Memoirs of a Serpent's Son

Memoirs of a Serpent’s Son

--Age 17—part 30

January 31

Needless to say, January was not a good month for the wizarding world.

During the days following our trip to rescue the Dursleys, the situation only worsened.
The war in London has continued to spread and there are massive death-tolls from around the world. The extra help grounps that have joined the Ministry’s efforts have done little to help. Muggles are stubborn creatures and blind to accepting adversity of any sort. Then again… wizards aren’t much better in that regard. As a result of all of their stubbornness, the innocent are dying faster and more gruesomely than before.

We found out that they were Death-Eaters who had attacked the Dursley house. Judging from the descriptions of the voices and pieces of personal characteristics that Mrs. Dursley could observe, the Death-Eaters in question were none other than the Lestranges, Nott’s father and Snape.

That begs the question, though doesn’t it? Why did Voldemort see fit to send FOUR of his most loyal and powerful (not to mention dangerous) followers just to attack the house of three unsuspecting muggles? Even if they had been armed with muggle weaponry… did it really require FOUR Death-Eaters to take them down?

There are far too many speculations flying around about the possibilities in this war and far too few questions left to answer them all.

What does this all mean? Why did Voldemort choose NOW of all times to act? If you disregard the convenient timing of the G-8 summit, what brought him to step forward now?

Why not wait? Did it not serve his purpose to go unnoticed for as long as was possible? There were still those in the wizarding world that did not believe in his return… but he simply proved them wrong. He proved the Ministry right. He revealed himself to the entire world.

And then he had powerful wizards attack the Durlseys.

Did he already know about Petunia Dursley’s magical background? Did he know ahead of time about her ability to sense magic? Or was it just a coincidence that the Dark Lord sent some of his most powerful followers to dispose of Harry Potter’s only living family… and they failed?

Was it not at all that he foresaw Mrs. Dursley’s magical ability, but that the whole thing was set up as a flawed trap for Harry? Did he anticipate Harry’s wanting to go and rescue his family? Did he orchestrate this whole thing, again, just on the off chance that Harry would get killed?

Does he know Harry is still alive?

He must. Voldemort isn’t that stupid… we knew he would eventually find out anyway… we just hoped that he would believe it long enough for us to accomplish something.

What a load of good that did.

To make matters worse in our inability to comprehend the whole situation, the prisoners in Azkaban have escaped. The entire population of the prison was liberated earlier by Death-Eaters and Dementors. It was mass chaos as the Ministry and the Order tried to pick up the pieces and recollect all the escaped convicts.

So far, the only one they’ve managed to catch was a kid by the name of Stan Shunpike.

Apparently, he used to be conductor of the Knight Bus.

Harry seemed outraged that he was returned to custody and that they were actually wasting their time on someone who is obviously not a Death-Eater, as opposed to taking the time to find the others.

I had a very hard time trying not to laugh.

I had tears in my eyes from the effort.

But getting back to the point.

We haven’t been able to leave Grimmauld Place since that night. Remus has forbidden it. He returned to the werewolves for a while and Tonks, Shacklebolt, Moody and the others haven’t been by in ages.

We received letters from Hogwarts, however.

McGonagall sent us notifications that Longbottom’s Grandmother had passed away. She didn’t detail whether it was by natural causes or murder, but she insisted that Longbottom be sent to stay with us instead. It was no longer safe at school and Harry quite obligingly accepted.

I don’t mind at all… I want to say that it will be nice to be able to taunt Longbottom again, but I can’t even bring myself to pretend.

I mean, the great lump has never been particularly good at anything that is actually useful… Herbology isn’t really more than gardening, after all…

He’s practically a squib!

But still… I suppose the loss of my own parents… that and everything that has happened since that night in the lightning struck tower… I am different. More different than just the Lion Patronus. More different than just self-sacrificing Draco that is willing to give up his pure blood or entire fortune to help Harry Potter…

I really… I can’t be quite as self-serving or cold hearted as I once was.

It’s all the bloody Gryffindors around me.

In any case, Longbottom is coming to join us.

I hope he doesn’t just die of a heart attack at the sight of me. I can’t promise anything.

But apparently the she-Weasel might return to stay with us. She better keep her fucking mouth shut and her hands to herself if she does, is all I can say. There is no way that I am going to deal with her shite again. Not for a moment.

Then Granger mentioned something about “Luna”. Lovegood? Something like that. Luna Lovegood. Do I know her? Apparently she’s a Ravenclaw… Harry explained that she had been part of Dumbledore’s Army, as well as joined him that day that Umbridge caught him and his friends in her office and wanted to use the Cruciatus curse on Harry.

That woman was mental.

But that’s not the point. This girl… I think I remember her. Harry described her as having long blonde hair and quite large eyes. She was rather strange, he explained, and mentioned something about radishes but I haven’t the foggiest as to what that was about.

In any case, that should be interesting. I’m not looking forward to the whole ordeal, but they should arrive soon and I haven’t got much of a choice.

On the plus side, Harry has given up his room entirely and moved into mine. It wasn’t a decision he verbalized or discussed with anyone (this including me). He just took all of his belongings and arranged them in my room. He said that they needed the space for the extra guests, but I knew better.

“You can just admit that you can’t sleep without me, anymore, Harry,” I hissed into his ear just before he fell asleep. He didn’t answer that.

Today…

Today we took the Dursley’s to Gringotts to stay there. They have set up extensive wards and protections around the building and transformed many of the upper floors (that were used as offices before) into bedrooms for the families that no longer had houses to go to, or loved ones to stay with, or even who desperately needed magical protection. We decided that then was also a good time to look into what has happened to me.

We Apparated (upon Remus’ Patronus instructions) directly in front of the wizard bank and escorted the two muggles in. Dudley had to be magically gagged (which I so willingly administered) so that he didn’t shriek and draw attention. Mrs. Dursley seemed compliant but wore a look of displeasure and snobbery on her bony face.

She looked something like my mother in public, excepting the fact that my mother was far more beautiful.

Once.

No one in my family was ever unattractive.

We dropped them off, signed them in and watched them get escorted to their new room, before turning around and taking a place in the queue to be taken down to our vault.

Our vault, yes… mine and Harry’s.

Granger and Weasel stayed behind in the lobby while Harry and I were escorted to a private room to deal with the blood proof.

“Are you both prepared?” the goblin asked curtly. Harry held out his hand and pricked the tip of his finger. The little droplets of blood fell onto the silver surface and immediately complied with the magic, shaping themselves into the intricate design of the Potter crest… which was, almost identical to Gryffindor’s crest.

The goblin nodded to him and turned to me. I held out my hand after a moment’s hesitation.

Even if I’m not a pure-blood anymore, it doesn’t mean anything. I’m still a Malfoy, no matter what. My blood has no choice but to take the shape of the Malfoy crest. That’s what I am…

I held out my hand and pricked my finger as well, forcing several drops onto the silver plaque. Immediately afterwards, there was a strange tingling in my fingertip. The blood sizzled for a moment and then took the shape of the Malfoy crest, but it was different than the last time.

It was the most ancient version of the Malfoy crest.

To any unknowing onlooker, there is no difference at all, and needless to say, the goblin had no choice but to accept me.

But I knew better… this was different. The crest was the one that the family had used when they were still royal… ages and ages ago before the wizarding world became what it is now.

“It seems all is in order,” the goblin finally uttered, still staring at the unusual crest that my blood displayed. “Follow me.”

Harry took my hand and we followed the goblin to a passageway behind him that wasn’t there before. He ushered us in and as soon as the door was closed and locked, the passageway illuminated and looked as though it stretched on forever.

It was dark and cavernous, the walls made of unrefined marble as the hanging lanterns cast dull lighting down the hall. He walked ahead of us and led us on an interminable walk until, all of a sudden, he stopped.

I glanced at Harry and he glanced back at me. It was the most awkward feeling… as though we’d been walking for miles and miles, and yet not at all. The goblin turned to his right and stared straight at the marble wall. He held out his hands and pressed the tips of his long nails into the rock. Immediately, there was a dull glow that emanated around his hand and a handle appeared in the wall. He twisted it and pushed.

The ‘door’ opened and before us sprawled a vast library with perfectly and meticulously categorized volumes on every pure-blooded family that was ever imaginable. Stepping over the threshold of the vault, Harry and I let our eyes wander around the grand and circular room. It was well lit and as we looked up, it seemed to grow forever into the sky, though it couldn’t possibly.

The books were colour-coded and arranged by family and date.

It didn’t take us long to locate the Malfoy family documents… they were the ones in the centre of the room and they were illuminated differently than the others. The books were also bound in real silver and decorated in gold-leaf images of the Malfoy crests throughout the years. The largest and most prominent book was displayed on a pedestal in the centre. This book was the first volume of the Malfoy documents and it was the specifications and files relating to the very first of the royals. The crest on that cover was identical to the one that my blood had shaped in the previous room.

I stepped forward and ran my fingertips over the cover of that massive volume, wondering what it could all mean to me… I’m not royal, that’s for damn sure.

I just don’t understand…

“These are your family’s documents?” Harry asked, following me to the grand book in the centre. His hand followed mine and touched the cover of the ancient tome, a small smile creeping onto his features. I smirked and nodded.

“Yes,” I answered. “This is everything you could ever want to know about Malfoy blood-magic and bloodlines. Everything… I hope.”

“You hope?” Harry asked, turning to look at the innumerable volumes that also bore different versions of the Malfoy crest.

“Well, I don’t know yet if they will tell me what has changed about me,” I admitted, walking around the other books to find the appropriate date. “Or if I am in them at all.”

Harry stopped and watched me for a moment, likely waiting for me to elaborate. But I didn’t notice. I was too busy searching for the right generation. When he realized that I wouldn’t catch his subtlety, he cleared his throat.

“Why wouldn’t you be in them?” Harry inquired a little more clearly than was necessary. I looked up for a moment.

“Well, I gave up my pure blood…” I began carefully choosing my words. “The books will only document a family line while the purity is maintained. Logically, I should no longer be in them because I am not pure.” I paused and walked over to another side of the room, picked up a book and showed it to him. This book was red and bore the golden Potter crest. I flipped to the appropriate page and showed him. His father’s name was written and beneath were described all related information about him. On the page next to him, which should have detailed information about his offspring, there was nothing at all. “You aren’t in this book because your mother was a m-… muggleborn. The purity was lost because you are a half-blood. It didn’t bother documenting you.”

Harry frowned and picked up the book, staring from his father’s page to his own blank one. He looked pensive for a while before looking up again.

“That means that Voldemort wouldn’t be documented here either?” he asked. I stopped and nodded.

“No,” I responded. “He wouldn’t. But his family would. His blood-magic is likely tainted with muggle-bloodlines, but that doesn’t mean that all of the old characteristics don’t apply. If you like, you can go and look for his book. It should be somewhere amidst the Slytherin bloodline.”

Harry nodded to me and went to replace his own book before venturing over to the other side of the library. The goblin stood like a sentry at the door, his back to the contents of the vault as he waited for us to finish.

I finally found the right book… there were far too many books for the Malfoy line and each of the crests varied very slightly. I picked up the thick tome and opened it on top of the pile of other books. Flipping carefully through the old pages of parchment, I found my grandfather’s page.

Abraxas Malfoy, all pertinent details relating to his life and bloodline, along with specific details about his death were there listed. The deaths were important to document because of the possible relations to inherent family weaknesses.

Then, next to him, was my father’s page.

Lucius Malfoy. His name blazed on the page as though his spirit was still fighting through the words to live and leave a mark on the world. As though his fury survived in this documentation and he was turning over in his grave, trying to get his hands at my to strangle me for everything I’ve done to disrespect his name.

HIS name. The MALFOY name.

Never mine.

I stared at the page for a long moment, feeling a surge of hatred and anger course through me. I wanted to slam the book shut and burn the whole thing in that moment. Forget finding out what was wrong with me.

Harry was right, what did it matter? I can heal now. I’m alright. Still alive and healthy. I can still do magic.

There is no problem there. Some things are better left unknown.

I could just burn down the whole place and then any danger in keeping these documents around would also disappear into the ashes.

It was perfect.

A perfect, flawless, purely Slytherin kind of plan that only fell through because of one small, insignificant detail.

The details of death for my father were wrong. It didn’t say ‘suicide’.

It said ‘poisonned’.

I stared at the lines next to it for a moment, trying to find some kind of explanation for the mistake.

--Despite the fact that the Malfoy bloodline has naturally rapid healing processes, allowing them to recuperate quickly from physical attacks and illness more quickly than the norm, they also have a strong susceptibility to poisons and venoms. Drugs also have powerfully adverse affects on those of Malfoy descent. Consequently, this is also why many Malfoys are skilled potion makers, having learned early on of their weakness and always seeking to find a solution.—

I gaped at the page. Malfoys have rapid healing processes?

Malfoys are susceptible to poisons?

MY FATHER DIDN’T KILL HIMSELF???

I could suddenly hear myself breathing and it was an unpleasant feeling. The air was dry and cold in my throat as I tried to calm myself down, but I couldn’t. I was frozen and holding the damn book, my eyes glued to the line that claimed that my father had died from poisoning.

What really happened then? Did my father use the poison on himself? No… no… then the pages would have specified ‘suicide by poison’….

No… he didn’t give it to himself… could it have been an accident?... no…

One does not simply ingest fatal poisons by accident, especially when one is well aware of one’s personal weakness to it.

MY FATHER WAS MURDERED.

“Fucking hell,” I whispered, finally willing my mouth to work. I still couldn’t move. I couldn’t swallow or even blink… just whisper my shock… whisper and hope that Harry could hear me.

“Draco, what’s wrong?” he asked, walking over to me. His eyes went from my shocked face to the page beneath my gaze. He scanned the page quickly and then shook his head. “Draco… I don’t understand.”

“My father was murdered,” I muttered, still staring at the page. “He was murdered. The details of death claim that he was poisoned. It says that Malfoys hvve a strong susceptibility to poison and that’s why they are good potion makers… to save themselves. My father knew about this weakness somehow… he was a great potion maker. He knew, just like everyone else in the family knew… he didn’t kill himself or it would say he did.” I was rambling and staring at the page still. My voice got louder and louder as I spoke. “It couldn’t have been an accident either… Lucius Malfoy was no fool. He was not stupid… he was killed.” I finally dropped the book and fell to my knees. “SOMEBODY KILLED MY FATHER!”

Harry gasped and crouched next to me, grasping my shoulders tightly. My eyes were wide and dry. I was shaking in rage and I had completely lost control.

“Draco,” he said, trying to soothe me. “Draco… all the evidence pointed to suicide. There was no way anyone could slip him poison… no visitors allowed in Azkaban, remember?”

“But what does that really matter?” I snapped back. “The books are never wrong! They are maintained by intricate magical spells that keep them accurate! If they weren’t accurate, what use would they be?!” I pushed him off and flipped through the pages, back in time, unaware of what I was looking for. “Besides! How do we really know he had no visitors? Look at how easy it was for the Death-Eaters and Dementors to free all those criminals! Someone could have easily disguised themselves and gone in! There were no reliable guards there!”

Harry gaped and gave the clear impression that he did not know what to say.

“Draco…I’m sorry,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around me again. I shuddered and tried to calm myself down. “We’ll find out who did this… I swear we will.”

“I already know who did it,” I spat back, the rage growing in my voice. “There is only one person who could have done it… or known enough to know that it was a positive thing.”

Harry surveyed me and noted the spite in my voice.

“Bellatrix Lestrange,” he whispered, his voice not devoid of disdain.

There was a long moment of silence that we shared. Perhaps in respect of the memory of my father, perhaps in our silent loathing, making vows to ourselves that we would be the undoing of Bellatrix Lestrange… maybe both. Who really knows?

“Come on, Draco,” Harry whispered quietly. “That’s enough for now. We should go.”

“No!” I cried out, grabbing the book back to me and flipping madly through the pages. “I have to know what happened to me! I have to know now! We aren’t going to come back and I never want to see these books again, I have to know!”

I flipped my father’s page so violently that it almost tore in two. But I didn’t care. I was scanning the page that had my name on it.

I was still in there… and it was even weirder than my father’s page had been.

Draco Malfoy, the book taunted. The details of my blood-magic and bloodline were skewed and difficult to read. There were so many things that were crossed out and changed over the span of my life. Changes made when I was tortured by my father… changes from every moment that my blood-magic was affected or altered by the use of magic directly into my blood system. Changes from when I destroyed the Horcrux and gave up my pure-blood status.

But this was all impossible.

My status was still pure-blood, according to the book. Not only that…

“This is impossible,” I said in a hushed panic. “This is madness. It’s not possible!”

“What is it, Draco?” Harry asked, squinting at the page of scribbles before him.

I shook my head and re-read the lines again and again…. Over and over, hoping or maybe wishing or even fearing that they might change and tell me something different…

Maybe if I waited long enough everything would make sense again.

Maybe… just maybe…

Maybe not.

“Draco?” Harry asked more loudly. I looked up at him and shook my head.

“Not only am I still a pure-blood,” I said quietly. “But according to the book, my blood and blood-magic is more pure than my father’s was. As pure as the blood of the original Malfoys…”

Harry stared at me in confusion. He pulled a face to show that he did not understand.

“What does all that mean?” he asked.

“It means… it means,” I tried to formulate it all. How could this make sense? What DID it all mean? “Blood… family blood is always tainted… over the years the bloodlines change and that’s why the crests change too… they alter very slightly with every generation to make up for the new additions and contributions to the family. With new weaknesses and new strengths in every coupling… Every new offspring represents a new evolution in the family line… but…”

“But what?” Harry asked, still piecing everything I said together.

“But I think…” I replied slowly. Was I mad? “I think that when the soul-magic in the Horcrux met the soul-magic that my father had used on me, they clashed and cancelled each other out… Any alterations to the Malfoy blood that runs through my veins was erased… the Horcrux wiped out any evidence that our bloodline has evolved at all… in other words… I still have the exact same characteristics of blood as the very first Royal Malfoys… from centuries ago.”

“So… your blood is purer than your father’s was?” Harry asked, still confused. “What does that mean for what’s going on with you?”

“Rapid healing powers,” I muttered. “Susceptibility to poisons… pure blood magic…” I enumerated the characteristics I knew of. “This means that I’ve not only got all the strengths of blood that the first Malfoys had… but all their weaknesses too.”

I dropped the book, scrambled to my feet and ran over to the large tome on display, flipping through the first pages.

“Quick healers, long life-span,” I whispered as I ran my finger under the words. “powerful curses and potions, weaknesses to poisons, drugs, love potions, truth potions, werewolf attacks and…”

I blinked at the last words. I ran back to the other book and looked at my father’s list of weaknesses… this one was listed there too, though it was one of the only ones that hadn’t changed at all.

“What?” Harry asked. I turned and looked at him, my face indescribable.

“Parseltongue,” I said. “Malfoys have a weakness for Parseltongue.”

-------IIIIIII-------

A/N: randomness and I don’t like too much. Ah wells. I have to go crazy and plan out the rest of the fic now, as I’ve run out of my pre-planned stuff. Now, are we surprised that Lucius didn’t kill himself? How did Bellatrix infiltrate Azkaban? Did she really? Does it matter that they have a weakness for Parseltongue? Mayhaps, mayhaps hahaha

And yeah… errr Neville and Luna and (sadly) Ginny are going to return into the story. Voldemort will be attacking, I promise you, but some things need to be figured out. I hope I haven’t confused you all again with the stuff about blood magic and all.

The point here is that Draco’s blood has been purified of all the impurities that came with marriage and the passage of time… he’s got all the weaknesses that his family might have managed to get rid of… as well as all the powers that they might have lost. The important bit here is to find out exactly WHAT Draco’s weaknesses are (blood-wise).

Hope you enjoyed that anyway! Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews and support! Thank you as well to anyone who has been spreading the word about this and collecting more readers, it means so much to me and I really appreciate it more than you can know!

Love and cookies to all, I sadly don’t have time to reply directly to reviews tonight, but tomorrow I will be in a better position to!