^ ^ ^ ^
Baby P-
Although it saddens me to no end to say this, I feel that I must. This is the last chapter of A Death In The Family, I thank those who have enjoyed this story, it always makes me feel glad when people say they like my work.
Special thanks to those people who reviewed constantly (you know who you are), they really pushed me to write faster and better.
^ ^ ^ ^
Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters involved in the series. If I did Migi would have killed me for that little death in book no. 5
^ ^ ^ ^
A Death In The Family- Last Chapter
^ ^ ^ ^
It had been almost a week since Draco awoke from his coma. He was still suffering the side effects though, he was weak and could not go for long periods of time without needing a rest or help with his laboured breathing.
Madame Pomfery had confined him to the infirmary for at least the next few days and life was quite boring for him. His father had returned to the Malfoy Manor after the initial checks into his health were made. Severus too, had been kept away. It was by classes during the day, and in the evenings, by Dumbledore.
He was halfway through the dullest textbook ever, aptly named 'Tealeaves & You- The Key to Divinitation', when Harry 'the prick' Potter shuffled into sight. Draco ignored him as best he could but it was quite hard, especially when Harry walked over and gave him a note from the Headmaster requesting his presence in the office.
Harry gestured towards the door before turning and slowly leaving the room. Draco quickly slid off the bed and followed the other boy from the room, taking care to hide his wrinkled clothes with one of his robes. He didn't want to give the wrong impression to anyone who might see him.
Harry was hurrying ahead, quite like a dog trying to please it's master thought Draco, and it was taking a great effort for him to keep up. He could feel his chest tightening and the horrible feeling of lost control that came over him at these times made it's appearance.
Draco braced himself against a wall, concentrating one the cold grime beneath his fingertips instead of his rising panic. Harry had turned the corner and his footsteps were fading. Blackness hovered at the sides of his eyes and from far away he could here his body shudder as it helplessly gulped for air.
He concentrated hard and managed to fill his burning lungs, he held onto the air for as long as possible before releasing it in a series or raspy hacks. Harry had come back, obviously noticing his disappearance, and was now watching Draco with a mixture of boredom and curiosity.
Only when Draco started to buckle did Harry make a move. He pulled his wand from an inside pocket of his robe and muttered quietly under his breath. Draco gasped in relief as he felt his muscles relax and pull in air.
He waited for a few seconds then pushed off the wall and smoothed his robes with his hands. Harry didn't bother to point out that he had just wiped all the grime from the wall down the sides of the robe.
They reached the office a few minutes later and Draco lounged as Harry tried a variety of passwords.
"Acid Pops...Blood drops...Fizzing Wizbees...candy canes?...oh shit, I remember now. Black Rainbow"
The stairway opened and Draco slowly started up the steps, aware of the fact that Harry had already left. At the top of the stairs he subconsciously straightened to his full height and held his head high.
Nothing about his body showed whether he was surprised to see his father sitting with Dumbledore. He nodded to his father in greeting and then addressed the headmaster "Sir, I understand you requested my presence?"
The headmaster nodded and gestured to the spare seat in front of the fire. His normally cheerful face was furrowed in displeasure, his twinkling eyes set gravely beneath thick grey eyebrows.
He turned to Draco and silently surveyed him. If it were anyone else they would have fidgeted under the intense gaze but Draco sat still and, in an act of insolence started to pick at his fingernails.
"I know that you are still quite weak and I understand that it may take you some time to recover from your incident with a couple of students at this school. Regardless I must officially inform you of your immediate expulsion from Hogwarts." Here he stopped and gazed steadily into the fire before continuing in sombre tones.
"We do not have enough evidence to replay the events that happened on that night and the school board has determined that due to past circumstances we believe the attack may have been provoked. You have three days to be off the premises. After a period of one month we will review your case and decide whether you should be allowed to return."
His words trailed off and there was complete silence in the room, even the crackles from the fire or the quiet trilling of Fawkes could rouse them from silence.
Draco spoke first, his words were halting and to those who knew him he was quite unsure, " Up for review?...I won't be coming back, will I? You won't let the school board re-judge my case, will you?"
"You know that it's for the best Master Malfoy, it is a decision that will please all involved. You will be allowed access to the grounds at graduation but at no other time unless in the presence of a professor. Your N.E.W.T tests will be taken in a classroom at the Ministry, as will monthly tests to ensure your quality as a wizard. I wish you luck in the future and I hope to never see you back here again."
A dismissal from his father ended the meeting and Draco shuffled from the office out into the cold corridors. He stared blankly at the empty space in front of him, determined to make it back to the infirmary without breaking.
The weakness of his body disgusted and ashamed him. The short trek felt like a marathon his legs were heavy and he hardly knew how he was dragging them forward.
He also felt something that he hadn't felt for a long time, sadness. He had known what was coming, he had joked about it with his father and even mentioned it in passing to Severus, but nothing had prepared him for this tightness in his chest and the unfamiliar pricking of tears behind his eyelids.
Hogwarts had indeed grown on him and now it was gone, or it would be in three days. He shook his head slowly, it shouldn't affect him like this, Hogwarts was a school nothing more.
^ ^ ^ ^
He rose early the next morning and quietly washed and dressed. He crept out from the infirmary, careful not to wake Madame Pomfrey from her slumber. He slowly walked through the empty hallways watching the shadows flicker in the torchlight.
He railed his fingers across the paintings and tapestries, recalling events of the past. His first kiss, stolen behind a tapestry during a school dance, the first and last time he was slapped by a girl and the spare classroom where he had happily learnt an important lesson in life from a 5th year slytherin girl when he was 13.
He ducked through the doors of the great hall and he remembered the first time he had strolled through them like he owned the place, and how many times he had done the same since. He stepped out of the castle and out into the greyness of morning before dawn. He traced the path from the locker rooms to the middle of the Quidditch pitch, a trail that was very familiar to him.
Draco the roamed through the gardens, aware that this was probably the last time he would ever see them. His last destination was the lake, the place from which he had caught his first glimpses of Hogwarts. The grey fog was starting to clear and Draco knew what he should do.
Carefully he climbed out across the rocks and jumped onto the old wharf, now rotting and cracked with age. He slowly crept across it, avoiding the many gaps where planks had been washed away, until he was as far out as he could go. Then he sat and watched as the first rays of sun peered out from below the horizon and shot through the fog.
And for the first, and last time in his life at Hogwarts, Draco sat as a new day dawned and watched as the great castle of Hogwarts came to life.
^ ^ ^ ^
Severus Snape was halfway through teaching the 6th year Gryffindor / Slytherin class the importance of using dried brasco beetles in healing potions instead of dung when there was a loud rap on the door.
It came as no surprise to him when half a second later the elder Malfoy entered the room and waited to the side of the room. The appearance of someone so unusual in their classroom prompted the class to start whispering under their breath, some students outright gawked at Lucius.
Lucius, as always, made the best of their astonishment. He glowered and snarled at any child who dared turn back to look at him, and Severus, along with many members of the class found himself turning to look at the empty spot where Draco usually sat.
A few of the Gryffindor's who had not yet heard about the attack on Draco or his expulsion chose to comment.
"Where's Mini-Malfoy? (The name was on account of Draco's somewhat lacking height) Is his father here to cover another one of his mistakes, I bet that's why."
"Nah, they're both Death Eaters, that's what my pop says. They were both nasty pieces of work when they went to school."
Severus was about to hand out a few detentions and take away a few points when he remembered that he had company. He looked straight at Lucius and tilted his head in a questioning manner, hoping to get it over with as little words as possible.
Lucius however didn't seem to care what the class heard as he started talking from across the other side of the room.
"Severus, we are parting from this...delightful school at half twelve. You will be leaving with us won't you, I did specially ask for the carriage with extra luggage room to be sent. We will see you at the hall in 20 minutes."
With this said he turned and stalked out of the room, his cloak floating out behind him in a way familiar to all those who knew Severus.
Severus frowned, that public display was very unlike Lucius, but then again, he might be in one of his moods. And with that look on his face he was undoubtedly off to annoy Minerva while he still had the chance.
He backtracked through the last few seconds and then almost dropped his quill. His eyes darted down to the corner of his desk where his charmed sundial sat. It was already 10 past 12, Lucius had only given him twenty minutes to pack and leave.
He swept out of the classroom, leaving behind a bunch of very bewildered Gryffindors and Slytherins. Only Harry looked like he had some clue to what was going on.
A lanky boy with dark hair and a decidedly unfriendly look about him, turned to the rest of his class and asked, " What the 'ells wrong with Snape?"
He received dirty glares from one half of the room and blank looks from the rest. But undoubtedly this story would be passed around at lunch and everyone would have their own theory explaining the disappearance of the Potions Master.
^ ^ ^ ^
Harry stood in the same old classroom he had stood in only two weeks before, before anything had changed, before he had lost all hope again. It seemed a long time ago, but now, standing in the dusty room seeing the evidence of an era gone, it all came back to him.
He watched through the narrow window as a black carriage pulled up right outside the front doors. He watched as three men walked from out of the shadows, two blonde and one dark.
Harry watched as their bags were carried out by a few house elves, as dobby himself presented them with a going away basket. He watched as three of the most disgusting people he had ever known stepped into the carriage, and he watched as it started off down the tracks and he watched as they rounded the bend in the road without ever once looking back.
Then he slowly dropped to the ground and stared up at the ceiling, for some reason he felt his eyes water but he wouldn't let the tears gather because he might have lost his family, his dignity, his innocence but he wouldn't let them take his pride as well.
^ ^ ^ ^
The sun shone down from the sky, lighting up the forests and lakes. To any muggle flying over the land they saw nothing other than ruins of what may have once been a majestic castle and the breathtaking land around it. Although every now and then someone swore that there was a glimmer of something else.
No one understood the magnitude of the events that had taken place over the last few weeks or what they had set off.
Only those who were involved would ever look back on this time as the start of the war between the wizarding world, and even then most didn't fully understand what had taken place.
But then again, foolish humans rarely understand what part they play in history.
^ ^ ^ ^
That's all folks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for hanging around until the end, I know it took me long enough to update each chapter but I tend to do that. If you feel that I've left out some important explanation or part of the story tell me.
I was going to do a sequel to this but I don't know whether or not I will go ahead with it.
Luv and Hugs
Baby P
Baby P-
Although it saddens me to no end to say this, I feel that I must. This is the last chapter of A Death In The Family, I thank those who have enjoyed this story, it always makes me feel glad when people say they like my work.
Special thanks to those people who reviewed constantly (you know who you are), they really pushed me to write faster and better.
^ ^ ^ ^
Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters involved in the series. If I did Migi would have killed me for that little death in book no. 5
^ ^ ^ ^
A Death In The Family- Last Chapter
^ ^ ^ ^
It had been almost a week since Draco awoke from his coma. He was still suffering the side effects though, he was weak and could not go for long periods of time without needing a rest or help with his laboured breathing.
Madame Pomfery had confined him to the infirmary for at least the next few days and life was quite boring for him. His father had returned to the Malfoy Manor after the initial checks into his health were made. Severus too, had been kept away. It was by classes during the day, and in the evenings, by Dumbledore.
He was halfway through the dullest textbook ever, aptly named 'Tealeaves & You- The Key to Divinitation', when Harry 'the prick' Potter shuffled into sight. Draco ignored him as best he could but it was quite hard, especially when Harry walked over and gave him a note from the Headmaster requesting his presence in the office.
Harry gestured towards the door before turning and slowly leaving the room. Draco quickly slid off the bed and followed the other boy from the room, taking care to hide his wrinkled clothes with one of his robes. He didn't want to give the wrong impression to anyone who might see him.
Harry was hurrying ahead, quite like a dog trying to please it's master thought Draco, and it was taking a great effort for him to keep up. He could feel his chest tightening and the horrible feeling of lost control that came over him at these times made it's appearance.
Draco braced himself against a wall, concentrating one the cold grime beneath his fingertips instead of his rising panic. Harry had turned the corner and his footsteps were fading. Blackness hovered at the sides of his eyes and from far away he could here his body shudder as it helplessly gulped for air.
He concentrated hard and managed to fill his burning lungs, he held onto the air for as long as possible before releasing it in a series or raspy hacks. Harry had come back, obviously noticing his disappearance, and was now watching Draco with a mixture of boredom and curiosity.
Only when Draco started to buckle did Harry make a move. He pulled his wand from an inside pocket of his robe and muttered quietly under his breath. Draco gasped in relief as he felt his muscles relax and pull in air.
He waited for a few seconds then pushed off the wall and smoothed his robes with his hands. Harry didn't bother to point out that he had just wiped all the grime from the wall down the sides of the robe.
They reached the office a few minutes later and Draco lounged as Harry tried a variety of passwords.
"Acid Pops...Blood drops...Fizzing Wizbees...candy canes?...oh shit, I remember now. Black Rainbow"
The stairway opened and Draco slowly started up the steps, aware of the fact that Harry had already left. At the top of the stairs he subconsciously straightened to his full height and held his head high.
Nothing about his body showed whether he was surprised to see his father sitting with Dumbledore. He nodded to his father in greeting and then addressed the headmaster "Sir, I understand you requested my presence?"
The headmaster nodded and gestured to the spare seat in front of the fire. His normally cheerful face was furrowed in displeasure, his twinkling eyes set gravely beneath thick grey eyebrows.
He turned to Draco and silently surveyed him. If it were anyone else they would have fidgeted under the intense gaze but Draco sat still and, in an act of insolence started to pick at his fingernails.
"I know that you are still quite weak and I understand that it may take you some time to recover from your incident with a couple of students at this school. Regardless I must officially inform you of your immediate expulsion from Hogwarts." Here he stopped and gazed steadily into the fire before continuing in sombre tones.
"We do not have enough evidence to replay the events that happened on that night and the school board has determined that due to past circumstances we believe the attack may have been provoked. You have three days to be off the premises. After a period of one month we will review your case and decide whether you should be allowed to return."
His words trailed off and there was complete silence in the room, even the crackles from the fire or the quiet trilling of Fawkes could rouse them from silence.
Draco spoke first, his words were halting and to those who knew him he was quite unsure, " Up for review?...I won't be coming back, will I? You won't let the school board re-judge my case, will you?"
"You know that it's for the best Master Malfoy, it is a decision that will please all involved. You will be allowed access to the grounds at graduation but at no other time unless in the presence of a professor. Your N.E.W.T tests will be taken in a classroom at the Ministry, as will monthly tests to ensure your quality as a wizard. I wish you luck in the future and I hope to never see you back here again."
A dismissal from his father ended the meeting and Draco shuffled from the office out into the cold corridors. He stared blankly at the empty space in front of him, determined to make it back to the infirmary without breaking.
The weakness of his body disgusted and ashamed him. The short trek felt like a marathon his legs were heavy and he hardly knew how he was dragging them forward.
He also felt something that he hadn't felt for a long time, sadness. He had known what was coming, he had joked about it with his father and even mentioned it in passing to Severus, but nothing had prepared him for this tightness in his chest and the unfamiliar pricking of tears behind his eyelids.
Hogwarts had indeed grown on him and now it was gone, or it would be in three days. He shook his head slowly, it shouldn't affect him like this, Hogwarts was a school nothing more.
^ ^ ^ ^
He rose early the next morning and quietly washed and dressed. He crept out from the infirmary, careful not to wake Madame Pomfrey from her slumber. He slowly walked through the empty hallways watching the shadows flicker in the torchlight.
He railed his fingers across the paintings and tapestries, recalling events of the past. His first kiss, stolen behind a tapestry during a school dance, the first and last time he was slapped by a girl and the spare classroom where he had happily learnt an important lesson in life from a 5th year slytherin girl when he was 13.
He ducked through the doors of the great hall and he remembered the first time he had strolled through them like he owned the place, and how many times he had done the same since. He stepped out of the castle and out into the greyness of morning before dawn. He traced the path from the locker rooms to the middle of the Quidditch pitch, a trail that was very familiar to him.
Draco the roamed through the gardens, aware that this was probably the last time he would ever see them. His last destination was the lake, the place from which he had caught his first glimpses of Hogwarts. The grey fog was starting to clear and Draco knew what he should do.
Carefully he climbed out across the rocks and jumped onto the old wharf, now rotting and cracked with age. He slowly crept across it, avoiding the many gaps where planks had been washed away, until he was as far out as he could go. Then he sat and watched as the first rays of sun peered out from below the horizon and shot through the fog.
And for the first, and last time in his life at Hogwarts, Draco sat as a new day dawned and watched as the great castle of Hogwarts came to life.
^ ^ ^ ^
Severus Snape was halfway through teaching the 6th year Gryffindor / Slytherin class the importance of using dried brasco beetles in healing potions instead of dung when there was a loud rap on the door.
It came as no surprise to him when half a second later the elder Malfoy entered the room and waited to the side of the room. The appearance of someone so unusual in their classroom prompted the class to start whispering under their breath, some students outright gawked at Lucius.
Lucius, as always, made the best of their astonishment. He glowered and snarled at any child who dared turn back to look at him, and Severus, along with many members of the class found himself turning to look at the empty spot where Draco usually sat.
A few of the Gryffindor's who had not yet heard about the attack on Draco or his expulsion chose to comment.
"Where's Mini-Malfoy? (The name was on account of Draco's somewhat lacking height) Is his father here to cover another one of his mistakes, I bet that's why."
"Nah, they're both Death Eaters, that's what my pop says. They were both nasty pieces of work when they went to school."
Severus was about to hand out a few detentions and take away a few points when he remembered that he had company. He looked straight at Lucius and tilted his head in a questioning manner, hoping to get it over with as little words as possible.
Lucius however didn't seem to care what the class heard as he started talking from across the other side of the room.
"Severus, we are parting from this...delightful school at half twelve. You will be leaving with us won't you, I did specially ask for the carriage with extra luggage room to be sent. We will see you at the hall in 20 minutes."
With this said he turned and stalked out of the room, his cloak floating out behind him in a way familiar to all those who knew Severus.
Severus frowned, that public display was very unlike Lucius, but then again, he might be in one of his moods. And with that look on his face he was undoubtedly off to annoy Minerva while he still had the chance.
He backtracked through the last few seconds and then almost dropped his quill. His eyes darted down to the corner of his desk where his charmed sundial sat. It was already 10 past 12, Lucius had only given him twenty minutes to pack and leave.
He swept out of the classroom, leaving behind a bunch of very bewildered Gryffindors and Slytherins. Only Harry looked like he had some clue to what was going on.
A lanky boy with dark hair and a decidedly unfriendly look about him, turned to the rest of his class and asked, " What the 'ells wrong with Snape?"
He received dirty glares from one half of the room and blank looks from the rest. But undoubtedly this story would be passed around at lunch and everyone would have their own theory explaining the disappearance of the Potions Master.
^ ^ ^ ^
Harry stood in the same old classroom he had stood in only two weeks before, before anything had changed, before he had lost all hope again. It seemed a long time ago, but now, standing in the dusty room seeing the evidence of an era gone, it all came back to him.
He watched through the narrow window as a black carriage pulled up right outside the front doors. He watched as three men walked from out of the shadows, two blonde and one dark.
Harry watched as their bags were carried out by a few house elves, as dobby himself presented them with a going away basket. He watched as three of the most disgusting people he had ever known stepped into the carriage, and he watched as it started off down the tracks and he watched as they rounded the bend in the road without ever once looking back.
Then he slowly dropped to the ground and stared up at the ceiling, for some reason he felt his eyes water but he wouldn't let the tears gather because he might have lost his family, his dignity, his innocence but he wouldn't let them take his pride as well.
^ ^ ^ ^
The sun shone down from the sky, lighting up the forests and lakes. To any muggle flying over the land they saw nothing other than ruins of what may have once been a majestic castle and the breathtaking land around it. Although every now and then someone swore that there was a glimmer of something else.
No one understood the magnitude of the events that had taken place over the last few weeks or what they had set off.
Only those who were involved would ever look back on this time as the start of the war between the wizarding world, and even then most didn't fully understand what had taken place.
But then again, foolish humans rarely understand what part they play in history.
^ ^ ^ ^
That's all folks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for hanging around until the end, I know it took me long enough to update each chapter but I tend to do that. If you feel that I've left out some important explanation or part of the story tell me.
I was going to do a sequel to this but I don't know whether or not I will go ahead with it.
Luv and Hugs
Baby P