He'd been chained to the wall for hours. Maybe days. He'd lost track of time in the dark, wet, quiet dungeon. He was hungry, he was tired and he was hopeless.
So this is what it's like to live a nightmare. He thought before passing into unconsciousness.
---
Draco did the one thing that he could do- pace the floor. Hermione came in and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on, sit down." He allowed her to push him onto the couch and force a cup of tea into his hand.
"What are the new developments?" Draco asked tiredly, taking a few sips of tea. He hadn't eaten in days. Five days, to be exact. That was how long Harry had been gone.
"Well, Severus says that the Ministry is hard at work to find where Ron was last hiding. They've narrowed it down to two places." Draco didn't say anything, just stared at the wall in contemplation. Finally, and without warning, he threw his mug at the wall. The pieces flew everywhere, and the other people in his living room were startled. "Draco!" Hermione exclaimed.
"You don't understand! I've kept my calm in front of everyone for FIVE DAYS! I'm tired of acting like I'm not being torn from the inside out every waking minute, knowing that Harry could very well be DEAD. And there's nothing I can do- nothing." He slumped to the floor and finally had the breakdown that had been threatening to happen since Harry had disappeared. He sobbed uncontrollably into his hands, wanting to die like nothing else. He missed Harry more than anything, and it had finally hit him that he probably wouldn't be seeing his lover ever again, let alone alive.
"Everyone out." Hermione commanded, and all the Ministry workers and her fiancé filed out, leaving Draco and Hermione alone. She immediately flew down to his side and pulled him into her arms. "Draco." He made no acknowledgment that she was speaking to him. "Draco. Listen." He looked up at her with tear-filled eyes, the area around them red. "You know that we'll do everything until the very last minute. We will find Harry. Don't lose hope, or Harry will. Do you want Harry to lose hope in you?" Draco shook his head and his chin quivered even more. "So let's try harder to find out where Ron is." Draco nodded and they stood up, embracing each other. "It's ok to cry." She soothed, rubbing his back. "In all honesty, I've been waiting for you to break down for a long time." She chuckled as he glared at her. "Only kidding. Now come. Let's find him."
She called the rest of the people back in and they successfully, with Draco's knowledge of contacts, found someone who was most definitely still alive and could tell them where Weasley would be- Lucius.
---
That evening, accompanied by Hermione, Severus, and Eving Mullkelly, the new Minister of Magic, Draco walked up the path to his father's home. Lucius, having had many other conspirators, saved his arse one more time when the war had turned against him. He went into hiding and was eventually pardoned of all his crimes. Draco was personally disgusted- for the fact that his own father had sold him to the dark lord for more prestige and honor within the Death Eaters. So with a heavy heart he knocked on the door to the new Malfoy Manor. A house elf answered, glancing curiously.
"Yes?" It asked, staring with its gigantic eyes right at Draco.
"I need to speak to Master Malfoy." Draco replied, seemingly bored. He picked carelessly at a nail.
"And you is...?"
"Draco Malfoy." He answered, irritated. He could call up the Malfoy command whenever he needed to.
"Oh yes. Young Masta Malfoy. Please come in. Furzy will show yous the way. And your guests." Furzy stepped aside and the group walked into the main hall. Furzy dashed away and came back almost immediately. "Masta Malfoy Senior will see you now, Young Masta." Furzy led them to a large room on the second floor. When Draco entered the chamber he almost laughed out loud. His father was perched on a throne of sorts, draped in a crimson red robe.
"Draco!" Lucius drawled, standing up and giving Furzy a glare to alert the house elf that he was to leave. Furzy skittered quickly out of the room as Lucius made his way over to his son. "You look wonderful! Tell me why you've decided to visit your father." Draco scowled and bit the inside of one cheek. "Let's sit down." The group of people followed Draco to the chairs surrounding the fire.
"Well, father, I've come to ask you what you know about the location of one Mr. Ronald Weasley." Lucius didn't answer, and Draco followed his father's gaze to Severus holding Hermione's hand. Lucius' eyes narrowed in disgust, but then abruptly changed to a look of indifference as he answered Draco.
"Come now, Draco, why would I know a thing like that?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you were practically Voldemort's fucking lap dog?" Lucius' eyes flashed with malice and Draco returned the look, which seemed to shock his father into dropping his eyes.
"Why do you care? Why do you need to find Weasley?" He asked quietly, studying his immaculate fingernails nonchalantly.
"Because he's kidnapped my boyfriend." Draco replied. He had told himself before they came that he wasn't going to hide or deny his relationship with Harry from his father. Hermione gave him a shocked look, but Draco only smiled sadly back and then returned his face into stony dispassion.
"Oh, son, I thought you'd given up that little problem years ago. I thought, with the therapy-"
"Fuck you, Lucius. I am what I am. And I know things about you and your past that would surely send you to Azkaban for life. I heard they found something even worse than Dementors to guard it after the war." Draco tossed his hair back from his face and raised his eyebrows. "Father, I need to know where Weasley is."
"Who is your boyfriend, Draco?" Lucius asked tiredly, and Draco sighed.
"Harry Potter." He answered, holding his body upright and a small smile crept onto his face. Harry...
"HARRY POTTER?!" Lucius exclaimed, eyes bright with anger. Harry was, after all, the one person responsible for all of Lucius' life "hardships".
"Yes. I don't care what you think anymore. But I need your help. Please." Draco felt his eyes clouding with tears and he forced himself to keep them within his eyelids. The last thing he needed was to cry in front of the man that taught him crying was the largest sign of weakness. He thought, instead, of how Harry's hair always fell into his face when he laughed, and how he, Draco, would push it out of his eyes for him.
"Fine. I will always help my son, no matter what." His father finally replied, sighing unhappily. He looked like he was going to be sick, but Draco still smiled slightly.
"Thank you."
"All right. Mr. Weasley is currently hiding in Ireland, in an old abandoned castle outside of Dublin. The castle is located in the middle of Gray Forest, fifty miles from the city borders. There are things you must know about this castle, though. It will not only detect physical appearance, but also your magical code, Draco." Draco nodded at this. Magical code was sort of like a social security number, but for magic. Every person had a unique code, and it emanated off of one's body and anything it charms or places spells on. "You know, surely, that I can temporarily change your code. But this will set you into a time limit for rescue." Draco nodded again. "When do you plan on going?"
"As soon as possible." Draco answered.
"Well, I can have the potion ready in 5 hours. That would put us at 1 o'clock tomorrow morning. Is that all right? The potion has to be taken within a half hour of creation, you see." Draco turned to Severus, Hermione, and Eving. Eving was here solely because he demanded he be included. Draco despised him, thinking that Dumbledore would have been a wonderful Minister, but Dumbledore was happy to be Headmaster and live out his last days at Hogwarts. They all nodded and Draco replied,
"Ok."
"You may retrieve your things from your home and return here to stay until the time comes, if you want." Lucius said, standing up. The four stood up as well and Draco shook his father's hand. Lucius, for some odd reason, pulled Draco into a hug. "Draco, we'll find him." Draco, completely startled that his father was hugging him, merely hugged him quickly and pulled away from him.
"Yes father. Thank you." They parted ways, Lucius heading to the dungeons; Draco and his group back to Draco's house. They collected clean clothes and Hermione, Severus, and Draco Apparated back to Malfoy Manor, leaving Eving behind for the larger part of the plan. The rescue part. They were showed to guest rooms, but Draco couldn't sleep. He wandered the halls, realizing the floor plan was much like their old home. He walked into the master bedroom to find his mother sitting up in bed, reading. She looked up and a look of pure puzzlement crossed her soft features.
"Draco?" She asked quietly, pulling the covers back and walking towards him.
"Mother." Draco said happily, holding out his arms to her. She hugged him hard, her tears sliding down her face.
"My son, I've missed you so. Why are you here?"
"I had to ask father for a favor." He muttered, stepping back.
"Oh?" She asked softly, her tone inquiring what, exactly, he needed.
"My boyfriend is missing. Ron Weasley's kidnapped him." Narcissa's forehead creased with "boyfriend", but her face was a look of pure sadness.
"That's terrible, darling! Who is he?"
"Harry Potter." Draco replied, closing his eyes against the tears.
"Oh, Draco..." Narcissa sighed, but not in a disapproving way; an empathizing way. She was truly sad about it. Draco lifted his eyelids to look sadly at his mother. "Are you going to find him?"
"Yes. Tonight, actually." They talked for a while longer until Narcissa sent him to go get some sleep. He lay in bed, shivering with the cold, trying to relax. He managed about three hours before he was shaken awake by Hermione.
"We need to get you transformed." She whispered, helping him out of the bed, then forcing a cup of coffee into his hands. He smiled his thanks to her, then took a sip. They went downstairs into the sitting room, and Hermione got to work. Insisted by Lucius, the castle would detect Polyjuice or any other form of magical transfiguration and undo it. That meant they would have to do it all the old-fashioned Muggle way. She cut all his hair off. Well, most of it. She left it in a short, spiky cut and then she dyed it black with hair dye. He looked into a hand mirror and scowled.
"I miss it already." He muttered, forking his fingers through the short length, but turned and smiled at his friend. "You did a good job, though." She handed him colored contacts, turning his eyes from grey to brown, and held out ratty jeans and a t-shirt, then a sweatshirt and sports shoes. Lucius came out sometime later and held out a vial.
"Here. It's finished." Draco smiled and took the vial from him.
"Father?"
"Yes, Draco?"
"Would you like to-to come with us?" Draco had no idea what possessed him to ask that, but he did it anyway. Lucius frowned, then grinned.
"Of course." He replied. "Let me go tell Narcissa." He walked away to tell his wife and change into better adventure clothing. When he came back, everyone traipsed outside to Apparate to Grey Forest.
---
Harry woke up groggily, head spinning in pain. After his vision cleared, he noticed Ron sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. He heard the chains rattle as Harry moved against them, and stood up.
"So..." He said as he leaned over him. "How do you feel?" He laughed maniacally. Harry scowled and managed to say,
"Fuck you."
"Aw, Harry, I thought we were friends." Ron replied in a mocking tone. "Where's Draco? He hasn't showed up yet... maybe he's been waiting for an excuse to leave you." Harry winced as Ron said Draco's name. It hurt too much to think of where Draco must be, what he'd be doing. He's trying to find me, I know he is.
"Why are you doing this?" He asked, his throat dry.
"I think you know why." Ron smiled a sinister smile. "I'm making you and that traitorous Malfoy pay for every single moment you made my life hell, and I'm making you pay for killing my Lord. It's all your fault, precious savior of the Wizarding world, that I had to go into hiding. Had it not been for you, I would be serving my last days with Him. But, thanks to you, I am here. And you'll be here. Forever. IF Malfoy shows, he'll get to watch you die." Ron cackled and picked up a rock, knocking Harry unconscious once more. "Only a matter of time..." He muttered before leaving the dungeons.
---
Outside the walls, everyone in the rescue group assembled. Lucius turned to Draco.
"Are you ready?" Draco simply nodded, unable to speak. What if Harry was already dead? What if Harry was alive but beyond saving? He took a deep breath and willed himself to believe. Stay with me a little longer, love. "You have precisely 2 hours before the spell wears out. Here's an hourglass with the time, and here's a map of the inner workings of the castle. Your path should be clear; he's the only one in there." Draco nodded once more and his father performed the spell. The other three said goodbye to him- they were to be outside to stop any visitors, and he walked into the castle front door with ease. His father had given him the password and he found himself in a very large front hall. He took out the map and walked down the hall to the left, all the way to the end, and began to descend the staircase. He had to go down four hundred stairs before he was finally in the dungeons; it was a maze.
He inspected each cell, his wand at the ready. Glancing at the hourglass, he sped up, for he only had half an hour left. He walked down corridor after corridor, checking each small room meticulously for any sign of Harry. Growing steadily frantic, he leaned against the wall for a minute and caught his breath. After a minute he began searching again and looked into a particularly large room. He almost gasped as he saw dried blood on the floor. He looked around but didn't see Harry, so he kept going. He heard muffled sounds coming from a door right across from him, so he pressed his ear to it. He heard many pitiful moans, instantly identifying them as Harry's. He quietly pushed the door open, ready for Weasley to attack him. But he didn't. There Harry was, chained to the wall, curled up in a tight ball on the floor. He ran to him and crouched beside his lover.
"Harry?" He asked quietly, and Harry looked up, startled.
"Who are you?" He asked feebly, his eyes full of puzzlement. Draco realized this was because he didn't look quite like Draco Malfoy anymore.
"It's me. Draco." Harry's eyes immediately filled with tears and Draco gathered him in his arms. "Oh gods, Harry, I was so worried."
"You've got to get me out." Draco could feel Harry's whole body shaking like mad. "He'll be back. Please. Get me out of here." Draco kissed his forehead and let him go briefly to take his sweatshirt off and pull it over Harry's head. Harry smiled sadly before slumping in Draco's arms, unconscious. Draco panicked. He checked Harry's pulse, almost screaming. Harry's heartbeat was still there, but barely. And at that moment, the magical code spell wore off and a loud buzzing sound cut through the air. He was caught. He placed a heavy Protection spell, laced with impenetrable Dark Magic, on Harry and stood up, his wand ready. The door almost immediately flew open to show a haggard Weasley.
"So. You've finally decided to show up." He said, grinning. "Very nice, Malfoy."
"Shut the fuck up so I can kill you." Draco replied, looking almost bored.
"Cocky, aren't we? My, my, nothing's changed, has it?"
"Well, no, except that you are a maniacal psychopath." Ron's eyes darkened with this comment. He abruptly turned and aimed his wand at Harry's still form. "I wouldn't, if I were you."
"And why not?" Ron sneered, going through the curses in his mind.
"Because the spell would bounce off Harry and rebound on you with about, say, 1000 times more force." Draco drawled, twirling his wand. He seemed like he wasn't afraid, but he really was. He was frightened out of his wits. Ron obviously didn't believe that little warning, because the next minute he was up against the wall.
"Oh." Was all he managed, then stood up, very angry. "Well, if I can't attack him, I guess I'll go for you."
"Goody." Draco said sarcastically. They dueled for a long time, spells flying back and forth, sometimes colliding in midair, and soon Draco had Ron against one of the walls, his throat constricted. "Finally. Now, Weasley, it's time for me to kill you." Draco started, thinking if he really wanted to do this. Yes. It had to be done. In the second it took for Draco to decide this, Ron had somehow managed to maneuver himself so that he kicked Draco in the stomach. He let go immediately and Ron and Draco yelled at the same time,
"Avada Kedavra!" Draco's beam of green seemed to go faster, and Ron was hit. Draco jumped out of the path of Ron's spell, the green light struck the wall and broke the stone into a million pieces. Draco slumped onto the floor, breathing heavily. He recovered quickly, running over to Harry, who was still unconscious. Draco checked his pulse, which was still there, but barely. Draco picked him up easily (He probably hadn't eaten since he'd been kidnapped) and carried him up the many stairs, through the corridor, and out the front door. His group of friends (and one family member) were standing outside, looks of concern flashing on their faces as they saw the state of both Harry and Draco. Draco had sustained many cuts and bruises during his duel with Ron, and Harry had obviously been starved and beaten. Draco directed Severus and Hermione to get to the Ministry to collect Ron's body, and he and his father took Harry immediately to St. Mungo's.
Along the way, Harry's heart stopped.
=-=-=-
I swear that I can
go on forever again
Please let me know that my one bad day will end
I will go down as your lover, your friend
Give me your lips and with one kiss we begin
Are you afraid of being alone
Cause I am, I'm lost without you
I'll leave my room open till sunrise for you
I'll keep my eyes patiently focused on you
Where are you now I can hear footsteps I'm dreaming
And if you will, keep me from waking to believe this
Are you afraid of being alone
Cause I am, I'm lost without you
Are you afraid of leaving tonight
Cause I am, I'm lost without you
I'm lost without you
=-=-=-
(a.n): WOW! I finally updated. I hope you liked this chapter. I most certainly had fun writing it. I know it's really angsty and stuff, but that's what makes it fun. The song lyrics are from Blink 182. I'm not one for Songfics, but these lyrics really fit so I used them.
And a little reminder, I don't really like sad endings, and I'm in too good a mood for a tragedy (HINT HINT)... but you never know. Well, I'm too predictable for you to not know what's going to happen. Hehe.
MY REVIEWS(and REVIEWERS)! HOW I LOVE THEE!!!
justxme (lol. I hate ron so much!!! grrrrr. So I hopeyou liked this chapter if you're mad at him. If you're mad at me, I'm sorry!!!Thanks for the comments. And the review!!! )
passionate-kisses (aw... you're too nice to me! Thank you thank you thank you. I hope you liked my update! and don't worry. I'll be updating REALLY soon so you guys won't kill me. thanks for your review!!!)
Violet Rose ( I'm glad you were a bit scared. I was afraid people would be really angry, but I guess not! I can't believe you watch QAF!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!! And I so totally know what you mean about Justin-Brian/Harry-Draco. I see it too. I'm so glad I met you -well, sort of-!! YOU are like the perfect person! Thanks for the happy reviews!)
illusionbutterfly (hehe. glad you like it! I'm also glad you like the ideas... hehehe. I hope you liked my scary chapter!!! It's gonna be updated again REAL soon. like today.)
Emma (EMSA!!!! I LOFF YOU, my little MINXIE girl! I hope you liked my new chapter! And i'm updating 'family' too! Wow! I hated NY. how sad. but thanks for your thoughts!! LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUU! )
J.L. Collett (I love you Jessica! Thanks so much for sticking with this! Thanks for the review!)
iMaxed (RON MUST DIE!!!!! and he did! Uh... i mean... that was sad. Not. And i hated burning Harry's house down, but... it had to be done. Thanks for your input into Draco. I think you read my mind! lol. I hope you liked this chapter, too. I'm updating REALLY soon, I promise!!!)