"Right!" Snape said, suddenly standing resolutely up, "Let the rescue mission commence!"
"Do you really know where Draco is?" Hermione asked dubiously,
"Of course." Izzy answered for him, hands fiddling nervously, clearly itching to break something, "It's always the same place. Always."
"Unless, of course. He's changed it." Severus pointed out obviously, "In which case, Draco won't be there."
"Of course he hasn't!" Izzy snapped, although her voice lacked conviction, "You know what He's like. Never changes anything." She had to forcefully restrain herself from saying- "Duh!"
"Well, we have to think about all the possibilities!" Snape snapped back. They glared at each other malevolently.
"Are we going to do this, or not?" Hermione spoke up quickly, not liking where this was going at all, "Honestly! You can argue like an old married couple after we've got Draco." Severus and Izzy stopped growling at each other instantly and blinked, both thinking- 'I cannot believe she just said that!'
Snape gave a embarrassed sort of cough,
"Shall we…um…go, then?"
"Yes. Lets!" Hermione grabbed each of them by the elbow and propelled them determinedly from the room, "Right, where are we going, then?" He sighed and pulled his arm free,
"Upstairs, fourth door on the left. Come on." And so, Severus lead the way, with the girls following close behind.
Draco awoke with a start as he felt the vibrations on the floor.
Footsteps. Again.
He gave a strangled sob of terror and curled himself up tighter, careful not to put weight on his arm or either of his hands.
Draco was so sure that it was Him, come back to…to…
He shuddered, feeling as if he were going to be sick, just remembering.
"Where are you, Uncle Sev'rus?" he whispered, "Why aren't you helping me?" They were becoming louder now, more defined, making Draco's heart race and his breathing become panicked,
"Please come soon…please rescue me."
xXxXx
"Through here." Severus pushed the door to Draco's room open. Izzy pushed past him and raced into the room, searching wildly around. Hermione followed at a slower pace, taking her time to look around her and take in her surroundings.
Draco's room was almost exactly as she had imagined it: The décor was, for the most part, green and silver with the odd touch of black and blue streaked in various places.
The furniture was clearly old and valuable in various types of wood- a mahogany desk in the far right hand corner, facing a small window, the bed was a large four-poster, oak, right in the centre, dominating the room and the wardrobe, situated against the left hand wall, looked as if it belonged in C.S. Lewis' 'The Lion. the witch and the wardrob
Severus walked across the room and knelt down next to the wardrobe, carefully examining the wall for something.
"Umm…Professor?" Hermione went to stand by him, "what are you doing?" "Shush." He hissed back, moving his long fingers along the wall, "I'm sure it's here somewhere…Ah!" Suddenly, a small hole appeared in the brick, into which Severus triumphantly jammed an equally small key. xXxXx Draco's head shot up as he heard the key turn and he pushed himself as far away from it as was possible/ Not that that would make any difference Nothing ever made any difference. Draco pressed his eyes tight shut, "Help me…" He prayed, "Please-help me." And the door swung open…"Severus, is he in there?" But Snape pressed a finger to his lips,
"Wait there." He ordered, getting down on hands and knees and crawling through the gap that had appeared.
Damning the lack of light to the deepest, darkest depths of hell, he drew his wand and muttered,
"Lumos!" Instantly, the small room lit up, making Severus wince as the bright light attacked his eyes, (It burns! It BUURRNNSS!)
"Draco?" He said quietly, not wanting to scare him, "Are you in here?" But there was no reply. Severus listened closely for any sign that Draco was there, slowly making his way deeper and deeper into the cupboard. Then he heard heavy breathing and let out a sigh of relief, pointing the glowing wand in the direction of the sound.
Draco gave a muffled cry as the bright light stung his eyes and recoiled away from the dark figure, who he was so sure was his father, that was advancing towards him,
'Leave me alone!' He screamed silently, 'Please go away!' But the shadow just kept coming…
"Draco?" Severus knelt down by the trembling ball that was his godson and reached out to touch him gently on the shoulder. Instantly, Draco flinched away from him,
"Please… no…" He moaned softly, his frail body tensing considerably,
"Draco, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. It's Severus." Seeing Draco like this made Snape all the more determined to get him as far away from there as possible, as soon as possible, "I'm going to move you, okay? So that I can take you somewhere safe. Somewhere away from him." He attempted to touch him again but once again, Draco recoiled,
"Don't touch me." He murmured thickly, "You're – you're not Uncle Sev'rus…Stop–stop l-lying to me…"
"I'm not lying to you, Dragon, I'd never do that, I promise. Please trust me." Then Snape brushed a gentle finger against one of Draco's bandaged hands. The little boy shuddered slightly, but this time made no attempt to move away. Instead, with the help of Severus, he slowly, carefully pushed himself into a sitting position.
"I'm sorry." Draco whispered, not daring to look up at Snape, who frowned,
"Why?"
"For – for calling you a-a-a liar. I'm s-sorry…" Severus pulled his godson onto his lap and put his arms around his weak body, cuddling him close,
"Ssh. Ssh. Don't worry Dragon. I'm not cross."
"I-I was so scared," Draco continued, "I thought…I thought…"
"That I was Lucius." Severus finished, feeling a strange sense of deja-vous. Draco gave a small nod and pushed himself closer to his godfather, needing the reassurance that he was safe. Snape hugged him tighter and gently stroked Draco's usually gleaming, platinum hair that was now almost grey with dirt,
"I knew you would come." Draco said suddenly, "I-I know I ought not to have presumed but…I knew you would find me."
"I told you I'd see you soon, didn't I? I'm going to take back to Hogwarts."
"Really? Back to the big school?" Draco breathed, "Will Her-my-oh-nee be there?" Then, suddenly, he deflated, "But I can't go. Papa wouldn't like it. I'm not allowed to go out without permission and if I do it again he'll be angry."
"Do you want to stay here?" Severus asked gently, "Do you want to stay locked up waiting for him to come to you, or do you want to come back to Hogwarts with me where you'll be safe?" Draco hesitated,
"I-I don't know…I want to go back with you but…"
"Then do that! Dumbledore won't make you go home if you don't want to. It'll be fine. I promise."
"I don't know…" Draco said again, still very unsure. Suddenly, Severus held a small potion out to him, Draco frowned and looked up at him, curiously,
"Drink this."
"Why? What is it?"
"Dreamless sleep. Go on. When you wake you'll feel better. I promise." Draco took it slowly and sniffed the contents dubiously. Deeming it un-poisonous, Draco drunk it carefully and settled back comfortably in his godfather's lap.
Within five minutes, Draco was sleeping peacefully, happily sucking his thumb whilst Severus rocked him slowly, still stroking his hair.
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A/N: Lo Lo! Hope you liked this one! Yay! Draco goes to hogwarts in the next chapter, but not everything's great yet! >;-). If you like Ron, please forgive me in the next few chapters.
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