Chapter 9
“How could you do this to me?” the voice hissed from beneath the hood that completely covered the visitor’s face. “I gave you everything; all you had to do was wait for me. I was the one who was supposed to marry you; I was the one who was supposed to have your children. I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE LADY GINEVRA POTTER, WIFE OF THE BOY WHO LIVED!” She stopped and breathed deeply a few times to get herself back under control. The hospital floor was quiet; Weasley had decided to come in shortly after midnight, knowing that there wouldn’t be anyone there to stop her.
“I can’t let you continue on, flaunting those bastard children, that aren’t mine, in my face! Once I’ve finished with you, I’ll go terminate those unnatural things, and then the Malfoys will pay for turning you against your family,” she finished, pulling out a silver dagger that she’d found in the Room of Hidden Things at Hogwarts. She’d discovered it when she was hiding in there to escape from the Death Eaters that ran through the school during the final battle. She wasn’t ashamed to admit she was a coward; she was preserving her life for her beloved, after all. Deep within her delusions, she never saw the tall woman with long blonde hair standing behind her, wand out and tip glowing an unfamiliar white.
“Die, my beloved,” Ginny gasped out through her tears. “I’ll see you on the other side, after I've finished what I must.” Just as the blade began to descend, the sectumsempra shot from Narcissa’s wand, hitting the girl square in the neck and felling her like a tree, blood spraying everywhere as the redhead’s carotid was split open from the curse. The silver knife clattered to the floor, and Lady Malfoy moved forward and picked it up carefully, with her sleeve covering her hand. She’d noticed that the blade was coated with some sort of gel-like substance, and she wanted to make sure that whatever it was wasn’t some sort of poison that could be transmitted through contact. Narcissa flicked her wand and her swan patronus shot from the end of it, turning in flight to stare at her mistress.
“Go to Amelia Bones of the DMLE and tell her that Ginevra Molly Weasley just attempted to take the life of my son-in-law, Harry James Potter-Malfoy. Tell her that I have the weapon, and that the blade’s coated with some sort of substance.” Honking softly, the swan flew through the wall in the direction of the Ministry, and Lady Malfoy sagged for a moment before touching a cameo brooch at her throat. It was an alarm that connected directly to the head of Lucius’ cane. The eyes would light up and alert the Malfoy Lord that one of his family was in danger. Since Narcissa was, technically, the only living Malfoy, he knew that she had run into some sort of trouble at the hospital, and he flooed immediately to St. Mungo’s, heading directly for his son-in-law’s room.
“Is everything all right, darling?” he asked frantically as soon as he entered the hospital suite. His eyes fell to the body lying on the floor next to his son-in-law’s hospital bed, the distinctive red hair peeking out from the hood, darkening in the widening pool of crimson, a dead giveaway to the identity of the...victim? Culprit? The look in his wife’s eyes told him that Miss Weasley was the aggressor. The potion-coated dagger she was carefully holding allowed more pieces to fall into place. “She tried to kill Harry?”
“She did,” his wife replied just as Amelia Bones and John Dawlish strode into the hospital room. Narcissa immediately passed the dagger over to the Auror with a flick of her wand, and he gently guided it into a ready evidence bag, using his own wand to take control of the object.
“Lord Malfoy,” the DMLE head said with a respectful nod. “Lady Malfoy. I assume that the attacker is now deceased, considering the amount of blood spray curtaining the room and Lord Potter-Malfoy?”
“Yes, madam Bones,” the Malfoy matriarch said softly as her husband expertly flicked his wand to clean her of any blood that had splattered her clothing. “I have been sitting vigil on Harry ever since he fell into his coma and was brought to St. Mungo’s, and I had just walked out to get myself a cup of tea. It wasn’t until I’d nearly reached the cafeteria that I realized that it was closed, so I turned around and came back here. I was intending on calling one of my elves to bring me refreshments, and I didn’t want to leave Harry alone for too long; especially after his will reading a week ago.
“I entered in enough time to hear Miss Weasley tell Harry that, as soon as she finished murdering my son-in-law, she was going to slaughter my grandchildren. I was shocked, I must say, and I didn’t react until I saw her lift the dagger to stab my child. I cast the sectumsempra at her neck; it was the only way I felt I could protect Harry and my babies, and I didn’t wish to spend the rest of my life away from my family because I used an unforgivable.”
“We’ve been investigating the allegations that Lord Potter-Malfoy had printed in many wizarding periodicals and newspapers after his incapacitation, and as far as I’m concerned, your reaction is simple defense of your family,” Bones told the woman kindly. “We’ve been hunting down everyone involved with the murders of the Slytherins, as well as the assassination of both Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy. We’ve had help, in the form of testimony from both Lord Longbottom and Lady Longbottom, as well as a few of the younger years who had watched from the Room of Requirement as the final battle occurred. Apparently, Hogwarts wanted to make sure that the guilty would pay, so she provided a way for a multitude of people to bear witness to the sins committed on her grounds.
“We’ve had to arrest Aurora Sinistra and Rubeus Hagrid as accessories to the slaughter. They held back the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs that wanted to protect the snakes and the Potions Master from, as they saw it, illegal and unjust executions. Unfortunately the principle guilty parties have fled to parts unknown and we’re having the devil’s own time trying to locate them. Since many of the escaped felons are muggleborn, they’ve most likely hidden in the muggle world, and are helping those raised in the wizarding world navigate the new situations in which they find themselves. We’ve put a call out to all the magical Ministries all over the world, in hopes that they’ll be able to contact those muggle officials that are ‘in the know’ for assistance in tracking down the criminals and sending them back here.”
As Amelia spoke to the parents of the intended victim, Dawlish had called in the Ministry crime lab, as well as the Coroner’s office, to gather up all of the evidence available and remove the body. Lucius and Narcissa had to dodge the investigators as they scurried all over the room, collecting hairs, skin cells, blood samples and fingerprints to add to the growing case file against Albus Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, the Weasley matriarch and her youngest son, Hermione Granger, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan, Ben Copper, Kenneth Towler, Allison Barnes, Andrew Kirke, Parvati Patil, Romilda Vane and Demelza Robins. They were the Gryffindors who had demolished an entire Hogwarts house, and had fled as soon as the damning articles were released. Fortunately, thanks to Colin and Dennis Creevey, who had worshipped Harry and who would have done anything to see him happy, they were able to provide photographs of the perpetrators. They hadn’t seen anything wrong with the Boy Who Lived’s friendships with the Slytherins, nor his relationship with the Ice Prince of Slytherin, as long as it made their hero happy.
“I am sorry that Mr. Potter-Malfoy’s own friends turned on him like this,” Bones finally said, after the investigators had finished and left with Dawlish. “That poor boy has never been able to catch a ruddy break anywhere, but to have such horrific betrayals as his best friends committed...its heartbreaking.”
“It almost seems as if the Potters were destined to gather compatriots with ulterior motives,” Lucius agreed sadly. “First was Peter Pettigrew being best friends with James Potter, then being the one to lead the Dark Lord to their doorstep; then to have Harry’s closest comrades, from the time he returned to the wizarding world, turn around and kill his husband and a man who became like a father to the child...I’m actually surprised he didn’t let the Dark Lord kill him as soon as Draco was murdered and let the wizarding world burn.”
“Well,” Bones opined softly, “I can only thank Merlin that he didn’t; that he was brave enough to realize, over his broken heart, that there were many innocents who didn’t deserve such a fate. My niece, Susan, is one of those willing to testify to what she saw as McGonagall kept her and her friends from joining the fight to protect them. Well, I’ll let you get back to visiting with your son-in-law. I’ll need you to come down to the DMLE within the next few days to fill out a report on this attempted murder, Lady Malfoy.” With a promise to do so as soon as she could, the Magical Law Enforcement head left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.
“I think we need to take Harry home,” Narcissa murmured after she cast privacy wards around herself and Lucius. “He’s no longer safe here, and I grow tired of having to watch what I say for fear that Dumbledore might hear something he could use.”
“What of the children?” her husband asked carefully. “We cannot, in good conscience, bring their father home and cause those little boys to suffer because they can’t talk to him or hug him.”
“I know, darling, but we can’t leave him here, either,” she insisted slightly frantically. “He’s not safe here. Had I not returned when I did, he would be dead now, and I’ll not lose him until I know that nothing else can be done to bring him back.”
“Let me contact Lord Longbottom,” Lucius told his wife soothingly. “Mayhap he has an idea that will keep our son safe whilst also protecting the mental and emotional well-being of our grandchildren.”
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“Lord Longbottom,” Lucius intoned respectfully as he bowed his head. “I’ve come to you because we’re in a bit of a pickle.”
“Please come sit down, Lord Malfoy,” Neville told the older man gently. “I’ll fetch Luna and then we can discuss what brings you here.” The younger man left, returning moments later with his wife in tow. “Now,” he continued as he and Luna sat down across from Lucius, “how can we help you?”
“Ginevra Weasley went to St. Mungo’s last night and attempted to murder Harry,” the blond said, shocking both of the raven haired young man’s friends very badly. “She said that once she finished with him, she would come after our grandbabies.”
“Is Harry...?” Luna voiced desperately.
“No,” Malfoy reassured calmly. “Narcissa came up behind her and killed her before she could strike Harry with the dagger she brought. This is the conundrum we face. Our son isn’t safe in the hospital, so my wife wishes to bring him home. The only problem is that his children wouldn’t be able to interact with him because of the coma, and I fear that it would cause some emotional and mental scars for them to see him but not be able to play with him or talk to him or laugh with him. I don’t want to do that to the children, but I don’t see any other way to keep Harry safe.”
“Gran’s rooms have been cleared of everything that she collected, as well as her clothes and other belongings,” Neville told the blond softly. “You can bring Harry here, and we’ll make sure that he’s watched over when you can’t be here. He’s our best friend and we love him very much. We’d do anything to protect him. Just know that you and Lady Malfoy are always welcome here, day or night, and there's an attached attendant's bedroom, should either of you wish to avail yourselves of it.”
“Thank you,” Lucius husked out, tears threatening to fall. “You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that. In the future, please call me Lucius. You’ve more than earned the right to be familiar.”
“Call me Neville,” the brunet replied with a smile, “and consider yourselves family.”