Chapter 3: Malfoy Manor

Throwing his cards to the floor in frustration, Draco narrowed his eyes at the blonde sitting cross legged in front of him. "You hustled me. Weeks, literally weeks I've been sneaking in here for you and this is how you repay me?"

The silvery blue eyes sparkled mischievously. There was more snake in this eagle than anyone would ever realize at first glance. "Would you like to try and win it back; I'd hate for you to not be given the chance if you really would like to keep your house."

"And what, lose another villa in the process? You do realize the chateau just gambled away has been in the Malfoy family for generations? Luckily it's already mine to give away, so you'll be able to cash in what I owe you whenever all this is over."

It had been exactly three months since Luna Lovegood had been taken hostage from the Hogwarts Express. Three months that Draco had been bringing her pillows, blankets, food, and medicine. He'd put disillusionment charms on everything he brought so that the other Death Eaters wouldn't see anything when they checked on their prisoners. Draco was positive that Mr. Ollivander thought it was all hallucinations. Truly that makes the most sense in his case. He had been imprisoned for so long and regularly tortured by the Dark Lord, his mind has certainly cracked.

"You're more than welcome to wager more galleons if you'd like. You don't have to bet on another home." Luna's dreamy voice made him bite his hand to keep from laughing out loud. After what she'd been through in his family's home, Draco was perfectly fine with this little witch taking everything from him in a card game.

"You know, Draco, you could improve the feng shui in your dungeons. Using a little paint could improve the energy flow down here. If you'd like, I could do it for you," she said, throwing a handful of the silenced plastic chips in between them, raising him another fifty galleons.

"You want to paint the dungeon?" Draco asked, throwing his own chips in and a few extra to raise her.

"I'm guessing you couldn't bring me furniture, decorations, or plants. So, yes. Paint will have to do, for now," she said, discarding and plucking a new card from the deck before matching his raise.

His signet ring warmed against his pinky, indicating that someone had crossed his trigger line and was heading towards his private rooms. A wave of his wand banished the cards and playing chips in front of them before Draco disapparated without another word into his bathroom.

Washing his hands, to quickly warm them from the chill of the dungeon, Draco listened for the knock at his door. When it came, he wasn't at all surprised to find his mother standing there, as she was the only person who regularly came to see him here.

"Draco, quickly. You must come," she said a little breathless. "We believe we have Potter. You must identify him before we call for the Dark Lord."

His stomach dropped. What the hell was Potter doing here? He couldn't be here. If he was here, that meant he was going to die and not stop this insanity.

Fuck.

He would have to work on a way to get him out. Stupid bloody Gryffindor probably said the Dark Lord's name out loud or something equally idiotic. Saint Potter had been doing so well before this, slipping away from everyone's clutches. Even after he'd broken into the Ministry by himself, he'd managed to evade capture.

Fuck.

He was going to have to do something to help the bloody reckless Gryffindor, probably going to end up dead because of it. As long as he could get Potter out alive, his sacrifice would be worth it though, because everyone knew that Potter was the only person who could defeat the Dark Lord. Theo getting to live, maybe Granger could come back to England with her family, Draco thought, trying to focus on something besides how terrified he was. Granger could marry the fucking Weasel and have her own hoard of little red headed babies.

All this fucking work The Order had put in to keep the fool alive, just to be undone by Scarhead himself.

Keeping his eyes downcast and occluding, Draco put his attention on trying to pick out the individual threads of the rug on the drawing room floor as they filed inside. Draco followed his mother towards the struggle that he could hear taking place, not wanting to see what was happening. He wouldn't look up, not until he had to. He tried to breathe through his panic knowing that he'd have to lie to his deranged aunt's face, and that was a death sentence.

Breathe in, breathe out. Trying to count to ten, twenty, thirty… The sound of a female crying brought Draco out of his occluded state. His head snapped up, hair falling into his eyes, but there she was. Standing in front of him, in his home.

What the fuck is she doing here?

No one had heard from or seen Hermione Granger since the night Death Eaters broke through the wards at The Weasley's home. Now here she is, starved to the point her stomach bulged and her cheeks hollowed.

No, no, no! Greyback is going to kill her!

The insane werewolf was circling her; cackling, going on about pups and sniffing her neck, even licking her collarbone. Draco's attention was pulled away from her when Potter was grabbed by his hair and thrown at Draco's feet. "Draco, is this Potter? Take a good look, not too fast, we need to be sure," his aunt's voice sounded like razors in his ears.

"I can't - I can't be sure," Draco said, not making eye contact with either of his parents or his aunt. It's fucking Potter, Weasley, and Granger. He'd been tormenting these three since they were eleven. Even with his face swollen from a stinging jinx, probably Granger's handy work, he could tell.

"That's Potter's mudblood!" His mother declared, just as Draco looked up, he saw her pointing a finger right at Granger. Draco's stomach dopped at the sight, of course his mother would remember her. "I remember her from Madam Malkin's! Right, Draco?" She looked at him, hopeful for his confirmation.

"I'm not sure, yeah, maybe?" He stutters, not able to look up at the girl. The look his mother shot at him said everything…she knows. He'd written home enough about 'Mudblood Granger' his first two years of school. It was painfully obvious; he was obsessed with the little muggleborn. He had been ever since she had thrown open his compartment door asking for help to find Longbottom's toad.

Starved half to death, dirty, and scared, he'd still recognize her anywhere. The screams from the snatchers being tortured dragged his attention away from the ground. Bella was strangling Greyback, his feet flailing in the air.

The maniac screams in one of the snatcher's faces about a sword. What sword?

"Take the boys to the cellar! We're going to have a little talk, girl to girl," Bella said, grabbing the back of Hermione's head and dragging her towards the rug Draco had been staring at all this time.

Fuck.

Bella walked in a circle around Granger, like a predator playing with her prey. Twirling her wand between her fingers and tossing her cursed blade in the air with her other hand, looking down at the younger witch who was gasping for breath. Those large doe eyes frantically looked around the room before landing on Draco. The look she had was pleading with him to save her.

"Look away, Draco," his mother whispered in his ear as she moved her body to block his line of sight, cutting Granger off from the only comforting figure in the room.

Without thinking, Draco pulled his wand as his parents were focused on the emaciated girl on their floor. He cast the modified protego that he and Theo had designed. They'd been using it all year to help protect the students being tortured at Hogwarts without detection. It's not much, but no irreversible nerve or internal damage would be sustained. Hopefully her brilliant mind would stay intact, but he'd never used this spell against one of Bellatrix's victims.

Even though he knew she'd still be in pain, when the first curse was cast, he still flinched. Her screams echoed off the walls as she tried to plead with Bella. His mother noticed his wand discreetly pointed towards Granger. She didn't say anything, nor did she try to stop him, but he could tell she was not happy with his actions. Even if they were doing what they had to for survival and wanting the war to end with the Dark Lord's fall, his mother still held the same values.

He heard Bella screaming about her vault. How did they get in there? She'd gone completely mental if she thought anyone had broken into Gringotts. Granger swore that the sword was a fake, but Bella didn't believe her, and resumed the torture.

She'd wet herself, and Draco gulped down the bile coming up his throat. Bella's steel toed boot came into contact with her face and the crack of her jaw breaking ripped through the drawing room. "You want to lie to me?" Bella screamed crouching down in front of her, "then I'll make it so you can't speak!"

The cursed blade carved into her left forearm and blood poured out onto the ground. "So, you'll never forget exactly what you are."

Fuck.

The spell he'd cast wasn't going to protect her from cursed objects. Whatever was carved into that beautiful olive skin would be there forever. "Draco! Go get the Goblin," Bellatrix yelled, snapping him out of his trance. A panicked look at his mother and she motioned toward the door and pulled her wand out of her sleeve. A flick of her wrist showed that she was now holding the spell to keep Hermione as safe as they could in these horrific circumstances. Never had he been more thankful for the foresight to teach it to her than he had at this moment.

As calmly as possible, Draco walked towards the door. He had hardly cleared the hall before he summoned Gunter. A little pop announced the house elf's presence. "First opening you get, grab Granger and get her to the safe house," he whispered.

Gunter only nodded and then another pop and he was gone, now invisibly watching in the drawing room. The safe house was a cottage he and Theo constructed deep in the woods on an isolated Malfoy property years ago. It had been their haven whenever either of their fathers would take their punishments too far.

Over the summer, Draco had studied and learned how to cast a Fidelius Charm and made Gunter the secret keeper. Now whenever he and Theo needed to get to safety, they were both keyed into being able to apparate directly inside the wards. They'd both made use of the place several times this year, together and separately.

After Theo had been marked, Draco had snuck into the ballroom where the Dark Lord and the rest of the Death Eaters had left him to die. Draco had cried as he called for Gunter and had the elf apparate Theo into the master bedroom of their cottage.

Now he was going to have to do the same with Granger. He'd always tried to push down his feelings for her and knew that having her here could be the moment that all his occulusion would fail him.

"Goblin!" Draco called out, as he ignored the two idiots yelling at him. Granger wouldn't have gotten herself caught; she wasn't stupid. It didn't take anyone with two brain cells to realize that these two were to blame for the situation they found themselves in. He'd Avada Weasel and Scarhead if he thought that Hermione would forgive him and that the war could be won without bloody Saint Potter.

Luna's silvery eyes studied him as if she were looking straight into his soul. A look settled over her face, as if understanding his feelings. Was he really that easy to read? No, Luna was just uncanny in her ability to read people.

Dragging the goblin up the stairs and back to the drawing room went too fast. Before they'd even made it to the landing, Hermione's screams had started up again. Draco was torn between wanting to rush back and save her or to rip his ears off so he wouldn't have to hear anymore of her agony.

Pushing the goblin to the ground in front of Bellatrix, she shoved the sword into his face, letting it nick his cheek, before questioning him about it. He announced that it was a fake and relief washed over Bellatrix's face at the news.

"Greyback can have you now," Bellatrix said to Granger's unconscious form as she jumped onto her leg. The snap of the break and the odd angle, again, made Draco feel ill. She was going to need extensive healing after this ordeal, but first he needed to get her the fuck out of here.

"Sorry about your rug Cissy…" Bellatrix cackled maniacally when suddenly Potter and Weasley stormed into the room, wands raised and letting out war cries. When they started firing hexes towards his mother, Draco stepped up and began dueling the idiots.

It was their fault the girl he fancied was lying unconscious and broken on his drawing room floor. It was their fault that she was starving to death. Their fault that she was in this bloody country and not on the run with her parents. Because if they weren't so bloody useless, they wouldn't need her to keep them alive!

Potter disarmed him and… Dobby? What was Dobby doing here? Dobby was here helping Potter and had just disarmed his mother?

Turning back to where Hermione had been laying, Draco's blood ran cold. Bellatrix had yanked her unconscious body up and was pressing that cursed blade into her throat, using her as a human shield.

"DROP THE WANDS! I'LL SLICE HER OPEN RIGHT HERE AND WE CAN SEE JUST HOW DIRTY HER BLOOD IS!" The madwoman called out. Draco turned and saw his father pressing on his Dark Mark, calling the Dark Lord to them.

Wide eyed, Draco began to panic. They were all going to die. He needed to grab Granger and get out of here. Only, without his wand he was useless, and Bellatrix was currently holding her hostage.

A squeaking sound from above drew everyone's eyes upward. There sat Dobby on the chandelier right above where Bellatrix stood, loosening the bolts.

Shit! Dobby was going to kill them both if that thing fell!

Apparently, Bellatrix had the same thought, because just as it began to fall, she threw Hermione and jumped out of the way.

Weasley was cradling Hermione to him. Her normally glowing skin was grey and almost translucent. Blood was trickling down her arm and throat from where Bella's blade had cut into her. Then they were gone with Dobby. Bella's blade flew through the air into nothingness after them.

"Draco, we have to go, now," his mother said, pulling on his arm as she bent over and scooped up her wand that had been discarded by the house elf. "The Dark Lord is almost here, now quickly, upstairs my love."

Lucius and Bellatrix were so busy arguing that they took no notice of the mother and son slipping from the room. "Go to Theo's, don't come back until you've locked your feelings for that girl away again. If Bella hadn't been distracted, she would have seen it written all over your face. Now, go," his mother said, pushing Draco towards the fireplace. She called out his destination and threw the Floo powder in the hearth before he could attempt to stop her. His mother shoved him into the hearth and in a flash of green, he was stumbling out into the foyer of Nott Manor.

ooo

Theo couldn't hear anything over the hysterical cries of the tiny elf curled in his arms. He couldn't help but thank the deities watching over them that his father was out of the country and wouldn't be back until sometime in April.

"Pippa, please, I can't help you unless you tell me what's wrong," he tried soothing her, but only seemed to make it worse.

"Pippa. Can't. Leave. Help. Must," his little elf was crying. Hiccups accentuated each word; her face was a mixture of tears and snot. Theo had his handkerchief out, trying to mop it up, but it was no use.

The wards rippled as someone cleared them. "Shit," Theo muttered, standing up. With Pippa cradled against his chest he swiftly walked to where he knew the elves' chambers were. "Ripple," he called out once he'd reached where he knew the entrance to be.

An elderly and very battered elf with an eye patch stuck his head out of a small door that had just materialized. Ripple had the misfortune of being Thoros' personal elf and was nearly as battered and bruised as Theo was. "Master Theo needs Ripple?" The elderly elf asked, letting his one good eye travel over Pippa's hysterical form still in his arms.

"Yes, someone is here, and I can't calm her down. Will you please stay with her and make sure that no one sees her like this?" He asked as Ripple nodded his head and held out his arms.

"Ripple will take care of Pippa. Master Draco is needing Master Theo. He awaits you in the main foyer," Ripple said, cuddling Pippa into his arms and wiping her tears away with one of his nubbed fingers.

At the news that Draco was the one who had come over, Theo didn't waste another moment, before running down the hall. What could possibly bring Draco to his manor? He'd told Theo that over the Easter holiday he was going to keep an eye on Luna at Malfoy Manor.

Bounding down the stairs and skidding to a stop, Theo's eyes went wide at the sight of his boyfriend. Paler than he'd ever seen him and throwing up all over himself, Theo feared the worst. Maybe someone had caught him helping Luna? Maybe Bellatrix had seen him taking her food and had killed Luna as a punishment for Draco.

A Scourgify cleared the mess, although it did not quite get rid of the vomit smell.

"Love? Draco?" Theo asked, as he sat on the floor and pulled Draco into his arms. At the contact, Draco's body began to rattle as the sobs poured out of him.

"I think she's dead. She has to be dead, even with the spell. I just stood there and didn't stop it," Draco cried into Theo's shoulder.

"Draco, sweetheart, please. Is it Luna? Your mother? Dragon, I can't help unless I know who she is," Theo tried, running his fingers through Draco's silky hair. There was dust and debris in his locks, and maybe some flakes of dried blood. Whatever had just happened at Malfoy Manor had been bad.

"It was Granger, Theo. They, the snatchers, caught her and brought her, Potter, and Weasley to the manor. Bella tortured her. It was so horrible - so much blood…"

It was as if all the air had been sucked from the room at that moment, Theo's hands began to shake, and his vision blurred. "What do you mean Hermione was at your house? You must be mistaken, she's… She's with her parents. She's not even in the country," Theo said, pulling away from Draco to look him in the eye.

"I can tell you that Granger most certainly is in the country. From the looks of her, she has been on the run with Potter and Weasley for months. Probably since Potter went into hiding in the summer. She was half starved, and clearly something was wrong with her. That was before Bella even started on her, Salazar, I can only imagine the damage to her now."

He hadn't been worried even though he hadn't heard from Hermione via their coins in over a week. He hadn't had to worry about her because he thought that she was safely tucked away in some country far away from the war, the war that was being fought to rid the country of people just like her.

"Where is she now?' Theo calmly asked, as he mentally began mapping out all the weak points in security at the manor. It would be difficult, no doubt, but they'd have to get her out and to a Healer. If Draco was right about Bellatrix torturing her, she was most likely at the brink of death.

"I don't know. Gunter was supposed to step in and take her to the cottage. For some reason Dobby was there and he took Granger and the idiots somewhere. We can't go back to the manor right now, my father called him right before they got away," Draco told him, pulling at his hair, his eyes unfocused looking at the ground in front of him.

"We have no way to find her?" Theo asked, Draco shaking his head no. Standing up, Theo threw his head back screaming in rage.

"Reducto!" Theo cried, pointing his wand at a priceless vase making it shatter beyond repair. "Reducto!" Every picture, vase, and piece of furniture began to explode in his furry. "Reducto!" The portrait of Theo standing next to his father was blasted.

His chest heaving, hands shaking, Theo summoned his coin. He was going to find this witch and make her explain to him what she was thinking, going off to play the babysitter to Potter and Weasley. "We have to find her and get her out of the country."

"What are you talking about, Theo? She's gone with Potter and Weasley again, he's been looking for Potter for ages. You really think the two of us are going to be able to just go off and find Granger? Okay, say we do find her. Then what? You don't honestly believe that she would willingly come with us, even if we could help her get out of the country," Draco said, standing up, his silver eyes narrowing at Theo. The blonde turned away from him, surveying the damage that Theo had caused to the room in his rage. Putting the pieces together, Draco stopped and turned to face his lover.

"She's the witch you were seeing last year, isn't she?" He asked, not meeting Theo's eyes when he said it.

"Yes."

"It wasn't just a causal relationship like you said, was it?"

"No, no it wasn't."

The silence between the two was heavy in the air. Theo had never admitted to Draco who he'd been with, as Draco said he'd prefer not to know. Theo had decided against telling Draco that he had fallen in love with the witch. It wouldn't do any good now anyway, would it? If the Dark Lord won the war, they would never be able to be together. If the Order won, he would be thrown into Azkaban with the rest of the marked Death Eaters. All the death and destruction the group had caused would make for a one-way ticket for them all. Even though he and Draco had been working to protect the students, the Ministry wouldn't think twice about throwing them into cells.

"You're in love with her?" The question was asked in such a low whisper, Theo felt like his heart was going to break into two.

ooo

When he first ran into Hermione in sixth year, they were sneaking out of the library well after curfew and ran directly into each other. He'd been working on a project for Advanced Charms, and she had been working on something for Ancient Runes.

"So sorry, oh, please excuse me," Theo heard a feminine voice say as he was sprawled out on the ground after being run into. Sitting up, he quietly leaned over to pick up the books that were scattered around the pair on the floor. The girl's bag had split open and inkwells, parchment, quills, a planner, and more books than should have fit in her sack were spilled all over the ground.

"Biscuits, I'm so sorry. I should have known trying to fit that last tome in here would end poorly. Oh dear, here let me get that," she said, pulling out a handkerchief and trying to dab away the ink that she'd gotten on his white oxford. "I must have not put the lids on tight enough. Shoot, I don't think this is going to come out with this. Here I'll take that and clean it, just got to…"

The witch had started taking his shirt off, as if it was something she did every day. Theo, being in complete shock at her actions, didn't comprehend what she was doing until she already had it in her hands. "The better cleaning spells to get ink out are terrible for the skin. You'd end up with a scar if I just left it on you," she was explaining while waving her wand over the stain. "The longer it sits the harder it is to get out, so just like that and it's done," she looked up at him with a smile on her face, until she realized she was looking at his bare chest.

"Oh, sweet Circe, you're not wearing an undershirt. Um, here," she slammed his shirt into his chest with such force that the wind was knocked from him. He was glad that he'd continued to glamor the scars and that she hadn't seen them. "I'm sorry, you must be so embarrassed. Well, not that you have anything to be embarrassed over, you're very fit. I mean, not that I was looking, but I did happen to notice. You have a very nice chest, and you shouldn't be ashamed of showing it off. Godric, I need to stop talking. Yes, well," she stammered, before she bent over with her bum right in the air as she scooped up the contents of her bag.

Her school skirt had ridden up her thighs, putting her pert little arse on display. The perfect globes of flawless skin, her pale pink thong complimenting her olive skin tone nicely. Theo's mouth was dry and for the life of him he couldn't come up with anything to say to this witch. He'd been with Draco for so long, but that didn't mean he hadn't taken notice of the rest of the Hogwarts student body. He was aware that he enjoyed the company of both witches and wizards, but he'd never had a fantasy over Granger. She was off limits for him.

Not only would his father murder him if he ever knew that he'd been looking at her, but he'd heard Draco mutter her name on more than one occasion when he was wanking. Draco had fancied the witch far longer, and to do that to his boyfriend, well ex-boyfriend now, would be a betrayal.

"...and I didn't even realize someone else was here so late, otherwise I would have been paying closer attention to where I was walking. It's just these runes have me stumped and I'm not exactly sure that I had the right translation. I found a book in the restricted section that said the meaning could be interchanged depending on a few different factors. Not to mention how fascinating that your intent while writing out a rune can completely change what it does… I'm still talking, aren't I? Biscuits, okay, yes," She was now sitting up on her knees and turned back forward facing him. Clearly, she had no idea that she'd had her rear on full display for him, after telling him she thought he was fit.

"You're Theodore Nott from Slytherin, I'm Hermione Granger. It was a pleasure to meet you, what are you reading? Is that for the Advanced Charms assignment?" She'd just noticed the books in Theo's arms and scooted herself closer to read the titles. The witch was crawling into his lap to get closer to the book and Theo was powerless to stop her. She spread the three books he had selected out reading the titles before opening them.

"Are you thinking of trying to make a charm that can make time travel without a time turner possible? We haven't been assigned partners yet and we are in the same class. Would you want to work with me? This looks absolutely fascinating. Though, I doubt we'll be able to manage more than a few minutes; this is mastery level," she turned in his lap to look at him with those big doe eyes, and Theo was done for.

"Yeah, whatever you want," were the first words Theo spoke to her.

ooo

"If you are my stars, she's, my sun. I can't live without either of you, we have to find her and get her out of the country. Please, Draco," Theo whispered, begging his lover to understand.

"Okay, we'll find her," Draco said, caressing Theo's cheek, "you know how I feel about her too."

"Yes," Theo whispered, tears beginning to leak from his eyes.

Draco nodded, staring off into the distance as he wiped at Theo's tears.