Chapter 40

It was Harry's birthday, so he, along with Draco and Hermione had been given the afternoon off from training and tutoring. Hermione was stretched out on a towel on the soft and pristine sand of the beach in front of the house where they were living for the summer, Holly coiled up beside her, basking in the sun.

Holly, who had arrived in the United States tucked carefully inside Harry's carry-on luggage, wrapped in his invisibility cloak. Their other familiars had been forced to stay home. Hermione missed Crookshanks, so Holly was a comfort.

They were both watching Draco and Harry on their brooms. She couldn't actually understand Holly's hissing- which was something that was more than a little annoying to her. Why wasn't parseltongue something that you could learn? She really would have liked to be able to properly communicate with the reptile.

Despite that obstacle, she could still tell that Holly felt similarly to her; both amused by the boys' antics and a little frightened for their safety. According to Harry, Holly had taken great pride in making Draco comfortable with snakes and had adopted him as one of her brood- because she considered them all as belonging to her.

The boys were chasing the professional training snitch Hermione had bought for Draco for his birthday last month. It was a purchase Hermione was quickly becoming to regret. Because they were maniacs and she would have liked to have some peace of mind.

If Draco and Harry's respective quidditch captains could see them training together, they'd probably have coronaries. Then again, the brutal way they were pushing each other and the amount of smack talk being bandied back and forth between them probably indicated that their new friendship would actually heighten their rivalry rather than diminish it. Hermione suppressed a sigh at the thought.

And, as if on cue to test her nerves, Harry suddenly whizzed by Draco at such close range that Hermione was certain they'd both be knocked off their brooms, but they only laughed uproariously as they barely missed each other. Hermione didn't bother to suppress her groan. Boys were so weird. But she didn't regret being here with them for a moment. She closed her eyes and thought over the past month.

One week to the day after Voldemort's resurrection she, Draco, Harry, and Sirius had boarded a plane to America. Everyone had easily agreed that it was safest for them all, but especially Harry, to travel by muggle means. Since becoming acquainted with the Malfoys, Hermione had learned how much money really did talk and they were departing the country faster that she ever could have imagined.

Passports had quickly been arranged for Harry and Sirius through Gringotts (Draco already had one from the previous summer when he'd traveled to France with the Grangers). A house had been purchased on a remote island off the coast of the state of Georgia, it had been warded, and a cadre of tutors had been employed for the three teenagers. And their summer plans were set.

It was with great excitement that the four said their farewells to the Malfoy and Granger parents and headed for Heathrow. Somewhat ironically, amongst the three wizards, Draco had the most experience with muggle international travel. But none of them had ever been on an aeroplane, or even inside an airport, which was something they had all failed to consider while making their plans.

For Hermione it was like traveling with three toddlers, which was rather charming, at first. It was nice to see them marvel over everything. However, cute quickly turned into hair pulling frustration. Because three toddlers would have been easier to manage; she would at least have had a size advantage on small children, and a chance at wrangling them. She'd never had any chance with the three full grown toddlers who accompanied her and had no intention of being corralled. And to make it worse, they played off of each other.

They pointed at everything, and what they weren't content to just point at they touched, and when that wasn't enough they poked. Unfortunately for Hermione, in Draco's case, the poking included her arm, over and over and over; whenever he saw something he wanted her to look at, which was often. Before they'd even gotten on the plane she'd snapped at him that if he didn't stop, she was going to break his finger. Harry had laughed over that remark for five minutes straight.

And because the combined fortunes of the three men in the group could probably have purchased several small countries, they flew first class. Which should have been a treat for Hermione, except it made the flight attendants considerably less likely to scold her companions for their (loud) enthusiasm. Sirius eventually calmed down, but Harry and Draco did not.

Harry and Sirius were seated in the row in front of her and Draco, and Harry kept turning around in his seat and popping his head over the headrest to tell them something. Draco kept fidgeting, and they both chattered incessantly. It was honestly very unlike them both, so Hermione wasn't prepared to handle it, and she eventually gave up. Somewhere over the Atlantic, utterly fed up, she forced Harry to trade seats with her. She'd fallen into the place next to Sirius, placed her head on his shoulder, and ignored the way he was shaking with laughter.

They landed in Atlanta several hours later with Hermione's sanity considerably more intact, and then transferred to a much smaller plane for a short journey south. When they arrived in Savannah, Hermione was relieved to discover that they had hired not only a car, but a driver for the two hour journey to their house. She knew that Sirius knew how to drive, in theory, but he hadn't done so in more than a decade and she had been more than a little worried that he might forget which side of the road he was supposed to be on. And she was too tired to stay awake and keep watch.

She fell in love with the house the moment she laid eyes on it; three storeys with wide wrap around porches surrounding each one and right on the beach, it was beautiful. They quickly fell into a routine, Sirius had actually drawn up a schedule for them. They had lessons not just in defense but charms and transfiguration.

Draco had always been a good student, but Harry buckled down even more than he had for his tournament training. It had been a lot of work but Sirius and their parents had been very careful that they had time off, so it had also been a lot of fun. They had also- inadvertently- drafted Harry into their muggle studies. He'd had a myriad of questions when he'd discovered Draco reading a muggle biology text and when they'd informed him that they were both trying to remain on pace with kids their age in the muggle world, he'd been intrigued. And then he'd seemed to take it as a challenge.

Hermione was drifting in that lovely place between sleep and wakefulness and she didn't notice when the boys went silent, nor that they'd landed on the beach a few feet away from her until she felt a shadow fall upon her, blocking her sun. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked at the two figures looming over her.

Both wearing only swim trunks, their broomsticks in hand, they also had grave expressions on their faces. And that's when she noticed that in addition to his Nimbus 2001, Draco was holding the Comet 420 which Lucius had purchased for her to learn to fly on at the same time he'd bought the Slytherin team brooms. She'd avoided using it at all costs- she just couldn't trust brooms, perhaps it was illogical but it was how she felt- and was usually successful distracting both Draco and Lucius from trying to instruct her on riding a broom by asking for Abraxan riding lessons instead.

Unfortunately, her sweet foal Selene, and all the rest of the Abraxans were at Malfoy Manor and apparently Draco and Harry had decided it was time for her to learn.

"No," she said firmly.

"Come on," Harry cajoled.

"Doesn't it drive you crazy that there's something you can't do?" Draco added.

She glared at their stubborn expressions. "I've decided I liked it better when the two of you hated each other."

They both laughed.

"You did not," insisted Harry with a roll of his eyes. "Merlin, the sneaking around must have been exhausting."

"It was. Which is why I deserve a little relaxation. You boys just go back to your game, I was soaking up some sun," she settled back on her towel and endeavored to pretend that they weren't there.

"Nice try," Draco snorted.

"Actually, I thought it was kind of pathetic," Harry responded.

Hermione's eyes popped open without her permission and she gaped at them. Were they ganging up on her?

She went with another route. "The pair of you know how I hate brooms," she pleaded, feeling a little pathetic.

They looked at each other and fell to the sand. Draco pulled her into his lap, placing a kiss against her neck. Harry had finally stopped looking away at these easy, affectionate gestures and simply rolled his eyes.

"Mia, it's irresponsible of you not to learn to become at least comfortable enough on a broom to be able to use one in an emergency," Draco said.

"Excuse me?"

"We're too young to apparate," Draco reminded her, stroking her waist, "we might not always have a portkey or floo on hand, and it's much easier to ward against those things than it is against brooms anyway. You should at least become proficient on a broom, not just for your own safety, but for all of our peace of mind."

She would have believed she was being played, and she still thought she was- at least a little- but then she looked up to see the expressions of genuine concern on both of their faces. And she relented. Draco's point was not without merit, she couldn't explain exactly why she'd dug her heels in so completely over the broom issue.

"Okay," she answered quietly. "But I'm not going up by myself at first. I want to be taught properly. Nobody learns to drive before they've ever even been in a car," she groused.

"Huh," Harry grunted.

"What?"

"That's actually a really good point."

"Oh, thank you so much for admitting that," she said with a dramatic roll of her eyes.

"Hermione," Harry answered gently. "I've never blamed you for not liking to fly. I even kind of get it, it doesn't come naturally to you. I've just always found it frustrating that it's the one thing you've sort of conceded. You wouldn't give up on anything else like this."

She narrowed her eyes in his direction and scrambled off of Draco's lap, feeling like she'd just been played, but she couldn't ignore the challenge. "Okay, who's going to teach me?"

They exchanged a glance.

"I just assumed Malfoy would be the one," Harry admitted.

"Do you not want me to?" Draco asked her.

"It's not that."

"Tell us what it is then, Mia."

She shrugged. "The two of you have different styles of flying."

"Really?" Draco smirked. "I'm pretty sure I've heard you describe us both as 'irresponsible maniacs' or something of the sort."

"Oh, you're both that. I just meant that you're all about technique, because that's how you were taught. Harry relies more on his instincts. You and Lucius have both attempted to teach me in the past, and I just wondered if Harry's method might work better for me, as I tend to overthink things in general." She shrugged. "No offense," she added in a small voice.

His expression was inscrutable for a moment, and then it softened. "I'm not offended. That's a smart thought, and a good idea." He looked at Harry who had a proud little smile on his face.

"You trust me?" He looked back and forth between them.

Draco just shrugged. "To keep me safe, absolutely," Hermione answered without question, "not to scare the life out of me? Not so much. But I'd really appreciate it if you could resist the urge."

He walked over and took the Comet from Draco. "You should learn on this, I don't think you'll have any interest in borrowing my Firebolt in the near future."

"That sounds good," she agreed quietly.

She mounted the broom in front of Harry, as instructed, and then they rose up into the air, Draco keeping pace beside them. Harry had placed her hands on the broom and then covered hers with his. He didn't speak, he just let her feel how he guided and steered the broom. After awhile he began to quietly tell her what he planned to do before he did it, and soon enough she began to react to him, until, without her fully realizing it, they were steering the broom together.

After a while his hands were only hovering above hers. "I think that's enough for today," he finally told her quietly and helped her land on the beach.

Only when her feet were firmly back on the sand did she realize what she'd just accomplished. She looked back and forth between Harry, and Draco who had been beside them the whole time and had just landed as well, squealed and hauled them both to her, one arm around each of their necks. Harry patted her awkwardly and she promptly let him go and turned to kiss Draco soundly. She knew him well enough to understand what a concession to his pride it had been to allow Harry to be the one to help her.

It was only when she heard applause that she realized they'd been joined on the beach by Sirius, as well as her parents and Narcissa who were all visiting for a couple of weeks. Apparently, they'd spotted what was going on and had come out to investigate.

Hermione scurried over to her abandoned towel and beach bag, ruffling inside until she found her wand as Holly watched her with obvious interest. "What do you think girl, can I manage it?" She murmured.

Ever since Harry's performance during the first task both Hermione and Draco had been anxious to learn the patronus charm for themselves. It was a theoretically impractical spell, rarely useful and magically exhausting. But their experiences with Dementors as well as just being in the presence of Harry's patronus convinced both Draco and Hermione that it was something they wanted to learn; being able to conjure that kind of positive force could only be a good thing.

Much to Hermione's annoyance Draco picked it up quickly. Though his breathtakingly beautiful abraxan patronus left her unable to be truly cross that he'd managed the piece of magic before she had. Being in the presence of Draco's patronus was utter bliss for her, she could only assume that their connection increased the effect that his particular version of the charm had on her.

But Hermione had been most frustrated that she'd had so little success with the charm. She rarely achieved more than a mist and the effort had nearly exhausted her; she'd been forbidden from trying it for several weeks lest she be unable to perform in her lessons due to magical exhaustion.

She concentrated on the sight of so many of the people she loved most gathered on the beach. On Harry who had just been so patient with her. And mostly on Draco, who was beaming at her with pride, no hint of resentment that she'd essentially just chosen Harry over him; on the way he loved her, and she felt safe in his arms. She strode up to him and pressed her back against Draco's chest, drawing strength from his touch.

"Expecto Patronum."

There was laughing and crying; Hermione experienced some messy combination of both as a silver abraxan, Selene's twin in patronus form, galloped down the beach.

"Well," Sirius broke the silence, "I guess if there were any doubts about what they are to each other… It's too bad, Kitten could have had her pick of wizards..." he cackled.

And with that Narcissa shot a stinging hex at his bum that had him trotting down the beach and into the waves. Hermione turned and met Draco's eyes and he enveloped her into his arms without another word.

"Love you."

"I love you too."

0000000000

Narcissa was anxious, but also sad to return home after two lovely weeks with the children in America. She'd enjoyed the trip. Even the traveling had been surprisingly comfortable; muggle transportation was a marvel. Portkeys could be so disorienting and taking one across the Atlantic- which was about the limit of their safe travel distance without dividing the journey- would have probably left her queasy for a full day afterwards. And Richard and Helen had explained to her that there were private- and much more luxurious- versions of the so-called aeroplanes. She would have to look into that.

She was, however, inexpressibly happy to be reunited with her husband. They had rarely been parted for so long over the duration of their marriage and she had assumed that he would feel the same way. That he would have been missing her and that upon her return that they would spend an enjoyable evening at home. His terse greeting of a kiss to her cheek and a crisp: "I need to show you something," was a disappointment, but she trusted him enough to know that whatever he wanted must be important.

When they entered his study she spotted a large map of Britain spread across his desk.

"Lucius, what is this?"

"I figured it out. While you were gone, I figured out a way to track down the others," he gestured vaguely to the Dark Lord's journal they'd thus far been keeping at Cliff House, but which now appeared to be contained within some kind of shield, as she felt none of the usual side-effects from its presence. "At least I thought I had." He slumped and tugged at his hair.

Narcissa sucked in a breath; Lucius hadn't betrayed his nerves so clearly since she'd been in labor with Draco. She wasn't sure if she was more annoyed or concerned by this particular reaction.

"Lucius, you were never supposed to work with this alone, it's dangerous!"

"I-" he took a deep breath, "could you perhaps berate me later? Look at this," he gestured back to his desk.

She glanced at the map, it appeared to be a complete map of Britain which was, at the moment, focused and magnified on London.

"What's that?" She asked, gesturing towards a red dot. She rounded the desk, attempting to follow the dot's path as it zoomed around like it was lost and frantic to find what it was looking for.

"The result of my location spell. It's meant to seek the soul piece closest to that which we have at hand," he gestured to the diary then he handed her several sheaves of parchment. "Perhaps you could tell me where I went wrong, I was certain my calculations were sound or I never would have attempted it, but it appears I erred."

She took the parchment he'd shoved into her hands, aware of the gravity of her husband's confession given his usual reticence to admit when he was wrong, but she was mostly mesmerised by the racing dot on the map.

There was something there.

"You said it would seek the closest soul piece?" Narcissa clarified.

"Yes, but it's obviously malfunctioned," he practically growled, his frustration obvious.

"I don't think so," she countered.

"It's dancing around the map Cissa. I didn't expect an exact location, but it's rounding an entire cluster of blocks."

"Yes, but one of these streets- one on which it seems to be lingering- I recognize the name: Grimmauld Place. My Aunt Walburga and Uncle Orion used to live there. But I can't remember the exact address."

Lucius fell into his desk chair and raked a hand over his face. "It's in the house Black donated to the Order for their headquarters, the one he grew up in, isn't it?"

"Yes," Narcissa answered, her mouth opening and closing in surprise. "Of course, that makes perfect sense, we have to get it out of there, Lucius, who knows what it will do to those people! Or in what irresponsible way they might attempt to dispose of it!"

"But the house is under the Fidelius so you can't remember the exact address," he sighed, and she saw the realization of what he'd been missing flash across his face, "nor can a location charm find it, the vicinity yes, but not the exact location. Sirius basically told us as much before he left, but he was obviously limited in what he could disclose. But do they actually think they are safe there? I can't be the only one who knew of Orion Black's residence when he died. I didn't recognize it immediately, but I would have figured it out eventually."

"Well don't encourage that kind of talk, Lucius."

"Of course I wouldn't," he rolled his eyes, "but the Fidelius charm is fallible. They must know that, Potter's parents are proof. And surely they could find a better location than the childhood home of their wealthiest member who also just so happens to be the member of a dark family, but is also potentially the most infamous blood traitor of all time- the Dark Lord may not be able to find its exact location, but I imagine he will eventually send people to stake out the area to see if there's any activity. I very well be one of them!"

"I don't know," she sighed, unable to fault his logic. "I'm uncertain if any other Order members have Sirius' resources and are in a position to offer an alternative location, but I'm fairly certain that they aren't. Regardless, Sirius is going to have to come home for a few days, he's not going to be happy about it. But he can deal with it for this. Maybe, while he's locating the- thing- he can also find a way to convince them to move elsewhere."

Lucius snorted. "Well said."

"However, if Sirius just shows up and demands to search the house he'll have to explain himself to Dumbledore, there's no way he will be missed poking around there. He needs an excuse."

"He should be able to do as he likes in his own house," Lucius scoffed.

"Of course he should, but he's given the use of this particular house over to the Order and it will look suspicious if he suddenly tries to take it back, or just demands to search it out of nowhere."

Lucius was quiet for a moment before he snorted in reluctant agreement.

"Do you think we should tell Dumbledore what we seek?" Narcissa eventually asked.

"I think that I trust Dumbledore as far as I could throw him without magic. I don't know that we haven't made a mistake in regards to bringing him into our confidence at all."

"What else were we to do?"

"I don't know. But he's already proven unwilling to take my counsel. He's made an enemy of Fudge, not just an adversary but an outright enemy. Sirius might be able to talk to him- Dumbledore is one thing, Lord Black is another- but I'm almost certain he's determined to bury his head in the sand. He genuinely doesn't want to believe the Dark Lord is back, which is why I advised Dumbledore to work around him instead of insisting he announce the Dark Lord's return!"

"I know," she soothed, stepping between his legs and stroking the pads of her thumbs across his cheeks. She shared his frustration. It seemed that Dumbledore took none but his own counsel, so it was hard to bring him into their confidence until they felt that he had no choice but to follow their lead.

Lucius had warned Albus on more than one occasion that it was a bad idea to alert the public of the Dark Lord's return. He may have been Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwamp but he had no proof, and no matter the tragedy of the Longbottom boy's death- which had never been confirmed, as his body had yet to be found- most people simply didn't want to believe that the Dark Lord had returned. And it was strategy that they needed to win the war, not sentimentality.

Albus had his followers, but most people wanted to believe the Ministry. And it was so much more difficult to recruit people to your cause when they thought you were out of your mind. Perhaps that was why the Order had always been so small, or perhaps people had just been complacent, content with the state of things unless they were personally threatened.

Dumbledore had only made things worse by running to the press with the news of the Dark Lord's resurrection when Fudge had been unwilling to deal with him. At his age, with his political experience, Narcissa couldn't understand how he didn't see that.

Lucius and Narcissa stood in silence for a few moments, his hands cupping her hips, forehead resting against her abdomen.

"There's something unnatural about his relationship with that snake as well," Lucius added eventually. "It's become blatantly obvious since you've been gone, I can't continue to pretend it isn't true, as disturbing as the ramifications might be."

"You think the snake is one?"

"I think that would be imminently foolish to make her into one. And in some ways it doesn't matter. I just know that she's dangerous and must be taken care of."

"Add it to the list, then," she sighed.

He met her eyes and let out a throaty chuckle. "Welcome home, love."