Halloween - The Aftermath: Chapter 4 (Patreon)

The members of the Black Swan walked uphill, wading through waist-high snow. The first rays of sunlight were almost there now, peeping through the clouds that sheltered the sun from visibility.

Lucius Malfoy walked at the head of the column, garbed in black, his blonde hair cut short and a very familiar cane in his hand. A permanent scowl was etched on his face, seemingly carved for years, as he breathed heavily.

Not for the first time, he cursed those damnable black stones for posing so many problems to their operations, and the logistics in particular. No matter how powerful wards they enabled one to erect, the cons were considerable. Those were even more noticeable in a situation like the one they currently found themselves in. A group of almost a hundred had to walk through deep snow, to reinforce a group that had proven itself so incompetent.

Lucius had half a mind to let them get fucked by those aurors, loss of personnel be damned, but he was not that big on an idiot. He knew he didn’t have the pull the Dark Lord enjoyed. He couldn’t treat the lives of his comrades so casually, else there was nothing that would keep him safe, not even the leverage he held over a select few individuals of their group. With utmost reluctance, he had agreed to reinforce them.

However, it didn’t mean he didn’t have a hidden agenda of his own. This was too good an opportunity to pass up. James Bloody Potter was present up there, and Lucius didn’t want to waste this opportunity. Dealing with the man in any other setting was problematic – he took way too many precautions; the man had rarely been seen alone, and it wouldn’t have been prudent to attack him in the public eye and expose their group to that level.

The fact that there were going to be quite many aurors was the reason why he had authorized every personnel available to join him on this excursion. Their objective was simple – take out all those aurors, weakening the British Law Enforcement. However, what not many knew was the fact that he had a very personal agenda, with a particular man.

Lucius had lusted after Narcissa Black for so long, and he had come so very close to possessing her. They had been due to be wed when her grandfather had abruptly broken the betrothal. He had been enraged, but wisely kept his wits to himself. There was no benefit in provoking Arcturus Black any further. That soured the relations between the Blacks and the Malfoys to the point where a cold apathy developed between the two families.

However, it didn’t lessen his obsession with Narcissa even a tiny bit. Lucius continued to fantasize about her and what he would do to her once she was within his grasp.

The rage he had felt when she married that asshole James Potter made his rage at the broken betrothal pale in comparison. It hadn’t helped that the Dark Lord was gone for some time, defeated by the same family that took what belonged to him away.

His anger simmering under the surface, Lucius palmed his wand tightly, his nails digging into his glove and his eyes glowered as he stared straight ahead.

Unbeknownst to the only member of house Malfoy, his top-most lieutenants were busy a few meters behind him at the back of the procession plotting something that he would’ve found troublesome. Not that they gave a damn about what he felt anymore. The coalition had been formed, and as it had been since it started back at the headquarters, their discussion continued as they discussed just what they were going to do now.

“Alright, so the privacy charm is up, no one’s going to hear us now,” Yaxley remarked as he pocketed his wand.

“What is the final plan then? Do we get rid of Lucius here or turn on him up there in front of the aurors?”

“You do realize something, right? Lucius is not one to not have plans. I bet he has arranged to out us should something happen to us,” Rosier stated matter-of-factly.

“So we’re fucked either way?” Lee sighed.

“As far as I can see, we have two options. Get rid of Lucius and continue this miserable life as criminals, or turn Lucius and ourselves in and hope for a lenient judgement. If we can manage a good lawyer who agrees to take our case, it would be even better,” Yaxley remarked.

“I don’t like either of those options, Corban,” Rosier muttered, “can’t we claim the Imperius again?”

“Listen to yourself,” Yaxley hissed, looking at him agitatedly, “Do you really think they will let us off the hook based on that lie?”

“We have galleons to spare,” he shrugged.

“No amount of galleons would save us this time. The ministry has seen an overhaul, there is nobody in key positons that can be bought, those oaths saw to that,” Yaxley muttered, “the only choice is what I told you. We either continue living like this, or turn ourselves in, serve some time, and live normal lives once our sentence is over.”

“You seem to have already decided to turn yourself in, Corban,” the snide voice of Damien Snyde cut in. The man had given him the creeps on numerous occasions, but over time, they had come to see each other as allies if not friends.

Yaxley looked at him and nodded.

“I have. I...” he sighed, “I am done with this life, killing, torture, rape and what not, it’s enough now... I just want a life of peace and quiet now, no more power grab,”

“Just give up then? What about those dreams of ruling and domination?” Warrington asked, surprised.

“What rule? What domination?” Rosier cried out agitatedly.

“We’ve been doing this shit for over two decades now. Our entire lives have gone by. What did we rule? Who did we dominate? A few muggle girls and women who we abused? Some weaklings we tortured and killed to feel good? No. It was all a lie, there’s nothing worth ruling over. It’s all over,” Yaxley muttered.

A tense silence ensued as all of them took in Yaxley’s words. All of them had had such thoughts numerous times in their minds over the years, but they had either repressed those thoughts or been too afraid to do something about them.

“Alright,” Snyde admitted, “we’re onboard. Killing Lucius is of no use. It would only add to our long list of crimes, but if we turn him and ourselves in, maybe they would take it into consideration, especially with all our dirty deeds that Lucius has kept a tally of. They will surely add to our sentences,”

“What can we do anyway? Become outlaws? Better serve whatever sentence we’re granted and start anew than to live this miserable life for however many years we have left,” Rosier shrugged, seemingly accepting his fate.

The group of terrorists made slow progress, walking through such deep snow, and the sun had risen already, bathing them in its glow. The conspirators tilted their heads up, eyes squinted, each one of them thinking how long it would be until they saw another sunrise in the future.

“I just hope we get there before those aurors, otherwise there would be no way there won’t be a battle,” Lee muttered, quiet enough so that only his fellow companions could hear him over the sound of the wind.

“Take your head out of the ground, Lee,” Snyde chided, “there’s no avoiding a battle. Take a good look around you,”

All of them looked at the overeager faces of the recruits, all of them yearning for battle, hungry for chaos and carnage, and cringed.

“Yeah... I might’ve spoken too soon,” Lee clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“We’re going to try to stay out of danger, avoid killing or injuring any of those aurors, and help them take out these lot however we can. If we manage to gift them Lucius, all the better,” Snyde concluded.

“I wouldn’t bet on the latter though,” Yaxley muttered. At their questioning gazes, he sighed.

“Do you people really think Lucius will fight on the frontlines? The man can only kill defenceless people. One competent wizard in front of him and he would piss his pants,” Yaxley had a really low opinion of Lucius’ prowess with the wand.

“Great,” Lee sighed.

“Our only bet is that the aurors gain the upper hand and we join up with them in the very beginning. Hopefully, the surprise would be enough for them to subdue this lot and capture Lucius,” Rosier started with a jerk of his head.

The other wizards nodded, each of them apprehensive about what was to ensue.

*****

In sharp contrast to the tense situation in the highlands of Scotland, there was an entirely different kind of situation unfolding inside the Potter household.

The soft lights of the morning sun peeked through the slightly parted curtains by the window, the glass panes doing a very poor job to stop them. Unfortunately, the direct ray assaulted the sleeping visage of Harry Potter. He squinted his eyes in irritation and brought his arm up over his face, blocking the light. However, his sleep was broken the moment his knuckle touched his forehead, and he sighed.

Last night had been the best night of his life. What had started as a delightful evening with Narcissa had progressed into something else altogether, with the two of them discovering innumerable things about each other. An experience that brought them so close to each other, not just physically, but emotionally as well.

He had never thought he would be with her in such a way or behave with her the way he had done at the party, in the parking area, or inside his shower. Hell, even his bed had been christened with his dominating exertions as he had taken Narcissa to the most exciting and satisfactory ride of her life.

However, the morning brought something else with it. It brought a sense of clarity that had been somewhat nonexistent the previous night. No matter how much he loved what they had done, no matter how right this thing felt, and no matter what his feelings were for her now, the fact remained that she was the wife of his father. His loving father who had raised him, who had given his all to ensure his happiness after his mother’s passing, and the one who had always put him over everything.

A sense of guilt started to creep into his psyche, one borne out of shame at his ungratefulness and depravity. Sure, he had had some wild carnal experiences – his threesome with Fleur and Gabrielle came to mind, and that was incest!

But this thing with Narcissa, even if he didn’t consider it incestuous, was not right. He had acted selfish last night, he admitted to himself. He had lost himself in the intoxicating allure of her wanton flesh and the taboo experience of being with his stepmother, and he found himself feeling guilty. His guilt didn’t stem from the fact that he had fucked Narcissa and loved every bit of it, but from the other fact that she was his father’s wife.

As he contemplated more, he realized that he did not regret what happened between them one bit, and admitted to himself that he would do it all over again if he could. The only thing he felt was bad for going behind his father’s back and doing this to him.

“You know, if you keep thinking so hard, I won’t be able to go to sleep,”

Harry chuckled at her soft voice, still slightly drowsy, and looked down at her. Her lovely visage, devoid of any makeup, still looked no less alluring, as her blonde locks framed her face beautifully. His eyes didn’t trail down to her naked body, simply content in taking in her pretty face, and as he brought his hand up to stroke her cheek with the back of his fingers, he realized he didn’t want to let go. No matter how wrong this was, and no matter how selfish this was of him, he didn’t want to stop being with this woman in his arms.

Narcissa noticed him looking at her with a tender smile on his face, and felt a soft smile creep up on hers. She had an idea of what he had been thinking, she had had the same thought after all, if she was right, that is. But she realized she had gone on long enough. James had told her she could take any lover she wanted, as long as there was discretion, to satiate her understandable urges since he wouldn’t be able to fulfill his marital duties to her, but she had denied him every time. It wasn’t as if the idea was repulsive, after all, how can sex be repulsive, and that too when you hadn’t had it for years, but she had denied him because she hadn’t felt that connection with anyone she had met over the years. No one had managed to arouse her, no one until Harry did the previous night.

However, she felt it prudent to clarify the situation with him.

“Harry?”

He turned his eyes to look into her own, and she felt she could drown in those emerald pools. Shaking her head, she resumed, “do you regret what happened between us?”

His response was very important to her because as much as she would love to be with him and keep doing what they had done, she would not if he regretted it. His eyes widened and Narcissa felt a flutter of relief settle into her belly.

“What!? No! NO! Never! I’d never regret what we did!”

His vehement denial was a relief, and she smiled a brilliant smile.

“I’m glad,” she whispered, her eyes dropping down as she drew circles on his chest, “I can’t explain it properly Harry, but last night was the best night of my life. And what I shared with you, I want to keep doing it for as long as we can,” she admitted and looked up at him.

His eyes softened and he bent down slightly. Their lips pressed together, soft and harmonious in their movement, as Narcissa closed her eyes and placed her palm over his bare chest. A sense of tranquility washed over the couple as they kissed each other, both of them softly caressing each other’s naked bodies underneath the silk duvet, their lips moving in perfect symphony, softly caressing.

“Ugh...” Harry abruptly groaned, waving his hand and casting a mouth freshening charm on the two of them, before attempting to kiss her again, only to find her hand coming up to stop him.

Fingers pressed against his lips, Narcissa questioned mock-sternly, “Harry Potter! Did you just indirectly say my mouth smells!?”

Harry’s wide eyes relaxed and adopted a playful gaze, and with a pinch to her ass cheek, he muttered, “Minx,”

Narcissa giggled, before moaning when his lips locked with hers once again, probing for entrance this time, one which she was all too happy to grant. As their tongues softly caressed and their hands wandered, the couple lost itself in the sensation of bliss, seemingly unbothered with whatever happened in the outside world.

*****

The wind picked up in the highlands of Scotland, battering away at the group of aurors who were trekking up the mountain. It had been hours since they had started to make their way up, and fatigue was starting to creep in. No matter how many pepper-ups they kept downing, the cold weather made it obsolete.

“Auror Shacklebolt, over there!”

Kingsley looked over where his subordinate was pointing, and sure enough, he could make out the magical sheen of the barricades some kilometers from their location.

“Wands ready, lads, this is about to become a warzone,” his deep rumble sounded out as they increased their pace, motivated after having their destination in sight.

“Expecto Patronum!” A silvery lynx materialized in front of him, and Kingsley ran his hand over it.

“Go and tell James Potter to get the team ready for battle, we’ll be there in half an hour at the most,”

The lynx jumped twice before it took off in the direction of those barricades. Kingsley steeled his face. It was time to rumble.

Deep in the woods on the opposite side, the group led by Lucius Malfoy walked quickly. The target was not far away. A few more minutes and they could begin routing those silly aurors out of their hidey-hole. An anticipatory grin crept up Lucius Malfoy’s face as he walked ahead, while his lackeys followed closely behind.

*****

To be continued...