Dazed and Dumbfounded 11

Author's Note: Someone asked if this really was a Draco/Hermoine story. Well, it is (although it's not exactly like the other ones out there and I realize that). For one, I don't believe that Hermoine would just run off with Draco while Harry has it so miserable (living with the Dursleys, etc). Real friends stick together and don't only care about their own happiness. And I think Hermoine is that type of friend. I also have several different plots going on in this fic and at this moment it's leaning more toward mystery than comedy. So if you just want to read a story where Draco & Hermoine date at school there are lots of those out there. But if you'd like something a bit more complicated and explains lots of the background stuff from the HP novels/movies (I have my own theories on this) that involve Harry and Voldamore and the Death Eaters; then keep reading. And please realize that since chapter 1 started its still only one day. That is, it's still Father's Day and all the events have taken place in 1 day. OK? And thanks for the reviews! I appreciate it. I will try to include more D/Hr stuff though. Hopefully it should all make sense soon!

Narcissa reached for the grimy photograph with a shaking pale hand, emerald rings flashing on her fingers. Ignoring the thick layer of dust that coated the moving picture, she ran her fingertips over the moving figures. A poignant expression was on her face and when she raised her blue-gray eyes they shimmered with a layer of unshed tears. "Where – where did you find this?"

"Behind a wall, upstairs." Harry answered without thinking how odd it sounded. At the moment he was watching Narcissa's facial expression and he realized the old grimy photo meant a lot to her. "That's you in the photo, isn't it?"

For a young man still in school, Harry was very observant and this time he had guessed correctly.

The blonde woman nodded, the photo still clutched in her hand. The icy woman didn't look so frozen and aloof now. Her bottom lip trembled and her throat moved as she swallowed. In fact, she looked ready to cry. "And our two sons, before … before … he was snatched!"

Harry blinked his green eyes and his mouth hung open a bit. Two sons? He had never known that Lucius and Narcissa had two sons! The mere idea that Draco had a brother was a real revelation. And to have one of them snatched, kidnapped … it must have been horrible. To have to go through that pain, the uncertainty of where your own flesh and blood was and what some stranger was doing with your child. It reminded him of his burning desire for his parents but at least he knew they were dead. Not that the knowing made the pain any less. He'd do anything to have them back for real or to just speak with them for a single day. But he instinctively knew that in many ways Narcissa's pain must be far worse than his own for she remembered her tiny son while Harry really didn't remember his parents at all. Was that why she had tried to mother him a little while ago? The knowledge that he had rebuked her burned in his mind and guilt formed. If he had known, he never would have treated her like that…

And it was painfully clear now that she was a real person and not the snobby Pureblood she pretended to be. Under all that aloofness and the stone mask was a mother trying to forget a tragedy.

And he had just ruined it by finding the bloody photo! How could he have been so stupid? Why couldn't he have just left it lying there in the dust?

Narcissa leaped from her chair and threw herself in her husband's arms, her face buried against his shoulder. He securely wrapped his arms around her, his fingers tangling in her long silver cascade of hair. Resting his chin gently on top of her head, his gray eyes focused on Harry. His eyes didn't seem the usual cold orbs of steel now, but more warm. "It was our younger son that was kidnapped, if you must know. He was just an infant…"

Harry frowned. What sort of monster would kidnap a mere baby? Still, this was showing him a whole new side to the Malfoys; a side that he never thought existed before. It proved that they were a family and they did care for their children; not just people who happened to co-exist in the same house.

"And no," Lucius stated. "I doubt if You Know Who was involved…"

Not that Voldemort would bother kidnapping a baby, unless he wanted it for some evil blood sacrifice? The idea made Harry shudder and he quickly pushed the thought from his mind. No, it was more likely some desperate childless couple had taken advantage of a few critical seconds while the baby was unattended, perhaps in Diagon Alley. The place was often crowded and who really bothers to keep track of each person? Unlike what most people thought, it was far easier to commit a crime on a busy street than on a deserted one. He wasn't too sure if wizards used baby strollers like Muggles, but if they did who's to question a woman picking up the child? No one, that's who.

Then a new idea occurred to Harry. If he could find this missing Malfoy, why, then he wouldn't have to marry Pansy! The more he thought about it, the better it sounded. And how hard could it be? For all he knew the missing boy could be one of his classmates from Hogwarts! Lucius and Narcissa would be thrilled to get their offspring back and he'd be free once again! And best of all, Draco could still marry Hermoine…

It would be a win-win situation!

A slight smile creased the corner of his mouth as he thought the idea through. Of course, he'd need Hermoine's help with the details. Her mind was always so much better than his due to the fact that she studied. He usually took care of the larger stuff, like defeating Voldemort and killing basilisks….

Meanwhile, Hermoine had gripped Draco by the wrist and hauled him into a nearby corner. "You never told me you had a younger brother!"

"Well, it's not like I really do with him missing and all…" Draco drawled as he watched his parents hold each other. "I knew about him, of course. Father doesn't speak about it often, you know."

"And couldn't the Aurors or someone find him?" she asked, her big brown eyes sad.

"Apparently not…"

Hermoine was quite for a moment, her lips pressed together in thought. Their original purpose for coming out to the Manor that morning was to tell Lucius of their wedding plans. That had happened but since then things had gone unexpectedly with Harry getting involved somehow. Still, they had plans to make whether his parents approved or not. "So, now that I met your parents are you going to meet mine?"

Draco's eyes widened in what looked suspiciously like fright. "Me? Meet Muggles?"

"Yes!" Hermoine nodded enthusiastically. "We can do it tomorrow, OK?"

"Tomorrow?" Draco gulped nervously as his eyes shifted about.

"Yes, tomorrow!" Hermoine insisted. "You're not getting cold feet, are you?"

"No, of course not!" Draco quickly added. "It's just that I never been to a Muggle house or neighborhood. I'm not too sure what to expect, that's all…"

"Well, my parents live in a nice neighborhood." She reassured him, smiling happily. "You know, sometimes I think the lot of you Purebloods have some sort of tech phobia! You're so used to magic that you freak every time that some Muggle thing like a car or radio is around…"

Draco frowned. He didn't like it that she was implying he was scared of Muggle things. "Listen, I'm not scared of some old Muggle car!"

Hermoine grinned brilliantly, a sparkle in her chocolate eyes. "Good! Then you won't mind riding in one on the way to my parent's home! I have my driver's license, you know…"

"WHAT! I'm not getting into one of those bloody steel boxes!" He exclaimed, clearly horrified at the mere suggestion. "Those things MOVE!"

Hermoine clung to his shoulder with one hand and laughed. "Of course they move! They're supposed to!"

"It's not funny!" Draco protested loudly. "I heard sometimes they hit stuff!"

She laughed harder; tears leaking from under her tightly closed eyelids. Sometimes he said the funniest stuff! It was one of the reasons she loved him so much.

"We'll get bloody KILLED!"

By now Lucius, Narcissa and Harry were listening to the exchange.

"I was once in a car that hit a tree…" Harry offered. "They're all right as long as you stay away from the Whomping Willow…"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Potter, no one in their right mind would go near that tree anyway. It's homicidal."

"…And sometimes there are pileups…" Harry continued as he thought of the numerous Muggle newspapers he had stolen out of trashcans over the many summers at his Uncle's house.

"Pileups?" Draco stared at Harry, his brows creased in puzzlement. "Do I want to know what that even is?"

"It's nothing!" Hermoine dashed over to where Harry was and slapped a hand over his mouth, slightly stepping on his toes to make sure he got the message. "Nothing at all! It's like riding a broom but you stay on the ground. You'll like it, really! Trust me!"

The blonde Slytherin stared at his girlfriend suspiciously, still unsure of riding in a car. One thing was certain and that was she had Potter trained in to obey her. He kind of liked that, actually. "Can't we just floo over to your parent's house?"

"Well, I suppose we could but then you won't get the Muggle experience." Hermoine stated as she thought the matter through. "We're going to have a cookout, you know…"

The puzzled expression was back once again.

"You know, a barbecue? Cook the food outside on a grill?" Hermoine released Harry and hurried back to Draco's side. She glanced at some thing around her wrist and kissed him on the cheek. "It's getting late. I should go. See you at the Leaky Cauldron at nine tomorrow, OK?"

Draco dumbly nodded. Sure, he presumed that he'd see her parents at the wedding or maybe even before that, but eating Muggle food? Wasn't that a bit much? And those car things! Merlin, how did he get into all that? Hermoine was a witch, after all! It never even occurred to him she would know how to control one of those horrid metal boxes that Muggles seemed to favor.

Happy, Hermoine flounced to the fireplace and disappeared in green flames.

That night, Draco had problems sleeping. The idea of riding in one of those Muggle contraptions was disturbing. Unlike Harry, he'd never been on the Knight Bus. The Malfoys were wealthy enough that they used their own carriage when they choose to travel. If that wasn't an option, they used floo powder or apparated. He didn't even know what a Muggle street looked like, truth be told. For the first time in his life he would be leaving the familiar environment of the Wizarding World for the Muggle one. Even if it were just for a day, it was frightening. Yet he trusted Hermoine and knew she would never harm him on purpose. So he tossed and turned most of the night on his big four-poster bed and finally fell into a troubled sleep by morning.

But Draco wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping that night. Harry also lay wide-awake in the unfamiliar bed in the unfamiliar room he had been given in the Manor. The guilt for upsetting Narcissa still lay heavy on his chest; yet another burden he had to carry. He knew there must be some way to track down the missing child, but how? He could be anyone or be anywhere by now; if he even was in England that is. A slightly blurry image of Pansy flashed before his open eyes and he knew he'd have to do it no matter what; for if he didn't; he'd be doomed to masquerade as their missing son. Lucius was clever and not to mention devious enough to think up some brilliant reason why he had been gone all these years and Pansy's parents would eat it up. And after that…

Finally the next morning dawned and Draco crawled from his bed. After showering and dressing, he headed downstairs for breakfast. Both of his parents were already there; only Potter was missing. No matter, Draco ate the food the house elves had prepared and then wiped his mouth neatly with a linen napkin. "Well, I'm off to meet with Hermoine at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Be polite, Son." Lucius reminded him. "And be careful!"

"I will, Father." Draco promised as he headed to the fireplace and then he too was gone.

To be continued…

The next chapter will be about the car trip and hopefully the barbecue!