Hogwarts Slytherin

Chapter 172 Malfoy’s Crisis

The rumors are getting more and more outrageous...

But soon, this rumor was replaced by another.

Malfoy Manor.

Someone swore that a certain lady made an accidental slip of the tongue and revealed that Abraxas was not so ill because of black magic, but because of some disease that he was ashamed to talk about.

Obviously, this rumor is more satisfying to people's dark psychology than the previous explanation.

Lucius, who had become much more serious and pale in less than a month, stood outside the master bedroom and took a deep breath, trying to force himself to smile naturally, but sadly found that he seemed powerless to do so.

He always thought he was strong enough, but the time when he truly took over Malfoy...

Lucius reached out and pushed open the door. The house elf who had been guarding the bed bowed to him quietly.

"How is father?" He asked softly, looking at Abraxas who seemed to be sleeping soundly behind the gilded gauze curtain.

"Master is getting weaker and weaker," the elf answered in a low voice, trying to suppress his sobs.

Abraxas on the hospital bed seemed to be awakened by the two of them. He moved slightly, and a hoarse and vague voice came from his mouth.

"You're back - Luke did I fall asleep again?"

He opened his eyes, his eyes had begun to become confused, and his aura was gone.

"No, Dad, I came back late. I'm sorry to wake you up." Lucius answered with tears in his eyes and stepped forward to lift the gauze bed curtain.

Malfoy's pride...at this moment, he can only shed it in front of those closest to him.

Anyone who sees Abraxas now would be shocked!

His face, which was once as delicate as a Veela's, was covered with red abscesses, which made his chin, which usually looked a bit pointed, become bloated.

Just like Lucius, his originally bright and smooth light blond hair had turned yellow with white hair in it. The torture of illness made him old, haggard and ugly in a short period of time, leaving only the blue-gray eyes that still occasionally twinkled. The light he had passed told people that even if he fell into this situation, he was still a Malfoy.

"No, I know, it's because I slept for too long," Abraxas said weakly, struggling to stretch out a hand that was also covered with red sores but was as skinny as bones, and Lucius immediately grabbed it.

"How is the situation outside?" Abraxas asked.

Speaking of this, Lucius tried his best to control his face from showing such an angry look...

While he was controlling his emotions, Abraxas glanced at him again.

Lucius hesitated for a moment and said, "I don't know who spread the news. Some people outside started to say... that you got it -"

"Dragon wart virus, right?" Abraxas asked, looking at Lucius's conspicuous look of surprise, and smiled with difficulty, "Mrs. Edwards is still as restless as before."

"Dad," Lucius was a little angry, "You know..."

"Of course I know." Abraxa paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "From the first moment she saw me, I knew she would think of her deceased father."

"Listen, Luke." He moved his fingers, as if he wanted to grab the hand of his still young and vigorous son, but because of his serious illness, such movements were almost impossible.

"There is no need... to explain anything outside... just let them guess the cause of my death."

Abraxas gave his son a comforting smile. Although such actions looked so ugly on his face now, and there was even some yellow pus flowing out from the red sores at the corners of his mouth because of his actions, but Lucius did not show any expression of disgust.

"Luke..." Abraxas said with a strained smile,

"For me, a disease like dragon wart virus is very suitable for me. After all, I have had such a reputation over the years-"

"But why...why can't..." Lucius finally couldn't help but choked up, "Why do you have to carry such a humiliating reputation?"

"It's not important Luke." Abraxas said with difficulty, "No matter what kind of fame is better than - ahem, whether it is being irredeemably cursed, or -"

He took a breath, as if he wanted to spit out the last trace of anger in his chest, "Dragon Wart Virus is better than telling people directly - you know, Luke, only in this way can you lead Malfoy to continue on, I believe you. "

"But why, Dad?" Lucius asked puzzledly, "We can..."

Abraxas laughed, and then a violent cough sounded from his lips. Lucius hurriedly took the potion handed by the elf and fed it to him.

After a while, Abraxas' cough gradually subsided, and then he motioned to Lucius to help him up.

Although Lucius seemed a little reluctant, he finally followed his father's wishes and lifted him up, leaning on a cushion and sitting on the head of the bed.

"Listen, Luke, don't interrupt." Abraxas's voice sounded weaker. He stopped his son's idea of ​​letting him continue to rest and said slowly, "If you don't say it now, I'm afraid I won't Opportunity.”

"No, Dad" Lucius burst into tears, "You will be fine, and you still have to attend my wedding with Sissy..."

"Shut up!" Although Abraxas's voice was still weak, his eyes were very stern.

How could Malfoy be so weak!

Seeing Lucius's weak look at this moment, Abraxas's gaze was like an eagle, and he suddenly showed his demeanor as the head of the Malfoy family again.

Lucius wiped his face in embarrassment and swallowed his words with sobs.

"I think you know as well as I do that I won't be able to survive much longer." For a moment, Abraxas seemed to have returned to the time when he was not sick, but what he said was so ruthless.

"But I think I have made it very clear to you." Abraxas took a labored breath and continued, "You must not make the wrong choice. No matter how difficult it is, we can only continue to move forward. .... Because once others find out that you are struggling to take over the Malfoy family, they will guess that you no longer have any trump cards. And what I have taught you, never let others guess at any time. I wonder if you still have a hand."

"Yes, Dad, I know." Lucius promised with tears, "I will always remember it."

Narcissa would definitely feel bad if she saw him. In people's impression, all Malfoy always looked high-spirited, elegant and arrogant.

But at this moment, Lucius has taken over the family business in recent days, the rumors have become more and more intense, and the people around him are looking at him eagerly, which has made him mentally and physically exhausted and embarrassed.

He can still manage to hold on in front of others, always reminding himself that he is a Malfoy and must not let others laugh at him.

But when he returned to his father's hospital bed, he could no longer bear to expose his vulnerable side.

"Listen, Luke, what I'm about to say is important." Abraxas tried to express himself as clearly and fluently as possible, although only Merlin knew how much pain he had to endure when he did so. pain.

......

Black family.

Andromeda Black of the Black family was removed.

She is the treacherous child of this generation.

This surprised everyone. After all, everyone thought that Sirius Black would be removed from this generation.

Of course, no one dared to discuss this in front of Walburga.

Maybe this generation will have a little more Black removed than they think.

Neither Sirius nor Regulus expected that Andromeda would be married when they met again.

.......

The meeting place for the three of them was still a private room in Mrs. Puddifu's teahouse.

Regulus had long been used to it, but he could still tell that his brother Sirius was extremely impatient with everything here.

Still the same old-fashioned pink curtains, fluffy cushions and cute decorations that make boys go numb... Girls?

Regulus blinked, and he seemed to see McKenna...a girl in the same grade as him...

When they reunited after Christmas, Andromeda gave them a warm, lavender-scented hug.

She looked absolutely radiant, and that was Regulus's first impression.

He quietly looked at his cousin, his eyes touching her long braided hair and kind light brown eyes, and felt that her appearance was still the same as before, but something was different.

Although I can't say what has changed, I am sincerely happy for my cousin.

"Thank you so much for coming." Andromeda said, her eyes shining brightly.

Regulus' favorite apple cake was already placed on the small round table.

Sirius looked around.

"Where is Tonks?" he cried disapprovingly.

Andromeda smiled and raised her right hand, revealing a simple ring.

"Right before your eyes," she said implicitly, with obvious happiness and pride in her words, "he and I are already married."

marry......

Regulus's eyes widened when he heard the news, and he looked at the small ring on Andromeda's hand in disbelief. He knew that the two of them would be together sooner or later.

I just didn’t expect it to be so fast...how long has it passed...

He also thinks the term is still far away.

Although the meek Regulus felt that this was a bit too fast, it did not prevent him from sending his blessings to his cousin Andromeda's hard-won marriage.

"Congratulations, cousin Domida." He said sincerely, his gray eyes curved.

Andromeda couldn't help but rub his head.

Regulus is the youngest child of Black's generation, and he has always been very obedient and will not make his family angry at all, unlike the other...

"You didn't invite me to your wedding!" Sirius said unhappily and shook his head firmly to the side.

Andromeda knew that Sirius was not really angry. She stood up with a smile and took out a cake from the bag that had been charmed with a traceless stretching charm.

"I knew you would be angry, so this is an apology gift for you." She said playfully, handing the cake to Sirius.

Sirius didn't turn his head, and Andromeda placed the cake on the table in front of him, took out a piece and put it to his mouth.

"This is my wedding cake, are you sure you don't want to try it?"

Sirius finally accepted it, and the way he ate the cake reminded Regulus of a big, lazy-looking dog, and he finally stopped throwing tantrums.

He did not say this out loud, but looked enviously at the familiar interaction between Sirius and Andromeda, feeling as if he was isolated from their world by an invisible barrier.

Regulus politely took a piece of cake made by Andromeda from her hand and politely thanked her.

He was still thinking about how similar the scene was a few months ago.

At that time, Andromeda was facing the biggest decision in his life...and before that, he didn't know anything.

Andromeda looked at the two brothers enjoying the cake with a smile, a happy smile on her lips.

At this moment, the three Blakes all felt very warm in their hearts.

Sirius and Regulus ordered a drink each, and coincidentally, they both ordered the cheapest one.

They each held a piece of cake in their hands, and Sirius told Andromeda about interesting things that happened in school.

"We have succeeded in tripping up Carlo again."

"Professor McGonagall has always been reluctant to get really angry with us..."

"That damn, elusive Filch!"

Sirius was a proud child in front of Andromeda.

After his excitement subsided, Andromeda asked politely what happened after leaving home.

"I still say, don't worry about them." This was Sirius's answer. He didn't even notice that a piece of cream was rubbed on his nose.

Andromeda turned her attention to Regulus, who was sitting silently.

"We stayed at home after that and did not visit Signus and Druella," Regulus answered seriously, as if answering a professor's question in class.

"But mom...she's angry," he continued softly.

"Don't pay attention to her, she's like a Blast-Ended Skrewt most of the time—"

"You are not allowed to say that about mother!" Regulus retorted angrily.

Every time when his mother was mentioned, Regulus, who had always seemed a bit submissive, would jump out and not give in.

Sirius looked at her in surprise and then at Andromeda, pretending not to argue with him.

"Of course, I put a lot of effort into Selwyn's engagement with my aunt, but now it's gone. I can totally understand why she's angry." Andromeda looked solemn.

Sirius snorted.

"Not entirely." Regulus applied tangledly, speaking calmly as if he was afraid of surprising Andromeda.

"She...she removed you." Regulus looked at Andromeda carefully and was surprised to find that she didn't care at all.

"It doesn't matter." Andromeda's expression was inappropriate, and the smile on her lips did not even fall.

The atmosphere in the room quieted down.Although Regulus also liked Andromeda very much and secretly helped her a lot this time, in the final analysis, he was not that familiar with her.

As a boy, Sirius had nothing more to say.

At twelve o'clock at noon, Sirius took Regulus to say goodbye to Andromeda.