Chapter 3 - Cooperation

Draco nudged Ginny. "Knock the door!" he said urgently. He was getting more and more worried. He did not know how, but he seemed to be able to sense Hermione's depression.

Ginny, who was getting more and more annoyed with Draco, knocked hard on the door. Harry, as expected, opened it and was pleased to see Ginny. However, the same was not to be said when he spotted Draco behind her.

Harry frowned at Ginny. "What is going on? Gin-"

"Can we talk inside? It's really important," Draco interrupted.

Harry glanced at Ginny who gazed back at him soberly. After a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity to Draco, he finally let them in.

"Speak," the green-eyed man ordered, eyeing from Draco to Ginny.

"It's Hermione," Draco spoke up immediately and began pacing around the small room.

Harry straightened at the name of his best friend. Or former best friend. But he had forgiven her, had he not? Whatever she was to him, Harry could not help but feel worried. "Why? What's wrong with Hermione?"

Draco shook his head exasperatedly. "She ran away from our mansion!" he exclaimed, as if he could not believe the brunette would do such a thing.

Harry raised his eyebrow. "The way you were treating her, I wouldn't be surprised," he stated. He received quite a glare from the blonde though.

"The thing is..." Draco took a couple of deep breaths. "The thing is, I think she's in danger. She has some sort of dark aura around her. I-I can sense it."

Harry said nothing. He curled up his mouth in concentration. "Now that you have said that, my scar seemed to hurt these days." He then widened his eyes in horror. "What if Voldermort's got her?"

Draco's heart practically jumped out of his ribcage. This was what I had expected, he told himself. Why am I still so surprised? No matter how many times he repeated that sentence, he still could not get over that Hermione was in the hands of an evil creature, a creature that was able to control Draco himself.

"What has your scar got to do with this?" Draco tried to drawl, but failed due to his increasing anxiousness.

Harry frowned at him and explained briefly about his scar. How it would hurt if Voldermort was somewhere near them.

"Sounds to me, your scar is just an ornament on your forehead," Draco commented. "I, however, know where to find them."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Right," he said sarcastically.

The grey-eyed blonde ignored Harry. "They are in the Malfoys Manor, Potter," he said. "In our very own dungeon."

Both Harry and Ginny gave him a look that suggested that he was crazy. "You have a dungeon in your house?" Ginny asked incredulously.

Draco shrugged as if it was no big deal, though deep down he was actually embarrassed. Other people had normal yards and things, while he had a dungeon in his house. Not to mention many trapdoors. "That's what I said, Weasley," Draco snapped. He took out a blank piece of paper and pointed his wand at it. The map of the Malfoys Manor appeared on it.

"See here, Potter?" Draco asked and continued without waiting for a reply. "We have thirteen security charms in the Manor. If you are not careful, you could be hacked into pieces by an invisible chopper." He smirked when he saw Ginny shudder. "However, that would not happen, as I would be there." Draco grinned.

The Boy Who Lived rolled his eyes again. "And I suppose I ought to thank you for being there to protect me."

Draco frowned. "You are lucky, Potter. I would have killed you easily if you weren't Hermione's friend."

Harry snorted. "And I, you-" he spat out the next few words "-If you weren't her so-called fiancé."

Draco narrowed his grey eyes at the annoying specimen of a wizard who survived a death curse. "Can we get on with the topic?" he asked sharply.

Harry shifted his view from Ginny to Draco. "Carry on," he said.

"I don't understand! Why can't I go along with you two?" Ginny cried as she stood behind her boyfriend and the man she just kissed a few hours ago. They were about to mount their broomsticks but turned around in exasperation, and annoyance in Draco's case, when Ginny complained once again.

"Because it's too dangerous for you, Gin," Harry tried to explain in a calm manner. Had it been Draco, he would have slammed his fist into her delicate nose and then calmly said that it was none of her business.

Ginny pouted, an expression Harry and all the Weasley brothers usually give in to. Thankfully, Draco had already pulled Harry away from Ginny (That evil witch, Draco thought amusedly). They counted to three and both of them kicked of the ground at the same time, flying with the amazing skills of a Seeker. Harry almost fell, though, when he tried to twist his head to blow a kiss to his girlfriend.

The former school rivals flew in silence with an occasional question directed to Draco from Harry. For someone who managed to defeat Voldermort quite a few times, he sure looked frightened today. He seemed to want to know everything that is to know about the Manor, how to avoid being hexed, et cetera. Several times, Draco wanted to knock him out so he could fly in peace but thought better of it.

"There it is," Draco said, pointing at the tall, and somewhat dark, mansion just a couple more miles ahead of them. Both of them pointed their broomsticks downwards and landed perfectly. Draco took a deep breath.

"Draco Malfoy," he called to no one in particular. The gates swung open. "I brought a friend with me," Draco added after much thought. He turned to Harry. "Don't use magic unless necessary. It can be sensed," he said in a low voice. Draco looked around for a moment before deciding it was safe to enter the Manor. He stopped in front of a huge wooden door and muttered something which appeared to be the password to enter the place behind the door.

"The dungeon," Harry breathed. They stepped in cautiously. Draco did not know what to expect for he had never been down there in his physical self before. He admitted, once, to Hermione that the place had crept him out.

The wooden door slammed close. Both men whipped their heads to see if there was anything behind them.

When actually, it was in front of them, all along...

"I was wondering when I would be seeing the two of you."

][ A u t h o r 's N o t e ][

In the next chapter... (1)Both Draco and Harry meets the detestable creature. (2)An unexpected someone saved the two of them, including Hermione.

* In the end, I updated! **cheers** Please review! I might not be able to update until Friday, or even later. I'm going to attend a birthday party. ^-^

** I think there would be 13 chapters at most for this story, including prologue and epilogue. Sorry if it's too short!