The light flared up in the room and Edward's arm instantly shot up to his face to shield his eyes.
"Boo," an amused voice said. Edward lowered his arm.
"What the-" Edward hissed. "Malfoy? What are you doing up so late?"
Malfoy was sitting cross-legged in a plush cushion. His hair was bedraggled and there were dark circles under his eyes. Despite his disheveled look, he smirked at Edward's shock.
"I realised something was wrong when you went missing after our trip down to Hagrid's. It's the first time you weren't trying to follow me everywhere like some pathetic puppy," Malfoy said and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Hey, stop being mean to puppies. What did puppies ever do to you?" A clattering sound resonated from somewhere far away. Edward gulped, and looked behind him. He hoped that did not mean Snape and the minister were coming down to the dungeons to look for him.
"Look," Edward snapped. "Its not like I wanted to be a stalking you every minute of my time but your dad put me up to it. Though I have no idea why now. You weren't even Sirius Black's target in the first place."
"Wait, back it up for a second. My dad sent you to what?"
"Which means if Black wasn't after you, there must have been another reason why I was sent to protect you," Edward mused, ignoring Malfoy. "Which means there could be other enemies. Could it be the Gryffindors? Or was it Lolilord? That makes more sense. Since this guy is this world's evil dictator."
Edward glanced up at Malfoy sharply. "Are you in danger of being killed by Goldilord?"
"Goldi- what? You mean you-know-who?" Malfoy hissed and his eyes suddenly widened. "Wait. Father thinks I might be in danger because you-know-who is after me?"
"He didn't give any details," Edward mused, frowning. Malfoy's eyes were like moons and his face was ghostly white. His hands shook slightly and he did not bother to hide it. Edward's mouth dropped slightly from shock. This was the most terrified Draco Malfoy Edward had ever seen.
"Do you know why this Pottylord guy is after you?"
"It's Volde-" Malfoy shouted, but stopped himself, looking afraid. "I mean you-know-who might think my parents are traitors. My dad was under the Imperius Curse when you-know-who was in power and was known as a former Death Eater. When you-know-who disappeared, my dad was found not guilty because he told the ministers he was under a forbidden spell. But that didn't really sit too well with all of you-know-who's most enthusiastic supporters. They thought he betrayed everyone."
Edward narrowed his eyes. Malfoy's explanation sounded too scripted. There was another loophole. A big one. Daisylocks was dead- defeated by Potter. There was no real danger anymore. Edward told this to Malfoy who barked out a sharp laugh.
"Where have you been, Elric? Haven't you heard the rumours around here? The series of unexplained events, the definite increase in Dark Magic users being tried at court. There are rumours that you-know-who is alive somewhere and trying to regain his full powers. He's trying to come back and my dad is helping- I mean helping Dumbledore stop him."
"Which puts you in danger as well," Edward murmured. The background noises from upstairs were fading away. Which meant that the superiors were not looking for Edward in the dungeons yet. But they did not have much time to spare.
Malfoy did not answer. But the fear in his eyes spoke volumes. Edward sighed decisively. That means his job was far from over. Despite what an ass Lucius had been to him, his son was innocent in all this. He still had a job to complete.
"Do you have a safe house?" Edward demanded. Malfoy shook his head vigorously.
"Damn," Edward hissed. "Okay, listen. I want you to go to your room, and pack only the essential stuff. Money, your stick-wand. The rest of the stuff, leave it behind."
Malfoy's mouth dropped when he fully realised the severity of the situation. That they were really going to do it. They were going to run. He shrank away from Edward, looking small all of a sudden and every inch of his normal haughtiness vanished.
"Crabbe and Goyle will come with me," Malfoy said.
"No. They'll only weigh us down. I can't protect so many people at the same time." Edward protested.
"They are coming with me," Malfoy insisted, this time with fire. Ok, scratch the earlier thought. He was a snob again. "I don't trust you as much as I trust them. They may be idiots, but at least they have my back."
"Ok, but hurry! If you guys are not down here in five minutes, I'm leaving you here and the rescue plan is off!"
Malfoy did not grace Edward's words with a reply. He turned round and darted up the stairs to the boys dormitory. Edward clapped his hands when he was gone and slammed them into the dungeon's floor, creating an underground tunnel that would lead them towards the train station at Hogsmeade (or at least Edward hoped so. He did not want to end up in the sewage system like last time with his brother). They would need disguises at that point to get on board. Or they could be stowaways. Malfoy was taking more than five minutes and anxiety rose within Edward. The back of his head was facing the common room's entrance and it twinged with anticipation. Anytime, the door could slam open and the dementors would flood in.
Edward shook his head irritably, and forced himself to calm down. Finally, Malfoy stumbled downstairs with a huge suitcase, along with two sleepy Slytherins who were groggily stumbling down the steps. They were holding nothing but their sticks.
"C'mon, let's go!" Edward said and allowed the Slytherins to pile into the tunnel first. When they were out of sight, Edward pictured another reaction in his head and dived in just as the floor closed up and made it look like the tunnel never existed in the first place.
"Lumos!" Malfoy said. Crabbe and Goyle echoed the same word and the tunnel was filled with green light.
"Just follow the tunnel," Edward instructed. "It should lead us to the train station at Hogsmeade. We'll take a train from there and find somewhere safe until we can bring you back home to your dad."
They walked in silence which was almost pleasant until it broken by an enormous rip.
Malfoy quickly wrapped his scarf around his face and Edward tore off his tie and securred it under his nose.
Goyle looked sheepish. "Sorry, I had beans for dinner."
This was going to be a long walk.
The Slytherins walked faster to put themselves further away from the smell as possible and half an hour later, they slowed down and removed their makeshift masks.
"We need to get out of here before we run out of air," Edward said and they picked up their pace again. Edward was holding onto Malfoy's suitcase so that the group could move faster. They were all tired but no one could have been more exhausted than Edward. According to his mental calculations, they still had a way to go before they would break to the surface.
"I can't believe this is happening," Crabbe said, yawning. He was still testy about being woken up from his sleep. "I mean, we aren't even sure that you-know-who is after Draco."
"I know!" Malfoy snapped. "But would you rather take a gamble on the off-chance that he may not be getting his revenge? Remember you father was one of them too."
Crabbe's eyes narrowed but it looked like it was more of apprehension than annoyance.
"One of who?" Edward asked.
"Shut your mouth Elric and do your job."
Clenching his fist, Edward was about to retort when Malfoy glared at him.
"My dad works in the Ministry so he must have hired you from there. What branch are you in?"
"I don't know. I work for King Bradley. Lucius Malfoy is just my client."
Crabbe gaped. "You mean the famous one-eyed Fuhrer King Bradley? The one that helped build the Ministry of Magic during the Dark Ages?"
Edward froze. Crabbe went on speaking, "That's not possible. He's been dead for over a hundred years. He was killed by a coup d'état. We learned that in Magic, a History when we were first years."
Edward could feel his jaws slacken. Not just because Crabbe was paying attention to the lessons in school. The Führer was over a hundred years old? Edward's mind reeled. Mustang had warned him there was something strange going on in the military, ever since the civil wall in Ishval. Was somebody impersonating the Führer in the magical world? One-eyed man, same name, same title. It was too coincidental.
"I don't think it's the same man. Probably his descendant or something," Edward dismissed, laughing. He turned his head so that the trio would not see the tightness in his eyes. This was something he had to research on when he got back.
They finally broke out to the surface and Edward took a deep gulp of clean, fresh air.
"MOVE, Elric! We're still stuck behind you!" Malfoy snorted.
Edward climbed out of the hole and pulled the others up.
"Where are we?" Goyle asked.
"Oh no you didn't Elric! We're five miles from the station! What kind of sense of direction do you have?" Malfoy roared.
They were surrounded by tall looming trees. And the wind here was cold. Edward realised they were on a hill, somewhere near the shrieking shack.
At least they did not end up in the sewage.
In case you guys are confused, in the books, Lucius Malfoy managed to escape Azkaban because he claimed he was under the Imperius Curse during his Death Eater days which was a lie. A lot of Death Eaters weren't happy with that and saw it as a betrayal. That's why Draco thinks Mouldywarts is after him.