Fic: Equinox
Today (23rd September) is the Autumnal Equinox and I wanted to write something for it. As it was Tom Felton’s birthday yesterday (22nd September), it seemed appropriate to write about Draco.
This short piece is post Half-Blood Prince and is unbeta-ed, so please ignore any mistakes.
Equinox
Five o’clock in the morning.
Three minutes away from the moment of the Autumnal Equinox.
He’d been waiting for this moment for weeks. The moment when day and night were both the same length. It affected magic too. Dark and Light magic would be equal, neither stronger nor weaker, but only for a few moments, not long enough to do any real good. But if Professor Snape’s calculations were correct, in those few moments the Dark wards around Lord Voldemort’s citadel would finally be weak enough for Light magic to break through.
Draco Malfoy glanced briefly out of the window. It was dark outside -- almost two hours until sunrise. Two hours to get as far away from here as possible. He had to be careful though, the Dark Lord’s surveillance spells were getting harder to detect these days and he couldn’t let the items Professor Snape had entrusted to him with to fall into the madman’s hands.
Madman? He gave a little snort. The term ‘madman’ didn’t come close to summing up how he now felt about the person he’d once believed was the saviour of the Wizarding world. Snape had once called Voldemort a sociopath and Draco had quickly come to agree with him.
Snape’s hard-won treasures were safely in his pocket now; a crystal bottle containing a swirling silvery-white substance, a small, golden cup with finely wrought handles and a letter addressed to the one person Draco never expected to see again.
Two minutes....
He looked at his watch for what seemed to be the thousandth time and knew this was the moment -- the one Snape had worked so hard for before he’d died and the one that would change Draco’s life. Carefully he placed what looked to be an innocuous twig on the floor and tapped it with his wand as he intoned the spell Snape had been at such great pains to teach him. It was a complicated spell, but it soon became clear why the Potions Master had chosen something so powerful. The twig seemed to shimmer and quiver as it quickly changed shape, growing bigger and bigger until finally in front of him was what only could be described as an open doorway, the entrance a forbidding black rectangle that hovered in the centre of the room and seemed to suck the very light into it.
One minute....
He frowned. A doorway? But to where?
Did he trust Professor Snape enough to just step through that doorway without knowing where it would take him?
Draco looked back over his shoulder at the other door in the room. That one would lead him back to Voldemort and to the darkness the man was spreading over the Wizarding world. Could the way Snape was showing him be any worse?
Dark and light. The moment of Equinox was a mirror of the world he was part of and he felt like he was balancing precariously on the cusp of both options. One foot wrong and he would slip and at the moment he wasn’t sure if either side would provide him with a safe haven.
But there was nothing here; the people he cared for were dead. Voldemort had killed his mother as a punishment for Draco not killing Dumbledore. His father had reportedly committed suicide in Azkaban, though there had been whisperings that an overzealous Auror had gone too far while questioning Lucius.
And Snape?
His old professor’s death had been the final straw for Draco. Snape had been poisoned by one of his own potions; one with no antidote, fed to Snape by the Dark Lord himself. The madman had what he believed to be a prophetic dream in which someone he trusted would poison him and the Potions Master had died to stop the dream coming true.
Just as Voldemort had tried to kill a certain Harry James Potter in order to stop another prophecy coming true. The Dark Lord was nothing if not predictable.
No minutes....
At the moment of Equinox the doorway shimmered again and a small square of parchment drifted through like an autumn leaf blown on a breeze. It fluttered towards him and Draco grabbed it from the air.
The parchment was folded and sealed with what he knew was Snape’s stamp. Written on one side was a message in the Professor’s precise hand: It is time. Make your choice. Speak softly for the walls have ears. Then step through.
Draco knew he’d already made it and quickly he broke the seal. The words inside were in a different hand, this one narrow and he thought he recognised it. He frowned, unsure of what to make of the message, but he trusted Snape and finally he whispered the words to himself.
“The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.”
The door opened and Draco stepped through.
---
23rd September 2006
This short piece is post Half-Blood Prince and is unbeta-ed, so please ignore any mistakes.
Equinox
Five o’clock in the morning.
Three minutes away from the moment of the Autumnal Equinox.
He’d been waiting for this moment for weeks. The moment when day and night were both the same length. It affected magic too. Dark and Light magic would be equal, neither stronger nor weaker, but only for a few moments, not long enough to do any real good. But if Professor Snape’s calculations were correct, in those few moments the Dark wards around Lord Voldemort’s citadel would finally be weak enough for Light magic to break through.
Draco Malfoy glanced briefly out of the window. It was dark outside -- almost two hours until sunrise. Two hours to get as far away from here as possible. He had to be careful though, the Dark Lord’s surveillance spells were getting harder to detect these days and he couldn’t let the items Professor Snape had entrusted to him with to fall into the madman’s hands.
Madman? He gave a little snort. The term ‘madman’ didn’t come close to summing up how he now felt about the person he’d once believed was the saviour of the Wizarding world. Snape had once called Voldemort a sociopath and Draco had quickly come to agree with him.
Snape’s hard-won treasures were safely in his pocket now; a crystal bottle containing a swirling silvery-white substance, a small, golden cup with finely wrought handles and a letter addressed to the one person Draco never expected to see again.
Two minutes....
He looked at his watch for what seemed to be the thousandth time and knew this was the moment -- the one Snape had worked so hard for before he’d died and the one that would change Draco’s life. Carefully he placed what looked to be an innocuous twig on the floor and tapped it with his wand as he intoned the spell Snape had been at such great pains to teach him. It was a complicated spell, but it soon became clear why the Potions Master had chosen something so powerful. The twig seemed to shimmer and quiver as it quickly changed shape, growing bigger and bigger until finally in front of him was what only could be described as an open doorway, the entrance a forbidding black rectangle that hovered in the centre of the room and seemed to suck the very light into it.
One minute....
He frowned. A doorway? But to where?
Did he trust Professor Snape enough to just step through that doorway without knowing where it would take him?
Draco looked back over his shoulder at the other door in the room. That one would lead him back to Voldemort and to the darkness the man was spreading over the Wizarding world. Could the way Snape was showing him be any worse?
Dark and light. The moment of Equinox was a mirror of the world he was part of and he felt like he was balancing precariously on the cusp of both options. One foot wrong and he would slip and at the moment he wasn’t sure if either side would provide him with a safe haven.
But there was nothing here; the people he cared for were dead. Voldemort had killed his mother as a punishment for Draco not killing Dumbledore. His father had reportedly committed suicide in Azkaban, though there had been whisperings that an overzealous Auror had gone too far while questioning Lucius.
And Snape?
His old professor’s death had been the final straw for Draco. Snape had been poisoned by one of his own potions; one with no antidote, fed to Snape by the Dark Lord himself. The madman had what he believed to be a prophetic dream in which someone he trusted would poison him and the Potions Master had died to stop the dream coming true.
Just as Voldemort had tried to kill a certain Harry James Potter in order to stop another prophecy coming true. The Dark Lord was nothing if not predictable.
No minutes....
At the moment of Equinox the doorway shimmered again and a small square of parchment drifted through like an autumn leaf blown on a breeze. It fluttered towards him and Draco grabbed it from the air.
The parchment was folded and sealed with what he knew was Snape’s stamp. Written on one side was a message in the Professor’s precise hand: It is time. Make your choice. Speak softly for the walls have ears. Then step through.
Draco knew he’d already made it and quickly he broke the seal. The words inside were in a different hand, this one narrow and he thought he recognised it. He frowned, unsure of what to make of the message, but he trusted Snape and finally he whispered the words to himself.
“The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.”
The door opened and Draco stepped through.
---
23rd September 2006