*Lyrics from Don't Bother Me*

I know I'll never be the same

If I don't get her back again

Because I know she'll always be

The only girl for me

"Stupefy" Alastair cried twice "There, now we can speak freely. Henry, Edward, take the three of them to our dungeons"

"No, take them to the State we have been using" Isla commanded, reaching for Narcissa's wand and pocketing it "Harry Potter has no reason to suspect us, but he knows where we live and keeping them there would be too dangerous. Taking them somewhere else will be safer"

"Rightly so" Alastair agreed "and place them in the same cell. Now that we know for sure Draco is a traitor, we can use it to our advantage"

"Master" Lucius said "If I may?"

"You may not Lucius. I trusted your son, only because I listened to you and your ideas… you have both greatly disappointed me"

"My apologies Master" He said, bowing.

"You and I shall discuss your punishment later. Boys, your mother will accompany you to the State. You may leave now"

Alastair waited until they were all gone, before turning his attention back to Lucius. He was standing by the wall, his eyes casted to the floor and his stature diminished. He studied him for a while, before making a decision.

"It won't be long before Harry Potter and the girl's father notice she is gone. And your wife and son's disappearance will not go unnoticed for long as well…. Stay here until tomorrow morning, and then go to work looking for Draco. By noon, go to the Ministry and file a missing wizard and witch report for them. It is imperative that you behave as if your family is innocent and that Draco and Narcissa's disappearance is because you are not serving the Dark side. Can you do that Lucius?"

"Yes, Master"

"Very well…. And try not to ruin everything"

"Rennervate" A voice said in the distance.

Chloe opened her eyes and immediately closed them again as she winced in pain; her entire body was sore, her head hurt, and thoughts were slow to form. The last thing she could remember was Draco falling next to her and Alastair's voice as he stupefied the two of them. At the thought of Draco, her eyes opened again and she turned to the side, looking for him. It felt like an eternity until her eyes were able to focus but she finally saw him, lying flat to her right, and there was a figure on his other side whom she presumed to be Narcissa. Draco was awake and looking at his mother, but as Chloe continued to focus on him, he slowly turned over to her. They carried a simple and short silent conversation, reassuring each other that we were okay. Then he turned towards Narcissa again, and began to slowly sit up.

"Welcome to your new home" Isla said as Chloe sat up as well "Do get accustomed, you will be here for a while"

Chloe looked at Isla. There was an open square on the door that allowed them to see those outside from their torso up and she stared at their faces in disdain. They were all grinning, but Isla's grin was full of such wickedness that Chloe averted her eyes. How had she missed that? How could someone capable of grinning in such a way have fooled a trained auror? She looked up at the sound of footsteps and watched as their backs vanished down the hallway. Then she looked back at Draco; he was on his knees now, leaning over Narcissa. She painfully stood up and made her way towards them, watching as Draco ran his right hand over her sweaty forehead and carefully held her right hand with his left one.

"Here" Chloe said, tearing a piece of her cloak.

Sitting down next to him, she moved his hand aside and began to wipe Narcissa's forehead. Draco took his mother's hand with both of his, squeezed it and began to whisper something Chloe couldn't quite understand. And there they were, shoulder to shoulder caring for Narcissa and inwardly coming to terms with their reality. The stakes were now the highest they had faced, and they were both painfully aware that one wrong move could cost them their lives.

It was eight thirty. Chloe was over an hour late, and she was not responding to the messages on her galleon. Harry continued to pace in front of the fireplace for another couple of minutes, but he could wait no longer. This wasn't like Chloe, and he was starting to worry. Grabbing a handful of floo powder he stepped into the flames and was sucked away to the Lewis' Manor. Elliot was sitting much like the morning before, enjoying a cup of tea and reading over some paperwork. He looked up when Harry stepped in, his face relaxed and welcoming.

"Evening Harry"

"Evening sir, I'm sorry to come in unannounced but Chloe should have met me for dinner over an hour ago and she never came. Have you seen her?"

"She left hours ago to Ava's, perhaps she lost track of time?"

"I was under the impression Ava had to work a night shift today?"

"Maybe she changed shifts, let's check"

Elliot stood up and made his way to the fireplace, where he kneeled by the flames. Sticking his head in the flames, he stood as such for a few minutes and then pulled back as Paul's face came into view.

"Evening gentlemen, how may I help you?"

"Is Ava there?" Harry asked, heart beating fast.

"Yes, she is"

"Could we have a word with her?" Elliot asked, sounding surprised.

"Just a moment" Paul said, before disappearing.

Only a few minutes passed until Ava's head came into view, but in Harry's distressed state it felt like days.

"Hi Harry, Mr. Elliot"

"Ava, have you seen Chloe today?" Elliot asked.

"No sir. She sent me an owl earlier, when she arrived from the Ministry but that's all. Is something wrong?"

"Chloe left home hours ago, supposedly going to see you. She missed dinner with Harry and we are not exactly sure of where she is" Elliot replied, his forehead creasing.

"That's very unlike her… I'm coming over" Ava said, looking concerned "Just give me a minute to let Mr. Paul know I need to leave"

"Ava, don't tell him why. We don't want to concern him just yet" Elliot asked.

Ava nodded, and then she was gone. Elliot sent three of his house elves to search the house for Chloe, just in case, and then sat back down as Harry resumed pacing and they silently waited on Ava. She arrived three minutes and twenty-eight seconds later, via floo network, and was barely out of the flames before she began speaking.

"I sent Jasper to check my apartment for Chloe; he was at the café waiting for me to finish my shift. He will send me an owl from there. How long exactly has she been gone for?"

"It's hard to say, we were playing chess and I was not keeping track of time" Elliot began "Around six, perhaps?"

"And she was supposed to meet with you?" Ava asked Harry.

He nodded, pulling out the galleons he used to communicate with Ron and Hermione and sending them both a message.

"We had dinner plans for seven. Elliot, was she behaving differently at all this afternoon?"

"No, she was behaving as usual"

An owl hit its claws on the window and Ava quickly went for it. She tore into the parchment and looked up at them, shaking her head.

"Alright, here is what we are going to do" Harry began "and I have asked Ron and Hermione to come here and help. We are going to contact family members, friends, and anyone she might have gone to see. Once we hear back from everyone, we will decide on the next move"

"I'll send my elves to check with the family members. We can send others to check with any of her friends and colleagues from work. Is there anyone at the Ministry you can contact, Harry?"

"Yes sir, Landon should be there tonight. I'll send Kreacher for him"

Once the elves had returned from searching the house, Ava and Elliot began to dispatch them. Harry called for Kreacher and told him to go see Landon; Ron and Hermione arrived just as Kreacher left. After quickly explaining things to his best friends, Ron left for the Ministry to help Landon and Hermione stayed behind with Harry.

"I'm sure she is fine Harry" She began, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No Hermione, this isn't normal…. Something is wrong… I know it"

Over two hours passed before all people and elves alike returned to the Manor, all without Chloe or any news of her.

"Harry, my boy" Elliot said, his eyes reflecting the concern and sadness Harry also felt "I think is time we accept something is wrong"

He nodded, swallowing through the lump in his throat.

"I'm going to the Ministry to file a missing witch report" Hermione said "I'll message you when I know what's next"

Harry watched her go without a word, as the last little bit of hope he had been fighting to keep vanished entirely. From her seat in the couch wrapped in Jasper's arms, who had arrived shortly after sending her the owl, Ava looked up at Harry.

"Harry" she began timidly, almost as if uncertain she should continue "We need to talk…. I'm fairly positive that Chloe has been hiding something from us"

"Go on" He said.

All eyes were on Ava now, and the room had fallen silent. She looked at Jasper and then back at Harry, taking a deep breath.

"On the day of the Hogsmeade attack… Chloe kept looking at the Three Broomstick's door from the moment we sat down, and when the hooded figures came in… well, she reacted too fast… like she knew they were coming all along. I questioned her about it when we came back here and she denied it, but she did say that if she was hiding something, it would be for a very good reason"

"How could she possibly know about the attack?" Ron asked, skeptically "Unless…."

"She is not a spy Weasley" Ava spat rudely.

"I wasn't suggesting that" Ron said, his ears growing red "I was going to say that maybe she has a contact among those people"

"Like who?" Landon asked.

"Ava, do you think she was telling the truth when she told you she didn't know about the attack?" Harry asked.

"No, I'm positive she was lying"

"Why didn't you say something?" Elliot and Harry asked.

"She told me not to worry, and I trust my best friend. I was not about to tell on her" She replied defiantly.

"Maybe she does have a contact… and that's who she went to see tonight?" Landon suggested.

"Elliot, tell me again about the time Chloe said she was leaving" Harry asked.

"She didn't say it directly to me, Koda came to let me know and…. KODA"

"Master called?" The elf said, appearing with a loud pop.

"Koda, why did Chloe leave after you took her back to her room? Did she receive a letter or some sort of message?"

"I… Koda doesn't know. Mistress said she had to go, that's it"

"Koda, do not lie to me. You were acting strange when you came down for her, come to think of it. Did you really break something in her room?"

All eyes were on the elf as he began to shake relentlessly, casting his eyes to the floor. Several seconds passed in which he mumbled numerous incoherent words, until Elliot finally spoke again.

"Koda, tell me the truth"

"Koda can't… Mistress forbade Koda"

"So you know something?" Harry asked, squatting down next to Koda. He resembled Dobby on the times he had come to him with information he shouldn't be sharing, and Harry was fairly good at dealing with this behavior "its ok you know, Chloe would understand if you told us. She is probably in danger, and you can help us find her by sharing what you know"

"Koda, I'm her father. Whatever orders she gave you, I hereby free you from them. Tell us what you know"

It took us several more minutes of trying to encourage him until he gave us something.

"Do you know of anyone she has seen? Anyone unusual?" Harry asked, and he nodded.

"Who?" Elliot asked.

"Dra… Dr.. Draco… Draco Malfoy" Koda whispered.

Draco wasn't sure how long it had been since Chloe and him had kneeled by his mother, but by the time he stood up and stretched, his muscles were sore and stiff.

"We need to formulate a plan to get out of here Lewis. I bet my entire fortune that they will kills us, if we don't escape"

"That won't be easy Malfoy. We have no wands and no way of communicating with the outside world… we don't even know where we are"

"Will you just give up then?"

"No, I will not" She said, still tending to his mother "And there is no need to bet all your galleons, they will most certainly kill us given the chance"

"Galleons, that's it!" He said, suddenly very optimistic "Use your fake galleon to contact Potter!"

She turned to him, a glimpse of hope in her eyes, and then she reached inside her pocket. Draco watched as she searched inside all the pockets of her jeans, to no avail.

"Weird… I had it earlier, I remember picking it up to let Harry know I would be late and…. Oh" She said, the hope vanishing from her eyes.

"What, what is it?"

"I put it down; when I reached for my cloak… the galleon is in my room"

Draco cursed and kicked the stone walls, immediately regretting the later.

"Do you still have your sickle?" She asked.

"Yes, and bloody useful that thing will be"

"It will be very useful if they separate us Malfoy. Don't you think it is odd that they placed us together in the first place?"

"I suppose you are right, assuming you still have yours?"

She nodded, turning her attention back to Narcissa. She was still sweating profusely and she looked very pale. Whatever Lucius had done to her, it was clearly bad.

"Hey Malfoy, didn't Dobby help Harry out of the dungeons at your Manor?"

"He did… you think?"

"It's worth a try…. Koda?" She said, looking around the room.

Koda immediately covered his mouth with both hands and ran towards the poker in the fireplace but Ron stopped him before he could harm himself, and Elliot reached for the tinny creature.

"When did she seem him Koda?" Elliot asked.

"Koda knows of three times"

"Three times!" Harry shrieked.

"Was he here today? Is that why you came for Chloe?" Elliot continued.

The elf nodded, fighting Elliot's grip as he eyed the poker in Ron's hand and the room fell silent. In Harry's mind he was going over the past few months, trying to think of anything unusual and two particular moments came to mind: one this morning, when Draco had smirked at Chloe and the other…

"Koda" He said, and he looked Harry's way "Was Draco Malfoy in Chloe's room the day she wouldn't let me inside, and then sent me to the library to look for a book?"

Koda began to shake even harder, and that was the only answer Harry needed. He sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted. He needed answers, answers as to why Chloe had been meeting with Draco Malfoy and why she had kept it from him. He looked down at Koda again, thinking of what else he could know, but the elf abruptly grew very still.

"What is it?" Elliot asked, still holding the elf.

"Mistress Chloe…. She just called for me"

Everyone presented inhaled deeply, none louder than Ava.

"From where? Koda, where is she?" Elliot said.

"I, Koda doesn't know" He said, an expression of confusion in his face "I can't go to her… I hear her calling, but Koda cannot go where she is"

"That won't work" A voice said.

Draco and Chloe whipped their heads in the direction of the door, where Alastair now stood, and Chloe made a mental note to reprimand herself and Draco for being so careless and unaware of their surroundings.

"After what happened at Malfoy Manor" Alistair continued "I made sure to place the necessary enchantments to keep house elves from apparating in and out without permission. Now tell me, how are you enjoying the space?"

"You can't keep us here forever" Draco growled at him "Our disappearance won't go unnoticed and Harry Potter will do whatever it takes to find her" He added, unnecessarily pointing at Chloe.

"My dear boy, what makes you think I anticipate on keeping you here for long? And Harry Potter coming for her is precisely what I am counting on. You have proven to be very valuable Ms. Lewis" He said, smiling her way.

Chloe turned his back on him in defiance, and continued to wipe Narcissa's forehead.

"Unless you are here to give us something to help Narcissa" She said dryly "I'm not interested in speaking to you"

"Now Chloe, those aren't very good manners. I'm sure your father taught you better than that"

"He did, but I only apply it towards the ones who actually deserve my good manners"

"I see, perhaps you will feel less upset with me once I deliver what I brought? Let's see"

With a few waves of his wand, Alastair conjurated a mattress under Narcissa and blankets over her. On the floor, next to Chloe, he conjurated a bowl of water and clean rags. Next to Narcissa's bed, another one appeared and, with one last wave of his wand, two trays with food and drinks came into the room.

"You might think I'm heartless Chloe, but you are my guests… and you my dear, you are my guest of honor. I take care of my guests, there will always be food provided, you have access to a loo in the back of this room and I even gave you a bed. Not so bad after all, huh?"

"You cannot buy me with these" She said, gesturing around the room "That's pathetic!"

"Lewis!" Draco cautioned.

"Chloe, Chloe, Chloe" Alastair said "You shouldn't be so harsh to the man holding your fate… I choose whether you get to live or die, you would do well to remember that. Now eat, both of you, before it grows cold… and not to worry, the food isn't poisoned. I'm not ready to have you die just yet. Oh, and no bed for you Draco… you get to sleep on the floor"

And with one final grin, he left.

"What were you bloody doing?" Malfoy said the moment Alastair was gone.

"We need to be more careful; he could have heard us speaking about the sickles" Chloe said, dipping a rag in the water and wiping Narcissa's face.

"Yes, I get that…." He said with a heavy sigh "We should eat"

"You go ahead; I'll wait until you are done"

"No, you go first" He said, reaching for the rag.

Chloe ate a few bites in silence, watching Draco tend to his mother and after a quick trip to the loo, which neither of them had noticed before, switched places with him so he could eat.

"She feels less warm" Chloe observed, stopping to yawn.

"Let me have the rag, you should go to sleep"

"So should you, I think your mother will be fine for a while"

"There is only one bed Lewis, besides mothers… Maybe I'll just lie down next to her"

"She's sick Malfoy, you have no business squeezing in there with her"

"What would you have me do, then?"

"We can just share the other" She said simply, but Malfoy gape at her "What?"

"Are you bonkers? You want us to share a bed?"

"Yes, what's the problem with that?" She asked, sincerely puzzled.

"I don't think that would be a good idea… besides, someone should keep guard"

"Maybe tomorrow, once we are both rested. It's been a very long day Malfoy, we are exhausted. And I'm only suggesting that we share the space, it's not like I'm going to attack you"

"Potter would be furious Lewis, have you thought of that?"

"Well, he isn't here, now is he? And we are only going to sleep, stop being such a twit about it! And I thought you would welcome the opportunity to do something to infuriate him…. Where is this concern coming from?"

"I'm not concerned" He said, indignantly.

"Could have fooled me" She replied, pulling the covers away and getting on the mattress "Do as you please Malfoy, I'm going to sleep"

Chloe laid still, fighting back the sleep already threatening to overtake her. She heard as Malfoy paced back and forth, at the edge of the bed, the noise almost hypnotizing. And then she taught of dad, and Harry… and I began to cry. She wondered if they already knew she was gone, and imagining the hurt, pain, and concern they would feel shattered her heart. She knew they would be strong; she knew they would come for her no matter the cost…. Chloe only feared not being strong enough to face whatever Alastair had in store for her.