Poison Ivy | T. Riddle ✔

[64] Opportunity

Emmeline was stuck in a dilemma; ever since Eridanus left she couldn't think of anything other than him and would recoil every now and then at thinking of what he could be going through. But she had to keep her promise to him and only when a couple hours passed without any news from him, she finally approached Perseus.

"Miss Vance, what happened?" Perseus seemed to have judged the demented look in her eyes as he gently asked her, "is anything the matter?"

"Mister Burke, Eridanus has surrendered himself to the Dark Lord."

His features paled as he registered the words spoken to him, "what... How? Why?"

"On our last mission in which we encountered Death Eaters targeting a Muggle household, Lucius Malfoy had told him that the Dark Lord would kill his parents if he did not go with him. I tried to persuade Eridanus against it but he was adamant to save the Malfoys in exchange for his own self. He left two hours ago and had made me promise to not tell anyone of you before."

Perseus was thoroughly shaken but he understood his nephew's decision, "does Demi know?"

"No, I have not told it to anyone except you."

"Make sure that she doesn't come to know of it until we bring Danny back," he instructed her, features resolving into a calmly determined look as if he had decided what to do, "I'll find Nathan and Dumbledore. Prepare your squad, we will be going as soon as it is possible. Do you have any idea where he could be right now?"

"Malfoy Manor," she replied, "the Death Eaters have been using it as their headquarters for long now. There's no other place where they could have kept him."

Then in an attempt to reassure her, he added, "pray do not get so worried, Miss Vance. Danny will not be hurt and we will retrieve him before anything happens to him."

"I hope so."

"Do not let your emotions cloud your thinking," he advised, blue eyes flickering in concern for her as well as Eridanus, "you're an Auror, you know that better than any of us that in situations such as these we have to focus. Don't let your concern hinder you from it."

"Yes Mister Burke," she nodded, "I'll get the squad prepared right away."

***

Blood trickled down Danny's wrists that were iron cuffed to the dungeon's stone wall. He had been tortured but even after various times of being inflicted by the Cruciatus Curse, his answer had remained the same that he would rather die than join his father in his abominable schemes. And that stubbornness of his had angered Voldemort to the extreme thus resulting in further strict torture and confinement. 

Though Danny himself had not retaliated yet for he knew the Order members would be coming any moment and it would be better to wait then strike alongside them. He could handle the Cruciatus Curse for unlike other humans, he had had much more experience in dealing with pain that came as a result of suppressing the scorching feeling that erupted in his veins each time the Dark Lord was angered. So the curse was nothing new to him and he suppressed it as well as he possibly could, not letting it mess with his brain.

The dungeons somehow still echoed with Bella's ominous chuckle as she had come down to scorn at him and left just a short while ago when the Dark Lord had summoned her out. Other than that there was silence all around him as an unmistakable stench of dread reeked through the cold stone walls.

He was keeping very alert, assessing the surroundings and closely listening in to each sound for deep inside he could feel the energies from various wands encircling the Manor. 

Among the abilities he had unknowingly inherited or achieved, one of the ability was to judge the spell energies around him. He could tell what kind of spells were used merely by visiting the location and judging the aftermath and that ability of his had aided a lot in their Order mission as well for he could easily pickup the Dark spells that Death Eaters used.

The energy encircling the Manor however was different and it could only mean that the Order had arrived at last and a battle had broken forth between the Death Eaters and the Order members.

The heavy door to his torture cell creaked open and his grey eyes snapped in front, focusing upon the entrant. Much to his surprise, Narcissa entered quickly and undid his cuffs with a swift flick of her wand. She reached out to steady him immediately afterwards but Eridanus straightened himself and held his hand up to assure her that he was fine.

"Danny, the Order is here. Leave as fast as you can," she even handed him back his wand, though her eyes were darting around as she was afraid that anyone could come down and find them, "you won't get another opportunity to escape."

"Why are you helping me? Shouldn't you be out there defending your Dark Lord alongside your husband?"

"I should," Narcissa's jaw clenched at the slight edge in Danny's tone but he replied vaguely, "but Lucius and I owe you."

A disaster seemed to have broken out in the Manor as evident from the screams and jets of light swirling here and there.

"Leave, Danny," she urged, "the Dark Lord will come down for you and end you otherwise. Take that tunnel and go."

But Eridanus grabbed her shoulder, drawing close to her ear and whispered, "get your family to safety. Or else they won't survive tonight."

She gulped fearing what would happen if the Dark Lord found that the Malfoys had sneaked out in the time of need once again. "Eridanus..." 

"I won't leave, I have waited so long for this," he mumbled, "but what I'm about to do can get you all hurt too. I don't want that to happen. Take Lucius and his parents and you all leave through that tunnel instead. Now."

She still seemed uncertain but there wasn't much time to lose so she backed off, nodding at Eridanus as if to let him know that she was going to do as he had told her to.

Danny waited until she had left then took the other tunnel, stealthily edging towards the main area of the Manor where Voldemort was supposed to be present, guarded by his loyal Death Eaters. 

Narcissa had been right, he couldn't get another opportunity greater than that but instead of escaping he chose the opposite. He couldn't get another opportunity as great as that one to try and take down his own father as well.

He knew the Order members had caused enough havoc for everyone to be distracted in fighting them off while he planned to strike from the inside, as a threat they couldn't even see coming. And now that he had asked Narcissa to escape with her family, he knew the coast was clear and the people he was going to target did not include his friends.

He couldn't get a better opportunity and so he grasped it immediately, resolving in his mind to do what he thought right and free the world from the curse that called himself Lord Voldemort.

***