“we ould walk through my wing and then down to yours” drao offered, thinking of his mental maps of the manor
“too muh time spent walking in a pe they ould easily hek no, we have to get over to the east side of the manor without them being able to see us”
“underground then?” drao asked, a slight tinge of fear in his voie
“yes no death eater would look there”
“um, mr malfoy, are you sure you an walk that far?” harry asked as he surveyed exatly how muh damage luius had been through
“you’d be surprised what adrenaline and veriae magi an do towards ign one’s wounds” luius drawled “one we’re out of this magi forsaken tower, i’ll be fine”
leaning heavily on his son, luius stood on shaky limbs, and the three of them made their way towards the base of the tower
“where are we going exatly?” harry asked, as they made their way down the steps her of the two malfoys had expined their n from before and he had no idea what they were talking about
“the dungeons run underh the north to west wall” luius expined in a ragged voie “we’re going to walk through them to get to the west wing and then walk down the orridor that leads to my study”
“no one goes down there” drao said with onvin “even if every malfoy to live here has memorized it passageways, it’s still not a good pe to go by yourself”
at the bottom of the steps a small shriek greeted them
“master! you is so hurt! let diddy help—”
“no i’ll be fine”
the house elf owered uainly at her master’s feet “if you is saying so, master,” she said sadly
“harry potter, is you ok?” harry looked down to see dobby’s eyes looking up at him with onern, as if heking to see if luius’s ailments were also harry’s
“yes, i’m fine”
“dobby is hy to hear that!”
dobby’s eyes swept over the elder malfoy and he pressed himself further into harry’s shadow
luius ignored the house elf, and addressed harry “request that your house elf o the floo in my study to the one in the headmaster’s offie i don’t want to waste time walking through the halls of hogwarts as well”
harry reyed the request to dobby, who was hy to do suh for harry potter the house elf diseared with a small pop and luius turned to his own house elf
“i want you to get all the other house elves together if the death eaters start looking for us, i want you to get in their way”
“diddy uands, master diddy will do so”
the other house elf vanished with a pop and left the two malfoys and harry potter standing alone in the orridor
harry had never been to the dungeons of malfoy manor, and he was hy that he hadn’t he thought as he stepped off the small stairase and looked around the rooms were k, dark, and smelled of bodily fluids that harry didn’t want to identify someone shiftedto him and a small light eared in luius malfoy’s hand—one of his feathers, glowing as brightly as a lumos spell
in the dim light harry ould make out the ell doors, wood and steel monstrosities that lined the hallway that they were in harry ould see why no death eater would want to ome down here the dungeons, from what he ould see, were a maze of hallways there would be no hope for a prisoner to get out of here one left behind in the lightless rooms
“be areful” luius spoke softly as he began to walk down the passageway harry and drao followed as silently as they ould, passing door after door, hallway after hallway
one of the doors they passed was open and harry looked in to see a skeleton sitting in a pool of dried blood after that he didn’t try and look around
luius turned and headed down another orridor, turned again at thehallway and ontinued in that diren for a while harry found himself praying that luius malfoy knew where he was going, beause there was no way he’d be able to find his way bak to where they’d ome from if the man suddenly announed that they were lost
after they turned yet another orner there was a small runh, and both luius and harry turned to see a peuliar expresn on drao’s fae “i think i just rushed someone’s head” he expined, his voie strained, his eyes pointedly looking anywhere but down at his feet where the splintered remains of a skull y under his shoe
luius didn’t say anything but turned and ontinued walking
harry almost ried out in relief when he saw a set of stone steps spiraling upwards towards a small door they had reahed the other side of the dungeons
luius was about to put a foot on the step when a small voie whispered “lumos” behind them
all three turned to see the pug-like features of pansy parkinson looking at them with tear-streaked eyes she stared only at drao for a moment before her eyes losed tight and she ped a hand over her eyelids
“i didn’t believe them when they told me what was going on” she spoke quikly, her voie hushed and afraid “but—but i an’t! i an’t! get out here now! i—i didn’t see anything i didn’t!”
drao ast a sorrowful look at the broken girl before he followed his father up the steps
a lone death eater stood in the hallway with his bak to the door that lead down to the dungeons on guard duty in ase the three of them tried to enter it, harry guessed he made a strange strangled sound when luius’s wing slit his throat and he fell to the ground in a rumpled heap
her boy made a omment as they followed luius down the hall, arefully sidestepping the body whose blood was now seeping into the purple persian arpet they had to run a little in order to keep up with the elder malfoy’s long and purposeful strides they were not fleeing the house…not yet, but they were ertainly moving quikly
the hallway seemed deserted, but they ould hear rashes and movement resounding
