Morning had broken and it was nearly afternoon as Astoria and Hugo finally reached their destination. She would have preferred to travel by apparation, but for two reasons she didn't. First, it would be easier to track her if she apparated somewhere, and secondly, Hugo didn't trust her enough to go close enough to her to take him with her. And she wasn't letting him out of her sight – he was her insurance for some much needed money.

"Daddy?" Rose asked softly.

Draco looked up, wondering who she was talking too. He was the only other person in the room. Him.

"Daddy, what is this thing with a wards?"

"The wards." He paused, considering how to explain it simply enough. But then, this was no ordinary kid. This was a mini Hermione.

"Well, this place has wards around it." The expression on Rose's face told him she understood. "These stop people from getting in through the gates. At night, another ward comes up. This new one is different. If someone tries to get in,"

"Like Awhoria?" Rose interjected. Draco looked at her in shock, blaming his mother for saying that in front of an impressionable child.

"Astoria. But yes. If she tried to get in at night she would slowly be frozen by a special spell. Also, an alarm would sound in my head."

"So why are you and Mummy and Cissa talking about them?"

"Because, I didn't know there was an alarm, and apparently the ward has been activated many times recently."

"Astoria has been sneaking in?"

"Trying. She can't actually get in."

"But Hugo was able to get out."

"Yes. He might have had help with that though."

"Could Astoria just turn the wardy thing off? Then you wouldn't know she was here."

"Apparently, the ward can only be turned off if it has been activated." Draco sighed, remembering the long fire call he had sat through only an hour earlier. The warder who had done the work on his house was reluctant to tell him anything about what he had done. But a brief display of the Malfoy temper Draco had inherited from his father, had encouraged the other man to tell everything.

Who am I kidding? I don't know how to care for a kid! Astoria found herself shouting in her head as she walked in silence. Behind her slightly, a whimpering sound came. When she didn't respond, the sound came again. Spinning on her heels, she glared down at the little boy.

"What the hell is it you want, you little brat?"

Hugo cringed as she spat out 'brat'; he didn't take lightly to being called names. Though usually it was from his older cousins.

Astoria rubbed her forehead in frustration. Normally, the short walk to where she hid her broom was a piece of cake, just under an hour's walk. But with a small, whiny child, it seemed to take forever. Especially when he kept stopping for some reason or another. Astoria herself began to wonder how smart she was taking the child.

Draco looked out the window as he waited patiently. Hermione was taking her time, even though she acted like she was moving as fast as possible. In reality, she was so worried and scared her actions were slowed as her thoughts were on other things.

A soft hand on his arm made him jump, pulling him from his thoughts. He gave a weak smile to the woman beside him as they headed toward the fire. Allowing her to step through, Draco ran his finger of the crack in the wall, as if for good luck. It wouldn't actually give him any, but it was a constant reminder that he had to keep his temper in check – if not for himself, for Hermione and the children.

Astoria stepped into a bush, pulling Hugo along behind her. His whimpering had ceased, but it had taken ages to do so. She reached her hand in, pulling out a small stuffed, but very alive looking, bird. Hugo looked at her questioningly.

"What's that?" His thumb inched up to his mouth as he spoke, mumbling his words.

"What? This is the best I could do." At the look of confusion from the boy, she sighed. "It's a port key. It will take us away from here."

Hugo mumbled something she didn't fully hear, but what sounded like 'could have had that ages ago'.

"I couldn't take it any closer to the house. The magic there would interfere and render it useless." Another questioning look was sent her way, and she remembered she was talking to a child. "Magic birdie takes us far away. Big bad house with lots of magic make birdie not work."

Hugo nodded, as if understanding. She held it out to him, activating the port key as she went. A pull on her navel began to take them far away.

Hermione stepped out of the fire and into the busy atrium of the Ministry. This was the place she had worked in for many years, and the place that could hold the clues to locate Astoria Greengrass and Hugo Weasley.

As she watched all the people bustling around her, she wished she was back home, back at Draco's Manor, back where she was safe. She hadn't been at work since the attack, hadn't really considered coming back. It didn't feel safe anymore. Nowhere was perfectly safe anymore.

Draco stepped out of the fire, noticing immediately the tense yet startled way Hermione held herself. As if she was a deer in the headlights standing its ground. He put his hand gently on the small of her back, smiling to himself as she leaned into his touch. He guided her away, toward the offices the needed to be in.

The second his hand let her back, Hermione could feel its absence. The warmth that came from a simple touch left her, and she found herself craving it again. They walked close together; close enough they managed to bump hands a few times. Hermione stretched her fingers out, catching his longer ones within her own, holding them tightly. She looked up, but he was looking away. She found herself doubting her movements as they stepped into the elevator, but a small squeeze was enough for her to realise he didn't mind. And if the soft smile was anything to go by, he didn't mind one bit.

Hugo looked around the second the pulling and stretching stopped. They had ended up in a lavishly furnished room, done in whites and golds, with hints of purple around the place. He barely noticed as Astoria left the room, returning with a tray of food. He had been hungrier earlier, but the feeling stopped after a while.

Wordlessly, she handed him the tray, ushering him into the next room before returning to the one they had begun in. The door slammed shut behind her, but he didn't care. He had a plate of food in front of him, and the room was warm and dry, all he needed.

Astoria mentally slapped herself for forgetting that Hugo was a child, and they get grumpy and whiny if they don't get fed. She hoped the plate would do, after all, she had someone she needed to floo.

The way Draco walked into the room as if he owned it had Hermione looking at him a little surprised. Sure, she always knew he thought he was better than everyone else, but she hadn't realised how good he looked when he acted like that; not that he ever managed to look less than handsome.

He summoned the report he wanted, both wandlessly and non-verbally. She was suitably impressed, only able to do a little of both. He scowled as he read the report to himself, before sending it into the air and supposedly back to where it came from.

"She hasn't been apparating to or from my property, or anywhere within a few miles of it."

Hermione could only nod at his words. Astoria, despite her stupidity, clearly was smart enough to find a method of transportation that wasn't likely to leave tracks.

"How many ways are there to get to my place? Can't be many, I live miles from any neighbours."

"YOU DID WHAT?"

"Calm down, it's not that big a deal."

"CALM DOWN? YOU KIDNAPPED A CHILD!"

"No I didn't."

"HELPING HIM? YOU WILL STILL BE FOUND GUILTY FOR KIDNAPPING!"

"But I am just helping him."

"At what cost though."

At this, the woman leaning into the fire had to pause, thinking carefully about everything. "There is no cost. Not for me..."

"Astoria, they will take you away. You'll live in Azkaban for the rest of your life, provided they don't have you kissed first."

"Why would they do that?"

"You took the child of two-thirds of the Golden Trio."

"Oh..."

"Astoria, you idiot. You have to get the child to his father, and fast. No money, nothing. Just get it there."

"But I had plans..."

"And now they are changing. Seriously, take the kid to his father."

"Yeah, thanks, Daphne."

"Don't mention it, little sister."

"Well, apparation and flooing are out." Hermione stated.

"So what does that leave? Walking, which I highly doubt, Astoria wouldn't walk anywhere unless she HAD to."

"Flying?"

"Possibly. I don't know. Doesn't seem like her thing." Draco rolled his eyes at the thought of Astoria ruffling her hair in the wind.

"Port key?"

"I don't know if it would work. The magic of the wards would affect port keys. Used to interfere with apparation too but I got that fixed. One would probably have to use the port keys a few miles out or something like that."

"It is possible though. Do you know where she lives?"

"I'm sure I could get it off the records."

"Draco! Thats illegal!"

He sighed, knowing perfectly well that she would say that. "Do you want your son back as soon as possible?"

Her lack of reply told him she did, and she proceeded to sit in silence as he found what he was looking for.

"Lets go."

"Come on kid, I'm taking you to your father."

Hugo went to her, finally allowing her close enough to take his arm.

A faint crack echoed through the rooms.

Impatiently, Draco shoved open the door that led to the apartment Astoria resided in.

"She's gone."