The Necklace pt. 2
Draco was right, Severus was going to verbally wring his neck and harvest his body parts for potions. Before the day was out, he was called into his head of house's office by a partly scared, partly amused Theo.
Debating whether an innocent act would even work, he eventually decided on honesty. After all, the only way to successfully lie to a liar was to tell the truth. He couldn't be entirely honest, but Severus would have to understand.
The universe proved to dislike him personally, however, when Draco caught scent of the overbearing odour of the Headmaster's magic. Pausing before the door, his hand hovering over the knob, he swore silently. Severus, he could lie to easily, his godfather would see through him, of course, but also knew him well enough to know Draco wouldn't lie to him without reason. Dumbledore however, would gleefully poke holes in his story and probably dance over the corpse of his fallen dreams.
Or he's been listening to too many of his Father's rants. Either way, the Headmaster was a powerful legimens, and could peel away his thoughts just as easily as the Dark Lord. He swallowed his urge to run, finally laying his hand on the door, immediately causing the voices inside to quiet.
Opening the door, he walks into Severus' office, and stands in front of the desk, intent on a show of obedience. The least he could do was show the strength of slytherin loyalty. When Severus barked out a sharp "Sit" Draco moved to his usual chair, waiting for the grilling to start.
"Professor, Headmaster." Draco said, nodding at each. It wasn't a strong slight, but just explainable enough that no one could fault him for it. He didn't give a damn about Dumbledore, and he would make it no secret.
"Young Mr. Malfoy! How nice it is to see you, I rarely get to spend time in the dungeons," The old man said.
Probably because you couldn't care less about any students not in gryffindor, Draco thought.
"Headmaster, I'd appreciate if we could keep this meeting short. I've better things to do than see to baseless accusations." Severus spoke, his bored drawl easing some of Draco's worry. If his godfather had time for sarcasm, not all was lost.
"Ah, not to worry Severus, I've no intention to keep you long. But as headmaster, I must see to all facets of the school's safety, including the baseless ones." Dumbledore smiled, something Draco only made note of because he was steadfastly avoiding his Headmaster's eye's. It was a trick Severus had taught him when he was younger, during some of his first occlumency lessons, to look at someone's nose, instead of their eyes. It gave you the cover of politeness, because it would be the exact same to anyone except a legilimens.
No matter how powerful a legilimens, it was all useless if they couldn't look you in the eye.
"Of course," Draco echoed, "But I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, amused, "Oh, I'm sure you don't, but I've heard a disturbing report of dark magic going on in the Forbidden Forest."
Draco couldn't resist a slight scowl, stupid Potter.
He leaned back in his chair, putting on his best impression of his Father when Mother found another vial of blood lying around the house, "Oh, Potter decided to make a fuss after all?" He said, rolling his eyes. "It's a wonder he hasn't failed defence yet, if he can't even recognize a basic cleansing ritual. I hardly think I'm about to be punished for preventing a curse."
Dumbledore leand forward, looking much too eager for Draco's taste, "Ah, as I suspected. One can never be too careful. But I must ask, that is very old magic, and much harder than simply handing the necklace over to your teachers, why not simply give it to Severus?"
"It's a personal project of mine," Draco replied, not technically lying. "I've been reading about ritual magic, I had Mother send me a small heirloom to practise on." Ok that was a lie, but he wasn't about to be truthful to Dumbledore of all people.
"Ah, a refreshing bit of initiative, wouldn't you say, Severus?" The Headmaster asked.
Severus looked like he wanted to strangle Draco and dump his body in the lake, but he digressed.
"Quite." Draco's godfather replied, "Now if you'll excuse us Mr. Malfoy, get out of my office."
Draco wasted no time, jumping to his feet and walking out as fast as proprietary would allow.
—-------
Severus resisted the urge to sigh, rubbing between his eyes to stave off the impending headache. His burdensome godson was making everything much harder than it needed to be. He was surprised Draco had managed himself as well as he did, the Malfoy's distrust of Dumbledore was famous, and though Severus had never personally been granted the pleasure of one of Lucius' rants on the subject, he had heard Draco complain of them often enough to get the memo.
Albus, however, seemed to delight in it. Fucking gryffindors.
"Well, Severus, I do see what you mean, he is something else!" The old man laughed.
He snarled at the Headmaster, "You should not be taking this so lightly! That he has not already made an attempt on your life speaks to how seriously he takes his duty!"
Albus simply looked back at him, "I find fear often overpowers any cunning someone may possess, I am not scared of young mister Malfoy, Severus."
"But you should be. The Malfoy family is more dangerous than even you could know, Albus."
Draco is more dangerous than you know, he begged Albus to understand, to have a small bit of insight into those he played so easily.
There were things about the Malfoy's that even Severus didn't know, secrets he only sensed in the vaguest way, and Draco is the worst of them. For all Severus thought he knew his godson better than any, besides his parents, Draco seemed to delight in covert scheming. He was never happier than when he successfully manipulated another dessert from Lucius, or convinced Narcissa to give him a piece of her jewellery.
When Draco had successfully gotten his father out of prison in fifth year, through nothing but lunch meetings, letters, and proxy's, he had practically glowed with satisfaction. He'd been insufferable for weeks, as Severus was the only one who could understand just how far Draco had gone. He made split second decisions with no thought to others, operating a one-man chess game to keep all those he deemed his out of harm. In that, Dumbledore and Draco were similar.
Severus takes a moment to ponder how he wound up surrounded on all sides by snakes.
A slytherin to his core, Draco would stop at nothing to ensure Dumbledore's death, if that's what he wanted.
—--------
When Draco was summoned back into Severus' office, he was honestly unsure of what was going to happen. The potions master was most likely going to grill him over his slip in the forest, but how severely he would be punished was anyone's guess. Depending on his mood, it could either be a slap on the wrist or scrubbing cauldrons for days.
Not bothering with manners this time, as he knew his godfather would be alone, he entered the office. As Draco sat, Severus didn't say a word, simply looking at him.
After a few tense moments he spoke, "What, In god's name, were you thinking? Magic like that? In the open?"
Draco shrank, avoiding his professor's eyes, "I wasn't in the open. Potter followed me into the forest, I was deep enough that I couldn't even hear-"
"I don't care if you were in France! You should know better than to reveal yourself like that!" Severus yelled, "You refuse my help! You insist on secrecy! Your idiotic Malfoy pride will get you killed!" He got up and began to pace, as Draco slid further down in his chair, "And you can't even hide yourself properly! I know you know how to cast Homenum Revelio! I taught you myself!" He spun, pointing a finger in Draco's face, "Is this what I can expect for the future? For god's sake Draco! Vain, foolhardy, harebrained, boy! Your magical signature would've been all over the necklace if you hadn't buried it!"
While Severus continued to rant, something struck Draco. No matter how he tried to kill Dumbledore, his magic would leave a trace, even if he used another's wand. It was one of the reasons the plot to implicate Potter in the Dark Mark over the quidditch world cup failed so spectacularly, his magical signature wasn't the one found at the scene.
There were ways that he could hide it, but it would be like putting up a huge sign that said "TRAITOR IN HOGWARTS" in blinking lights. Not to mention the spells were not made for short term use, and everyone around him would notice its absence, even if they couldn't exactly pinpoint what was missing.
The weight of his task once again moved to crush him. How was he supposed to kill Dumbledore? Anything he tried would fail. He should just run now, bury himself in the forest like the necklace and succumb to the urge to give himself completely. Who knows? Maybe the oaf would make him into some lessons for first years. 'Here's the little death eater who snapped! Careful of the claws, he'll maim you!'
How was he supposed to avoid leaving his magical signature all over the place? Every wizard had one, no matter if they were pureblood or muggle-born.
In fact, the only people who didn't have magical signatures were muggles.
Muggles. There was an idea. No one would expect a Malfoy to lower themselves to that, but if his only options were the death of his family, or some blows to his pride?
He sat up, ignoring Severus' scathing look at being so obviously ignored. If he could get his hands on some muggle weapons, his problem was as good as solved. Hadn't they gotten exceptionally good at killing each other recently? More so than usual, he swore he could remember his father talking about it. They always had been rather a violent bunch.
It was perfect. If he could find a way to get muggle weapons into Hogwarts, all he would have to do is find a way to get Dumbledore alone, which was a much easier problem.
"Draco!" Severus snarled, "Explain yourself."
Draco looked up at his godfather, "You know I can't, Severus" he whispered, suddenly tired. Would it never end? He fixed one problem, only for another to spring up in its place. If he killed Dumbledore, what next? Sit idly as The Dark Lord gleefully began his massacre? He already knew The Death Eaters weren't exempt from his rage, and he would not let himself live like that.
He would not let Blaise live like that, not his Mother, and not his Father.
He stood to leave, uncaring that Severus would have his head later for his disrespect, and walked out of the room.