AN: Oh you wonderful, wonderful people, thank you so much to everyone who stayed with me, your support has meant the world to me. As always, special thanks for those who reviewed: Themrs0830, anjiepotter, LightofEvolution, loubug14, Lydia-Rashel, Arendora, wrwolk29, Black Banshee, Lucy Greenhill, kayomay, Jordan Ripley, Ravsi, GoldenRacehorse, lakelady8425, pianomouse, angelrose85, and guests!
I know it's been so much longer than I said, but I'm back and I'm ready to finish this fic! I cannot apologize enough for the long delay, but I ended up moving across the country and life has been a little hectic. Your encouragement has been absolutely amazing, and I promise I'll be finishing this story soon!
I wish I could give you all chocolates and sunshine for how amazing you are, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Changing Scenery
Chapter 22: Fear
Hermione stared at the spot where Draco had disappeared as the courtroom erupted into chaos. Chief Warlock Burnroot was banging his gavel without effect, the noise lost among the shouts of the Wizengamot.
I never told him that I'd chosen him.
It was the first thought that formed as the air suddenly rushed into the space where three bodies had been. It was an unexpected realization, brought on by the shock of Draco being kidnapped from the middle of his own hearing in the Department of Mysteries.
A glance at Harry, who was now on his feet with his wand drawn, showed that he was shocked as well, shocked and frightened. She might not have seen the fear if she hadn't known him since he was eleven and seen him in more frightening situations than she could count.
"Silencio maxima!"
The resulting silence was deafening. Robards, the caster of the spell, sent up a flare of red sparks to get everyone's attention before flicking his wand to dispel the Silencing charm.
"No one leaves this courtroom until this has been sorted," he ordered. He glared fiercely around the room before pointing at each of the doors in succession with his wand and sealing them shut. A few members of the Wizengamot grumbled at his order but Robards ignored them as he began barking orders into a bright silver orb he'd produced from within his robes.
The next four hours seemed to pass in a flash and interminably slowly at the same time, the distorted sense of time reminiscent of the middle of a battle.
The first thing Robards had done after sealing the doors was question her about the timeline of Dunham's ritual. After informing him that Dunham would require at least two days to prepare his ritual, his flawed ritual, Robards and two trusted Aurors that he called in had questioned every member of the Wizengamot under a truth spell. When he judged them to be innocent he allowed them to leave. Not a single member of the Wizengamot appeared to have been in on the plot to kidnap Draco and they were all eager to return to their homes. The only one who stayed behind was Chief Warlock Burnroot.
Without prompting, he said stonily, "I will stay until justice is done."
Hermione wasn't sure whether or not she appreciated the sentiment.
Robards had been forced to question her, Harry, and Draco's lawyer as well. They'd all been cleared quickly, but the questions he'd asked rattled around in her head.
Did she wish Draco or those connected to him harm? Was she aware of any plot to interrupt the trial prior to that morning? Did she know anyone that would wish Draco harm? Did she have any personal connection to Draco?
The last question was the one that gave her pause. It was the first time she'd admitted publicly that both she and Harry were Draco's mates, something Robards had accepted with only a slow blink to show his surprise. Harry, standing a few feet behind Robards, had had no reaction at all.
But that disturbed her far less than the idea of Draco back in Dunham's hands, even if Harry's coldness felt like a knife in her lungs. But the thought of Draco at Dunham's mercy after having read through that madman's journals sent a cold flood of fear down her spine. Please let him be okay.
As she waited, her mind flitted through all the possible ramifications of Draco being taken and how the Unspeakable was involved, flashing from one possibility to the next without settling on any solution for how to get him back. What she needed was time and silence to work through the problem and then she was sure she could find an answer, but feelings of dread and terror kept clogging her throat and her mind, paralyzing her. It was the same horrible mix of emotions she'd felt watching Harry walk into the Forbidden Forest all those years ago.
A hand on her shoulder jolted her out of her thoughts. She forced her eyes away from the empty bench where Draco had been sitting, half expecting it to be Harry, offering some of that quiet strength she'd always admired, but it was one of the Aurors that Robards had called in. She shoved away the disappointment that it wasn't Harry to the same small corner of her mind where she was keeping her fear.
"Robards is taking the Unspeakables up to the DMLE for questioning and he wanted to know if you'd be able to help with escorting them?" the Auror asked, removing his hand.
Hermione nodded mechanically. "Of course."
As the five of them marched the nine Unspeakables who were left, disarmed but still dangerous, to the elevator, Hermione couldn't help but notice that Harry had positioned himself as far from her as possible. That she wasn't surprised didn't keep her heart from breaking a little more.
Hermione was not allowed to participate in the questioning of the Unspeakables.
"You are neither an Auror nor an Unspeakable," Robards said firmly. "Go home. Rest, do research, I don't care, but you can't stay here." His face softened slightly a moment later. "If you stay you'll only torture yourself. If we learn anything, I'll send an owl." He gave her a quick pat on the shoulder before disappearing into his office with Harry and the other Aurors.
Hermione knew that the only reason Robards was offering to send an owl was because she and Harry were now Draco's legal next-of-kin, with the same rights as a spouse. She wondered if Harry knew that. Not that that makes Harry and I anything to each other.
Hermione once more shoved away those thoughts as she made her way to the Atrium and then took the Floo back to her flat.
Although it was practically supper time by the time she got home, she couldn't manage to summon an appetite. She stared blankly into the cabinet and all she could see was the gleam of Draco's hair and his bright grey eyes looking at her. Even though he'd probably thought he was being subtle, she'd noticed him staring from the corner of her eye and the trust in his expression had given her confidence.
She pored over her notes until she was too tired to keep her eyes open, looking for any clue of where they might have gone, but no answers appeared.
When she went to sleep that night, she had visions of Draco's fair hair matted with blood and his bright eyes dimmed in death while Harry, covered in ash and blood, yelled that it was her fault, that she hadn't done enough, that she hadn't loved him enough to save him.
She woke with a gasp far too early and couldn't go back to sleep. She lay in the darkness for hours, hearing the echoes of his screams.
Hermione was back in the Ministry at six o'clock the next morning. The hallways were empty as she made her way to the Department for Magical Creatures. Because of Draco's trial, she hadn't come in yesterday morning, and although she'd originally planned to go in and work in the afternoon, it had been the furthest thing from her mind after Draco was taken.
When she entered her office, a stack of files and papers waited on her desk, shorter than it would normally be after a day away. She knew that was due to Felicia taking on a larger share of the work in preparation for taking over the department. Hermione had never been so glad about her decision to resign.
She quickly worked her way through the files that needed her signature and sign-off as the official department head. Several new cases had come in that needed to be assigned to various case workers and she had to approve the pending promotion of Felicia's assistant to take over for Felicia once she took over Hermione's job. All of it was busywork that did little to occupy her mind. Fortunately, she had no more open cases except for Draco's, so she was finished in just over an hour.
After a quick stop in the Ministry canteen for coffee, she descended to the DMLE. She hadn't received an owl from Robards about any leads or more information, but waiting around her office or her flat with nothing to distract her sounded even less appealing than having Robards tell her off for hovering.
When she arrived, far more Aurors were bent over desks and rushing around than was normal before eight o'clock. Burnroot was in a chair in the corner, looking tired but implacable. She couldn't help glancing over at Harry's desk only to see that it was empty. He was probably out chasing leads. Hermione had spent more than an hour the night before debating whether or not to send him an owl, but every time she put quill to paper all her words dried up. Would he even want to hear from me?
Thoughts of Harry didn't stop her from walking up to Robards door and knocking.
A terse, "Come in," filtered through the wood.
Robards was alone when she went in, his desk covered in teetering stacks of paper while four owls waited on his window sill. He glanced up as she shut the door behind her.
"Granger."
"Any news?"
She knew before he opened his mouth.
"No."
"Any leads?"
Robards raised an eyebrow. "You know that you're not technically cleared to be read into our investigation."
Hermione gave him the look that she'd spent years honing on Harry and Ron. "I'm better informed about Dunham's ritual than anyone else, and I was working on the case anyway."
Robards sighed and set down the file he held, running his hands through his greying hair. "Fine. None of our leads have panned out. Portkeys aren't traceable by standard means and this one obviously wasn't licensed through the Ministry, although we did check. None of the Unspeakables seem to know anything, although one of them mentioned that the Unspeakable who disappeared with Dunham and Malfoy seemed to be acting strangely the past few days. Not that that helps us much now."
Hermione frowned, pushing away the emotions that wanted to swamp her. "Strangely how?"
Robards slanted her a look as he cast a quick Muffliato. "We think he was Imperiused, although the Department of Mysteries claims that all Unspeakables who are cleared to work on trials and guard prisoners are given training to resist it."
"But then who cast the spell? Dunham? Another Unspeakable?"
Robards shrugged. "We have no idea. Theoretically Dunham didn't have a wand, but the Unspeakable who took him was his guard and responsible for checking that he didn't have one, so if he was under the Imperius curse then he may have been instructed not to check for a wand or not to confiscate one if he had one."
"Did anyone check the records on the Unspeakable's wand?"
Robards grunted. "Apparently the DoM finds that it 'limits creativity' if Unspeakables feel that they are being monitored and so they do not run regular checks on the spells used by their wizards." His distaste for the policy and the department was clear in his voice.
Figures. Before Hermione could respond there was a frantic knock on the door followed by an Auror practically tumbling through. Hermione felt a faint pop as the Muffliato dissipated.
"Sir!" the Auror gasped.
"What, Auror Fitz?"
"We found where they went," Fitz said, panting.
Hermione felt her heart stop.
Robards stood abruptly. "And?"
"They aren't there but we think there might be magical traces that can lead us to them. Potter is there now with Peters seeing if they can track the traces."
"Good. Get Fink, Carson, and Princely for backup. We leave in five minutes."
"Sir," Fitz said, nodding his head before dashing back out.
Robards glanced at her.
Hermione tilted her chin up. "I'm coming." And you can't stop me.
Robards rolled his eyes. "Bloody heroes," he muttered. "Fine," he said louder, "meet us at the Apparition point in five minutes."
The only Apparition point inside the Ministry was within the DMLE. It was heavily guarded, its coordinates known only by the highest-ranking Aurors, and only used in emergencies. Three Aurors always stood around the perimeter of the circle of marble inside a room barely big enough to hold it. Hermione was waiting outside the door to the room when Robards arrived with Fitz, Carson, Fink, and Princely in tow. Fink was the only one she'd worked with before and she gave him a nod in greeting when he walked up. He nodded back and then they both turned to look at Robards.
He looked around the circle at the five of them. "Right, this is strictly reconnaissance until we can determine if the traces are useful. We'll rendezvous with Peters and Potter before following any trails. Fink and Princely, you're on perimeter so you'll Apparate first. Carson and Fitz, you're with me. Same with you, Granger."
Fitz gave out the coordinates and then Fink and Princely entered the room, the pop of Apparition sounding a moment later. Carson and Fitz went second, and then Robards turned to her.
"Right. I'll Side-Along you, Granger. When we get there, you will stay by my side at all times. Despite your experience, you are still a civilian and this is an official investigation, understand?"
"Yes," she replied, shoulders tight.
"Good." Robards pushed open the door and then tilted his head to indicate she should go in.
Once they were in the center of the circle, Robards pulled out his wand and offered his free arm to her. Hermione grasped it and then they were gone.
They landed in a tiny clearing in a forest. The early morning light leaking through the grey clouds barely illuminated the small circle of grass and her breath created small clouds of fog in the chilly air. Carson and Fitz were waiting a few feet away, wands out. She didn't see Fink or Princely, but she assumed they were already checking the surrounding forest.
Robards walked over to join the two Aurors and Hermione trailed along behind, glancing around warily. She pulled her wand out, but didn't cast any spells, afraid to disrupt whatever traces lingered.
They stood in silence for what felt like a year even though it was only a few minutes until Harry and Peters appeared out of the gloom of the forest, followed by Fink and Princely. Hermione could tell the moment Harry spotted her. His forehead creased and his serious expression deepened into a frown.
She realized with a start that they hadn't spoken since their fight nearly a week ago. They hadn't gone that long with speaking in years. Hermione took a deep breath, fighting the way her chest had tightened, gripped her wand more firmly and then turned away to face Robards after giving a quick nod at Peters. She didn't have the energy to be angry with Harry, not with Draco missing.
"Potter, report," Robards ordered, either missing or ignoring the tension hovering in the air.
"It appears that the Portkey landed not far from here. There are magical traces of the Stunning spell, the Disarming spell, Mobilicorpus, and several traces of Apparition that have been disguised somehow. So far we have been unable to determine the destination of the Apparition," Harry reported, voice calm and detached.
"Right, lead the way."
Harry and Peters guided the group through the underbrush to a spot not far away, a slightly larger clearing near a stream. Under different circumstances it might have seemed almost idyllic. Under the circumstances it just felt eerie. Fink and Princely immediately split up to take watch, their backs to the clearing.
Peters pointed out the indentations in the soft ground where it was clear the three of them had landed the day before. Robards cast the spell that revealed the faint glowing threads of spell traces floating through the air. Some looked more like tangled knots and Hermione could recognize those as being caused by Apparition. Portkeys didn't leave spell traces at their destinations, only at their place of departure.
Hermione was sure that the Unspeakable, at least, would have known that, although Dunham might have as well. With the amount of research he'd done into magical theory, it was entirely possible he'd been prepared in case he was ever discovered and had to escape. She just wasn't sure if he'd prepared for the possibility of being arrested by the Ministry. He hadn't seemed fully sane enough to have so many contingency plans, let alone ones that were so well thought out.
Two magical signatures predominated – most likely the Unspeakable and Dunham, though it still wasn't clear whether the Unspeakable was under the Imperius curse. There was only a sliver of a third magical signature, almost certainly Draco's, and Hermione thought it was likely that it was the result of his Veela magic coming out to protect him rather than a proper spell.
Robards and the other Aurors began sorting through the traces, tossing out theories and ideas. Not having had the training to sort through spell traces accurately and identify them, Hermione let her mind speculate as she listened with half an ear.
It seemed odd for Dunham to have chosen to land there. While isolated, which was useful, the clearing wasn't a good place to conduct the ritual, let alone stay the night so late in the year. And even though there were traces of Apparition, if Dunham had had the sense to use a Portkey to escape from the Ministry, it was far more likely that he would have used another Portkey to get to his final destination, rather than Apparition, which was much easier to track.
Hermione tuned back into the conversation to hear them arguing over the usefulness of following any of the Apparition trails.
"Is there any trace from a Portkey?" she interrupted.
All five of them looked at her.
"Portkeys don't leave traces where they land," Carson said, just this side of sneering. She could practically hear the derision in his voice.
"No, they don't. But it would make far more sense to leave another Portkey here to transport them to wherever Dunham plans to perform the ritual than to try to Apparate with an unconscious Veela, leaving an easy trail to follow. And it's also possible that the first Portkey couldn't take them the whole way," Hermione explained.
Everyone was silent for a moment before Robards responded. "Good point, Granger. Carson, scan for traces of a Portkey," he ordered.
Carson glared at her before obeying Robards.
Robards turned to her with an eyebrow raised. "Any other thoughts, Granger?"
Hermione frowned in thought. "Dunham won't go back to the house he used before, but he'll need a similar space. And in order to be able to do the ritual in two days, he'd need a place that was already prepared. Have you looked into the Unspeakable? Where he lives, if he's been spending time anywhere? If he's rented or bought property recently? If he's under the Imperius curse, Dunham might have commanded him to get the ritual ready."
Robards grimaced. "We tried to get records about the Unspeakable from the DoM, but they won't turn them over. I'd have to get a direct order from the Minister to get the department to hand them over."
"I can get Kingsley to issue one," Harry said quietly, looking only at Robards. Part of Hermione wished he'd look at her, if only for a moment.
Robards gave him a sharp look but nodded. "Good, do it." He looked up as Carson walked back over. "Well?"
"There are traces of a Portkey. They're not very strong, though. The Portkey probably wouldn't have been able to go more than fifty miles from here, not carrying three people, anyway," Carson replied.
"That's something, at least. Good work." He looked around the clearing. "Right, well there's nothing left for us to do here. Fitz, Carson, Peters, head back to the Ministry, start combing the archives for any recent property purchases within seventy-five miles of these coordinates. Potter, get that order from the Minister."
Within a minute, all three had Disapparated.
"Princely, Fitz," Robards called.
They two Aurors returned from their posts guarding the perimeter. "Return to the Ministry, start working on the report and keep the pressure on the Department of Mysteries. See if you can get anything else out of those Unspeakables."
They Disapparated as well, leaving just her and Robards, the clearing silent in the wake of the cracks of Apparition.
He eyed her sternly for a moment before speaking. "Look, Granger. If or when we find where Dunham and Malfoy are, you can't come along. We cannot bring a civilian on a raid. I know you have a…personal interest in this case, but you know as well as I do that you'd be a risk."
Hermione's lips tightened. She hated that he was right. "Yes, I know. And I appreciate you allowing me to come today."
"You've been a great help today and during this case, but you'll only get yourself or someone else hurt if you don't step back. We'll get Malfoy back and make sure Dunham is locked up forever, I promise you that."
Hermione grimaced but accepted his statement. "Alright."
"Good. Now, go home."
Hermione looked around the clearing one last time, imagining Draco lying there, helpless. Tears pricked behind her eyes but she couldn't tell if they were from anger or despair. She could almost hear the sound of him hitting the ground, the screams from her nightmares filling the woods as he collapsed.
Feeling like she was abandoning him, Hermione Disapparated.