FIC: Normality is an overrated concept, NC17 - Chapter Eight
Title: Normality is an overrated concept
Username: Anonymous
Chapter: Chapter Eight
Pairing(s): Blaise/Ginny/Draco
Rating: NC17
Chapter Word Count: 3,286
Disclaimer: The characters of Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling. We're only borrowing them. Chapter titles are songs or lyrics and are property of the musicians. Quotes or literature used are also notated as not mine.
Summary: You cannot make peace with terrorists. The normal dividing lines between war and peace do not apply. - Ulrich Beck. Ever wonder what happened at Hogwarts during Deathly Hallows…
Author Notes: AU for epilogue and parts of DH.
Chapter Eight
Sound of Madness -Shinedown
It had been four days with no more word on Narcissa or Lovegood. Theo had taken to pacing the hallways, no matter how many times they tried to get him to do something else. Blaise was on his last nerve as well, snarling at Kingsley, Greg, Theo, and even the elves. He hadn’t, as of yet, lost it enough to snarl at Ginevra, Draco, or his mum. He knew himself well enough to know that if there wasn’t news soon, he would snap completely and that was never a good thing.
He stood abruptly, almost knocking Draco to the floor of the library where they’d retreated to attempt to distract themselves. “I’ve had enough,” he muttered, “It is fucking Christmas Eve!”
“Damn,” Draco muttered wearily, pulling himself back up on the divan. “Warn me next time.”
“Sorry,” he murmured, already storming off. He stomped through the hallways, looking for Theo. When he found him, Blaise took him by the shirt collar and all but drug him into the nearest room. Tossing him into the chair, Blaise leaned over, bracing himself on the arms of the chair. “Now you listen and listen well, Theodore. I’ve had bloody well enough of this. You don’t eat or sleep much and you’re starting to make me look sane!”
Theo stared at him, the dark rings around his eyes looking even worse as he paled. “What the fuck!”
“You think I like seeing you, Draco, and Ginevra walk around like living ghosts? I fucking well don’t and it has to stop. If I have to watch you three like this for five more fucking minutes I will go to Malfoy Manor, am I clear?”
“But-”
“But nothing, I want to kill those bastards so badly that I walk around with my fucking hands shaking. I dream of all the ways I can make them scream. I can’t read, can’t eat, can’t even fucking drink without my mind going to the fun I could have bathing in their blood. At this point, I am thinking of how many potions there are that will explode so that I can force you to make them and blow the fucking Manor to bits if that is what it takes to get them out.”
“Bla-”
“Don’t, just fucking don’t. I haven’t have I? No, I kept my promise to stay here instead. Snap out of it, am I clear?”
Without waiting for an answer, Blaise stormed back out, slamming the door just to make himself feel a bit better. It was like having a knife in his chest that was constantly being twisted to see them like this. Gods, he would give most anything to be able to kill something right now. He was heading to the potions lab when his mum stopped him.
“Severus just sent news. Apparently Alecto Carrow got up from her seat at the Head Table this morning, screaming and in general making quite a fool of herself. He said she was disoriented and couldn’t seem to see anything or anyone properly. She then fell to the floor in convulsions, then went comatose, and finally died about three hours later. Just what did you use on her?”
Oh now, that brightened his mood considerably. He grinned. “Black Mamba venom; I had Snape put some in her tea every morning. Of course, I didn’t tell him what it was.”
She tipped her head back and laughed, laying a hand on his arm to keep herself upright. Once she had calmed enough, she kissed both of his cheeks. “I had forgotten about that.”
“It seemed the way to go. I hated missing the show, but needs must.”
She snickered, patting his cheek. “Feeling better now, darling?”
Blaise grinned and kissed her cheek. “A bit, yes. Maybe now I won’t be so ghastly to be around.”
“Go, find Ginevra and Draco and see if you can help boost their moods as well.”
He thought it was a good idea; he did owe them an apology for his foul mood earlier. Pushing open the library door, he took a moment to appreciate the sight before him. Damn, he still wasn’t sure he knew what love felt like, but if it was anything resembling the feeling he had for the blond and redhead curled up together in the chair then he completely understood what all of those bards and poets had been talking about now.
Ginevra looked up from her book and tried to smile. “You look happy.”
He sighed, crossing the room and sitting on the arm of the chair. “I’d be loads happier if you two weren’t so worried.”
“What lifted your mood, well other than screaming at Theo?” Draco asked, setting his chin on Ginevra’s shoulder.
“Heard that did you?” He winced. “Sorry, I’ve been an arse today and neither of you deserve that. As to what made me happy, Alecto died earlier and it was quite obnoxious and public.”
“Do we get to know now what you did?” Ginevra asked with a slight smile.
“Snake venom,” he said as he preened a bit. “Muggle snake venom since we have no cure for those.”
Draco winced. “If they are anything like our snakes… damn, just damn.”
“Worse, though from what research mum and I did, there is one that is in both worlds- boomslang. That one we have a cure for. Which is a pity considering what the venom of a boomslang has a really slow reaction time and the effects are brilliant.”
Draco just shook his head, but Ginevra poked his leg. “Well? What are they?”
He snickered. “Now, I expected that question from Theo, not from you. But, if you must know it is a hemotoxin which keeps blood from clotting and you bleed from everywhere.”
“Now we know why you like it,” Draco teased.
“Exactly, now you two have been quiet and sad, which can’t go on. What can I do to lift those moods of yours?”
“BLAISE! DRACO! ALL OF YOU!”
He was up and out, running to the foyer at the sound of his mum’s shouting. He nearly collided with his mum who was holding up Narcissa. Thankfully, Kingsley seemed to have a good hold on Luna, whom he had cradled in his arms. “How bad?”
Narcissa winced, holding her side. “Not too bad, really.”
“Mother, don’t lie.” Draco took his mother into his arms, and she sighed heavily. “Where do I take her, Marguerite?”
“Upstairs, first door on the left; I will be right there with all that we need to heal her. Kingsley, take Luna up to the room I showed you earlier. Blaise, please help Luna, all right?”
Theo and Greg arrived just in time to meet Kingsley on the stairs. Theo brushed Luna’s hair off of her face and muttered before clearing his throat and saying, “Greg, get my kit from my room, you know where it is. Now, Luna darling, tell me what we need to heal.”
“Daddy,” Luna whispered, sounding pained. “Someone needs to get him before they kill him.”
Kingsley slid Luna into Blaise’s arms. “I will go right now, Miss Lovegood. You let this lot help you.”
Blaise continued up the stairs hearing Kingsley say, “Upstairs with you, Nymphadora, you need healing as much as those two do.”
“I’ll go get her,” Ginevra said softly.
Blaise wanted to say or do something to reassure her, but couldn’t. Luna looked worse for wear and he didn’t want to think of what had been done to her. Not now that the only reasons for him to not attack Malfoy Manor were all secure at Valhalla. He took Luna straight into the en suite, knowing that his mum had laid out healing herbs days ago in preparation. “I am going to set you down here. Do you want me to go or stay while you get into the tub?”
She laughed lightly, sounding just this side of hysterical. “What does it matter if you stay or go?”
He shared a look with Theo, shaking his head when Theo looked as if he wanted to ask for specifics. Theo got the water going and dumped in the herbs while Blaise helped Luna stay upright. “Let me go and get you a potion or two, all right?”
She nodded, stepping into Theo’s arms, sobbing outright now. “Sure. I don’t care.”
Theo looked murderous and Blaise simply backed out of the room. Pain potions and a contraceptive, just in case, were going to be the first things he had her take. After Amycus’ actions against Ginevra, he wouldn’t put anything past those sick bastards.
Ginevra hurried in with Tonks, helping her sit on the bed. Blaise opened his arms and bundled his crying girlfriend against his chest. “They’re here now, darling, we’ll heal them as best we can. Trust me?”
She nodded, holding onto his shirt tightly. “I hate this,” she finally whispered, stepping back a little bit. “I need to heal Tonks.”
He kissed her gently and nodded. He wasn’t going to lie to her and she knew it, which meant she likely had already puzzled out the ‘likely’ events of the past few days. “I will be back with pain potions.”
He hurried out, calling for an elf. There was simply no way he would be going all the way down to his lab, it would take too long. Once he had done what he could to heal the injured women, he and Kingsley were going to have a little chat about killing a few Death Eaters, whether Kingsley liked it or not.
--ii-
Narcissa was tucked into the bed resting, with Draco sitting in a chair next to the bed by the time Blaise was able to get over and check on them. He laid his hands on Draco’s shoulders. “How is she doing?”
“Better, luckily they didn’t do more than knock her around a bit and Crucio her.”
He hated that their lives had come to this; talking about physical abuse and torture as common occurrences. If that filthy Lord had his way, it would be forever this way not just a result of the sick fuck’s war. “I can send for more pain potions if needed.”
Draco leaned his head over and rested his cheek on Blaise’s hand. “It will be hours before she can have more. How are Lovegood and Tonks doing?”
“Tonks was healed in ten minutes.” He sighed heavily, damning this war with everything he had in him. “She, Ginevra, and Theo are sitting with Luna. She looks so broken and yet brought herself out of her pain long enough to tell me that her name was Luna and I was to use it.”
Draco managed a light chuckle. “I’ll remember that so I don’t get hexed. How bad was she?”
“You don’t want to know. “
Draco stood and motioned for him to step out into the hallway. Once the door was closed, he sighed running a hand through his hair. “How can they think this is right?”
“I don’t know. Even Mum and I find it repulsive, which says it all.”
Draco leaned against the wall, his chin hitting his chest. “I actually, for a moment, had it in me to kill, seeing them like that. The fact that it is happening in my own fucking house makes me ill.”
“You aren’t there and that is the difference,” Blaise pointed out. “Besides, if I have my way, those bastards won’t be using your house for long.”
Draco looked up, his eyes narrow. “Blow it up for all I fucking care, as long as you keep yourself safe. I won’t be stepping foot in that place again.”
Blaise pulled him close and kissed him, hoping to help in the only way he knew how other than killing people. When he pulled back, Draco looked steadier. “Do you want me to sit with you?”
Draco shook his head. “No, your mum said she would be back to boot me out in a bit anyway.”
“If you’re sure.”
“I am, go talk to Kingsley. Just remember, Ginevra and I will be right angry if you get hurt and inconsolable if you are killed.”
He laughed lightly. “Oh, I won’t be forgetting that anytime soon, I promise you.”
He found Kingsley with a glass of whiskey in hand in the main parlour. “Everyone doing well?”
Blaise shrugged. “Depends on what your definition of ‘well’ is. I searched you out for one thing and one thing only.”
The man sighed and finished off his drink. “I will caution against running amok and randomly killing. Let me talk to a few people and see if we can figure out where the minions like to gather.”
“Not good enough,” Blaise said, dropping down onto the divan. “I want to go now and kill things. You didn’t hear Luna. She sounded nothing like the woman we’ve all grown used to over the last few months. I will, with or without you, seek at least a smidgen of vengeance for that.”
Kingsley stood with a heavy sigh. “Give me twenty minutes.”
Blaise rolled his eyes, but stood to go. “In twenty one I am gone.”
“Go check on your girlfriend and give me time to put some sort of plan together.” Kingsley stormed out muttering about impatient people and what had he gotten himself into.
Smirking, Blaise hurried up to Luna’s room, knocking lightly before opening the door. Ginevra looked up and smiled, setting her book aside. She hurried over, stepping into the hallway. “How is she doing?”
Ginevra shrugged, clearly trying to keep the cheery attitude going. “Better now that she isn’t in so much pain. How are Narcissa and Draco doing?”
“She’s sleeping and he was worried about you.” Blaise kissed her gently. “Kingsley and I are going out for a bit, but Draco has already given me the speech.”
She just shook her head and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly. “Just be safe and have fun. I have seen it getting to you the last couple of days.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I was worried is all. I’m not used to having anyone to worry over.”
She sighed, squeezing him once before stepping back. Glaring her most damning glare, Ginevra whispered, “No getting yourself caught or killed. Injured I think I could deal with, only if there is no way to avoid it.”
He would have laughed had he not known how serious she was. Instead, he took her hand and kissed her fingers. “I have my orders then, darling. We’ll be back soon. If you and Draco aren’t in bed, I’ll track you down and carry you there. Both of you need a good night of rest.”
She rolled her eyes and shooed him off. “Go work off some of that tension so I can jump you later.”
He looked over his shoulder, his brows raised. “You mean it?”
She smirked. “I do indeed, and I’m going to say the same to Draco when I go and drag him off to sleep before you get back.”
He grinned and picked up speed as he wound through the house. He definitely wasn’t going to allow himself to be injured, not with that sort of fun awaiting him at home.
--ii-
Blaise appeared next to Kingsley and curled his lip in disgust as they stood just inside a side alley by the apothecary. Diagon Alley had truly gone downhill fast once the decent people had almost completely stopped shopping there. He had no clue how people were purchasing the essentials unless they went to France to do it, or over to Ireland. But, what the mass exodus of non-minions meant made it all that much easier for him to have fun.
Kingsley pulled up his hood and slid into the shadows. “I’ll just wait here. Don’t go far or else I’ll not be adequate backup.”
Blaise sneered, pulling up his hood and twirling his dagger. He didn’t need backup. Sticking to the shadows, he watched as a group of minions who had been busy looting Flourish & Blotts broke into smaller groups and moved away from one another. When the first one passed, he reached out, slapping his hand over the minion’s mouth and slitting the minion’s throat. Dropping the body behind a stack of crates, he waited for the next. Within an hour he had stacked up five minions.
Smiling, he wiped his dagger on the cloak of the top minion and moved down the wall, aiming to get a little bit closer to the entrance of Knockturn Alley. He pushed back into the shadows as a group of six passed, not wanting to risk an all-out duel. Finally, he was able to tuck himself up in the small space between Gringotts and some shop he had never bothered to identify.
He waited for the next group, pondering what would happen should he run into Greg’s father or Draco’s for that matter. Not that he thought they would be allowing Lucius out of the Manor now that Narcissa and a prisoner had slipped past their guard, but it was something to think about. Draco had said ‘not unless necessary’ after all. Perhaps they would need to discuss what ‘necessary’ meant during war.
Not pondering it further, he spotted another minion, this one hadn’t bothered with a cloak and his Dark Mark was clear in the light of the street lamps. Blaise recognized him as Cormac McLaggen a pureblood Gryffindor. Oh he was going to have fun with this one. He hit the fool with a silencing charm and pulled him back into the small space that left him just enough room to work. Flipping his hood off, he waited for McLaggen to recognize him.
Eyes wide with fear, McLaggen pressed back against the stone wall, not even trying to protest. Shaking his head, Blaise gave him a chance to fight back, but alas the fight seemed to be gone from McLaggen. But, he would be left as a reminder that not everyone was happy to be a minion. With a wicked grin, Blaise got to work.
When he was done, he flipped up his hood and stepped back out into Diagon proper. Sticking to the shadows, he re-joined Kingsley. “We can go now.”
Kingsley held out his arm and they Apparated back to Valhalla. The side-along bit made Blaise grumpy, but Kingsley had insisted so that Blaise didn’t ‘go running amok alone’. Once they landed, Blaise stripped off his bloody cloak and dropped it for the elves to pick up.
“Thanks for that, I had fun.”
“Six minions gone in just under two hours,” Kingsley said with a shake of his head. “You know that they’ll move in bigger groups now, don’t you?”
Blaise shrugged, already heading towards the stairs. “I taught them a valuable lesson tonight.”
“Oh, and what would that be?”
He didn’t bother stopping or even turning around. “It matters not how many of you there are, you can be taken out one by one and far more quickly than most think is possible.”
Kingsley just sighed. Blaise didn’t rightly care what the man thought. He’d had one sort of fun and was about to have another sort altogether. He pushed open the door to their suite and grinned outright. Ginevra and Draco were curled around one another and sleeping soundly. He walked silently across the room and made quick work of his clothes, dropping them just outside the shower door. He’d take his time showering and then wake them up. Distantly he heard a clock chiming midnight and chuckled. “Happy Christmas to us,” he whispered.
Username: Anonymous
Chapter: Chapter Eight
Pairing(s): Blaise/Ginny/Draco
Rating: NC17
Chapter Word Count: 3,286
Disclaimer: The characters of Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling. We're only borrowing them. Chapter titles are songs or lyrics and are property of the musicians. Quotes or literature used are also notated as not mine.
Summary: You cannot make peace with terrorists. The normal dividing lines between war and peace do not apply. - Ulrich Beck. Ever wonder what happened at Hogwarts during Deathly Hallows…
Author Notes: AU for epilogue and parts of DH.
Chapter Eight
Sound of Madness -Shinedown
It had been four days with no more word on Narcissa or Lovegood. Theo had taken to pacing the hallways, no matter how many times they tried to get him to do something else. Blaise was on his last nerve as well, snarling at Kingsley, Greg, Theo, and even the elves. He hadn’t, as of yet, lost it enough to snarl at Ginevra, Draco, or his mum. He knew himself well enough to know that if there wasn’t news soon, he would snap completely and that was never a good thing.
He stood abruptly, almost knocking Draco to the floor of the library where they’d retreated to attempt to distract themselves. “I’ve had enough,” he muttered, “It is fucking Christmas Eve!”
“Damn,” Draco muttered wearily, pulling himself back up on the divan. “Warn me next time.”
“Sorry,” he murmured, already storming off. He stomped through the hallways, looking for Theo. When he found him, Blaise took him by the shirt collar and all but drug him into the nearest room. Tossing him into the chair, Blaise leaned over, bracing himself on the arms of the chair. “Now you listen and listen well, Theodore. I’ve had bloody well enough of this. You don’t eat or sleep much and you’re starting to make me look sane!”
Theo stared at him, the dark rings around his eyes looking even worse as he paled. “What the fuck!”
“You think I like seeing you, Draco, and Ginevra walk around like living ghosts? I fucking well don’t and it has to stop. If I have to watch you three like this for five more fucking minutes I will go to Malfoy Manor, am I clear?”
“But-”
“But nothing, I want to kill those bastards so badly that I walk around with my fucking hands shaking. I dream of all the ways I can make them scream. I can’t read, can’t eat, can’t even fucking drink without my mind going to the fun I could have bathing in their blood. At this point, I am thinking of how many potions there are that will explode so that I can force you to make them and blow the fucking Manor to bits if that is what it takes to get them out.”
“Bla-”
“Don’t, just fucking don’t. I haven’t have I? No, I kept my promise to stay here instead. Snap out of it, am I clear?”
Without waiting for an answer, Blaise stormed back out, slamming the door just to make himself feel a bit better. It was like having a knife in his chest that was constantly being twisted to see them like this. Gods, he would give most anything to be able to kill something right now. He was heading to the potions lab when his mum stopped him.
“Severus just sent news. Apparently Alecto Carrow got up from her seat at the Head Table this morning, screaming and in general making quite a fool of herself. He said she was disoriented and couldn’t seem to see anything or anyone properly. She then fell to the floor in convulsions, then went comatose, and finally died about three hours later. Just what did you use on her?”
Oh now, that brightened his mood considerably. He grinned. “Black Mamba venom; I had Snape put some in her tea every morning. Of course, I didn’t tell him what it was.”
She tipped her head back and laughed, laying a hand on his arm to keep herself upright. Once she had calmed enough, she kissed both of his cheeks. “I had forgotten about that.”
“It seemed the way to go. I hated missing the show, but needs must.”
She snickered, patting his cheek. “Feeling better now, darling?”
Blaise grinned and kissed her cheek. “A bit, yes. Maybe now I won’t be so ghastly to be around.”
“Go, find Ginevra and Draco and see if you can help boost their moods as well.”
He thought it was a good idea; he did owe them an apology for his foul mood earlier. Pushing open the library door, he took a moment to appreciate the sight before him. Damn, he still wasn’t sure he knew what love felt like, but if it was anything resembling the feeling he had for the blond and redhead curled up together in the chair then he completely understood what all of those bards and poets had been talking about now.
Ginevra looked up from her book and tried to smile. “You look happy.”
He sighed, crossing the room and sitting on the arm of the chair. “I’d be loads happier if you two weren’t so worried.”
“What lifted your mood, well other than screaming at Theo?” Draco asked, setting his chin on Ginevra’s shoulder.
“Heard that did you?” He winced. “Sorry, I’ve been an arse today and neither of you deserve that. As to what made me happy, Alecto died earlier and it was quite obnoxious and public.”
“Do we get to know now what you did?” Ginevra asked with a slight smile.
“Snake venom,” he said as he preened a bit. “Muggle snake venom since we have no cure for those.”
Draco winced. “If they are anything like our snakes… damn, just damn.”
“Worse, though from what research mum and I did, there is one that is in both worlds- boomslang. That one we have a cure for. Which is a pity considering what the venom of a boomslang has a really slow reaction time and the effects are brilliant.”
Draco just shook his head, but Ginevra poked his leg. “Well? What are they?”
He snickered. “Now, I expected that question from Theo, not from you. But, if you must know it is a hemotoxin which keeps blood from clotting and you bleed from everywhere.”
“Now we know why you like it,” Draco teased.
“Exactly, now you two have been quiet and sad, which can’t go on. What can I do to lift those moods of yours?”
“BLAISE! DRACO! ALL OF YOU!”
He was up and out, running to the foyer at the sound of his mum’s shouting. He nearly collided with his mum who was holding up Narcissa. Thankfully, Kingsley seemed to have a good hold on Luna, whom he had cradled in his arms. “How bad?”
Narcissa winced, holding her side. “Not too bad, really.”
“Mother, don’t lie.” Draco took his mother into his arms, and she sighed heavily. “Where do I take her, Marguerite?”
“Upstairs, first door on the left; I will be right there with all that we need to heal her. Kingsley, take Luna up to the room I showed you earlier. Blaise, please help Luna, all right?”
Theo and Greg arrived just in time to meet Kingsley on the stairs. Theo brushed Luna’s hair off of her face and muttered before clearing his throat and saying, “Greg, get my kit from my room, you know where it is. Now, Luna darling, tell me what we need to heal.”
“Daddy,” Luna whispered, sounding pained. “Someone needs to get him before they kill him.”
Kingsley slid Luna into Blaise’s arms. “I will go right now, Miss Lovegood. You let this lot help you.”
Blaise continued up the stairs hearing Kingsley say, “Upstairs with you, Nymphadora, you need healing as much as those two do.”
“I’ll go get her,” Ginevra said softly.
Blaise wanted to say or do something to reassure her, but couldn’t. Luna looked worse for wear and he didn’t want to think of what had been done to her. Not now that the only reasons for him to not attack Malfoy Manor were all secure at Valhalla. He took Luna straight into the en suite, knowing that his mum had laid out healing herbs days ago in preparation. “I am going to set you down here. Do you want me to go or stay while you get into the tub?”
She laughed lightly, sounding just this side of hysterical. “What does it matter if you stay or go?”
He shared a look with Theo, shaking his head when Theo looked as if he wanted to ask for specifics. Theo got the water going and dumped in the herbs while Blaise helped Luna stay upright. “Let me go and get you a potion or two, all right?”
She nodded, stepping into Theo’s arms, sobbing outright now. “Sure. I don’t care.”
Theo looked murderous and Blaise simply backed out of the room. Pain potions and a contraceptive, just in case, were going to be the first things he had her take. After Amycus’ actions against Ginevra, he wouldn’t put anything past those sick bastards.
Ginevra hurried in with Tonks, helping her sit on the bed. Blaise opened his arms and bundled his crying girlfriend against his chest. “They’re here now, darling, we’ll heal them as best we can. Trust me?”
She nodded, holding onto his shirt tightly. “I hate this,” she finally whispered, stepping back a little bit. “I need to heal Tonks.”
He kissed her gently and nodded. He wasn’t going to lie to her and she knew it, which meant she likely had already puzzled out the ‘likely’ events of the past few days. “I will be back with pain potions.”
He hurried out, calling for an elf. There was simply no way he would be going all the way down to his lab, it would take too long. Once he had done what he could to heal the injured women, he and Kingsley were going to have a little chat about killing a few Death Eaters, whether Kingsley liked it or not.
--ii-
Narcissa was tucked into the bed resting, with Draco sitting in a chair next to the bed by the time Blaise was able to get over and check on them. He laid his hands on Draco’s shoulders. “How is she doing?”
“Better, luckily they didn’t do more than knock her around a bit and Crucio her.”
He hated that their lives had come to this; talking about physical abuse and torture as common occurrences. If that filthy Lord had his way, it would be forever this way not just a result of the sick fuck’s war. “I can send for more pain potions if needed.”
Draco leaned his head over and rested his cheek on Blaise’s hand. “It will be hours before she can have more. How are Lovegood and Tonks doing?”
“Tonks was healed in ten minutes.” He sighed heavily, damning this war with everything he had in him. “She, Ginevra, and Theo are sitting with Luna. She looks so broken and yet brought herself out of her pain long enough to tell me that her name was Luna and I was to use it.”
Draco managed a light chuckle. “I’ll remember that so I don’t get hexed. How bad was she?”
“You don’t want to know. “
Draco stood and motioned for him to step out into the hallway. Once the door was closed, he sighed running a hand through his hair. “How can they think this is right?”
“I don’t know. Even Mum and I find it repulsive, which says it all.”
Draco leaned against the wall, his chin hitting his chest. “I actually, for a moment, had it in me to kill, seeing them like that. The fact that it is happening in my own fucking house makes me ill.”
“You aren’t there and that is the difference,” Blaise pointed out. “Besides, if I have my way, those bastards won’t be using your house for long.”
Draco looked up, his eyes narrow. “Blow it up for all I fucking care, as long as you keep yourself safe. I won’t be stepping foot in that place again.”
Blaise pulled him close and kissed him, hoping to help in the only way he knew how other than killing people. When he pulled back, Draco looked steadier. “Do you want me to sit with you?”
Draco shook his head. “No, your mum said she would be back to boot me out in a bit anyway.”
“If you’re sure.”
“I am, go talk to Kingsley. Just remember, Ginevra and I will be right angry if you get hurt and inconsolable if you are killed.”
He laughed lightly. “Oh, I won’t be forgetting that anytime soon, I promise you.”
He found Kingsley with a glass of whiskey in hand in the main parlour. “Everyone doing well?”
Blaise shrugged. “Depends on what your definition of ‘well’ is. I searched you out for one thing and one thing only.”
The man sighed and finished off his drink. “I will caution against running amok and randomly killing. Let me talk to a few people and see if we can figure out where the minions like to gather.”
“Not good enough,” Blaise said, dropping down onto the divan. “I want to go now and kill things. You didn’t hear Luna. She sounded nothing like the woman we’ve all grown used to over the last few months. I will, with or without you, seek at least a smidgen of vengeance for that.”
Kingsley stood with a heavy sigh. “Give me twenty minutes.”
Blaise rolled his eyes, but stood to go. “In twenty one I am gone.”
“Go check on your girlfriend and give me time to put some sort of plan together.” Kingsley stormed out muttering about impatient people and what had he gotten himself into.
Smirking, Blaise hurried up to Luna’s room, knocking lightly before opening the door. Ginevra looked up and smiled, setting her book aside. She hurried over, stepping into the hallway. “How is she doing?”
Ginevra shrugged, clearly trying to keep the cheery attitude going. “Better now that she isn’t in so much pain. How are Narcissa and Draco doing?”
“She’s sleeping and he was worried about you.” Blaise kissed her gently. “Kingsley and I are going out for a bit, but Draco has already given me the speech.”
She just shook her head and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly. “Just be safe and have fun. I have seen it getting to you the last couple of days.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I was worried is all. I’m not used to having anyone to worry over.”
She sighed, squeezing him once before stepping back. Glaring her most damning glare, Ginevra whispered, “No getting yourself caught or killed. Injured I think I could deal with, only if there is no way to avoid it.”
He would have laughed had he not known how serious she was. Instead, he took her hand and kissed her fingers. “I have my orders then, darling. We’ll be back soon. If you and Draco aren’t in bed, I’ll track you down and carry you there. Both of you need a good night of rest.”
She rolled her eyes and shooed him off. “Go work off some of that tension so I can jump you later.”
He looked over his shoulder, his brows raised. “You mean it?”
She smirked. “I do indeed, and I’m going to say the same to Draco when I go and drag him off to sleep before you get back.”
He grinned and picked up speed as he wound through the house. He definitely wasn’t going to allow himself to be injured, not with that sort of fun awaiting him at home.
--ii-
Blaise appeared next to Kingsley and curled his lip in disgust as they stood just inside a side alley by the apothecary. Diagon Alley had truly gone downhill fast once the decent people had almost completely stopped shopping there. He had no clue how people were purchasing the essentials unless they went to France to do it, or over to Ireland. But, what the mass exodus of non-minions meant made it all that much easier for him to have fun.
Kingsley pulled up his hood and slid into the shadows. “I’ll just wait here. Don’t go far or else I’ll not be adequate backup.”
Blaise sneered, pulling up his hood and twirling his dagger. He didn’t need backup. Sticking to the shadows, he watched as a group of minions who had been busy looting Flourish & Blotts broke into smaller groups and moved away from one another. When the first one passed, he reached out, slapping his hand over the minion’s mouth and slitting the minion’s throat. Dropping the body behind a stack of crates, he waited for the next. Within an hour he had stacked up five minions.
Smiling, he wiped his dagger on the cloak of the top minion and moved down the wall, aiming to get a little bit closer to the entrance of Knockturn Alley. He pushed back into the shadows as a group of six passed, not wanting to risk an all-out duel. Finally, he was able to tuck himself up in the small space between Gringotts and some shop he had never bothered to identify.
He waited for the next group, pondering what would happen should he run into Greg’s father or Draco’s for that matter. Not that he thought they would be allowing Lucius out of the Manor now that Narcissa and a prisoner had slipped past their guard, but it was something to think about. Draco had said ‘not unless necessary’ after all. Perhaps they would need to discuss what ‘necessary’ meant during war.
Not pondering it further, he spotted another minion, this one hadn’t bothered with a cloak and his Dark Mark was clear in the light of the street lamps. Blaise recognized him as Cormac McLaggen a pureblood Gryffindor. Oh he was going to have fun with this one. He hit the fool with a silencing charm and pulled him back into the small space that left him just enough room to work. Flipping his hood off, he waited for McLaggen to recognize him.
Eyes wide with fear, McLaggen pressed back against the stone wall, not even trying to protest. Shaking his head, Blaise gave him a chance to fight back, but alas the fight seemed to be gone from McLaggen. But, he would be left as a reminder that not everyone was happy to be a minion. With a wicked grin, Blaise got to work.
When he was done, he flipped up his hood and stepped back out into Diagon proper. Sticking to the shadows, he re-joined Kingsley. “We can go now.”
Kingsley held out his arm and they Apparated back to Valhalla. The side-along bit made Blaise grumpy, but Kingsley had insisted so that Blaise didn’t ‘go running amok alone’. Once they landed, Blaise stripped off his bloody cloak and dropped it for the elves to pick up.
“Thanks for that, I had fun.”
“Six minions gone in just under two hours,” Kingsley said with a shake of his head. “You know that they’ll move in bigger groups now, don’t you?”
Blaise shrugged, already heading towards the stairs. “I taught them a valuable lesson tonight.”
“Oh, and what would that be?”
He didn’t bother stopping or even turning around. “It matters not how many of you there are, you can be taken out one by one and far more quickly than most think is possible.”
Kingsley just sighed. Blaise didn’t rightly care what the man thought. He’d had one sort of fun and was about to have another sort altogether. He pushed open the door to their suite and grinned outright. Ginevra and Draco were curled around one another and sleeping soundly. He walked silently across the room and made quick work of his clothes, dropping them just outside the shower door. He’d take his time showering and then wake them up. Distantly he heard a clock chiming midnight and chuckled. “Happy Christmas to us,” he whispered.