Patience had never really been something Draco possessed much of, but he was extremely patient as he awaited rescue. Draco didn't doubt that rescue would come, and he was even fairly sure that it would be Hermione who would reach him first. The Order had made a massive mistake in kidnapping him, and Draco knew they would come to regret such a rash move. Without all the facts in their possession, they'd made a move that was always destined for failure.
Draco had no recollection of being snatched by Sirius. He could remember popping to Knockturn Alley, and then the next thing he knew, he was waking up in an old house, tied to a chair. Draco had barely had a chance to get the measure of his surroundings when he'd heard voices and people approaching, so he'd faked still being unconscious. That had meant he'd heard everything the Order had planned, and a few times he'd had to work hard not to laugh as he thought about how their plan was going to blow up in their faces.
Draco was amazed that the trio of Sirius, Harry and Ron had honestly thought their plan would work. Even without the fact that Hermione would be at the manor, he couldn't believe Potter and Weasley genuinely thought they knew enough about him to fool the people closest to him. They barely knew each other, and what they did know of each other was tainted by them being on opposite sides of the war. Draco wasn't stupid enough to think he knew either of the Gryffindors well enough to pose as them, as he knew the personality they displayed towards him wouldn't be the same as the one their friends and family saw, just like the Draco they had experience with, wasn't the same Draco as the one the people closest to him knew.
Although even if they had been able to pull off pretending to be him, Draco had known they still would have been rumbled. Hermione's presence was key to them getting caught and Draco had known seeing Hermione would throw them off track and their reaction would be enough to arouse her suspicions. Draco had tried to warn them once he made it clear he was awake, but they hadn't listened and they'd rushed off to carry out their ingenious plan.
Draco wasn't the least bit surprised when Potter and Weasley had then returned on their own. As he predicted their plan had failed, and Sirius had been caught. Now all he had to do was sit back and wait for rescue, because he knew it was coming. If he knew Hermione, she would have returned to the Order and gotten the information she needed from the two idiots who thought she was their friend. With any luck she would get to him before nightfall as he didn't fancy spending another night tied to the chair. He was lucky that Sirius had cast a spell that dissipated any need he might have had to use the bathroom, so at least he hadn't had any embarrassing accidents, and with his hands now tied in front of his body he had a bit more freedom of movement, but he still couldn't do more than shuffle the chair around the room and he wanted to be free.
With freedom hovering every nearer, Draco's patience began to wane and he began muttering to himself as he waited for rescue. He was so busy muttering to himself, and trying to use wandless magic to loosen his restraints, that he didn't notice noise outside of the cottage until the door handle began to turn. Shuffling the chair back to face the door, Draco waited to face his captors yet again. While he was hoping Hermione was with his captors, he still expected to see Potter and Weasley so it was rather a shock when his girlfriend entered the room all on her own.
"Granger," Draco said warily, not knowing if Potter and Weasley were right behind her. He didn't know if she'd been forced to break her act, and if she hadn't, he didn't want to be the one to risk her safety by revealing just how close they were.
"Hello Draco," Hermione said with a relived smile. "Honestly, the trouble you get yourself into when I'm not around to look after you."
"I don't need looking after," Draco muttered as Hermione walked over to him. It was now clear that wherever Potter and Weasley were, they weren't with Hermione.
"It looks like it," Hermione remarked with a chuckle. "So do you want my help, or can you free yourself?"
"If I could free myself, do you really think I would still be sitting here?" Draco questioned, arching an eyebrow at his girlfriend. "Just untie me, Hermione."
Hermione chuckled again as she magically untied the bindings. Draco slowly rolled his wrists to return the feeling in them, before gingerly getting to his feet and stretching his legs. Once he was sure there was no adverse effects from being tied up for a couple of days, he turned back to Hermione with a wolfish grin on his face.
"I suppose you want thanking now."
"I wouldn't say no," Hermione replied with a smile.
With two large strides, Draco was at Hermione's side and without uttering a word, he pulled her into his arms and slanted his lips over hers. Hermione eagerly responded to the kiss, tangling her hands in her boyfriend's platinum blond hair as he pulled her even closer. Hermione moaned slightly when she felt the beginning of Draco's arousal pressing at her thigh. As tempting as it was to give into their lust, she knew they were expected back at the manor and a search party would be sent out if they didn't return soon. Reluctantly, she pulled her head away from Draco's, licking her lips to savour the taste of him.
"That was some thank you," she remarked as she regained he breath.
"That was only the starter," Draco replied, pulling Hermione back into his arms.
"As much as I would love to, we don't have time," Hermione said, stopping Draco before he could reconnect their lips. "Our fathers will know I've located you, and if we don't return soon, they'll start looking for us."
"How will they know you've found me?" Draco asked. "And for that matter, how did you find me?"
"That was easy," Hermione laughed. "Harry and Ron led me straight to you."
"Potter and Weasley are here?" Draco asked, glancing towards the door in case either of them showed their faces.
"No, they're back at the manor," Hermione said. "I'll explain everything once you're home."
"Home sounds like heaven," Draco admitted. "I'm dying for a shower."
"If you're very lucky, I might scrub your back," Hermione said teasingly.
"As long as you don't ignore other parts of me," Draco returned with a cheeky smile.
"I won't," Hermione vowed as she took hold of Draco's hand and led him out of the cottage.
Since Draco's wand was at the manor and he'd been held captive for a couple of days with very little food and drink, he was more than happy to let Hermione take charge of getting them home. Like Hermione he didn't like side along apparition, but it was a small price to pay to be returning home. With Hermione in control, the pair left the secluded beach cottage and arrived safely back in the luxury of Malfoy Manor.
As both Draco and Hermione lived at the manor the wards allowed them to apparate directly into the large house and they landed in the front hallway. Voldemort was waiting for them alongside Draco's parents, and the moment they landed, Narcissa flew at her son and embraced him tightly in her arms as she wept quietly. Lucius was more reserved than his wife, but the moment Draco was free from Narcissa he clasped his son in his arms, filled with emotion.
"It's nice to have you back, Draco," Voldemort said to the young wizard.
"It's nice to be back," Draco replied, smiling at his family gathered around him.
"Are you alright?" Narcissa asked in concern. "Do you need a healer?"
"No, I'm just tired and hungry," Draco replied, giving his mother's hand a reassuring squeeze. "If no-one minds, I'd like to take a shower and have something to eat before we talk. I want to know everything."
"I'll get the elves to prepare your favourites," Narcissa said. Giving her son another hug she hurried off to galvanise the elves into action.
"Once you're ready, your father and I will be in his study," Voldemort said. "We can all be brought up to date, and we can discuss what happens next."
"I assume you got our two guests," Hermione said, looking to Lucius.
"They're settling in down in the dungeons," Lucius replied.
"We're taking it that means it was just the three of them involved in this scheme," Voldemort said.
"Yes, it was just the three of them," Hermione said. "I do hope we haven't missed anything with Harry and Ron."
"We haven't touched them, other than to make sure they're secure in their cells," Lucius reassured the young witch.
"But rest assured they will get what's coming to them, just like Black did," Voldemort added.
"Does that mean Sirius is gone?" Hermione questioned.
"Not quite, but he won't last much longer," Voldemort replied. "We tried to keep him alive for Draco. We thought he deserved to witness the man who kidnapped him receive his final punishment."
"I appreciate that," Draco said. "I'll look forward to witnessing his end."
Hermione handed over the wands she'd collected to her father, before she accompanied Draco up to his room. Wearily Draco undressed while Hermione got the shower going. When he was naked, he stepped under the steaming hot water and just let it run over his tired body. Keeping her promise to help Draco in the shower, Hermione also stripped off and joined her boyfriend under the hot spray.
"You just let me take care of everything," Hermione purred, grabbing a cloth, squirting some shower gel onto it and running it over Draco's torso.
"Thank you," Draco whispered, closing his eyes and relaxing as Hermione's hands roamed his body, washing and then teasing him.
As Hermione's hands roamed his body, Draco's fatigue began to lift and instead arousal flooded his body. Feeling a fresh burst of energy come over him, Draco pulled the wash cloth out of his girlfriend's hands and discarded it on the floor of the shower. Pushing Hermione against the glass wall of the shower, he connected their lips in a brutal kiss, unable to get enough of her after his kidnapping and their brief separation.
"Someone's feeling more alert," Hermione chuckled, her laughter turning into a moan as Draco's hard erection pressed against the inside of her thigh.
"Much more alert," Draco returned, pushing into his girlfriend and beginning to make love to her.
Talking ceased as the pair made love under the hot spray of the shower. When they were finished they cleaned themselves again and emerged from the shower. Heading into Draco's room they found a tray full of Draco's favourite foods on his desk. Draco ate as he and Hermione got dressed, and by the time the tray was empty, they were ready to go and find out what was happening with the prisoners.
Surprisingly, Narcissa was in Lucius's study when they entered. Normally Narcissa kept out of Death Eater business, but as she pointed out, this time it was personal. Her son had been kidnapped and held against his will, and she wanted to see the perpetrators punished.
"Don't hold back on my account," Narcissa said to everyone in the room. "I might not have the mark, but you all know I support the cause. A bit of death and torture doesn't faze me in the slightest. I'm tougher than I look."
Everyone agreed not to hold back for Narcissa's sake, and the conversation got underway. Draco started by revealing everything he knew about his kidnapping, not that he could remember much of that, and his time in captivity. Hermione, Voldemort and Lucius then brought Draco up to date with everything else that had happened. They explained how they caught Sirius posing as Draco, how he'd refused to talk, and then how Hermione had gone back to the Order and gotten exactly what they'd wanted.
"It almost seems too easy," Draco chuckled as Hermione told her part of the story.
"That's the beauty of me being in the heart of the Order for so long," Hermione replied with a shrug. "They trusted me. Harry and Ron never thought twice about confiding in me. In fact they were so eager for my help, it never occurred to either of them to ask why I was there."
"They'll know now," Draco said. "So what happens now? Are we going to kill them both?"
"We are," Voldemort replied with a nod. "In fact we're going to end this entire war. The pair of you can take your exams from home, you'll not be going back to Hogwarts after Easter."
"I hate to say this, but killing Harry isn't going to just end the war," Hermione said. "He might be the chosen one, but there's still Dumbledore to contend with. They fought without Harry before he was born, and they'll fight after he's dead."
"That's why we're going to take Dumbledore out as well," Voldemort said. "We're going to keep Potter alive long enough to lure Dumbledore and the Order into a battle. Once we've disposed of them both we've effectively won this war. True the Order might still fight, but without their saviour and their leader, they're virtually useless."
"I'm assuming you've got a plan for this big battle," Hermione said.
"It still needs a few kinks ironing out, but the basis is there," Voldemort replied. "But we don't need worry about that for a few more days. Right now we've got some prisoners to take care of. Black and Weasley are expendable, and I expect them to be dead before the battle. Potter needs to last a bit longer, but he doesn't need to be in great shape."
"Does this mean we can do some torturing ourselves?" Hermione asked with an eager grin.
"I think the pair of you have earned it," Voldemort said as he got to his feet. "I think it's time we paid our guests a visit, don't you?"
Draco and Hermione shared a wicked grin as they followed Voldemort down to the dungeons, ready to get their vengeance on the trio who had kidnapped Draco. It really was a reckless thing to have done, and in the end it was going to cost, Sirius, Ron and Harry their lives.