Chapter 28

Draco staggered into a clearing, trying his best to be as silent as possible. He'd avoided most of the few Death Eaters he'd seen, Stunning a couple when they got too close. But he knew he wasn't going to be able to run much farther.

He must have been hit by something. His whole left side was aching abominably, and he was nearly certain there was blood seeping through his robes. But he didn't have the time to figure out what the problem was. He had to keep moving or they were going to find him, and for the life of him, he could not seem to find the edge of the Anti-Apparition wards.

This clearing looked familiar, though. There were a few patches of earth that looked like they'd blown up when hit with a few Expulsos. He vaguely remembered running through there with a couple of masked wizards yelling threats at him, before he'd lost them farther into the forest.

So was he going in circles? If this was the same spot from earlier, no wonder he couldn't find the edge of the wards!

Draco shook his head, trying to clear his mind. It was all fuzzy, making it difficult to think clearly. Which direction should he go next?

He remembered heading east, past the tree line, from here the last time, so he thought maybe he should try a different direction. North, probably.

He took a couple of shaky steps and quickly revised his plan. He wasn't going to get much farther, not in the condition he was in. He could continue wandering aimlessly, pass out from loss of blood, and hope it's an Auror that finds him rather than a Death Eater. (Were the Aurors even all out yet? Were they all just wandering aimlessly within these stupid wards? No, no, everyone else probably Portkeyed out, that's right. Wait, why didn't he Portkey? Oh, the Artifact. Right.) Or he could bunker down in a fortified position.

Draco shook his head to clear his thoughts, then listened carefully to the noises around him. He didn't hear anything suspicious. A muttered Hominem Revelio didn't work that well outdoors, but at least it didn't reveal anyone particularly close by. He had a few moments, at least, to figure out what to do next.

His first inclination was to avoid the open clearing, knowing there wasn't anywhere to hide. Perhaps he could get up into a tree?

That thought was quickly shaken off, as Draco was pretty sure he had no strength to get into a tree, and supposing he did fall unconscious, the last thing he wanted was to fall out of said tree. Though the idea of his unconscious body falling on top of an unsuspecting Death Eater did sound like it would make a pretty bad-ass story, it also sounded like the kind of story that would be told by someone else and would end with an 'RIP.'

Draco was determined not to die. All his life he'd had a pretty strong resolve to live, and as that hadn't changed throughout the Occupation of Malfoy Manor (as he liked to call it), or any of the horrible events of the War, it certainly wasn't going to change now. Certainly not now that he was very, very close to what he'd been wanting for a very long time.

His fuzzy memory brought back a surprisingly clear image of Hermione, sleepy with tousled hair, as she told him that she might be in love with him. His heart flipped, as it always did whenever he remembered the sweetness of that moment and the incredible feeling that life could be exceptionally good and not just incredibly tedious.

She might love him. Surely it was just a matter of time before she did. And damn if he wasn't determined to stick around to make sure.

He would not die.

And being captured was not high on his list, either. He was not a popular person with any crowd, and it was hard to say which one hated him the most: the Death Eaters or his fellow Aurors. The Aurors, of course, still sneered at him and didn't trust him because of the Mark on his arm. But the Death Eaters were furious at the amount of them he'd personally ferreted out (Ha! Wait, wasn't there a reason that wasn't supposed to be funny?) and thrown into Azkaban.

They viewed him as a traitor to the cause, as an Unfaithful. When he and Harry found Travers and (Shit, who's that other guy?) Rookwood, he was sure that would only make them more livid, and they already wanted to hang him by his entrails and kill him.

Kill him and then hang him by his entrails? Kill him by hanging him by his entrails?

Draco was suddenly and irrationally concerned that it was his entrails that were hurting so badly on his left side. Where were entrails again?

But thinking of trails and of Harry reminded him that he had a partner. That's right, for the first time in a long time, he was working with a partner…who was…where was he?

Right, he'd Portkeyed out. His partner was safe, but would no doubt be coming back.

So all he had to do was keep himself hidden until Harry came back for him.

Great, now he had a plan.

With the limited brain-power he still had left, Draco realized that unless Harry was very, very quick, he would most likely be unconscious when help arrived. He needed someplace he could hide…but someplace not too hidden…

His side ached, and he pressed a hand to it, dimly noting that it was definitely blood soaking through his robes.

Looking around the clearing, his eyes fell upon a clump of white heather. In flower language, it meant protection. Legend held that no white heather would grow where blood had been shed. He could use some protection right about now.

Slowly, an idea trickled into his head. He'd be putting an awful lot of faith in Potter, who was distressingly unsophisticated (Thirteen roses, really?!), but he didn't see any other choice. It was the best he could do.

He would have to act fast, as once he started, his magic was bound to draw the Death Eaters straight to him.

The transfigurations were first, as they were the quietest. His hand shook as he made the delicate adjustments, trying to keep his mind clear and focused. He was distracted by the chanting in his head that told him he needed to go much faster. He managed to finish only a few, realizing he didn't have the energy to do more and still finish the rest of his plan.

That would have to do. He added a quick finishing touch to make sure to catch Potter's attention.

Then he settled himself, and when he was ready, he pointed his wand at the (thankfully) still-empty clearing, and called up the last of his energy. "Expulso!"

Ginny shot up from her chair, glancing at her wrist where the silver cuff on it had suddenly warmed up. "Harry's awake!"

Gathering Baby Jamie in her arms, she quickly started down the corridor where she knew Harry's room was located, Hermione following close behind.

The nurse guarding the entryway looked up from her files to protest again, but abruptly shut her mouth at Ginny's glare.

"Incompetent mediwitch, I had to find out from someone else that my husband is awake and calling for me!" she bit off as she pushed past the woman.

"I—I—I'm sorry, Mrs Potter, I didn't know!" Her weak voice followed them down the corridor since they didn't stop to wait for her response.

"Gin," Hermione chastised quietly, "she couldn't possibly have been alerted that quickly."

"I know," Ginny admitted absently, her eyes focused on the doors in front of her, trying to remember which turns to take to reach the wards Harry usually ended up in. "But I wanted to yell at her for not letting me in earlier. Come on, I think it's this way."

She was right, as once they got closer, they could hear loud voices coming from a set of rooms behind a door that was ajar. Despite Ginny's self-assurance with the nurse, she slowed down as they approached, hesitating outside the door.

"Harry, you must get back into bed! There is no way that you are going back out into the field." The deep bass rumble and the accompanying accent belonged unmistakably to the Minister of Magic.

"My partner is out there!" Harry's voice, of course. "Do you know what they'll do to him if they find him? He's a Malfoy—the Malfoy—for Merlin's sake! They hate him; he's at the top of their hit lists, possibly even higher than me. They're aiming for him every time we're out there."

"Harry, we'll find him," someone said, but his voice was quickly drowned out as Harry continued.

"He's dead—worse than dead—if they find him first! I need to get back out there, I'm not abandoning him."

"Of course not, Harry, the other Aurors are looking for him right now!"

"Not that they'll find him," another voice interjected, coldly. "Tell me again why he couldn't just Portkey out?"

"I told you, he must have taken the Artifact off of me, and he can't Portkey with it. He's waiting for the wards to come down so he can bring it in."

"The wards have been down for thirty minutes now," the rude voice said, disbelief clearly evident in his tones. "A dangerous Dark Artifact, and a Death Eater who's nowhere to be found—"

"Former Death Eater!" several voices shouted.

"—always knew he was going to run back to his own kind! I told you from the very beginning, it was only a matter of time!"

There were the sounds of scuffling and Ginny and Hermione looked at each other in alarm, making for the door as one. Hermione already had her wand out, incensed at the implications that Draco was less than trustworthy.

But the door was abruptly yanked all the way open and a body shoved through the doorway. The women had just enough time to get out of the way before an Auror in full gear stumbled out and came to a halt.

Auror Edwards, Hermione identified him, remembering him vaguely from her visits to the Auror offices. He had a chip on his shoulder and a superiority complex.

Edwards tried turning around but the hand gripping the back of his robes prevented him. "You don't outrank me, Macmillan!" he yelled, twisting to get free.

"I do today, you fuckwit!" the Hufflepuff yelled angrily. "Go home, you're relieved of duty!" He let the man go with a final shove.

Quickly, the rude Auror turned around, sneering, "Don't you need me to help with the useless Search and Rescue?"

"No," Ernie said, shortly. "Now leave before I arrest you for insubordination."

"You're not going to find him, you arse, he's long gone."

"You'd better hope we don't find him," Ernie retorted, "or he's going to make you wish your mother had never had the bad sense to wink at your father. And you can be sure I'll tell him everything you said."

The man paled, and with a last glare, walked off stiffly.

Ernie waited until the man had rounded the corner, and then the angry set of his face quickly faded into something more tired. He looked over at Hermione and Ginny standing there wide-eyed, and said, "I'm sorry, he was just—I was just—" He gestured the direction the man had gone.

"We heard," Hermione said, surprised at the fierceness from her former classmate.

"I'm sorry," Ernie repeated, and none of them were sure if he meant the sentiments of Auror Edwards that represented beliefs a good chunk of the population still held about former Death Eaters, or if he meant the entire situation. Or maybe that really poor insult about the winking thing.

The voices from inside the room rose again.

"You have to wait at least until the Healer clears you, Harry. Your condition is not stable enough!"

"I'm going now, Kingsley! You hired me for this job, so let me do my job!"

It was at that moment that Ginny decided to barge in and make her presence known, with Hermione and Ernie barreling in after her.

"Harry Potter, you get yourself right back into that bed! Until you've been cleared by a proper Healer, I had better not see you moving so much as a muscle!"

With the baby on her hip, and the determined look on her face, she was the spitting image of a riled up Molly Weasley. But where the formidable Mrs Weasley would have had everyone jumping to attention, not a single soul in the room moved for Mrs Potter.

Harry just look at her, his face serious, before he crossed the room and wrapped his arms around his wife and his son.

She made as if to pull back, concerned for him being up and about, but he just held her close.

"Gin," he breathed into her hair, so low Hermione was sure she wouldn't have been able to hear if the room hadn't fallen so silent. "You know I have to go."

When Ginny made to protest, Harry whispered something else into her ear, and she abruptly stopped struggling and leaned into him. "I know."

He held her just a moment longer, and then he kissed her forehead as he let her go, kissing Baby Jamie, too. Then he turned to continue putting his stained Auror uniform back on. A quick Tergeo hadn't removed the blood, but it had made it wearable again, and Merlin knew he didn't have time to worry about how he looked.

Kingsley could tell when he'd lost an argument and didn't object, though the look on his face made it clear he was less than pleased.

Fully dressed, Harry passed Hermione on his way out the door. Looking at her, he said quietly, "I'll bring him home," before he marched through the door, a man on a mission.

Ernie was close on his heels, and echoed, "We will bring him home," as he followed him out.

Ernie's partner brought up the rear, her heavy auburn hair plaited down her back like it normally was. Hermione hadn't realized she was in the room, as she hadn't heard her voice in the shouting from earlier. Susan stopped briefly in front of the two women, rolled her eyes and said, "Men," with a chuckle before she, too, hurried down the corridor.

A/N: Wow, I'm so glad to see so many of you are still reading this! And welcome to all the new readers. Those who just jumped onboard are just in time! I want to stress again how very thankful I am for all of your reviews and comments. Whether it's just to say how much you like it, or whether you are expressing frustration with the characters or with the unfinished status of the story...I truly appreciate all of it. And everyone who favorites my story, recs it online on Tumblr or on Facebook...I'm always blown away by how many people are touched by my writing.

This story is on an every-other-day update schedule till all nine new chapters are posted. So no need to ask for more, it's coming.

A special shout-out to Septima Bode and Athenaa, the two biggest fans and best pre-readers (when they can) that a girl could ask for! Also, many thanks to Sleepygrimm for her time and effort on these chapter covers. Check out her Tumblr for more fantastic fanart! Big thanks to my Inker pals for their support, and to the girls of the Facebook groups Dramione Fanfiction Forum and Dramione Fanfiction Writers, who helped me through a lot of writer's blocks with word sprints. And of course, much love to my beta, brandinm05, who works tirelessly to make this story the best it can possibly be.

S&R: CONSTRUCTIVE REVIEWS WELCOME (CRW), which means I appreciate everything, truly, so don't be afraid to tell me what you think...especially about poor Draco, right?!