Emerald (Lazuli Book #2) Harry Potter Fan Fiction (Draco Malfoy)

Chapter Twenty-Seven - The Memories

It was like I was in the Pensieve, standing invisible in somebody else's memory, watching as a bystander that couldn't be seen or heard.

A bystander that no matter how loudly I screamed, no matter how much I begged for them to hear me, to see me, would always remain silent.

The first memory was at Hogwarts.

I dropped into the back of an office - the headmaster's - and for a few moments thought that it was over, that the lock had been broken, and Harry would rush forward and give me a hug and tell me that I did well, better than they could have ever hoped.

But Harry was absent.

There was, however, two familiar faces from the three within the office. Dumbledore was sat at the desk with a conflicted expression on his slightly younger features, and the two people in front of him looked familiar. The girl, I could have sworn at first it was me. We had the same tumbling brown hair, the blue eyes and the same body shape. Yet there was one clear difference between she and I. At her stomach, her grey school uniform bulged slightly, a perfect curve that didn't come from a large meal. There were tear stains on the girl's cheeks, her eyes red from crying. Her skin was pale and she clutched the boy's arm so tightly that it's a wonder she didn't cut off the circulation.

This was my mother.

The man at her side was taller - taller than she - and built with broad shoulders and muscular arms. He supported his crying girlfriend whilst staring at the headmaster, his expression calm and yet slightly nervous as he awaited whatever Dumbledore was about to say. His thick black hair was cut short - freshly cut - and his lips were pursed into an apprehensive pout.

My father.

My heart leaped as for the first time, I saw my father. He was handsome - no wonder my mother and all who knew him had loved him so dearly - and reassuring to my mother who was sobbing uncontrollably. The way that he glanced down at his girlfriend and - in particular - the bulge at her belly was so loving that there was no doubt he would willingly die for her.

For them.

"I'm sorry Miss Percival, Mr Black, but my hands are tied. I have no choice but to expel you both."

Mother burst into tears as she buried her face in her hands. My father wrapped his arms around her and hushed her, rocking her protectively. He looked to Dumbledore pleadingly, "please Professor" he begged, only to be met by the shaking of a head from Dumbledore. "I will do what I can to help you both, but your place is no longer at Hogwarts. You must leave - I will write to your families on your behalf if you wish - and set up a home elsewhere. Somewhere you can raise this child for which you have both sacrificed your place."

Father nodded astutely, burying his face in my mother's hair as he held her. "Don't worry Celia, I'll keep you safe, I won't abandon you ever. I promise."

There was a knock at the door, which opened to reveal a pretty young witch with platinum blood hair, wearing the same Slytherin robes as my parents. She rushed into the office, bypassing my parents and stopping in front of Dumbledore.

"Please Professor, where will they go?"

"I'm aware that your family have many homes they do not use, Miss Black. I promise that I will assist them - and you must all know that I do not expel you because I want to."

The girl stomped her foot angrily. "You're the headmaster! You can do what you want!"

"Narcissa..." my father pleaded with the girl.

Draco's mother spun around and glared at her cousin. "No Reg! I won't let you both get expelled, just because Cecelia is pregnant!" She turned back to Dumbledore and glowered. "They have no money, nowhere to go. Hogwarts is supposed to be a home, for them and the baby!" She pointed at my mother's belly.

"And in time, it will be a home to the child" Dumbledore answered gently. "I assure you that if it is magical, it will have a place at Hogwarts."

Narcissa shook her head. "Like they'll want to send it here after what you've done!"

"Cousin, please! The headmaster is merely doing what he must. This is mine and Celia's mistake, and we must accept our punishment."

Narcissa looked to them both and shook her head. "Regulus, what will your mother say?!"

My father shook his head and wrapped an arm around my mother's waist. "I don't care what she thinks. I'm going to be a father and there's nothing she can do about it."

Narcissa ran a hand through her hair. "She won't see it like that..."

"Cecelia is a pure-blood! My mother will probably even be pleased that the Black family line is continuing - any children Sirius has won't be counted."

Narcissa scoffed at the mention of her estranged cousin.

"Please Cissy, don't worry about us. We'll find somewhere, and we'll write regularly. You can come and visit, if your parents allow it" my mother pleaded with her friend. Dumbledore cleared his throat behind them all. "I am truly sorry" he muttered.

Mother nodded at Dumbledore. "I understand Professor - you're merely doing as the Ministry would want."

Dumbledore walked to the door and opened it for the three students in his office. "I'll arrange for transport from the castle tonight" he said quietly, "I suggest that you go without making too much of a fuss or telling many why you have been expelled - I have found that it usually works out better that way. Less embarrassing."

My parents nodded and followed Narcissa, who had stormed furiously from the room, out, leaving Dumbledore and his office behind.

The memory faded, and once more I was ripped and flung somewhere else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, I was in a dark room that was seemingly empty. A small beam of light came from a minuscule window - enough for me to make out the basic details of the room I was in.

It seemed to be a dungeon - dark and cold without any comforts. It was small too, in the corner was a small pile of reeds and straw with a flea-bitten blanket. It was there that I saw a prisoner chained to the wall, hunched over as he rocked himself, mumbling obliviously. His clothes were ripped and a deep cut on his forehead showed a fight, his lip was split and dirt stained the knees of his trousers as if he had been running and had fallen. Red hair fell over his eyes as he shook with fear.

Suddenly, there was a grating as from nowhere a door was unlocked and a group of three stormed in. All dressed in black, the men had an ominous aura about them as one pointed their wand at the chains and disintegrated them with a simple incantation.

"What are you?" the man whimpered as they hauled him to his feet.

A muggle.

They didn't speak as they dragged him from his cell and up the small staircase outside. I ran to keep up with them as they climbed, until they arrived at an open door and stepped into the room. Crowds of people - all wearing black - turned to watch as the prisoner was dragged in. The man cried out in pain as he was dragged along the floor and thrown down in the centre of the room, hitting the stone with a thud.

The Death Eaters began to cackle in appreciation for the man's pain, watching excitedly as he attempted to crawl into a corner, only to be kicked back by an earlier version of a Death Eater I vaguely recognised from clippings in the Daily Prophet. The man cried out as he scanned the room for a face - any kind face.

"What do you want from me?" he cried, "who are you people?"

There was a gust of wind, and the cackling and jeering stopped. Even the prisoner fell silent as all attention turned to the head of the room, where a cloud of black smoke was forming. Everybody in the room watched in anticipation as from the smoke, their master appeared.

"What do we want from you?" Voldemort repeated his question with a smirk. "What could we want from a useless piece of scum such as yourself? A muggle!"

People spat on the floor at the mention of the word. "Please, I have money, I can give you whatever you want, whatever you need..." he offered quietly.

"SILENCE!" The Dark Lord roared. The man whimpered at the pure fury in Voldemort's tone.

"We do not want your muggle money, there is nothing you can offer that would interest us. Only your death will appease our want for blood. You see, your kind are the filth of this planet. You were born to be below us, to be our servants and nothing more. For centuries we have watched in amusement as you rebelled, tried to destroy our kind in your foolish witch hunts and even enslaved each other. You crave leadership, to be submissive. It is your true nature to be enslaved."

"Please, I'm just a normal guy, I've never hurt anybody."

"Then more fool you."

There was a malevolent ripple of laughter around the room. I clutched my palm around the Malfoy necklace - which despite all the difficulty Draco and I had endured recently I still wore faithfully - and relaxed with the small amount of comfort it brought me. I was nothing but a shadow, a ghost passing through. They could not see nor harm me. I was immensely safe.