Here's the new chapter!

Chapter Seventeen

Draco looked around in horror. He felt Hermione shift in the darkness beside him and saw the outline of her wand pointed at him.

"I'm sorry, Draco, but please, just try and hide. Maybe they'll spare you."

In a split second, Draco's hands were tied behind his back and he was on his knees. A blindfold appeared over his eyes. Hermione gently pulled a bag over his head and squeezed his shoulder. She pushed him down into a corner of the tent.

Draco heard another bang and heard unfamiliar voices enter the tent. He crouched as far as he could in the corner.

"Get up, vermin."

Oh no, he thought. They really found us. He never thought they would actually be found. They had been on the run for so long that it hadn't seemed possible.

But it was.

He heard the Snatchers drag Harry, Hermione, and Weasley roughly from the tent.

The sword! he thought. Where's the sword? Maybe I could hide it, still. They haven't seen me, yet.

He tried to stand up, but was so discombobulated that he had to kneel back down. He tried to move, but Hermione had bound his wrists so tightly together that he couldn't budge. Draco moved the muscles in his face, trying to dislodge the blindfold, but he knew it was a lost cause before he even started. Hermione had even placed a bag over his head.

He heard the Snatchers return to the tent and start rummaging through their things.

"Ooh, now this must be worth something," said an unfamiliar, raspy voice. "I wonder how much I could get for this? Looks goblin-made."

Oh no! The sword, they've found the sword!

Draco started moving rapidly, trying to free himself. He had to get to the sword before they used it.

"Oh, what's this? Someone else?"

Footsteps slowly approached him and a rough hand grabbed him around the arm and forced him to stand up.

"Who are you, eh? Did those truants catch themselves a little prisoner?" The Snatcher laughed as he dragged Draco out, leaving the bag over his head.

"Hey! Look what I found, Greyback!"

Draco's heart sank. Greyback? There was no way they could escape Greyback. Instantly, he knew that Scabior was nearby, possibly even the one who was holding him.

"Ve-e-ry nice," Greyback replied. "Oh, very nice indeed. Looks goblin-made, that. Who's this?"

"Dunno. Think they held themselves a prisoner."

Draco was forced to his knees and someone, Greyback probably, pulled the bag back from his head.

"And who might you be?"

His face was close to Draco's. He pulled Draco by his long, white-blonde hair, and forced him to stand up. He peeled the blindfold from his eyes.

"Draco Malfoy, Greyback," Draco said, his eyes readjusting. "Now unchain me." He shook his bound hands behind him.

Greyback looked taken aback. "We thought you were dead," growled Greyback. "They've been keeping you hostage all this time?" He glanced at Harry, Hermione, and Weasley, all of whom were chained up to one another and two others.

Draco glanced at Hermione. She had tears in her eyes, but she gave him a slight nod.

"Yes," he said softly. "Now unchain me," he demanded.

Greyback nodded and pulled out his wand, releasing Draco from his bonds. "Who are they, anyway? Members of the Order of the Phoenix?"

"I know nothing of who they are."

"Last time we saw you, you were supposed to kill Dumbledore. But you couldn't do it, could you?" Greyback taunted. "Had to get big, bad Snape to finish up your work."

Draco's face hardened. "It's difficult to kill someone when you've been taken captive." He glanced over Greyback's shoulder at Harry, who kept a steady gaze on him. He was a bit surprised at Harry's appearance and realized what the second bang had been. Hermione must've jinxed Harry so he didn't look like himself.

"Where are you taking them?" Draco asked.

Greyback smiled. "I think we'll get even more gold for you, young Malfoy. You're coming with us." He grabbed Draco's arm.

" 'ang on a minute, Greyback! Look at this, in the Prophet!"

Draco didn't know what was in the news, but he didn't have a good feeling about it. He glanced at Harry again and noticed that he seemed to be having another vision. Close your mind, Harry, he thought, trying to employ Legilimency on him. Harry couldn't succumb to his vision right now, not when they've just been captured. They'd know for sure that it's him.

" 'ermione Granger,' " Scabior was saying, "the Mudblood who is known to be traveling with 'arry Potter.'"

Draco's heart sank. They couldn't recognize her. He made a motion to stand in front of her, but Greyback beat him to it.

"You know what, little girly? This picture looks a hell of a lot like you."

"It isn't! It isn't me!"

"No, Greyback," Draco said suddenly. "It's—"

"How would you know Draco Malfoy? You've been blindfolded and kept captive all these months." Greyback glanced back at Hermione. "Well, this changes things, doesn't it?" he whispered. He took a step toward Harry and held a finger in front of Harry's forehead.

"Don't touch it!" Harry yelled.

Draco knew instantly that Harry was trying to keep his visions at bay. He figured his scar was in pain and there was something that the Dark Lord was doing. Draco stood helplessly in front of Harry, Hermione, and Weasley, unsure of what to do. He glanced at the other two prisoners – a goblin and…that Muggle-born, Dean Thomas? He had been traveling with Uncle Ted…

"…they say he's using the Malfoys' place as a base. We'll take the boy there. Might as well take the lot. We've got two Mudbloods, that's another ten Galleons. Give me the sword as well. If they're rubies, that's another small fortune." Greyback shoved Draco forward. "Not to mention, young Malfoy here. Surely, the only heir to the Malfoy line must be worth something."

Greyback grabbed a fistful of Draco's hair and Draco struggled against him. He saw Harry doing the same and they Disapparated. They lurched into one another as they landed on a familiar country lane.

Draco never imagined that he'd be back here again. Not like this. He glanced at Harry and was surprised to see a bit of relief on his face. That must mean that the Dark Lord was not here.

One of the Snatchers strode to the gates and shook them. Draco shook his head.

Idiot.

"How do we get in? They're locked, Greyback. I can't—blimey!"

The Snatcher whipped his hands away in fright. The iron from the gates was contorting, twisting itself out of the furls and coils into a frightening face. "State your purpose!"

"We've got Potter!" Greyback roared triumphantly. "We've captured Harry Potter!"

The gates swung open.

Greyback shoved him forward. "Come on!"

Draco, along with the other prisoners, was dragged forward. They walked into the entrance hall, the same one that he spent so many years in. Light flooded over them.

"What is this?" a familiar, cold voice said.

He felt as if his stomach had been wrenched from his body. His mother? What was his mother doing back here?

"We're here to see He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" rasped Greyback.

"Who are you?"

"You know me! Fenrir Greyback! We've caught Harry Potter!"

Greyback shoved Harry forward and Draco saw his mother kneel forward and scrutinize his face.

"We've also got someone else, you might like to see, Narcissa."

Narcissa's lip curled at the use of her name. "Who?" she asked coldly.

"Why, your dead son, of course." Greyback shoved Draco forward. "Except he's not so dead. And Potter and his friends were keeping him prisoner."

Draco stared up at his mother, horrified. How could she come back here? She looked back at him with an unfathomable look. He tried to search her eyes, but she stood and cast aside her look.

"Bring them in," she said. "Follow me." She took Draco's hand in hers and led the way across the hall.

Narcissa squeezed Draco's hand and he stole a look at her. She slightly shook her head, but didn't return his look.

They walked into the drawing room, a room that he had never been allowed to spend time in since it was where his father conducted his "business." Draco looked up at the crystal chandelier and at the portraits that lined the dark purple walls.

"What is this?" His father's drawling voice fell on his ears.

"Draco is alive," Narcissa said, in relief. She gently pushed him forward.

Draco forced himself to look up at his father. He had not seen him in months. Lucius curled his lip at the sight of his son.

"Why do you look like that, Draco? Like a filthy…Mudblood."

"They kept him prisoner," Greyback offered. "We found your son alive."

"Who kept him prisoner?"

"They say they've got Potter," said his mother's cold voice. "Draco, come here."

Draco tore his angry gaze away from his father and stood next to his mother.

"Is it them, Draco?" Lucius asked. "Have Potter, Weasley, and the Mudblood girl been keeping you captive?"

Greyback forced Harry, Hermione, and Weasley to kneel in front of them, directly beneath the chandelier.

Draco looked down at them, scared and worried. He glanced back at his father. "Aren't you glad I'm alive, Father?" He blocked his mind, knowing his father would try to penetrate his thoughts for any reassurance that these three people were the ones that they were looking for.

Lucius waved his hand. "Yes, yes, but I'll be even more glad if you tell me that this is Potter and his friends."

"I don't know. I was blindfolded."

Greyback dropped the blindfold and the bag at Lucius' feet. "They used this on him, Malfoy."

"Well, look at him, Draco!" he said avidly. He grabbed Draco by his neck and shoved him toward Harry. "Is it Harry Potter?" Lucius pushed Draco forward and forced him down on his knees.

"I don't know."

"Look at him carefully, look! Move closer!"

Draco had never heard his father so excited.

"Draco, if we are the ones who hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgiven. He may even overlook your failed mission from last year. I believe it was Snape who finished Dumbledore, not you, was it? And have you been kept captive by them all this time? How much of a failure are you to have been held prisoner by Potter, a blood traitor, and a Mudblood?"

Draco's eyes flashed angrily. "I wasn't—"

"Well, what do you think?" Lucius asked, abruptly cutting him off. "Is it them?"

"I don't know." He stood up and glanced angrily at his mother.

"We had better be certain, Lucius," Narcissa said in her cold, clear voice. "Completely sure that it is Potter." She put a hand on Draco's arm.

"What about the Mudblood, then?" growled Greyback.

Narcissa looked at Hermione and noticed the pained look on her son's face. "I don't know. I don't recognize her…I've only seen her once."

"There have been pictures in the newspaper, Narcissa!" Lucius threw his hands up in frustration. "She looks like the Granger girl. And that must mean that you are Arthur Weasley's son." He pointed his cane at Weasley.

The drawing door opened and Draco recoiled at the sight of Bellatrix Lestrange strolling into the drawing room like she owned the place.

"What is this? What's happened, Cissy?"

"My son's alive," Narcissa answered. She gestured to Draco.

Bellatrix gave them a wicked grin. "So you are, little Draco." She held her wand up at him. "Where've you been?"

"He's been held captive because of his incompetence!" said Lucius. "Forget about him, Bellatrix, the Mudblood girl. This is her."

Bellatrix suddenly turned around. "Granger?" She looked at Hermione with her heavily lidded eyes.

"And we think it's Potter! Potter and his friends, caught at last!"

"Potter?" shrieked Bellatrix.

Draco grabbed his mother's hand and looked at her pleadingly. She immediately enveloped him in a hug and whispered in his ear, so softly that Draco barely heard her.

"I'm with you, Draco."

"Let them go."

"I can't."

"Make them."

"I can't."

"Make them," he whispered more forcefully.

"I can't." She pulled back and gave him a sad smile. "I'm glad you're alive."

"The only one," he said, rolling his eyes.

"STOP!" shrieked Bellatrix again.

Draco flinched and looked around. His father was one inch from touching his Mark, but froze as he heard Bellatrix's voice.

"What is that?" she asked one of the Snatchers. The one holding the sword.

Draco looked at Harry, trying to best figure out how he could somehow let them loose. He was so lost in thought that he barely noticed how Bellatrix Stunned all of the Snatchers except for Greyback until she spoke to him.

"Draco, move this scum outside," she said, gesturing to the unconscious men. "If you haven't got the guts to finish them, then leave them in the courtyard for me."

"Don't you dare speak to Draco like—" said Narcissa furiously.

But Bellatrix screamed. "Be quiet! The situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Cissy!" She panted.

Draco looked at his mother. She nodded to him and gestured to the prisoners. Draco shook his head. Narcissa nodded at him, more vigorously now.

"Do it," she mouthed.

Draco shook his head.

"Draco!" yelled Bellatrix. "What are you doing? Get them out of here now!"

"Why?" he asked.

"Why?" Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "Because they're in my way!"

"Bellatrix, if it is indeed Potter, he must not be harmed," Lucius said. "The Dark Lord—"

"I know the Dark Lord wishes to dispose of Potter himself, but…but if he finds out…I must…I have to know…" Bellatrix muttered, more to herself than to Lucius. She paced up and down the room.

She turned to her sister.

"The prisoners must be placed in the cellar, while I think of what to do!"

"This is my house, Bella, you don't give orders—"

"JUST DO IT!" she yelled.

Narcissa frowned at her and hesitated before responding.

"Fine. Draco, take these prisoners down to the cellar with me."

Bellatrix's eyes flashed angrily at Draco. "I suppose I'll just finish them off, then!" She kicked the nearest Stunned Snatcher and a jet of green light erupted from the end of her wand, killing him.

Draco looked away, feeling nauseated. His mother put a hand on Draco's arm and squeezed. He nodded to her in return and roughly grabbed Harry and pulled him to his feet. His mother had taken hold of Hermione.

"Wait," said Bellatrix sharply. "Leave the Mudblood."

The color drained from Draco's face. He froze, tightening his hold on Harry's arm. He nearly shook his head, but stopped at the severe look on Hermione's face.

"No!" shouted Ron. "You can have me, keep me!"

Bellatrix strolled to him and hit him across the face. Draco felt as if she had slapped him. He glanced worriedly at his mother and shook his head. She gave him a threatening look.

"Go," she mouthed.

She put a hand on Draco's shoulder and squeezed it. "Let's go, Draco," she said calmly.

Narcissa led them from the drawing room and Draco looked back. He saw Bellatrix take Hermione by her hair and drag her down into the middle of the room.

"Her—"

Narcissa shoved him. "The cellar, Draco," she said sternly.

"Mother—"

"Draco. Go."

She didn't relinquish her hold on Draco until they were safely on the steps toward the cellar.

"You're shaking, Draco. Are you all right?" she asked, tapping the door with her wand, unlocking it.

"Hermione—What is Bellatrix going to do to her?" he asked in panic.

Narcissa gazed into his eyes. "You care for the girl. I see it in your eyes."

Draco looked down immediately. "Mother, she kept me alive."

"Shh, Draco. It is not safe." Narcissa opened the door to the cellar. She gently shoved them all into the cellar and followed them into the cellar, closing the door behind her.

"You've gone back to them, Mother!"

Narcissa shook her head. "Shh, Draco." She looked at Harry. "You are Harry Potter? You must get out of here."

"We know, Mother."

A terrible, drawn-out scream erupted from the floor directly above them. It made the hairs on Draco's neck stand up.

"Mother!"

Draco wrenched the door open. He ran up the stairs two at a time.

"Draco!" his mother called from behind him. "Stop!"

He used his built-up anger to bang the doors to the drawing room open and nearly broke down at the sight he saw.

Bellatrix was straddling Hermione's midsection, bent over her. She held her wand pointed on Hermione's left arm and with every movement, Hermione screamed, each one more terrible than the last.

Hermione seemed to be shaking her head. "No, no..." she was saying. "It's a fake, it is…"

Draco felt his lungs tear out of him. He hated hearing the broken sound of Hermione's voice.

"Draco!" his mother said sternly. She placed a tight hand on his arm and squeezed him, not in a reassuring way. In a way to keep him in place. "You have seen this before. You have done this before."

"You are lying, filthy Mudblood and I know it! You have been inside my vault at Gringotts!"

Draco shook his mother's hand from him and ran forward.

"NO! THEY HAVEN'T! I WOULD'VE HEARD!"

Bellatrix looked up, madness glinting in her eyes. "What did you say, Draco?" she said dangerously.

"They haven't been inside your vault at Gringotts," he answered, in a calmer voice. He closed his mind, knowing that Bellatrix would try to penetrate it. "They held me captive, I would've heard."

She stood and kicked Hermione away from her. Draco wanted to run and grab her and Disapparate, but he knew his father would have seen to it that there were Anti-Disapparation spells all across the manor.

Bellatrix pointed her wand at Draco. "Are you trying to protect the Mudblood, Draco? After she kept you captive?" She took a step toward Draco, prodding him with her wand. "Did she torture you, Draco? Would you like to feel that again? Well, this is what you get for interrupting me, you worthless piece of trash. CRUCIO!"

Draco fell to the ground, twitching horribly. It felt like a thousand, burning knives pierced every inch of his body. He could feel himself screaming, but he heard nothing. He saw nothing.

Only the stars of his pain.

After a few seconds that felt like years, Draco started to breathe again. Bellatrix's face popped up in front of him.

"Would you like more of that, dear nephew?"

"You will not torture my son, Bellatrix," Narcissa said, drawing her own wand. She pointed it at Bellatrix.

Bellatrix merely laughed. "You can't threaten me, Cissy." She turned back toward Hermione. "Now, Mudblood, where were we before my dear, darling nephew so rudely interrupted us?" She laughed as she threw the Cruciatus Curse at Hermione again.

Her screams sounded even more terrible than before.

"How did you get into my vault?" Bellatrix asked, dangerously. She was leaning over Hermione's arm again.

"It isn't the real sword!" Draco said weakly. He sat up slowly, trying to calm the twitching of his legs. He looked up at his father who showed no sympathy or emotion in his face. Just complete and utter apathy. "It's a copy, they…they were just using it to—"

"To what?" Bellatrix asked quickly, rounding on Draco. "To what, Draco? Hurry."

"To…I don't know, I don't remember everything!"

Bellatrix scoffed at Draco. "CRUCIO!"

Draco fell backward, twitching. He tried to shut his mouth to keep himself from screaming, remembering that Bellatrix enjoyed it even more when her victims screamed.

Bellatrix laughed as she raised her wand from Draco. "You never learn, do you, nephew? Do the same to me, Draco. Come on." She leaned down over him. "But of course, you can't. Because you're weak. Just like your father," she whispered.

"Nonsense, Bellatrix," Lucius replied in a drawling voice. His nose was pointed in the air and his impeccable long, blonde hair flowed behind him as he strode across the room. "It's that Black blood that flows through his veins. The very blood that flowed through…oh what's his name again? Your blood traitor cousin, Sirius Black. Or even your Mudblood-loving sister."

Narcissa looked at him in anger. "The same blood that flows through my veins, Lucius."

Lucius waved his hand at Narcissa.

"Here's the goblin," Greyback grunted. He pushed the goblin forward, toward Bellatrix.

Draco frowned, not remembering the goblin being summoned. He tried to get up, but was shoved out of the way by Bellatrix in her haste to get to the goblin. She thrust the sword into the goblin's face.

"Well?" Bellatrix said to the goblin. "Is it the true sword?"

Draco tried to move toward Hermione, who looked lifeless on the floor. Tears were streaming out of her eyes and her mouth was slightly open. He couldn't move his legs.

"No," said the goblin. "It is a fake."

"Are you sure?" Bellatrix looked almost excited. "Quite sure?"

"Yes."

Relief broke across her face, all tension drained from it.

"Good," she said, and with a casual flick of her wand, she slashed another deep cut into the goblin's face. He yelled and she kicked him aside. "And now," she said triumphantly, "we call the Dark Lord!"

She strode to Hermione and grabbed her by her hair. "What to do with you now?" she said. "Greyback, take her if you want."

"NOOOOOO!"

Draco looked around, hearing Weasley's scream. He and Harry burst into the room, throwing jets of light from their wands everywhere. Draco tested his leg again and stood up, shakily, hanging on to the end of an armchair.

"Draco, give me your wand!" Lucius said. Weasley had Disarmed him seconds earlier.

"No," Draco said defiantly.

"Give it to me!" Lucius said, throwing his weight onto Draco's. He wrestled Draco's wand from his hand and pointed it at Harry. But before Lucius even opened his mouth, Harry Disarmed him and threw Draco's wand back to him.

Draco ducked all of the jets of light that were flying around the room. He tried to find Hermione in the midst of all the chaos, but could barely see anything with Harry and Weasley dueling Bellatrix, Lucius, and Greyback. Draco didn't see his mother holding a wand against Harry and Weasley and hoped that she somehow was able to get Hermione to safety.

"STOP OR SHE DIES!"

Everyone froze. Bellatrix was supporting Hermione, who looked close to death and was holding her short silver knife to Hermione's throat. Tears squeezed out of the corners of Hermione's eyes.

"Drop your wands," she commanded. "Drop them or we'll see how filthy her blood really is." She pressed the knife into Hermione's neck and a bright red spot of blood appeared.

Weasley and Harry put their hands up. They dropped their wands at their feet.

"Good!" she leered. "Draco, pick them up! The Dark Lord is coming, Harry Potter! Your death approaches!"

Draco saw despair set in on Harry's face as he moved forward to pick up the wands. Bellatrix was talking, but stopped after hearing a peculiar grinding noise from above. All of them looked upward in time to see the crystal chandelier tremble and with a creek, it began to fall. Bellatrix was directly beneath it; tossing Hermione down, next to the goblin, she threw herself aside. The chandelier crashed to floor, falling on top of Hermione and the goblin, who was still clutching the sword. Glittering shards of crystal flew in all directions and Draco doubled over, covering his face. He ran forward and pulled Hermione from the wreckage.

"DRACO!" Bellatrix yelled. "Prove yourself and kill the Mudblood!" She sprang to her feet and brandished the silver knife.

"Dobby!" Narcissa screamed. "What are you—you dropped the chandelier?"

He trotted into the room and pointed his finger at her and Bellatrix. "You must not hurt Harry Potter!"

Draco glanced at his old house-elf in confusion. What was he doing there? he wondered. Draco was still holding the unconscious Hermione and moved to stand next to Weasley.

"Kill her, Draco!"

Dobby snapped his fingers and threw Narcissa and Bellatrix backward.

"You dirty little monkey!" Bellatrix yelled. "How dare you defy your masters!"

"Dobby has no master!" squealed the elf. "Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!"

"Draco!" Lucius yelled. "The girl, kill the girl!"

Draco looked down at Hermione's near-unconscious form in his arms. He looked at his mother and she gave him an encouraging, but sad smile.

"No, Father. I won't." He nodded at him. "I suppose this is goodbye then."

"Let's go!" yelled Harry. Bellatrix screamed in frustration and threw her knife toward them. Harry put his arm through Draco's and Draco hoped desperately that wherever they were going, they would get there safe and that Hermione would be okay. He felt them jerk as they disappeared into the darkness.

What do you think about this chapter? Please review and let me know what you think! It's not the last we'll see of Bellatrix and Lucius.