As the fire roared in the heart Narcissa was ensconced in her favorite sapphire blue armchair, she dreamt longingly of her young son, running happy and carefree through the gardens of the Manor. She watched happily as he raced towards her with a handful of flowers he'd picked from the flower beds, "For you, my pretty mummy," he says in his soft adoring tone.
Narcissa scooped to pick up Draco, he squirmed and giggled in her arms as she feathered his face with hundreds of kisses, she held him so tight she was afraid he would break.
As a sudden cold wind wrapped around them Narcissa looked up, the sunshine was gone and Draco stands protectively in front of her, wand raised pointing towards the dark group of people advancing towards them.
As the group drew closer Narcissa stepped forward, before she could reach Draco his arm whipped out and stopped her. He turned quickly and whispered the word "Run," before turning back to face the danger.
The wind stopped as suddenly as it started and the menacing group stand and face them, the leader dropping their mask and sneering across the distance.
"Draco," Lucius commanded as his blonde hair flowed down his back "Let your Mother through, she belongs with us."
Draco shook his head slowly and Lucius began to laugh "You think you alone can stand against us?" As Lucius spoke the rest of the group drew their wands and continued their advance. "Move, Draco," Lucius commanded again.
"Draco, just let me through, I'll be fine," Narcissa heard herself whisper as she placed a gentle hand on her sons raised arm.
"No!" he snarled "I'm not losing you." The sky grew darker with each step the advancing group took as the air crackled with dark magic, a sudden fork of lightening struck a nearby tree making it erupt into bright flames which stood out against the sky.
"This is your last opportunity Draco," Lucius sneered as he stood meters away "Let her through and we won't hurt you."
"Please," Narcissa begged, tears pooled in her eyes as she gazed at her only son.
"No!" Draco repeated vehemently as sparks shot out of his wand "I'm keeping you safe, no arguments."
Narcissa tried again to move past Draco as Lucius raised his wand and pointed it squarely at Draco's chest. As the sky lit up again Lucius suddenly cried out "Avada Kedavra!"
Narcissa screamed as the green light struck Draco, she scrambled towards him as he fell back crashing into her arms.
The shock of his fall bought Narcissa crashing back to reality and her wet eyes snapped open. As she stood, rubbing her eyes to adjust to the now dimly lit room she drew in a shaky breath and wiped away her tears.
Narcissa walked slowly to Draco's bedside and gazed down at his sleeping face, he looked so serene sleeping even if he had lost his boyish good looks through the stresses of the previous years.
As she released a sigh of regret for her sons lost youth she leant down and ran her fingers delicately through the hair covering his forehead. Suddenly Draco sucked in a deep panicked breath and scrambled away from her touch.
He stopped when his back hit his headboard, his startled grey eyes frantically scanning the room before coming to rest on his Mother. Narcissa dropped her hand immediately and apologised quickly "Draco, it's ok. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you."
Draco sat still and allowed his breathing to slow, he looked around his room again and cringed as he remembered his confrontation with Lucius. "I'm sorry," he croaked, he watched as the concern on his Mother's face mixed with confusion at his apology, "It's always you that finds me in a mess, I can only imagine how worrying it is for you," he clarified looking directly at her.
"It is a Mothers job to worry Draco," Narcissa said slowly as she carefully assessed her son.
"Most Mothers don't have to come across their sons bloodied and beaten in their own homes," Draco replied promptly.
"Yes, that's not particularly pleasant." Narcissa spoke solemnly.
"Where was I?" Draco asked bitterly "I think I passed out after Lucius strangled me."
A strangled sob escaped Narcissa and Draco rose quickly from his bed to embrace her tightly, he planted a kiss atop her head "Ssssh," he soothed "I'm ok, we're ok."
"You're lucky," Narcissa whispered into his chest "Miss Granger heard you fall and managed to summon Nix who came to me. When your ribs broke crashing down the stairs one of your lungs got punctured, if Miss Granger hadn't helped, I don't know what would have happened."
"Ah," Draco said as he stepped back from his Mother "That would explain the god awful taste in my mouth and why my chest feels tight."
As they stood staring at each other Draco reached out and gripped his Mothers shoulders and spoke again "I'm getting us out of this Mother, we're not living under his tyranny any longer."
Narcissa gasped and stepped out of Dracos grip, her mind snapped back to her nightmare and her body shook with terror "Draco, you can't" she pleaded "We have to just keep our heads down and ride this out. Please - don't antagonise your Father anymore, we'll get through this."
"No," Draco spoke firmly "Even if we do ride this out, he will win, we will never be free. I am not risking it."
"You're just like your Father," Narcissa muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest, smiling slightly as Draco's eyes widened in shock "You're just as stubborn as him, you can't deny it Draco."
Draco scowled at his Mother "You'll know you can't stop me then."
"Sadly yes, however, I can advise you to tread carefully Draco and pray to Salazar no one catches you." Narcissa knew there was nothing she could do to dissuade Draco, after a parting peck on the cheek she left.
Draco sat alone in his room for a few hours staring out over the gardens wincing every now and again as his bones slowly healed. As his Mothers parting words repeated over and over in his head Draco knew there was only one person in this hell hole who could help him.
Granger. Draco was almost thankful she'd been captured, she would be just as determined to escape as he was. As the darkness fell outside Draco rose stiffly and put on a loose shirt, he mentally shelved his pride and prepared himself to go and speak with Granger.
Standing silently at the door to their dungeon cell, Draco took a deep breath before he slowly pushed it open, careful not to rouse any attention from the Death Eaters above. As he walked into the dank cell he cast a Lumos to light up the dim space, two confused faces turned to him as the door closed and he braced himself for their barrage of questions, true to her nature Granger spoke first.
"What are you doing down here Malfoy?"
"I've come to speak to you," he replied, patiently waiting for her reaction.
"What do you want?" she asked suspiciously as she stood to face him.
"First," Draco said shifting uncomfortably "I'd like to," he stopped and pulled absently on his shirt sleeves "T-thank you. For, uh, getting Nix to me." He mumbled quickly before he continued "And second, I need your help."
Hermione stood in a shocked silence, had she just heard that correctly? Malfoy just thanked her, actually said the two words, thank you. Swiftly followed by a request for help, what was going on here?
"Granger, get over your shock and answer me." Draco demanded impatiently, why was she trying to make this more difficult for him?
"Hang on," Justin piped up "Did you seriously just thank Hermione?"
"Yes. Call the Prophet. Mark today, September 19th as the day Draco Malfoy said thank you," Draco replied sharply as the sarcasm dripped easily off his tongue.
"I'm just surprised you know how to-" Justin started to reply before Hermione cut him off,
"Did you say it's September 19th Malfoy?" she questioned quietly.
"Yes Granger," Draco huffed as he pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to keep his temper in check. He reminded himself that he needed her help and ripping her head off wouldn't make her any more amenable. As he looked up she was staring off into space, her eyes were glazed over as if she were pondering the meaning of life.
Draco watched for a full minute as a wealth of different emotions rippled across her face before he snapped his fingers and attempted to break Granger out of her reverie "Look Granger, will you hear me out?"
"Sorry, what did you say Malfoy?" she replied airily which reminded Draco forcibly of Luna Lovegood.
"I asked for you to hear me out, will you?" he questioned, staring into her eyes, watching as she slowly came back to reality.
"Fine, make it quick," she replied brusquely as she clenched her healed hand into a fist.
Draco could tell she wasn't really listening but decided to proceed anyway "I need you to help me bring down the wards."
"Bring down the wards?" She questioned lightly, Draco could tell he had caught her interest and pressed ahead.
"Yes, bring down the wards," He repeated calmly he allowed her a few moments to process his words.
"Why on earth should I help you?" she replied coldly as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared into his steady grey eyes.
"You must want to get out of here as much as I do." Draco spoke steadily and took a step towards her, he watched greedily as her body reacted to his words "I've been trying to research the wards, there are so many, centuries old. You've got the brains to figure it out."
"Was that a compliment?" Justin interjected, earning himself glares from both Hermione and Draco.
Hermione bristled, she didn't need a running commentary she needed to focus. Her mind was currently racing at Malfoy's admission of the date, in all the chaos she had forgotten her own birthday and it stung to know her parents wouldn't even know. She shook herself mentally and turned her attention back to Malfoy and his proposal "What do I get out of it?" she asked.
Draco squirmed, he knew this wasn't going to be easy "When we figure out how to get out, we'll all leave."
"If I help you, what's to stop you screwing us over?" she quizzed as she narrowed her eyes at him.
"My word," Draco replied coolly "That's all I have to offer."
"Not good enough," Hermione retorted, thinking quickly she continued "I want you to get a message to the Order. Tell them we're alive. If you screw us over they can use it against you."
"Are you mental?" Draco said savagely as he ran a shaky hand through his hair "I have no way of doing that. You ask for the impossible Granger."
"No message, no help. Simple as that Malfoy," Hermione spat as her arms went rigid at her sides "I don't even understand how I would be able to help you. I'm stuck down here."
Draco released a grumble of frustration before spitting back "Obviously I haven't thought about the specifics but as you ask for the impossible, it doesn't matter."
As they stared daggers at each other, both of their chests heaving an idea snuck into Draco's mind, a different tactic.
Still glaring at her, Draco took a deep calming breath before he took another step towards her, relishing the look of horror that flitted across her face as he invaded her space "Look Granger," he began slowly "you can pretend you're not interested but I know you're lying. If you didn't want to help, you would have screamed by now and the Death Eaters upstairs would have caught me down here. Therefore, causing me enough trouble for the next century, but you haven't, you're interested." He watched as she nibbled at her bottom lip, he wasn't going to back down now.
"Get me my message, and I'll help you" Hermione stated, staring back at him her warm brown eyes dancing with fire.
"I have no way of getting a message out!" Draco cried forgetting the need to be quiet "What part of that do you not understand?!"
"All I understand is how desperate you are," Hermione said viciously "How it must have hurt your pride to know you need me, little Mudblood Granger to help get you out of Daddy's torture palace."
Draco felt his jaw clench at her words, she really was insufferable. "You understand nothing," he sneered down at her before he turned and swept out of the dungeon without a backwards glance.
Draco mentally chastised himself as he stormed down the corridor and up the secret stairs to his Mother's study, he couldn't believe Granger had got under his skin so easily.
As he pulled down another book about wards and settled by the fire his breathing returned to normal. He felt ashamed of his childish actions and decided he would give Granger a few days breathing space before he propositioned her again. He knew he couldn't crack the wards without her but he'd be damned if he went back down there and begged for her help.