Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It belongs to JK Rowling, etc.
The New Dark Lord
Chapter Six
The bell above the door of Borgin and Burkes glanged loudly when Draco and Elle entered. Dressed in full Auror garb, the two clearly meant business. Behind the counter, Burke looked up over a large dusty tome, and smiled widely. He put the book down and pushed it aside.
`Ah, young Mr. Malfoy, how long has it been?' He didn't wait for a response, but continued and answered his own question. `Too long, I have to say. What can I do for you?'
Draco walked smoothly into the shop, Elle following more cautiously behind, her eyes flickering around the room. Borgin and Burkes was as cluttered as always, filled with an assortment of clearly dark paraphinilia. Tall bookshelves seperated the room in two halves. In between those, tables stood out, decoreated with multiple objects. An impressive large crystal cauldron drew the eye, the contents bubbling and steaming. Elle susected the potion inside would burn through anything, but it was seemingly incapable of eating its way through the cauldron it resided within. What was an object like that worth, she had to wonder.
`You know why I'm here Burke,' Draco said.
Burke pressed his hands together and gave Draco a curious expression. `Do I? Come now, let's sit down and have a chat, for old times sakes. How is your father? Have you seen him lately?'
`Have you?'
`Now, how could I do that, him being in Azkaban and all…'
Draco placed his hands on the counter and leaned in close. `Cut the bullshit Burke. We both know my father is no longer confined to Azkaban, and we both know I'm not here to chat, "for old times sakes".'
Burke winced. `Now, now, boy, I'd mind what you say…'
Behind Draco, Elle glanced over her shoulder. A large, ugly looking bookshelf loomed ominously, filled with clearly dark materials. She frowned at it and fingered her wand nervously.
`And why would I do that?' Draco asked in reply to Burke, at the same time placing his own wand on the table, a clear threat, and demonstration of his power.
`I'd just hate for you to get… hurt.'
Suddenly, Elle grabbed Draco by the back of his robes and pulled him down, just in time for a curse to miss him by the narrowest of inches. Both Aurors rose moments later, wands firing spells in return. Death Eaters, hiding behind the various magical objects in the room, peppered them with an array of dark magic. Elle overturned a table and used it for cover, while Draco withstood the onslaught, deflecting the more harmless spells and avoiding the dangerous ones. His wand was a blur as he whipped it around and flung back counter curses.
`Fuck!' Elle cursed. `Draco, take cover you crazy bastard!'
Draco ignored her.
Elle glanced over at the counter, where Burke had previously stood. He was gone. Shit, she thought, and scanned the room for the slimy proprietor. Her eyes found him running for the back door, and she quickly took him down with a petrification curse. He wasn't going anywhere. They still needed to question him.
(----)
Meanwhile, Draco was still throwing caution to the wind. He stood amidst the fire and returned what he got with furious, smouldering anger. A Death Eater cast a burning jet of flame at him, which Draco shielded himself from. With a quick flick of his wand, Draco retaliated, shattering the large crystal cauldron the wizard hid behind, showering him in flying shards and the contents of the cauldron, which burned right through his clothes and into his skin. The scream of pain was sickening in it's intensity. Elle had to avert her eyes, but Draco watched and smiled. Even the other Death Eaters froze, horror-struck by the sight of their brother burning to ashes.
Draco didn't have time to enjoy the Death Eaters agonized death, however, as the other Death Eaters wouldn't let him. While they still existed, he had work to do. He aimed his wand at the Death Eater hiding behind the bookshelf closest to the door, the one Elle had sensed earlier, and performed his most powerful confringo curse. The resulting explosion of wood and paper buried and ultimately crushed the Death Eater beneath the debris.
The final Death Eater tried to run, but Draco cut him down, literally, severing the wizard's legs just below the knee with a non-verbal severing charm. The Death Eater fell face first into the wood panelled floor; crying out in agony, blood spurting copiously and spreading out beneath him.
Draco strolled casually over to the downed Death Eater, a smile on his face, the world around him blank. All he could see was the wizard writhing before him. He kicked him onto his back and aimed his wand at the sobbing Death Eater.
`P-p-please, I suh-surrender…
Draco simply shook his head.
`Draco!' Elle shouted, finally snapping out of her shock and horror. `Step away.'
`Leave Elle,' Draco replied, not looking at her, his eyes focused solely on his prey.
`No,' she said firmly, and aimed her wand at his back. `Don't make me stop you.'
Draco felt an overwhelmed desire to turn and silence her forever… but he wasn't that far-gone. He somehow managed to quell it, and lowered his wand to his side. He turned his head away from the Death Eater and slowly walked away.
(----)
Elle walked quickly up to the suffering Death Eater and put him out of his misery with a verbal, `Stupefy.' She took a deep breath, trying to wrap her head around the situation. She needed to call a med team for their captives. She glanced at the remains of the burned Death Eater, then over at the pile of broken wood, and finally to the Death Eater at her feet. How had things got so fuckin' out of control? She looked at Draco's back. Shit - was he mad? How would she explain all this?
`Call it in,' Draco spoke abruptly. `I'm going to have a word with Burke here.' That said, Draco flipped his wand, levitated said wizard into the air, and disappeared, carrying the petrified prisoner behind him into the back room.
`What? You've got to be fuckin' kiddin' me?' Elle called out, but her words fell on deaf ears. `What the hell am I supposed to say!?'
(----)
In the back room of Borgin and Burke's, Draco removed the petrification spell with a simple wave of his wand. Burke tried to scramble away, but before he got even two steps, he found himself lifted into the air and flung to the wall, trapped like prey by Draco's superior magic.
`I don't know anything, I swear!' Burke pleaded, staring fearfully into the eyes of his captor.
Draco gave him a grim smile and shrug. He asked no questions, only raised his wand. `Crucio!'
Burke screamed, his shrill shriek breaking towards the end into a soundless contortion.
Draco finally lowered his wand, and Burke sagged slightly, panting, sweat dripping from his nose, eyes bloodshot.
`Puh-p-p…'
`Please?' Draco offered helpfully, a mocking tone to his normally sour voice.
Burke sobbed, knowing he was going to die horribly, but only if he was lucky. He'd heard the stories and knew what Draco was capable of. Torture so vile even Death Eaters cringed away in disgust. Dismemberment. Common spells used in such a way as to make them truly terrifying.
`Let's chat, Burke,' Draco said, eyes shinning with malevolence. `For "old times sake".'
(----)
Crack!
`Where is he?' Ron demanded to know, the words out of his mouth as soon as he spotted Elle kneeling by the unconscious, slowly dying Death Eater. She was intent, her wand moving over severed flesh, stopping blood flow and attempting to cauterise the wound.
Elle pointed towards the back room, and Ron didn't waste time. He was half way towards the back door when Draco emerged, calmly slipping his wand up his sleeve. Ron grabbed him by his robes. `What the bloody hell have you done?'
Draco scowled and shoved Ron away. `My job. Touch me again and you'll regret it.'
Ron ground his teeth, narrowed eyes staring unflinchingly into Draco's. They glared at each other, two strong willed, stubborn forces refusing to back down. Finally, with a sigh, Ron shook his head. `Ginny would not like what I see in you.' He didn't wait for Draco to reply, just stormed past him and into the back room.
Ron searched the room, fearful of what he might discover. He glimpsed a body propped against the wall, slumped over, and quickly knelt to examine it. It was Burke. The wizard was alive, at least, but unconscious. Ron was relieved to discover no outward sign of harm.
Taking a deep breath, he levitated Burke and brought him back into the front of the store. Draco was gone. Elle still tended to the wounded Death Eater lying amidst his own congealing blood.
`Draco left?' Ron asked, as he moved Burke over to lay him down on the counter.
Elle nodded, mouth a tight line.
Ron rubbed at his stubble while he thought. `You did good calling me.'
Elle gave him a sour look. `What fuckin' choice did I have? He's mad Ron. I don't know what to fuckin' do anymore.'
`I know, but it's out of our hands now. We don't have a choice. Draco's made his bed. There's nothing we can do. I'm not going to cover for him. Let the higher ups decide.'
`Is that really what you want?'
`No. Ginny would want me to help him, but bloody… I don't know how.' He shrugged.
Elle hung her head. `So that's it? We're out of fuckin' time?'
`Who knows? The Ministry let him get away with stuff before, maybe this too…'
`Do you really believe that?'
Ron simply shrugged again. He honestly had no idea.
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