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Tweak says, "It was NEVER that big."

Theodore Nott (bd_theodore) wrote in beyond_dark,
@ 2008-09-07 08:31:00

Entry tags:

* september 2006, - complete, draco malfoy, theodore nott

RP: So that protection you offered...
Date: September 6, 2006 (backdated)
Characters: Theo, Draco
Location: Malfoy Manor
Private/Public: Private
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Summary: Knowing he's in trouble, Theo goes straight from meeting Rodolphus to Draco.

He was half shaking, by anger or shock he wasn't sure, as he appeared at Malfoy Manor, the memory of the meeting with Rodolphus too vivid in his mind. How could Rodolphus refuse him revenge? How could he think that he would accept a no when Lisa was responsible for the death of his wife?

Still, he had not expected his own actions. To grow so angry that he lost all sense of moderation and control. He had not even tried to be subtle as he forced himself into Rodolphus' mind, brutally forceful rather as he snatched at every secret he could find trying to find what he needed to know to get to Lisa. Rodolphus would change his plans, make the secrets he held useless as far as he could, Theo was sure, but he knew enough – and Rodolphus couldn't change everything. If his actions and reactions were not an excuse enough of a reason to have him killed (which they would be as far as Rodolphus was concerned) protecting those secrets would be.

That was why Theo didn't even bother to Apparate back to Nott Manor after the meeting, knowing the risk was too great. True, Rodolphus was the only one with access, and he could not harm him himself. That however didn't mean that he couldn't Nathaniel and Theo would not risk bringing more harm to his son at this point. No, he needed somewhere for the both of them to be safe – and after his meeting with Rodolphus, Nott Manor wasn't it.

To Malfoy manor, however, Rodolphus had no access at all and Draco had promised him a safe place to stay should he need it. It seemed he'd reached the point where he did.

Perhaps the idea should upset him, but all he could feel now was anger. Any sentimental feeling he'd had towards Rodolphus had died the moment the man refused him revenge, or perhaps even when Padma drew her last breath. He didn't miss them, feelings were more trouble than they were worth. He'd focus on Nathaniel, and getting his revenge. Nothing and no one would stand in the way of that, he'd make sure of it.

For now though, he needed to focus, and so he drew a deep breath and knocked on the door of the manor, waiting to be let in.

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bd_draco
2008-09-09 02:47 pm UTC (link)

The house elf opened the door, and stepped aside to let the guests enter the house. "Please wait here," he said politely. "Fides be calling Master Draco." Fides disappeared with a pop.

Draco reappeared only moments later. "Theo, how unexpected. Come in." Theo looked angry and upset, and that didn't bode well. "Is everything all right? Did something happen?" He was praying that it meant that Rodolphus was dead, but he was not an optimist.

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bd_theodore
2008-09-09 02:58 pm UTC (link)

No nothing was right, but Theo didn't quite know how to explain. In one way it would be so simple. Simple facts - A duel gone wrong. Nathaniel injured. Padma dead. Yet Theo couldn't bring himself to say any of it, not like that, not just like facts.

They didn't feel like mere facts.

'Too much happened,' he said instead, stepping inside. He sighed. 'I'm going to need that help we talked about.'

He looked at Draco, knowing he'd have to explain. 'You want Rodolphus' secrets?' he asked. 'I might just have snatched a fair few from his mind against his will.'

It was reckless, risky, stupid - and utterly unlike anything he'd ever done before in his life. Unlike his very calm, collected and utterly in control character. 'It's a long story - or maybe not as long as it feels. First things first though, I need to bring Nathaniel here too - the sooner the better. Rodolphus can't get into the manor while I'm not there, but I don't want to take any chances.'

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bd_draco
2008-09-09 03:05 pm UTC (link)

"Come on in," Draco said immediately, knowing that whatever Theo had done had come at a price. It always did with his uncle. He put a hand on Theo's back.

"Politics can wait for now," he added. "Fides!" He called and waited for the house elf to appear. "Go with Mr. Nott, and make sure he gets back without a problem. If necessary, Apparate with him and his son directly into the manor."

Draco looked at Theo. "Go, get whatever you need, and then you can tell me everything when you get back. I'll have a suite prepared on the third floor, that's where we are. Fides, bring Mr. Nott directly there."

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bd_theodore
2008-09-09 03:19 pm UTC (link)

Theo wasn't sure about returning to the manor himself, was it even safe? Yet he did want to be the one to bring Nathaniel, make sure he was all right and that the Apparition didn't hurt him further.

He Apparated directly into the nursery, calling Mimsy the moment he arrived. 'Get clothes for Nathaniel as well as for me and have it sent to Malfoy Manor, add anything else you think we need as well,' he ordered. 'I will send further instructions later.'

Mimsy looked worried, but she didn't argue, just nodded. 'Master?' she asked hesitantly, Theo glanced at her. 'Should I inform Miss Verity of where you are? Ficus said she had the babies.'

For a moment, Theo didn't realise what Mimsy was talking about, then it became clear and he nodded. 'Yes let her know,' he said simply, scooping up Nathaniel into his arms. The boy still looked so fragile and pale, the dark hair only adding to the contrast.

Almost as an afterthought, Theo snatched up Nathaniel's favourite dragon as well, a toy he'd received from his mother, before turning to Draco's elf. 'We can go now.' It wasn't packing anything, but he didn't want to waste his time in the house, not when his presence meant putting Nathaniel at risk.

They arrived at Malfoy manor only a few minutes after they'd left and Theo was shown into the suite Draco had talked about.

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bd_draco
2008-09-09 03:29 pm UTC (link)

Draco had already informed Tracey of their new house guests. He was going to write Severus, but that could wait until after he had the full story. He made sure that the suite had everything that Theo would need, including a crib.

He felt Theo return, and it was only moments before Theo entered the room. "Everything should be ready soon, and of course, if you want to bring your elf, you're more than welcome. Fides can show her everything she needs to help you, and of course Tracey will be happy to assist you and Padma in anyway."

Draco moved closer and looked at the boy. "Is he all right? He looks-" Almost dead, but he didn't say. "What happened to him? And where's Padma?"

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bd_theodore
2008-09-09 03:40 pm UTC (link)

The mention of Padma's name brought a fresh waive of pain, though he pushed it back, refusing to acknowledge the feelings. He could deal with weaknesses like that when he was alone, not now.

'I'll let Mimsy know, she'll be bringing clothes for us later,' he said, pushing the moment he needed to speak ahead of him. Yet he couldn't stall forever and he knew as much. Carefully laying Nathaniel in the crip, he watched him for a moment, making sure his breathing was still regular, that he was still safe, before he straightened up. It occurred to him that he'd need to let healer Mallard know where he was at the moment.

'Lisa Lestrange happened to him,' he finally said, his jaws clenched as he spoke. For a moment he was almost tempted to just offer Draco to see what had happened with his own eyes, avoid talking about it all together, but he pushed the idea away. He did not like to show weakness, and he would not show himself as scared as he'd ever been in his life even to Draco.

'Can we sit?' he then asked, moving over to a chair and simply taking a seat. It was yet another way of stalling and he knew it. Not that he cared, anything that kept him from saying the words he hated more than anything.

'They were right outside the wards of the manor,' he started once he sat, purposely avoiding Padma's name. 'Suddenly Lisa and an Auror showed up - I think he'd grabbed her as she Apparated - some sort of pursuit. She was aiming at the Auror, but they got in the way.' He didn't explain what had happened to Padma, avoided the topic all together. Draco, he assumed, would understand enough.

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bd_draco
2008-09-09 04:05 pm UTC (link)

Draco followed Theo and sat down. The moment that Lisa's name came up, he knew that nothing good could come of it. She was as insane as his aunt Bellatrix and nothing she did made sense.

"I'm sorry," he said as gently as he could, but he knew that words like that didn't mean anything when struck by a tragedy such as this.

"Theo, I think I can make some assumptions, but I think you'll have to tell me the whole story. It's the only way we can help in the long run. What happened with Padma and uncle Rodolphus? I wish I wouldn't have to ask, but-" He looked over his shoulder at Nathaniel again. "Should we call John? Maybe you both need to see a healer."

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bd_theodore
2008-09-09 04:18 pm UTC (link)

Theo shook his head at the last question, once more stalling. 'John has seen him already,' he said simply, following Draco's gaze to his son. 'I should let him know where we are though. I'll have Mimsy bring him a message.'

And after that, there was no more stalling to do. Nothing more to be said to keep him from saying what he really didn't want to say. 'Padma-' even her name felt like a cut to the core. 'Died.' The word felt thick, heavy, like something stuck in your throat that would hurt too much to swallow and just as much to cough up. And so he left it at that, not saying anything more. Rodolphus was easier to concentrate on.

'Rodolphus was...understanding and sympathetic and absolutely refused to let me let Lisa suffer for her actions. I should have expected it, of course, but...well I lost my temper and Severus trained me well. Mostly my aim was Lisa's various hiding places, how to get to her, but once in his mind I snatched at anything I could get at.'

He sighed. 'I'm not a subtle legilimens yet, Draco, far from it, Rodolphus knew the moment I entered his mind and he knows I won't stop until Lisa Lestrange is dead.'

'He's also in a much better health than he's been letting on,' he added allowing himself a snort of disgust. He didn't like the feeling of being used.

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bd_draco
2008-09-09 04:29 pm UTC (link)

"Theo, stop that. If he's seen Nathaniel, we can tell him later. He's not going to go anywhere, and we can always send Fides to his house." He put a hand on Theo's arm. "I know it's hard, but this is it. You're at war now. You need your control now more than ever." He might not have liked Padma, but he didn't want her dead. Still, they all had dealt with the death of close family members. It was part of war.

"Okay, he's not sick. Do you know why he's pretending?" Draco was trying to think logically when Theo couldn't. "We need you to write down everything, even if you don't think it's important, because you never know when a little detail might prove to be important... and Theo, killing Lisa is not the most important thing, no matter how it feels right now. Taking care of uncle Rodolphus is. No one is safe until we achieve that."

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bd_theodore
2008-09-09 11:19 pm UTC (link)

Theo took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair. Draco was right, he couldn't lose it now. All these feelings were just in the way and he'd have to push them back, deal with them when he was alone until he could make them go away.

Getting Lisa killed would help. No matter what Draco said. He'd think of a way.

He did not mention that, though, but nodded instead. 'There was one memory,' he said, his voice calmer now. 'A village I've never seen before, Rodolphus was putting up wards around it.' He pondered the memory, wondering if he could somehow identify the place. 'I think he's found a new base of operations and he didn't want us to know until everything was in place. Not even in full health would a man be able to keep up wards at two places at once - he needed an excuse to take them down.'

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bd_draco
2008-09-10 08:28 pm UTC (link)

Draco wasn't surprised. After Stephen had found a way to attack the place, they could never be safe at Upper Slaughter. They couldn't use the same plan of attach twice, but they were still vulnerable, especially considering the number of people that had switched sides.

He rolled his eyes. "Sometimes for a brilliant man, he truly is stupid." Or it was the fact that he underestimated the opponent too many times. He had done it with Severus, and Stephen, and even with Draco himself. Arrogance tended to do that. "It didn't need anything that complicated. We assumed he was planning to move, but that doesn't help us if he puts the Fidelius on."

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bd_theodore
2008-09-10 11:40 pm UTC (link)

Theo sighed, leaning back in his chair while casting a protective glance at his son. 'Of course it could have been connected to the attack-' for once he couldn't immediately remember where it had been. He'd burned the note he'd received in anger, barely reading it as all he could think about was that Lisa and the Auror surely had come from there.

'He might have wanted the element of surprise. Of course that means that he expected me to pass the information on even after he said not to.' Maybe that didn't matter any more, maybe none of it did. He needed to protect his son against Rodolphus, to keep himself alive. The wish he'd once had that his godfather would somehow be able to live even as the war ended had vanished. Now he just wanted this to be over.

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bd_draco
2008-09-11 07:09 am UTC (link)

"Maybe he complicates things too much in his own head," Draco said, because he was used to that. Severus tended to do it some days, when he twisted and turned things until nothing made sense when a little common sense would get you to the most probably, even if not certain answer.

"Surprise or not, it's not like he was going to send us the address to this new town," he added with a shrug. "I think we can list this under one of Uncle's paranoid, and useless, schemes." It also meant that they were no further than before. "Is there anything about this place that could give us an idea of where it is? I know it's hard..." This also brought up a new idea. "He's going to assume that you've seen more than you have probably, which means he might have to reassess his move. It also means that there is no playing sides anymore. Theo, this is it."

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bd_theodore
2008-09-11 11:14 am UTC (link)

Theo pondered the question. 'It's small, about the size of Upper Slaughter I would think, though from the looks of it there are more businesses. Or should I say were, I doubt Rodolphus would let the muggles stay to work.' He paused, thinking of more details. 'It seemed to be situated on top of a hill and unlike Upper Slaughter I didn't see a river or stream, though that could have been the view.'

Shaking his head, he leaned back. 'Perhaps it's better if I just write everything down like you suggested.'

He laughed when Draco finished, though it was no mirth in the sound, just tiredness and bitterness. Feelings he'd never normally let show. 'I broke into Rodolphus's mind, not too subtly at that, and as if that wasn't enough my learning Legilimancy was breaking a direct order in the first place.' He huffed. 'I'm not so foolish as to think that he has not already decided to have me killed, perhaps Nathaniel too.' He looked over at his son, and at that moment he felt ten, perhaps twenty, years older than he was. Ten fucking years at playing the spy - and now what? Not even through that had he managed to keep his family safe.

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	bd_draco 2008-09-11 11:27 am UTC (link)
	"Write it down before the Fidelius goes up, and then we check Muggle records, see if he was lazy and there is a record there," Draco said. He patted Theo's back. "It's time to make serious arrangements for you and your son, but all of that can wait. Write me down the details and I'll talk to Severus. You can lie down with your son and get some rest." (Reply to this) (Thread)

bd_theodore
2008-09-11 11:42 am UTC (link)

'That is if it hasn't gone up already,' Theo answered tiredly. He didn't think they'd have much luck, Rodolphus would be more careful than that. Not that it mattered. All that was left to hope for was that Lisa Lestrange was too arrogant to go into hiding or change locations because of threats he made, and that Rodolphus was too confident to change all of his plans.

Perhaps they could cause him some damage. He could only hope.

He merely nodded at Draco's next suggestion, already having located where the quill and ink were by the first time Draco mentioned writing this down. He didn't speak, didn't quite have the energy for it. In no time at all his entire life had fallen apart and right now he just wanted to be alone. He was grateful when Draco left him alone to his own thoughts and sorrows.

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