I'll Take That Chance

CH 18 - "A Traitor to the End Are We Not?"

Harry read Draco's note for the third time in over an hour. He was bored and ready for class to start. Hagrid was hovering near the door of his hut when they had all walked down.

"Mornin' you three!" They tried to look past him to see what he was hiding but to no avail. "I was up all night getting this creature here today. Go wait with everyone else."

"I take it you didn't get a look at it either?" Hermione asked Ron who easily stood a head taller than the two of them.

"Nope. But honestly, what we have had so far hasn't been too bad." Harry nodded and they watched as Hagrid shuffled around some more. Harry knew how much Draco had been enjoying this class and he knew he would hate missing a new creature.

"How do you think it's going?" Hermione asked quietly. Harry knew she was referring to Lucius Malfoy. The Kiss was going to be administered at noon and it was only now ten.

"I don't know. He left pretty early this morning. He met up with his mother and Andromeda and I'll bet they are at the Ministry now."

"I'll bet so. McGonagall went too, you know. As a chaperone, making sure he got there and back safely. Told us last night," Ron added. "She figures it'll be quick but she wasn't sure if they would be returning to the school tomorrow or Sunday."

"Yeah, that's what Draco told me in his note this morning," Harry said and sighed, but Ron laughed.

"Mate, you guys could date for a year and it would still be weird hearing you say his name so nonchalantly." Harry grinned and knocked Ron on the shoulder.

***

Deep inside the Ministry of Magic, Draco was pacing the floors, his heart keeping track with the loud clacks his shoes made on the tiles. His mother was sitting on a bench with his aunt only a few feet down from the room where they would have their last conversation with his father. His suit was tight on his throat and he was finding it hard to swallow against the dryness in his mouth.

"Draco, honey, please come and take a seat," his mother pleaded as he passed by her for the twelfth time.

"I'm too anxious, Mother. Are you ok?" She was very pale and she had been wringing her hands since they had met that morning. She had never been one to show her anxieties and this made Draco more uneasy. He resumed his pacing. Half an hour had passed since the Minister had left them there.

"I'm ok, dear," she replied and her sister placed her hand on hers. They smiled at each other for a moment before they were all interrupted by the sound of a heavy door being pushed open. Draco swallowed hard and willed his heart to slow down. Kingsley Shacklebolt and Professor McGonagall were walking towards them. He nodded at them with a solemn face.

"Before you go in, I want to warn you that his appearance may be startlingly different than the last time you saw him. He may be easily provoked or he may not say much at all. You may spend at most half an hour before he must be taken away. I'll be in the hall here and there will be a team of Aurors on the other side of the opposite door if you need anything." He held his hand out and showed them the way. Draco offered his arm to his mother and the two of them walked what seemed like a mile to the door. The room was bare save for a light on the ceiling. They stepped inside and the door was shut behind them. In the middle of the dimly lit room sat Lucius Malfoy. His hair was stringy and limp, falling lifelessly over his shoulders. Draco could easily make out every bone under his shirt on his skeletal frame and his mother gripped his arm tighter. Draco cleared his throat.

"Father," he said. He wasn't sure if he should step closer and reach out but at the sound of his voice, Lucius looked up. Draco gripped his mother's hand. The ashen face that looked up at them was emaciated and it terrified him. The eyes though, they were hauntingly the same. They pierced him to the core and it was all he could do to not look away.

"So my family has come to say goodbye." Draco squared his shoulders, he knew that tone well.

"Lucius, please," Narcissa began but she stopped. She slowly let go of Draco's arm and held it out to her husband. He looked at it and scoffed.

"You come here after months to say what? That you hate to see me this way? That I should have listened to you and changed my ways? Pathetic, both of you."

"We didnt come here to fight, Father." Draco placed his hand on his mother's shoulder and tried to pull her back.

"You wouldn't be brave enough for that though, would you son?" He narrowed his eyes at him and Draco blanched. He had seen that look so many times. "You only worked hard enough for what you thought would get you something. You were always a coward when it counted the most. We could have won, we could have come out on top!"

"That is enough, Lucius! We picked the wrong side. We were the ones who were wrong. But when it mattered most, you were the one who wouldn't change, not even for the sake of your family."

"Family?" he yelled, and Draco startled. Lucius pointed a bony finger at him. "You could have put us at the top, you could have made so many moves to fix the war in our favor but you wouldn't do it."

"Draco was more than brave enough to do what needed to be done," Narcissa yelled back. "He stood up and apologized, as did I. We knew we were wrong, and you know it. It was wrong of us to have ever asked so much of him. And now we can live our lives and find some sort of normalness, but Lucius, you won't be here. Please, give us this time to be together. Let's not fight anymore." Draco could feel her shaking but she stood her ground. His father didn't acknowledge her words, instead he turned his cold eyes to the door.

"I have been informed that you have gone back to your Muggle-loving sister," he said viciously. "A traitor till the end, are we not?"

"My sister has forgiven me and taken me back. It's too late for so many things but she still loves me and I'm not giving that back up. Please, Lucius, let us not fight." He ignored her request and turned once more to Draco. He was surprised by how much strength he saw in those chilling eyes, eyes that so closely resembled his own.

"And speaking of the Malfoy family turning their backs on what is right and destroying the family name, you dear son, have turned into the arms of none other than Harry Potter. Am I right?" Draco's heart contracted painfully and his vision swam. His mother placed her hand on his shoulder and looked between the two of them.

"Who did you hear that from?" he asked menacingly, taking a step towards him.

"So angry, tsk, tsk, so telling. Word gets around." Lucius looked him up and down and sneered disgustedly. "Sleeping with the enemy, and a man, nonetheless. You are no son of mine!" he spat.

"He is not the enemy, Father! You have no idea what you are saying. And I don't give a shit what you think," he spat back, his anger getting the better of him. It was now his mother's turn to try and pull him back, but he stood his ground.

"I'll be gone soon enough. Luckily I won't be around to watch you defile yourself with that filth!"

"I said that is enough!" Narcissa stepped forward but Lucius grabbed her by the arm and shoved her aside. She fell against the wall and gasped, grabbing her arm and clutching it to her chest. Draco immediately saw red and balled his hands into fists; he struck the side of his fathers face hard before he rounded on him as well. Though he was skeletal and emaciated, he had a strength Draco hadn't expected. Lucius landed a hit on him and then grabbed him by the collar and threw him to the floor. His arm was still weak from the attack at the library and Draco had no way to catch himself before his face hit the ground with a sickening thud. His mother cried out and he tried to raise himself on his arms but his head throbbed dangerously and his shoulder was screaming. Before darkness completely overtook him, he heard his fathers last words.

"He won't last long. Mark my words, the end will come for him soon enough."