Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine. Property of Ms. Rowling.
A/N: Guess what? Draco's back. Still a prick...
Chapter eleven: The Fugitives
Such a nice dream. Hermione, hair done proper, like she had for the Yule Ball. No jeans or t-shirts, bejeweled and stunning. Potter would prefer such muggle attire and sometimes those muggle jeans can hug her arse just nicely but a wife of a Malfoy would never be permitted to wear such nonsense. Yes, beautiful and dressed in appropriate robes for a Malfoy witch. And at night... no flannel or pajamas, instead a silk gown, light and low cut.
"Mmm... I adore you..." Draco groaned as light engulfed his luxurious room in Voldemort's domain. Cat-like, he stretched and rolled onto his stomach to see Goyle Sr. peering over him. Draco flinched in disgust. "This had better be good."
"Sorry, Draco. The Dark Lord wishes to see you."
"Fine! I'll be there in a few moments."
Ten minutes later, the young wizard strolled down the stairs leading to Voldemort's personal quarters. Arrogantly, he kneeled before the evil wizard, never breaking eye contact. "My Lord." Draco greeted. A hand placed on top of his head relieved him of his kneeling. "You wanted to see me?"
"Yes, young Dragon." Voldemort hissed. "It would seem that an interesting turn of events have unfolded. Your father is meeting us shortly to assist in clarifying the details, but he appeared in Hogsmeade today in a very public attempt to acquire your precious Mudblood-"
"Hermione! Is she-"
"She is fine. Unfortunately, she was guarded by Potter and a handful of Weasley's. If we had been informed of Lucius' intentions, we may have been successful in attaining her. Now that she realizes how threatened she is, her guard may never be down nor will she be easy to find alone."
Draco muttered, "Fucker."
"Oh, Draco is that really necessary?" Draco looked over his shoulder towards his father voice.
"What were you thinking? She is mine to claim, approved by the Dark Lord himself. How dare you go around that?... How dare you fail?"
Lucius cleared the distance between the two of them in two strides and harshly slapped his son. ""How dare you speak that way to me? I am your father and you will address me with respect!" He snapped then raised his hand again, lowering it slowly when he saw Draco recoil.
"Now, now." Voldemort intervened. "Lucius has managed to create an opportunity to rectify himself. If he is interested." It was not a question.
The scowl on Lucius' face fell as soon as his master turned to him. "Always, my Lord."
"I haven't heard of a decent Charon Donum performed in centuries."
Draco's jaw dropped open in shock and a hint of fear. Maybe he was being a bit of a shit these last months. He had forgotten what it meant to truly be held in the elder Malfoy's wrath. Draco made a quick note to himself to act a bit more proper, at least for the time being. "On whom?"
"One of the Weasley twins." Lucius noticed the immediate change in his son.
"George, to be exact." Voldemort stated. "So full of life, laughter, and happiness...Must be what's upsetting my stomach."
"He's yours?" Draco asked with a smile, thinking back to a variety of pranks that have been held against himself and his fellow Slytherins, mostly him. The evil wizard nodded. "Delicious."
"It only gets better from here. I can sense the wrath of Potter that has been brought about by this turn of events...Quite unfortunate that he has learned to block his thoughts from me. I can only grasp at the occasional emotion, if strong enough. I must remember to thank the Professor for teaching him such a useful tactic."
"Which Professor?"
"And you are supposed to be in the Dark Lord's inner circle now?" Lucius muttered under his breath to his son as he passed by to stand beside Voldemort. "Severus."
"Professor Snape!" Draco was flabbergasted. "Since when?"
"Unfortunately, we are not certain. However, we are being cautious of Severus' inclusion at our meetings. I would love to hear his excuse for why he was so willing to help Miss Granger."
Voldemort chuckled. "A matter of not knowing who had attacked her and that students were arriving at his class at any moment supposedly... While we are on the matter, Lucius I am curious as to how you are to explain your actions. You were barely released from Azkaban after your capture in the Department of Mysteries. No matter, for now."
"You asked me to rectify myself." Lucius was eager to change the subject.
"Ah, yes. As I was mentioning before, Potter is enraged and has a thirst for revenge. He is not alone. I am not certain of whose help he has enlisted but he is set on avenging his mudblood and friend."
"Ron is probably helping him."
"Yes, of course the youngest son of Arthur. They are looking for the both of you. They are focused on nothing else ...nothing else."
Malfoy Sr. laughed. "Such children! So shortsighted. I sense an opportunity as I am sure you do as well."
"Yes, I do. Draco, are you ready for your master to fulfill his promise?"
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"Yes, they're gone." Hermione sighed as she checked with the map. Bill looked over her shoulder at the map just as Hermione stated, "mischief managed".
"Huh, so that's the secret to your success?" Bill stated more to himself, knowing that neither twin would answer.
Bill and Hermione were still in the infirmary, sitting with the twins and researching the dark curse that was cast upon George. The Order had been summoned and most members were frantically searching for Ron, Harry and Angelina. Bill stayed to find a way to help his brothers as well as make sure that his future "sister in law" would not get restless. So far it was requiring hard work for both tasks.
Bill stopped for a moment to adjust Fred's head as he slept, having fallen at an uncomfortable angle, careful not to disconnect Fred's hand from George. The eldest son withheld his tears as he gently kissed both on their foreheads, yet he smiled at the irony. The twins would have to be incapacitated to allow such a display of affection.
"Nothing here," Hermione said for what seemed like the hundredth time as she opened another book.
"Even the restricted section doesn't hold everything on dark magic." Bill stated as he moved on to a new book. "We need information on the darkest and most ancient curses."
"Well," Hermione sighed as she stood. "We won't find anything here at Hogwarts."
Bill's head snapped up. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that we need a greater source for this subject and I think that you have no choice but to agree."
"I do agree but where are you thinking of looking?"
Hermione squared her shoulders and looked Bill in the eye. "Where else would we find information about a curse that few know and even less are capable to perform?"
Bill grabbed her arm as she turned to leave. "Are you mad? You're still in your first trimester of pregnancy, Hermione you are in no condition to go and I think that you have no choice but to agree!"
She surprised him when she smiled. "I do agree. You, however, are in perfect health, with no conditions such as mine and you're a professional curse-breaker, wouldn't you agree?"
Bill knew he had been hoodwinked. "I do agree," he said smiling. Everyone was right, she is good. "I will go on one condition: don't do anything stupid, don't leave, and don't endanger yourself in any way!"
"You realize that was three things?"
"Actually, the last two would fall under the same condition as the first. Both would be stupid."
"I agree."
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"Wow."
"Not one word."
"But Angelina, you-"
"Shut it, Harry."
"You look-"
"Hot." Ron finished.
"Both of you shut your gobs!" Angelina blushed as she surveyed herself in the mirror. "God what was I thinking?"
"Dunno," Harry said as he slapped Angelina on the back. "But I'm thinking that it was a good idea that we got your help... This will work."
The young woman squirmed in the dress robe. Of course, she's worn them before...once. But these were different. These were designed to hug all the right areas with a low cut that reached her navel, revealing a muggle belly piercing. Harry was quick to point this out, thankfully, to allow her to remove the jewelry. The front hem ended above her knees yet trailed out of the back in an elaborate train behind her. The robes were silver and contrasted perfectly with her rich skin. Ron clasped the bracelet/portkey around her left wrist. Angelina grimaced at the serpent charm hanging from her wrist.
"How did you learn about this?" Harry asked as he finished tightening the laces on her back.
"Well, you know the shop's at Diagon Alley. Just a stone's throw from Knockturn Alley." Harry shuddered at the memory. "One day as I was walking to the shop, some leech of a witch approached me and asked me if I was interested in a new line of work, if you know what I mean. Oh, but she assured me that I would only be associated with the best clientele. The most pureblood of wizards partake of her services. Of course I told her to kiss off."
"So how'd you get back in touch with her?"
Angelina rolled her eyes as she tied her cloak around her. "She's not hard to miss. Always looking for fresh meat I suppose. Told her that I had seen the error in making just enough money and wanted to start seeing some real Galleons. I insisted on only the best clientele and the first name she dropped was the Malfoys. It was perfect."
"They would go for that sort of thing wouldn't they?" Ron muttered.
"Ugh! I need a drink."
"No you look great!"
"I look like a whore."
"An expensive and downright sexy whore?" Ron added.
"Alright, I gotta go." She took one last look at her hair which she had styled into a french twist, fingered a few of the curls left out and turned to the door with Harry and Ron a few steps behind.
A/N: Yay me! I'm working a plot. Woo-hoo! Okay I'm sensing a major surge in writing so I should be updating soon. Thanx for sticking with me.