A/N - It's been a long time coming, but here is the sequel for To Set A Trap, which I finally managed to write last year. I was hoping to be able to deliver good news in regards to new stories coming soon, but sadly things have gone very wrong this year and as of yet I've been unable to write even a single chapter. I've been having issues with my computer for a while now, but they've never affected my writing before. However, when I tried to get back into my writing shortly after the new year, I found the problems had spread and now I'm lucky if I can even open a word document, let alone add to it and save it. The end result is that I need a new computer, and while that looked unlikely to be happening earlier this month, things are looking better again and unless disaster strikes I should be able to get a new computer in the next few months. However, even when I get a new computer I still need time to actually finish some stories, so chances are there will be no new stories until the middle of the year. I do however have a few more tales and a Family Collection, which I will be sharing over the coming weeks. So enjoy what I do have ready for you, and the second I've got something finished (providing I get my new computer), I'll be back with a new story.
To Spring A Trap.
Once Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter had decided to strike at Malfoy Manor, they tasked the professional Aurors in The Order, Kingsley Shackelbolt and Nymphadora Tonks, with visiting the manor and examining the existing wards. With the work both Kingsley and Tonks did, or rather the work they had done when they'd been Aurors before the dark had taken over the Ministry, they were the perfect people to test the wards. The other person who would have been as handy was Bill Weasley as he was a curse-breaker, however he was still seriously ill following The Order's reclamation of Hogwarts and was of no use to them.
Checking out the manor's wards, not to mention studying the manor itself, took longer than Harry had hoped and it was almost a month after learning that Lucius and Draco had died before The Order were ready to move. In that time, Dumbledore had also secured a rough map of the manor thanks to information provided from Severus Snape.
"I think we're ready to go," Dumbledore announced as the group who were heading to Malfoy Manor gathered in the Great Hall at Hogwarts.
Dumbledore and Harry were of course part of the group, as were Tonks and Kingsley as it was their job to drop the remaining wards at the manor when they reached it. As Harry's best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were part of the group, and they'd been joined by Ron's younger sister, Ginny and Harry's godfather, Sirius Black.
"Does everyone know the plan?" Dumbledore checked.
"Of course, we've been over it dozens of times," Sirius snapped, glaring at the headmaster in annoyance. Time was not helping his feelings of hatred towards Dumbledore, if anything things were just getting worse and Sirius was finding it harder and harder not to strike out at the old man.
Ignoring Sirius and his barbs, Dumbledore checked everyone else was ready and knew what they were doing, before he led the way from the castle. The second they stepped over the boundary line, the group of witches and wizards raised their wands and apparated away with a pop, re-appearing miles away in Wiltshire. Over the course of the last month everyone involved in the plan to take the manor had visited the area, so everyone arrived grouped together at the very edge of the manor's boundary lines.
"How sure are we the house is empty?" Dumbledore checked before they got going.
"As sure as we can be at this distance," Kingsley remarked with a shrug. Currently the group were outside of a set of large wrought iron gates, which led up to the manor, the top of which could only just be seen at a distance.
"I thought your information was solid," Sirius sneered. "Your source keeps saying Narcissa is hiding out overseas. Or are you telling us he can't be trusted?"
"My information is that Narcissa is still in France," Dumbledore said. "Information I've had double-checked I might add," he added sharply. "Charlie and Fleur have confirmed that Narcissa is in France."
"So the house should be empty," Harry concluded, not wanting a full on battle to break out between Dumbledore and Sirius and he would be truly torn over who to support as both wizards meant a great deal to him.
"And the wards?" Ron asked, still unsure that it would be a simple task to gain entry to the manor.
"Albus was right," Kingsley said. "Our very earliest visits proved that blood wards had been the most prominent around the manor and its grounds. Over the last month they've faded dramatically and will be easily bypassed. As for the other wards, they're still highly detailed and would keep most people out. But Tonks and I are confident we can get through them."
"Without alerting Narcissa?" Ron questioned.
"That remains to be seen," Tonks admitted with a slight wince. "The blood wards won't have any affect on her as she's not a Malfoy by blood. However, the other wards should register with her on some scale. We're just hoping that her grief is stronger than her connection to the wards. After all, it's likely that she's not as attuned to the wards of the house as Lucius was. As the wizard of the house, he would have been in charge of security."
"That fits with the information I have," Dumbledore said with a nod. "Let's not forget we're dealing with the Malfoys here, and they were a very traditional family. Lucius, and to a lesser extent Draco, would have been in charge of security. To be honest there's no reason for Narcissa to really register our presence. If she does feel something, she'll likely dismiss it as memories of home and happier times."
As Dumbledore gave the order for Tonks and Kingsley to get to work, silence fell as the two Aurors did their thing. As she watched from her position at Harry's side, Hermione couldn't help but marvel at how dismissive Dumbledore and The Order were of Narcissa. Traditional the Malfoys may be, but they were also smart and would never have wasted the brilliance of a witch like Narcissa. Not to mention Hermione herself, who was also a Malfoy. As such, both Malfoy women had actually undergone a blood ritual binding them to the Malfoy family for life shortly after their respective weddings. They were also attuned to every ward around the manor, not quite as strongly as Lucius and Draco, but strong enough for Hermione to feel the work Tonks and Kingsley were doing. With every barrier they broke down a shiver ran down Hermione's spine and a warning bell rang in her head, and when they broke down the final ward she couldn't help but shudder at the exposed feeling that overcame her.
"Cold?" Harry asked with a sympathetic smile.
"We have been standing here for a while," Hermione replied, stamping her feet to play up the idea she was getting chilly.
"Not for much longer," Harry retorted with a grin as Kingsley and Tonks announced their work was done and the manor was accessible.
Suspecting the manor itself would have actual anti-apparition wards, as Severus had theorised based on the fact no-one but a Malfoy could apparate in or out of the building, the group made their way up the long, winding pathway that led to the house. It was almost ten minutes before the large house appeared in front of them, and even though Hermione was used to the sight of her husband's ancestral home, she was slightly in awe as she gazed up at the stunning building in front of her. Given it was evening, and the moon was already shining brightly in the sky, the manor had a Gothic vibe to it and the closer the group got to the manor the more intimidating it became.
"Tonks, Kingsley, stay on the ground floor and watch for any signs of anyone coming our way," Dumbledore instructed. "Ginny, you and Sirius come with me and we'll search Lucius and Narcissa's wing of the manor. Harry, you take Hermione and Ron and search Draco's wing. Anything that could be of use, bag it. Once we've finished in the private quarters, we'll search the rest of the house. Be quick, but be thorough. We don't want to miss anything."
Even though Hermione could have led Harry and Ron to Draco's wing of the manor in half the time it took them to reach the set of rooms her husband had lived in since he'd started Hogwarts, she let Harry guide them thanks to the crude map Severus had drawn and the information he'd provided. All the time they were wandering the corridors, several times taking a wrong turning, Ron moaned about one family owning so much, and when they did finally reach Draco's set of rooms, he started moaning again about how it wasn't fair that Draco lived in a portion of the manor that was ten times bigger than the Weasley family home, The Burrow.
"Life isn't fair, Ron," Harry muttered sympathetically. "But look on the bright side, Malfoy isn't around to enjoy his big home and mountains of money. He's worm food."
Hermione had to bite her lip from growling as Harry and Ron laughed at the idea of Draco being dead. Instead, she swallowed down her anger, knowing that in a few hours time the pair would be laughing on the other side of the faces when they discovered the truth and learned they had walked straight into a trap.
"Should we split up?" Harry asked, pushing open the first door he came to and finding a room which looked like a study. "I can take this room, it looks like it could be handy since it's clearly Malfoy's study."
"I think that's the best idea," Hermione agreed with a nod as Ron moved further down the corridor and found Draco's bedroom.
"I'll take Malfoy's bedroom then," Ron said.
Pushing open a few doors, even though she knew what was behind every one, Hermione stopped at the library and offered to search it for dark arts books that could come in handy. Harry and Ron were more than happy to let her be the one to sort through books, and they darted into their respective rooms to begin their search. Not that Hermione was worried about them finding anything as there was nothing to find. Anything valuable had been hidden in secret vaults that no-one but a Malfoy could access, and all evidence that she shared Draco's wing of the manor had been removed before they'd even faked Lucius and Draco's deaths. So Hermione knew that whatever search they managed before her family arrived would be in vain and would reveal nothing.
Not knowing how long it would be before her family arrived, Hermione perused the books in Draco's personal library, keeping up appearances just in case either Harry or Ron poked their head in on her. Not that she thought it was likely as both wizards would be busy with their own searches, and she suspected both would take plenty of time as Draco had safes in both his study and bedroom and if they were doing things properly, Harry and Ron should want to gain access to the safes.
As she wandered among the books, Hermione cleared her mind and allowed her connection with the manor to overtake her. Thanks to the blood bonding ritual she'd undergone following her marriage to Draco, Hermione now had a connection with the ancestral family home and could sense when anyone was in the manor with her. Right now, she could sense other presences in the vast house, which would be the rest of the group doing their searches. Thanks to the connection, she would be able to tell when her family arrived as it was even easier to sense another member of the family in the house.
Although when Lucius and Draco arrived, they would be able to sense far more than she could. They would be able to sense every single person in the manor and pin-point their exact location. The manor itself, and the land it stood on had been in the Malfoy family since the eleventh century, and even though both the manor and land owned by the family had grown in that time, the deep connection they had with the house had never faltered. Every Malfoy had a connection with the ancestral family home, and it was especially strong for the Malfoys that had been born within the manor wall, as both Lucius and Draco had been.
As if thinking of her family summoned them, Hermione felt a sense of peace come over her and she knew that Draco was close by. Within a couple of minutes she could also feel Lucius and Narcissa, and even though she couldn't tell where in the manor the trio were, she knew they were inside the house and would soon be setting the plan to trap The Order into action.
Knowing she would soon have to play her part, Hermione pulled out her wand and quietly shut the library door, she then locked it behind her and wandered over to the window. Just as she reached the window a shock-wave ran through her entire body and she visibly convulsed with the magic she felt pulsing from the heart of the manor. With no-one else having the connection with the manor, she knew they wouldn't have felt anything, but still she held her breath just in case an alarm was going to sound from someone. Fortunately, nothing happened and Hermione could focus on the magic she felt flowing all around her.
She knew the magic came from Lucius, and it was the first step in surrounding the manor with wards that no-one but a Malfoy would be able to breach. After almost five minutes she felt the pulsing of the magic fade away, only to be rocked with another shock-wave as a different magic started to fill the air around her. This time, Narcissa was doing her thing and adding her magic to that of her husbands.
Knowing what was coming next, Hermione braced herself against the window as Narcissa's magic ebbed away. When the third shock-wave hit it, it hit her harder than either of the other two and her entire being vibrated as her husband wove his magic. Because of their marital connection, Hermione could feel the magic Draco was creating and more than once she could hear his low voice in her head, muttering his incantations.
"Over to you, sweetheart," his voice finally whispered as his spell casting slowly faded from her consciousness.
Taking a deep breath, Hermione raised her wand and began to recite the incantations that would complete the wards around the manor and trap everyone inside. Her part in things was the riskiest, as not only did she have to keep half an ear open for anyone trying to reach her, but the second she finished the spells, everyone was going to know something had happened. As the spells she was casting reached their conclusion, Hermione spun around, her wand held behind her, facing the window. As the final incantation left her lips the entire manor shook and a loud crack of what sounded like thunder boomed overhead.
Quick as she could, Hermione whipped her wand back around in front of her and unlocked the library door, she then bolted across the room and darted out into the corridor just as Harry and Ron emerged from the rooms they'd been searching.
"What the hell was that?" Ron demanded, looking thoroughly spooked.
"I want to say thunder, but the skies were clear," Harry said, also looking nervy.
"Thunder doesn't shake the house like that," Ron snorted. "It was like an earthquake. What do you think, Hermione?"
"I have no idea," Hermione answered with a shrug, maintaining a puzzled frown even though she knew exactly what was going on. "Maybe someone triggered a hidden ward of security charm."
"Damn, I never thought of that," Harry muttered. "I've been trying to get into a safe I found hidden under Malfoy's desk."
"I've been trying to get into one I found in the back of the wardrobe," Ron admitted. "But I was getting nowhere with it. I'm sure I didn't trigger a ward or charm."
"I don't think I did either," Harry said. "What were you doing, Hermione?"
"Just checking out the books," Hermione lied. "There's plenty of dark arts books, but nothing was jumping out at me. Maybe whatever happened had nothing to do with us. Maybe it was someone else."
Before they could speculate further a silvery phoenix patronus swept towards them. They all instantly recognised the patronus as belonging to Dumbledore, and sure enough when it opened it's beak, Dumbledore's voice came out.
"Back to the main entrance at once, we have a problem."
Before the phoenix had even delivered the end of his message about there being a problem, Harry had turned and started sprinting towards the stairs. Ron and Hermione easily caught up with him, and together the trio ran back to the main entrance of the manor. Even with the urgency, Hermione still didn't lead the way, and allowed Harry to make a few wrong turns. However, it still didn't take them that long to reach the ground floor, and when they arrived they found the main doors standing wide open, with Tonks and Kingsley standing on the doorstep, their wands out.
"What is going on?" Harry asked Ginny, who was sitting on the bottom of the stairs, watching the two Aurors at work as nearby Dumbledore watched anxiously and Sirius paced the floor.
"Some sort of ward has been erected around the manor," Ginny explained in a low voice. "Did you feel the manor shake and the rumble of what sounded like thunder? That was the ward activating."
"What sort of ward is it?" Ron asked.
"That's what Tonks and Kingsley are looking into," Ginny said. "They haven't said much, but they seem worried."
"I knew this was a big mistake," Sirius hissed, his pacing bringing him closer to the teenagers at the bottom of the stairs. "We were fools to trust anything Severus Snape said. This is a trap, I just know it is."
"We don't know anything yet," Dumbledore snapped. "One of us might have unknowingly triggered some sort of security charm. I'm sure Tonks and Kingsley will have answers for us shortly."
Shortly was actually only another few minutes, but when the two Aurors did turn around, everyone could see by their faces that it was not good news. Especially when they confirmed the ward was not a result of a security charm being breached. They were dealing with a freshly erected ward.
"Freshly erected?" Harry echoed. "You mean someone put it up since we've arrived?"
"Four people to be exact," Kingsley said solemnly.
"Four people?" Dumbledore questioned with a frown. "I don't understand."
"Oh, it gets better," Kingsley muttered. "The only people able to move through the ward without serious injury are the four people who erected it. We're all trapped here."
"Not only that, it's embedded into the very foundations of the manor," Tonks said, adding even more bad news to what was already looking like a bleak situation. "Whoever erected the ward has a strong connection with the manor."
"Like a Malfoy?" Sirius questioned, throwing a smug look in Dumbledore's direction. "Say a witch who has lived here for over twenty years?"
"We would need to run more tests to identify who exactly set the wards, but we do know some things about the people who erected it," Tonks said.
"Starting with the person who started the ward, as Tonks said they embedded it into the manor itself, meaning they have a strong connection with the house. They were most likely born here, or at the very least have lived here their entire lives," Kingsley continued. "The second layer was added by someone with strong connections to the first person. They share a close bond, that much we can tell. They also have some sort of connection to the manor, but not as strong as spell caster number one."
"Then we have the third layer," Tonks said, picking up from Kingsley to finished their explanations. "The third caster has very strong connections to both the previous casters. They also have a strong connection to the manor, almost as strong as the first person's connection. And then there's the fourth person. They have the strongest connection with the third caster. In fact, their connection is one of the strongest I've ever seen. Their connection to the manor itself is the weakest, but it's there. There's also a connection with the first two casters."
"What are you saying?" Harry asked quietly as everyone digested the information they'd been given.
"If we didn't know what we did, I would say we've been trapped here by four Malfoys," Kingsley said. "Given the information we've discovered, I would have said the initial founding of the ward was started by Lucius Malfoy. I would then have said it was added to by Narcissa, and then Draco. And finally, it's been completed by someone very close to Draco. Say a wife, for example."
"Malfoy didn't have a wife," Ron scoffed.
"And he and Lucius are dead," Harry added.
"Are they?" Sirius questioned, turning to Dumbledore. "We only have Snape's word for that, and we all know how unreliable he is."
"I trust Severus," Dumbledore insisted. "And we have corroborated it as best we can. All our information points to Lucius and Draco Malfoy being dead."
"Yet people with strong connections to this house have just trapped us," Sirius argued. "Who else but Lucius and Draco Malfoy could tie wards into the very foundation of the manor?"
"I don't know, but let's not jump to conclusions," Dumbledore replied.
"Is it really jumping to conclusions when all the answers are laid out in front of you?" an amused voice called from the stairs and everyone turned to find Lucius Malfoy standing further up the staircase, Draco on one side and Narcissa on the other. "If you were listening headmaster, Mister Shackelbolt has just explained everything so perfectly. Even down to the identity of the fourth caster."
For a few long moments after Lucius revealed his presence everyone was too stunned to do anything as they took in the sight of the two Malfoy wizards they'd believed to be dead. But then reality kicked in and everyone from The Order scrambled for their wands, raising them towards the Malfoys.
"Really?" Lucius chuckled, arching his eyebrow in amusement. "Do you honestly think I don't have spells in place to protect my family from any harm coming to them in their own home? You cannot raise your wand to a Malfoy in this home without consequences."
"We'll see about that," Harry muttered. "Crucio!"
Harry's use of one of the unforgivable curses took everyone by surprise, but still those from The Order watched on in fascination as he cast the spell at Draco. However, Draco seemed unaffected by the curse and merely chuckled at Harry. Clearly annoyed, Harry repeated the spell, but the words had barely left his mouth when he doubled over in pain and began to wail.
"What have you done to him?" Ginny cried as she, Sirius and Ron rushed to Harry's side as he fell to the floor.
"We haven't done anything," Draco laughed. "Potter was the one who cast the spell."
"Any spell we cast against you rebounds on us," Dumbledore muttered hollowly. "That's dark magic. Very dark magic."
"We are Death Eaters," Lucius remarked in amusement. "We're a family of dark witches and wizards. I thought you of all people would know that, headmaster."
"There's darkness and then there's this," Dumbledore shot back, gesturing to Harry who was being helped to his feet by Sirius and Ron. "You could kill someone with magic like this."
"Only if someone tried to kill us," Narcissa pointed out. "It's called self-preservation, headmaster. And now you have yourselves a dilemma. You're trapped here, but to fight your way out, you have to come through my family. But to hurt my family is to hurt yourselves. So what do you do? Fight and only cause yourselves injury, or surrender and come quietly."
"We fight," Ron hissed. "We have to fight."
"And end up like Harry?" Dumbledore questioned. Harry may have been back on his feet, but he was far from steady and still looked to be hurting.
"We outnumber them," Ron cried. "There's only three of them and eight of us."
"Actually there's four of us," Draco remarked as the Malfoys moved several steps down the stairs. "Or have you forgotten my wife? She would be most upset to be forgotten. Although believe me Weasley, once met she's never forgotten. I would say you will remember her for the rest of your life, but I don't think that's going to be long."
"I don't see any wife, Malfoy," Ron sneered. "What's she doing, hiding?"
"No, I'm not hiding," Hermione said sweetly.
As one everyone turned to Hermione, and found her standing at the back of the group, an innocent smile on her lips. With all attention on her, Hermione's smile turned to pure malice.
"Hermione?" Harry queried, his voice still shaking from his encounter with the Cruciatus curse.
"Yes Harry, that is my name," Hermione replied with a grin. "I never lied about that. In fact, I never lied about my second name either. Or at least not until the last few years when I've really been a Malfoy. Before that, I've always been Granger because of my mother, but I suppose if I'd taken my father's name I would have been Riddle."
The name Riddle sent shock-waves around the hallway, and Hermione saw Harry, Ron and Dumbledore all reel back as they realised who exactly her father was. Of course, the others weren't far behind in catching up and Hermione was soon faced with seven hostile faces. Not that it was just faces she was confronted with as with a blink of an eye, Harry's wand was once again out, only this time pointed at Hermione. Before Hermione could remind anyone what would happen if they tried to hurt her, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Sirius all sent spells her way.
Hermione felt the spells melt off the protection she was afforded when she was at home at the manor, and within moments they had rebounded on those who had cast them. With Harry, Ron, Ginny and Sirius all hit by their own spells, the Malfoys jumped into action. While Narcissa secured the people brought down by their own spells, Hermione and Draco targeted Tonks and Kingsley while Lucius faced off against Dumbledore.
Not that it was much of a fight as The Order were pretty powerless thanks to the protection being a Malfoy offered the family. However, magic wasn't the only way of fighting and a fair few punches were exchanged before the Malfoys had all their opponents tied up at their mercy.
"Your father is going to be so disappointed," Lucius chuckled. "He was rather hoping his protection spell would be broken."
"It would have been if they'd put up more of a fight," Hermione replied with a shrug. The protection of the Malfoys had been a last minute addition from her father, but as dark as the spell was, it had its limits and more fighting from The Order would have broken it and led to a proper battle.
"He's still going to be disappointed to have missed the action," Lucius commented.
"He'll still get his action," Hermione predicted. "We've still got the rest of The Order to deal with."
When Hermione had informed her father that only a portion of The Order would be breaking into Malfoy Manor, initial plans were changed and although the Death Eaters were on hand in case they'd been needed, it was thought that the Malfoys could handle things themselves. However, a trip to Hogwarts was now on the cards, where the rest of The Order would be dealt with and the dark could regain the castle before the new year started in September.
"And he's still got Dumbledore and Potter to play with," Draco added, crossing to his wife and double checking that she was okay. "What do you think he'll do with them? A public execution perhaps?"
Hog-tied on the floor, Harry's eyes widened and his nose flared, causing Hermione to laugh. To be honest, she had no idea what exactly was going to happen to Harry, Dumbledore or anyone else. But quite frankly she didn't care. The important thing was that their plan had worked. They'd set the perfect trap and The Order had walked right into it. And now Hermione was free to let go of her act and embrace her future as Hermione Malfoy, daughter of The Dark Lord and wife to Draco Malfoy.