All the Answers - Chapter 23

Disclaimer - It's not mine. Really. J.K. Rowling's the brilliant mind behind HP.

Notes - Post-HBP 7th year fic, not Deathly Hallows compliant at all. Eventually it will be Harry/Draco, thus the M rating. Beta'd by the wonderful Lori!

Over the course of the next month, while Hermione took charge of brewing the Polyjuice Potion, Draco took it upon himself to make sure Ron could adequately fake being under the Imperius Curse. They practiced up in the attic of Grimmauld Place, because it gave them more space than any of the bedrooms and was well out of the way of prying eyes and nosy ears. Draco ran Ron through every likely scenario he could think of, as well as quite a few Ron was sure would never come up.

"You-Know-Who isn't going to make me spit-shine your boots, Malfoy."

"You don't know that, Weasley, maybe the thought of it would amuse him."

They practiced every day, and when they weren't doing that they were going over the details of the plan – or lack thereof, really. They tried mapping out exactly what they wanted to do, but not knowing where exactly the Portkey was going to take them was becoming more problematic by the day. Hermione had tried calling the whole thing off more than once, but Harry was nothing if not stubborn. As far as he was concerned, this was the only viable step forward they had.

About halfway through the month, Draco suddenly switched things up.

"Okay," he said, lowering his wand from where it had been trained on Ron. "You're actually doing…not terribly awful, Weasley. I think you might have the hang of it. Now we can move onto other things."

Ron shared a look with Harry and then raised an eyebrow at Draco. "What other things?"

Draco pointed at Harry. "You need to learn how to act like him."

"And…that's necessary, why?" Harry asked, frowning a bit.

"…You must be joking." Draco looked back and forth between the two in exasperation.

"In case someone tells Draco to lift the curse," Hermione spoke up from where she was working on the potion. "They have to think you're Harry."

Draco nodded. "What Hermione said. It doesn't have to be a perfect act in this case – just convincing. It's not as though any of them really know Potter."

"So…" Ron looked uncertainly at Harry. "How to be Harry after realizing I've just been hand delivered to You-Know-Who… I should pretty much get angry right off the bat, yeah?"

"Immediately go for your wand," Hermione said. "Even though Draco will have it."

"Say 'er' a lot," Draco added.

Harry scowled. "Funny, Malfoy."

Draco grinned in an unapologetic sort of way. "Alright, alright. Here, get up, Potter. We'll do some role-play and Weasley will copy you."

And that was how they spent the second half of the month while waiting for the potion to finish. By the end of it all, Harry thought he might actually prefer going up against Voldemort rather than listening to Draco bark out order after order. Watching Draco turn Ron into a copy of himself was more than a little surreal, as well. So, he was honestly relieved when, on one cool December morning, there was nothing left to do but finally use Draco's Portkey.

"If you take more than one dose, it'll last longer than an hour," Hermione said, as she hovered nervously near Ron. "Although I still think you should bring some extra with you. There's no telling how long you'll have to be there!"

"There's not exactly an easy way to make that inconspicuous, Hermione," Ron said patiently, as this was a topic they'd discussed several times already.

"He's right," Harry agreed. "We can't just assume they're going to trust Malfoy. They might be searched or something."

Ron nodded. "And having a flask of Polyjuice would be a dead giveaway."

Hermione frowned. "I know. I know, we been over it a hundred times, I just–" She looked up at Ron, smoothing her hands over his chest. "Oh, be careful," she said, turning her head to include Harry as well. "Both of you. All of you."

Around Harry's knee, Dobby straightened up and puffed out his chest, giving Hermione a quick nod. "Dobby will be making sure Harry Potter and his friends stay safe!"

"Where's Malfoy, anyway?" Ron asked. "He's taking bloody forever."

"I'm here," Draco said, as he entered the room. Harry's eyes went wide when he saw him, his breath catching in his throat. Draco was dressed in a one of Harry's nicer robes, and apparently he'd taken the time to spell the wrinkles out of them. His shoes were shiny, his shirt cuffs perfectly buttoned – he even had on his Slytherin tie. To top it all off, his hair was slicked back in a way it hadn't been in months.

Harry felt as though he'd taken a wrong step somewhere and slipped through a hole in time, somehow ending up back at Hogwarts. He hadn't realized just how…comfortable Draco must have gotten around them, because somewhere along the line Harry had gotten used to him wearing a much more casual look. It was weird to see him go back to this utter prat-like appearance, with what could have been a blonde helmet plastered to his head. Harry much preferred the softer, freer way his hair looked when it wasn't gelled down.

Draco caught him staring and raised an eyebrow.

Hysterical laughter bubbled up in Harry's chest, but he determinedly squashed it and looked away.

"…Draco!" Hermione said, in a surprised sort of way. Harry was glad he wasn't the only one who was being thrown off kilter. "My, aren't you looking…posh."

"Looking like a ponce, more like," Ron muttered, and Draco glared at him.

"I have to look the part, alright?" he grumbled, running a hand over his hair.

Harry snorted. "Malfoy, you look like you've stepped straight out of fifth year. That's not a part, that's just younger you."

"Well, I always was at the height of fashion and–"

This time it was Hermione who made a sound of choked laughter, and she quickly brought her hands up to cover her mouth. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just – oh, Draco, I forgot you used to wear your hair like that!" She broke off into more giggles, soon joined by Ron and Harry's snickering.

Draco flushed a dull pink and rolled his eyes. "Okay, shut up," he said, crossing his arms and doing his best to appear unaffected. "It's what my father will expect!"

"Dobby remembers the first time Master Draco tried to wear his hair like that," Dobby piped up suddenly, and Draco froze. "Except Master Draco wasn't actually using the right products, Master Draco thought all that was needed was glue to be helping hold his hair together and–"

"You know, we should really be going now!" Draco interrupted loudly, just as the other three burst into unrestrained laughter. "Come on, Weasley, hurry the hell up and drink the bloody potion already!"

"Right, sure," Ron said, shaking his head and still chuckling. Harry plucked out one of his hairs and dropped it into the cup Ron was holding. They watched as it turned a pure gold color, the same way it had when they'd tested out the potion the day before. "Looks so much better than Crabbe's," Ron said, and then he tossed it back and drank until the cup was empty.

The others watched as Ron immediately winced and curled into himself, one hand clutching his stomach while the other slammed against the wall to brace himself. His skin seemed to bubble as it molded itself into Harry's likeness, and his hair slowly bled from ginger to black.

"Ugh," he said when it was over. "That shit just never gets better." He squinted at them until Harry stepped forward to hand him a spare pair of glasses. "Thanks, mate. Clothes?"

"On the bed."

They turned their backs while Ron changed, and when he was finished there were two identical Harry Potters standing side-by-side.

"So weird," Draco muttered. He pulled out the Portkey.

"Alright," Hermione said, chewing on her bottom lip. "Good luck. Be safe. Don't do anything rash. If you think it isn't going to work, then get out."

"We've got it, Hermione," Harry said, double checking his pocket to make sure the enchanted galleon was there.

"Don't worry," Ron said, reaching out to wrap an arm around Hermione's waist. "We'll be back in a flash." He leaned forward, and Harry's eyes went wide.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, sliding forward so that he cut right in between them. "Can you not? Hello, that's my body, Ron!" Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Draco had taken half a step forward, as well, and he was reaching out an arm like he'd intended to stop them. Draco saw him looking and abruptly dropped his arm and turned away awkwardly.

"Ah – bugger, mate, sorry," Ron said sheepishly. "Nearly forgot. That would've been – weird." He glanced at Hermione, who just looked amused, and instead planted a quick kiss on her cheek. "Ha, don't even have to lean down to do it!"

"Yeah, yeah," Harry said, rolling his eyes. He gave Hermione a quick hug, as well, and then crouched down in front of Dobby. "Up you get, Dobby," he said, and once the house elf had climbed onto his back, Hermione tossed the Invisibility Cloak over them. "Malfoy? Portkey?"

"It's here." Draco held out the wax seal, and both Harry and Ron reached out to touch it. Draco took a deep breath. "We're all ready? Good. Then here we go." He muttered something under his breath that Harry thought sounded like Latin, and then abruptly he felt the familiar tug of the Portkey as it whisked them away.

Hermione stared at the spot where they'd been standing for a long moment. Then she released a shaky breath and sat down on the bed to wait.

xXxXx

The Portkey dropped them off in what appeared to be an antechamber of sorts. There was a shut door in front of them and behind them, and what must have once been white paint was now a dirty, faded brown, peeling off the walls surrounding them. Whatever house they were in, it must have been old. Harry thought he could even spot mold growing in the corners of the room.

He stepped lightly forward, leaning in close to Draco and trying not to startle him. "Not the manor, then?" he breathed, as quietly as he could. Draco gave the tiniest shake of his head and made a slicing gesture in Harry's direction. Harry took the cue for what it was and shut his mouth, wondering what they should do next.

They weren't left waiting long, however, and not a minute later they could hear muffled voices and footsteps heading towards the door in front of them. Both Draco and Ron visibly tensed up, and Draco immediately brought his wand up and dug it into the small of Ron's back, just as the door was thrown open.

"I'm telling you, the wards went off, there's someone–" The man speaking broke off suddenly, staring blankly at the scene in front of him for a moment, and then his lips curled into a lopsided smirk. "…Here. Well, well. Draco Malfoy. Decided to answer the Dark Lord's call at last, have you?" He turned to the other person who had walked in with him. "Told you I felt it, Nott."

"My excitement knows no bounds," the other man, Nott, said flatly. "Clearly this is why the Dark Lord keeps you around." He directed a hard look at Draco, one that bordered on suspicious. "Draco." His eyes drifted over to Ron, slowly eyeing him up and down as if he wasn't quite sure what exactly he was seeing.

Draco drew himself up to his full height and lifted his chin a bit. "My father gave me a Portkey," he said, and amazingly he sounded exactly like the snotty brat he'd been at school, utterly sure of himself in that way only Malfoys could be. He was practically talking down his nose at the other two, which was impressive given that he was several inches shorter than Nott was.

"Ha!" the first man burst out. Harry thought he looked familiar, but was having trouble placing him. "Lucius, the stupid wanker. I tell you, he hasn't been right in the head since they threw him in Azkaban. Giving the kid a Portkey here–"

"He gave it to me so I could complete my task," Draco snapped, visibly bristling over the insults to his dad. "And where is here, anyway?"

"Eh…" The man idly rubbed beneath his chin with his wand. "Somewhere in Little Hangleton–"

"Amycus," Nott interrupted sharply, but Amycus – of course, Harry remembered now, he'd been on the tower that night – just waved him off.

"Leave off, man, the kid brought us Potter. Must be he's come to his senses."

"…I suppose it doesn't matter," Nott muttered. "The Dark Lord hardly frequents this place anymore."

"Yeah, when's he going to call us all out of here? It's a fucking sty, I'm bloody well tired of it."

"Excuse me," Draco said impatiently. "I have Harry Potter here with me, shouldn't you be letting someone know?"

Nott gave Ron another slow look. "Hmm."

Draco shifted his weight. "Well?" he demanded. Harry noticed one of Ron's hands twitch very faintly, but otherwise he kept his face perfectly blank.

"We're waiting," Nott said, and didn't bother offering any further explanation.

"For what?" Draco asked.

They ignored him. Amycus stepped up close to Ron and peered at him. "Have you got him under the Imperius, then? Heard that was one of your specialties."

Draco frowned. "Yes," he said simply. "I hardly think Potter would have come willingly just because I asked politely."

"I was under the impression Potter could resist that curse," Nott said casually, and Draco visibly paled. Nott raised an eyebrow. "My son is in your year, if you recall." The words were delivered in a dry, sarcastic manner, because of course Draco knew – they had shared a dorm room for six years and known each other for half a decade before even that.

"Potter hasn't had as much practice resisting it as I've had using it," Draco said after a beat, recovering quickly. "And that was years ago. I kept that old bint from the Three Broomsticks under it for months last year. But I had to be sure – why do you think it's taken me so long to get him here?" Draco fished Harry's wand out from the sleeve of his robe. "I've got his wand."

"Isn't that something," Nott said, still using that infuriating drawl, and then he glanced back over his shoulder and added, "Ah, here we are," just as Lucius Malfoy came striding through the door.

Harry had to hand it to Draco for not having a stronger reaction to the sight of Lucius. Or any visible reaction at all, for that matter. Even Dobby had gone still as a stone on Harry's back, barely even breathing, and Harry himself couldn't help boggling at the man. He was barely a shell of his former self. His hair, long as it had ever been, was unkempt and tangled. His skin had a yellowish tint to it and his eyes were sunken in. There was a wild sort of light in them.

"Draco," he rasped, stopping just inside the door. "Oh, Draco, I knew you would come. I knew you wouldn't let me down. This is all we needed; this will restore the Dark Lord's faith in us! You brought Potter–" He took several steps closer. "Just what the Dark Lord wanted. Yes, yes, everything will be as it was now."

Draco stared at him. For a long moment, it seemed to be all he could do. Then he blinked and abruptly fell back into character as he let a slow grin grow on his face. "Of course, father," he said, and Harry actually shivered at the way his voice oozed with pride. "I did exactly as you told me to."

"Come, come," Lucius said, backing up toward the door again. "We must present him to the Dark Lord at once." He spun on his heel, his shabby robe flaring out behind him. "Out of my way, Amycus!"

"Alright, alright, don't work yourself into a tizzy," Amycus said, scrambling back out of the way. "He's not even here, is he?"

"If he's not, then we'll call him," Lucius snarled. "Draco, come!"

Draco didn't hesitate. He gestured with his wand after his father and muttered, "Follow him," to Ron. Ron did so, walking along as if in a dreamlike trance. Draco trailed behind, his eyes flicking to the side just once before focusing straight ahead again. Harry didn't miss the look, but it didn't matter – this was where they were going to split up. From the sound of it, however, Voldemort was actually somewhere else, which kind of put a damper on that particular plan. If he wasn't there, then it was likely Nagini wasn't either.

Still, that didn't mean Harry couldn't do some detective work, and there was still the shield to consider. He waited until Amycus and Nott had filed out behind the others, and then he quickly slipped out the door before it shut and headed off the opposite way down the corridor.

xXxXx

Lucius led them to a large parlor that was only slightly less worn down than the room they had just been in. There was a fireplace at one end, beside which sat a large, high back chair made from overwrought iron. It looked uncomfortable, but Draco could easily picture the Dark Lord sitting there, fancying himself king of the entire Wizarding world while Muggles lay dying at his feet. It was a disturbing image and Draco quickly shoved it from his mind.

"Is Aunt Bellatrix here, father?" he asked instead, careful not to let any distaste show when he said her name.

Lucius scowled. "No, she's been given a placement higher than this hellhole, though one that she hardly deserves."

That seemed to be a sensitive subject. Draco's brow furrowed. "Is she with the Dark Lord?"

"I think she would never again leave his side, if given the option," Lucius said. "And she's welcome there, a fact she never hesitates to flaunt in my face when we meet. I've been left here with these worthless idiots, and meanwhile she's all but taken over the–" He abruptly cut himself off as Nott and Amycus entered the room, glowering at them all the while. Draco noticed that Nott walked with a bit of a limp, and could vaguely recall Theo saying something about his dad being injured in that whole Ministry debacle.

So, these were the 'left behind' Death Eaters, then. He wondered who else had gotten tossed aside by the Dark Lord.

"I guess Professor Snape isn't here either, then?" Draco asked.

"No," Lucius said in a low, angry tone. "He's also at the manor."

Draco's eyes widened. "The–?"

"This is really Harry Potter, correct?" Lucius interrupted swiftly. He peered closely at Weasley's face, like Amycus had. Draco almost felt bad for the bloke, but he was admittedly doing a fantastic job of not flinching away. "We can't have any mistakes now, Draco, you understand."

"It's him," Draco said. "Scar and all." He lifted his wand and pointed it at Weasley. "Tell my father who you are and show him your scar."

Weasley gave the older man a slow blink. "Harry James Potter," he said mechanically, and he lifted a hand to brush the fringe off his forehead.

Draco thought his father might explode from barely contained joy as he stared eagerly at Weasley. "Wonderful," he whispered. "Perfect. I'm going to call the Dark Lord." He rolled up the sleeve on his left arm, but paused when Nott called out to him.

"Lucius," the other man said. "I understand your need to make haste, but I think it would prove beneficial to everyone if we take care to be absolutely certain your son isn't trying to trick us."

Lucius whipped around to glare at Nott. "You doubt him?" he hissed.

Nott appeared to be unaffected by Lucius' attitude. "I'm merely curious as to how he did it," he said. He raised his eyebrows as he stared down at Draco. "It certainly took him long enough."

"I had to gain his trust, didn't I?" Draco said, going for an affronted sort of tone.

"Draco, you don't have to explain yourself to this–"

"No, father, it's alright. I've nothing to hide." Draco turned around so that he was looking at Harry – Weasley – when he spoke. "The Dark Lord is smart, of course," he said, reaching back and trying to remember how Harry had worded it all those weeks ago. "He knew exactly how Dumbledore's mind worked, and Potter here isn't too different. They're all about second chances." He sneered as he said it, and didn't miss the slight twitch of Weasley's mouth. Quickly, he spun around to face the others. "I only had to pretend that I wanted out of all this and needed help doing so. Potter's hero complex took care of the rest."

"And this required six months of your time?" Nott asked. "The Dark Lord isn't exactly known for his patience, I'm sure you've realized."

"You'll be lucky if he doesn't kill you anyway, Potter or no," Amycus added. "He's been in a right foul mood as of late."

Draco swallowed. Lucius' hand clenched into a fist. "That's not going to happen," he growled.

Nott merely tipped his head in a very 'if you say so' sort of way.

Draco drew in a shuddering breath. "It required time because of where Potter's been living," he explained. "His Muggle family had some sort of – blood protection charm over the house. After that we were with the Weasleys." He grimaced for effect. "I could hardly get him out of there without causing mass panic. There were always loads of the blood traitors surrounding him at any given moment."

"Arthur Weasley's home was destroyed two months ago," Nott said. "No one knows where they've disappeared to, along with half of the rest of their precious Order."

Draco hesitated, but only briefly. "That's because their headquarters is under the Fidelius Charm. And before you ask, no, I don't know who the Secret Keeper is. I was only given a piece of paper that explained how to get in."

That actually seemed to startle Nott a bit, and Amycus let out a low whistle. "They actually let you in? Cor, what a bunch of mindless arseholes. Can't get much more daft than that."

"Like I said, I had to gain their trust," Draco said impatiently.

"How exactly did you do that?" Lucius asked. His hand was hovering over his Dark Mark. Draco tried not to fidget nervously.

"I befriended the whole lot of them," he said. "Potter, his Mudblood, Weasley. I–" Draco attempted to make it look like saying this pained him. "I said I'd help their side."

Amycus snickered. "And those do-gooder fools fell for it, of course. He's right, that's exactly the sort of thing old Dumby would've done."

"Pathetic," Lucius said.

Nott crossed his arms over his chest. "You seem to have your story in order, at least. Very well, Lucius, you might as well call him."

"Your permission is unnecessary," Lucius said testily. His hand remained in the air above his Dark Mark for a moment longer, and then a determined look came over his face and he pressed his fingers against the inky black skull.

xXxXx

Harry crept carefully along the hallway, peeking into every room he came across that had an open door. There were several more Death Eaters milling about, some Harry thought he recognized but others that were brand new faces. They all seemed to be grumbling to each other, complaining about one thing or another. Harry wondered absently if Snape was here somewhere. He kind of doubted it.

Eventually he made it to a room that was free of other occupants and he stepped inside, quietly pushing the door shut behind him.

Finally, he had a moment to breathe.

Harry let the Invisibility Cloak slip off and pool at his feet while Dobby jumped lightly off his back. "Alright?" he asked softly, and the elf nodded rapidly at him. "How are the wards in this place?"

"They is strong, Harry Potter," Dobby whispered back. "Dobby can get them down, but it could be taking a little time."

"Okay…" Harry trailed off, thinking, and he squared his shoulders as he came to a decision. "Right, I'm going to look around some more. See what I can find. Can you keep out of sight while you work on that?"

Dobby nodded again, but he looked concerned. "Harry Potter is going to go off on his own?"

"I can move more quickly this way," Harry replied. "Don't worry, I won't do anything stupid. And I'll have my cloak on." He pulled the enchanted galleon out of his pocket. "This is what I'm using to communicate with Ron and Malfoy, remember? Can you – I don't know, send me some sort of sign when the wards are down? Or almost down, I guess. They noticed when we came in, I'm guessing that probably means they'll notice when we try to leave."

Dobby tugged at his ear as he made a considering sound. "Dobby can be making the galleon turn hot when Dobby is almost ready," he said. "And if Harry Potter is needing Dobby before that, Harry Potter only has to call and Dobby will be there!"

"Brilliant," Harry said, grinning. "Dobby, I don't know what we'd do without you."

"Dobby is happy to help his friends!" Dobby said, looking pleased and slightly embarrassed all at the same time.

"I'm off then," Harry said, pulling out his wand – or Ron's, rather – and casting a Disillusionment Charm over himself just to be safe. He bent down to grab his Invisibility Cloak and wrapped it around his shoulders. "Be careful, alright?"

"Only if Harry Potter is," Dobby quipped. Harry shot him another grin and then pulled the cloak over his head before carefully opening the door so he could slip out.

He only made it a few steps down the hallway before a burning pain sliced through his scar.

xXxXx

Draco had half hoped the Dark Lord would be too busy to respond to the beck and call of one of his less favored Death Eaters.

Unfortunately, not thirty seconds after his father had summoned him, he appeared in the middle of the room with a loud crack.

He was just as terrifying as Draco remembered, and it was all he could do not to back up several steps or possibly even dive behind the large chair he'd spotted earlier. Beside him, he heard Weasley's breathing speed up and it took a second for him to remember that this was probably the closest Weasley had ever been to the Dark Lord. As inconspicuously as he could, Draco dug his wand into the other boy's side and briefly sent a glance his way. Hopefully it looked like he was just trying to keep him under Imperius, when really Draco was just trying to offer him some sort of reassurance that he wasn't alone here.

Draco frowned. Comforting a Weasley, what the hell had happened to his life?

Crazily enough, though, it worked. Weasley slowly let the tension relax from his muscles, and Draco saw him swallow before pointedly fixing his stare on some random object across the room.

"What do you want, Lucius?" the Dark Lord said, sounding faintly annoyed. Nagini was curled around his feet on the floor, and she lifted her head to flick her tongue in Draco's direction.

Draco gave the huge snake a somewhat irritated look. Great. Here was the thing Harry was supposed to be going after and yet Harry himself was nowhere to be found. At least, Draco assumed he wasn't in the room, but then again he had no idea where the hell Harry had taken off to. Bloody Invisibility Cloak...

"I have something I thought would please you, my lord," Lucius said, taking two long steps forward so that he could kneel at the Dark Lord's feet.

The Dark Lord looked unimpressed. "Rise," he said. "What is it?" He hadn't even bothered to look around the room, Draco noticed. Both Nott and Amycus were kneeling, too, but the Dark Lord hadn't so much as glanced their way.

Lucius pushed himself to his feet. "Draco," he said, gesturing for him to come forward. "Bring him here."

The sound of Draco's name seemed to finally catch the Dark Lord's attention. He turned his head slowly until he found Draco standing by the fireplace. "Draco," he murmured, his red eyes narrowing dangerously.

Draco froze. He knew what had to happen next, what they all expected him to do, but every fiber of his being protested against getting any closer to the Dark Lord. Then Weasley shifted subtly beside him, pressing against the wand Draco was still digging into his side, and Draco released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

Right. No backing out now.

"My lord," Draco said, quickly moving forward and nearly tripping over his own feet as he fell to his knees in front of the Dark Lord. "My lord, forgive me, I never meant for this to take as long as it did," he continued in a rush. The words tumbled out of his mouth before he even had a chance to think them over, but he'd been in this situation before. Begging for the Dark Lord's forgiveness was, unfortunately, something he was used to. It had never helped him in the past, but then again he'd never shown up with Harry Potter before. "It's taken me this long to gain Potter's trust; I couldn't risk answering your summons without him catching on. I wanted to be able to present him to you, as requested."

There was silence for a long moment. Draco stared resolutely at the floor and tried to keep himself from trembling.

"Leave us," the Dark Lord said suddenly. Draco nearly looked up at him in confusion but caught himself at the last second. Fuck, seriously, where the hell was Harry? If the Dark Lord tried to kill Weasley or something, there wasn't going to be much Draco could do to stop him. Nagini slithered forward, winding her way between where Draco's arms were braced against the ground. She was right there, if only he had time to get his wand out – but he didn't. He couldn't, anyway, because his body seemed to have frozen up again.

"My – my lord?" Lucius said uncertainly.

"I said leave us!" the Dark Lord repeated viciously, and Lucius, Amycus, and Nott hurried to do as he said. Lucius hesitated briefly by the door, and the Dark Lord spoke without turning to face him. "Don't linger, Lucius," he said in a low tone. "I'd go find Wormtail, if I were you. He could use some help figuring out that map."

"…As you say, my lord," Lucius said, his voice shaking a bit. He sent one last look Draco's way and then left.

Draco focused all of his effort on keeping his breathing steady as he waited for the second round of silence to pass. The Dark Lord hadn't moved, though Draco wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. At least he wasn't going over to shove his face in Weasley's like the others had.

"Get up," the Dark Lord softly, which just made Draco all the more terrified. It was never good when he was being quiet. Still, he got to his feet and tried not to seem overly nervous.

"He's – he's under the Imperius, my lord," Draco said, forcing himself to meet the Dark Lord's eyes briefly before he bowed his head and quickly thrust his hands out. "His wand."

The Dark Lord didn't touch it. "Holly," he murmured. "Phoenix feather." He looked at it for a minute longer, and then abruptly his hand lashed out to grasp Draco by the chin. Draco gasped and instinctively tried to flinch away, but the Dark Lord held on tight. "I don't like being kept waiting," he said, still using that deceptively soft, silky tone.

"I know – I know, my lord, I'm sorry–!"

"Six months," the Dark Lord continued. "During which I heard nothing from you. You disappeared completely and don't think I don't know exactly what you were doing with them."

"I didn't have a choice!" Draco stammered, unconsciously clenching his blackened hand as though he was trying to hide it from the Dark Lord's sight. "It was the only way I could make them trust me completely, it was only one–"

"Only one?" the Dark Lord repeated, and finally the volume of his voice was starting to rise. "Only one? You insolent little brat, have you any idea how valuable those are to me? Do you know how difficult it is to make only one?"

"Yes – no – I'm sorry, no, I didn't know!" Draco fudged, quickly losing track of what he was supposed to be saying as fear consumed him. "I thought – you're the most powerful wizard – I thought you could–"

"Make more?" the Dark Lord filled in, and when Draco didn't say anything he gave a low, humorless laugh. "Lucky for you, I can." He shoved Draco away and he stumbled back. Eyes wide and face pale, he could do nothing but stare at the Dark Lord in horror. The Dark Lord laughed again. "Are you scared, Draco?"

Unable to speak, and not knowing what the correct answer was to that anyway, Draco could only give the tiniest shake of his head.

The Dark Lord raised his wand. "You should be," he said simply. "CRUCIO!"

Draco crumpled to the floor as a scream ripped its way out of his lungs, his hand gripping Harry's wand tightly. A half-formed plea ran through his head, something he tried to throw Weasley's way as well as he could, though he knew the other boy wouldn't be able to hear it.

He had expected this, after all. He'd known it might be coming. And it didn't mean their cover was blown.

Don't move, he thought desperately, praying to all things holy that Weasley fucking stayed put. Don't move, don't move, don't move don'tmovedon'tmove–

xXxXx

Harry let out a frustrated breath as he ducked into yet another empty room. Did Voldemort have nothing useful going on in this place? Why the hell keep Death Eaters here at all if they were all just sitting on their arses?

He was about five minutes away from turning around and heading back toward wherever Lucius had led Ron and Draco. He knew from the ache in his scar that Voldemort was here by now, and if they were lucky that meant Nagini was, too. The problem now would be getting to her. Harry had tried whispering in Parseltongue in case the snake had decided to leave her master's side, but she didn't appear to notice or care. Nor had he heard any hissed words coming from anywhere nearby.

Harry leaned back against the wall and absently rubbed at his forehead. To be honest, he wanted to get to wherever Voldemort was for more reasons than just finding Nagini. The thought of leaving Ron and Draco alone with that madman had Harry on edge. If anything happened to them–

A determined look came over Harry's face. Right, then. It seemed his part in this was turning out to be somewhat of a waste and his friends were probably in danger. It was far past time to go.

He exited the room, making sure his Invisibility Cloak was still tight around himself, and almost instantly had to flatten his body against the corridor wall as Lucius Malfoy came storming around the corner.

"I should have known this would happen," he was ranting, hands bunched into fists at his sides.

Behind him, Nott followed at a slightly more leisurely pace. "Amycus had the right of it," he said calmly, and then added in a more annoyed tone, "For once."

"But he brought him Potter," Lucius spat. "He did exactly what the Dark Lord wanted him to!"

"And ignored him for months in the process. Lucius, you know how he hates to be ignored."

Harry looked down the hall, but no one else was coming. He half wondered where Amycus had disappeared to, but he didn't have long to dwell on it. Quickly, he fell in step behind the other two, keeping as silent as he could.

"Harry Potter!" Lucius said again, waving an arm around wildly. "The key to the Dark Lord winning this war is here, right now, unarmed and completely at our mercy and he has the gall to be unhappy about it?"

"Lucius," Nott hissed, widening his strides to catch up with the other man. "Watch what you say. We don't need two dead Malfoys tonight."

Harry very suddenly forgot how to breathe.

He stumbled in the hallway, his shoe scuffing against the ground loud enough to catch the attention of the two men in front of them. They stopped talking and spun around, their wands raised. Harry froze, his heart pounding wildly in his chest. After a moment, Lucius and Nott lowered their wands.

"Probably a rat," Nott muttered, turning to face front again.

Lucius did, as well. "Not the one we're looking for, though," he said, resuming walking down the hall. Harry tried to make sense of things as he forced his feet to move so he could continue following them. Surely Lucius would be more upset if Draco was actually…? Harry swallowed, shoving the thoughts from his head. They were fine. Ron and Draco were perfectly fine.

They took a turn down a hallway Harry hadn't yet been able to investigate, and Lucius threw open the first door they came across. "Wormtail!" he barked, and a man Harry could barely stomach looking at scuttled out from behind a large table.

"Malfoy!" he squeaked, wringing his hands and his eyes darting around nervously. "What – what are you doing here?"

"The Dark Lord sent us to aid you," Nott said in a bored tone.

Lucius frowned down at something on the table. "I thought you said you'd made one of these before? It looks as though you've barely gotten any further since the last time the Dark Lord asked for an update."

Harry crept closer as Wormtail bristled. "I've gotten further!" he snapped. "It's a complicated task, you know, and it's been ages since I was in school there–"

"You were there not three years ago," Lucius interrupted.

"Please, Lucius," Nott drawled. "Peter was far too busy sleeping in the Weasley boy's pocket to have been doing anything useful."

"Yeah, alright," Wormtail said. "Let's see you two try to remember all the secret passageways out of Hogwarts." Harry's eyes widened. Wormtail continued in a smug tone, "Oh, that's right – you didn't even know they were there!"

Harry inched around Lucius so he could actually get a good look at what they were doing, but he was pretty certain he had a fairly good idea of what this project entailed.

Sure enough, spread out on the table they were all leaning over was what was clearly supposed to be a replica of the Marauder's Map.

xXxXx

By the time the Dark Lord ordered Draco to stand up, Draco wasn't sure if his legs would ever actually support him again. He pushed himself to his knees and spent a few precious seconds trying to calm his panting breaths. Then, with a grimace, he made himself rise and stood as straight as he could, even going so far as lifting his chin so he could meet the Dark Lord's eyes.

"Very good, Draco," the Dark Lord said, pale fingers running up and down his wand. "You understand why I had to do that, of course."

"Yes, my lord," Draco said woodenly.

"I don't like punishing my followers," the Dark Lord continued, stepping past Draco as he spoke. "But I expect things to be done in a certain manner and you disappointed me. That sort of behavior is unacceptable."

"Yes, my lord," Draco said again. "It's an honor to serve you, I shouldn't have – abused your faith in me like that."

"As long as you keep seeing things my way." He sounded farther away now, which meant he was probably standing near Weasley. Draco let out a slow breath and hoped Weasley's resolve held up. "Don't mistake me, Draco, I am still pleased. After all, look at what you brought me." Something in his voice shifted, and Draco could swear he sounded almost…happy. Which was fucking terrifying.

Draco turned around and only managed to take a few steps forward before he had to stop again. "What are you going to do with him, my lord?" he asked, fighting back a wince.

The Dark Lord was eyeing Weasley hungrily. "I wonder…" he said softly. He seemed to deliberate for a few seconds, and then – "Release him from the curse, Draco."

Draco hesitated, on the verge of asking if he was certain, but the Dark Lord was always certain. So instead he hobbled a few steps closer to Weasley and raised his wand, making a jerky little motion with it.

As they had practiced, Weasley seemed to come alive all at once. He blinked several times and took a step back, eyes going wide as they darted from the Dark Lord to the room they were in before they finally landed on Draco. "Malfoy," he gasped out, stumbling in his direction and patting down his pockets at the same time. "What's this, what happened? Where the hell are we?" He made it to Draco's side, still searching for his wand, and looked back at the Dark Lord with a guarded expression. "Where's my wand?" he asked warily, and the Dark Lord chuckled.

"You won't be needing it," he said smoothly.

Weasley's hands clenched into fists. "Tell me what's going on," he demanded, and then shot Draco a look out of the corner of his eyes. "Malfoy, how did we – why is Voldemort here?" He said it perfectly, no tripping over any of the syllables or wincing as the name left his mouth. Draco took a moment to be relieved that they had practiced that part alone for a good hour or so.

Something large and thick slid past Draco's leg and both he and Weasley jumped. Nagini merely flicked her tongue at them as she slithered by. She curled up by her master's side, lifting her head until she was level with the Dark Lord's hand, which he gently ran over her scales. "You're asking all the wrong questions," he said. And then, still watching Weasley with a cruel sort of amusement, he tilted his head down a bit and whispered something to Nagini.

In the sharp, raspy hisses of Parseltongue.

Draco felt as though the bottom had dropped out of his stomach.

Shit. Shit.

The Dark Lord was watching Weasley expectantly, and when he didn't get any immediate reaction, his eyes narrowed.

Weasley, to his credit, quickly realized the Dark Lord was waiting for him to do something and tried to recover. "What are you saying to–" he started to demand, only it was exactly the wrong thing and he realized it as soon as the words made it past his lips. His mouth snapped shut and he directed a panicked look toward Draco, but Draco was busy watching as the Dark Lord's face tightened, his mouth drawing down into a deep frown and his eyes lighting up with a furious flare.

"Draco," he said, barely controlled anger boiling under the surface of his tone. "You said you brought me Harry Potter."

"I – I did!" Draco said, but it was no use and he knew it. Fucking snake, fucking Parseltongue, he hadn't ever considered that the Dark Lord might try talking to them in that language!

"Malfoy…" Weasley mumbled, backing up a step. His hand reached out to grab Draco's sleeve, something that the Dark Lord spotted right away.

"Shutup," Draco hissed, but he was backing up, too, as the Dark Lord started toward them, his teeth bared in an angry snarl.

"Wand!" Weasley whispered frantically. "Wand, wand, wand!"

The Dark Lord raised his arm above his head. "Draco Malfoy," he snarled, and Draco threw caution to the wind and shoved Harry's wand into Weasley's hand.

Weasley didn't hesitate. He only spared the time to mutter a quick, "Brace yourself," to Draco before he pointed the wand straight at Nagini and bellowed, "SECTUMSEMPRA!"

Instantly, a high pitched shrieking sound cut through the air as the spell sliced straight through Nagini and severed her head clean off. A black cloud exploded from the rest of her body, which fell limply to the floor and twitched a few times before going still.

"NOOO!" Voldemort roared, curling in on himself at the exact moment a burning hot pain took hold of Draco's arm. He cried out and probably would have fallen to his knees, but suddenly Weasley was there, grabbing hold of his other arm and dragging him along as he sprinted out of the room.

"Run!" Weasley yelled. "Come on, ignore it and move your feet, Malfoy, let's go!"

Draco clenched his teeth and did as told, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other as they ran down the corridor. They passed a couple other Death Eaters along the way, all of whom were clutching their own arms and looking startled. Draco vaguely wondered why they weren't doubled over in pain, but then he realized that they farther they got from the room – and from the Dark Lord – the more the pain lessened.

"Where's Potter?" Draco asked, throwing a glance over his shoulder. No one was following them yet, which had to be some kind of miracle. It wouldn't be long before someone noticed it was Harry bloody Potter who was running mad through the place.

"How should I know?" Weasley said. "He hasn't tried to get in contact with us yet."

"Brilliant," Draco muttered. They ran past an empty room and Draco skidded to a stop, quickly backtracking and calling for Weasley to return. "I just need a minute," he said, panting, and Weasley nodded.

"Are you alright?" he asked, the second he got the door shut. "Fuck, Malfoy, I know we said that might happen but I was about to – if he'd kept you under that curse for any longer–"

"No," Draco interrupted. "You did exactly what you should have."

Weasley scowled. "Which was absolutely nothing."

"Exactly," Draco said. "Not that it mattered in the end. Bloody Parseltongue – what the hell was that about?"

"Seriously." Weasley leaned back against the wall. "I got the feeling he was telling her she could eat me or something."

"Now there's a lovely thought."

"We probably should have been prepared for that."

"We covered every other bloody scenario," Draco groused. He clenched and unclenched his hand a couple times, and then gingerly took a few steps toward the center of the room.

"Alright?" Weasley asked again. He actually sounded worried.

Draco waved him off. "Fine," he said. "I have to be. We can't just stay in here."

"I wonder what Harry's doing."

Draco snorted. "I'll tell you what he's not doing," he said. "He's not off killing any great dirty snakes." Then he paused, and his eyes widened. "Merlin, Weasley – you just destroyed a Horcrux!"

Weasley blinked. "Yeah…" he said slowly. Then he grinned. "I did, didn't I? Wow. Although, did you hear what he said? About–"

"I really don't want to think about that right now," Draco cut in. "At all. And we should probably get a move on anyway."

"Right." Weasley nodded. "We don't want to be trapped in here if some Death Eaters come bursting in. Disillusionment Charms on, I think."

They cast the spell on themselves, and then in the middle of reaching for the door, Draco yelped and jerked his hand back.

"What is it?" Weasley asked quickly.

Draco grimaced. "Dark Mark," he said. "He's called the others to attention – probably so he can send them out to find us."

"Great," Weasley grumbled, and then he carefully pulled the door open. "Hermione's right, a map of this place would be dead useful right now. It's bigger than I thought."

"Just go," Draco said exasperatedly. "We have to find Potter."

xXxXx

Harry knew the instant something went wrong because his scar all but exploded.

By some stroke of fate, he had just left the room with Lucius, Nott, and Wormtail behind, so no one was there to see him when he stumbled backwards into a wall and slid to the floor.

He remained curled up with his fists pressed against his forehead for a long minute before the pain abruptly faded away. Scowling at nothing in particular, he struggled to his feet again. That had felt just like–

Harry froze, his eyes going wide.

Just like it had when they'd destroyed the last Horcrux.

He shot a quick look up and down the hall and then yanked the Invisibility Cloak off and stuffed it away. It couldn't mean anything good if Ron and Draco had just killed Nagini on their own; there was no way they could still be fooling Voldemort. Harry needed to find them and he needed to find them fast. The cloak would only get in the way and their cover was well past blown now anyway.

He hoped Dobby was almost finished getting the wards down.

xXxXx

"Whose brilliant idea was it to leave the room again?" Draco shouted, as he and Weasley hightailed it down the hallway.

"Shut up!" Weasley yelled back. He fired a spell over his shoulder. "It seemed logical at the time!"

Not far behind them were three Death Eaters, the names of whom had escaped Draco. He and Weasley hadn't been sneaking around for more than two minutes before they came upon them. Draco was fairly certain their Disillusionment Charms were the only reason the Death Eaters couldn't get a clear shot off.

"Besides, I'm pretty sure you agreed with me, Malfoy!"

Draco scowled and ducked as a spell went flying over his head and ricocheted off the wall, making a cascade of dirt and splinters rain down on them. He spotted a corridor up ahead and sped up to get to it. "Here!" he said, and he and Weasley took a sharp right. Draco threw open the nearest door and was confronted with a set of stairs.

"I'm not sure going up a level is going to help our case any," Weasley panted.

"We don't have much of a choice," Draco said, as the first Death Eater rounded the corner. "Go!" They pounded up the stairs and ended up in another long, dreary hallway with several doors lining the sides.

Weasley swore under his breath. "This place is a bloody maze," he said, as they took off running yet again.

"It's nearly as big as the manor," Draco said. Fuck, he'd do anything for a broom right now. His side was killing him and he was starting to have trouble sucking down enough air. They chose a random door on the left and ducked inside, only to find themselves staring down yet another corridor.

"You know, I think this house might actually be cursed," Weasley said.

Draco shot him an exasperated look. "No, really?"

"I'm serious!" Weasley pulled open one of the doors and found an empty room behind it. "Watch." He shut the door, waited for a few seconds, and then opened it again.

Now there was a hallway on the other side with a single, flickering light at the other end.

"…Bugger," Draco muttered, and Weasley nodded.

"It's like that story," he said.

Draco frowned. "Which?"

"Can't remember what it was called. It wasn't a Bard tale, though."

"Merriweather, then?"

"That's the one."

Draco shook his head. "My mother didn't like his work much, so I don't know them as well."

"Mum wasn't really a fan either," Weasley said. "But anyway, it was something about these kids snooping around and they ended up getting lost in this big old house – I can't remember how they got out. And there was a moral shoved in somewhere towards the end."

"Oh, well that's useful," Draco said dryly.

Weasley rolled his eyes. "At least now we know."

"Fat lot of good it's going to do us, too."

"Shut it, Malfoy, no one asked for your snark." He took a step into the dim corridor. "Should we go this way?"

"I suppose," Draco said, though he looked doubtful. "The elf better hurry the hell up with those wards."

"I'm sure Dobby is working on them as we speak," Weasley said. Draco opened his mouth to reply, but he didn't get the chance to because the Carrow siblings chose that moment to come charging around the corner.

"There!" Alecto cried. "That's them, isn't it?"

"Dark, creepy corridor it is, come on!" Draco said quickly, and off they went.

"Dark's probably better anyway, yeah?" Weasley said. "Makes it even harder to see us. Stupefy!"

"Given that we're rampaging around up here like a herd of hippogriffs – Impedimenta! – I hardly think it matters that we've gone bloody chameleon."

They made it to the end of the hallway, only to find that from there it headed off in two different directions.

"Split up!" Weasley said. "I got left."

"You – wait, what?" Draco cried.

"Just go!"

Draco let out a frustrated sound and tore off down the hall on the right. "Stupid, idiotic tosser – bloody Gryffindor," he muttered under his breath, before yelling back over his shoulder, "How is this supposed to help us?"

Unfortunately, looking over his shoulder while sprinting was not Draco's greatest idea, and he ended up running straight into another body while his head was turned.

"Ow – fuck – Stupef–"

"Expelliarmus," Snape interrupted swiftly, catching Draco's wand when it came flying through the air toward him. He grabbed Draco by the shoulder before he could even begin to form a coherent sentence and shoved him into a nearby room. The door slammed shut behind them.

"Professor–!" Draco started to say, but Snape quickly held a finger up to his lips in a silencing gesture. He waited a few seconds until the sound of footsteps running past the door faded, and then he turned to face Draco.

"What the hell are you all doing here?"

Draco frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, you know," he said sarcastically. "Killing snakes, destroying Horcruxes. Sometimes they're one and the same."

"I told Potter I would handle that," Snape said in an angry tone. "I told you all nottoleave."

"It's Potter," Draco said, throwing his hands up in the air. "Did you really expect him to listen? He got impatient and charged off at the first sign of an opportunity."

Snape exhaled harshly through his nose. "Where is he now? You need to get out of here – I trust you have some sort of escape plan, at least?"

Draco shrugged, his gaze shifting off to the side. "I've no idea where he is."

"You were just with him."

"That was Weasley," Draco muttered. "Polyjuiced."

Snape looked as though he would very much like to smack Draco upside the head at that moment. "All three of you are here," he said. It wasn't a question, but Draco nodded anyway and Snape pinched the bridge of his nose. "And Miss Granger?" he asked, sounding like he thought he already knew the answer.

Draco was happy to prove him wrong this time. "No, Hermione stayed behind," he said. "And she's probably worked herself into a state wondering when we'll be back."

There was a pause while Snape gave Draco a blank, almost bordering on surprised look. Then he jerked his head around to look at the door. "We haven't much time. Your aunt is here, and the werewolf, as well."

"…He called them in?" Draco asked faintly, terror bubbling up in his stomach. The werewolf. Shit.

Snape nodded. "He's angry," he said slowly. "The Dark Lord. You've really done it this time."

"It was worth it," Draco said. He had to keep telling himself that. "Can I have my wand back?"

Snape handed it over. "I can try to buy you a little time. You need to find Potter and Weasley and getout."

"We're waiting on a house elf," Draco said. "It's dismantling the wards."

"…Clever," Snape admitted. "The Dark Lord would never worry about a house elf besting him. The thought wouldn't even occur to him."

"Potter's idea. It's worked for us before."

Snape didn't reply. Instead he pulled the door open and directed a cautious look up and down the hallway. "Go," he said brusquely. "And be quick about it. Greyback is tracking your scent."

Draco shuddered. "Fucking brilliant," he grumbled, and headed back the direction Weasley had gone.

They layout of the house seemed to have changed again, however. What had once been a straight path that Draco had run down now had twists and turns, and in no time at all Draco had no idea where the hell he was or how he was supposed to get back to the stairwell they'd first come up. He ended up in a large, open foyer with floor to ceiling bay windows on one end that offered a wide view of the front lawn. Well, if nothing else, he could always dive through those, Draco thought cynically.

Shouts started echoing from down one of the hallways, quickly getting louder, and Draco looked around for somewhere he could duck into. If he had to take off running again, he wasn't sure he'd make it far. He was starting to feel like he'd been hit with a Jelly-Legs Jinx.

He had just thrown himself into a corner, desperately hoping it was only the Carrows again because then he might actually have a chance of hiding in plain sight, when Fenrir Greyback strode into the room. Draco slapped a hand over his mouth in an effort to keep himself from groaning out loud, but he knew it wouldn't matter much whether or not he made any noise.

Greyback sniffed at the air, looking every bit like a wolf on the prowl. His lips curled back, baring his teeth in a yellow grin. "Kid's in here," he said to someone behind him, and then Yaxley stepped into view.

"Wonderful," he said, wand out in front of him. "Come now, Draco, you know this is a worthless effort. There isn't much that can be done for you now, but if you grovel before the Dark Lord he could possibly be persuaded to let your parents live."

Greyback snickered. "Doubtful," he said. "The Malfoys have always been nothing but trouble." He sniffed again, and then tipped his head in the direction of Draco's corner. "He's back there."

Draco's legs gave out and he slid to the floor, just as Yaxley flicked his wand in Draco's direction. All at once, Draco could feel the Disillusionment Charm reversing, and when he looked down at his hands they'd been returned to their usual visible state.

"There," Yaxley said. "Now why don't you get up off your little blood traitor arse and come with me."

Draco bristled. "I'm not a blood traitor," he snapped, using the wall for support as he clambered to his feet.

Yaxley raised an eyebrow. "Could have fooled me," he said, and then he pointed his wand at Draco again. "The Dark Lord never said we had to bring you to him alive."

"Oh, please," Draco said. "You know that bastard will want to torture me personally." He chuckled darkly. "I suppose I should be honored."

"You dare speak about the Dark Lord like that in front of me?" Yaxley spat.

Draco raised his wand. "His name is Voldemort," he said, and then made a vicious slashing motion with his wand. "Stupefy!"

Yaxley blocked it wordlessly and immediately sent something flying back at him that Draco had to dive out of the way to avoid. "You really think you can hold your own against me?" Yaxley said, laughing. "You're nothing but a child." He fired off another spell and Draco hastily threw up a shield charm, which quickly ended up under double attacks as Greyback joined the fray, as well.

"Sectumsempra!" Draco cried, but his voice was shaky and keeping the shield charm up distracted him from aiming properly. The spell merely slashed across the side of Greyback's face, leaving a bleeding gash high on his cheek. He lifted a hand to it, and his fingers were red when he pulled them back.

Slowly, and with a low growl, Greyback turned his head back to glare at Draco. "You're dead, kid," he snarled, and Draco could do nothing but stare helplessly, frozen to the spot, as he lunged forward.

Then suddenly two things happened in very quick succession as two different people charged into the room.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Harry shouted, sliding directly in between Draco and Greyback. The spell caught Greyback full in the chest and he was thrown backwards as his wand went flying. Harry snatched it out of the air and fell into a crouch in front of Draco, quickly breaking the wand across his knee. He barely spared Draco a quick glance before his eyes settled on Yaxley, who very abruptly crumpled to the floor when a spell hit him from the other side.

"THAT IS MYSON!," Lucius Malfoy roared, firing off another spell at Greyback that also sent him crashing down. He stood there panting for a moment, looking at his two fellow Death Eaters that he'd just taken out, and then he turned to Draco and Harry.

Harry hooked his hand around Draco's arm and hauled him to his feet. "Alright, Malfoy?" he asked, still keeping a wary eye on Lucius, and Draco could only nod wordlessly, still utterly bewildered to see both Harry and his father there.

"Draco," Lucius whispered, taking a step toward them. "Oh, Draco, what are you doing?"

Draco shifted nervously, glad that Harry still had a hold on his arm. His mind had gone blank and he suddenly couldn't think of anything to say that would justify his actions.

After a moment, Lucius sighed and dragged a hand over his face, looking resigned. "You'd better get out of here," he said in a low tone. "They won't be out for long."

"They're not dead?" Harry said. "You can't leave them alive, they'll know–"

"Potter," Lucius interrupted harshly, holding up a hand and sending him a dark look. "Don't speak to me. I'm still debating whether or not I should drag you right back to the Dark Lord and if your irritating voice grates on my ears too much, you're liable to tip the scales so that they're not in your favor."

Harry scowled. "They're going to remember," he insisted.

"He's right," Draco said, finally finding his voice. "Father, he's right, you can't just…"

Lucius gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "You underestimate me, Draco. I know how to perform a simple Memory Charm."

Draco didn't look reassured. "But father, the Dark Lord – Voldemort – there's no way he's going to let this one go, you'll be killed. And it'll be because of me, I can't–"

"Draco." Lucius cut in. "It's hardly because of you. I'm the one who got my family into this," he said bitterly. "You were nearly killed, I've no idea where your mother is–"

"She's–"

"Don't tell me," Lucius hissed. "It's better if I don't know."

Harry, who was still lingering awkwardly by Draco's side, tugged at his arm. "We really do need to go, mate."

Draco glanced at him and then shot an uncertain look back at his father. "Come with us," he said abruptly, ignoring the incredulous look that immediately appeared on Harry's face. "You have to," Draco insisted.

Lucius only shook his head. "Go," he said. "Take Potter and get out of here."

"Dad–"

"Go!"

Draco looked at him one more time, and then he nodded his head once, grabbed Harry's hand, and pulled him out of the room.

They hurried down the hall until Draco felt they were far enough away, and then he had to slow down for a minute to figure out what the hell had just happened.

"Uh…Malfoy?" Harry asked hesitantly, pulling at his hand. "Would you mind letting–" He was cut off when Draco unexpectedly spun around and grabbed the front of his shirt, burying his face against Harry's neck.

Harry squeaked.

"I just need a second," Draco mumbled. "Because I'm pretty sure that was the last time I'll ever see my father alive." Harry didn't say anything; he just remained tense against Draco's hold and seemed to be breathing as shallowly as he could. Draco lifted his head to look at him, and after a couple seconds Harry's eyes widened.

"Oh – shit, no, Malfoy–" Harry stammered. He held his hands up and tried to back up a step. "I'm not–"

Draco frowned in confusion and stepped forward with him. "Not what?"

Harry huffed and rolled his eyes skyward. "You've got the wrong Potter," he said.

Draco blinked at him, wondering just what exactly that was supposed to mean, and then it clicked and his eyes went wide as he dropped Harry's – Weasley's – shirt like he'd been burned. "Oh, for the love of – you should have said something sooner, you idiot!" Draco exclaimed, his face quickly turning pink.

"I thought you knew!" Weasley cried, brushing off his shirt and looking at everything else in the hallway that wasn't Draco. "I wasn't expecting you to try to snog me!"

Draco's jaw dropped. "I wasn't going to snog you, Weasley, what the hell?"

"You were! You had a funny look in your eyes and seriously, how didn't you know it was me?"

"Well!" Draco fidgeted for a second and then threw up his hands. "You seemed very – Potter-like, alright, I'm sorry! And you removed the Disillusionment Charm!"

"I was trying to distract a bunch of Death Eaters, I figured it'd be better if they could see me. Just – let's pretend that didn't happen," Weasley said resolutely. "And go find the real Harry so you can hang all over him instead."

"Oh, shut up," Draco groused, and he and Weasley took off again.

xXxXx

Harry dashed around a corner and cursed for the umpteenth time that day when he saw that there was only another identical looking hallway in front of him. What the hell was going on with this place? It seemed to be an endless maze and the farther he went the more lost he got. There had been several times when he was tempted to call for Dobby, but the galleon in his pocket hadn't yet heated up and he was hesitant to interrupt Dobby while he was working. He couldn't afford to distract him when they needed a way out as soon as possible.

The fact that he couldn't find Ron or Draco was also really starting to worry him. He'd tried to send them a message when running around aimlessly looking for them didn't seem to be working, but he hadn't gotten a reply back yet. Fair enough, assuming they were probably busy trying to fight off Death Eaters like he was.

At least, he hoped it was just that and not something worse. Nott's words from earlier were still ringing in his ears and he had an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Fuck, Harry just wanted to know what had happened.

On a whim, he threw open one of the many doors lining the hallway and was almost disappointed when there was nothing interesting on the other side. He'd half hoped there'd be a cluster of Death Eaters there so he had something to take his frustration out on. It sounded like there were some voices coming from further down the hall, however, so he decided to investigate that instead. It was possible it could be Ron and Draco–

Harry started as a sudden warmth bloomed against his leg, and he quickly remembered the galleon. He ducked into the room he'd just found and pulled it out, hoping that maybe Ron had finally gotten back to him, but instead there was one word spelled out along the edge of the coin.

R E A D Y

Harry grinned.

The voices were getting louder. Harry flattened himself against the wall, listening intently, but they didn't turn out to be anyone he recognized.

"Malfoy's as good as dead," one of the voices was saying, sounding entirely too happy about it. "Cor, it's good to watch that bloody family fall. Lucius always did get on my nerves the way he strutted around all the time."

"Which one do you think the Dark Lord will do in first?" the second voice asked.

"Does it matter? Long as they both go. Whatever the kid's been mixed up in lately has the Dark Lord all on edge, let me tell you. That spell he cast almost sent Dolohov through the wall at our last meeting. Dolohov! And he's been here near since the beginning! No, both of 'em need to be offed. Then maybe things can get back to normal around here."

"Mm… We should be trying a little harder to find them, then, don't you think?"

The first person made a scoffing sound. "The Dark Lord was going to sic Greyback on them, wasn't he? Hell, he's probably already found the kid and mangled him to pieces." He gave a sharp laugh. "Might be they'll decide to turn him into a werewolf."

"Toss him into a dungeon until the full moon," the second person said, also chuckling. "I'm for it. It'd have to be the Malfoys' own dungeons, of course."

"Definitely," said the first person. "Anyway, I don't much fancy going up against the Potter brat, to be honest. He gives me the creeps, that one. Can't really figure out why the Dark Lord wants him so badly…"

The voices faded away, but Harry remained frozen to the spot for a moment longer.

Greyback was here.

Abruptly, he tore himself away from the wall and slipped back out into the hallway before setting off at a dead sprint. He had to find the others. Now. He was through wasting time. Dobby would be able to help now that the wards were ready to come down, he'd be able to locate the others easily–

A door flew open in front of him and before Harry could even think about slowing down he found himself crashing straight into – himself?

"Ow! Bloody hell, man, watch it!" his replica said, stumbling back into the door and immediately wincing. "Bugger – doorknob, ow."

"Ron!" Harry exclaimed, quickly removing his Disillusionment Charm.

Ron looked up and gave him a pained smile as he rubbed at his side. "At least you recognized me," he said, which didn't make much sense to Harry, but he was too busy feeling relieved to care.

"Ha ha, Weasley, you slay me," Draco said flatly, and when he stepped into view looking, for the most part, perfectly well and unharmed, Harry felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Malfoy," he breathed. Draco only had time to blink at him before Harry was lunging forward and throwing his arms around the other boy's shoulders. "Shit," he mumbled. "Shit. I wasn't sure if – the Death Eaters have been saying – Merlin, I am so glad to see you."

Draco blinked again, and then slowly brought his arms up to circle Harry's waist. "Oh?" he said, his voice shaking a bit.

Harry pulled back slightly so he could look Draco in the eyes, absently brushing away some of the hair that had somehow managed to escape its gelled prison and fall into Draco's face. "Are you okay?" he asked, pulling back half a step further to look him over completely. "Voldemort didn't do anything to you, did he? No crazy werewolf gashes? You're alright?"

Draco nodded dumbly at him, and Harry let out a long breath before hugging Draco tightly again.

Somewhere off to the side, Ron awkwardly cleared his throat. "I'm okay, too," he said loudly. "You know, in case anyone was wondering."

Harry jerked away from Draco, his face instantly flaming up. "Er…"

Ron ignored him and sent Draco a knowing look. "And you told me to shut up," he said, grinning when Draco scowled at him. "Like I don't know exactly what I'm talking about."

Harry's brow furrowed in confusion. "What…?"

Ron shook his head. "Nothing. No time for small talk anyway. We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"…You – I've been looking everywhere for you," Harry said after a beat. "I sent you a message, didn't you get it? Where were you guys?"

"Upstairs," Draco replied, as Ron frowned and started digging around in his pockets.

Harry gaped at him. "There's an upstairs?"

"Doesn't matter now, but yes." Ron found the galleon and pulled it out, peering at it. "…Oh. Look, you did send something," he said sheepishly, and Draco smacked him on the shoulder.

"Idiot."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Whatever, you're here now. Dobby's ready to go, so we just have to–"

"THERE!" someone interrupted, and all three boys whirled around to find Bellatrix and Snape bearing down on them. Harry groaned. "Draco, you irritating little shit," Bellatrix seethed. "You dare betray the Dark Lord? You have the gall to choose Potter over him?"

"Well, obviously," Draco said, doing his best to sound unimpressed. "In case you hadn't noticed, the Dark Lord's kind of a madman."

Bellatrix gave a furious cry and readied her wand, but Snape swiftly stepped in front of her. "Allow me, Bella," he said, and Harry knew that was the only chance he was going to get.

"DOBBY!" he shouted, backing up and pulling both Ron and Draco with him. "Dobby, now, we're ready!"

Dobby popped into existence in front of them, took one look at Snape and Bellatrix, and snapped his fingers.

The air around them gave a weird sort of shimmer. Before Harry's eyes the hallway and doors seemed to melt away, leaving them standing in what appeared to be some sort of old dining room.

"What did you do?" Bellatrix demanded, as the walls began shaking and chunks of wood rained down on them from the ceiling. "What did that filthy house elf do?"

"The wards is down, Harry Potter!" Dobby cried. "They is being the only thing holding the house up!"

Harry nodded. "Time to go," he said, and knelt down to clasp Dobby's hand. The pressure in the air around them abruptly increased, and they Disapparated away just as the room they'd been standing in crumbled inwards.

xXxXx

They reappeared right outside Grimmauld Place, and for a few seconds they could only seem to stand there in shock.

"…I can't believe we actually made it out," Draco said after a moment. "Can we please never do that again?"

"What the hell happened at the end there?" Harry asked, moving toward the door. The last thing they needed was Voldemort popping up because they'd lingered outside too long. "Dobby, you said the wards were holding the house up?"

Dobby nodded. "Yes, Harry Potter. They is the reason Dobby was taking so long."

"But what was with that…bloody maze or whatever? It just disappeared – that was because of the wards? I swear the layout of the damn place kept changing."

"It did," Ron said. "Malfoy and I figured it out. The curse must have been interwoven with the wards. We think You-Know – Voldemort – nicked the curse from an old Wizarding fairytale."

Harry blinked. "Really? What, were we supposed to use bread crumbs to find our way out?"

Both Ron and Draco gave him a blank look.

"…Seriously?" Harry said. "Hansel and Gretel? No?"

"Ah," Draco said, leaning in close to Ron. "Muggle thing."

Harry huffed. "It had a witch in it," he muttered. "Although…she was evil."

"Aren't most witches in all that Muggle stuff?" Draco asked.

"Glinda wasn't," Harry said, but the other two just continued to look at him like they thought he'd gone mental. "Oh, come on! That one even had wizard in the title and you haven't heard of it?"

"We need to get this bloke a copy of The Tales of Beetle the Bard," Ron said to Draco, who nodded. Harry just huffed again and pulled open the door.

They made it about five feet past the entrance before several sets of footsteps came pounding down the stairs. Harry looked up with a grin on his face, ready to greet Hermione, but instead it was a redheaded blur that flew into his arms.

"Harry!" Ginny cried, and Harry could only stand there in bewilderment while she squeezed the breath out of him.

"…Note that she can also tell which one of us is the right one," Ron said lightly.

Draco crossed his arms and scowled.

Okay, BEFORE YOU ALL START THROWING THINGS AT ME - don't worry. Don't worry, Harry is very much done with Ginny and she isn't there to cause problems. We're coming up on Christmas and whatnot time-wise, though, and I couldn't leave her at Hogwarts over the break!

Anyway, haha. I'm really curious what you all thought of this chapter! It was kind of a monster, wasn't it? It was fun to write, so I hope everyone enjoyed it!

The next chapter might be a little late, only because I'm going to be in Orlando~ for the Harry Potter Celebration there - EXCITED! It just happens to be the same weekend I'm due to post next, though. I'll get the chapter up as soon as I can after I get back, promise!

Till then!

-Maxine