Difficulties Will Arise
21. Infiltration

Disclaimer: For all the work I put into it, you'd think this was my original stuff. Lame. Thanks anyway JKR XD
Author's Note: Oh wow! Oh, wow! This-Took-Ages. I am truly sorry, I didn't mean to do it. I know that it took much too long for me to get this up, and you've all been waiting, so let me get this Author's Note out of the way so you can read. I have a few birthdays to announce that you've missed in my absence.
25 January- Happy Birthday to ME!
30 January- Happy Birthday Lily Evans!
2 February-Happy Birthday Aurelia Finn! 3
6 February- (I'm not entirely sure if it's today. My calendar says today, but Mugglenet said yesterday. Whatever.) Happy Birthday Arthur Weasley!
Well, now that I've gotten that over with, enjoy chapter 21!

"Just say it!" he practically screamed.

"Williamson, you are out of your bloody mind," Aurelia scoffed.

"I'm not," he shook his head. "I'll be you are, though. It hurts, doesn't it? You see everything you've ever lived through, and Merlin knows it must have been a lot. It can end right now. I can make it stop. All you have to do is confess."

"Not on your life," she spat back at him, struggling against her chains.

"Fine," he sniffed. "Just know that you're only procrastinating the inevitable. I'll be back in a few days with the papers for the Kiss. Enjoy your miserable life until then."

With those words, he left the cell, taking his warming Patronus with him. The cold flooded back into the confined space and Aurelia slumped to the floor as her chains disappeared.

..

Draco sat rubbing his head, trying to make the migraine disappear, but realized it had been a fruitless attempt from the beginning. A loud noise like the sound of a whip cracking erupted behind him and his head shot springs of pain through him.

"Master Malfoy, sir?" a small elf asked in a trembling voice.

"What?" he grumbled.

"Your father is telling you dinner is in five minutes, sir," he squeaked.

"Mhm," Draco grunted. The house elf Disapparated with another loud crack. Draco groaned at the headache, cursing the stupid house elf with his stupid Appara—A thought struck him.

Draco raced down the stairs to the dinner table, where Lucius and Narcissa were already seated, awaiting dinner to be brought out. His head pounded in his ears, but Draco paid it no mind. He had more important things to worry about. After properly catching his breath and taking a seat, he began to speak.

"I've just had a major epiphany," he declared.

"And what would that be?" Lucius drawled.

"House elves."

"What about them?" Narcissa asked.

"We use house elves!" Draco proclaimed, his thoughts too scattered and excited to form a proper explanation.

"Use house elves to what, Draco?" asked Lucius, sounding impatient.

"Can't all house elves break through any Anti-Apparition charms?" he asked eagerly.

"Yes," Lucius nodded slowly.

"So," Draco cried, as though it should be obvious. "We send house elves to take Aurelia!"

"That is brilliant, my boy. Just one problem."

"What would that be?"

"It's impossible," Lucius shrugged.

"What do you mean it's impossible?"

"Draco," Lucius sighed. "House elves can't be in the presence of a Dementor for more than about thirty seconds. You Apparate a house elf into Azkaban and he'll be dead within the minute. Can you not think of a single reason why Dementors would affect a creature such as a house elf in this way? He wouldn't have time to Apparate there, find her, and Apparate her back."

"Find her?"

"We have no idea as to her exact location in the prison, and it would be damn near impossible to land on it from the first try. If you're suggesting trial and error, think again. You send a house elf in there multiple time and you might as well be sending him in there for hours. It's impossible Draco, any creature that can possibly make it's way into those walls undetected will be dead before they can help us."

"What if Aurelia summoned her own house elf? Wouldn't it Apparate straight to her?" Draco asked.

"Perhaps," Lucius shrugged. "But I assure you, Aurelia is in no state of mind to be thinking up these solutions."

Draco let out a heavy sigh as dinner was brought out. He began picking at the green leaves of his salad, suddenly having lost his appetite. His head throbbed painfully, but he had long since begun to ignore it. Not until he was making idle shapes in his mashed potato did he see a pointed figure in the mould, and another thought struck him.

"What if we tell her to summon her house elf?" he asked quickly. Lucius and Narcissa looked up from their plates with quizzical eyebrows.

"And how do you propose we do that? Send her an owl?"

He seemed to ignore that. "Do you remember last year when Aurelia was trying to track down Potter?"

"She used the necklace, so?" Narcissa pitched in.

"So, why can't we use that, then?"

"Doesn't she have it with her?" she asked.

Draco shook his head. "After the incident last year, she decided it wasn't worth the trouble. She put it away for safe keeping in her father's study. Her and I are the only one that know of it's location. It's in a book…Witches Who Cracked, And Not For The Better I think it was called. She carved a small hole right in the centre of the book, between the Lizzie Borden pages."

"Draco that's wonderful, son. Really, it is. I just don't think we can pull it off."

"Why not?"

"When the Ministry raided Aurelia's house, and when they arrested her afterwards, they had been guarding both residences ever since. They seem convinced that another Death Eater is going to try coming back to one of the homes. I'm not going to give them the satisfaction of being right. I will not have you thrown in jail or killed, Draco."

"You would have done it for him, father," said Draco. "If this were for him, you would have risked your own life. You put my life in danger for him when I was sixteen-years-old. He did nothing for you, nothing! One small mistake and he would have killed you, but you would have died happily for him. And now, when it becomes a matter of saving Aurelia—the woman that you and mother have treated like your own daughter, the woman that I am in love with—it becomes a whole different story. Why? Do you not trust her to lead us? You are just like every other mindless Death Eater drone. You won't trust her because she's young and a woman. I am so ashamed to hear this coming from you, father. I thought you were better than them. I guess not. But, I can assure you, I will go back. I will do whatever it takes to set her free, even if it means dying in the process. I would have expected the same from you."

He stood from the table and retreated back to his room.

.

"Fuck. Stupid parchment," Draco muttered, sucking the blood from a paper cut off of his finger.

He sighed and scanned his notes once more, Though, he had looked at them so often, he had them memorized right down to the loop's shape on the G's.

Anti-Apparating Charm- 10 meters beyond property

Apparition Detecting Charm- 15 m

Anti-Disapparating Charm- 20 m

It was practically impossible. There was no way he could possibly Apparate at least 21 meters away from Aurelia's property—the entire property, not just the house—and make it inside undetected. If only he had more time! So many different possibilities would help him if he had time. A Polyjuice Potion, or—

"Draco," Lucius said, opening the door. "Phone for you."

"Ph—? Oh, right," he shook his head, remembering. He crossed the room, grabbed the mobile from his dad's hand and shut the door. "Hello?"

"Draco Malfoy?"

"Yeah…Stephen?"

"Oh, thank God. I don't know how you guys use these things. Listen, do you know where Aurelia is?" he asked.

"Oh, er, I don't-er, no."

"Doesn't sound like a no," Stephen accused.

"Stephen, I have to go," Draco said. "Bye."

He hung up the phone before Stephen had a chance to protest. He threw the phone to the side and buried his head in his hands. It was impossible. There was no way in hell he could pull this off in just a couple of days. With a sigh, Draco pocketed the phone and left the room. He went downstairs to find his father in the kitchen, reading the Daily Prophet.

"Help me."

Lucius looked up from his article. "You're asking for my help?"

Draco nodded. "I'm sorry for what I said. Just help me. I'm completely lost." Pride be damned, he was desperate.

"Well," Lucius sighed, folding up his newspaper. "We're going to need all the help we can get. I'll call Bellatrix and Rudolphus. I haven't seen Wormtail in a while, but I'm sure he'd be willing to help. Maybe Crabbe and Goyle. I'm sure the Carrows wouldn't mind…"

"Where's Pansy? Wasn't she here earlier?"

"She got a call from St. Mungo's. She probably won't be back until much later."

..

Aurelia pushed herself up from the floor, mustering up whatever upper body strength she had left to do so. Thoughts kept flitting through her mind. The worst, never the best, obviously. She circled her mind around Draco, beginning to understand why memories of him confused the Death Eaters. She needed to get out. She wished there was some way for her to get out of there. She knew that wasn't possible, however. The only person that made it out of Azkaban unaided was Sirius Black, and that was because he was an Animagus. She wondered if she could talk the Dementors back onto her side, but figured it would be too risky. If they wouldn't be persuaded, she would have just given them a confession.

Aurelia's mind strangely veered off-course. She had a flash of a car ride. She didn't know where she was going, but she remembered listen to muggle music on the radio. She tried to shake it from her mind. She attempted giving the memory to the dementors, or replacing it with something else, but nothing worked. That is, until she felt her mouth forming words, and she began to sing.

She clamped her mouth shut, and looked around. "Just a small town girl!" she screamed. "Living in a lonely world! Took the midnight train going anywhe—"

"Merlin, shut up!" she heard someone shout at her from a nearby cell.

"Who is that?" she cried, running to the cell bars, the memory of the loud song completely gone from her head.

"None of your fucking business," the voice said.

"I'm Aurelia Finn," she offered, desperate.

"You are?"

"You know me?"

"I know of you," the voice corrected. "I wasn't truly lucky enough to…"

"What?"

"Forgive me, my lord."

"Did you just—? Oh, my…"

"I can't believe you're in here. How did this happen?"

"I'd rather not talk about it," Aurelia said. "How long have you been in here?"

"Since the battle last year, at the school."

"What's your name?" Aurelia asked, feeling slightly insignificant.

"It doesn't matter," she said, sighing.

The girl sounded young. Maybe right around Aurelia's age. What had happened last year? How many other lives were lost that she knew nothing about? Aurelia knew nothing, that's why she was here. She wasn't prepared for anything.

..

"Are you ready, Draco?" Lucius asked. "Are you sure you can do this? Are you sure you want to?"

"Of course!"

"Okay, Bellatrix, ready?" She nodded. "You two can go."

"Rudolphus, you and Narcissa follow up. I'll be right behind you."

Bellatrix grabbed Draco's arm and, before he knew it, he was being pulled into a swirl of air and compression that left him breathless. They both landed on a quiet suburban street. In front of them, nearly hidden in the darkness, was a very large manor. One Draco recognized even in the dim light of the street lamps. There came a crack behind them, and Rudolphus appeared with Narcissa. They waited several more seconds before Lucius Apparated in with Wormtail.

"Go, Wormtail," Lucius whispered, and they watched as Peter Pettigrew turned into a rat before their very eyes.

He scurried off toward the house while Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Rudolphus spread out to hide. Lucius pulled out his wand and cast a Disillusionment Charm on Draco. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough to conceal him in the dark. The two waiting until they saw a familiar rat scampering around their feet.

"Good luck, son," Lucius said, trying to pat Draco on the shoulder, but missing the first two times.

"Thanks," Draco nodded, and took off after Wormtail.

They wove in between parked cars and trees, Peter following the path he'd mapped out away from Aurors' eyes.

They were close now. Draco could see the gates of the Manor just several steps away. Naturally, it couldn't be that easy. Draco sat crouched behind a Mercedes Sedan, trying to stay as quiet as possible while he waited for Peter to return. Due to the slight setback of two Aurors having a smoke out by the gate, Draco was in need of a new path into the house.

He watched the two men exchange pleasantries and jokes, completely oblivious to the potential intruder standing practically within spitting distance. Draco looked around for Wormtail, but he didn't seem to be back yet. Draco's legs began to grow tired beneath him from keeping a crouched position for so long.

Suddenly, out of no where, he heard a shout behind him. Lights began flashing, and he noticed them as curses and spells firing. The Aurors had spotted his father and the other lookouts. He looked around for Wormtail, but he still was no where around. The two Aurors at the gate dropped their smokes and ran towards the commotion. Draco was caught between sprinting through the unguarded gates or going back to join the fight.

"Draco, go!" he heard his father's voice above the noise. That was incentive enough; he stood and ran full-out toward the gates.

"Stop! Who are you?" called a woman, coming at him with her wand out. The Disillusionment Charm had faded. Damn.

Draco reached quickly into his pocket. "Stupefy!" he yelled, and the woman flew back off her feet to land just near the front porch.

Draco stepped over her unconscious body and pushed open the doors. At least half a dozen Aurors were there. Draco tried to fire as many Shield Charms, Stunning Spells, and Killing Curses as he could manage, while he tore through the house and into Dillard Finn's old study. He scanned the bookcase until he came across the title he was looking for, Witches Who Cracked, And Not For The Better by Amber Chadwick. He grabbed the book from the shelf, cracked it open, and let out a sigh of relief. Sitting in between the pages, was Aurelia's four-cornered star. He grabbed the trinket, stuffed it into his pocket and left the room, cautiously looking around for oncoming Aurors.

He could hear footsteps and shouts upstairs, downstairs, and in rooms across the hall. They were looking for him. He readied his wand and headed for the stairs. As he was about to descend, he heard murmurs coming up towards him, he quickly retreated farther upstairs, but he knew that he was spotted. Draco heard a voice yell, "stupefy" and ducked down as a jet of red light streaked over his head. He ran in through the first door in front of him, lucky enough to find it empty. He was in Aurelia's room. There was no way out. He began to panic until he saw the back window. He considered jumping, but it was a long way down. Draco threw open the closet, hoping to find a broom, with no luck.

He remembered something. "Reducto!" he yelled, concentrating on blowing the wall to pieces with every fibre of his being. The Aurors were just outside the door. He had less than 10 seconds to pull this off. Sprinting through the rubble and into the adjoining room, he threw open the closet, pulled out a broom, and sprinted back to Aurelia's window. The charms around the place wouldn't let him get far, but he just needed to make it out of this window in one piece.

The Aurors burst in through the door, and shot a Stunning Spell. Draco managed to dodge it narrowly as he mounted his broom, and the force of the spell shattered the window. He collected his wits and dove out of the broken window. The broom stuttered beneath him, threatening to drop him to his death. It held out long enough, though, that Draco was able to jump down from it easily, dodging several more jinxes. He ran the distance to the fence, trying to keep a Shield Charm working against oncoming jinxes. When he got to the fence, he stopped, completely lost for what to do. The Aurors were running at him, wands raised, shooting off spells like they were chocolates. Draco tried to blast the fence apart, but it wouldn't budge and the distraction was nearly enough to get himself hit with a Stunning Spell. He wondered if trying to fight them all off would help him make it out alive. The odds seemed slim.

Suddenly, one of the Aurors fell to their knees. Draco looked behind the woman to see Bellatrix brandishing her wand, a maniacal grin on her face. The other were close behind her, Stunning and killing Aurors as fast as they could manage. The group of men and women became too preoccupied fighting off their attackers—which seemed to have increased tenfold—to pay any attention to Draco, so he took advantage of the opportunity to escape over the fence. It wasn't easy, but he managed to emit a rope from his wand, make it tie over the tip of the fence, and climb the length of it before jumping over to the other side. He was out of breath and his hands were scratched up, but he had made it.

Lucius and the rest saw that Draco was in the clear, and began retreating. He sprinted away from the grounds, trying to mentally calculate how far he'd gone. Finding mathematics a little too difficult at the moment, he ran as fast and far as he could, stopping every few paces to Apparate until, finally, the air compressed around him once more and he found himself standing in his kitchen.

They did it.

A/N: Okay, let's clarify a few things. a) I realize Lizzie Borden was a muggle, but I made her a witch because I had the Lizzie Borden rhyme stuck in my head for days when I wrote that part, so I decided to mention her. Just for kicks. b) Yes, I made Aurelia sing Journey. I had that song stuck in my head that day. Heh. c) I'm sorry I didn't get her out of jail in this one. I figured the chapter was getting a little lengthy, so I'm saving it for next time. d) Yes, this story is almost over. I can't really see myself exceeding 25 chapters. It all depends on how the next one goes, I still have a lot of things that are going to be done.

As I mentioned in my Author's Note at the beginning, my birthday was on the 25th. I had an amazing day, in case your life is boring enough that you wanna hear about it. I rented out a limo from the company my aunt works in. My three friends and I took said limo (my aunt drove, my brother, mom, dad, and cousin came along) to New York City. After that, my three friends and I departed with my family, and we went to Broadway. Of course, we saw none other than...Equus! Yes, you heard right. Let me just say, it was the most beautiful and brilliant thing I have ever had the fortune to witness. If you have even the slightest opportunity to see it, please do. It changed my life. (Of course, production stops in just a couple of weeks, so you better get a move on!) We ended the night with the classical pizza-and-coke dinner in the limo on the way home. At 8' o clock, my mom busted out the cake, I made a wish, blew out the candles, we sat around and talked, and that was my sweet 16. XD

Please review for this chapter. It's been so long since I've posted, you've read, and I've gotten reviews. I think we're all starved for those things, so don't let me down.

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