The Deeper you Dig, The Darker it Gets

79.

Malory's POV

                 You decide.

        You don't actually think I can make a decision like this, do you? I'm supposed to choose between killing my father and saving the wizarding world. Sure, to everyone else that seems simple. He's evil, Malory. Why would you want to keep him alive?

                    It's my dad.

              "Do we even know how to destroy them?"

          Draco shakes his head. "It's definitely not just a simple spell."

                      "But Harry knows how, right?" Blaise asks.

                             "I'm not sure, but it's a possibility."

        We've been doing this for a couple of hours now, sitting on the sofa trying to figure out what to do. I know they expect me to say more than I have but if they knew what I'm thinking, they'd probably be confused.

         "How do we even know destroying these will solve all of this?" Aary sighs.

         "There's a reason why Voldemort wants them back so badly, he knows if they're gone so is he." Draco explains.

         "Yeah and I'm pretty sure this is Snape's way of telling us that we should get rid of them." Blaise adds on while pointing at the note.

       I stare down at the handwriting on the parchment, it's so sophisticated yet rushed and messy.

       Why wouldn't you tell me this before? Why did you have to wait until now? You'd be alive still if you hadn't kept this a secret.

          "So if we decide to destroy them, do we still have to find the rest before Harry?"

       I notice Draco's expression turns sour for a split second but he tries to keep emotion out of it.

                       "Mal, did he say how many there were exactly?"

      I look up from the floor and it takes me a minute to comprehend what he's asking me, only because I've been zoned out this entire time.

          "He didn't say, no." I respond. "But I think I have an idea of where one of them might be."

      Draco, Aary, and Blaise, immediately straighten their posture.

            I run my fingers through my hair and sigh deeply. "Nagini, she never leaves his side."

       Blaise instantly starts to laugh. "And how are we going to do that? That's a bloody snake you're talking about."

                     "Plus, it can't be killed by just anything." Aary mumbles.

                     I give them irritated looks. "Fine, then it's settled."

        Draco raises his eyebrow. "What do you mean? What's settled?"

        I get up from the sofa and grab my book. "I don't think you guys realize what we're trying to do. You act like I should be jumping with joy because we have to kill my dad. Well I'm telling you right now, I'm not. This fucking sucks."

       "Mal," Draco grabs my arm. "I get why this can be hard, but he's pure evil. I've seen the things he's done to you and others, I know you want to stop it-"  

        "And I've seen your dad beat you unconscious but you still murdered Dumbledore to save him." I snap back.

       His eyes grow big and at first I think he's going to say something, but instead he just lets go of my arm. I don't even try to look at Blaise and Aary, I just head in the direction of the study and shut the door.

       The second the door is closed my body slides down and I bring my knees to my chest. I don't want to cry because I know they're right; my dad is the villain. I've never seen him as anything else, there's never been a single moment in my life where he's been good to me.

        I should want him dead, but I don't. Maybe it's the little bit of hope in me that thinks after all of this is over and he has the horcruxes that we'll finally be able to start our relationship. He'd be so happy with me for finding them and even though we'd be looked at as evil, we'd have each other.

       Tears well up in my eyes and even though I'm alone, I still push them back. I rub my face aggressively before getting off of the floor, then move over to the desk.

             "Alright Snape," I huff. "If you know anything else about this shit you have to show me now."

       Obviously, he's not going to respond. But there's a part of me that believes he's somehow trying to help. So if there is something in here that will give me answers, I know he'll find a way for me to see it.

        I scan all of the paper work on the desk in front of me, most of it is from Hogwarts. I can't believe Snape was actually the headmaster for a period of time and I never got to see it. He always talked about wanting to be the Dark Arts teacher but never anything more. Becoming headmaster seemed to make him feel guilty if anything. He probably did a really good job, though.

       Past all of the school contracts and letters from parents, there's his notebook. And it's opened up to a specific page. I pick it up with both hands and start reading but there's only a few words written down.

       The first word is diary. There's a check beside it, along with the cup and the locket. Three that have been found but we only have two. Maybe this diary has already been destroyed?

       The word Ravenclaw is underlined, but it doesn't say anything else. Below that it says, Nagini. I fucking knew it, the snake is a horcrux.

         There's a few other words written down, mainly just scribbles. The one that catches my eye though, is the address written at the bottom of the page.

Draco's POV

         "Are you sure we shouldn't go talk to her?" Blaise asks. "I feel bad."

              "It's Mal, when she's ready to talk she'll come out." Aary explains.

      Just as those words come out of her mouth, the door of the study swings open. We all turn to see Mal rushing in our direction with a book in hand.

                "We're going to have to kill the snake." She says softly.

        I get up from where I'm sitting and join at her side to read through the page. The words written down stand alone but I know exactly what they mean when I see them. And just like she just said, Nagini is on the page.

              "Does that mean we're going back to the manor?" Aary asks, nervously. 

       Mal nods and I gently take the notebook from her hands. When I reach the bottom of the page there's something that I don't fully understand.

         "What's this address?" I ask her. "Is this supposedly where one of them is-"

        "I don't know," She cuts me off. "But we'll go there later. Maybe after killing Nagini we'll understand it more.

       I nod and hand the book back to her. The expression on her face tells me she's lying but I don't know about what. My guess is that she knows exactly what the address means, she's just not sure why it's written on a page full of horcruxes.