Disclaimer: I don't own them, just the storyline.

Draco could not sleep that night. He could never sleep whenever he thought about his father, if he were to be honest with himself that was. Lucius' words hurt, even though he did not want to show it. He knew why it bothered him so much. Draco hoped his father still had some good in him, but he knew all that remained was an evil shell. Any good that may have been part of Lucius Malfoy had long since been removed. Perhaps what got to Draco most was that, if he had made some different decisions in his life, he could have become his father. He shuddered at the thought. He never wanted to be his father, and he never wanted to believe in what his father tried to teach him. He had played the game, it was true, but it was also true that he never played it as well as Snape had. If not for Snape, he would not be where he was. He would likely be dead or in Azkaban otherwise.

Draco decided pacing in the common room was getting him nowhere, especially when his stomach was yelling at him. He had missed dinner thanks to a lack of appetite after visiting his father. Now he was paying for it. He quietly exited Slytherin's section of the castle and snuck into the kitchen.

"Mister Malfoy should be in his rooms at this hour," screeched Dobby unhappily.

"Dobby, do please be quiet," came Hermione's voice. "He's been under a lot of stress lately. I'm sure he missed dinner like the rest of us."

Draco noticed Hermione, Ron, Harry and Ginny were also in the kitchen. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Harry answered, "Hermione's husband is being a slave driver with all this research on Hell. We missed dinner thanks to him, and we've only just gotten him to agree to let us have a break so we can get some sleep before classes tomorrow." Hermione looked apologetically at Harry.

"Anything?" Draco asked digging into the treacle Harry pushed his direction.

"Nothing significant yet," said Ginny. "But Ron found a mention of old protections; something about being able to only find the place if you've got the blood of the original owner flowing through your veins."

"But Pansy wouldn't be able to get there then, if that were the case," Draco responded after swallowing a large spoonful of oatmeal.

"Not entirely," said Hermione. "It's possible there are ways around such spells, or she's a distant relative. With all the intermarrying and everything, it's possible you two are related down the line."

"But we don't know that this is a safe guard on the house," Ron added, mouth full of food.

Harry agreed. "Let's not jump to any conclusions yet. We should find more concrete evidence."

"We'll need to expand the search than. I mean, we've pretty much exhausted our personal library, and Severus said there was little of use in the restricted section," Hermione responded.

They all sighed heavily. After several more minutes, Hermione excused herself. She needed to sleep. They had another full day of classes tomorrow, and she was still a bit worn from her ordeal. At least now she had something to keep her mind off things for a bit, but she knew her dreams would still be a bit haunted if she did not take a dreamless sleep potion.

Shortly after Hermione left, the others said good night to Draco and walked toward Gryffindor Tower while the blond found his way back to his quarters. He did what Hermione had done, finding his hidden cache of dreamless sleep potions. He had needed them for those nights after Death Eater meetings. Tonight, he would need some again just to be sure thoughts of his father did not cause nightmares.

: P

Severus Snape was irritable the next day, and word got out quickly not to cross his path. He had taken a grand total of 500 house points spread between all four houses before noon, and only a few people really knew why. During his lunch hour, Hermione appeared in his office and tried to reason with him.

"Severus, you can't keep up like this. I mean, I'm tired too, but this is just getting absurd." He glared at her. "Okay, if you're going to be that way . . ." She sat down, taking in his demeanor. He was tired, she could tell, but there was something else. "You're taking all this too personally, Severus. Albus has his reasons for all this, I'm sure."

"Mrs. Snape, I have work to do. If you want to talk my ear off, please do so when I'm not so busy!" he snapped at her, instantly regretting his harsh tone. He sighed heavily. Setting his quill down, he said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't take this out on you. It's just . . difficult to watch from the sidelines. I guess, after all those years in the middle of it all, I expect to be there when everything happens."

"You didn't think you'd miss it, did you?" she asked, softly.

"No. I thought I'd have a quiet retirement devoid of complications. But, as usual, things became complicated in a hurry."

"Do you regret any of it?" she asked almost more out of consideration than curiosity.

He looked her in the eye and simply said, "No." He picked up his quill again. "Now, if you don't mind, I really do have work to do. And I shall make an effort to be somewhat less unpleasant."

She smiled sweetly and gave him a kiss on the nose. "Of course you will, Severus." She left him then, a thought pressing at the back of her mind; however, she could not quite figure out what it was trying to tell her.

: P

Immediately after classes finished that day, Hermione met with her research crew. They were running short of time for finding information on Hell as the Ministry was getting edgy knowing there was a loose cannon somewhere unbeknownst to them. Severus was getting anxious trying to find Parkinson, and the seventh year's in the group knew time was running short for their upcoming NEWTS. The sooner an end came to the conundrum of Parkinson's whereabouts the better. Although Hell was the only lead, there was a certain feeling that it was the right one. Just as a precaution though, someone would be the voice of reason if they became too hung up on the idea. They poured over texts well past dinner once again, and, just as they were about to break for the night, Severus came running into the Head Girl's quarters.

"Severus, what has you so excited?" Hermione asked, taken aback by his disheveled, but somewhat joyous demeanor.

"Listen to this: 'Many qualities of Hell exist. To some it may be an imaginary place with which to scare children into behaving. To many it is thought to be a place of fire and evil. However, it is suggested that, in thisreality, it is a cold place that only few have ever seen. Muggles in Siberia have reported that Hell is the coldest place on Earth, but that it is constantly changing its location. One muggle is quoted as saying "One minute you're standing in the cold, wishing you were somewhere warm, and it suddenly gets colder. The next minute it's warm again, but the chill remains in your bones, and you feel like all the happiness is being sucked from you." These qualities of Hell suggest that it is guarded by Dementors, or at least some ancient spell that wards off any unwanted visitors, as well as a relocation spell once the residence has been found.'" Severus looked at the group.

"Bloody hell!" Ron said.

"Indeed, Mr. Weasley," Severus responded. "I believe this is what we've been looking for."

Hermione hit herself in the head. "As soon as you started reading, I knew it sounded familiar." Everyone looked at her as if to ask why. "I read that book for a Defense Against the Dark Arts essay on dementors. However, it's not been proven that they guard the residence," she added quietly.

"Is there anything else useful in that book, Professor?" asked Ginny.

Severus scanned down further. "It does mention that, in order to see Hell one may need to be family of the owner, or at least be in possession of the blood of the owner."

"Causes a bit of problem then, doesn't it?" Harry asked. "I mean, Parkinson wouldn't be able to go there if she wasn't family."

Severus thought it over for a minute. "But if she had Lucius' blood in her . . ." he trailed out, as another thought occurred to him.

"What is it, Professor?" it was Harry again. He thought he was beginning to follow Snape's line of thought. "You don't think . . I mean, it's not possible that she was, is . . ."

"Yes, Mister Potter. I believe she may be carrying Lucius' child." The room went eerily silent as they all thought about that. Severus walked to the fireplace and flooed Draco. "Get over here immediately."

Within minutes, Draco was walking into the Head Girl's quarters. "You found something then?"

Severus posed the question to Draco, and he blanched at the suggestion. He too remained speechless for several moments. Finally, Ginny said, "I believe this whole thing just became more complicated." No one said anything. They just nodded their heads in agreement.

: P

Dumbledore had to be told twice before he even considered the possibility. He even took a full day to think over the new information. In order for anything like what was being suggested to have happened, a serious breach of security had to have been made. And that meant that Azkaban was no longer as safe a place as they had thought. He sighed heavily. Everything was complicated enough as it was. This only served to make a further mess of life for all involved.

"Severus, I still want you to remain here. Remus, your teams' objective is to bring her back alive if you do get in. And as for you, Draco, this may all come down to you if the rest of the raid team cannot get through. Is that clear?"

"Very, Sir," responded Draco in a voice that was more confident than he was. The whole idea of having to deal with Parkinson scared him, especially since he had first hand experience of what she was capable of doing. But he was a former Death Eater, and he had survived worse. The real challenge would be incapacitating Parkinson without hurting the child, if in fact she was with child. He would have to be careful, and that meant not allowing himself even the thought of being reckless or resorting to any act out of desperation.

Dumbledore nodded. "Good." Handing the bag of floo powder to Draco, he said, "We know she was able to use the floo network to get there. You should be able to do the same." Draco took the bag reluctantly. Remus took some powder and flooed to the ministry to gather his team and take them to Siberia. "Remus' team has been attempting to locate Hell through trace spells and a variety of other methods, but so far they have come up empty. When you get to Hell, activate the flair. Hopefully, they will be able to at least find that and locate you."

"Yes, Sir. I understand."

"Whenever you're ready then, my boy."

Severus pulled Draco aside before he left. "I want you to know I'm proud of you. I don't need to tell you, I know, but I feel I should tell you anyway. Be careful and don't do anything hasty. This is no more difficult than what you've already been through."

"I know."

"Draco, you can do this. Don't doubt that."

"I don't, Sir."

Severus pulled Draco into a brief hug. "And don't be afraid to use the stun spell. It's more effective than you think sometimes."

Draco nodded. He took a handful of floo powder, hesitating briefly. The last few days had built up to this, but he was never quite sure he would be ready. Steeling himself to wander into the possibly cold night alone and unaided, he closed his eyes and shouted, "Hell!" With a burst of green flames, he was gone.

"I just hope he gets to the right destination, Severus."

"As do I, Albus. As do I."

The two men sat down and waited. "Lemon drop?"

"I rather think not, old man," Severus responded.

"Your loss then." Severus just gave the headmaster a glare in response.

End Chapter 25