"What are you doing?"
Quinn, in his 'John' persona, pressed his hand over the same guard's forehead he had knocked out a few days back during his first visit to the Malfoy safehouse.
"Preparing him for the time we will be outside. You said they check up on you twice a day?" asked Quinn.
"Once in the morning and once before going to bed."
"That's why. . . . Can't keep him unconscious for long. If someone comes to relieve him of his duties and finds him knocked out, it will raise suspicion. And because they don't check on you, nothing will raise the alarms until we return."
"Why do you care if it raises the alarm?" asked Draco.
Quinn glanced at the younger man and wondered where all the intelligence he had shown just the last year had gone; all that planning in Hogwarts, and now he asked questions like this.
Did Quinn answer those questions? No. He was the Invisible Vigilante.
"It is done. He will awake in a couple of minutes," Quinn removed his hand when the guard stirred. He walked to the Malfoy pair and extended a hand each to them. "Give me your hands."
"Why?" asked Draco.
"The wards around this property are monitoring your presence. The moment you step out of the boundary, Order of Pheonix members will be apparating here with their wands blazing. I'm going to make it so that when you step out, no such thing will happen."
The mother and son exchanged looks, communicating with each other through their eyes.
"Hurry up. I would have delivered you to the Dark Lord or killed you last time I was here. I do not want Lucius Malfoy to flee in doubt because you two got me late."
Though annoyed, both Malfoys hesitantly gave their hands to Quinn. They felt a soft current course through their body, causing them to jump and shiver.
"I don't feel any different," said Draco.
Quinn left their hands and walked out of the boundary. He turned to them and asked them to cross the boundary.
"What if your magic doesn't work," asked Narcissa.
"I know you are worried. What if my magic does not work and the Order of Pheonix arrives here, and seeing that you tried to go out for an outing, they might rescind their offer of protection. Am I right?" he asked, and Narcissa's silence was the affirmation. "This is your risk to take. You have half a minute to decide if you are in or out. A second late, I will listen to any last words you have for Lucius and be off."
They didn't need any more motivation as they readily stepped outside the boundary while holding their breath. Their worried eyes darted around the house and the street. The lack of apparating people put them to ease with their shoulders sagging in relief.
Quinn extended his hands again and said, "We are leaving."
"You don't want to check for an ambush?"
Quinn rolled his eyes. How many questions were they going to ask? He stepped forward, grabbed their shoulders amidst protest, and forcefully apparated them away along with himself, leaving behind the guard who groggily cracked his eyes before snapping straight up and pretending to be active as if he had never gone to sleep.
. . .
Quinn apparated into the forest and dropped the lady and the brat on the ground, leaving them rolling in the leaves. And just when he was about to get some peace and quiet with the family reunion.
"Stop! Whoever you are, stop!"
Quinn held back a groan. 'Just a little more,' he thought as he turned to face a cautious Lucius Malfoy. He gathered magic in his voice, "It is me, Malfoy. Put that wand down before I break it. . . . You wouldn't care, would you? It is not yours anyway."
The look on Lucius' face was small happiness for Quinn, but before the man could say something, Quinn moved on— he patted his chest, and he was back in his Noir gear, and with a mask, he was Invisible Vigilante.
"Let's get this over with," said Quinn. "Have the family reunion. But beware— make any wrong moves, and you won't be leaving here the same way you came here. . . that is if you will be leaving at all."
Quinn snapped his fingers, and a ward was erected around the Malfoy family and him. He leaned against a tree and observed from the side as Lucius Malfoy all but leaped his way to his estranged family, who showed no such similar enthusiasm. They remained jaded as Lucius awkwardly yet passionately put forward his account full of apologies and regret. There was a lot of back and forth, shouting and yelling at both sides, accusations and blame were thrown, and old skeletons were dug out. Quinn stayed away from the family, standing still to make himself invisible— but his ears remained sharp and recorded every word that came out from a Malfoy mouth.
As the family dispute continued, the tired son broke away from the argument and unknowingly stumbled toward Quinn.
". . . What are you looking to accomplish doing this?" asked Draco, glaring at Quinn, who quietly ignored him. "Hey! Listen to me! I'm talking to you!"
"I can hear you," said Quinn. "I'm just ignoring you. I have no interest in talking to you, Draco Malfoy."
"You are interfering with my family; you have to talk to me."
"No one asked you to be here."
"You came to us—"
"You and your mother are not a package deal. You could've not come if you didn't want to."
"And let mother come here alone with someone like you!"
"You underestimate the woman named Narcissa Malfoy. That woman is much stronger than you are." A woman who could lie to Voldemort to his face in a situation where if her lie failed, it could mean instant death to her and her family had to have nerves of steel. "If she was in your place in the plan to kill Dumbledore, the old white beard would be dead right now."
"You're putting her in danger," spat Draco, his voice full of spite.
Quinn opened his eyes and gave a Draco a lazy stare, "How long do you think Dumbledore can keep you hidden?"
". . . What?"
"How long do you think before the Dark Lord finds your little hideout. Who except Dumbledore will put their lives on the line for the Malfoys when the Dark Lord is actually in front of them, and they're the only thing that stands between him and you?" Quinn pushed himself off the trunk and stepped towards Draco. "One day, you'll be in that little prison of yours, sharing a meal with your mother— maybe it will be the only good thing about your stifling days. . . or maybe you'll be sleeping peacefully in your bed. . . and that's when he will coming tearing own the roof of that non-magical house you don't like— if you're lucky, he will kill you in one shot with a Killing curse. . . but if you're not lucky, he will torture her in front of you, and her dead face will be the last living memory you will have.
I'm trying to prevent that from happening, you naive moron. I want to rid the world of a Dark Lord, and your father working for me is going to make that easier."
Quinn backed away to enjoy the startled look on Draco's face. He wished he could've forced the image of his words into Draco's mind using Legilimency to get a more satisfying reaction, but that was just his sadistic speaking out of place.
"So go stand by mommy and daddy as they sort things out. This is not a place for children to interfere. Now bugger off." With that, Quinn closed his hand but kept his sense keen in case Draco tried to do something stupid with his wand.
"I'm not an idiot," said Draco, his tone laced with faint defiance.
"I never said that you were."
"You didn't need to. The way you spoke to me said it all. . . . and you did call me a naive moron."
Quinn leaned against the tree. If he wasn't under the mask, he would've pulled on the empathy card, sympathized with everything Draco was going on, built a rapport, offered some advice, and cemented an image of friendliness in Draco's mind to gain his confidence. Even under his current persona, the cold vigilante could've gotten close to Draco and formed a connection, but right now, the Malfoy son was of no real use; right now, he couldn't even see the worth of building ties with Draco in case he got helpful in the future.
'Well, at least I personally have some positive ties with Draco.'
"Listen well, Draco Malfoy," said Quinn. "This country is going through a war right now. The sooner it ends, the better it will be for everyone. The truth is that by trying to kill Dumbledore, you are to partly blame for this war. . ."
A guilty look emerged on Draco's face. Quinn took a not of it and continued,
". . . I myself am also to blame, and so is everyone who is in a situation of power. My sole aim is to take the head of the Dark Lord and bring everything to an end. I am playing my part. You are to play your part as well."
"My part?"
"Everyone has a part to play. You might have already played it out or might have something in the future, but that only time will time." Quinn thought about what would Draco's part be, and all he could think of was that when the war passed, the Malfoys would still hold plenty of wealth and even influence that could be put to good use.
"You think you can kill You-Know-Who?" asked Draco.
"I believe so I can. Just a few moons back, I took his eye." A highlight of his career as the Invisible Vigilante, if he was to say himself. "I had done this mask with that intention, and I will remove it when my motive is achieved."
Quinn closed his eye and ended the conversation. He didn't want to speak to Draco anymore, who himself didn't continue.
. . .
After a while, the Malfoy family conversations ended, and Lucius and Narcissa stepped to Quinn.
"I agree to work with you," said Lucius.
"A good decision," said Quinn solemnly.
"I will provide you with the information on the Dark Lord, but other than that, I don't think I can provide you with much."
"Information is gold, Malfoy. While I have no need of your wand, I do think you'll be able to provide you me with plenty of things," said Quinn, staring at Lucius with gears turning behind his eyes. There were a couple of more things he wanted Lucius to do, which would he thought would prove to be the correct choice.
". . . Just keep my family out of it."
Quinn nodded. He glanced at the mother-son and speculated if he could make them do something from their safehouse of theirs. They could do something, but that was a thought for another day.
"Well then, Lucius Malfoy, let's bring down the Dark Lord."
.
-*-*-*-*-*-
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Quinn West - MC - I am a family reunioner.
Draco Malfoy - Naive - Moron.
Lucius Malfoy - Asset - The inside man for the third party in the war.
Narcissa Malfoy - Strong - Might be the strongest in family in many ways.
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