Draco said nothing as his parents stared at him.
"I don't see why they can't let the girl stay there," Narcissa sighed.
"I wouldn't be so surprised if they kicked her out on their own because of her insufferableness." Lucius replied in turn- quite mimicking his son's thoughts from earlier. Neither was comfortable with the idea of their only son going to the faerie world alone, to rescue someone that none of them frankly cared enough about.
"I simply don't understand why they would kidnap Hermione Granger in the first place?"
This time it was Draco's turn to sigh. "It wasn't so much kidnapping as it was... imprisonment. And-" Draco casted a spell to show them the picture Harry Potter had given him.
His mother's eyes widened much like his had. The woman in the picture of course bore a resemblance to the Hermione Granger they knew but... that version was but a child and this version was an adult in every way. Square boyish curves had rounded to maturity. Her wild hair had been tamed. Soft honey brown curls framed a delicate face which had lost all of its baby fat with cheeks bones that were high yet full, making her mature but still youthful. Ruby red lips were the only trace of visible makeup as her face was perfectly smooth and blemish free. The Malfoy Family was silent as they realized that Hermione Granger had turned into a swan.
-!-!-
"So what is the plan to get Granger back?"
Harry looked at his colleague who had the most expertise with fae.
"Time in the fae world moves much slower than it does in ours." The man explained.
"Yes," Draco said not impressed.
"Tomorrow, we will need you to go into the fae court- there you will have a week in our time, two days in theirs to find Hermione Granger. We will give you an object before you go that will come alive with a countdown to All Hallow's Eve."
Draco sat up. So that was their plan...
"At All Hallow's Eve, that is when the veil-"
Draco waved him off. "I know okay, I'm not stupid."
The man ignored him. "Weakest between the two worlds. Unfortunately none can enter the fae world but those already there may leave, even the lesser fae who have not enough magic to make a path to our world. The object we will give you will also indicate to you by when the barrier will strengthen once more. Before then, you need to get Hermione Granger across the barrier, where we will wait."
"Well what if the fae try to stop us?" Draco asked.
"We will do our best from this side to prevent any fae from our side from going back through and interfering." Harry said.
"But I'm basically on my own." Draco said dryly.
"Unfortunately yes," The other man nodded, not quite in the same optimistic mood as Harry Potter.
Draco frowned.
"If you can find Hermione's wand- she'll be able to fight with you."
Draco's brows rose. How did they know Granger did not have her wand?
Harry blushed. "We had a spy lesser fae go and scope things out for us. Unfortunately he has now been banned."
"No loss on his part, I'm sure." Draco muttered. "Why the bloody hell did they decide to keep Hermione Granger anyway? I'm surprised they haven't found her to be so insufferable that they gave her back on their own bloody accord!"
Harry held in his own simmering temper before handing Draco Malfoy an enchanted card. The card was wrapped like a bow by a thorny vine.
"Ouch!" Draco yipped when the bloody vine on the card snapped out to bite his hand, drawing a drop of blood from his thumb.
The card opened to reveal the inside of a rose, the paper as soft as a petal.
You are cordially invited to the wedding of
Crown Prince Althalos and Hermione Granger of the British Ministry
The date was on All Hallow's Eve...
Draco cursed. What the bloody hell; forget their bloody vault. He was not going to crash a fae wedding- much less one of the bloody Crown Prince! Not only was he asking to be imprisoned himself, but he was also asking to be tortured for the rest of his miserable life!
Draco walked to his door and opened it. His arms were crossed as he waited expectantly for the three men to get a clue. All three looked at each other before Harry coughed, knowing they were no longer welcome.
Harry let his colleagues get ahead of him. "Malfoy-no one believed that you and your family deserved a second chance more than Hermione. I only fought to prevent your mother from landing in Azkaban. It was Hermione who held the meeting to keep you and your father free men."
Draco's expression faltered.
"Just because you were a Slytherin doesn't mean you don't have bravery in you somewhere. Frankly I don't see it but-" Harry summoned a picture of his best friend from his and Ginny's wedding. "She did."
-!-!-
"Father, did you know?" Draco asked as he relayed Potter's words.
"No, I only knew the judgement of the Death Eaters was done behind closed doors. Potter could be lying but-" Lucius faltered. Sure the boy who lived could be obnoxious and a little self-righteous, but he was not a liar. Lucius sighed at his thoughts. And the idea of Hermione Granger stepping up to stand for former Death Eaters who'd only helped them very little in the scheme of things- did not sound preposterous.
Draco sat back in his seat, still unsure of himself. Sure no one deserved to be imprisoned in the fae realm- and especially not Granger but was he strong enough to actually accomplish escaping the Fae realm with Granger- the bloody Crown Prince's fiancé, apparently?
"I don't like the idea of you in danger sweetheart, but I think you have to try for Hermione Granger and yourself." Narcissa said softly, wishing her words weren't so true. But maybe this adventure would make everything even between the Malfoy family and the Potters even, even more so, would stop Draco from running away...
-!-!-
Later that night, Harry was in his office trying to figure out how to hack the faerie invitation so that anyone with an invitation, not only one with fae blood could get into the realm. An incessant knocking brought him out of his thoughts- all of which centered on wishing Hermione was there to help him... rescue her. He opened up the window for an unfamiliar own to swoop in and drop off a letter to him.
I'll do it
Malfoy
-!-!-
Hermione slashed repeatedly at another vine with the cutlery knife she had stolen after her forced dinner with second in line of ascension, Prince Borin, her so called fiancé's brother. "This is what you get Hermione Granger for breaking up with normal and predictable Ron Weasley and reading all those bloody muggle novels about Prince Charmings! Stupid Julie Garwood novels! I just want to read a romance every once in a while, not actually be in one! Is that such a crime?!" She muttered darkly to herself before glaring down at the pale blue and white ombre faerie made dress that the faerie maids in waiting had forced her into having stashed away all her professional looking pantsuits. It was beautiful, with a low heart shaped neckline that accentuated her modest chest. Pale blue freesia's were embroidered on the top and floated down the dress, the petals almost looking like feathers, fading in color with the ombre. The long train was dragging uselessly on the ground but it refused to be cut. She'd originally slashed so many times at it she almost lost her breath in her vigor before giving up to make her escape. One would never know looking at the dress, for it looked as good as new as it did laying in the room they were calling her chambers whilst she called it a very luxurious prison cell. If she wasn't trying to escape from an unwarranted engagement, she'd be quite fascinated to study what exactly the dress was made of and recreate for her own wardrobe. She'd say goodbye to ripped pantyhose forever...
"Bloody unicorn grievance treaties," Hermione cursed the reason why she had even been invited into the fae court only to somehow catch the eye of some bloody crown prince that she didn't even know looked like and suddenly found herself imprisoned in two different manners. Also it seemed the further from the castle she got, the thicker the vines were getting and the duller her cutlery knife was getting. Why couldn't they make their cutlery as durable as their bloody dresses. Priorities really...
Unfortunately as Hermione was slashing madly at one very stubborn vine, a chime could be heard throughout the realm, a chime that she'd learnt tonight from Prince Borin, had been especially made just for her. A sound that notified the faerie realm that the Crown Prince's chosen bride had tried to escape... again. At least this time, no maids in waiting were left with a black eye that would have even made a third year Draco Malfoy back away before the word Mudblood could be uttered.