"Draco, you will calm down this instant, do you hear me?" Narcissa said, a calm chill to her voice that made Draco aware she would tolerate no more of his behavior, but he didn't care.

"I refuse to live in the same house as him. Have me transferred to the Burrow."

Narcissa cocked her head to the side and smiled sadly, "You know that's not possible, darling."

He did know. Travel between safe houses was on an emergency-only basis, especially to and from Grimmauld Place, seeing as two of its occupants were presumed dead by the general public.

Theodore Nott had consented to going into hiding. Unfortunately, when they'd set out to retrieve his mother, she'd already been killed. The details were still a mystery, but there was a strong suspicion that Nott Senior had done it himself, to spare her the torture they would inevitably face for their son's failure.

Draco still didn't know how the Order acquired that information.

All he knew was that he refused to live with the boy who had endangered all of their lives, and especially that of Hermione.

The vials of memories were the deciding factor for Narcissa. Once she'd discovered them in Lucius's study, she realized that he would deliver that information directly to Voldemort and her son would be in grave danger. It was then that she'd begun plotting against her own husband.

That had gone on since Draco's fourth year. So much deception. So many lies.

And Nott was to blame for it all.

"Draco, he was so young when his father started manipulating him. You must see how—"

"I was the same age when I discovered Father's plots! Do you see me with a Dark Mark on my arm? Do you see me letting Greyback and my dear aunt into my own school? No, you don't."

"But darling, who's to say you wouldn't have gone the same way had it not been for..."

She trailed off, which made Draco turn to look at her. She had a knowing look on her face, and almost a smirk. He couldn't reconcile how she could be so calm. So empathetic.

Hermione. She was talking about what he and Hermione had shared and how it had affected his choices. A rebuttal began to form in his mind, but was interrupted by the swinging squeak of the kitchen door opening.

In walked Tonks, hair pink as ever, and a glow about her that Draco had never noticed before. Granted, he hadn't seen the witch all that much, but she seemed to have a halo of light emanating from her.

Turning to face his mother, Tonks said, "He's settled. I've told him the house rules and he's sworn to abide." Then she turned on her heel, quick as she'd come, and Narcissa stood abruptly.

"Nym… Tonks, please wait," she said, then turned to face him. "Draco, will you please leave us?"

To his surprise, his cousin had indeed obeyed and stopped walking. He nodded at his mother and left the room, heading straight up the stairs to see where they'd stashed Nott.

After climbing to the second landing, he heard a distant crash and continued up to the topmost floor.

One of the two bedroom doors was ajar and he heard yet another loud crash as he moved through the hall toward the crack of light.

His first inclination was to go in and lay down the law with Nott. They'd given him a room in their safe house, and he was smashing their things? Well, not really their things, but it was the principle of it.

As he got closer, however, he once again found himself in the position of hearing Theodore Nott, alone in a room, crying. With a jolt to his stomach, he remembered the last time this had been the case, and slowed his steps.

Upon reaching the door, he peered in and saw that Nott was sitting crestfallen on the floor, hands covered in blood. It seemed that he'd punched a mirror on the wall. A few times.

Draco did not fully enter, not that day, nor any subsequent days, but he always heard the outbursts when they happened. Little by little, his curiosity about the inner workings of Theodore Nott's heart and mind began to grow.

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Hermione was waiting patiently under the tent outside the Burrow. She knew he would look different, but getting to see Draco in any capacity was high on her dearest hopes list. They'd been separated since the disastrous end of the school year. Her heart ached for Dumbledore, and the pain was compounded by the fact that Draco couldn't be there to comfort her. Only she, Harry, Ron, and Mr. Weasley knew of the plan to have him Polyjuiced as a Muggle. It was easily achieved since Harry would be disguised as well, and Hermione had gone around collecting a variety of Muggle hairs after she'd gone home to secure her parents' safety.

The pain of losing her parents, at least in their memories, stung more deeply than anything, but she used her Occlumency to keep the pain at bay.

He finally arrived just before the start of the ceremony, and they were able to sit next to one another. They could even hold hands, as Hermione had put about a story that she was seeing a wizard from abroad who would be traveling in.

As the vows were being read, she felt his hand squeeze hers tightly. Then, his breath on her neck and a whisper in her ear that said simply, "One day."

For the next few hours, Hermione seemed to be in a dream. They danced. They held one another. Though he didn't look like her Draco, he felt like him. And for what seemed a brief moment, life was blissful and free.

And then, the entire world fell apart.

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Draco was bleeding. He'd been knocked aside by a fellow wedding guest keen on escaping, and hit his head on the edge of a table. Death Eaters were beginning to appear all around him, and when he turned to find Hermione, she was gone. Through his confusion, he barely registered the hand that grasped him by the wrist, pulling him through space with a jerk behind his navel.

Next moment, he stood in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, with Theodore Nott's hand still grasping his wrist. His mother burst through the door and immediately enveloped them both in a hug. Draco allowed it for a moment before shaking her off and releasing himself from Nott's grip.

"Mother, what—"

"Theodore what—"

"Scrimgeour is dead. He summoned his Death Eaters, and it wasn't long before they were all there."

His mother's eyes filled with tears and she pulled Nott into a hug again.

"Thank you for getting him out, I'm so glad you're both safe."

Draco felt his stomach turn at the way she spoke to them as if they were brothers.

"Why didn't you bring Hermione with us? Or Potter for that matter! You just left them behind to be captured?"

"Oh, Draco, you're bleeding!" Narcissa cried as Nott turned to look at Draco, his face expressionless. She began to fuss over his cut, taking out her wand and performing a Healing Charm.

"I was following orders," Nott said.

Draco almost asked "From whom?" before realizing that this was all his mother's doing. Of course it was. He also knew that he wouldn't be able to leave, it was far too dangerous. Besides, he wouldn't know where to go. Hermione had been unable to confide any of her plans with Potter and Weasley to him.

As if reading his mind, his mother said, "Ours will be the only safe house that isn't compromised, Draco. Perhaps they will think to come here."

He grunted by way of reply and made his way out of the kitchen, knocking into Nott's shoulder as he went.

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Hermione hoped with all her might as she Disapparated that Draco would indeed be at Grimmauld Place. He'd disappeared so quickly at the wedding, and she had to imagine that he'd gone to his assigned safe house, so she'd grabbed Harry and Ron and Disapparated to a random part of London. They'd quickly discovered that they weren't safe, and after taking out the Death Eaters trailing them, made their way to the only unplottable safe house in the order.

As soon as they entered, she could feel his presence, and her heart leapt. However, it wasn't Draco who she came face-to-face with upon entering the kitchen.

"Nott," she said curtly.

Although he'd done the right thing in the end, she found it difficult to forgive and forget the fact that he'd put her life in even more danger than it already had been.

Nott nodded in response, and did the same when Harry and Ron entered.

"Where's..." Hermione began, but Narcissa answered her unasked question.

"He's upstairs, he'll be eager to know you're alright."

Hermione felt her heart swell. She hadn't been directly addressed in this way by Draco's mother before. Truth be told, she'd been harboring some worry that the woman was disappointed by her son's selection, but she felt that dissipate a bit.

She turned to leave, but stopped in her tracks once she heard Ron's next words.

"Well, good, since you're a Death Eater, Nott, then maybe you can tell us why two of your lot were able to track us immediately in Muggle London."

Nott just stared back, but all eyes were on him. After a long moment, he spoke.

"Did you say the Dark Lord's name?"

"What, Vol—" Harry began, but Nott started and cried out for him to stop.

"Sorry to shout, but… they'll have activated the Taboo," Nott said.

Hermione looked from Harry and Ron to Narcissa, who had a sudden look of comprehension dawn over her.

"That's right, I do recall overhearing that bit of the plan." She said it almost to herself in a whisper.

"We'll need to alert Nymphadora. Probably best to wait a few hours, the rest will be getting interrogated."

"Interrogated?!" Ron shouted.

Nott seemed to be restraining himself to the utmost degree.

"Yes, Weasley, they're going to try and get as much information out of the wedding guests as possible to try and locate Potter."

Ron turned to Harry and said, "We have to go back."

"Like hell you do," Draco said as he entered the kitchen, grabbing Hermione's hand and spinning her around to kiss her full on the mouth.

Nott made a groaning sound, which was echoed equally by Harry and Ron. The three then looked awkwardly at one another, their shared discomfort uniting them for a moment in time.

"Potter," Narcissa said, standing and striding toward him. "What's the plan?"