Chapter 28

Draco looked around at the street beside him. He was confused as to where he was. One second, he was dancing with Hermione, the next they had all apparated to the side of a street. But it wasn't like any wizarding city he knew, and trust him when he said that he knew most of the wizarding areas in London. But this, it was nothing like any place he had seen in his life.

"Where are we?" Weasley said, voicing his thoughts.

"A muggle neighbourhood, near where I grew up," Hermione said quietly. "I didn't know where else to go."

"This is the muggle world?" Draco asked in shock. The houses were not huge and well-built like the manor, or even unique like the more modest homes. Instead, they were all aligned, with the same shape and design, differing only in things like colour of materials or décor on the lawn. Through the windows he could see families partaking in various muggle activities, but he could not identify a single one of them; all the actions seemed so foreign to him. He wondered if this was how Hermione or other muggleborns felt upon the first time they entered the wizarding world.

Thankfully for them it was dark, because Draco had a feeling that otherwise they would stick out like an elf wearing a hat.

"Come one, we should change into something else," Hermione urged, leading them into a nearby shop, labeled as 'Pizza'.

"I hate to point it out, but Hermione the only thing we have on us is our wands," Harry said, looking a bit dejected.

"I've packed, don't worry. I've been packing anything and everything we could possibly need all month, just in case we need to leave at any given time," Hermione said as she pointed to her bag.

Draco saved her the trouble of explaining to Ron when the ginger haired boy look confused, "There's an extendable charm on the bag, so she can put in as much as she wants and only has to carry around that tiny thing."

Ron nodded at the explanation. The two of them were slowly warming up to each other, but Draco knew that it would be a long, long time before they could be considered as anything remotely close to friends.

Hermione handed them each a pair of muggle attire and pointed out a room for them to go change in. thankfully the diner was nearly abandoned so there were not many people around to see them. As Draco slipped on the muggle clothing, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. His hair was still the blackened colour, and while he disliked the colour, he decided it was best to keep it that way for the meantime. Muggle world, or not, there could always be a Death Eater on the prowl and it never hurt to take precautions.

As the three boys exited the room, they noticed Hermione sitting at a table waiting for them. He slid in beside her, as Ron and Harry sat opposite to the two of them.

"I ordered us all tea. Normally, I would say it was best for us not to stay in this area, but I think for now we should think of what we're going to do next, just in case," she said as they looked to her.

"Well, I guess this means we're officially hunting down Horcruxes," Harry said, with a weary look upon his face. "Time to get serious."

Draco closed his eyes and massaged his temples. He knew that this was what they had to do to bring down Voldemort, but it seemed so fruitless. They were only 17, and yet they had to hunt down about five random objects and destroy them with a weapon they knew nothing about. And better yet, no one else could know. It seemed so impossible to win this war, but he knew just how bad it would be if they lost, especially because it would mean that Hermione would be one of the first to gain a death sentence.

"We need a place to go first," Hermione said. "I mean we could always stay in a forest or something, but if we have another option, we should take it."

"12 Grimmauld Place," Harry said instantly. "I know there's a chance Snape could have ratted us out now that Dumbledore died, but there's still bound to be a lot of protection cast upon it. Moody and Dumbledore cast everything they could think of, and just because they're both dead, doesn't mean that the spells are."

"Where's that?" Draco asked, feeling foolish. It was obviously a location that the other three knew all about, and had forgotten he hadn't. It didn't really bother him that the Trio shared a past, because it was what made them who they were. They didn't exclude him purposefully, and both Harry and Hermione tried not to make him feel left out.

"It's the Black residence. Sirius lent it to the Order of Phoenix as a headquarters, but after his death, the house went to Harry. We haven't been there since though," Weasley said quietly.

Harry's eyes darkened and it was clear that he had forgotten about the fact that the house belonged to his deceased godfather. Draco lowered his head slightly, as it was his own aunt who killed him. He really hated the family he came from; the Blacks and Malfoys were once noble, but other than the exceptions of Andromeda and Sirius, the entire family seemed crazy.

"We don't have to go there if it's too hard, Harry," Hermione said softly as she grabbed Harry's hand from across the table and squeezed.

He gave her a soft smile but shook her head, "No, even though it's going to be difficult, the reasoning still stands. We should go there; we can think up how to defeat Voldemort once get there.

There was a crash outside, and suddenly two dark looking figures emerged from thin air. The two drew out wands and began throwing curses around, not caring who it was that was hit. Thankfully, there were no store employees in vision.

He drew out his wand and began to defend himself, as well as cast a couple of spells as well. The glass from the window behind him shattered, spraying the ground. Thankfully, he was far enough away not to get hit.

"Stupefy," Hermione shot out.

"Reducto," Draco yelled out simentaneously.

The two unwanted visitors fainted, and Hermione rushed over them. "I need you and Ron to start repairing the building," Hermione said to Harry. "I'm going to modify their memories to forget they ever saw us, Draco can you do the same to the shopkeeper?" she asked, as she gestured to the terrified looking brunette women standing in the doorway.

"Who are you people?" she asked, shaking. She was clearly in fear of them, but it did not hide the bit of defiance she had on her face.

"We're nobody. Forget you ever saw us," he said quietly.

"Easier said than done, you freaks," she said angrily. "Why are you here, and what do you want from me?"

"Nothing; it has nothing to do with you. You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Please, we'll clean up and be gone in a moment," he said softly.

"Just leave," she hissed, with a continuous glare on her face.

"Obliviate," he muttered, feeling sorry about what he was going to do her.

Her eyes glazed over and when they gained focus again, she blinked and looked at him. "I'm sorry, have you been here long? Can I help you?"

He shook his head, "Sorry, I was just leaving."

She looked confused. "Well okay then, have a good day!"

Hermione rushed up to him and she grabbed his arm, "Scor, are you ready to go?" she asked him softly.

He nodded. She grabbed his hand and they headed outside. "Scor?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Neither Scorpius nor Draco are common names in the muggle world. She'll think it's a nickname and won't question it if I used a short form."

He nodded, but wasn't quite sure what he was agreeing with. A constellation based name might have been a Black Family tradition but it never struck him that his name might be considered to be strange.

Once the four of them reached far enough away from sight, Hermione scribbled something onto a sheet of paper and handed it to him.

The Headquarters of the Order of Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London

Draco read the sheet and destroyed it once he had it memorized. Hermione grabbed his hand, and before he knew it, he had apparated to the house. He watched as his companions disabled the various security features.

"Severus, Severus Snape?" A ghostly voice called out.

"I-I didn't kill you," Harry croaked out in a low voice, and just like that, the door unlocked, and the spell came undone.

On the inside, the house was ill kept, and had dust accumulating in certain regions. There rooms were dark and old, and overall had a gloomy air to it. He could see the ghost of a home that once held the same pride and value as his own, but it was clear that those days were in the past. While this home should belong to him by birthright, Draco could honestly say he wanted nothing to do with it. Even if it hadn't been left to Harry, Draco did not want to own a place where his family once had occupied.

"Master," a voice croaked out. "Have you returned for Kreacher?"

Draco turned quickly at the sound, and saw and old elf staring at Harry.

"Kreacher, we're going to live here for a little while, alright? I command you not to tell anyone"

"Master has brought his Mudblood and Blood traitor friends," he muttered disapprovingly.

"I told you not to call them that," Harry yelled out, but it appeared not to sink it.

"What would my poor mistress say?" the elf moaned. His eyes peaked interest as he look up at Draco. "And who is this? Could it be, a Black? A true Black has returned to his home! Oh Kreacher is so happy!"

"Uhm…what?" Draco asked, looking to Harry for help.

"Technically, if I didn't own this home, then you would be Kreacher's master. And if there is one thing about Kreacher, it's that he lives to serve house of Black," Harry said drily.

"Okay…" Draco said, unsure how to deal with this new information.

"May I grab you something to drink, sir? Or perhaps you would like something to eat?" Kreacher asked him eagerly.

"He's never this happy to serve me," Harry muttered to Ron.

"Trust me mate, if he is, then you should be worried. He's probably trying to poison you," Ron said with a smirk.

"I'm not that thirsty, Kreacher," but when he saw the elf's face droop, he quickly added, "But maybe you could grab us all a light snack?" Kreacher bowed and apparated to go do his bidding.

"Now," Hermione said, getting all of their attention, "Time to brainstorm."

Blaise stared at the front page of that morning's newspaper. There had been another attack on some part of small wizarding settlement, and five people were reported to be dead. He hated that it was happening so frequently, and he hated more than anything that there was nothing that he could do about it.

Would Draco have been a part of these attacks? He felt sick at the thought of his former friend having anything to do with the murders. Maybe if he tried harder to help Draco, he wouldn't have just given up and joined Voldemort in mind. Maybe if Blaise didn't push him away in that last month before his death, maybe Draco would have, he would have still been here.

He hadn't even noticed that a few tears escaped down his face, he wasn't really much of a crier. But so much had changed lately, and this must have just been another thing that had as well.

Blaise had started receiving letters from Voldemort lately; his entire family had. It seemed that Voldemort didn't want them to be neutral in this war, and wanted them to specifically be in his inner ring. But he couldn't do it, he couldn't go through the same thing Draco had as well.

But he wasn't strong enough to go on the run like Theo; he would die the first night he tried. His mom told him to ignore it, and that worst come worst, they would take care of it. But he couldn't help but worry about it. There were so many things that could go wrong, and so many things that could lead to more people getting hurt.

He closed his eyes and put his head between his hands. He could only hope that things would work for the best.

A/n: Don't hate me I know how short this chapter is. I usually write on Saturdays and Sundays, but this weekend I've been feeling rather unwell. Unfortunately, along with the homework I haven't done, I wasn't able to write that much this week due to the fact that I can't concentrate on a computer screen for long enough without feeling sick. But I will make next week's upload as long as I usually I do. Also please excuse any grammar mistakes in this chapter.