A/N: As always, thanks to SometimeSelkie. And a special thanks to those of you who have been reviewing.

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The Safe House

Chapter Twenty-Two

Early in the morning of June the fifth, Harry's wand lit up and began beeping in alert. The barrier that had been placed on the cemetery of the Malfoy estate had been broken. It had been Bill's idea to put a breakable barrier in place, one that, unless being searched out, would not notify the wizard or witch who had passed through it. It was tricky magic, but Harry had become rather practised at these kinds of defensive spells. He quickly silenced his wand and began getting dressed. It was very tempting to Apparate to Narcissa and have her take him straight to the graves, but he knew that would be foolish. Even if Voldemort was with Lucius, Harry knew that he would not have any remaining Horcruxes with them, and this last chance to find the dark wizard would be lost. He stood for a moment and stretched, trying to calm himself down.

He looked back over at his bed, at Pansy who was staring at him. "He's there, Pans. It worked just like she said."

She pushed herself up against the headboard. "Yes, well, Narcissa is a very smart witch." She sounded less than happy about the morning's development.

He frowned at her tone. "What do you want me to say, Pansy? That I hope she is dead? That I don't want her?"

"Harry, shut up." She reached over to the bedside cabinet and lit a cigarette with her wand. After taking two long drags and exhaling slowly, she added. "Why do you immediately think about her? Why can't I just be tired or even concerned about Narcissa? No, of course not. I say one stupid comment about Ginny fucking Weasley, and now that's all we can talk about."

"Well, when you say that I only want to kill Voldemort in order to get my girlfriend back, I think that maybe you are missing the point of this mission. And let's not forget that you referred to her as his fuck-toy. That's an image I really appreciate having in my mind. As if I can ever forget what he has probably done to her." He raked his hand through his hair and sat back on the bed. "I don't know what's going to happen, Pansy. I never promised you anything."

"I know, Harry. Trust me, I know. This isn't some fairytale we've been living. I get it. You love her, and you feel guilty. I just get tired of being your fuck-toy, okay? That's exactly what every one of your friends thinks of me. Merlin, Hermione even warned me that you would go back to her. And you know what? You deserve your happy ending, Harry. You really do. But so do I." She continued smoking until she had finished the cigarette. She put it out in the ashtray by the bed and stood up. She crossed the room, naked, and walked to the closet.

He watched her body, and he felt nothing. He had been honest with her from the beginning, and he refused to feel anything more than friendship towards his lover. "Maybe you should find someone else."

"Maybe I will." She put on a black silk robe and crossed to him. "You really think that she will be the same girl you knew and loved? That you could help her raise the Dark Lord's child?"

"The child would be innocent. And I can only hope she's the same, that he hasn't destroyed her mind." He pulled her close to him. "I wish I could give you more, Pans."

She had an ugly smirk on her face. "And what if I were to have your child?"

He shoved her away from him. "You don't even love me. And don't think for a second that will ever happen."

She shrugged. "You're right. I wouldn't do that to my child anyway." She turned away from him, hiding the look of pain on her face. She did love him, or at least it was the closest to love she had ever felt. He cared about her, and she was happy with that most of the time.

It had only been about ten minutes from the first alert that the second one took place, signalling that the barrier had been passed again and Lucius had left the site. Harry called together the planned group after he had readied himself and had eaten breakfast. They all arrived by that afternoon, as excited as he had been when he first heard the alert. They agreed to wait until later in the day, just in case Lucius would return. Hermione and Harry felt that the short time he had spent at the cemetery was a good indication that his absence would be noticed and, therefore, not likely to be repeated on the same day.

ooo

Narcissa walked slowly to the gravesite, painfully aware of the group of people behind her, watching her, waiting for something to happen. The tension was high, and she felt unnerved as she thought about what it would mean to find a message from her husband. It had been two and a half years since she had seen him, heard his voice, felt his touch. She looked back over her shoulder towards Pansy, who nodded her head in encouragement. She opened the gate with her wand and stepped into the Malfoy graveyard. Only family could enter this sacred ground, and they purposely had Narcissa place "Draco's" grave at the back, just in case Voldemort had accompanied the elder Malfoy. He, too, would have had to wait outside the gate as Lucius made his way to the grave. They were hoping that it would provide enough cover to allow Lucius to leave his own message without being discovered.

Once inside the cemetery, Narcissa quickly made her way to the grave, chanting in her mind that nothing bad would happen. She approached the large headstone and felt her heart sink, as she could see nothing had changed. The sunlight flickered through the leaves, and something briefly glimmered on one of the small ledges of the marble tomb. She held her breath as she stepped closer and closer, but nothing could have prepared her for what lay on the cold stone. She gasped as she recognized her husband's distinctive, goblin-forged wedding band and then fell to her knees. Her hand had reached out and took the ring, clutching it to her chest, and she leaned her head against the stone. She knelt at the grave of her son, grieving for the death of her marriage.

Pansy stood at the opening of the gate, concern etched across her face. "She has been in there a long time. I can just barely see her. She hasn't moved from the ground." She scanned the group and took in the faces reflecting their own worries, not for the woman within the graveyard, but for their mission. "Narcissa!" she called.

Narcissa sat up and looked back towards the entrance, recognizing Pansy's voice. Pansy was her only friend in this group of people. Bill Weasley was a kind man, but his brother had made it clear how much he despised her and her family. Ron and Hermione had joined the previous group that had visited the Malfoy estate. They were there more out of curiosity, but Harry had said that they would be needed if there were an attack. They were also the only six people who knew what was happening. Narcissa wiped her tears, accepting that the ring was Lucius's way of saying goodbye. She started to stand and had braced her hand against the face of the stone when she felt a shifting under her palm. She quickly looked up and saw the letters of her son's name moving around and changing. They formed new words and the real message from Lucius: WEAR RING – I WILL COME. She started laughing out loud in relief. After wiping her tears and kissing the ring, she ran back to the gate. She was smiling broadly when she emerged from the cemetery.

"I found it!" She held up the ring in triumph. "He left a message that said he would come."

They all had rushed to her, but Pansy and Harry stepped closer. Pansy placed her arm around the older witch in friendship, but Harry snatched the ring from her hand. "What is this? Is the message on the ring? What exactly does it say?"

"No, it was on the grave. It said, 'Wear ring- I will come.' That's Lucius's wedding ring." She reached for it, but this time Hermione took it.

After examining it for a minute, Hermione handed the gold band to Bill. "I think it has the Protean Charm on it. What do you think?" He took it, examined the ring, and nodded before handing it back to Narcissa with a smile. Hermione frowned at Bill, but she continued, "Well, I guess you should wear it. It will become very warm when he sends you his message, and that could be at any time. We can also use the Protean Charm; we can use the coins like we did in school so we will be ready to move when he sends her the message. We will need to be able to reach you as quickly as possible if something goes wrong."

Harry smiled at the group. "It's working. Today is the first good day we have had in months. We are finally getting closer to ending this war."

"Now we have two reasons to celebrate the Ferret's birthday!" Ron chuckled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

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Draco's birthday had come and gone without one twinge of pain from his Mark. Upon waking, Ginny had smiled at him the morning after and promptly restated that she wanted to wait ten years before leaving the house. He laughed at her persistence, and then he revealed that he was secretly thrilled with her plan although he insisted they revisit their options once a year. He wasn't ready to give up his magic, but he was willing to do whatever it took to protect his family. He also was anxious about the world that awaited them. Whilst Ginny envisioned a warm reunion with all the Weasleys happily embracing her new family, he pictured being told that his mother and father were killed and that he was not welcome anywhere near the Weasleys or Ginny. He had never asked her what she would do if she had to choose. Really, he didn't need to because, essentially, she had already chosen him. But when he spent too much time alone, a nagging little thought would creep into his mind, telling him that she had no choice whilst living in the house. That she was too good to choose anything that would cause him pain. That the only choice for her was to continue to make a happy life with him and Thuban in the house. He wondered what that would mean once they were free. Would it be so easy for her to turn away from her family if they did not accept him?

ooo

A month later, Draco was once again thinking over the future when he heard his son's sweet little voice babbling through the Extendable Ears. He rolled over in the empty bed towards the Ears and listened, waiting to hear Ginny's soft voice joining in the conversation. Thuban was happily making funny little noises for several minutes before Draco noticed that the shower was running. He chuckled to himself and decided to check out what his little boy was doing.

Quietly, he crept across the hall and peered into the baby's room. He could just see the top of his son's blond head as he was sitting in his cot, facing away from his father. Draco grinned as he leaned against the doorframe. Thuban began bouncing up and down and his gurgling increased in volume. Suddenly, the little stuffed dragon flew up into the air, and the baby laughed heartily. Draco had to stifle his own laughter. He watched as the dragon made several trips into the air, always followed by a round of belly laughs from the little boy. Then, Thuban hoisted the dragon up as high as his little arms could throw it, and it landed on the floor. Draco started to enter the room and retrieve the little toy Ginny had made, but he paused to see what Thuban would do. The baby quickly pulled himself up and looked over the side of his cot. He was so intent on finding his favourite toy; he did not notice his daddy standing close by. His little face scrunched up, and Draco prepared to interrupt the tantrum that was sure to follow. But before he could move, the dragon did. It scooted only a few inches towards the cot, but Draco froze and looked back to Thuban who was staring intently at the toy, his chubby arm stretched out with his fingers flexing. Draco couldn't help but feel a burst of pride as he realized that Thuban was displaying possibly his first use of magic. Unfortunately, the dragon only moved a little more each time Thuban would grunt the word "up". Draco had taken Thuban on the broom many times since his birthday, and the little boy loved flying. He had started saying "up" all the time to try and get one of his parents to take him in the air again. After a few more tries to get the dragon, the baby started crying. Draco quickly swooped in and returned the toy to his son's open hands and picked him up.

"It's okay, Thuban." Draco lovingly wiped the tears from Thuban's little cheeks. "Dragon is back. And Daddy is so proud of you." He kissed the top of his head and rocked him in his arms. After a moment, he realized that the cries had turned into soft giggles, and he smirked. "You are just like your mother sometimes. Speaking of Mummy, we should go tell her about your magic."

Draco carried the baby into the hall and knocked once before entering the loo. Ginny was standing in the shower, drying herself off. "Guess who just performed some magic?"

She wrapped the towel around her body and looked at Thuban. "Snitch! Did you do magic?" Her face was lit up, and she held her arms out to the now-squirming baby. Once he was in her arms, she turned to Draco. "Did he really? What happened?"

"He was playing with the stuffed dragon, and it fell from the cot. He almost got it off the floor." He beamed at her and continued, "He's going to be a very powerful wizard. That's really early. He's not even one."

"He's one in a few weeks, Draco. I've heard of that sort of thing before." She saw that her husband was not pleased with her train of thought, so she quickly added, "But he will surely be incredibly powerful. After all, look at his parents."

"Yes, that's exactly what my father would say." His eyes were lit up in mirth; he loved teasing her about her secret fascination with pureblood traditions and beliefs.

Catching on to his implication, she returned with a haughty tone, "He is a pureblood wizard from some of the oldest magical bloodlines in Europe." She lifted her chin and strode past him with the baby still in her arms. She almost achieved her dramatic exit until Draco smoothly grabbed the corner of her towel as she marched by him. "Draco!"

"Mama! Mama! Babbabbabababab!" Thuban giggled at his mummy and wrapped his little arms around her neck.

Draco held up the towel and smirked. "Did you lose something, my lady?"

'

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The weeks passed slowly for the Order members who were aware of the mission involving Lucius Malfoy. As Hermione had suggested, all were supplied with coins under the Protean Charm in order to alert each other for the next phase. Much debate had ensued after the discovery of the hidden message on the headstone. Narcissa felt strongly that ambushing her husband was the quickest way to end any hopes of finding Voldemort. Ron and Hermione strongly distrusted anything Lucius Malfoy might do or say. Harry's plan was for Narcissa to plant something on Lucius that would track him back to Voldemort.

Pansy was sitting next to Narcissa inside of Andromeda's old home that she had shared with her husband. She had volunteered to live with the other witch at the unprotected house. They were having another meeting to discuss once again the plans for Lucius's arrival. Pansy interrupted, "I think that someone has to be here with her when he is here. What if he just wants to kill her?"

Narcissa frowned. "Pansy, I appreciate your concern, but I promise you that Lucius would have killed me long ago if that was his intention. He left me the ring to show me his love. It's a sign of trust, and I think that is what should contain the Tracking Charm. It will make perfect sense for me to give it back to him."

Harry leaned back in his chair and crossed his leg, thinking. "All right. But not you, Pans. We need someone who has been in the Order longer. Someone everyone will trust."

Pansy scoffed at his implication, but did not argue.

Ron looked around the room before speaking. "I don't think I should do it. I'd probably kill him when I see him. And Hermione is not going to stay here either." He gave Hermione a stern look, but it was unnecessary, as she had no intention of leaving her husband's side.

Bill shrugged. "I could do it, but Harry, I really don't want to be away from Fleur and the girls any more than I have to."

Harry sighed. "I guess that leaves me." He wasn't afraid of Lucius, but he was concerned that the Death Eater may be bringing the war to them. He needed to make sure that he was free to find and kill Voldemort, and he still needed to destroy any remaining Horcruxes before that.

Hermione sat up quickly, her eyes wide with excitement. "No, Harry. You cannot be here. You need to stay safe until Voldemort is ready to be taken down. But George is desperate for action, and he doesn't have his own family. And, of course, we can definitely trust him."

Harry nodded in agreement. "That's perfect. Let's bring in George. I'm sure he can leave the shop under Percy's care for a while. Pansy, Narcissa? You okay with having George Weasley staying here with you?"

The two witches glanced at each other briefly, knowing their opinion didn't really matter, and then smiled at the group.

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A/N: So, a little more development. Did you think Lucius was going to respond?

Thanks for reading! Now, please give me some feedback. I need it. Sad, but true.