CHAPTER EIGHT: DARKNESS ALL AROUND

DISCLAIMER: Ah! Another disclaimer? I am so sick and tired of writing, "Harry Potter is not mine, it is J.K. Rowling's. Only the plot is mine."

A/N: Yaay! (happy to see that I have reviews) Three reviews! Wheeee! I am so glad to see that my fan fiction has some sign of life! Yaay. Anyway, this will be... slightly surprising. Well, no... the next chapter will be. Read and review, please!

Dedications:

TyeDyeKid: Thanks! I'm glad that "I'm unique" :-). I never saw my story like that before… I see that your account is new (?). You have no fan fiction yet! Or maybe you're just a "lurker-reader" person (?) I'll check from time to time to see if you have new fan fiction! You'll go on my "author alert" list… or you can just tell me if you're just here to read… :D

Jameth: Well… this next chapter is out before Christmas (obviously--lol)! So you can find out what the next clue is! Why are you stuck in a car? That's too bad. But I'm not sure if I'll also be stuck in a car. Just in case, I'm going to write the next chapter on Christmas Eve and then post it in the morning the next day…!

Pixieballerina: Thanks for liking my story! (lol). Can't wait til Saturday? You can get the new chapter now! Please go on with my story, and don't quit! Heehee. Only I can know the end! Well, at least until my fan fiction is finished!

Foxrcrchik99: Thanks! I will continue it… and I wanted that "Draco's sister" thing to be sad… I think it's because I want people to "understand" Draco more (?)… okay… I have no idea… I just like Draco… I like all Slytherins, and I also like the Dursleys. The Dursleys aren't so bad, if you think about it. When Harry kept himself in his room in OotP, they still brought him food!

Hannah-901: Lol… hahaha! Thanks! Your review was really… inspiring! Don't worry… here's the rest! More about Draco. I like to control his actions… and by your fan fiction, I can tell you do, too! I checked it out, yeah! :p

Under floor boards, a secret is hidden

A secret dark, a secret forbidden

A secret based on house Slytherin

It is a house, it is a manor

That houses the proud and wealthy manner

These secrets protected by the raucous scanters

"Okay…" Harry said after reading the last line. "Now this is hard."

"Fuck." Was all Ron could say, shaking his head.

Draco however was not speaking. He just stared at the paper, breathing quickly. "No…" he said.

"What?" Harry asked, staring at Draco's pale face.

"That bastard." Draco muttered, too soft for the two to hear.

"What is it?" Ron asked, waiting in suspense for the answer.

"I know exactly where this is…" Draco said, looking at them.

"Where is it?"

"Malfoy Manor…" Draco stated, avoiding their gaze. "My father has her."

"What?" Ron asked, stunned. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted you!"

"Ron…" Harry tried to reason with Ron but he had already leapt on top of Draco, sending them both rolling down the white marble steps of Gringotts.

"Ron!" Harry exclaimed as he watched the two boys go down the steps and land in a heap at the bottom.

Harry rushed down the steps just as Ron landed on top of Draco and pointed his wand at Draco's chest.

"Ron!" Harry tried to pull Ron off of Draco, but Ron resisted wildly, but Harry managed to grab the wand from his hand

Draco glared up at Ron from the ground, "I didn't know my father had her, you idiot."

"You liar!" Ron said, giving Draco a swift punch.

"You… are… such… an asshole!" Draco snarled, bending his legs under Ron's body and flipping him over.

Draco quickly stood up and faced Ron, just as he was getting up. "Had nothing to do with this!"

"Yeah, right!" Ron shouted sarcastically, causing more passersby to stare.

"Ron, ssh…" Harry said.

"Aren't you going to do anything, Harry?" Ron asked. "I mean… we've been working with the enemy!"

"Uh… just to point out…" Draco said. "I've been helping you all this time…"

"That's just a cover up!" Ron said. "At the last minute, I'm sure you're gonna kill us or something so we can leave Hermione to die."

"Die, Weasley?" Draco asked. "Hermione's not going to die--at least if we quit talking here and go and get her. But if you want to stay here and dawdle, I have no problem…" He added, trying to look like he didn't care. But he did.

"Ron…" Harry said. "Come on. I think he's trustworthy enough."

Ron shook his head, and gave Draco one last glare. "Fine." He mumbled without mirth.

"Let's go behind this alley." Harry said, pointing to one around the corner. "We'll cause less attraction…"

Once they rounded the corner, Draco stopped. He had spotted a woman who looked a lot like Bellatrix Lestrange staring at them a few meters away.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

Draco looked back to the spot where he had seen the female Death Eater, but she was gone. Draco scanned their surroundings and spotted Bellatrix a few meters closer.

"Bellatrix Lestrange," He said. "She's after us…"

"Where?" Ron asked, following Draco's gaze.

Harry and Ron stared as Bellatrix raised her wand and pointed it at the three of them. "Laceratio!" she bellowed.

Draco, knowing what the fourth Unforgivable Curse did, ducked, and pushed Harry and Ron out of the way.

The spell hadn't managed to hit Draco full on; it hit his arm, sending a jolt of pain through it, accompanied by a long, deep cut that bled immediately.

"Shit." He muttered, but hid his injury from Harry and Ron. Draco ducked out of the alley in which he had pushed Harry and Ron to safety. The two were trying to get untangled from each other.

Draco glimpsed Bellatrix a few meters away, and closing in fast.

"Stupefy!" Bellatrix yelled. A shot of red made its way toward Draco, but he dodged behind the wall.

"Stupefy!" Draco said, pointing his wand at Bellatrix, and having no cover, she was hit full on, slumping to the ground, out cold.

Draco put away his wand and turned back to Harry and Ron. "Slight drawback. She's been taken care of."

Harry gave Draco a once over. Definitely trustworthy, he thought. His eyes fell on Draco's arm, on the spot where the Laceratius Curse had landed.

Draco followed his gaze and said. "She managed a lucky shot…"

"Are you sure that's okay?" Harry said, surveying the other injuries on Draco's face from the night before.

"I'm used to it."

"What?" Ron asked, perplexed. "What d'you mean 'you're used to it'?"

"Having a Death Eater as a father…?" Draco answered. "I think that explains itself. What're we still doing here? We should be heading…" he trailed off, avoiding the subject.

Harry nodded, understanding.

The three mounted their brooms and took off from the ground into the air.

It was ten past eleven in the morning, and Draco warned Harry and Ron that it took about six hours to get to Malfoy Manor by air. He had always traveled to Diagon Alley by a Portkey.

"Oh, great…" grumbled Ron once he learned this information. "Six hours stuck on broomsticks."

Draco led Harry and Ron toward Malfoy Manor, reflecting on what was happening between the three of them.

Potter, asking if he was okay? Weasley, inquiring about his life? This was definitely developing into something other than acquaintance… It didn't bother Draco, much. In fact, he kind of liked it. Neither Crabbe or Goyle had ever asked if he was okay… neither of them even knew anything about his personal life…

As they neared Malfoy Manor, the sky grew dimmer. After almost six hours of flying, the trio was weary and tired. But they knew they had to keep going.

Finally, after about half an hour, Draco spotted the lights of Malfoy Manor. He informed the two that they were near, and should head back down to the ground because there were various charms and spells surrounding the manor from above, in the air.

Harry, Ron and Draco walked the rest of the way toward Malfoy Manor.

When they reached the tall black gates, the sky was a cornflower blue, and the air was starting to get chilly.

"Okay," Harry said. "How do we get inside?"

"Fairly easily…" Draco said, flicking his wand at the steel gates. They opened so soundlessly that it was almost ghostly.

"But you said that there were dangerous charms and spells." Ron said, following Draco and Harry inside onto the vast front lawn.

"There are," Draco said. "But only in the air."

"So it's that easy to get in?" Harry inquired.

"No…" Draco said as they heard growling all around them. "We still have the scanters. Like in the clue."

Harry and Ron stared around them, at the growling sounds. They saw that fairly large, hairy, demonic creatures had surrounded them. And they were staring menacingly at the trio, ready to charge.

A/N: Well? Suspenseful? That's why I was trying to get at… anyway… thanks for all the reviews! I hate the names of the animals I made up… They suck! But I couldn't think of a "magical name" that rhymed with "manner."