CW: Battle scenes and gore ahead. There will be blood.

Songs – Hysteria by Muse, System Bleed by The Glitch Mob, and Into the Past by NERO

Chapter 24: Chaos

There was no other way to describe what was happening.

It was complete and utter chaos.

What had started as a somewhat coordinated attack, the four men casting a series of spells to block the man's view of the escaping women, had quickly morphed into a kind of battle that could only be described as a disorganized scramble. Unknown curses came flying at the group almost immediately, forcing them almost immediately into more defensive positions, and it wasn't until Draco heard Theo cursing from somewhere on the other side of the lawn that he realized they had all been steered into different locations.

Clever.

The attacker seemed to move at an impossible speed, blocking spells and flinging curses with a kind of ease that Draco would have thought impossible if it wasn't for the fact that he was there to see it happen. Not even the rain seemed to unsettle him. There was no logical reason that the four of them couldn't subdue a single crazed wizard, and yet, it felt like they were vastly outnumbered. Even more unsettling, perhaps, was the realization that the man didn't seem to require the use of his wand at all. Magic appeared to shoot out of his body in unpredictable ways, especially in the small moments where Draco thought they might have found some sort of advantage, and not a single one of them had managed to get closer than a few yards before being forced to retreat.

It was maddening. Nothing about the man made any goddamn sense.

There had been so many close calls – too many – and Draco knew it was the same for the others; he could see it in their faces each time he managed to catch a glimpse of one of them just as he knew they could see it in his own. Blood was dripping down the side of his face and his leg was screaming in pain, but none of his injuries bothered him as much as knowing that they couldn't keep this up forever. He needed to find a way to kill this fucker, and he needed to do it quickly before any of them toppled off the theoretical knife-edge that they were currently perched on.

Draco sent another, frustratingly unsuccessful, Confrigo toward the man, and it was only by pure luck that he managed to catch the slight movement in the man's hands before another curse came hurdling his way. He ducked, barely escaping a jet of fire that was undoubtedly meant to incinerate him, and responded with a wordless curse of his own, the flash of green from the spell lighting up the air around him. For a fleeting moment, he thought he had finally hit his target, but seconds later, he was forced to dive to his right as an even brighter light came flying back at him. He landed hard on his side and stumbled when he tried to jump back onto his feet, colliding awkwardly with one of the large trees near the edge of the lake.

"Fuck," he groaned as he wordlessly threw up a shield.

Breathing heavily, he risked a glance around him, his eyes straining to find the others through the haze of the battle. He located Harry, who was shooting off an impressive range of attacks, jumping between the large garden rocks some 20 yards away from him. Theo was nearby trying to maneuver his way closer to the attacker, using Harry's rapid fire as a distraction. And while Draco couldn't see his father, he could hear him, his voice bellowing out curses Draco knew could land him back in Azkaban if anyone ever cared enough to investigate.

Still alive, he reassured himself before he released another sequence of particularly nasty curses, hoping, rather fruitlessly it turned out, that one of them would manage to cause even the slightest bit of damage.

Because, even despite keeping his voice low, even despite attacking while the man's back was turned, not a single one of the spells managed to get anywhere close to the man, and Draco had to cast another Protego to keep himself from being flung backwards into the lake by a powerful vortex of wind. He shivered, the air around him suddenly bone chilling cold, before he spun around and dropped his shield so that he could attack again.

"Volnus," Draco muttered, slashing his wand angrily.

The man brushed the curse aside as if it had been something thrown at him by a child, and turned to face Draco, studying him oddly all while keeping the other three men at bay with a strange, swirling shield that hovered effortlessly behind him. There was an obvious madness in the man's eyes, but it was completely different than the mania Rodolphus had exuded. It was a determined kind of lunacy, primal almost, and Draco shivered again, only this time it had nothing to do with the cold.

What the fuck is he?

But honestly, the answer didn't really matter all that much. Draco could still feel Hermione's panic through their bond, and that was fuel enough to carry on. He had known it would come to this. He had known that there was very little chance that he could survive. All that mattered now was keeping the man busy for long enough so that she couldn't be followed.

Draco raised his wand, almost laughing at himself as he sent another hopelessly doomed spell toward the man. Of course, it was blocked easily enough, but in process of directing the curse elsewhere, the man gave something valuable away. A weakness that Draco hadn't noticed before. And yet, there it glaringly was – an obvious tremble in his hands.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to remind Draco that the man was still human.

And humans bleed.

They could be killed too.

The man was still watching as Draco raised his wand again. There was no surprise in his eyes, not even the faintest hint that he found Draco's persistence anything other than predictable, but he waited somewhat curiously, as if he was truly interested to see what Draco would send his way next.

But before Draco had a chance to open his mouth, an echo sprang through the bridge in his mind, and he had to fight to keep his composure as a single word came into focus. This wasn't Hermione; he would be able to feel her presence if she was there inside his head, but then again, the aurora around the word felt very much like her, as if it was as much a part of her as the unruly hair on top of her head. Instinctually, he latched onto the word, rolling it around in his brain. He knew it was powerful without even having to utter it. He knew it was meant to kill in some horrific way. More importantly, he knew the man would never see it coming, and so he let the word rest on the edge of his tongue for only the briefest of moments before setting it free.

"Bloðorn," Draco repeated, shuddering as a river of unfamiliar magic came charging out of his wand.

The man stumbled backward in surprise, dropping the wards he had been using against the others so that he could throw everything he had into fighting the curse now barreling toward him. His hands moved quickly, conjuring a bright red shield, but he wasn't quite fast enough, and the full force of Draco's curse rammed into the incomplete shield with a spectacular explosion that sent man flying.

Draco was still for a moment, not quite able to believe what he had just done, and it was only after he heard the shouting that he realized he needed to move. He ran toward the voices, his wand raised in front of him as he tried to brace for the carnage that he half-expected to find.

What he found, however, was something else entirely.

In the confusion following the explosion, Harry and Theo had managed to cast a series of binding spells around the man, and as Draco approached, he could see they were still clinging to their wands as they fought to maintain control. Draco spun his wand in the air, adding his own set of ropes to the collection already twisting tightly around the man. Almost immediately, he was overcome with the same sensation that Harry and Theo seemed to be struggling with – a tug of sorts that was threatening to knock him off his feet, and he gritted his teeth, attempting to help lasso the force that none of them could quite wrap their heads around.

It was then that Draco realized someone was missing, and he anxiously cast his eyes away from the group searching for the face of the man he had spent so many years hating. He released the breath he had been holding when he caught sight of his father kneeling on the ground a few yards away, a dazed look on his bloodied face as he tried to push himself up onto his feet.

The relief was brief, however, because that moment's distraction was all the man needed to take back control.

"ENOUGH!" he yelled angrily. A shockwave radiated out from the center of his body as the word left his mouth, slicing through his restraints as if they were nothing more than soft butter and sending the four men careening into the air.

The force of the attack was disorienting, and Draco heard the crash of his head slamming into the hard ground before he actually felt it. The dangerous narrowing of vision was the only warning that he got that something wasn't quite right, and then quite suddenly, pain exploded in the back of his skull. He blinked, trying to reorient himself, but the ringing in his ears was so loud that it was nauseating, and it was a moment before he was actually able to focus on anything around him.

The air was eerily silent, and even without being able to see the others, he knew whatever the man had just done had caught everyone off guard and that they were all, once again, separated from each other. He rolled onto his side, blindly reaching for his wand that had fallen out of his hands when he was tossed backward. Breathing hurt, hell, thinking hurt, and he almost cried out when he felt his hand close around the familiar round edge of his wand. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as if the man had somehow managed to cast a spell that not only physically harmed but also slowed down time, and by the time Draco made it to his feet, he couldn't even be sure that he was really still alive.

"Where is she?" he heard the man say, surprised he could comprehend anything other than the agony settling into his bones. "Where did you send her?"

It took a moment for Draco to realize that the attacker was directing his questions at him, and he blinked furiously, trying to remove the blur form his eyes.

"Who?" he croaked, struggling to steady himself as he straightened the rest of the way upright.

The man laughed, but Draco could sense the panic hidden behind it. "You know exactly who I'm talking about."

"You won't fucking find her," Draco growled in response, his hand curled so tightly around his wand that his nails were drawing beads of blood in his palm.

The man tilted his head threateningly. "Is that what you really think?" he taunted.

From somewhere on Draco's left, a curse flew at the man, but it was redirected with a simple wave of a hand.

"Fuck you," Draco heard someone yell. Theo, he thought.

"None of you have to die," the man tried to reason, keeping his eyes locked on Draco. "All I need is her location."

"Like he said," came another voice from the void. Harry, Draco recognized. "You're not going to find her."

"We'll see about that."

A small twitch in the man's mouth was all the warning Draco had to throw up a shield before a bolt of lightning descended from the sky. The hot electrical charge extended outward, showering Draco with a dizzying wave of energy that, even despite digging his heels firmly into the ground, pushed him easily backward. He grunted as he tried to push back against the attack, clenching his jaw so tightly that he thought his teeth might shatter under the pressure.

I swear if this mother fucker is some deranged descendant of Thor…

But he couldn't afford to let his thoughts wander. He was tired – dangerously so, and the slightest distraction was all it would take to overpower him now. It was taking every ounce of his concentration to keep his shield from failing, and he needed to be careful. He needed to hang on long enough for the others to get away. And so he focused on her face, clinging on for dear life as the torrent of electricity continued to push against him.

A strangled yelp suddenly rang out above the static in the air, and Draco fell heavily to his knees, somehow managing to keep his shield in front of him as the air left his lungs. Someone was hurt, and that realization was enough to suck the will to fight right out of him. The subsequent disappearance of the light only confirmed Draco's worst fears, and he dropped his head, defeated.

"Tell me where she is," the man demanded again, "or he dies."

A garbled sob escaped Draco's throat when he lifted his head and saw the face of the body now tied up next to the assailant.

"No," he whispered, raising his wand with a shaky hand, "Theo."

Draco was silent for a moment as he nervously searched for signs of Harry and his father. He found Harry first, blood cascading down the hand he had wrapped around his raised wand. They locked eyes for a moment, nodding quickly at each other before returning their attentions to the standoff at hand. Draco looked back a Theo, his heart beating furiously below his chest, and let out a small sigh of relief when his father stumbled into his periphery, the indignant look on his face obvious even behind the sickly layer of deep scarlet dripping from a wound near his hairline.

"Tell me where she is," the man repeated, aggressively shoving his wand into Theo's neck.

The thick ropes around Theo's body extended all the way over to his mouth, but Draco didn't actually need to hear his friend speak to know what he wanted to say; his eyes said enough.

Don't you fucking dare.

"Let him go," Draco said finally, wiping the blood from the side of his mouth. "Take me instead."

The man threw his head back and laughed. "You really don't get it do you?"

Draco didn't respond. This was a game he had played once before, and he was determined not to lose twice.

"First," the man continued, seemingly unperturbed by Draco's silence. "I'll kill him," he said gesturing toward Theo, "and then, I'll kill both of them," he said, now pointing between Harry and Lucius. "I'll take everything you care about. I'll take it all away." The man paused, looking pointedly at Draco. "And then what will you have?"

Her, Draco thought, suddenly more determined than he'd felt a minute ago. I'll have her. And our child.

"So, I'll ask you again, where–"

But the man never got the chance to finish his question.

A strangely familiar, feminine voice suddenly rang out across the lawn. "DREPA!"

Whoever it was, her sudden appearance had caught the man off-guard, and his eyes widened in shock before he was hit with a blinding surge of light, his body spinning backward into the freezing water of the lake behind him.

"Go!" the voice commanded, this time from somewhere nearby.

Draco turned his head, looking frantically for the new arrival despite every bone in his body telling him to run in the other direction, and he caught sight of a woman racing toward him, her dark curly hair flying behind her. Her voice was so familiar – her hair was too – but he couldn't place it, and so he stood there frozen, waiting for the pieces in his brain to finally click together.

And then they did.

What the–?

"I don't have time to explain," the woman told him quickly, catching the confusion on his face. "But you need to go. Now! I won't be able to distract him for long."

Draco simply nodded, tearing his eyes away from her to look around him, frantically looking for any sign of Theo. He could just make out his still form near the edge of the lake, and he was running before he had even formulated a plan. Theo needed him. He wasn't going to leave without him.

So focused on his task, Draco barely even registered the moment the man flew out of the lake, flinging curses at the woman as she danced around the water's edge. He threw up a disillusionment charm, hoping it was enough to hide him until he reached his friend. But he only made it a few yards before a pair of strong arms grabbed him and stopped him in his tracks.

"Draco," he heard a voice say – his father's, he registered somewhat angrily, "we have to go."

"Let me go," Draco growled, struggling to free himself. But suddenly Harry was there, pushing him back.

"He doesn't want this," Harry whispered, somewhat conflicted but resolute in his words, nonetheless. "I promised him that I'd get you out of here if I had the chance."

"No!" Draco shouted, his rage boiling over into a fit of tears. "Let go of me!"

It didn't matter how much he wanted to get to Theo, though. It didn't matter how much he struggled against their hold; he was no match for the combined strength of Harry and his father, especially not in his current state, and he knew he didn't have it in him to curse them so he could get away.

"Draco," Lucius said softly as Draco fell to the ground, "she needs you. Your child needs you."

"He needs me," was all Draco could say in response.

"We'll come back for him," Harry tried to assure him, swallowing heavily.

But Draco wasn't stupid; he knew what would happen once they left. There would be no coming back. At least not until they were sure that they could survive, and who knew how long it would take or how many other people they would need to ensure that the battle could be won. And by then…

"No," Draco gasped, still trying to shove the arms away that were holding him down. "I'm not leaving him!"

"Potter," Lucius began, his voice laden with fear as Draco continued to fight them, "now."

Harry nodded, fighting back tears of his own as he pulled a small tin can out of his pocket and held it out. Lucius grabbed hold on one of Draco's hand and threw it on the on the metal, quickly enveloping it with his own so that he couldn't jerk away.

The pause between feeling the metal under his skin and being whisked away was minuscule – it couldn't have been more than a single second – but Draco screamed so loudly that he almost passed out before the portkey tore them away from the Manor.

"You," the man said, disbelief still spread across his face.

"Yes, me," Misty told him, smiling somewhat dreamily as she ignored the blood pouring out of her mouth. "You should have killed me when you had the chance."

And he almost had done just that, but something, whatever tiny piece of heart the man still had left, had stayed his hand at the last moment, and he had left Misty crumpled on the floor, seconds away from death but very much so alive.

She hadn't been sure how long she had been asleep when she finally woke up chained to the wall of the basement in the old house, but when she did, she had never been so certain about anything than she had been at that moment. She was done playing his game. His time had been up for far too long.

The man's mistake had been telling her where he was going before leaving the house earlier that day. From there, it hadn't taken her very long to yank her hands out of her bounds, ignoring the searing pain as the sharp metal tore the skin from her hands. She had only paused long enough to heal her wounds and to grab the bottle of tonic she had long ago hidden under one of the floorboards before racing out into the storm.

And now, here she was. Finally, ready for her end.

Her eyes flickered to the man bent forward on his knees next to her, cringing as the images of what undoubtedly awaited him flashed behind her eyes.

At least the others managed to get away.

"You forgot one," the man said following the line of her gaze. "The blond will come back for him."

Theo lifted his head, enraged at mere mention of Draco, and spat on the ground in front of the man.

"Can't say I won't enjoy torturing you for a bit of information," the man, crinkling his nose in disgust before turning his attention back to Misty. "And you," he continued, still seething, "when I'm done with you, you're going to wish that all I did was torture you."

Misty almost laughed. "You're not in control of me anymore" she told him. In fact, he had no idea what she had swallowed before interrupting his show. She only wished that she could have done the same for the man next to her. "I'll be dead long before you can do anything about it."

And she was right.

The man looked her puzzled, only for realization to settle on his face at the same moment that she collapsed onto the ground in front of him, her body jerking uncontrollably. He didn't even lift a finger to stop it; instead, he watched as bright red froth began to spill out of the sides of her mouth. And when she finally stilled, he merely moved a hand in the air, slicing a long cut along her neck to ensure to job was done properly this time.

It was a quick death, much quicker than he had wanted, but it was death all the same. She wouldn't be making another guest appearance in what was going to happen next.

"Pity," the man said, kicking Misty's limp body to the side, her head rolling directly into Theo's line of sight.

Theo turned his face away from the woman's lifeless eyes, bile rising in his throat as the smell of blood permeated the air around him.

"Now, shall we?" the man asked, roughly yanking Theo to his feet. "We have so much to discuss."

Hermione had known that an attack was imminent, that it was really only a matter of time before someone came for her, but knowing was lightyears away from understanding what it would feel when it actually happened. And right now, as she was bent forward over her knees on a dusty wood floor, it hurt like hell.

The sickening feeling in her stomach only grew when she realized that she could sense everything Draco was feeling through their bond. She couldn't hear his thoughts, and she didn't dare push her way through barrier lest she distract him from the battle, but she could feel how utterly determined he was to protect her at all costs.

Costs, she knew, that meant he might not make it out alive.

And that realization was all it took for her to be sick all over again.

"Oh, Hermione," she heard Ginny say as she rushed over to her side. The red head paused to tear a piece of fabric off the bottom of her dress. "Here," she said, handing Hermione the cloth so that she could clean herself up.

"Thank you," Hermione whispered after a moment.

Even after calming down enough to assess the difficulties of their situation, she could still feel Draco's emotions swirling around in the back of her head, threatening to consume her. It was difficult to tell where her panic ended and where his began, and the combination was dangerous, almost debilitatingly so. She knew if she didn't do something about it, and quickly, she was at risk of fainting on the floor.

Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes and turned her attention inward toward the bond. No one had ever trained her in the art of Occlumency, but she had heard Harry describe it enough to know what she needed to do now. She focused on an image, a single brick, turning it around in her head, imaging the weight of it – imagining how it would feel in her hand before laying it down in front of the bridge connecting their minds. She repeated the process with a second brick, placing it next to the first, and held her breath for a moment as she waited to see if they would hold. When they did, she moved on to a third brick... then a fourth... fifth... so on, until she had constructed an entire wall.

The emotions were still there – she didn't think she'd ever be able to make them disappear entirely – but they were now much more manageable, and she opened her eyes again slowly, shifting her attention to slowing her rapidly beating heart.

"We have to do something," Hermione pleaded once she was able to manage any words at all. "We can't just leave them there," she said looking hopefully toward Narcissa who was now pacing nervously at the other end of the room.

The older witch paused her movements and turned to face her new daughter-in-law, her face exuding a multitude of emotions at once. Despite having been the one to bring them all here, she looked as tormented by the prospect of losing her husband as Hermione was of losing hers, and for a moment, it looked like she was going to agree.

"Please," Hermione begged again, not even bothering to wipe away the few tears that escaped down her cheeks. "I can't just let him die."

Narcissa's eyes flickered over to Ginny, who, despite looking like she was weak enough to topple over onto the floor next to Hermione, quickly shook her head.

"Harry made me promise…" Ginny said.

"Lucius too," Narcissa affirmed, agreeing with whatever the other woman had left unsaid. "But we can't stay here," she added after a moment, making it clear that she wasn't going to let Hermione race head first back into trouble.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, confused. "Why would we leave when they could die? I thought this was the safe house?"

We should go back, she wanted to say but didn't.

Narcissa pursed her lips together and inhaled sharply through her nose. "It is, but we were never meant to stay here for long," she said quietly, choosing, for the moment, to ignore Hermione's other question. "This place is only safe so long as none of the men are captured and tortured for information." She could barely get the words out. Her husband was in as much danger as her son, and simply uttering the words made her feel sick.

"But–"

"It would be difficult for anyone to find us here but it wouldn't be impossible," Narcissa continued, cutting Hermione off before she could protest. "Official residence or not, it's still tied to the Malfoy family, and someone could figure it out eventually. Draco made it clear that he wasn't willing to take that chance."

"We could go to Grimmauld Place," Ginny suggested, but Narcissa was already shaking her head.

"It's tied to both Harry and me," Narcissa rebutted. "I know it's well protected, but you saw what happened to the wards at Malfoy Manor… it's much too predictable of a choice."

That troubled Ginny, but she nodded quickly in understanding. "So, where then?" she asked, her voice uneasy. Like Hermione, she didn't relish the idea of running away, but there was no point in arguing. She had promised Harry she would keep Hermione safe – if that was something that was even still possible – and she wasn't to make this harder then it needed to be.

"During the war, when Voldemort was using the Manor as his personal residence," Narcissa began, shuddering at the memory "I decided to plan a way to get Draco to safety. I created a portkey, one that scrambles any evidence of magic and set it to a location that I knew no one would be able to find." She paused, catching the slight widening in Hermione's eyes.

"But that– it could have killed you," Hermione said, slightly taken aback. She knew Narcissa was a powerful witch, but this kind of magic was difficult for anyone to control. When she had first started at the Ministry, she was involved in a case where a young witch had inadvertently tied herself to an old shoe when she attempted to create a similar altered portkey. It hadn't ended well for her or for anyone within in a two-block radius.

"Yes," Narcissa said simply, "but I was willing to do anything to save him."

That at least Hermione could understand, and she let Narcissa continue without argument.

"I never told Lucius or Draco my plans, but Draco was always very observant. Apparently, he's known what I had planned all along."

"And now you're supposed to take me to wherever your altered portkey leads?" Hermione asked, not really needing the answer. She knew Draco would have asked his mother to do anything to keep her safe.

Narcissa nodded. "Not directly but yes," she told her, "He knew his thoughts wouldn't be safe if he was caught, and so he told me that I was the only one who'd know what to do once I got here. That's all he really needed to say." Her hands shook slightly as she pulled a large, metal key out of the pocket in her gown and held it out for the two women to see.

"Where does it lead?" Ginny asked, studying the object wearily.

"Nowhere notable," Narcissa explained, a corner of her mouth twitching ever so slightly as an old memory flashed behind her eyes. "Which, I believe, is precisely the point."

Ginny raised an eyebrow questionably. "And you're sure this place is still safe?"

"As safe as it was when I used to sneak away from my family to stay there," Narcissa assured her cryptically.

"What does that even mean?" Ginny asked somewhat angrily, too overwhelmed with the situation to keep her emotions at bay.

For a moment, Narcissa considered telling the fiery red head that she just needed to trust her, but she recognized something in Ginny's face that felt all too familiar – a pain she was trying desperately to hide – and decided that, at the bare minimum, both her and Hermione deserved some sort of explanation.

"I'm sure you are both well acquainted with parts of this story, so I won't dwell on the details, but there are some things that not even Lucius knows," she began, looking between Hermione, who was still kneeling on the floor with a hand restring on the swell of her stomach, and Ginny, who was standing a few paces away with her arms across her chest. "When my parents disowned my sister for marrying a Muggle-born, I was devastated. We were close before she left, and even though I didn't agree with her choices at the time, seeing my family treat her like that…" she let her words trail off, worried the memory would be too much for her to relive, especially right now while her husband was fighting for his life. "My parents threatened me," she continued, taking a deep breath. "They told me that if I had any contact with her, they'd do the same to me. But I loved Dromeda – I still do – and I couldn't stand the thought of never seeing her again."

"You continued to see her, didn't you?" Hermione queried, the pieces falling together. "Somewhere no one would think to look for either of you."

"Yes," Narcissa confirmed, draping an arm across her body so she could use it to cling tightly to the other. "Dromeda managed to find an old abandoned cottage in Shetland, and she fixed it up, turning into a sort of safe haven for the two of us. We met there whenever it was safe for me to get away."

A puzzled look settled onto Ginny's face. "But you still agreed with your parents? About blood purity?"

"Yes, for the most part," Narcissa offered in response, the embarrassment of speaking about her past beliefs long since gone. "I was raised to believe that Muggles were a threat to our way of life, but after Dromeda left to be with the man she loved, giving everything up in the process, I was conflicted." She paused taking another calming breath. "If I had fallen for someone else, perhaps my life would not have been so different from hers. But in the end, I fell for a pureblood, one who believed wholeheartedly that Muggles were a threat to our world and one whom my parents adored, and I was swept up in the same blood purity nonsense that Dromeda had fled from."

Hermione was listening to the story intently, mindlessly rubbing small circles over her stomach. It was calming to be so invested in something else, even if only for a moment, and so she tried to keep her focus on Narcissa's voice.

"We continued to see other, even after I married Lucius, but the meetings become more and more unpleasant, especially when Voldemort first came to power," Narcissa explained, cringing slightly. "And then, when I found out I was pregnant with Draco… well, it wasn't just my life on the line anymore, and I decided to cut off all contact."

Both Ginny and Hermione were quiet, trying to fit this version of Narcissa into what they had come to believe about her past self.

"You asked me if I'm sure the place is still safe," Narcissa said, turning to look at Ginny. "Well, if you trust the word of Andromeda Tonks then I can assure you that it is," her voice was barely above a whisper now. "She promised me that she'd keep it in case I changed my mind. She always knew that I'd find my way to back to her, even when I was convinced that it would never be possible. She never gave up on me."

"That's–" Hermione began but was halted by a heaviness in the back of her throat.

"Beautiful," Ginny finished for her. "I don't suppose it's in better shape than this place?" she added after a moment, risking a bit of humor as she eyed the filth on the floor below them.

Narcissa chuckled softly, and for the briefest of moments forgot about the danger facing both themselves and the men fighting to protect Hermione. "I guess we'll find out," she said sweetly, offering out her hand to pull Hermione off the ground. "Shall we?" she asked, holding out the key the key again.

Hermione nodded, placing her hand over one end of the key, her fingertips grazing the soft skin on Narcissa's wrist. Ginny followed suit, placing her hand on the other end of he key, the tips of her own fingers resting over Hermione's hand.

Narcissa piled her other on top so that the ket and the two women's hands were sandwiched between her own. "Ready?" she asked, looking between them.

"Ready," Hermione and Ginny said together.

"Vado," Narcissa muttered, initiating the Portkey. And the world began to spun around them at an incomprehensible speed.

Hermione never seemed to get used to feeling of being jerked from one place to another, and so this part was always disorienting. However, the way in which Narcissa had altered the Portkey seemed to magnify that feeling, and Hermione slammed her eyes shut, praying that it would be over soon.

Thankfully, it was. And a soon as they landed, they were overcome with the smell of sweet, salty air.

Hermione opened her eyes slowly and was quickly relieved to see that they had all made it one piece.

"Wow," Ginny said, stepping away from the group to take in their new surroundings.

Hermione followed her friend's gaze, and suddenly the change in the air made perfect sense. The cottage that Narcissa had taken them to was perched on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the ocean below. The view out of the window they had landed in front of was spectacular, even in the dim early evening light, and Hermione found herself entranced, listening to the soothing sounds of the waves crashing into rock as she watched the murky water dance below.

"I can see why you liked coming here," Hermione said, brushing her fingers along the panes of the window.

"Yes," Narcissa said, smiling softly. "It's a bit small for three, but we'll make do," she noted, her body already relaxing in the familiar surroundings. "You're standing in the study slash living area – Dromeda and I could never quite agree on what to call it, so we always just called it both," she paused, chuckling at the memory. "The kitchen is behind you," she continued. "And there are two bedrooms and a bathroom down the hall."

"I'll get some tea started," Ginny announced, moving away from the windows into the kitchen.

"And I think I'll go transfigure this," Hermione said, reluctantly turning away from the window as she gestured weakly at her wedding gown, "into something a bit more practical."

Narcissa nodded in understanding. "There should be towels in the bathroom if you'd like to bathe," she said softly, recognizing Hermione's need to be alone.

"Thank you," Hermione muttered before making her way quickly down the hall.

But the dress was just a ruse. The wall she had built to contain Draco's emotions was already threatening to come down, and it wasn't fair for Ginny and Narcissa to have to deal with that again. They had as much to lose as she did, and so she hurried toward the bathroom, hoping that once she was there, she could find a way to manage the emotions poised to drown her in sorrow.

She turned the corner into the bathroom but stopped abruptly in the doorway. Something didn't feel right. Something was painful, and yet... not. She brought her hand to the back of her head, trying to tease out the meaning of the feeling she had, but she couldn't figure it out.

Breathing heavily now, she moved her body in front of the sink, catching her tired reflection in the mirror. She looked haunted as if her body understood something her brain hadn't caught up to yet, and that scared her. She didn't like not being able to understand what was happening to her, and panic quickly replaced her frustration. Her alarm grew until it the dam she had built broke, releasing a torrent of Draco's emotions into her mind. It was him, but it was still too much – she was drowning, and she clung to the edge of the sink, holding on for dear life

And then suddenly, just when she thought it couldn't get any wore, a bone-chilling scream rang out in her mind.

Oh god, Draco.

No longer worried about distracting him, she threw herself at the barrier in her mind, desperately hoping that she had imagined the noise, but found the way blocked, almost as if…

No.

She reached out for something, anything to keep her upright. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think.

No, he can't be…

And then, a sharp pain exploded in her abdomen, and her legs give out underneath her.

No, Draco!

She hit the ground hard as the world began to spin around her.

Having heard the crash from the other room, Narcissa came racing into the bathroom, her eyes frantically searching for the source of the noise, and when she caught sight of Hermione on the floor, blood soaking through the delicate white fabric below her stomach, the color quickly drained from her face.

"Hermione!" she screamed, racing to the witch's side.

Ginny followed moments later, her eyes widening at the horror of the scene in front of her.

"Hermione, darling," Narcissa said, trying to hide the panic in her voice as she moved Hermione's head into her lap, "I need you to stay awake." She paused, brushing some of the witch's curls to the side. "There you go," she said soothingly as Hermione's eyes blinked open. "It's going to be alright. Stay with me."

"It hurts," was all Hermione managed to say in reply, a dazed look in her eyes. She tried to bend her head forward, her eyes searching for the source of the pain, but Narcissa stopped her.

"I know it does," Narcissa said, her worried eyes flickering momentarily to Ginny who was still standing frozen in the doorway.

Hermione moaned as another sharp pain radiated from her abdomen. "The baby," she mumbled somewhat incoherently as her eyes fluttered shut.

"Fuck," Narcissa swore, eyeing her wand which had rolled just out of her reach onto the floor. "Ginny, I need you to hold her," she instructed.

But Ginny didn't move. "There's so much blood," she croaked as her eyes glazed over. "What's happening?"

"She's hemorrhaging," Narcissa explained, her voice shaking as she spoke, "I'm not skilled enough with healing spells to stop it on my own, and I need to send a Patronus before it's too late."

"How–?" Ginny began but Narcissa cut her off.

"Ginny, please," she said, begging now, "She needs you."

Something seemed to finally click in Ginny's brain, and she dropped to the ground next to Narcissa, taking Hermione's head into her lap.

Free, Narcissa hastily grabbed her wand and pushed herself off the floor. It had taken her years to learn how to conjure a Patronus, but she had never actually needed to use one until now, and she hoped she'd be able to hold it together long enough to send one. Her hands were still shaking as she focused on the only memory that she knew could call something so pure and quickly muttered the words to the spell.

Sparks sputtered from the end of her wand, falling to the ground before they were able morph into anything, and she swore at her failure before taking a deep breath and trying again. She almost shouted the words the second time around, and when she saw a familiar shape appear in front of her, she cried out in relief.

"Dromeda, please, I need you," she spoke softly to the silver bear that was hovering in front of her. "She's dying. They're both dying. I have them in the place we love so much. Please, come quickly."

She didn't dare say anything else in case her message was intercepted but hoped it was enough for her sister to understand that it was an emergency, that she wouldn't have bothered her otherwise, and she watched silently until the form disappeared from view.

"No!" Ginny screeched suddenly, the terror in her voice enough to shatter whatever bit of hope Narcissa had been clinging to. "She's not breathing!"

Merlin, help us, Narcissa thought before reciting every single healing charm she could think of.

a/n: Alright, this one took a lot of wine. I do hate that I have to leave you on this cliff, but it couldn't be helped. The next few chapters are going to be a doozy, so if this one was hard for you gore-wise, I'd probably recommend that you stay away.

Shoutouts this chapter go to some more exceptionally dedicated reviewers: msbellifurnasty, drea10, and Panalegs27. Special SO to LarryFND (AO3) whose "Fuck Me!" comment had me laughing out loud in the middle of a very serious work meeting – if that doesn't teach me to remember to mute myself on Zoom, nothing will.

As with this one, I promise to get you the next chapter as soon as possible, but it probably won't be until at least Wed of next week.

Translations:

volnus (latin) ~ wound, blow, scratch, slash, disaster, gash

vado (latin) ~ go, hasten, advance, proceed, rush, haste

drepa (old norse) ~ kill, slay; strike, smite

Bloðorn (old norse, ð = 'th') ~ blood-eagle