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Chapter 97 - Chapter 97 - Malfoy Misery, The Bath & Lily's Choice I

"Mother, where have you been? You were out the entire day."

Narcissa wearily looked at Draco as she entered through the door of the Malfoy Mansion. She took off her coat tiredly and put it on the coat hanger. Her eyes sunken with exhaustion, and her face paler than usual, she knew she probably looked like a mess. She tried to maintain her upper-class, pureblood manner and ambiance, but it was hard to continue now.

The Malfoy Mansion she called home was no longer hers. And she didn't have much longer before it would be taken away. Everything was lost with Lucius' disappearance. Gringotts declared they held none of Malfoys' assets anymore. After much inquiry, they revealed that everything was now held by D&D Bank.

She visited the D&D Bank itself and was handed a copy of the contract her husband had signed. She read it very carefully and soon she read the haunting line. There was no inheritance clause in the contract. It plainly stated that after the passing of Lucius, all the property held by the bank would belong to the bank. And knowing that Lucius had used everything to own a major chunk of the bank, it meant everything the Malfoy family had built over generations was now gone.

Narcissa held back her tears in public. She forced herself to be strong. She couldn't believe how her usually wise and intelligent husband signed something so dangerous and ridiculous. She forced herself to stand strong and do what was expected of her. She took the matters into her own hands, stopped looking for Lucius for the time being, and looked for Dudley Dursley, the sole owner of the bank.

Sadly, she had no helpers. At least none in public. Ever since the Daily Prophet's exposé, showing Lucius standing beside the Dark Lord, the Malfoy family had lost all face, respect, prestige, and supporters.

Of course, there were some pureblood families out there willing to help, but she didn't want it. She knew it would come at a grave cost.

After using whatever means possible, she finally got the address of Dudley's muggle office. She went there quickly.

The private security Dudley had hired included known wizards retired from the Aurors' office. They took away her wand before she was allowed inside the building.

Then she waited. She was told that Dudley was in a meeting.

She waited for an hour. She received a coffee or some tea occasionally, but she refused them all. She maintained stoic expressions to hide her nervous heart. She didn't know Dudley, nor had met him as much as Lucius had. She knew that there was bad blood, but she still hoped for some respite.

She waited for six whole hours. At that point, the female assistant told her that Dudley Dursley had already left for some urgent business.

She felt enraged, but without her wand, she could do nothing. Even with it, doing anything would have made things worse.

Swallowing her pride, smiling faintly, she nodded and left the building.

She returned home tiredly, only to see Draco standing proudly, sneering, unaware that they had just lost everything.

"I went to see Mr. Dursley."

"Dudley? That mudblood? Honestly, Mother, have you lost your senses? Father would be so angry if h—"

"Your father is gone! I…" Narcissa's voice trembled as she raised it—something she almost never did. "You're old enough to face the truth. Your father wagered the entire Malfoy estate to claim ownership of the bank Dudley Dursley started. The terms were clear—upon his death, every last asset would fall to the bank. All of it, Draco. The estate, the grounds, the vaults. We're left with nothing."

"W-What?" Draco stumbled backward in shock. "N-No… you're joking with me, aren't you, mother?"

Narcissa looked at her son sternly, her eyes devoid of any jest.

"How could he… That filthy little mudblood must have duped Father! We ought to go straight to the Ministry—yes, yes, the Ministry will have to hear of this—"

"They've refused to even grant us an audience, Draco. They won't meet with the wife of a Death Eater. There's nothing to be done… nothing..." Narcissa sank to the floor, not with drama, but as though her strength had quietly abandoned her. "There's no one left who can help us."

"Then we can…" Draco measured his words. "We can seek help from other pureblood families."

"Why should they aid us? They've opened vaults at D&D Bank themselves and profit handsomely. We've nothing left to offer—no gold, no leverage. We're more pitiful than the Weasleys, Draco."

At last, Draco sensed the cliff that had been dug from all sides. There was no possible route to take. Every single hope was lost, so precisely cut away without him or his mother even realizing. The Ministry, the Daily Prophet, the Bank, the other purebloods—All of them had left the Malfoys behind.

"I-It must be his scheme… Dudley orchestrated everything! What exactly did he say when you met him, Mother?"

She murmured, defeated, "Nothing. I didn't see him today. I'll try once more tomorrow."

"I'll go with you, Mother." Draco declared.

With a sharp crease between her brows, Narcissa shook her head, dread rising in her chest. Nothing good would come of this. Draco's temper would only worsen matters. "No. I shall go alone. You must visit your uncle and ask for his help. Plead if you must. Only he stands a chance of swaying Mr.Dursley through the Potters."

"Which uncle, M—"

"Sirius Black."

####

While the Malfoy mother and son became busy with regaining their lost wealth, already believing Lucius was dead; The man in question sat confined in the room deep underground without his tongue or arms, having lost most of his muscles and mass, just a living husk that was conscious and aware, but nothing beyond that.

To Dudley, it was justice. He didn't want to go that way, but with the Ministry being so incompetent, he had to do it himself. He felt strange about holding that much power, but he didn't regret it at all.

Heck, he was having the time of his life. The very next day after ignoring Narcissa and wasting her time, he dressed in a relaxed half-sleeved t-shirt, and a pair of black jeans, and drove in an ordinary, Ford Fiesta. It belonged to one of his employees.

The man was happy to lend him the car in exchange for Dudley's Aston Martin which he never used. It was just for a day, though.

That should be it.

He soon parked by the road not far from the dentist's clinic. It was a modest building of three floors with the ground floor being a dental clinic and the upper floors were where the Grangers lived.

Ting! Ting!

Wearing a mask, as Dudley opened the door, the bell chimed. Inside, he saw a pale-skinned woman seated behind a desk wearing a doctor's coat. She had dark brown hair and green eyes, looking rather pretty, and close to Hermione's features.

Must be her mom. She's pretty… blessed.

He stopped eyeing the hills on her chest like a madman and greeted her gentlemanly. "Good morning, Mrs. Granger."

"Yes?" The woman looked at him in confusion. "Have you got an appointment? We open in fifteen minutes."

In her defense, he did come a little early. It was still fifteen minutes from nine in the morning.

Seeing there were no customers yet, Dudley removed his face mask and saw the woman's brows rise in shock. His face had been constantly plastered over papers and TV the past few days. "Lovely to meet you, Mrs. Granger. I'd be glad to have you check my teeth—though magic's kept them in decent shape. I'm Dudley Dursley, Hermione's schoolmate from Hogwa—"

"Oh, of course! I know who you are, dear—I mean, Mr. Dursley. Hermione's told us ever so much about you. She mentioned you'd be coming by to practice magic together, though she didn't say it would be today."

Scratching the back of his neck, Dudley gave a sheepish smile. "Er—sorry, I didn't give her a heads-up, Mrs. Granger. I happened to be free and figured I'd stop by. I did promise Hermione."

Mrs. Granger waved her hand and walked around the desk to him. "Oh, don't you worry about that. Hermione's awake, probably studying in her room. Why don't you go upstairs?"

Nodding, Dudley still lingered around to meet with Mr. Granger, not wanting them to disturb him and Hermione later.

Then, before heading upstairs, he warned them softly.

"Would it be alright to hold off on the snacks until Hermione's downstairs? We're going to be working on Occlumency and Legilimency, which is magic related to protecting one's mind from being read by other evil wizards. It can be rather painful if you interrupt suddenly."

Now, if any other guy had said that, alarm bells would have rung in Mr. and Mrs. Granger's heads. But since it was the Dudley Dursley, the richest man in the world, anything he said came out like a sage's wisdom.

Alarmed by the mention of evil wizards, the two nodded firmly and even thanked him for helping Hermione so much. Well, he was indeed, honestly training with their daughter. Just… the things in-between the training sessions were… interesting.

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