Dazed and Dumbfounded 2

Author's Note: OK, I thought up some more stuff for this story so here it is…

Harry raced through the long hallways of Malfoy Manor without having the slightest idea of where he was going. Why had he ever let Draco talk him into this? It was sheer suicide! Sure he wanted his two friends to be happy together but that didn't mean he wanted Draco's maniac of a father to kill him! And why was Lucius chasing him? It was Draco that was getting married! It was all just totally unfair but then his life had been that way from the beginning. He skidded around a corner and his feet almost slid out from underneath him. Still he managed to keep his balance somehow and he kept running as fast as he could. He could hear the Death Eater right behind him and unless he found the door quickly he'd end up on the torture rack in the dungeon.

"POTTER! Come back here!" Lucius screamed at the dark-haired boy who was just ahead of him.

/Yeah, like I'm really going to listen to him! Where the heck is the door?./

The place reminded Harry of an anthill or a giant maze and without Draco to guide him he was totally lost. His breath was coming fast and his heart thudded in his chest like crazy. He was in shape from playing Quidditch, sure, but he wasn't too sure how much longer he could keep this up. He really hadn't expected the older man to stay with him for so long…he just prayed that Lucius wouldn't apparate right in front of him! If he did he would be done for.

/I shouldn't have listened to Draco in the first place! He's still a stupid git for wanting to tell his father!./

One of the doors along the hallway suddenly opened and a beautiful women in a dark green dress stepped out. Like Lucius and Draco, she sported the same white hair and it cascaded down her back.

"Narcissa! Watch out!" Lucius warned his wife.

Narcissa turned at the sound of her husband's voice and her eyes widened in shock at seeing a dark-haired boy with glasses almost upon her. Her hand went for her wand but it was too late. Harry tried to avoid her but she had stepped out almost right in front of him and there hadn't been enough time. He slammed into her and the two crashed to the floor in a heap. Then he felt hands wrapping themselves into the back of his robe and he was roughly yanked up to his feet. He was brutally spun around, the Death Eater glaring at him.

"So I have finally caught you, Potter. What a wonderful Father's Day gift Draco has brought me. You have been very foolish to come here and now you'll pay the price for that foolishness." Lucius snarled as he clung to Harry's arm in a vice like death grip. His lip was twisted up in a snarl and if looks could kill poor Harry would have already dropped dead. "I'll have none of this foolishness in my house!"

"Unlike others I support my friends but I don't expect you to understand what that means. You don't even have friends!" Harry glared right back at the blonde man unafraid.

"Lucius! What is going on here?" Narcissa demanded to know as she picked herself up off the floor. Her eyes flickered over the rude boy who had knocked her over, her gaze taking in the ragged too big clothes, the messy hair and the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. She knew instantly who he was, of course. "What is this boy doing in our home?"

"Our son has apparently befriended him and has brought him over, if you can believe such nonsense! Potter has contaminated him and now he thinks he's going to marry that … that … that Mudblood!"

Narcissa gasped, horrified. A pale hand clung to her chest and she swayed slightly on her feet, what little color she possessed draining from her face.

"SHUT UP!" Harry shrieked at Lucius, his green eyes glowing with anger. "Don't you dare call her that!"

"I can call her whatever I like in my own home, boy, and don't you forget that!" Lucius snarled, his hand tightening painfully on Potter's arm. "And now I can do whatever I want with you and there will be no rescue. You'll make a fine gift for my Master…"

Lucius laughed evilly.

Remembering the wand in his pocket, Harry yanked it out to point at Lucius, a spell on the tip of his tongue.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Narcissa cried, her wand already at the ready. The spell hit Harry and his entire body stiffened, his wand falling from his numb hand. Then he toppled over like a fallen tree to crash to the smooth floor. Even with his body frozen as stiff as a board he glared at the two Malfoys, his green eyes darkening with hatred until they were almost black.

/You'll never get away with this!./

But then, he might. No, he was getting away with it!

/I never should have allowed this! This is my entire fault…/

He should have known better, he had known better but then he had wanted to make his blonde Slytherin friend happy. Draco hadn't wanted to elope with Hermoine as they could have done. He had wanted to stand up to his father for once in his life and tell him…

The small group sat at a corner table at the Leaky Cauldron, cold glasses of butterbeer before them. Hogwarts had let out and they were once again free for the summer, a very different summer. The threat of Voldemort still hung over their heads but for now they felt carefree. During the previous school term Draco had somehow befriended Harry and the others. Mainly he had had his silvery gray eyes set upon Hermoine. Truthfully he had noticed her from the very first year and had tried to make friends with Potter so he would have an excuse to be close to her. Of course, boys at that age weren't supposed to like girls; it would be uncool and Draco needed to be cool. Yes, if he was going to rule Slytherin as his father had before him he couldn't go after girls yet. But he had noticed her and even at the age of eleven she looked way better than Pansy. The girl was a real dog and always clinging to him like some awful python. Uggh, how it disgusted him! But if it were Hermoine clinging to him…now that would be an entirely different story! But Potter had turned down his generous offer of friendship and that had hurt. It had stung painfully as part of him really had wanted to be friends with the famous Harry Potter. Who wouldn't? But it wasn't meant to be…

Draco had thought he would forget about Hermoine but soon discovered he couldn't. The bushy haired girl kept drawing attention to herself. She beat him in every class grade wise and always seemed to know everything. He secretly admired how smart and clever she was, even if she was in Gryffindor. And that presented him a new problem. Slytherins weren't supposed to associate with Gryffindors. Yet he longed to be near her, to talk to her.

So he had started his insulting campaign. It gave him the perfect excuse to talk to the girl in front of the entire school and it secretly thrilled him to see those chocolate eyes fastened on him, Draco Malfoy. He still secretly longed for them to be together but just didn't see how it was possible. She hated his guts! Besides, he was betrothed to Pansy and there was no way he could get out of it. The marriage had been arranged while he had been just a baby and he had absolutely no say in it at all. If only Pansy were more beautiful or had a better personality! But she didn't. She had the mentality of a cardboard box and the grip of Devil's Snare. Sure, she was from a Pureblood family and he admitted she knew how to dress but he didn't really care about that. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He did care about clothes. But he was wise enough to realize you couldn't fix a rotten board by covering it with a fresh coat of paint nor did he want to marry Pansy's closet. Hermoine may dress more simply and in Muggle clothes no less but if she were to ever wear the right Pureblood clothing she'd outshine all the other girls at school.

He had especially been pleased to see her that day at the bookstore just before Second Year. Potter had gotten dragged to the front to get his picture taken for the Daily Prophet with that idiot man … what had been his name? Not that he had really paid the author any attention, no. He had been upstairs near the railing staring down at Granger. Her hair had looked especially nice that day. Instead of the normal bushy tangle it had shone with gentle waves and later he just couldn't resist going to stand next to her and hadn't even cared if his father had been right there. The stupid man! He had talked about Granger practically all summer nonstop and as long as he had called her Mudblood his father hadn't realized the truth: that he had a crush on her. And so it had continued year after year with him taking every opportunity to get near her in class without it seeming that he wanted to. He was after all a Slytherin and crafty. The Golden Trio had no clue what he was really doing nor did the rest of the school. Even Crabbe and Goyle were witless.

But as the years passed by Draco soon realized he'd have to actually change his tactics and quick, too. If he didn't then he'd end up married to Pansy and trapped in a life of misery. If he wanted Granger he'd have to go after her before either Potter or Weasley claimed her. It was just a sheer miracle neither was dating her yet, but then he presumed they didn't realize she was a girl. Sometimes those two could be so clueless! So he had made his move and over time they had accepted him. And to his joy, Hermoine had a secret crush on him as well! Not that he blamed her. He was the most handsome boy in school!

And so they sat at the table in the corner with butterbeer discussing the problem at hand, that problem being his parents. They were both adamant that he marry another Pureblood, mainly Pansy. His feelings for the Parkinson girl did not concern them, especially his father. Of course, he had married the most beautiful girl in the school so he had had nothing to complain about! Pansy though was a different matter…

"I still want to tell Father." Draco said as he glanced around the table at the other three teens. Hermoine, Harry and Ron were there. "I want to have a proper wedding and besides, he'd find out sooner or later anyway. I'd rather he be there when I get married."

'He won't never accept it." Harry pointed out. "He hates Muggles and Muggle-borns."

"Well, there must be some way to change his mind!" Draco insisted as he clutched his glass of butterbeer. Wet beads of condensation had formed on the glass and his hand grew wet. Lifting the glass to his mouth, he took a long swallow. Slamming the glass back onto the table, he stared into Harry's green eyes. "Surely you can think of something! Look at all the things you've done! Why, you killed a bloody basilisk when you were only twelve!"

"But this is different." Harry sighed. "People change because they want to. You can't force a person to change. Look at my Muggle relatives! They haven't changed one bit all these years I've attended Hogwarts except for getting worst. If I could change them don't you think I would?"

"Harry's right." Ron nodded sadly. "Why would you even want him there? He's a bloody monster!"

Draco frowned at the redhead but held his tongue. "They're still my parents. And contrary to popular belief they're not really all that bad…"

"They're just bloody Death-Eaters!" Ron exclaimed loudly. "You can't get any worst than that!"

"My Mother is NOT a Death Eater!" Draco protested, his silvery eyes flashing in irritation. "Just my Father is. And I hate how he scrapes and bows to that hideous thing he calls Master. Ever since I was a baby he told me that Malfoys don't bow to anyone yet he does to that freak of nature. Maybe he regrets joining up with the Death Eaters, who knows? It's not like you can just walk away and quit the group. A few did try and they were murdered. And Father never really treated me bad. He's strict, sure and expects me to get good grades but he was always decent. I never suffered any of the stuff Harry did…"

"But he still likes to kill people." Harry pointed out. "Just because he never abused you doesn't mean he'll let you marry Hermoine. That's wishful thinking."

"Well, I'm not going to let him ruin my life!" Draco glanced around the table staring each of them in the eye. He shifted his chair closer to Hermoine's and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm tired of being a coward. And I'm not a child anymore. I know that Muggle-borns are just as good as Purebloods! Maybe I believed that rubbish when I was younger because I didn't know any better, but now I do. If I let him tell me who I'm supposed to marry I'll be stuck taking his orders for the rest of my life and I don't think I could stand that. So I want to tell him."

"But you don't know how he'll react." Harry pointed out, a worried expression on his face. "He may get so angry that he'll kill you."

"Yeah! The bloody bugger could do anything!" Ron exclaimed, a scowl on his face as he thought of Lucius. "He's a bloody wacko!"

"Draco, we don't need a big fancy wedding." Hermoine pointed out. "And it's admirable you want to stand up to him but it can be very dangerous! Can't we just elope or have a small wedding with the Weasleys without telling them?"

"I don't like sneaking around…" Draco admitted. "I know that sounds odd coming from a Slytherin but I think they'd be more furious if they found out afterward. So I want to tell them."

"If it's that important to you, we'll go face him then but we'll do it together." Harry decided. "You just need to be careful. And remember about his wand."

"Well, Father doesn't normally carry it around the whole house, you know! I mean, why should he? The house is well protected so intruders can't get in. And it's not like he's going to be holding it when I go talk to him. Why should he? I'm his son. He trusts me."

"Oh, I hope we're doing the right thing!" Hermoine bit her bottom lip, worried. "This could all go seriously wrong!"

Ron blinked at the other three teens. "What? You mean we're actually going to go IN the house and tell him? That's crazy!"

"You don't have to come if you're scared…" Draco told him. "It'll probably be smart to leave someone behind who knows where we went, just in case."

Ron stared at them like they were totally nuts. "You're all going to get yourselves killed!"

"I'm sure Dumbledore wouldn't like this, he wouldn't like this at all…" Hermoine said as she stared down at her drink. "We're supposed to be staying safe, not going into a Death Eater's house…"

"Hey! It's my house too!" Draco protested. Then he squeezed her shoulder and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Come on, I think I know my old man…"

"And I know him, too." Harry replied glumly as he thought back to Second Year. "I think he was gong to do that death curse on me…"

"Or some horrid curse anyway!" Ron drained his glass of butterbeer and pulled out a chocolate frog from his pocket. He opened it and quickly snatched it up before it could hop away. "They always do horrid curses…"

"Well, we might as well get this over with." Harry stood and waited for the others to join him. And like they had planned, Ron had stayed behind as a safety measure in case things went wrong.

/Great! This is just great/

Harry silently moaned as Lucius levitated him down another long corridor and down a dark flight of stairs. He could feel the air growing cooler and he suspected that they were now underground, no doubt heading for a secret dungeon. Leave it to the Malfoys to have their own private dungeon under their house. Normal people had a wine cellar or old junky furniture, but the Malfoys? No, they had to have a dungeon! Harry idly wondered what sort of nasty things Lucius kept down there for torturing people. But then, maybe he'd never find out…

/He'll probably just hand me to Voldemort on a golden platter…/

A bright light snapped on with a magical word and Lucius roughly deposited him inside an iron cage. The door was slammed shut and locked, the Death Eater sneering at him with a triumphant glare in his cold eyes. "Not so mighty now, are you, Potter? And as much as I'd like to stay and chat, I must go upstairs to see what that idiotic son of mine is doing with that Mudblood. A Mudblood in my house! It's outrageous!"

Harry struggled to move, the anger boiling in his veins. The spell that Narcissa had used on him was still firmly in place and all he managed was to shift his eyes towards the man. He glared at him as hard as he could, pouring all of his hatred for Death Eaters into it. To his dismay, a horrible smile crept over Lucius' lips.

"But be assured I'll be back later so we can play."

Cold dread settled over the Boy Who Lived, or maybe it was just the dampness soaking into his robes from the icy floor. But he knew one thing and that was he definitely did not want to play with Lucius Malfoy! The man's ideas of fun games no doubt included the Imperio and the Crucio. No, he had no desire to feel those again. And what about Hermoine?

/Draco, you better be getting her out of here or I'll kill you myself!./

He really didn't care what happened as long as his friends remained safe. They were more important to him than life itself. And no matter how hard he tried to save them they kept dying! Alone with his thoughts, Harry waited for the binding spell to wear off.

To be continued…