It only took eleven days to find and capture the Malfoy family. But considering who they were really running from, Draco supposed (begrudgingly) that it was really quite lucky, in the end, that it was the Order who found them.

Kingsley Shacklebolt (acting Minister of Magic) agreed, and was quick to tell them so. Draco felt less thankful after that.

And now, here they were, sat in the Minister of Magic's large office, almost like old times, except for the plethora of unguarded malice directed at them from the other wizards and witches as they came in and out of the room. Kingsley himself sat behind the large, dark wooden desk of the Minister of Magic, his robes as vibrant as ever but his face drained as he straightened the many rolls of parchment scattered across the top.

"Narcissa and Draco Malfoy, as you know, Lucius remains in custody. He is currently being questioned, and we will keep you up to date on the progress of the investigation. However, neither of you are currently under arrest, since Harry Potter has had a private word with me and revealed certain...facts, which I will not mention here," he said, with a slight gesture to the other people still milling in and out of the room, as well as a man Draco could only assume was an assistant of some kind sat to his side, a Quick-Quotes Quill scribbling furiously before him.

" However, as there is still a high number of un-captured Death Eaters at large, and as there is a good chance they will be aware of your...'betrayal', it has been deemed necessary that you both go into hiding. At least until a decision has been made about whether or not the Ministry will bring charges against you, that is," he said firmly, and Draco thought it was a poor show of control. If Potter wanted them prosecuted, they would be. If not, they wouldn't. It was always going to be The Potter Show. Draco looked away, picking at his bitten nails instead.

"Narcissa," continued Kingsley, "Your sister, Andromeda, has offered you a temporary place with her. I don't think I need to impress upon you the generosity of this offer given the recent deaths of her husband, daughter and son-in-law, and her current guardianship of her grandson."

Kingsley gave Narcissa a very serious look, and Narcissa gave a strained and very small smile, nodding slightly, but said nothing.

"I think given the current situation, it is best for you to go immediately. Please say goodbye to your son here. You may write, but I would highly recommend you use your words carefully, and do not mention where you are staying if you want to ensure the safety of yourselves and your hosts," said Kingsley, and then turned to his assistant to begin a quiet discussion, giving them at least the facade of privacy.

It wasn't needed. There were no words to say between them at that moment - no words they wanted to say. They simply nodded at each other, and Narcissa brushed her hand down the arm of her son lightly, who tried not to flinch. Then, she left. Kingsley ended his discussion with his assistant quickly, and thankfully showed no reaction to the Malfoy's stilted goodbye.

"Draco Malfoy, sadly this invitation from Andromeda does not extend to you. So, in light of the fact that you have no other close relatives or associates who are not known or suspected to be involved in the dark arts-"

"Yes I do!" said Draco. It was the first thing he'd said for the entire meeting, and he had no idea why he'd said it. Kingsley was right, it was a complete lie.

"Oh?" said Kingsley, looking genuinely surprised, "Then please, by all means, enlighten us."

Draco sat there, mute again. What could he say? Why did he have to come out with something so stupid? They already hated him, now they would think he was a compulsive liar too. He probably was.

"Well," continued Kingsley, after the silence had stretched out for what seemed like an age, "Unless you can come up with a name, we feel the only other option is to stay with one of the Order. Bill Weasley is, I believe-"

"No, wait!" said Draco. There was no way he was staying with a Weasley! "I have a name, it's..."

Draco wracked his brains, trying to come up with a name, any name, any name at all that was neither one of Potter's ghastly friends nor a Death Eater. Surely there had to be one!

"Yes?" Said Kingsley, clearly getting impatient.

The Quick-Quotes Quill was scribbling across the parchment like mad. Think of something! He had to think!

"Astoria Greengrass!"

The Quick-Quotes Quill stopped scribbling.


A/N: Thank you for reading, let me know what you think! I have a plotline in mind, but it's not all written out yet - I'm writing this for fun but if there is some interest, it will definitely encourage me to write faster. Also, this is unlikely to line up with Pottermore much, as I don't generally use/read it, but as I personally don't count that as truly 'canon' I would say this will still only be minimally AU.