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Darkness Within The Light	By : crimson96 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 8759 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
Author's Note: Hello once more. This chapter is a bit of an "interlude" linking the previous two chapters and the next chapter that will be written. Myself and my co-author, Eris R. LeBeau, decided that it is best to allow this short, but very intense chapter to stand on its own. So we hope that everyone enjoys reading this chapter and are looking forward to getting chapter 16 ready.

Chapter 15: A Malfoy Scorned

Narcissa Malfoy's eyes fluttered as she awakened. For a moment, she thought that she must still be dreaming, as all that she could see was complete darkness. Her knuckles scraped against a cold, hard floor as she stretched. Awake with panic now, she rolled over onto her stomach and realized that she was not in her comfortable, warm bed, but was instead in a room with no lighting.

"Accio, wand!" she called, but the spell failed.

She ran her hands over her body and found that she still wore the green satin nightdress she had put on last night. The gown had no pockets, and her wand was not tucked into the bodice or sleeves. She had no serious injuries, though her wrists and forearms felt bruised and tender, as if someone had dragged her here. She took a deep breath and tried to recall how she had come here, but her most recent memory was of going to bed alone.

"Help!" She screamed as she crawled around on the floor, desperately trying to feel for anything. Her hands found only cold, pitted stone. Slowly, she stood up, expecting to hit her head upon a low ceiling, but instead she was able to stand to her full height.

Narcissa inhaled deeply, and she could sense a faint odor that smelled of mold and dust. Somewhere in the darkness, a faint drip of water sounded as if it were leaking onto the stone floor. A small squeak startled her as she heard what sounded like mice or rats somewhere in this confinement with her. In the near-silence, she could hear the scraping of their tiny claws as clearly as a word whispered in her ear.

"Shoo! Back away!" she said, hoping her voice would frighten the rodents enough to keep them off of her. She had always hated mice and rats. The thought of one of the filthy animals crawling on her made her shudder.

Many thoughts ran through her mind as to where she was, and more importantly, why she was here. Lucius had made many enemies, both within the Death Eaters and in the Ministry. Any one of them could be trying to use her to influence him. Perhaps more frightening was the thought that the Ministry officials might have changed their minds and decided to imprison her family until the trial, if they would even be granted a trial. She could be in Azkaban already, for all she knew.

At least Draco is safe, thank Merlin! She thought. Harry Potter would never turn him over to a Death Eater, and he would never let Draco be punished for a crime that he did not commit. Of course, that all depended on Harry being able to overpower or outmaneuver the would-be abductors. Narcissa herself had been taken unawares, which meant that Draco could also be here.

Carefully, she began to walk about the room, her hands outstretched, anticipating the touch of something. The chill of the stone floor seeped through her bare feet, numbing her toes and sending shivers through her whole body. Eventually, her fingertips felt another cold surface. Her fingernails dug into it, and the smell of earth and mold grew stronger.

"Dirt!" Narcissa said as she brought her fingertips under her nose, inhaling the scent. She placed her hands on the wall and let them glide over the hard-packed soil as she walked the perimeter of the room. She continued this process as she made her way in what felt like a circle. All that she could feel was the cool clay under her fingers as the earthy wall seemed to stretch higher than she could reach. In one corner, water dripped from the ceiling. A fat drop landed on her head and slithered down her brow, sliding over her nose and onto her upper lip before she wiped at it with the back of her hand. The water smelled vile, like death and decay. Slowly, she continued to feel in the dark, hoping that she would come across a surface that was not made of earth.

Eventually she found a surface that seemed to be made of a hard wood. She scratched her fingernails on it and could feel the rough, unfinished texture. She fumbled blindly, hoping for a doorknob, but could not find one. Steeling herself against anticipated pain, she rammed the door with her shoulder, hoping against hope that it would give way. The wood reverberated from the impact, but held fast, and she cried out in pain and frustration.

"Help!" She screamed, as she beat on the surface with her fists and screamed as loud as her lungs would allow her to do. "Lucius?"

Her voice had become hoarse, as the air was filled with dust stirred up by her explorations in the darkness. "Draco!" Narcissa screamed with all of her breath into the darkness before coughing violently. The only sounds that she could hear were her own noises as she slid down and crouched onto the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

Time seemed to pass very slowly as she sat there weeping, not knowing why she had been placed in this room, nor who had put her here. Her shivering grew more violent as the green satin gown provided no protection against the chill. Her shoulder throbbed from the impact with the door, and her throat burned with thirst. Soon, she would be willing to drink the foul water that dripped from the ceiling, but not yet. The tears began to ease as another sound emanated from the other side of the door. It was the sound of a loud creak, as if an old iron gate was on the other side of this wooden door.

She backed away from the door and moved toward the center of the room. "Help me, I'm in here!" she screamed as she heard footsteps outside of the wooden door. She longed for the door to open; even if the person on the other side turned out to be one of her captors, at least she would see some light.

The door swung open with a thud as it hit the wall of dirt to the side of it. No light shone from the other side of the door. Whoever her captors were, they were smart enough not to allow any light to shine into the room when they entered.

"Who are you?" She shouted, standing up. "What is it you want from me?"

The door closed with a thud as Narcissa stood in place. Narcissa had an impulse to dart through the darkness and touch whoever was in the room with her. She hesitated, and took a step forward, but her hands found empty air. Her captor lightly chuckled at the vain attempt while beginning to pace around the room.

Narcissa turned in a circle as she tried to keep up with the rhythmic pace of the footsteps.

"Damn it, you coward, speak to me!" Narcissa snarled, her patience eroded by the monotonous march of the footsteps.

The sound of the steps carried on for a few seconds more before they stopped. "The greatest weakness of all is the fear of the unknown," a familiar voice came from the darkness, and Narcissa gasped. "How does it feel, Narcissa, to be unable to grasp that which you cannot see?"

"Lucius? Is this your doing? For Merlin's sake, please let me out of here!" Narcissa said, as she moved toward the general direction of her husband's voice. "Please, why am I here?"

The sound of footsteps began again, loud and constant in volume, as if Lucius were pacing the room. "You are here because you have failed me."

Narcissa turned in the darkness, wanting to see the face of her husband, but only able to hear the thudding of his walk. "What do you mean? How have I failed you, Lucius?"

No answer came from the darkness, only the cadence of the footsteps in the room. "Answer me!" Narcissa screamed as she began to cry once more.

The footsteps stopped, as if he were somehow watching Narcissa cry. "You continue to defy my plans."

"How...how have I defied you, Lucius?" Narcissa asked as she wiped her eyes with the back of her dirty hand. "Tell me, what have I done to deserve this?"

Once again there was no immediate response except for the footsteps that rang through the small room. "I cannot have you interfering with my plans. So for your own good, you have been placed here."

"For my own good?" She laughed hysterically, although nothing about the situation was humorous. "And what of our son? What have you done for his own good? Where's Draco?"

"I should be asking you that, my dear," Lucius voice came from behind Narcissa. She quickly spun in place, only to be greeted with more darkness.

"You, my dear, have poisoned Draco's mind with your wretched weakness. You never could understand the cruel realities of the path to true power. That's why you never took the Dark Mark, and it is why I cannot trust you now. It was you who turned my own son against me, causing him to curse his own father!"

"Lucius, please I..." Narcissa began.

"That's correct Cissy, it was you! And because of you and your polluted thoughts, I now must take action against my own son!"

"Lucius please, no. Do not harm our son! If I am the cause of this, then punish me," she pleaded. "What has caused you to turn against your own family like this?"

"I promise you, my dear, you will be punished." The footsteps began once again, but instead of circling the room, they began to fade away from Narcissa.

"Crucio!" Lucius uttered the curse in a loud whisper.

Narcissa collapsed to her knees. She screamed in agony as the curse flowed through her body. The flashes of red light from the curse illuminated the room like some hellish lightning storm. Narcissa struggled to look up from the floor, and when she managed to raise her head, she glimpsed Lucius's face each time the unnatural light flashed. His eyes were wide, and he smiled with his lips parted in obvious enjoyment.

"Where…is…Draco?" Lucius asked, his voice soft and intense.

Narcissa tried to curl into a fetal position upon the floor, but the effects of the curse seemed to be have paralyzed every muscle in her body. She tried to scream, yet no sound would rise from her throat.

The curse seemed to be getting stronger the longer that she tried to resist. White starbursts filled her vision as Narcissa realized that she was close to losing consciousness.

"Lucius…please," Narcissa feebly cried out. She wasn't sure if she had managed to speak aloud.

Seconds later the curse stopped, and the room went black once more as Lucius' voice calmly spoke, "Lumos."

The tip of his wand dimly lit the small room. He knelt and peered coldly into Narcissa's eyes. "That, my dear, is only the start of your punishment. Now, tell me where our son is."

"Why?" she whispered. "What will you do with him?"

With the back of his hand, Lucius stroked her cheek in a parody of tenderness. "Were I in your position, I would be more concerned about what I will do with you."

His hand continued downward, tracing the neckline of her gown. He had always liked hurting her, and she could not recall the last time he had touched her without humiliating her first. A part of her responded to the feel of his warm hand on her chest as she recalled all the times that pleasure had followed pain. If she gave in to him now and told him where Draco was, he might forgive her, and his forgiveness could be exquisite.

She shrunk away from his touch, furious with herself for even contemplating betraying Draco. "I don't care what you do to me!" she spat. "All that matters is my son."

"Our son, Cissy!" Lucius snapped. "My son, who needs a father's discipline."

"Promise me you won't harm him."

Lucius struck her cheek with the back of his hand, knocking her head into the stone floor so that she saw another phantom starburst. Her stomach spasmed, and she rolled onto her side, dry heaving and reeling from the blow. Her cheek felt wet, and she smelled the metallic tang of blood; one of his rings had cut her.

He bent over her again, bringing his face close to hers and tangling his hand in her hair. "I promise you this, Narcissa. If I am forced to find him on my own, his punishment will be far more severe than if you tell me his whereabouts now." After pulling hard enough to induce a fresh stream of tears, he released her.

Narcissa slowly sat up and attempted to gather herself from the effects of the curse and the blow. She wiped at the blood and tears on her face smearing her cheeks. "Draco..." she started as she tried to gather the breath into her lungs, "he is doing what you wanted him to do, Lucius. He has gone to befriend Potter. He is at the house of Black."

The light from his wand faded, and Lucius' face disappeared into the darkness. "Let us hope, for your sake and for his, that he is indeed there at Potter's doing what I told him to do." The footsteps began once again, as Lucius walked through the darkness and toward the door.

"Lucius!" Narcissa screamed, summoning all of the strength and courage that she had left. "Lucius Malfoy, if you harm my son I will tell them all about you at the trial! Then you will rot in Azkaban for the rest of your life!"

The footsteps stopped shortly and then they echoed much more quickly and loudly, coming closer to Narcissa. From the darkness Narcissa felt a hand grab her lower jaw and squeeze. The pain was immense as stars once again began to appear before her eyes.

"That's right. You can tell the Wizengamot everything, but the truth is that your words will not matter!" Lucius snarled as Narcissa cried in pain. He held onto her lower jaw for a few seconds more, keeping his other hand on her shoulder to ensure that she remained on her knees. She focused on her breathing, keeping it slow and steady as she tried not to think about what would come next. He shoved her backwards with his boot, releasing her face at the same time so that she fell back against the stone. Narcissa lay there weeping and cradling her face as his footsteps disappeared through the darkness.

Lucius walked to the iron gate and silently opened it with his wand. He then began to ascend the steps leading up from the dark underground room. Standing at the top-most step and holding a lantern was the Malfoy house elf, Kraven.

"Come, Kraven, I have very urgent work to do," Lucius said as he walked past the elf and on toward his office. Once inside the room, Lucius turned as the house elf entered. "See that Narcissa is fed, and clean up after her. If you so much as utter a word about any of this, or attempt to help her escape, I will kill you where you stand. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

Kraven shook with fear, but bowed slowly before Lucius. "Kraven understands Master's orders. Kraven will do his duty, Master."

"Now go and wait by the front door, I have a very important business associate whom I am expecting. When he arrives show him in, and then after our meeting has concluded, I want you to go find the house elf named Kreacher."
- 14
- 15
- 16
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Darkness Within The Light