Sapphire (Lazuli Book #3) - Harry Potter Fan Fiction (Draco Malfoy)

Chapter Seven

We apparated carefully to the small courtyard at the centre of Grimmauld Place, taking care to appear beneath the shadowy cover of a tree and away from any prying eyes. Quickly, we scanned ourselves for any accidental splinching and looked over the street for any Death Eaters who just so happened to be lurking about, and upon seeing that the coast was clear, left the grassy area for numbers 11 and 13.

I hadn't been back to 12 Grimmauld Place in over a year - certainly not since I learned that it was actually my ancestral home. How could I have guessed the last time I was here that the family tree that covered an entire room in the large house had included me? How could I have known that this was the house that my father had grown up in - that his room was only just upstairs.

I found my stomach clenching in anger at the thought that Dumbledore had allowed me to live there all that time during the summer between my fourth and fifth years at Hogwarts, and had never stopped to grant me the truth. Of course it would have been a shock, but hardly a surprise. It hadn't taken me that long to believe it when I did eventually find out. At least then I would have been able to explore my father's room and his life. I could have asked Sirius - my paternal uncle so it turned out - what my father was really like.

Now the chance with Sirius was gone , but another opportunity had risen to visit my family's house. How I felt about it, I wasn't yet sure.

Hermione and Ron kept looking at me for a reaction as Harry summoned number 12 to show itself. I remained impassive for the time being, looking just as relieved to have a place to stay than they did. The four of us watched as number 11 and number 13 began to shift, shuffling apart to reveal the secret house between them that only people who'd been trusted with the location could see. As number 12 came forward, the dirty windows popped into place and the sharp railings at the front of the house shot up from their hiding place. Within a matter of seconds, a whole new house had appeared, and none of the muggles living in the street had noticed a thing.

Once again, we checked over our shoulders before Harry rushed forward, Ron, Hermione and I hot on his heels. Harry ran to the door and shoved his hand in his pocket, from which he pulled out a worn brass key. I didn't know that he actually had a key to the place.

Harry shoved the key in the lock and struggled to twist it, but eventually there was a resounding click and the door creaked open. In a rush, the four of us bundled in and slammed the door shut behind us, terrified of who may have been lurking unseen outside.

"We need to learn to apparate on to the doorstep," Ron panted as he leaned back against the door, "because I can't have that tension every time I go out to get the milk."

Any other time, we would have laughed at Ron, but at that moment the four of us were too panicked to even crack a grin. Hermione shut her eyes as she tried to regain herself, and Harry was already surveying the dark corridor nervously from his spot by the front door.

I was the first one to take a step forward. My shoe clacked on the dusty floor as I edged forward, my wand drawn and ready to attack should Snape be hiding in the shadows. A part of me hoped that he was - I'd take immense pleasure in cursing him from here all the way back to his master's feet. 

The House of Black was eerily quiet - not even the portrait of Walburga Black screamed at us for our presence. I shuddered at the thought that the portrait of the vile, pure-blood supremicist witch who screamed hate at everybody who didn't meet her ideology, was actually a portrait of my grandmother. That horrendous woman was my father's mother.

Suddenly, a cloud of dust began to swirl upwards at the end of the corridor. I stopped walking, my heart in my throat as a figure formed from the dust, and with it's arm outstretched threateningly, began to race towards us. As it was only a few feet away, I realised that the face was unmistakably Dumbledore.