Chapter 16

Daphne and Harry touched down on the grounds of Malfoy Manor just outside the gate. A large manor house was barely able to be made out of the darkness at the end of the long corridor like driveway. Lights hung all across the windows giving an ominous feel to the home that clearly made the head of the DMLE nervous. In the garden ahead beyond the gates a soft fountain could be heard, and Daphne tried to relax as she called for a house elf.

A small elf in despicable rags appeared, "Lady Greengrass. You bring a guest to Malfoy home tonight?"

Daphne nodded tightly, "Alfred please awaken my sister and Lord Malfoy. I have urgent needs for them, and tell them that the head of Magical Law Enforcement is with me."

The elf gave a slight bow, and disapparated. Harry sighed, "I should have made that a condition of their pardon that they weren't allowed to have house elves."

Daphne looked at the man bewildered, "What?"

"They treat their house elves horribly. I tricked Lucius Malfoy into freeing one of them that tried to help me out once. He turned out to be one of the bravest friends I ever had. Saved my life in a battle that took place here." Harry said with a tight voice.

Daphne had no idea that Harry had been to this house before. Not only had he been here, but he mentioned a battle? She swallowed hard, wondering just what she was bringing him back into, but the thought barely remained in her mind for even a moment as she began to think about Tracey once more.

A pure white peacock could be seen down the way, and she stared at it as it made soft noises in the distance. The hand that had once been on her elbow seemed to tighten with every passing moment. Daphne took the hand though and coiled her fingers through it, but never took her eyes off the long driveway, "You have to find her Harry. She's like my sister."

The tension in his body seemed to sag a little, "I am going to do everything in my considerable power to find her. As soon as I am done here I am going to question Tiberius Nott, and we will get the answers we need."

"What if he isn't behind this? Or knows nothing?" Daphne asked worriedly.

"The Unspeakables are on this as well. They will hopefully be able to track the magical residue that will have followed their escape from Saints Mungos. That will be a slower method, but could be just as fruitful. We have a lot of options to explore, and we are going to work fast I swear."

A few moments of silence passed before Daphne said, "I am sorry to bring you back here. If you fought a battle here it must be unpleasant memories."

Harry didn't answer this with words, but she took a glance at his face, and could tell this pained him to be at this house. Thankfully the wait was over when the gates opened. The two began walking slowly forward, but neither released the other's hand until they made it to the front doors.

When the doors opened a house elf told them to come in where Draco and Astoria were waiting on them with worry written all over their faces. Astoria was in a pink robe that looked to be made of some type of high fashion silk, while Draco was in a mere white t-shirt, and flannel pajama bottoms.

Astoria broke the silence as the two strode over towards them, 'What has happened?"

Daphne bit her lip, tears building in her eyes again. Astoria's eyes widened as she came forward to embrace her sister. She had not seen her sister cry since their father had died, and it was a testament to just how bad the news she brought was. She couldn't get the words out, and Harry finally spoke, "Daphne was working tonight when an unidentified man came into her section of the hospital and took Tracey Davis. My teams are scouring the country looking for her as we speak."

Astoria gasped while Draco paled, "That isn't possible. How did they get out of Saint Mungos?"

Harry seemed to contemplate this for a moment before saying, "Most likely the same way they got to Auror Captain Finnegan. It is my belief that someone possesses a skeleton key capable of bypassing wards on people's homes. Though other than the shere unexplainable way things have happened I have no proof that is exactly how it's being done."

Draco looked furious, "Someone is running around with a means of bypassing people's wards and the auror department saw it fit not to report it to the public."

Harry didn't answer right away, but calmly came around to it, "There is no proof of this matter yet. As soon as there is, the public will get an addressal. Now I do have some questions for you while I am here Lord Malfoy if you will humor me?"

"Absolutely not Potter, get the hell out of my house!" Draco all but shouted.

Before Harry could respond Daphne had separated from her sister and grabbed the man by the front of his shirt, "Malfoy my best friend is missing. Someone who is like family to myself, and your wife. If the auror leading the search needs any assistance in finding her you better do it, and with a fucking smile or so help me God I will make my sister a very unhappy woman."

The two were nose to nose, and Astoria was between them in a moment, "Daphne stop!"

Once she pried the two apart she turned to Draco giving him a soft look, "Now I know you two don't have the best history my love, but Daphne is right. Tracey is a part of our family. If there's anything the Malfoy's can do to bring her back to safety then we will do it."

Draco looked like he had swallowed a particularly tart lemon for a moment, but his wifes words left no room for argument. The man slumped his shoulders, and turned to Harry, "What do you want to know?"

Harry didn't want to look the gift horse in the mouth so immediately began with his questions, "I am unsure of your relations with the Nott family, but you shared a dorm with Theodore Nott for seven years. The two things I need to know most is anything you can tell me about Tiberius Nott, and if you had ever heard whispers of their family holding some type of skeleton key, or a magical object that could allow them pass to through wards undetected?"

Draco paled at the man Tiberius Nott, and looked cautiously between his wife, and sister in law before back to Harry, "Tiberius Nott? What do you want with him? I haven't seen him since Theodore's fifteenth birthday party."

Daphne looked closely at her friend to see if he would give any show of surprise at the man's words but he gave nothing. It was clear he was taking her words from the night before into consideration. If the man was here to reclaim his seat on the Wizengamot then he had to have allies. Harry questioned him some more, "I ran into him in the auror office two nights ago. Literally. I checked with all my people and he never filed a report, and never spoke to anyone in the office. It seems he bumped into me and just left. It's very odd."

Draco nodded, "Well that is odd. Last I heard he was in France. He's lived there for as long as I knew the Nott's. Only came in for birthdays and special events as far as I knew."

"Can you tell me anything about him? What did he do for a living? Where would he be staying?" Harry asked easily.

"He was a hitwizard for Russia during the cold war. I think he was a spy in his younger years. Theodore looked up to him like a favorite Uncle when we were growing up. They exchanged letters often I believe. I am unsure what he has been doing for the last ten years, but I think he is retired or an investigator or something of that nature. I never saw it for myself, but the stories I heard made me think he was an extremely competent fighter, but all the Notts were. As I am sure you can attest to."

Harry flinched at that, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't play cad Potter, it doesn't suit you anymore. I know you killed Theo in the final battle." The man spat.

Harry blinked several times, "That is news to me. I had a pretty good idea of every life I took that night, but I am pretty certain I didn't take down any of the Slytherin students that came back into the fighting. You are the only one I remember trading spells with in the Room of Requirement."

Draco blinked at this before frowning, "Killed so many you can't keep them straight."

"Malfoy I only killed three people that night. Rodolphus Lestrange, Scabior, and Voldemort. If anyone else died by any of my spells they would've been thrown over my shoulder, and probably wide range. I have no recollection of killing Theodore Nott." Harry said calmly.

Neither said anything for a few moments, but Draco seemed uncomfortable now. Harry then asked, "Who the hell said I killed him?"

This made Draco frown again, "I don't remember. I just remember hearing from a few sources after the battle. I don't speak much to that lot anymore as I am unwelcome, but I did check up on what few of my friends were left to find out what happened to them."

Shaking his head Harry looked exasperated, "Well I need to get on with this search so is there anything you can tell me about a dark object that might have the capability of what we discussed."

"I...I'm not sure Potter. If his family possessed anything like that I knew nothing of it, but it doesn't seem like something that would've been shared with me. I was marked sure, but I was never really invited to the meetings or gatherings until after the Ministry had fallen, and obviously there wouldn't have been a need to get past wards at that point. If anyone had possessed one though it would've probably been my family or his, and to my knowledge we don't have anything like that." Draco admitted carefully.

The head of the DMLE just sighed, "Very well." His eyes went to Daphne who was staring back with worry etched all over her face, "Try to get some rest. If I find her I will send you my patronus immediately."

Harry turned on his heel to leave but stopped right before the front doors, "Malfoy. Whoever is doing this wants Daphne. She is your family and I believe you will look out for her, but please if there are any signs of trouble, reach out immediately. I will help in any way I can."

He couldn't have seen it, but Draco nodded at the man's back, and he continued out into the driveway apparating into the night. When he was gone, and the front doors were secured, Astoria put an arm through her sisters, "Come let's get you some tea."

Daphne followed her sister's guidance as she heard Draco assembling the elves, warning them of the possible threat, and to keep their eyes out for anyone wandering around the perimeter or inside the property line.

Daphne allowed herself to be guided to the dining room area where she called for an elf to bring them two warm glasses of tea, and Daphne stared at the fireplace nearby feeling incredibly lost and hopeless. It wasn't long before Astoria was coaxing the small teacup into her hand, and Draco had joined them at the table.

Astoria softly asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Daphne shook her head not wanting to speak at first. She was surprised when Draco broke the silence, "Albeit I don't like to compliment Saint Potter, and his band of ilk if there is anyone who could catch whoever is doing this it would be them. They are rather good at defying the odds. I trust Tracey will be back at work tomorrow, and everything will be okay."

His attempt at comfort actually got her attention. In the years she had known Draco he had never said anything remotely kind to her. It was always neutral at best, but here he was openly comforting her. Oh how things had changed over the years.

"We were just sitting in the lobby when he came in…"

Daphne recounted the story of Tracey's abduction with a quavering voice. She told them all about the man, and the tape recorder that she had found. She briefly went into the other recorders that had been found, but didn't dive into what message had been left behind to the others. In the end the silence returned, and the two Malfoys just seemed shocked.

Astoria asked, "And you think Tiberius Nott could be behind all this?"

Daphne didn't answer right away, but sipped at her tea for a moment, "I don't know. He is the only suspect."

Draco ran a hand through his hair, "It doesn't make sense. If I was Tibeirus Nott, and most people alive in Magical Britain haven't even heard of me, why the hell would I walk into the aurors office, and bump into the man in charge?"

Astoria and Daphne both pondered his words, and Draco continued, "We wouldn't know our asses from our hands if he hadn't bumped into Potter. That family has produced some excellent witches and wizards over the last few generations, and most of them were quintessential Slytherins."

Astoria answered his diatribe, "Maybe he wants them to know it's him. Makes it more personal. Could also be a misdirection. He would know even if they arrest him they will have nothing on him that's concrete. You couldn't stick a single charge to the man."

Daphne answered, "Susan said they would pump him with veritaserum."

Draco waved his hand in immediate dismissal, "Anyone good would see that coming. There are measures you can take to resist veritaserum if you knew it was coming. Makes me slightly regret getting rid of the dementors. They could've used them to break a man that well versed in the Dark Arts."

Daphne questioned, "How do you know he is that well versed?"

Draco shrugged, "Most of the family was. Even quiet Theo would stun me with his knowledge of curses."

"Do you have any idea who else could be capable of doing this?" Daphne asked.

When Harry had asked Draco seemed to hesitate, and give a negative answer, but being asked again without the head of the DMLE around he seemed to think longer before answering, "There are a couple families who could be responsible for this. If my father wasn't in prison I would almost be certain our family was involved. Potter is the head of house Black, and they are another house that I believe could've been capable of producing such an object. The rest of the families don't have the members left to enact something like this. Bulstrode, Crabbe, Avery, and Parkinson, all firmly entrenched in the Dark Arts long enough that an item like a Skeleton Key could've been developed. Like I said though there isn't enough of their family to do something this elaborate."

The three fell into silence, and each could only hope that their fellow Slytheirn would be returned to them safely, and not join the long line of fallen members from their house. Though the feeling in the air was cold they all knew that Harry Potter was their best chance.

Scene Break

A young Irish man opened his eyes for what felt like the first time in forever. The first detail his body observed was that he had been laying on the cold concrete floor for Merlin only knows how long. The feeling of being sore, and stiff overwhelmed the young man as he attempted to push himself to his feet.

The darkness in the room around him was not giving his eyes much to take in, but as he stumbled to his feet he began reaching around for something that could lead to a light entering the room. The man didn't make it five steps before he felt something around his leg stop him in place, and the sound of something snapping followed as the lights turned on immediately.

Seamus Finnegan now found himself in a very bright room that seemed to be nothing, but a long abandoned bathroom. The white walls, and old sinks that had mirrors so dirty a reflection was impossible to make out gave him all the clues to know he was somewhere long forgotten. The next moment of panic began to set in when he felt the chain around his foot. Only one foot was chained, and he frowned, waving his hand in an attempt to break it with some type of blasting charm, but nothing happened.

Reaching for his magic he attempted to disapparate, but nothing happened. Not even the familiar pull of his magic he normally felt when he tried to bust through apparition wards. Something was wrong.

Observing the bathroom more in a panic he noticed a nearby machine, but before he could approach a TV on the opposite side of the room came on to white noise, before an image of a man with a black robes, and a Death Eater mask with red spirals on each cheek. The voice began talking in a sinister tone, "Hello Captain Finnegan. I want to play a game."

Seamus felt his insides freeze at the voice, and tried to memorize the Death Eater mask modification that he had never seen before as the voice continued, "You have proven yourself a coward, and blood traitor of the likes that few witches and wizards could ever accomplish. It is because of this I have placed you in a room that is carved with Runes my ancestor believed could suppress all magical abilities. Judging by the fact that you are still here I would say they were right."

The voice laughed sinisterly and Seamus screamed, "You son of a bitch let me out of here!"

"As you can imagine there is no simple way out of this room. No magic means you require your own ingenuity to escape. Worry not Auror Finnegan I plan to give you a fair chance at survival, and can only wish you had done the same for my friends that stood against you." The voice continued completely ignoring Seamus, "Now the rules to our games are simple. Even as an Irishman your bloodline is purer than most, but you will need to lose some of that blood that is a traitor to wizarding kind to escape this room. Before you is a machine that will run a power saw for precisely sixty seconds. You must deposit two pints of blood to unlock the door that will grant you your freedom. If you do not, there is a device in your neck that will cause your head to...roll. You played with the lives of those who were better than you, Auror Finnegan, and now you will pay the price in blood. Live or die the choice is yours.. Let the games begin."

With that the TV went back to white noise, and the cuff around his ankle immediately released, while a loud buzzing sound filled the room. Seamus scrambled quickly searching for a way out, and then the clock began ticking. A digital clock that counted down from sixty as he screamed in fear and rage. He approached the machine that was a whirling saw and shook his head as quickly as he saw the clock ticking down from forty five, and he stuck his hand out towards the powersaw in a panic. When the saw touched his fingers he immediately jerked it back in pain as a small amount of blood was cycled into a two liter bottle, and the man knew he was in trouble. Ignoring the pain, and reminding himself that he did not survive the war to die here he plunged his hand into the saw causing an excruciating amount of pain to shoot through his body. It felt like the cruciatus was being slammed into hand over and over again. The bottle was filling quickly, but he was quickly filling the two liter bottle, and he watched as the clock ticked past 10, and he tried to force himself to not succumb to the pain. His wand hand was destroyed beyond bones as the saw approached his wrist, and blood continued to spurt out, and the bottle was moments from being full. For a brief moment he had thought he did it when the saw finally stopped.

The Irishman fell to his back screaming in pain holding his mangled bloody arm, but the door never opened like it was promised. His eyes tried to find the bottle that was supposed to be filled with blood as a new pain began to overtake him from inside his throat. A hot burning sensation started around his shoulders, and began working its way up. He quickly grabbed at his throat attempting to smooth the pain out, but it only erupted further. His final glance of life was a two pint bottle not quite filled with blood.

(A/N) And now we know the fate of Auror Captain Finnegan may he Rest In Peace. Welcome to Chapter 16 of the Survivors. Harry and the team are on the case for Tracey while Daphne is in temporary hiding with the Malfoys. A resolution will occur in the next chapter, so stay tuned and I will see you all next Wednesday.

To answer reviewers:

DivineProtectorOfSkyrim:

This is just a continuity error. It will be fixed before next weeks update is released. Thanks for catching that, and thanks for reviewing.

Also it seems like you all have answered that it is preferably one long story instead of being broken down into parts. So thanks for the feedback on that.

This chapter was beta approved by JamesMarx. Thanks for helping me out, and doing what you do!