From the Ashes

02 - In The Cellar

"Draco,"

"Draco,"

"Wake up,"

Head dizzy and filled with the soft urgent voice of his mother, Narcissa Malfoy, Draco sat up, squinting slightly in an attempt to make out his mother's form within the darkness.

"I'm alright mother." He said, wearily rubbing his temples. "Any idea where we are?" He asked.

"Not at present. Astoria and your father have been taken upstairs," Narcissa leaned back against the wall, letting herself relax ever so slightly now that she was sure her son was alive. "We seem to be in some sort of cellar."

Draco stood, careful not to bang his head on the ceiling above.

"What do you remember?" He asked as he made his way toward the wall, attempting to make out the exit. There had to be a hatch or a door somewhere in here.

"Not much I'm afraid. Probably about as much as you. Maybe a bit more." Narcissa paused, listening to her son's shuffling footsteps. "I remember dinner and the knock at the door. Then you were thrown across the room and got all smoky and dark." She went silent.

"Yeah. Peruvian instant darkness powder if I'm not mistaken." Draco said. He remembered hitting the floor and the darkness. He'd gone to see who was at his door, and a curse had sent him flying. He shook his head, rubbing his temples with increased vigour as if that would enhance his memory.

"There were two men in cloaks." He said after a few minutes of silence, "Did you see their faces?"

"I didn't."

There was a shriek from above.

"Fuck." Draco knew that scream. He could picture the scenario upstairs in his head quite clearly. As if he had already witnessed it. His wife, Astoria Greengrass, pinned to the floor with a dagger, the two men torturing her for information. On what he didn't know. The thought of her being tortured brought out a blind urge to escape, to protect her, to do what he was clearly, once again, incapable of doing. Cursing once more under his breath he began searching more frantically for a door.

"Draco," Narcissa said quietly. "There's nothing you can do for her or your father."

"Hang him. I'm sure he's the reason we're in this godforsaken place to start with." he spat back, he was sick of being part of his father's games, and now his wife was part of them too. "My wife is being tortured. Mother, if you know why this is happening please let me in on it." Draco said. There was another shriek and another. Then silence. Draco choked slightly, listening hopelessly for sounds of his wife. There was only silence.

After a few minutes of heavy breathing, Draco slid to the floor. He wasn't going to break down, not now. His mother needed him, so did Astoria. That was if she was still alive. His shoulders shook slightly as he tried to gain control of his emotions.

"Son. She'll be alright. She's a bright girl." Narcissa pleaded with him. "Right now you need to keep it together." her own voice was trembling now. Draco had never known his mother to cry, she had kept her emotions reigned in and in check for the entirety of the Dark Lords rise to power, and their downfall. Not once had he heard her cry after Lucius had been dragged off to Azkaban and now her voice was trembling.

"Mother. Tell me. What did he get us into this time?" he said tiredly, leaning his head back so it rested against the stone wall.

"I swear on my sister's graves, he has nothing to do with this. Your father has turned away from the darkness. Please trust me. He no longer craves power." Narcissa was now openly sobbing. Draco sat with his eyes shut, listening to his mother cry and straining to her past her, up into the hall above their heads for signs of life.

creeeakkk.

There was the sound of a lock and metal on metal. Then a blinding light flickered into the room.

"Stand back or I'll curse you." Called a gruff voice from the doorway. Draco felt his body relax as his eyes caught the figures of Astoria and Lucius being herded into the cellar. Astoria looked pale and tears streaked down her heart-shaped face, but she looked otherwise unharmed. As soon as the man had re-locked the door Draco stood and clumsily made his way to his wife, embracing her and checking her for harm.

"Are you alright. I thought they'd..." He was now sobbing as well, attempting to keep it together.

"I'm fine Draco, just a little sore and scarred," Astoria reassured him. He hugged her tightly, and she embraced him back, reassuring him that she was indeed not in grave danger.

Lucius made his way to his wife and slumped silently to the floor beside her. He slid his hand over hers and squeezed it tightly. After all the years of their marriage, Narcissa and Lucius knew how to communicate their feelings without words. They sat silently, listening to Draco and Astoria, for several minutes before Narcissa said quietly,

"What did they want Lucius?"

Lucius didn't respond immediately, instead, he stared down at his wife's pale fingers, just barely visible in the dark.

"It seems someone is looking for the Dark Lords legacy."

"No," Narcissa said almost inaudibly. "I thought it was destroyed with him."

"So did I."

"What does Astoria have to do with all this?" Narcissa asked, giving her daughter-in-law a looking over. Draco and Astoria were now sitting together across from Narcissa and Lucius, listening intently.

"I was the one who discovered it," Astoria said quietly. "It seems Potter disposed of the Elder wand, snapping it into two pieces. I found a piece of it when they sent us out to chart the Hogwarts grounds last year." She sighed. "The ministry swore me to secrecy but I suppose there is no reason to hide it now."

Draco felt his pulse quicken once more. The Elder wand was still around. That meant that there was a chance that he was its master. Don't be silly. Potter explained it. Potter was the master, not Draco. But Potter had discarded the wand. Snapped it in two if Astoria's knowledge was fact. That could mean anything for the wand.

"Who are they?" Draco asked, pulling his wife closer to him. He would not let her be hurt, not now not ever.

"I'm not sure." Astoria said, "But...Draco. They had Dark Marks." she said.

"No," Narcissa said breathlessly, involuntarily touching her own arm. Draco twitched slightly.

"It's true. The are...or at least were...Death Eaters." Lucius said.