Chapter 25: Making a Comeback
"So, what brings you here Draco? We thought you reformed like the others and went under Ministry protection," Dolohov asked, gesturing for him to sit down in the chair. Draco casually took a seat and after shaking his head answered.
"I noticed my mark came back a few weeks ago and decided to finally come see what all the fuss was about."
"Well you're just in time! We were about to think up our ransom to send to the Ministry in return for their captives," Nott added enthusiastically. Yaxley swatted his arm and growled,
"We already know what our ransom is going to be you dolt. We're demanding that Potter turn himself in to us so we can get our revenge on him, then when we've finished with him we'll dispose of the captives as we please." Draco's heart clenched, but he kept a straight face so he wouldn't give away the others positions.
"How long have you been planning this entire thing? It all seems pretty elaborate just to lure in Potter and kill him," he asked, his voice calm. All three men shrugged and Dolohov spoke.
"Seems that way, but what better way to get revenge on the Dark Lord than to kill Potter and also the hostages. We want to make our mark on the Ministry once and for all."
"Killing children would leave an impact on the Ministry... When are you planning on starting the uhm... the killing?"
"Tomorrow morning is going to be the first one. We're starting with the ones we picked up earlier this week. That should draw Potter here without a doubt," Yaxley told him, his voice thick with the impending deaths. Draco was slowly losing his composure, although he knew that all three of the men before him knew of his fear of killing.
"Who?"
"Weasley, his wife and their daughter; Potter's precious girlfriend. We're starting with the baby," Dolohov explained, his eyes filled with something Draco couldn't quite place, but he matched it to the equivalent of lust. Lust for killing. They were going to kill his daughter first, then slowly pick off the others one by one until Harry turned himself in. Draco shifted uncomfortably in his seat, feeling his wand pressed against his leg and itching to grab it and kill all three of them right then and there. He thought he heard something coming from the hall, but it was just his leg shaking nervously, his heel thumping mutedly against the soft carpet. Untrusting of his own voice, Draco cleared his throat before speaking.
"What if Potter doesn't show up? Then you'll just be killing all these people for no reason."
"It's no skin off our backs. If Potter doesn't show his ugly scarred face, then we'll just have to go find him ourselves. After we kill the captives, of course. Can't let them go blather to the Ministry and get us all locked up in Azkaban, now can we?" Nott answered, confidence filling his words.
A long, highly uncomfortable silence passed and by the end of it Draco was sure he hadn't seen anyone cross the lawn in almost fifteen minutes. Luckily for him, the three men across from him had their backs to the window and had suspected nothing the entire time. After checking his watch, Draco sat on the edge of his seat and said,
"Well, I believe I'll be going. It's getting quite late." Yaxley and Dolohov immediately stood, Draco following nervously.
"You're not going anywhere Malfoy. You're going to stay here, and you're going to help us dispose of the captives. It's going to be you who kills Potter's friends, starting with that baby," Yaxley ordered.
. . . .
"We've waited long enough, let's go Ron." Harry stood up, wand in hand, and turned to his red haired friend.
I can't believe I'm about to risk my freshly saved arse to save Malfoy, Ron thought to himself as he stood and joined Harry. They walked briskly toward the house, the cool night air flowing past them in light gusts.
"So how exactly do you propose we do this then? Are we just going to barge in there or will we sneak in and save the day?" Ron asked, his voice hinting at sarcasm. Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"We're going to go in there and pretend to arrest them all, but Draco will 'get away' and we'll just take the others back to the Ministry. I'm just hoping Draco will go along with us and not blow the plan," he explained, rounding the corner and stopping in front of the gates to the house. It once again looked worn out and desolate, but they both knew what lie behind the enchantments. Ron raised his wand and looked to Harry, who quietly said,
"You ready for this mate?"
"As I'll ever be I suppose. Let's do this." The walk up to the front door was short and quick. The two Aurors could see the four other men standing in the sitting room window. Draco was easily distinguished out of the four, his white-blonde hair standing out against the three dark haired Death Eaters. Once inside the threshold of the house, they heard voices floating in from the sitting room.
"...kills Potter's friends, starting with that baby," a deep male voice said, his tone forceful and menacing. The alarm on Ron and Harry's faces was clearly visible as they crept closer to the sitting room entrance. Wands raised, they walked into the sitting room and cornered the four men.
"Drop your wands, all of you! Nobody moves unless I say!" Harry stated clearly, sounding more courageous than he felt.
"Look who it is! Little Potter and his sidekick," Nott called out mockingly. Yaxley slapped his arm while Dolohov said,
"Come to rescue your friends Potter?"
"Well, aren't you just the intuitive one? As a matter of fact, I'm here to rescue my friends and put all four of you in Azkaban so if you don't mind I'd like to get this done with," Harry retorted snidely, his wand aimed directly at Dolohov's chest. Draco's eyes were wide with disbelief as he stared at his two friends. Had Harry wanted to put him back in Azkaban this whole time? He wouldn't do that to Hermione. He couldn't; Hermione would never forgive him if he did. Still, the look on Harry's face and the way he spoke made it seem like he had every intention of throwing him back into Azkaban.
Suddenly, spells were flying everywhere and Harry just managed to block one that flew his way. Flashes of colour flew through the room, bouncing off the walls and ceiling. Ron shot a spell at Yaxley, catching him off guard and knocking him unconscious. Draco stood against the all watching the action and just narrowly missed a killing curse that bounced off the window and flew toward him. Both Harry and Ron were duelling one on one with the two Death Eaters. With all the might he could muster, Harry cast one final spell at Dolohov and sent him flying into the wall, knocking him out and watching as his wand flew from his hand. Harry then turned his full attention to Nott, who had been battling with Ron, and began to fire off curse after curse at him until he finally gave in and was stupefied.
"I'm contacting the Ministry to get some help with these three. Draco, go with Ron back to my house and make sure everyone got back ok will you?" Harry asked, keeping his wand trained on the unconscious Death Eaters on the floor before him.
"We're not leaving you behind here Harry. What if they come to before the Ministry gets here and you can't fight them all off at once? You could be killed," Ron disputed nervously.
"Fine, you can stay. Watch them while I send a Patronus to the Ministry." Harry stalked off toward the kitchen, leaving Ron and Draco standing in the sitting room with their wands raised and trained on the three unconscious men on the floor.
"Thanks for saving me Ron," Draco said to him, breaking the silence. Ron nodded and replied,
"No problem. Hermione would've killed me if I didn't come help Harry save you." They both chuckled until Harry returned to the room.
"They're on their way as we speak. It should only be a few more minutes," he told them casually.
. . . .
"Hermione there's going to be a hole in the floor if you don't stop pacing. I'm sure they'll be back any time now. Harry gave you his word, remember? He wouldn't go back on that," Ginny reassured her.
"I should go find them. They might need my help with something or-"
"Hermione stop. Just let them do their thing, ok? This is what they've been trained to do," Ginny argued, cutting Hermione off.
"You're right; I shouldn't worry so much about them. It's just, we've only barely gotten you all out safely and now they're risking their lives again," Hermione admitted, sitting gently down on the couch so as not to wake the still sleeping Kenley. She smoothed out a patch of Kenley's curly brown hair and watched her sleep for a while, hoping to make the time pass by faster.
"I'm going to make some tea. Do either of you want some?" Ginny asked, standing from the chair she'd been seated in. Noah and Hermione both nodded and watched Ginny leave for the kitchen. Noah sighed and leaned back into the chair a bit.
"It feels so good to be out of that basement. I'm so used to getting up every morning and seeing the sun rising out of the big window in my room."
"I'm just glad we got you all out of there," Hermione added, relaxing into the couch a bit. Ginny returned with the tea and they spent the next while talking about their week until Hermione heard something outside the house. She stood, careful not to jostle Kenley, and walked over to the window. Walking up the sidewalk toward the house were three men who were chatting quietly. Hermione could barely contain herself as she walked quickly to the front door and opened it. The trio looked up at her and smiled, Draco breaking rank and running up the stairs to her. They engulfed each other in a tight, breathless hug on the front step and stayed unmoving. Harry and Ron walked around them and went into the house, leaving them to have some time together.
"You're safe... Thank goodness you're safe..." Hermione whispered into his chest. A few tears escaped her eyes and were soaked up into the front of his robes.
"Hey, it's going to be ok. I'm fine," he replied sweetly, comforting his wife.
"What happened to the others? Did you-"
"No, we didn't kill them. We knocked them out and they're being taken to Azkaban as we speak."
From inside the house, the couple heard their daughter crying and rushed inside. Draco scooped her up off the couch and held her tightly, soothing her and rubbing her back as he rocked side to side on his feet.
"Come on, let's go home," Draco suggested to Hermione quietly. She nodded in agreement and walked over to her friends, hugging each of them goodbye before returning to Draco and holding his arm tightly. He turned and they were gone with a muted pop.
Epilogue
"Gabe come stand next to the train! I want to get a picture before you get on!" Noah shouted to her son who had run off to meet Kenley and Alannah as they walked up with their parents. Draco and Hermione waved to their friends and watched their daughters run off with Gabe toward the others. Harry and Ginny stood with Ron and Noah watching as their three children talked excitedly to their friends.
"I don't get why you take a picture of us every year before we get on the train mum! I'm in third year already and Kenley's going into her fourth year," Gabe complained as he stood with his cousins and friends. Five of them in total, they stood in front of the train and smiled while Noah took the pictures and said,
"I take them so that when you leave I'll have something to look at when you're gone! Ok, I'm done."
"How are you holding up there Noah?" Draco asked, coming to a stop with their daughters' trolleys just short of where the others were left.
"I'm still hanging in there. Only a few more weeks and I won't be the size of a whale," she replied as she slipped the camera back into her bag.
"I wish I didn't have to miss it mum! I want to be there when they're born!" Gabe called out from the huddled group of kids who were talking about going back to Hogwarts again.
"I'll be sure to send you some pictures in every letter, ok? That way you won't miss out too much." He smiled and hugged her as best he could over her protruding stomach and returned to his friends.
"They're all growing up so fast. It's hard to believe that Kenley's going into her fourth year already. Hey Harry, isn't Lily starting her first year next year?" Draco asked, noticing Lily talking with Alannah.
"Yeah, and James will be starting fourth year. Makes you remember what it was like during our Hogwarts days, doesn't it?" All the adults but Noah nodded. The whistle blew telling the students it was time to board the train and all the kids turned to their parents to say their final goodbyes for the year.
"Bye daddy! I'll miss you! You too mum!" Kenley told her parents. Draco and Hermione took both of their daughters in a hug and wished them farewell.
"Have a good year Gabe. I'll be sure to write to you and send pictures of the twins when they come. I'm going to miss you so much," Noah told her son. Ron hugged him and said,
"Do good son, I know you will. If you need anything to use on your enemies, write to your uncles and get them to send you some Weasley Wizarding Wheezes products." Noah smacked Ron's arm and gave him a stern glare before kissing Gabe on the cheek and sending him off toward the train with his cousins.
"Bye Lily, I'll see you next year!" Alannah called out as she hopped on the train. Lily waved and took her mother's hand, watching as the train blew its whistle once more and began to slowly chug away from the station.
Thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed my story! I hope you enjoyed it! Keep checking for my next fanfic. It's gonna be a Drarry!
-Stephanie from One and a Half Slytherins