Practice to Deceive | By : SailorSol Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 12425 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
Author’s Note: This story is AU after book 5. It contains NO REFERENCES to book 6 or 7 in any way, shape or form.
CHAPTER 26: REVELATIONS
Three days after their return to Castlemoor Manor, Lilith woke everyone in the manor with screams from a nightmare. She reached blindly for Astrid and the two of them wrapped around one another while Severus, Max, and Alfred kept everyone but Harry out of the room.
Without hesitation, Harry climbed onto the bed and put his arms around both trembling witches. He simply sat holding them until both of them stopped shaking and parted enough that he knew they wanted to get up.
“That was one of the worst visions I’ve ever had,” Lilith said to Astrid. “I don’t even understand it, completely.”
“Neither do I,” Astrid said. “I do know that Lucius Malfoy is at the center of it.”
“What was it?” Alfred asked.
“Mixed, jumbled images,” Astrid said. “Malfoy, Draco, a unicorn, blood, and a stone circle guarded by angry fae. All I know is that it has something to do with him. I also saw this Manor, and Malfoy. I’m more than I bit confused.”
“I think we all are,” Max said, sitting down on the bed behind Astrid. He stroked her disheveled silver hair, hoping that the contact would calm both of them.
“I can’t sleep anymore,” Lilith said. “I’m going to have some tea in the sitting room.”
“I’ll go with you,” Astrid said. “Harry, take your partners back to bed. We’ll let you know in the morning if we’ve figured anything else out.”
“We’ll try,” Harry said. He climbed off of the bed, adjusted his pajama bottoms, and walked over to the door. He opened it and they could see Hermione and Draco right next to the door, with Ginny and Viktor behind them.
Astrid helped her sister up and the two of them grabbed clean clothes and headed for the bathroom.
“You might as well go back to sleep, Severus,” Astrid said as she reached the doorway. “Some of us need to be alert, with a house full of teenagers.”
“That is what energy potions are for,” he said, gathering his own clothing and approaching her. “I would not now be able to sleep without you beside me.”
“What are you going to do after I give birth?” she asked, pausing.
“Wake when you do, and go back to sleep when you do,” he said, gazing down at her. “I have loved you since I was a boy. Now that I have you, I feel incomplete without you near me.”
“I think I may have overstepped myself with that bonding that Lilith and I did,” Astrid said. “Severus, I want a husband and a partner, not a worshiper or a slave.”
“I have worshiped you since I have known about you,” he said, reaching out and cupping her face. “I can worship you and husband you at the same time. It is said that even the Oracle at Delphi disagreed with Apollo on occasion.”
“You are mad, you know,” Astrid said. “I am mad enough to agree with you completely.”
“Then let’s get downstairs and get some breakfast, shall we?” Max asked, approaching with his own clothing in his hands. “You’re eating for more than just yourself, you know. You have to keep the little one fed.”
Astrid smiled at him, turned her head to kiss Severus’ palm, and headed into the bathroom to shower.
~*~*~*~
The rising sun over Hogsmeade shone on both of the twins’ faces as they sat on the veranda of the manor house, wrapped in quilts against the cold. After talking about the dream for hours, they were no closer to an interpretation than they had been when Lilith first experienced it.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Lilith said for what seemed like the hundredth time. “What would Lucius Malfoy have to do with this Manor?”
“Perhaps you should ask me,” the voice of the man in question interrupted their conversation.
They both turned towards him, to see the wizard standing halfway between the edge of the forest and the manor, dressed in some kind of armor, with a close-cut robe over it.
“What are you doing on my lands?” Lilith asked.
“I’m seeking a shape-shifting beast,” he said, smirking at them. “It is quite dangerous, as it can assume the seeming of a man.”
“One would think that you would know not to lie to me, Malfoy,” Astrid said. “It does not assume the seeming of a man. What are you hiding?”
“Absolutely nothing,” he said. “Excuse me, ladies, I have a menace to contain.” He bowed formally to the two of them, turned quickly, and hurried into the trees.
“I don’t like that,” Astrid said, unwinding herself from her quilts. “I’m going after him.”
“Not alone, you’re not,” Lilith said, unwrapping her own quilts and picking them up. “If we try to do this without the men, they’ll be furious.”
“Do what without us?” Max’s voice came through the sitting room French door as he opened it. “Did I just see Lucius out there?”
“Yes,” Astrid said, walking in. “He’s up to something, and we need to stop him. Don’t rouse Harry and the others. The elves will see to feeding them when they get up.”
“Actually, we’ve been up for a while,” Hermione’s voice came from outside the sitting room. “We’ve all eaten, and we have our winter cloaks in our hands. We’re going with you.”
“Give it up,” Harry’s voice added as he opened the sitting room door. “All we’ll do is follow you.”
“Alright,” Astrid said, throwing up her hands. “Robes of Eyes, everyone. I don’t trust him not to sneak up on us. Also, Hermione and Harry go with Draco. Viktor and Ginny can go alone, but I want Draco to have two people with him.”
“We’ll all go together,” Harry said. “I don’t want to chance any of us alone out there.”
“Then let’s go,” Lilith said. “The sooner, the better.”
The two groups all headed out the front door of the manor, the adults following the footsteps of the Dark Wizard, and the younger group to find the intelligent residents of the forest and warn them.
They trooped through the snowy wood for over an hour, keeping alert for any sign of the wizard or his prey.
Finally, they both converged when they heard the angry whinnying of a unicorn, and the sounds of spellcasting.
Severus and Max both stopped Astrid and her sister from entering a clearing where the wizard was facing off with an adult male unicorn. The unicorn had four parallel marks on its face, mute testimony to a confrontation with a wizard in the past. Alfred was standing just inside the clearing, his wand ready.
From the other side of the clearing, the five younger witches and wizards burst in, with Harry and Draco in the lead.
“Leave him alone!” Draco shouted at the older wizard. “Don’t you dare hurt that unicorn!”
The elder Malfoy looked at the younger, and then smiled in a predatory fashion.
“I’ll make you a deal, Draco,” he said smoothly. “You come back home, forget this business of consorting with mudbloods and halfbloods, and be a good boy. In return for that, I’ll let this creature live out its natural lifespan unmolested by me or anyone I associate with.”
Draco paled considerably at the man’s words, but his eyes kept flicking to the scarred unicorn. He swallowed hard, and opened his mouth to speak, ignoring the disbelieving looks on the faces of the other four with him.
The unicorn let out a bellow of rage that almost sounded like a word. It reared up and then leaped at the dark wizard confronting it.
Halfway through the leap, it turned into another Lucius Malfoy and landed heavily on his opponent.
The shapechanged Lucius was disheveled, with tangles in his unkempt flaxen hair. The hair in question flowed down to his waist. His hands were dirty, and his clothes were tattered. His face had the same four parallel scars that had marred the face of the unicorn.
The two wizards grappled and rolled around the snowy clearing, each of them intent only on the other. They both seemed to have forgotten that anyone else was present.
“What should we do?” Draco asked, looking at Harry. “What’s going on?”
Astrid and Lilith looked at one another, understanding dawning in their minds. Now, the dream made sense. The fae at the Malfoy estate were angry because the Landed wizard was replaced with a double. The unicorn was Lucius Malfoy. Draco was involved because of the abuse he had suffered at the double’s hands.
Astrid and Lilith clasped hands and drew their wands. They stepped into the clearing together and cast the same spell at both battling wizards.
“Stupefy!”
A brilliant red flash dazzled everyone’s eyes, and when they could see, both men were limp in the middle of the scuffed snow.
Alfred and Max approached the unconscious wizards carefully, separated them, and put them both in full body binds. They were not going to take any chances with either of them.
The less disreputable looking Lucius awoke first. He attempted to move, and then he glared at the ten people nearby.
“Release me this instant!” he raged. “You’ll pay for this!”
“Not as much as you will,” Astrid said coldly. “I’ve already told my father that he had a spy in his midst for the last three years. He is not pleased, and he is coming here soon. We will find out who you truly are, and then what my father does with you is his business.”
“I am Lucius Malfoy!” he yelled at her. “Let me go, you impudent chit!”
“I don’t think I care for your attitude towards my wife,” Max said. “You are most definitely not my brother. Lucius would never be rude to a lady, and especially not the daughter of his liege lord. You may have convinced yourself that you are Lucius, but you are absolutely not him.”
“How DARE YOU!” the bound man bellowed. He struggled against his bonds, first to get to Astrid and Max, and then to get to his double, only just now regaining consciousness.
“Lucius, stop at once!” Voldemort’s voice was loud in the frigid air. The most feared wizard in England stepped forward to stand equally between his two daughters.
The bound wizard paid no attention to him. He still wriggled around, attempting to break the body bind.
The scarred Lucius looked at Voldemort with a stricken expression, while he also attempted to cancel the spell holding him.
“My Lord,” he said. “I cannot!”
Abruptly, both spells failed and the two blonde men once again attacked one another.
Astrid and Lilith stupefied them again, and Astrid approached the unscarred Lucius, removing one of her green gloves.
She knelt next to the unconscious wizard and placed her bare hand on his forehead.
She remained still for several minutes, while everyone else watched her closely. Finally, she stood and backed away from the unconscious man. She put one hand over her mouth as her body seemed to convulse and she fought it.
She turned to her father, her eyes wide with horror.
“His name is Adrian Malfoy,” she said. “He is Lucius’ twin. The mediwitch that delivered them told their father they were antagonistic, and they had to be separated or they would kill one another. He sent Adrian away to a pureblood family in Cornwall. He spent his whole adult life preparing to replace Lucius. He got his chance during the flurry of upset after Sirius Black escaped custody. He didn’t know Lucius was an Animagus. He tried to kill him with a cutting curse. Lucius escaped in his Animagus form, but someone else hit him with a memory charm, and I think he didn’t remember who he was until recently.”
“He could not have managed it without assistance,” Voldemort said, looking at his daughter shrewdly. “Who helped him?”
“Narcissa,” Astrid responded. “I don’t think she knew that he abused Draco, but I’m not sure.”
“Abused Draco?” Voldemort asked, looking over at the younger Malfoy.
Draco paled, and took a half step back, but he did not retreat further.
They were interrupted by a silent signal that reached Astrid a few seconds after Lilith.
“Father!” Lilith cried out. “Aurors have just Apparated onto my lands, looking for Lucius! You have to go!”
“What about Lucius?” Voldemort asked.
“I have an idea,” Astrid said. “You go, now. We’ll handle the Aurors and the imposter.”
“She’s right, Tom,” Harry said. “If Astrid says she has an idea, I’m sure it’ll work. I’ll back up her story. None of the Aurors will doubt me.”
“Very well,” Voldemort said. “I expect the full story.”
“Come for dinner in two days,” Astrid said. “It should be safe by then.”
He nodded and Apparated away.
~*~*~*~
When the Aurors arrived, they stopped in confusion at the sight of two Lucius Malfoys. Terrence Rumstead, Alfred’s cousin, looked at them all, bewildered.
“This man is an imposter,” Astrid said, pointing at Adrian. “He assumed the identity of Lucius Malfoy before the TriWizard tournament, and drove Lucius away. He and Narcissa conspired to make everyone think he was Lucius. Lucius Malfoy has been living in the Forbidden Forest as a unicorn.”
“He has,” Draco said. “I remember first seeing a unicorn with a scarred face the year of the TriWizard tournament. It was always lurking around, but it wouldn’t let anyone but me get near it. I had no idea it was an Animagus.”
Terrence reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out a clear glass sphere. He looked at it for a moment, and then nodded to the Aurors with him.
“Take the imposter into custody,” he said. “We’ll get the truth out of him, and perhaps the location of the Dark Lord’s lair. Lady Castlemoor, I will have the paperwork for Lucius’ exoneration sent to you.”
“Thank you, Auror Rumstead,” Lilith smiled in relief. “We will be taking care of him.”
TBC
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