𝒜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒽 | 𝒟.𝑀.

0 | ﴾ Prologue ﴿

Author's Note: This book is the third in a series. Find the other works (Bequeathment, Obliviation and Supremacy) on my page at https://www.wattpad.com/user/BronteFanFic

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The unrelenting heat of early August stifled the countryside of rural England in an unusual heatwave. Living creatures ran amuck with comfort and ease, seeking out food sources and chattering angrily to one another in foreign, animalistic languages. The high pitched whine of insects reacting to the sweltering temperatures rose and fell consistently. It had been so dry that summer that the grasses in the fields had darned a bright yellow tinge in complaint of the drought and baking sunlight.

Two birds flew side by side as mates, searching for sustenance to bring home to their chicks. They chirped in unison and at peace with the seemingly calm afternoon, high in the sky, until naturally, they attempted to cross the property line of a rather sinister dwelling. Upon impact with the invisible ward both of their necks snapped and they spiraled to the ground, twirling gracefully with the weight of their outstretched wings. They landed side by side in the gravel at the foot of the black wrought iron fence that magically framed the expansive property. Their little feathered chests heaved in pain, until they inevitably completed their journey in the living world at death's door. The sun continued to shine as it always did, without regard for what occurred on the surface of the Earth below it's scorching rays.

The Malfoy Manor stuck out in the bright landscape and endless gardens it was wedged in the center of, like the blackened thumb of a hiker with frostbite. The seven story mega structure cast monstrous shadows over anything within quite a circumference of the ancient, obsidian bricks, rotating a menacing blanket of shade around it's base with the angle of the sun each day. The ridiculously tall windows were famed for giving anyone outside of the building a chill down their spine with the sense that they were being watched by something less than benign within.

This precise chill was making it's way down the spine of a portly doctor who lumbered down the gravel lane, squinting through his spectacles in the sun's glare at the windows towering above him, half expecting one of the more petrifying residents to be boring their eyes into him from behind a thick curtain. He was darned in a white suit under the climactic conditions, and golden beads wove his long white beard into two separate pristine braids down his chest. An expensive purple tie was tucked taught into his waistcoat, disappearing below the jacket regally.

He had visited the Manor for over two decades on beck and call to the Malfoy family, under an unbreakable vow to serve and care for them whenever they sought him out.

Despite his undisputed reputation as one of England's top magical doctors, he had a devastating gambling problem. This naturally had led his family into hard times that were foreseeably unrecoverable, that was of course, until Lucius Malfoy had pulled him aside at a gala and offered a sum far beyond his wildest dreams in exchange for tight lipped, unwavering medical care when requested.

At first the bargain had seemed too good to be true; visiting their Manor only when required, which could possibly be rarely at times, and to tend to their family members which were few and generally healthy. This had been an easy enough position over the years, until the dark lord had risen once again, and Albert had discovered that the Malfoy's were involved with the Death Eaters.

He had kept his promise to never speak of what he saw or what he healed at the certainty of his own demise, but the past few years had especially taken a toll on him. He had witnessed kidnapping and horrific battle wounds, not to mention every time he had visited the Manor the malevolent energy in the air only seemed to have grown thicker. The possibility of bumping into the dark lord himself was another fear altogether that Albert was perfectly happy to be able to now push out of his mind forever.