Title: Preservation Characters: Severus, Lucius, Narcissa Rating: PG-13 Disclaimer:I don’t own Harry Potter and I am making no profit from this story. Warnings: References to human sacrifice Summary: The Malfoys will survive. Draco will survive. They will do anything to ensure it. Notes: Thanks to S for her beta work – any remaining mistakes are my own. Hope you enjoy your drabble, snax0!
Candles flicker, casting ghastly shadows in the sunken hollows of Lucius’ eyes and cheeks. If not for the glittering of his eyes, Severus would have thought Azkaban had killed him. He looks like an Inferius rather than a nobleman. Between them, Narcissa places an ancient book – the leather of its cover is cracked and withered and, Severus notes, suspiciously marked. The...thing used to provide the binding had been tattooed with protective runes, which had failed upon their final encounter with the Malfoy family long ago.
Narcissa’s long nails tap over the cover, and Severus tears his gaze away. Her face is grim – a twisted reflection of her departed cousin. He shudders and looks again to Lucius, half-mad and mostly-dead, and the frightening twist to his smile.
“My line will not end,” he says. “The Malfoys will survive.” He glances at his wife. “Draco will survive.”
The book is opened. Its pages have the dry, rotten scent of blood and ink. Dark magic crawls from it; a malevolent insect poised to sting. Passing centuries and charitable donations have done a lot to mask the true power of the Old Families, but not enough.