Chapter 34 - The Beginnings of Trouble

About an hour before Draco had sent out a patronus to her—although, of course, she would never know that he did—Hermione was still alone and stewing in her own misery in the woods. She hadn't wandered far from camp, so it wasn't dangerous, and yet she had left Ron and especially Harry in a bad way, which made her feel guilty and uncertain. Things couldn't go on this way, she knew. They couldn't fall apart like this while there was still work to be done, and while so far the year had brought nothing but feelings of hopelessness, frustration, and failure, it was too early to give up now. Yes, Voldemort's forces were undoubtedly getting stronger; yes, they were nowhere near finding the next horcrux, as they still had no idea where the cup was outside of being in Bellatrix's possession (and while Harry and Hermione both understood Draco's difficulties in trying to secure this information, Ron was openly cynical about it and used it as a black mark against Draco, which of course prompted a series of arguments in and of themselves); and yes, the three of them were all highly lacking in their own physical comforts after being on the run and camping out in the woods for so long. But still, they couldn't stop now.

They were likely the only hope for the Wizarding World, alone and seemingly without allies as they felt.

Pull yourself together, Hermione Granger, she huffed to herself as she continued moving so as to keep warm in the still-chilly late winter air. You're supposed to be the clever and resourceful one, remember? And just because you've lost some of your nerve and...may be on a one-way path to heartbreak...is no reason to even think about giving up. Get yourself in order and think!

This half-convincing pep talk over with, Hermione started to head back to camp, only to be surprised with Harry coming to meet her halfway. Ron, looking disgruntled as ever, lagged a few steps behind.

"Hermione..." Harry began, clearly unsure what to say next but his face indicating that he was leaning towards an apology. Hermione didn't understand why he thought that he should bother, as this time it was her fault for losing her calm and acting out as she did. It was unlike her and shouldn't have happened, she realized, but what with everything happening to them right now, and Draco...

"Don't, Harry," she cut in, quickly wrapping her arms around him in a friendly hug. "You don't need to say it."

Sighing, Harry wrapped his arms around her in return. "It's just that I can't let it go, Mione," he said. "As every day passes, I'm more and more sure that I'm right on this. I know you don't believe it, but—"

"I think..." —and while Hermione still had her misgivings on this, her earlier guilt convinced her to at least keep an open mind with what she was about to say next— "I think that at least I should hear you out if you're really that certain, Harry." Then, looking past Harry, she met Ron's gaze. "We both should."

Ron gave a terse nod, his face otherwise showing his compliance. All three of them were tired of fighting, of disagreeing. And even if Harry's beliefs might turn out to come to nothing, how was that any different from how their "most likely" guesses had turned out thus far?

"Do you think you could contact Draco and bring him in on this as well?" Harry asked as the trio made their way back to camp.

Here was another tense topic that he didn't often bring up about Hermione, but this time she didn't shrug it off, as things had come to a point where she was intensely worried as well. "I think I should," she murmured, ignoring how Ron stiffened at her words. She was walking between the boys, lightly reaching for each of their hands to feel comfort, and yet not daring quite to touch them. They weren't who she truly wanted at her side right now—but who she wanted wasn't possible. "At the very least, he could bring us a book on some research about it."

"If there even is research on it," Ron muttered, feeling the need to contribute. "Don't forget, you two: we are talking about the source of a children's tale, after all."

Acknowledging the truth of that just by her expression, Hermione said nothing more, instead showcasing her support for Harry by finally reaching for his hand and giving it a light squeeze. With her other hand she reached for Ron's, and so together, the trio headed back inside their tent, with further discussions about the Deathly Hallows ahead.

Although he still hadn't received a response from Hermione by early evening the next day, in the end Draco determined that there must be a good reason for it—a reason that did not mean that she was either hurt or worse. Most likely, she either hadn't received the patronus because she hadn't gotten a minute alone to herself (and please let that be the truth), or, also likely, perhaps she and her friends were still on the run and thus didn't have time to attend to patronesses. Keeping up barriers and also being ready for attack took up a lot of magical energy, after all, and Draco guessed that Hermione was responsible for the majority of their protection, seeing as Harry and Weasley had to share a wand. That had to be the truth he accepted, as it was the only thing that kept him from losing his mind with worry over her.

Not that he didn't anyway, though.

In the morning, he had sent out a response to his mother's previous owl, assuring her that by tonight at the latest, he would be home. He had spent the day packing, using it as an excuse to skip out on the worst of his classes with Amycus and Alecto. Severus had written a note of acceptance to his early departure from school, and also given him the password that would allow him to apparate out of Hogwarts directly rather than walking outside the grounds. It would be the fastest way to leave and right now, that was what Draco wanted. At the very least, between hell and home and hell at school, at home he would have his mother to comfort (and attempt to comfort him), so perhaps that was slightly better. If he could ignore his psychotic aunt and her bloodthirsty minions, that is.

Now, all packed and ready to go, Draco lingered inside the Room of Requirement, waiting until the last minute just in case Hermione did manage to send out a patronus. His fingers twitched against his wand to send her one last message, but if she hadn't gotten the previous two that he had sent, or perhaps did and hadn't answered yet, then one more hour wasn't going to make much of a difference. (And, in retrospect, he would find out that he was right about this.)

So, finally plucking up the will to leave, Draco stepped into the vanishing cabinet and emerged in Borgin and Burkes. From there, he apparated home, taking time to pick up a sleeping potion along the way. Merlin knew he'd need it to fall asleep once he got home—anything to ignore the mad cackles of Bellatrix, really.

And speaking of his aunt, she was also the first to greet him once he came up the walk to Malfoy Manor, its lush greenery now dried up and rotting from all the dark magic that practically suffocated the air one breathed in. The entire manor was shrouded in a state of constant fog and darkness, as though in a perpetual storm. Most of it, Draco knew, didn't extend beyond the manor grounds and certainly not to the surrounding areas that lay unaffected by the contained dark magic. Not that this helped him when he was walking towards the center of it, of course.

"Draco, how lovely to have you back!" cooed Bellatrix in a voice that would set infants crying and cause grown men to shiver in fear. Since Draco had last seen her, she had taken on a yet more crazed look, seeming self-satisfied and especially unhinged. If the Dark Lord was becoming happier and more intent on whatever purposes he had planned, then it only made sense that his aunt would follow in his footsteps.

"I thought it was about time to come home," Draco replied, allowing her to embrace him but barely lifting his arms to return it. He wanted to get as far away from her as the house would allow—although he took care to keep any indication of his off his face. Looking bored, he went slack as she released him and picked up his trunk handle once more. "It's rather useless to be at school nowadays—a repetitive drawl of unnecessary 'educative measures'."

Bellatrix smiled coyly. "Yes, I've been hearing from your teachers how well you're doing. And tedious though it must be, you should be proud, Draco. You're proving to be the Dark Lord's most important young death eater at Hogwarts, truly an inspiration to many others." And here, she sneered. "Besides, someone needs to teach those young mudbloods and halfbloods a lesson, and who better than you?"

Yes, who better than him, when his entire family legacy was based on the torture, persecution, and murder of anyone whom they deemed "inferior"?

"Come inside, Draco. I know Sissy's been looking forward to seeing you for days!" Looking a bit disgusted, Bellatrix cringed. "I can understand—well, I can't, not really—a mother's concern for her son, but honestly, that sister of mine is rather too sentimental for my taste! Ever since Lucius went off on his mission for the Dark Lord, she's been moping about the house like a banshee! Ghastly, I tell you!"

While Draco didn't appreciate how his aunt was referring to his mother in the least, he took care not to show it. As always, his and Narcissa's mutual love for one another had to be hidden beneath the indifference so typical of the Malfoy family. Having been used to it since way back in sixth year, Draco had no trouble with it now. "Has she?" he drawled, as if he couldn't care less. "Good thing no one was around to see it."

Bellatrix huffed. "Apart from me and a few snatchers who are around to do the grunt work, no. But it's still unbecoming Draco." She latched onto his arm like a vampire bat onto its prey. "Now that you're here though, I expect that to change. See if you can't talk her around to what great work you're doing and how important it is. She won't listen to me about it, but maybe you can convince her."

Assuming he even tried, maybe Draco could; but he had no intention of recounting anything about his school life to his mother. Not now.

When Bellatrix finally (and mercifully) left him alone to settle in, Draco quickly organized the contents of his trunk into his room, wasting no time in heading to his mother's parlour to greet her. He found Narcissa lying down on her favourite dark green divan, a book on her lap opened about midway, but likely unread. Her eyes were closed and Draco noticed a few wrinkles across her forehead and around her eyes that hadn't been there before. She looked as wretched as he felt.

"Mother..."

Eyes opening wide, Narcissa sat up and observed her son. Waving a hand to shut the door behind him, her eyes filled with tears as Draco strode forward and took a seat next to her. "Draco," she murmured, her voice raw with emotion. "You're back."

Draco swallowed the lump in his own throat, surprised at himself for how much emotion had come over him so fast. He had steeled himself for this, tried to prepare himself in so many ways for what this reunion would be like after so many things had changed in his life since the last time, but now...

Absently, Draco noticed that there were wards set up around this room that would prevent anyone spying on them or overhearing what they were saying even by chance. If anyone should come close to entering, they would also be alerted. Disheartening as it was to think that such precautions were necessary in his own home, Draco was grateful for them, as it allowed him perhaps the first human moment he had had in a long time.

"It's good to see you again," he admitted in a hushed tone, unable to extend the meaning to say that it was good to be home. By far, his mother was the only thing (apart from Hermione) that he had truly missed about his life outside of Hogwarts.

"You've...come to stay?" she asked, knowing that it was still to early for the Easter holiday.

Draco nodded. "Severus arranged it so that I could."

Narcissa nodded, knowing just as well if not more than Draco did on how much gratitude they owed to his godfather

"Is there anything I should know about, now that I'm here?" Draco continued, prompting a firm acknowledgement of the situation outside of their mutual relief at being together.

Abruptly, Narcissa's expression darkened, her hold on Draco's hands tightening for a moment. "You already know that your father's gone on a mission for the Dark Lord now..."

Draco nodded.

"And the Dark Lord himself seems to have disappeared again to Merlin only knows where..."

Again Draco nodded, suppressing the shiver that came over him at just what that might imply for when he got back.

"Apart from that," Narcissa sighed, "things have gotten busy around here. For one thing, we have more snatchers patrolling the area and your aunt has...interrogated a few 'suspects' that she felt may be of importance."

Draco frowned. "What suspects? Who?"

Narcissa shook her head. "What does it matter? The fact is that she's turned our home into some sort of prison, like Azkaban, and spends far too much time around those prisoners, along with that awful rat Pettigrew who's also decided to build himself a nest here."

Draco wasn't sure what it was that his mother minded most: that her home was being turned into a place of torture and imprisonment, or that it was distasteful people like Peter Pettigrew and Fenrir Greyback who were now running around loose inside it. In any case, because the Dark Lord and Bellatrix both approved them, it wasn't as though Narcissa could do anything about it. However...

"Mother, tell me, so that I know who to expect: just who are these prisoners that we're keeping in our house?" Draco's expression was grim and deathly serious as he stared into his mother's eyes.

Narcissa, not comprehending just why her son wanted to know or why it should matter, answered him regardless: "So far, only two have survived their...questioning, though I can't imagine what either of them know that's of any value. One of them is the wandmaker, Ollivander, whom the Dark Lord himself questioned, and the other is..." She tsked, her brow furrowing as she tried to remember. "Some crazed young girl who may have been one of your classmates at one point. I believe her name is Luna."

Draco's blood ran cold.

Brainstorming together was only bringing mounting frustrations on all of them, Hermione concluded after they had gone several long hours into discussions that ultimately led nowhere. She and Ron had listened to Harry's theory and compared it to what they already knew, trying to fit it into the narrative of which horcruxes already played a part. Some of the things that Harry said made sense, whereas others...

The main problem was that none of what Harry was saying could be backed up by proof outside of his own suppositions. While it was true that he knew Voldemort better than probably anyone else and while it made sense that something as powerful as the Elder Wand would be highly sought by him...that still didn't prove that the hallows themselves were real.

Harry had insisted that his own invisibility cloak was the one in the story, to which Ron had countered that it was a magical item that could have been perhaps just inspired by the story and that there could be dozens of others out there just like it. "Probably made by some old powerful wizard we've never even heard about, like Nicholas Flammel made the Philosopher's Stone," he'd muttered.

Then, when Harry had reminded Hermione about what they'd found in the cemetery at Godric's Hollow, it was her turn to counter that, much like how Mr. Lovegood wore the symbol of the hallows around his neck to demonstrate his beliefs, the Ignotus Peverell whose grave she had seen probably also held some belief of the hallows and decided to have it engraved on his gravestone.

"So much for being open about my idea!" Harry had snapped at both of them, finally getting angry in his own right after being refused by his friends so many times. He was utterly alone in his idea and definitely felt it, but neither Ron nor Hermione were ready to be swayed by something that was far-fetched and circumstantial at best. They just...had too much on the line to be able to consider such an unlikely possibility, and so had to reject it.

Fuming, Harry left the tent, which prompted both Hermione and Ron to follow after him as he wasn't carrying Ron's wand at the moment.

"Harry, wait!" Hermione called, sensing that perhaps this time they had pushed their friend too far. None of them had gotten much sleep the previous night, and so far the day promised to be an especially grim one, with dark clouds overhead promising freezing rain. It wasn't the time for any of them to act rashly on emotion.

"What for?!" Harry snapped back at her, stopping just sort of the edge of the clearing where the wards protecting their camp ending. "Every minute we sit here debating and chasing our tails is another opportunity for Voldemort to get what he wants! Don't you see that it makes the most sense that—"

But just then, stopping all of three of them in their tracks, they heard a loud pop and crash as someone landed abruptly near them. Feeling her wards disappear in almost the exact same moment, it was Hermione who realized what had just happened.

"Harry, it's the taboo on his name! There's snatchers coming—run!"

After his earlier encounter with snatchers the previous year, even Ron didn't hesitate to question Hermione's warning. Together, the trio sprinted away from the clearing and into the dark of the woods, their two wands at the ready and none of them ever looking back.

With a quartet of snatchers now close on their trail though, one of them Fenrir Greyback himself, they didn't stand a chance of escape.

A/N: Dun dun dun! Usually I would apologize for the cliffhangers here, but since I promised/warned you about those earlier, I think they should have been expected—and will be expected for several chapters to come! Still though, I hope that where I've left off has you all excited for more, as we're finally transitioning into the semi-canon interesting parts of the Deathly Hallows timeline!

No additional notes for this chapter for once, so instead I'll just end off with the usual encouragement to follow, favourite, and especially review to show your support for this story! I hope you're enjoying things and will continue to enjoy what's up ahead in the near future! ;)