Mr. Malfoy crumpled the letter in his fist. He had just been informed by owl that Voldemort had gotten tired of waiting and had gone for the girl himself. He put his head in his hands, rubbing them a little.
Draco walked into the room, fastening a tie around his neck. "I was thinking I'd drop by Harper's after work today. I feel like I left kind of suddenly yesterday…" Lucius sighed and looked at his son, knowing there was no easy way to explain this.
"She won't be there Draco" he said bluntly, continuing to eat his eggs. Draco looked at him, a little confused. "What makes you say that?" he asks, still adjusting his tie in the mirror. Lucius dabbed his mouth with his napkin before getting up.
"The Dark Lord has decided that he wants an heir to continue Slytherin's bloodline. I suggested Harper as a potential vessel for this child." He said calmly. Draco's face lost all of its color. "You what?" He rasped, turning his attention away from the mirror.
"Draco, I know you've formed an attachment to this girl but you must let it go now" Lucius instructed calmly. "She belongs to the Dark Lord" Draco's face quickly turned from shock to anger.
"She doesn't belong to anyone! Have you even stopped to consider what you've signed Harper up for? He'll…" he paused to let out a shudder. "… touch her… And what if something were to happen to the baby. It wouldn't be her fault but he would blame her! He might even kill her if something were to happen!"
Lucius attempted to pat his son's shoulder, to comfort him, but Draco promptly jerked his shoulder away. "Listen son, I'm not worried about Harper's safety. The Dark Lord is quite fond of her"
Draco could not believe his father's stupidity. "For how long? You know how quickly he changes his mind. He may worship the ground she walks on today and kill her tomorrow!" Draco was racking his brain for ideas. He needed to get her out of there. He quickly turned and walked out the door.
Lucius sighed and watched his son leave, believing that he just needed a drink. He'd get over her, he was sure of it.
Scene Change!
Draco paced the streets of Diagon Alley, desperately trying to think of a way to help Harper. He would pace up and down the streets, take a seat for a moment on a random bench or café table, and then get back up quickly to pace again. This behavior earned him numerous strange looks but he didn't notice or care. Then he saw Granger walk out of Flourish and Blotts and was struck by an idea.
The idea disgusted him at first. Asking the mudblood for help was almost more than he could handle, but he knew it was his only option. So he sucked up his pride and ran up to her. "Hey Granger, I need to talk to you." He said quickly, hoping to catch her attention.
She turned around and looked at him strangely. She hadn't been "Granger" for a little over two years now, and Draco and she hadn't had any contact since they graduated from Hogwarts three full years ago. "What is it, Malfoy?" she said cautiously. "I need your help…" he admitted.
Scene Change!
The Order was in session in the kitchen of Grimauld Place. It had been three long years without any successes and all of the Order was getting restless. Voldemort was loosing his faith in Snape and was no longer supplying him with useful information. The Order was stumped.
"Where's Hermione anyways?" Harry asked Ron, who had sent his wife out on an errand to Diagon Alley over an hour ago. Ron just shrugged, trying not to worry about his wife. "Don't worry about her Harry, she can take care of herself." They heard the door open and close, announcing Hermione's arrival back home.
"See Harry, you worry too much. She's home now." He got up from the kitchen table to welcome her back. He soon saw that she wasn't alone. Ron turned 50 different shades of red when he saw Draco standing next to Hermione. "What the hell is this?" He yelled, causing the rest of the order to come see what all the fuss was about. "Now everyone, hear him out" Hermione cautioned nervously.
"Hear him out? Hermione, there is a DEATH EATER inside of Order Headquarters!" Ron shouted, Harry simply glared at Draco. "I'm not a Death Eater, I swear! Please, I need your help. I'll take Veritaserum, make an Unbreakable Vow, anything! But please, you're the only ones who can help me" Draco begged, abandoning all ideas of pride and dignity.
"Couldn't hurt to hear the boy out…" Remus admitted, moving away from the door to the kitchen, ushering everyone in. Arthur and Molly Weasley, Remus, Tonks, Shacklebolt, Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Draco all made their way into the small kitchen.
"There's a girl, Harper Grey, the Dark Lord is going to try to… conceive a child with her in order to continue the Slytherin bloodline. I need your help to get her out of there." It took a lot for him to swallow his pride like this, but it was his only hope of saving Harper.
"What's this girl to you, Malfoy? Got yourself a girlfriend?" Harry asked cruelly. Draco's humility flew out the window as he glared at his old school nemesis. "Mind your own business Potter! Will you help me, or won't you?"
After hours of consideration and questioning, it was decided that the Order would lay siege to current Death Eater headquarters which would be made possible by details supplied by Draco. Shacklebolt and Arthur concluded it would take at least a month to plan sufficiently. Draco was very unhappy with the amount of time they needed, but he realized he had no choice. He just hoped it wouldn't be too long.