A/N: Hello, loyal readers! As most of you know, I haven't updated a chapter since Deathly Hallows came out, CRAZY, I know! Well, here we are, about 7 months later and eagerly awaiting Half Blood Prince, THIS November! Anyway, as a more personal update, I'm moving to Anaheim next month because I've been accepted into the Disney College Program. The next six weeks of packing and moving are going to be ABSOLUTELY insane, but I'm going to TRY MY BEST to complete this part before I move, as "Unto the End, Into the Beginning" does have one more chapter. As the title suggests, part three will indeed create a new beginning for many of our characters. So, to recap from last chapter (as it was so long ago), Draco went missing, Remus and Tonks got married (like I said, my story follows very little of JK's plot line), and Hermione is having a tough time accepting her husband's disappearance, let's hope she doesn't do anything drastic. Please R/R, I'm going to base whether or not I do a part 3 on that!
Unto the End, Into the Beginning
Chapter Nine: "Leave No Man Behind…"
"Well," said Oliver, "this is it everyone, your level five training. After you make it through this, it's your final examination and certification. Now, this is set up a little differently from your other training. You've been focusing mostly in teams, but this is an individual examination. We're going to call a few of you out at a time and lead you into separate rooms. We're calling you out alphabetically, so those of you farther back in the alphabet can relax for a while. I wish I could tell you more, but this exercise is going to test what you've learned so far, and how well you do when you're caught off guard in a difficult situation. I'm afraid I can't take questions, either." Oliver added, thinking this would calm the chatter that had started among the students.
"Is it true?" Neville asked.
"Well, yeah" replied Seamus, "It's on the front page of the prophet!"
"Who do you think did it?" Jacob asked.
"What's this all about, then?" Oliver said loudly, walking to Seamus, who was holding the Prophet open wide enough for the five or six people surrounding him to read.
"Blimey…" was all Oliver could manage to say.
"NEWLYWED AND FATHER PRESUMED DEAD"
It is with much regret that this reporter writes this article today. Recently, this reporter obtained information from a very reliable source that Draco Malfoy, new husband to Hogwarts Alumni Hermione Granger, and father to Varius Damian Malfoy, is dead. Young Malfoy was kidnapped from his Manor two weeks ago. The Dark Mark was left high in the sky for all to see, and a staff member was left dead. No body has been found and Aurors currently have no suspect in this murder. No one from the Ministry was available for comment.
Draco Malfoy attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and graduated with high honors. He also served as Head Boy during his seventh year. He was continuing his education with the Ministry, and would have completed his Auror training next month. His classmates include former Hogwarts students Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Seamus Finnigan. No efforts have been made to locate Mister Malfoy, which further supports this reporter's idea that he is in fact dead.
This comes as a great loss to Draco's new wife, child, and friends. He had a promising career in his future, and I'm sure would have seen great success in business, which he inherited from his father. It is a tragedy that such a young life has been cut short. This reporter wonders if Lord Voldemort's followers are behind this, and whether or not Harry Potter will ever be able to put a stop to his killings once and for all. The staff's condolences go out to the new Mrs. Malfoy.
"Abbott, Marcus, Alabaster, James and Bones, Susan…you're up first." Oliver; whose mood had changed considerably since reading the article, announced. The three of them stood up and left in silence.
"There's got to be something we can do!" Jacob half-shouted. The news was clearly affecting him the most, as he and Draco had quickly become friends in the program.
"What CAN we do? They say he's dead." Seamus offered.
"We don't know that for sure." Jacob shot back.
"Well, maybe we should send out a search party."
"Don't you think the Ministry's got certified Aurors handling that?"
"Obviously not," Jacob spat, "I think it's going to be up to us! Remember what Draco always said? Leave no man behind! He would go looking for one of us; we should do the same for him…."
The room sat in silence until Wood came back in and called for "Bruckheimer, Jerry, Connor, Jim, and Davies, Roger.
"Well, I suppose after we finish our training today, we can go and look for him…"
"Will we be back in time for our final examination?"
"I can't believe how selfish you guys are being!" Jacob interrupted, "there will be plenty of times to take the exam, but we don't know how much longer Draco has to live if he has been kidnapped. We need to talk to his wife and then gather as many people as we can and head out to search for him based on what information we can gather. Harry?"
Harry jumped quickly as if someone had jabbed him sharply. He had been silent until Jacob drew him into the conversation. Harry didn't say anything, he only looked up at him.
"Harry, you're best friends with Hermione, aren't you? You could help us!" Jacob pleaded.
Before Harry could answer, Oliver entered the room again. "Dawson, Michelle, Edwards, Tom and Finnigan, Seamus."
"Yeah," said Harry reluctantly, "of course, right after training."
Much to Harry's relief, this seemed good enough for Jacob and he quickly went back talking to other students about where and how they would look for him.
Time seemed to have stopped. It felt like each group of students was talking longer than the last. Harry quickly lifted his head from his desk, only now realizing that he had dozed off when Oliver again opened the door. Apparently, he had been napping for sometime because Oliver called for "Lexington, Maxwell, Loxen, Charlene, and Mal…er, Nixon, Samuel."
Harry's heart sank from hearing Oliver begin to say Draco's name. Yes, Harry hated him, but this was tearing Hermione apart, and that's why it was so hard for him. He tried to push everything about Hermione and Draco into the back of his mind, however, because Harry knew that he'd be in the next group. It seemed like another hour had passed before Oliver returned once again and called for Olens, Kevin, Potter, Harry and Richardson, Naomi.
"Alright, Potter," began an Auror whom Harry had never met before, "You'll only be allowed your wand. If you use anything else, you'll automatically be disqualified and dropped back down to level four, understand?" the Auror questioned, and Harry nodded eagerly. "Good, you'll be going through an obstacle course, always have your wand at the ready, and be prepared for anything, got that Potter?" Harry nodded again and the man patted him on the back, opened up a door, and shoved him through it. Harry felt the door slam behind him.
"Lumos!" Harry shouted, and as the room was flooded with light, he realized that the room was at least four times larger than he had been anticipating. Several tables, mirrors and contraptions sat on tables throughout the room, each with a number enchanted to float above them. Harry took a deep breath and went to the first task. He read the card that was lying on the table,
Many death eaters come to know Aurors by physical appearance, characteristics, and voice. Many skilled Aurors have become the targets of Death Eaters. You must avoid having your identity compromised at all times.
Harry noticed several small vials of potions sitting beside the note, each a different color. He remembered studying the properties of different potions, many similar to Polyjuice Potion. He hesitated for a moment, picked up the purple potion, and emptied the bottle in one gulp. He felt an odd tingling sensation, and he instantly knew that he had made the right choice.
"Blonde," he said pointing his wand to his hair. He chose blue eyes and attempted to darken his skin, but didn't see much of an improvement. He lengthened his nose slightly and felt the tingling sensation start to die down.
He quickly went to the next task and stood in front of a mirror. Harry thought he looked very different, and was rather pleased with himself until he realized he had forgotten to hide something, his scar. Everyone would always be able to tell it was Harry if he didn't hide his scar; he kicked himself for his stupidity. He was sure they were going to dock him points for this. Harry also mentally kicked himself for making his appearance very similar to Malfoys. Unfortunately, he was sure this was his conscience's way of telling him to find Draco.
Each new task took longer to complete than the last. Harry was growing rather tired by the time he reached the black door at the end of the room. It had no handles, grooves, keyholes or any other kind of indication that this door would open, but Harry knew better. He felt a bone-chilling gust of wind wash over him. He was suddenly very cold, and all the happiness was leaving his body. There was a Dementor on the other side of the door, and Harry had to get rid of him.
"Alohamora!" Harry shouted, but the door didn't even budge. Harry ran his fingers down the door, trying to trigger some invisible way of entry. All warmth had completely left his body now, and he staggered away from the door. He blasted a large whole through the door and the Dementor was floating above him within seconds, trying to suck out Harry's soul. Normally in this situation, he would think of seeing his parents again. Yet, strangely enough, something else filled his mind for the first time. He was sitting on the couch with Hermione and they were holding their son. Harry felt happiness and yelled, "Expecto Patronum!"
The Dementor retreated, and the lights came back on. Harry still felt a little dizzy as he walked back into the briefing room to receive his final score. Harry sat down and looked around; he imagined most of the other cadets were feeling the same as he did. He looked around the room for Ron, but didn't see him.
"Hey Harry," said Seamus, "they just came and got Ron and Jacob. After they're done, we're gonna round up some more students and go looking for Draco."
"Seamus, why are you going? We both went to school with Draco, didn't we? You hated the Malfoys just as much as I did."
"I know, but after what happened last year….I mean, he had to kill his own father, Harry. He was abusive, and who knows what else he did. The fact that Draco's come this far to be an Auror, get married and have a kid and then just split? Something's not right here, Harry. Harry? Are you listening?" Seamus questioned, nudging Harry slightly.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm listening. I have somewhere we can meet."
"Great, thanks Harry."
Harry only nodded.
Hermione screamed as Harry came crashing through the door; glass scattering everywhere. Lucius loomed over him, shouting, "Look at the famous Harry Potter now, reduced to a quivering child! I shall have pleasure in killing each and every one of you."
Hermione
clutched Remus to her chest and began to walk backwards slowly. Harry
scooted backwards as Lucius approached him. His leg felt numb and
looking down at it, he saw a large, sharp piece of glass sticking out
of it. He looked to Hermione, who seemed to be frozen where she
stood, and ordered her to leave. He couldn't move, but he had to
hold Lucius off somehow, at least long enough for them to escape. He
pulled the large piece of glass out of his own leg, cringed in pain,
and stabbed it into Lucius' leg. This distracted him for a few
seconds, long enough for him to shout a warning to Hermione.
"Hermione
get out of here!"
"No
Harry, I love you!"
"I
love you too...now go!"
"AVADA KEDRAVA!" Lucius bellowed, a flash of green illuminating the dark room.
"NO!" Hermione screamed, bursting into sobs.
Hermione jolted awake, drenched in sweat. Why was she having this dream again? She hadn't had that dream since she had been pregnant with Varius, when she felt like her life with Harry and Remus had been so real. She wanted to have dreams about Draco again, hoping that somehow that would help her find him. Draco, wherever he was, was being tortured for something he had down to cross this Perseus Aitor, whoever he was. Over the years, she had heard of several of Voldemort's followers, but never an Aitor. Hermione was determined to find out who this man was, and why he wanted to kill Draco. It had already been a week since Hermione had received the note, why hadn't she received another one? She decided to get up, there was no way she'd be able to go back to sleep now.
She walked to Varius' crib, which she had moved into the bedroom after Draco disappeared, she wasn't going to take any chances with her son. She cradled him softly, and kissed his head. A very thin patch of light blonde hair was beginning to grow in, and she couldn't even look into his bright blue eyes without thinking of Draco. When she was done feeding Varius, she laid him gently into his crib and went to shower; she couldn't wait to look for Draco any longer. It had to be done now.
"Why would you bring them all here?" Remus asked Harry.
"I knew it would be safe here, and we can trust them."
"I wasn't questioning their credibility…"
"They want to help look for Draco. As much as I hate him, I have to agree that it doesn't add up. Or, if I do find him and he has skipped out on Hermione and Varius, I want to be the one that finds him, and make him regret even looking at Hermione in the first place."
Remus sighed, "Alright, but if we go out there and look for Draco, we're going to be running into Death Eaters, maybe even Voldemort, so I want you prepared."
"I am prepared! Remus, you know…"
"Harry, I do not doubt your ability with a wand, or quick thinking. Nevertheless, you never mastered Legilimens and you know how important this is. No one can know what we're doing."
"And you think I'm going to jeopardize that?"
"Well, no. Not intentionally, of course."
"I can handle him."
"Alright, fine. Just humor me then, and let's see how well you've learned Occulumency."
"Legilimens!" Remus shouted at Harry without warning, and suddenly he was thinking of his parents, about finding out who Sirius Black was, the first time he kissed Hermione at graduation. He could see himself coming home to her fixing dinner, and kissing Remus on the head. He saw then making love in the moonlight, and Lucius Malfoy breaking into their home. Harry suddenly felt very afraid, as if he had to protect them. Then he felt very cold as he saw Lucius standing over him, laughing, and then everything went dark.
"Harry? Harry?" Lupin gave Harry and quick shake and he came to.
'What happened? How long was I out?"
"I caught you off guard and was able to read your mind, and you were only out about 5 minutes."
"Why did you do that, Remus?"
"To prove to you that you still aren't ready to face him. He'll get inside your head Harry, and he'll make you suffer by exploiting your weaknesses."
"I get the picture, I'll work on it. But we're going to find Draco first, so let's deal with that for now." said Harry, who stood up too quickly and was feeling rather lightheaded.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"I saw something….something that I know never happened. You had a son and a life with Hermione, and Lucius Malfoy killed you."
"What are you talking about?"
"Harry, I know what I saw. Is there something that you aren't telling me?"
"I…it was just a dream. It felt more real to me than any other dream I've had before, but that's all it was. A dream."
Remus nodded, and then left the study and went downstairs. Several members of the order had joined Harry's classmates, and they were having a very heated discussion. Jacob, who was determined to bring his friend home, had taken the lead in organizing where to look.
Hermione knocked on the door of the Burrow until Molly answered.
"Oh, Hermione dear, it's so nice to see you."
Hermione came in and shut the door behind her.
"Is something wrong, dear?"
"Well, yes. I need to go find Draco."
"You shouldn't go by yourself, you need to wait…"
"Molly, it's been two week. I'm done waiting; I need to find my husband. I was wondering if you could watch Varius for me while I'm away, I know he'll be safe here."
"Of course, Hermione," Molly said, taking Varius into her arms.
Hermione pulled back the blanket from Varius' face and gently kissed his forehead, "I'll be home with daddy soon, sweetie. I love you."
Molly squeezed Hermione's hand gently and warned, "Be careful dear."
"I will Molly, and thank you."
Hermione waited for the door to shut behind her, and began to sob uncontrollably. She had no idea where she was going to find Draco. Now that she was actually going to look for him, she realized that she had no idea where she was going to look. She pulled the crumpled note out from her pocket, and read it for the hundredth time.
Mrs. Malfoy -
Your husband will pay dearly for his foolishness. We have taken him for judging by the Dark Lord for his disloyalty. We look forward to your feeble attempt to rescue him. It would be our please if Mister Potter accompanied you.
Perseus Aitor
She flipped over the paper, already knowing there was nothing on the back. Hermione returned to the manor after stopping off at Gringotts to see if their had been any activity on their account, but there hadn't been any withdrawals since before his disappearance, and there was nothing out of the ordinary. She figured she should start in the library, maybe Draco kept some sort of record of what he had been doing, maybe even other locations of manors. She remembered her first few years at Hogwarts, there had always been that rumor that the Malfoys owned a lot of secret property.
Hermione went into kitchen to pour herself a glass of water before heading up to the library, but nothing came out of the faucet. She turned it off and tried again, but no luck. She went into the downstairs bathroom, and the water wasn't working either. The plumbing had been working just a few hours ago before she left, why wasn't it now? Hermione headed down to the basement to check their water, and felt a chill wash over her. She flipped the light switch on, but she heard a loud, pop! and the light went out.
A flick of her wand filled the basement with light, and she walked to the end of the stairs to find where their pipes were. She could hear running water, and that's when she saw a crack in one of the pipes. Water had begun to flood the basement floor, and had made the wall very damp. Hermione pressed her hand against it to feel how much it had damaged to wall. Her hand went straight through the wall and she pulled away. Remembering all the hidden things in the chamber under Hogsmeade, she drug her hand along the wall until she found a crack, and tried to pry it open. She tried a series of passwords, but nothing worked. She looked up at the broken light, and while she found it to be too obvious, pulled on the fixture, which came out of the wall, and part of the wall retracted into itself, revealing a very small and very dusty study.
Hermione knew that it had been here long before they moved into the manor, because not enough time had passed for that much dust to collect. She found an old set of candlesticks, and shot a spark from her wand to light the candle's wick. Hermione picked up the candlestick, and her stomached dropped like it did every time she used floo powder. Everything around her was a blur, but she knew what was happening. She had picked up a portkey, and she was leaving the manor.
Draco didn't know exactly how long it had been since Aitor took him from the manor, but he knew several days had passed by now. He wished he would just come and do his worst already, so Draco could try to escape. He needed to be with Hermione, and Varius. His son was only a few weeks old, hardly enough time for a father and son to know each other. Draco couldn't eat or sleep until he knew what was going on, what they were planning for him. He didn't want to die and leave them alone in this world, but he also didn't want to kill Harry Potter.
"You're an idiot!" Draco told himself. After everything he had done to get Hermione back, he couldn't even kill Harry Potter, the boy who had made his life hell for seven years.
"Why should I kill him? He never killed me, and it was more my father who made my life a living hell, and I sure as hell didn't have any problem killing him."
-
Catch
me as I fall
Say you're here and it's all over now
Speaking to
the atmosphere
No one's here and I fall into myself
-
"That was to get Hermione back!" he shouted into the dark room, justifying himself to no one.
"And what would Hermione think, if she knew the truth? Would see still love you?"
-
This
truth drives me
Into madness
I know I can stop the pain
If I
will it all away
-
Draco began to question the inner voice that was nagging at him. Something wasn't right, he began to wonder who was actually saying those things to him. Somehow, he knew Aitor has behind all of this. Draco jolted upright when he heard the door handle jiggle and saw three men in hooded capes enter the dungeon.
-
Don't
turn away
(Don't give in to the pain)
Don't try to hide
(Though
they're screaming your name)
Don't close your eyes
(God knows
what lies behind them)
Don't turn out the light
(Never sleep
never die)
-
Draco tried to free his hands, but the ropes only bound him tighter. The man in the middle kicked Draco from his chair. Another took his foot to Draco's stomach. The three of them began to beat and kick Draco's head, stomach and legs.
"Crucio!" One of them bellowed, and Draco felt as if a thousand knives were piercing his entire body. Draco, humiliated, good do nothing to fight back. He could taste blood in his mouth, and his vision began to blur. He only thought of when he would see his wife and son again.
-
I'm
frightened by what I see
But somehow I know
That there's much
more to come
Immobilized by my fear
And soon to be
Blinded
by tears
I can stop the pain
If I will it all away
-
Draco allowed himself to think that if made if through this torture, his punishment would be served. But deep down, Draco knew better. He had refused to pay his debt to the man who had given him a second chance at life, and a family…and now, he was here to collect.
The third man drew a large dagger from his pocket, but that last thing he had on his mind was cutting rope. He used it to tear the shirt from Draco's back and made several deep cuts that drenched his back in crimson.
Draco did his best to keep from screaming in pain, but even wincing made the three men laugh victoriously at him. Draco began to feel very dizzy, and for the first time in his life, he was afraid. He certainly wasn't afraid of, mostly because he had encountered it before. He was afraid that he had lost Hermione and Varius for good, and there wasn't going to be anything he could do about it this time.
Fallen
angels at my feet
Whispered voices at my ear
Death before my
eyes
Lying next to me I fear
She beckons me
Shall I give
in
Upon my end shall I begin
Forsaking all I've fallen for
I
rise to meet the end
-