"Damn, this is boring." Draco moaned from his position lying on Hermione's bed.
"If it's so boring go and do something else." Hermione retorted, not turning around from her bookshelf. If she was going to spend the afternoon sitting beside the window she wanted something to do.
"There's nothing else to do." Draco whined. "You're stuck in here until the damn Order have been."
"I'm still not sure of this plan you know." Hermione said, tossing her chosen book onto the window seat before she made her way back to her bed. "It just seems a bit stupid to let the Order know I'm definitely here."
"Are you still worried that once they know how secure the Manor is they'll give up on you?" Draco asked as Hermione sat down beside him.
"I don't think they'll give up on me exactly, I just think they're going to be less likely to walk into any more traps." Hermione replied, resting her head on Draco's shoulder.
"I suppose we just have to go along with it and hope the adults know what they're doing." Draco said. "Personally I reckon they were just getting jealous that all the good ideas were coming from us and felt they had to contribute somehow."
"Yeah, I bet they were getting worried that the war would be won because of us two." Hermione muttered sarcastically.
"I was being serious." Draco said.
Hermione lifted her head and rolled her eyes at Draco. "I know you were."
"Then don't mock." He said with a glare. "Seriously, it has to be bothering them that because of our plan they've managed to get to the Order twice in quick succession. When they were coming up with the plans they weren't getting anywhere and now we've got the Order in a complete mess."
"I never thought of it like that." Hermione admitted, realising Draco was right. They'd had more success in the last few days than Voldemort had had in the entire two years since his return to full power.
"Well you should." Draco said. "I'm telling you, The Dark Lord will be victorious because of us."
"You have such a high opinion of yourself." Hermione laughed. "We may be a big help but other people have played a part as well."
"I suppose other people have helped somewhat." Draco conceded with a shrug.
"Personally I think Lucius has done more than us." Hermione said. "After all if he hadn't suggested I pose as a muggleborn then we wouldn't have been in the position to strike at the heart of the Order."
"Fine, father's a hero." Draco rolled his eyes. "But it was still our idea that moved things along. If we waited for father and The Dark Lord to come up with a plan who knows how long would have had to pretend to be a mudblood for. You might even have had to get together with either Potter or Weasley."
"That's just horrible, Draco." Hermione curled her nose up at his suggestion, at times it had taken all her energy just to put up with them as friends but she shuddered to think of having to do anything more with them.
Draco laughed before he pulled Hermione onto his lap. "It's a good job we came up with our plan when we did, at least now we're able to be together."
"Do you ever think we should have acted on our feelings sooner?" Hermione asked. She knew why she hadn't acted on her attraction to Draco but she wondered if he felt the same way or was he annoyed that she had made it clear nothing was going to happen earlier.
"No." Draco shook his head. "I found it hard enough to stay away from you anyway, but I never could have done it if we were together. There's no way I could have gone months without touching you so we would have snuck around to meet and we might have been caught."
"I can't imagine Lucius would have been too happy if his whole plan had gone up in smoke just because we couldn't keep out hands to ourselves." Hermione said.
"I don't suppose he would." Draco agreed. "Luckily we managed to contain ourselves and now he fully supports us being together."
"I'm pleased, it would have been so awful if Lucius and Narcissa didn't want us to be together." Hermione admitted. She had actually been slightly worried that they wouldn't approve of her and Draco being in a relationship since they had been brought up together.
"Luckily that's something you don't have to worry about." A voice from the doorway caused both Hermione and Draco to turn round in surprise.
"Mother you gave us a shock." Draco said to Narcissa who was standing in Hermione's doorway.
"Sorry, I came to tell you they're here." Narcissa said. "I'll let you know when they're gone again."
"Thanks." Hermione smiled at Narcissa as she got off Draco and walked over to the window.
"Are you staying here, Draco?" Narcissa asked.
"Yes." Draco nodded.
"Make sure you keep out of sight then." Narcissa told her son as she departed the room.
"Sometimes I think both my parents think I'm an idiot." Draco sighed, grabbing his own book from the bedside table. While Hermione was stuck at the window he was planning to wait on her bed and finish his own book. "As if I'm going to ruin the plan now."
"They're just being careful." Hermione said as she settled down in the window seat with her book safely nestled on her knee.
Hermione knew that if someone was to look directly at her window then she would be visible, although it wouldn't be clear that she was reading. Hermione and Draco had decided it would be best for Hermione to read as if they were talking they ran the risk of the Order realising she wasn't alone and that she was friendly with her supposed kidnappers.
"Bloody hell, this place is huge." Ron muttered as Malfoy Manor came into sight beyond the trees.
"No wonder Malfoy used to brag." Harry said, coming up beside his best friend. "I think I might have even been tempted to brag if I lived in a house that size."
Ron nodded in agreement as the two teenagers scurried after the three adults they were accompanying. Dumbledore was obviously present to check out the wards but as Harry and Ron had begged to accompany him both Sirius and Arthur had also came along to provide supervision for the boys.
Dumbledore, Sirius and Arthur had apparated them as close to the Manor as they dared go without triggering some of the distant wards. Following Severus's instructions for the best place to go the group had then trekked through a lightly wooded area for nearly an hour. When they reached a clearing in which the Manor was clearly visible Dumbledore stopped and announced they had found the perfect spot.
Turning to Harry and Ron he pointed to a fallen tree and told them to settle themselves down on it as he handed them both pairs of binoculars. "Use these to check out the grounds and the Manor. Look for places you think we could approach unseen and keep an eye out for other signs of protection."
"What sort of other protections do you mean?" Ron asked, a puzzled look etched on his face.
"Things like dogs." Harry suggested, earning him a proud smile from Dumbledore.
As Dumbledore headed off to check out the wards Harry and Ron raised their binoculars and began examining Malfoy Manor. Harry started at one side of the grounds while Ron started at the other. For nearly ten minutes the two boys examined the grounds, discussing possible places to approach. During their examinations of the grounds Harry spotted three large dog's prowling the back garden. Ron paled at the sight of the fierce looking animals and prayed they wouldn't have to try and pass them.
In an attempt to get his mind off the dogs Ron turned his attention to the actual Manor itself. Ron scanned the side of Manor, slowly moving the binoculars up and down the walls. When he reached the top floor a movement suddenly caught his attention, focusing on the topmost window he gasped at what he saw.
"Bloody hell, it's Hermione." He practically shouted.
"Where?" Harry demanded as Arthur and Sirius came rushing to the boys sides.
Ron pointed Harry in the right direction so both boys were watching their best friend sitting in the window. Harry and Ron both tried to examine how Hermione looked, they were relieved to see she actually didn't look too bad. She looked quite sad and every few minutes she would look out of the window and across the grounds, a wistful expression on her face.
"Let us have a look." Sirius said, nudging Harry. From the direction the two boys were looking him and Arthur had a vague idea where Hermione was but they were too far away to see her for themselves.
Harry and Ron both handed over their binoculars so Sirius and Arthur could get a look at Hermione and try to assess the situation.
"At least she doesn't look to be hurt." Arthur said.
"Hopefully they're just keeping her locked in the room and haven't really bother her." Sirius added.
"You mean apart from taking her to Switzerland and photographing her with Bellatrix." Harry commented.
"The important thing is we now know where she is." Arthur said, lowering his binoculars. "And at least she looks relatively unharmed."
"Let's just hope she stays that way until we can find a way to rescue her." Harry said, taking his binoculars back off Sirius and staring at his friend again.
"That could prove quite tricky." Dumbledore announced as he approached the group. He had been studying the wards a few metres away but he had heard the entire conversation.
"Why?" Ron asked.
"The Manor is extremely well protected." Dumbledore said. "In fact I know of only one place that is more secure. Hogwarts."
Everyone stared at Dumbledore as it dawned on them what he was saying. Hogwarts was virtually impenetrable and if the Manor's security was anywhere near as good as what was in place at the school then they couldn't see any way in which they could enter.
"Does this mean you can't gain entry?" Harry asked.
"I'm afraid so." Dumbledore nodded sombrely. "Even Voldemort himself couldn't break through those wards."
"What are we going to do?" Ron cried. "Hermione's in there, we need to rescue her."
"And we will don't worry." Dumbledore reassured the teenager. "But for now we need to get back to headquarters and arrange a meeting, we need a new plan."
Severus ladled the last of his potion into vials and put corks into the tops, once they were packaged he labelled them neatly and placed them on the appropriate shelves. Severus was currently in the Order's stockroom, which was a small room just off the kitchen. He was currently replenishing the Order's stock of potions.
Once he was finished Severus cleaned up and was just walking up the stairs to the door when he heard a loud commotion in the kitchen. Sneaking up the rest of the stairs quietly Severus stopped at the partially open door and peeked into the kitchen. His Slytherin nature kept him from revealing his presence, although he also figured he would be more likely to find out what was really happening this way as he still wasn't fully trusted by anyone other than Dumbledore.
"This is unbelievable." Harry stormed as he entered the kitchen with Ron, Sirius following close behind them. "We're never going to get Hermione back."
Severus smirked to himself as he heard the trio bemoan the tight security on the Manor. Honestly he'd been quite surprised in the first place when they seemed to genuinely believe they could enter the Manor undetected.
"I knew we should have gone after Malfoy on the train." Ron said as he sat down at the table. "We could have gotten him to tell us what was going on."
"Yeah." Harry agreed. "Or we should have taken him, see how they like having someone from their side kidnapped."
"That actually would have been a good idea." Sirius sighed as he began to make a cup of tea. "It would have given us something to bargain with."
As Severus listened to the offhand comments about kidnapping Draco a plan began to form in his head. As he remained hidden the plan began taking shape and he was confident that even though it was potentially dangerous it could work to the dark side's advantage. Once the plan had started to form Severus was eager to get to Lucius to discuss it but if his plan was to go ahead it was imperative that no-one realised he had heard the conversation between Sirius and the two teenagers, so he was stuck until he was able to leave undetected.
For nearly half an hour Severus was stuck in the stockroom as he waited for the kitchen to empty. When at last Harry and Ron went upstairs and Sirius headed into the back garden, Severus was able to creep out of his hiding place. Severus was pleased the house was relatively quiet as he crept through the kitchen and towards the front door without anyone seeing him. His luck continued to hold as he left the headquarters undetected and apparated to Malfoy Manor.