Author's Notes

Hi... hello... hi... ummm... is anybody still there? I am so, so, so, so, so, SO sorry for the crazily long wait for this update, especially as I left the last chapter on such a cliffhanger, it wasn't an intentional thing to do at all. Basically, real life got rather crazy a few weeks ago, and to cut a long story short, Mr Phoenix ended up in hospital and everything all came at me at once, I've barely been able to write anything at all over the last month. Happily, things are a lot better now. Mr P is recovered, I'm still not entirely sure he's grasped the meaning of "rest and recuperate", but he is at least back on his feet and is feeling a whole lot better in himself.

I, on the other hand, forgot every detail I had ever written and had to re-read almost the entire story to see where we had got to... anyway, finally, here we are, here is chapter 16 of Beyond the Sea!

This chapter does need a little content warning, it's rather intense and there are references to torture and the effects it has on both the person being tortured and the person who is (reluctantly,) doing the torturing. It does resolve itself by the end of the chapter though, I honestly don't think I could write anything that didn't!

I hope you all like it!

Thank you to champagneandliterature, I've said it before but I'll say it again - you really are the best, most patient and wonderful writing partner ever. I appreciate you so much.

One last thing, I am also crazily behind on replying to comments on this story, I will be catching up over the next couple of days. If you have commented, THANK YOU! and you will get a proper response just as soon as I can get them all typed up.

Until next time then, which won't be so long I promise! XXXxxxxx

Beyond The Sea

Chapter 16 - Interrogations

Pansy

Pansy began to hyperventilate as the last swirls of Blaise's apparation faded from the room. "No," Ron said, looking horrified. "No! You can't go. Stay here. Ignore the call. I'll protect you. Me and Harry, we'll-"

"I have to go!" Pansy gasped. "Oh, for fucks sake! Fucking fake memories! Now I've got my head full of Yaxley, and oh, I don't want to think about him like that, not now I've got you!" Abruptly she jumped out of bed and started to yank on last night's clothes. "I can't ignore the summons, Ron. You don't ignore a Dark Mark summons and get away with it, don't be so naive. He calls, and we go! Oh, now WHAT?!" she shouted, spinning violently around as someone knocked on the door.

"Are you both alright in here?" Ginny asked, sounding concerned, "only-"

"No!" Pansy said, flinging the door open and staring at Ginny while dressed only in her underwear. "No, we're not! And, oh fuck! I've got to go!" Her eyes widened in horror as her Dark Mark burned. She hurriedly threw the rest of her clothes on, grabbed her robes and mask, then before Ron could stop her, twisted away into nothingness.

She landed in the drawing room of Malfoy Manor, waited for the fizz of her apparation to end, then hesitantly opened her eyes, still unwilling to face the horrors that lay ahead.

"Good morning, Miss Parkinson," the hated, cold-as-ice voice said.

Automatically Pansy dipped into a low curtsey, even as she fumbled to set her mask in place. "Good morning, my Lord."

Voldemort was standing in his usual interrogation spot, his back to the open window, his body framed by a halo of bright morning sunshine. His wand was in his hand, resting against his leg and twitching ominously, a sure sign that he was displeased.

"Since your shift is not due to start for another three hours, I expect you are wondering why I have summoned you here so early?"

Pansy nodded, forcing her body language to remain neutral despite an almost overwhelming urge to flee from the room. "I was curious, my Lord, yes."

"Or," Voldemort's voice dipped in the middle of the word in a telltale, terrifying way. "Perhaps you already know? Perhaps you have already been forewarned of what is to come?"

Pansy arranged her face into a confused frown as Voldemort circled her, apparently assessing her from all directions. "I'm sorry, my Lord, please forgive me. Should I already know what this is about?"

Voldemort appeared to be satisfied with her reply. "That depends. Step forwards. Remove your mask. Look at me." Pansy did as she was told, trying not to tremble as she moved. Voldemort circled her once more, staring at her intently, and scenting the air in a reptilian fashion. "So it could be true," he said, coming to stand in front of her again. "There is a possibility that you do not seek to deceive me, since the smell of coitus does indeed linger about your person. Imperio. Answer me truthfully. Where were you this morning?"

Pansy had a split second of utter panic before she felt Voldemort's Imperio claim her mind. A feeling of all-encompassing calm settled over her and her eyes glazed over as she felt the strong tug of his magic in her brain. Just before the fog of compliance overcame her completely, she thought she felt a second, less invasive tingle too, but there was no time to wonder what that meant. Her mouth opened, and unbidden words fell from it. "I was at Corban Yaxley's house, my Lord."

She wanted to feel surprised at how easily she was lying, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. Voldemort's Imperio was impossibly strong. "I see. Where were you last night?"

"The same place, my Lord. With Corban, I mean. I met him outside of Gringotts yesterday, and I've been with him ever since. My Lord."

Voldemort paused. The tiny part of Pansy's brain that was still functioning normally started to spin with renewed fear. "And what were the pair of you doing for so long?"

"We," the pause wasn't her own, and she blinked in confusion. She could now feel two distinctly separate tugs of magic in her brain, and she was powerless to resist either. Whoever or whatever else was controlling her mind was doing an excellent job of parroting her mouth into forming the answers that Voldemort needed to hear. "We were, umm…. we were in bed together my Lord."

"All of this time?"

Pansy felt her cheeks heat and her head nod demurely. "Yes, my Lord."

Voldemort nodded. "Have you been anywhere near Malfoy Manor this morning? Specifically, before I summoned you here?"

"No, sir."

"Finite Incantatem. Pansy?"

"Yes my Lord?"

"Do I frighten you?"

She blinked as Voldemort's Imperio cleared, and one of the tingles withdrew from her brain. Voldemort however, had timed his question well. The answer had been clearly written all over her face. "You do at times, yes. My Lord"

Voldemort nodded. "I see." He stepped towards her, and Pansy forced herself not to move away. Voldemort reached out a long fingered hand, using it to stroke her cheek with surprising gentleness. Pansy's breathing increased, and she wanted nothing more than to slap his hand away, hex him into oblivion, then run back to Ron's arms, but the person inside her mind held her steady with a reassuring tingle of strangely familiar magic.

Instead of moving, Pansy dropped her eyes as she knew Voldemort expected and waited for his next move. "You are a brave girl, Pansy, and you have never given me any reason to doubt you. I will accept your answers as the truth on one condition. I want you to work as my spy. We have a traitor in our ranks. Somebody extremely foolish has, this morning, released my prisoners from the dungeons. I know it was one of my Death Eaters because the doors were unlocked. Ah-"

Voldemort paused as whoever else was in Pansy's mind manipulated her into making an outraged gasp. Nodding as he caressed her cheek one last time, Voldemort dropped his hand away. "So, it seems that you really didn't know. Do not worry, Pansy. Lord Voldemort can be merciful. I want you to work with my ever-faithful Bellatrix, and I want the pair of you to assess everybody else's loyalty. I have my suspicions as to who opened the door. The Death Eaters concerned are undergoing interrogation right now, but I want to make sure we do not have any other traitors hiding in our midst. I am good at reading people, but alas, even I am not infallible. You will report back to me, and I need not remind you, I'm sure, that I expect only your very best results. Lord Voldemort may be merciful, but he does not take kindly to mistakes."

Pansy felt her head drop into a nod of acceptance that was not her own doing. "I will not disappoint you, my Lord," she said. "May I be so bold as to ask who you suspect of committing such a heinous crime, my Lord? Just so that I know who is already under suspicion and who is not?"

"You may ask," Voldemort turned away, and Pansy gazed wildly around the room, trying to figure out who else was controlling her mind. The magic was reassuringly familiar, and whoever it was, they were extremely talented. Performing mind magic without direct eye contact was beyond the scope of all but the most gifted of witches or wizards.

There was no time to dwell on who it could be, though. Voldemort shook his head. "I worry about sharing too much information, Pansy. If this sorry incident has taught me anything, it is that there is a traitor within our very highest ranks. Maybe more than one. If they are in the inner circle, then our entire regime is threatened. I know without a shadow of a doubt that it was not Bella. Nor is it likely to be Malfoy, Dolohov, either of the Lestranges, Nott Junior, Zabini, or Rookwood since they were all in my presence when the incident occurred. The rest is up to you to find out."

"Thank you, my Lord." Pansy dropped her head back down and stared at her feet. "I appreciate your honesty. You will not go wrong with trusting me with this vital job. I am honored to-"

"You may go. You will meet Bellatrix in the ballroom in exactly," Voldemort flicked a silent, wandless tempus charm into the air with his fingers, "twenty minutes."

Thank you, my Lord," Pansy said as she turned and walked silently to the door.

"Pansy," Voldemort called and she paused with her hand on the ornate handle.

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Do not let me down."

"I won't, my Lord." Voldemort nodded and she hurried out of the room.

Outside in the corridor, Pansy scrubbed her fingers over her cheek then cast a harsh cleaning charm over the area Voldemort had touched. A noise startled her, and she spun around, hurrying away before she could think too much about what had just happened.

"Pans!" a male voice called, and she paused as Theo strode down the corridor, looking menacing with his robes flapping and his silver mask obscuring his face. "You alright?" Shakily she nodded. "Did the memories hold up?"

"Yes," she said shakily. "Someone was in my mind though, Theo. Someone else, I mean, as well as him."

Theo took his mask off and grinned. "Yeah, that was me. Didn't you recognize my magic?!"

"Oh!" she gasped, sagging weakly with relief. "No, I didn't! You could have told me it was you, and since when could you do that?! That was some seriously impressive mind control!"

"Thanks, I've been practicing," he said with another grin. "I can get through Malfoy's Occlumency when his back is to me now. But no I couldn't have let you know it was me, not more than I already did anyhow. I had to get through Blaise's mindlock and Antonin's memory implant as well as being careful not to touch snakeface's Imperio, all while hovering disillusioned outside the window on a broom. It's a miracle I got in there at all!"

Pansy frowned. "I'm starting to feel like my mind isn't my own with all of you flouncing around in there."

"Right now, it's not," Theo admitted, now looking at her seriously. "But we're keeping you alive by doing this, so don't complain too much. Anyway, I don't flounce. Draco flounces. Dolohov flounces. I parade elegantly."

"Hmmm," she muttered, laughing despite herself. "If you say so."

Theo grinned. "Now listen up. This is important. You need to go along with whatever madcap plan Bella comes up with this afternoon. Just smile, nod, and accept her lunacy. None of us was expecting this to happen today, so we're not as prepared for it as we wanted to be. We need to regroup and figure out what the hell we're all doing. Dolohov, Rowle, and Yaxley know about our defection plans now, which is a good thing, and we know what they're up to too. Trust them as you trust us, but don't trust anybody else. Not even my father."

Startled Pansy turned to look at him. "Okay. Fine. Will you please shadow me while I'm with Bella?"

Theo shook his head. "Unfortunately, I can't. I have to take over Interrogation duty from Draco-"

Pansy gasped at the disgusted tone of his voice. "No…?! You mean, you've got to…."

"Crucio people's allegiances out of them? Apparently so. What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. I'm sure Harry will love it when I tell him what I've been doing."

"I'm sure Harry will want you to do whatever's necessary to stay alive," Pansy countered, pausing to put a reassuring hand on Theo's arm as another two tall, robed and masked figures came striding around the corner.

"Ah, Nott," Draco said, sounding cold and using what Pansy had come to know as his "work voice". "You can continue our work. I'm just reporting my current findings back to the Dark Lord."

"And which findings would those be?" Theo asked, playing along.

"That we don't think it was Rowle," Rodolphus Lestrange said. "Nor do we suspect it was Yaxley, your father, or my brother."

Theo nodded. "Who's up for interrogation next?"

"Mulciber," Pansy blinked at the pure venom with which Draco spat the name. "Then we'll send Avery in. Make sure you're thorough, Nott, especially with those two. We need to catch these traitors."

Theo nodded at the almost unnoticeable inflection in Draco's voice. "Oh, I will be. Don't worry. Now, I must be on my way, Malfoy, may I have a word with you in private, please? Parkinson, I need you to be aware of this too."

"Why can't you speak in front of me?" Rodolphus asked, sounding more worried than angry.

Theo glanced at Draco, who shrugged noncommittally. "Imperio. Take off your mask. Because we're defecting next week and we want to know who's with us and who isn't. Where do your loyalties stand? Are you loyal to Antonin or The Dark Lord?"

A look of pure shock crossed Rodolphus's face before his expression softened into the telltale look of a person under an Imperio. "I'm with Antonin-"

"Good. Shut up now. Don't say that to anyone else. Finite Incantatum. Obliviate. Confundus. Bugger off, Rod."

"Theo!" Draco swiped his own mask off to stare at Theo in amazement, "You can't…. what the hell?"

Theo nodded grimly as Rodolphus wandered away. "The time for playing games is over now, mate. He's on our side. So's Bass, Corban, Finn, and Antonin. The jury remains out on my father. Now what's your problem with Mulciber and Avery? Don't make me Imperio you too, Malfoy."

Draco's eyes widened a fraction. "You wouldn't!"

"I fucking well would! Now come on, out with it!"

Draco glanced up and down the corridor, then pressed his fingers to his temple with a heavy sigh. "Fine! Dolohov let the prisoners out with Rowle's help. Nobody else had anything to do with it although Yaxley and the Lestrange brothers knew what was going to happen. Mulciber and Avery are two of the four that held Hermione." Draco broke off, suddenly looking haunted. "Theo, what they did to her, you know I'd never normally say this, but I want you to make them pay for it."

Theo nodded once. "Don't you want that honor?"

Draco shook his head. "No. I'll go too far too fast, and I'll kill them before I can make them confess. You'll make it look realistic. Also, I've been doing it all morning, and my magic is tiring. You'll be fresh. Theo, if you can, I want you to make them admit to letting the prisoners out. Send them into him with a full confession on their lips. I don't particularly care how you make that happen, but… just, don't hold back."

Pansy collapsed against the kitchen counter as soon as she apparated home. She dropped her head into her hands, gasping for breath, then slipped down the cupboard fronts leaving a smear of blood on her way. She settled onto the floor, hugged her arms around her knees, and gave herself over to a few minutes of uncontrolled sobbing.

When her initial hysterics had subsided, she dropped her cloak onto the floor beside her, left her blood soaked robes in another untidy pile, and fled to the bathroom in her underwear. She kicked the door shut behind her, lifted the toilet lid, gagged twice, then threw up the entire contents of her stomach. When she had finished retching she flushed the toilet then sat down on the lid, breathing hard, trembling from head to foot and holding her head in her hands once again.

It took a good few minutes to compose herself, but eventually, she managed to brush her teeth and step into the shower. The slightly too hot water felt wonderful. She soaped herself from head to foot twice, washed her hair then finally stepped out into the steamy bathroom to dry herself off.

When she finally emerged, dressed in her own clothes, smothered in scented body lotion, and feeling slightly better, she made her way back into the kitchen. She was surprised to see Hermione waiting for her with a glass of iced water and the offer of food. "Thanks." Pansy said, sitting down at the table with a heavy sigh. "And no thank you to food. Not yet anyway. I won't keep it down. Are the others home yet?"

Hermione shook her head, concern written all over her face. "No. Blaise came back to pick Harry, Ron, and Ginny up, then they all went back out, and I haven't seen them since. I asked if I could go with them, but Blaise said no. He wouldn't tell me where they were going either. He seemed rather flustered, compared to how unflappable he usually is, so I didn't argue. It's just me here now. I don't know where Draco and Theo are either. They haven't come home yet."

Pansy pursed her lips in concern. "That's strange. Draco and Theo's shifts finished at the same time as mine. I thought they were coming straight here. Thanks for the water, but if you don't mind, I'm going to upgrade it to something a little stronger. It's been a terrible day."

Hermione took a bottle of firewhisky and a glass from the cupboard then sat down at the table. "Blaise mentioned that it hasn't been good-"

Pansy snorted inelegantly. "That could be the understatement of the year! I hope they hurry up. I really need Blaise to unlock my mind, It's full of memories of me shagging Yaxley at the moment. I don't suppose you can undo mindlocks, can you?"

To Pansy's dismay, Hermione shook her head. "I'm sorry, mind magic was never really my area of expertise."

"No worries," Pansy sighed, leaning back in her chair. She sipped from the glass Hermione had poured her, wondering vaguely what would happen if she just downed the entire bottle and drank herself into oblivion the way Theo sometimes did.

"What happened today?" Hermione asked, sounding tentative. "I mean, Blaise gave us the general gist of things, but I don't know the details. What's upset you so much?"

"I'm a healer right?" Pansy said, and Hermione nodded. "So my instinct is to heal people. I'm trained to help them. Well, there have been a lot of interrogations today, and some of them were rather-" she grimaced "-thorough. I've had to heal people that had been hit with multiple Crucios and other, rather messier curses, keeping them alive or stabilizing some of them only to see them get knocked out all over again. And before all of that, I had to put up with two hours of Bellatrix's insane rantings." Pansy sighed, rubbing her hand over her tired eyes, "and before that, I was questioned by him. Well, we all know I go to pieces in front of him, but this time I managed not to because I had Theo in my mind, as well, although at the time, I didn't know it was him. And as if that wasn't enough I've had Blaise's memory lock to contend with. It's all been rather overwhelming to say the least. Where are my robes? They're covered in blood."

"They're not anymore," Hermione said, covering Pansy's hand with her own and squeezing it gently. "I cleaned the blood off them, and they're in the wash right now."

"Thanks," Pansy said, smiling tiredly. "I appreciate that. I couldn't face any more blood today."

Hermione nodded, and her sympathy was almost more than Pansy could bear. "Blaise told us that Antonin let the prisoners out and that Theo and Draco found out who else is on our side, but what else happened? What was the outcome of all these investigations? Who does-" Hermione squeezed her eyes tightly shut "-he think let the prisoners out?"

Pansy grimaced. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes," Hermione replied, pushing back her mop of unruly curls. "Yes, I do. In fact, I need to know. Talking to Draco the other day, and dueling in the cove yesterday opened my eyes. I've been through a hell of a lot, but I'm feeling better now. I want to be part of this, but Draco is right to be concerned about me taking an active role. I'm just not strong enough to duel like you all do yet, and I really can't know how I'd react to certain situations now. But I do still have a good brain so I'm going to try to help in that way. What happened with the interrogations today, Pansy? I promise I can cope with what you tell me."

"I'll be surprised if you can. I nearly didn't. Alright, I'll tell you." Pansy refilled her glass and took another sip. "Somehow, and don't ask me how, the boys put doctored memories into Mulciber and Avery's minds. Theo and Antonin crucio'd them half to death, I actually brought Mulciber back from a cardiac arrest twice. Then they put them both under an Imperio and sent them to the Dark Lord. He used Legilimency on them and saw the fake memories. Mulciber and Avery made full, detailed confessions because they were Imperio'd to do so, and the Dark Lord finished them off. They are both dead and the Dark Lord is shaken to the very core because they were two of his very earliest, most loyal Death Eaters. He would never have suspected them in a million years."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Why did they.. get… the blame?" she trailed off looking horrified. "Oh, God!" She scooted her chair backwards and covered her mouth with her hands. That's who….! Draco said he'd avenge me….. Oh, Merlin! Why were those two chosen to take the fall, Pansy?"

Pansy met Hermione's panicked gaze steadily. "Because they were two of the four Death Eaters who held you. I would never normally stabilize someone knowing that they were just going to be struck down again, but in this case I did. They needed to be alive to confess their sins to the Dark Lord. He crashed twice, Mulciber did, one after the other, they got him that badly. Let's just say he paid for what he did. The only reason they didn't implicate the other two today is that they have plans for them on the Finnigan Cottage raid."

Without another word, Hermione stood up, took a second glass from the cupboard, and poured herself a shot of firewhisky. She was midway through sipping it when a fizz announced an impending apparition and Draco arrived back in the kitchen. He stood still for a moment, looking at Hermione strangely, then stepped sideways as Theo almost landed on top of him. Silently, Draco crossed to the sink and began to wash his hands. "I heard what you both did," Hermione said faintly, and Draco nodded without turning around. "I don't know what to say. Thank you sounds wrong under the circumstances."

Draco finally looked around as he passed the handwash to Theo. "You don't hate me for it?"

"There's no reason for her to hate you, is there, mate?" Theo asked, bracingly, now drying his hands on a towel. "You didn't touch them. I'm getting changed then going out for a bit. Tell Harry I'll see him later will you?"

"Where are you going?" Draco stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Chateau Lestrange. And don't start on me, Draco, I've had a fucker of a day."

"Theo," Hermione called, but she faltered when he spun around, staring at her with haunted, deadened eyes. Pansy took a shaky breath. She knew that look well enough to not be bothered by Theo's aggressive stance. It was proof that he was deeply upset by what he'd had to do.

"What?" he demanded.

"Nothing. I," apparently Hermione didn't know him well enough to see through the front he was putting up. She stepped back, then paused as if rethinking herself. She shook back her hair then stepped towards him again. "I do want to say thank you, actually. I know it might be unconventional or strange even, given the circumstances, but I appreciate what you did all the same."

"Good. Next time you need someone tortured, just give me a shout. Every other mother fucker does," Theo said sardonically, "Anyone would think I'm good at it-"

"Nott," Draco called crossly. "Stop being a wanker."

"Can't' mate," Theo sent a nasty smirk back over his shoulder. "It's the way I'm built. You didn't seem to mind that earlier when you were issuing the orders. It's all changed now you've taken your mask off, hasn't it?" Pansy rolled her eyes as Draco stepped forward and grabbed Theo's arm. "Fuck off, Malfoy," Theo said without looking at him, "don't push me today."

"No," Draco said, and Theo spun on him, his fists clenched and his eyes flashing dangerously. "I won't. I'm worried about you. Harry wouldn't want you disappearing off to Chateau Lestrange would he? We all know what you're going there to do."

"Yeah? You all know what Harry wants, do you? Well, I don't, and since Golden Boy's not here for me to ask, I'll hazard a guess. I reckon he'll be too disgusted by what I've done to care about what I do now. As for where he actually is, who knows that either, because Zabini's sent him off to risk his arse, which, as usual, he's doing without a second's regard for the people who care about him-"

"Oh, for goodness sake!" Pansy stood up and shouldered her way between Theo and Draco, glaring fiercely at both of them in turn. "Enough! Bloody stop it now, both of you!"

When Theo just continued to glare heatedly at Draco, Pansy snapped. She turned Theo around and shoved him bodily into the hall. "Have a shower and get a grip. I've had enough violence for one day," her voice rose hysterically as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks, "I don't need any more from you two."

Draco pushed furiously away from Pansy, sat down next to Hermione, and grabbed the bottle of firewhisky. He took a large mouthful directly from the bottle then wiped his own watering eyes with his hand. "Don't listen to him, Hermione," Pansy said as kindly as she could, "he's awful when this sort of thing happens."

"He copped a lot of the worst jobs today, and that's mostly my fault," Draco confessed. "He's right to be angry with me. I couldn't have done what he did with Mulciber and Avery because of what they'd done to you. I'd have snapped and killed them, and strategy wise we needed them to confess their sins. Theo did a perfect job, but Gods it was messy, and doing stuff like that is a complete and utter mindfuck. Where the hell is Harry anyway?"

"With Ginny, Ron, and Blaise, but I don't know where they went," Hermione admitted. "Are you alright?" she asked, turning to look closely at Draco.

Pansy sipped her drink, still sniffling slightly and missing Ron as she watched Draco take Hemione's hand. "Yeah. I will be," Draco said quietly. "As Theo said, it's just been a fucker of a day."

Pansy looked up as a fizz and three conventional apparition cracks sounded in the now quiet kitchen. Ron stared at her as if he'd seen a ghost, and she was out of her chair and sobbing her heart out in his arms before she knew what she was doing. "Hey," Ron said, closing his arms around her tightly, "What is it? It's alright now. You're home. You're safe. Come on, Pans. Easy now, everything's going to be okay."

"Harry," Pansy sniffed, looking up and glancing at Harry through her still damp hair. "Go find Theo, will you? He's in a terrible mood. He's just told us all to fuck off, and he thinks you hate him and so he's going to head over to Chateau Lestrange and he won't listen to us. I mean, he might tell you to do the same so don't take it personally if he does, but-"

"Or I might not," Theo said, sighing heavily as he hovered in the doorway, looking nervous. "It depends on your reaction to what I've done this afternoon. Has Blaise filled you in? Since we're all friends here, you should all know that I feel dreadful about it and that's why I was behaving like an idiot. I'm sorry. I just want to forget that today ever happened, and getting stoned lets me do that, at least for a little while. This is me at my very worst, do you really want to take me on, Harry? I'll not blame you if you want out now."

Harry just stared at him, green eyes into blue. "Is that your own blood on your robes?" he asked.

Theo shook his head. "No."

"Thank Merlin for that. Yes, Blaise told me what you've had to do, and no, I don't want to change my mind about you. I don't make commitments lightly. So, either I'm coming to Chateau Lestrange with you, which is probably just about workable now, or you're staying here with me. Which is it gonna be, love?"

Theo was silent for a long moment. "I think I'd rather stay here," he admitted finally. "I'm sorry, Draco, and I'm sorry for snapping at you, Hermione. Thanks for calling me out, Pans. I deserved it. I appreciate you all, but Harry, I love you."

"I love you too," Harry said without hesitation, "I think I always have.".

Pansy wiped her eyes, still watching from Ron's arms as Harry and Theo embraced. Hermione scooted her chair closer to Draco then as he patted his leg in invitation she moved over to perch on his lap. Blaise shrugged at Ginny, who moved into his arms and a brilliant white light pulsed slowly over the cottage. It grew brighter and brighter until it was almost blinding, then it slowly faded away to nothing.

"What was that?" Pansy asked, looking up in confusion.

"I think," Hermione said, looking to Draco for confirmation, "I think that was our final bond light. But I don't understand why it happened just now. I thought that was meant to happen when the last couple consummated their bond. Draco and I haven't…." she trailed off looking embarrassed.

"I don't think that the final bond is necessarily triggered by sex," Draco said. "I think it just needs group-wide, strong feelings. As I understand it, Ron and Pansy, and you and I will still get the red light, individual bonds when we do take things further, but I agree. I think that was our final cohesion bond."

"Wow." Theo said, pulling back from the kiss he had been sharing with Harry. "I guess I really had better buck my ideas up then. The house seems like it means business!"

"Yes it does." Blaise said. "And I need you all here, with a clear mind please, Theo, after dinner. We've also had a busy afternoon. I have news that I need to share."