applicable) :
Notes: Part 6/?? of “How to Save a Life”. If you missed the first parts, they can be found here. Links to pictures can be found there as well.
Their arrival had not been expected, at least not so soon, and not without some sort of warning. He’d anticipated an owl, or a phone call, not for them to just roll in, especially not at the barn. He had been worried about Epona’s well being when Eton had been brought in, but she assured him that she would be fine, so he’d headed home. He promised her peppermints the next time he was out, and made a mental note to add them to the list on the refrigerator.
As he drove home he couldn’t help but wonder why Regulus was even in Britain. When he last checked on the family, he was living in the states. Severus had told him that he’d been living with a bright young witch for quite some time, but that was the end of the information. Apparently Pansy had stuck around even after the Ministry disbanded the Emergency Protection Act they’d implemented during the war, although why he had no idea. He pulled into his drive, parked, and collected his things before reaching out to let the wards down. The locking spells fell away as the key was put in the lock, and he hung his things up on the hook by the door.
“Shower, food, and then I wait.” he said, letting his hair down and giving his head a good shake. “If he knew how to find the barn, he’ll have the phone number to call when they’re done with dinner.”
Heading up the stairs he wondered why Severus had kept his name change from appearing in the ledger. Regulus had obviously seen that his last name was different, but for his new first name to have been omitted meant that Severus didn’t even trust the books’ magic. He had been there when the tome had been purchased, and had to be there when the materials were put together and bound, and when the Fidelius was cast he had given the pages their ink, so he knew exactly what the ledger was capable of doing. For someone not bound by the Fidelius the book would remain locked shut, and if (by some strange chance) they managed to get it open, would look blank. Those under the Fidelius would only see information relevant to their status, be they just an undersigned or a Keeper. When Severus died, he had already named Regulus as his replacement so the book should be completely open to him.
“Unless Severus put some sort of clause in it that the new Declaration had to be acknowledged and signed by the new Keeper before the book will allow him full, unrestricted access. Fuck Sev. You couldn’t have made this even the tiniest bit easy for me?”
Clothes were removed and discarded in the hamper in his closet as he walked through to the bathroom. He set the tub to fill and reached into the medicine cabinet for the bottle of asprin. When he closed the cabinet door, he caught sight of his reflection, and the bottle fell from his fingers into the sink. He leaned closer, frowned, then blinked, shaking his head.
“Great, now I’m seeing things.” he mumbled, looking over at the filling tub. “Just what I need.”
Rubbing his temples he walked up to the tub and climbed in, letting the hot water wash some of the stress away.
------
She looked at him over her glass of wine and sighed, giving it a little swirl.
“You should go tonight, and I’ll stay at Grimauld Place.” she said, and he started, almost dropping his fork.
“What, why?” he replied, cutting another piece of his steak.
“You need to go through that trunk, and Snape’s book, alone. I may want to help you, and I want to know what happened to my friend, but it’s not my place. Draco will tell me in his own time, so until then I’ve got to be patient.”
“That’s not a word I would use to describe you, Pansy-dear.”
“Ha ha.”
She rolled her eyes and set her glass down, dabbing at her mouth with her napkin as was proper, and sat back. She watched the man across from her, same as she did every night, and sighed. Since they’d come back to England he’d been all prim and proper, as his breeding demanded, and she hated it. She wanted to be home, with the man that laughed and joked, and was always bringing the outside in with him. If her friends had told her years ago, back when she was a student at Hogwarts, that she’d be living with a man old enough to be her father, in upstate New York, away from anything posh and sophisticated, she would have laughed and had them committed to St. Mungos, but here she was. In the beginning she’d fought the bonding tooth and nail, until he finally put her in her place, and it was over right then and there.
“You alright, luv?”
“Hm?” she blinked and cleared her head. “Yes, fine. Just thinking.”
”What about?”
”Home. I miss the quiet of it.”
“Our house, quiet? Where have you been living these past four years?”
They chuckled and he reached across the table for her hand. A slight shimmer and a fancy diamond ring appeared on her ring finger, the emerald in the setting glinting happily in the candle light. She looked down at it and smiled, watching as a simple platinum band appeared on his left hand.
“I’ll tell him.” he said, giving her hand a squeeze.
“I’m surprised he doesn’t already know,” she replied, taking the bite of steak he offered her. “It’s not like we really hid it.”
”According to the book, he doesn’t have a copy of the tree, and being away from the wizarding world for so long he wouldn’t have seen the announcements in the prophet.”
”The world thinking he’s dead certainly didn’t let us contact him either. Doesn’t tell us why Snape didn’t tell him.”
”Severus told him only what he was asked. If Draco wanted to disappear, and cut all ties, then he didn’t need or want to keep tabs on every little thing. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot about who he’s become over the next few days.”
Their waiter asked if he could get them anything else, and she told him they were fine, just to bring the check. She pulled a small box from her purse and handed it to him, which earned her a raised eyebrow and an amused look. She smirked as he took it, put it in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Visa card placed with the check, he motioned for the waiter to come and take it, and took another sip of his wine while they waited.
“I had planned on popping back to the house to pack a bag and grab the trunk.” he told her.
“There’s three days worth in there, as well as your toiletries bag.”
”Thought of everything, huh?”
”Figured it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared.”
“You going to be alright at the house with Tonks and Remus?”
”I’m a Slytherin, dear, and am more than capable of handling myself. Besides, it’s not like I’ll be lying to them- I don’t know anything about what you’re doing. Just told me we had to come back here to take care of some legal affairs and such for Snape.”
“I’ll owl you tomorrow with plans. If they ask where I am, ju-“
”I’ll tell them you’re at Spinner’s End. Snape will be more than willing to collaberate with me, I’m sure.”
Reciept returned, Regulus signed for their dinner, and stood, offering her his arm. As they walked out, he couldn’t help but feel like they were being watched, but who would be here, in Acton, watching them?
-----
He was sitting in the lounge, feet curled up under him, book resting on his knees when the phone wrang. He slid the chinese food order form he had been using as a bookmark in to mark his pages before reaching for the handset and ran a hand through his hair as he pushed ‘talk’.
“Hello?”
”Hey, kid.”
”So what did you two decide?” he set his book on the table next to him.
“Pansy’s decided that I should come by you tonight, and she’ll spend a few days at Grimauld Place visiting Tonks and Remus.”
”She’s welcome to come with you.”
”She seems to think that we should get all the details, as intricate and gruesome as they are, out of the way before she comes by. Says it’ll be easier on you and that she’s waited nearly seven years, so what’s a few more days?”
”Very Gryffindor of her. Did Severus leave you the address?”
”Yeah, I just gave it to the cab driver.”
”You trust Pansy with your truck?”
”It’s her truck, actually. She and Harry often joke that I’m the hired hand.”
His breath hitched and he had to clear his throat before attempting to speak again.
“Sorry, swollowed wrong. You’ve seen Potter recently then?”
”Seen? Snape really did keep you in the dark, didn’t he? We live with Harry, well, sort of.”
”Interesting. You’ll have to tell me all about it when you get here. I’ll put the wards down, just come on up and ring the bell. Should I put on another pot of tea?”
“You want to start all this shit tonight or tomorrow?”
”We can have a normal conversation, can’t we? I haven’t seen you in a dogs age, and all you want to do is get right down to business.”
“I want to make sure McGonagall can’t bloody well find you, and I want to understand why you want so badly to stay dead, so yeah, I think we should start taking care of ‘business’ tonight.”
“Wards are down. I’ll see you when you get in.”
He hit the ‘end’ button with a little more force than he’d intended and barely kept from hurling the phone across the room. If just talking about Potter upset him, then this was going to be harder than he’d expected. He frowned, wondering why, exactly, it was that little mention of Potter had upset him.
“I’ve thought about the past many times without it striking a cord like this.” he said to himself, padding to the kitchen. “Severus always made a point of asking if I’d felt anything from the bond, and he always said something that would bring up my Hogwarts years, so why does it bother me now?”
The phone was put back on its charger, and he turned the water on to fill the kettle. Once he’d set it to boil he pulled two cups down from the cupboard, and set them on the counter with the sugar bowl, trying to remember whether or not Regulus took milk in his tea. With a shrug he moved to the refrigerator to get the milk; if he didn’t want it he wouldn’t ask for it, but either way he’d be prepared. There were some biscuts left over from his baking kick two days ago that had turned out better than he’d expected that would be acceptable to munch on, so he pulled out the tupperware of them and arranged a few on a plate. While he enjoyed entertaining, and did it often, he had a feeling that what could be a pleasant night and an easy paced couple of days was going to turn out to be a horrible ordeal. His owl flew in and landed on the back of one of the tall chairs at the island, and watched as he set everything up and readied himself for company.
“We’re having wizarding company for a few days, Bregiel, so you don’t have to worry about being quiet or cooped up.” he told her, breaking off a piece of biscut for her. “There will be a few days I’ll have to send you away tho’. We’ll be reworking some strong magic and I don’t want you to be hurt.”
She hooted softly and nipped lovingly at his fingers before the door bell wrang. He ran a hand through his hair and walked out through the dining room to the foyer. He could feel the magic on the other side of the door, and as he turned the handle and opened the door to greet his guest, it only got stronger.
“Hello Regulus. Come in.”
“Hey, kid.”
He made a sweeping motion that all Slytherins, young and old, knew they were welcome, and reached for Regulus’ bag.
“I’ll show you up to your room, then we can get down to business.”
”I thought you wanted idle chit chat?”
”Whichever you prefer. Let me show you up to your room.”
He lead his cousin up the stairs and turned the corner at the top, pushing a little magic towards the door on his right. He felt Regulus’ magic respond and choked down on the flight instinct that had been lingering in him since they arrived at the barn. After being away from the magical world for as long he had been, any little bit of foreign magic set him on edge, but this was different. This was his family, someone he had once trusted with his life, and part of him loved seeing Regulus and Pansy, but the other, more paranoid, part told him that others would follow them and he wasn’t safe any more. That part was normally right.
“This is your room. Bathroom’s through the louvered doors to your right, with access also out in the hall. There’re fresh towels, although I had been expecting Pansy as well, so there are probably more than you need. You’ll find extra blankets in the closet if you need them. Feel free to unpack into the closet and dresser, and make yourself at home. Tea should be just about done so come down to the kitchen when you’re ready.”
“This isn’t the manor, or Grimauld Place, kid; no need to stand on ceremony for me.”
“You’re my guest, cousin, and will be treated as such, just as my breeding demands. There are some things about me these seven years haven’t changed.”
As he left his cousin to settle himself in, he felt a cold siver run up and down his spine, and his magic spiked in response. There were very few things that gave him that sensation, and last he knew, they were all out of the country. He ran down the stairs and hall to the kitchen, only to come to a sliding stop in the doorway. A pale eyebrow arched in amusement as cornflower blues eyes turned from him back to the tea pot.
“You almost burnt the water, dear.”
“Mum…”
”I got your owl, and the new Declaration, which is on your desk. I take it Regulus has arrived?”
”Not five minutes ago.”
”Good. We’ll get down to business as soon as he’s settled, and then I can get back to my shopping in Paris.”
”This isn’t going to be quick and painless, mother.”
”No, of course not, dear, but you only need me for Memory Circle and the casting of the charm, just as it was with Severus, so I won’t be here long.”
“And if, after he sees all the memories, after he knows everything, he decides he doesn’t want to be my Keeper, who’s going to obliviate him? You know I can’t do it, and-“
”Don’t worry yourself, Draco. Come what may, you will be safe. Regulus is family, and family comes first.”
”The fact that he lives on a farm with our head of house, is married to Pansy, and probably still talks to most of the Order doesn’t concern you even the tiniest bit, does it?”
”I have no reason to be concerned; Regulus and I talked at great length when last we saw eachother about this, and he knows that there is no one else who can do this for you. He will not fail you.”
”I’m not worried about me, I’m worried about him, about his relatively new marriage, about Potter finding out, about the Ministry learning about not only my continued existance, but about Epona and the coming foal. The second he realizes I’m alive, it’s all over, mum. There will be no running, no hiding, no buying my way out of it. If Potter decides that I need to be found, all he has to do is ask, and he’ll be able to get in here quieter than you did.”
Narcissa surveyed her son and sighed.
“You get yourself so worked up, over the littlest of things. Come, sit down and have a cup of tea, it’ll make you feel better. Regulus, you still take milk and sugar, yes?”
He turned to look behind him, and all but jumped. How had Regulus come up so quietly, and without his noticing the magic getting closer? Was he so focused on his mother that he ignored everything else? If so, then this was going to be a lot more draining than he’d anticipated.
“I know you like to keep the attention off your eyes, sweetheart, but don’t you normally take your contacts out once you get home?”
”Contacts? Mum, I haven’t worn them in years.”
”Hmm. Must bee the lighting then. For a moment there they looked almost green.”
“G-green?”
He walked across the hall to the bathroom, heart pounding loudly in his ears. His reflection told him all he needed to know. His eyes were green.
“Mum…We have a problem.” he called, rushing back across to the kitchen.
“What, dear?”
”Green. Eyes. Mum. My eyes only ever go green when - the horse. I knew he felt familiar!”
He grabbed Regulus by the collar and spun him, slamming him back into the wall. Narcissa had her wand in hand, and was stalking out into the dining room to ward the house.
“Did you bring Potter with you?!”
“No, he’s back home, minding the herds. What’s this all about, kid?”
”Did he know why you were coming? Would he have followed you? What kind of a link does he have to Eton?”
”I told him, two years ago, that Severus made me executor of his will, and when he died, I told him I had to go settle it. He wouldn’t have followed because he’s expecting a new Hippogryff baby sometime soon and wouldn’t leave the herds with the other hands for love or money. As for Eton… Harry’s had him since just before the War broke out. Never told us how or where he got him, just that Eton came to him. Why the fuck’re you so hung up on Harry finding you?”
“Because, dear cousin,” Narcissa said as she stalked back into the room, “He’s the reason my son left the wizarding world. Sit.”
She flicked her wand at the kitchen table, making a chair turn itself away from the table. There was a crack of magic and an old pensive, engraved with the Malfoy crest, appeared on the table, its contents swirling an angry black and silver. The knife that sat next to it was just as old, but the quill and parchemt were brand new. Regulus knew the look on his cousins’ face as she pushed him into the chair, and wasn’t about to argue.
“Sign the Declaration, Regulus, and we’ll get started.”
“Eton’s just a horse, albiet a magical one, and Regulus is right, Potter’s an ocean away. It’s alright, mum.”
”No, Draco, it’s not. We know nothing of the connection between this Eton and Potter, so if there’s even a small a possibility he’ll find out about you, I want to make sure you’re safe. No, we take care of this now, and deal with the consequences after. Sign, Regulus.”
He picked up the quill, and signed his name with a flourish. The faint burning sensation across the back of his hand confirmed the red that was now his name, and he felt the beginnings of complicated magic start to weave their way up his arm. Draco sent him an apologetic look as Narcissa picked up the dagger. She made a shallow cut across her right palm, and then again on both of his. She clasped her bloody hand with his left, and handed the dagger to Draco.
“You offer yourself as my Secret Keeper of your own free will, and take the responsibility of keeping that which you are about to learn upon yourself, knowing that it can never be spoken of, as outlined by the Declaration of Intent to Keep Secret? ?”
”Yes, of course.”
“So mote it be.”
Draco made a cut across his left palm and joined his hand with Regulus’. He stirred the pensieve once counter clockwise and twice clockwise with the dagger before setting it down and taking his own seat. He took his mothers’ hand and then a deep breath. He threw out a wave of magic that turned the liquid in the pensive from black and silver to red then to a glittering clear. There was a charge running through each of them, creating a barrier around them, and before it went up completely, Draco made sure the outside door in his office was open enough that his owl could get out.
“Okay, Regulus, jump in.”
The magic pulsed, and before they knew it, they were plunging through his memories, heading back almost ten years.
It was now or never.
TBC
*Grumbles* I apologize for the extreme wait for this and well, this part is nowhere near where I had wanted it to be, but it’s good enough. Originally I had the first memory in this chapter, but every time I reread it I found more and more I didn’t like, and ended up reworking so much of it that it was just easier to rewrite it all together.
The next few chapters will be flashback chapters. I haven’t quite got it all worked out how I’m going to do the present Draco, Narcissa and Regulus’ commentation during the memories, but I’ll make note of it at the beginning of the next chapter when I finally
do get ti down. I’ve already got the majority of the memories plotted, it’s just a matter of getting them to flow right and make sense, so hopefully the wait won’t be nearly as long for the next chapter. Thanks for hanging in there with me.
Author: queenteek
Rating: PG-13 (for language)
Prompt Set: Draco 100.3
Prompt #: 68- Come What May
Word Count: 3,543
Summary: Pansy is sensible and tells Regulus he should go to Draco’s alone. Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea…
Warnings (if applicable) :
Notes: Part 6/?? of “How to Save a Life”. If you missed the first parts, they can be found here. Links to pictures can be found there as well.
Their arrival had not been expected, at least not so soon, and not without some sort of warning. He’d anticipated an owl, or a phone call, not for them to just roll in, especially not at the barn. He had been worried about Epona’s well being when Eton had been brought in, but she assured him that she would be fine, so he’d headed home. He promised her peppermints the next time he was out, and made a mental note to add them to the list on the refrigerator.
As he drove home he couldn’t help but wonder why Regulus was even in Britain. When he last checked on the family, he was living in the states. Severus had told him that he’d been living with a bright young witch for quite some time, but that was the end of the information. Apparently Pansy had stuck around even after the Ministry disbanded the Emergency Protection Act they’d implemented during the war, although why he had no idea. He pulled into his drive, parked, and collected his things before reaching out to let the wards down. The locking spells fell away as the key was put in the lock, and he hung his things up on the hook by the door.
“Shower, food, and then I wait.” he said, letting his hair down and giving his head a good shake. “If he knew how to find the barn, he’ll have the phone number to call when they’re done with dinner.”
Heading up the stairs he wondered why Severus had kept his name change from appearing in the ledger. Regulus had obviously seen that his last name was different, but for his new first name to have been omitted meant that Severus didn’t even trust the books’ magic. He had been there when the tome had been purchased, and had to be there when the materials were put together and bound, and when the Fidelius was cast he had given the pages their ink, so he knew exactly what the ledger was capable of doing. For someone not bound by the Fidelius the book would remain locked shut, and if (by some strange chance) they managed to get it open, would look blank. Those under the Fidelius would only see information relevant to their status, be they just an undersigned or a Keeper. When Severus died, he had already named Regulus as his replacement so the book should be completely open to him.
“Unless Severus put some sort of clause in it that the new Declaration had to be acknowledged and signed by the new Keeper before the book will allow him full, unrestricted access. Fuck Sev. You couldn’t have made this even the tiniest bit easy for me?”
Clothes were removed and discarded in the hamper in his closet as he walked through to the bathroom. He set the tub to fill and reached into the medicine cabinet for the bottle of asprin. When he closed the cabinet door, he caught sight of his reflection, and the bottle fell from his fingers into the sink. He leaned closer, frowned, then blinked, shaking his head.
“Great, now I’m seeing things.” he mumbled, looking over at the filling tub. “Just what I need.”
Rubbing his temples he walked up to the tub and climbed in, letting the hot water wash some of the stress away.
------
She looked at him over her glass of wine and sighed, giving it a little swirl.
“You should go tonight, and I’ll stay at Grimauld Place.” she said, and he started, almost dropping his fork.
“What, why?” he replied, cutting another piece of his steak.
“You need to go through that trunk, and Snape’s book, alone. I may want to help you, and I want to know what happened to my friend, but it’s not my place. Draco will tell me in his own time, so until then I’ve got to be patient.”
“That’s not a word I would use to describe you, Pansy-dear.”
“Ha ha.”
She rolled her eyes and set her glass down, dabbing at her mouth with her napkin as was proper, and sat back. She watched the man across from her, same as she did every night, and sighed. Since they’d come back to England he’d been all prim and proper, as his breeding demanded, and she hated it. She wanted to be home, with the man that laughed and joked, and was always bringing the outside in with him. If her friends had told her years ago, back when she was a student at Hogwarts, that she’d be living with a man old enough to be her father, in upstate New York, away from anything posh and sophisticated, she would have laughed and had them committed to St. Mungos, but here she was. In the beginning she’d fought the bonding tooth and nail, until he finally put her in her place, and it was over right then and there.
“You alright, luv?”
“Hm?” she blinked and cleared her head. “Yes, fine. Just thinking.”
”What about?”
”Home. I miss the quiet of it.”
“Our house, quiet? Where have you been living these past four years?”
They chuckled and he reached across the table for her hand. A slight shimmer and a fancy diamond ring appeared on her ring finger, the emerald in the setting glinting happily in the candle light. She looked down at it and smiled, watching as a simple platinum band appeared on his left hand.
“I’ll tell him.” he said, giving her hand a squeeze.
“I’m surprised he doesn’t already know,” she replied, taking the bite of steak he offered her. “It’s not like we really hid it.”
”According to the book, he doesn’t have a copy of the tree, and being away from the wizarding world for so long he wouldn’t have seen the announcements in the prophet.”
”The world thinking he’s dead certainly didn’t let us contact him either. Doesn’t tell us why Snape didn’t tell him.”
”Severus told him only what he was asked. If Draco wanted to disappear, and cut all ties, then he didn’t need or want to keep tabs on every little thing. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot about who he’s become over the next few days.”
Their waiter asked if he could get them anything else, and she told him they were fine, just to bring the check. She pulled a small box from her purse and handed it to him, which earned her a raised eyebrow and an amused look. She smirked as he took it, put it in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Visa card placed with the check, he motioned for the waiter to come and take it, and took another sip of his wine while they waited.
“I had planned on popping back to the house to pack a bag and grab the trunk.” he told her.
“There’s three days worth in there, as well as your toiletries bag.”
”Thought of everything, huh?”
”Figured it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared.”
“You going to be alright at the house with Tonks and Remus?”
”I’m a Slytherin, dear, and am more than capable of handling myself. Besides, it’s not like I’ll be lying to them- I don’t know anything about what you’re doing. Just told me we had to come back here to take care of some legal affairs and such for Snape.”
“I’ll owl you tomorrow with plans. If they ask where I am, ju-“
”I’ll tell them you’re at Spinner’s End. Snape will be more than willing to collaberate with me, I’m sure.”
Reciept returned, Regulus signed for their dinner, and stood, offering her his arm. As they walked out, he couldn’t help but feel like they were being watched, but who would be here, in Acton, watching them?
-----
He was sitting in the lounge, feet curled up under him, book resting on his knees when the phone wrang. He slid the chinese food order form he had been using as a bookmark in to mark his pages before reaching for the handset and ran a hand through his hair as he pushed ‘talk’.
“Hello?”
”Hey, kid.”
”So what did you two decide?” he set his book on the table next to him.
“Pansy’s decided that I should come by you tonight, and she’ll spend a few days at Grimauld Place visiting Tonks and Remus.”
”She’s welcome to come with you.”
”She seems to think that we should get all the details, as intricate and gruesome as they are, out of the way before she comes by. Says it’ll be easier on you and that she’s waited nearly seven years, so what’s a few more days?”
”Very Gryffindor of her. Did Severus leave you the address?”
”Yeah, I just gave it to the cab driver.”
”You trust Pansy with your truck?”
”It’s her truck, actually. She and Harry often joke that I’m the hired hand.”
His breath hitched and he had to clear his throat before attempting to speak again.
“Sorry, swollowed wrong. You’ve seen Potter recently then?”
”Seen? Snape really did keep you in the dark, didn’t he? We live with Harry, well, sort of.”
”Interesting. You’ll have to tell me all about it when you get here. I’ll put the wards down, just come on up and ring the bell. Should I put on another pot of tea?”
“You want to start all this shit tonight or tomorrow?”
”We can have a normal conversation, can’t we? I haven’t seen you in a dogs age, and all you want to do is get right down to business.”
“I want to make sure McGonagall can’t bloody well find you, and I want to understand why you want so badly to stay dead, so yeah, I think we should start taking care of ‘business’ tonight.”
“Wards are down. I’ll see you when you get in.”
He hit the ‘end’ button with a little more force than he’d intended and barely kept from hurling the phone across the room. If just talking about Potter upset him, then this was going to be harder than he’d expected. He frowned, wondering why, exactly, it was that little mention of Potter had upset him.
“I’ve thought about the past many times without it striking a cord like this.” he said to himself, padding to the kitchen. “Severus always made a point of asking if I’d felt anything from the bond, and he always said something that would bring up my Hogwarts years, so why does it bother me now?”
The phone was put back on its charger, and he turned the water on to fill the kettle. Once he’d set it to boil he pulled two cups down from the cupboard, and set them on the counter with the sugar bowl, trying to remember whether or not Regulus took milk in his tea. With a shrug he moved to the refrigerator to get the milk; if he didn’t want it he wouldn’t ask for it, but either way he’d be prepared. There were some biscuts left over from his baking kick two days ago that had turned out better than he’d expected that would be acceptable to munch on, so he pulled out the tupperware of them and arranged a few on a plate. While he enjoyed entertaining, and did it often, he had a feeling that what could be a pleasant night and an easy paced couple of days was going to turn out to be a horrible ordeal. His owl flew in and landed on the back of one of the tall chairs at the island, and watched as he set everything up and readied himself for company.
“We’re having wizarding company for a few days, Bregiel, so you don’t have to worry about being quiet or cooped up.” he told her, breaking off a piece of biscut for her. “There will be a few days I’ll have to send you away tho’. We’ll be reworking some strong magic and I don’t want you to be hurt.”
She hooted softly and nipped lovingly at his fingers before the door bell wrang. He ran a hand through his hair and walked out through the dining room to the foyer. He could feel the magic on the other side of the door, and as he turned the handle and opened the door to greet his guest, it only got stronger.
“Hello Regulus. Come in.”
“Hey, kid.”
He made a sweeping motion that all Slytherins, young and old, knew they were welcome, and reached for Regulus’ bag.
“I’ll show you up to your room, then we can get down to business.”
”I thought you wanted idle chit chat?”
”Whichever you prefer. Let me show you up to your room.”
He lead his cousin up the stairs and turned the corner at the top, pushing a little magic towards the door on his right. He felt Regulus’ magic respond and choked down on the flight instinct that had been lingering in him since they arrived at the barn. After being away from the magical world for as long he had been, any little bit of foreign magic set him on edge, but this was different. This was his family, someone he had once trusted with his life, and part of him loved seeing Regulus and Pansy, but the other, more paranoid, part told him that others would follow them and he wasn’t safe any more. That part was normally right.
“This is your room. Bathroom’s through the louvered doors to your right, with access also out in the hall. There’re fresh towels, although I had been expecting Pansy as well, so there are probably more than you need. You’ll find extra blankets in the closet if you need them. Feel free to unpack into the closet and dresser, and make yourself at home. Tea should be just about done so come down to the kitchen when you’re ready.”
“This isn’t the manor, or Grimauld Place, kid; no need to stand on ceremony for me.”
“You’re my guest, cousin, and will be treated as such, just as my breeding demands. There are some things about me these seven years haven’t changed.”
As he left his cousin to settle himself in, he felt a cold siver run up and down his spine, and his magic spiked in response. There were very few things that gave him that sensation, and last he knew, they were all out of the country. He ran down the stairs and hall to the kitchen, only to come to a sliding stop in the doorway. A pale eyebrow arched in amusement as cornflower blues eyes turned from him back to the tea pot.
“You almost burnt the water, dear.”
“Mum…”
”I got your owl, and the new Declaration, which is on your desk. I take it Regulus has arrived?”
”Not five minutes ago.”
”Good. We’ll get down to business as soon as he’s settled, and then I can get back to my shopping in Paris.”
”This isn’t going to be quick and painless, mother.”
”No, of course not, dear, but you only need me for Memory Circle and the casting of the charm, just as it was with Severus, so I won’t be here long.”
“And if, after he sees all the memories, after he knows everything, he decides he doesn’t want to be my Keeper, who’s going to obliviate him? You know I can’t do it, and-“
”Don’t worry yourself, Draco. Come what may, you will be safe. Regulus is family, and family comes first.”
”The fact that he lives on a farm with our head of house, is married to Pansy, and probably still talks to most of the Order doesn’t concern you even the tiniest bit, does it?”
”I have no reason to be concerned; Regulus and I talked at great length when last we saw eachother about this, and he knows that there is no one else who can do this for you. He will not fail you.”
”I’m not worried about me, I’m worried about him, about his relatively new marriage, about Potter finding out, about the Ministry learning about not only my continued existance, but about Epona and the coming foal. The second he realizes I’m alive, it’s all over, mum. There will be no running, no hiding, no buying my way out of it. If Potter decides that I need to be found, all he has to do is ask, and he’ll be able to get in here quieter than you did.”
Narcissa surveyed her son and sighed.
“You get yourself so worked up, over the littlest of things. Come, sit down and have a cup of tea, it’ll make you feel better. Regulus, you still take milk and sugar, yes?”
He turned to look behind him, and all but jumped. How had Regulus come up so quietly, and without his noticing the magic getting closer? Was he so focused on his mother that he ignored everything else? If so, then this was going to be a lot more draining than he’d anticipated.
“I know you like to keep the attention off your eyes, sweetheart, but don’t you normally take your contacts out once you get home?”
”Contacts? Mum, I haven’t worn them in years.”
”Hmm. Must bee the lighting then. For a moment there they looked almost green.”
“G-green?”
He walked across the hall to the bathroom, heart pounding loudly in his ears. His reflection told him all he needed to know. His eyes were green.
“Mum…We have a problem.” he called, rushing back across to the kitchen.
“What, dear?”
”Green. Eyes. Mum. My eyes only ever go green when - the horse. I knew he felt familiar!”
He grabbed Regulus by the collar and spun him, slamming him back into the wall. Narcissa had her wand in hand, and was stalking out into the dining room to ward the house.
“Did you bring Potter with you?!”
“No, he’s back home, minding the herds. What’s this all about, kid?”
”Did he know why you were coming? Would he have followed you? What kind of a link does he have to Eton?”
”I told him, two years ago, that Severus made me executor of his will, and when he died, I told him I had to go settle it. He wouldn’t have followed because he’s expecting a new Hippogryff baby sometime soon and wouldn’t leave the herds with the other hands for love or money. As for Eton… Harry’s had him since just before the War broke out. Never told us how or where he got him, just that Eton came to him. Why the fuck’re you so hung up on Harry finding you?”
“Because, dear cousin,” Narcissa said as she stalked back into the room, “He’s the reason my son left the wizarding world. Sit.”
She flicked her wand at the kitchen table, making a chair turn itself away from the table. There was a crack of magic and an old pensive, engraved with the Malfoy crest, appeared on the table, its contents swirling an angry black and silver. The knife that sat next to it was just as old, but the quill and parchemt were brand new. Regulus knew the look on his cousins’ face as she pushed him into the chair, and wasn’t about to argue.
“Sign the Declaration, Regulus, and we’ll get started.”
“Eton’s just a horse, albiet a magical one, and Regulus is right, Potter’s an ocean away. It’s alright, mum.”
”No, Draco, it’s not. We know nothing of the connection between this Eton and Potter, so if there’s even a small a possibility he’ll find out about you, I want to make sure you’re safe. No, we take care of this now, and deal with the consequences after. Sign, Regulus.”
He picked up the quill, and signed his name with a flourish. The faint burning sensation across the back of his hand confirmed the red that was now his name, and he felt the beginnings of complicated magic start to weave their way up his arm. Draco sent him an apologetic look as Narcissa picked up the dagger. She made a shallow cut across her right palm, and then again on both of his. She clasped her bloody hand with his left, and handed the dagger to Draco.
“You offer yourself as my Secret Keeper of your own free will, and take the responsibility of keeping that which you are about to learn upon yourself, knowing that it can never be spoken of, as outlined by the Declaration of Intent to Keep Secret? ?”
”Yes, of course.”
“So mote it be.”
Draco made a cut across his left palm and joined his hand with Regulus’. He stirred the pensieve once counter clockwise and twice clockwise with the dagger before setting it down and taking his own seat. He took his mothers’ hand and then a deep breath. He threw out a wave of magic that turned the liquid in the pensive from black and silver to red then to a glittering clear. There was a charge running through each of them, creating a barrier around them, and before it went up completely, Draco made sure the outside door in his office was open enough that his owl could get out.
“Okay, Regulus, jump in.”
The magic pulsed, and before they knew it, they were plunging through his memories, heading back almost ten years.
It was now or never.
TBC
*Grumbles* I apologize for the extreme wait for this and well, this part is nowhere near where I had wanted it to be, but it’s good enough. Originally I had the first memory in this chapter, but every time I reread it I found more and more I didn’t like, and ended up reworking so much of it that it was just easier to rewrite it all together.
The next few chapters will be flashback chapters. I haven’t quite got it all worked out how I’m going to do the present Draco, Narcissa and Regulus’ commentation during the memories, but I’ll make note of it at the beginning of the next chapter when I finally
do get ti down. I’ve already got the majority of the memories plotted, it’s just a matter of getting them to flow right and make sense, so hopefully the wait won’t be nearly as long for the next chapter. Thanks for hanging in there with me.