InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "You Think You're A Man"

By the time Lucius returned from the Park, Narcissa had put the Travers siblings in a suite in the guest room to sleep off their injuries. She and Priscilla Lestrange had treated Narcissa's guests. The rest was just waiting to see if Nathan and Madison were going to recover, or more like how long it was going to take them to recover. After that, Narcissa wanted to find out what Rodolphus had sent them to do.

She hoped Rabastan was going to put that silver tongue of his to good use in calming Charles Avery down because someone needed to have some sense about all this. Rodolphus didn't appear to exhibit any and neither had the Travers siblings. There was no sign of her concern when Lucius entered the library; Narcissa merely rose from her chair and came to greet him.

"Nathan and Madison are resting. Draco is asleep as well. How are things at the Park?"

Lucius kissed her, to let her know that however things were, they were together. It was as much for her comfort as for his.

"Irrational, I'm afraid. Rodolphus sent the Travers to attack Avery and also informed Charles that they were coming. The only way it could've been worse for Lestrange Park would be if the youngsters had actually talked to Charles and the three of them had come looking for explanations." Lucius handed his cloak to Dobby, walked to the bar, and poured a drink. "Would you like one, or is that no longer a good idea?"

He busied himself with ice and glass and strainer. "I don't see this ending well, darling. Too many people are too irrational."

Narcissa squeezed Lucius' fingers before she released him. "I can have a small one, and I think I've earned it. Is someone checking on Charles? Do we know whether he survived this attempt at homicide?"

Ice and glass and strainer came out again. Neither the drink nor his own drink were particularly strong. Lucius preferred that they both have their wits about them in the coming hours.

"Rabastan was headed there when we left. His brother was sleeping, which kept him from coming here to silence the witnesses." He frowned. "We might end up with violence in the Manor, despite our best efforts to keep it as a haven from such events. I think we should strengthen the internal wards." He didn't add "on the nursery." She knew, but he didn't want to say it. This was intolerable. His very home at risk, not from encroaching muggles but proper wizards.

"Did the Travers say anything or have they been blissfully unconscious since their impromptu acid bath?"

"They've been blissfully and wisely silent." Narcissa took her drink and had a sip. She had understood Lucius' secondary meaning, and liked it no more than he expected. "If anyone is such a fool as to threaten the Manor, I will not be answerable for what I do to protect my family," she told Lucius flatly. He had engaged in rebellions that would be difficult to walk back from, but with Rodolphus so irrational, they could still lay the blame on him. Or Bellatrix. From outright defiance of Charles Avery, there would be no return.

"He wouldn't dare," Lucius' nostrils flared. The very idea of it angered him. Contrary to his words, Lucius was convinced that Avery would dare. "Father was convinced his world was ending, and in his lifetime. 'I'd rather fight than go out without so much as a whimper.' They're the same. Both vicious enough to be a danger to their enemies and stupid enough to be a danger to their friends."

Lucius finished his drink. He wasn't going to spend time rambling about the injustices of things. That's how one became a bitter, impotent old has-been like Avery. He looked around the room, appraising their defences. "I'll strengthen the wards on the windows and doors," he said, pulling out his wand. "Is anyone scheduled to visit in the next few days?"

Narcissa leaned over to kiss her husband again. "No, and I'll tell Mother she needs to stay home." She sighed. "While you're dealing with the perimeter defences, I'll work on the special wards on the family wing. Dobby," she added, raising her voice, "if anyone enters the grounds, let Master Lucius or myself know at once. Keep watch until further notice, and don't let it interfere with your other duties." And on that note she took her glass and her wand and went out to do as she had promised.

Lucius lingered a moment in the kiss, then began a full inspection of the perimeter defenses. Forty generations of Malfoys had built, improved, and protected the Manor and grounds, each improving on the designs of the last--at least in theory. It was a traditional layered design, tertiary to deter, secondary to alert, and primary to incapacitate. He inverted the secondary and tertiary ward layers and increased the strength of the incapacitation wards.

He also took the dark artefact he'd built, slipped the chain over his head, and tucked the pendant inside his clothes. Just having such a thing would be considered a betrayal by Avery, and Lucius firmly believed the old english adage "Might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb." If Avery was going to kill him for treason, he would certainly oblige the man by committing it.

Avery was in the killing mood as he planned his descent upon the Malfoy Manor. The little visit from Rabastan did little to calm his nerves. The Sanctuary was stable, now there was just the Travers siblings to resolve. Somewhat permanently if he had his way.

Manners would dictate he call ahead, but as he left the Sanctuary with Nagini at his side -- she did deserve to finish -- he suspected that Rabastan had warned of his arrival. Tempting as it was to quite literally come crashing in, he opted to at least use the front door, the snake keeping a distance. He might even be so bold as to ask nicely.

The door was opened by a house-elf, as oddly-proportioned as all of his kind, dressed in a pillowcase. "Greeting of the household, Visiting Wizard. How May Dobby Announce your arrival to the Master?"

Avery cast his gaze downward. “I might imagine, Lucius has been expecting me. I have some unfinished business with some of his other guests.”

Dobby nods. "Yes Master Imagine, Dobby will announce 'I. Might Imagine' to the Master. Please wait here."

The elf apparated away.

Disappointing, but not unexpected for a house elf. Avery crossed his arms over his chest and nodded to Nagini. The snake would not be following him in, not yet. The waiting was not soothing him any, although it did provide a moment to consider a few different options.

The wait was longer than it should have been. The elf eventually apparated back. "The Master will see you. Please to follow Dobby, Master Imagine."

Dobby walked ahead, assuming the wizard would follow him. It wasn't exactly insolent, and it couldn't quite be construed as a slight, but it wasn't what Avery might've expected in a house like this.

Dobby waddled along on his large, flappy feet towards a side parlor. It was not formal, and had few pictures on the walls. Lucius was sitting in an overstuffed chair, reading. There was a drink beside him and he had a pipe curling smoke around his head. "Oh, hello, Charles. I had the hardest time getting Dobby to tell me who'd come by on an unexpected visit. I'll have to see if Madame Malfoy is receiving."

"Dobby!," he said, raising his voice. "Please inform the Mistress that Master Avery is with me in the Blue Parlour." The house-elf apparated away again and Lucius smiled at Avery.

"Now Charles, what brings you out at this hour?"

Charles Avery was a man that preferred taming dragons. Beasts were easier than people. They involved far less pomp and circumstance. He didn’t care to think about his reception, he just as much hated the fuss as any potential slight.

“Charming as it might be to be received by the lady of the manor, I am far more interested in your other guests.” He relaxed every so slightly as he stepped into the room, but did not sit. “Especially as they caused me and my fellow dragon keepers quite a commotion tonight.”

"My, word gets around quickly. I'm afraid they're not available. Perhaps we could set a date for a more traditional hour? The hospitality of the Manor is not to be passed upon lightly. Oh, yes, speaking of which, Dobby mentioned you came with a serpent of some sort? He is not sure if we can provide rodents for your … companion, but he's willing to consider his options if she is hungry."

“We are well passed hospitality.” As much as Avery hated it, he could attempt civility, even if just for 10 more seconds. “I will ask again. Nicely. And then I might not be so nice. I demand that the Travers siblings are brought to me, or me to them. Now.”

Lucius smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. "At this hour, one normally is, but we pride ourselves on the British tradition of hospitality. For instance, one simply cannot turn over guests to their enemies. That would cross a line. Perhaps I could offer you a glass of something and you could reconsider your approach?"

Narcissa arrived just in time to catch the tail end of Lucius' suggestion. Beneath her voluminous sleeves, her delicate fingers were wrapped around her wand. No trace of concern was permitted to sully her features as she composed her expression into a smile for Avery. "Welcome to my home," she told him, aware that the allusion that Lucius understood was likely to pass Avery by. "A glass of wine, or some of Lucius' whiskey, perhaps?" She glanced fondly at her husband.

Neither of those were his answers. And if nothing else, Charles Avery was a man of his word. He hadn’t exactly planned for an audience, but then he wasn’t exactly the planning type. He was deft with his wand and the cruciatus curse should the moment call for it. And he felt Lucius certainly did.

Lucius's hand came up, as if gesturing for Avery to stop. The artefact was working mostly. Perhaps a fifth of the unforgivable curse was affecting him, and the rest was rebounding towards the senior death-eater. Through clenched teeth Lucius managed to spit out the words. "You do not 'command' me, you may not 'demand' here." The pain was immense but he was satisfied that Avery would be feeling it fourfold. He bared his teeth and slowly began to close the gap.

Lucius noticed that his artefact was heating up. It didn't matter. Avery wouldn't know how close he was to victory.

There should have been more time before Avery struck. But he had moved directly to Unforgivables, and against Lucius. Narcissa's wand slashed crossways as she cast a severing spell at Avery, not bothering with something small to distract him. No, she was aiming to cut his throat.

Avery had managed to hold the curse against the rebound. He had no such luck with the severing curse that followed. Wives. Always a bother. He choked, stepping back while trying to apply pressure to the open wound at his neck.

There was blood everywhere. And a fumbled attempt to go for his wand, to do something. Except nothing came. Nothing at all, as he sunk down to the ground, hissing and gasping for reprieve.

Lucius staggered forward when Avery dropped his spell and fell to the ground. He stared at his attacker and he took deep breaths, smelling the salty iron smell of Avery's blood. "Thank you, darling. He was quite deranged, I'd say."

"Are you all right?" Narcissa was more concerned about Lucius than Avery ruining the parlour carpet in his death throes. "How much of it did you take?" Avery might not have known how badly off Lucius was, but his wife could guess. "Sit down and rest--or go up and bathe and sit with Draco. I'll take care of the rest of this."

Lucius shook his head. He already looked somewhat recovered. "No rest for the wicked, I'm afraid. He arrived with a reptile person, if one can believe Dobby. It didn't fully reflect the curse, but it did enough." Lucius pulled the pendant from inside his robes and looked at it with a critical eye. "I'm not sure if the flaws are inherent or if it can be improved, but this holdout is spent. He was demanding your guests, and I was not having demands put upon me in our home."

The pendant had done its job. If it had to be recreated, Lucius would improve it, or find another. She dismissed that problem from her mind for the moment. "Of course not. And we would have had to dispose of him anyway. Let's find out what happened to the reptile he brought with him. I think it's already bitten Madison Travers so it's probably hostile. If it proves to be less being than beast, we should feed Avery to it. It would solve the problem of disposal."

The choking sounds from Avery were already diminished sufficiently that Narcissa thought he might be dead. She began to move the furnishings toward the edges of the room with her wand. "Once we get rid of the body, we'll transfigure the rug and bring in one from storage. I've been considering redecorating the townhouse and there's one that might do nicely for this room there.

"And I'll have to thank Rabastan for the warning and coordinate our alibis."

"Yes. Perhaps it's best if the trail just runs cold. He never arrived is simpler than he came by but then departed, although that is true, in a spiritual sense." Lucius frowned at the unwelcome complication that was no longer Charles Avery. "I hope that wasn't too much of a shock in your condition, darling."

Lucius pulled out his wand, somewhat amused that he'd been present for and the subject of a wizarding duel and had never brought it to bear.

"I was prepared," she told Lucius, her tone softening to fondness. "Moreso than Avery, anyhow. And we need to consider how we're going to deal with Nott afterwards. If he means to seek vengeance or will be wise enough to stop and leave us all alone."

"You were magnificent, and I daresay you saved my life. As for Nott, given the way things are going for the so-called leadership, perhaps Andromeda will be his doom. Then you'll each have one."

There was a moment in which Narcissa considered her reply, which was: "I daresay that if he excruciates her husband, he'll find out her duelling skills are sufficient as well. Let us hope for all our sakes that he's not so foolish."

Lucius nodded. "Let's hope. We need to get to work. I'm afraid it's going to be a long night."