𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐏𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐒

XXI

Act XXI.

Alis volat propiis.

She flies with her own wings.

Albus Dumbledore sat heavily in his favourite chair, a tired sigh escaping his lips as he looked pensively at the letter sitting on his desk. A nondescript owl had delivered the missive to his office a few minutes ago and immediately, a grim suspicion had formed in his mind. It was addressed to Hogwarts. He had used every single incantation from his vast arsenal of detection spells to try and find a trace of Dark Arts, but so far, nothing of the sort had been discovered.

He turned the envelope over once more before cautiously and painstakingly opening it. He sighed even louder when he recognized the penmanship in the letter and so with his heart sinking, he read on.

Professor Dumbledore,

By now I trust that the news of my death has reached you. It is an unfortunate but otherwise foreseeable outcome. A premise necessary for the plan I am about to reveal to you now. Take pains for this information not be divulged to anyone else, especially my son. Draco has suffered enough and no doubt my untimely demise has added to his misery. Only you and Severus are meant to have knowledge of this. I have bound my husband’s life with that of our son by means of an ancient curse. I have no doubt that you are familiar with the spell I speak of and that you also know that the bond can only be completed with the spilling of familial blood. It is my blood I have chosen to be spilled. I cannot stand the thought of hurting either of them and so I am left with this as my only recourse. I would rather be dead and have my son safe than be alive and have his life endlessly endangered. And my husband, nefariously vile as he may be to you, is very much dear to me. My heart requires the safety and health of them both and this bond satisfies that.

            I will now call upon your word. You vowed to keep him safe. Please see to it that you do. I know my son, Dumbledore. A mother always does. I know that in receiving the news, he will not cry. He will not throw things or explode in a tantrum. But he will be angry, dangerously so, and because of this, he will blame you. He will blame me. He will blame his father, and Severus and everyone else who has ever crossed his path. But most of all, he will blame himself. And the latter is what I fear the most.       

            Take care of him as you have promised. I did not pay the ultimate price just to see him waste it in a pique of self loathing. So far you have done an adequate job in his care. I am relying on this to continue.

        
            Lastly, watch over Severus too. Formulating this solution has taken a great toll on him, especially since I kept him in the dark about the true requirements of the bond. I’m afraid I led him to believe he could save me in the end. It was the only way to ensure his cooperation. Over the years, I have seen him decline as well and my son’s misplaced hatred is costing him more than you can imagine. I owe him much for his continued guardianship of Draco and I wish to see him well. Take the necessary precautions. Do not bend him so much that he breaks. He is a Slytherin, forever resourceful and deviously cunning but he is still human. You, of all people, should not forget that.

          
            The fate of the world lies in your hands as they have always been. Take heart, though, for I am sure the time for rest is nearly at hand.

                           
            But not yet.

Narcissa Malfoy

Albus sighed as he gently put down the letter, knowing that in a matter of seconds it would burst into flames and be forever lost.

“Oh Narcissa. What have you done?” he asked sadly with a solemn shake of his head. Her sacrifice was a heavy price to pay and he wasn’t sure if it was even worth it. After all, it could very well be the straw that would break the threstal’s back and push Draco onto the road of insanity and despair. Sighing sorrowfully once more, he had just finished banishing the ashes away from his desk when his office door opened forcefully.