Chapter 35 - Reunions and Captures

Although Draco said nothing to his mother about what she had revealed, inwardly his mind was hard at work, his chest buzzing with emotion over what he had just discovered. If there was any way to safely get word to Hermione and Harry, he might have considered that—although, perhaps it was best that he didn't, as Luna Lovegood was their friend and it wasn't as if they could help her anyway. Still though, it was shocking. Until now, Draco hadn't even noticed that she'd gone missing—not that he would have noticed, as he purposely distanced himself from everyone and especially Harry's old friends just so that he wouldn't have to "discipline" them for defying the new order of things at Hogwarts—and even if he had, he would never have reasoned that she was important enough to hold prisoner. What did his aunt, or, for that matter, the Dark Lord, even want with Luna?

All that being said though, he couldn't ignore the fact that she was now being kept prisoner in his own house while he stood by and did nothing. Releasing her by himself was out of the question, of course, but perhaps at the very least he could try to help her escape somehow, make it look like she had figured it out on her own.

She'll probably need a wand first thing, Draco thought, reasoning that Luna's would have been confiscated first thing.

As for the first thing he had to do, that would be to pay a visit to the basement and find out just why Luna and Ollivander had been imprisoned in the first place. Gaining access was no problem as, after all, this was his own house and only Pettigrew stood guard at the entrance. The rat-like, one-handed wizard wasn't ready to concede what small amount of authority he had even to the young Malfoy himself.

"And just why do you want to go in anyway, Draco?" he sneered, not exactly suspicious, but looking almost hungry for an answer. Draco guessed that he didn't get out much or talked to many people recently.

Crossing his arms, Draco stared him down. "Why would I have to justify myself to you, Wormtail?" he asked, trying for the nickname that the Dark Lord himself always called Pettigrew. "Now stand aside."

Pettigrew's nose twitched uneasily. "I have orders not to let anyone in or out without the Dark Lord's permission—or Bellatrix's, for that matter."

"Do you want to go and check with her? While you're doing that, either she or I can take our time getting...creative for how to punish your impertinence. Your choice is to either obey now or later with a few extra scars—your choice, Wormtail."

It wasn't until quite this moment that Draco had ever felt himself a master of intimidation. Scaring his fellow students was one thing, as they were all children for the most part; but for him to have a scary impact on a full grown wizard, even if it was Pettigrew, was something entirely different. With a nervous gulp, the fat oaf finally stepped aside and unlocked the new barred door. Brushing past him, Draco slammed it in his face so that he wouldn't be witness to anything going on inside. Just his luck though, there was a sliding frame about eye-level, which Pettigrew now opened to peek inside.

"Go upstairs for a while, Wormtail," Draco said, taking out his wand and twirling it between his fingers with confidence. Shooting Pettigrew a glare that wasn't entirely faked, he let him know without using words just what he might do with his wand if Pettigrew didn't obey. Now, the former Marauder had no idea what the young Malfoy could actually do by way of spells, as he had never witnessed Draco in action firsthand, but Pettigrew was a coward through and through and didn't want to take the chance on finding out. Hastily, he slid the panel back and bolted upstairs.

Leaving Draco alone with the two prisoners, whom he now faced.

Ollivander was lying asleep on one of the makeshift cots that had been transported downstairs, but Luna was wide awake and wary. The light was dim in the gloomy basement of Malfoy Manor, but she recognized the voice of who had spoken well enough and was instantly on her guard.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice as wisp-like and airy as always.

"Lumos," Draco muttered, bringing better light by which to see her. And as for what he did see...well, Luna was largely unchanged from how he remembered seeing her before, except perhaps that she was a bit thinner and far, far dirtier. No doubt the accommodations in his basement weren't exactly...fitting to things like personal hygiene, but Draco had gotten used to the stench of burning flesh and so the smell of sweat and unwashed bodies no longer bothered him. What did bother him was seeing how hopeless Luna looked, though the half-crazy "not quite all there" look in her eyes was still the same as ever.

No wonder she hasn't gone crazy down here, Draco thought ironically. Not like she's got much of a mind to lose in the first place. For, much as he no longer harboured any ill feeling toward either Hermione or Harry for that matter, he had no reason to be friendly with anyone else from their group. Especially not Weasley, but he was a "special" case. Luna was just somewhere inbetween, but it wasn't quite as bad to think of her as "Loony Lovegood" when everyone sort of did anyway—being Harry's friend hadn't much changed other people's perceptions about her, though it had stopped most of the bullying.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Luna repeated, no more than whispering even while she looked at him half-curiously and half-angrily. Clearly, she wasn't a bigger fan of him than Weasley had first been—and still likely was, actually.

Seeing that he'd have to be careful here, both to get her to trust him and let not give anyone else reason to doubt him, Draco steeled himself for the next round of questions that he had. Since he now had a stake in their side winning this war and all of Harry's allies counting him among them from now on, it was more nerve-wracking than ever.

"For starters, Lovegood, why on earth are you here?" Draco looked past her towards Ollivander's sleeping form. "Him I could guess, but you?" He shook his head. "What use would the Dark Lord have from you?"

Luna frowned, crossing her arms and managing to look insulted even though the last thing she should want was to be useful to Voldemort. "I was kidnapped on the train back to Hogwarts," she said. O...kay, so that didn't exactly answer Draco's question, but—

"I was told later on that they took me in retaliation for what my father's been printing in The Quibbler. About Harry Potter."

Draco still didn't see why that should merit her as important enough to keep at Malfoy Manor. If it was just stories and propaganda in a magazine that no one took seriously anyway, then why should the Dark Lord care? True, it defied him and showed that the Lovegoods didn't support him at all, but still...

"I think it must be more than that though, don't you?" Luna continued, looking away and almost speaking to herself by this point. "Otherwise, why wouldn't I have been sent to Azkaban with the others by now? I'm sure that's where they're sending most of the wizards they arrest."

That was true enough, Draco silently acknowledged, and the Dark Lord wouldn't hesitate to send even students there once they were arrested. So, again, why keep Luna around?

"You must have something that he wants, Lovegood. Something important that no one else could get." Even as he said it though, Draco felt utterly ridiculous. This was Loony Lovegood he was talking about, for Merlin's sake! What could she possibly know that—

"Well, I am good at finding lost things. Maybe he wants me to find something for him," Luna murmured indifferently.

Draco seriously doubted it. "Like what, Lovegood? A potion to cure baldness?"

Luna looked at him surprisedly, and it was then that Draco realized that what he'd said could actually be construed as insulting to the Dark Lord. Good thing only Luna was around to hear him, and it was unlikely that she'd be telling anyone—or that anyone would believe her if she did.

"Perhaps," she murmured, smiling a bit at Draco—as usual, she was far more accepting of unconventional ideas (and allies) than just about anyone else was. "Do you suppose that any potion like that would work on him?"

Draco's lips twitched in response as he considered it, but he was too terrified of the Dark Lord to actually laugh outright at the thought. "Don't think so," he found himself muttering regardless.

Luna shook her head. "I didn't think so, either." Finally looking more at ease, she sat down on her own cot again, her eyes never leaving Draco. "So what is it you want in coming down here, Malfoy?" she asked. "You still didn't answer me."

What he wanted was to help her escape, but Draco wasn't prepared to say it directly—it would be too much of an open betrayal that he wasn't ready to acknowledge. However, if he could, in a way, negotiate Luna's escape for a good reason, then maybe his conscience on both sides would be satisfied.

"Depends on what you can give me, Lovegood," he replied at last. "For starters, I don't think you should be kept here any longer when you're obviously not of any use. Takes up room and resources, and since this is my house, you can guess why I don't want you around."

Luna nodded as though this was perfectly rational. "What do you suggest I do to get out?" She held up her hands in front of her. "I'm powerless, remember?"

Draco glanced towards Ollivander, who had woken up and was now peering at him through one open eye. He slowly shifted positions on his cot once she saw Draco observing him. With both of them now awake, Draco resolved to negotiate both of their escapes and plan something, thereby getting both of them off the hook and making an escape look more realistic—which would work if they two of them worked together. Someone smart enough might make the connection that it was strange for them to escape just as soon as Draco got home though, so they would have to be careful in how they planned this.

"Evening, Ollivander," Draco greeted him, at least offering due respect to the elder who had crafted his wand.

Ollivander gave a single nod, saying nothing.

Luna smiled back at the old man. "Malfoy's been telling me how maybe we shouldn't stick around here, Garrick," she said, casually addressing him as only two fellow prisoners could. "I think he wants us off his hands."

Ollivander looked at Malfoy inquiringly, looking half-hopeful and half-crazed as well. "What does young Master Malfoy suggest?" he asked, licking his chapped lips.

From Ollivander, it was easy enough to know what to ask for. "For one thing, you'll both need wands. Your store's empty now, Ollivander, so if you tell me what you need, I could get you quick substitutes."

Ollivander furrowed his brow. "And what would you want in return, may I ask?"

Draco had his request ready: "A new wand." Then, in a lower voice, so low that both Luna and Ollivander had to lean forward to hear it, he said, "For Harry Potter."

The shock on Ollivander's face was plain, but Luna seemed to take it as a matter of course. With a smile, she asked, "What about me?"

"You said you're good at finding things, right? Would that mean any thing, even if it's hard to find?"

Luna nodded. "I can try."

"Answer me this, Lovegood, if you can: where would you find a unicorn?"

"Drinking from a pool of water in the Forbidden Forest on the night of the full moon when the Moon Frogs' croak is at their loudest. Everyone knows that," Luna said matter-of-factly.

Alright, so she was crazy, but she was Draco's best chance at the moment since he himself was no longer at liberty to complete his task: that self-same list that, until now, he had kept at the back of his mind for months. The unicorn blood was the last thing on the list, something he had left unfinished partly because so much else had overwhelmed him and partly because he had no idea how to get ahold of unicorn blood without killing a unicorn outright and cursing himself. But if Luna did somehow manage it, then...

"How would you confront a unicorn to, say, get its blood?" Draco asked.

Luna blinked, a bit more surprised at that, but then replied readily enough, "I'd ask it nicely and make a small incision that I would then heal up. To fill a vial or two would be no trouble, if I could get close enough."

Draco was feeling less and less confident about making any exchange with her under these conditions. "Lovegood, I need you to be serious for once. This is important!"

Luna nodded. "I understand, Draco," she said, switching to a casual form of address as though they'd been friends for years and years instead of just the opposite. "But, as a matter of fact, I happen to have some at home. In my mother's old stores. We haven't touched those for years at home, but I'm sure that if it's for a good cause, she'd let us use it."

"Would you swear to that?" Draco asked, his wand ready to cast a truth spell if need be.

But Luna, looking more serious and sane than she had for a while, nodded. "Is this to help Harry?" she asked boldly.

Perhaps, Draco thought, perhaps it just might be. For, putting together in his mind at last what next actions he needed to take, he began to see more and more just how he could really be of help to Harry and Hermione in their hunt for horcruxes, regardless of when they found them. Hopefully, with this and his aiding Ollivander and Luna's escape, he would finally be able to provide some real help after almost two months of wallowing in guilt and self-hatred.

Maybe...after this he would finally be good enough and brave enough to look Hermione in the eyes again...

"Yes, Lovegood. I'm fairly certain everything we do from now on will be to help Harry..."

Never before had running for their lives felt so desperate as it did now. Not even when they had been escaping from the ministry had they felt themselves in so much danger, as at least then it was ministry workers and people of shifting allegiances who might have caught them and at least given them a trial (unfair or otherwise) before sending them off to Voldemort. Now though, alone in the middle of the woods and with confirmed death eaters who no doubt could and would enjoy doing all manner of things once they caught them, it was twice as terrifying to be found. Knowing that Greyback—whose bloodthirsty howl, sent as a warning to instill fear, they all recognized by now—was one of the snatchers after them only intensified their feelings of fear and spurred them on to run faster, exhausted though they were.

And, Hermione reflected in panic, totally unprepared to take on anyone with only two wands to divide between the three of them.

Running parallel to one another far enough to split up if necessary but also close enough to guard each other with what magic they had, the trio met up in a clearing near a cliffside after putting a fair bit of distance between them and their pursuers. With Greyback along to track their scent though, they couldn't keep up their lead for long.

"We need...to apparate!" Ron insisted, panting heavily.

Hermione hurriedly reached for Harry and Ron's hands and prepared to guide them herself, stopping abruptly once she sensed a new barrier that had been erected around the entire immediate area—a barrier that prevented apparition without a password, much like the one in place around Hogwarts.

"We can't," she voiced aloud, eyes wide in shock and fright. "They've got us trapped. The effects of the taboo extend towards a ward that traps everyone inside. I can't tell how far it goes."

Ron arched his neck, looking over towards the cliffs. "What about that way?"

"Sure, Ron! We'll jump to our deaths, why not!" Hermione bit out sarcastically, dropping both of her friends' hands. "Now, let me think!"

"They're getting closer, Mione! We need to run! Now!" Ron snapped, already sprinting away.

Harry and Hermione followed, but Hermione's sharp mind had already grasped the situation at hand. There was no escape this time. The snatchers were too close at hand and would be upon them within a few minutes at most. And with a barrier around the area, they would likely attract the pursuers faster still if they tried to break through. Almost with certainty, they would be caught. Which meant...

Glancing sharply at Harry as they ran, Hermione recognized that he was the one in the most danger here. She and Ron might be recognized but it wasn't really them that Voldemort was after. While she and Ron might be tortured or left to the whims of death eaters, Harry would be turned over to Voldemort right away and die. That was something she had to prevent at all costs!

"Harry!" she called, causing him to stop. Then, almost before he knew what hit him, Hermione shot her friend with a strong stinging hex, immediately causing his entire face to swell up.

"What are you doing?!" Ron yelled, having witnessed the whole thing.

Hermione was willing hex him as well just on principle for giving away their location, but she needn't have bothered—the snatchers were already upon them anyway.

Cackling evilly, two of them snuck up from behind Hermione, one of them grappling her from behind while another one sent a hex at her hand, causing her to drop her wand in a sudden flurry of pain.

"Don't touch her!" Ron yelled, running forward to help, only to be caught in the stomach by yet another undetermined hex, his wand seized by another one of the snatchers. The snatcher who had seized Hermione's wand immediately accosted Harry, who was still writhing on the ground from the hex Hermione had shot him with; then, finding no wand on the now-deformed wizard, he immobilized Harry as well and the three snatchers waited for the fourth, Greyback himself, to finally make an appearance.

Grinning like the demented werewolf that he was, Greyback's non-human face appeared in front of Hermione's faster than she had time to scream, and his hands familiarly groped around her entire torso. "Got her wand?" he cackled, even whilst pinching Hermione's breast.

"Yeah, boss, it was almost too easy," the snatcher from behind her commented, tightening his hold on Hermione's arms as she struggled uselessly against Greyback's foul touch. It was only when the snatcher held his wand to Hermione's throat that she stopped at last, clenching her teeth in disgust and holding in her tears as Greyback took much longer than necessary in searching her for any additional threat. Harry's eyes were almost swelled shut and so he didn't see most of it, but Ron was absolutely seething and wasted no time in shooting off his mouth and cursing Greyback in every way he knew how. For his trouble, he received a blow to the face that sent him reeling, held up only by the death eater pinning him from behind.

"Typical of mudbloods and blood traitors—no manners whatsoever," Greyback muttered with a chuckle. Then, turning back to Hermione, he leaned forward closely, obviously having chosen her as his favourite prey for the moment. "Now, then—"

"Hold on a minute, Wolf!" A fifth death eater suddenly strode into the clearing, and it was Ron who recognized him first from an earlier encounter—Scabior, another favourite snatcher of Bellatrix's who often worked in tandem with Greyback. More subdued by far, the dark wizard moved leisurely, as though he had all the time in the world to spend taking hostages who had broken the taboo. Greyback growled lowly at being interrupted, but otherwise obeyed Scabior and stepped back from Hermione. The look he gave her promised many dark things in the future, though.

"First, before we get to any games, we should know who we have here, don't you think?" Scabior asked, looking from Hermione to Ron and then finally stopping at Harry. "What about you, ugly? What's your name?"

"Vernon. Vernon Dudley," Harry said, his words still clear even though his face was completely unrecognizable. Ron, realizing this fact, shot Hermione a quick glance before Scabior moved on to him.

"And you?"

"Stan Shunpike," Ron gritted out, using the same cover identity he had used before.

Greyback laughed, bearing his fangs as he approached Ron. "Lies! I'll bet you're a Barny Weasley—you smell and look like all those pathetic blood traitors!"

Ron set his jaw to keep from saying anything in anger, but it was too late, since through his distinctive features he had already been recognized.

"And you, my lovely?" Scabior said in almost a purr, turning to Hermione at last. He leaned in much closer than Greyback had, causing Hermione to flinch away and avert eye contact lest she really cry.

"Penelope Clearwater, half-blood," she said, glad that at least her voice was level and betrayed none of her fear.

"Are you now?" Scabior frowned. "I could swear I've seen you somewhere before though..." Then, suddenly, he turned back to Harry and, strode over to observe him closely. For several long minutes he just stared at Harry, digging through his memory in keen interest. Finding nothing definite, he stepped back, but there was just enough uncertainty that he decided against the usual action of bringing the trio the ministry, where they would be paid but given almost no credit for the capture. Somehow, he had a special feeling about this one.

"Think we'll take a chance, lads," he called to the others. "Better payoff for these three over to Herself, instead." He was, of course, referring to Bellatrix, and it didn't take much imagination for either Harry, Hermione, or Ron to determine where they were headed.

Directly to Malfoy Manor, into the clutches of the Wizarding World's #1 most dangerous and bloodthirsty witch.

Maybe jumping off a cliff really would have been the better option.

A/N: This time, yet again there are quite a few things to clarify notes-wise with this chapter, especially as it relates to Draco's portion.

Firstly, YES, it was always my intention for him to help Ollivander and Luna escape. This is ONE of those big differences in his role that I kept alluding to earlier, so you get an early reveal on this one. Expect more, though! ;)

Secondly, YES, it was also always in my intention for Luna to at one point help Draco out with the list and become his ally independently of Harry and Hermione. Originally, I actually wrote a segment in an earlier chapter that had him and Luna meeting up in the Room of Requirement by chance, and then proceeded with Draco practicing Occlumency with Luna rather than offering to teach Hermione. Note that in canon Luna has no more of an Occlumency background than Hermione has, but I thought it an interesting angle with her unique mind to challenge Draco on how well Legilimens could work or not. Obviously, for those of you who've read the story, you already know that I made no such mention of an earlier meeting with Draco and Luna and so they're meeting for the first time here. Yeah, I scrapped that idea in the interests of giving him and Hermione more time together in the earlier chapters. Now that Luna is a prisoner at Malfoy Manor though, obviously she and Draco have no choice but to meet, so I begun my ally plan here. I'll admit that it was a bit stilted and went by faster than I originally wanted, but because I have so much that I want to have happen and in quick succession, I sacrificed some Luna-Draco bonding time for urgency instead. Since it's Luna as a character that we're talking about and because I've seen her used as the "quick acceptance of everything" character in other fanfics, I think it's passable and I hope readers think the same.

Thirdly, YES, I think it fitting that Luna should be the one to secure the unicorn blood for Draco's list. For many (too many, I think!) chapters I've just sort of let the list fade into the background, but now it's coming back as it really WILL play an important role in the story, you wait and see. Just a recap, the important items on the list to keep in mind are the dragon whistle, the goblin-made steel (which Draco got from the merpeople back in Chapter 18, of course), and now the unicorn blood(—and maybe Trelawney's Crystal Ball, though I haven't decided yet whether I meant that as a joke or whether I should actually give it an important role. Any one of the readers want to take a vote on that and choose for me, maybe?). I figured that with unicorns being so pure and innocent, and Luna being much the same way herself, it sort of fit to have her be the one to secure it for Draco. Granted, I haven't revealed yet what Draco's plan (or Snape's original purpose) for the unicorn blood is yet, but for all three items, I, the mastermind behind the story and list plan, DO have intentions for all of them and haven't just been wasting time with this. So...yeah, some of the threads are connecting together here, but not by much just yet.

Fourthly, there are still a LOT of details about the escape that I have yet to write about, so please no one expect that it's going to be a smooth and easy process. Right now, the plan is A) for Draco to secure two wands from Ollivander's shop and bring them for Ollivander and Luna to use, B) for Ollivander to craft a new wand for Harry in exchange for his freedom, and C) for Luna to procure the unicorn blood from her mother's old potion stores and give it to Draco for reasons unknown. But there are still a LOT of things that can go wrong, so let's not assume that A-B-C are a done deal just yet! ;) (And not to mention how the trio fits into all of this!)

Ahem, and now, regarding the capture part of the chapter for the trio...yeah, I think everyone will notice that I kept it more or less faithful to canon, as there are some things that are just so good that I don't have the heart (or the writing talent) to change them. Still though, I hope that what I did write communicated the same sense of urgency and some of the terror from canon, and right now that's all I can ask for. The only thing I added in was an explanation of the whole taboo-ward-barrier thing, as I didn't understand why in the canon they didn't just apparate themselves out of there like they'd been doing before. Well, now there's an explanation for it.

That about wraps up this chapter's lengthy notes, so, as always, please do follow, favourite, and review review review in appreciation of the story! :3