Draco’s Hiding Place
Albus Dumbledore would never dare to assume that he knew all of Hogwarts secrets. He marvelled at the castle’s ability to continuously humble him and approached everything with an open mind and an understanding that things were not always what they appeared to be.
Such had been the case a few days ago when Severus had come to see him about a mysterious room on the seventh floor that those in the know referred to as the Room of Requirement. The concept had not been entirely unknown to Albus previously - though he saw now that it had been an oversight on his part to not recognize its importance or explore this discovery more thoroughly in the past.
"Good evening, Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Goyle," Albus beamed at the two Slytherin boys and gave them a polite bow.
He was not at all surprised to find both of them stationed in the corridor that housed the Room of Requirement. If he was to take Severus and Harry at their word - and he did - then Draco Malfoy was likely secured inside the room at this very moment, using his friends as guards while he attempted to fulfill Lord Voldemort’s wishes.
"What are you two doing inside on such a glorious day?” he looked between them both with respectful bemusement, while the two boys mumbled something indiscernible at him and tripped over the hems of their robes in a sudden rush to leave.
Albus waited until they had vacated the corridor before he walked closer to the brick wall and pressed his palm against it, feeling the stone vibrate so subtly with an exuberance of magic. He had known this room before and he had heard others speak of it as well in passing with fondness and humour.
It was a place of convenience and fun for mischievous students. Capable of hosting an exciting club or concealing stowaways about to be caught out of bed after hours. It seemed so unlikely that Voldemort could have been arrogant enough to assume that only he could have possessed Hogwarts’ secrets - but then again Albus had always believed that Voldemort’s eventual downfall would stem from his tendency to underestimate his enemies.
“Where are you, my young friend?” Albus murmured to the wall.
He knew that simply requiring the room to reveal Draco Malfoy would not be effective. Dolores Umbridge had only been able to gain access to the room last year because she’d known to specifically request the students’ secret defense group. What Albus had to do now was guess correctly what Draco was doing inside this secret space and the room would reveal it.
That Malfoy could very well be standing within arm’s reach of a fragment of Lord Voldemort’s soul right now was completely coincidental. Voldemort would not have trusted anyone with the secret of his Horcruxes and he would have taken it for granted that nobody would ever have enough sense to guess. It was much more likely that Draco was using the room to build something - to prepare his attack or hide evidence.
“Show me the hiding place”, Albus said quietly and, remarkably, his first attempt was successful.
A solid oak door had formed within the wall that he stood before. Albus politely rapped on it a few times in warning before he slowly turned the large brass handle and stepped inside.
It was like walking into a maze of miscellaneous objects that had all come here to die and be forgotten. Albus stared around in wonder, inhaling the mildew scent of old books and decades upon decades of undisturbed dust. For a moment he almost forgot about the boy tucked somewhere in around all the clutter - he wasn’t his main prerogative anyway. Albus was taken in by the thousands and thousands of books in tottering piles, flying catapults, fanged frisbees, chipped bottles of congealed potions, dragon eggshells, and a bloodstained axe in the corner.
He had walked a few paces and paused to examine a cage that contained a five-legged skeleton, when he heard a clang near the back of the room and diligently raised his wand. Draco Malfoy had at last jumped up from his hiding place behind an old cabinet, looked startled and afraid as Albus swifty disarmed him before he had a chance to do much more than gape at him.
“Goodness me, there is a lot of stuff in here,” Albus smiled, whilst tucking Draco’s wand in a pocket of his shimmery blue robes. He paused to admire some old top hats on a wooden stand that was leaning against a rusty suit of armour.
“I expect many of the objects in this room can be traced back to the four founders. You could discover an entirely new adventure every time you come in here - I can see why you like it so much.”
Draco was breathing quite raggedly and Albus suspected that he was tempted to flee but more concerned with trying to guard whatever it was he’d been working on so diligently. Fortunately, for him, Albus had not yet sparked any interest in that side of the room whatsoever. He walked slowly and deliberately through the assortment of abandoned items closest to the door. His blue eyes scanned in every which way, keeping careful watch for any sign of Hufflepuff’s cup, Slytherin’s locket, or something with the emblem from Ravenclaw on it.
“Tell me, Draco,” Albus said calmly, emerging from a sea of old cloaks that he had just inspected to make sure nothing was hidden in their fabric. “What are you doing with that old cabinet?”
“What’s it to you?” Draco snarled, at long last finding his voice. His pale cheeks had pinkened indignantly and he still hadn’t moved from in front of the large cabinet that would be capable of holding a full-grown person.
“Oh, I think it's a matter of great importance for it to have captivated you so entirely,” Albus smiled as he began to draw nearer. “I'd like to know why….”
Then he stopped suddenly, only just recovering himself in time to not arouse any suspicion. In the corner of his eye he had spotted it - slightly discoloured, but still with the distinct blue sapphires and delicately silver-plated brass that legend spoke of. If he was able to examine it closer, he was positive that he would discover the inscription that represented Ravenclaw house. ‘Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure’ - the lost Diadem of Ravenclaw, sitting quite unremarkably on a dusty shelf near the floor. Nobody was to have seen it before in living memory, but surely Voldemort had possessed it and placed it here for safe keeping.
“Is that the cabinet your housemate, Montagu, vanished in last year?” Albus asked conversationally, whilst pointing his wand discreetly in the direction of the Diadem - unsure if the magic would work, but suspecting correctly that Voldemort had not had time to put up the same sort of protective enchantments and deterrents that he had surrounded the Ring with.
Albus vanished the Diadem and Draco was none the wiser. He sent it to the security of Sirius Black’s house where the sword of Gryffindor already waited to destroy it. He would leave for there very soon, but he felt that he couldn’t turn away without doing more to acknowledge Draco Malfoy’s plight. He was, after all, just a boy.
“I would like to help you,” Albus said gently, catching a glimpse of the surprised look on the boy’s agonized face. Albus came closer to him and pressed the palm of his good hand onto the cabinet behind Draco, similarly to how he had searched for magical properties in the wall.
“Don’t touch that!” Draco snapped, his voice anxious and pleading behind a mask of presumed fearlessness.
“I know what this is,” Albus said quietly, tapping his fingers against the cabinet as though Draco hadn’t spoken. “This is no ordinary cabinet. It will have a twin somewhere and together they will make a passage. You are attempting to repair this one so that you can provide access to Lord Voldemort’s followers. Am I correct?”
Albus’s voice was harsh on the last line and he looked down sternly at the boy who was positively trembling despite his best efforts to seem unconcerned. This was a part of the plan that had almost escaped Albus’s knowledge. He had arranged for Draco Malfoy’s protection and he had planned his own death, all to the best of his ability. Severus would kill him and secure a highly valued position in Lord Voldemort’s ranks, ensuring mercy for Draco and success for Harry.
Nobody else was to be endangered and the infiltration of Death Eaters in the school would surely undermine that. Albus reached for his wand and pointed it now at the vanishing cabinet. Draco realized what he was about to do just a fraction of a second before it happened.
“No!” he cried.
“Deletrius,” Albus spoke firmly, and the vanishing cabinet was suddenly no more.
It disintegrated before both of their eyes. Damaged beyond repair, with just an odd nail or wood chip in the accumulating dust on the floor - unable to transport someone from anywhere, unable to assist Draco in the completion of his task from Lord Voldemort. Albus watched as the hopelessness began to implode out of the boy in unabashed sobbing. He had worked all year on this plan only for it to crumble so quickly and cruelly - and there was nothing that he could do.
“I know that you're scared,” Albus said quietly, “and a scared boy is a danger to himself as well as others. Your reckless desperation very nearly killed Katie Bell and the only reason you were not expelled for that was because Professor Snape vouched for you, in what I believe was a decent attempt to save you from Lord Voldemort’s wrath. I cannot imagine what you’re going through.”
Draco continued to bluster, though his eyes had flashed when Severus’s name was mentioned. Albus waited for a moment to see if the boy was going to say anything about Severus’s true allegiances. Whether he was going to haughtily proclaim Albus an old fool who stupidly believed that Severus Snape was working for him, when he had actually been conspiring to help Draco murder him all year. But to his credit, Draco said nothing of the sort. Perhaps his trajectories had made him wiser beyond his years and made him realize that Severus could not help him and Voldemort would not forgive him if he compromised his spy. Draco stared at Albus hatefully, despite the tears of anguish still rolling down his cheeks.
“We all have to make our own choices in this world,” Albus told him gently. “I hope that you will realize that you are not without options.”
“I have no options!” Draco bellowed. “He’ll kill me if I don’t- he’ll kill my whole family!”
“I sympathize with the difficulty of your situation,” Albus replied, “but I’m offering to hide you - I can hide your mother as well. Your father is safe for the time being in Azkaban but when he gets out we can arrange -”
“That won’t work!” Draco snapped.
Albus sighed sadly, surprising the boy by taking his disarmed wand out of his pocket and placing it on a grand piano with broken keys to his right. Then Albus pulled his outer robes more tightly around himself and turned to leave. There was no point in continuing a conversation that was going nowhere when he had so much else to do, but there was still time to figure out the fate of this broken boy that had caught Albus’s sympathy nearly as much as Harry did. They both had been marked in darkness from the same evil hand and there was very little that Albus could do to save them. Though destroying another Horcrux would be a very good place to start.
XXX
That same night, Severus had found time to step away from Hogwarts and go pay a visit to the Malfoys’ house in Wiltshire, England. He hadn’t told anyone where he was going. Had not spoken to Dumbledore about his agreement to help Sirius with matters that he was quite sure the Headmaster did not wish him to know anything about - yet the discoveries made concerning the Room of Requirement had given Severus a most convenient excuse.
Harry had been most elated to know that his information was being taken seriously and Severus was discovering many useful purposes to this knowledge. It gave Narcissa no reason to doubt his true intentions, but every reason to make herself agreeable and helpful for what he was putting himself through for her family. He’d arrived at Malfoy Manor entirely unannounced and had done everything in his power since to deliberately put Narcissa on edge and make her more forthcoming - a trick that Severus had undoubtedly learned from Albus Dumbledore.
“I don’t understand how you expect me to protect your son if I don’t know everything,” Severus said coldly, pacing across the floor one way before turning around to go the opposite.
“Severus, I swear that I know nothing,” Narcissa said contritely, her long silvery hair shielding her face from view as she stared down at her lap. “This is all news to me. I haven’t seen Draco since Christmas. He doesn’t tell me things. It was always his father that he confided in.”
“That is no excuse,” Severus said harshly, crossing the length of the grandesse living room in large strides. He glared out at the terrace through the tall French doors and did not say anything for a few minutes, while Narcissa made sounds like she was struggling for breath in the leather high-back chair behind him. “That is no excuse when you’ve dragged me into your family’s mess.”
If Narcissa had been hoping for an evening of pleasantries and reassurances from an old friend that she’d entrusted her son’s life to, then she was sorely mistaken. Severus’s displeasure was etched right across his face. He had not sat down once since he’d arrived that night, nor had he touched the bottle of wine that Narcissa had opened for them to share, as was their custom.
Severus hadn’t smiled or enquired about how she was coping all alone in this big house by herself either. He was intentionally giving off the airs of being prepared to wash his hands of the whole arrangement so that - were it not for the Unbreakable Vow that bound them together - Narcissa would have been very fearful that her son had lost his most valued protector.
“Dumbledore has discovered that Draco is spending considerable time in the Room of Requirement, a space I did not even know existed,” Severus said, with his back still turned to her. He paused to give Narcissa time to feel the full impact of his words, touching his fingertips to the glass doors while he waited, listening to her breath hitch with fear.
“What am I supposed to do about that?” he continued, in a voice that was barely above a whisper. “If Dumbledore becomes suspicious of my blind eye to Draco’s misdeeds you may have cost the Dark Lord his spy. How will you explain that?”
The end of his softly spoken question was drowned out by the sound of Narcissa beginning to cry and Severus would have felt more sympathetic to her tears if she hadn’t previously weaponized them to coerce him into swearing the Unbreakable Vow last summer. Severus felt no guilt for his own manipulative reasons for coming there - which had essentially nothing to do with Draco’s predicament and everything to do with Sirius asking him to investigate Narcissa’s sister, Bellatrix, and her connection with valuable objects belonging to the Dark Lord. Severus was currently using Draco as a highly convenient decoy to his true intentions.
“Severus, please….please,” Narcissa made desperate sounds as she rose from her chair and went over to him. Her chin stabbing into his shoulder and her hands on his elbows, pressing them against his sides with impressive force. Severus could feel the rise and fall of her breathing through his back. “I’ve told you everything - I’ve told Draco to listen to you and to trust you.”
“He’s so distrusting right now that he’d be suspicious of his own shadow,” Severus informed her. “I can’t get him to confide in me about anything anymore - and I cannot fix what I do not know. Especially now that Dumbledore is on high alert. Tell me about this Room of Requirement.”
“I swear that I’ve never heard of such a room in all my years at Hogwarts,” Narcissa said tearfully. “If I had, I promise I’d have told you first.”
“Well, then do you know what he is planning in there?” asked Severus. “Is it a trap for Dumbledore? Is it an escape pod? Or a weapon?
“He won’t tell me,” Narcissa replied, pleading with him to accept that what she said was true and that her own inability to assist and shield her own son was gradually breaking all that was left in her. She'd surrender anything in exchange for his safety, but she couldn’t do anything if her son persisted in rejecting the help she’d procured.
"What about your sister?" Severus asked quietly.
He felt Narcissa’s body tense against him. "What about Bella?"
"Well, I find it incredibly unlikely that Draco is concocting any grand scheme all on his own," Severus replied. "He is but sixteen after all and his closest friends are dimwitted at best and dangerously incompetent at worst. He is not accepting help from me or from you, so who else does that leave?"
Narcissa’s grip on him had slackened and Severus slowly turned around so that he could face her. He tucked a finger under her quivering chin and gently turned her head up to meet his eyes. He neither knew, nor really cared, if Bellatrix Lestrange had taken any part in aiding her nephew. It didn't matter so long as seeds of doubt were planted in Narcissa’s mind, making her more vulnerable to his probes into her thoughts.
"I don’t know," Narcissa whispered, looking up at him as he gripped her chin a bit more forcibly. "Bella has never said anything…."
"Well, I’ll tell you what I know then," Severus said softly. "Dumbledore thinks that Draco is using this Room of Requirement to create a safe passage for the Death Eaters to enter the school. Before I left to come here Dumbledore was intending to investigate and quash these plans - whatever he decides to do when it comes to Draco now is completely outside my control. Not to mention, how angry the Dark Lord is going to be when he learns about how much time Draco has wasted on a fruitless scheme…"
Severus felt Narcissa shiver against him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and burrowed against his neck. Trembling with a fear that he thought her completely justified in having. The Dark Lord’s fury with the whole Malfoy family had not ceased at all in the time that had lapsed since he'd first ordered Draco to murder Albus Dumbledore or be killed himself. The Dark Lord would not forgive the disregard Lucius had treated his diary with - an object that had been possessed by such considerable Dark Magic that went further than Severus could possibly imagine.
"I care about your family and I still am going to do everything I can to help," Severus reminded her, lightly kissing the thick mane of hair that swept across his lips, allowing his mouth to linger there for just a moment to lull her in trust and security. Lowering her defenses - if she still had any up.
Blind trust in anyone these days was a fool's game and all those who spent time in the Dark Lord’s company would do well to acquire some basic Occlumency skills to prevent every emotion or thought announcing itself so freely. Severus wanted Narcissa to feel that there was no need for such practices with him.
"I won't pretend that it makes any sense to me why Lucius mishandled an object of such importance to the Dark Lord," Severus continued. "If I’d been entrusted with something of his, I would have guarded it with my life over anything else. I expect Bellatrix would do the same and perhaps that's why she is not opposed to the idea of sacrificing Draco in repentance. Bellatrix would never have tossed an important possession of the Dark Lord’s out like common trash. She’d have kept it as safe and protectively guarded as she possibly could. She probably resents Lucius being chosen over her for such an important task. "
He took his chance and leaned back to force Narcissa to look at him again. Her blue eyes shone with peril, sadness, and a bit of guilt. But there was nothing she was hiding from him in that instant, of this Severus was absolutely sure. He saw Bellatrix Lestrange in the forefront of Narcissa’s mind and she was jubilant and haughty - boasting about being his most favoured, his most trusted, and most treasured.
“The Dark Lord will honour me above all of you for the care and devotion I bestow on the things that matter to him most!” Bellatirx was jeering at her sister and brother-in-law, who was sporting bruises and one disturbingly bloody eye - Lucius’s punishment for losing the diary. “He will know better than to ever think anyone would show him as much consideration as I do!”
Undoubtedly Bellatrix did have something that Sirius suspected her of having, but what or where Severus couldn't tell. He didn't think Narcissa knew either and he wouldn't risk digging deeper. He couldn't risk his own position. He didn’t want her to sense him employing Legilimency on her and develop any reason to doubt him.
"I am certain that once Dumbledore is dead, everything will be forgotten," Severus tried to sound reassuring. He stepped back from her, gently unraveling her arms from around his waist. “The Dark Lord is merciful.”
"But I don't see how you will manage to kill Dumbledore," Narcissa said, walking close at his heels as he strode over to the bar and began to pour both of them a generous amount of the red wine she had taken out when he first arrived. Having gotten what he’d come for, Severus now saw no reason not to indulge in the drink and her company.
"How can the plan succeed - how can Draco survive this - if Dumbledore already suspects?" Narcissa stammered. "And the Dark Lord himself couldn't manage to-"
"Dumbledore still trusts me," Severus reminded her, picking up the first wine glass and passing it to her. She took it but did not bring it to her lips, holding her arm outstretched as she continued to stare at him with tears in her eyes.
“Once Dumbledore realizes his mistake, it will be too late,” he added, before tilting his head back and emptying his glass in a single shot without bothering to toast the Dark Lord with her first. They need not make a fuss - conspiring here together to outsmart their master and overcome what had been expected to fail. Narcissa trusted Severus absolutely and she believed with all sincerity that Dumbledore had no idea what was coming to him.
Though of course he did. Dumbledore saw what was, what had been, and what would be more clearly than anyone else. He was already gone from Hogwarts when Severus returned later that night. He did not know that Albus had taken Harry, Ron, and Hermione to see Sirius on crucial business that did not involve Severus, but which could not be achieved without him. However, Severus had no inclination to seek any of them out at this late hour anyway. He just wanted bed and sleep, preferably dreamless, before he got up to face all the same things in the morning.
Which was why the discovery of Draco Malfoy sitting slumped down on the floor outside his office was not the most welcome of sights. Severus had hoped to reach his private quarters without having to speak to anyone. Though as he drew nearer and could make out the boy's tearful face and trembling shoulders, he couldn't help but feel very concerned.
"You look pathetic sitting on the ground like that," Severus commented, coming to a halt in front of the withering boy who did not stand up to greet him.
"He knows," Draco said shakily, staring down at his trainers.
"Who knows what?" Severus asked tiredly, pretending to be confused. He paused and watched the boy slump further down the wall, then he guessed. "Professor Dumbledore?"
Draco nodded his head and Severus said in a most bored voice. "Am I to understand that he discovered the thing you’re planning that you still refuse to confide in me about? Or did he learn that you mean to kill him?"
"Both I think," Draco mumbled.
"Hmm," Severus smirked, pretending to take all of this in. "Well, I maintain that this is an oversight that would not have happened if you had allowed me to help you back when I first offered."
"Will you help me now?" Draco asked, his bottom lip trembling threateningly. "I can’t do this without you."
"I told you that months ago," Severus remarked casually. "How do I know that you’ll listen to me now?”
“Because I promise to,” Draco replied immediately.
“And do I have your word that you will not attempt anything again without asking me first?" Severus asked.
"Yes," Draco nodded.
"Yes, what?" Severus said, motioning with his finger for Draco to get up off the floor.
The boy exhaled loudly and stood up very slowly. “Yes, sir,” he said finally.
“Very good,” Severus told him. “I’ll take you back to your dormitory now and we can discuss more of this in the morning. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Draco said again, turning and walking with the Professor in step back along the corridor in the direction of the Slytherin common room. It was a much welcome reprieve from the attitude that Severus had been tolerating for most of the year and he knew that the absence of Draco’s confidence and entitlement suggested that he was probably feeling even more defeated than his mother currently was.
“Dumbledore offered to help me tonight,” Draco murmured in a voice so quiet that Severus could have missed what he said.
“Did he?” Severus replied calmly. “How exactly does he think he will do that?”
“He said that he will hide me and the rest of my family,” Draco answered. “I don’t trust him and I don’t believe him, but for a moment there I wished it could all be that simple.”
“Nothing will ever be that simple,” Severus replied. “You cannot run away from your problems, Draco. You have to face them. Once Dumbledore is dead then he would be unable to protect you anyway. There is no use dwelling on such fantasies but that does not mean that things will end badly. I’m here to ensure that they do not. That’s my promise.”