Chapter Sixteen: Manny the Nanny

"The nanny? Why do you want to see the nanny?" Hermione questioned Draco.

But Draco didn't answer, he appeared to be lost in thought. Whatever was on his mind, Hermione wanted to be a part of it. Sure, she was ignoring the fact that he had called her love and she definitely wasn't going to acknowledge the residual feelings from the incident. She could be professional if she wanted to, goddamnit! If the man was going crazy, she had to somehow stop him from doing something too...rash. Too unfocused, at least.

What could the fucking nanny have anything to do with finding Hugo? The Aurors had gotten all the useful information out of her during questioning, that was for sure. Hermione had seen to it that the girl had done everything that the Aurors had wanted her to do. All of the records of the testimony and following interviews had been transcribed and placed into the Auror files. Hermione knew that Draco had read it.

Was his concussion messing with his thought process?

Hermione knew it was entirely possible that Draco's rational, almost clinical mind could have been jeopardized by the injuries he had sustained. He could very well just be delusional. She could take him to the nanny and spend a few precious hours there without any fruitful consequences. And then Hugo might potentially die. The fear started to blossom in her chest and she stared to panic.

Yes, she was going to hyperventilate, and it was going to be a very humiliating experience. She didn't want to let Draco Malfoy, her long time nemesis and recent crush, to see her like this – unprofessional, a mess, and almost to a breaking point. He was calm and collected, and he'd almost died for Merlin's sake! The least she could do was hold it together and help him like he needed. But what if she wasn't helping at all? What if she was just leading them in the wrong direction when she should have been helping him get back onto the right path?

"Trust me," Draco whispered hotly next to her, "I need to see the nanny."

That made up her mind for her. If she had had any doubts before then – and she'd had several – they were all blown away by his sure, calm, and steady voice. How could he sound so sure of himself when he was clearly an inch away from insanity? How could he be so composed when only a day and a half ago, he had been bleeding to death on the floor in front of her? It was crazy, almost, but she knew she would just have to trust his judgement like he had asked her to.

She got up abruptly, taking his hand to help him up as well. "Alright then, Malfoy, let's go see the nanny."

He smiled softly at her, but it was so dim that she didn't even know if it was directed at her or not, or if he was just smiling in general. It was probably the later. He was in pain and on pain medication. Not to mention that he'd smashed his head brutally against hard stone repeatedly. Nonetheless, the action was clearly distracting. He probably wasn't even aware of the fact that he was doing it, either!

Gods, she was losing her mind. Was it the ever increasing panic that was causing this or the pent up lust she hadn't dealt with in years? Rather than acknowledge any of the thoughts and stop to analyze the things that were passing wildly through her mind, leaving destruction in its wake, she decided to focus on the task at hand.

So, she took his hand and apparated them to the Ministry of Magic.

"The Ministry?" Draco asked, that goddamn small smile still on his face.

Hermione's cheeks burned when she realized that she was staring at his face, a little open mouthed. He didn't seem to notice. "Um...yeah... the Ministry," she responded stupidly, still staring around. She took his arm and dragged them to the lifts and started jabbing the down button repeatedly and impatiently.

Draco stared at her for a moment blankly and then chuckled. He pulled her hand away from the lift buttons with a little smirk. "I think you've sufficiently called the lift, Granger." She blushed. Why did he have to be so... Whatever it is that he was! She tried to look everywhere but him. He seemed oblivious to her discomfort. "So... Why are we here? At the Ministry."

She looked at him uncomprehendingly. "You wanted to see the nanny," she replied listlessly.

Malfoy's eyes widened a fraction. "They're keeping her here at the Ministry?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed, realizing that he hadn't been informed of the arrangement. "Yes, they're keeping her here at the Ministry. I'm sorry, I forgot to fill you in on the arrangement."

He seemed perplexed, but she couldn't help but smile. "Why the hell would they keep her here? She's not a suspect...is she?" He seemed seriously concerned but all she could do was smile. He seemed to be waiting for an answer, but the lift doors opened before she could reply, and they had to scramble in before the doors shut once more.

Jabbing the button for Level 10 to the holding cells off the Wizengemont courtrooms, she waited impatiently for the lift to get them there. "Yes, they're keeping her here. The bitch was supposed to be taking care of my son, you know. I supposed I'd get a little revenge by making her life miserable."

He chuckled quietly and that just sent shivers down her spine. Why did everything about him have to be so attractive? "Ruthless, Granger. I like it."

And why the hell did he have to compliment her? The lift doors opened before she had the chance to respond – and she thanked her stars, because she honestly had nothing to say to his comment. What was she supposed to say? Thanks, Malfoy, I think you're pretty great too?

Instead, she grabbed his arm once more and quickly led him down past the courtrooms and to the adjacent holding cells. The guard on duty just took a look at her and Malfoy before waving them through with an extremely bored expression on his face. She didn't question it. On a normal day she would have been completely disgusted with the guard's lack of sense. Anyone could be impersonating Malfoy and herself. The very least the guard should have done was checked their wands like protocol required! Or maybe their Ministry passes, even though those could be forged with very good magic. But on that day, she didn't question it, she only thanked Merlin for the guard's incompetence. She didn't want anything slowing them down.

Besides, who cared if someone was here to kill the stupid nanny? As far as Hermione was concerned, the bitch had everything that was coming to her. That included all sorts of catastrophes and serial killers! She knew her mind was a little wrong in that aspect, but she hadn't forgiven Manny for betraying her trust. She knew she'd never forgive Manny for not doing her job.

How could someone not pay attention to a child as sweet as Hugo?

It only pissed her off further. She knew that she should have calmed herself down before entering the holding cell behind Draco. She knew she should probably have kept her emotions in check, at least reigned them back a little bit, but she really couldn't. The stress had finally gotten to her and she was a little hormonal. It was completely understandable to throw a bitch fit, she told herself. Just as long as she didn't kill the stupid fuck, she was fine.

Draco was as calm as ever as he opened the door and went in. She didn't understand how he could be so calm and in control of himself in such a situation. Was it because he was a Slytherin and a Malfoy? Or was it just because it wasn't his son's life on the line? Hermione didn't care. She supposed it was best if one of them were calm and rational at all times.

Manny had been lying on the small cot in the corner of the room when they had both walked in. At first, she had looked up hopeful, perhaps thinking that someone had come to spring her. But Hermione had made sure that she was not allowed out of the prison before Hugo was found. It was the least the bitch deserved, and Hermione had had to pull quite a few strings to have made this happen. Annoyance flitted over Manny's face when her eyes saw Draco's figure. That was also understandable. She probably assumed he was another Auror because he wasn't wearing the normal guard uniform.

When her eyes fell on Hermione they immediately widened in fear.

Draco conjured a chair for her and himself before gracefully sitting down. The movement temporarily distracted Hermione, so much so that she was already in her seat and crossing her legs before she was even aware of it. Draco leaned a little closer to her unconsciously, as if looking for a little support. Hermione placed her hand on his leg and his muscles seemed to just relax at the touch.

"Hello, Manny," he began. His voice was polite and lilting. Even Hermione felt a little relaxed at the sound.

Manny seemed to be on the same page as her, because she didn't seem as afraid anymore. "Hi..." Manny said quietly.

At the sound of the idiotic babysitter's voice, Hermione's eyes automatically narrowed. She turned to give the girl her full glare. As Hermione pinned the pitiful girl with her most venomous expression, she could almost feel Manny trembling under the gaze. She was surprised Manny hadn't whimpered from fear yet. Oh how she longed to get up and go rip out that disgusting looking hair... Maybe scratch into the stupid bitch's face... Oh yes, and gouge out the eyes. That would definitely be her number one priority.

Draco cleared his throat disrupting Hermione's glaring match. "I have a few questions for you, Manny," he said in that sweet, calming, distracting voice again. "I think you could be of great assistance."

Manny turned her head away from Hermione, giving Draco her full attention now. She gave him the once over, clearly liking what she saw. Hermione nearly growled. The bitch had the nerve to give the man that was looking for her son attention? Why, she'd kill the stupid slut! She only needed a good reason to do so. Anything would suffice at this point, really. All she needed was something that was plausible enough to get rid of any assault charges that might follow...

"I...I already told the Auror's everything I know..." Manny stuttered.

Hermione almost snorted. The stutter sounded completely fake to her. She didn't care if Manny was actually scared or not – and she had better be scared, because if she wasn't, Hermione would make the hell sure she was – Hermione just wanted to tear her eyes out, that's all. It wasn't asking too much, was it?

"I just want you to answer a few of my questions, alright?" Draco asked. Manny nodded reluctantly. "Do you think you can tell me about what happened the day Hugo disappeared?"

"I've told everyone I didn't see anything! I swear it! Honest!" Manny screeched, clearly desperate to get out of her unfortunate situation.

But for Hermione, this was the perfect opportunity. She had always hated screechy noises, and Manny's voice? Yeah, that was definitely a screechy, unnecessa-fucking-sary noise. She got up from her conjured chair, grabbed Manny by the throat, and began shaking her. "You bloody little bitch! Cooperate or so help me God, I will kill you!"

She immediately felt Draco's hand on her forearm, but his intervention was unnecessary. Manny had easily caved in. "I'll tell you everything I know! Just let go, let go!" the stupid bitch cried. Hermione did let go reluctantly, then went back and sat in her chair. Draco was trying very hard not to smirk at her, she could tell. She didn't care if he found her amusing. She'd just wanted to beat the crap out of Manny for a very long time now.

She gestured for Draco to continue, which he did. "Alright, Manny... Do you think you can answer my questions without... provoking Ms. Granger here?" There was a barely restrained smile on his face.

Yeah, he was trying hard not to laugh. Bastard.

Manny sniffed disdainfully and wiped her nose on her sleeve. There were big tears in her round eyes and she glared at Hermione. Hermione wondered where the girl had gotten the nerve to even attempt such a thing. "What's she doing here anyway?" Manny whined. "She's not an Auror-"

But before Manny could say anything further and before Draco could stop her, Hermione was out of her seat once more, strangling the stupid bitch. "What am I doing here?" Hermione yelled. "You've the nerve to ask me what the fuck I'm doing here, you shoe licking bitch?"

"Hermione," Draco called patiently, getting up and putting his hand on her shoulder to get her to stop. "You have to control yourself."

But Hermione didn't listen. "My son is gone because of you, you stupid two-bit whore!" She punched Manny in the face and was completely satisfied when she heard a loud crack. Good, the bitch was going to have a lopsided nose now. She definitely deserved it. "The least you can do is show a little remorse!" Hermione managed to kick the girl in the ribs before Draco pulled her away. "What?" she growled at him.

"I think..." he said quietly into her ear, "that you should wait outside."

Hermione was enraged. What did he mean wait outside? She had every bit a right to be here as he did! Sure, she wasn't an Auror, but this was about her son! The bitch had personally wronged her, so she definitely deserved a punch or two. Perhaps permanent disfigurement on the side. There was nothing wrong with that, she told herself. He should just understand where she was coming from and if he didn't, then she wasn't sure that she ought to like him all that much anymore.

He seemed to sense the direction of her thoughts, at least partially, because he began rubbing soothing circles into her shoulder. She realized he hadn't lifted his hand away from earlier. That was a little weird, wasn't it? He leaned towards her once more. "As much as I enjoy seeing you all feisty, I need to ask her questions and you're wasting time we don't have," he whispered.

She immediately blushed. "Fine," was her only response. She grabbed her chair, glared at the object of her hatred, and dragged herself out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

God, how could she have been so stupid? Of course, he understood. He was just being rational and collected as always. She had been completely out of control... and she had wasted time. He was absolutely right. She felt ashamed of herself. How could she have almost jeopardized her son's life like that? Apparently, Malfoy needed something out of Manny, and that something was important.

So, alright. She'd have to stay away and not kill the bitch. At least, not kill the bitch yet. There was always time for that later, she supposed. Right now, she had to focus on her priorities. Unfortunately for Hermione, those priorities weren't always so clear. First was her son and then there was the fact that Malfoy had said that he liked to see her feisty. Her cheeks blushed an even darker shade of red before she groaned and hid her head in her hands.

All she could do was wonder what Malfoy wanted from the nanny as she sat there, mourning her misfortunes.

/

Draco was a mixture of conflicting emotions. He was amused at Granger's hilarious antics. Who knew that she had it in her? Yes, he'd had a glimpse of the fiery woman that hid behind Granger's wall of self control during his third year, but today she'd just gotten up and lashed out like he'd never seen before. And it had been bloody hot! That was another thing. Draco had become painfully aroused at the display of violence.

It wasn't that Draco liked seeing people hurt or anything, gods no, nothing like that. Granger had just taken him by surprise. She'd been strong, powerful, demanding, and kind of demonic in her passion. He had always loved women who weren't afraid to get their hands dirty, women who took what they want, and weren't afraid to give the world a piece of their minds.

Granger definitely was one of those women.

But mostly, Draco was just concerned. First, he was afraid that the girl wouldn't talk now after Granger's outbursts. Second, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to concentrate on getting the girl to talk now that Granger was so thoroughly entrenched in his mind. Why did she have to go and screw everything up for him? He'd only just gotten his mind on the right track! How was he supposed to concentrate when he could still see her beautiful, pink stained cheeks in his mind?

But he'd have to, wouldn't he? They'd come this far and he sure as hell wasn't about to back down now. He'd given blood, sweat, and tears to this mission, and he'd be damned if he let all his precious hard work go to waste. So he went about his business. He fixed the girl's Granger inflicted injuries and sat down, staring at her until she'd pulled herself together and stopped crying. He offered her his handkerchief, which she took gratefully and blew her nose on.

Draco tried his best not to cringe. Hermione would never act so disgustingly. She probably would have daintily dabbed at her face, because she was probably just that kind of woman. But even if she was a disgusting type of person, he hardly thought he'd have minded.

"So, Manny, how old are you?" he asked as nicely as he could.

She seemed confused about his random question. To be honest, it wasn't completely random. "I'm...I'm twenty-five this summer, Mr...?"

"Malfoy," he replied. Her eyes widened as she recognized his name. He put on a pleasant smile on his face – at least he hoped it was pleasant – and she seemed to relax. "And what do you do, Manny?"

"I'm a nanny," she replied easily. "I've been working with Mrs. Weasley for five years now..."

The wheels in his head began to turn. "But it's not your first choice of occupation," he guessed. She nodded, looking surprised that he'd even asked. He supposed it was a valid reaction, to be surprised. The Aurors probably wouldn't have cared what she did, what she had wanted to do. But in a real investigation, when information was scarce especially, things like this actually mattered. "What did you want to be doing with your life, then?"

"I wanted to be a fashion consultant, but the industry doesn't have all that many jobs open," she shrugged. He tried his best not to snort. Fashion consultant? But he supposed this was good for his case. She was probably the type of girl that kept in on all kinds of information and the going-ons of all the neighbours. It wasn't as if she actually did her job and looked after the kid – she'd have to have something to do with all her spare time.

"That's a pity," he said in a faux sympathetic voice. Luckily for him, she sucked it right in and beamed at him. "It must have been really hard for you to adjust to being a nanny, then, since you didn't really want to be there, right?" She shrugged again, uncertain of herself. "Were there any people in the neighbourhood you worked in that made your transition easier?" he asked. He posed it like it was just another unimportant question, like he was just getting to know her.

"Not really," she replied slowly, thinking. "I mean, our next door neighbours were pretty nice. The Bourdons, you know them?" Draco shook his head, gesturing for her to continue. "Yeah. They're an elderly couple. They always used to come and make sure Hugo and I had enough to eat at home and all that..."

Draco smiled. "That's nice of them," he offered. She smiled back. "Were there any people who you didn't like? Anyone unhelpful?"

She thought back and it looked like she was giving it some serious thought. "Well... when I first started working, there was this man who lived down the street and he was like really mean. He'd give Hugo and me all these dirty looks and stuff, and he was all scary like. I mean, I never did anything to him, so I don't know what his deal was," she seemed completely affronted. "Oh, he used to live in that house that's abandoned now. Everyone says he was a freak! But Mrs. Shookner – that's our other neighbour – tells me she swears she saw him pack up one night and just leave -"

Draco could tell that this was the local gossip. He really wanted to not bother listening to the drivel she was spewing at him, but this could be potentially useful information later on. One never knew what turned out to be useful, after all. But if only she just didn't have such an annoying voice, Draco might actually give two damns about her.

Unfortunately, the girl was a complete and utter brat with a voice to match. He almost wanted to open the door and let Hermione back in to punch the girl in the face again.

Alas, he had to be polite. So he was going to be polite if it killed him.

"So, no one's been living at the house since then, eh? Must be spooky," he offered, trying to seem interested.

She nodded. "It is! Every time we pass by, it's so scary. But you know, Shauna – that's Mrs. Shookner's daughter – says that someone's bought the house. I think it's the really hot guy with the retarded son that just moved in on the block. I never personally talked to him, but he's real attractive."

Well this was interesting, even if it sounded irrelevant. Hot guy with a son? Perhaps. "Then perhaps they'll fix up the house, don't you think?" He just wanted it to be over.

"That's the thing, though," she said, leaning forward as if she was about to let him in on the biggest secret of his life. He fought the urge to roll his eyes. He didn't care about neighbourhood gossip – never had, never would. "That house still looks abandoned. No one goes in and no one comes out, so he can't live there."

Perhaps this was a potential lead after all.

"What did you say this man looks like?" Draco asked, unconcerned, a bored expression on his face. He stared down at his nails, hoping the girl would get the picture and hurry the fuck up.

She shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. He's tall, brown hair, brown eyes, killer smile. But he's got the most disgusting hand! It was like DEFORMED, I'm not joking. I was so shocked when I saw him on the street the other day and he shook Hugo's hand. It was like gross, get that thing off him! And then I told-"

But Draco had heard enough. He got up so fast out of his chair that it fell backwards with a huge crash. He didn't care though. Could it possibly be? It could be nothing and Draco could be overreacting. But he didn't think he was. He was pretty sure he knew what was going on now. Everything fit in his head perfectly. It was an ingenious plan. Why hadn't he thought of it before?

If Draco was right, he knew exactly where Hugo Weasley was.

/

It was going to have to be now. Hugo knew it was going to have to be now, but he just couldn't bring himself to go through with the plan anyways. It didn't matter that their time was slowly ticking out. It didn't matter that all the other children were counting on him. It didn't matter that he was probably going to die anyways whether he did it or not. It didn't matter. Hugo was scared. There was no other explanation for why he was hesitating.

He was just plain scared and no reason in the world could matter enough to change that.

But somewhere in his mind, Hugo knew that it did matter, no matter how he was feeling, no matter how much he wanted to curl up and cry. He couldn't. He had to go through with it. He had to remind himself that there were other people counting on him to make this happen. He had to try for them. Besides. His mind had been right. They really didn't have all that much time anymore.

So Hugo had to suck it up and just do it. They really didn't have time to waste and think. There wasn't time to wait for the perfect opportunity. The man and his people had been talking to each other in the other room and they had said that their ritual was almost nearly complete. All they needed was one more child that could actually display magic when needed.

They had said that they already knew where they could find such a child. It wouldn't be long now, they had said.

And when that child was found and brought here, tested and tortured, the ritual would commence. And then Hugo and the other children would have their magic taken away from them. Then Hugo and the other children would be killed. There was no denying that reality. No denying the fact that the man thought they were disposable. Besides, the man probably didn't want to get caught. He was hardly going to keep them around. What if they tattle-tailed?

But that didn't change the fact that Hugo was more scared than he had ever been in his life. Sure, he'd come up with a plan, sure he knew that they had some chance of success... But he hadn't factored in the part where he was a coward. He had never been brave. What had he been expecting, anyways? Would he have suddenly turned into a Gryffindor lion and roared until all the bad guys went away?

No, sir, not Hugo. Hugo was a coward, always was and always will be! He couldn't do this...he really couldn't.

But he had to, anyways.

But only heroes did brave stuff. Only heroes roared. And Hugo was definitely not a hero. Uncle Harry, his mother, and his father had been heroes if the stories were anything to go by. Not him. Never him.

But he had to, anyways.

So he was going to, anyways.

Hugo began to concentrate as hard as he could on the cage door. He focused all of his energies, all of his power, all of his mental resources onto that cage door. He tried, and tried, and tried until he was red in the face and out of breath. He tried until his head started to swim and his vision started to go black from the effort. He even tried until his entire body started shaking.

But nothing happened.

His plan wasn't working. Sure, it was a brilliant plan and all, considering the circumstances and the fact that he was only an eight year old boy. But he had forgotten to factor in one tiny little detail. He had forgotten the fact that he didn't really know he could do magic. And now he was stuck!

But he couldn't give up now. He'd be giving up on his mother, on his new friends, on his life! He hadn't even seen Hogwarts yet! He had to try again, he had to somehow make it work. He just had to make his magic do what he wanted it to do. Maybe he had been going about it all wrong. Maybe he just hadn't focused enough. Whatever it was...it had to be fixed.

So Hugo tried again. He focused his mind and all of his remaining energy on the cage door and simply willed it to move. He tried and tried until tears of frustration formed in his eyes. He tried until he was an inch within insanity, but still he did not give up! What was the use? He couldn't do it.

His magic had deserted him. Somehow, somewhere, he had expected this to happen.

What he hadn't expected to happen was for luck to be on his side for once. Somehow, the Gods had stared down at poor little Hugo Weasley and had given him a good card out of pity. He knew that it was just his lucky day, knew that this was exactly the time to try and escape. Because somewhere out there, there was someone watching over him.

There was a huge explosion in the next room where the man and his friends were working on getting the ritual ready. The explosion had been very loud, so loud that many of the children had covered their ears and shrieked. A little bit of the glass that covered one side of the window had cracked and there was a little bit of black acrid smoke floating under the crack of the heavy door.

Hugo knew this was the perfect distraction.

The man would be busy dealing with whatever had gone wrong with the ritual. That gave them time. That gave them a little bit of cover at least! He could work for as long as the man was working. Maybe the man would even clear the room – yes, he could hear footsteps going upstairs – until the smoke went away. And then they'd have a clear route of escape.

They were going to have a clear route of escape!

Hugo concentrated, this new sense of hope and excitement fulfilling him. He concentrated even harder than he had the last time, hoping against all hopes that this time his magic would somehow come back and help him open the unmoving heavy iron cage door. Maybe his angel, the person or God watching over him would help him just one last time. Just one more stroke of good luck, and he would never ask for anything ever, ever again.

And very, very slowly, much to Hugo's astonishment, the bolted lock started to click open.