Chapter Text
Narcissa was seated in the nursery room, the whole room draped in soft green curtains, and emerald stained glass windows, bringing in the unnaturally bright moon's light through to the green carpetted floor. She was on an oakwood rocking chair, a one year old baby boy lying asleep beside her on his cot.
It was a peaceful night.
Rain fell outside, its droplets pattering in a soothing rhythm against the glass of the windows.
She looked at her son, the tiny boy with blonde tufts of hair resting gently on his forehead; before turning back to the book on her lap. It was a green leather bound book with worn out ends of the parchment inside peeking out along with dried flower petals and bookmarks. Her quill scratched against the parchment of the book, writing something in elegant cursive.
A content barely-there smile played at the corner of her thin lips as she wrote, while an arrangement of an orchestra, charmed to play on its own; played a soft melody from at least two storeys above- its harmony drifting through the walls of the manor.
Just then- the door to the nursery barged open.
Narcissa's head shot up.
"Lucius? You're home early." then noticing the look of distress on the man's face, "Something is wrong. What is it?" she said as she immediately stood up, walking towards the man at the doorway.
Her husband stood at the doorway, pale. And not just in the way he always is. This was deeper. Like he'd just seen the entire world collapse right infront of his very eyes- and in fact, that might not be too far from the truth.
"Narcissa." he said quietly, gaze focused on the image of his sleeping son.
Silence.
"The Dark Lord has been defeated."
The silence lingered. Narcissa didn't react. She didn't seem surprised as she should have for she seemed to be questioning her husband's sanity more.
"Pardon?" she finally said.
"It is true. He fell. Disappeared. We haven't the slightest clue how." he said quietly.
Narcissa finally looked horrified. Her face morphed into one of deep disturb.
"I-I- don't believe it! How- what- what could have possibly defeated the Dark Lord?!" she said in a hushed voice, as she shut the door to the nursery.
"As I said- we don't know." Lucius gritted out, wiping the sweat dripping from his forehead, with the sleeve of his black Death Eater robes.
"He went to Godric's Hollow. To rid of the child. I TOLD Him! I WARNED Him! But no- the Dark Lord had to listen to that betrayer. Now look what's happened." he said in frustration, fighting to keep his voice down so to avoid waking their son as he paced the length of the hallway restlessly.
Narcissa had a hand pressed to her mouth, her eyes widened in horror.
"Well.. what do we do now? Our family? Our son? What is going to happen!" she said in desperate urgency.
"You are not making matters any better by not letting me think, Narcissa!" Lucius said whirling around to face her.
"Well it wouldn't be easy anyways, would it, Lucius!" she said matching his tone in a rare moment of fear induced rage. "My son cannot grow up without his father! Your son cannot live with his father imprisoned!"
Lucius scowled. "Do you think I am not aware of it, Narcissa?!"
Then he sighed. Deeply. He noticed the tears welling in his wife's eyes.
"It will be alright, Narcissa." he said quietly, not quite believing it himself.
"We will figure it out. I am not leaving either you or our son." he said, as he pulled her into his arms cautiously, a hand at the back of her head as she sobbed silently into the already rain water drenched robes of his.
"We will." he repeated again to no one in specific.
---
Malfoy Manor was eerily silent. It always was. But since the last of the night's darkness cleared away to welcome the warm pink, golden hued sun? There was a sense of quiet dread that crept up the walls of the oppulent manor. The wards were even more secure than before; unbreakable protective shields cast over the vast fields of the whole estate.
A tiny boy aged one, sat on his bed alone, in an ivory shaded one-piece romper, made of the finest satin; the Malfoy crest stitched at the center with gold spewn into thread, as he observed with all the severity of a one year old- a green mist filled orb that had a visual imagery of Salazar Slytherin nodding once regally and disappearing; the same motion being charmed to repeat much to the boy's fascination- or rather, the opposite.
That tiny boy? His name was Draco Lucius Malfoy.
Heir to the Malfoy line.
And blissfully unaware of what his parents were to go through.
Outside the nursery, Lucius stands by the ceiling-high windows of the dining room; staring down with an intense glare- at the scenery beyond the gates of the manor.
There was a Britain full of people swarmed around the manor; axes, wands, fire lit arrows- whatever they could find held high as they cast every spell, every hex they could think of to break the intensely strong shields of the manor, with some choosing to try and jump over the gates instead.
"DIE! DIE! KILL THE MALFOYS!"
Came the deafening sound of the people's chants.
Narcissa walked to the window too.
The people's chants intensified.
"KILL THE WOMAN TOO!"
"KILL HER!"
"MAKE THOSE MURDERERS PAY!"
They both looked down at the literally burning rage, radiating from the people or more so- half Britain's wizarding population outside.
They were burning whatever they found outside the protective shields. Statues. Perfectly trimmed hedges.
"They've already got Roma." Lucius said lowly, not looking at his wife but rather at the chaos below.
"They want us dead." Narcissa said quietly. She could almost hear the erratic thrumming of her heart beating out of her chest, her breathing getting heavier by the second as she reached to hold Lucius's wrist as if needing to know he's still there- and not in a cell.
Lucius said nothing at first.
More silence.
"They may try." he finally said with finality in his voice.
Narcissa tried to stay the composed Malfoy Lady- but the constant reminder of her baby boy being at risk of being burnt to ashes from the flame of the people below was making the task increasingly difficult; her face twisted in dread and horror.
Then- beyond the grand iron gates of Malfoy Manor, the sound of air whipping through was heard.
The people paused their chanting just momentarily.
Aurors.
Narcissa gasped. "Lucius-" she said her grip on his wrist tightening as Lucius himself tensed visibly.
They weren't supposed to arrive this early.
The gates were now surrounded with ten aurors, including the head of the office himself; Rufus Scrimgeour.
They were all dressed in heavy dark brown trench coats, a bold capital 'M', standing for the Ministry of Magic, plastered on the pockets of the trench coats.
The people's chanting resumed again. Louder this time.
"KILL THEM SIR!"
"KILL THEM AT ONCE!"
"THAT MAN- THEY KILLED MY WHOLE FAMILY SIR!" One desperate man in specific, whose voice had gone hoarse from all the shouting said; all but falling to his knees in front of Rufus- one of his eyes permanently blinded in an eerie manner.
"Kill them sir! We beg you!"
Rufus was struggling between empathy and needing to get his duty done in the presence of all the people who still refused to leave till they were given justice.
There was another auror to his left. A man with a slight frown on his face, a wooden leg and a magical eye that happened to move on its own accord creepily. Alastor Moody. The Deputy Head Auror of the office.
He suddenly barked out loud, getting all the people's attention.
"ENOUGH! YOU SHALL ALL MOVE ASIDE AND MAKE YOUR WAYS BACK TO YOUR RESIDENCES SO THE AURORS CAN BRING THESE CRIMINALS TO THE MINISTRY. THIS IS FOR YOUR SAFETY! NOW MOVE!" He shouted as all the people protested mildly but made way regardless.
A few actually retreated to their homes- but the latter, more desperate ones lingered, hiding badly behind bushes and shrubs to ensure justice is given.
Alastor nodded once at Rufus; a silent communication between the two colleagues as Moody raised his wand and cast a charm casually on Rufus.
Blue sparks emerged from his wand as he drew something almost resembling what looked like the bottom half of an 'Z' while muttering a spell under his breath 'sonorous'- and flicked it sharply so it hit Scrimgeour right at the throat.
Rufus spoke.
His voice was extremely loud then, as a result of the spell.
"LUCIUS ABRAXAS MALFOY! I AM THE HEAD OF AUROR OFFICE, RUFUS SCRIMGEOUR- AND YOUR HOUSE IS CURRENTLY UNDER THE FORCED AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC FOLLOWING THE PROOF GAINED OF YOUR INVOLVEMENT WITH THE DARK WIZARD KNOWN AS- VOLDEMORT."
"YOU ARE HEREBY UNDER ARREST AND ARE TO HAND YOURSELF IN TO US- THE AURORS- AT ONCE OR WE WOULD HAVE TO FORCIBLY REMOVE YOU FROM YOUR ESTATE."
He went on to say the whole statement of rights, aurors were required to recite in the case of a noble's arrest.
When there was still no reply, and it seemed both Narcissa and Lucius were no longer standing at the window to their sight- Rufus spoke once again, this time in his usual stern voice but not a recital. It was a choice of his own words.
"COME OUT LUCIUS! IT'S NO POINT HIDING NOW. THE MINISTRY NEEDS YOU AND YOUR WIFE TO BE PRESENT IN A MATTER OF HOURS FOR YOUR TRIAL. UNLESS- YOU WANT US TO DRAG YOU OUT YOUR MANOR. THOUGH I FEAR YOUR REPUTATION SIMPLY CANNOT HANDLE THAT ON TOP OF ITS ALREADY TARNISHED STATE, MALFOY."
The Aurors; who were the protectors of the Wizarding World, stood outside- wands raised barely just for precautions, waiting for Lucius to either hand himself in voluntarily.. or take the next steps. Rufus Scrimgeour, a man in his late thirties or forties, with bushy eyebrows, a mane like scalp of brown hair and yellow beady eyes was at the center of them all.
His deputy, Alastor Mood stood to his left, with Kingsley Shacklebolt a Black man with a shiny bald head stood to his right. There were several other aurors, all standing around the manor's every gate and exit with their wands raised; Alice and Frank Longbottom, John Dawlish, Jagery Xenophelia, Fenus Mervilind and all.
They waited a long while.
Patient.
Silent.
And just as Rufus was about to make a move, the large iron gates of the manor (now burnt at the edges), creaked open slowly- the mist clearing off to reveal a pale faced yet proud figure of a man.
The man was none other than Lucius Abraxas Malfoy.
It was almost visible the way all the aurors tensed, shoulders going rigid and wands raising a fraction of a millimeter higher at the mere appearance of Lucius.
He simply stood in silence for a moment.
Then finally;
"Well? Shall we get going? I have important matters to attend to." he drawled lowly.
Rufus tilted his chin. "We shall. But I doubt you'd be able to return for these 'matters' of yours." he said, in a husky voice. "Your wife is required too, Mister Malfoy."
Lucius barely acknowledged him, as Narcissa appeared at the gateway herself. She had faint traces of dark under circles beneath her eyes and still looked slightly shaken despite her regal posture.
However-
She held something else in her arms. Someone else.
She held a tiny blonde baby Draco Malfoy wrapped in a green Malfoy blanket. Awake and simply staring at nothing in specific until he gave a tiny cough when a mist of the still lingering smoke passed by him.
Narcissa patted his back gently. "Shh.. shh.. love, it's okay." she whispered to him, rocking him gently.
Little Draco relaxed almost instantly at the soft coo of his mother's voice.
Narcissa was looking uneasy in her every move from the way her eyes kept flicking to her husband and to the discomfort in the way she held her baby.
Alastor looked mildly irritated at the sight of the baby, but before he could speak, Alice Longbottom did.
"Mrs.Malfoy, are you sure you want to bring your child to the Ministry? The streets and everywhere in general aren't in their safest states right now." she said in a stern voice, with however a slightest hint of maternal concern creeping up having just become a mother herself.
"That is our choice. The law does not forbid it. Hence you'd do well to do your part of the job and quit poking your nose in what does not concern you." Narcissa replied sharply.
Lucius tilted his chin barely, as if in approval.
Alice frowned, about to say something more before her husband, Frank Longbottom, gave her a quiet look that made her think otherwise of it.
"Very well. Follow us." Rufus said as he stepped beside Lucius and Narcissa, with Alastor doing the same.
The remaining aurors all formed behind and in front of the couple to shield them- which seemed unnecessary at first glance.
But then they started walking towards an apparation point.
And all hell broke lose- with the people hiding behind the bushes all screaming and shouting and sending fire arrows their way, shouting the most vile things known to the Wizarding kind.
Suddenly? The shielding didn't seem so unnecessary anymore.
Lucius merely glanced their way. Spine straight. Gaze fixed ahead, and an arm wrapped around Narcissa's waist in a subtle protective gesture.
Draco however was wide awake now.
All his wide grey eyes could see was fire. Lots of fire. Thick black smoke. Shouting people. Some random man poking a long stick with a blade tied to its tip towards him.
The Malfoy baby who rarely cried and was always either bored, scowling at nothing in specific or just.. asleep, flinched backwards, hands curling into tiny fists on his mother's robes.
"Ah!" he gave a tiny yelp.
"Don't worry darling- just sleep." Narcissa kept hushing desperately.
Meanwhile just a few of the aurors were with a far from adequate amount of energy shouted at the people to keep it down and to not hurt anyone. But it seemed as if they weren't too displeased by the people's outrage either.
"KILL THE LITTLE BLOODLUST CREATURE TOO!"
"I'LL SLIT ITS THROAT!" one man shouted, pointing a wand at Draco.
"HANG THE WHOLE FAMILY!"
"Ma-mama!" Draco cried as he burrowed into his mother's chest.
He could feel an unwelcome beating in his chest. Something he couldn't understand that was making him feel increasingly light headed in a bad way. Everything felt too big. Too hot. Too cold. Too much.
He was breathing frantically as he cried- Narcissa's hushing doing very little to soothe him.
The rest of the cold night passed in a blur in the eyes of Draco. Every second people threw stuff at him and his mother.
There was a massive hall.
Dim lights.
Lots of people shouting at the top of their lungs.
People scurrying about and shooting filthy looks at him.
A woman in a high seat, in bright purple robes cheering and yelling at his father.
Another weird looking man doing the same.
Lucius speaking something, from which Draco understood only a few words:
"...my son...no... Draco.. be-wech..." and the rest he didn't hear for he fell asleep after crying a lot.
---
Nearly eight hours later, through which Draco was fast asleep and didn't sense the slightest thing; Lucius, Narcissa and little Draco all walked out of the massive building with intricate statues and gold linings everywhere, the words:
MINISTRY OF MAGIC
written in a bold font at the entrance of the ministry.
People continued to shoot filthy looks at the family as they made their way out, but Lucius didn't care in the slightest, his face contorted into one of smug satisfaction. Narcissa however merely looked relieved.
"Draco is probably hungry. We need to get to the manor quickly," she whispered to Lucius as the both of them found their way to an apparation point.
Lucius gave a sharp nod before they all apparated. The world twisted and turned for a split second before suddenly- they were outside the gates of Malfoy Manor, grand and dark as ever. A group of House-elves were already working franitcally on restoring the burnt edges of the bushes and the gates.
The three of them went inside.
After a few flights of staircases, they finally reached the dining room, with ceiling high columns and pillars, moving portraits of multiple deceased Malfoys and their spouses who all stared down at the family, a very long, dark oakwood table polished to the crisp alongside a matching collection of chairs.
Lucius sat down at the head of the table, a rare moment of exhaustion he'd otherwise never display in the presence of an audience, etched onto the pale features of his face. He kept his serpent-headed cane atop the table before sighing and relaxing slightly in his chair.
Meanwhile, Narcissa sat down slowly on a plush chair further away from the dining table, facing the ceiling high window. She quietly fed small spoonfuls of a rich blended soup, with carrots and meat all blended in so as to avoid having chunks in it, to Draco who was happily blabbering away.
"Mama, dada- out! Rain! Water! Water down mama!" he babbled happily, clapping his tiny hands as Narcissa smiled softly, nodding along with whatever gibberish he was saying.
The rain pattered on the windows- a gentle rhythm that seemed to have calmed both Lucius and Narcissa despite the play of the night's events.
Long after, when Draco was fast asleep in his crib upstairs, Narcissa and Lucius sat quietly beside each other at the same window sill she was feeding Draco earlier.
They were both sipping two cups of hot tea, with ginger syrup and two teaspoons of honey syrup.
The steam curled around them both, hitting the glass of the window and fogging it against the coolness outside from the rain.
"What of the others? Any news? What even happened?" Narcissa finally asked quietly.
Lucius nodded slowly, taking a small sip of his tea. "Word on the street- is that the Potters are dead. But somehow-"
"By some damned curse- the boy; they have a boy. Henry or something. I think he's about Draco's age. He's defeated Voldemort. And lived."
Narcissa let out a slow controlled breath in disbelief. "This all feels.. like- like some fever dream." she said quietly.
Lucius nodded in agreement. "And as for the others- Snape? No idea. Somehow- he wasn't in court. Bella still doesn't believe the Dark Lord is gone. And neither does Crouch."
Narcissa looked distressed. "Oh cissy.." she muttered in fear.
"She sent message to me, asking that I join her, Crouch, Rodolphus and I think Rabastan too- to find Him again."
"Well what did you say?!" Narcissa asked sternly.
"That He's gone and to get over herself unless she wanted to get arrested of course." Lucius said dryly.
Narcissa sighed in relief. "The Carrows?"
"They were due on trial right after us. Heard them use the Imperius too. It's working quite well for almost everyone who used it. Alahan used it. Duncan, Cassius, and Delson all used it. They're lucky one of us had a brain." Lucius said with a light huff.
Narcissa had a distant expression on her face as if rethinking everything that led to this point and on.
The silence lingered a few beats.
"Will we be alright?" she finally asked. Quiet. Unsure.
"We will." Lucius said with quiet finality in his voice.
He set the tea cup away, letting it levitate on its own since there wasn't a desk in sight.
Lucius reached out slowly and gently placed his own hand over his wife's.
"I swear to you, but you and Draco will always be safe. I promise."
Narcissa nodded.
Still unsure- but maybe just a tinge hopeful too.
Outside, fireworks went off, owls flew all around the sky to the point of concerning even the ever-oblivious-Muggles who spoke of it like nature's phenomenon on live TV- or so they call it in the Muggle world. Goblins and elves and all alike walked around the streets without a care for breaching the Wizarding World's secrecy.
Drinks were raised. Grief was gone. For once and for all. As people toasted for, 'The Boy Who Lived'.
Death Eaters were arrested.
Voldemort was gone.
Millicent Bagnold spoke on the radio, her voice stern at first, "It has come to my attention that our citizens have been walking around the streets of Muggles openly. And that is extremely problematic."
But then she laughed.
"But guess what, ladies and gentlemen? We've had very little to be pleased of for the past years! And I, as the Minister for Magic, I assert our inalienable right to party!!!"
The whole crowd of wizards and witches listening to her at both the ministry and from the comforts of their own homes broke out in cheers. Some even crying in joy. Some thanking Merlin for bringing justice to all their loved ones who lost their lives to the wrath of Voldemort.
Peace was restored.
At least not at the Manor.
***