Chapter 36

Cassie didn't scream, simply glared at them. The Death Eaters had struck just after Heather had left to retrieve her specially blended tea from their quarters. She'd hexed the first with a full body lock and bolted, only to slam into the second. Hogwarts was supposed to be safe, but apparently there were glitches in the security system. She'd have to tell Grandpa Dumbledore as soon as she was free.

The second Death Eater had spelled her legs so she couldn't run and taken her wand before freeing its friend. Now they were staring at her like they weren't sure what to do next.

"We should put a sleeping spell on her, this way she can't escape," the first said.

"She's not going anywhere," the second, stated folding its arms.

"What if she starts screaming?"

"She's not screaming now."

"I still think it's better if we put a spell on her." The first replied, glancing at her.

"Just pick her up and we'll take her back to Lucius like we're supposed to."

"Lucy-us is a bad man," Cassie said narrowing her eyes. "You'll be in BIG trouble with Daddy."

"It's nothing personal, we're only following orders," the second told her. "If Lucius Malfoy wants you, then we're supposed to bring you to him."

"You'll be in BIG trouble with Papa," she warned.

"Look, we don't care if...." The second growled just as they heard the sound of running feet.

"Draco wait up!" Harry snarled as Draco skidded into the library and raced towards the restricted section.

Both Death Eaters' heads snapped to attention. They stood stalk still and listened to the hurried footfalls. With their attention elsewhere, Cassie took a deep breath and screamed. High pitched, it was enough to alert her parents to her whereabouts. Seconds later Draco appeared from amongst the shelves. Angry eyes assessed the situation before making his next move.

They had Cassie on the floor obviously unable to move. Behind them several chairs were lying about. Apparently there'd been a struggle to get her. She didn't seem injured though, which was a small consolation in his mind. Gripping his wand tightly, he wondered which curse to use on them. Whatever it was, he needed to get Cassie out of the way first.

"DADDY!" She cried seeing him standing in the aisle.

Startled, the Death Eaters turned to look at Draco. He saw them stiffen before whipping their heads back to look at Cassie.

"Get away from my daughter," Draco warned in a dark tone. Slowly shifting their gaze, they stared at him like they were confused. "I said, get away from my daughter unless you want to find out exactly how she pinned Lucius to the wall of his own house."

They didn't move. Draco felt Harry's presence behind him as the Death Eaters studied him.

"Daddy curse them!" Cassie yelled. "They want to take me to Lucy-us!"

"Takoto..." Draco began knowing that he could aim this curse well enough to miss his daughter.

"Malfoy? Draco Malfoy?" One Death Eater inquired as if it wasn't sure it was addressing the right person.

Draco paused, that voice was familiar somehow. His mind quickly played back where he thought he knew it from.

"Crabbe?" He hazarded. It almost sounded like him, but he wasn't sure.

"Yes," Crabbe said, his broad shoulders heaving a sigh of relief.

Feeling a bit surprised at the confession, Harry tapped Draco on the shoulder.

"See if you can reason with him," he whispered anxiously, his eyes lighting on Cassie momentarily.

"I don't know; it has been a while since I saw him." Draco hissed. "Let's hope he'll listen to me." True, once Vincent Crabbe had followed his every command loyally, but that'd been before he'd left Britain. They were obviously Death Eaters and he wasn't, which could easily spell disaster.

"If we could capture them without resorting to spells, it'd put her in less danger." Harry told him fretting over his daughter's precarious position. Draco simply nodded. He had to keep his attention on Crabbe and the other Death Eater.

"Daddy? You know this Death Eater?" Cassie inquired giving her father an odd look.

"Yes, he used to be one of Daddy's friends," Draco replied, stepping forward. "It'll be all right Snapdragon, they're not going to take you."

Harry prayed that Crabbe still thought of Draco as a friend and would give them leeway. The last thing they needed was for Cassie to be caught in the crossfire of spells.

"We didn't realize that you...." Crabbe began.

"Malfoy, when did you have a child?" The second Death Eater suddenly blurted out as Draco moved cautiously towards her. If he could place himself between Cassie and the men, it'd give Harry a chance to levitate her out of the way.

"Almost six years ago," he answered realizing he knew the other voice. "Is that you Goyle?"
"Yes it is," Goyle muttered, lowering his gaze.

"We didn't know she was yours." Crabbe said hastily as Draco moved to shield his daughter. "Your father only said to bring him the child that was being kept at Hogwarts. He didn't say anything about it being his own grandchild."

"He's not my father." Draco snarled, his gaze turning hard. "He disowned me and tried to murder my daughter."

"Oh," they said in unison. Crabbe shuffled his feet, trying to make sense of what was going on.

"I guess that's why we didn't see you at any of the Death Eater gatherings." Goyle mumbled, feeling awkward.

"Daddy, you were a DEATH EATER?" The look of alarm on Cassie's face made him immediately scoop up and comfort her.

"No, no...I never was. Lucius wanted me to be one and for a while I didn't think I had a choice. Then I had you and I discovered I did. So I walked away and took you and Gran with me." He glared at his two old friends, telling them in a look not to upset his daughter like this again.

"But you said Death Eaters are bad and if you were one..." Cassie whimpered.

"No sweetie, I wasn't one and they are bad. That's all true, you just keep cursing them if they come near you."

"But they took my WAND!" Cassie cried burying her face in the crook of his neck. Letting her sob, he kept his wand ready unable to completely trust his old friends not to do anything. He felt bad, he should be able to trust them and he wanted to, but his more practical side had to prepare him for the worst.

"Malfoy, if we'd known she was yours we wouldn't have done this." Crabbe explained after a moment of prolonged silence broken by Cassie's sniffling. They'd been friends and he still considered Draco one. Besides he'd seen the results of the child's curse. If that was any example of the arsenal that Draco had, he didn't want to be on his bad side.

"Wait a minute, you had a choice in becoming a Death Eater?" Goyle exclaimed, feeling a bit lost. He stared at Draco uncertain how he could've avoided family duty.

"Oh Merlin," Harry muttered, rolling his eyes. The two had never been the brightest people in the world. "All you had to do was say no."

"It's not that simple Harry," Draco pointed out. "We were raised to follow in our parents footsteps. We had to be good heirs and do what we were told. Becoming a Death Eater was expected. If I hadn't become a parent, I doubt I would have realized I'd had a choice."

Crabbe and Goyle nodded in agreement. Harry shuddered. It all sounded horrible to him. They were Death Eaters because their parents were. Of course people had whispered about it during school. Like father like son. Even he'd been compared to his father. Still, just because he was James' son, didn't mean he was a carbon copy of him. Everyone had choices; sometimes it took realizing that you had them to break out. Draco had escaped the cycle because of Cassie, but there'd been nothing for Crabbe or Goyle. They'd been trapped, but now they had a chance. He was learning that you couldn't judge a Slytherin by their parentage. Draco had taught him that.

"We can't complete this mission. You're our friend." Goyle said after a minute. "I don't know what happened, but we can't take her."

"We wouldn't let you even if you did." Draco replied, nodding towards Harry.

"Considering it's well known amongst the Death Eaters that she pinned your..er Lucius to a wall for three hours, I don't think we would've stood a chance anyway." Crabbe pointed out dropping his hands to his sides. Draco smiled a little, he was still very proud of her for that spell. When she was older, she would be a force to be reckoned with.

"I'd still like to know where you've been. Or why you haven't written." Goyle commented folding his arms across his chest. "We graduated and that was the last we heard from you."

"It's a long story. Why don't you hand over your wands and we'll go talk about this someplace else?"

"You want to tell them?" Harry exclaimed suddenly unsure if he was willing to tell them everything right this second. "They're Death Eaters! What if it gets back to Lucius or Voldemort?"

"Lucius has probably figured it out. That's why he wants her," Draco snapped, sounding curter than he'd intended. These were his friends; he'd dealt with Harry telling Ron and Natalie about them, why couldn't he tell Goyle and Crabbe if he wanted?

"Actually, given that we have a choice, we wouldn't go back EVER." Goyle interrupted before Harry and Draco could start arguing in earnest.

"Yes. It's not very pleasant. If you mess up you're punished, heavily." Crabbe echoed the sentiment. "Not to mention, I'm a bit squeamish around blood and dying things."

Draco gave Harry a pleading look and he relented.

"I'm going to have to turn them in though," Harry grumbled. "I AM an Auror after all."

"That means we'll be sent to Azkaban!" Crabbe moaned. Harry was sure he was remembering miserably all the terrible tales about the prison. It was almost worse than the punishment they'd receive for failing.

Harry regarded the two crest fallen Death Eaters. From the way they were speaking, it sounded like they didn't want to be associated with Voldemort. Actually if he thought about it they didn't seem threatening, more pitiful than anything. Without Draco to lead them, they'd lost their way in life.

"Maybe we can have them confined to someplace a little less detrimental?" Draco suggested. Crabbe and Goyle nodded vigorously approving this idea. Sighing, Harry knew that he had his work cut out for him.

"Gentlmen, your wands," he said at last. "We'll figure out punishment later."

They did as he asked, including Cassie's in the offering. Harry returned it to her. Taking it happily, she stuffed the small wand into her shorts' pocket.

"Thanks Papa Harry," she exclaimed.

"Do you mind removing your masks? Cassie's uncomfortable around them." Draco pointed out as he undid the leg bind spell.

"She certainly didn't seem afraid when she was staring us down." Crabbe commented taking his off.

"That's because you're not as scary as Lucy-us and I cursed him." Cassie told him as Draco carried her back to the DADA room.

"Gee thanks," Goyle grumbled. He paused for a moment. "So why did she just call Potter, Papa?" His gaze slid to Harry who crossed his arms and glared at him.

"I'll explain, I promise," Draco assured.

They'd just reached the door when Heather came walking back with her cup of tea. She took one look at the unknown men and demanded to know what was going on. Draco promised that everything was under control, but if she and Cassie would get Dumbledore and Ron that it would be greatly appreciated. The Irish woman agreed and took Cassie from him. Setting her on the ground, they hurried off.

Ten minutes later they sat in the DADA classroom. The two Death Eaters were pale and unsure of what to make of what they'd just heard. In front of each was a small sheet of parchment with Hathor's Kiss' description on it. They were trying to sort through the information. It seemed so unreal, but at the same time made some sense. It certainly explained why they hadn't heard from their friend in six years.

Dumbledore and Ron were sitting quietly to one side, letting Draco and Harry deal with the problem. Heather had decided that it was best Cassie not be involved. This was a grown up issue not something for a five-year-old.

"So you were pregnant?" Crabbe inquired slowly gazing up at his old friend.

"Yes, I was," Draco replied. No matter how many times he answered this question, he always felt odd. It was as if he could still feel Cassie's movements inside him. The memory of those nine months would stay with him forever.

"And Potter's the father?"

"Yes."

Silence enveloped the room for a few moments before Dumbledore spoke.

"We seem to have a situation gentlemen. We can't allow Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle to take Cassiopeia to Lucius and we can't simply let them go either. The impression I'm getting is that neither of you have your hearts set on being Death Eaters."

"We didn't have a choice really, Professor Dumbledore." Goyle interrupted.

"I think I understand that."

"Please don't send us back to Lucius Malfoy. He'll be EXTREMELY unhappy that we failed this assignment. We don't have the best record in completing tasks anyway and this will just add to our punishment," Crabbe said pleadingly. Dumbledore nodded reassuringly while everyone began plotting. There had to be a way to keep them both from being killed.

"I have an idea." Ron smiled mischievously. "Why don't we turn them in?"

"I hardly think they should go to Azkaban, Weasley." Draco replied studying his fallen friends. They looked terrified by the prospect.

"Let me finish. We turn them in, because if we don't Harry and I will get in trouble. But we'll plead that they be given a light sentence. Then they'll be put into a prison here in Britain instead. It'll be all over the Daily Prophet that we captured two Death Eaters sneaking into Hogwarts. This way no one will know the truth that they surrendered to us without a fight."

"But Lucius will still be able to get to them if they're in a prison here," Draco pointed out. "I know how he thinks and they'd still be in danger."

"Then I have a suggestion." Dumbledore said. "One that hopefully will work."