Malory's POV
If we had any other option then we wouldn't be here right now. Being in Cokeworth only puts the image of his dead body back into my head and it's already bad enough that I see it every time my eyes are closed. So yeah, I guess you could say that I'm not thrilled to be here.
But like I said, no other option.
"Are you sure about this?" Draco asks softly.
I keep my head forward. "What else are we going to do? Go to the manor?"
He gives me a sympathetic look and I see it out of the corner of my eye. I feel his hand running up and down my back gently as he tries to think of comforting words. Unfortunately right now, no words can make me feel better.
After a long walk down the Spinner's End, the four of us stop in front of the house that has now been abandoned for quite some time. The grass is overgrown and the bushes are dead. It matches the rest of the houses on the street, which is exactly what he didn't want.
"Come on."
Draco intertwines our fingers before we start heading towards the front door. I feel the guilt in my chest falling into my stomach with every footstep and it takes everything in me to not turn back. He'd want us to stay here, I know it.
When we approach the front door I slowly pull my wand from my back pocket. I don't notice it at first but my hand is shaking aggressively as I try to cast the unlocking charm. Eventually I get the door unlocked and it opens automatically for us, like it's been waiting.
"Isn't this illegal?" Aary asks. "We're breaking into someone's house..."
I turn towards her with a blank expression. "Aary, think about all of the illegal things we've done for a second."
She presses her lips together to try and avoid laughing and I can't help but chuckle. I signal for Draco to go into the home first and he does so, then I follow behind. Immediately, I see the amount of dust that has built up on the furniture.
"We were here not that long ago," Blaise mentions. "It's crazy how it can look so bad this quickly."
I run my finger along the shelves in the sitting room, picking up dirt in the process. I've always really loved his house, even when it looks like this I do. When I close my eyes, I imagine him standing in the kitchen drinking his morning tea. A smile grows on my face.
"What are you thinking about?"
I open my eyes and the image vanishes.
"Nothing," I say to Draco. "We should probably start cleaning if we're going to stay here."
He nods and disappears to the closet to find cleaning supplies. When he returns, he hands me a duster with some sort of liquid. Aary and Blaise take the brooms to start removing the dirt off of the ground.
"I'm going to start in the back rooms." I tell them.
They all nod, then start cleaning the main area of the home. While walking down the corridor to his bedroom, I can't help but stop at his study. Specifically because the door is wide open, unlike the others.
I look back at Draco, Aary, and Blaise, then quickly enter the room. The last time I was in here was my birthday. Him and I were discussing the horcruxes, I think I fell asleep in the middle of it actually.
I spray some of the cleaning liquid onto the cloth that Draco gave me and start running it along the top of his desk. The entire time I'm cleaning, I can't help but feel as if I'm missing something. And no, I don't mean the dirt.
I stop moving for a moment and close my eyes, bringing all of my focus into the silence of the room. That's when I first hear it. It's not very loud, of course. But once I hear it, I can't get it to go away. It fills my entire body and makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand.
August 26th, 1997
"There's a lot more to these horcruxes than you realize, Malory."
I lower my book from my face and give him a blank stare.
"And either way I have to find them."
He gives me a worried look and goes back to taking notes in his notebook. I know he's not trying to learn more about the horcruxes, I just wish I knew why. There's something he's not telling me and I hate it.
"Do you trust me?" I ask, quietly.
He looks up at me with sad eyes. "Of course I trust you."
"Then why won't you tell me everything? And don't say it's because I'm too young."
He sighs while closing his notebook. "I know it's not what you want to hear, but it's true."
"If I'm too young then why am I being forced to find them then?" I raise my voice. "And why do I have this on my arm?"
He stares down at my arm, and not just the dark mark. Sadness fills his eyes but he tries to keep a casual expression.
"It's not the right time," He says softly. "And I know you don't understand that right now but when the time does come, you will."
I scoff. "Yeah, alright."
With our eyes still connected, I notice his focus traveling to a small box on one of his shelves. He doesn't say anything about it, he just stares. And just when I think he's going to explain, he goes back to his paperwork.
~ ~ ~
With the memory still replaying in my mind, I look down at the black box on the shelf. It's been there forever, I've just never really noticed. Even the day I caught him staring at it I didn't think much. But as the sound grows louder when I move closer to it, I realize how important it actually is.
There's a lock on the front, a smaller version of the ones at Gringotts. A key unlocks it. I scan the room frantically for it, pushing books off of the tea table in hopes of finding it under.
It would've been too easy if I had just found it in the room. But the good thing is, I'm a witch. I pull my wand out quickly and use the same spell that I used to open the front door, only this time nothing happens.
"What the fuck!" I huff aggressively.
Draco shouts from the other room, "Is everything okay?!"
"Yeah, just dropped a book on my foot!"
I wait a moment, then look back at the box. The noise doesn't stop, which only makes me angrier.
"Why do you do this to me, Snape?" I groan. "You couldn't have told me how to open it at least?"
I rest my head on the top of the box and continue to mumble things to myself, all different ways of cursing at him. I know there probably is a good reason for all of this but it doesn't make me any less irritated at the moment.
That is, until the locket on my necklace suddenly decides to pop open.
My body jumps at the sound of the metal dropping onto the floor. At first, I assume it's just a piece of the locket, but then I notice something else on the floor below me.
A silver key.
I stare down at the locket on my neck, which is now split into two. He never told me it opened, but I guess that's the whole point. A smile grows on my face as I hurry to pick up the key off of the floor.
The second I look at it, I know it's the right key. And when I put it up to the lock on the box, it slides in perfectly. With one turn, I hear the lock click open.
My eyes grow big with shock as I stare down at the Slytherin locket laying at the bottom of the box. Right beside it is a golden chalice; the Hufflepuff cup.
"Holy shit." I say under my breath.
"What is it?"
Draco stands in the doorway leading to the study and even though I want to look at him, I can't take my eyes off of the horcruxes. They're right here, in my hands. He didn't sell the locket, he's been hiding it. And I don't know why, but I'm starting to think that I'm about to find out.
I hold them up for Draco to see. His eyes widen with disbelief but he doesn't say anything. After picking them up, I notice a small piece of parchment folded neatly in the bottom of the box. As Draco crouches down beside me, I open it up.
There's only two words, but I know it's his handwriting.
You decide.