Thanks again for reading. I own nothing that can be recognised.

3rdMay 1998

Nott Hall

Theo was woken the following morning by the sound of the door creaking open. Ginny Weasley stuck her head out, and regarded him with a mixture of surprise and suspicion.

"Have you been there all night?" she asked, her voice thick with tears and sleep. Theo just nodded, wishing frantically for Draco or Blaise's skill with witches. His own habit of staring silently at them, unable to decide what to say, was unlikely to score him any points with the frankly terrifying Gryffindor who now faced him. Ginny's lip curled. "You are a creepy fucking bastard, Nott," she said coldly.

"I… wanted to make sure you were ok," he managed. "And to make sure I was here if you needed anything. I don't have a house elf, so…"

"Don't pretend you care," Ginny spat back at him. "Which of us are you planning to have first? Hannah managed to tell me that they'd given the prisoners out like sweets to you all. I will defend us both, I warn you, if you try to lay even one finger on us! I'm not defenceless; you left me my wand…"

"Will you please shut up?" Theo demanded, gathering all his courage at this accusation, unwanted images and memories swirling around in his head. Ginny gaped at him, her face slowly turning red. "I am a lot of things, but I am not a fucking rapist, ok? I don't want that, and it's not why I fucking saved you."

"S-saved us?" Ginny stammered, stunned by this sudden change in behaviour.

"Saved you," Theo confirmed. "You remember – I had orders to bring you back to the Great Hall, and I brought you here instead. Do you know what happens to those who disobey the Dark Lord's orders, Ginny? Did Hannah tell you what happened to your brother?" Ginny shook her head. "The Dark Lord put him under the imperious curse him, and made him kill Potter, that's what happened. And now he's locked in a cage, the Dark Lord's pet pureblood," the colour was draining out of Ginny's face. "If I hadn't brought you here, if I hadn't put my fucking life on the line to go back and lie to him and tell him you were dead, he'd have a matching set of pet fucking Weasley's. And believe me, the way he'd treat you would make what you thought I was planning look kind. Now, I presume you were leaving the room for a reason?"

"I was going to the bathroom," Ginny admitted. Theo nodded.

"Three doors down. There are clean towels and things in there if you want to shower. I'll find you something to put on, I have no idea what. Bringing you here was a bit of an impulse decision. I'm not exactly set up for guests, particularly female ones."

"Nott?"

"Theo," Theo corrected. "Nott was my father."

"Theo then. Ron is… Ron is still alive?"

"The last I knew, yes. I've seen him do this before, though normally with muggles. Weasley is safe until he gets bored. I'll get you those clothes."

"Theo?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks… for saving me. And I'm sorry I attacked last night. I honestly thought you were… I'm sorry." Theo froze, and then nodded once, slowly, before disappearing into his bedroom.

Malfoy Manor

Theo's footsteps echoed in the empty corridor as he strode through Malfoy Manor later that morning; confident, assured and deliberate. It was important here, in the heart of the Dark Lord's command, to sound like all three characteristics applied even if he was feeling none of them. To show weakness was to die, after all. From below came screams and laughter; it seemed the celebrations for Potter's defeat were ongoing. He shuddered internally at the noise, wondering if it was his classmates who were providing the euphemistically named 'entertainment'. He reached his destination and let himself into the room, Draco immediately silencing and locking the door behind him. That, in itself, was unusual enough to cause Theo to draw his wand.

"You won't need that, don't worry. We just require privacy." His old schoolmate lounged in an armchair in front of the fire, twirling his wand in his fingers. He regarded him calmly and indicated the other seat.

"Draco," he said in greeting as he sat down. Draco Malfoy inclined his head in return.

"Theo."

"What did you want?" There was a long pause, during which Theo began to grow impatient. He resented being summoned to Malfoy Manor at any time, particularly for such a distasteful job, and was anxious for Draco to get the meeting over with. "Well?" he prompted, when it didn't seem likely that Draco was going to speak. "I presume we need a plan to tackle this punishment, do you have any ideas?"

"Have you ever considered," Draco began slowly, "What would have happened if we hadn't won yesterday?" The question took Theo by surprise, and caused him to wonder on the cause of this meeting. Draco looked calm, yes, but his breathing was quick and he had yet to put his wand down. A suspicion crept into Theo's mind.

"We'd be in Azkaban," he replied to the original question, mentally settling himself in to give nothing away. Draco didn't seem inclined to be brief and, after all, outright asking the man if he intended to spearhead a resistance had at least a fifty percent chance of having him killed on the spot. "Within a month, we'd be gibbering, cowering messes crouched in our own filth," he added, to distract the other boy. It worked. Draco made a face at the graphic imagery.

"Yes… And instead, the Dark Lord has handed over the task of rounding up the remaining Order and Dumbledore's Army members to you and me. Judging by your comment before, you know as well as I do that this is a punishment for failing to bring in Granger and Weasley. If we fail, we can expect something worse."

"Yes."

"How do you feel about doing that?"

"How do I feel about hunting down the Order and…"

"In theory, either killing them or consigning them to Azkaban. Now that the Dementors are back in residence and the wards have been updated, it's impregnable."

"In theory?" Theo asked, carefully keeping his voice neutral.

"Well, yes. I mean, we could also capture them instead, take them to a warded safe house, let them return to full strength and then join them as they storm the manor with the bonus of our inside knowledge ensuring that we put an end to all this once and for all."

"Now, that is an idea," Theo said slowly. Draco exhaled sharply, the only sign of his relief as his expression remained perfectly impassive.

"You're not happy either." The words were so quiet Theo wasn't sure he'd even heard them. "I did have an idea, but it needs your help. If we manage it… we can change things. If not… we die."

"We could die at any moment anyway," Theo replied. "It would be less than prudent to refer to our Lord as a raging psychopath, and I am nothing if not a prudent man." Draco smirked.

"Indeed you are, Theo, indeed you are. Are you in?"

"What do I get out of it?"

"Well, the answer you're expecting me to give is power. We'd undoubtedly have more of it in an administration in which we had such a major part in its formation. We'd have the opportunity to wield that power without being subject to the whims of anyone else. And of course, hypothetically speaking, we'd no longer be bound to our great Lord who we have served devotedly since our fathers offered us as a bargaining chip when we were sixteen. So as well as power, we'd gain freedom." Theo considered this for a long minute.

"I'm in." Draco smiled – a genuine smile.

"Well, that certainly saves me a difficult and hard to explain obliviation. Now, I suggest we collect the ladies I have here and relocate to your house which, if I'm not mistaken, is under a complex Fidelius charm already. Am I safe in presuming that Miss Abbot and Miss Weasley are in residence?"

"My father did take home security to a new level," Theo agreed. "We'll need to make some changes before we can go anywhere, but yes, they are there and safe. I think I was in more danger than they were." Draco nodded thoughtfully.

"I've duelled the Weasley girl, you probably were. What happened?"

"I dodged," Theo replied grimly.

"Lucky for us," Draco said, opening the door to his bedroom. "Granger, Bell, come on. Theo's on board and we're going to move you Nott Hall. I don't think keeping you here is at all sensible, given the other house guests. I'm going to tell my mother that I'll be moving in with Theo for a while, because he's finding living alone hard after… everything that's happened," he finished vaguely as he caught Theo's eye. "You mentioned something about changes, Theo?" Theo nodded a polite hello to both girls who regarded him with suspicion but nodded back, and then cleared his throat.

"My father warded Nott Hall under his own complex variation of the fidelious charm," he began, trying to force confidence that he didn't feel into his voice as he addressed the two relative strangers as well as Draco. "The principle remains the same, in that the house is hidden from view until the secret is imparted by the secret keeper, but unless someone is recognised by the charm the details of the secret will be immediately removed from their memory on leaving. They are thus unable to pass the secret on to anyone else. I am going to suggest that we change the wording of the secret now, as frankly it's still as my father set it and it's obnoxious, to say the least. Any suggestions?"

"The phoenix is rising," Hermione said quietly. Draco rolled his eyes. Theo looked confused.

"We were the Order of the Phoenix," she said. "If we include that in the secret, anyone who was previously a member will be reassured when you tell them. It might make life a little easier for you."

"It's a good point," Theo said. Hermione smiled at him, and he felt his face heat up. Cursing internally, he turned away. "I need to go back to the Hall to change the charm. I'll floo back, Draco, if you open your floo."

"Don't be long then, it's closed for a reason. Ladies, if Theo's leaving the floo open you'd better leave again, just in case someone comes through. Theo, you have no house elves any more, do you?"

"No," Theo said briefly. Draco nodded.

"Miffie!" The little elf popped into existence.

"Master called?"

"We will be relocating to Nott Hall for the foreseeable future. Bring a friend – another elf whose loyalty is to me, not to my parents, please. I need you to keep my secrets."

"Miffie is honoured to be keeping Master's secrets. Miffie will fetch Moffat and be ready for Master at Master Theo's house," she babbled, then stared at Theo. "Master Theo is too thin. Miffie and Moffat will be feeding Master Theo up while they is living at Master Theo's house," before disappearing with a sharp crack. Hermione and Katie retreated back to Draco's bedroom and heard the roar of the fire as Theo disappeared.

He was back in less than the ten minutes he'd asked for, the floo leaving him slightly dishevelled which he didn't seem to notice as he scribbled the secret on a piece of parchment and handed it to them all in turn. As soon as Katie passed it to Hermione, Draco took her arm and disapparated, leaving Theo to throw the parchment in the fire and hold out a hand to Hermione. She took it calmly and he apparated them instantly to a house which, while just as grand as Malfoy Manor, seemed to be much softer and warmer. That was about all Hermione had time to notice before she heard a scream and someone barrelled into her, wrapping their arms and legs around her and talking so fast they were incomprehensible. Luckily, Hermione recognised the red hair flying in front of her face.

"Ginny!" she said, giving her friend a slight shake. "Ginny, calm down!" Ginny calmed slightly, and the two girls hugged more normally, Hermione only just realising in time that she was still holding Theo's hand. Released, he ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh, looking instantly more relaxed.

"No offence, Draco, but I fucking hate your house," he said. Draco laughed, and nodded.

"So do I, why else do you think I'd be moving in with you?" he asked. "What?" he demanded of Hermione, Katie and Ginny who were all staring at him in disbelief.

"You… laughed," Katie said weakly. "Properly." Draco raised an eyebrow.

"And?"

"You don't laugh," Hermione said. "You smirk, or make sarcastic comments. You don't just… laugh." Draco and Theo exchanged glances.

"OK…" Theo said slowly. "Well, while you're getting over that shock, I'll show you around. The house elves can make up some rooms upstairs, I'm sure – you can either share or, for the time being, there's plenty for one each. I've no idea how many people Draco's planning to bring here though."

"As many as I can get," Draco said grimly, as they set off upstairs to find rooms. "We are not going to lose this time. Malfoy's don't fucking lose!"

"How does that work when there are Malfoys on both sides?" Katie asked. Draco snorted.

"My parents won't fight against me," he said confidently. "They've never refused me anything I want, ever. They will not fight for the Dark Lord. I'm sure of it."

Sometime later, Hermione entered Ginny's room to find her friend sitting beside the window, staring out over the bare, almost desolate land surrounding Nott Hall.

"Don't go next door, Hannah's asleep," Ginny said dully. Hermione nodded.

"How are you doing?" she asked quietly. Ginny shook her head, and Hermione slipped into the seat beside her, wrapping an arm around her. Ginny rested her head on Hermione's shoulder and sighed.

"I'm… alive," she said softly. "I cried for Harry, last night. Hannah and I cried nearly all night I think. I can't even think about mum and dad. Did you know mum threw herself in front of a killing curse meant for me? And the last time I saw the twins, they told me dad died saving Fred from a collapsing wall. They gave everything up for us, from the minute we were born, and they died saving us." She paused to wipe her face. "I don't know what happened to Bill and Fleur…"

"They were captured," Katie's voice said behind them. "I'm so sorry Ginny, but he had them executed on the spot as half-breeds and monsters." She sat on the other side of Ginny, mimicking Hermione and putting an arm around her.

"Charlie's still out the country, as far as I know, and the twins…"

"They weren't with the prisoners," Katie said. "And if anyone could get out of Hogwarts yesterday, it's them. They have to be ok. They have to be." Ginny looked at her with sudden understanding.

"George?" she guessed. Katie blushed.

"It sounds stupid, to be so worried about a boyfriend when you've just lost half your family, and so has he… but I swear if he got himself killed I'll resurrect him just so I can kill him all over again!" Ginny giggled through her tears.

"I'll help," she volunteered. "Anyway, I know Ron's alive, even if Theo doesn't think he will be for long, but I have no idea what happened to Percy. Is he dead too?"

"No," Katie replied. "He's… he's marked." Ginny swallowed hard.

"Of course he is," she sighed. "Git. At least he's alive. Thank Merlin Mum and Dad didn't live to see that, that's all I can say."