One thing was for sure. There was no way they could escape a visit to the Marshlands. No matter the amount of danger, they knew they had to do it. But they needed a foolproof way of doing so without losing out on the information the two had gathered in case of any mishap. As much as Draco hated spreading the Malfoy beans everywhere, he knew they had to do the inevitable. They had to get Potter involved. Before Hermione left for the day, they had decided to call Harry in the next day. It was decided that they would leave out the recent strange behaviour of the Family Tree Tapestry. Both knew it was the best to keep anything absurd related to Draco out of the picture for now.

As Hermione reached her flat, she felt the actual burden of their findings take a toll on her. She had seen a new side of Malfoy. She had seen how burdened and guilt-stricken he was. He had not forgiven himself for all the bad that he had done. She slumped down against the kitchen wall as she finally let loose and cried. She wept for Silvius and Adelia. She wept for their unborn child. She wept for all those that suffered because of the baseless prejudices. She wept for those that were lost in the War. But most of all, she wept for Draco.

She dragged herself up and got into the bed. That night she slept dreaming of hidden cottages, dark forests, Will-o'-wisps and troubled stormy grey eyes.

Next day morning, she was up early and ready to leave for the Manor. She had owled Harry to meet them there in about half an hour's time.

At nearly half past nine, Draco & Hermione were seated in the library. Harry would be there any minute now. As if on cue, an elf knocked the door to announce his arrival. The duo stood up as Harry entered the library. The sombre demeanour they had worried Harry.

"Come sit down Harry." Said Hermione patting a place next to her on the sofa while Draco asked an elf to bring in some tea and biscuits.

"So?" Harry looked at them expectantly.
"Best you tell him, Granger." Draco urged.

Hermione knew the pressure that was mounting on the young Malfoy and did not want to add the burden of explaining the predicament to Harry on him. So, she narrated all that they had found out till then to Harry. From finding the diary to the relevance of the Will-o'-wisps, the tragic story of Silvius and Adelia. They left out any mention of the Family Tapestry. Had they mentioned anything about Silvius' name on it, Harry would have wanted to examine it and in turn, would notice the blank counter next to Draco's name. That was one riddle Draco would rather solve himself.

"How can I help you both? Do you need more texts? Sources? Or even permissions to look in more places?" Harry asked. He was genuinely really concerned now. All that they had told him seemed to fit into the puzzle that lay in front of them, yet large chunks of it were still missing.

"Potter, we need you to make a few investigations. We tried to figure out who made the time turner for Silvius but found no leads. And his seemed to be of the indefinite kinds, something special, the kind that only the Ministry holds records to. The Ministry has banned and regulated Time Turners since fairly recent times, so hopefully your Ministry records and sources can bring up something. At least we will know what we are looking for or what happened to them."

"Okay. Terry and I will conduct the investigations personally considering the sensitivity of the matter at hand. Cannot tarnish the Malfoy name over nothing." Harry looked at Draco.

"Thanks, mate." Draco said in all sincerity.

"And Harry, we both were planning to visit the Marshlands today. To see if we can find any trace of the cottage, now that we have a fair idea of where and what to look for. We won't be needing any reinforcements. We know it's some ancient magic at play and not any dark wizards. Plus, we both are enough trained and well versed with duelling skills."
Hermione was seriously hoping Harry would get convinced. She knew that she was trying a longshot, but no harm in trying at least.
"Plus, if you send anyone with us, and some strange magic does affect us, neither of us nor the reinforcements will be able to help anyone. The more people you send, the more we put in danger." Draco added.

Harry sighed and looked at the two of them. "And you say I have a hero complex Malfoy? See, I understand you trying to put a lesser amount of lives at stake. But you both are not employed by the Ministry to do so, thus, I cannot let you guys go alone. However, I can send a bunch of Aurors to go have a look in your place. What say?"

"I have a feeling Malfoy should be there. I am sure it will help to have him there to break some wards or spell, maybe. It's his ancestor after all."
Draco nodded in agreement and exclaimed, "Exactly!"

"Well, then Draco can go. But with reinforcements. You will have to back." Harry hated sounding like an over-protective mother, but he knew the two of them. If they put their mind to something, they wouldn't stop at anything, not even if their lives were at stake. He couldn't let them risk their lives like that. Harry had to concede to Malfoy going because it involved his ancestor, but he could not justify risking Hermione's life. Not again. Never again on his watch.

"Yes, okay. But no more than two Aurors, Potter." Draco did not want a bunch of amateur Aurors buzzing around him while he was trying to find things in the Marshlands.

Hermione stood up and looked at both the men with anger filled eyes. "No, it is not okay. It is not fair that he has to risk his life and I can't because of a surname he shares with a certain individual involved. I am employed by the Ministry at least! I have every right to go find out about these things! No Harry. You cannot tell me that I get to go into hiding with you and Ron for months, break through Gringotts, destroy Horcruxes and help you defeat Voldemort but I cannot go into the Marshlands." She really was seething with anger and that scared Harry very much. he owed her his life, literally. Had it not been for her he would be rotting away in some unmarked grave, in a world where Voldemort won.

"Please, Harry. Don't give us permission if you don't want to, but you can always pretend that we never warned you? You know the reinforcements would be unnecessary. We both are any case more skilled than most Aurors."

"Hermione is right. I would rather go alone and fix whatever my ancestor started. But I know that Hermione won't give up and would follow me anyway if I went, so might as well let us go together and not bring in more liabilities along with us." Draco explained.

Harry looked conflicted. He knew arguing with his best friend was a rather waste of time. She never truly gave up and one simply could not beat her at logic or wits. Plus, on the other hand, there was Draco Malfoy, he surely knew how to get the things he wanted to himself. No matter the consequence. He knew he was fighting a lost battle. His shoulders sagged, "Okay. I will. But keep me posted. Hermione, you still have your DA coin? Can you send me the coordinates of your location as soon as you reach there via the coin? The Marshlands have no cellular network and owls and any other wizarding form of communication won't be possible."

Hermione hugged Harry and smiled. "You are the best. I will send the coordinates as soon as we see anything out of place. And I promise to keep us safe. Don't worry!"

Draco felt a pang of jealousy as he saw the two best friends. There was no one who cared for him to that extent. The thought always saddened him. He found himself looking away. He felt like he did not belong.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see harry behind him. Harry hugged him with a pat on the back. "Stay safe Malfoy and keep her safe too. She has a tendency to get carried away when researching." Harry smiled. Draco felt a little better as he responded with a determined look on his face, "I will."

By noon, the pair had made their way from the Forbidden Forests to the Marshlands on foot. Had they apparated directly into the Marshlands, they would have triggered the Ministry wards. Every now and then, Hermione would imagine seeing a Will-o'-wisp and Draco would cluck hs tongue at her and laugh at her. She was beginning to lose hope and so was Draco. Just as the forest got deep and dark enough for no sunlight to pass through the canopy, Hermione almost tripped over a root in the ground.

"Careful!" Draco held her by the shoulders and pulled her towards him. She murmured a sorry as they marched ahead. Draco stayed close to her after that since he had promised Potter to keep her safe. What if she tripped again?

Draco thought he was also imagining things like her when he heard her gasp in astonishment. "Malfoy, look!" she said pointing her finger to a blue wisp-like source of light.

"There must be more to follow!" She sounded as excited as a child on Christmas morning.

She wrapped her petite warm hand in his and dragged him along. Even though he was nervous out of his wits, holding hands with her somehow made it all better. Suddenly he recalled the strange magic the place held and pulled her back.

"What?" She seemed puzzled. "Let me go ahead. There's less chance of Silvius' magic hurting be because I am also a Malfoy. And don't leave my hand. It will probably make sure that you also stay immune to the spell."
Hermione shifted closer to him as they walked ahead. Soon they could see an entire trail, a beautiful glowing trail of wisps!

Draco moved ahead and gestured for her to make no noise. They could hear their hearts beating loudly over the jungle noises. They were nervous and had jumped into it blindly. They had discussed the repercussions with Harry and each other, but they knew that this had to be done.
They took small soundless steps until Draco saw a cottage in view. He felt Hermione starting to tense in excitement. She also must have spotted the roof.

As they reached its front, they realised that it was impeccably clean and spotless. There was no dust, no cobwebs and only a few vines growing over it, rather aesthetically. Someone must still live here! They moved towards the front porch which seemed to have an old oak door. As they stood there, Draco used his free hand to knock on the door. The two still stood there holding hands.

After a while when no one answered, Hermione tried a simple Alohomora and the door swung open. They looked at each other and Draco decided it was best for him to go in first. Just as he was about to step in, Hermione held him back.

"What if you get pulled into some spell the moment you step in alone? Holding hands won't stop anything to keep you safe!" She whispered.

"Then what do you want me to do Granger?"

It felt rather nice how his hand completely engulfed her petite one and seemed to fit perfectly. He wouldn't admit it, but he was scared and holding hands seemed to be his only source of courage for now.

"Why don't we enter together? In all honesty am more afraid of being left alone in here. Irrespective of which one of us gets affected by the spell." Hermione's Gryffindor courage seemed to have escaped her because she could feel it in her bones that there was something amiss with the place. And they both knew, even if they hadn't said it out aloud, they could feel some powerful magic around them.

"Me too." Draco admitted.

"I don't know who cast the last spell on this house, but if it was Septimus then it could be that anyone who wasn't a Malfoy might get harmed. I don't want to risk it with you. But am equally terrified of leaving you behind...I have an idea."

Draco pushed the door open and turned towards Hermione. He let go of her hand, looked straight into her eyes and said, "Trust me."
She nodded as she felt him wrap his arms behind her neck and the back of her knees. He had picked her up bridal style as he walked over the threshold.

They felt some really old and powerful magic engulf them. As if it was in the very air of the place, but nothing happened.

Draco stood there looking around when Hermione said, "I guess it's safe to put me down." She was looking anywhere but at him and was thankful for the little graces in her life, like the lack of light in there because she could feel her cheeks burning. It had reminded her of that night and how Draco might have picked her up that way to put her on the sofa or the floor so that he could have his way with her. The thought made her all tingly.
Draco's thoughts matched hers. He imagined picking her up and throwing her on the bed to ravish her.

They had rather keep the thoughts away, they realised, as they started to look around the cottage. The cottage had, what seemed like a sitting room with an open kitchen to the left. There were windows that overlooked a garden patch on the right.

Ahead of them, lay two doors. Each led to a bedroom and a bathroom, they assumed. Draco went ahead and unlocked them while Hermione tried to assess the content of the first room.

"Draco! There is food here, but it is not spoilt! And not a speck of dust anywhere! Not even any insects or rodents! That is terribly absurd!" He agreed because the bedroom seemed untouched too. There was nobody in the house, yet everything looked in an immaculate condition. But the strangest part was everything was from a different era. Even though Wizard fashion and trends changed very little over the years, he knew that all that was there in the cottage belonged to another century entirely.

"Regency. All of this belongs to the Regency Era! Of the time when Silvius and Adelia vanished!" Hermione said holding up a Daily Prophet which had the dates marked on it. Draco moved over to take a look. As Hermione fumbled around with the shelves and drawers, she came across a rather beautiful piece of jewellery.

"Look." She whispered in awe of the piece. She was not the kind who would choose jewellery over other sensible gifts, but this piece was exquisite.

The sole occupant of the drawer was a beautiful emerald neck piece. It was four rows of diamonds set in single straight lines. Right in the middle, sat a beautiful emerald. It automatically reminded her of the Slytherin house and the Malfoys. It had to be a family heirloom. But why would anyone leave it here?

"This can't be! My Mother has this in her jewellery chest! This is a family heirloom! It belonged to the first Malfoy's wife and has been passed down ever since. It is gifted to every bride or when a Malfoy wife becomes pregnant. It is said to have protective spells in it for the wearer." Draco's head was reeling.

"Don't touch it. It might be cursed." They both were thinking of the cursed necklace that Malfoy had tried to use to kill Dumbledore back in their sixth year and how Katie Bell had become its victim instead.

He looked outside and saw that even though they had spent a large amount of time, it still seemed like there was Sunlight over the thick canopy of the trees. "What's the time, any idea?"

"It's 1:25." Hermione checked again and then again.
Draco looked at her in confusion.
"How is that possible, we entered the Marshlands around noon and it must have been at least three hours since then!"
"Your watch might be broken? See the seconds arm isn't moving."
Hermione was panicking because she knew the involvement of the time turner. Even though she knew that Draco was trying to comfort her and it made sense, she had to be sure. So, she turned to the grandfather clock kept in the corner of the room.

It showed the same time, 1:25 p.m. right down to the seconds.

The next sentence that left her lips terrorised them. "I think we are stuck in time." she gulped.

(A/N)

Hey!

So I hope you all like where the story is headed. And I would love for you all to put in some guesses as to what may happen next!
Until next time! (Probably tomorrow)

Take care

Mili