With a loud pop the three appear at the entrance to the Willowcreek pub in Liverpool. The front entrance is barred shut with wooden planks and the sign plastered to the front reads: Out of Business.
Draco ardently approaches the entrance and peeps through the planks to other side. "Vacant."
Quickly checking over each shoulder to make sure there weren't any Muggles sauntering around, he fingers the inside to his jacket, grips his wand and signals for Harry and Hermione to take a step back. He nonchalantly flicks his wrist at the door while muttering, "Reducto."
A gaping hole is punched through the barricade as planks of wood are scattered around them.
Draco catches Harry looking at him sideways from out of the corner of his eyes. "Right," he answers Harry's unspoken question. "I'm using magic again; yes. Now, can we get a move on?"
Hermione and Harry interchange a look as they follow after the blonde on his mission inside. They step over the rubble and duck their heads beneath the unhinged doorway while approaching the bar.
The abandoned area looks like a tornado had ripped through it. The barstools are carelessly thrown on their sides, half emptied alcohol bottles line the shelves, and a thin layer of dust coats the surfaces.
Draco helps himself to one of the abandoned bottles of whiskey, uncorking the container and taking a lengthy pull. He invitingly sways the bottle back and forth in his hand, offering it to Harry.
Harry obliges, grabbing the bottle into his possession and pressing his lips to the opening.
"So we've come here to drink?" Hermione comments disapprovingly. "I'll have you know that our time is limited, if the Minister didn't already emphasize the severity of this task."
"The severity of this task is exactly why I need a drink, Hermione."
The tone in Harry's voice sends his best friend the wordless plead to leave it be. He had been put under a great deal of stress over the last few months, becoming a new father in just a couple of short months, and the least he deserved was a quick drink to ease his nerves.
"Fine." Hermione raises her eyebrows at Harry and Draco who continue to pass along the bottle on consistent rotation. "Who would have known that the two of you would make such brilliant drinking mates?" They both shrug in unison as she adds, "I suppose I'll go check the kitchen, then."
Harry winces as he finishes off his final pull and passes it to Draco. "Thanks, mate."
Draco bows his head while carelessly tossing the emptied bottle behind the bar. Harry makes his way through the curtain that separated the bar from the kitchen while joining Hermione on the search for any indications of worthwhile clues leading to Madison's current location.
A loud bang from the front of the bar freezes them in place.
"Draco?"
Another deafening thump emits throughout the pub as Hermione and Harry take cover in the kitchen. They inch closer to the barrier separating them for a better look.
Draco stands guard at the front to the bar with his wand drawn. He watches someone's leg kick through the preexisting hole in the door as they shimmy their way through.
"Who's there?" Madison's father crawls through the gaping hole with a pistol drawn. "You are breaking and entering!"
Draco curiously ogles at the death inducing Muggle contraption while aiming his equally perilous instrument at the man's chest. "Put the gun down," he calmly instructs. He keeps firm focus on his target as the man marvels at the wand in a similar fashion to how he had the gun.
"Is that a wand?" Her father interrogates through pressed teeth. "You're one of them, aren't you?"
"I always knew he was up to no good," his wife sneers from over the man's shoulder. "His influence corrupted our little girl!"
"On the contrary, Mrs. Brown, my presence has only been to the upmost benefit of Madison," Draco replies with unscathed confidence. "Where is she, speaking of the little witch?"
"Shoot him," the wife encourages with a dangerous twinkle in her eyes. "The police will suspect it as self-defense."
Harry and Hermione watch on from the other side to the kitchen, crouched behind the window where food used to be placed to serve.
"Harry," Hermione whispers while tugging on the sleeve to his jacket. "We have to do something."
"He knows what he's doing," Harry reassures with a concise nod.
As much as he had faith in the renowned Slytherin to wiggle his way out of pretty much any trying situation, the grip on his wand tightens, ready to fire at any sudden movements.
Madison's father cocks the pistol and holds it parallel to the wand pointed in his face. Draco stands rigid with his face tilted downward and an entertained smirk on his face. His defiant composure unhinges the barkeeper.
"Get out!" the man shouts while inching closer. "Don't make me shoot you, boy!"
"You are greatly testing my patience," Draco warns with narrowed eyes. "However, you've caught me in a good mood. I'll ask you once more; where is Madison?"
"Get the bloody hell out before I blow your head off!" the father growls.
Draco makes a tsk tsk noise under his breath while shaking his head. "Wrong answer," he warns in a husky tone. Wasting zero time, he effortlessly flicks his wrist at the man. "Incarcerous."
A sequence of ropes emit from the tip of his wand and promptly wrap themselves around Madison's father's limbs. The loaded gun fires against the surface as it makes contact with the ground, missing Draco's leg by mere centimeters.
The man is promptly bound from head to toe and consequently falls to the floor like sacks of potatoes. The woman shrieks as she watches her husband helplessly writhe across the floor.
"Don't move," Draco advises her through pressed teeth, his wand now firmly directed between her eyes.
The woman turns to escape on foot prompting the same charm to be performed as warned. She wails as she crumbles to the floor beside her husband, bound and tied to the ground. She lets out a whimper as she peers down at her legs and arms tightly wound together against her body.
Draco wordlessly heightens the force of the charm as they desperately attempt to wiggle out of its clutch. His wand jolts between his fingers, almost like an excited puppy, at the neglected and deeply desired usage.
A brightened smile traces his lips as he takes a step back and peers at the result to his incantation; the insufferable, deserving man and woman now helplessly confined to the floor in hysterics.
Oh, how he had missed magic..
"We won't come willingly!" the defiant man protests while hocking a loogie at Draco's feet. The blonde's upper lip curls as he glances to his soiled shoe.
"Come on." Harry grasps Hermione's wrist while directing his chin toward the curtain separating them. "Before Malfoy finishes them off."
The pair join Draco's side as Hermione places an agile hand on the side to his arm. He looks at her from the corners to his eyes while lowering his wand hand.
"You!" the woman shouts with a pointed finger, recognizing her other bartender. "You're one of them too?"
Hermione arches an eyebrow at Madison's mother while folding her arms. "We've come today with a common goal," she tries to reason. "We both have a unified desire to track down your youngest daughter."
"We don't give two damns where that nuisance is!" her father roars. "She was as dead to us as the moment that dreadful magic took over and transformed her into a horrific monster."
"Brilliant parenting mechanisms, I must admit," Draco sarcastically drawls.
The man's face turns tomato red as he continues to try to fight against the restraints. "We won't adhere to your threats and phony magic tricks!"
"Phony?" Draco challenges. He crouches beside the man and presses his wand into the indent of his throat with great force. "Fancy to see another magic trick?"
"Malfoy." Harry composedly joins his comrades side with a hand clenched on his shoulder. "Let me handle the talking, alright?"
"We won't speak to either of you!" the woman protests with her nose turned up at him. "You.. you freaks!"
"Right," Harry sighs while rubbing a hand over tired eyes. He looks to Hermione and gestures toward her miniature enchanted pouch. "Have any Veritaserum on you, Hermione?"
"I may," she replies with a nod. "However, it is strictly controlled by use of the Ministry. You should be keen on knowing that, Harry.."
"The Minister specifically said to bring her back no matter the consequence, yes?" Harry reminds her. "The case is no longer in our hands, and our jobs are on the line, yes?"
Hermione hesitates while looking to Draco. "I'll do it," he offers without thinking twice. "The Ministry doesn't hold power over me."
Her lips press into a thin line as she looks between the two just as disapprovingly as she had when they decided to finish off the bottle of Jack Daniels just a few moments ago. Her eyes clench shut as she shuffles through the contents to her beaded bag shoulder deep. She reluctantly hands over the tiny vial that holds an emerald green liquid substance.
Using his forefinger and thumb, Draco jerks the man's head back and pinches his mouth open. Madison's father chokes on the water consistent substance as it's shoved down his throat. Following suit, he administers the potion to the wife.
"Let's try this again," Draco smoothly comments. "Where is Madison?"
"We don't know," the man protests. "We've been busy lying our daughter to rest at the Allerton cemetery. Busy dealing with the downfall of our pub, due to the heinous actions of that revolting, foul little-"
Draco silences him with another elevation to his wand. "When did you last see her?"
"The last we saw of her was when she pleaded to be with you for the holiday," the father informs while gesturing his chin toward Draco. "She referred to you as her one true remaining family member."
Draco's demeanor softens as he lowers his wand. Madison had already lost a sister, and the only remnants of her family were now on the floor at his feet; tied and painfully restrained by his actions.
"She escaped the basement where she was confined," the wife adds. "Turned into that bloody monster and fled."
"Confined in a basement?" Hermione interrogates. "You've been keeping her in a makeshift dungeon of sorts?"
In that moment, Draco comes to the realization as to why Madison had freed him from the dungeon at the manor. Like him, she had been constrained to an inhumane trap by influence of demented parental figures. And although Madison held great disdain for the Slytherin, it still showed that she held a trace of remorse for him.
There was hope yet.
"There's a chance you could find her at some meadow that she's spoken of," Madison's mother offers, the potion influencing her to be astoundingly more compliant than she had been just seconds ago. "She's been spending a great deal of time there; predictably practicing that bloody witchcraft."
As if a lightbulb had been ignited in their heads, the three exchange a new look of hope. Draco breaks her parents free of the binding curse, Obliviates them, and they promptly Disapparate.
After searching the private area that was confined for the purpose of teaching Madison, the three leave the meadow with low spirits. She was nowhere to be found. The two most obvious of locations as to where should could be, the pub or the meadow, had been cancelled out in the matter of an hour.
They hadn't lost hope, however, as Draco, Hermione and Harry held a common characteristic of resilience. They would see this through to the end and track her down no matter the outcome.
Taking a moment to recenter, they share a drink at one of the local restaurants. Harry and Draco continue to bond over their newfound common place of drinking while Hermione keeps persistent focus on their end goal. She writes notes to herself in a handheld spiral notebook as the two continue to jab at one another for old time's sake.
"So when is the little Weaslette due?" Draco taunts Harry over a pint. "When can we expect the spawn of insufferable righteousness to be birthed?"
"February," Harry replies with a smirk, choosing to go along with his comrade's cheeky commentary. "I will be taking a leave of absence around that time. We plan on extending our family as fast as we can."
"Shagging like rabbits, are you?" Draco notes, amused. The sound of blaring fire engines pass the restaurant, momentarily silencing them. "I mustn't blame you, of course," he adds without missing a beat. "Once I find a wife of my own, I intend to do the same."
His gaze hadn't left Hermione, who continues to studiously write down her flow of consciousness. Her pen pauses in place as her eyelashes flutter toward him. She momentarily raises her eyebrows and her lips twitch at the corners before tending back to her train of thought.
Draco smirks back at her, endlessly entertained by his influence over her, as his vision falls to the pint of beer in hand. Without voluntary movement, the carbonated substance begins to bubble as its contents swirl around in the glass. He curiously presses both palms against the surface to the table feeling it rumble beneath his fingers.
Someone behind them shouts, "Earthquake!"
Utter chaos breaks out around them as the Muggles sprint across the restaurant like chickens with their heads cut off.
Harry and Draco simultaneously stand to their feet as Hermione gathers her belongings. They fall back from the rest of the crowd, purposefully blending in with their surroundings.
The floor beneath them violently rattles as though a locomotive was making its way down the street, and speckles of dust rain from the ceiling as the structure is shook to the core.
Draco grabs Hermione's hand as they follow Harry though the sea of Muggles to the exit. They're faced with an overabundance of cop cars and fire engines that line the streets.
The weather outside resembled that of a low-grade hurricane. The trees wildly fling from side to side and particles of dirt tornado down the street as debris is haphazardly sent flying in the air. It was as though the city had been imploded with a vacuum effect, sucking everything inward as it follows behind the trail of a colossal black inky cloud.
They had finally found her.
Harry continues to lead them toward a lone officer at the corner to the street. "Excuse me, sir," he politely greets while tapping him on the shoulder. "Could you please inform us on the situation at hand?"
The sergeant deputy holds up a firm palm held inches from Harry's face. "Stand back!" he roars. "Patrons are ordered to remain inside where shelter is-"
Hermione impatiently flicks her wand at the officer. "Confundo."
With a dramatic change to his composure, the deputy peers up and around the sky before his gaze falls upon the three. "Hello," he states aloofly. "Do I know you?"
"Sorry about this." Hermione promptly Accio's the set of keys from the officer's belt loop which doesn't seem to trouble him in the least.
"What're you doing?" Draco asks apprehensively. "As much as I find it wildly arousing to witness you assaulting a figure of authority.."
"I spent the summer in our third year with the intention to learn how to work a Muggle car," she confidently informs. "Surely I'll be able to drive us down a few blocks."
"Surely.." he replies with blatant skepticism.
"Let's get a move on, then," she encourages as she tosses the loop of keys up and down in hand.
Darting toward the officer's car, they individually Alohamora their locked doors before sliding inside. Harry takes the passenger seat beside Hermione while Draco takes the back. Hermione stressfully scours the interior to the car while searching for the ignition.
A plethora of different buttons and gadgets disperse along the dashboard to the cop car. A lone laptop is lodged against the arm rest separating Hermione from Harry.
"Why are there so many bloody buttons?" Harry stresses while pushing an assortment against the dash.
"Perhaps there's an eject button?" Draco proposes from the back seat. "We could send Scarhead flying through the sky faster than a match of quidditch."
The two men continue to peer around the cop car in sheer ignorance as they attempt to start the car in foolish ways. Harry persistently jabs a finger along the keyboard to the laptop in the hopes that it would somehow ignite the Muggle contraption. From behind the gated barrier separating them Draco pulls on the overhanging handles, grunting with great force.
"No, you daft things!" Hermione reprimands, swinging the set of keys before Harry's face. "Why else did you think we needed these?"
Harry's cheeks pinken as he glares at Hermione in contempt. "How on Godric's green earth was I supposed to know that?" he pleads. "You know that I slept through Muggles Studies!"
Hermione flips a dismissive hand toward him while searching around the steering wheel. "There!"
The roaring sound of the engine sends a mutual sigh of relief throughout the car.
Hermione's hands are gripped so tightly around the steering wheel that her knuckles whiten. Her eyes flicker to the rear-view mirror, getting a glimpse of Draco behind her; visibly perspiring and paler than normal. Slamming her floor on the gas, the engine rumbles with intensity as they remain stagnant in place.
"Why aren't we moving?!" she shouts in distress, the time ticking away with each wasted moment.
"Now would be the time to use that big beautiful brain of yours and figure it out!" Draco demands.
"Ah!" Hermione protests in a similar fashion to when she found the solution to a tedious Arithmancy problem. "Of course!"
Yanking on the stick shift, she sets them in drive and forcefully slams her foot on the gas pedal. Gravity sends Draco and Harry plastered to their backs, each grabbing the sides to the leather seats like their lives depended on it.
Making up for the time that they had wasted, they recklessly travel down the crowded street while trailing behind the remnants of the daunting black cloud. It was time to confront Madison once and for all.