Disclaimer; You know it by heart by now. I don't own it. I am broke and make no money from it.

A/N Sorry for the delay in the update of this story! I have been trying to log on since Thursday evening and it kept saying the server was busy or broken. Go figure! Well here is the update. I hope you all like it as well as I do. Everyone go to my MY SPACE account to see pics of my new baby chihuahua Puka! He is sooo cute! Go to my profile and follow the link. Happy reading and don't forget to review!

Malfoy mausoleum

The cool morning air rushed across Draco's face as he left the battered door between number 11 and number 13 Grimmauld place. He gripped his wand underneath his robes and headed down the street towards the park that was nearby. They had passed it coming home from Diagon alley the other day. Foolishly he had thought Hermione would return his sentiment and they would walk hand in hand into the proverbial sunset. How wrong he was. He reached the park quickly on foot and sat on a bench near the middle. Some mothers with young children were staring in an unfriendly manner at him. He stopped to consider just how foolish he must look sitting there in the summer sun in full black robes. He had no idea where to go, but he knew he had to make a decision quickly before anyone spotted him.

Back at number 12 Hermione was sobbing up in her room. She looked to where Draco slept and felt even worse. She had no idea what made her treat him the way she did. She was so frightened of being hurt that she had rejected what was right in front of her. Just then Harry came bolting into the room.

"Malfoy's gone!" he shouted out of breath.

"He's in the sitting room." she sighed.
"No, he just walked out the front door! The sensor went off. By the time I got there I couldn't see where he went. We have got to find him and quickly!" he said setting off down the stairs. Hermione sat there stunned for a moment before following Harry as fast as her legs would carry her. When she got to the bottom the rest of the household were standing there glaring in an unfriendly manner. She sighed guiltily and headed out to the sitting room. He was no longer there and the reality of the situation set in. He was out there, alone and in grave danger if a death eater spotted him.

"Well what are you all waiting for? Let's go!" she said but no one moved.

"We can't all go charging out the front door in broad daylight." Remus said. "Someone will notice."

"Who cares?" she said panicking. "We need to find him!"

"He was your responsibility Hermione. I will go with you but if we can't find him soon we will have to return here and pray he doesn't fall into the wrong hands. He knows too much." Harry said. Hermione headed for the door and ran outside onto the lawn waiting impatiently for Harry. He followed a moment later and the door shut and disappeared behind them.

"Where do we start?" she said in a shaky voice.

"I have no clue 'Mione. What happened that he decided to leave?"

"Uh…I don't know. I didn't think he would be this foolish." she said.

"What did he say to you? Or you to him?" Harry pried.

"Let's not get into that okay Harry?" she asked as she scanned the streets for a flash of platinum blond hair.

"I told you to be careful Hermione!" Harry yelled. "I told you not to get involved! But did you listen? NO! Hermione knows everything!"

He continued to rant and scold her as they walked briskly down the street towards the park. Hermione hung her head low. She knew it was her fault Draco had left. All she had to say to him was that she loved him. And she couldn't do it. It would have put her heart on the line and she knew she was the one to play it safe.

"Now what happened 'Mione? And I want the truth." Harry's emerald eyes blazed at her as they reached the park.

"The truth? I don't even know what that is right now!" she blurted back. "I just need to find him and talk this out."

"I want an explanation. I will wait until we get back to my house but I expect an answer." he said sternly. Hermione nodded knowing full well not to argue with Harry when he was about to lose it. His temper was no where near as volatile as Ron's but it was still pretty bad when he was really angry.

Draco waited until no one was around him and then concentrated really hard on the one place he thought he would be safe. With a pop he disappeared and reappeared in a lush garden surrounded by a high hedge. He looked around to make sure no one was around and then he made a dash for the gate on the opposite end of the garden. The dewy grass crunched under his feet as he ran and a mist still hung heavy in the morning air. He reached the gate and found it to be locked. He pulled the wand from his robes and whispered;

"Alohamora."

He heard a tiny click and swiftly removed the ancient rusted lock. The iron gates swung open with a creak and he entered the dark building. A pungent smell hit his nose the moment he walked into the darkness. It was damp and mossy inside. Heavy iron torches hung unlit on the brick walls on either side of the narrow passage. He lit his wand with a silent 'Lumos' and walked carefully towards the opening at the end of the passage. Water dripped from in between the bricks of the building hitting him randomly in the head as he walked. After a moment or so the narrow walkway opened into a large cavernous room. Bronze plates marked areas on the wall from the floor to the ceiling. The room was a large circle with small stone seats near the middle. Draco held his wand high and close to the bronze markers searching for a name. Halfway around the room he found what he was looking for.

Narcissa Black Malfoy

1959-1997

Beloved wife and mother

Draco wondered for a moment who had placed the white roses in a vase next to his mother's name. He supposed the house elves were under orders to do so. He leaned against the cold stone and slid down the wall tears silently falling from his eyes.

"Mum…I miss you so much." he said to her vault. "I thought…I thought I had found someone who loved me nearly as much as you did. But I guess I was wrong." he said.

"I'm sorry I have not been here to visit you…" he sniffed "I was hiding out like a coward. But I wanted to have a chance at avenging your death. I wanted Snape to pay for betraying you. Then something happened that changed me. Someone I went to Hogwarts with found me, nursed me back to health, gave me a chance to help destroy Voldemort. I thought she cared for me, I was beginning to fall for her but I should have known that she could never forgive all of my previous behaviors. I was cruel to her in school. Called her terrible names to cover up for the way I felt about myself and Lucius. I have to go into hiding again mum, but just know I think of you nearly all the time. I love you." Draco stood up wiping his eyes on the sleeves of his robes. He sighed heavily knowing it may be the last time he visited this mausoleum until he was buried there himself. He started back towards the narrow hallway when he heard a voice call out for him.

"Ah, Draco. Your Aunt Bella has been looking forward to seeing you." A tall dark haired woman stepped into the dim light of Draco's wand. Her wand was pointed at him.

"I wish I could say the same." Draco murmured.

By the time Hermione and Harry reached the park square Draco had long gone.

"Shit." Hermione swore aloud taking Harry by surprise.

"He's not anywhere around here. Where else would he go?" he asked her. She shrugged.

"I don't know." she replied miserably.

"Do you think he apperated?" Harry asked.

"I DON"T KNOW!" she shouted in frustration. "It's all my fault. He left because of me and now he's going to be killed." fat tears were running from her face now. Harry tried to put his arm around her shoulder but she shook him off.

"Just leave me be. I will find him. Go home." she said near sobbing.

"No, I will help you find him. Now we just need to look for a magical trace. A sign he apperated."

"I have no idea how to do that." she said. "I don't know how to do anything."

"Just wait here a second." Harry said pushing her into the nearest bench. He looked around to make sure no muggles were in sight before waiving his wand and muttering something. Hermione looked and saw a faint white glow coming from the bench where she was sitting.

"Is it…is it what I think it is?" she asked.

"He apperated. But to where?" Harry said thinking deeply.

"I don't know. He wouldn't go back to the manor would he?" she asked.

"It's possible. Where else would there be?"

"He has no one to run to. No one." she said thinking hard. "His mother was the only one he trusted and she's dead."

"Was his mother buried?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. I guess so." she said.

"Do you think he would go visit her gravesite?" Harry asked.

"It's possible. But where is that?" Hermione said with some hope in her voice.

"I don't know. Does his family have a sepulcher at the manor?"

"Most old wizarding families do." she said standing up.

"I suppose it's worth a look. But if he's not there don't panic. Maybe he just needed a walk or something to clear his head. We can't spend too much time looking for him, especially when we are this close to going to Godric's hollow."

Hermione nodded and grabbed a hold of Harry's arm. They both pictured the manor as they did in previous trips and soon the familiar feeling of apperation filled their bodies.

"So, my precious nephew…where have you been?" she asked, wand aloft circling him like a hunter stalking prey.

"I've been around, I'm surprised you were so worried about me." he said sarcastically.

"Oh, we all have been very worried." she hissed. "After all you are the last of your bloodline. The family lineage needs to be looked after."

"Don't worry Aunt Bella, I have been spreading my seed to every muggle-born I could find." he smirked.

"You filthy mudblood lover!" she spat. "How dare you besmirch the family name with filthy muggle blood?"

Draco knew he needed to bide time so he could get out of there alive. Infuriating his aunt was just a bonus as far as he was concerned.

"I may have a few half-bloods floating around out there right now." he countered. He could tell his aunt's normally pale face was flushed with anger.

"If your father knew…" she started to say but Draco interrupted.

"You mean Lucius? He's no father of mine. And I can only assume that my mother and my aunt Andromeda had a different father from you. After all they were sane and clearly you are not."

"Your father is a great man and a loyal servant of the Dark Lord. Your mother ruined his reputation by coming to Snape for help. She should have been proud to let you serve the Dark lord and if you died in the process you would have been forever exalted in the eyes of him and his followers." she said holding her head high.

"Thank Merlin you never had children. You have no idea what love even is. Voldemort does not love you. You are nothing to him." he said.

"You dare speak his name when you and your mother betrayed him as you did?" she spat.

"I do not fear him any longer. I am not the sixteen year old child being brought to him to hear my mission. A mission he knew I could not possibly complete. So yes, I will speak his name because fear of a name gives credence to the name itself." he said proudly.

"Crucio!" Bellatrix called out wand pointed at Draco.

A thousand needles pierced his body sending him instantly to the floor. His head hit the cold stone floor making his vision blur. But the pain from the curse was a million times worse. Every muscle in his body throbbed.

"Had enough my precious nephew? You were your mother's pride and joy, now look at you…sprawled out on the floor like common trash." she laughed a horrible high pitched laugh.

"Fuck you." he managed before she struck him with the Cruciatus curse again. The pain surged through his body paralyzing him for a moment.

"Enough now?" she cackled.

"Fuck you! Get out of my mother's crypt. You didn't love her. Why are you even here?" he gasped.

"Oh, but Drakey…I was here waiting for you. The Dark lord knew you wouldn't stay away forever. That's why I put that intruder charm on the gates to the vault. Oh how the dark lord will thank me." she smiled in a slightly sickening way. Draco managed to scramble to his feet and re-point his wand at his aunt.

"I am going to end this now!" she shouted. "Avada…"

But just then a flash of red light and a female voice shouting;

"Stupefy!" filled the catacombs. The jet of light hit Bellatrix directly in the chest and she crumpled to the floor in a heap.

A light from behind the caster of this spell brightened as they approached. Draco could just make out a mop of untidy hair.

"Draco!" the female voice yelled and he knew it instantly.

"Granger?" he said.

"Of course…who else would be here saving you?" she asked holding out her hand for him.

"I don't know." he muttered slightly embarrassed.

"Hey mate." Harry said as he silently bound Bellatrix up with invisible ropes. "You didn't have to run off without a proper good-bye." Draco half-smiled.

"Sorry about that, needed a moment to think." he said looking at Hermione.

"Oh, it was all my fault. I'm so sorry I acted the way I did. I was confused and didn't think about what I was saying and how it would make you feel. I know how I feel and I love you. I want to be with you. Say you will forgive me?" she asked holding his hands in her own. Harry looked only mildly surprised at the news.

"I'll forgive you. But you were right. I did read your letter from Viktor and I got jealous. I should have let your private business alone."

"Oh you!" she said kissing him squarely on the lips. Harry made a slight coughing sound to bring them back to reality.

"Best friend standing here Hermione." he said joking.

"Sorry Harry." she said releasing her lips from Draco's.

"Now let's get this hag back to the ministry." Harry said "Wingardium Leviosa" he shouted pointing his wand at the bound and unconscious Bellatrix. Within minutes the ministry had back one of their most wanted fugitives.