Chapter 8: Dead Ends and Despair

An hour later, after Uriel had calmed down a little bit, Ginny volunteered to stay with her sister-in-law for a while so Ron could go home and spend some time with his own family. Draco bid his wife and sister goodbye and went back to the safe house where Blaise was waiting for him, Draco knew that he and his best friend needed to sit down and talk about their next move because Blaise was of course right, burying his head in the sand and waiting for the problem to solve itself was only putting the Malfoy family in more danger.

"Draco I'm sorry," Blaise said lifting his head out of his hands. "If I hadn't lost my temper and run away maybe we wouldn't be in this mess."

Draco walked over to his friend and put his hand on his shoulder. "Or you and she could be dead Blaise. There is no use thinking like that because what's done is done and speculation won't help anyone now. And don't flatter yourself saying that this is all your fault either, we all can take some blame here, I shouldn't have left her alone after Lucius attacked."

Blaise held up his hand. "We can play the blame game and throw ourselves pity parties later, but right now we need to talk about what our plan is."

"I think we need to look deeper than we have been," Draco told him. "We have only been looking on the surface, if we dig a little-"

Draco stopped and realized his poor choice of words as soon as Blaise looked ashamed of himself breaking eye contact with his friend.

"Sorry," Draco told him. "It was just an expression."

"I know," Blaise told him. "But it was my fault for digging up Lucius's grave in the first place; maybe I deserve to feel a little ashamed."

"Anyway," Draco continued. "We should get Kingsley to make a call to Gringotts for us and we can go over Harry's bank records."

"That isn't a bad idea," Blaise told him. "Not that I had any idea at all but at least it's somewhere to start."

Blaise disappeared for awhile to talk to Kingsley and while he was away Ginny came home.

"So how was your time with Uriel?" Draco asked his wife after a kiss.

"It's so frustrating," Ginny told him sitting down together on the couch. "Her healers can't figure out what happened. I spoke to Healer Cooper and he said there is no sign of blunt force trauma but they can't seem to find traces of any known magic, so they can't reverse anything. She is retaining everything we've been telling her, and even when we aren't talking to her she is listening to us every second. Still no one is optimistic about her getting her complete memory back."

Draco sighed and put his arm around Ginny's shoulders. "I can't even imagine how Mother is going to take this news."

"You still haven't had any luck getting a hold of her?" Ginny wondered.

"No," Draco ran a hand through his hair. "The thing about the Malfoy family is that when we don't want to be found we won't be found. If Mother is really afraid that Lucius is back and on a rampage she won't want to be found by him."

"I don't blame her," Ginny sighed. "I told Uri about the twins and she seemed very happy for us. I wish I could take Emily to meet her but until she is out of the hospital I don't want to chance it."

Draco nodded. "We have plenty of time to get Emily reacquainted with her Aunt, right now we just need to keep you healthy, Uriel on the up and up, and Emily out of harm's way."

Ginny sighed again and brought her hand down to her still flat stomach. "I was thinking about names for the boys earlier."

"Did you come up with anything interesting?" Draco's hand went down to cover hers where their children were growing.

"I was thinking about Landon Fredrick Malfoy and Logan George Malfoy." Ginny said quietly. "And George and Uriel can be their godparents."

Draco kissed her forehead. "I love that."

"Well," Blaise came back in. "Kingsley has sent an order over to Gringotts telling them that when we come in tomorrow they must give us access to any and all information and accounts unreservedly."

"Good," Draco told him. "Maybe we can trace any money that's being spent."

"And while you two are at Gringotts I'll go see Luna for a few more tests and then give Ron the afternoon off."

"Let him know that I really am grateful to him," Draco told his wife.

"He knows," Ginny assured him kissing him on the cheek. "Now I think I will go to bed. Need to keep our little boys healthy."

"Goodnight Ginny," Blaise smiled at her.

Ginny leaned down and kissed Draco bidding her husband and his best friend goodnight before going upstairs.

"So twin Malfoy boys," Blaise got to his feet to pour Draco and himself a drink. "They should be incredibly interesting children, a mix of you and Ginny."

Draco took the drink from Blaise's hand. "I know they will be extraordinary children, I know that Ginny thinks of Fred though. The second Luna told us we were having twin boys that was the only thing that Ginny could picture."

"I'm sure it will just take her some time," Blaise assured him.

"Sometimes life isn't fair is it," Draco laughed tossing back his drink. "I lost my sister and then I got her back, Ginny lost her brother and no one can give her him back, and now I might have lost my sister again."

"Draco you can't think like that," Blaise told him. "I did and look where it got me. A magical slap in the face is what it got me. I'll tell you be glad that you never had to deal with her while her powers were still staring to come in because they are really deadly when she can't control them."

Draco chuckled a little. "I really didn't envy Claude and Annette for having to deal with her when her magic was still in its raw state."

"She's still your sister Draco," Blaise reminded him. "And she's still the woman I love, she just doesn't remember."

"What if she doesn't Blaise," Draco asked. "What is going to happen with you?"

"Draco do you really think I would leave her?" Blaise was a little hurt.

"It's not that," Draco assured him. "I just wouldn't blame you, if there is no future with my sister than maybe it isn't worth it."

"If I had said that about Ginny when you called me at that ungodly hour the first night when she left Potter, would you have listened?"

"Of course I wouldn't have," Draco told him.

"And right now I am not going to listen to you," Blaise threw back the rest of his drink. "I made her fall in love with me once; I'll just have to do it again."

Blaise got to his feet as Draco absorbed his best friend's words. "You are a far better man than most people give you credit for Blaise Zabini."

Blaise turned back to him before he left the room. "I know, just don't let that get out, it could ruin my reputation."

After Blaise was gone Draco finished his own drink and went up to his room. Ginny was still sitting up in bed reading.

"How is Blaise holding up?" Ginny asked as Draco climbed into bed.

"He's doing better," Draco wrapped his wife in his arms. "Once he calmed down he was able to see a little more clearly. He isn't acting like a total lunatic anymore, and he is being patient with Uri."

"He was patient with her for a long time," Ginny smiled a little. "He waited years for her to realize that she loved him, he'll wait for her again. Take it from me the Malfoy's are worth the wait."

Draco smiled down at her and kissed her. "And after that statement your transformation into a full-fledged Malfoy is complete."

Ginny elbowed him playfully, before kissing him back. "You know what I mean."

"I did know what you meant, but right now I don't want to think about Blaise, or my sister, I want to think about you."

Ginny smiled as she put her book away and Draco extinguished the lights with his wand and then there was no talking between the two anymore.

Down the hall Blaise lay awake in his bed; he couldn't help but think of what Draco had said. He didn't plan on leaving Uriel but he really had no idea what he was going to do if she didn't somehow get her memory back. Had the thought of leaving occurred to him? To his everlasting shame yes it had. To break free from the Malfoy family and the cloud of doom that followed was an attractive idea...to someone else. Blaise didn't need an uncomplicated life, he needed Uriel, he needed his best friend and his wife, and he needed Emily. The Malfoy's were his family, the only one he had and nothing would make him turn his back on family. Blaise sighed, as wonderful as his faithfulness was this whole mess had interrupted their lives once again, and put happily ever after behind a pane of glass that, no matter what, would not break.

Blaise went over every detail in his mind over and over again. Lucius, Narcissa, the grave, the attacks, the hospital, the steady decline of Harry Potter. The pieces of the puzzle no longer fit together, and no matter how much he forced them Blaise knew they wouldn't be able to be pounded into place to create the same perfect picture. Blaise waved his wand and the lights went out. All of his pondering was hurting his brain and right now what he really needed was sleep.

DGDGDGDGDGDGDGDG

The next morning Draco and Blaise bid goodbye to Ginny as she set off to keep her sister company. The two men quickly made their way to Diagon Alley and walked straight into Gringotts. They were greeted once they were there by Bill Weasley.

"Bill," Draco was a little shocked to see his Brother-in-law. "I didn't know it was you who would be seeing us today."

"Kingsley thought you might have the most success with me, after all I do work for Gringotts and you are a part of my family. Also Uriel is a friend of mine as well as Fleur's, when Mum owled me about her condition and only a few hours later Kingsley was telling me you would need information I thought I might be of some help. Goblins, as I am sure you know, are less inclined to help unless there is something in it for them."

He led Draco and Blaise back into his small offce that he had settled into when he stopped being the wandering Curse Breaker and became more of a homebody staying with Fleur and their children, coming home every night. It was a life Bill was surprisingly suited for.

"So," Bill looked at both of them. "Which accounts shall I look at first?"

"Harry Potter," Blaise told him.

Bill poured over some files in silence for a moment or two. "I'm afraid you won't find much. Most of Harry's money is going to fund his stay in the asylum. It all comes directly from his accounts, anything he needs, and any expenses come from there."

"Anything unusual in the last month or so?" Draco asked?

Another moment of quiet passed between the men. "No, not really. I see some potion ingredients that the hospital must not readily stock, some Muggle medical equipment, nothing out of the ordinary for a stay in a hospital."

"Has anything out of the ordinary come up concerning any of the accounts we inquired about?" Blaise tried not to groan in frustration.

Bill leaned over again, his nose buried deep in files on each of the Malfoy's holdings, along with anyone connected to them.

"This is odd," Bill finally spoke. "Your mother's account has been getting quite a workout."

Draco waved his hand. "She is on holiday in some tropical location or other, she hasn't been home for quite awhile I'm sure she is just keeping her purse full."

"No," Bill continued to stare at the files. "All of the spending has been done in London or it's surrounding areas, even some here in Diagon Alley."

"That's not possible," Draco was dumbstruck. "My mother hasn't been in the country since before the Manor burned down. She doesn't even know about Uriel because we cannot get a hold of her. It's impossible that she has been right under our noses and not contacted us when we've sent her dozens of owls telling her of our predicament."

Bill handed Draco the file. "I don't know what else to tell you Draco. Our files don't lie."

The trio poured over the files for another hour or so, none of them able to puzzle out an answer, no matter how hard they each tried. When they finally couldn't take anymore Bill gave Draco a few copies of some of the information they had found and he and Blaise departed thanking Charlie for his time. As soon as they had spilled onto the street a whoosh of smoke came hurtling up to them transforming into a Welsh Corgi that spoke to them.

"Draco," the blond recognized Healer Cooper's voice as it spoke urgently to them. "You must get to the hospital now!"

Without waiting another second he and Blaise were off like a shot down the street to the emergency entrance of St. Mongo's. Cooper was waiting for his fellow healer as if he knew exactly where Draco would come.

"What's going on?" Draco asked.

"I went in, only minutes ago, to check on Uriel…" he trailed off.

Draco and Blaise didn't need to hear anymore, they both raced through the halls to Uriel's private room only to find it in shambles, a nurse sitting beside a broken looking Ron Weasley tending his wounds. Uriel was nowhere to be found, and to Draco's horror, neither was Ginny.

"Ron, what happened?" Blaise was the first to speak.

"I came by to see Ginny, and Uriel. I knew Ginny would be here and I wanted to give them both some company. I hadn't been here thirty minutes when Narcissa showed up. At first Ginny was happy to see her, and tried to go about explaining things, but Uriel wouldn't be still. The panic in her eyes when she had the altercation with Blaise was nothing compared to this. I leaned close and asked her what was wrong and she just said that something about Narcissa didn't feel right. Upon hearing this Narcissa turned on her daughter, and I of course stepped in to defend her. Narcissa cursed me, and while I tried to recover I watched Ginny fighting her off, or trying to. It was no use, Narcissa got her hands on both of them and apparated away. I have never seen Narcissa like this, it was as if she hated them both, she hated me, she hated everything."

Draco turned and punched the wall as hard as he could letting out a heart wrenching groan. Blaise gripped his shoulders trying to offer some comfort, some support, some words of wisdom or placation, but none came. None of this made sense, forget the puzzle pieces not fitting to make a perfect picture, this was as if they had pieces to five different puzzle and they were somehow trying to make them all turn into the same thing.

"Well," Draco's voice was hollow. "I knew she would react to Uriel's condition badly, but this is ridiculous."

He sat, with the two other men, trying to think, trying to work something out, they needed a plan, a course of action. Sadly none would come to them, they each stared into the nothingness that the room was filled with and tried not to notice the voids in their hearts, and the despair that was slowly consuming them all.

DGDGDGDGDGDGDGDGDGDG

Sorry it's taken me so long, and sorry it's a little short. I have had some family issues I have been trying to sort through, and been working on my own original story more than I usually do. I am sad to say that there will only be a few more chapters in this story. I wonder how many of my readers have figured out what is going on. Probably most of you, I am not the best at making things hard to guess. Still I am excited for the next chapter when Blaise and Draco finally start to unravel the riddles, and we find out what's going on in Narcissa's head. As always leave me love in the form of a review and I will work a little harder and a little faster. Love to all who read and follow my story!