𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐎𝐮𝐭 {𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲}

| 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐔𝐑 | 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵

The Minotaur was a mythological creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man. The creature was so vicious that craftsman Daedalus built an elaborate maze called the Labyrinth, where the Minotaur resided until he was finally killed by Theseus.

»»——⍟——««

💛

h a n n a h

Malfoy Manor was dark, foreboding, and exactly the kind of dreary place one would imagine Draco and his family to live in.

Even so, it struck me with nostalgic familiarity. I had walked up this very path many times with my father as a child; played in the sprawling gardens with the other pureblood children while our parents remained indoors, chatting about Merlin-knew-what.

I linked arms with Susan, and she with Lorcan. Next to them, Draco walked alone, hands stuffed in his pockets. Together, we formed a human wall as we strode up to the towering black gates. Serena went ahead of us, her bright purple robes darkened by the shadows of the hedge-lined walkway.

I did not like this. Not one bit. My dress felt too heavy for me to keep nimble and agile should something go awry. My wand was too far from easy reach. Susan and I had tucked them into garters around our thighs, and to retrieve them would require us to lift our long skirts. I knew the speed at which we could do so could determine whether we lived or died. 

It was too late to do anything about it now. This dress was the first one I grabbed off the rack in my mad rush to go back to Lorcan's. I barely even had time to explain to Neville, only remembering to shout at him not to tell anyone before Disapparating back to London.

"Now remember, we have about an hour before the potion starts to wear off," Lorcan mumbled to us as inconspicuously as he could. "Draco, you find Angel. The rest of us will keep watch. Get in, get out."

"I know what to do, Atwood," sniffed Draco, rolling his shoulders in his black jacket.

"How does this potion work again, exactly?" Susan's voice wobbled with anxiety. "'Cause the last time I looked in the mirror, I still look like me."

"You look twice your age to all of us, Suze," I reminded her. "Lorcan looks like a sixty-year-old drunkard at the Hogshead, and Draco looks like he got beat up by the Whomping Willow."

"I swear, Bones, if you blow this, I'll kill you myself," Draco muttered under his breath.

"Shut up, you're scaring her. And if anyone's going to blow this, it's you and your impetuous arse," I hissed back at him. "Look, Susan, you aced Charms. Keep your wits about you and you'll be fine." I had said this, but my heartbeat began to accelerate as we approached the gates.

Two men squinted at us from behind the iron bars, one dark and hulking, the other short and stubby with a beard. "Password," the latter demanded.

"Snakefangs," Serena spoke calmly.

"Name?"

"Serena Cheng."

"I know you. I don't know them," he poked his finger at us through the gate.

"This here is Douglas Macnair, Liam Shunpike, Saffron Parkinson, and Harriette Rakepick," Serena gestured to each of us. "They are distant relatives of your friends inside, they are! You see, they want in on this world domination thing, they do. I thought I could introduce them around."

"I didn't know Macnair had family," the bigger one said, peering at Draco suspiciously. The short one cocked his head and ruffled his beard. "I s'pose they do look alike. Same long face and everyfin'!"