Draco had been standing blindly beside Lucius, although the crowd in front of him thought that he was his father and vice versa. He'd relayed Constantine's speech to the best of his ability and then stood to the side, waiting for orders.

His father was clearly loving the attention. If his ego inflated any more, Draco thought he might pop. It was so disorienting to watch his own body speak in such a foreign manner. Still, despite the urgency of the situation, despite knowing the man posing as him presented a danger to everyone around, Draco couldn't resist the Imperius curse. He simply stood, languid, as the fake Draco Malfoy droned on and on.

He did – until the words "Hermione Granger" sounded throughout the lawn. His attention narrowed in on what his father was saying – he was inviting Hermione to join them on the stairs.

Draco tensed. If Hermione were here, she wouldn't know that his father was Polyjuiced! She would be walking right into a trap!

From the shadows behind him, he heard Constantine groan softly. A moment later, his mind started to soften. His body relaxed a little, and his mind began to wander.

"Miss Granger could not make it today. I'm sure you all know, exams are coming up soon at Hogwarts."

Draco's mind focused back onto the conversation. A huge relief spread through him – Hermione wasn't here! Dumbledore and the Order finally did something right for once.

And for the next few minutes, his body and mind pinballed between tense worry and relaxed peace. He still couldn't move outright, but for just a few moments at a time, his mind was his own. His muscles contracted according to his own desire, not anyone else's. He had no idea what was going on. Had he started to develop a resistance to the Imperius? It sounded impossible – after all, his father had put many people under the Imperius in his service of the Dark Lord, and they'd never been able to resist. How could this be happening?

The thought floated from his brain as his mind returned to tranquility. Besides Lucius, Constantine – still as Harry Potter – stepped into the center of attention.

"Goodbye, Professor Dumbledore." Harry Potter said sweetly. "Avada –"

Draco's mind returned to him completely. He opened his mouth to yell "NO!"

At that moment, an invisible wind knocked into Constantine. It seemed to hit Lucius too. With full mobility, Draco rushed forward, trying to grapple Constantine's wand from her hand.

Something touched him – and then his entire world crackled.

He gasped for air as the world around him shifted from the Manor to some place he didn't recognize. When his head stopped spinning, he realized that it was a field of some sort, with no recognizable landmarks and no people. Then, he bent over and vomited onto the ground.

Unprepared Side-Along Apparition sucked.

"Don't move!"

Hermione.

Draco took a deep breath, straightening up. He turned to face her. Her frizzy hair was barely held back by a tie, her clothes were wrinkled to hell, and she was missing a shoe. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his entire life.

"Hermione." He whispered.

Hermione jerked up and looked at him. "Don't move!"

Oh, right! She still thought he was Lucius. "No, listen to me! I'm not Lucius!"

"Petrificus Totalus!" Hermione shouted.

His body stiffened and Draco fell backwards, his head hitting the soft grass. He tried to croak out, "It's me, Hermione. I'm Draco." But all he could manage was a soft whine.

Unfortunately, he had far too good a view of his father and Constantine. Constantine as Harry was standing, her wand in her hand, glaring at Hermione. A little way behind her, Lucius as Draco was lying on the ground, his cloak ballooned around him.

Hermione had her wand trained on Harry Potter, clearly having correctly presumed his true identity. The real Lucius stepped in to salvage his plan.

"Hermione!" He gasped, rather convincingly. "Please! I've been under the Imperius since they took me. Thank you for coming for me."

"I thought so." Hermione said, keeping her eyes on Constantine. "Are you alright? Do you need any medical attention?"

"I'm fine for now." Lucius replied. "My father…"

"Get your wand from him." Hermione urged. "I'm assuming you don't have yours. He'll have his in his pocket, probably. Apparate out of here, or else send a Patronus to call the aurors."

"Thank you." Lucius murmured. He sat up and then winced.

Draco stared – half his father's leg was missing.

Hermione swore under her breath. For a second, her wand lowered, but Constantine immediately shouted "Stupefy!"

Hermione deflected the attack and shouted one of her own. The two returned to their staring contest.

"You've splinched me!" Lucius shouted.

"I'm so sorry!" Hermione wailed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"

Draco wanted to tell her it was fine, that he wasn't harmed at all. Instead, Lucius screamed. "You've splinched me! Forget her and come take me to St. Mungo's!"

Hermione wavered.

"Drop your wand!" Constantine demanded. "Drop it so I can help him!"

"You drop yours!" Hermione retorted. "I've dealt with splinching before! Toss your wand to me and I can save him!"

Constantine's face seemed to contort suddenly. Her face started to melt into sharp, angular features, and her black hair grew out, turning brown and curled. She shouted a spell, and Hermione had to duck to avoid it. She shouted another one, raining a barrage of sudden spells. By the time Hermione ducked and deflected them all, Constantine was in the final stages of returning to her true identity.

If she was changing back, why was Lucius still stuck in Draco's body? Worse – why was Draco still stuck in Lucius's body?

Constantine seemed far more comfortable now. Draco didn't like that. If she had been uncomfortable in Harry's body, exactly how much better would she be at fighting off Hermione now?

Adding an unneeded layer of anxiety, Lucius was still screaming at full volume – "I've been splinched! You splinched me! Save me, save me now!"

Constantine took a deliberate step backward, closer to Lucius. Hermione's wand quivered. "Stay back! Don't go near him! Don't. Touch. Him."

"Stay out of this, mudblood." Constantine hissed. "You don't deserve magic. Look what you've done to a pureblood! You're an abomination!"

Draco wanted to stand and fight, throw himself in front of Hermione and shove Constantine into a river.

"Mio…ne…" He tried to croak, but the curse didn't lift. It wouldn't, not until someone counter-cursed him.

How could he get the message to Hermione? How could she possibly figure out that Draco and Lucius were both Polyjuiced?

"I have the right to magic, same as you." Hermione said, as evenly as possible. "Not only that, but I have the knowledge to heal my – to heal Draco. If you don't move, I can't heal him."

"You will go nowhere near him." Constantine growled. "You will keep your mudbood hands away."

"He's injured!" Hermione cried. "Let me help him! Do you know how to heal him?"

Constantine seemed to consider it.

Hermione shook her head desperately. She looked like she was just short of begging Constantine to let her help. Her eyes flit around the field, and for a moment, she made eye contact with Draco.