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The Manor was quiet as always. The dark clouds would thunder above, creating a cool chill across the mansion.
It was quiet.
Until, of course, something had to ruin it.
"Draco? Devon?" Narcissa knocked on Draco's bedroom door. The two white-haired teenagers were lounging around the room, practicing simple seventh-year spells.
"Mum?" Draco sat up from his head resting in Devon's lap. Devon looked up from her schoolbook, blushing pink.
"Come on. We're needed." Narcissa stood at the open doorway.
"A meeting?" Draco started to stand, pulling Devon along.
"No."
"Then, what is it?" Devon spoke up for the first time, tidying her attire.
"The Snatchers believe they've caught Harry Potter."
The two were stunned into silence before all three hurried down the steps to reach the living room.
When they reached the room, Lucius was standing on the side with a drink in his hands.
Just as they entered, a group of Snatchers, three teenagers and Bellatrix entered the room.
Devon glared slightly at the latter.
Bellatrix took hold of one of the teenagers, stealing him from a mangy looking snatcher. She took ahold of his hair, pushing him into a kneel on the ground, thrusting back his head with his hair.
Narcissa gently pushed Draco front and center. Devon stood aside, making her own drink. Her wand was clutched tightly in her hand, not knowing exactly what to expect.
This was the most exciting thing she's done in months.
The teenager grunted as his scalp stung with pain.
"Well?" Bellatrix hissed, eyebrows raising as her eyes went wide.
Devon tore her eyes from the scene, observing the two others that entered. She remembered the words Draco spoke not that long ago. Hermione Granger. One of the best friends of Harry Potter. Hanging around the Weasley kid.
"I can't be sure," Draco answered after a few seconds of hesitation.
Heels clicked in the background as Devon approached the other two teenagers. Each of them was bound by a snatcher.
The female of the two glared harshly at her, to which Devon rolled her eyes at.
She turned back around, watching Draco encounter his father.
"Draco, look closely, son." Lucius grabbed the back of his son's neck harshly. Draco flinched slightly, wanting to just throw the physical contact off him. "If we are the ones to hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything would be forgiven," Lucius whispered in his son's ear.
The snatcher holding the female teenager gave her to Devon to hold. The witch rolled her eyes, passing her off along to Greyback, who also held the redhead male.
"All would be as it was, you understand?" Lucius rounded on his son, meeting eyes with him.
Draco nodded fearfully.
"Now, we won't be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope, Mr. Malfoy." The snatcher growled accusingly at the wizard.
Lucius cringed from the man, closing his eyes shut tight.
Draco eyed his father as the man reared back.
"You dare talk to me like that in my own house?!" At the end of his sentence, Lucius shouted, directly in Draco's ear. The boy flinched again at the noise that stung his eardrums.
Devon moved forward protectively, ready to intervene.
Luckily, his wife took control of him. "Lucius!" Narcissa hissed, dragging her husband back to where he once stood.
"Don't be shy, sweetie. Come over." Bellatrix took Draco's hand, pulling him closer to where he was practically mixing breaths with the deformed teenager.
Devon took one more step closer, intrigued.
"Now, if this isn't who we think it is, Draco, and we call him, he'll kill us all. We need to be absolutely sure."
"What's wrong with his face?" Were Draco's words.
"Yes, what is wrong with his face?" Bellatrix rebounded.
"He came to us like that," a snatcher replied. "Something he picked up in the forest, I reckon."
Draco stayed where he was, staring at the deformed teenager. Devon took a few more steps forward, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder to let him know that she was there. She knew there may be consequences to her actions, but she couldn't just stand on the side.
"Or ran into a stinging jinx," Bellatrix suggested knowingly. "Was it you, dearie?" Bellatrix waved her wand accusingly at the female teenager.
Bellatrix walked over to her, leaving the three. "Give me her wand," Bellatrix demanded.
Narcissa moved forward, taking her son's arm and dragging him back to his family.
Devon let her hand slip from his shoulder, peering down at the deformed teenager. She knew exactly who it was, and she knew Draco knew who it was. Yet, he didn't speak up. So, neither did she. She wanted to see what Draco was playing at.
"We'll see what her last spell was," Bellatrix added. "Ah. Got you." Bellatrix cackled as she waved her finger at the scared two as she passed them.
Bellatrix gasped, stopping dead in her tracks as she eyed what was in a snatcher's grasp.
Devon moved her gaze to the witch, searching around her determinedly.
"What is that? Where'd you get that from?" Bellatrix whispered, wide eyed.
"It was in her bag when we searched her. Reckon it's mine now." The snatcher smiled in delight.
Bellatrix's expression turned dark. She aimed her wand swiftly at the snatcher, throwing him back and catching the sword. With a twist, she kicked the feet out from under a snatcher with magic. And with a twirl of her wrist, she rang a snake around the other's neck to start suffocating him.
"Are you mad?!" The leader of the snatchers exclaimed, which made him the next target Bellatrix handled.
"Thought that much was obvious," Devon whispered, which brought the quietest chuckle from the boy under her.
"GO! GET OUT!" Bellatrix screamed, shooing the snatchers from the mansion. "Cissy," she called in a hiss. Bellatrix hobbled over to the redhead. "Put the boys in the cellar! I want to have a little conversation with this one. Girl to girl!"
Narcissa grabbed both the boys, meeting Pettigrew at the top of the stairs to let him bring them down to the cellar.
Devon moved over to Draco's side. The boy casted a quick glance over to her, nodding reassuringly.
Bellatrix took hold of the blonde female, forcing her on the ground in a starfish position. The witch got on top of her, holding her down.
Devon turned around. She checked for his parents, who were on the opposite side of the room, silently observing the torture.
"That's Hermione Granger, isn't it?" Devon whispered so lowly, only Draco could hear her words.
He nodded.
"And, the redhead is Ron Weasley?"
He nodded again.
"Okay, so what's your plan? It's your call."
"What do you mean?" Draco finally turned his head to her, crunching his eyebrows together.
"Oh, you and I both know what I mean. You know exactly who is in that cellar. You didn't say anything. Therefore, you aren't fully trying to harm any of them. So, what's your plan?"
Draco stayed stone-faced and silent for a few seconds. Hermione was screaming now as Bellatrix started to carve a knife into her skin. Draco's face slightly cringed.
"We don't want to blow anything. We are still on this side... just, not fully. So, if it comes down to a fight, don't go full LaBlanc on them. That's all I ask."
Devon nodded firmly. "I can do that." She paused for a moment. "And if the Dark Lord comes?"
"Pray to Merlin he doesn't." Draco ended the conversation.
The two were quiet.
Devon looked up at him once again. He was already making eye contact with her.
"Don't let any of them die," were his last words before grabbing Devon's waist to spin her back around to face the front.
"Wormy!" Bellatrix called, standing up from hovering over Hermione. "Go get that goblin."
Bellatrix turned to Draco and Devon, eyeing them savagely, the crazed look in her eye more evident than usual.
Devon moved away, searching the snatcher's body on the stairs. She dug in his pockets, pulling out a golden ball. She raised her eyebrows curiously before standing up fully, stuffing the ball into the palm of her hand safely.
When Peter and the goblin came from the stairs, Bellatrix pulled back her bloodied knife. "Come here."
The goblin slowly waddled forward, standing in front of Bellatrix.
"Wormy, keep an eye on the ones in the cellar." Bellatrix ushered him away. "Now," she turned on the goblin, "who got into my vault?"
Devon eyes widened as three figures came from the bottom of the stairs. She huffed, knowing what was about to take place. Her and Harry Potter made eye contact. Ron raised the wand in his hand, ready to take aim.
Devon waved her hands, keeping quiet. She pointed to herself and held a thumbs up, then pointed to them and held a thumbs up. Without another word, she calmly moved back to Draco's side. She turned to whisper in his ear, "get ready for that fight we were talking about earlier."
His eyes widened and mouth opened, ready to question her. Before he could get a word out, she turned back around, keeping a straight face.
"I don't know," came his reply.
"I am only going to ask you once more, goblin. Think very, very carefully before you answer."
"I don't know," the goblin repeated.
"You don't know? Why weren't you doing your job? Who got into my vault? Who stole it? Who stole it?! Well?"
"When I was last in your vault, the sword was there."
"Oh, well, then, perhaps it just walked out on its own, then."
"There is no place safer than Gringotts."
"Liar!" Bellatrix cut the goblin on the cheek with her knife. "Consider yourself lucky, goblin." Bellatrix stood up straight, moving back over to Hermione. "The same won't be said for this one."
Devon took a slow step forward. Draco took a hold of her hand, holding her back. He had it handled if anything serious were to happen.
The figures on the stairs made an appearance before the two could do anything.
"Expelliarmus!" Ron shouted, aiming it Bellatrix. Harry caught the wand, immediately holding it out, ready for a fight.
Lucius took out his wand. Before he could do anything, Harry shot back first. "Stupefy!" The spell threw Lucius across the room.
It was a battle between Narcissa, Draco and Devon against Ron and Harry.
Devon kept to her word as she threw light, but realistic, spells at the two boys.
"Stop!" Bellatrix halted the five's movements. They all turned to the witch. Bellatrix had her knife pressed against Hermione's neck. "Drop your wands. I said, drop 'em!"
The wands clatter against the hardwood floor.
"Pick them up, Draco, now!" Bellatrix hissed. Draco did as told. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here. It's Harry Potter. He's all bright and shiny and new again, just in time for the Dark Lord. Oh, he'll be pleased." Bellatrix turned to Devon at the last part, a devious smirk on her face. She turned back to the others. "Call him."
Lucius steps forward, revealing his Dark Mark under his formal clothes. Harry eyed Draco curiously. Devon slyly moved behind Draco, ready to stop anything.
At this point, she was very on-the-fence on where she stood.
"Call him!"
Just before Lucius could touch his mark, a tinkling sounded like a whisper in the wind. Everyone all turned their heads up at the suspicious noise.
An elf was slowly unscrewing the glass chandelier.
Not a second later, the thing began to fall from the ceiling. Draco tackled Devon to the ground, shielding her body from the glass with his.
Once everything stopped, he looked down at her. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Let's go." The two stood from the ground. Harry approached them aggressively. Draco moved to stand in front of Devon, protective. Instead, Harry aimed for Draco's hands, fighting him for the wands in his grasp. Draco put up a weak fight, practically letting Harry steal the wands.
Again, Lucius stood to cast a hex.
"Stupefy!" Harry shot the man across the room again.
Narcissa, Draco and Devon stood in front of the group, cautious.
"Stupid elf!" Bellatrix scolded. "You could've killed me!"
"Dobby never meant to kill," the elf reasoned. "Dobby only meant to maim or... seriously injure."
Narcissa waved her wand around her head, ready to cast a hex.
The elf snapped his fingers, disarming the witch.
"How dare you take a witch's wand?!" Bellatrix screeched. "How dare you defy your masters?!"
"Dobby has no master." The elf stood up taller. "Dobby is a free elf. And Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!" The group all connected hands, ready to disapparate.
Just before they disappeared, Bellatrix threw her knife in a last attempt to deter them.
Devon slyly held her wand out, halting the knife slightly in the air for a few seconds before letting it fly.
The group was gone before the knife reached them.
Instead, the blade landed directly in the wall with a loud thud.
Bellatrix screamed loudly, completely enraged.
Draco fist bumped Devon secretly, trying to conceal their grins.
—•—
- J.S.