A/N: One of the hardest chapters I've ever had to write. *sigh*

Phillip paced around the Ministry's atrium nervously as he and Sophie waited for the other members of their party to arrive. His head would whip around every time he heard a 'Pop', hoping it was someone he knew. Then, finally, it was Draco and Hermione, apparating in while mid-lip-lock as they so often did. He cleared his throat. The couple turned to look at him.

"Sorry, mate," said Draco, reluctantly letting Hermione go. The moment they did, Seth and Caroline walked over from the fireplaces.

Hermione pulled Draco's pocket watch out of the pocket of his nicest robes and frowned. "Sorry guys, but I have to get to my office. But I'll see you soon. Very, very soon." She winked at Phillip before giving Draco one more kiss and walking into the Ministry.

As soon as she was gone, Sophie asked, "Are you two fighting again?"

Draco looked at her wide-eyed. "How did you … Get out of my head, woman!"

Sophie smirked proudly.

"How do you always do that?"

"Eet ees a gift," she said. "Ees eet about, uhh … ze same zing as last time?" Sophie was doing her best to be discrete, since she didn't want to get in trouble again for blabbing. Unfortunately, even mentioning there was a last time caught everyone's attention.

"Yes, it is," Draco said coolly, trying to play it off like it was nothing.

Over the past month, he and Hermione had gotten in numerous fights about that damn Ever-Locked door. They tried to play it off like it was nothing in front of people, since they didn't want speculation of their less than newlywed bliss circulating. But, somehow, Sophie saw right through them. As always, she and Phillip were the only people he had talked to about this. He had decided against telling Astoria since she was dating someone on the other side. At least, he assumed Weasel was on the other side since he was Hermione's friend and all. But there was a chance he might have thought it was as asinine of an idea as Draco did.

"Well, for once, I agree wiz you. Do not back down, Draco!"

"So are you going to share with the rest of the class?" asked Caroline, moving in closer.

"No," Draco and Sophie both said.

Before Caroline got a chance to complain, Reginald - their lawyer and Chastity's father - arrived with Chastity and Atticus Quartz, but Chastity left right away to go and check in as a witness. It was a bit untraditional for Atticus to be here with them, since he was just an investor and not an employee, but Reginald thought it would look good if he was there, since Quartz was a very prominent name in the wizarding community. Not that they didn't already have the support of the Minister of Magic and his right-hand witch, but a little more never hurt.

"Are we ready for this?" asked Reginald.

They all looked to Phillip, who gulped, then nodded nervously.

"We got zis, mon chérie," said Sophie before taking his hand. She was already almost four months along in her pregnancy but was barely starting to show. Today she wore a looser top tucked into her pencil skirt to try and hide the small baby bump, but it was still very obvious what was hidden beneath it. To all of them, anyway.

Their group walked into the Ministry together. Even though they would not all be allowed in they wanted to create a united front. To show the members of the Wizengamot how well the company was doing and how supportive they were of its development. Also, they all just really wanted to be there when they received the verdict.

Other than Reginald, only two would be allowed in and they had decided long ago that it would be Phillip and Draco. While Sophie seemed the more obvious choice for the second position, Reginald assured them that with Draco's background, and both him and Phillip being purebloods, would only strengthen their case. Plus, ever since Draco became Hermione's husband, and not just her fiancé, his status in the wizarding world had drastically increased. Potential investors that had turned them down before based on his presence were now owling him and saying they wanted in. Atticus was smart to make his move on the day of the wedding. While financially he was the only investor they really needed, Phillip didn't want to put all of the companies hope in one wizard.

As they entered the lift and took it down to the dungeons, Draco started to get a little nervous. He hadn't been here since his family went on trial after the war. Hopefully, they wouldn't be in the same courtroom. He hated who he was back then and desperately wanted to forget it. Of course, they had all gotten pardoned. Maybe that meant the courtroom was lucky. If only he believed in all of that superstitious bull crap.

On their way down, they stopped on one of the floors and Zandicus, his lawyer, and a few colleagues entered. One of them was Goyle's father. Draco gulped. This wasn't awkward at all.

They made several more stops along the way. People got in, people got out, a few interdepartmental memos soared through, until, eventually, it was just them. No one said anything, which made everyone even more uncomfortable. Sophie fidgeted from foot to foot while Caroline tapped her fingers against her arm. This lift could not move fast enough.

Finally, the doors opened on their floor and everyone rushed out. Phillip and Zandicus got caught on each other for a moment before Phillip was able to push through first. Once the way was clear he helped Sophie carefully walk out. He didn't want anything hurting that baby, or its mother.

All members of both parties veered to the left and headed down the stairs, only Draco taking an extra glance at the black door at the other end of the corridor. An icy chill ran down his spine as he gazed at it. He hoped he was strong enough to never have to go in there again, but he often found himself wondering if a war was maybe worth Hermione not being mad at him any longer.

Draco was happy to find that they would be in Courtroom Five, which was all the way on the opposite side of the corridor of the one he had been on trial in, which was Courtroom Ten. He was unsure as to why they were in the courtrooms in the dungeons in the first place. Probably because they were the larger ones, but it was still a bit unsettling.

Zandicus and his group got to the door first. He, his lawyer, and Mr. Goyle all went inside while the others stayed in the hallway. Phillip caught the door before they could slam it in his face and held it open for Draco and Reginald.

"Good luck!" Sophie said, giving Phillip a kiss on the cheek before taking the door handle from him and shutting them inside.

Once the door was closed, Draco took a good look around. It did not look that much different from Courtroom Ten, other than being a little smaller. The walls were made of the same dark stone that was as cold looking as ever. Only a faint orange light emitted from several torches, making it so he could barely recognize the many faces of the figures sitting in the benches above them.

"Everyone, please take your seats."

Draco's eyes drew to the center of the room, where two small tables with three uncomfortable looking chairs each were set. Zandicus and his party were already making themselves comfortable at the table on the left of the Wizengamot, so Phillip led the way to the one on the right.

Once they were all seated, a door at the top of the benches opened and Kingsley walked in with three figures just behind him. Draco was both surprised and pleased to see that one of those figures was Hermione. He guessed she was right about seeing them 'very, very soon'.

"What is she doing here?" asked Zandicus, pointing an accusatory finger at Hermione.

Hermione said nothing, looking completely unfazed as the Minister glanced coldly down at the wizard below him. "Not that it is any of your business, Mr. Thinx, but, if you must know, our Court Scribe called in sick today and Mrs. Malfoy here has so graciously stepped in, even though the position is highly inappropriate for someone of her standing. Still, we were desperate, and she has experience in this position."

Draco smirked. He knew this was a lie. Hermione had to have planned this. It had Malfoy written all over it.

"Minister, this is a complete conflict of interest," said Zandicus's lawyer, rising to his feet. "Ms. Granger here -"

"Ms. Granger? Who is this Ms. Granger of which you speak? There is no one here by that name." Draco looked up at his wife and winked. She smiled at him.

"Fine," said the lawyer in a frustrated tone. "Mrs. Malfoy here is married to one of the defendants. Her influence -"

"Relax, Gerald. She is just here to transcribe the hearing. Nothing more. Mrs. Malfoy has already agreed not to speak unless spoken to, and I doubt her mere presence will have any influence on anyone here. Now, take your seat. We've wasted enough time already. Mrs. Malfoy, you may also take your seat."

Hermione nodded, being true to her word about not speaking, and took her seat at the very end of the front bench. She set down her parchment and quill and readied herself to begin.

Kingsley cleared his throat and started, "Civil hearing of the fifteenth of July -"

Draco smiled widely as he watched Hermione begin to take notes very seriously. She was so cute when she was trying to be professional.

"- into offenses committed under the Decree for Unjustifiable Advantage-Taking -"

Phillip rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe that was really a decree.

"- by the members of Thinx incorporated, represented by Phillip Igor Prior and Draco Lucius Malfoy."

Hermione smiled as she wrote down her husband's name, making sure to end it with a very loopy 'y'.

"Interrogators: Kingsley Ernest Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic; Wiley Ganderson Rosier, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Genevieve Faren Sattlehorn, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Hermione Jean Malfoy. Witness for the defense, Chastity Marie Hanson."

This was Hermione's cue to get up and let Chastity into the courtroom. She walked down the small trail of stone steps behind her and opened a door in the back of the room. Chastity walked in and to the center of the floor. Hermione waved her wand and brought up a chair for her before returning to her own seat.

Once everyone was in place, Kingsley picked up a piece of parchment from a pile in front of him and read, "The charges against the accused are as follows: That they did knowingly and deliberately take advantage of an elderly, senile witch, who was unaware of what she was signing over -"

Phillip huffed.

"- sold a family heirloom that was not theirs -"

Chastity's eyes went wide as she looked over at Zandicus quizzically. He winked at her, causing her nostrils to flare.

"- which constitutes an offense under paragraph H, as well as paragraph S of the Decree for Unjustifiable Advantage-Taking, 1792. Ms. Hanson?"

Chastity went to full attention.

"Part of me wonders why it is not you on trial here, when you are the one who obtained the contract from Zara Thinx, signing over the family name and company to Phillip Prior and Sophie Prior, formerly Labelle, are you not?"

"Yes, sir. I am," she said nervously.

"And were you not also the one who gave them the family heirloom? A …" he shuffled through his papers, until he came upon the one he wanted … "antique, diamond ring."

Chastity gulped. "It was, sir."

"So tell us, Ms. Hanson, what happened on August the thirtieth of last year, the day you obtained this 'contract'?"

Taking a deep breath, Chastity said, "Well, I went to visit Zara to return the ring after my and Zandicus's engagement fell through. Since I wasn't speaking to him at the time it seemed like the easiest solution. She insisted that I keep the ring even though there was going to be no marriage. She and her grandson never had a very good relationship and she didn't trust that he would give it to someone worthy of such a precious gem."

"Did Mrs. Thinx seem 'out of sorts' when you spoke with her that day?" asked Kingsley.

Chastity shook her head. "Not at all. She was as fiery and outspoken as ever." This exerted chuckles from several people in the room. Obviously all knew Zara. "I told her how after Zandicus and I called it off I tried to win back my ex-husband, Phillip Prior," she glanced sideways at him, "but he was already in love with somebody else. I explained how happy they were and how I had heard rumors they were getting married that weekend. She had always been fond of Phil - umm … Mr. Prior, and thought signing over the company he had once worked so hard for would be the perfect wedding present."

"And the ring?"

Chastity sighed. "It was my idea to give them the ring as well. For startup cash since the company had already gone bankrupt when Mr. Thinx took over."

"And is that what you used the ring for, Mr. Prior?" Kingsley drew his eyes over to Phillip.

"Uhh, yes sir," said Phillip nervously.

"Ms. Hanson, while this is normally when we would ask you to go, I would rather like it if you stayed," said Kingsley. With a wave of his wand he moved Chastity and her chair over to Phillip's table.

Her father took her hand in his. "Very good, dear."

"Mr. Thinx, I am told you brought proof that your grandmother was not in her right mind at the time of the signing of this contract."

"Yes, Minister," said Zandicus's lawyer, getting to his feet. "We have several witnesses and -"

"I believe I was talking to Mr. Thinx," said Kingsley in an authoritative voice.

The lawyer immediately took his seat and Zandicus stood confidently. He called several witnesses, all said the be family friends - though, Phillip mentioned he had never seen any of them around the Thinx household before - every last one of them claiming Zara said many things in her last year of life making her seem like an insane person. Draco thought this fabricated version of Zara sounded a bit like Regina, which made him chuckle.

"So, it seems that this is a common case of he said, she said," said Kingsley when the last witness exited.

"Told you," said Reginald, elbowing his daughter.

"Since there seems to be no strong evidence supporting either side, I believe it is time we make our verdict."

All of the members of the Wizengamot began to whisper amongst themselves while everyone on the floor waited nervously. Hermione looked down at Draco and tried to smile supportively.

When the whispering stopped everyone on the ground floor leaned forward in their seats.

"Those in favor of the name Thinx Inc. staying in the hands of Phillip Igor Prior?" said Kingsley in a crisp, clear voice.

Many hands went up in the air, but the horrible lighting made it hard for Draco to say how many for sure.

"All those in favor of the name Thinx Inc. returning to the hands of Zandicus Jenson Thinx?"

More hands rose. Draco was sure there were less, but he wasn't positive, until he saw Hermione's smile.

Kingsley looked all around. "Very well then. The company name, Thinx Inc., will remain in the hands of Phillip Igor Prior, and wife, Sophie Ann Prior."

"WHAT?!" shouted Zandicus, rising to his feet.

"YES!" said Phillip, also rising but with a much lighter step.

"Minister, you cannot be ser -"

"The Wizengamot has spoken, Mr. Thinx. However, you will not be leaving today without compensation."

Phillip froze.

"It is my personal order that Chastity Hanson reimburse the Thinx family for the value of one antique, diamond ring."

"Oh!" Chastity's mouth fell open.

"And reimbursement must be from your own pocket, Ms. Hanson. An estimated amount of five hundred forty thousand six hundred thirty-two Galleons."

And with that, Chastity fainted.

XXX

A Healer was called in to look at Chastity while everyone else cleared out of the room. Hermione ran down really quickly and gave Draco a kiss of congratulations before disappearing with the members of the Wizengamot.

Zandicus went over and called the court reporter down to him from the benches. Of course, it was none other than Inga Utkin, since she just loved to show up everywhere Draco and Hermione were. The two of them exchanged a few words before she left with the others through the door at the top of the courtroom.

Reginald stayed with Chastity while Draco and Phillip left the courtroom to meet the other members of their party. It was obvious by their smiles that they had won.

Sophie squealed before leaping into Phillip's arms. He swung her around while everyone else started hugging each other, until someone came up behind them and pushed Draco. Before he even had a chance to catch his balance and look at the culprit, everyone had their wands out. When he turned around he saw Zandicus staring furiously at him. The members of his group, who had been waiting in the hallway, moved behind him and raised their wands as well.

"This is all your doing!" he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Draco. "Without your bloody influence they wouldn't have stood a chance!"

"Now, I don't think that's true," said Draco, motioning for his friends to lower their wands. "Until recently I was somewhat of a pariah in the wizarding community. I can't imagine my status has changed that much."

"It can when you married that little Mudblood bitch."

Draco pulled out his wand so fast, but Phillip snatched it out of his hands before he could do anything with it. "Not here, Draco," he said, knowing very well Draco was planning to do something far more harmful than the jinxes the rest of them were prepared to cast.

Draco's nostrils flared as he took several deep breaths. "Call my wife that again and I promise you will not live to see another day."

"What right do you have to take this from me?" asked Zandicus, turning his attention to Phillip. "It is my name! My bloody family name!"

"Yes, and you already destroyed it once," said Phillip. "Why the hell would I give you a chance to do it again?"

"That's only because I didn't care about your pathetic company. But this time I was going to do something that I wanted. Something I'm sure my father would have been proud of."

Phillip scoffed. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Looking back at Draco - who was eyeing his wand in Phillip's hand, obviously trying to figure out a way to get it back - Zandicus scowled and spat at his feet. Raising his nose, he said, "I'd watch my back of I were you, Malfoy. I'm sure you're already well aware that there is a high price on yours and your wife's heads. And, after today, I think I just might raise that price."

"If you think her presence today had anything to do with the verdi -"

"It had everything to do with the verdict!" interrupted Zandicus. "Being such a key figure in the war and rising so quickly in the Ministry makes her an even more influential figure than the Minister himself. And her being here today was just their way of reminding everyone this was a matter to do with her husband. The only people willing to vote against her were the ones who are as disgusted by Mudbloods as I am."

"Well, I guess you should have married better than," smirked Draco.

Zandicus was about the lunge at him again when someone called his name from the doorway. They all looked to see his lawyer standing there with Mr. Goyle. "She's fine," he said.

Phillip raised his eyebrows as Zandicus turned back around. "Still care about Chastity, do you? You have a funny way of showing it."

"I took her because I hated you," he said. "I kept her because I loved her. And you … you chose a Mudblood over her." Zandicus looked at Sophie with disdain. She moved in closer to her husband and hugged his arm. "You two deserve each other."

Zandicus pushed through their little group, making sure to shove extra hard into Draco. Goyle and his lawyer followed behind him.

"Wasn't that your friend's father with them?" asked Seth once they were gone.

"Yeah," said Draco solemnly.

"Why was he part of this?"

Draco shrugged. "I have no idea."

XXX

Everyone sat around the Thinx conference room table, toasting over drinks to their victory. Except for Chastity, who was still crying in the corner. She hadn't stopped since they left the Ministry several hours ago.

"Come on, Chasteety. 'Ave a drink since I cannot," said Sophie, waving a glass of champagne in her face. "We already told you we will 'ire you as a secretary. Zat should 'elp some."

"Oh, sure," said Chastity, taking the drink and chugging it down, "because I'm going to be able to pay that kind of money back on a secretary's wages. I'm going to be in debt to Zandicus for the rest of my life."

"Probably," said Seth, smirking into his firewhiskey. Phillip punched his arm as Chastity proceeded to cry harder.

"Well, as fun as this is, I'm afraid I have to get back to my office and make sure no catastrophes have occurred," said Atticus, rising to his feet. "Owl me tomorrow, Phillip, and we'll finally get this show on the road." He smiled broadly before disapparating.

"Hey, we're out of firewhiskey!" shouted Caroline as soon as he was gone. She was desperately trying to pour the last few drops of the bottle into her glass.

"Zere ees more een Phillipe's office," said Sophie, moving to leave.

"I got it," said Draco, jumping up from his chair and beating her to the door.

"Being pregnant sure 'as eets advantages," she said, winking at him.

Draco walked into the hallway and headed into Phillip's office, which was the closest one to the conference room. He went over to his desk and rummaged through it until he found a bottle of firewhiskey in the bottom drawer.

"Draco."

He looked up to see Hermione standing in the doorway. "Hi," he said, moving out from behind the desk. "I didn't know you were going to be here."

"Yes, well, I wanted to come and say congratulations to everyone."

"Perfect timing," he said, waving the bottle.

Hermione tried to smile, but it did not go over well. "Could we talk for a moment?" she asked.

"All right," said Draco, taking a seat on the edge of the desk.

Hermione moved into the office and shut the door behind her. She then took several steps closer to him and said, "Draco, I don't want to fight anymore."

"You and me both. Sophie caught on, by the way."

Hermione smirked. "Yes, she always does." She paused and looked to the floor. "I just … need you to understand where I'm coming from. It's not that I don't realize that creating a power like this is dangerous. I do. It's just that … if a war is going to start because of us … I want to be prepared. I don't think we should just ignore this prophecy because we know it exists. If we do then nothing good will come of it. Don't you want to protect our friends … our families … us?"

Draco sighed. "Of course I do. But just because you were going to ask me to do this with you before you knew about the prophecy doesn't mean I would have said yes. I really don't think this is it, Hermione," he said truthfully. "And even if I had agreed to it without knowing about the prophecy, that does not change the fact that things are different now. People are watching our every move. We don't have the same privacy we would have had before. Everyone will know what we're doing."

"No they won't," she objected. "Very few people actually know the story behind that door. They might know where we're going, but they will have no clue what we're doing."

"My decision has not changed," he said, putting the bottle down and crossing his arms.

Hermione nodded. "I know. I just had to ask one last time."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "One last time? Really?"

She smiled. "Yes, really. I was watching you today and realized how much I miss just being happy with you, like how I felt when you won." She took several steps closer. "We've only just been married and already we've wasted so much time being angry. We knew going into this that we're both stubborn but, this time, it is me who needs to back down. It's a prophecy. Whatever's supposed to happen will happen, so why waste our time trying to push it along when we should be enjoying our newlywed bliss?"

Draco smirked and reached his arms out for her. She moved into them. "Oh, I love it when you say the word 'bliss'. Do it again. With more of a slither this time."

"Blisssss," she whispered into his ear.

Draco could hardly contain himself. He leaned in and bit her bottom lip. Hermione pushed even closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck while his tightened on her waist.

"You down for a make-up shag?" he panted heavily into her mouth.

She giggled. "On Phillip's desk?"

He nodded without removing his lips from hers.

"I suppose he does owe us. Sophie confessed that the two of them did it in our drawing room while we were on our honeymoon."

Draco stopped and raised an eyebrow at her. "Before us?"

She nodded.

"Well, it looks like this entire office is getting violated then." With a wave of his wand all of their clothes flew off of them. "Starting with the desk," he said, moving her on top of it while they both laughed joyously.

XXX

It had been a while since Draco went to get the firewhiskey and everyone was becoming impatient. Sophie, being the only one who was sober, went to check on him. She was surprised to find the door to Phillip's office closed and was about to open it when she heard the sounds coming from the other side. It seemed that Hermione and Draco had forgotten to put up a silencing charm.

She smirked to herself before tapping on the door and saying, "Do not take too long, you two! Zere ees still a lot of celebrating to do!"

"Okay!" she heard Draco call breathlessly from the other side.

Looking back at the conference room, Sophie knew she could not return without alcohol. It was lucky that Draco always had a private stash in his office, which she was sure he would not mind giving up if it prevented her from telling her rather large husband that he and Hermione violated his office. Of course, she supposed they owed him one after what they did in their drawing room when they came to drop off the wedding gifts while they were on their honeymoon.

Sophie walked to the far end of the hallway. Draco's door was also closed, which was strange, but she didn't question it. She opened it and walked right in, knowing very well he was occupied elsewhere. As soon as she did the door slammed shut. She whipped around and noticed several faint figures standing in the dark.

"Who ees zere?" she asked, reaching for her wand.

"Expelliarmus!" a woman's voice called out, sending Sophie's wand flying out of her hand.

"It's not him," said another woman, sounding disappointed.

"Who cares?" said a rather tall looking man, stepping forward. Sophie could still not make out their faces. "Personally, I think we could have a lot more fun with the Mudblood."

"I am not -"

"Crucio!"

Sophie screamed out in pain as she fell to the floor in spasms. It was like a million daggers were piercing into her. When the writhing ended, the pain did not leave, but that did not stop her from instinctually reaching for her stomach. "Please, no -"

"Crucio!" the man called again.

The dark room went white as horrible pain shot through Sophie yet again. Even though she could no longer hear she was sure she was screaming. "Please, my baby! My baby! MY BABY!"

One of the women stepped forward and looked closely at her. "Stop!" she screamed. "STOP! She's pregnant! Look!" The pain receded for a moment and Sophie could just barely make out the woman pointing down at her stomach. Her face was becoming clearer and Sophie knew she had seen her somewhere before.

"Who cares? The world will be better off without another Mudblood baby in it. Crucio!"

"No! Stop!"

"Crucio!" another male voice called.

"STOP IT! STOP IT!"

"Crucio!" shouted the other woman.

The woman screaming for them to stop raised her wand at the door, removing the silencing spell they had placed.

"You stupid bitch!" shouted the man who was obviously in charge. He smacked her before going over to Sophie, who was still screaming on the ground. He took out his dagger and cut her arm, taking some of her blood on his fingertips before heading over to the window and writing something.

XXX

Draco and Hermione were in the process of redressing. He came up behind her and hugged her against him while she attempted to tuck her blouse into her skirt. "Don't tell me you're ready to go again?"

"You know me. I'm always ready to go again," he said, kissing her cheek. "But I suppose I can wait until we get home."

Hermione laughed before turning around and pulling him in for a kiss. "Merlin, I've missed this," she said, resting her forehead against his.

"Yes, tell me why we never did that whole angry sex thing? We proved last summer that it was exquisite."

"You tell me," she said, kissing him again.

Draco was already moving his hands to undo the buttons on her blouse when they heard it. A horrible, deafening scream coming from somewhere close. Both of their heads whipped around.

"Was that Sophie?" asked Hermione, moving for the door.

Phillip, Caroline and Seth were already in the hallway. Reginald was holding Chastity back while the rest of them went to investigate.

"Is Sophie not in there?" Phillip asked.

Hermione shook her head as the scream sounded again. Phillip took off running, stopping in front of Draco's closed office door. He tried to open it but it was locked. "Sophie!" he called. No one answered. He began banging on it. "Sophie, are you in there?"

Hermione ran up behind him and shouted, "Alohomora," at the lock. Nothing happened.

Caroline then tried to apparate inside, but only ended up appearing in her own office.

"SOPHIE!" Phillip started to yell frantically. "Sophie, are you there? Can you hear me?"

Draco pushed Phillip aside and started shooting every spell he could think of at the door, including some that made absolutely no sense, but he was desperate. Until, finally, the lock clicked.

XXX

The leader walked back over to the other members of his group while someone proceeded to bang on the door. Everyone was looking really nervous and he could tell they didn't want to stay here any longer.

"Hit her one last time!" he said to the others. He listened and recognized Draco's voice shouting numerous spells at the door. He smirked.

"Crucio!" the other man called, finally sending Sophie into a state of unconsciousness.

"Let's go," said the leader. Everyone began to disapparate but, before he did, he removed his locking spell from the door, disappearing just as it burst open.

Draco came in first with everyone else just behind him. Hermione used her wand to turn on the lights, letting them all see a bleeding Sophie lying very still on the floor.

"SOPHIE!" Phillip cried, running over to her and cradling her head in his lap. "Sophie, darling, please wake up!"

Everyone but Draco rushed to Sophie's side. He was too busy looking at the message in blood that had been left for him on the window. 'Your Mudblood is next, Malfoy', it read.

Draco gulped before looking nervously down at Hermione. She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and pointed down with a shaky finger. He followed it to Sophie's skirt, which was covered in blood.

"Get help!" Phillip screamed.

Caroline nodded before disapparating.

"Phi … Phillip." They all looked down as Sophie's eyes began to flutter. "Phillip … the baby … the baby…"

"Yes, it's fine. The baby is fine. Please, Sophie, just hold on."

After those few words Sophie drifted away again. Phillip was too busy holding her to see what the rest of them could not look away from. Hermione burst into tears as Draco came over to hug her. Seth, who had been staring mindlessly at the blood, could no longer take it and ran from the room. No one had the heart to let Phillip know that there was no baby.